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THE NEWS RECORD
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
NEWSRECORD.ORG
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015
MEET YOUR SG LEADERS CASSIE LIPP | CHIEF REPORTER
Wearing matching blue shirts, red ties, navy blue jackets and khakis, the newly elected student body president and vice president sat down with The News Record Thursday evening to talk about their term goals. Andrew Naab, a political science and economics major, and Andrew Griggs, a mechanical engineering major, do not always wear the same outfit — they are adhering to the dress code of the Sigma Sigma Men’s Honorary Society meeting, which they attended later that evening. Although they will not be inaugurated until March 25, the two Andrews have already started working to accomplish their platform. The main goals of their platform include reforming mental health care at the University of Cincinnati and modifying Student Government so that the organization can become a more effective vehicle of change. Both in their fourth years of involvement with SG, Naab and Griggs said they are determined to accomplish the goals they stated in their platform because they said that SG has not been performing well as an organization. “The idea behind our platform is that we wanted to provide tangible and specific evidence and ideas; that way the students would know whether or not Andrew and I completed our platform,” Naab explained. Naab and Griggs want to improve mental health care at the university because they said it is the only public university in the state of Ohio that does not offer free individual mental health counseling sessions to all students. UC Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) currently offers individual mental health counseling sessions for $60 per session. Fees are waived for some students, such as victims of sexual assault. CAPS also offers free group sessions to students. In order to prepare their platform for the campaign, Naab and Griggs’ campaign team researched mental health statistics for all public universities in Ohio. They found that schools smaller than UC — Kent State University, University of Akron and Youngstown State University — offer an unlimited number of free individual sessions to all students. The campaign team also researched the statistics for the other schools in the same division as UC in the American Athletic Conference. They found that the only schools in the division that do not offer free individual sessions to students are UC and University of Connecticut. “Right now, we’re trailing behind by so much it’s embarrassing,” Griggs said. Naab and Griggs’ goal is to work with CAPS so that students can get at least five free sessions per year. This will match the number of free sessions at Miami University, the school that offers the fewest number of free sessions next to UC. “The fact that every other public school in Ohio offers free sessions to people and we’re the only one that charges the people that don’t fall into the exceptions, it just means that we’re not putting mental health resources as a priority like other schools in the state are,” Griggs said. Griggs said that many students cannot afford to pay $60 per session, and they will not use their family health insurance plans if they do not want their parents to find out they are seeking therapy. Naab and Griggs said there should be no obstacles in front of students seeking mental health care, because it can be a life or death situation for students suffering from depression, anxiety or some other form of mental illness. “[Mental health] is one of our biggest priorities, because it’s not just improving campus life,” Griggs said.“This is peoples’ lives.” According to the 2014 National College Health Assessment, over 8.6 percent of 79,266 college students surveyed were diagnosed or treated by a professional for one mental illness — including anxiety and obsessivecompulsive disorder — within the year. The same percentage reported suffering from both anxiety and depression. Mental health affects many areas of the students’ lives, such as job placement, test scores, physical wellness and the relationships they develop with others, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
“The fact that we’re not doing enough to create a safe environment for people — it’s not good enough,” Naab said. Naab added that the pair can’t accomplish its goal alone. Naab and Griggs need collaboration with CAPS to be able to put the case study together. They also need to work with the financial system at UC to make sure that CAPS has the resources to necessary to extend the program. Griggs said that offering free sessions to students can create a hole in the CAPS budget, but UC is in a good financial position based on enrollment numbers and moving up in rankings. Therefore, UC should be able to invest in mental health care as much as the other public universities in Ohio do. “We at least want to provide a good starting point for this issue,” Griggs said. To make information about their platform more accessible to students, Naab and Griggs have made it available online at naabgriggs.com. The part of the platform students will not be able to see, however, is the restructuring that could occur within Student Government. “We want to redesign Student Government internally to allow for our external growth,” Naab said. They said they will begin by restructuring the cabinet instead of filling in cabinet positions because of overlap in cabinet positions. For example, one person could be doing the same job as two to three other positions. “What that does is creates this overarching Student Government where people literally don’t know what they’re tasked with doing,” Naab said. The two are working on creating reasonable and wellmeaning positions within their executive staff. They also plan to restructure the SG budget to allow more cabinet members to have the freedom to do projects Naab and Griggs want them to do so that they do not have to come to Senate for approval. Griggs said that SG is outdated, and there are some positions that exist in the organization just for the sake of existing. “We’ve forgotten how to serve as an amplifier for students and fight for what we believe in, and we’ve sort of entrenched ourselves in this big bureaucracy,” Griggs said. “You get promises that people come around with every election season that never happen, because this bureaucracy is not effective in getting things done that actually matter to people.” Griggs said they want to put students in cabinet positions they feel empowered in, rather than feel that obstacles are being thrown at them. Naab added that they want to put those students in a place to answer administrative questions, rather than just the president and vice president who typically handle administration questions, such as budget matters and spirit initiatives. “Realistically, Andrew and I realize as student body president and vice president, we are not going to be experts on much,” Naab said.“We need to be making sure that we’re putting people in positions that have had the real life experience, that are passionate about spirit or diversity initiatives, rather than he or I. Our job is to support, not to necessarily try to tackle every project that administrative members want us to.” They are also restructuring the interview process for cabinet members to create a more inclusive environment. They are reaching out to university offices such as the Women’s Center, the LGBTQ Center and the Ethnic and Program Services Office for guidance on the best practices as well as recommendations of students for the positions. Naab and Griggs want passionate students who are heavily immersed in the communities they are a part of to apply for cabinet positions. They said there is a large disconnect because students feel the cabinet members representing them are not engaged with the communities they represent. Griggs said they want these passionate students with different perspectives to bring new conversations to SG because the organization is currently stuck passing appropriations bills nobody agrees with, going through the motions and not having meaningful conversations. “It’s not what each of the members of that body are elected to do,” Griggs said.“They’re elected to fight for the students … Student Government should be the body where we find out what the voice of students is and amplify it.”
ME
ET YOUR
SENATORS Colin Baker Brad Chamblin Brooke Duncan Jacob Harnist Jackie Mulay Jacob Whyle Elysse Winget Emily Heine (re-elected)
SG members discuss poor voter turnout, improving student engagement CASSIE LIPP | CHIEF REPORTER
MADISON SCHMIDT | PHOTO EDITOR
Student Body President Christina Beer said there was hardly any information about SG elections this year, which may have contributed to low voter turnout.
During Student Government’s last meeting before newly elected officers take over, the body discussed low voter turnout and improving engagement with the University of Cincinnati community. Meghan Cappel, SG election facilitations committee vice chair, showed voter statistics to give SG members tangible evidence of the low voter turnout. A total of 6,161 students voted — a voter-turnout rate of 19 percent. The voter turnout for minority students was much lower than the voter turnout of white students. Student Body Vice President Shivam Shah, who served as EFC chair for the election, asked how SG can better engage students next campaign season — especially with students of color — and what they can do as a university to fix the low voter turnout. He also raised the question of how the snow days that closed UC during most of the campaign week affected the low turnout. Cappel said that although
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engaging minority students to vote is something to work on, diversity is more of a recruitment issue for the university. If more minority students come to UC, then more minority students can vote in elections. Tobi Akondede, chair of Governmental Relations Committee, said the voter turnout rate was simply unacceptable. The rate was lower than the voter turnout in national elections, and many citizens are apathetic about national government. He reminded SG that historically, there were laws made meant to restrict minorities from voting, yet the minority voter turnout is still higher in national elections than SG elections. He added that if students have access to vote online, more students should be voting. “Maybe the way that we are campaigning right now isn’t as effective as we think it is,” Akondede said. Akondede said the number of students actively involved in student organizations is low SEE SG PG 3
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Men’s baseball sweeps Niagara University 3-0 in series JAELYNNE JOHNSON | SPORTS EDITOR
Balanced pitching and good batting aided the University of Cincinnati men’s baseball team in getting a 5-1 victory in the first of a three-game series against Niagara University over the weekend at Marge Schott Stadium. Freshman outfielder Treg Haberkorn recorded his firstcareer multi-hit game with a triple and a two-RBI single and set the Bearcats’ offense. Sophomore pitcher Andrew Zellner went five innings with just three hits and a seasonhigh of six strikeouts. At the bottom of the first inning the bases were loaded for the Bearcats. Junior Devin Wenzel hit the ball to deep center, allowing sophomore Connor McVey to touch home plate and tie the game at 1. In the bottom of the third inning, left fielder Ryan Noda was hit by a pitch, Jake Richmond doubled and Devin Wenzel was walked to load the bases with two outs at play. Haberkorn hit a single up the middle, allowing Richmond and Noda to give the Bearcats a 3-1 lead. The Bearcats added some runs when Ian Happ hit a double down the left field line to up Cincinnati’s lead to 5-1. Cincinnati and Niagara continued the series on Sunday, when freshman pitcher Dalton Lehnen made his first start for the Bearcats. Lehnen performed well through 5.1 innings with four strikeouts and two walks. Senior Ryan Atkinson pitched 3.1 innings in relief of Lehnen and had two strikeouts.
Happ hit two homeruns to extend Cincinnati to a 6-4 victory over Niagara. The outfielder hit a three-run homerun to left center of the field in his first at-bat, giving the Bearcats an early lead. He also added to his total with a solo shot in the third inning, making the score 4-0. At the top of the sixth inning, Niagara worked to gain all four runs back, but the Bearcats quickly regained the lead when Wenzel crossed home plate to put UC ahead 5-4. In the seventh inning, Cincinnati got its final score when J.J. Carr hit a single through the right side of the field, allowing Happ to score. Cincinnati looked to close out the series against the Purple Eagles in Monday’s game with the first pitch at 3 p.m. Freshman shortstop Manny Rodriguez hit a walk off single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning, which gave UC a 2-1 victory over Niagara. The win clinched the series sweep for the Bearcats and improved their overall record to 4-9. Although Niagara scored first in the bottom of the third inning, Haberkorn scored a run in the fifth to tie the game at 1-1. At the bottom of the tenth, two Cincinnati batters were hit before Rodriguez’s heroic walk off to seal the victory for the Bearcats. Cincinnati will remain at home and will host the University of Toledo Rockets in a three-game series over the weekend. The first game is set to start 4 p.m. Friday.
DANIEL SULLIVAN | CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
Kyle Mottice, 2nd baseman, bunts to advance runners in a three-game contest series against Niagara University.
Men’s golf opens spring season Lacrosse improves to 2-5 record Student athlete ties for 32nd in Myrtle Beach championship JAELYNNE JOHNSON | SPORTS EDITOR
The University of Cincinnati men’s golf team started its spring season at the Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday General Hackler Championship at the Dunes Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Monday and Tuesday. The 15-team field played 36 holes on Monday and the final 18 holes on Tuesday. Cincinnati’s competitors included Charleston Southern University, Coastal Carolina University, East Carolina University, Iowa State University, Kent State, Middle Tennessee State, North Carolina State, University of North Texas and Winthrop University. Although UC has never competed on this course, they were excited to accept the challenge. “The team is excited to get back into action,” said head coach Doug Martin. “Some of the guys realize that it’s their last semester of college golf and there is a sense of urgency. We’re going to focus on the things that help us play well. We control our own destiny.” After two rounds at the championship, junior Baxter Reeves was tied for 13th place at one-over par 73-72=145. Sophomore Jared O’Kelley was tied for 19th at two over, 76-70=146 on the first day of the championship. He saw difficulties in the morning and finished
four over. In the afternoon he carded five birdies during the round and finished two under. Cincinnati was 9th as a team in the 15team field at 18 over, 298-296=594, on day one. NC State led the event after carding a five under 288-283=571. “We did some really good things today,” Martin said. “We had two triple bogeys and two double bogeys, and if we could erase those, we would be in 3rd place. When you play in a tournament with a challenging field on a difficult course you can’t have unforced errors and we had too many of those today.” The Bearcats teed off in final-round action on Tuesday morning, when Reeves finished tied for 32nd place at seven-over par, 73-72-78=223. O’Kelley ended the third round just one stroke behind Reeves at eight over, 7670-78=224. Both seniors Jared Howard and John Michael O’Toole tied for 69th place. Howard finished the tournament 73-8477=234 and O’Toole finished at 78-7581=234. Freshman Davis Baxter tied for 71st place at 76-79-80=235. As a team, Cincinnati finished in 14th place at 298-296-313=907. University of North Florida won the tournament after posting a score of 279-295-287=861 and NC State took second place with a score of 288-283-302=873. The Bearcats will go on to compete in the three-day Seminole Intercollegiate in Tallahassee, Florida that begins on Friday.
JAELYNNE JOHNSON | SPORTS EDITOR
The University of Cincinnati Lacrosse team was able to grab their second win of the season after defeating Presbyterian University (0-5) 14-8 in Gettler Stadium on Sunday afternoon. There were three key goals in the match that ultimately gave the Bearcats an edge over the Blue Hose. The first of the key goals came from freshman Bridget Cleary at the 24:46 mark of the contest. Cleary scored the third goal of a 3-0 Cincinnati run to open the scoring in the game. She took a pass from Sarah Del Bene, which put the Bearcats up 3-0 five minutes into the game. Ashley Helmrath netted a goal with 2:09 remaining to play in the first half. This goal gave UC an 8-3 lead at the half. Junior midfield Courtney Curtis scored her fourth and final goal of the game at the 18:22 mark in the second half. Curtis’ goal ended another 3-0 scoring run for the Bearcats and pushed their lead to 11-4. The win was a total Cincinnati effort. Curtis led Cincinnati with four goals and one assist. Del Bene followed with two goals, four assists and five ground balls. Freshman Abby Lord contributed with one goal and two assists, and junior Kyara Byner had six ground balls. Head coach Gina Oliver spoke highly of Curtis’ performance on Sunday afternoon. “She is owning it,” Oliver said.“She’s a kid that knows that she is taking that leadership role on the field. [Curtis] and Sarah Del Bene [in the last two games] have really been coming into their own.” A big help also came from goalie Meg Gulmi, who finished the game against
Presbyterian with six saves and only allowed six goals — her lowest total of the season, and lowest total since allowing five goals last season in a 14-5 win over University of Detroit on March 23, 2014. Sophomore Hannah Hinsch, who played in only five games her freshman season, scored her first collegiate goal with 4:52 remaining to play. Freshman Brooke Kovinsky also netted her first goal with 6:42 left to play. After Sunday’s match, Curtis now has 21 goals in the season after seven games. She is closing in on her mark of 27 goals in 17 games that she had last season, which led the team. Lauren Schaaf led the Blue Hose with three goals, two assists, three ground balls, one draw control and two caused turnovers. The Bearcats will not see competition again until they face Coastal Carolina University March 15 in Conway, South Carolina. Game time is set for noon.
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Players chase after the ball during the women’s lacrosse match Wednesday afternoon. The Bearcats beat the Hatters 11-10.
American Athletic Conference basketball tournament review MARIO DERAMUS | CONTRIBUTOR
Now that the clocks have sprung forward, spring is at our doorstep, the sun is out an hour longer each day and it is tournament time in college basketball. Welcome to March! The American Athletic Conference crowned Southern Methodist University 2014-2015 regular-season champions March 8 after defeating the University of Tulsa 67-62. This is the Mustangs’ first conference title in 22 years. Now that the regular season title has been claimed, it’s time to focus on the college basketball conference tournament for the AAC, which is sure to have a huge impact on the NCAA tournament seeding. The tournament action takes place March 12-15 at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut. The 2015 AAC tournament looks to be nothing short of amazing. The top three seeds automatically receive a first-round bye: No. 1, SMU; No. 2, Tulsa; No. 3, University of Cincinnati;
the No. 4 seed Temple University will play the No. 5 seed Memphis; No. 6 seed University of Connecticut plays the No. 11 seeded University of Southern Florida; No. 7 seed Tulane University will go head-to-head with No. 10 seed Houston; and No. 8 seed East Carolina University will face off against the No. 9 seed University of Central Florida. The favorites going into the tournament are the Mustangs, who finished the season with an overall record of 24-6 and a conference record of 15-3. Two of their losses came from Cincinnati, the other from UConn. SMU is averaging the highest points per game in the conference with 69.5, the highest shooting percentage (48), and the highest free throw percentage (70.6). They also have the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference, averaging 15.7 assist per game and just 13 turnovers per game. The team that may be the scariest to face is Cincinnati. After having some struggles throughout the season — losing
head coach Mick Cronin due to illness, having offensive struggles and going on a three-game losing skid in February — the Bearcats managed to end the season with a five-game winning streak. With a top-10 defense and their offense catching fire as of late, this Cincinnati team could make a run similar to the 2014 UConn team. The major downfall of this Cincinnati team is the fact they are young, with Jermaine Sanders being the only senior on the team. But what they’re lacking in age, they’ve seemed to make up for with heart and basketball intelligence. This Cincinnati team looks a lot different than it has in years past. There’s no dominant scorer — a defensive headache for opposing teams. In the last two games, guard Farad Cobb has an average of 19 PPG and a fieldgoal-percentage of 62 percent, including 54 percent in three-point field goals. Associate head coach Larry David has done a great job with this team; he’s also receiving consideration for the Conference Coach of the Year award, after finishing the season with an overall record of 22-9, 13-5 in the AAC. The AAC tournament looks to be one of the best in the country. There’s a lot riding on this tournament for some of these teams. For some, this tournament will mean nothing but the difference between a No. 6 and No. 7 seed in the NCAA men’s national tournament. But for others, it could mean the difference between an invitation to play in the “field of 68” or playing in the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).
Other teams to watch Temple
The Owls struggled at times this season, but they do have quality wins. They defeated the Kansas Jayhawks, formerly ranked the No. 9 team in the country, and had a 20-point victory over UC this season. When this team gets hot, they’re blazing, and this could be a dangerous No. 4 seed in the tournament. The biggest downfall of this team is that they “live and die” by the three-pointer at times.
Tulsa
The Golden Hurricane are tough on the defensive end of the ball and finished second in the conference behind SMU. Their biggest downfall has been the lack of quality wins. This season they are 0-3 against ranked teams; I’m not really sold on this team to win in a tournament that’s not on their home court.
UConn
With head coach Kevin Ollie and senior guard Ryan Boatright, who is the leading scorer in the conference, averaging nearly 18 PPG, this team will be tough to beat. Despite having a rough year, finishing the season 17-13 (10-8 in conference play), the Huskies still have the experience and championship pedigree to make a run, like they did in 2014.
The University of Cincinnati Bearcats received the No. 3 seed in the American Athletic Conference. Cincinnati will play the winner of the UConn vs. USF game on Friday.
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UC Alliance garners support for ‘Be An Ally’ campaign; students pledge RUSSELL HAUSFELD | STAFF REPORTER
Students from UC Alliance, a group dedicated to connecting the University of Cincinnati’s LGBTQ community and its supporters, have spent the last two weeks collecting photos for a campaign encouraging students to share their reasons for being allies. “We are asking people to hold up a whiteboard stating their personal reason for being an ally of the LGBTQ community and thanking their photograph,” said Maggie Smith, a fourth-year biology student who helped get the Be An Ally campaign off the ground. Smith defined an ally as anyone, regardless of gender or sexual attraction, who supports equal rights for all. “A lot of people ask us if they can be an ally if they already identify as bi or gay,” said John Barno, a fourth-year English student who is taking photos for the project. “I identify as gay, but I am still an ally to the L and B and T and Q and I and S and A,” Barno said. “So anybody can be an ally as long as you support everybody’s equal rights and you support the rest of the acronym.” T. N. Vaught, program coordinator for the LGBTQ Center, explained that the full acronym is LGBTQPIA, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, pansexual, intersex, and asexual or ally.
The project will come to fruition all over campus in April. “We’re going to take these photos and blow them up into posters and put them all around campus for QueerCat Pride week in April,” Barno explained. The campaign will hold a demonstration April 9 on McMicken Commons to celebrate the event, which will include a disk jockey and food and the attendance of students groups, businesses and drag queens. The purpose of the campaign is to make people within the LGBTQ community feel justified in being themselves, Barno said. “This is a way to send a message to anybody who is still closeted on UC’s campus or who might not be comfortable being who they are at school because they think they might be judged or discriminated against,” Barno said. “It’s a way of saying, ‘This is how many people actually support you.’” Smith and Barno said that, while they have received a small amount of negative feedback, the overwhelming response to the campaign has been positive. Smith said they have had a great deal of support from places in the community, including the club Below Zero, where they were able to raise money for printing posters, as well as from all the students and faculty who have participated. John Brolley, a professor of Judaic Studies and the liaison of UC’s Queer Spirituality Group,
MADISON SCHMIDT | PHOTO EDITOR
Members of the UC Allience Club took pictures of students holding signs explaining why they are allies at various places on campus Monday and Tuesday. “Happiness has no definition,” says Sam Dhiman, expressing his allience Tuesday in Langsam Library.
highlights the importance of a faculty of supportive professors. “Very few students get to know their deans, provosts, presidents or trustees, but they typically get to know their instructors,” Brolley said. “If LGBTQ students can’t rely on faculty members for support and respect, then they may well be convinced that they themselves are the only people on campus on whom they
can rely.” Many written reasons people give for being an ally are as simple as ‘Why not?’ or ‘Because there is zero reason not to be,’ ” Smith said. “My favorite one was when someone put Avril Lavigne lyrics as their reason,” Barno said. “So, it said ‘I am an ally because:’ and then in quotes, ‘Why’s it got to be so complicated?’ ”
The Be An Ally campaign strives to promote an accepting and safe campus for all LGBTQ students at UC and to show that there is much more support on campus than someone might think. “If I would have seen this campaign three years ago — when I was not out of the closet — it would have really hit home for me,” Smith said.
Black, other minorities at University of Oklahoma tell of isolation, lack of retention NIGEL DUARA (TNS)
NORMAN, Okla. — Naome Kadira walks with the practiced gait of a beauty pageant veteran, which she is, and speaks the language of the social justice activist _ validation, micro-aggression, othering. But the University of Oklahoma junior with the red streak in her hair wasn’t always so self-assured. There were darker times, especially in her freshman year, Kadira said, when she never felt so different and so alone. It’s part of the black experience at the university, Kadira said, a notion that you’re always outnumbered and out of place, forever identified by the color of your skin. The release of two videos documenting Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity members singing a profane, racist chant rocked the Oklahoma campus this week. The university swiftly evicted the fraternity from its house and expelled two students accused of playing a “leading role” in the chant. Across the country people and organizations, including SAE’s national headquarters, expressed dismay and outrage. But when Kadira saw the video, she said, she was upset, but not shocked. Neither were the black students she knows. “It’s terrible, but it’s not surprising,” Kadira said. It’s not unusual for black students to encounter casual racism on campus, she said, “but it’s not outright racism usually.” Kadira, 21, is a native of Galveston, Texas,
and is proud to be a student at Oklahoma. She loves the campus and looks forward to grad school in her major, accounting. Would she recommend that black students attend OU? Yes, she said, if it helped them meet their educational goals. “If you do, be ready to be alone,” Kadira said. The people expressing the most surprise, she said, were white people. But that’s because they don’t see the trail of smaller acts of racism that make up so much of Kadira’s experiences in Norman, she said. Every black person on campus knows another black student who left because of that isolation and the casual racism that grows in its place. “People ask you, ‘Can you teach me to twerk?’“ Kadira said. Mirelsie Velazquez, a Latina professor in the university’s College of Education, came to Norman in August. She said she’s often the only person of color in classes or walking around town. With the release of the video, Velazquez said she’s able to put faces and voices to the feeling she gets as a person of color standing in front of a room of white faces. “As we stand there teaching, not just at Oklahoma, and then you think about how these students behave in private time, you wonder how do they view me and my community?”Velazquez said. “It’s hard to enter spaces and now be constantly thinking about how you’re thought of.” Velazquez came to Norman with her daughter, now a freshman at the
university. Her daughter has yet to meet another Latino person in any class. “She’s felt singled out a couple of times,” Velazquez said. “Her instructor asked her, ‘Do you have to translate things in your head before you speak?’ She’s barely bilingual.” Velazquez said her daughter had learned how to handle insensitive or ignorant remarks. “She has the language where she can defend herself,”Velazquez said. “What happens when they don’t have that kind of language?” OU Unheard, the campus group that released the SAE video, compiled a list of grievances in a presentation to university President David Boren. The issues are in line with Kadira’s and Velazquez’s experience. The letter demands the university hire more black teachers and better fund black campus organizations. Most pointedly, it accuses the university of failing to retain black students. “We cannot understand why it seems the university is able to provide resources to maintain equal retention rates for 16,383 white students, which is roughly 15 times the number of black students, but not provide resources that proportionally equal white students,” the group said in the letter. OU Unheard also told Boren that black students feel left out of campus life and have to go elsewhere to get a college experience, including homecoming at
other schools. Ultimately, the grievances amount to individual experiences that are rooted in the paucity of people of color at the school. There were 27,278 students on the campus in Norman at the beginning of the school year, 1,529 of them AfricanAmerican. That’s less than 6 percent of the student population in a state that’s 11 percent black. On Monday morning, a multiracial group of students, teachers and other staff members rallied on campus to denounce the video. Velazquez was among them. Since Velazquez saw the video, she said, she’s had trouble sleeping. She was beginning to feel better after the Monday rally but then saw a another video, one of the fraternity’s white house mother, Beauton Gilbow, repeatedly using the N-word to sing along with a popular rap song, “All Gold Everything,” by Trinidad James, which repeatedly uses the word. “I have friends of all races and do not tolerate any form of discrimination in my life,” Gilbow said in a statement to News9TV. “I was singing along to a Trinidad song but completely understand how the video must appear in the context of the events that occurred this week.”“Here’s another person who should know better,”Velazquez said. At 4 p.m. Tuesday, she prepared for one of her last classes before spring break. Tuesday’s subject: White privilege.
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compared with the number of students not involved in any organizations. If candidates focus on reaching out to student organizations during campaigns, they will not engage most of the student body. He asked if voter turnout was greater last year because candidates did a better job campaigning, or if yard signs all over campus would make students more aware of elections. He added that to engage more minority voters, more minorities should run for office. Student Body President Christina Beer said her friends did not know anything about the elections until voting opened up because there was hardly any information about the elections until they came. “People had not idea elections were even coming,” Beer said. “As a student government, did we promote our elections well?” Beer added that although the newly elected officers may not be racially diverse, they are diverse in gender, as four of the eight at-large senators elected are women. CCM Senator Michael Dudley said most students only hear about SG during elections. “I don’t think we should ask the question of how we can better promote Student Government elections and how we can connect with students more considering Student Government elections,” Dudley said. “I think the question should be how can we promote Student Government more and how can we be connected with students as members of Student Government.” Andrew Griggs, senate speaker and vice president-elect, said the voter turnout is low because few students believe SG matters. Students elect officers they do not see anything from afterward, he said. “I think as Student Government, we don’t do a good job of affecting people in their daily lives,” Griggs said. “We’re the one student organization here at UC that has the power to impact everyone and has the funds to impact everyone, and we don’t do it and that’s why people don’t vote for us.”
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MADISON SCHMIDT | PHOTO EDITOR
Student Body Vice President Shivam Shah questions what SG and the university can do to more actively engage the student body.
Griggs said they can extend the campaign period or require students to vote on MainStreet, but the voter turnout will still be low as long as students do not care about SG. “That doesn’t change based on elections,” Griggs said. “That changes based on the 11 months in between elections.” While SG members talked about accomplishing their platforms in an effort to get more students to care about SG, someone outside of the organization showed them they do not need a platform to make change on campus. Luci Simon, a senior philosophy student, attended the meeting to endorse a bill that calls upon the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to modify the undergraduate application for admission, adding the option for students to identify as a member of the LGBTQ community. Through including a question in
the common application that gives prospective students the option to identify with the LGBTQ community, not identify, or decline to answer, the university could better serve the students and show them it is an inclusive place for them, she said. Simon has been working since September on this initiative, which is just one of the many she is working on. She explained that the tedious process of making this simple change has angered her. However, she persevered because she was determined to make a change. “Righting wrongs, fixing problems for students, that is what you should be doing—platform or no platform,” Simon said before SG members voted and passed the bill. The newly elected SG officials will be sworn in at the next meeting held on Wednesday, March 25.
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4 / COLLEGE LIFE
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015 / NEWSRECORD.ORG
Midwest Dhamaka transports students to Bollywood
MADISON SCHMIDT | PHOTO EDITOR
Nach Baliye, a fusion dance team from the University of Texas, performs at the 2015 Midwest Dhamaka dance competition Saturday evening at the School for Creative and Performing Arts.
CHRISTOPHER STROHOFER | CONTRIBUTOR
Lights illuminated talent as fans from across the U.S. roared for the nationally competitive Bollywoodfusion dance teams, who stepped, jumped, glided and swayed across the stage of Cincinnati’s School of Creative and Performing Arts Saturday evening. Midwest Dhamaka, an annual dance competition arranged by the University of Cincinnati’s Asian American Association (AAA), brought dance teams from a variety of universities, including the University of Texas and the University of Maryland. “It’s a fun time — just high energy and a great celebration of culture,” said Toby Khamaladai, a third-year computer science student. The performances at Midwest Dhamaka often include a collection of contemporary music with nods toward traditional Indian music and culture. These songs tend to lead each dance troupe through a storyline, giving the audience a poignant
message at the end. The event opened with a dramatic performance by Temple University’s Temple Agni team as they depicted the tale of a rocky friendship. The dance began fast and light with bright colors, but just after things went awry, the lights dimmed while the song slowed down to signify the negative feeling of the story. Following Temple Agni, fans cheered for Ohio State University’s Genesis, who incorporated a mix of stage make-up and western costume to perform a “Dark Knight” inspired tale through the use of their traditional Bollywood dance moves. “I think my favorite part is just the culture of it,” Khamaladai said. “The way they mix the Bollywood style dancing and hip-hop dancing is just fun.” This is the fourth year Midwest Dhamaka has been held on campus, and Khamaladai has attended it every year since he began attending UC. “The music and everything makes you want to dance yourself, but you don’t because they’re like, way better than you,” Khamaladai said of the performers. “Don’t even embarrass yourself.” Khamaladai encouraged students who
haven’t attended the dance competition to make sure to catch it next year. According to him, events like Midwest Dhamaka are important to students because most schools don’t offer opportunities like this. Puja Kedia, a fourth-year neurobiology
student and co-president of UC’s AAA, talked about how Midwest Dhamaka is unlike any other events the university hosts. “There aren’t that many Bollywood competitions in America, and I’m really appreciative of UC supporting this event at this scale,” Kedia said. According to Rajiv Karani, a thirdyear pre-med student and internal vice president of AAA, Midwest Dhamaka offers attendees a unique exposure to Indian culture. “I think it promotes diversity here at UC,” Karani said. “A lot of people that are at the show today haven’t really seen anything like this before. It’s just a unique experience. ” Kedia thinks attending Midwest Dhamaka will make students more culturally aware of how Indian culture, music and dance can blend different cultures. “Especially right now with everything that’s going on in the world, from racism to sexism, and everything like that, here we can just put everything on the dance floor and everyone’s the same,” Kedia said. AAA will also host Holi, a Hindu celebration of the triumph of good over evil, on March 25. “I recommend students come to [Holi] because the main purpose is, once everyone’s covered in colored powder, you can’t see what sex they are, you can’t see their religion, you can’t see the color of their skin,” Kedia said. “Everyone is the same.” Kedia also expressed excitement for the future of Midwest Dhamaka and plans to expand it. “I would recommend those who have not come to Midwest the past four years to check it out next year because it’s always going to be bigger and better,” Kedia said. “I’m super excited to see what MD 2016 has in store.”
MADISON SCHMIDT | PHOTO EDITOR
Northwestern University fusion dance team Anubhav portrays the scene of a love story during the second round of Midwest Dhamaka. The team won 1st place in the overall competition Saturday.
ARTS / 5
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015 / NEWSRECORD.ORG
Volunteers encourage sex crime survivors to share their stories MACKENZIE BOWER | STAFF REPORTER
Jamie Sivrais wanted to give survivors of sex crimes who had been silenced by fear a way to share their stories. Recently, he founded A Voice For The Innocent (AVFTI), a Cincinnati based non-profit organization that creates a community in which survivors of sex crimes can be heard. AVFTI believes that through storytelling and other forms of self-expression, people can begin to heal and reclaim their lives. “It can be really heavy to look at what we can do to each other and how low the depths of our humanity can go, and what that can mean for how someone lives the rest of their life,” Sivrais said. “But it is also uplifting to give someone a little bit of hope, even if it is just saying ‘I hear your story.’ ” A Voice For The Innocent began primarily as an online community and platform, but it now has a substantial offline presence in the greater Cincinnati community as well. The organization consists of four unpaid board members and about 40 volunteers who attend festivals, conventions and shows from local bands, as well as hold their own events. They sell merchandise, hand out information, educate people about how to respond to someone who shares that they have been affected by a sex crime and, most importantly, offer a listening ear free of judgment or pressure. AVFTI wants the organization to be easily accessible to the community, a place where meaningful relationships are formed and continue long after discussions of sex crimes. One of AVFTI’s newest events is Speak Up Saturdays, which will be held on the first Saturday of each month at the 86 Club on Vine Street. Beginning April 4, it will be an event centered on storytelling, poetry, music and art. “I want to know about the experiences that you have had that led you to [what you’re sharing], and if it is not about sexual abuse or rape that is okay,” Sivrais said. “I think everyone has stories to tell and ways to connect to each other and our particular cause is just the starting point, but I would never turn someone away.” Sivrais is hoping that Speak Up Saturdays will become an event that people, including students, get involved in and look forward to attending each month. Although the acts are booked ahead of time, there will be an opportunity during the night for anyone to stand up and share their story if they have a desire to do so. “I want it to turn into what it will turn into; I don’t want to try and force it to be anything,” Sivrais said. Sivrais saw firsthand how powerful sharing experiences can be when he spoke last year at Take Back the Night, a moving annual event aimed at raising awareness about sexual violence. This year he will be emceeing the event. “Sex crimes aren’t about sex, they are about power,” Sivrais said. “The perpetrator gets power, and they steal power by taking it from another person. So to see people get on stage and say, ‘I am here because this happened to me but I’m not letting it have power over me anymore,’ and then to hear hundreds of people applaud for them, that’s a huge moment.” For the board members and volunteers of AVFTI, moments like that can happen anonymously online or at a table at an event, and they make all of the stress that accompanies running a non-profit worth it. Sivrais and other members of AVFTI are constantly reminded that, while sharing stories and creating a community are the building blocks of the organization, the deeper purpose is helping those who have been through traumatic things. “If I could ask that you write or quote any one thing, I want it to be that if anyone has any kind of experience, whether it is sexual abuse or rape, no matter how alone they think they might be or how nobody understands their particular situation, I assure you that somebody does,” Sivrais said. “Even if you think your story is different, someone understands, and there are people who will listen and love you despite your circumstances or despite what you’ve been through. Even if you are ashamed or even if you feel guilty there are people who will listen and who will love you.”
MADISON SCHMIDT | PHOTO EDITOR
David Edelman, DAAP professor of planning, discusses the importance of Ladislas Segoe, a planning pioneer who helped design a working plan for Cincinnati.
Q&A: Curator of ‘In the Public Interest’ David Edelman discusses city planner Ladislas Segoe, planning as art form RUSSELL HAUSFELD | STAFF REPORTER
University of Cincinnati students can stop by the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning gallery on MainStreet to find out about the man who is credited with planning the city in which they live and helping pioneer the field of city planning in America. The Philip M. Myers, Jr. Memorial Gallery is hosting an exhibit called “In the Public Interest: The Life and Work of Public Planning Pioneer, Ladislas Segoe” from Feb. 15 until April 5. The exhibit displays blueprints, Segoe’s personal documents — including degrees and personal photographs, sketches, and rare literature from the DAAP library. The front window of the gallery depicts a comprehensive timeline of Segoe’s early years and career. David Edelman — UC professor and director of DAAP’s Master of Community Planning program — curated the exhibit with DAAP librarian Jennifer Krivikas, architecture professor Vincent Sansalone and planning doctoral student Jennifer Latessa. He spoke with The News Record Tuesday about the field of city planning and how it was revolutionized in America by Segoe. TNR: Can you tell me a little about Segoe’s background? David Edelman: Segoe was born in Hungary into a Jewish family in the late nineteenth century, and served as a cavalry officer in the Austrian army during WWI. He came to the United States shortly afterwards and got into planning almost immediately. TNR: What was he like as a person? DE: He was a character. He spoke German,
Hungarian, English and I assume French, because he was educated in Europe. He was very well dressed, always looked like he was going to a wedding with his pressed suits and handkerchief. His wife was an opera singer and they traveled all over the U.S. together.
purpose is to encourage more intensive development within the boundary and discourage urban sprawl.
TNR: Did he play a role in the planning of Cincinnati?
DE: You know, you actually do not usually get the opportunity to do that. Cities are not organic, in that they develop over time on their own. You can affect it, but it is rare that you actually have a chance to design from scratch.
DE: He designed the plan for Cincinnati, which was actually the first plan for a major American city, in 1925. From here he became one of the first consulting planners — someone not working for a government agency, but as a private consultant. TNR: What goes into planning a city in general? DE: In Europe, where Segoe was coming from, planning was all about where the built environment is in space — where you put the roads, the housing, the sewer systems. Another strand that came into planning was design, primarily design of the natural environment and its interaction with the built environment. And another major concern in planning is economics — how does a city function? What does it do? How does it survive? All kinds of things like this go into the overall planning of a city. TNR: What kinds of things did Segoe contribute to the field of planning? DE: Segoe was someone who recognized the comprehensiveness of planning early on. And also the idea that you could not restrict planning to the city itself, but you had to look at the region around it. He did the first study of American cities for the federal government and wrote the first major American textbook on planning. He is also famous for developing what is called the “growth boundary,” which is a boundary around a city outside of which the city does not provide services. Its
TNR: Is a big part of city planning drawing up maps and designing the city from a bird’s eye view?
TNR: How often are galleries dedicated to city planning? DE: Rarely. I’ve been here 17 years and there have been maybe three exhibits devoted to planning. This is the first to showcase the career of one person. TNR: Do you see city planning as an art form? DE: It can be, depending on who is doing it. Planning is taught in different ways. There are policy schools, which focus on the policies that shape a city. And then there are colleges like DAAP — design schools — where you focus on the physical environment as well as the policies. TNR: What do you hope people learn and take away from this exhibit? DE: One thing is that Cincinnati is not some meaningless Midwestern village, that it has a history that is significant especially in the field of city planning — both in what was accomplished here and in the people who were based here. The second thing is that people have a history and their history affects what they do. Part of the reason Segoe was such an effective planner was his personal history, and the exhibit tracks the way Segoe’s history connected with his career.
DON NESBITT
The images offer a candid portrait of one of Cincinnati’s most famous sites during the mid-20th century and document Findlay Market’s everyday interactions.
UPCOMING EVENTS SPEAK UP SATURDAYS
Beginning April 4, members of A Voice For The Innocent will provide a safe place for survivors to tell their stories on the first Saturday of every month at the 86 Club for a $5 admission
Photo exhibit glimpses into Findlay Market’s past ZACK HATFIELD | ARTS EDITOR
In the late summer of 1966, Don Nesbitt, armed with a 35mm Nikon, began to document something in the community many might take for granted: Findlay Market. Nesbitt, then a student of graphic design at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, was drawn to the Over-the-Rhine market in part for its history as the only remaining market house out of several that were erected in the late 19th century. The black and white photographs he took as part of a project assigned by Kazik Paszovski, a UC professor and Cincinnati photographer, were displayed at the Cincinnati Public Library’s main branch atrium through Mar. 11 in an exhibit titled “A Look Back: Findlay Market 1966.” The exhibit was accompanied by a smaller informative display, “Findlay Market: Heart of the City,” which provided
an account of the historically significant structure. For certain, Nesbitt’s emphasis was on the people. He perfectly captured the mingling of cultures the market provided for Cincinnatians in the mid20th century. A diverse range of race, age, class and personality are portrayed in his photographs, which place women in furs alongside young butchers and bakers or wizened men pulling wagons through the sidewalk. The shots also depict an array of emotions. Women with exhausted expressions leaning lazily out of their windows are juxtaposed with toothless children smiling, their arms around each other’s necks. In his artist statement, Nesbitt noted that he wanted to “record the spirit of the marketplace.”To ensure this, the majority of Nesbitt’s portraiture is candid, his subjects mostly unaware that they are being photographed.
The exhibit deserved to be seen at a measured pace, so that one could study and contemplate the faces of ordinary people doing routine things. That’s not to say the imagery is not thought-provoking — the honest aesthetic and close-ups embrace the poetry of the everyday. Findlay Market opened in 1855 and is the oldest public market in Ohio that is still in use. “A Look Back: Findlay Market 1966” fascinates because of the differences the market has seen since the time of the photographs. Undergoing two separate renovations and expansions (one in 1973 and another in 2003), Findlay Market is now a place people visit from all over the city and is one of Cincinnati’s cultural gems — a part of its heritage that has survived the area’s highs and lows. Although Nesbitt’s photographs from 1966 depict a different Findlay Market from the one we know now, one ingredient remains the same — life.
6 / COLLEGE LIFE
THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 2015 / NEWSRECORD.ORG
From food to dance, Taste of India featured an array of events at the Campus Recreation Center Sunday.
ALEXANDRA TAYLOR | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Taste of India relishes dash of culture
MATT NICHOLS | STAFF REPORTER
Free Indian food, live traditional and contemporary Bollywood performances, booths with jewelry, clothing, henna tattoos and more filled the Campus Recreation Center Sunday, along with nearly 700 people, during the 18th annual Taste of India at the University of Cincinnati. The event was held as part of UC’s WorldFest, a weeklong celebration of cultures from around the world that aims to help build strong relationships on campus. “It’s a mixture of everything,” said Mahesh Nagesh, president of Cincinnati’s Association for India’s Development chapter.“It’s a complete joyous environment full of celebration. People can walk in,
purchase whatever they want, grab some food, watch some dance performances and get their hands painted on with henna.” Hundreds of chairs were lined up behind a single stage in the middle of the room, where patrons could sit and enjoy live performances, which generally featured children dancing in traditional Indian clothing. Simhya Karthikeyam, a 12-year-old girl wearing a blue silk sari, was one of the many dancers that performed at the event. Karthikeyam performed the classical Indian dance of Bharathanatyam as a way of expressing her culture. Thirty-one groups performed at the event, each displaying different music, choreography and clothing. “Having one choreography dominate doesn’t make sense,” said Anupa Mirle, choreographer and UC alumni.“We want to
share the stage and styles of dance.” Although the stage was the center of attention, the event had much to offer in addition to performances. “It’s not just concentrating on dance; everything is equal here,” Nagesh said, gesturing to the entirety of the gymnasium. Two booths were set up to distribute free food, which was supplied by Amma’s Kitchen, a local Indian eatery. The meal consisted of pakora, a crunchy yet spicy snack made from rice flour; samosa, a triangle-shaped pastry similar to a pot pie and jalebi, an orange stack of saffron spiral sweet fries coated in syrup. “We have been very careful in choosing reputable restaurants, especially because the event is called Taste of India, so we can’t put in anything that comes up,” Nagesh said.“We served around 650 plates, so I guess people liked it.”
Beyond food and music, the event also helps to promote non-profits and other UC Programs. Sabari Subramanian, a junior at Sycamore High School, stood proudly at his booth for Little Drops Inc., a non-profit he started with the help of his family and friends. The organization is aimed to raise awareness for the Basileia Children’s Home in Manipur, India, which a family friend of Subramanian has been working with since 1991. The home holds 81 children who are limited to only two meals a day, live in unsanitary conditions and walk three miles to school every day. Subramanian said that, because he wanted to help, he started a club at his school. Joined by his classmates at the event, Subramanian hopes to gain traction here in Cincinnati and build a donor base to provide food and supplies for these children. At another booth was the Happiness Program, a combination of breathing techniques, meditation, and yoga that promises to improve one’s quality of life. Their program is one of the largest meditation groups in the world, and they welcome anyone to join. Many other teams set up booths around the gymnasium floor, selling traditional handcrafted jewelry; Kurtas, a type of traditional Indian clothing; and henna tattoos, a brown paste-like mixture that is commonly used in Indian weddings. While the event catered to the Indian culture, many non-Indian students took time to stop by and enjoy the celebration. “We were watching from the track and we could smell the food, so we had to come down and check it out,” said Nina Pizzo, a third-year fashion design student who attended the event with Jiazhen Lin, a thirdyear architecture student. “The food is really good,” Lin said, grinning. “I’m a vegetarian, so I’m pretty excited.” Nagesh is thankful for another successful year with UC. “We hope this helps bring some of India back to Cincinnati,” Nagesh said.
ALEXANDRA TAYLOR | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Local henna company Cincy Party draws henna tattoos at the Taste of India Sunday.
Hypnotist alters students’ consciousness, amuses public
DANIEL SULLIVAN | CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
Some students began to dance under hypnosis during Tuesday’s PAC event featuring hypnotist Jim Wand. KAILEY SCHNEIDER | CONTRIBUTOR
Under the spell of hypnosis, students channeled Taylor Swift, reacted to trigger words and were even driven to twerk Tuesday evening in the Lindner Center during a Programs and Activities Council event featuring hypnotist Jim Wand. Savannah Glenn, a third-year biology student and program director of PAC, was excited about the event, which was held for the first time at the University of Cincinnati. “I wanted to do something different and something that UC students haven’t seen before,” Glenn explained, adding that many of her peers knew about hypnotists, but had never had the opportunity to experience one firsthand. “I’ve heard that an hour of hypnosis is equal to four hours
of sleep, so hopefully they’ll be well rested,” Glenn said jokingly when asked about the event’s benefits for UC students. She went on to say she thought the experience would be entertaining for students to watch. Her assumptions proved to be correct, as the laughter in the room was nearly endless during the hour-and-a-half hypnosis session. Wand explained to the audience how hypnosis works, saying it is essentially an altered state of consciousness in which a person is susceptible to the suggestion of others. Wand emphasized the fact that no one under the power of hypnosis can ever get trapped in that state or face serious harm — an explanation followed by 24 students leaping out of their seats to volunteer to be hypnotized. Not all students were capable of entering a hypnotic state,
but those who did were asked to imagine the celebrity they would most like to make out with and to demonstrate the tactics they would use to seduce this person. One volunteer released a bloodcurdling shriek every time she heard the word Illinois, and another turned his shirt around at the word “hypnosis.” Two other volunteers performed a rousing rendition of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.” A dance medley showcased the dancing abilities of many students — some who didn’t even know they could dance at all. Some flailed their arms while others shook their hips; a few even twerked on a chair. Austin Sirkis, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, was one of the students who fell under a state of hypnosis. Having watched others under the influence of hypnosis before, he was curious to find out what it actually felt like for himself. “When [Wand] said it’ll be like getting a lot of sleep, I was like ‘YES! I want that. I was absolutely for it,” Sirkis said. He described the experience as surreal, and that there were moments during which he wondered if he was actually hypnotized or not. He also felt that, whenever Wand spoke, it was like a “deeprooted suggestion that you have to follow.” Sirkis mentioned that he felt rested at the end of the session, although he was a little sore from all of the dancing. Hira Adhami, a second-year psychology student, agreed with Sirkis, saying she also felt relaxed after being hypnotized. “It didn’t feel like I was down there for an hour and a half,” Adhami said. In addition to hypnosis’ entertainment potential, Wand is an advocate for it being used as a means of self-improvement. Wand said he loves “helping people laugh and letting them let go of their worries and educating them to the power of their minds.” Wand decided to pursue hypnosis after the results it had on him personally. “When I was a freshman in college I was overweight,”Wand said.“I got hypnotized for weight loss and it worked!” He added that it led to him losing 65 pounds. After that experience, he changed his major from computer science to psychology. Wand also believes hypnosis can help college students who need help with their memories, test-taking skills or even motivation levels. “Motivation drive gone down?”Wand said.“You can bring it back up through self-hypnosis.”
Indian event unites students, celebrates spring MOLLY COHEN | CONTRIBUTOR
Camaraderie ran high in Tangeman University Center Saturday as students competed in bangle wearing, chili-pepper eating and push-up contests during UMang, a celebration of the Indian spring festival led by the Indian Student Association. “I hope the festival gives others an idea of celebration and brotherhood,” said Swaraj Mohapatra, a first-year business student. The event, hosted yearly by the ISA, offers students a way to take part in the spring festival Holi. Also known as the Festival of Colors, Holi is a celebration held in March that celebrates the triumph of good over evil and that connects all parts of India. “My favorite thing about the event is how diverse it is,” said Pranay Divaborla, a second-year marketing student.“People from
different countries and different parts of India are coming in for the event.” The event is part of WorldFest, University of Cincinnati’s cultural celebration week, which features student organizations including ISA, the African American Cultural & Resource Center, Hillel and the Arabic Club. The UMang festival began with Scintilla, a series of student-produced short films ranging in genre from comedy to action. “I have friends in the event, so I’m here to cheer them on,” said Mansi Jain, a secondyear marketing student. The friendly competitions continued as attendees raced to earn prizes by playing Tambola, an Indian version of Bingo. “UMang is an Indian fair with games, food, and cultural depictions,” explained Ashwita Saxena, a second-year marketing student and ISA vice president.“It’s the one event spring semester where all Indians come together.” Bold colors and prints moved across the stage as students showed off their outfits
and their humor in an ethnic fashion walk called Gliterrati, “My favorite part of the event was the fashion show, as it was a very nostalgic experience,” Jain said.“It represented the various beautiful attires India has. It was fun watching my American friends wear traditional Indian Sarees as well.” UMang offers a way for international students to celebrate the event even though they are in a different country. “We celebrate the spring festival with our family at home,” said Soumendu Chakravarty, a first-year PhD material science and engineering student.“Here our friends are our families.” Though students attending the festival may come from different places, the event unites them together. UMang is also a place for those who want to learn more about Indian culture. “We want more people to come,” Mohapatra said. “Any community is welcome. It’s just a celebration and a reason to be happy.”
DANIEL SULLIVAN | CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
Ashwita Saxena bows and thanks the crowd during UMang’s fashion show Saturday.