The Miami Student | April 7, 2022

ESTABLISHED 1826 olume

OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES

o. 8

Miami university

In this issue

“I Can Carry You”: Sean Astin carries on his mother’s legacy

xford

hio

Former Xavier head coach Travis Steele to lead Miami men's basketball SPORTS EDITOR Travis Steele as its next head men’s announced in an email from Miami Athletics on Thursday afternoon. spent four years as the head coach at

CAMPUS & COMMUNITY From trees to tables: A local Oxford business rooted in faith and community.

- page 5 ENTERTAINMENT 2022 Grammys started strong, but ultimately succumbed to still being the Grammys.

- page 6

coach in program history.

Steele had this to say, according to the email: “I am honored and thrilled to be named the next head men’s basketball coach at Miami. I David Sayler and President Greg blend of elite academics, beautiful campus and deep commitment to creates a unique advantage. I am At Xavier, Steele amassed a nationally ranked classes there, including the ninth best in the

FOOD Fridge and Pantry Street Station - page 7

the Musketeers made four NCAA

MAGGIE PENA ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR

PHOTO Crawfords lead students on hike - page 9

LEXI WHITEHEAD CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR “I Can Carry You”: Sean Astin carries on his mother’s legacy as a mental health advocate Maggie Pena, Asst. Campus & Community Editor Lexi Whitehead, Campus & Community Editor The seats of Hall Auditorium students and community members

SPORTS Straight from Steele

Lecture Series, given by actor, producer and activist Sean Astin.

- page 10

OPINION From the Editor's Desk: Hello, Miami - page 12

disorder.

Duke died in 2016, but Astin carries on her legacy as an advocate

“The Goonies,” “Rudy,” “Lord of the Rings” and “Stranger Things,” gave a talk titled “I Can Carry You: Destigmatizing Mental Health.”

institutions.

“As much as [hospitals and

Sixteen appearances.

Steele has experience coaching at nearly every level of basketball,

helping, you actually do a lot of things that hurt,” Astin said. “The

Groce is currently the head coach

The lecture started at 7:30

basketball team.

According to the email, Miami

from Astin’s most famous roles.

Sayler is excited about the hiring.

Rings” joke into the beginning of there to see the “hobbit guy,” but made sure to clarify his goal.

“I am here to talk about mental health – mental health advocacy and helping destigmatize mental

scheduled for spring 2020, but

exceptional recruiting pedigree and results. He also brings unmatched

pandemic. Having given speeches about mental health since 2000, people, I think it’s an opportunity for me to try and make real some of

match that vision. He is the right person to raise our program to the next level and put us back in the Conference and beyond.”

Student. ’80s, Astin said she feared being put

due to the pandemic, Astin said

is also famed as the son of John

schmelj2@miamioh.edu @jackschmelznger

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Republican Senate candidates talk Ukraine, number THE MIAMI STUDENT

its primary debate. The candidates took to the stage to tackle a range of topics including Student Center’s Harry T. Wilks Theater and Democracy and WLWT. The candidates included Jane Timken, Mike In their opening statements, each candidate

one

ranking

transparency.”

The candidates administration’s handling

needs to continue arming against Russia. boots on the ground, and I’m not ready to go to a Commenting on the dangerous alliance China, Dolan said he is

said. at a recent debate, she said opponents Mandel

are carrying guns and put them in jail – take people.

a mother, Timken felt passionately about this

lead better than any before, each took their Congressman Tim Ryan, a Democrat also in the race for Senator.

southern border. We’ve got to focus on our promises here.”

claims has impacted gas prices. get out of this debate is that I don’t just repeat the same talking points and same slogans that

the military equipment they need to push Putin out,” Timken said, “but at the end of the day,

to speak to you like you deserve respect.” segment of the debate, the candidates tackled

From there, the debate transitioned into the

“Education is about education, not indoctrination,” she said. “We need a skilled

taking back our classrooms.”

Finally, the candidates delivered closing the Republican coalition.

come,” Callender said.

Although he enjoyed attending the debate, “Coming from the political background that I come from, I don’t think any of the candidates’

senior history and art management major advertisements. moderate, but he’s clearly not,” he said. “And

national security.”

turned the conversation to guns.

the campus hosted such an important debate.

Timkin said she thinks that such racial ideologies are damaging America’s children,

issues like surging crime. Standing in support to amend the average American’s pains over rising costs.

“We’ve got to change and stop the reckless spending in Washington,” Mandel said.

Carter Callender, a junior political science

destroying our values.”

Mandel used his conclusion to mention his position on abortion.

“If you’re passionate about protecting the unborn,” Mandel said, “I am your guy.”

today’s standards.”

While Gibbons and Mandel sit atop the most recent polling, the race continues to be close.

Students can vote by heading to the polls May 3. stefanec@miamioh.edu

Coming Up...

2

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

Most awarded college newspaper in Ohio at the 2020 Regional Mark of Excellence Awards by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Things to do

COSETTE GUNTER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Abby Bammerlin Managing Editor

Sarah Grace Hays Multimedia Editor

Macey Chamberlin Soren Melbye Design Editors

Skyler Perry Magazine Editor

Sean Scott Lexi Whitehead Campus & Community Editors

Devin Ankeney Business Manager

Jack Schmelzinger Sports Editor

Fred Reeder Jr. Faculty Adviser

Ames Radwan Opinion Editor Devin Ankeney

Sacha Bellman Business Adviser

Asst. Opinion Editor Aim Media Midwest Printer Photo Editorr Alice Momany Shr-Hua Moore Maggie Peña Reagan Rude Asst. Campus & Community Editors Lorena Anderson Erin McGovern Hannah Potts Designers

Advertising information: Send us a letter?

Sat 4/9

Sat 4/9

Mon

Mihaela Manova Style Editor

Myaamiaki Conference Fritz Pavilion

9:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m..

Pan Rock ‘22

7:30 p.m. 10:00p.m.

Millett Hall

Committed: Remembering Native Kinship in and Beyond Institutions

7:00 p.m.

4/11

Teddy Johnson Humor Editor Maggie Peña Sean Scott Entertainment Editors Megan McConnell Social Media Editor

Tues 4/12

Grayson Kirk Distinguished Lecture Series

6:00 p.m.

Wilks Theater

Ames Radwan Food Editor

ankenedw@miamioh.edu eic@miamistudent.net

The Miami Student is published biweekly during the school year by the students of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

Opinions expressed in The Miami Student are not necessarily those of Miami University, its

CORRECTIONS POLICY

The Miami Student is committed to providing the Miami University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

Sat 4/16

Sat 4/16

Oxford Community EarthFest Uptown Park

10:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m.

Faculty Chamber Recital: Portraits in Souers Recital Hall

“I Can Carry You”:

Sean Astin carries on his mother’s legacy as a mental health CONTINUED FROM FRONT Astin said his 92-year-old father, who was born during the Great Depression, thought COVID-19 was “worse by a mile” than anything he experienced 62 years ago.

“In that time, you could help people,” Astin said to The Student. “You could give them a hug. You could bring them something to eat, and everyone was experiencing this bad thing, but you were experiencing it together in person. Now, here’s this thing where the most generous thing you can do is stay away from everyone … Every single person you see, if you venture out of your house, is a potential threat to your life.”

Astin said everyone has faced some kind of mental health issues these past two years.

“Mental health and mental health challenges touch everyone,” he said. “If it’s not you personally, maybe it’s in your immediate family … your extended family, your fellow students, your colleagues.”

Astin then turned his attention to his mother and described his childhood.

Although he detailed assault and abuse from his younger years, he emphasized that Duke was a good mother.

“My mother was an extraordinary mother,” Astin said. “There are things that she did for me as a mother that set me up for my whole life, so it’s not really hard for me to talk about the bad things because I fully processed them.”

He outlined his mom’s childhood, which included physical and verbal abuse. By the time she had Astin, things were so bad that he was the only thing keeping her alive.

“The way she’s talked about it, I – the existence of a baby – kept her alive,” Astin said. “I gave her meaning and purpose.”

As a child, Astin said he was threatened with scissors, beaten with a stick and forced to watch multiple suicide attempts, among other things, all at the hands of his mother. Ironically, he said, the start of his career was starring alongside his mother in an after-school special titled “Please Don’t Hit Me, Mom.”

ing so, help others who may be struggling.

Jennifer Leitch, a sophomore middle childhood education major, said she came to the lecture to hear someone so prominent talk about his experience with mental health.

“There’s a lot [on] social media that doesn’t really talk about mental health,” Leitch said. “It’s good to hear that someone who is so well known has gone through real world experiences and issues that people go through every day.

Joelah Marcum, a sophomore economics major, said that although the lecture discussed an important subject, it left her wanting more.

“That’s a good start, but it’s not a good like there were a lot of answers, but it’s good to start the conversation at least.” creative writing major, said she was more “It was really inspiring,” she said. “He really is kind of Samwise Gamgee in your life.”

Before the question-and-answer portion of the lecture, Astin outlined his rules for helping someone in need.

First, he said to protect yourself at all times. He likened this to being a lifeguard – you’re swimming out to help someone in need, but make sure they don’t take you down with them.

Second, listen without judgment. There are many professional places to go for help, he said, but be a listening ear for a friend in need.

Finally, make sure you listen without making it about yourself. as being in need right now,” he said. ”It can’t be about you.”

Overall, Astin said he is grateful the stigmatization around mental health has been knocked down.

“I know that [the taboo has] changed,” he said. “And thank goodness, because it really needs to change because now the issue is as intense as it’s ever been.”

Bipolar disorder in the ’80s, after several the diagnosis with gratitude. He said she made it her life mission to take the taboo away from mental health issues and by do-

@maggieloup penaml@miamioh.edu @nwlexi whitehan@miamioh.edu

SAVE MONEY. GRADUATE FASTER.

Take summer classes at Columbus State.

cscc.edu/summerguest

7:30 p.m.

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

3

Oxford to consider year-round alcoholic drinking area outdoors We’ll see how it goes, and if it goes

gradable or compostable?”

Despite the hurdles, she said the year-round program would be bene-

The idea for a year-round DORA

keeping the DORA open all year may discourage students who don’t want “Anyone who wants to just go to Graeter’s Ice Cream or Krishna, or any other local businesses, they’re

feels like we are engaging in trust with our student community,” French Council voted to reopen the DORA 2022, the length of Miami’s winter At the time, Councilor Glenn Ellerbe said the DORA should remain

due to the alcoholic beverages being students would like to be able to do is to go Uptown and … get a beverage of their choosing if they’re 21 and to go said the DORA would have enviFor Kimberly Moore, Dean of Students, the issues a year-round DORA

DORA cups aren’t reusable, and Jef-

“I believe that the DORA pro-

SEAN SCOTT CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR Students at Miami University might be free to enjoy alcoholic drinks outdoors in Uptown Oxford Since 2020, Oxford has opened a Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) each summer and winThe DORA allows bars and restauDORA cups for patrons to take outfrom the designated open containers in Uptown from Church Street to Walnut Street on the north and south and Campus Avenue to Beech Street Assistant City Manager Jessica Greene said the DORA started in 2020 to help businesses during the height of the COVID-19 pandem-

program to keep it open year-round, “You want people to come into town and just enjoy being here … You’re just trying to get people to engage in town and have a good time while Council has to vote on a resolution to open and close the DORA each cides to move forward with the pilot program, Greene said there won’t be a resolution to close it right away in Au-

to this town and that we have been hamstringing ourselves with the fear of the students,” Ellerbe said at the es where students have been here pretty much all summer and had no incidents with overconsumption or disorderly conduct due to alcohol in Five months later, Councilor Alex French said the city has had more indepth discussions about logistics and implementation, and Council decided to prioritize the pilot program during French said the biggest issues outdoor drinking would cause in Oxford while school is in session include policing and waste management since

If necessary, the city could cancel

“We’re essentially handing out disposable cups to people all weekly, we want to make sure that we’re not just creating an extra mountain of waste every weekend with all the

“The way we’ve drafted it would

-

would then use the summer months to coordinate with its partners on education, trash management and en-

“Twelve hours, seven days a week of an open intoxicant district is a mis-

students dispose of their trash Up“I remember going Uptown once,”

“This does not align with the values of drinking culture, or high risk drinking culture, and that is completely conMoore said the drinking culture at Miami and in Oxford has been on Beer Day citations have been on the given that year compared to just nine in 2019, the last pre-pandemic spring were charged with alcohol-related of-

pulling out, someone just threw their beer bottle right on the ground as I think litter is going to increase, which kind of decreases Oxford’s appearEven though the DORA would allow students to bring beverages outside, French said she doesn’t think it “When students go to Brick Street, it’s because they want to be at Brick ferent vibe than drinking on the park

The DORA, Moore said, would be

DORA] sort of being a devolution of lution of the drinking culture, and it plays to a very small portion of who

on whether to move forward with the est it could be brought to Council is scottsr2@miamioh.edu

chemistry and nutrition major, said

ASG passes three pieces of legislation has regarding student mental health STAFF WRITER Miami University’s Associated Student Government (ASG) passed three pieces of legislation at its April

update will provide clarity on the position ahead of the upcoming cabinet One change was renaming the title to Secretary for Safety and Wellness

was changing mentions of sexual assault to sexual and interpersonal vioNext was a resolution to work toward implementing a gender-neutral cording to data from ASG’s fall 2021 audit, 12 residence halls don’t have a gender-neutral bathroom with a shower, while 11 residence halls don’t Senator-At-Large Mónnica Gay,

one of the authors of the resolution, said the authors want to work with physical facilities to get gender-neutral bathrooms built where they can, like in residence halls that have yet to “The idea of redesigning all the dorms and putting in gender-neutral bathrooms in all of them isn’t super

bathrooms were broken, destroyed

The resolution passed unani-

will also work toward repairing these

The last piece of legislation was a bill to make the procedures of the laws would be amended to have rules within the committee be approved by

cult, and it should be consistent and Crone said he was in favor of the resolution because some of the work can

ASG’s next meeting will be at 6

-

Senate Chamber in Armstrong Stu-

this legislation, we’re wanting to target a lot of smaller-scale renovations The audit also showed that some signs on the existing gender-neutral

resolutions haven’t happened yet,” hogemh@miamoh.edu

New diversity, equity and inclusion microcredential course hopes to spark conversation and understanding MADI JEROME

vide

STAFF WRITER A new online diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) microcredential course has been developed at Miami University and is free for all alumni, The course contains 10 detailed, 45-minute modules, and participants must have been registered by March 14, but registration for larger groups in 11 weeks and have a 2-3 hour time Cristina Alcalde, vice president for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion at Miami, wrote in an email to The Miami Student that the department wanted to create more diverse and “We repeatedly hear how research tells us that well-managed, diverse workplaces are more competitive, innovative and successful than non-dithis course was an opportunity to tap into and bring together existing diversity, equity and inclusion for the Alcalde wrote that the course of“The modules in the course pro-

critical

information,

skills,

participants think more about issues

resources to create more inclusive communities and workplaces,” Alcal-

“It’s intended to not give you everything that you need, but to begin to help you think about these issues,”

microaggressions, ableism, LGBTQ+ identities, ageism and healthcare inThe microcredential course can help improve resumes and enhance Many employers, she wrote, are looking for candidates with DEI knowledge to create more inclusive workJessica Rivinius, senior director of news and communications at Miami, said the course will help people be“Throughout every sector of society, there is an urgent need for leaders who will advance diversity, equity, and inclusion, and build better and stronger workplaces and communiMiami’s amazing faculty and experts, participants of the course will be empowered to thrive — and help others thrive — in our increasingly complex

down into this space and begin a conversation, and then open the door to individuals that want to do more Coates said the DEI microcredential course will hopefully encourage and aid having conversations about “When looking at issues of gender, disability, race and sexuality, all these things are very pressing right now, and they have been forever,” Coates in these kinds of conversations, the more we can begin talking about how modules] each provide some means Denise Taliaferro Baszile, associate dean for Student Services and Diversity and professor of educational leadership, also contributed by creating a module on allyship and “We live in a very diverse and

Rodney Coates, a professor of global and intercultural studies at Miami, contributed to the course by creating a module on race and ethnic

getting any less diverse and not getting any less complex, so either we’re going to engage in the necessary discussions and skill-building we need to

YOUR WHY

THIS IS

I’m home from my four-year school and want to get ahead with summer classes.

With a wide range of courses, both in-person and online, Lakeland Community College offers three convenient summer sessions allowing you to catch up or get ahead. We’ll help you design a summer schedule that aligns with your needs and keeps you on track to realizing your goals.

LEARN MORE AT LAKELANDCC.EDU/YOURHOW

BY

navigate such a world, or we’re not …

We have to keep putting in the work and we have to keep putting out opportunities for other people to learn Baszile said this DEI microcredenportunity for you to be by yourself,”

Are you a: • writer • photographer • designer • or illustrator?

tunity to at least learn what are the ideas that are circulating around, so then you can be able to have some @Madijeromee jeromemt@miamioh.edu

Visit miamistudent.net to Join the TMS Team!

Campus and Community

4

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

Bachelor Hall to undergo renovations and become a hub for humanities ALICE MOMANY ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR Bachelor Hall will undergo a complete structural and cosmetic renovation to combine humanities classes and modernize the 43-year-old academic building.

Cody Powell, associate vice president of Facilities Planning and Operations at Miami, said the renovations plan to begin in 2024.

The renovation was unanimously approved by the Board of Trustees in February with a proposed budget of $62 million.

Bachelor Hall, which currently houses the departments of English, mathematics and speech pathology and audiology, will be transformed into a hub for humanities-based majors.

The departments of Media, Journalism and Film (MJF), philosophy, history and comparative religion will all move into Bachelor Hall after the renovation.

The Department of English, the American Culture and English (ACE) program and the Humanities Center, which are already located in Bachelor Hall, will stay put.

“Because it’s kind of a marquee building and it’s right at the heart of campus and near the new Honors College,” Provost Jason Osborne said, “we thought that collecting some of the humanities departments together would really kind of create the beacon of what Miami really is known for, which is interdisciplinary thinking, but also a solid core in the liberal arts and the humanities in particular.”

Powell said the renovations plan to begin following the completion of the Clinical Health Science and Wellness Building and the Richard McVey Data Science Building. Both are currently under construction.

The department of speech pathology and audiology will move to the new Clinical Health Science and Wellness Building, but no location has been determined yet for the department of mathematics.

In addition to the combination of departments, Bachelor will also undergo structural updates, including a new roof and modernized interior spaces.

“We’re anticipating right now that the work will constitute all the main

infrastructure of the building like HVAC and lighting and so forth, but also all of the interior spaces will be Powell said. ”And then we’re going to be doing a lot to update and rightsize the teaching spaces, the size of the classrooms and the functionality of the classrooms that are in there today.”

The building will also undergo cosmetic changes that give students a space to work together.

“We’re enclosing the existing courtyard and making it a large atrium space, likely two levels, which will be a nice addition because there’s just not that much community or collaborative space in the building today,” Powell said.

Osborne hopes combining all the humanities-based disciplines will invite students and professors to work collaboratively. being around peers with similar interests, and I anticipate some great things coming out of that, and for students, having faculty who are engaging with each other and doing interesting things is important,” Osborne said.

Osborne explained that the renovation concepts are a product of shared governance in which stuto create a modern vision. glish department, said all the chairs multiple times to give their input on the changes.

“We are very excited about the better use of space and also having our colleagues … all together so that we can just walk down the hall or walk down the stairs and talk to our colleagues who are also in the hu-

ber of buildings we have will worsen that feeling.”

As a media and culture major, one of McVan’s reservations is the fate of Williams Hall, which houses the department of MJF. In addition to traditional classrooms, Williams Hall

said.

Alyson McVan, a junior English creative writing and media and culture double major, disagrees with

dios, a full broadcast studio and radio production studio.

Although the future of Williams Hall is still undecided, Powell assured that the university will not be changing the MJF departmental prolocation.

He said the equipment and sys-

humanities will only limit their involvement on campus rather than enhance it.

“I feel like sometimes humanities get the short end of the stick at a lot of universities, and I feel like that is what is happening here cramming them all together in one building,” McVan said. “We already feel kind of looked over, and decreasing the num-

Williams, but no decisions have been made yet. He also said that it doesn’t make sense for the university to renovate it due to the age and poor construction of the building.

Powell agreed that sometimes the humanities are overlooked, but he said investing in the renovations of Bachelor Hall and combining the humanities-focused majors into one

THE RENOVATIONS FOR THE 43-YEAR-OLD BUILDING ARE SET TO BEGIN IN 2024..

building proves Miami’s dedication to the importance of humanities.

“We’ve had a pretty strong focus on STEM facilities, which are obviously very important to us here at Miami, but this is an important project for the humanities which is a big part of the liberal education that we provide here at Miami,” Powell said.

“I think it’s important that we invest in those facilities and make sure that we’ve got spaces that are conducive to providing that instruction and learning.”

McVan agreed that Bachelor Hall is in need of an update but said it isn’t too bad.

“I think it could be updated, but I personally don’t think it’s in any sort of state of disrepair,” McVan

building needs a refresh.

Eichelberger’s classes will be moved to the new Clinical Health Science and Wellness Building, but she fully supports the renovations of Bachelor Hall.

“The building is old,” Eichelberger said. “I know there are some leaky ceilings and other things that come with an older building, and that comes with going to a school that is as old as Miami is. I don’t think there is an issue with it, I just think that it needs to be updated to better accommodate people.” @alicemomany momanyaj@miamioh.edu

necessarily older or in worse shape than any of the other buildings on campus.”

Anna Eichelberger, a speech pathology and audiology major, disagreed with McVan, and thinks the

From trees to tables: A local Oxford business rooted in faith and community MAGGIE PEÑA ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR/ ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR From trees to tables: A local Oxford business rooted in faith and community Maggie Peña, Asst. Campus & Community Editor/Entertainment Editor Ryan Murphy and Vilppu Anttila are followers of Jesus. They also own a table-building business.

And the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Quite the opposite, actually.

Christian life and in the life of Jesus,” Murphy said. “You know, there’s a lot people to a table to have meals with him.”

Murphy and Anttila own Tree to Table, a furniture company that specializes in producing custom launched their business in January.

The road to get there, though, has required dedication, faith and support from their community.

Anttila graduated from Miami University in 2015 with a degree in mechanical engineering. After living in the U.S. for several years following a move with his family from Finland as a teenager, he had the choice to move back to his home country with his family; if he moved back, he could attend college for free.

Instead, he stayed in the U.S. and

paid his own way through school.

“God made a way, so I stayed,” he said.

Anttila and his wife, Hannah, are Miami Mergers. Before the thought of a business crossed anyone’s mind, the couple had agreed to settle in their alma mater’s town.

“The narrative that you’re taught, or at least, somehow pick up when you’re at Miami, is that you graduate and you move as far away as you can, you become as successful as you can,” Anttila said. “At some point during our engagement, it really dramatically shifted … I just remember one day very clearly both of us just agreeing like, ‘I think we’re supposed to stay in Oxford.’”

The couple also didn’t want to leave the support system they had built during their formative college years. Hannah, a stay-at-home-mom, said the community in Oxford is like no other.

“When I was a student, something that was so meaningful for me was into their homes and hang out with their dogs and their kids and have a home cooked meal,” she said. “It really helped grow me in a lot of ways and balance out the education that I was receiving at school, and so we want to do that with the students too.”

Murphy and his wife, on the other hand, had no experience with Oxford as young adults. Both are from Cincinnati and graduated from the University of Cincinnati. They, too,

Are you a: • writer • photographer • designer • or illustrator?

thought God wanted them in Oxford, so Murphy started playing basketball at the Rec Center every Saturday.

Eventually, the couple made the move.

Anttila worked with Virgil Otto, owner of Gun Stocks Plus, for his senior design project at Miami.

Though Anttila and Otto didn’t speak for a couple years after he graduated, the connection proved fruitful – after Murphy and Anttila met at church, they decided to help Otto at his workshop.

“One morning during my prayer time I was very clearly reminded of Virgil, and I just thought, ‘I think we’re supposed to go help him,’” Anttila said.

The future business partners started helping him in small ways: unloading and cleaning a trailer, moving wood and helping around the shop. Otto is in his 80s, so the young men do the “back-breaking” labor while Otto shares his wisdom and expertise with them.

“His view of the young generation has completely been changing because of seeing these young guys showing up,” Anttila said. “He didn’t know that that still happened, that there were good men of character and integrity who were not afraid to work hard … He [said he’s] gaining hope for the future of America.”

Today, the two go into the shop twice a week and balance their time between their business and outside commitments.

Since January, Murphy said the pair hasn’t gone a day without a project.

A table typically takes one to how much material is prepped and how much customer feedback they receive. Completely customizable tables are an important facet of their business model.

“We want people to have what they like,” Anttila said. “If they’re going to pay for it, we want them to have exactly what they want, and that can take a lot of patience.” customers, bought a table they had in their inventory. Hicks met Ryan playing basketball at the Rec Center, then started going to the community dinners they host.

The dinners are hosted every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Murphy’s house. Hicks said the dinners, which can end by 7 p.m. or last until 10 p.m., are a great way to build community.

“There’s a lot of people who have found their dinner to be a place of community and love and just being known by a group of people,” Hicks said. “[And] it’s hard to have community if you don’t eat together, and you can’t eat together without the table, so I think having a table that’s good [enough] quality to stand the test of thousands of people eating on it for a long amount of time is important.”

Murphy said his and Anttila’s philosophy is heavily linked to their

love of community.

“A table is a very special thing,” Murphy said. “A gathering place in our culture and society has been slowly diminishing. In a go, go, go, non-stop world, actually sitting down to have a meal as a family or with friends can get lost very easily, so making something that is meaningful and that people are actually going to use – you know, our little tagline of ‘tree to table’ – it’s built for gathering, and so to make something that others are actually creating meaningful memories and encounters around is a fun thing.”

Both Murphy and Anttila said their faith and their families are important aspects of the business.

Hannah connected this love for God to their focus on community.

“It’s like because God has invited me to his table and adopted me into his family, we’ve done that for other students, just invited them to our table and adopted into our family because we love them, because God loves them,” she said.

Looking forward, the pair hopes to make this venture into one that can support their families in the future.

“Hopefully [we’ll make] a lot more tables,” Murphy said. “I think looking at it as becoming more and more a sustainable, consistent income that really begins to provide for our families in a meaningful way.” @maggieloup penaml@miamioh.edu

Visit miamistudent.net

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

5

Two years into the pandemic, Asian-American and Pacific Islander hate continues SHR-HUA MOORE, ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR It’s been about a year since videos of elders being attacked and the tragic shootings in Atlanta and Indianapolis put a spotlight on hate crimes and racism toward the Asiancommunity.

It’s also been about a year since the creation of the Stop AAPI Hate movement, a social phenomenon that puts emphasis on the racism and exclusion faced by members of the AAPI community in the U.S. It’s been about a year, and antiAsian racism hasn’t gone away.

A sophomore psychology major at Miami University who preferred day in the U.S. after coming from Vietnam to start in-person learning at Miami was stained with an ugly mark when she was yelled at by someone in a car when walking with friends.

“There was a car that drove past us, and I heard a noise,” she said.

“Someone leaned towards the window and said something; I thought they said ‘hi’ and I was smiling, asking my friends what they were saying –they were like, ‘Yeah, we got barked at.’”

She said the incident made her experience – as someone from

time – isolating and uncomfortable.

“I was just intimidated,” she campus, and I already was feeling like, ‘I wanna go home, I’m not gonna survive here.’”

Incidents like these don’t only Mary Yang is a sophomore majoring in biology at Miami who She said she witnessed a disgruntled white customer yell at the Chinese employees of a Japanese grill restaurant she works at. “[The customer was causing a scene], so the owner had to start asking the lady to leave the property; the manager had to translate what the owner was saying, so they were talking in Chinese,” Yang said. “The talking in another language and said ‘I went to college: I know what you’re saying. If you have shit to talk about me, talk about me directly.’”

Yang said the customer was previously talking and arguing with Yang said this aggressive mindset regarding racism was problematic.

“That was a whole interesting mix of social problems, and it really makes you think about in what scenario would you consider racism; the more we focus on racism the more

we emphasize it, and rather than becoming an inclusive community we become wary of other people’s racism is about being open, accepting your mistakes, accepting your bias, rather than attacking other people for their ignorance.”

Despite these incidents in Oxford, the topic is less prevalent in national media than it was last spring.

Katherine Cho, an assistant professor in the department of educational leadership at Miami, said the seemingly lower media interest could be due to an overwhelming amount of trauma and other issues “The underlying issue is still very much present, [but] the capacity to which people can address it has shifted to a degree,” Cho said.

“Ultimately people are tired. I think about the sheer number of catastrophes in an ongoing pandemic and there’s a lot of noise surrounding it, and what does it mean for [the Stop Asian Hate Movement] to try to survive in a cacophony of sound?”

Cho said this didn’t mean the movement was a failure, though. In fact, she said it greatly helped with how the media deals with AAPI racism.

“I do think that there is more of a willingness to talk about the historical

Cho said. “[It seems that] media sites and sources are trying to better explain that the hate didn’t come out of nowhere.”

Looking forward, Cho said she hopes to see a focus on education and unity.

The anonymous student said she appreciated the anti-racism workshops and resources the racism, but she thinks it doesn’t do enough to solve the issue at large.

“The people who go to those antiracism workshops already know about the issue, and they want to help,” she said. “People who really need that aren’t ever going to go to those. We need to actually reach the audience that we cannot reach and make it mandatory to learn about [anti-racism] in our classes.”

Cho agreed that mandatory faculty in addition to students.

“If you are making things not a requirement, faculty don’t really attend, and I think it’s important care,” Cho said. “Course evaluations don’t have a metric of diversity or addressing diversity. We need better systems for students.”

In addition to reforming institutions at Miami, students are also pushing to make the AAPI community feel welcome and united

on campus.

Justin Tirtadjaja is a senior engineering major and the current president of the Asian-American Association (AAA) at Miami. He said he has used his position to spread awareness about Asian culture in a positive way on campus. an advocacy group, the best that we can do is to show Miami University what Asian culture is and who Asian Americans are through events like the Asian Culture Festival or fusion,” Tirtadjaja said. “A lot of the time hatred comes from ignorance and not understanding, so we are trying to change that.”

Regardless of what the future holds, though, Miami students today are still facing AAPI hate today.

“Imagine just being here, an international [student], all by yourself with no family, no home, whatever,” the unnamed student said. “I just feel unwelcome and so alone here and it just makes everything so much worse.”

Diversity and Inclusion has resources for anyone who wants to learn more about the AAPI community and seek support in race-related issues: @hua_shr moorese6@miamioh.edu

From middle school assignments to a national award, writing has taken Daisy Hernández to new height LUKE MACY THE MIAMI STUDENT From middle school assignments to a national award, writing has taken Daisy Hernández to new heights Luke Macy, The Miami Student Students who visit Daisy are immediately greeted with a collection of posters on the door.

One poster, “Yoga for Writers,” humorously connects English terms with yoga poses. Another reads, “We LOVE you and we HONOR you and we defend your right to be here.” Others advertise campus organizations such as Spectrum and Women Helping Women. painted white, but a yellow one stands out. Hernández, an assistant professor of creative writing at Miami University, chose the color herself. poet, hangs on the wall. Jordan wrote one of Hernández’s favorite poems, “Poem About My Rights.”

A bookshelf stands to the right, talking about writers, a particular one stands out to Hernández: Sandra Cisneros.

“She’s a poet and her language is just so imagistic, so beautiful,” Hernández said.

“She’s also Chicanná, and she was writing in … mostly English, but she brings in Spanish and she was writing about her … immigrant community which is were points of similarities.”

An author as well as professor, Hernández’s most recent book, “The Chagas disease, which is prominent in rural Latin American areas. For this book, Hernández had to pivot what she was reading from books to science articles, which required concepts.

“When you’re writing about science or medicine, you’re basically doing translation work,” Hernández said. “How can I take this terminology, these concepts, and make them palpable for a general reader who doesn’t sit around reading science articles for fun?”

Hernández also poured her time into interviewing hundreds of people, ranging from patients with the disease to entomologists that study the triatomine bugs that transmit the disease. She spent seven years working on the book.

Along with the PEN award, Hernández also received a $75,000 prize. She said she was blown away by the honor.

“I wanted this book to raise awareness around this neglected disease that disproportionately impacts the Latinx immigrant community in the U.S.,” Hernández book in front of people who maybe would not have even thought about picking up the book or weren’t thinking about the subject matter.”

The award’s impact was heightened by something personal to Hernández – the book was inspired by her aunt who died from Chagas disease.

“She lived for many, many years just going in and out of hospitals,” Hernández said. “And then she died in 2010 … You forget that this time could be it, because so many times it felt like ‘Oh my God, this could be it,’ and it wasn’t.”

The path to “The Kissing Hernández had to do back in middle school. Her science teacher told the class they had to write essays about why life might exist on other planets.

“I wrote a very compelling essay arguing that there was life on Neptune or something like that, and my teacher loved it,” Hernández said. “She read it to the class, and I remember while she was reading, I was looking around. All the little kids were nodding their heads, and I just remember feeling like if I can convince these fools that there’s life on Neptune, I can do anything. Oh my God, I was drunk on power.”

The moment inspired Hernández to continue writing.

“I loved it,” Hernández said. “I was like, ‘Woah, this is amazing.’ It like, ‘Oh my gosh … you can touch people with your words. You can actually make them feel something, Hernández was raised in America in a home with parents who didn’t speak English. She started to notice the gap between her worlds while watching the family’s television.

“I also grew up with seeing two a little journalism nerd,” Hernández said. “The English news never, never looked like the Spanish language news.”

Hernández would watch Spanish news about civil wars in Central America or immigration status in the U.S., then switch over to English news and hear about local crime and the Reagan administration.

“There were just so many stories that were not in both worlds,” Hernández said. “I knew at that point bridge these two worlds somehow.”

When Hernández graduated from high school, she enrolled in William Paterson University. She wanted to major in journalism, but the degree was more focused on marketing and communications, so she majored in English instead.

Hernández then attended New York University to get her Master of Arts in both journalism and Latin American and Caribbean studies.

Hernández also studied at the University of Miami where she got her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing.

As Hernández started to write more often, opportunities opened up. She’s been published in Ms. magazine, had an internship with The New York Times (NYT) editorial board in 2002 and then reported for NYT’s Metro desk.

DAISY HERNANDEZ IS A MIAMI PROFESSOR, FORMER JOURNALIST AND AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR. P DAISY HERNANDEZ

While working for NYT, Hernández covered a multitude accidents, community gardens and bad weather. She even found some interesting stories through topics that are generally considered boring.

“I actually wrote about tax returns,” Hernández said. “That was my best story, actually, [it] was an undocumented immigrant family return and start [a valuable] paper trail, but her husband did not.”

After the New York Times, Hernández joined “ColorLines” as a magazine editor. She then continued her journalism career freelancing for organizations such as National Geographic, The Atlantic and NPR. In 2014, she released a memoir titled “A Cup of Water Under My Spanish and English.

Since 2015, Hernández has taught creative writing at Miami. Hernández realized she wanted to be a professor while working for various media publications.

“I often found myself teaching even in my journalism [and] publishing career,” Hernández said.

“I found myself really interested in teaching people who are not professional writers how to write op-eds or write essays about their lives, and then when I was working with actual interns and younger folks, I was really just fascinated by essentially showing them what others had shown me to do.”

Teaching creative writing also allows her to change pace from journalism.

get to meet with other authors and professionals, which is really cool.”

actually the intimacy that you can have with characters,” Hernández said. “That’s something that you

associated with the dominant class and culture.”

For aspiring writers, Hernández recommends that they enroll in any writing classes they can.

“Take classes,” Hernández says.

“You learn from your teachers, but you also learn from your peers. You learn from the other writers in the room so much.”

Hernández is now able to share her love for writing with students.

“When a sentence comes together on the page, it is so satisfying,” Hernández says. “The music of it or the images that come together or the way it just can seem more true than what you’ve actually lived.” @lukejmacy macylj@miamioh.edu

no matter how hard you try, because they’re not invented characters.”

This semester, Hernández teaches ENG323 Intermediate Creative Literature and the Americas.

Cass Hauck, a sophomore biology, creative writing and premedical studies major, enjoys having Hernández as a professor for ENG323.

“She really tries to make the many opportunities for student-led discussions,” Hauck said. “She also helps us and the English department

English department, had been teaching Hernández’s books in classes before Hernández even joined Miami’s faculty.

“Professor Hernández is an extremely talented writer and a gifted sheds light on issues and realities that are often obscured or marginalized

6

entertainment

Miley Cyrus demands your ‘ATTENTION’ with new live album

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

2022 Grammys started strong, but ultimately succumbed to still being the Grammys REECE HOLLOWELL THE MIAMI STUDENT More.”

nous pattern by the end of its broadcast on Sun hour show.

NEAS, for a raucous second half, with her whole year in a row. While only a few of his jokes landed, Anderson .Paak – won both Record of the Year New Artist.

Mars and .Paak continued their unbroken

It was an energetic and fun start to the show that

EVAN STEFANIK

Things slowed down a bit as Rodrigo took the

THE MIAMI STUDENT Miley Cyrus has always asked for attention — now, she pays it all back to her audience.

a pretty safe choice. ed at her Los Angeles concert this February. Per place and stalled the show’s pacing to a crawl.

The tracklist was based entirely on fans’ re

ings.”

sic hits to the jewels of her discography, both new

The pacing picked back up with internation

as Hannah Montana, thanking listeners for re of her identity.

purposeful and intentional. herself.

country artists as they are, left things on an odd

before Lil Nas X went full popstar hollowrr@miamioh.edu

er than being hung up on the past or worrying too

chorus of patriotic partiers for the best parts of the song.

on audience participation too often throughout

‘It was a complete slap in the face’: Animators angered by degrading comments at Academy Awards JANE MCKINLEY THE MIAMI STUDENT

When Cyrus actually does sing, she sounds one another.

McKinley said that to create these stories, art ists put in a lot of hard work and long hours. How towards their dedication.

herself.

people less,” McKinley said. are talking about,” Scott said to the audience with

award.

don’t necessarily just apply to kids,” McKinley

mckinlji@miamioh.edu

tion Guild to push for negotiations for what they

My sister Lauren McKinley, a storyboard artist as her fans. work orders a new season of a which is printed with the young face of her Dis ney years.

Cyrus’ life has been in the public eye since she

nity to renegotiate their contracts just an age range.” and shows under this category are

accepts that the scrutiny knows no end. In fact,

The Guild’s standard in order to a decades long wound. larger ones. as New Media, it has the opportu nity to underpay its workers.

intended for the sole purpose of opening the con cert. out there for adults and teens, but people just ar

contain his secret in the years that follow.

greenlights a show and orders 60

pay for two entire seasons of work.

ter who or what tries to shut her down.

Cyrus knew her fans were still listening – on tion.

Rating: 7/10

paying attention to the category or taking it seri stefanec@miamioh.edu

our work that kept these studios backs, and the only thing we got in of workers and a slap in the face at

DISNEY TELEVISION ANIMATION.

FOOD

7 THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

‘The Weekly Veg’: Hoisin mushroom buns AMES RADWAN FOOD EDITOR This week on “The Weekly Veg,” allow me to introduce you to a food I myself just learned about: mushroom hoisin buns.

Hoisin sauce is a thick, salty and sweet Cantonese concoction; though its name comes from the Chinese word for seafood, most hoisin sauces nowadays are actually vegetarian or sometimes vegan, and it pairs deliciously with vegetables. winter break when my mom ordered hoisin mushroom buns from a meal prep service. From the

in my mouth.

Plus, mushrooms are my favorite food, and if I hear anyone downing on mushrooms, we’re going to have some words. I love these things.

Naturally, when I stumbled across a hoisin mushroom bun recipe online, I had to make it for

A little side note: Asia Market is a fantastic place. I had never stepped foot foods, snacks and drinks that I know I’ll have to go back sometime. A very nice woman working the front helped me to

This is a fairly easy recipe, and a quick one, too However, you will have to hunt down some of the ingredients. The hoisin sauce, soy sauce and sesame oil can easily be found in the “Asian Foods” aisle at Kroger, but the buns were a little harder to track down, and I ended up having to go to Asia

end up making this recipe and are looking for the buns, that’s the place to go.

As for spices, smoked paprika and Chiveggie crunch in this recipe is provided by the cucumbers and the green/spring onions.

The strangest ingredient in this reciwith the other sauces and spices to create rooms.

Some changes that I made: I like my mushroom buns dripping with sauce, so I actually doubled the amount of the sauce

THIS WEEK, THE WEEKLY VEG FEATURES HOISIN MUSHROOM BUNS. FOOD EDITOR AMES RADWAN

I just went with green onions instead, which are almost identical anyway.

Oyster mushrooms on their own are also

sweetness of the maple helped to amplify the sima crisp crunch and the lotus buns were soft and mildly sweet. Between the two of us, we devoured eleven mushroom buns, and my friend gave the My roommate, on the other hand, was more skeptical, considering the mushrooms in the dish

And, of course, instead of making the recipe’s hoisin sauce, I just bought a bottle of Lee Kum Kee

JUNIOR SHEA FRAWLEY (LEFT) AND JUNIOR ANNA SZCZEPANIAK (RIGHT) ENJOY HOISIN MUSHROOM BUNS. FOOD EDITOR AMES RADWAN

trust me.

Here is this simple recipe’s lone problem: it’s a lot more prep work than I thought. I spent more time slicing mushrooms and green onions than I did actually cooking them. Though slicing the onions is unavoidable, I’d recommend just chopping the mushrooms instead of trying to make them look pretty. They all look the same when covered in sauce.

I dragged one of my friends shopping with me for this dish, so it was only fair that she got to try it in the end. One of my roommates, who is notoriously mushroom-phobic, warily joined us, and the three of us had a hoisin mushroom bun party for dinner on Sunday night.

My friend repeated “This is delicious” about

thing, but she still liked it, especially the cucumbers. in the future it could maybe use a little more soy sauce and a little less hoisin to give it a saltier kick, own with a spoon.

Rating: 9/10 Have a recipe you’d like to see on The Weekly Veg? Email it to me and I’ll be happy to test and rate it. radwanat@miamioh.edu

Fridge and Pantry Street Station week I decided to recreate the beloved Fridge & Pantry (F&P) quinoa bowls.

The two most easily achievable bowls that I took on were the Southwest and the Mediterranean quinoa bowls. I ents, and of course it does depend on the day, but I was happy with my recreations.

Mediterranean Quinoa Bowl: Maple on a day when the teriyaki chicken is an opF&P’s Mediterranean Bowl is one of my favorbeat, but I gave it my best attempt at a recreation.

Like before, I asked for a fair serving of quinoa from the allergen station and then headed to the salad bar.

F&P makes their bowl a simple dish that’s topped with hummus, arugula, cherry tomatoes,

Southwest Quinoa Bowl: A MAPLE STREET STATION RECREATION OF FRIDGE AND PANTRY’S MEDITERRANEAN BOWL. AVA KALINA, THE MIAMI STUDENT.

AVA KALINA THE MIAMI STUDENT Unlike many, I have faith in Miami University dining halls. It’s a hot take amongst my peers, but if you procure the right meal, a night at the dining meal Uptown.

I will admit that I have found myself left with an unfortunate feeling in my stomach after a stir fry meal at Garden or the pork chops at Maple, but you live and you learn. And as a second-semester sophomore, I’ve learned which foods to avoid and how to even enjoy it.

The trick to a successful meal at the dining hall is to walk in and view it as walking into the pantry of a Food Network cooking show: I have to procure an enjoyable meal all by myself, but with a large variety of ingredients.

Over these two years, I’ve procured many salads and rice bowls I’ve been proud of, but my own mind can only invent so many recipes, so this

west bowl Maple-style is to go during lunch when Maple has its entire Southwest Grill

quinoa.

The Southwest station has a large variety of options to add to the bowl, so you can really make it to your liking, but I was sticking true to F&P’s style and added corn, black beans, a tomato-cilanprotein, so I added the pulled chicken to my bowl as well.

F&P has a twist to their southwest style and adds feta rather than the more traditional cheddar, so I headed to the salad bar, where feta is easy The only ingredients that Maple is lacking are unfortunately the sauces. Fridge has a lemon vinbut are missing at Maple. I added a lemon slice to get that sour tang, but it just wasn’t the same.

Rating: 7/10

ing F&P’s dishes and they gave me a lot of inspiration for future ‘homemade’ meals at the dining hall.

I still stand by the fact that the dining hall can have endless possibilities of relatively delicious meals if you try hard enough, but nothing can beat Fridge & Pantry’s delicious quinoa bowls.

vinaigrette.

I strayed a bit from the original recipe and added chickpeas for some protein.

My biggest worry for this dish, was the lack of

kalinaae@miamioh.edu

Maple has a surprisingly tasty light of my bowl and mirrored F&P’s quite well, but the lemon vinaigrette and greek yogurt of the inspiration bowl was nowhere to be seen.

Rating: 5/10 Between these two dishes, the largest obstacle was the lack of sauces at Maple. I couldn’t truly recreate either of these bowls with the lemon vinaigrette, jalapeno ranch or Greek yogurt that are typically added to their respective quinoa bowls.

F&P also serves a Teriyaki Chicken Bowl that I couldn’t even attempt

A MAPLE STREET STATION RECREATION OF FRIDGE AND PANTRY’S SOUTHWEST BOWL. AVA KALINA, THE MIAMI STUDENT.

King Café: the king of coffee on campus MEREDITH PERKINS THE MIAMI STUDENT You know what? I’m going to say it. King Café

It wasn’t until my second semester, when I started taking a class in King Library, that I found myself frequenting King Café. It was then that

King Café student employees have to be some of the nicest people I’ve ever interacted with on campus. The café almost never has a line longer than

beautiful.

For starters, the atmosphere of King Café

It might come as a surprise to some people that our university library serves what I consider to be where else.

hours, the café manages to avoid the loud chaos that often plagues the Shriver Starbucks and other

went to King Café because I lived far closer to Café

While, on many occasions, I have gone to Star-

that waiting in Shriver Starbucks’ thirty-person lines for a small hot white chocolate mocha would

King Café has a variety of seating options, including high-rise tables, booths and large rectangular tables.

Beyond the seating, the atmosphere of King Café is awesome because of its employees. The

What sets King Café apart most from other coffee shops nearby has to be the specialty drinks it a unique and creative drink of the week. Recently, it was the “Pot O’ Gold,” which combined the ingredients of a caramel latte and a white chocolate mocha.

If the drink of the week isn’t your thing, the wide variety of syrups available at King Café means that just about anybody can create their own specialty drink when they order.

As a regular wpatron at King Café, I have created some incredible drink combinations, including a strawberry banana smoothie, a white chocolate

syrup. I would give each of these drinks 5 stars.

Every drink I order from King Café is consistently perfect. There’s no other way to put it. I have every single time.

If you don’t believe me, check it out yourself.

Give King Café a visit, spice up your usual caramel latte or mocha order with the addition of a custom drink.

After all, it’s called King Café for a reason. This

perkin16@miamioh.edu

8

humor

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

Miami Cancels Friendship: Cuts Down Friendship Tree TEDDY JOHNSON HUMOR EDITOR

JESSICA ROBINSON HUMOR EDITOR-AT-LARGE Students returning from Spring Break noticed a major change on campus but what was missing.

It wasn’t until Miami’s Administration hosted a visitation for the remains of a certain tree, that people began realizing what happened. The beloved Friendship Tree that is so dear to the writers at The Miami Student, was hung, drawn, and quartered in its sleep by a group of rogue members of Tri Delta sorority.

President Greg Crawford had this to say about the slaughtering of the beloved friendship tree, “I ordered Tri Delta to execute the Friendship Tree. The actions of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock inspired me to cancel friendship at Miami. What better way to cancel friendship than destroying the friendship tree so dear to a few of Miami’s students.”

When we requested to mummify the remains of the tree in the hope of its reincarnation into another living entity, our plea was rejected. President Crawford has other plans for the remains of the Friendship Tree. “We will be turning the remains of the friendship tree into a paper mache leotard for my upcoming gymnastics competition and the leaves will be fashioned into a wig so students stop mistaking my head for that mirror from Harry Potter.”

An anonymous member of the sorority expressed excitement at the prospect of massacring trees at the command of President Greg Crawford. “It makes me feel like I have a future in becoming a lumberjack. The lumberjack industry has always been dominated by males and I hope to break down stereotypes by becoming the female version of Paul Bunyan.”

Clearly, the members of Tri Delta and President Crawford did not share an intimate relationship with the Friendship Tree like we do here at The Miami Student. We pride ourselves on honest re-

Pink Eye: An Orgin Story TEDDY JOHNSON HUMOR EDITOR Deep in the depths of Miami’s numerous bars, fraternity’s, residence halls, and academic buildings resides an untamed beast.

The past two years have been rough for the pink eye virus. COVID-19 arrived on the scene, stealing Pink Eye’s thunder and those nasty masks inhibited Pink Eye’s ability to infect unsuspecting students. But, Miami’s decision to announce that COVID only exists in classroom settings enables Pink Eye to strike again.

Now that masks are no longer required, Pink Eye can return to its former glory of making students look like mad stoners.

home since COVID ousted it from relevance faster than Will Smith’s slap was heard around the world. ternity house reminded Pink Eye of the better times when it could ravage students virtually unopposed. But lo and behold, an opportunity presented itself.

The young pledge, Brad, consumed too many Fireball shooters and now lay unconwhat it was seeing. Opportunities like this do not come very often so Pink Eye decided to strike…

Brad woke up with his right eye seemingly

porting, so we hit the campus sidewalks to understand just how much the removal of Miami’s least-well known traditional spot The responses weren’t quite what us tree huggers expected. “Honestly, I’m Springer, “I didn’t have any friends for Miami to cancel anyways.”

Grant’s a computer science major. We felt this necessary to note, as that’s probably why he has no friends. Grant wore no socks with Sperry shoes during the interview, so basically he’s just a loser with sweaty feet.

One student seemed confused when asked, “What did the Friendship Tree mean to you?” He uttered one of the most heretical statements ever, stating, “Yes, I read about friendship trees in kindergarten. Shel Silverstein, right?”

We attempted to correct his ignorant statements, but he would not give in. A shouting match ensued between us and the delinquent, but once we threatened to skin him, he ran away like the sieve he is.

glued shut for some reason unbeknownst to him. Normally, Pink Eye would begin preying on the innocent by simply causing a slight itch.

But Pink Eye has been out of the game so long that it couldn’t help but infect Brad with the most uncomfortable of symptoms. While Brad seemed confused about what could have possibly caused his eye to be this sticky, this did not stop him from hitting up that dilapidated Rec Center.

There seemed to be a smorgasbord of victims to infect…guys wearing head to toe-GymShark gear…girls wearing matching Lululemon leggings and tops…So Pink Eye decided to transfer and multiply onto one of the six squat racks that serve Miami’s 20,000 students. Infecting MaKenna, Sam, DJ, and many victim. could attend his business core class with the boys. Spreading to others started to become too easy for Pink Eye. Brad began dapping up half the class, providing Pink Eye with even

While the campus police were patrolling around campus, looking for someone to arrest, we had the opportunity to ask about what the Friendship Tree meant to them. Instead of answering our question, they went on a tangent about the irresponsibility seen on Green Beer Day. “Green Beer Day brings out the worst in students here. That said, we would have had everything under control without the State Troopers coming in and thinking like the State Troopers inhibited his ability to enjoy GBD to the fullest extent.

We realize that not everyone at Miami University recognizes the tragedy, the horror committed by the Tri Delta heretics. But these writers know that President Crawford and all the Tri Delt females must be held accountable for their actions. Batman will be coming soon to bring those responsible to justice.

john1595@miamioh.edu

more opportunities to strike and spread.

What an incredible host Brad proved to be. He seemed to enjoy occupying all the most populous places in Oxford. And tonight, Brad will be attending a bar rental at Brick Street!

Here is where Pink Eye rose back to its former glory. The constant grinding, pushing, bumping, kissing, drinking, sweating and dancing allowed Pink Eye to infect an ignorant amount of students.

We all know the rest of the story. Pink Eye turned campus into a petri dish of disease, proving to be worse for Miami students’ mental and physical health than the closing of Bell Tower Commons. All those “Make it Miami” students visiting must have thought Miami is a cult of stoners between the ages of 18-22.

Pink Eye’s comeback story rivals that of the Miami football team taking home the prestigious Frisco Football Classic. Someday, Pink Eye will earn a spot in Miami’s Cradle of Coaches. john1595@miamioh.edu

Headline Dump Teddy Johnson and Jessica Robinson, The Miami Student UPDATE: Miami University Eradicates COVID-19 Everywhere Except the Classroom

Sushi Opinion: Unicorns are Real, I Saw One on My Last Acid Trip Queen Elizabeth II Joins Tinder, Stock Jumps 12%

Dear Abby: I Just Saw a Girl I Made Out With at Brick Street in Kofenya Today, What do I do?

Innocent Freshman Tries Snorting CocaCola During Fraternity Hazing

College Republicans and College Democrats Host First Ever Political Cage Match to the Death

Men Named Teddy More Likely to be Ghosted After Random Brick Makeouts Than Guys With J-names

Opinion: Honors Students are Overrated

Man Becomes Humor Editor to Get Chicks, Surprised When it Doesn’t Work Out

Question: What Makes Kofenya the Ultimate Hookup Spot?

LinkedIn Overtakes Tinder as Top Dating App Man Assures Woman Before Sex, I’m a “Great Smelling Man” Leprosy Outbreak on Western Mistaken for Pink Eye Man Uses Emotional Support Fish to Make

Kim Kardashian was in My Dream Last Night, it was Awful Man Tells Woman Her “Face is Filling Out Nicely” and is Confused When She Cries Opinion: Women Who Ride Unicycles are More Fun john1595@miamioh.edu

photo story

9 THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

Crawfords lead students on hike SEAN SCOTT

she said, Newton would gladly run across the street to terrorize Oxford’s local squirrels.

CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR

REED PORTER

Wildlife and Game Reserve. The 416 acres were elor in 1947 and are now home to a number of

ment.”

across Harkers Run Creek.

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

card from the Crawfords.

Pulley Tower was surrounded by a buzz of activity Saturday morning as Newton Crawford ball he held in his mouth.

Newton and his golden retriever sister, Ivy, were there to lead a hike with Miami University By the time the hike began, Renate had alher Kind Bar wasn’t for them. Both refused to listen.

When it was time to head toward Bachelor Woods, Renate leashed each dog. Otherwise,

hikes regularly throughout the semester. To get more students interested in Miami’s natural ar-

on the hike who had never been to Bachelor Reserve before.

-

their furry friends.

“We knew that [our hikes] had been realing bridge.”

After a quick break at the bridge for Ivy and and we wanted to make sure that they were familiar with the Crawford family and really bridge that connection.”

-

For President Crawford, the hike was a success.

“It’s fantastic,” he said. “A lot of students,

that everyone was able to come out and go on the trails.” dent that Ivy and Newton would be willing to go again, too.

“They love it,” he said. “They love the water.” scottsr2@miamioh.edu porterra@miamioh.edu

CAPTION: ALEXANDRIA COFFMAN (LEFT) WALKS WITH MIAMI PRESIDENT GREG CRAWFORD, HIS WIFE RENATE, THEIR TWO DOGS IVY (FRONT) AND NEWTON (BACK), AND OTHER STUDENTS.

CAPTION: NEWTON PLAYS IN THE WATER.

CAPTION: STUDENTS WALK ON THE 45-FOOT SWINGING BRIDGE WHICH CROSSES HARKERS RUN CREEK.

CAPTION: PRESIDENT AND DR. CRAWFORD WATCH AS IVY AND NEWTON TAKE A BREAK FROM THE HIKE TO GO FOR A SWIM UNDER THE SUSPENDED BRIDGE.

CAPTION: SATURDAY’S HIKE LED STUDENTS ALONG A TRAIL THROUGH BACHELOR RESERVE, ONE OF MANY NATURAL AREAS IN AND AROUND OXFORD.

10

sports

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

Fast Facts with Travis Steele

MIAMI HIRED FORMER XAVIER HEAD COACH TRAVIS STEELE, AN EXPERIENCED DIVISION ONE COACH AND RECRUITING ACE, TO LEAD ITS BASKETBALL PROGRAM DESIGNED BY MACEY CHAMBERLIN

STEELE AND HIS FAMILY CAME TO OXFORD FOR HIS INTRODUCTORY PRESS CONFERENCE LAST WEEK PHOTOS BY JAKE RUFFER

Mid-American Conference Baseball Standings

Up next: Thursday, April 7 Track and Field and Cross Country @ Tennessee Women’s Tennis @ Toledo 1 p.m.

April 9 Men’s Golf @ Purdue Softball vs. Western Michigan 1 p.m. & 3 p.m.

Baseball vs. Eastern Michigan 1 p.m. & 4 p.m.

April 10 Men’s Golf vs. NKU Softball vs. Western Michigan 12 p.m.

Softball vs. Western Michigan 3 p.m.

Central Michigan Ball State Eastern Michigan Ohio Kent State Miami Toledo Akron Northern Illinois Western Michigan Bowling Green

Won 7 12 6 6 5 6 7 6 4 3 3

Lost 1 2 6 6 5 7 8 9 7 6 11

pct. .875 .857 .500 .500 .500 .462 .467 .400 .364 .333 .214

GB — -1.5 3 3 3 3.5 3.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 7

Mid-American Conference Softball Standings Central Michigan Miami

Won 4 6

Lost 1 2

pct. .800 .750

GB — -1.5

Ball State Bowling Green Akron Western Michigan Ohio Northern Illinois Toledo Kent State

3 5 5 3 3 2 1 1

2 3 3 3 4 6 5 7

.600 .625 .625 .500 .429 .250 .167 .214

1 1.5 1.5 1.5 2 3.5 3.5 4.5

REDHAWK LEADERS: Batting Average (minimum 2 PA/G): Benji Brokemond: .338 avg JJ Woolwine: .324 avg Cole Andrews: .313 avg On-base plus slugging (minimum 2 PA/G): Stephen Krause: 1.025 OPS Cole Andrews: 1.023 OPS JJ Woolwine: .954 OPS Home Runs: Stephen Krause: 5 HR Cole Andrews: 5 HR Brian Zapp: 2 HR Earned Run Average (minimum 1 IP/G): Jonathan Brand: 1.28 ERA Luke Leverton: 2.37 ERA Martin Sonsa: 2.45 ERA Strikeouts per 9 innings pitched (minimum 1 IP/G): Jonathan Brand: 11.06 k/9 Kenten Egbert: 10.09 k/9 Luke Leverton: 8.52 k/9

REDHAWK LEADERS: Batting Average (minimum 2 PA/G): Karli Spaid: .369 avg Allie Cummins: .353 avg Kate Kobayashi: .290 avg On-base plus slugging (minimum 2 PA/G): Karli Spaid: 1.385 OPS Allie Cummins: 1.276 OPS Kate Kobayashi: 1.200 OPS Home Runs: Karli Spaid: 13 HR Allie Cummins: 10 HR Kate Kobayashi: 9 HR Earned Run Average: Courtney Vierstra: 3.20 ERA Taylor Turner: 4.18 ERA Brianna Pratt: 5.32 ERA Strikeouts per 7 innings pitched: Courtney Vierstra: 8.18 k/7 Brianna Pratt 8.08 k/7 Turner Taylor 6.94 k/7

NEXT UP: Eastern Michigan, April 8-10 @ Western Michigan, April 15-17 Indiana University, April 19 @ 5pm @ Kent State, April 22-24

NEXT UP: @ Toledo, April 5 & 6 Western Michigan, April 9 & 10 @ Butler, April 13 at 4 p.m.

April 11 Baseball vs Eastern Michigan 12 p.m.

Baseball vs Eastern Michigan 3 p.m.

April 13 Softball @ Butler University 4 p.m.

MIAMI BASEBALL HAS FALLEN TO 6-7 IN MAC PLAY AFTER A 4-0 START PHOTOS BY JAKE RUFFER

MIAMI SOFTBALL IS HOPING FOR ANOTHER DOMINANT SEASON IN 2022 PHOTOS BY JESSICA MONAHAN

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

11

Get to Know Courtney Vierstra

MIAMI”S COURTNEY VIERSTRA IS ONE OF THE BEST PITCHERS EVER TO CALL OXFORD HOME DESIGNED BY MACEY CHAMBERLIN

JACK SCHMELZINGER SPORTS EDITOR Courtney Vierstra, one of the best pitchers ever to call Oxford home, is from Thornville, Ohio, which is about 35 miles east of Columbus. She said her family home is “in the middle of

nowhere,” but that she loves spending time there with her parents and brother riding four wheelers and shooting clays. Her brother Connor threw for 19 touchdowns last season as the starting quarterback at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio.

She was originally a Sports Leadership and Management (S.L.A.M) major at Miami, but she decided to change to education sophomore year.

She completed her masters in educational psychology in just one year with one of Miami’s 4+1 programs.

Is it the right move?

The Cincinnati Reds gear up for season another season with new faces on the team LILY FREIBERG STAFF WRITER Spring has sprung which means it’s baseball season.

After the shocking trades of Gold Glove catcher Tucker Barnhart, left Eugenio Suarez and starting pitcher Sonny Gray, as well as the not-soshocking but heartbreaking decision tellanos, Cincinnati Reds fans aren’t too happy with what’s been happening with the team.

Second baseman Jonathan India won the National League Rookie of the Year award last season, and it seems like the Reds have been making some devastating, yet necessary, moves to rebuild the team and give the younger players a chance to shine. lieve in their farm system; they’re giving last season’s minor league stars like shortstop Jose Barrero and pitchers Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo a chance to play in the big leagues.

-

er Tommy Pham who recently played with the successful San Diego Padres.

Pham led the major leagues with 30 pinch hits with a .299 batting average, 15 homers and 49 runs batted in last season.

Many Reds fans want owner Bob Castellini to sell the team so the franchise can have an owner that puts winning over money. They are frustrated by the Reds shedding talent, but still, some of the younger players are exciting fans in their newly opened opportunities.

There has been some excitement non-roster invitee Elly De La Cruz hit a go-ahead grand slam against the Brewers on March 23.

First baseman Joey Votto, who is known for his dry humor, got an Instagram and a TikTok recently, so that’s another thing that may keep fans optimistic after having to let go of some of their most beloved players.

The biggest concern is keeping the team healthy. There already have been injury reports for strong players like starting pitcher Luis Castillo and

have to miss the beginning of the season.

Another big concern is the readiness of the minor league players who are now getting a chance to play in the show. Jonathan India might be onein-a-million, and the question of if they are truly ready to take on the big leagues always pops up.

If the Reds players can keep healthy throughout the season, there may be a glimmer of hope for the team despite losing some of their star players. And if things don’t work out, fans can always root for that free LaRosa’s Pizza. game is against the Atlanta Braves at 8:08 p.m., on Thursday. The team’s Guardians and it starts at 4:10 p.m. on the following Tuesday. @LLFreiberg freibell@miamioh.edu

Her favorite class at Miami was an educational psychology class taught

by Darrel Davis. “[The class] makes you think differently and more deeply than I even knew I could,” Vierstra said.

Vierstra loves teaching younger

kids to play sports, and she’s deciding between a few career paths. She is planning to go into coaching or academic advising for athletes. schmelj2@miamioh.edu @jackschmelznger

The epic highs and lows of March Madness basketball THE MIAMI STUDENT Saint Peter’s University sits just two miles west of New York City.

Home to around 2,400 undergraduate students, the school’s notable alumni include 1968 Pullitzer-winU.S. Sen. Bob Menendez.

Never heard of it? You’re not the only one. school’s existence on one of my favorite days of the year: Selection Sunday. Thousands of college basketball games lead up to the fateful day every year, with teams anxiously awaiting their placement in the March Madness tournament.

As a lifelong University of Kenthrough the roof for this year’s competition. Sure, the past month hadn’t seen the best basketball the team had played, but injuries had slowed the guaranteed a top seed in the tournament; all we needed was an opponent.

Not only had I never heard of a school called Saint Peter’s, I couldn’t believe the name of their mascot: the Peacocks.

My mind dismissed any worry or concern about our opponent. After all, a 15-seed had only defeated a 2-seed nine times in the history of March Madness.

UK Twitter couldn’t contain its excitement. How far would they be able to go? The Elite Eight? The Final Four? Could they even win the entire thing?

No one knew for sure, but everyrolled around, I woke up pumped. I made the decision to get a head start on my Spring Break and make the two-hour trip home to Lexington, arriving just in time for the 7:10 p.m. cocks.

After a two-hour slugfest, the Peacocks of Saint Peter’s defeated the became 10.

Disappointment cannot even begin to describe the feeling that comes pearance in March Madness in three years, ended by the Peacocks.

I felt like throwing up, crying and punching a wall, all at the same time.

Kentucky fans fumed following

the defeat. Some called it the most embarrassing loss in the history of the program. Head coach John Calipari faced heavy scrutiny, and the same team they fawned over just hours before became the target of resentment and despair.

So many negative feelings circulated around Lexington that night.

Twitter went quiet, and fans resorted to quiet acceptance of what had just occurred.

The scene in Jersey City, New Jertors rose and cheered in celebration of their massive upset victory. The world may not have known who the Peacocks were before; they knew now. busted brackets, I still reeled from the loss. How could this have happened?

UK must’ve played so poorly, and the team had only themselves to blame.

But then I thought about it more.

I built the courage to look at the game stats. Kentucky missed a lot of free throws and turned the ball over too many times. I felt vindicated, and yet UK’s stats did not tell the entire story.

Saint Peter’s deserved to win the game. As painful as it is to admit, a team that entered the game barely in the country rose to the occasion when my blue-tinted glasses, it was obvious that we had just been outplayed.

I experienced the lowest of lows associated with March Madness. And that’s just part of the experience. The Peacocks of Saint Peter’s had an emotional high they’ll never forget. or don’t know a single rule, I encourage you to get invested in the Madness. Even if you’re not into sports, the NCAA Tournament provides the kinds of emotions we crave, the highs in one epic, three-week spectacle. or two. Pick a team and root for them, even if you know nothing about the school or pick them because of how cool the mascot is. You just might experience the emotional rollercoaster of your life.

And fear the Peacocks. Always fear the Peacocks. @wespaynetms paynetw@miamoh.edu

12

Opinion

Concerning the proposed DORA extension… least from participating businesses and between the hours of 11 a.m. and 11 p.m.

The Editorial Board would like to ask: is this really necessary?

The DORA plan was originally created to able during the pandemic and help when Oxford was lacking in the business that the students provide. If Uptown is already crowded when the students are here — and trust us, the Chipotle and Brick Street lines alone prove that it is — why would the DORA be needed?

The DORA is meant to allow Oxford residents to enjoy their adult beverages outside during the nice summer weather. It is meant to allow parents to take their kids to the park they were having at Mac & Joe’s. And, most of all, it is meant to help the businesses of Oxford year, when Miami students are not in town and, therefore, neither is the majority of the cash

EDITOR-AT-LARGE OWEN BERG

DORA has recently become a central topic in conversations throughout Miami University and Oxford — and no, we’re not talking about the lovable cartoon character with the purple backpack, talking map and fox nemesis.

The acronym stands for Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area. If you don’t know what that is, you have likely spent summer and winter breaks outside Oxford.

A Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area is a designated space in a city — usually a few blocks — in which certain DORA-labeled alcoholic drinks from participating businesses are allowed to be consumed outdoors from 11 a.m.

to 11 p.m. Essentially, it’s a way to legally circumvent open container laws and support small businesses at the same time. pus alcohol locations such as Fiesta Charra, the Corner Grill & Drinkery, The O’Pub, The Woods/New Bar and, of course, Brick Street.

The DORA is only operational during the summer months and winter break, however, so students rarely get to enjoy its advantages. It always opens after Miami students leave and it always closes just before their return. plementation in 2020, Oxford is considering changing this and making the DORA yearround. This would allow students to participate in drinking alcoholic beverages outdoors, at

RIP to a Miami tree-dition AMES RADWAN

You may have noticed, upon returning from spring break, that you can see all the way from Upham to King now, without any leafy obstruction in your way.

This is partially because of winter — the trees are sort of bare-bones right now anyway — and partially because, over spring break, the Friendthe form of a chainsaw or some other sharp object wielded by Miami University Physical Facilities.

For those of you who never knew the Friendtree growing out of the sidewalk on the west side of Academic Quad, between Stoddard Hall and Elliott Hall. ditions page — stated that if you are walking by the Friendship Tree with a group of friends and of it, so too will the friendship. Technically, this applies to any tree, but the Friendship Tree on Academic Quad was the main one.

It was a lot like the seal, really. (Ever noticed step on the seal, don’t split the trees, don’t mess with Helen Peabody… okay, maybe it’s just those three.)

The tradition — or, as I’ve said on every Miami tour I’ve given since I started working as a tour guide in October of 2019, the tree-dition — of the Friendship Tree might not have been well-known among every student on campus, but it was actually something that drew me to On my high school color guard team, we had

seniors would warn our freshmen every year.

If we were walking together and came across a telephone pole or anything else sprouting from the ground, everyone had to go around the same side for good luck at our upcoming competitions. me as a high school student that I would make my parents go around the same sides of things as me when walking together. It was good luck, after all, and who doesn’t like a bit of good luck?

So, then, when I started seriously thinking about attending Miami in February of my senior year, my mom pulled up the traditions page on the Miami website. pointing out the tree blurb on the webpage. decision to come to MU, that little blurb — the idea of something from home, 1,000 miles away — certainly helped me realize Oxford was the place for me.

That’s just my story. When my fellow lovers of the Friendship Tree — mostly other tour guides or my fellow members of the Miami University Student Foundation (MUSF) — learned of the Tree’s passing, our group chats were stories about how much we loved this Miami tradition.

When I posted on my Snapchat story about the tree’s death, multiple of my alumni friends swiped up to express shock, horror and grief.

Even for those who are no longer on campus, the Friendship Tree was a staple of Miami life — an institution that seemed untouchable.

Unbeknownst to me, the “untouchable inwas apparently very old and already dying. But I left for spring break with the Friendship Tree

Worse, what is there to say that students would not abuse the power given to them by this program?

The Oxford police, in their Weekend Updates on their Facebook page, already cite multiple cases of public intoxication per post. The DORA is only active until 11 p.m. daily, so this would likely encourage more people to go out and start drinking earlier, leading to more intoxication — and, probably, more cases of public intoxication.

The Weekend Update also often includes derage drinkers. If students are willing to go to keep them from using the DORA as an excuse to drink in public? Fake IDs are easy enough to come by in this town; fake (or simply reused)

In fairness, all of that is also assuming that students would educate themselves on the rules of the DORA — the physical boundaries, the time limits, the labeled cups and the participating businesses. Especially in the late spring and early fall when the weather is particularly nice, drinking outside becomes a go-to for students — just look at how popular darties and Beat the Clock are.

If one student were to start drinking outside from a DORA cup, other students would likely follow, with or without the proper cup.

Finally, is the city prepared to deal with responsibilities of extending the DORA to the school year?

Providing DORA cups to anyone who wants to drink their purchased drink outside is a huge strain on the city waste-wise. Sure, the cups are compostable, but they’re still single-use plastics and that is not necessarily the most environPlus, encouraging students to drink legally outdoors would necessitate a much heavier police presence, especially around the DORA boundaries to ensure that the consumption of alcohol would stay inside the allowed space.

Extending the DORA year-round would require restructuring of waste management, funds and police patrols throughout Oxford.

If you’re going to blur the lines on open container laws, you need to be prepared to handle the repercussions.

Oxford’s economy is certainly strong enough during the school year to survive without a DORA, and bringing the consumption of alcohol to the outdoors would likely cause more problems than it would solve. The bars exist for a reason, and Oxford should keep the bar scene — the alcohol, the drunkenness and the party — inside of them.

We’re not prohibitionists. But we’re more afraid that DORA could promote unsafe and unhealthy choices for our friends and classmates.

standing, and I came back to it completely gone, the only remembrance of a long-held Miami tradition a patch of dirt in the sidewalk; the fact that it was already on its way out doesn’t make that any easier.

In past, pre-COVID years, MUSF held a festival centered around the Friendship Tree, called TreeFest.

As recently as 2019, MAP’s beloved SpringFest was held in Academic Quad (instead of last year’s Central Quad), and the Friendship Tree was a big part of that. Countless to class, pretending to step on the seal or kissing underneath Upham Arch have featured the Friendship Tree in the background — not often the star of the show, but always there.

Now, where its magnificent trunk used to stand proudly in Academic Quad to represent the lifelong friendships that members of the student body have made at Miami, there is only a sad patch of dirt.

I have to avoid the dirt every time I go by.

I don’t know what Miami’s Facilities department is going to do with the tradition of the Friendship Tree. Maybe they’ll plant another one or maybe the tradition will die out — whatever they’re going to do, it is certainly out of my control.

OPINION EDITOR AMES RADWAN

But it is fully in my control to mourn the Friendship Tree, my favorite Miami tree-dition and something I will certainly miss for the rest of my time as a RedHawk.

RIP to the Friendship Tree.

From the Editor’s Desk: Hello, Miami mation to a community of stakeholders. And that hasn’t been lost on me since. My recent election to Editor-in-Chief – unique, as I am not a journalism major – can also be traced back to that shift in the importance of my position in TMS. I’m thrilled and humbled this year to have been elected to this position, and if you asked me a couple of months ago where I would be

That feeling. That nervous curiosity or small, timid tingling of excitement. That’s it. The new chapter. Pay attention to it.

We won’t be able to forget the pandemic in our lifetimes, and we will be tired of talking little kindness towards ourselves has never been more important. There’s a part of everyone that

But I hope that in my position, I am able to be of that are stepping into this with me.

The Miami Student has a legacy of dedicated service to the community it serves, and if anyone appreciates the Miami community for its intricacies, it’s us. We’re storytellers, listeners and historians. We’re here for you. Our legacy is to the table to lead this publication into its next era. We hope that you’ll follow along with us in

CONTRIBUTED BY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF COSETTE GUNTER

COSETTE GUNTER

I didn’t know just how important that would be in January of 2020, but I quickly became

To the Miami University community— Hi. My name is Cosette Gunter, and I’m at the very beginning of a new chapter in my life. And actually, I think a lot of you are too.

But let me back up.

A little about me: I’ve been writing for The

try and the world. Even then, I had not had time bers, but what I knew more than anything was that the work we were doing was becoming increasingly more important.

I had my own corner of Miami to hold on to at home, and though I was away from campus physically, I grew to love the Miami community more in my role as a remote reporter.

sought and found a student community to latch and I went with it because I believed that, with a space where I could belong.

residence hall room in Peabody to someone that was gathering and disseminating COVID infor-

for your chapter too. And right alongside you, we’re members of the global community, stepping into a new chapter of maskless faces and life being chronologized in terms of pre- and post-pandemic.

Two years ago, that unthinkable thing happened, and the world persevered together, though physically apart. Now, with the dedication of scientists and healthcare workers all over the world, things are looking up and some of the fog of 2020 has cleared. We’re through the thick when this started, but it’s what we decide to do now that’s important.

Remember what it was like to only meet your peers and professor through a screen? Remember what it felt like to come back to campus for two years in digital isolation? Remember going back to that fun MAP event you missed or going

“We’re storytellers, listeners and historians. We’re here

sighed when we were able to be together again, to feel companionship again, and there’s an energy that exists now that needs fostering. As a junior, I look toward my senior year as an opportunity to reclaim some of the things I missed out on the past two years. Underclassmen, enjoy the experience for your high school selves that didn’t get to enjoy their moments.

As for us here at this newspaper, we’ll be here to document it. Let the record show that The Miami Student lived and wrote about the Miami community’s experience in a life freshly altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. These stories — they’re what we’re passionate about, they others a spot in history.

Love & Honor, Cosette Gunter-Stratton, Editor-in-Chief

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

13

A 150-square-foot room for the price of a four-bedroom apartment THE MIAMI STUDENT With almost a full year under my belt here at Miami, I’m starting to realize how much the university really tries to nickel-and-dime its students.

There are so many little fees that we tend to overlook when looking over our semester bill, but the most noticeable cost has to be the housing and meal plan.

Every year, Miami has increased the cost for housing and meal plans for the incoming fall students. Not only has it been steadily increasing over the years, but it’s been increasing right will be a 4.5% increase in these costs, while the cap is 4.6%. The annual cost will now range from $13,400 to $17,400, and the average that students pay is $15,080.

It’s inevitable that these cost increases have to happen every year due to factors such as inup to the cap?

Not only does Miami have the highest cost for living and meal plans compared to other and sophomores to live in residence halls and pay these costs, whereas most universities only The only school that comes close to Miami in price range for housing and meals is the University of Dayton, as it asks for $14,870 per year, the rest of their time at the university. also only require one year of on campus living

as opposed to Miami’s two, plus they’re only asking for $13,066 and $12,288 respectively for housing and meals.

Don’t get me wrong, the residence halls do have some positives. Though residence hall living and dining hall eating is never ideal, Miami manner to keep students safe and healthy. And it’s nice of the university to give us varying options for meal plans, but does it all really have to come at this cost?

My apartment for junior year is the same price as the shoebox of a residence hall in which I live now. It amazes me that I will be paying the same amount for a place that is right Uptown, fully equipped with my own room, a kitchen, a washer, a dryer and two full bathrooms.

I had previously been aware that Miami receives a lot of money in donations from alumni and other sources, but after attending a Board of Trustees meeting back in February, it was even more apparent how much money the university is sitting on. We’re currently in the process of building two new science buildings and some other large projects, but these science buildings alone are costing the university $150 million.

Will there ever be a point where some of this students, such as bringing down annual housing and meal costs, instead of continuing to start construction projects? I’m not sure about the rest of the student body, but I’d rather have my housing cut down for sophomore year than get to utilize a new science building.

I know it’s hard to use the money for anything other than for what the donors specify, but there will be a point where Farmer doesn’t need

any more amenities and we’re out of construction projects to start.

Why not help students out a bit and bring down housing costs?

With all the little payments that add up here and there over the four years that students are here at Miami, the least the university can do for us to make life easier is reduce the cost of living and eating so we can focus on getting our education.

No multi-million-dollar science building is

projects? Students want to attend a university that provides them with a good education at a good price, but with all these cost increases, Miami is starting to become out of people’s price ranges.

It’s time to halt the construction projects, give students a break so we can focus on our education instead of worrying about price increases year after year. granthn@miamioh.edu

keep throwing dollars at all these construction

How college works when your arms bend backwards make campuses disability-accessible, campus navigability is only the tip of the iceberg for accessibility issues.

These issues arise in everyday, seemingly random aspects of campus life. For me, pressing the metal buttons at a crosswalk, getting snacks from vending machines, carrying multiple dishes in the dining hall and opening doors (I’m looking at you, Shideler Hall front entrance) can I am far from the only student who navigates 5 college students have a disability, and 96% of those with a chronic medical condition have invisible illnesses.

Yet there seems to be minimal awareness of invisible illnesses.

For starters, people don’t usually know how to react when I mention I have a genetic disorder.

MEREDITH PERKINS THE MIAMI STUDENT If I asked you to picture a student with disabilities, chances are you probably would not envision me.

I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Type III (EDS), a genetic disorder that causes me to have hypermobile joints, frequent partial-dislocations, chronic pain and muscle weakness. Unless you’re staring directly at my elbows, there is nothing about my outward appearance or from you.

However, the individual experience of being that of an able-bodied student.

For me, the amount I have to walk per day — something that most students don’t even think

out campus and Uptown every day, accruing 20,000+ steps per day and developing shin splints and tendonitis in the process.

To be healthy, I have to wear orthotic footwear, plan out time to rest after long walks and take routes that have benches in case I have an ing campus tours, going Uptown or working out, I have to be careful about how much stress I put on my joints or I will struggle with joint problems the next day.

Most of all, I have to go into every physical activity with precaution. When I run at the Rec Center, I’m hyperconscious of making sure my knees don’t bend backwards. When I lift my backpack or move my laundry, I have to be careful not to partially-dislocate my shoulders.

While some people think that wheelchair ramps and handicapped spots automatically

so sorry,” which is … well, not terrible, but certainly awkward. I mean, my type of EDS is very manageable and mild compared to other cases, and my backwards-bending arms are very cool.

Sometimes, when I explain my condition, I am immediately asked to “demonstrate.” That is weird. I shouldn’t have to prove my disability for random strangers to believe it even exists.

The worst — above all — is the “You don’t look like you have a genetic disorder.” There is abilities can be, and in order to be better allies to the disabled community, we have to stop assuming that someone who is disabled must look or act a certain way.

This raises the question: how can students be better allies to their disabled peers? How can we as a campus create better discourse about disabilities?

-

really couldn’t.

Another idea: if a peer discloses their disway. It doesn’t have to be a big deal — just be respectful and treat them like you would treat anybody else.

“I am far from the only student who navigates dayto-day campus life with a disability.”

Finally, if you notice any accessibility issues on campus, report these issues to the Miller Center so they can better advocate for your classmates with disabilities.

It’s time for the greater Miami population to realize that “students with disabilities” is more than just a phrase to skim past on the syllabus — students with disabilities are a large portion of the student population, and with a few easy steps, Miamians can all become better allies to the disabled community, both on-campus and perkin16@miamioh.edu

when I was waiting for the elevator to go up to my residence hall room, I had a stranger ask me,

Miami’s transition to sustainable energy is looking promising THE MIAMI STUDENT Miami University has plenty of beautiful buildings all across campus, including academic buildings, residence halls and even dining halls.

But one that sticks out like a sore thumb is the steam power plant directly behind Peabody Hall.

I live quite close to it, being in Stonebridge Hall, so normally I don’t pay much attention to this eyesore of a building. A few weeks ago, as I was going on a run, I noticed it more than normal; then, a few minutes later, I also ran past the geothermal plant, which is also on Western pleasing.

My mind always tends to wander while I run, and that day I began to think about the multitude of ways in which humans go about producing energy. perpetuated unnatural climate change is through the usage of fossil fuels in energy production. However, the good news is that pretty much everybody knows that this is extremely

university is committed to.

Yet, as I also mentioned in that article, many institutions — such as world governments — sadly fail to keep their word on promises such as these. we doing in keeping our promises of working towards a more sustainable and healthier future plus there are multiple regional campuses, and I can only imagine the immense amount of energy that is used each day to keep everything up and running.

In a story written in November of 2019, University News Writer and Editor Susan Meikle revealed the work that Miami had done in moving the university away from steam-powered energy, which is extremely carbon-intensive, and toward more sustainable methods — such as the previously mentioned geothermal plant.

Also described is the 1.6-million-gallon thermal energy storage tank at the South Chiller that dot the campus, such as Armstrong Student Center, the Farmer School of Business and my home of Stonebridge Hall.

“Committing to carbon neutrality is a big commitment, one that requires lots of change in infrastructure and lots of investments into new technologies.” harmful, and the push toward more sustainable energy sources has become a massive movement across the world.

As I kept running, I remembered an article that I wrote last semester in which I spoke about how Miami has signed the Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitment, which commits to “carbon neutrality and resilience.” It is a promising and hopeful goal that we can be glad our

The most up-to-date report we have of Miami’s progress was submitted to President Crawford last July, and I encourage you to read it. In this report, our Sustainability Committee stated that, “...the University has met or made In fact, the committee even requested that Miami move forward with new goals, as it felt that the previous ones had been met.

I would not consider myself pessimistic, but, especially when it comes to those in power making promises about the climate, I try to be critiNow, I am not an extremely knowledgeable and professional environmental scientist (although I hope to be in the future), but I can see that Miami is doing a good job in keeping its of climate change.

Committing to carbon neutrality is a big commitment, one that requires lots of change in infrastructure and lots of investments into new technologies. We do not know yet if Miami will actually achieve this, but from the research I have done, it seems that it is a very likely possibility. The cleaner energy sources, “greener” dicate that there is progress occurring at a good pace. this article, it is important for us all to stay informed and always push for meaningful change.

Miami has a sustainability webpage, and I hope that another report will be submitted by the Sustainability Committee this summer as well, updating the campus on the progress it’s hopefully making right now.

With a lot of daunting data and doomsday climate in today’s society, it is easy to become overwhelmed and disheartened. Because of this, it is incredibly important to recognize all the little victories that are made — because even little victories can lead to big change.

Being part of an institution that clearly recognizes its duty toward the environment gives me a good feeling about the future, and I deeply hope that Miami can keep moving in the right direction. nortonsm@miamioh.edu

14

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022

“ Th e Ed d i e Va n H alen o f t h e Vi o l i n Wo r ld” -PBS

Y L N O S T E K TIC !

5 1 $ $10

SATURDAY, APRIL 9 | 7:30 P.M. MILLETT HALL PERFORMING ARTS SERIES AND MIAMI UNIVERSITY STEEL BAND PRESENT

Featuring Mark Wood, Electric Violin & Tracy Thornton, Steel Pan Special Guests Centerville, Greenville, Mason & Oakwood High School Orchestras

MiamiOH.edu/PerformingArtsSeries

Grad to Go We’ll bring the party to you!

Catered buffets at your place.

Orders must be booked by May 5, 2022.

B O O K YO U R R E S E R VAT I O N TO DAY !

See MiamiOH.edu/Catering for more information.

COMMENCEMENT BUFFETS 2022

Dine with family and friends at a table reserved just for you.

Book now, limited seating available.

B O O K YO U R R E S E R VAT I O N TO DAY !

See MiamiOH.edu/Catering for more information.