The Miami Student Established 1826
TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2015 VOLUME 142 NO. 46
WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
PHOTOS BY FRANKIE ROSKAM, LAUREN OLSON AND CONNOR MORIARTY
Each year, Miami students pay a general fee of $1,860. Of that, $997 â or about 54 percent â goes toward intercollegiate athletics, most of which is allocated to student-athlete scholarships.
Fee frustration: Students pay $997 yearly for athletics ATHLETICS
MARY SCHROTT THE MIAMI STUDENT
This yearâs budget shows that over 50 percent of the $1,860 general fee paid by all Miami undergraduates is going toward intercollegiate athletics. With the general fee being mandatory, this means each year undergraduates must pay $997 for intercollegiate sports, as well as a combined $350 for the Rec center and Goggin Ice Center, leaving $513 to be allocated to Armstrong, Shriver, Millet, Health Services, Transportation Services, ASG, Lecture Series, more than 240 other student organizations and several other services. Current senior and vice president of Student Organizations,
Nathan Lombardi, is heading an eight-person task force of students and faculty aiming to address and alter the general fee by 2020. Lombardi said the money paid toward intercollegiate sports mainly supports student-athlete scholarships. âI think itâs a disproportionate allocation of the student fee away from areas that create tangible student life on campus,â he said. The other areas of tangible student life Lombardi alludes to are MAP events, like Spring Fest, as well as the Lecture Series, an organization he describes as âextraordinarily successful.â Though Lombardi said he supports Miamiâs intercollegiate athletics, he believes the money and energy being spent on sports doesnât match the culture of Miami, and he cites low attendance
Community questions alcohol task force findings ALCOHOL
SARAH BUOP
THE MIAMI STUDENT
Miami University students have begun to question the Alcohol Task Forceâs recommendations and their effectiveness in reducing the high-risk drinking culture on campus. The task force released a report last Monday, March 30. President David Hodge announced the report to students via email, explaining that a newly formed Alcohol Coordinating Committee (ACC) will be taking action to find ways to improve the drinking behavior at the university. According to the report, Miami studentsâ high-risk drinking rates have continually ranked higher than the national average. The report states that the number of non-drinking students decreases
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TODAY IN MIAMI HISTORY UNIVERSITY
TASK FORCE ÂťPAGE 9
would be spent at the five major conferences,â Creamer said. Though the fees Miami charges students may be controversial, Creamer feels they ultimately even out for students and provide each individual a rewarding college experience. âWe donât try to provide one specific educational experience for every student,â Creamer said. âWe hope to provide enough variety and options that your goals and expectations are met and a student who is very different from you hopefully has the same outcome that their unique goals and expectations are being met.â Although attendance at Miami sporting events is a small percent of the student body, many students, like sophomore Nicole Waker, specifically enjoy attending Miami hockey games.
âGoing to the games adds a sense of community around school, and itâs fun to support a aschool team that does really well,â Waker said. Creamer notes that many students share Wakerâs enthusiasm for supporting school teams. âWe have students who line up waiting to get into the hockey game and itâs a very important part of their experience here,â Creamer said. âIs that true for every student? Absolutely not, some couldnât figure out why they would even go to the game, let alone wait up all night to go.â For the studentâs who donât enjoy intercollegiate sports, Creamer says there is still the potential for them to benefit from the services the general fee pays for. ATHLETICS ÂťPAGE 5
ASG ELECTIONS âVOTE ON THE HUB BETWEEN 12p.m. APRIL 8 AND 7p.m. APRIL 9
CONNOR MORIARTY PHOTO EDITOR
ARCH YOU THERE? Rays brightens the Upham Arch as the sun sets behind King Library in the distance.
In 2010, The Miami Student reported $2,100 in hotel damages put a dent in not only studentsâ credit cards, but also in the universityâs Greek system.The Alpha chapter of Sigma Chi was suspended for a semester following damages done to Ohio State Universityâs Blackwell Inn. COMMUNITY
PLASTIC PROFITS POSE PROBLEM ÂťPAGE 2
after four to six weeks of students arriving at school. In other words, Miami students are less likely to remain non-drinkers â and more likely to participate in alcohol consumption â when they arrive at school, compared to the national average. After receiving a notification about the report, students are having a difficult time believing that Miamiâs drinking problem is different from other schools and that the report will help change students drinking habits. Junior Emily Anderson said she, like other Miami students, remains unclear as to what the task force even is or does. âI feel there is some confusion on what the task force really is,â Anderson said. âTo me I thought it was just a series of seminars or info sessions, and I had no idea it was a set plan over time to in-
as evidence. âYou canât force a cultural change on a campus, you have to move with whatever cultural direction is going on,â Lombardi said. While Lombardi wants to see change in the general feeâs focus on intercollegiate athletics, Miamiâs vice president of finance, David Creamer, believes intercollegiate athletics are an important part of the college environment. âThis is not new,â Creamer said. âIntercollegiate athletics have always been supported by student fees.â What Creamer said makes Miamiâs fee allocations stand out as an outlier is a result of its size. âWe are called a mid-major, and the amount that we spend on athletics is a fraction of what
UBER DRIVES INTO OXFORD ÂťPAGE 3
Apartments
CULTURE
FATHER JOHN MISTY ALBUM REVIEW ÂťPAGE 4
OPINION
SPORTS
SEXUAL ASSAULT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED
TRACK
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