The Miami Student | May 5, 2022

ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES

Volume 150 No. 10

Miami university — Oxford, Ohio

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

In this issue

A Provost’s legacy:

College Jason Osborne’s three years in office Republicans’ recent tweets spark controversy

CAMPUS & COMMUNITY Many students change their major in college: Here is how Miami University is helping - page 5

LEXI WHITEHEAD CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR Recent posts from Miami University’s College Republicans (CRs) Twitter account have caused controversy among some in the Miami community.

-

ENTERTAINMENT May the 4th be with you

- page 7 FOOD A brief history of Miami University dining halls - page 9

MIAMI UNIVERSITY PROVOST JASON OSBORNE RESIGNED AFTER LESS THAN THREE YEARS IN HIS POSITION. PHOTO COURTESY OF MIAMI UNIVERSITY

LUKE MACY STAFF WRITER

SEAN SCOTT STYLE A fashion mirage: MUF&D's oasis - page 10

CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR A pandemic. Unionization. Remote learning. A new Strategic Plan.

Provost Jason Osborne’s tenure any Miami University provost.

But all that has come to an end.

Osborne announced his resignation April 11. His last day will be June 30, just less than three years after he

SPORTS Jonathan Brand has shoved his way to success this season - page 12 OPINION The World Is Ours - page 15 PHOTO STORY Descending - page 16

on Aug. 1, 2019.

Since then, the university Osborne entered has fundamentally changed and may be on the brink of further transformation.

Osborne resigned days before the All-University Faculty Committee for Evaluation of Administrators was set to publish its three-year review of his tenure. The review takes input from

faculty members across the university to create its evaluation.

As The Miami Student works to acquire records related to his review and resignation, the publication has decided to examine, over the course of multiple stories, his time at Miami, the impact he had and the university’s trajectory now.

COVID-19 Osborne was at Miami for less than eight months before the uniCOVID-19. For the next two years, he would be tasked with leading the university through the pandemic.

“There’s no place I’d rather have been during this time, and there’s no other team I would rather have met these challenges with than the folks at Miami,” Osborne said. “It’s just been an amazing team.”

Before coming to Miami, Osborne was dean of Graduate Studies at Clemson University and a department chair at the University of Louisville before that. When he came to Miami as Provost, the position was a new level of responsibility.

While Osborne said the job is unimaginably large, he’s surrounded himself with capable people who are allowed to disagree with him.

“This is really a team sport,” Osborne said. “Any success we’ve had is due to the entire team.”

Several COVID-19-era policies under Osborne’s administration have proved controversial to students and faculty.

In Jan. 2021, the university reverted to its pre-COVID-19 credit/no credit policy, shortening the window for students to change to just two and a half weeks after classes begin. After backlash and a student petition, the university extended the deadline to three months.

For the 2021 spring semester, Osborne announced Miami would not have a spring break in order to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Instead, the university spread the as “wellness days,” which debuted with mixed receptions.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Where is Oxford’s movie theater? lor-made for aspiring recording artists.

One option is conspicuously absent, though: a movie theater.

to Oxford’s loss of the Princess, which closed in 2014.

“The theater had, at times, wonderful management that, if you said you wanted to see a movie they would bring it here,” Prytherch said.

of West High Street and North Beech Street sits an otherwise nondescript building of student apartments.

Nondescript apart from the lighted arch THE FORMER PRINCESS THEATER IN OXFORD NOW SERVES streaking along its top.

AS STUDENT HOUSING. PHOTO BY REECE HOLLOWELL The passage of time REECE HOLLOWELL may have concealed the STAFF WRITER history of this building to many of Miami University’s current students, Uptown Oxford provides a few but Oxford natives know it well: here places for students looking to do any- lies the late Princess Theater. thing other than going to bars. Future David Prytherch, professor of geGreat Comics caters to comic book ography at Miami and Oxford City lovers, and Oxford Originals is tai- Council member, said there’s a sting

Princess; it was a wonderful asset in our community.” as the Oxford Theater, becoming the Princess in the 1980s alongside a size expansion.

Elizabeth Mullenix, dean of the College of Creative Arts at Miami and long-time Oxford resident, said having a movie theater in town meant a lot as a parent.

“I thought it was really smart that during the school year they had movies that students would like, but in the summer it was a lot of family movies,” Mullenix said. “My kids would ride their bikes to the Princess

and watch movies, we’d go as a family, my husband and I went as a date night, we went all the time.”

In 2012, the Princess’ parent company Alliance Entertainment sold the majority of its properties to Regal Cinemas, excluding the smaller Oxtion to the city, but city council at the time turned it down.

“There was a golden opportunity for this movie theater to be given to the community, and the city leadership hesitated,” Prytherch said.

“When the company that owned the movie theater sold the theater, they den everyone knew in town that the Princess was closed.”

Local property owners quickly honed in on the building. After a bidding war, a private ownership group seized control in late 2013, reopening CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

RedHawks move on to the NFL JACK SCHMELZINGER SPORTS EDITOR Have you ever heard of the Texas Longhorns?

One of the greatest programs in college football history had zero players taken in this year’s NFL Draft.

Miami (OH), on the other hand? One. Read it and weep Longhorn fans: you want to know how to produce NFL talent? Come to Oxford and take notes.

Dominique Robinson was the lone RedHawk selected this weekend.

The freakishly athletic edge rusher went to the Chicago Bears with the #174 overall pick. Robinson has only played defense for a couple of years.

He started his Miami career as a quarterback, and he got switched to defensive line.

of high school was from Miami, was expected to go sometime in the third round. Especially after an electric combine performance, where the 6-foot-5 253 pound Robinson ran a 4.72 second 40-yard dash and ends with 25 bench press reps and a 41 inch vertical jump.

“It’s just a blessing to be able to get picked,” Robinson said in his introductory press conference. “I’m just ready to play football … I’m ready everybody that I am who I say I am.

That I will be a great player.”

It’s the third straight year a Miami alum has been drafted to the NFL. In 2020, the Los Angeles Rams drafted kicker Sam Sloman in the seventh

player selected in three straight years since the turn of the century.

Robinson was the only Miami alum drafted this weekend, but he wasn’t the only one to get an NFL shot.

Mike Brown, Cedric Boswell, Sterling Weatherford and Jack Sorenson all signed free agent deals shortly after the draft ended Sunday. Brown signed with the Minnesota Vikings, Boswell with the Detroit Lions, Weatherford with the Indianapolis Colts, and Sorenson, a fan favorite, with the hometown Cincinnati Bengals.

Brown, Boswell and Weatherford, three defensive backs, were all key cogs in Miami’s defense last season.

Sorenson, who started his the RedHawks. He had his best year in 2021, and it earned him all-Mid-

season with 76 catches for 1406 yards and 10 touchdowns. a good chance of making the Bears’ roster. The other four will have an uphill climb to dressing on Sundays, but they can remain on NFL practice squads for up to three years.

And it’s not too rare to see undrafted players break out; just ask Antonio Gates, the greatest ever undrafted MAC player. Gates, a tight end who wasn’t selected out of Kent State in 2003, will enter the hall of fame as one of the greatest players ballot in 2023. schmelj2@miamioh.edu @jackschmelznger @sports_TMS

silent protest against Ohio House Bill 616. The tweet expressed support for the bill, saying “HB616 prevents predatory teachers from grooming students and pushing woke gender ideology on young children.”

Another tweet from April 26 commended the university for an email sent to Hillcrest Hall residents asking that men not use the women’s restrooms.

The tweet that received the most attention and controversy, however, was posted on April 25 and read “There are only two genders.” As of May 2, there have been 46 quote tweets in response to it, mainly consisting of negative feedback.

The tweets were not signed by an only if the organization could preview this article before its publication, a condition The Miami Student does not grant. After communicating The Student’s policy on prior review, CRs did not immediately respond to reporters. architecture history, political science and women’s gender and sexuality studies triple major, is concerned about how CRs’ language can be harmful. trans people or gender non-conforming, gender diverse people in danger, in harms way, and that’s putting a target on their back,” Harvey said. “I realat Miami, but it’s already been happening elsewhere.”

Being transgender and queer themself, Harvey said the language in the tweets made them feel unwelcome on campus.

“Being trans and queer at Miami, seeing the tweets from College Republicans — it’s been really painful and isolating because I already feel marginalized and excluded as is from the nation already,” Harvey said. “Seeing makes those feelings worse.”

Although they agree that CRs deserves to have a place on campus, Harvey thinks Miami administrators should reach out to the organization. ready, would engage in conversations about why what they’re saying can be harmful,” Harvey said.

Cristina Alcalde, vice president for institutional diversity and inclusion, wrote in an email to The Student that Miami believes in upholding freedom of expression.

“As a public university, Miami recognizes the First Amendment right to free speech. That protection includes social media comments that some may Alcalde wrote. “It’s important to note that our commitment to free expression is not an endorsement of such content.”

Public universities must abide by the First Amendment, which means that if Miami were to respond to CRs, its response would be limited.

In 2019, the organization Speech First sued University of Michigan (UM) over its bias-response team, claiming it had the potential to deter certain forms of speech on campus.

The suit led to UM doing away with the team.

Alcalde wrote that the university is committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.

“LGBTQ+ community members are valued Miami community members, and our goal is to ensure every member of the Miami community feels valued and supported,” Alcalde wrote.

Alcalde also pointed out Miami’s several educational programs, such as Safe Zone Training, which is optional and open to all students through the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion. @nwlexi

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Question of the Day: What are your thoughts on the Supreme Court draft to overturn Roe v. Wade?

Chinese Name Pronunciation Basics

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Construction at Upham Hall contributes to campus energy efficiency

ALICE MOMANY ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR

“I think it’s good they got nitely bringing more attention especially with the voting today.

But also can men stop telling us what to do with our bodies? I’m so over it.”

ETBD “It’s your choice, so you should be able to do what you want, and

women who are disadvantaged.

For me personally, being a white woman who is able to attend a university and has support and money to pay for an abortion, it’s not really preying on us, but it’s preying on women who don’t have any of that, and that’s where I have an issue.”

THE TRANSITION FOR ALL CAMPUS BUILDINGS TO HOT WATER HEATING IS SET TO BE COMPLETED BY 2026. PHOTO BY JESSICA MONAHAN

“Under this [ruling], a female fetus has more rights inside her mother’s body than she does when she’sborn. You’re born, and you lose rights if you’re female.”

decision is because it is a leak, so it could not be true, but it’s just a scary time we live in.”

“I’m not politically involved … I think everyone has their own opinion, but I can see a lot of people being upset about it and why it would anger people, but I’m not for it.”

“I feel like people are taking a bit too much from it just because it makes it so that the states have the choice in whether or not abortions are legal or not. It seems that a lot of people are thinking, ‘Oh this is going to make all abortions illegal,’ and I don’t think that’s really the case. It’s more state-bystate basis.”

“I think that overturning it really preys on women of color and

“I think if you oppose abortion, you should be supportive of free child care, free contraceptives, all the other things that could potentially prevent unwanted pregnancy.”

“I’m 100% pro-choice, so I think it’s just stupid. I don’t think men should have a choice on what a woman does with their body, and I think they’re just trying to control one’s bodies.”

“I think that it was the plan for a while with the presidency being Republican, they had a chance to institute some justices that had opinions that they liked. I think if Roe v. Wade is overturned, it’s these kinds of laws that are more liberal- leaning being overturned, and that scares me a lot.”

META HOGE STAFF WRITER Miami University students have had their routes to class interrupted for the past month due to part of AcUpham Hall is undergoing renovations to install a system that will convert the central area of campus to hot water heating.

Eleven buildings on Miami’s central campus, from Hall Auditorium and King Library to Upham, currently run on steam heating. The construction project will install a hot water heating plant in the basement of Upham to service these buildings.

Don Van Winkle, the project manager, said hot water heating more losses associated with steam.

“The steam condenses, so then we have to capture all that condensate, get [it] into a pump [and] pump it back to our steam plant,” Van Winkle said. “When you have hot water, we’re running it at a lower temperaground that it’s running through and losses.”

Malcolm Drane, director of energy systems at Miami, said another reason a hot water system is more reused.

“We’re able to utilize the energy ent places and then use that water

again to cool spaces on campus as well,” Drane said. “There’s a higher the steam, which is a one-use type of energy source.” energy contributes to the university’s Miami President Greg Crawford signed the Presidents’ Climate Leadership Commitment (PCLC). One of Crawford’s goals for Miami in signing this commitment was to reduce energy usage.

Cody Powell, associate vice president of facilities planning and operations, said Miami has reduced its carbon emissions by 52% since 2008. In addition to reducing emissions related to energy usage, this project will also help save money.

Powell said energy costs make up a big portion of Miami’s budget.

“It’s important for us to do our as we can so we’re not always asking for additional funds to do things like heat and cool the campus,” Powell said.

Van Winkle said this project has been challenging because the construction workers are trying to work within an existing space.

“Most of our other plants are in buildings that were built to be a plant,” Van Winkle said. “They were designed to be large enough. [For space in the middle of campus to suit what we need, rather than building the space.”

Van Winkle said steam will continue to be used at the new hot water plant until more buildings are converted. “[Once more buildings are converted] we’ll be able to completely get rid of steam [heating] anywhere on campus, generate hot water at our steam plant and send hot water out,” Van Winkle said.

Drane said some buildings use steam for sterilization processes, so even after buildings are converted to hot water heating, steam will still be used in some places.

“Those buildings still require steam, even after the transition,”

keeping buildings that need steam on that service.”

Powell said he understands the disruption this type of project creates and thanks the university community for their understanding.

“I know it’s frustrating to students and faculty when we have these types of projects,” Powell said.

“But I appreciate everybody’s patience because I think the project is so important to achieving our PCLC and our sustainability initiatives.”

The transition for all campus buildings to hot water heating is set to be completed by 2026. @meta__hoge hogemh@miamioh.edu

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

3

Miami professor receives Fulbright Scholar Award for teaching and research ship with AGH University of Science and Technology in Poland since 2005.

“It’s fantastic to be able to go on several levels, to be able to go and be there again,” Hamilton said. “I feel like we’re getting a fresh start and getting the ball rolling again.”

The Fulbright Scholar Award offers several opportunities for U.S. academics, professionals and administrators to teach, research, do projects and attend seminars abroad.

Hamilton said he will be teaching two graduate classes to the university’s PhD students. One class is on fracture mechanics and he will teach

CARTER HAMILTON IS A 2022 RECIPIENT OF THE FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR AWARD. PROVIDED BY MIAMI UNIVERSITY

MADI JEROME STAFF WRITER Carter Hamilton, an associate professor in the department of mechanical and manufacturing engineering at Miami University, received a Ful-

bright Scholar Award and will travel to Poland this summer and fall semester to study metals and welding.

Hamilton originally won the award in 2019, but the pandemic postponed his trip until this year. He has had an active research partner-

the other class is an introduction to dislocation theory, which he will teach to the second year phD students.

“I haven’t been since the summer of 2019,” Hamilton said. “I’m thrilled to be able to teach and research in Poland again.”

As for research, Hamilton will primarily work with AGH University but also collaborate with the Polish Welding Institute.

His work will focus on the process of friction stir welding, which uses lower temperatures to join metals together without melting them together.

“I do the computational work, in terms of creating simulations of the process,” Hamilton said. “We use the simulation to show what a temperature distribution might look like across the weld, and we also show welding.”

Hamilton’s plans on his wife and

daughter joining him while he conducts his research.

“My family goes with me, and we’ll have this opportunity to stay in Poland for an extended period,” Hamilton said. “We’ve always loved it there — it’s such a neat experience, and we’re thrilled to go back. My daughter will be nine at the time, and we’re going to enroll her into an international school that’s there, so I’m excited for her to have this opportunity.”

Poland shares a border with Ukraine, which is currently engaged said he wants to be as cautious as possible in Poland, which has welcomed, [X NUMBER] refugees from Ukraine since the start of the war.

Hamilton said his colleagues in Poland have prepared him for what to expect.

“There are going to be a lot of Ukrainian refugees in the city, primarily women and children,” Hamilton said. “Public transportations are going to be crowded, and other things will be crowded. The prices are much higher and it’s impactful to us, but it’s more impactful to the people of Poland because they don’t have quite as high of salaries as we do here … We’re trying not to worry, but just being aware of it and being smart.”

Amit Shukla, a professor and chair of the department of mechanical and manufacturing engineering at Miami, said Hamilton has contributed to the department for many years.

“He is a long time faculty member in the department and teaches a range of classes from 200 to 300

level courses,” Shukla said. “He has also taught some graduate level classes. Then on top of that, his research is where he can work with students one-on-one and he involves undergraduate and graduate students in this research.”

Shukla said Hamilton helps him a lot to improve the department.

“He’s a colleague of mine, so I really value his input on many things in the department,” Shukla said. “He’s very engaged in our students’ success, the department chair.”

Hamilton hopes more study abroad opportunities will open up with Fulbright’s impact. He recommends that students seek out opportunities to visit other countries, especially those in Eastern Europe.

“I hope the Fulbright for me, the school and the university becomes a launching pad to open up Eastern Europe to more opportunities for students,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said he would also encourage other faculty members to apply for a Fulbright Scholar Award.

“Even if I hadn’t gotten it, I met and worked with a lot of very very nice people and I’m just impressed with the whole program,” Hamilton said. “It was a very worthwhile expericult to put all the materials together.” @Madijeromee jeromemt@miamioh.edu

A Provost’s legacy;

Jason Osborne’s three years in office

CONTINUED FROM FRONT At the start of the fall 2021 semester, Osborne emailed professors, saying they would not be required to wear masks during instruction, as long as they maintained social distance. Although some students didn’t mind, others disliked that students still had to wear masks if professors didn’t.

On Aug. 30, 2021, the university mandated mandating COVID-19 vaccines for students and employees.

Unless they got an exemption, students had to receive the vaccine to register for classes. By the end of the fall semester, 92% of students had received a vaccine, and the university planned to cancel eight non-compliant students’ classes for the spring semester.

Harvey Thurmer, a faculty member in the department of music and University Senator, has worked at said any provost would have faced the same pushback from COVID-19 policies that Osborne received.

“Regardless of whoever was provost in the last three years, they would be known as the pandemic-provost, and that is not a title anybody would want,” Thurmer said. “He’s been in an incredibly thankless position, as would have anybody who would have had this position.”

A faculty member in the College of Creative Arts (CCA), who wished to remain anonymous, said it was were in response to the pandemic and which were to accomplish Osborne’s goals.

“COVID looms large,” the faculty member said. “It’s hard to separate what was COVID and what was not.”

Daniel Hall, professor of justice and community studies, said Osborne created too many committees and had too many items working at once, but it wasn’t detrimental to the university. Most of Miami administrators’ COVID-19-related decisions largely mirrored national trends, he said.

Most isn’t all, though.

“Most – with one big exception – “ … The one criticism I have of [Osborne] and I presume the President and the Board of Trustees was how quick they were to eliminate positions.”

Visiting Assistant Professors Soon after students were sent home in 2020, administrators decided not to renew the contracts of up to 50% of its Visiting Assistant Professors (VAPs). The decision was made

to account for expected budgetary shortfalls caused by the pandemic and refunds to students.

Hall said the decision was hasty and ultimately unnecessary.

“The university has … a large cash reserve,” Hall said. “I don’t understand why they didn’t use the cash reserve to say, ‘We’re gonna keep everybody for a year, we’re gonna see how this pandemic plays itself out, and we’re gonna keep an eye on the situation.’ But their immediate reaction was to reduce expenses. They did that by cutting positions, and as it turned out, it was unnecessary.”

Despite the refunds to students and other expenses brought on by the pandemic, David Creamer, sebusiness services, told The Student in Aug. 2021 that the university had ket performances” in 30 years in the 2020-2021 school year. As a result, President Greg Crawford announced a 2% salary increase pool for faculty for the 2021-2022 school year.

Osborne said the decision to not renew VAPs’ contracts took several factors into account and was not made lightly.

The freshman class in 2020 was smaller than normal, and fewer faculty went on sabbatical to travel due to COVID-19 restrictions. Osborne said the university was also working to increase teaching faculty positions with more job security at the time.

“There was far less need for temporary faculty than typical,” Osborne wrote in an email to The Student.

“Our departments correspondingly requested fewer temporary faculty.

service.

In the current academic year, the Board of Trustees allocated $24.6 million to VAP positions, allowing departments to bring on new temporary faculty members and go back to less demanding workloads. In 2019, Miami employed 252 VAPs. That number decreased to 107 in 2020 before rising to 151 in 2021.

Strategic Plan Much of Osborne’s time at Miami in response to the pandemic, but he also inherited a comprehensive plan to transform education at Miami.

Miami’s Strategic Plan cially published June 28, 2019, and laid out 30 recommendations for the university to implement in the coming years.

When Osborne arrived, he took over implementation of several Strategic Plan recommendations, including the creation of an Honors College and transforming the Global Miami Plan to the Miami Global Plan.

Osborne said he’s proud of the academic Strategic Plan recommendations, though some will take years to be fully realized.

In particular, he highlighted the success of the Honors College, which is more diverse than the university as a whole. He also said he’s proud of the academic review process, which reviewed each program at Miami for outcomes.

“What I want Miami to be known for is every student can come here and they feel included – and then they can

to any request where there was clear need.”

Osborne also froze departments’ abilities to make hiring decisions without permission from him or Creamer.

Robert Applebaum, professor of gerontology, said the decision to cut VAPs wasn’t necessarily a bad one, but how it was implemented fell short of the university’s goals of shared governance and avoiding top-down decision-making.

“It was a decision that even deans and department chairs – and certainly faculty – felt like they had absolutely no voice in,” Applebaum said.

“That, to me, created a problem. It wasn’t that the decision was bad, it was that nobody along the line felt like they had a voice in it.”

The decision to cut VAPs led to increased expectations for remaining faculty, including teaching more and larger classes and completing more

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Osborne said. “It’s not always getting a high-paying job at a bank. Sometimes it’s creating that work of art or group or whatever that is.”

Applebaum, who served on the committee that drafted the Strategic Plan, said the academic review process led to his department cutting the undergraduate gerontology major. While it was a tough decision personally, he said it aligned with the students.

“The world is changing, and Miami has to make sure that we have majors that are attractive to the students and can be sustainable,” Applebaum said. “We made the decision that gerontology … was just not as easily sustainable, and so we’re pivoting to trying to improve our minors because we think students should be exposed to aging.”

The review process also allowed the university to give new resources to growing programs and attract new students in the process.

In an email to The Student, Beena Sukumaran, dean of the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC), wrote that Osborne’s support helped the college thrive. In the past three years, CEC has added a Bachelor’s degree in robotics engineering and planned for several other new programs, Sukumaran wrote.

“Provost Osborne strengthened the College of Engineering and Computing by envisioning and supporting new degree programs in a rapidly evolving world, in which technology is as pervasive as it is constantly changing,” Sukumaran wrote.

The Farmer School of Business (FSB) has also grown under Osborne.

FSB has developed a Master of Science (MS) in business analytics and an MS in management, as well as an curity. “[Osborne’s] work that has had a positive impact on the Farmer School and its future was his support of our boldly creative proposals,” FSB Dean Jenny Darroch wrote in an email to The Student, “ … I will always be grateful to Provost Osborne for hiring me and therefore providing me with this extraordinary opportunity to be the dean of the Farmer School of Business.”

Faculty Tensions Despite the success of several Strategic Plan recommendations, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated tensions between faculty and administration.

On Feb. 3, Miami faculty members announced their intentions to unionize under the Faculty Alliance of Miami (FAM), citing the decision not to renew VAP contracts, a perceived decline in the teacher-scholar model and a lack of shared governance.

“Most of the people that I talked to … didn’t seem to think there was any actual listening,” the anonymous CCA to have a conversation without something coming back that was a scold or defensive.”

Thurmer said that talks of unionization had been present for many years, but the university’s policies over the past three years might have pushed faculty to take action.

“I think the beginnings of that … far outlived his tenure,” Thurmer for a long, long time. But maybe the pandemic and the ways that they got tus to the faculty union idea.”

Applebaum has been at Miami since the ’80s. Early on in his time at Miami, faculty held a vote to unionize that failed to pass.

“Interest in a faculty union is not new,” Applebaum said. “It’s been going on for the whole 35 plus years I’ve been here, but I think the frustration in some of the top-down decision making certainly added fuel to the The CCA faculty member said pushback from administration regarding talks of unionization may have strengthened faculty’s support for the union.

“I was told by a mentor … when for any provost at any university was to prevent the formation of a union,” the faculty member said. “My guess is that a whole lot of people were pushed over the edge in the last three years. I think there’s a reason why that movement is pretty much unstoppable now.”

The faculty member also said that as long as the university excludes faculty members from making decisions to hire administrators, faculty members will continue to have problems with administration.

“Faculty are not really involved in search processes,” the faculty member said. “Until there’s a little more thorough and meaningful participation by the faculty, we’re going to keep hiring people like this.”

What’s Next?

On April 28, Crawford announced that Elizabeth Mullenix, dean of CCA, will serve as the university’s interim provost.

While Osborne wasn’t involved in “Dean Mullenix is a superior leader and wonderful human being,” Osborne wrote. “She will be great and I will do everything I can during this time to support her successful transition. My advice to any leader is to trust our systems and people.”

In addition to serving as Provost, Osborne is a professor in the statistics department at Miami. Osborne wrote that although he’s still unsure of what the future holds for him, he might continue teaching at the university. where I haven’t known exactly what’s next, and that’s kind of exciting,” Osborne said. “I’m exploring a lot of options, and I may remain part of the Miami family for a while.”

Additional reporting by Managing Editor Abby Bammerlin macylj@miamioh.edu scottsr2@miamioh.edu

Visit miamistudent.net to Join the TMS Team!

Campus and Community

4

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

Many students change their major in college: Here is how Miami University is helping

ALICE MOMANY ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR When Olivia Snow enrolled at Miami University in 2020, she had no idea what she wanted to do.

The stress of picking a major combined with her parents’ opinions and the fear of being an undecided student spiraled, and Snow declared marketing as her major.

Although Snow was prepared to call the halls of the Farmer School of Business (FSB) home for the next four years, she quickly learned after struggling in calculus that marketing wasn’t the major for her.

“I thought I knew what I wanted to do, but I really had no idea, and I just picked something general that I thought I could have fun with,” Snow said. “But once I got to college, I realthan a super broad major.”

Snow, now a sophomore, switched her major to art education.

Amy Bergerson, associate provost and dean for undergraduate educa-

tion at Miami, said many students, just like Snow, change their major year.

Bergerson said the national average of students who change their major during college is approximately 75%. At Miami, that statistic was believed to be around 70%, but a recent preliminary analysis conducted by Division of Enrollment Management and Student Success proves the percentage to be lower. divisional analyses for further data.

“I think the 70% is probably not accurate, and it isn’t representative of what we’re really worried about, which is the actual switching from one major to another major,” Bergerson said.

Unlike Snow, Stella Fiscus, a sophomore business economics major, knew what she wanted to do after graduation but wasn’t sure what to focus on for her undergraduate degree.

“I always knew I wanted to go to

law school after college, but I did not know coming in what I wanted to major in,” Fiscus said.

Because of her uncertainty, Fiscus came in undecided and declared botsemester. After one semester, Fiscus feared that botany wouldn’t help her achieve her long-term goals, so after to English literature.

“I liked what I was doing in botany; it met with a lot of my interests in the past, but it didn’t align with my career goals in the future, which is why I changed it,” Fiscus said, “but neither did English literature, so I changed it again.” her sophomore year, Fiscus changed her major to business economics in FSB. Fiscus said the decision to switch never came easily, but by researching and meeting with advisors, major. cision over a little bit, but once I went through and realized I do have enough time to switch it one more time, those fears dissipated,” Fiscus

said.

Both Fiscus and Snow are set to graduate in four years despite changing their majors.

Bergerson said the Miami Global Plan helps students who may want to change their majors graduate in a timely manner.

“After one semester or even two semesters, if [students] haven’t gotten super deep into a particular major, and if they’ve been taking a fair number of Miami Plan courses, then they can recover pretty well,” Bergerson said.

While the Miami Global Plan may be especially helpful for students who change their majors later in their college career, Snow said she recommends incoming students get the requirements out of the way.

“To anyone who is early on, go in undecided and get all your Miami Plan out of the way, because it sucks to have to do it later on,” Snow said. “… even if you need to take an extra semester, that’s so worth it in the grand scheme of things because you don’t want to be stuck doing a job that you hate for the rest of your life.”

Craig Bennett, senior director of the Student Success Center, said it’s important for students to consult with someone and take advantage of the services provided by the university before deciding to switch.

“If a person is thinking about switching, have a conversation with somebody, either their advisors or come to the Student Success Center, and we’ll run a ‘what-if’ [degree audit] and map it out,” Bennett said.

In addition to the consulting services provided by the Student Success Center, Bergerson is developing the will be more focused on students consulting other students. will be run by Student Success Navigators who will advise students indents explore options related to that major and encourage students to get involved in that area of study.

“I would encourage students who are thinking about changing their majors to focus more on the exploraof the process, any of the [department advisors] can help them begin walking through the actual, physical, logistical steps of changing the major,”

Bergerson said.

Every year on the 15th day of the fall semester, Miami reports the number of enrolled students and their majors to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). This is known as “census day,” and IPEDS uses this data to analyze how many students changed their major across the U.S., and if so, how many times they changed across their years in school.

The divisional analyses will verify if Miami reports an accurate number of students changing majors to IPEDS. Bergerson and her team can see how many students from each college and over rates. The divisional analysis will also report how many times a student can change their major and graduate help students who come in as undecided.

The divisional analysis will be completed over the summer and will not be available until the fall semester.

Bergerson said undecided students have slightly lower retention and completion rates than students who declare a major.

“One of my goals for our new Ofthe retention and completion rates to be the same or better than everyone else,” Bergerson said.

Although Bergerson is worried about undecided retention rates, Bennett said he prefers when students come in undecided.

“I would rather have students come in undecided to explore who they are and what they want to do,” Bennett said. knows what they want to major in or they change their major halfway through, Bergerson said it’s important for students not to let societal expectations prevent them from pursuing what they want to study.

“Be open,” Bergerson said, “and don’t feel disappointed or sad if the thing you thought you wanted to do isn’t exactly what you thought it was.” @alicemomany momanyaj@miamioh.edu

Miami administrators join forces to help struggling students ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR Student burnout is at an all-time high. Mixed-format classes have made it harder for students to learn material. Soaring mental health issues and poor outlooks for the future are hampering motivation and work ethic.

With this in mind, Miami University has developed new methods to protect students’ GPAs and ensure academic success.

The divisions of Student Life, Management and Student Success (EMSS) have teamed up to implement several strategies to prevent students from reaching these standings.

During the fall semester, more than 650 students were placed on academic warning – earning less than a 2.0 GPA and having less than 16 credit hours. About 480 students were placed on academic probation – earning less than a 2.0 GPA and having more than 16 credit hours.

Both of these were only marginal increases when compared to fall 2019, a non-COVID semester.

Despite the pandemic’s toll, students put on academic suspension slightly decreased this past fall.

Duane Drake, director of operations for EMSS, said the number of students who receive 0.0 GPAs has stayed about the same as well.

“This past fall, we had 48 continuing students and 10 new students that got 0.0s,” Drake said. “Over the past several years it’s gone up or down, but in that same range.”

Brenk Shock, vice president of EMSS, said Miami has implemented initiatives that work with students from the very beginning of the semester to curb grade issues from arising later on.

“As a university, we are getting much better at proactively identifying and working with students who might be in trouble early on,” Shock said. “All three divisions work in concert together to lift up and build up student success across the university.”

One initiative the divisions piloted this fall is an early alerts program that works with professors to identify struggling students early on in the se-

sors are asked to identify if students are attending class, have access to course materials and are engaged in the class. week, professors are asked again to indicate if they’re concerned about any students, as well as whether any students may need to consider withdrawing from the course.

The students professors are given the option to drop the course and enroll in a sprints and reserve course instead.

These courses count toward the Miami Global Plan and degree requirements and can be started in the middle of the semester.

Amy Bergerson, associate provost and dean of undergraduate education, said the university has seen great results from the program so far.

“The students who took advantage of that option … were [enrolled] at a much higher rate this spring semester and also had higher GPAs than students who didn’t take the option,” Bergerson said. grade reports and reach out to students who are failing two or more courses.

“We do proactive outreach to every single one of those students,” Bergerson said. “Academic advisors, nella are all calling, texting, emailing various kinds of support to try to pick things up for the rest of the semester.”

Christina Carruba-Whetstine, disaid the number of students who are reached out to after midterms is high, but the majority are able to recover by the end of the semester.

“The number of people that end up in [academic] warning or probation is really just a fraction of those who are not doing well at midterms,” Carruba-Whetstine said.

Carruba-Whetstine attributed the high recovery rate to the extensive outreach done to connect students to the right resources, such as tutoring, counseling services or the new sprints and reserve initiative.

If students do end up with an academic warning, they receive a detailed email from the university explaining what the status means and what steps they should take to return to good standing. They are also invited to meet with an academic advisor.

Students who end up on academic probation are automatically registered for a study strategies course.

“It is a very invasive [process],” Carruba-Whetstine said. “We’re on top of it saying, ‘We think that this is important and valuable and want you to engage with us.’”

Carruba-Whetstine said that while there are many factors that may result in students receiving low GPAs,

mental health is the one most cited. “[Sometimes students] get into a hole and don’t know emotionally how to get out of it,” Carrubba-Whetstine said. “They also, a lot of times, stop talking to their parents about how they were doing in school and just kind of check out.”

Another common trend involves students choosing a major without enough information.

“They think they know what it is, but then they get into it and they’re like, ‘No, this isn’t what I thought it was going to be at all,’” Carruba-Whetstine said.

Carruba-Whetstine said she often sees this with students going into engineering because they like building things, but don’t realize the amount of high-level math involved.

“I see that also with a lot of students who say they want to go into pre-med because they want to help people,” Carruba-Whetstine said.

“There are lots of ways of helping people, not just surgically or medically.”

high school preparation has impacted student performance in college as well.

“School wasn’t the same for their last year and a half,” Carruba-Whetstine said. “What was expected of them in high school wrapping things up was not preparing them necessarily well for a lot of … high stakes kinds of exams.”

Bergerson said the shift from high anyone, even before the pandemic.

Sometimes, Bergerson added, all it takes is missing one assignment, possibly due to being sick or not knowing how to do it, for a student’s workload to spiral out of control.

“Sometimes it’s just that one thing that triggers this crazy avalanche,” Bererson said, “and that’s really what we’re trying to look for in those early preventions is people who have signals that that might be happening.” rudere@miamioh.edu

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

5

Faculty-student engagement Miami University received $76 million in COVID-19 funding: Here’s in jeopardy: how Miami’s where it went faculty union could affect student experience ALICE MOMANY

ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR

ALICE MOMANY ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR Much of the attention surrounding the unionize the faculty at Miami University has concentrated on administrators and professors alike; however, the faculty union won’t just affect those who receive a paycheck from the university. impact on student experience and faculty engagement outside of the classroom.

Jayne Brownell, vice president for Student Life at Miami, said students are already reaching out to her with questions and concerns about a unionized faculty.

“I have had a number of students reach out

faculty to engage with activities outside of the classroom.

“I was [also] a direct graduate director, and I had a hard time getting one or two people to come [to events], not because they’re not good people, but because they are burnt out and tired,” Roma said. at the end of the 2020-21 school year. She said being part of the faculty union at UC was a primary factor in her decision to leave Miami.

As a member, Roma said she received a communication between administration and faculty and has the opportunity for promotions. in student engagement between Miami and UC

In March 2020, Miami University sent thousands of students home due to the COVID-19 pandemic and refunded “tens of millions of dollars” for tuition, housing and dining expenses and general fees.

In the months that followed, Miami conclass, the inability to house international students and the delayed on-campus start for the following fall semester.

by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Department of Education awarded Miami more than $76 million through the Education Stabilization Fund (ESF).

According to the Department of Education, the ESF invested over $263 billion to educational institutions “to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus impacts on education for our nation’s students.”

The ESF award to Miami came from two of the four primary relief funds: the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund and the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF).

Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) Miami received just less than $69 million from HEERF – the tenth highest award in Ohio.

The award was divided into two grants: $31 mil-

funding request form on the Dean of Students site, so any student can go there regardless of According to the Department of Education, Miami prioritized students on the Oxford campus and students living on-campus. Miami also took into consideration the FAFSA’s Estimated Family Contribution. However, not every eligible student received the same amount of money.

“There’s not enough funding to give every single eligible student, so we prioritized students that the Department of Education asked us to,” Johnson said.

The last amount of funding was distributed to students on April 6.

Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund Under the GEER Fund, Miami received more than $6 million.

According to the Department of Education, Miami obtained the second-highest amount in GEER Funds, following Ohio State University.

The amount awarded, also determined by a formula, came from the state rather than the federal government.

The award was divided into two grants: dent Counseling Services and $6 million to the Ohio School Wellness Initiative.

The Ohio School Wellness Initiative, led by Cricket Meehan, director of Miami’s Center for School-Based Mental Health Programs (CSBMHP), supports mental health aid and substance

million supporting institutional aid. and business at Miami, said the amount was determined by a formula created by the federal government. “[The government] calculated it based upon data that universities submit,” Creamer said.

“That [data] was used to derive an amount per student, and then that determined how much the university was awarded.”

There were two main factors of the formula: Pell Grant recipients, and the second allocated funds based on undergraduate and graduate enrollment.

Pell Grants are given to students who JAYNE BROWNELL, VICE PRESIDENT FOR STUDENT LIFE AT MIAMI, SAID STUDENTS ARE ALREADY REACHING OUT TO HER WITH QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS ABOUT A UNIONIZED FACULTY. PHOTO BY ASHLEIGH BRELAGE

to me being confused about what it means,” Brownell said, “so I think that there is some sense of anxiety because they don’t understand the process or understand how they might be involved or what the impact might be on them.”

Before her role at Miami, Brownell served as assistant vice president of student life at Hofstra University for eight years. Although Brownell was not a member, Hofstra has had a unionized faculty since 1973 as a collective-bargaining chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

Brownell explained that from an administration perspective, the faculty union has substantial negative impacts on the student experience at Hofstra.

Hofstra faculty do teaching, research and service, but it has to be related to their academic volvement on campus that professors take part “we were told what we had to pay for you to do anything outside the classroom as overload, and they were not allowed to volunteer their time.”

Because faculty couldn’t volunteer, Brownell said faculty involvement with student activities “We didn’t have the budget for it, so we just didn’t have faculty involved outside the classroom,” Brownell said.

When Brownell came to Miami in 2014, involvement outside of the classroom that was missing from Hofstra.

“While I’ve been at Miami, I have asked our departments over time, ‘Let us know what faculty have been involved with your department so that we can thank them,’ and we have had upwards of 400 to 500 faculty a year get involved in student life,” Brownell said.

Brownell said she isn’t sure that a faculty union at Miami would have the same results that it did at Hofstra, but she emphasized the importance of faculty engagement already demonstrated at Miami.

“It doesn’t mean that that is exactly what it may look like here, but I can say that coming

and said she feels more comfortable teaching at UC because the faculty union protects her and allows her to teach lessons that she feels best “[My job] is very delineated, which allows me to plan my classes and choose activities and said. “It frees up my mind and my energy to be more present with them instead of worrying about what I need to do and how I need to do it.”

A faculty member in the Department of Media, Journalism, and Film (MJF) at Miami who preferred to remain anonymous agreed with Roma.

Before coming to Miami, she was a non-traditional doctorate student at a university where she studied under professors in the faculty union. Before earning her doctorate, she taught as a non-tenure-track (NTT) professor at another university. While there, the NTT faculty were not unionized, but she was heavily involved

by enrollment, but out of the public four-year universities, it has the lowest percentage of Pell Grant recipients.

The grant was passed in three acts by Conthe Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, also known as HEERF I. Under HEERF I, Miami received nearly $6.5 million in institutional aid, allocated to revenue replacement.

David Ellis, associate vice president of budgeting and analysis at Miami, said revenue replacements were refunds to students for housing, dining and general fees.

The second act, passed in December 2020, was the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), also known as HEERF II.

Meehan said she was approached by the Department of Education to spearhead this inifederal grants surrounding mental health.

“October 2020, my phone pinged with a text from one of our Ohio Department of Education connections, and she basically said, ‘The governor has this emergency funding. We recognize there’s a school mental health crisis … We would really love your team to be the group that leads this initiative,’” Meehan said.

After being approached, Meehan said her team drafted a non-competitive proposal of what the work would look like, and they received the funding.

Meehan said they’ve spent most of the grant money, but they still have some left to use before their grant expires on Sept. 30. funding on identifying content experts and bringing contracted outside content experts in to help us,” Meehan said. “The Ohio Mental Health Network for School Success is receivin those local settings … and then we have our internal team here, and I think there’s still room things we need at the end of the project” Even though the grant expires at the end of September, Meehan said their work won’t stop there.

With experience as a student under a unionized faculty and a professor working with unionized faculty, she said there is a noticeable meant a lot to the faculty, and seeing the unionization process … with the non-tenure faculty … people were a lot more secure,” she said. “They felt a lot better. They knew what they were contracted to do.”

She also agrees with Roma that faculty engagement outside of the classroom is not related to the faculty union. She said at her previous institution, service obligations for unionized faculty were more outlined and clear, but that wasn’t necessarily the same for NTT faculty.

“Before the non-tenure folks were unionized, we would just volunteer for committees as our end-of-the-year reports, and we might get a little extra money … but there was no formalization of it,” she said. experience with faculty engagement at Hofstra, she said it is important to remember there are

engaged the faculty are in their students’ lives beyond their academic world,” Brownell said.

Cathy Wagner, president of FAM, disagrees with Brownell and feels there is already a disconnect between student engagement and faculty involvement.

Wagner said the university used to provide professional development funds to incentivize professors to engage with students in research, but the university has taken those funds away to allocate it towards other costs. Professors are no longer compensated for undergraduate research engagement, and many professors, including Wagner, volunteer their time to help students with research.

“The positive was that I felt like faculty were more visible,” Brownell said. “The negative was that a lot of people did things because they were required to and not because they bought into it.”

Brownell said her advice for FAM as it con-

university is taking money away from [research] and reducing student opportunity because there are going to be fewer professors who want to do it,” Wagner said.

Wagner said that by taking funding away from research opportunities and independent studies, the university is deterring faculty from working with students.

“Every professor I know wants to work with students and wants to work with them individually,” Wagner said. “... but do students really want professors to be doing more work than they’re being paid to do?”

Anne Roma, a professor of social work at the University of Cincinnati (UC), and a previous professor at Miami, is now in a faculty union herself, and said faculty involvement isn’t always determined by unionization. During her time at Miami, she had a hard time getting

won’t go up to allow that.”

Wagner said that if students are concerned

about maintaining faculty engagement with ly realistic way.

“Think about how a contract could be written that still allows faculty to be a part of the fabric of the campus seven days a week, evenings, still involved with residence halls,” Brownell said, “but wouldn’t require additional compensation

them, to reach out, because she believes the faculty can’t unionize without student support.

“If there are things that students feel they need from their education, a union is one way to get that,” Wagner said. “I would encourage students to come talk to us about what they need, and we can work together and build a better Miami together.”

Wagner shared that FAM is currently trying hopes to close the campaign soon. Once it has collected cards from at least 30% of the faculty, @alicemomany momanyaj@miamioh.edu

GRAPHIC BY OWEN BERG

Under CRRSAA, Miami received more than $13 million in institutional aid. About 0.5% was allocated to COVID-19 testing and contact tracing, 3.3% supported distanced learning and 0.14% funded other sanitation services, with the remaining funds going toward revenue replacement.

Creamer said the university was limited in deciding where the money went.

“The Department of Education came out and said, ‘Here’s how you may use these funds,’ and then we complied with those rules,” Creamer said. “When we report it back to the U.S. Department of Education, we show them exactly how we used the money.”

American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act, also known as HEERF III. Under the ARP Act, Miami rethan $11 million allocated to revenue replacement.

In addition to institutional aid, Miami reeach of the three acts.

Under HEERF I, Miami received almost ed to fewer than 4,000 students. Similarly, in HEERF II, Miami received the same amount of students. Under the last act, HEERF III, Mimore than 4,000 students.

Under each act, the number of students eliwho actually received money, but Beth Johnsaid the university was limited to who it could give aid to.

“Per the federal guidelines, we prioritize the need, so that would include students eligible for the federal Pell Grant, high-needs students and sometimes moderate-needs students,” Johnson said. “In addition, there is also an emergency

“The Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services are the two co-directing agencies that are a part of this … they’re both in their separate departments trying to identify how this can be sustained and move forward long-term,” Meehan said.

Unlike the Ohio School Wellness Initiative, Miami’s Student Counseling Services spent the entirety of its grant. The funding was used to launch telehealth services and other support for remote students.

“The shift from face-to-face work to telehealth work is something that few clinicians nationwide had any sort of background in, so we wanted to make sure that we got all of our clinicians trained and up to speed in terms of services as opposed to virtual services … The other piece was the technological infrastructure of how to do that,” John Ward, director of the Student Counseling Service, said.

While Ward said the service helped many students during quarantine in their homes, he has noticed that most students prefer face-toface services. Since June 2021, just less than a quarter of the center’s 9,200 counseling appointments have been virtual.

What’s left to distribute?

Miami has more than $7 million remaining from the ARP Act, but Ellis said he isn’t quite sure what it will go toward. to use the remaining bit of HEERF III that we have available to us,” Ellis said. “We’ve continadditional revenue loss that we’ve not recovered, so we’re working through how to do that.”

Miami has until June 2023 to spend the remaining funds. @alicemomany momanyaj@miamioh.edu

6

Campus and Community

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

Miami College Mentors for Kids inspires disadvantaged kids JOSIE CICOGNA THE MIAMI STUDENT It seems unlikely to see young kids on Miami University’s campus, but this semester Miami students can see an excited group of elementaryaged kids every Tuesday.

They were especially noticeable one sunny day this April when anyone walking through Academic Quad could see young children gleefully covering Miami students in whipped cream and chocolate.

This was a special “Pie a Mentor” event held

by Miami’s College Mentors for Kids chapter.

College Mentors for Kids is a mentoring program that allows college students to work with local elementary school students. According to its national website, the organization started at Indiana University in 1996 and has expanded to include 32 chapters serving more than 2,700 kids. Each chapter engages kids weekly in oncampus activities with their mentors.

College Mentors chapters inspire growth higher education. Zach Bates, associate director of programming for College Mentors’ national operations said the programs aim to teach the kids about their future and give them a trusted adult to lean on. “[They get to] learn a lot about themselves, about the future, and about their [mentor], community service, culture and diversity [and] higher education,” Bates said.

Miami’s chapter works with kids from New Miami Elementary School in New Miami, Ohio.

Preston Krzyzak, president of College Mentors at Miami, said the program shows the kids new opportunities related to higher education future. He also emphasized the importance of

connection.

“They always have someone to talk to,” Krzyzak said. “They have their mentor, they always can rely on them … we’re the one thing that they can do outside of New Miami.”

The programs are focused on giving back to the surrounding communities near college campuses. The organization gives many of the mentee students an early look at what their future could look like.

“About 75% of the kids come from economically disadvantaged homes, and we equate that to free and reduced lunches at the schools,” Bates said.

The organization’s mission has shifted

this demographic. College Mentors’ chapters partner with specially chosen elementary schools which select kids from their student body to participate in the program.

Due to the demographic of the area, Bates said Miami’s chapter serves a higher percentage of kids considered disadvantaged than the organization’s national average.

According to the 2020 census, about 3% of New Miami’s 2,217 people have received a bachelor’s degree or higher.

To encourage kids from New Miami Elementary to consider higher education, the mentors expose them to experiences at Miami University. These activities can range from a rock climbing day at the Rec to a Women’s History Month presentation to a workshop on how fundraising works.

All 32 chapters, including Miami’s, are run entirely by college students, though they are evaluated each year. “[We give them] a grade each year to make sure we’re upholding national safety standards and make sure we have a great national program,” Bates said.

MIAMI COLLEGE MENTORS GIVES MANY OF THE MENTEE STUDENTS AN EARLY LOOK AT WHAT THEIR FUTURE COULD HOLD. PHOTO BY REED PORTER

The student leaders that run each chapter gain leadership experience, mentoring skills and community service engagement.

Michelle Cosmah, faculty advisor for Miami’s chapter, said the mentor position is open to all Miami students.

Cosmah said, “and this is a great program that you don’t have to know about kids, you don’t have to be in a child-[focused] program [for], but it gives you a way to mentor youth and get to know them.”

The 2021-22 school year has been a year of growth for the organization. When Krzyzak became president, the program had only four members despite launching in 2016. This spring semester, the program has expanded to

75 college mentors and 54 elementary school students.

They were awarded this year’s Chapter of The Year award by the national organization.

Krzyzak said the chapter plans to expand its program, possibly working with another school and bringing elementary students to Miami’s campus on both Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

“It’s going to look like what we have now but double the size, so double the engagement,” Krzyak said. “Double the college students, double the elementary school kids, double the impact, and I guess double the fun … that’s one thing I’m hoping for.” cicognij@miamioh.edu

Rising student disengagement and disconnection, a pandemic fallout that Miami faces SEN NGUYEN THE MIAMI STUDENT By the time Taylor Thornburg’s chemistry class wrapped up on April 29, the few students left were ready to be done.

“I’m hearing from students who are seeing that many of their peers aren’t showing up to exams or coming to class,” Moore said. “I’m hearing from faculty that they’re seeing more disengagement from students.”

Callie Maddox, an assistant professor in the department of sport leadership and management, said the drop in her class attendance started occurring recently.

100-student lecture course saw attendance of semester,” Maddox said, “but I’ve noticed in the “For some classes that I’m in, you can not attend lectures and still excel in the course,” Thornburg said. “I’d say that’s one of the main reasons that people don’t come.”

Kimberly Moore, dean of students at Miami University, said many people have told her about problems with attendance this semester.

been a fall in attendance.”

Moore attributed some of this problem to the intensity of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to burnout and caused students to lose strong.

“Students

DESIGN EDITOR SOREN MELBYE

are

have the reserves because they’ve spent them managing their way through a pandemic,” Moore said.

The attendance and disengagement problem goes beyond the boundaries of Miami.

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported high levels of student disconnection following the height of the pandemic. Faculty

members in a Chronicle survey described this year’s students as “defeated,” “exhausted” and “overwhelmed.”

From responses from the Dean’s Advisory Board (DAB), Moore gathered that online learning has created a divide between attendance and engagement.

“For the two plus years during the pandemic … [students] were expected to engage virtually,” Moore said. “But it never mattered if they turned their screens on. Nobody cared if they really showed up.”

Some professors have continued posting lectures online, even for in-person classes. using these online lectures as a replacement for in-person classes.

“Even though [online lectures are] a great way for students to have another accessible way students do think that can replace in-person classes.”

As a member-at-large of DAB, Thornburg has been involved in conversations about a solution to student disengagement. One idea was transitioning from lecture-based classes to interactive learning experiences.

“We’ve talked about how students’ experiences should incorporate more interactive experiences in the classroom,” Thornburg said. “ … Whether that’s hands-on learning instead of

As an instructor, Maddox said she had a adopted nor recommended any disciplinary actions for missing classes.

“I do keep track. I do notice when students don’t show up for class, and I will check in with them,” Maddox said. “But from my personal standpoint, it’s more about encouraging attendance to get the most out of the class.” been actively reaching out to students who have been missing classes, but she would encourage students to actively seek help when in need.

Beyond reaching out to professors for help, students have access to the Rinella Learning Center, the Student Success Center and the Howe Center for Writing Excellence. For many students, though, Moore said help-seeking behaviors in students are dwindling, so reaching with can be an easier way to start looking for assistance. part to seek out those resources,” Moore said.

“But if a student doesn’t know where to go, they can always ask their faculty … they can always go to the people they regularly engage with.”

This fall, Moore said the university will gather statistics indicative of class engagement, such as term gaps and course completion, and develop initiatives to help Miami adapt to the changing needs of students. @Sennitzer nguye251@miamioh.edu

extra credit to punishing students who miss

Retirees look back on their time at Miami and look forward to what lies ahead REAGAN RUDE

“I feel like a senior in college,” Morris said. “I don’t know what next year is gonna look like, I

ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR The end of the school year can be an emotional time for college seniors about to embark on the next chapter of their life. But another population goes through a similar experience: retiring faculty.

Mark Morris When Mark Morris came to Miami University as a graduate student in 1995, he planned to move away after graduating. Then in the political science department, and he planned to stay for a few years and leave.

“Opportunities come up and you take them,” said Morris, now an associate clinical professor goes. You don’t really plan them.”

This year is Morris’ last at Miami. Through his more than 20 years here, he said his favorite part has been the students.

“Miami attracts a really high caliber student,” Morris said. “I’ve been really fortunate to work with a lot of really bright, talented people.”

While keeping up with students’ everevolving technologies and learning styles isn’t The disruptions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic served as the ultimate challenge in staying with the times — and also helped Morris decide it was time to retire.

“The tides are changing, the university is changing,” Morris said. “It sounds cliche, but Although Morris doesn’t have any concrete plans for his retirement, he’s looking forward to traveling, cycling and spending more time with his children and granddaughter.

career instead of the beginning.”

Kay Edwards Kay Edwards, a professor of music education, came to Miami in 2001 after teaching at various colleges, elementary schools and secondary schools for 17 years. Having grown up in Cincinnati, coming to Oxford “felt like coming back home,” she said Edwards is especially pleased with her book on Native American music in the elementary classroom, which will come out this summer.

“It’s kind of a pinnacle achievement for me,” Edwards said her favorite memories are the unexpected moments that happen when she takes her students into schools to teach children.

She remembers when she was teaching a group of four-year-olds, one of whom was autistic.

“I started singing a song, and one little boy in the group, [who] was the boy with autism, immediately covers his ears and yells ‘No, stop singing!’” Edwards said. “I said ‘Sometimes, having a bad day. Just try it and see if it’s not too loud.’”

The students then began a movement activity, and Edwards asked the boy if the music was making him feel better. He said yes. She asked him if it was still too loud. “I guess not,” he said.

Although she is retiring from Miami, Edwards said she’s not retiring from the music education profession. She will stay involved through workshops and conference

school districts.

Edwards said there are many things she’ll miss about teaching, but she’ll miss watching the growth of her students the most. “[I’ll miss] seeing them go on to be very successful public school teachers,” Edwards

being a part of that growth as they hone their skills and become their own teacher.”

Shelly Jarrett Bromberg Shelly Jarrett Bromberg, an associate professor of Spanish and director of Liberal Education, has worked at Miami for over 20 years. She said she’s loved every minute of it, especially working with students.

“I taught my last class last semester,” Jarrett candy on the last day. I was glad to be able to get back to teaching face to face one more time.”

Jarrett Bromberg said it’s hard saying goodbye, but her experience working with faculty as director of Liberal Education has assured her it’s the right decision.

“I’m going to be turning 65, and it’s time to make room for my younger colleagues,” Jarret Bromberg said. “We have so many bright, passionate, younger faculty … who knows what direction they will take the department and the university.”

Jarret Bromberg said she’ll miss her students, but she’s looking forward to retirement.

“I think I’m going to spend as much time as I can with my husband, who I adore, and maybe the cats because they’re here, and do some research I’ve been wanting to do that isn’t directly related to my main area,” Jarret Bromberg said. “And swim 50 minutes every day.”

John Bailer John Bailer, professor and department chair of statistics, hates routine. But there’s one thing

that hasn’t changed in over 30 years: his love for Miami.

Bailer graduated from Miami in 1982. After receiving his doctoral degree from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, he returned in 1988 as a faculty member.

“I like the diversity and unpredictability of the kinds of tasks and opportunities that emerge in an environment like this,” Bailer said. “Why have I done this this long? Because it’s not the same thing year after year.”

From research and writing to working with students to co-creating a podcast, Bailer hasn’t had a boring day in his career.

Much like his time at Miami, Bailer plans to avoid rigid schedules in retirement.

“I’m open to everything and agreeing to nothing,” Bailer said. “Rosemary [Pennington] and I have a book coming out later this year on statistics behind the headlines, and I’m pretty excited about that.”

Bailer said he’ll miss the community at Miami the most, as well as the unpredictable environment of academia.

“It’s going to be a pretty dramatic change from what’s familiar,” Bailer said. dozens of volumes – several with his name on them – were piled onto shelves, and mounds of paper cluttered his desk.

“If chaos is the norm, what happens when you remove it?” Bailer asked. “I’ll probably miss some of that chaos.”

Retirement comes with many emotions – sadness, excitement, nostalgia – but what Bailer feels the most, as he looks back on his career at Miami, is gratitude.

“I’ve been blessed to do what I do,” Bailer said. “I feel very fortunate and blessed for my time here.” rudere@miamioh.edu

entertainment

7 THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

“Lego Star Wars: The The future of Skywalker Saga” is filled Star Wars with fun, but I’m too critical ABBEY ELIZONDO STAFF WRITER

LUKE MACY

always had vague groupings for characters, “Lego Star Wars: The

STAFF WRITER

redo it, which was annoying. The second time it happened, I decided to be a bit more creative, and I spent

classes for characters. These classes More than two years after its announcement, “Lego Star launched on April 5.

I was super excited, as I grew up playing “Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga” with my dad. It looked like the developers were game, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

After its long delay, the game smashed records, selling over 3 weeks. My physical edition, which I pre-ordered nearly a month before the release date, took a week to arrive with the high demand for copies.

The game was worth the wait, though my expectations may have been too high.

“Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga” allows players to relive the game uses humor and integrates coop elements to appeal to families.

Players can choose to start with “The Phantom Menace,” “A New Hope” or “The Force Awakens.” As they complete episodes, players will unlock new ones. I chose to play through the original trilogy, as well as “The Phantom Menace.”

People who spent their childhoods playing “Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga” may notice game.

The game design has been revamped entirely. Rather than being a simple beat-’em-up with puzzles, “Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga” adds features such as melee combos and aimable force abilities and weapons. rather than six. The levels are also short, averaging 10 to 20 minutes to complete.

Hoping to keep players interested, the game lengthens some scenes from the movie to convert them to levels and shortens the rest for cutscenes. For example, while playing through “Return of the Jedi,” I wondered why I had to play two levels on Endor but had to just experience the second Death Star’s explosion through a cutscene.

Though the levels are short, the game does encourage replayability.

Collectible minikits, which are hidden throughout the levels, make another appearance in this game, along with some new features.

Players are now able to choose their own paths when completing sections. Each level has three challenges that push gamers to make creative choices during the missions.

Although Lego games have

be upgraded using Kyber bricks collected through the open world and levels.

Unfortunately, navigating Sometimes, I would select a character, but the game simply wouldn’t respond to the command.

The game’s open world is its planets players can travel to. Players can go to iconic settings within these locations while also having the opportunity to complete missions that will unlock studs or the aforementioned Kyber bricks.

However, some of these planets feature small areas for players to explore.

For instance, Endor prevents players from leaving the Ewok village, which was a shame since the planet looked so beautiful in the levels.

The open world doesn’t work well in co-op mode, which has always been a large part of Lego games. Players can’t travel to separate areas, restricting the fun of having an open world.

Flying in space has been massively upgraded. The ships move much more smoothly, and are incorporated into the open world and levels. While in space, players to larger ships such as the Death Star and Imperial Star Destroyers.

I had the most fun with the space aspect of Lego’s newest game.

It reminded me of my favorite Star Wars game, the 2005 “Star Wars: Battlefront II.” Whenever I activated the game’s free play mode, I immediately traveled to the stars.

Although “Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga” is fun, it does have some drawbacks.

It could just be the Nintendo Switch’s lesser capabilities when compared to home consoles like the PS5, but I did run into some problems with the game’s technology.

During some levels, the game glitched, making it nearly impossible

move around the area.

In addition, the game had some slow load times, leaving me frequently staring at the loading screen. The developers attempted to make this less boring by adding models of the game’s ships with information about them, but they’re hardly entertaining.

The game used these loading screens often, as in every time I tried to travel to a new area. I was expecting more seamless exploration, but in

fairness, the game is rather large, so it makes sense to use these screens “Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker puzzles aren’t challenging enough and grow bored of the game. with beautiful worlds. Ships and structures are designed from Lego bricks which adds to the aesthetic appeal of the games.

Although I have my complaints, “Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga” is still the best-looking Lego game, the largest Lego game and the most-original Lego game in terms of design. I also just enjoyed getting to experience the thrill of the “Star “Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga” easily rivals Lego’s top games, despite its shortcomings in some a future update, “Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga” could secure the title of best Lego game.

Rating: 8/10 @lukejmacy macylj@miamioh.edu

happened, I had to quit the level and

You would think after years of watching Star Wars movies, TV shows and animated content, I could predict where the future of the Star Wars franchise is headed.

Sadly, I don’t have the force vision to reveal the future.

But I talked with someone who just might have what desperate Star Wars fans need.

Andy Rice is a Miami University professor who teaches FST360, Star Wars: Force, Culture and Science Fiction, and has extensive knowledge about the industry side of the galaxy far, far away.

Disney wants to get the most out of the Star Wars story, and they’re willing to do what they need to

will allow Disney to make Star Wars content much faster than when the universe was created in the late 1970s. could virtually disappear by using this technology to create faraway Earth where exotic landscapes exist.

“It’s also about climate change,” Rice said. “There’s just not going to be the same spaces out in the world to last 100 years. So we’re just going to build it in simulation land.”

As a fan, this new information answers many questions I’ve had since the renewed sequel trilogy in global audiences consuming their content, they can’t create movies and TV series that only resonate with US fans. China played a big role in the plot choices for “Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens,” including Finn’s role as a black character in the Star Wars Universe.

Diversity in the franchise has always been minimal, and this could come from appealing to a global audience with various cultural and racial biases.

I agreed with Rice that Finn, a Black stormtrooper turned rebel in “The Force Awakens,” should have been the main character over Rey. Controversy surrounded many narrative

fans in the US rallied against reducing Finn’s picture from the promotional posters in China.

Whatever the kind of content is, movies, TV or even merchandise, Rice said Disney will do everything in its power to make Star Wars a collection of stories everyone around the DESIGN EDITOR MACEY CHAMBERLIN world relates to. They have the technology and ability to market achieve that goal, Rice said about the these stories, so he believes the next industry as a whole. The strategy for few years will reveal what Disney has marketing this content becomes clear when they present to potential stock franchises of our time. investors.

Star Wars has always inspired me “It’s a slanted view, but it’s the to tell new stories and explore new economically maximal view that you worlds. Series like “The Mandalorian” will get of one of these culture industry and “The Book of Boba Fett” remind organizations,” Rice said about the me of why I loved Star Wars so much Disney Investor Day presentation, as a kid, and I know new and old fans a few hours devoted to presenting love these shows as well.

Disney’s business strategies to their If Disney continues to diversify shareholders and investors for the upcoming year. tell diverse and inclusive stories, Star Wars will only gain more Star Wars produces content that both fans fans in the future. The more directors and investors love to see. From a and writers listen to what the fans fan perspective, this strategy has a want out of this universe, the better reception Disney will receive in their for the Star Wars community. newest series installations, Rice said.

Rice said Disney uses new The two suns burn bright for the technology to create Star Wars future of Star Wars. I feel Disney has content at much faster rates than found the sweet spot between all the movies and animated series to please This technology is called raytracing, fans and give us all the Star Wars where a massive facility is built with content we desperately need. hundreds of LEDs that are tracked Remember, the force will be with with a camera. Filmmakers can all of us, always. change the scenery within seconds, switching from the frozen tundra of @earlgreyincense Hoth to the blazing sands of Tatooine elizonar@miamioh.edu within minutes, Rice described.

The accessibility of this technology

Where is Oxford’s Movie theater? were open to an outside party coming in to do so. with promises to make the necessary One major roadblock: the area upgrades for a modern theater expedesignated for a theater is a “cold gray rience. shell,” a real estate term referring to a location with essentially no infraAfter operating for about a year structure necessary for operations.

Integrating a theater would cost at damaged part of the building. The least $500,000. owners proposed a new arrangement: “The city was willing to help raise the Princess would become a onethe capital to help build out the thescreen theater with student housing ater,” Prytherch said. “But the landon top. lords instead leased it out to a restaurant because they wanted the money.”

Currently, there is no restaurant at the former Princess’ location.

The death of the Princess weighed heavily on many Oxford residents, but also motivated them to take action, Mullenix said.

“The only time that I have ever been to an Oxford City Council meeting, in my 16 years as a resident, was when I went to speak about not having that movie theater,” Mullenix said.

Mullenix recalled speaking both personally and professionalTHE PRINCESS THEATER FIRST OPENED IN 1911 AS THE OXFORD THEATER AND CHANGED ITS NAME IN 1980. PHOTO COURTESY OF GILSON WRIGHT COLLECTION AT SMITH LIBRARY OF REGIONAL HISTORY ly at the meeting CONTINUED FROM FRONT

ry-old building would need to be torn down and replaced.

“The city gave the permission to the property developer, I think on the assumption that a movie theater would come out of the deal,” Prytherch said. “So they enabled the demolition of the theater, which was a tragic mistake.”

Eventually, the property owners decided they were not interested in running a theater themselves, but

about the Princess’ impact.

“As a mom, my son [was] driving as a teenager to Cincinnati to see the latest ‘Star Wars’ movie, and I have to worry about him on the road,” Mullenix said. “And as a faculty member and administrator at Miami, I feel like it’s a wonderful recruiting opportunity for us, to make sure faculty consider living in Oxford.”

Jenna Burke, a junior strategic communication and arts management major, believes students would appreciate a theater closer to home.

“It’s always a hassle to drive all the way to Hamilton to see a movie, and I feel like it would save a lot of time and gas,” Burke said. “And I think it would do well, because we have a large enough student body that I think it would bring in plenty of revenue.”

Since the Princess’ closure, students have shown a willingness to embrace local businesses that aren’t bars.

Brian Levick, owner of Future Great, said his store has been very successful since opening in Oxford last year.

“It’s a good meeting place for people that have interests in things like this, and there was no outlet for them out here,” Levick said. “I just want to make an impact on Oxford, and continue to have a place where people can go to for years and then bring their kids here when they’ve graduated and gotten older.”

Michaels Burns, a junior operations management and supervision major at Miami and owner of local recording studio Oxford Originals, has seen a similar enthusiasm, even in the limited amount of time since his February opening.

“I just love the culture of music, and I’ve been making instrumental beats on my laptop for a couple years, and I just really wanted some good there were probably a lot of other people out there like me at Miami that were kind of doing the same thing, just stuck on a laptop, and there’s a lot more interest in it than I could have ever dreamed.”

Future Great and Oxford Originals cater to students whose wants and needs aren’t otherwise being met.

Still, the two businesses don’t quite anthropology major at Miami, said having a movie theater in town would “My friends and I already have movie nights, but we have to stream it and sit in a cramped dorm room,” Davidson said. “It’ll make it even better if we can go to a movie theater, get some popcorn, make a whole night out of it.”

Jasmine Owens, a junior anthropology major, expressed similar sentiments.

“I love seeing movies, and it’s something to do,” Owens said. “It’s fun to do in groups, individually, and it would be an alternative to whatever else you can do here, like go out and drink.”

Despite the history and continued interest, there are no current plans to bring an equivalent of the Princess back to Oxford. @HollowCentral hollowrr@miamioh.edu

8

humor

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

What do Guys Look For in a Girl?

TEDDY JOHNSON HUMOR EDITOR It would be unfair to my female counterparts not to publish a sister article to “What do Girls Look For in a Guy?” I am positive the answer to “What do Guys Look For in a Girl?” remains elusive for countless women at Miami.

Being the generous person that I am, I sent an undercover agent into the realm of men at agent cannot have her identity revealed out of fear of repercussions such as being blacklisted from the various fraternities on campus. For the sake of this story, we shall call her Kylie.

But, what I can do is share her invaluable knowledge with my loyal readers and reveal the chronicles of her journey. Continue to read many women around Miami’s campus.

Saturdays. Prime time to talk to a man at one of the numerous fraternity day drinks enveloping Miami’s campus. Kylie talks her way er, who goes by the name Stump, revealed to Kylie how to capture the heart of fraternity brothers at Miami.

Stump’s drunk self garbled out, “Two Words: Hot-tie. As long as she is hot enough to take to our formal, I don’t care what she’s like.” Kylie continued by asking if he sought a woman with a genuine personality but he spat on the brothers and be able to paint me a good cooler for formal.”

I’d recommend some art classes if you want to capture a fraternity man’s heart.

Kylie escaped the clutches of the day-drink scene to head to the place where there is never a shortage of guys looking for a girl: the Rec. She couldn’t help but note the amount of Gym tion of the women sipping on a Celsius Energy Drink.

She approached a mountain of man who perfectly embodied what a gym bro looks like: GymShark gear, Beats headphones and doing more talking than actually lifting. Kylie was about to ask this mountainous human being a

would help me.”

After the gym bro stopped talking about his favorite protein powder, Kylie asked, “What do you look for in a girl?”

He went on and on about how his motivation for going to the gym is to get back at all the girls who ghosted him. After what felt like him. “I just want a girl with an absolute dumpster (rear end). Also, she better be wanting to hit the gym with me for 2 hours a day then get Chipotle and cuddle after.”

If you want a gym bro as your man, you betfavorite protein powder.

After these past two disappointing answers, Kylie resigned herself to grab some Sumeshi at Armstrong in order to re-invigorate herself.

While waiting at the end of the bar, she was approached by a striking young man named Daniel. her. Taken aback by his civility, she introduced do you look for in a girl?”

His answer hit harder than Jada Pinkett Smith revealing she cheated on her husband.

“It’s hard to say honestly. What I have to site direction. Whenever I let my guard down emotionally with a girl it becomes a huge turn I get attached they move on. I want a girl who I am attracted to on the outside, but more importantly on the inside.”

Mic drop. and at this point she felt she had enough information to bring back to me.

Compiling this information brought me to the conclusion that while some men only seek what’s on the outside, some guys out there look deeper and care about who you are as a person. Contrary to popular belief, there are in fact men who see beyond how big your cleavage is or if you have a plumptious rump.

Do not give up hope and remember “There john1595@miamoh.edu

I aM GoInG fOr My MaX.” He then proceeded to fail doing one rep of 300 on bench, which was followed by “DAMMIT, I thought for sure my 400mg of pre

What do Girls Look For in a Guy? TEDDY JOHNSON HUMOR EDITOR

like myself. Countless generations of men have sought the answer, and only a select few, such as, but not limited to, Tom Holland, Cristiano answer to this enigma.

Nobody desires to better understand what mind, than me. So, I journeyed into the depths I began my research by knocking on random doors in the various residence halls of North Quad. As people began to open the doors, I research project for The Miami Student.

The second I mentioned that I am a writer for the school newspaper, the door slammed right in my face. Contrary to popular belief, being a Humor Editor does not pick up chicks.

But lo and behold, after 7 hours of scavenging through the dorms of North Quad, I found someone to speak with. She tried to slam the door in my face but I threw my hand in between the door and the wall to stop it. The answer I got made the 17 stitches totally worth it.

She said, “Honestly, I don’t really care as long as he buys me nic carts. Most of the time I enjoy ghosting any of the really kind guys I some other very sweet date when all I really want is nicotine. I take more satisfaction in not responding and letting the suspense eat them away from the inside, than actually spending You heard it gentlemen, the fastest way to this girl’s heart is nicotine cartridges.

My grand search for answers took me to the place where there is never a shortage of sorority girls, The Shriver Center Starbucks. Luckily, talk to here due to the sheer number of sorority girls inhabiting this wonderful space.

I met two Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority stop blabbering about their dates to the Alpha Sigma Phi formal in Tennessee, Chad and me to fraternity formals are so attractive. Chad asked me over snap but he’s still irresistible.”

Patricia went to the formal with her now

on gas and forty dollars on booze for her date.

“Yeah, Brad had some serious anger issues. He threw one of his friends into a futon, breaking it in the process, so hot.”

To cope with her break up, Patricia decided to go to karaoke night at Brick Street and to start snapping a guy who her friends despise.

Clearly, joining a fraternity pulls way more girls than being a Humor Editor.

I decided that I could only handle asking tion that I could not give girls what they truly wanted began to set in. So, I set out for the Pichenko’s line to hunt for an answer. the intimidating, yet beautiful women in the Chenk’s line, I chugged some Jose Cuervo in the alley behind Starbucks. Somehow I managed to hold conversations with girls for more than 30 seconds; never had that happen before. said, I must have been spitting some serious cations from people I genuinely do not remember to save my life.

To combat the amount of men who are heartbroken on a daily basis (a.k.a. ME), an anonymous group of saint-like women from Flower Hall are currently raising money to form a coalition called “Ladies Stop Dumping ”, (LSD for short). The leader of this group aims at encouraging women to stop dumping guys who will actually treat them well.

She continued by saying, “Too many times have we had (guy) friends come banging on our door at 2 a.m. with tears streaking down their innocent looking faces, after being heartbroken heartbroken men to feel loved and wanted by about how to make LSD more prevalent on Miami’s campus. venture of a lifetime, in which I learned countless lessons. Now I will take the proper meahave been seeking.

All my research brings me to the conclusion that most college-aged women desire drunk fraternity boys who will buy them nicotine. I encourage all men to rush a frat, buy girls nicthe girl of your dreams. john1595@miamioh.edu

Headline Dump TEDDY JOHNSON HUMOR EDITOR

Miami Sets Aside $10,000 to Combat the Smell of Perfume and Starbucks Wreaking Havok on the Shriver Center Student Suffers Hearing Damage After Pulley’s Employee Yells Their Name Too Loud New Study Finds That Wearing a Sorority Sweatsuit Raises Your Coolness by 10% Oxford P.D. Reports That There has Been a Rise in Arrests of People Who Claim Their Name to be Vengeance Oxford Chipotle Runs Out of Everything, Still Stays Open For Some Reason

Hate and Dishonor Readership Declines After Student Body Discovers They Hang Out in the Computer Science Building Basement Opinion: Nobody Cares That You are Painting A Cooler for a Frat Formal Women Who Wear Cowsuits Are Found to be More Agrressive Blue Knockout From Skippers Does In Fact Knock You Out, Says Miami Freshman Wealthy Miami Student Gets Maserati Impounded, Buys Another One Because That’s Easier Than Getting the First One Back

Opinion: Being Asked to a Date Party Doesn’t Make You Cool

Toilet Paper, Carbon Monoxide Detectors, The Rec and Other Things Miami Refuses to Spend Money On

Advice: Resisting the Urge to Photobomb Grad Pictures at Upham Halland the Seal

Slippery When Wet Signs Double As Weapons To Hit Your Friends With

Gym Bros Attack the Rec After Snorting Too Much Pre Workout

Breaking: Sidewalks on Miami’s Campus Are Actually Roads

FOOD

9 THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

A brief history of Miami University dining halls

The Weekly Veg’: Eggplant parmesan AMES RADWAN FOOD EDITOR Comfort food means a lot of people. For some, it may be mac

food.

memories.

COLUMNIST

name!

Early Armstrong

Alexander Dining Hall

parm.

Center.

Rating: 7/10

Other Dining Fun Facts

One Eight 09

pizza.

test and rate it. radwanat@miamioh.edu

Haines Food Court

near Farmer.

perkin16@miamioh.edu

A Pesto Manifesto ASST. OPINION EDITOR

fection. ly.

Street.

lic bread, my only complaints came to.

Rating: 8.5/10 @devin_ankeney ankenedw@miamioh.edu

style Abercrombie & Fitch documentary brings awareness to ethics in the retail industry

10

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

ALICE MOMANY ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR Anyone walking into a mall in the early 2000s would be able to identify an Abercrombie & Fitch store. With the blasting club music and the overwhelming iconic scent, Abercrombie & Fitch had an

like those models.

In a 2006 interview with Salon, brand identity of Abercrombie & Fitch.

“That’s why we hire good-looking “Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that.”

to wear appropriate undergarments at all times,” and “our people in the store are an inspiration to the customer.”

For eleven years, the company

several thousand minority and female

If there was going to be any future for Abercrombie & Fitch in today’s

position. They also had to report their progress to a court-appointed

because who wouldn’t want to work for a brand that capitalizes on “pretty” people. Being hired by Abercrombie & Fitch was like getting invited to sit at the “cool table” in high school.

It wasn’t until 2003, that the

no penalties for missing benchmarks.

I believe the 2004 lawsuit could have been the end of Abercrombie & Fitch, but the court ruling permitted

been forced to step-down, and I think he knew that in 2014 and took it upon himself to leave.

In 2017, Fran Horowitz took over the company and pledged to rebrand Abercrombie & Fitch to include everyone.

Today, Abercrombie & Fitch’s

one group: rich, thin, white, cool kids. public

scandal.

Abercrombie

&

“White Hot: The Rise & Fall of elitist and racist behaviors that built a billion dollar company under the leadership of former CEO Michael Before the company embraced its preppy aesthetic, it began as a men’s sporting store. As the fashion industry evolved, the company failed to keep up. In 1977, the company

brand’s relevance during the peak of “mall culture” in the early 2000s.

“In every school, there are the cool and popular kids, and then there said. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive allAmerican kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people can’t belong.”

The thought of a successful businessman saying these things in a published interview almost seems

company’s roots but combine them with youthful, current fashion. formula that worked,” Sapna Maheshwari, a New York Times documentary. “He found a way to connect the heritage of Abercrombie as established in 1892, catering to elite, privileged people and combined This became the image of Abercrombie & Fitch most of us grew up with: half-naked male models wearing ripped jeans with the band unattainably thin female models wearing low-waisted jeans and skintight shirts that read “A&F.” Even when I was an early teenager, it didn’t erase the desire I felt to look

ago, consumers, including myself, rich, young, and thin.

Christopher Clayton, a former Abercrombie & Fitch recruiter, was “As a manager at Abercrombie, they teach you very early on about recruiting,” Clayton said in the documentary. “...but not only do you have to recruit, you have to recruit good-looking people ... We literally had a book.”

The managers’ manual included rules such as “a neatly combed, attractive, natural, classic hairstyle is acceptable. Dreadlocks are unacceptable for men and women,” “brand representatives are required

not holding Abercrombie & Fitch accountable for missed benchmarks,

discrimination in the workplace.

Carla Barrientos, one of the only scheduled nights to clean the store. After asking her manager for more day shifts, she was cut from the schedule. Barrientos was the only Black employee at her store.

Jennifer Sheahan, another one blond models on posters that covered the store. “...one of the people from corporate went around, and they noticed a bunch of Asian people in the store,” Sheahan said in the documentary. “They said, ‘You need and they pointed to an Abercrombie poster, and it was a Caucasian model.”

Anthony Ocampo tried to get rehired at the store he previously worked at but couldn’t because his manager said there were too many Filipino employees working at the store.

“At no point did I ever say I was Filipino, so that was a guess on the part of the person that worked there that I was Filipino,” Ocampo said in the documentary.

The lawsuit ended in 2004 with a settlement and consent decree from the company. Abercrombie & Fitch was required to pay $40 million to

that, instead of destroying, in turn enabled a billion dollar company.

According to the documentary, Abercrombie & Fitch repeatedly missed benchmarks and underrepresented minorities in marketing and hiring, but the company was never found in violation of the consent decree. claimed they would not hire her because her headscarf did not align with the dress code.

Personally, it comes to no surprise that the company would fall back into its old habits when they were never reprimanded for their past behavior.

The Supreme Court ruled that companies can have dress codes, but they cannot discriminate based on an applicant’s religious practices. Two other employees sued the company after facing similar behaviors from store managers, and the company changed its policy to allow dress code accommodations for religious practices. from his role as CEO of the company.

In an article from the Washington

sizes, races and gender-orientations, but why did it take until 2017, just four years ago, to get here?

It took far too long for the company to increase representation when millions of other brands have been doing this for years.

It makes me weary to support a company that still has some of the same people who served under decisions.

In order for me to feel more comfortable supporting the brand, I need to see the same dedication Abercrombie & Fitch had to marketing for the “cool kids” applied to diversity and representation.

As a billion dollar company, Abercrombie & Fitch serves as an the retail industry.

In the documentary, Robin Givhan, a journalist at the Washington brands marketing an unrealistic cliché of “beauty,” and warns other brands from following a similar path.

“The story of Abercrombie is essentially an incredible indictment of where our culture was just ten years ago,” Givhan said. “It was a culture

that this decision was a long time coming, but “the departure was a joint

and young and it was a culture that

and unrelated to the controversial

@alicemomany momanyaj@miamioh.edu

A Fashion Mirage: MUF&D’s Oasis

MODELS STRUT DOWN THE RUNWAY IN UNIQUE PIECES DESIGNED BY (LEFT TO RIGHT) GRACE MOSER, ANDREW ROBERTS, ELLIE LEMANOWICZ AND GRACE MOSER. PHOTOS BY STYLE EDITOR MIHAELA MANOVA

MIHAELA MANOVA STYLE EDITOR You just had to be there.

The annual MUF&D fashion show has once again proven that it’s Miami’s most important fashion event.

The long runway, placed at Millett Hall, has paved the way for many young designers to showcase their collections, while the audience was not only a witness to art but to an actual spectacle. If you missed the show, this recap will reveal what the young designers had in store.

The theme of the night was “Oasis,” which featured 16 student designers. MUF&D states that the reasoning behind the theme was “After a year of uncertainty, we discovered that Miami University Fashion and Design is our happy place, where we feel that we can be our truest form of self.” As the show began, the catwalk was illuminated by long, neon vines hanging from the ceiling.

The show was segmented into 16 sections for each designer, as well as showcasing the “Oasis” collabora-

tive collection. The Oasis Collection, Ryanne Elsass, Kat Dillard, Olivia Bianco, Ellie Lemanowicz and Michaela Pandorf.

One of the main details from the each opening model were to walk the ground would signal that a new segment was beginning. Even though the collections varied from one another, unity within this project.

One of the many takeaways from sic, walks and aesthetics. Each song that a designer had chosen created the vibe for how the garment should gliding through French songs like “Écoute Chérie.”

And there were more surprises in store.

During the show, main themes of silks, cotton and even leather-like materials grazed the stage.

Male models continued to prove

that clothes have no gender as they wore crop tops and skirts down the runway. Lace stockings were used as a way to accessorize an evening look, showcased in Ellie Lemanowicz’s collection titled Espionage. This was one of my favorite collections of the night, structured, white dress paired with black stockings.

At the end of Lemanowicz’s collection, a long, black evening dress was also an immediate favorite as it featured a bullseye at the front piece of the dress and continued to spiral again at the back.

Her thoughts behind the collection were featured in the program, stating “Espionage is the act or process of learning secret information through clandestine means. A person who commits espionage is called an espionage agent or spy,” Lemanowicz wrote. “We all dress up and play lives. Essentially, we are all spies, but that makes us all targets as well.

Hence the bullseye theme throughout the collection.”

Fun accessories were also seen glasses.

Another favorite collection of mine was ILOVEPUNX by Andrew Roberts. His designs showcased not only references to punk, but also modern streetwear takes on leather jackets and patchwork designs. My favorite piece was the black structured leather jacket, with the two pockets at the front, which was paired with fur shorts and black combat boots.

More than halfway through the show, Grace Moser’s collection was introduced by writer Alan Watts’ voice. Her opening model, wearing the cream bodycon dress, had one of the best reactions from the audience.

After the show, Moser reminisced be a part of it, grateful to be in it because it was very well run and grateful for all the support that I received,” Moser said.

She also shared what it’s like to de-

sign a collection. that I’ve never done and that was the beginning of this collection.” show and she hopes to do more in the future.

After each designer walked the runway with their models, everyone — including all MUF&D members — heard a round of applause from the rows of audience in attendance.

At the end of the night, the smiles and relief on the designers’ faces were unforgettable. As they were greeted by their family and friends, the night had ended just as they wanted. in all aspects - from sizing, to models, to gender barriers - the organization completed their goal. There were no stumbles from the models, no malfunctions on the runway and most of all, they got the standing ovation that they deserved.

Cheers to MUF&D’s fashion night! manovamd@miamioh.edu

style

11 THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

Miami Spring style

Abandoning the meaning at the Met Gala OWEN BERG STYLE EDITOR-AT-LARGE

bergoe@miamioh.edu

sports

12

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

The most exciting moments from the Battle of the Bricks baseball edition JACK SCHMELZINGER SPORTS EDITOR you rather clean up at New Bar next Saturday night than watch a bunch of guys stand Well you’re wrong, but you have a point.

I watched every pitch of Miami’s series split against Ohio this weekend so that you don’t have to. Here were the most exciting moments: FRIDAY The RedHawks bats never got going in Friday’s game, a 7-3 loss to Ohio. AJ Rausch, the second Ohio batter to the plate in the top so hard that it cleared the scoreboard in left center.

After that, Friday’s game stayed pretty quiet until the seventh inning. With the ’Hawks ami’s Zach MacDonald punched a single into ond, and Benji Brokemond tore around second with home on his mind. Danny Hayden, Miami’s skipper and third base coach, was halfway down the third baseline holding up an emphatic stop sign for Brokemond, whose back was facing the ball as he ran toward the base.

Brokemond looked at Hayden for a half-second and put his head down, ignoring the loud order to stop and heading for home.

Brokemond dove in just under the tag from the Bobcat catcher for one of Miami’s gutsiest runs of the season.

SATURDAY Miami put up four runs early in game one on Saturday and never looked back. Zach Maxey twirled a one-run complete game on his way to the win.

The second game was a lot more exciting though.

Down 6-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh, Miami put up a few runs, including one on a play at the plate where Brokemond decked the Ohio catcher and knocked the ball a runner on and tied the game with his second career homer, a long shot to left.

By the ninth, Ohio was back up three. Then Novak came to the plate in the eleventh hour.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and two runners on, Novak tied the game for the second time with another clutch home run.

SUNDAY The RedHawks controlled Sunday’s game from the start, on the way to a 9-7 split-salvaging win. Novak made his mark on this one too, with a long third inning home run over It was a fun weekend for the ’Hawks who sit seventh in the Mid-American Conference State, but only 2.5 games out of fourth. at Toledo at 3 p.m., before traveling to Urbana-Champagne for a three game set next weekend against Illinois.

schmelj2@miamioh.edu @jackschmelznger

A whole lot better: New NCAA transfer rules give athletes a necessary freedom PATRICK GESHAN THE MIAMI STUDENT Imagine you’re a talented athlete. A gifted college prospect. You’re being recruited by countless schools.

Then imagine you’re also graduating high school in the spring of 2020. COVID-19 has shut down the world. Unlike previous recruits, you can’t visit campuses. You can’t meet with coaches. Coaches can’t come meet with you.

And in all of this mess, you have to decide

by May 1 where you want to spend the next four years of your life, playing a sport you’ve worked so hard at to have this opportunity.

Welcome to life for modern college recruits.

One already full of stress and pressure.

Say you arrive at your school in the fall of 2020 and absolutely hate it. The coach was nothing like they seemed on Zoom. The campus isn’t as nice as the pictures. You won’t have a spot in the lineup.

You feel cheated. You feel this whole thing is unfair. So you want to transfer.

But you know that if you’re lucky enough has to give permission.

In the best scenario, all you’ll be able to do is practice and hang out at your new school. You’ll miss a whole year of games and development.

Talk about complicated.

In April 2021, the NCAA altered its transfer rules for football, men’s and women’s basketball, ice hockey and baseball. Now, those athletes are allowed to transfer to a new school once in their undergraduate career without having to serve the penalty of sitting out for one season.

In addition, players no longer need the permission of their head coach to go somewhere else.

“The argument always was, coaches can do

@sports_TMS

the head women’s basketball coach at Miami University.

Hendrix favors the new aspect of freedom handed to athletes who made a mistake in their college choice, especially because of the pandemic.

“Coaches made mistakes with pandemic recruiting too,” Hendrix said. “It makes more sense to allow that freedom of, if it doesn’t transferred from Cincinnati after her freshman season, and before the rule change, ended up recruited her with the Bearcats. She came to “A lot of the time, you don’t know what you’re going into. We’re making these choices know the school, not really the coaches, what the team culture is like. These rules are beneOne women’s basketball players have entered the portal in 2022. That’s nearly double the number of players who did just two years ago, according to justwomenssports.com.

Sloan Thomsen, a pitcher on Miami’s baseball team who transferred from Ball State after harmed players at times.

“Missing a year really hurt some guys’ draft stock,” Thomsen said. “Competition wise, it’s an adjustment being in a real game pitching to someone versus a bullpen.”

We put college athletes under immense we can watch them compete for the teams we love. The least we can do is allow them greater freedom to choose where their experience takes place. @realpattyg geshanp@miamioh.edu

New Faces in new places: What to make of Miami football’s transfer portal pickups

SWOOP THE REDHAWK AND RUFUS THE BOBCAT SQUARE UP BEFORE A PASSION FILLED BATTLE OF THE BRICKS MATCHUP LAST YEAR PHOTO BY HERSCHEL ALBERT

JACK SCHMELZINGER SPORTS EDITOR football and head coach Chuck Martin, at least as far as the transfer portal is concerned.

Unfortunately for the ’Hawks, they lost three of their best defensive players to bigger programs. from Miami’s 2021 defense trans-

Pace Jr. will join his brother at Cincinnati after leading the RedHawks in 2021 with 125 tackles. Pace also chipped in four sacks, 13 tackles for loss (TFL) and an interception. Kansas nabbed Lonnie Phelps, an edge rusher who recorded 13.5 tackles for loss last season and led Miami in sacks with 8.5. And Kam Butler, who headed to Virginia. en’t returning either, Dominique

Robinson and Ben Kimpler have graduated and are hoping to be drafted to the NFL this weekend. But that’s an issue for another column.)

AJ Mayer left too. The strongarmed backup quarterback will next lace up his cleats for Arkansas State of the Sun Belt Conference.

It’s going to be an uphill battle to replace the production of all of those players, especially the pressure artists on the defensive side of the ball. But Miami worked the transfer portal too.

Here’s who they have coming in.

Tre’Von Morgan (6-foot-6inch, 218 pound Wide Receiver, Kentucky): It’s hard not to get excited about a receiver who’s shaped like an NBA small forward. Morgan battled hamstring injuries all of last season so he didn’t see any action for the Wildcats, but during his redshirt-freshman season at Michigan State, he caught two balls including a touchdown against Penn State. As a high school senior, Morgan was rated the best prep receiver in Ohio and the ninth best player overall by Rivals. com. His senior season, he caught twelve touchdowns out of 36 receptions. Morgan could be an exciting red-zone target for third year quarterback Brett Gabbert this season.

Nolan Johnson (6-foot-2inch, 204 pound Cornerback, East Carolina): Johnson will start the season as one of the most experienced members of Miami’s secondary, having already played 30 games for ECU. Johnson brings versatility to the Miami defense; at East Carolina, he started games at both safety spots and corner. He’s defended three passes and forced two fumbles so far in his career.

Ty Wise (6-foot-2-inch, 226 pound Linebacker, Indiana): Wise played all twelve games in his tackles for Indiana last year and made Academic All-Big Ten. He joins his sistant coach Bill Brechin called Wise

“Competitive, coachable and relentless,” in a tweet earlier this month.

Michael Dowell (6-foot-1inch, 215 pound Defensive Back, Michigan State): Another experienced addition to the Miami Secondary, Dowel played in 19 games at MSU, including six career starts, and all 12 games in 2021. For his career he’s recorded 67 tackles and three pass breakups. Dowel was ranked top safety prospect in Ohio during his Expect to see him man the nickelback position often for Miami’s defense.

Corey Suttle (6-foot-4-inch, 245 pound Defensive Lineman, Iowa State): transplant now calling Oxford home, teen games during his two seasons with the Cyclones. Suttle also played discus in high school, so the RedHawks are getting a big athlete along their front four.

John Brekke (6-foot-3-inch Lineman, Holy Cross): Brekke committed to Miami University on Jan. 25. Brekke committed to the read that right. I won’t claim to know much about evaluating linemen, but Brekke seems big enough, and I love that he was toying with a conference rival like that. This seems like the type of guy you want on your team. schmelj2@miamioh.edu @jackschmelznger @sports_TMS

Jonathan Brand has shoved his way to success this season JACK SCHMELZINGER SPORTS EDITOR When Sam Bachman was drafted ninth overall by the Los Angeles Angels this summer, it wasn’t clear who was going to step up as the next ace last season among the best in the NCAA. As the beginning of the 2022 season progressed, the answer to that question quickly became clear: Jonathan Brand.

The senior righty from Columbia, Georgia has been one of the best pitchers in the country this year. pitched to a .29 earned run average (ERA). That’s one earned run in 31.1 innings.

Just like last year, Miami’s ace is putting up video game numbers. stretch, Brand has stayed excellent.

He now sits at 7-1 with 73 strikeouts and just 22 walks in 61.1 innings. His 1.17 ERA is good for fourth in the entire country.

Despite his success, Brand is humble.

“I’m just trying to throw strikes the whole time,” Brand said. “Last year I would sometimes focus on that, but this year I’ve just been focusing on winning ballgames and it’s worked out really well.”

Last year, pitching behind Bachman and Jacob Webb, Brand didn’t meteoric rise to a bunch of meticuof his pitches with some cutting edge technology that the baseball team has access to. Two ball tracking systems, called Trackman (in the bullpen) and Yakkertech (which is on the acphysics to help players optimize their mechanics.

“Basically, my ball to the hitter looks like it’s going up,” Brand said.

“It’s not. That’s physically impossible, but the way it comes out of my hand, the way it spins and how low I release it to the ground makes it look like it’s going up. I’ve had a lot of success with the high fastball this year.”

He also added a new pitch, a slid-

er.

“I wanted something that moved more to my glove side since my changeup kind of dives toward my arm side. Having that fourth pitch has really helped me Brand also tuned up his mechanics.

“I had some inconsistencies in my mechanics every time I pitched last year,” Brand said. “So I’d be releasing the ball from somemuch every pitch, which kind of makes it hard to throw over the strike zone.”

To make Brand’s rise even more impressive, he’s had to do it without a mentor, former pitching coach Matt Passauer, who now works at Kennesaw State. When Brand was in high school, Passauer recruited him to the Georgia junior college he was coaching at the time. Passauer is also the reason he’s at Miami.

Brand said the cold has been the hardest thing to get used to since moving to Ohio.

JONATHAN BRAND’S 1.17 ERA IS FOURTH IN ALL OF DIVISION I THIS SEASON PHOTO BY ELLISON NEUMANN

I’ve ever seen snow actually stick on the ground overnight.”

But Brand has been hot on the mound this season, and it’s surely moved him onto the radar of some professional scouts.

Brand hopes he can play at the next level, but he’s grounded in what he knows is really important.

“I’m understanding that baseball is just a game,” Brand said. “It could be over for me tomorrow or I could play for another 15 years. If [playing pro ball] happens it happens, but if It doesn’t, I know I can still use what God has given me to be successful.” @sports_tms schmelj2@miamioh.edu

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

13

Miami tennis team braced for tight clashes on journey to championship

MIAMI TENNIS TOOK THE REGULAR SEASON MAC TITLE LAST WEEK PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY BRINDTHA RAMASAMY

THE MIAMI TENNIS TEAM POSTS AFTER WINNING THE MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE TITLE PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY BRINDTHA RAMASAMY

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY MIAMI ATHLETICS

SEN NGUYEN THE MIAMI STUDENT Miami University women’s tennis won the Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular season Championship earlier this week with a win over Unience record, the RedHawks will enter

“The seniors have been great at mentoring the freshmen, and I think that’s part of the success of the Brindtha Ramasamy, a senior on Miami’s tennis team, said that, in the beginning, there were challenges giv-

Ramasamy said a strong culture has been pivotal to the team’s success

Ricardo Rosas, the head coach of Miami’s tennis, welcomed this unique combination and praised the impact that the seniors have had on

hopefully get a MAC tournament

For Ramasamy, the high point of

-

season game, an away match-up on

“I think we’re going to win,” Ra-

“We just had to work well from the to win and then we’re going to the

“It’s been great with seven fresh-

understand each other, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to function together

Ramasamy said, “but we all worked

that decided if we were going to win The RedHawks were undefeated in the MAC until they were dealt a de-

RedHawks welcomed seven fresh-

later in the month to top the West

During the pre-season, Miami fell to Kentucky and Northwestern but

was the eventual winner of the West The only other conference loss

As conference play began, the RedHawks found themselves on the

against University of Toledo, but they regained form to beat Bowling Green

Rosas said that, having split the season series with their upcoming opponent Toledo, the team understands “I think that the team understands that we already played [Toledo] and

@Sennitzer nguye251@miamioh.edu

“But I think they’re embracing that

Up next: May 5 Softball Miami vs. Ball State 1 p.m. @ Miami Softball Stadium May 6 Track and Field/Cross Country All Day @ Bloomington, Ind. Baseball Miami vs. Illinois 7 p.m. @ Urbana-Champaign, Ill. May 7 Softball Miami vs. Central Michigan 1 p.m. @ Mount Plesant, Mich.

Softball

Miami vs. Central Michigan 3 p.m. @ Mount Plesant, Mich.

Baseball Miami vs. Illinois 4 p.m. @ Illinois May 8 Softball Miami vs. Central Michigan 4 p.m. @ Mount Plesant, Mich.

Baseball Miami vs. Illinois 2 p.m. @ Urbana-Champaign, Ill.l May 12 Softball Mid-American Conference Tournament

TBA @ Miami Softball Stadium Track and Field/Cross Country All Day @ Kalamazoo, Mich.

May 13 Softball Mid-American Conference Tournament TBA @ Miami Softball Stadium

Softball Mid-American Conference Tournament TBA @ Miami Softball Stadium Track and Field/Cross Country All Day @ Kalamazoo, Mich.

Baseball Miami vs. Akron 12 p.m. @ Akron, Ohio

Track and Field/Cross Country All Day @ Kalamazoo, Mich.

Baseball Miami vs. Akron 3 p.m. @ Akron, Ohio

Baseball Miami vs. Akron 3 p.m. @ Akron, Ohio

May 15 Baseball Miami vs. Akron 12 p.m. @ Akron, Ohio

May 14

14

Opinion

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

Skipping out on our education

GRAPHIC BY DESIGN EDITOR MACEY CHAMBERLIN

As the semester comes to a close, we as an Editorial Board have noticed a need to reconnect with our faculty more than ever.

The prevalence of students skipping classes this semester quickly became something we couldn’t skip over.

Many students missed courses — on purpose or accidentally — far more than they have in previous years or even last semester.

We partially blame it on the pandemic; after a year and a half of online class, going back to in-person instruction was nothing if not jarring.

In retrospect, excitement

about returning to face-to-face classes ran at an all-time high last semester, when many had been missing the personalized instruction and social connection that in-person education provides.

That lasted about a semester and a half, and in the past couple weeks we began facing new problems.

Forcing oneself to do the more in a world still recovering from a a world in which many immune systems are still out of whack.

One member of our Editorial Board expressed that they have missed entire days of classes this semester due to illness, and had

year on campus. Staying indoors and staying masked for so long helped keep us all from contracting COVID-19, yes, but it also weakened our immune systems to other illnesses. Getting sick will make anyone want to lay in bed, eat some soup and skip class.

Of course, it was always easier to attend a class that was interactive and felt important.

When a global pandemic occurred in our late teens and early twenties, everything was put more into perspective; we have been through so much while so young.

Social isolation is real, and we felt alone while also going through fear, grief and exhaustion, leaving little room in our emotional and mental capacities for school.

The year of the yes: a look back AMES RADWAN OPINION EDITOR At the beginning of this past fall, after realizing that I might have been starting to stretch myself a bit too thin, I wrote an article about how I considered myself to be a “yes man.”

Though last semester may not have been academically rigorous for me, I had plenty of other things to do — in the article, I name my membership of the Miami University Student Foundation (MUSF), my desire to publish my amples. And, at the end, I said that although I didn’t regret saying yes to so many things, I had come to realize my own limits.

“From now on, it’s a no from me!” I emphatically proclaimed as the closing line.

Famous. Last. Words.

This semester alone, I became a student leader in MUSF. I took on an additional job distributing The Miami Student across campus — so if you’ve picked up a print edition of the semester, I was the one who put it there. And, of course, I’ve jumped up to being the Opinion (and Food!) editor here at TMS. however, as I quickly learned.

I dropped Arabic in favor of learning Portuguese this summer. My book remains unpublished. I cut other things, too — I didn’t skydive as part of the Miami Dropouts at all this year and I quit some of my non-Miami extracurriculars.

I was so focused on saying yes to every opportunity that came my way that I didn’t realize it meant I would have to say goodbye to other things. Saying goodbye is a thousand times worse than saying no, because you’ve already gotten attached.

Whenever I see people who were in my Arabic class last semester, I feel awkward; embarrassed, for some reason. It’s like I left the commitment, so I left being friends with them, too.

I wasn’t particularly close with any of them, but the knowledge that I could have been — that I could have continued on with Arabic and worn myself even thinner — is still there. It lurks just out of sight, looming over me like a shadow: I quit.

Choosing to leave something is not failure, but that’s a reality I’m still struggling to grasp.

Saying no and saying goodbye are somewhat looked down upon in modern society,

or at least I believe this to be so. If you make a commitment and then leave it, those you left behind will remember your departure more than your contributions. Or maybe that’s just anxiety talking; maybe that’s just me fearing that all my hard work toward anything I leave will eventually be forgotten in favor of remembering the manner in which I left.

It’s only going to get harder from here on out as I go into my senior year here at Miami.

I’m lucky that the Miami University Marching Band (MUMB) doesn’t practice or perform during the spring semester, because that gave me a bit of a reprieve schedule-wise. But, with band camp quickly approaching at the end of the summer, I know my schedule is about to get hectic again as soon as the fall semester hits.

There are just so many things I want to do, and I’m starting to realize that there is literally no way for me to “do it all,” as I said I wanted to last semester.

Well, not if I want to get good grades and have a decent sleep schedule.

I served on student panels for Make It Miami a few times throughout this semester (another commitment I did not have in the fall).

During one panel, I introduced myself, stated my academic involvements and gave a brief summary of all that I do on campus. Then I turned to the panel’s overseer and asked if I should also tell the story of how I chose Miami.

“Sure,” he said with a smile, “as soon as you tell them when you sleep!”

He was joking, but it gave me another hard-hitting realization: I’ve been saying yes to everything that came my way, even after claiming last semester that I’d recognized my limits.

But I hadn’t been saying yes to taking care of myself.

I can do everything if I want, but when am I going to give myself a break?

Over the summer, I’m going to take a long, hard look at my schedule. I’m going to priorifaith in myself.

I highly recommend you do the same. Look over your commitments. Do you really have to do it all? Are you leaving time for yourself, time to just relax?

If not, maybe it’s time to stop saying yes to others and start saying yes to yourself.

GRAPHIC BY OWEN BERG

And it’s not that we wanted it to be this way.

College students as a whole began to realize what was important to them, and sometimes basic Miami Plan courses just didn’t make the cut. The college student mindset this semester was this: “If I can skip class and still get a good grade, why bother going?”

Knowing that the professor cared about a student, their attendance and their education helped change that. In smaller, higher-level classes in which the professor interacted with students more in a one-on-one fashion, students felt more recognized and, thus, motivated to attend and to learn. Wouldn’t you rather attend a class in which the professor knows at least your name?

The same goes for classes that weren’t just the same style of lecturing every day. We’ve just been through a year and a half of the same day over and over — the same routine, the same schedule with nothing new.

So now we hope we can all take a break and come back to the taourselves out of the muddle of the pandemic — together.

Professors, we implore you to make sure your classes next seony that we all just experienced in the pandemic. Take the summer to revamp some lesson plans that may be older and more dated; your students are desperately in need of more connection and engagement than ever before.

After discussing the upward trend of students missing class more than usual as the semester

comes to a close, we as an Editorial Board realized that we are no better than the rest of campus, with a majority of our board agreeing that they skipped more now than they did at the beginning of the semester or in previous years.

We can do better; students do have to take some of the responsibility and step up. Whether it’s color-coding our notes, studying with friends or making fun keep ourselves engaged, too.

Let’s use this summer to rest and reset.

Next semester, professors and students alike need to create balance. We both need to build our connections with each other to continue fostering our education and experience together. Stuversions instead of just regulating this time to Zoom as we did during the pandemic’s peak. More implemented.

We can all give each other feedback and tell each other what’s going wrong with lessons and learning. Smaller class sizes, though a radical change, could help many students immensely to achieve a more one-on-one, interactive education environment. In the end, it’s up to all of us — students, professors, everyone — to make sure we are getting the most out of our time at Miami together.

Next semester is our fresh start.

It’s our education, after all, and if we don’t care about it, who will?

Letter to the Editor: ‘liberal bias’ and antiLGBTQ rhetoric AIDAN MCKEON STUDENT BODY VICE PRESIDENT

It’s long been said that Democrats fall in love and Republicans fall in line.

At Miami University, I feel during my three years here at Miami, the MU College Republicans have out-organized and out-numbered College Democrats constantly. To me, this is not for lack of leadership in College Dems – it’s because, in my experience, many progressive Miamians tend to devote their time and energy to a range of other organizations like Associated Student Government, Council

and

its tions, the Wilks Institute, FWORD and many more.

We’re spread out – doing our own thing in various areas.

Politically active conservative students tend to coalesce in College Republicans – and why wouldn’t they? The organization is well connected with the Ohio Republican Party, who grant internships and other professional development opportunities to its members all the time. They have a large and dedicated membership, regular programming and a revolving door of visiting caners.

I believe this is what leads to the predominantly progressive makeup of other student leadership organizations, and accusations of “anti-conservative bias” that have been lodged at them in recent years.

This is one of the factors that lead to the creation of The Miami Patriot, chartered last year to “foster civil dialogue” and “promote intellectual freedom.” The Patriot hasn’t graced us with a new article

for a few months, but some highlights from their initial burst of posts include the classic “my voice is being silenced in class” article and some musings on ideological diversity from the same publication who brought you an attack on woman to serve as Miami’s Student Body President, for a tweet criticizing police from her personal Twitter account.

I have been involved in Associated Student Government for three years and have certainly seen my share of conservative students come and go. It’s important for me to note here that being in the ideological minority in spaces like ASG can have its challenges, and I am well aware that we as an organization have historically had an inclination toward groupthink.

However, in my three years

“In my three years in ASG, I have never seen a conservative voice ‘silenced’”

in ASG, I have never seen a conservative voice “silenced.”

I have seen conservative voices confronted with opposition and criticism – sometimes even disproportionately being silenced. Freedom of speech is not freedom from criticism.

In fact, this year I have seen repeated attempts to avoid topics or initiatives that could be construed as “political,” and even bids to persuade members to vote against their own beliefs in order to dodge controversial topics altogether. This is normally predicated on the notion that an ill-demight not agree.

And yet, instead of seeking to persuade or include marginalized students, the Miami College Republicans have decided to antagonize them.

Their latest target is the transgender community, who they have been relentlessly assailing via Twitter and Instagram.

In an April 25 tweet, MU College Republicans announced simply “There are only two genders,” a common transphobic refrain invoked and bully trans and non-binary individuals as well as intweets followed, referring to “men in women’s restrooms,” a completely transphobic, tired and debunked cliché regarding transgender women.

The pro-free speech maverick Miami University Colreplies to the transphobic tweets.

I think it would be a good thing to see more crossover between College Republicans and ASG, and other advocacy organizations as well. I participated in a debate with Taylor Armstrong, the College Republicans’ former chairman, before the 2020 presidential election and earnestly appreciated his point of view on many issues, even though I disagreed. There are senators in ASG who are also active within College Republicans who regularly contribute meaningful discourse and, from what I’ve seen, genuinely care about making Miami a better place.

However, attacking the trans community does not make Miami a better place.

It doesn’t make their organization a better one. It further discourages LGBTQ+ student leaders from associating with the College Republicans, and limits any possibility of a future dialogue with the community they are antagonizing.

I care about students being united in our advocacy and learning from each other. I want the College Republicans to involve themselves in more channels of student leadership because it will make us stronger.

But I don’t want that more than I want to be an ally to the trans community. So until the CRs recognize the damage they are doing and correct course, I’m not losing any sleep over their continued descent into pariah status.

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

15

Why I am opposed to faculty unionization at this point in time JIM KIPER PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND SOFTWARE ENGINEERING There seems to be increased concern about the faculty’s voice in university governance and a concomitant rise in calls for faculty unionization in response. What are the reasons for this at this point in time? From the Faculty Alliance of Miami website, these reasons seem to be: • Concerns about shared governance • Equity and job security for non-tenure-track faculty • Workload • Compensation From conversations with other faculty, I believe that some of the underlying reasons for the interest in unionization currently have to do with mistrust of some of our current administrators and concern about the way things were handled during the pandemic.

Let me summarize the key reasons as to why I am opposed to faculty unionization at this point in time. The key reasons are these: • Faculty unionization is a very significant step. There are other steps that we could follow more incrementally to produce change in a more controlled manner.

• A faculty union would change from an atmosphere of collegiality to an adversarial relationship.

• A union brings another layer of administration.

• A faculty union would have a singular focus rather than considering the university more holistically.

• A faculty union would result in extra, ongoing costs for the university and for individual faculty members.

• The university budget has many components. There are systemic budgetary constraints. Any change in one aspect results in changes in other parts of that budget. That is, the budget is a zero-sum situation.

• The pandemic was a once-in-a-century event. We should not overreact to it.

I have expanded on each of these reasons at this website:

Faculty unionization will have unintended and unknown impacts on the university. Such a step should only be taken cautiously and

The world is ours

in a well-considered manner. There are other steps that we should consider to produce cance include these: 1. Bring up issues in University Senate.

2. Bring up issues in Faculty Assembly.

3. Hold administrators (chairs, Deans, Provost) responsible in their third 4.

Try to modify unresponsive governance structures (for instance, the creation of a faculty senate).

5.

Deans or Provosts.

6.

President.

Although we have not seen the results of the third-year review of our current Provost, I suspect that our faculty made their views known in that assessment. Governance is working.

It is important to be careful in examining ation can make. On the Faculty Alliance of MiMakes, there is a reference to the “8.25% over 3 years” wage increase that the union at the University of Cincinnati negotiated in 2019. A quick calculation will show that this is a raise of about 2.75% per year. The dues at UC are 1.0%. (See https://aaupuc.org/membership/ join-today/). Thus, the net percentage increase from year to year is about 1.72%. For details see the Google sheet on my website.

Over my 36 years at Miami, the only times that we did not receive a salary increase of at least 2% was during the recent pandemic and the recession of 2008.

The relationship between the administration and faculty will be constrained by the legal constraints of a union contract should the unionization go through.

Our university faculty have long operated in a meritocracy. We get tenure not because of longevity but because of performance, though that is not to say that there are no cases of discrimination on the basis of other inappropriate factors that should be addressed. Unions ers are protected, and merit cannot as easily be rewarded.

Furthermore, the union will have a divisive that paying $500 - $1000 each year for dues is worth the result and those who resent having to do that and do not see the added value. The ultimate power of a union lies in a work action, perhaps even a strike.

We have a tradition at Miami of generally having good leadership. When leadership is not of that high standard, we have mechanisms to deal with that. As such, I believe that unionization would be a step backward for faculty.

James.Kiper@miamiOH.edu

GRAPHIC BY OWEN BERG

AVA KALINA COLUMNIST The April shower is clear and you’re walking to class in the humid haze of an Ohio spring, passing the perfectly-curated tulips, surrounded by impeccably-placed dark mulch that are all engulfed in the plaid-clad grass of the quad. The trees are in full bloom, the red brick walkway is ice-free and the “most beautiful campus that ever there was” rings true in your head.

Until you reach the seal. The trash is overpath and used confetti litters the landscape. The most beautiful campus that ever there was? Not so much.

Seniors, we love you, but that confetti doesn’t magically disappear after you snap the photo for the front of your grad card.

Confetti not only unpleasantly lingers around the stones of Upham Hall for a couple days, but also it can take 1,000 years to break down. You are literally popping centuries’ worth of plastic into the environment just for a single snapshot.

Graduation waste doesn’t end with confetti and non-recycled champagne bottles; the waste of the celebrating weekend adds up. White dresses and heels are usually only bought for the occasion and grad robes are quickly sent to the attic after a day’s worth of ceremony. In terms of wearable items, renting a grad robe and re-wearing a white dress (or buying one that will last), are easy, responsible choices for the environment.

The well-deserved post-ceremony celebrations also come at an environmental cost through invitations, throwaway utensils, single-use decorations, plastic cups and excessive food. Consider sending invitations virtually or on recycled paper, getting an accurate headcount to plan your graduation celebration menu in an attempt to reduce food waste and providing

easily-accessible recycling bins during the celebrations. Silverware can be used and washed.

Reusable decorations (that can be sold or given to your younger friends afterwards) exist.

For that extra step in going green, consider composting the food waste generated during graduation parties. In general, up to 70% of

24/7. If you cringe every time you drive by the Rumpke trash mountain on the way to Cincinnati, do your part to make sure it doesn’t grow any bigger and uglier: compost.

At the very least, please pick up your confetti after graduation photos instead of leaving it scattered around campus.

This isn’t just a message for graduating students — it’s something for underclassmen to think about every day in college, and as we move on throughout our lives.

Recently, in my French class, we watched “La Haine,” a nineties crime drama tackling police brutality in Paris. In one of the most powerful meaning “The world is yours.” He stops and, with a bottle of spray paint, changes it to “Le ours.”

As young adults, we’re often told the world is our oyster, we can go anywhere in life and do anything we want. The sky’s the limit.

But especially as young adults, we truly have to be the change we want to see in the world. If we can change our own habits of wastefulness one step at a time, whether it’s by composting at a grad party or bringing our own silverware to the dining hall, we can be an example for others.

We must remember that the world is ours, all of ours to share, so let’s take care of it. kalinaae@miamioh.edu

The Art of Loving and Letting Go

GRAPHIC BY OWEN BERG

HANNAH HORSINGTON ASST. MAGAZINE EDITOR My best friend for the last 13 years got married last week, and I wasn’t there.

But, to be fair, it wasn’t anyone’s fault. She’s going to college in Hawaii, about 4,400 miles away from Oxford.

And it’s not a typical wedding — after a short engagement, they’re eloping.

So I’m not there, but neither is anyone else.

On a random Tuesday, as I’m sitting in a lecture taking notes, she’s getting ready to put on her wedding ent as they could possibly get.

And you know what? That’s okay.

But you know what else? When she told me she was getting married, I cried.

We have been stuck to each other

since we met in second grade — literally. We were voted “most attached at the hip” during our senior year of high school. When I broke up with my just to bring me ice cream. I let her sleep on my shoulder throughout an entire 8-hour bus ride to New York City. We had a joint grad party. We always said that when we got married and had kids, we’d take vacations together every year.

in each other’s lives. When we had to separate to go to college, it was hard.

But she came home for Christmas.

Then again three months later when COVID shut down the world and she was home for almost a year. When we were at school, we didn’t talk every single day, but the friendship was always there. I always hoped she’d move back home after graduation.

So when she told me she was engaged, I mourned what I once thought we might once have. Seeing her ring, helping her pick out a wedding dress and planning a bridal shower — everything that you dream of when you’re 13 years old and planning your future weddings with your best friend.

Back then it felt a million years away.

Then suddenly you’re adults, and that best friend is calling to tell you she’s engaged. She’s ready to start her life, but all you can think about is what you’ve lost.

Yes, you’ve lost the typical wedding experiences, but you can do without those. After all, it’s not your wedding, and she should do it how she wants. What you really think you’ve lost is her.

I felt like I was losing my best friend. She’s growing up.

But I learned that what I was afraid of wasn’t losing my best friend - I was afraid of growing up.

I’ve realized that I am growing up

she is.

In reality, I’m not losing her. Maybe she’s not moving back home, but I don’t plan on staying in Ohio forever, either. Besides, if I have to travel anywhere to see my best friend, Hawaii isn’t too shabby. We can still talk as much as ever. She’s still my go-to when I need to know which picture to post on Instagram. One day, we’ll still take our husbands and kids on vacation together.

And of course, she’ll be at my wedding one day.

As I started to realize this, I suddenly wasn’t upset anymore. Growing up is scary, but it’s not the end of the world.

I take issue with the phrase “If you love someone, let them go.” Yes, I’m letting my best friend go — but where is she really going? To the courthouse Even if we can’t be physically attached at the hip, she’s always going to be my best friend. So yes, I love her, but I’m not letting her go.

So in a way, this column is a love letter to my best friend. But it’s also a goodbye to our childhood — and a hello to the future.

I hope her husband knows that when I visit, we’re still going to have sleepovers. And she fully plans to kick him out of the bed to make room for me. horsinhp@miamioh.edu

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See your opinion in print by writing a letter to the editor. Email letters or questions to the editor.

Email letters and questions to radwanat@miamioh.edu to have your opinion be heard.

We are also looking for more permanent writers. If you are interested, reach out to the above email.

photo story Descending into darkness: a field experience to Mammoth Caves 16

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2022

get out of Oxford, our class was able to use

KENNETH DECROSTA STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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The sun had barely risen when 25 of my classmates and I drug ourselves out of bed

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-

It is hard to describe the sensation, as it

began the rainy three-hour drive from Miami rived, we were led down into a cool and quiet warm orange lights emanating from the gas

From marine fossils to artifacts of tours -

geologic features and educated the class on Once in the cave, students had to dodge University Honors College and the National Among the many fascinating stories, we were told Mammoth Cave was involved in a -

the case are still evident as one can see where -

decroskz@miamioh.edu