FOOTBALL 44-28Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Serving the University of Toledo community since 1919

97th year • Issue 14

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INSIDE

‘The Laramie Project’ will take center stage

A play created in memory of a small-town boy who was murdered will be performed starting Nov. 20.

COMMUNITY / 7 »

Veterans honored Local veterans were honored at

a breakfast and ceremony on the University of Toledo’s campus.

NEWS / 3 »

Men’s team dominates the Golden Bears

The UT men’s basketball team beat West Virginia Tech 96-65.

SPORTS / 6 »

““If a piece about Beirut gets a million hits, and the one on Paris gets ten million, the message is clear: more people are interested in reading about Paris.”

EDITORIAL

Don’t be quick to place blame OPINION / 4 »

ABIGAIL SULLIVAN / ICLukas Hohman, a first-year nursing major, donates blood at a blood drive in the University of Toledo’s Health Education Center. The blood drive — which took place Nov. 16-18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. — was part of a challenge between UT and their rival, Bowling Green State University to see who donated more blood.

Students donate blood Nov. 17

Gaber engages community in an open dialogue about UT

Rockets reign againBy Marcus DodsonSports Editor

BOWLING GREEN — The University of Toledo’s football team rolled to their sixth straight win over Bowling Green in a 44-28 road victory to return the Battle of I-75 trophy back to the Glass City.

The Falcons’ 28-point game marks a tie for their lowest-scor-ing game of the season. The last time BG scored only 28 points was in a game against Buffalo in a 28-22 road victory on Oct. 3.

The Rockets (9-1, 6-1 MAC) were led on the ground by junior running back Kareem Hunt who rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carriers.

Senior quarterback Phillip Ely helped the Rocket offense with 208 passing yards and two

ADMINISTRATIONOPEN FORUM

New position among new initiatives to focus on UT’s diversity

By Trevor StearnsNews Editor

University of Toledo President Sharon Gaber held an open forum on Nov. 12 to discuss the challenges UT is facing and the progress it is making to overcome them.

After a brief opening monologue, Gaber opened the floor to questions from her audience members, ranging from budget numbers to CPR training and parking prices.Enrollment

The largest amount of questions in the forum were pointed toward the enroll-ment rates. Some were interested in what Gaber has planned for the future to in-crease these rates while others wanted to know more about how to increase the amount of returning students and how to better brand ourselves.

Gaber said she brought in consultant group called Ruffalo, Noel, Levitz to assess what the university’s strengths and weaknesses are when it comes to enrollment because she was disappointed when this year’s numbers came out.

“I was thinking [the num-bers] were going to be up, or thought that that was what the general perception was,” Gaber said. “… Five years of declin-ing enrollment is not good. That doesn’t help us maintain stability financially or for our

students or our faculty or staff.”She also believes the univer-

sity will be “up” in enrollment in the following year. Gaber used other universities such as Bowling Green State Universi-ty and Oakland University in Michigan as examples of other universities who have had increasing enrollment for the past couple of years as well, saying it is not impossible to “turn this tide around.”

Someone said having a

By Colleen Anderson andJessica Harker Managing Editor and Associate News Editor

Diversity is front and center in Gaber’s plans for the University of Toledo, which she highlighted by appointing a new special assistant to the president for diversity and by announcing several changes in existing offices.

The position, created specifically to focus on university-wide diversity initia-tives, will be filled by current associate dean of the College of Language, Litera-ture, and Social Sciences Willie McKether. McKether said he was asked to take the position on Monday, Nov. 9.

In his new position, McKether said he will be using his background in business administra-tion and anthropology to analyze UT’s culture, both through talking to students and examining data to formulate a stra-tegic diversity plan. He feels the Gaber adminis-tration’s decision shows a dedication to diversity at UT.

“I can say that from her initial interviews on campus, she talked about the importance and value of diversity,” McKether said. “I know that her door’s open when it comes to meeting with various groups, with students as well, and I think that having this diversity plan is just a major step in ensuring that the university, moving forward under her administration, has a focus on diversity and inclusion.

One of the main things McKether wants to focus on is retention among not only minority students, but also faculty and staff belonging to minority groups. Right now, his priority is gathering information from various people and focus groups on campus to incorporate into his strategic plan for the university.

“I think any institution is stronger when it has a value of inclusiveness and of diversity, because you bring diversity of thought, of tal-ent, of skillsets, whether that’s inside or outside

““But with what’s going on at the University of Missouri, we should be having similar discussions about preventing that from happening on our campus.”

KEITH BOGGS

Missouri: a catalyst for change OPINION / 4 »

See Victory / 6 »

See Gaber / 8 »

See Diversity / 9 »

An A-OK superhero spreads smiles at UT COMMUNITY / 7 »

WILLIE MCKETHER

Special Assistant to the President

for Diversity

UT brings home the trophy for the sixth year

SAVANNAH JOSLIN / ICDeJuan Rogers kisses the Battle of I-75 trophy as the UT Rockets football team celebrates their victory over the BG Falcons for the sixth year in a row.

Follow us on Twitter @TheICToledo www.IndependentCollegian.com

2 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, November 18, 2015

CAMPUS DIGEST

Facebook.com/ICollegian www.IndependentCollegian.com

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

What are you thankful this Thanksgiving season?

“I’m thankful for family looking out for me, the abil-ity to go to college, and my fraternity brothers.”

Ben HunerSecond-year

Finance and sales

“I’m thankful for the life I’ve been given, for the path I am on and all the good and bad events that have shaped where I am.”

Taylor WinslowFirst-year

Athletic training

“I’m thankful for mac and cheese from my mom, and my family since I wouldn’t be able to go to college without them.”Alexander Harrison

Fourth-yearHuman resource

management

EDITORIALEditor-in-ChiefAmanda Pitrof Managing EditorColleen AndersonNewsTrevor Stearns, editorJessica Harker,

assoc. editorSportsMarcus Dodson, editorJenna Nance, assoc. editor CommunityJoe Heidenescher, editorEmily Schnipke, assoc.

editor

OpinionMorgan Rinckey, editorCopy deskLauren Gilbert, editorJared Hightower, editorPhotographyAbigail Sullivan,

directorSavannah Joslin,

assoc. director

BUSINESSAdvertisingAaron DeGuilio, sales

managerKyle Turner, director Cassandra Mitchell and Wil-

liam Woodson, sales representatives

DistributionMegan Gaysunas, manager

Operations Andrew Rassel, managerProductionNick Wells, manager

The Independent Collegian staffVisit us at Carlson Library, Suite 1057Write to us at 2801 W. Bancroft St., Mail Stop 530

Toledo, OH 43606Contact the editor at editor@independentcollegian.comAdvertise by emailing sales@independentcollegian.comPhone: 419-530-7788 Fax: 419-530-7770

COLLEGIAN MEDIA FOUNDATIONGeneral ManagerDanielle Gamble

The Independent Collegian is published by the Collegian Media Foundation, a private, not-for-profit corporation. © 2015

Wednesday, November 18, 2015 | The Independent Collegian | 3

NEWSFollow us on Twitter @TheICToledo Like us at Facebook.com/ICollegian www.IndependentCollegian.com

IN BRIEF

Survivorship Gala

The Colleges against cancer presents their first-annual survivorship gala Nov. 20 7-9 pm at the Blarney event center on Monroe Street. Tick-ets are $25 per person or two student tickets for $45 and you can RSVP for the event by cash or check made out to Nicole Ochs. Pay-ments can be mailed to the American Cancer Society on Commerce Street in Perrysburg and you can contact them for more information at 419-297-4427.Relay for Life

This year’s Relay for Life event called “The world awaits a cure: fighting cancer around the globe” will be held on Dec. 5 in the University of Toledo Recreaion Cen-ter until Sunday, Dec 6.

Different events will be held through out the night including dodge-ball, a bakesale, a photobooth and more. For more information or to sign up for the event visit OSIL website.Sounds of the Stadium

The Rocket March-ing Band will play this year’s favorite music from the football sea-son at the Valentine Theater, downtown on Saturday Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 and group discounts are available. Call the Center for Performing Arts box office at 419-530-ARTS for tickets and questions.

Veterans honored Possible changes in store for CoCABy Ashley King

Staff Reporter

The University of Toledo hosted the 11th-annual Vet-erans Appreciation Breakfast and Resource Fair at the Savage Arena to honor those who have served this country.

Peggy Holewinski, major gifts officer at the Ameri-can Red Cross, said the Red Cross has collaborated with UT for this event for the past 11 years.

“We needed partners to support it [the fair] and the University of Toledo was fantastic because they were very, very supportive of the project,” Holewinski said.

Samuel McCrimmin, vice president of advancement at UT, announced the opening remarks at this year’s fair.

“It’s vitally important to honor those who have served our country. We’re very grateful for their service,” McCrimmin said. “Second, UT has a veterans program and is certainly very active in military students.”

Also present at the event were some local companies, including the Lucas County Veteran’s Service Commis-sion, American Red Cross and Fifth Third Bank. Ac-cording to Holewinski, their goal is to be there for those veterans who need them, whether it be for emer-gency messaging, helping them after they return from

deployment or helping with home and family situations.

Holewinski said having multiple agencies under one roof is an opportunity for the vets because they will not have to go to mul-tiple locations.

“I think veterans come because … they’re [the agencies] all right here, and so it’s easily accessible for them,” Holewinski said.The attendance rating each year is strong, with about 400-450 people including family members of military.

One of the attendees was Wesley Jones, a veteran who served from 1961-1963. He said that after dropping out of school at UT, drafting services were able to pick him up quickly.

Jones was drafted into Laos, which started the Viet-nam War.

“I was in no war,” Jones said. “Before Vietnam started up, I was drafted into the service.”

This is Jones’ third year at the breakfast and fair; he returns each year to visit with friends and so he can thank those who were able to accomplish what he was unable to during his time.

Richard Grant, a friend of Jones, served from 1965-1967 in the Vietnam War as a launch recruitment and hawk missile outfit in Schoenberg, Germany.

“I was in Schoenberg, Germany for 18 months … Our job was to shoot down low flying, medium-range aircrafts,” Grant said.

While the veterans remi-nisced about their service, they also voiced their frustra-tion with the treatment re-ceived when returning home.

“It’s insane the way they’re treating the vets. The vets are the ones that kept us here — keep us alive and in the states,” Jones said. “Then they come back here and they don’t even know who we are.”

This year’s keynote speaker, Col. Craig Baker, commander of the 180 fighter wing, agreed stating

the selfless acts veterans do for their country.

“Understanding the com-mitment and the service before self, and the essence of the commitment that we make as veterans serving the nation is something that preserves the freedom,” Baker said.

Baker said that for him, servicing veterans came with its own rewards.

“It’s really humbling for me to stand up… and honor men and women not only for the service that they have made, and the sacrifices they have made for this country,” Baker said. “But for the service they continually do in the future.”

By Jenna NanceStaff Reporter

After moving to the Col-lege of Visual and Perform-ing Arts, the Department of Communication has found its success in CoCA, or the College of Communication and the Arts.

Recently, rumors sur-faced surrounding another move for the department, though nothing has been confirmed at this time.

“I have yet to hear a con-crete plan from the adminis-trative level and so only God knows what will happen,” said John Eidemiller, media pro-ducer and director for CoCA.

Lisa Bollman, academic advisor of CoCA, said a new merger would be un-necessary because it has been a positive thing and students and faculty are happy with it.

“I don’t see that there has been a negative to students at all,” Bollman said, “It is a tribute to the faculty and staff that made sure the students had a seamless transition from one college to another.”

Eidemiller said the college of communication’s enrollment has increased due to the change.

“That was a really good change, because just based on the fact that students are able

UT hosts annual appreciation breakfast

See Merger / 9 »

SERVICE MERGER

Happy Thanksgiving from the ICWe’ll be taking a break for the holiday next week but don’t forget to check out our next issue when we return.

SAVANNAH JOSLIN / ICGeorge Snyder (left), a World War II veteran and father of Debra Davis (right), being introduced to Master Sergeant Steven Kosinski at this year’s 11th-annual Veterans Appreciation Breakfast and Resource Fair at the Savage Arena.

We all know a person or two who has had some kind of criminal past. For the majority, their criminal record has been an albatross hindering true integration into society and to enjoying the benefits of citizenship — sometimes after years and decades of demonstrating genu-ine rehabilitation and responsible living.

I know someone with a criminal record; let’s call him Joe. He was my room-mate. But he is also a social work graduate, a father, commu-nity volunteer and so much more. As a father he has respon-sibilities and student loan obligations. But he also has a criminal record. He bought stolen property about a decade ago and did time for it. And because of his record, not his qualification or work ethic, Joe cannot find a decent job. Yet, he is only one case of about 70 million Americans with a criminal record.

It’s always fascinating to me that we call them “correctional institutions” even though we don’t really believe there’s any rehabilitation going on in those facilities. The truth is, as a society we’re often unwilling to extend true forgiveness to these folks.

I’m probably living in a self-imposed utopia thinking that a person’s ability to work and earn his living shouldn’t be a privilege. In a recent address at Rutgers University, President Obama put the national focus on this issue. The president agreed that now is the time to take action.

He said, “I’m taking action to ban the box.” He meant he was going to request all federal agencies to delay asking applicants to declare their criminal history until later in the hiring process. I should mention that the president has been consistent in promoting affirmative action to help society’s disadvantaged including promoting easy access to employment opportunities for those who have

been incarcerated. Through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commis-sion, the Reentry Council and using the presidency as a bully pulpit, his commitment to creating a level-play-ing field for ex-convicts in the hiring processes is exemplary.

The problem is that this group of people is not adequately provided for under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. For the presidential actions to be sustainable and wide-reaching, it is important that Congress and state governments enact legislations that provide clear protec-

tions and support for this group of people. I believe it should be the government’s concern to advocate policies and

programs that improve the lives of society’s disadvantaged. Isn’t that why we make social policies, to bridge gaps in social processes? It’s hard to argue that this deviates from what “govern-ment of the people, by the people, and for the people” means.

It is hard to see real talent wasted because we choose to judge a person based on a naïve mistake he or she made. Of course, corporate employ-ment isn’t the only path to income, but how many of these people do we expect to take up self-employment? How many more can be barbers, lawn mowers, restaurant workers or even factory workers and other minimum-wage jobs? People deserve second and maybe third chances, but the truth is there are not many jobs out there for ex-cons. Some people argue that using government policy to help ex-cons get jobs implies giv-ing them legal advantages over oth-ers. Yet, they’re not opposed to using government policy like the ADA or workers’ compensation to ensure their own jobs don’t get passed on to others simply because them have some emergencies. That argument, for me, is selfish.

The premise of the president’s action should be applauded rather than rejected because it makes both economic and social justice sense and sets good precedence for businesses. Given employers’ liabilities for em-ployees’ actions it’s not bad that they require information of applicants’ backgrounds. However, the focus should not be about disqualifying people who checked a “yes” to having a criminal past. What about asking about the circumstances of those events and finding out the promise in what these people are currently doing with their lives?

Unfortunately, businesses are not taking advantage of available incen-tives to hire more ex-cons. For in-stance, they’re not using the Work Op-portunity Tax Credit which provides tax credits for businesses that hire ex-cons within a year of their release. There’s the federal program for fidelity bonding that provides a six-month insurance for businesses hiring these folks. And the Workforce Investment Act pays for the job training of the businesses hiring ex-cons. For this sad reality, we should applaud the presi-dent’s announcement.

There’s no denying the relationship between employment and crime rate. By making it easier for ex-cons to find jobs, we’re helping to end the cycle of crime and making our society safer. Be-sides, we’d have fewer people in prison to spend our tax dollars on.

So I agree with the president that, “there are people who have gone through tough times. They’ve made mistakes but with a little bit of help, they can get on the right path.” All the Joes in our lives can use some help.

The situation has gone beyond one person helping another to one that requires a national action. People’s academic credentials, their work ethic and record of a period of responsible living should be equally important considerations for employment. Deci-sions shouldn’t be made based on a person committing a crime some years ago. Let’s all give our support to ban-ning the box.

Philemon Abayateye is a doctoral student in geography and planning.

4 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, November 18, 2015

OPINIONSend letters to the editor to Editor@independentcollegian.com www.IndependentCollegian.com

EDITORIAL

COMMENTARY

COMMENTARY

Don’t be quick to place blame

Missouri: a catalyst for change

It’s time to ban the box

PHILEMON ABAYATEYE

IC COLUMNIST

Editorials appearing on this page represent the consensus view of the editorial staff. Columns and letters to the editor reflect the opinions

of their authors, not those of The Independent Collegian.

EDITORIAL BOARDJoe Heidenescher

Amanda Pitrof Trevor Stearns Jessica Harker

Morgan Rinckey Colleen Anderson

Finger pointing always seems to happen in the wake of a tragedy.

After the Paris terror attacks on Friday, accusations have been flying thick and fast from all sides, assigning blame to one party or another. The horror and sorrow of tragedy has al-ways been a catalyst for discussion, for better or for worse, and the debates over the Paris attacks have been covered by nearly every outlet and on every media platform out there.

The public turned one of their many-pointed fingers on the media this weekend, not for their coverage of Paris itself, but for the lack of coverage in other places. Beirut saw bomb-ings of its own on Thursday, with 43 left dead and over 200 wounded. In the wake of the attacks in Paris, critical tweets and Facebook statuses arose, asking why the media covered one tragedy and not the other.

In truth, the perception that the Beirut bombing went unseen by the media is a false one. Many major media outlets, including CNN, the New York Times and the Associated Press covered the bombings, writing extensive articles on the event and the significance for the Middle East.

In today’s environment, media outlets are forced to be conscious of the attention paid to each piece. If a piece about Beirut gets a million hits, and the one on Paris gets ten mil-lion, the message is clear: more people are interested in read-ing about Paris.

So, that poses the question. Do readers care more about Paris than Beirut?

After all, media coverage aside, there’s no denying that the outcry of support for Paris far surpassed that of Beirut. There was no Lebanese Facebook filter offered, no #prayforBeirut trending on Twitter. There was no room for Lebanese colors amid the blue, white and red of the French flag lighting up government buildings across the world over the weekend.

If this was the case, if people truly were showing more compassion toward one country than another, then why bring it up at all? Why bring the media into it, pinning a poorly researched accusation onto the very media outlets trying to cover things that no one wants to read?

In our opinion, the problem is all about perception. The Middle East is generalized as one uniform country, instead of a collection of countries that all have different atmospheres and ideas. Because of this misconception, no regard is given to each individual country and what tragedy means to them. People expect violence from the Middle East, and never take the time to examine each event individually.

However, once people are reminded that tragedy is tragedy whether it happens to a country under a French or a Lebanese flag, there is an automatic shying away from responsibility. Rather than people examining the possibility that they might have been ignoring events like this every day, they blame the media for providing poor coverage.

As a media outlet ourselves, we can attest to the rule that what gains more attention is more likely to gain more cover-age. While we do take the responsibility to cover things that may not be as popular, out of a duty to report the truth, there’s no denying the consideration we give hits on Facebook and pickup rates for the paper.

This is one way in which the public can have a direct influ-ence on what they are seeing. If people are clamoring for coverage and information on attacks in other countries, for focus and attention to be given to every tragedy equally, then any newspaper or online outlet would be happy to comply. If we as the media fail, then confront us with proof and ask for change. Demand accountability not only from your media, but also from yourselves.

I like the University of Toledo. I want to make that clear before anything I say can be misconstrued.

I appreciate the fact that certain things that happen on other campuses don't happen here.

But with what's going on at the Uni-versity of Missouri, we should be having similar discussions about preventing that from happening on our campus.

For those who don't know, many racist and hate-filled incidents have taken place on their campus, leading to a large uprising by a group of students. There have been cotton balls left outside of the black culture center that represented slavery and white suppression of other cultures, swastikas painted in human feces on a bathroom and other similar incidents. The outpouring of support from others,

including many here at UT, has helped the cause of the African American stu-dents, but that shouldn't be necessary in the first place.

Could something like that happen here at Toledo? What can we do to prevent it? These are all questions that need to be asked.

Fortunately for us, it's something I couldn't see happen-ing here.

For one, multicul-tural organizations like the Black Student Union and the La-

tino Student Union are professional and run well. They should have

a great amount of respect from the general population, which should be reflected upon the rest of the students of those cultures.

Another reason it's unlikely is because of new president Dr. Sha-ron Gaber, who has a reputation for increasing retention rates and suc-cess among multicultural students at other universities. She's already taken steps to reach out to the diverse pool of students of UT, especially by hiring Dr. Willie McKether to come up with a new diversity plan for the university.

McKether, who's an adviser for the Black Student Union, the National Association for Black Journalists and the Brothers on the Rise organiza-tion, is obviously well-immersed with

a large portion of the multicultural general body.

All this is to say, we likely won't have a lame duck president, which was maybe the biggest issue in Mis-souri. When their issues occurred, the president refused to react and at least try to stop what was going on. I'd be surprised to see the same from ours.

But UT isn't perfect either.For some time now, there's been

a recognizable yet invisible divide between cultures here on campus. It's something I've noticed, something many students I talk to notice, and it's likely something you've noticed. It's not exactly harmful, but it is there.

I have no problem with people being around whom they know. The more you have in common with someone, the more likely you are to spend time with and be comfortable around them.

I look at it as natural segregation. Segregation is a powerful word, but one that fits the situation appropriately.

While I don't believe UT is on its way to having a problem anything like Mis-souri, I do believe we should make an attempt to counteract that possibility.

Whether it's leaders of organiza-tions coming together to do a cross-cultural event, or one organization going out of the way to bridge the gap and get students with different back-grounds to interact with each other, it should be done.

It's not the job of the teachers or the administrators. It's our job.

Keith Boggs is a second-year majoring in communication.

KEITH BOGGSSPORTS REPORTER

REVIEW

Mel Brooks’s “The Producers” is shocking, outrageous, insult-ing — and I love every minute of it. Filled with racial satire, sexual stereotypes and above all, Nazi parody, “The Producers” is the story of two unlikely New York schmucks who try to produce the worst play of all time. The trouble is, it turns out to be a hit. This Mel “Elizabeth” Brooks story has been a 1968 film with Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel, a 2001 Broadway musical staring Nathan Lane and Mat-thew Broderick, and then a film again in 2005 with the Broadway cast. It is the kind of story that can be told over and over, with endless casts speaking the same words, but offering an entire new spin on this truly classic comedy. Last Thursday, the masterpiece

goose-stepped all the way to Toledo’s Valentine Theatre.

Of course the comical timing of the great Nathan Lane or Zero Mostel is nearly impossible to beat. However, I am always in-trigued to see what a new cast brings to the play. Not unlike Shakespeare comedies, the humor has changed over the years, depending on how the actors perform. The actor has the power to empha-size whatever words or actions they like...

Finish reading this piece online at www.IndependentCollegian.com

Global tragedies receive varied attention, but it’s not the media’s fault

EVAN SENNETTIC COLUMNIST

‘The Producers’ came to Toledo

Many racist and hate-filled incidents have taken place at the University of Missouri, leading to a large uprising by a group of students.

Wednesday, November 18, 2016 | The Independent Collegian | 5

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Let’s raise the smoking

age to 21The fact that the percent

of adult smokers who begin smoking around age 18 is close to 90 percent should raise some policymakers’ eyebrows. Also taken into consideration is the average cessation age for those who start smoking at a young age is 33 years for males and 37 years for females. That means these kids grow up to become addicted to nicotine because of their youthful curiosity and experimenta-tion. The most effective policy efforts to reduce cigarette consumption in this target population should be those that target adolescents.

It is noted that the effort put into preventing adolescents from smoking in the first place, primary prevention, is seven times greater than trying to get adults to stop smoking once they are already addicted. This makes perfect sense because if the youth can be stopped from engaging in cigarette smoking from the start then it wouldn’t be as huge of a problem to deal with

down the road. I imagine it would reduce healthcare costs used for people who have medical issues related to long-term smoking.

Evidence for the success of laws restricting youth access to tobacco in reducing teen smoking has been mixed and even with a minimum smoking age, many minors are still able to buy cigarettes for themselves. While the proportion of underage smokers that usually buy their own cigarettes from stores has dropped from 38.7 to 18.8 percent between 1995 and 2003, the percentage of underage smokers who usu-ally get cigarettes by giving money to other people to buy for them increased from 16 to 30 percent.

One important solution that can be used to address these loop holes in decreasing youth access is raising the minimum legal purchase age (MLPA) for tobacco to 21. Increasing the age for young adults to purchase tobacco products may decrease the likelihood of minors buying their own cigarettes by reducing the uncertainty of cashiers when determining whether or not a minor should be allowed to

purchase cigarettes. For ex-ample, many 16-year olds can pass for 18; however, they may not be able to pass for 21.

Since the majority of un-derage smokers rely on social sources to have cigarettes pur-chased for them, if the MLPA increased teens will have less access to legal buyers. For example, a typical high school student can have access to an 18-year-old at their school or elsewhere, but it may be more difficult for them to come across a 21-year-old within their social circle. This could hopefully decrease the opportunity for high school students to ask for help in receiving cigarettes from adults 21 and over compared to those younger than 21.

These tendencies are shown as a result of a survey done by T. Radeki cited by Difranza and Coleman which they found that 90 percent of adults were asked by minors to purchase cigarettes were under 21 years old. Raising the minimum sales age for tobacco will save lives, while failure to do so endangers our youth if we just sit back and no nothing about it.

— Brittney Thames, public health masters student

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Critical thinkingGood writing

CuriosityIntegrity

GutsStudents of any major can apply.Email editor@independentcollegian.com for momation.

Applications available inCarlson Library Suite 1057

(419) 530-7788IndependentCollegian.com

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6 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, November 18, 2015

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Standings

FootballSchool MAC OverallEAST DIVISION Bowling Green 6-1 8-3Ohio 4-3 7-4Buffalo 3-3 5-5 Akron 3-3 5-5Kent State 2-4 3-7UMass 1-5 2-8 Miami 1-6 2-9

WEST DIVISION Toledo 6-1 9-1Northern Illinois 5-1 7-3Western Michigan 5-1 6-4Central Michigan 4-2 5-5Ball State 2-5 3-8Eastern Michigan 0-7 1-10

Women’s BasketballSchool MAC OverallEAST DIVISION Miami 1-0 1-1Bowling Green 0-0 2-0Buffalo 0-0 1-0 Kent State 0-0 1-1Akron 0-0 0-1Ohio 0-0 0-1

WEST DIVISION Central Michigan 0-0 2-0Western Michigan 0-0 1-1Eastern Michigan 0-0 0-0Ball State 0-0 0-1Northern Illinois 0-0 0-1Eastern Michigan 0-0 0-1

Men’s BasketballSchool MAC OverallEAST DIVISION Akron 0-0 2-0Bowling Green 0-0 1-0Buffalo 0-0 1-1 Kent State 0-0 1-0Ohio 0-0 2-0Miami(Oh) 0-0 0-1

WEST DIVISION Northern Illinois 0-0 3-0Central Michigan 0-0 1-0Eastern Michigan 0-0 1-0Toledo 0-0 1-0Ball State 0-0 1-1Western Michigan 0-0 0-1

BASKETBALL

UT’s ups and downsMen’s team dominate the Golden Bears

Women’s team falls in loss to the Wildcats

By Marcus DodsonSports Editor

The University of Toledo men’s basketball team cruised to a 96-65 shellacking over NAIA foe West Virginia Tech in the season opener in Savage Arena on Saturday.

Four Rockets (1-0) scored in double-digits and nine of the eleven players who played re-corded a point in a game that Toledo never trailed.

“It was really important for our young guys to play in a game like this and get some quality minutes,” said Head Coach Todd Kowalczyk. “There are some areas we need to improve on but I do like the unselfishness of this team and our ball movement.”

UT was led by sharp shooter freshman Jaalan Sanford with 22 points in his first collegiate game. The first-year guard was six of eight from three-point land with his first miss occur-ring until the 15:33 mark in the second half on a shot that rimed out.

“I just wanted to go out there and do my thing to help the team win,” Sanford said.

Senior center Nathan Boothe also had an ideal start in his last campaign with UT, scoring 15 points and grabbing 8 rebounds.

Sophomore guard Stuckey Mosley had a career night, re-cording career highs in points with 17 and rebounds with 8.

“I had teams in the past when our point guard has led our team in defensive rebounds,” Kowalczyk said. “I expect that from him [Mosley] this year.”

After starting the first half 0-4 from the field and with two points junior guard Jona-than ‘Jon Jon’ Williams fin-ished with 15 points, shooting five of eight from the field.

“Good players make bad first halves into average games,” Kowalczyk said. “He would’ve never been able to do that last year. Out of all the things that happened tonight, I’m proud of him for that.”

The Golden Bears (2-4) was led by Paul Stone and Ryan Atkins with 20 and 17 points respectfully. Atkins also man-aged to pull in 11 rebounds and dished out five assist.

The Toledo stifling defense held WV Tech to 35.9 percent shooting from the field and 15 turnovers.

The Rockets received a hot start from Boothe, scoring the first nine points of the game.

By Keith BoggsSports Reporter

The University of Toledo women’s basketball team lost 62-59 in the season opener against the Arizona Wildcats at Savage Arena on Saturday.

UT (0-1) was led by senior point guard Brenae Harris with 12 points and four assists. Junior forward Sophie Reecher and sophomore guard Jada Woody both had 11 points each to round out the double-digit scores for the Rockets.

The Wildcats (1-0) were led by Taryn Griffey with 18 points. The daughter of Cincinnati legend, Ken Griffey Jr., scored all her points from three-point range, shooting six of nine from beyond the arch.

The Rockets struggled from the court shooting just 41 per-cent and 42 percent from three.

UT did however control the paint, outscoring the Wildcats 26 to 18 in that category.

Saturday’s game consisted of eight ties and six lead changes with ether team able to hold a lead larger than eight points.

In what felt like a postseason game, the Rockets got off to a slow start, getting their first bucket after three minutes into the contest. Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriet’s free throw with 6:51 left

allowed them to sit.The Rockets would gradu-

ally work their way back into the game after the quick 4-0 deficit. After missing a hand-ful of open looks, solid defense and free throws got Toledo back in the game.

While the Rockets were heat-ing up, the Wildcats were busy struggling with turnovers.

By the end of the first quar-ter, Arizona had accumulated five turnovers and sent the Rockets to the line nine times.

The second quarter began with more of the same, as Toledo jumped out to a 21-17 lead about halfway through the quarter.

The Wildcats then proceeded to go on a run, scoring six in a row during a 12-2 run. By the end of the quarter, Arizona held a 29-23 lead.

The Wildcats started to knock shots down as their defense com-pletely dominated.

Arizona, who averaged three blocks per game last year, had five in the first half.

In the third quarter, both teams came out firing, shooting threes and playing up tempo.

Both teams went on short runs, but the Rockets started to

IC FILE PHOTOSenior center Nathan Boothe looks to the basket in a game against Kent State that the Rockets lost in overtime 76-75. Boothe averaged 10.0 points per game last season.

IC FILE PHOTO Sophomore Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott drives to the basket in a game against Akron that the Rockets lost 102-101. Bravo-Harriott averaged 10.4 points per game last season.

UT teams disappointwith weak finish

CROSS COUNTRY

By Justice SunderlandSports Reporter

Toledo’s women’s and men’s cross country teams ended their 2015 season Nov. 13 in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Champi-onships. The races were held at the Thomas Zimmer championship course in Wisconsin and hosted by the University of Wisconsin.

UT’s women were led by sophomore Stephanie Barlow who finished 76th with a time of 22:09.2. Right behind her was senior Theresa Warsecke in 86th with a time of 22:20.1.

Also scoring for the Rockets was fresh-man Jennifer Lichter finishing with a time of 22:35.8 in ninety-seventh place. Senior Julia Pusateri finished in 109th place in her final collegiate race and freshman Nina Bendixen placed 116th.

As a team Toledo finished in a disappoint-ing eighteenth place. They had a total team score of 484 with an average time of 22:36.6.

Molly Siedel of Notre Dame was the re-gional championship with a time of 20:04.0 and will advance to the NCAA champion-ships in Louisville, Kentucky.

Michigan won the team championship with a score of 69 to automatically qualify

See Dominate /8 » See Loss / 8 »

one rushing, one passing.Bowling Green (8-3, 6-1 MAC) was led

by senior Matt Johnson, who passed for 274 yards and three touchdowns. Johnson was also responsible for two intercep-tions both picked off by Toledo’s senior Cheatham Norrils.

The UT defense was stifling, causing five turnovers on the night and holding the Falcon running attack to just 94 yards on 30 attempts.

The Rockets jumped on the board first after an interception by Norrils on the first play of the game. Toledo would need just four plays to travel 27 yards for the open-ing touchdown of the game with a five-yard run from Hunt.

Toledo would force the Falcons to a three-and-out on their next possession. Toledo needed just 50 seconds to drive 67 yards behind the legs of Hunt and sophomore Terry Swanson.

Swanson would punch it in for the Rockets on a 23-yard scamper to extend UT’s lead to 14-0.

The Rocket’s defense continued to hold strong, giving up just two yards and forcing the Falcons to another three-and-out.

UT’s offense drove down to the Bowl-ing Green one-yard line, but was unable to punch it in. Freshman Jameson Vest knocked in the 20-yard field goal, giving UT an early 17-0 lead with 3:10 left in the first quarter.

On the ensuing Falcon possession, se-nior linebacker Chase Murdock stripped BG’s Fred Coppet at the 49 yard line and Trent Voss recovered the ball for the Rockets at the UT 46.

The Rockets would have another drive stall out inside the five-yard line yet again. Vest would come in to knock in the 22-yard

field goal to give UT a 20-0 lead with 14:14 left in the second quarter.

Bowling Green answered the field goal with a score of their own with a nine-play, 65-yard drive capped off with a five-yard touchdown run by Coppet.

The UT offense responded nicely on a 10-play, 47-yard drive, but the drive would stall out once again and Vest would come on to nail the 35-yard field goal pushing the Rockets lead to 23-7.

The Rockets defense came up big on BG’s ensuing possession. UT’s John Stepec came up with a huge sack on third-and-18 to get the Falcons off the field.

On BG’s punt, junior Corey Jones returned it down to the 46-yard line but was hit late out of bounce by BG’s Spencer Cairo, giving UT great field position at the BG 39.

Toledo would need just three plays to punch it with Hunt for his second rushing touchdown of the night with 5:58 remain-ing in the half to give UT a 30-7 lead.

The Falcons answered the Rockets’ touch-down with one of their own to end the half. Johnson found Gehrig Dieter for a five-yard touchdown pass to cut the Rocket lead to 30-14.

On the first possession of the second half, on a third-and-12, Ely’s pass was intercepted by BG’s Austin Valdez at the UT 39.

Bowling Green needed just four plays to find the end zone. Johnson would find Dieter on another fade route, this one from three yards out to cut the Toledo

lead to 30-21. On the ensuing Rocket possession, the Fal-

cons forced UT into a three-and-out and made them punt for the first time in the contest.

On the first play after the punt, senior de-fensive tackle Allen Covington sacked Johnson and forced him to fumble. Senior defensive lineman Orion Jones recovered the loose ball and returned it 22 yards down to the BG 8.

Toledo would need two plays to score after Ely kept it on the read option for his first collegiate rushing touchdown and to give Toledo a 37-21 advantage with just over 11 minutes left in the third quarter.

But they weren’t finished. On a play that looked like it would be a sack, Johnson was able to elude the UT pressure and find an open Dieter from 11 yards out.

Up 37-28 in the fourth quarter, Johnson found Dieter for a gain of 14 before being stripped at the Toledo 28 by senior free safety Rolan Milligan. Junior Dejuan Rog-ers recovered the fumbled and returned it 23 yards to the BG 49 but an unsports-manlike conduct penalty would bring the Rockets back to the UT 36-yard line.

Toledo would respond with a nine-play, 64-yard drive and milk over five minutes off the clock in the process. On third-and-nine, Ely found Russell for a 15-yard passing touchdown to give the Rockets a 44-28 lead with 8:38 remaining in the game.

In BGSU’s last hope to get back in the fight, senior cornerback Cheatham Norrils picked off Johnson for Toledo’s fourth take-away to ice the game.

With the win, the Rockets keep their Mid-American Conference Champion-ship dream alive. If Western Michigan beats Northern Illinois tonight, and we beat Western Michigan in our last game of the regular season on Friday, Nov. 27, we’ll see the Falcons again in December for the MAC Championship game. See Weak Finish / 8 »

Victory from page 1

If you goWhat: Toledo vs Western Michigan Where: The Glass BowlWhen: Friday, Nov. 27 at noonSponsored by: CBS Sport Network

Wednesday, November 18, 2015 | The Independent Collegian | 7

COMMUNITY

CALENDAR

Thursday, Nov. 195 p.m. – 7 p.m. — Taste of ToledoYou can sign up with the Center for International Studies and Programs to eat a group meal at a local restaurant. Students will eat Brazilian food, and that is the only thing they have to pay for. The cost of transportation will be taken care of. You can sign up in Snyder Memorial 1000 or by emailing cisp@utoledo.edu. Contact Peter Thomas at cisp@utoledo.edu with any questions. 7 p.m. — Percussion Ensemble ConcertAdmission is free to the Percussion Ensemble Concert in the Center for Performing Arts Recital Hall. If you like percussion-based music, you might want to go to the event led by Dr. Olman Piedra. Contact Angela Riddel at TheArts@utoledo.edu with any questions. Saturday, Nov. 21All day — UT College of Law Lights at the Zoo Discount tickets to the Toledo Zoo are available to all UT law students, faculty, staff and alumni and their family members. Contact Lindsey.Cavese@rockets.utoledo.edu or coleen.wening@rockets.utoledo.edu with questions.

Spreading smiles:By Joe HeidenescherCommunity Editor

Despite her diminutive stature, she’s impossible to miss. When I met her outside of the bookstore, she was decked in a flowing red cape, a blue turtle neck, bright floral leggings and vibrant red rain boots. But what I first noticed was her tremendous smile and overflowing jubilee.

“You must be Joe,” she yelled as she spotted me with my coffee, recorder and my yellow legal pad.

“Can I give you a hug?” she asked.

I was taken aback. She was the first person I had ever interviewed in the past three years to offer me a hug. I obliged, because after all, she is the self-proclaimed good-will ambassador of kindness in the state of Ohio.

She is Suzann Castore, other-wise known as the A-OK Lady.

It is her personal mission to travel across Ohio “to promote kindness, hope and compassion in our state with the ultimate goal that Ohio be a model to America.”

In the past few years, she traveled over 7,000 miles spreading smiles to Ohioans. Not only does she bring a smile to thousands of faces, she also hands out physi-cal smiley faces to share. It’s all part of what she calls the “mile of smiles.” She encour-ages people she meets to take her around to homeless shel-ters, assisted living centers, college campuses and coffee shops or anywhere there are people that could use a smile.

Castore met me on campus to participate in one of her mile of smiles, so we left from the bookstore together. In addition to her outfit, she was geared up with a sack of smiley face pillows and a utility belt, with six pockets of surprise and wonder.

When we ran into students

she would greet them with a bright smile and a question.

“Can I offer you an A-O-K?” she would ask.

Many looked at her con-fused; some would say “sure.”

She would then give them a riddle. “It’s something you’ve given and something you’ve received.”

“It’s a cute riddle,” she told me. “I kind of made that up; I don’t know where it came from. I guess my brain.”

When the students fi-nally gave in, she would tell them. “Can I offer you an act of kindness?” she would say as she traced the letters A-O-K in the air.

Then she would introduce herself. “I’m Suzanne, the goodwill ambassador for kind-ness in Ohio. The A-OK Lady.”

She told me that she adopted her moniker after several events in her past.

Castore revealed to me that she has bipolar disorder. In

her past, she was hospitalized because of her condition. She stayed in bed for weeks because she had no motiva-tion to get better.

“My family began drifting away because I was in and out like a bouncing ball,” she said.

Eventually, she was able to spend time out of bed, but she still only sat around. One time she sat next to a schizo-phrenic man.

“At first we didn’t talk at all; he was catatonic,” she said. “In a sense, I was catatonic. I was shocked, I didn’t have a sense of what was going on.”

But after some time, the two began to warm up to one another.

“We just sat together for a while, and then one day he kind of looked and said ‘What’s your name?’” she said.

And they began to connect. “He no longer sat cata-

tonically; we talked for hours sometimes,” she said. “At the

very end, he said to me, as it turns out we both left the same day, no one could get him out of that catatonic state, he said, ‘If it weren’t for your acts of kindness, I would not be able to walk out this door. Thank you.’ We healed each other through that connection.”

This is when Castore began spreading acts of kindness.

She also said she had a mo-ment of darkness. During a time when she felt spread too thin and overwhelmed, Cas-tore said she “just swerved to drive off the road, I just couldn’t take it.”

She attempted to take her own life.

But a car stopped her. “This car, had that car not stopped, I would not be here,” she said.

While she was recover-ing, her husband asked her if she was “OK.” Which she said she wasn’t, but over time it became her mission to help others be OK.

“As I progressed, I got better and better; I found the right medication,” she said. “I was really good, I had no episodes in years. Then I had this idea, why not have a campaign? I’m very much an advocate for mental health.”

With her experiences in her back pockets, the A-OK Lady adopted a superhero mission. “For the campaign, I woke up one day and de-cided,” she said.

Her campaign led her to start here, in Toledo.

“I came to Toledo because I like to play with words. To lead Ohio. That’s the connec-tion,” she said. “And Toledo is north. And when we are lost, we look to the North Star. And we are a lost society, we aren’t totally lost. But we are disconnected.”

These are the types of

connections and word play she has a unique knack for. It seemed as if she could spin any word into a positive ves-sel of kindness.

She said she visited Wal-greens, which she sees as a combination of walls and the color green. “I like the word wall, because we hit walls in relationships and the color green represents growth,” she said.

She even transforms swear words into positivity. “I love shit, I really do,” she said. The word “shit” to her is a way of saying “shush” and “it.” In her way the word has a calming effect.

The A-OK Lady was full of these surprising gems of joy, but watching her in action is when I saw her effect.

I sat in Trimble Lounge as she captivated a group of six. Within the 25 minutes she sat with them, they all smiled at least once. By the end of their conversation she pulled large smiley face pillows out of her sack and a camera out of her red utility belt. She had them pose in all sorts of silly manners for pictures for her website.

When she left groups like this, she always asked them if they wanted hug. The usual answer was yes.

“I call myself an empow-erer,” she said. “I’m empow-ering them to look at things in a different way in relation-ship to how they connect with people and motivate them. Just listening.”

And listen she did. Each per-son she encountered, including

me, she asked for a story. She is a story collector — they are for a book she is composing.

She would pull out a small recorder, another surprise from her belt of wonder. The device had over 75 different recordings on it.

She would say, “Pick a num-ber between 1 and 75.” Every recording she played for the

students was a different story, but each story

she remembered with perfect

clarity. And she

would ask if there were any stories they

wanted share. Through her

time listening, she has met all sorts

of people. “There’s all kinds of differ-

ent people,” she said. “Like ice cream, there are different flavors. I like to think there are different flavors of people.”

The A-OK Lady has her very own flavor too, a flavor that is unique to her, but extremely contagious.

After taking her around campus for three hours, I was getting physically and mentally drained, but her energy levels never dropped. She was ready to speak to any and every passerby.

In almost every other in-terview situation, I would be exhausted after three hours, but her compassion and kindness wore off on me.

She handed me a package of small yellow smiley faces and told me to share them. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t follow through, but for her beautiful smiling face and her compassionate mission, I promised I would.

Suzann Castore, The A-OK Lady

JOE HEIDENESCHER / ICSuzann Castore holds up a map of Ohio where she has highlighted every city she has visited during her travels.

JOE HEIDENESCHER / IC

“Can I offer you an act of kindness?”

SUZANN CASTOREThe A-OK Lady

Local Toledo families host international students for Thanksgiving festivitiesBy Lauren GilbertCopy Editor

Your family can invite international students to Thanksgiving dinner next week as part of the fifth consecutive year of a host-ing program sponsored by the University of Toledo Center for International Studies and Programs.

Anyone in the Toledo community can volunteer to become a host family, according to Xinren Yu, coordinator of the program and graduate assistant at CISP. He said host families usually accommodate two international students, but that number varies depend-ing on how many people they’re willing to have.

Yu said the purpose of the program is to provide new experiences for both the host families and the international students.

“Usually this is an Ameri-can festival, 100 percent traditional,” Yu said. “You usually spend this time with your family. But if you have an international student joining the Thanksgiving dinner, it will bring some di-versity, bring something that

you wouldn’t have before.”This program can also

serve as a learning oppor-tunity for the host families, according to Yu. Guests can share their own personal traditions and cultural cel-ebrations from their home countries.

“The program opens up a new perspective for the domestic people who get involved,” Yu said. “But on the international students’ side … it’s a pretty unique experience for them. It’s re-ally American, so for them it’s a great learning opportunity as well and to get involved in the domestic culture.”

Yu said he’s been able to see the program grow over the years because each year more and more students and families participate. Yu said there were around 7 or 8 families signed up last year with about 15 students. This year there are around 10-15 families signed up and over 30 students.

Yu thinks international students will really appreciate the inclusive environment of a family. He said it can be pretty lonely during the holidays if they don’t have

any family in the area.Cheryl Thomas, execu-

tive assistant for CISP, has been participating as a host for the program for several years. She said including international students gives her a renewed excitement for the holiday.

“We just take things for granted here, so it’s like Thanksgiving comes and goes every year and this is something they have maybe never experienced before so they’re really excited, so it gives us and our families a renewed excitement for the holiday ... and just kind of pull them into our family and make them feel a part of it,” Thomas said. COURTESY OF NAVINDI SANDALI WEERASINGHE

Last year, Navindi Sandali Weerasinghe, a Sri Lankan native, celebrated Thanksgiving with a Toledo family. This was her first time trying a taste of turkey. See Thanksgiving / 8 »

HOLIDAY CULTURE

“It will bring some diversity, bring something that you wouldn’t have before.”

XINREN YUProgram coordinator and

graduate assistant for CISP

8 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, November 18, 2015

The 6-foot 9-inch senior knocked down his first three-point shot attempt of the season to give the Rock-ets an early five-point lead.

Stone would tie things up for the Golden Bears at nine points each with 14:44 left in the first half but that would be the clos-est WV Tech would get to the lead.

After the media time-out the Rockets received instant production off the bench from Sanford.

The six foot four Indiana native knocked down four first-half three pointers.

The Golden Bears how-ever did not shy away from the Rocket’s playing a very physical brand of basketball committing 16 first-half fouls. WV Tech physical brand cost them as UT was in the double bonus before the 10-minute mark in the first half.

After a pair of Mosley free throws at the 5:56 mark the Rockets jumped out to a 38-22 lead, the largest of the half.

As the first half continued, UT’s lights out shooting

simply went out. After a three-minute Toledo scoring drought until the 1:33 mark of the half, WV tech was able to cut the 16 point lead to just 10.

Mosley ended the last minute and a half with six quick points to extend the lead back to 16.

The Rockets took a 46-32 halftime lead into the locker room.

After the break Williams came out the locker room with a vengeance scoring twice on his first two at-tempts of the half.

“I told him walking back,”

Kowalczyk said. “The fact that he played as poorly he did was a good thing for him and our program this year.”

Williams and Sanford led the 8-0 run within the first two minutes of the half to extend their lead to 54-32 with over 18 minutes remaining in the half.

UT never let the Golden Bears back into the game from that point cruising to a 96-65 victory.

The Rockets will be on the road for their next five games and will return to Savage Arena on Dec. 2 when they host Cleveland State at 7 p.m.

Dominatefrom page 6

runs, but the Rockets started to take control, with a 7-0 run tying the game back up at 34-34.

After a bucket by Arizona, Toledo continued to fire away, this time going on an 8-0 run to take a 42-36 lead. The run was engineered by two Jada Woody threes. Woody would finish the game with 11 points, her first career game in double figures.

In a game of runs, Arizona responded with one of their own, eventually tying the game at 46 by the end of the third.

The Wildcats continued their hot shooting, starting the fourth quarter on an 8-2 run.

Griffey hit a couple threes to begin the quarter.

After a see-saw of missed shots, five consecutive points by Mikaela Boyd Toledo got back within one.

The terms traded baskets for several more possessions, with Arizona maintaining a narrow two point lead.

With the Rockets down three and six seconds left, Toledo placed the ball in the hands of Bravo-Harriet, their best shooter.

Harriet, who struggled during the game, finishing 2-13 from the field, missed off the back iron as the buzzer sounded.

It was a tough loss for Toledo, but one Tricia Cullop believes the team will learn from.

“We faced a great team; they’re going to finish better than they were picked,” Cullop said. “We picked this schedule for a reason.

“We got better today.”The Rockets return to action

Wednesday, Nov. 18, when they travel to South Bend to play Notre Dame.

Loss from page 6

for the NCAA champion-ships.

UT’s men competed in the 10k race at the same course.

Sophomore Stalline Kurgat led the Rocket charge with a time of 33:01.8 — good enough for 109th place.

Seniors Adam Bess and Hillary Serem finished 113th and 137th in their final col-legiate cross country race.

Also finishing for To-ledo was sophomore Louis Guardiola in 150th place and freshman Andrew Ciaccia

in 160th place. Michigan’s Mason Ferlic would win the men’s regional crown with a 30:18.3 time.

Michigan would also take the men’s title sending both their men and women to the NCAA championship.

Toledo finished in 24th place with a 669 total team score and a total time of 2:47.40 with an average time of 33:32.1 per runner.

The women’s team will return in December when they start their indoor track season with the East-ern Michigan Holiday Meet on Dec. 5.

Weak finishfrom page 6

Sara Clark, director of the Global Engagement and American Lan-guage Institute, has also participated in the program as a host. She feels strongly about not letting interna-tional students feel lonely during the holidays.

“It’s great for the students because they need to be con-nected. That’s a lonely day on campus; none of us are here and they’re still here. They’re in their residence halls or in their apart-ments and they’re alone. So it’s a great time for us to open up our homes,” Clark said.

The excitement factor and the opportunity to learn also plays a major role for Clark and her family.

“It’s exciting. I have young children and they know that every Thanksgiving there’s going to be some international people at the table that they get to learn from, so it’s great for our little people too,” Clark said.

Clark said the international students love to cook with the families since a traditional Thanksgiving meal is so different from what they cook at home.

“So that has been really fun; there’s been a lot of laughs in the kitchen about, ‘you’re doing what with this vegetable? You don’t eat it like that!’”

Thomas has a full house each Thanksgiving, with 12 students sitting around the table every year. Hosting students has become as important to her Thanksgiving as any other tradition.

“It touches your heart and my family loves it and we’re excited to do it every year,” Thomas said.

Navindi Sandali Weerasinghe, a second-year majoring in biology and president of the International Student Association, participated

in the program last year.“I think CISP and both ISA

are working together to knit the international students into a more closer circle and I can definitely see improvement and development on that,” Weerasinghe said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for the in-ternational students to learn about American culture and actually adopt it. I think it definitely opens doors to a lot of opportunities.”

Last Thanksgiving was Weer-asinghe’s first time trying turkey. Before that, she was a self-pro-fessed “chickentarian.”

“Coming from Sri Lanka, it definitely is something new for me, this whole concept of Thanksgiving and sharing food on a big table on one day. At home we don’t do it and I thank UT for opening doors for this opportunity for me,” Weerasinghe said.

For international students or American families interested in participating in the Thanksgiving dinner program, the deadline to register is Thursday, Nov. 19.

For more information, visit utoledo.edu/cisp/thanksgiv-ing or contact Yu via email at Xinren.Yu@utoledo.edu or by phone at 419-530-4438.

‘The Laramie Project’ will take the Center Theatre stage with real life stories from Laramie, WyomingEmily SchnipkeAssociate Community Editor

An act of hate inspires a project of hope.

When tragedy strikes, a town becomes split by their reactions. Most responded with compassion, but many turned to hate. The path to healing is not easy for the com-munity of Laramie, Wyoming.

The University of Toledo’s upcoming production of “The Laramie Project” is co-directed by Pete Cross and Mark Leasor, two alumni of the UT Theatre Department.

The play is based on emotional interviews with the residents of Laramie after the death of a student at the University of Wyoming.

According to a press release, in October 1998, a 21-year-old gay college student named Matthew Shepard was found tied to a fence, severely beaten, robbed and left to die. The cyclist who discovered him called for help, but it was no use. Shepard never regained con-sciousness and died just days later because of head injuries.

In response to the incident, members of the Tectonic Theatre Project and their director Moisés Kaufman traveled to Laramie from New York. They interviewed more than 100 residents in an attempt to recreate and reenact the events that occurred on that fateful night.

“‘The Laramie Project’ is about

a community faced with trauma revolving around the tragic death of a young gay man,” Leasor wrote in an email interview. “Murdered (most believe) because he was gay, Matthew’s beating and subsequent death in a small town in Wyo-ming, an incident that received worldwide attention, brought anti-gay hate-crimes and the need for legislation to the forefront of consciousness.”

Leasor mentioned that it was because of this incident and ones similar to this — including the death of James Byrd who was killed only months before Shepard — that the government began to step in. Over a decade later and five different bill introductions by Rep. John Conyers, Congress was able to pass the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

According to Leasor, many mem-bers of the LGBTQ community didn’t feel safe in their own homes during this time and suicide rates rose.

“Things have certainly changed. There has been prog-ress,” Leasor said. “But there are still mountains to topple.”

Resonating with people of all ages, genders and races has made “The Laramie Project” a worldwide phenomenon and has opened discussion of prejudice against sexual orientation, race, gender and everything between.

“It’s also incredibly relevant in

relation to anywhere manmade tragedy erupts,” Leasor wrote. “Think of Ferguson. Think of Paris. No matter where you stand on the issues, how do we, as a community, react? How do we move forward? What is the dia-logue? Or are we silent?”

Leasor wrote that the main reason behind the play is to encourage discussion about the crime and its aftermath. It aims to stimulate conver-sation on all viewpoints of the event.

“Without open discussion I don’t think there’s any way to move forward,” Leasor wrote. “If we stay silent we risk bottling those feelings up, and we risk complacency and apathy.”

In the staging of the play, the directors say they decided to keep the entire ensemble part of the

action, whether directly listening and participating or on the pe-rimeter. They say the challenge is to make the highly narrative play more active by finding the reason behind a character’s story.

According to Leasor, the group spent rehearsal time discussing the murder and the effects that it had on the town. The cast also had the opportunity to meet and talk with a guest speaker, Scott Boberg, who was in Laramie at the time of the murder, which gave the cast an inside look into the town.

“Lucky for us it has turned out to be one of the most strongly con-nected ensembles we’ve worked with,” Leasor wrote. “The cast is doing a wonderful job breathing life and nuance into the language”

“The Laramie Project” will be

performed Nov. 20-22 and Dec. 4-6. Friday and Saturday perfor-mances will begin at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday performances will begin at 2 p.m. Admission is $8 for students, $10 for staff and fac-ulty and $15 for general public.

COURTESY OF UT DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE & FILMThe cast of “The Laramie Project” interview people from the town of Laramie, Wyoming. The citizens from Laramie were present during the murder of gay college student, Matthew Shepard. This background information gives the cast inspiration on how to portray characters during their performance.

“It’s also incredibly relevant in relation to anywhere manmade tragedy erupts. Think of Ferguson. Think of Paris. No matter where you stand on the issues, how do we, as a community, react? How do we move forward? What is the dialogue? Or are we silent?”

MARK LEASORUT Alumni and co-director of ‘The Laramie Project’

If you goWhat: “The Laramie Project”Where: Center Theatre in the

Center for Performing ArtsWhen: Nov. 20-22, Dec. 4-6Friday and Saturday

performances begin at 7:30p.m. Sunday performances begin at 2 p.m.

Admission: Tickets cost $8 for students, $10 for staff and faculty and $15 for the general public

Thanksgiving from page 7

THEATRE PERFORMANCE

“So that has been really fun; there’s been a lot of laughs in the kitchen about, ‘you’re doing what with this vegetable? You don’t eat it like that!’”

SARA CLARKDirector of the Global

Engagement and American Language Institute

smoking ban on campus may deter those students who do smoke from coming to UT. Gaber was quick to bring up her pre-vious work at the University of Arkansas, which is also a smoke-free campus, where enrollment increased by nearly 40 percent over six years.

“The reality is that most state agencies are saying for you to get state funding, you can’t smoke in state facilities or on state property,” Gaber said.

One associate professor in the department of English said the largest issue in recruitment for them is in graduate student stipends. She said multiple graduate students declined offers she extended, saying inadequate funds were their biggest issue.

Gaber agreed that the largest decline in enrollment was of graduate students, but the resources to encourage them to attend are lacking.

“It’s a vicious cycle, right? At a time where we don’t have resources, I can’t put more resources into it,” Gaber said. “We’ve got to figure out how we turn it around.”

Gaber also said it will be a step-by-step process over a couple of years to generate the revenue needed to bring more attention to programs like this and make progress.Health and Safety

Multiple questions were asked about campus-wide health and safety, includ-ing Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate training, CPR training and drug and suicide prevention.

Gaber addressed the topic of ALICE training, saying she first had the police come to give the training to the senior leadership team at UT. She plans to ask the provost to ensure the deans of each of the colleges have completed ALICE training. She also said she encourages students and groups to undergo ALICE training so they are also prepared.

One attendee was concerned for the well-being of event attendees and asked

about having a CPR program available on campus. They said there have been events at UT where some attendees fainted or had other health issues. An-other audience member answered this by mentioning the training program offered by the Recreation Center.Parking

There was also a discussion about potential changes to parking, including changes to the cost of permits and the possibility of switching to fees based on proximity to popular locations instead of the current flat rate.

Gaber said this is one of the changes that could help to cover the $13 million deficit the university holds. She also said UT’s permits are under the average price in the region.

UT worked with advisory group Walker Parking Consultants last year, which provided a report saying the university does not run parking in the most efficient way, Gaber said. She also said she was surprised to see students pay more for their parking than faculty and staff.

“I’ve not been on very many campuses where students pay more than faculty and staff,” Gaber said. “Students are already paying tuition and fees and we’ve talked about those. And then they’re paying in some cases twice as much as faculty and staff or in some cases, five times as much.”

She also said most schools differenti-ate their prices based on how close you would like to park to your buildings, where a “closer” permit would have a higher price.

After being here for five months, Gaber said she hopes to continue making progress and move forward. Although the fixes will not come overnight and she appreciates the interest shown by others in sharing information and getting to know each other.

“This isn’t my university, this is ours,” Gaber said. “… It is not that any individ-ual will change how things are working and how we succeed, we do have to do that collectively.”

Gaber from page 1

to find communication as a major,” he said. “It’s helped our students I think, and it has certainly helped our enrollment numbers. “

Eidemiller stated that since leaving the College of Language Literature and Social Sciences, the com-munication department as a whole has seen more students interested in the program.

Both departments’ con-cerns were for the students, but they also wanted to make sure the transition was beneficial for the de-partments as well.

“The overarching idea is that you can make con-nections with new depart-ments and create oppor-tunities between both that weren’t as easily facilitated when they were in their own separate colleges,” Bollman said.

Gina Gass, a fourth-year communication and theatre major, prefers CoCA to LLSS.

“It’s a lot better,” she said. “They work a lot closer and bridge the gap between communication and the arts, while over-lapping the skills students must be able to have.”

Katie Cepero, a communi-cation graduate, thinks it was a smart move to leave LLSS.

“There are a lot of stu-dents who double major in film and broadcasting,” Cepero said. “When com-munication was in LLSS, we as students, felt a little excluded or out of place but now that communica-tion is a part of the arts, it’s easier to collaborate and create some really cool projects.”

Cepero also said that COCA is helping adapt students to the new soci-ety we live in today.

“Communication is a social science but it’s also

an art, and in this day and age even more so,” she said. “Our culture commu-nicates in very different ways now than ten or so years ago, and this I think is adapting to that cultural change.”

The main goal, accord-ing to Bollman, is to make sure the students receive a quality education and make good connections during their time here.

the classrooms,” McKether said. “Throughout the uni-versity, having diversity and a climate of inclusion is critically important, because again, I think it brings about differ-ences of opinions out in the same environment.”

McKether’s appointment is one of many diversity initia-tives Gaber announced Fri-day, Nov. 13. In a university-wide email, Gaber wrote that the Office of Student Affairs will be focusing on diversity in the months to come.

The Office of Excellence and Multicultural Student Services will be looking for graduate students to assist with programming and mentorship to student groups. Their leadership will be receiving a change as well with the hiring of an associ-ate dean for the office.

“The University of Toledo’s commitment to diversity must be infused into every action we take,” Gaber wrote.

“It is represented in our words as well as our actions and decisions at all levels of the university.”

David Young, director of OEMSS, said Gaber’s leadership and action has been crucial in maintaining a positive atmosphere for minorities on campus.

“I think that it’s impor-tant that the University of Toledo’s been proactive,”

Young said. “This president moved without a student demonstration; this presi-dent moved without student unrest on the campus, and I think that’s important.”

According to Young, students have become increasingly more active and engaged in student movements. Young said McKether’s appointment was something he thinks students will respond well to, and will help give student voices a platform.

“The student voice is extremely important in this whole area. Students need to have a voice, students need voice their opinions and be heard,” Young said.

Melanie Goosby, vice president of the Black Stu-dent Union, said she is in favor of the new measures, and hopes they will improve dialogue between student groups as well as retention rates of minority students.

“I think this new position has shown minority students that Dr. Gaber is aware of

diversity issues that have arisen at other universities, and she is taking proactive steps to improving the cul-ture at UT,” Goosby said.

Jack Alferio, president of UT Spectrum, wrote in an email interview that Spec-trum is excited for the hiring of a new associate dean for OEMSS, which they feel will help the office immensely.

“Having someone in this role shows Gaber’s com-mitment to diversity in all its forms,” Alferio wrote. “I feel the campus has been seeing some great change on the terms of diversity since Gaber has been in office.”

McKether said the student voice is going to be an impor-tant part of formulating the strategic plan and gathering information going forward.

“I think it says also that we’re listening to students, we value students’ opinions and their views, we want them to know that we hear them, and that we want to develop a strategic plan that includes their voices.”

Wednesday, November 18, 2015 | The Independent Collegian | 9

“I think this new position has shown minority students that Dr. Gaber is aware of diversity issues ... and she is taking proactive steps to improving the culture at UT.”

MELANIE GOOSBYVice President of BSU

Diversity from page 1

Merger from page 3

“Our culture communicates in very different ways now than ten or so years ago, and this I think is adapting to that cultural change.”

KATIE CEPEROUT alumna

10 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, November 18, 2015