October 31, 2014 | The Miami Student

The Miami Student Established 1826

HALLOWEEN 2014

VOLUME 142 NO. 18

MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO

WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET

Scholarship discrepancy International students receive less aid than domestic students MONEY EMILY C. TATE

UNIVERSITY EDITOR

Sophomore Shuai Li, an international student from China, works 22 hours a week — the maximum a student employee can work at Miami University. Li does this, and said she would do more if she could, because she has to help her parents pay for her education. Her college expenses total more than $45,000 each year — and her parents aren’t willing to pay that by themselves. The deal is they’ll pay for tuition if she covers the room and board, books and any additional fees. Li is like many other international students at Miami in that she receives no scholarship compensation from the university. In fact, only 34 percent of last year’s accepted international students received a scholarship offer, while 70 percent — more than double — of accepted American students were offered a scholarship. This discrepancy is the result of a combination of factors working against the international community, Associate Director of International Admissions Aaron Bixler said. “They just don’t have the same opportunities,” he said.

For instance, international students are not eligible for university merit scholarships unless they have taken the ACT or SAT, which few have access to in their home countries. Li said she took the SAT, but had to travel to another location to take it. “I went to Hong Kong to take the test,” she said. “It was a twoand-a-half hour flight, but Hong Kong is the only place to take the SAT in China.” Perhaps more problematic is that international students are not eligible for government aid, such as student loans or Pell grants. Bixler said some students’ home countries, like India, offer student loans, but it’s rare. Though international students are not considered for university merit scholarships without these standardized tests, Miami offers the International Education Scholarship to alleviate some of the expenses. Of course, it’s highly competitive, according to the MU International Admission Fact Sheet. It is the source of most international students’ scholarships, ranging from $2,000 to $16,000 per year. Bixler said there are no specific requirements for this award, but the admissions office considers diversity when selecting recipients.

Friday folly: Students speculate schedule shift ACADEMICS ALISON TREEN

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

For some Miami University students, the weekend begins one day early. A sequence of Oxford undergraduate English classes show ta decrease in the number of courses offered on Fridays in recent years. In the fall semester of 2007, there were 87 English classes offered on Fridays. In the fall of 2008, the number rose to 97; in the fall semester of 2013 the number dropped to 69; and this fall semester of 2014, the amount slid to 62. Why the hike in classes in 2008? In 2006, Miami University printed a news release establishing an alcohol task force whose job was to find ways to curb student alcohol abuse. Among the task force’s suggestions were building a new student union, increasing punishments for underage drinking and using false identification — and adding more Friday classes. Specifically, the release states to “increase the percentage of undergraduate classes scheduled for

TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY

early mornings and Fridays to at least 30 percent by fall 2008.” “The Task Force of ‘06 was part of the President Garland Initiative to Reduce High Risk Drinking,” Rebecca Young, Director of the Office of Student Wellness and part of the current Task Force, said. “That Task Force did recommend an increase in Friday classes because data suggests that when students have Friday classes they will drink less on Thursday nights, thus decreasing negative consequences from high risk alcohol use,” Young said. While trends in classes seem to support the previous Task Force’s recommendation, the current Task Force has neither confirmed nor denied its opinion on increasing Friday classes. “The current Task Force is reviewing all policies and recommendations that are supported by data,” Young said. Regardless, students and faculty alike take note of their Friday classes. “Attendance is an issue,” Professor Scott Johnston of the Architecture and Interior Design Department said. FRIDAYS »PAGE 4

SCHOLARSHIP »PAGE 4

PHILL ARNDT THE MIAMI STUDENT

SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS Stilt walker struts in the Armstrong Student Center Tuesday afternoon for OxVegas Homecoming Week.

Police investigate Hughes Hall bomb threat Miami University police learned late yesterday evening of a bomb threat for today, Friday, Oct. 31, at Hughes Hall. “The MUPD and the University are taking this very seriously and are taking steps for

safety,” Director of University News and Communications Claire Wagner said. For safety reasons, neither the University nor the MUPD were able to disclose any extra information concerning the threat.

The Andrew Hendrix Experience FOOTBALL JACK KOCHMAN

FOR THE MIAMI STUDENT

Miami football head coach Chuck Martin doesn’t hesitate in describing his starting quarterback. “Do you remember the show Bill Nye the Science Guy? That’s Andrew Hendrix.” Miami University football fans have suffered a historically long losing streak over the last two years, but at long last, the football team won over the University of Massachusetts Minutemen Oct. 4. Per the norm, Miami quarterback Andrew Hendrix was leading the charge. Hendrix proceeded to win the Capital One Cup Impact Performance of the Week, as well. He completed 32 passes on 58 attempts for 437 yards and four touchdowns to get a QBR of 80.1. His 13 carries for 81 yards helped Miami overcome a 27-point deficit. But, despite his recent claims to fame, few students know who Hendrix really is. Hendrix is at Miami as a Kinesiology and Health Science graduate student. He spent his undergraduate years at the University of Notre Dame, as a pre-med student and football player. One of the main reasons

Hendrix switched was because of his lack of playing time with the Fighting Irish, he said. Throwing 58 passes in three years isn’t ideal for any college quarterback. Since Hendrix didn’t play freshman year, he utilized the NCAA’s graduate transfer waiver that required both Notre Dame and Miami to allow him to play as a RedHawk during grad school. “Coming from Notre Dame,

lus problems at the dinner table,” Martin joked. Hendrix said a number of factors impacted his decision to transfer. One of which was the opportunity to take a struggling program with potential and lead it back to a competitive level. “To be a collegiate starter would be a dream come true,” Hendrix said. “For my fifth year, I started looking at schools and I’m from

LAUREN OLSON PHOTO EDITOR

I didn’t play much and I really wanted to finish my career as a starting quarterback,” Hendrix said. “That was something I always wanted since I was a little kid.” “Unfortunately, he didn’t grow up watching Monday Night Football. They had him doing calcu-

Cincinnati so I was always going to consider Miami. Once Coach Martin told me he was coming to Miami, he wanted me to come and compete to be his quarterback, then it was pretty much a done deal.” HENDRIX »PAGE 4

In 1995, The Miami Student published a story about the growing trend of Pagan worship in America. The article quoted firstyear Ashley Boyd, a practitioner of Wicca — more commonly known as witchcraft. “We need people to know witchcraft is a beautiful religion of love and not something wicked.”

UNIVERSITY

COMMUNITY

SCARY STORY CONTEST

COMMUNITY FIGHTS HUNGER

»PAGE 2

“We are trying to recruit in places we don’t have a lot of students,” Bixler said. “We’d choose a Brazilian who wants to be an architect over a Chinese student studying finance.” This, he said, is because the university focuses on diversifying not only its total student body, but also the countries represented within the international student body and the areas of study those students pursue. And even with the International Education Scholarship, Bixler said the average international student receives just $3,000 in scholarship offers. He also said it is nearly impossible for an international student to attend Miami on full scholarship, with the exception of international athletes. “We are very upfront in saying, ‘If you need a full, 100 percent scholarship, then you shouldn’t apply,’” Bixler said. But according to the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (NAFSA), 80.9 percent of international undergraduates studying in the U.S. pay for their educations with personal and family funds — meaning Miami students are far better off than the national average (66 percent). Miami’s international students

»PAGE 3

CULTURE

OPINION

BOOK REVIEW

EMINEM EMPOWERS

»ONLINE

»PAGE 6

SPORTS

CROSS COUNTRY »PAGE 10