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Volume 149 No. 3
Miami university — Oxford, Ohio
What is herd immunity, and what would it mean at Miami?
Miami replaces spring break with scattered “reading days”
THE MIAMI STUDENT More than 1,500 Miami University students have tested positive for COVID-19 since Aug. 17 — nearly 10% of the total student population. As infections continue to rise, many students have joked about getting infected intentionally in the name of herd immunity. But for the health professionals informing Miami’s response to the pandemic, this trend has dangerous implications for the Oxford community. Herd immunity occurs when a large majority of a population becomes resistant to an infectious disease’s spread. Resistance can come in the form of a vaccination or antibodies from a previous infection. Generally, anywhere from 80 to 95% of a population needs to be resistant to a disease to achieve herd immunity. The exact percentage changes from disease to disease based on factors like rate of infection and how long immunity lasts. Jennifer Bailer, health commissioner for Butler County, said this statistic can be hard to nail down for new diseases like COVID-19. “Immunity to COVID by having had the disease seems to last only about 3 months,” Bailer wrote in an email to The Miami Student. “Getting an entire population immune lished over and over again. Indeed, it may never be adequately established via disease only and would require vaccination in addition to disease.” fessor of microbiology at Miami, explained that any potential vaccine make it through Phase 3 testing for be approved by the FDA. “Normally, this is a process of years rather than months,” Bridge said. “I don’t necessarily think that
ASST. CULTURE EDITOR Miami will follow the lead of universities like Ohio State in the decision to eliminate the traditional, week-long spring break and replace out the 2021 spring semester. Just as the fall calendar was rearranged around Thanksgiving to reduce potential travel and prevent the spread of coronavirus, the same is being done to the spring semester schedule. In an email to the Miami community, Provost Jason Osborne said this new plan allows the university to continue with the same winter and summer terms, but it is still subject to change. “It is to try to keep this Oxford bubble as tight as we can for as long as we can to reduce risk,” said Jayne Brownell, vice president for student But spring semester is a long semester with very few breaks, even in a traditional academic year. To mit-
week. Students are getting the same
fast-tracking the vaccine is wrong, but I do think it needs to be done cautiously.” For Grace Connors, a sophomore public health major, whether or not to take the vaccine is an open question. “That’s a very fast turnaround,” Connors said. “Vaccines are known to
have some complications from time to time. But also from the perspective of looking out for everyone else, I would feel rather inclined to get it, especially if there’s enough push toward the concept that it would get the nation back to some sort of normalcy or reduce deaths and cases.” Despite potential complications associated with the eventual
COVID-19 vaccine, Bridge and Bailer agree that intentionally getting infected with COVID-19 for temporary immunity is unnecessarily dangerous for students. “While most young adults get mild cases, intentionally spreading or getting a disease can be dangerous CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
By spreading the days out like this, Miami is still meeting the state’s instructional hours requirements while attempting to keep students safe. “I just wish [the reading days] weren’t sporadically placed and instead [were] random Fridays so we could get a three-day weekend,” said Sydney Cain, a sophomore psychology and theatre double major. According to Brownell, this is exactly what is trying to be avoided, as long weekends might leave students more likely to leave campus or have social events. But some students CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Rolling with the punches:
The life of a high school senior
SAM CIOFFI ASST. MAGAZINE EDITOR What’s 18-year-old Davis Byrd’s idea of a perfect day? He wakes up, grabs some cereal (he claims it’s the best food), plays the video game Overwatch on his Nintendo Switch and hangs out with two of his friends, Aaron and Nathan. Maybe they even play a little bit of soccer. Like many kids during these COVID times, Byrd is trying to stay busy. He started his senior year at Talawanda High School only two months ago. While Byrd technically lives in Hamilton, he still lives close to Oxford in Butler County. a 30-minute drive from Oxford, he’s grown up in this area almost his whole life. In school, which is online for the moment, Byrd is involved in drama club, Model U.N. and the varsity boys soccer team. When he’s not doing school work, he works part-time at the Hueston Woods Golf Course cleaning golf carts and picking up golf balls on the driving range. It was a job his mom, who works him get. Although Byrd’s parents didn’t go to college, he hopes to start applying to schools soon. The three colleges on his list are Miami, the University of Cincinnati and Ohio University.
Wherever he decides to go, he’ll most likely major in zoology, a decision 2000’s children’s show “Zoboomafoo,” which taught kids about animals. “I’ve always been really into animals for zoology and hopefully land a job in a zoo somewhere,” Byrd said. However, his college plans all depend on the success of one thing: Nosebleed, the band that Byrd is a frontman for. In addition to being a high school student, playing soccer and working, Byrd also devotes a good portion of his time to playing music. Nosebleed members: a drummer, bassist, guitarist and Byrd on lead vocals. The group produces music that is best described as “punk” and features such as Weezer and Smashing Pumpkins. “My favorite band of all time, no question, is Weezer,” Byrd said. “Weezer is one of my personality traits. I talk about Weezer all the time.” In a few months, most likely around wintertime, Nosebleed will release their the singles being released soon is called “Q’s Pipeline,” named after the man who used to run Q’s Dungeon, a concert venue in Cincinnati.
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CULTURE
Students experience delays in COVID test results
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SOFIA BOLDA
Nosebleed played a show at Q’s Dungeon last December before the place closed its doors. It was also at this venue that Byrd and one of his friends, Aaron Wanko, a junior at Talawanda, saw a band named Pierre perform. After the show, Byrd went up and started making conversation with members of the band, telling them he was in a band himself. “It was really cool because they were this kinda famous band, and he was just talking to them,” Wanko said.
Wanko believes that spontaneity is one of Byrd’s best qualities. “He usually just kinda does things, and it’s always fun,” Wanko said. Another one of Byrd’s friends, Nathan Hall, who’s also a senior at Talapersonality and energy. “I know he’s made friends everywhere just from his personality and how open and kind he is to everyone,” Hall said.
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You'll be kinda 'sus' if you don't read about Among Us at Miami. page 7
Currently, Wanko and Hall are Byrd’s two closest friends. Hall hopes to stay in touch with Byrd once they go live with Byrd in the future if they both attend Miami. But, for the moment, Byrd is just trying to see where life takes him. “I think more about the moment rather than the future, I guess,” Byrd said.
OPINION
What a year without clothes shopping taught me page 8
Name the time and date for a game ... Miami football will be there. Hopefully. page 9
Why we need to shelve our textbooks on reading days
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Residence halls implement COVID-19 color code system
What is herd immunity, and what would it mean at Miami? to some members of the population,” Bailer wrote. “A ‘herd’ will include vulnerable individuals who could become seriously ill and potentially die from COVID.” In early September, Jamain Stephens, a senior at California University of Pennsylvania, died following complications related to COVID-19, the first college football player to succumb to the virus. On Sept. 28, sophomore Chad Dorrill of Appalachian State University passed away less than a month after testing positive for the virus. The CDC reports that 18-29 year olds are 30 times less likely 64 year olds. Despite this, hospitalization is only four times less. College students may have
COURTESY OF MIAMI UNIVERSITY COVID-19 DASHBOARD
COSETTE GUNTER STAFF WRITER On Tuesday, Sept. 29, Miami’s Jayne Brownell, announced a new coronavirus monitoring system for residence halls. The system is based on four levels that signify how many positive cases are currently in the residence hall. Level 1 indicates a yellow residence hall status, meaning the hall has not had a positive coronavirus test in seven days. Level 2 is orange, which means the hall has had one or two cases in the last seven days, but is not at great risk of infection. Level 3 is red, and denotes that becoming infected with coronavirus in that hall. Level 3 dorms have at positive test results in the last week. Three halls – Collins, MacCracken and Tappan – are currently under a Level 3 advisory.
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A purple – or Level 4 – dorm residents tested positive in the last week and has statistical evidence of a cluster. Level 4 mandates that all residence hall “remain-in-room” because there has been an outbreak According to several residents of Level 4 dorms, students received emails letting them know if they had to follow the remain-in-room protocols. are on a Level 4, purple advisory: Anderson, Brandon, Clawson, Dennison, Emerson, Flower, Hahne, Havighurst, McBride, Minnich, Morris, Ogden and Symmes halls. Students under remain-in-room protocols will be expected not to leave their hall except for socially distanced breaks outside, emergencies and contactless food delivery under the Remain-in-Room plan. Residents will have meals delivered and no visitors will be permitted in the hall. The goal of the Remain-in-
Room plan is to contain the spread of the coronavirus in less than 14 days. It will be lifted when the testing protocols determine the outbreak has successfully been contained. Additionally, if the Remain-inRoom plan does not successfully slow or stop the spread within the hall, a mandatory quarantine will be put in place for the entire residence hall. “The color-coded plan is intended to help residential students and those visiting them to make healthy decisions so we can remain together for the entirety of the fall semester,” Brownell wrote in the email. The updates for the residence hall color codes will be updated twice a week on Miami’s COVID-19 Oxford Campus Dashboard. This color code system applies to only traditional-style residence halls and does not include Heritage Commons and Hawks Landing. guntercr@miamioh.edu @cosettegunter
in ten thousand,” Bridge said. “They just don’t know. And I think purposefully intending to get sick to get it over with, that puts you at serious risk.” Although Connors said she is being careful herself, she has noticed some of her peers don’t seem to care about the potential risks of a COVID-19 infection. “I’ve heard people like, ‘I don’t care,’ and they’ll just go around hugging people,” Connors said. “One girl who I know was doing that got COVID.” Even if students could guarantee that they would have no side effects from an infection, a high number of student infections puts the wider Oxford community in danger. From classrooms to uptown restaurants to Walmart, students have plenty of opportunity to interact with higher-risk individuals. Bridge stressed that student behavior has a direct impact on the Oxford community, as well. “The point is that students don’t live in a bubble,” Bridge said. “They do go out in the community. And as long as they’re doing that, they are potentially bringing the disease to people in the population that may not have the same ability to withstand the infection that they do.” Until a vaccine is publicly available and widely accepted, Bridge said there is no easy fix. “Achieving herd immunity by vaccines is a great thing,” she said. “Trying to achieve herd
“They just don’t know. And I think purposefully intending to get sick to get it over with, that puts you at serious risk.” - Eileen Bridge
a relatively low risk of death from COVID, but not everyone who gets infected will be asymptomatic. The more students who get infected, the greater the risk that some will have a severe reaction to the virus. “[Students] don’t know if it’s going to be one in a hundred people their age who get very sick, one in a thousand or one
population become infected with COVID-19 is going to put a significant number of those of us who are older and may have preexisting conditions at risk.” scottsr2@miamioh.edu
NEWS 3
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020
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ASG elects four oncampus senators, student trustee election committee members
GET app helps students skip crowds TAJ SIMMONS
MADELINE PHABY ASST. NEWS EDITOR Miami University’s Associated Student Government (ASG) held special elections for four on-campus senator positions and two positions on the student trustee election committee at its Sept. 29 meeting. Most on-campus elections took place between Aug. 31 and Sept. 2, but eight seats — two from District 1, one from District 2, one from District 4, two from District 5 and two from District 6 — remained unfilled due to a lack of candidates running. Sophomores Michael Vestey and Harry Harman ran for the District 2 seat, which represents Beechwoods, Hillcrest, Maplestreet Station, Stonebridge and Etheridge Halls. Vestey said, if elected, he would focus on making Miami feel like home for all students by improving accessibility and inclusion on campus. Harman emphasized the importance of improv-
ing sustainability efforts on campus, while also providing resources for victims of sexual and interpersonal violence (SIV) and COVID-19. ASG elected Harman to the position. Sophomore Grace Kelley ran unopposed for one of the two open seats for District 5, which represents Hamilton, Minnich, Scott, MacCracken, Porter and Richard Halls. Kelley voiced concerns about the amount of waste being produced by dining halls and said she’d try to increase composting on campus if elected. She also expressed interest in expanding the meal swipe donation program ASG started last November. ASG elected her to the position. First-years Tyler Storer and Anna Pritchard ran for the two open seats for District 6, which represents Collins, Dennison, Dorsey, McBride and Symmes Halls. Storer said, if elected, he’d try to create more opportunities for students to meet each other and become more involved on campus,
THE MIAMI STUDENT
COURTESY OF ASG
despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Pritchard said she’d advocate for more political equality on campus and improved mental health services if elected. ASG elected both Storer and Pritchard to the open seats. Earlier in the meeting, ASG also elected two senators to the trustee election committee, which will help select the next student member of the Board of Trustees. Student Body President Jannie Kamara, Chief of Staff Connor Moreton and Secretary for Diversity and Inclusion Brandon Small are also members of the committee. Current student trustees Will Kulis and Amitoj Kaur spoke to senate about the role of student trustees so they could better understand the responsibility of being on
the selection committee. Senators Jake Kravitz and Ethan Stack accepted nominations to run for the two spots on the committee. Senators Sidra Capriolo, Omar Elghazawi and Evan Gates were also nominated, but they declined to run. Kravitz said he felt qualified to serve on the committee because he is very detail-oriented and is already knowledgeable about the work student trustees do. Stack said he once presented a project to the board of trustees at the community college he attended before Miami, so he’s familiar with how the meetings typically go. ASG elected both Kravitz and Stack to serve on the committee. phabymr@miamioh.edu
Miami replaces spring break with scattered “reading days” FROM FRONT think that it won’t make a difference. “The reading days [are] interesting, but I feel like [they’re] not effective because people are just going to have parties,” senior kinesiology major Alexia Owens said. While the solution is not flawless, there are many other universities, like Ohio State and Purdue, making the same change. “There is nothing about COVID that has us making decisions that we love,” Brownell said. “We are making the best decisions available.” Junior computer science major Joshua McCoy is disappointed by the decision and lack of communication from Miami, and even feels it’s a little preemptive. “I’m surprised it’s so early be-
cause I don’t think any of us really know what this is going to turn into come March of 2021,” McCoy said. “I’m not sure [the decision] was necessarily needed at this point.” But Brownell said they wanted to dodge the complications that come from waiting too long. “We wanted people to know what to expect and make those decisions now and have them stick,” Brownell said. Aidan Schwind, a sophomore information systems and analytics major, has yet to experience a normal spring break since starting college. While a little let down, he’s grateful for the new pause points in the semester. “I’m glad they didn’t take away a break altogether,” Schwind said. “I think it is a good alternative [and] a good opportunity for students to stay caught up and
take advantage of relaxing.” Although she understands this year is different, Brownell hopes this gives students an opportunity to take a breather. “I know it’s not the same as having a full week off,” Brownell
said, “but it does acknowledge and try to build in that opportunity to have a mental health day or a catch-up day or whatever a student needs.” calderjm@miamioh.edu
“I’m glad they didn’t take away a break altogether.” - Aidan Schwind
The newly introduced GET app allows students to skip the long lines in Armstrong and pick up their food to go. The GET app lets students place mobile orders from their phones and pick up their food at a designated time. The app can be used to pick up food from various areas on campus such as restaurants in Armstrong, Market Street at MacCracken and Scoreboard Market and Grill at Martin Dining Hall. “We were introduced to the GET app earlier this year to help students both avoid in-person contact and to reduce the lines in our dining service locations,” said Geno Svec, the executive director of campus services. “I think it has really improved the student experience in terms of getting food both safely and quickly.” Students using the app have said the short wait times were a pleasant surprise from the usual long lines across campus. “I used the app today after a friend told me about it,” said senior marketing and fashion double major Daniela Wainfor. “I was suspicious on how long it would take for the food to come out, but I was surprised – it was only around a three-minute wait, so yeah, it’s pretty cool.” In addition to avoiding long lines, the app also helps minimize the chance of spreading COVID-19 in crowded indoor areas. “I wanted to go get food and use my declining balance, but I didn’t want to stand in the long lines for too long,” junior bio and pre-med major Alexia Zylko said. “I was scared of coming into contact with other people because usually they’re standing way too close. The app pretty much let me avoid all that.” The app’s actual delivery time varies by restaurant. Students reported wait times of anywhere from one to seven minutes after arriving to pick up orders. To start an order, users open the app, select which restaurant they and select a time to pick up. Additionally, GET allows users to scan their Miami IDs, access their dorm halls, display their account balance for both MUlaa and meal plan and show transactions made for recent purchases. Although uncertain, Svec is already looking to the future for the application at Miami. “I can’t say for sure,” Svec said, “but I think it wouldn’t be unreasonable to keep the service around next year and beyond.” @simmons_taj simmontp@miamioh.edu
Miami’s acceptance rate increases 10% in two years TAJ SIMMONS THE MIAMI STUDENT Miami University’s acceptance rate increased from roughly 65% to 75% in the last two years, as confirmed by Bethany Perkins, Miami’s director of admissions. The “original Public Ivy” now has a comparable acceptance rate to universities such as Bowling Green State University (72.3%), Ohio University (78.3%), University of Akron (68.9%) and the University of Cincinnati (73.1%). David Creamer, vice president for finance and business services and treasurer, said the loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic was a factor in the rising acceptance rate. “The decision to reduce occupancy has had some impact on revenue generation for the university, and in doing so, some ways had to be made up for it,” Creamer said. Brent Shock, vice president for enrollment management and student success, acknowledged the positive financial impact of accepting more students. “I would say that the financial picture is certainly part of every institution,” Shock said. “I think the bigger reason why that is, is we have a certain number of spots that we want to fill every year.” Shock said the increase in acceptance rate is not uncommon, and it may continue. “I would expect that we’ll see an increase in the acceptance rate again, just because of COVID,” Shock said. “Every institution this
year accepted more students because they were worried about the effects of COVID.” Shock said the decline of international student applicants caused the university to admit more domestic students. “We know, for example, [enrollment rates of] international students are largely based on the policies of the U.S. government, and I think we were watching that carefully to make sure we had a similar number of students,” Shock said. “For example, if there were changes in the U.S. government level, that would prohibit students from entering the country.” Shock also suggested the effects COVID-19 had on Miami’s admissions might not be realized for a while. “I think we don’t know yet what COVID will do for what our final class looks like until October of this year,” Shock said. “That is when we take a census.” Shock also pointed to the decline in birth rates across the country, which means more schools are competing for fewer and fewer students each year. “If you look at the U.S. birth rates alone, you’ll see that the birth rate has been pretty much declining since the 70s,” Shock said. “And so what that simply means is that you have the same number of institutions who are vying for a decreasing number of students, and you have to take that into account when you’re thinking about your class for each fall.” While the acceptance has risen,
WHILE MIAMI’S ACCEPTANCE RATE HAS INCREASED, BRENT SHOCK SAID THE QUALITY OF ADMITTED STUDENTS HAS REMAINED CONSISTANT. THE MIAMI STUDENT MACY WHITAKER
Creamer said the quality of Miami students has remained consistent. “The overall acceptance rate did increase for the fall class,” Creamer said. “However, overall quality has remained very comparable to those of the past.” According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Miami University’s 25th and 75th percentiles in ACT composite scores reportedly range from a 25 to a 30, which is on-par with Miami’s previous academic records. A 25 to 30 range would still rank Miami higher than all previ-
ously mentioned universities, as Bowling Green has a reported ACT range of 19 to 24, Ohio University is reported at 21 to 26, University of Akron at 19 to 25 and the University of Cincinnati’s is at 23 to 29. “Despite that acceptance rate, Miami has traditionally held at a 28 average ACT for incoming firstyear students, and that has not changed,” Shock said. “And what that means is that our students are in the top 85 to 90 percent of test takers nationwide. Our high school GPA has historically been in the
3.75 to 3.8 GPA range, which also would point to the strength of our students.” Looking ahead, Creamer said he expects acceptance rates to decrease again. “It’s one of the things we will be looking at, [but] it will probably go down,” Creamer said. “It was an anomaly.” @simmons_taj simmontp@miamioh.edu
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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020
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Miami revises annual budget, faces $67 million reduction ing turned out to be the only positive change in the revised budget. “As it turned out, we had built into the budget a plan for a reduction in those monies that never materialized,” Creamer said. “So that was a positive variance that is [helping] us with the general fee and other reductions that are occurring for the general fund.” The greatest immediate impact of the decreased revenue and the smaller budget is not on personnel — though Intercollegiate Athletics is experiencing increased furloughs due to the lack of events — but on construction. Accumulated residence and dining funds from previous years, originally meant to go toward construction and renoThis means that most of those cap-
RESIDENCE HALLS, DINING HALLS AND INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS ARE THE THREE AREAS OF THE UNIVERSITY BUDGET WITH THE LARGEST COVID-FORCED REVENUE LOSSES. MANAGING EDITOR JULIA ARWINE
JULIA ARWINE MANAGING EDITOR Miami University is facing a $67 year’s original budget, including a $33 million net loss, according to the revised budget approved by the Board of Trustees at its Sept. 25 meeting. Most of the revenue loss comes from a few key areas of the university: residence, dining and athletics. With a living away from campus and with most athletic events on pause, tens of millions of revenue dollars that the
university could usually count on are not incoming this year — residence and dining alone are seeing about a 40% decrease. “With intercollegiate athletics ... we are expecting that would be a loss that, at this point in time, we have not made up,” said David Creamer, vice vices and treasurer of the university.
ees’ Finance and Audit Committee agenda from their Sept. 24 meeting. The losses are not as bad as they could have been, however. In June of this year, Gov. Mike DeWine announced that the state was cutting funding to public universities. Miami counts on state funding for about nine percent of its operating costs, Creamer said, and expected a 20% decrease in state dollars. The actual decrease turned out to
position is down $76.5 million from in a trend that has been going on since 2018, according to the Board of Trust-
Zoom camera option impacts classroom experience
under $3 million, according to a report by The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Having budgeted for much worse, state fund-
next two years, Creamer said, with the exception of the Clinical Health Sciences building, which is being funded from a separate source. Creamer has been putting together Miami’s budgets for 29 years, and had to make a revised budget. With the unpredictability of future circumstances in mind, Miami is accounting for several other possible scenarios. The worst of these is if Miami has to go entirely online in the spring, which will result in another semester’s worth of losses — as much as $80 million. These predictions also take into account the possibility of a disruption of the winter J-term. “We [should] anticipate that there are scenarios that would require us to make further changes in the budget,” Creamer said. “And those are all likely
CLAIRE LORDAN Stickers promoting the white supremacist group Patriot Front have been placed across campus, according to a university-wide email Miami’s Institutional Response Team (IRT) sent out on Sept. 26. The stickers, which promote racist and xenophobic ideologies, have since been removed, according to the IRT. Additionally, local and federal law en-
SOMNIA KEESEY THE MIAMI STUDENT and tool that professors utilize for classes and to connect with students. But one factor within the video conferencing platform has altered the way Miami professors look at teaching — students’ cameras. dents make to keep their camera on During a class conducted over Zoom, students are able to turn roundings will remain hidden, only prompting a black screen with their name or a picture until the student turns the camera function back on. This feature has caused some being able to see some students’ faces while instructing has been an obOana Godeanu-Kenworthy, an associate teaching professor of American studies, doesn’t require students to have their cameras on during class. But, a few weeks ago, she sent out an email to her class strongly urging her students to do so. “I am not forcing or requiring [students to turn their cameras on] because I realize that everybody’s living and broadcasting situation said. “But, at the same time, it is important to be able to pick up on the non-verbal cues that we [professors] rely on when we teach face to face.” She explained that students turning their cameras on during class helps professors adapt, provide better feedback and help students. If a student is about to say or wants to say something, if a student is nodding yes or no, a student who may be visibly confused on a topic — these are all body language cues she is no longer able to read once a Michaela Levendoski, a sopho-
why for almost all of her classes, she chooses not to have her camera active. ting ready for class, you know?” she said. Levendoski described how she doesn’t like being able to see herself while in class. She said it’s a focused on what she looks like, so the most out of her remote learning experience. But she said there was one instance where she felt compelled to ignore her usual self protocol and turn her camera on. “It was in one of my classes, there were like maybe seven people in the Zoom, and everyone had their really bad for my teacher because it felt so awkward, so when it was my turn to present, I turned my camera on to try to make it a little more comfortable for her.” After her presentation, Levendoski said she did notice her professor’s mood change in a positive way. She said she’s glad that she turned it on for that situation but will most likely stick to keeping her camera It’s uncertain how long Miami and schools across the country will have to continue with remote and hybrid learning. But for the foreseeable future, it seems like the decisions that students make regarding their cameras will be a choice that professors will encounter and work around. energy that happens in the classroom,” Godeanu-Kenworthy said. “You really can’t even try to replicate that without seeing students’ faces. That’s why turning on cameras means so much.” @SomKeesey keeseysa@miamioh.edu
future. “If we were to have another pandemic, we would be in a weaker position to respond to that,” Creamer said. “And ... we don’t fully know yet what the recession will mean and how that cial position that we entered this [pandemic] with will be weakened, which means that if we were to encounter something else after this, we would be less well-positioned to deal with it.” Still, there are some parts of the safety net Miami can rely on, including business interruption insurance (a type of insurance that covers a business’s loss of income due to disaster) and the hope that more CARES Act and federal funding may come down the line. It’s not clear what the long-term duction is a more drastic instance of a continual trend in revenue reduction that the university has faced for several years due to a number of factors including reduced state and federal support, smaller graduating high school classes and challenges to recruiting. many issues Miami and other higher education institutions must address in Creamer said. arwinejk@miamioh.edu
Stickers promoting white supremacy posted on campus THE MIAMI STUDENT
DESIGN EDITOR OWEN BERG
to include less revenue being generated by the university.” Miami was in a better place than a lot of universities when the pandemic hit, Creamer said, with the amount of funds they had available in reserve. But now, with that money being used,
incident. “Defacement of our campus in this vile and reprehensible way will not be tolerated,” the email read. “Any individual found responsible will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” The email went on to denounce white supremacy at Miami and encouraged students to report any new stickers to the Miami University Police Department (MUPD). white supremacist material has appeared on Miami’s campus. Signs promoting Patriot Front were spotted on campus in April 2019, and the organization’s stickers have long been seen around Oxford. “Patriot Front stickers have popped up throughout Oxford for multiple years,” wrote Dean of Students Kimberly Moore in an email to The Miami Student. “When they are posted they are taken down.” Looking at the more recent presence of Patriot Front stickers on campus, Moore noted that MUPD regularly checks for hateful messages to ensure they are taken down as swiftly as possible. Moore also encouraged students to report any incidents of hate or discrimination on campus through the University Diversity and Inclusion page. Despite the university’s condemnation of white supremacist rhetoric, many students feel as though the administration has not done enough to actively combat discrimination at Miami. presence of white supremacist material on campus proves that the university has not taken enough steps to discourage this behavior. “They send out emails about the task force, but since I’ve been here, I haven’t seen any signs of change,” Thach said. While Thach recognizes the steps Miami has taken to create a more diverse and inclusive environment, she thinks the continued acceptance of language in favor of these discriminatory ideals discredits much of that work. “It’s kind of a punch in the face, that
said. “It would be nice if [the universithat they’re trying, but there needs to be a more active conversation that includes everyone in the student body.” At a university with a predominantly white student population, Thach added that she would like to see more white students speaking out against discrimination on campus. “There’s not a lot of people who would come forward and say that it’s wrong — I think a lot of people let it go because they don’t want to be the one that stirs the pot,” Thach said. “It’s don’t think it concerns them.” Student Body President Jannie Kamara agrees that the university could do more to discount white supremacy at Miami. “This is a recurring thing,” Kamara said. “And [Miami] puts out messages that they don’t approve of it, but there is a way to prevent this.” Kamara suggested that Miami do more to monitor bulletin boards and other active student areas, as well as make students aware of the tools in place to report these hateful messages. “The messages use shock to start conversation, and they use shock to discredit the diversity in our world and on our campus,” Kamara said. “But they also make us discuss what we do and do not want to see in our community, and what is and isn’t acceptable.” While Kamara does believe she’s seen a trend toward acceptance of diversity at Miami since her freshman year, she still believes that the university has a long way to go. “I think the campus has become more conscious of the community that we’re a part of and the individuals that are in our community — how we should take care of each other,” Kamara said. “We are tired of seeing these recurring instances and seeing our community continuously become more hurt and more divided.” Although Patriot Front has posted materials in the past, some of them were in violation of the university’s Signs, Posters and Banners policy and were thus removed. Some, however, were technically allowed to stay. “If any group does not go by our policies, we will take their [content] down,” said Assistant Vice President for Student Life - Student Engagement and Leadership Scott Walter. “If people don’t go through the proper channels or try to put up things that go against our beliefs, we can take them down.” While the stickers have been removed from campus, no individuals or groups have yet been tied to the incident. lordance@miamioh.edu
NEWS 5
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020
LUMPKIBM@MIAMIOH.EDU
Students concerned by COVID-19 testing delays
Miami University Black graduate Nellie Craig
STAFF WRITER nue Building will be renamed Nellie
HENRI ROBBINS THE MIAMI STUDENT
Johnson said the university is working to contact all students who were tested during move-in but has faced
More than two weeks after moving onto campus, some Miami University students have yet to receive they took before moving into their dorms. When students moved into resito students moving into dorms. This fall, Miami welcomed its largest incoming class in recent years, with around 75% of the student population returning to campus, according to communications some students have been tested multiple times through either the university’s wide-net or surveillance testing. counting major, said neither he nor anyone else he has asked has received their test results back from move-in. have told us,” Schreiner said. “For the been people who assume that, since they didn’t get a test result back, they tested negative, but who then tested positive later on, so they could’ve been spreading it.”
itive from that process were immeance,” Johnson said. “The remaining students with negative results have Health are not able to leave medical information on a student’s voicemail.” decided major, got her test results negative but was unsure of her results for more than two weeks. She heard from other students that those who tested positive were being informed before those who tested negative. “I agree that they should be prioritizing positive cases, but being tested two and a half weeks ago and still not knowing my results is not tested negative instead of assuming I did and not hearing back.” In regards to the potentially slow turnaround time for testing, Johnson said the University is “sensitive to the uncomfortable or tense feelings that might arise while waiting for a test result,” and that they are “actively investigating strategies that might result in faster responses as well, in-
cluding saliva testing and labs with a faster turnaround.” veillance test but was told she did not test at the time, Student Health Serto be tested again because of it. Schreiner said one of his roommates was told during a surveillance test that Miami was prioritizing informing students who had tested Schreiner heard this through any ofresults, students have begun talking about other potential issues with is no evidence supporting the claim, the university’s tests are less accurate and result in more positive results than others. aware that there are more positive cases with the rapid tests from Mireliable tests, and so they actually get their test results back.” When asked about this, Johnson said the tests the University uses are the most accurate available.
high positive predictive value, even when the percent of true positives is relatively low.” First-year chemical engineering major Ellie Kornreich didn’t receive While she appreciates the approach Miami has taken to informing students, she has concerns about the spread of the virus on campus. “I think that they’ve been doing a pretty good job overall, because they’ve contacted the people who were positive quickly,” Kornreich said. “I just don’t think they’ve enforced the rules very well because, at least in my dorm, people tested positive, and I think it was in part due to hanging out with other people in large groups without masks.” While Schreiner agreed that Miami has not been as strict as possible with enforcing guidelines and preventing the spread of the virus, he also felt students were to blame for not following the guidelines that are in place. “I think it relies more on the students, because the university can only do so much,” Schreiner said. “If the students aren’t going to care
robbinha@miamioh.edu
high,” Johnson said, “resulting in a
Black student to graduate from Mi(BoT) approved the decision at its The recommendation came from month. teaching from the Ohio State Normal of Education, Health and Society. The Ohio State Normal School was education schools in Ohio, accordHealth and Society website. The Ohio State Normal School
ored in … so we are not the only one task force. Black educator to student teach in the Oxford public School system to a mixed-race classroom,” according to the Miami University News and dents do not have a building named meaningful to take this step of providing such advancement in diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Homecoming and Family Weekend combined into virtual celebration
that Miami’s board of trustees voted to rename the building on its Instagram page, @mublkalum, on Sept. The Instagram post read:
STAFF WRITER
history! Nellie paved the way for thousands of Black individuals from around the country and the world to obtain a degree from Miami Univer-
Miami University’s events online this year, and Family Weekend and Homecoming haven’t been spared. The two events will be combined
perseverance.” Jannie Kamara, Student Body President and Black senior at Miis great. “I think it’s amazing to focus on her work in education, and particularly name a building that she worked with after her, to dedicate and appreciate her making such big strides of racial equality and graduating from the school,” Kamara said.
time and others serving as ongoing activities or competitions with specific deadlines. Family Weekend and Homecoming are run by a joint committee, which includes members involved in parent and family programs and Homecoming, that met various times throughout the summer to discuss what this year’s plans would look like. “It was not a hard conversation
Laboratory School until its closing in
academic calendar to limit the number of trips and visitors in and out of campus … there’s no way in good people to come to Oxford for Family Weekend,” said Mark Pontious, director of parent and family prosion very easy from a health and safety perspective.” Some of this year’s events include a livestream of Trap and Paint hosted and Inclusion, a virtual escape room a livestreamed wine tasting event, among others. Ongoing events include Home-
contest and the Run for Love and Honor virtual 5k, which can be commoved online, the university wants to ensure that students and families get the most out of Family Weekend, which Pontious said usually serves two main purposes: to allow parents to check on their student’s transition
to college and to learn more about their student’s experiences on campus. “Really, it’s a time for them to spend time together,” Pontious said. keep at the center of Family Weekend planning.” He also said that the university is including events that allow alumni to reconnect to campus, which will bring elements of Homecoming to the celebration. “We are just excited to engage families, students and alumni,” Pontious said. “That’s really what it all comes down to.” is a sophomore at Miami, is disappointed that she won’t be able to have the same on-campus experience with the Family Weekend dates came out, she booked a hotel room, which she later had to cancel. get to visit campus and see her daughter, she is happy that the uni-
versity chose to make the celebration virtual in order to limit the number of people traveling to campus, which “I think that obviously we’re there for education, and so the more the kids can have in-person learning and have those opportunities without bringing additional people from makes me feel better,” Wright said. Wright isn’t sure how much she and her daughter will participate in the virtual events (trying to plan during midterm week proved to be is still given the chance to bond with her daughter even after in-person events were canceled. “I love that Miami is trying to opportunities for parents to feel part of the experience,” Wright said. Sophomore Gracie Irish thinks that many of the virtual programs are great ideas but also doesn’t think she or her parents will utilize them. “I don’t think my parents are go-
contact with me,” Irish said. “I feel like if they did, they’d try to Facetime me personally or have, like, a family call.” Irish said that because it’s her sophomore year, she’s not upset that her family can’t come to campus and is more than happy with just a phone cause they’re missing out on such a big experience with their families, like she had with her parents and sisters last year. “I am sad that Family Weekend can’t happen for them, because it did really help me,” Irish said. “Because it’s like, ‘OK, you didn’t die … you made it through college, your family’s still there for you, and you get to reconnect.’” @hannahorsington horsinhp@miamioh.edu
and Student Success, the Student munications and Marketing. Kamara said that while the renaming is historic, she wishes it would have happened sooner. “I absolutely believe that it should’ve happened sooner, but I also understand that the fact that we better than it happening in like three or four years from now,” Kamara said. force, wrote a two-page letter advocating for the renaming recommendation. James said a critical part of the recommendation process is prothe community, which he included in the letter. … and it is a meaningful symbol for them. It makes them feel like they that they belong to,” James said. “I don’t want to see it as something just celebrate this as something for our community.” @haubenstrickerc haubence@miamioh.edu
6 CULTURE
MEGAN MCCONNELL
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020
HEADLEDD@MIAMIOH.EDU
concerns with their physical ap
THE MIAMI STUDENT College brings an array of new
@meggy_nicole mcconnmn@miamioh.edu
Tell the World: Freedom is a Constant Struggle event celebrates Miami’s diversity, solidarity THE MIAMI STUDENT
to help create change was one of the
Caleb Orr are calling for the people in power to “This is an artistic expression of
@hua_shr moorese6@miamioh.edu
CULTURE 7
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020
KWIATKDM@MIAMIOH.EDU
‘Among Us’ among Miamians
Annual hike-a-thon calls people to unplug and enjoy nature
OXFORD’S HIKE-A-THON IS ON FOR THIS YEAR. AFTER ALL, THERE’S PLENTY OF ROOM TO SOCIAL DISTANCE ON THE TRAILS. THE MIAMI STUDENT CAROLINE BARTOSZEK
ABIGAIL KEMPER STAFF WRITER
A DARK GAME FOR A DARK TIME, AMONG US PROVIDES PLAYERS WITH A FUN, YET MACABRE ESCAPE FROM THEIR DAILY LIVES. STAFF WRITER LEXI WHITEHEAD
LEXI WHITEHEAD STAFF WRITER “Where?” “In electric.” “Who?” “Red is sus.” This is what a typical conversation looks like in the Among Us chat. Among Us is a video game that has recently gained popularity within many spheres, although it was initially released in 2018. In the game, players play as either a crewmate or an impostor. Each Crewmates complete tasks in one of three maps, the most common being on a spaceship. Impostors try to sabotage and kill the other players. After a player reports a kill or calls an emergency meeting, players discuss who they think the impostor is and can vote someone out. The game ends when the impostor gets voted out or is one of the last two people standing. Up to 10 people can play in a game with one to three impostors. Players can join a public lobby to join a game with strangers or create their own private room with a code to play with their friends. The game is available on PC for $5, but there is also a free app. Junior Mackenzie Rutherford started playing the game a month ago after seeing many videos about it on YouTube. She really liked it and encouraged her friends to download the game as well. then I was like “Guys, you actually need to download it and play it because it’s addictive and it’s so fun,”” she said.
game, Rutherford joined a public lobby and all the people she played with kept rejoining the same lobby. The group of strangers played several rounds together and enjoyed it so much that they created a Discord server where they could continue to talk and play together. “It’s so interesting to see that this people together,” she said. The people on Rutherford’s Dissometimes plays with her roommate and friends. Recently, she suggested playing Among Us as a way to connect and have fun with people in her organizations, Sigma Tau Delta and Miami University Geological Society. Sophomore Claire Fisher started playing the game two weeks ago after seeing videos about it on TikTok and YouTube. Her favorite part about it is the strategic aspect. “I like how you have to trick people,” she said. “Despite it being just ent strategies you can do to win and you really have to pay attention to everybody.” When she plays as a crewmate, Fischer’s strategy is to complete her tasks as fast as possible to help the team. When she plays as the imposter, her strategy is to replicate how she plays as a crewmate so she doesn’t seem “sus” (suspicious). Fischer is trying to get a group of her friends to play together because as she continues playing the game, she notices things she doesn’t like about its online culture. “People will play the game in a lot -
people are going to react and how they’re going to vote in every round you play.” For example, some people will vote a player out just because someone else said so but without any evidence. Fischer thinks that defeats the purpose of the discussion. She has also seen people in the game spamming the chat with slurs and harassing messages to get a response. Sophomore David Gudin said he has been lucky enough to not have seen any rude or inappropriate chats since he started playing the game three weeks ago when his friend urged him to. The discussions are actually his favorite part of the game. “My favorite part is the little trial things they have when someone’s murdered or calls a meeting,” Gudin said. “You just try to convince people that you’re safe or that other people are the killer. Or if you are the killback. I think that’s really fun.” Like many online trends, Among Us has its pros and cons. Although some people take the opportunity to be rude in the chat, others use the chat for its intended purpose and may Rutherford, Fischer and Gudin also all noticed a learning curve but didn’t struggle much with learning how to play. “Because the game is still gaining popularity at a really large rate, it’s really easy to just jump into it because there’s a lot of people that are just now starting,” Rutherford said. “It’s another way to waste time, but a fun way to waste time.” @nwlexi whitehan@miamioh.edu
On a crisp October weekend in years past, the Oxford community gathered together to hike. Families and students perused the booths that lined the entrance to the trails near the stables. Some people socialized while picking up pamphlets; others would grab a map and hit the trails. Instead of gathering for one day of hiking, this year’s Hike-A-Thon experience has been expanded to the whole month of October. The community wanted to pay tribute to the annual event they’ve had for 12 years to promote Miami’s Natural Areas. To participate, you can register anytime throughout the month. After registering, you can start logging your outdoor minutes at any local trails or parks. Assistant Director of Miami’s Employee Wellness Cassie Wilson has been working on recreating this experience. When the event was founded, Jim Reid, the now-retired director of the Natural Areas, wanted to connect more people with the area’s extensive trails. “We thought, ‘How do we let people know there’s awesome trails, right around campus?’” Wilson said. Wilson and Reid worked together to create an event that could connect Miami’s employees with nature, promoting wellness and the outdoors. “It started with one tent by the trails on route 73. We would hand out trail maps and say ‘have a good hike,’” Wilson said. “Over the past 10 years, it grew to an event with close to a thousand people with the commuThe Hike-A-Thon would typically feature partner booths. This year, partners are sending emails each week to registered participants to promote outdoor activities and award prizes. Hosts of the event include Miand Wellness, Miami Recreation, City of Oxford, Enjoy Oxford and the Coalition for a Healthy Community in Oxford. Wilson said the event is important to continue, especially now. “We’ve all been in quarantine and going through the pandemic for
most of 2020,” Wilson said. “Nature is a wonderful resource for health and well-being. We’re just encouraging people to get some relief from all the stress this year by taking in some nature and keep moving.” Beth Keith, associate director of customer and facilities services at Miami’s Rec Center, is on the planning committee for the virtual event. Keith said the event is also about awareness for the community. the deep core of hopefully improving the health and wellness of the community members,” Keith said, “But (also) increasing the awareness on what surrounds us and the areas we can take advantage of even during quarantine times.” Keith said the unique experience of this year of tracking virtual minutes for a whole month can allow participants to disconnect in other ways. “Enjoy those trails,” Keith said. “Unplug from some of the social media and Zoom calls that we’re on right now.” Robbyn Abbitt, a long time participant in the Hike-A-Thon, works for Miami’s geography department. In the past, she hosted a booth for geocaching on the day of the event. “It was really great to see all the community members come through … and get to spend the day outside,” Abbitt said. Abbitt has already registered her family for the virtual event, and they’ve started tracking their minutes. “My youngest is super excited about it,” Abbitt said. “She’s carrying around a pedometer, and she’s determined to have more steps than anybody else.” Though the event is not as social as years past, Abbitt still sees a big “It’s just nice to have something outside of our house,” Abbitt said. “It breaks up the monotony.” She is excited to see what the future holds for the Hike-A-Thon and how it adapts to the current reality. “I look forward to seeing what they do with the event in the future,” Abbitt said. “Things don’t always have events.” kempera2@miamioh.edu
Keeping the faith How Miami students are practicing religion and faith during COVID-19 LILY FREIBERG THE MIAMI STUDENT A lot of people turn to their religious communities for support through tough times. That sense of navigating through the unprecedented time of 2020, but it’s not lost. Emily Garforth, president of the Association of Jewish Students at Hillel, has felt the challenges of getting students involved in the organization this semester. She mentioned that less people are showing up to weekly Shabbat services because the dinner portion was pulled. Garforth herself had to miss Hillel’s big Purim celebration due to quarantining after being out of town the week before. that were appealing to people last year,” Garforth said. “If I was a freshman during this, it would be hard for me to want to jump on a Zoom call and attend services.” Julie Whapham, a junior who is a part of St. Mary’s Church and the campus’ Catholic ministry, has been ing new ways to connect with people in her ministry. Whapham said. “As [COVID-19] has developed and it’s become more of a long-term thing in our society, the ability to adapt and keep going has been crucial to how I maintain my mental health.” Taylor Dancer, a senior who is spiritual and a Buddhist, is accus-
tomed to individual devotion as her practices usually involve meditation, tion. She also misses the contact with other people as she feels it’s more fun to do things as a group. “Before [COVID-19] broke out, I hung out with friends who had the same kind of beliefs as I did,” Dancer said. “We’d get together, and we’d talk. It’s been really sad to not be able to do that within the last seven months or so. It was a lot more fun back then.” In these times, students of all faiths are looking to retain the sense of community and purpose provided by religion. Ben Flox, the director of student Jewish life at Hillel, has focused on how to foster a community that provides a unique experience for Jewish students on campus. Aside from utilizing social media, live streaming and pushing out asynchronous content, Hillel has been asking students what they are looking for. “We understand that there are people scattered across the country, and everyone is trying to balance everything on Zoom and video-chat,” vide our students with something that can’t be found somewhere else.” Garforth pointed out that the in-person events at Hillel have been the most successful. For example, Hillel had “food handouts” for the High Holidays where the students could pick up a quick meal on their way home. “Just having that 30 seconds of
in-person interaction and being like, ‘Hi, this is your meal, we’re Hillel, and we care about you,’ I think that’s big,” Garforth said. Whapham, who used to go to mass every Sunday and participated in her church’s choir, has been spending quality time outside. “Going outside for a nature walk and being very thoughtful of where tive in developing my religious identity,” Whapham said. Dancer also found connecting with nature a relaxing and calming activity to practice her faith. “Nature is a big part of spiritualism for me,” Dancer said. “I would spend eight hours a day sitting outside. It was a way I could control a time I felt that everything was out of my control.” Dancer is also the president of Multifaith Engagement for Transformative Action (META) Collective. The student organization promotes an accepting space for students to learn about other religions and faiths. of the previous president by having meetings with thoughtful questions and topics that everyone from every religion can participate in. She joined the organization her sophomore year because she wanted to learn more about other faiths and own. “I want [the members] to know that this is a space where you can ask questions, you can talk about anything and be completely assured that
you’re not going to be judged,” Dancer said. Whapham is the vice president of the META Collective and has been a part of it since her freshman year. She also mentioned that the organization does a great job in helping her connect with her faith while sharing her knowledge of it with other students. “Every week, we talk about religious ideas and bring all of our different religions and spiritual places together into this beautiful conversation,” Whapham said. “That has helped me grow a lot as a human within a religious context.” Garforth expressed how it is hard to feel a sense of belonging and community when these events are all remote. Even Flox mentioned that the biggest challenge for the organization was how to avoid “Zoom fatigue.” “That’s something that I’ve been wanting to focus on,” Garforth said. “We have students that are really interested and have this motivation to be a part of the Jewish community, but we’re all over Zoom, and it’s hard to create that atmosphere.” Dancer mentioned that she still meditates when she can, cleanses her crystals and tries to get as much advice from people as possible. “Over the summer, I spent a lot of time in Yellow Springs,” Dancer said. “I got advice from people who are more in-depth to Buddhism than I am. It wasn’t much, but I wanted to do at least something.” Whapham expressed how she is focused on learning how to adapt to a new way of living.
“Individually, it’s been a learning process,” Whapham said. “Being outside more, talking to my friends and family and connecting to people stems from spirituality and can all be brought back.” Garforth said that she has a mezuzah on her door, she’s participated in social-distancing Shabbats outside of Hillel, sometimes lights Shabbat connect to her faith and other people within her faith. “Reaching out to the community ence, especially if you’re not feeling very connected in this COVID reality,” Garforth said. Both Flox and Garforth expressed that religion and faith is congregational but also independent. There’s it’s all accepted. “There really isn’t a right way or a wrong way to practice, it’s really up to each individual person and what they want to do,” Flox said. “I always encourage people to do a little bit of right for them.” Whapham added that religion is a community for her, but at the moment, she’s just trying to live her life to the fullest in a way that is meaningful and purposeful for her. “The capacity of living everyday with purpose goes back to my faith,” Whapham said. “And with that, I feel stronger.” @lilyfreiberg freibell@miamioh.edu
8 VERSACE SPRING 2021
style TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020
BERGOE@MIAMIOH.EDU
A year of wear
Why I quit buying clothes
Diversity, CGI and Starfish
INSTAGRAM: @VERSACE
MIHAELA MANOVA THE MIAMI STUDENT In a time of empty seats and face masks, a schedule of runway livestreams awaited the fashion fan as well as the front row regular. As in-person fashion shows were excluded presented something new, residing in Versace’s new collection.
TAKING A YEAR AWAY FROM BUYING CLOTHES ALLOWED ME TO EXPERIENCE FASHION AS A SPECTATOR, RATHER THAN AS A SHOPPER. DESIGNER SADIE VAN WIE
members, Donatella Versace presented her new ready-to-wear collection with a nostalgic and electric underwater theme. “Versacepolis,” as inbanishment of Medusa by Athena and in turn creates a new world for the Gorgon. “I wanted to create something disruptive, something that could be in tune with what has changed inside all of us,” said Versace in the description of her show. “To me that meant dreaming of a new world in which we can all coexist peacefully.” A writer for Women’s Wear Daily wrote that Versace’s inspiration was “out of yearning for nature, escape, and fantasy.” This collection featured a modern twist on one of their previous collections from the 90s, the Tresor De la Mer collection, with bursts of green, orange and blue neons alongside muted shades of pale pink. This show also saw Versace reveal a major change in casting diversity, with a group of models with a broad range of ethnic backgrounds, as well as three “plus-size” models. Viewers were pleasantly surprised to see models of color be represented, not just sporadically placed. Ellie Krug, president of Miami University’s Fashion & Design club (MUF&D), weighed in on the subject. “I think the fashion industry is making great models and the people they represent on the runway and in print,” she said. “I think we have a long
OWEN BERG STYLE EDITOR In August of 2019, I decided I wasn’t going to buy clothes for a year. At the time, I’d been learning a lot about the fashion industry and how badly it pollutes the environment. When I looked in my closet, I couldn’t help but see the 700 gallons of water that it took to produce each t-shirt or the 1,800 gallons of water it took to produce each pair of jeans. Several of these garments I’d just worn once and never put back on again. I felt stuck, going nowhere fast with my personal style and increasing my carbon footprint with evSo I quit. new or used. And what came out of it was a deeper appreciation for fashion as an art form and a more personal relationship with the clothes I already had. All without spending a penny. I remember a year ago, I was so hungry to learn more about fashion but didn’t know where to start. Looking at runway shows just of this, so why should I care? Right? Wrong! It turns out that runway shows are actually really cool! Only thinking about fashion in terms of “what will I buy next?” just
heading in the right direction.” Donning the Versace pieces, curvy models Alva Claire, Precious Lee and Jill Kortleve were praised by many for leading the way in diverse sizing. “I think it is important for designers and companies to represent everybody in their advertising and in their runway shows,” Krug said. “I would love to see a more diverse variation of height, size, skin color, hair color and ethnicity on the runway, and I have faith that we will be seeing all of those things in the near future.” This ready-to-wear collection was presented on a runway lightly dusted with sand, while Greek columns and statues made up the background of a sunken Versacepolis. riety of sea creatures appeared throughout the collection. Either printed on clothing or featured by
incredible work by some of today’s most creative designers creating the future of wearable art. Fashion weeks actually became a real event for me, like how I imagine sports fans
accents could also be found on necklaces. The bedazzled clamshell bustiers were the focus of the night, appearing in various blues, neon multicolor — even a sunset-like gradient. Pinstripe suits also made an appearance. The opening look worn by Mica Arganaraz featured an oversized blazer, while Sacha Quenby’s look incorporated pinstripe bottoms with a subtle hip cutout. The “star” look of the show featured an embel-
The face mask may very well be the most prominent symbol of how COVID-19 has changed our day-to-day lives. Right now, illustrations of faces in masks are posted on the doors of local businesses and hanging on banners in uptown Oxford asking customers to “Wear a mask, please don’t make us ask.” While the question of “how long is this all going to last?” lingers in the air unanswered, the crowds of masked shoppers at the grocery
Shayk. Both the female and male models looked as if they had just emerged from the ocean, with drenched hair clinging to glistening faces. The women’s makeup varied from glowy and neutral, to bold and eccentric, varying in shades of electric pink, orange and red on the lips. Alongside the fashion, a new member of the Versace family was introduced. Video content featuring a computer generated image (CGI) of an octopus named Churro appeared on the Twitter feeds of fashion fans, “sliding” across the roads and rushing to enter the show. Many viewers were wondering why the octopus was introduced at the end of the runway show, when Churro popped up from the sand and glided across the runway, closing Versace’s collection. As CGI was newly introduced into the fashion industry, most designers have not taken the leap
soon.
Noonoouri starred in a Dior Beauty Campaign, prompting the brand’s followers to call the collaboration “absurd.” On the contrary, Krug thinks the Versace octopus is an innovative idea. “I think this CGI octopus is the coolest thing ever, and I have never seen anything like it,” she says. “I love that technology like this is being introduced to the industry, and I think it will open a lot of doors for future innovation and interaction.” Similarly, members of Twitter’s high fashion community expressed mixed reactions. User @ DECOUTURIZE tweets, “can’t stop thinking about the Versace octopus,” while @modavitalita writes, “I feel personally attacked by the Versace octopus.” In the end, as the last livestreams of fashion month approach, viewers wonder what surprises the next season will bring. Besides awaiting new pieces to be unveiled by their favorite designers, viewers will also be awaiting more diversity and representation on the runway. With that said, as this fashion month comes to a close, a new age of inclusion and innovation begins. manovamd@miamioh.edu
feel about Super Bowls and March Madnesses and things like that. I spent a great deal of my time looking through lookbooks and runway shows, poring over photos of often wild, impractical and intricately constructed clothing. It’s not that I would actually ever consider wearing any of these crazy garments, though. allowed my love for the medium to extend beyond the walls of my closet and let me observe fashion as a museumgoer rather than as a shopper, looking but not touching. So what now? It has been a month since I reached my goal. I’m back to buying clothes again, but with a level of intention that I don’t think I could have understood at all a year ago. While tion, it’s now very hard to buy something that I can’t imagine staying in my life for at least a year. I’ve also found myself spending a little more per item when I’m not buying second hand. New clothes take tons of energy, labor and materials to manufacture. A lot of that stores where manufacturing is outsourced to sweatshop workers and fabrics are dyed with toxic chemicals, all to get the price of a pair of jeans down to $20. Almost all brands push ideals like “transparency” and “environmental responsibility,” but few have proven to treat these as anything more than talking points. Even labels like Everlane or L.A. Apparel, ones that seemed to have perfected the transparent supply chain image, were found to be mistreating their
workers. Sustainability has just become another marketing strategy. That leaves it up to us, as consumers, to spend our money with intention and care. I’m from shopping, but when all fashion companies are focused on growth, really think about if the brands who get your money are ones that you want to see succeed. I still mostly buy second-hand now, from thrift stores or online. Because brand new, well-made clothes are expensive, it’s simply the best option for my college budget. Preloved clothes also just feel the best to me. Almost everything I own now has at least one year of wear, so crispy new clothes just don’t feel right anymore. So, if anyone ever asks me what I “learned” from not shopping for a year, my answer is your closet right now! Appreciate what they do for you every time you put them on, how they shield you from the about how good it feels to hide in your favorite winter coat or how excited you were to wear your favorite sneakers when they were fresh out of the box. Think about what you’ve done in them. What memories they hold, the concert where you bought your favorite tee or the boyfriend you “borrowed” your favorite hoodie from. Admire the fading around the knees of your jeans or the soles of your boots, how they document each step you’ve taken in them. Wear them, take care of them, repair them. bergoe@miamioh.edu
Feeling cute in my little government-mandated face mask OWEN BERG STYLE EDITOR
how long she hopes we have to wear government-mandated pandemic response face coverings. “I hope masks stay forever,” she said. “I feel cute.” We were walking to the Starbucks at Miami’s Shriver Center, both of us wearing masks, of course. I thought about it and decided that I felt cute, too. The next day, curious to know how other people felt, I ran a few very informal polls on Twitter and Instagram, asking my friends if their masks made them feel cute, too. Many But why? On the surface, the face mask is not a very joyful object. It’s a constant reminder of the wildly bleak circumstances that we’re living through right now. Massive groups of people have even gathered to protest government mask mandates in the name of “personal freedoms,” risking their health and safety to let their local representatives know, “Hey! These masks are not very cute to us!” Despite the face mask’s recent entry into our lives in the U.S., it isn’t a new idea. Face masks have been worn for years in many Asian countries like China, Japan and Korea. Some sources trace it back to the 2003 SARS panand Hong Kong. While that pandemic came and went, mask-wearing stuck around, usually out of consideration from those who are experiencing mild illness to protect those around them. “It’s really a gesture out of respect and compassion in Japan,” said Hatsue Andrews, a communication design student at University of Cincinnati. “It’s really not meaning anything [un]nerving.” Andrews is Japanese-American and travels to Japan every few years to see her family and friends. Wearing a mask is what she’s always done when she feels a little sick.
“My experience in America, when I wore a mask before the pandemic, is that people are really concerned about my health,” Andrews said. “Like they thought that I was really really sick, when all I had was maybe a fever.” She says she wears a mask out of concern for other people. This could be one reason why, despite the grim reality surrounding it, wearing a mask makes many people feel good about themselves. It allows us to express compassion and concern for the health of others. It can show solidarity and creates a sense of “we’re in this together.” ALTHOUGH THEY REMIND US OF THE GRIM REALITY OF THE PANDEMIC, Caring for our commuMASKS CAN ACTUALLY FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE AND STYLISH. nities, as it turns out, is very PHOTO EDITOR BO BRUECK, MODEL ISAAC CARDWELL cute. On the other hand, not wearing a mask in They allow us to feel partially hidden, like tura crowd of mask-wearers appears ignorant. It tles with their heads halfway in their shells, incan come across as apathetic, showing a lack vulnerable to the outside world. If the wearer is feeling self-conscious about of care for the health and safety of others. To their acne, or chin, or smile, or really anything leave the mask at home is to deny our current reality and, from a fashion perspective, looking below the eyes and above the neck, a mask crelike you are stuck in the past has never been ates a cozy little nook to hide from everyone else, just a bit. Little insecurities like this get stylish. Another interesting point came up while to be kept secret, just between you and your speaking with Andrews, when she mentioned mask. There is also a cool factor associated with her second cousin, who is a Japanese TV permasks in pop culture. Think of all the characsonality and is locally famous in Tokyo. “Whenever he goes out, he has to wear a mask,” she said. “Or people will, like, stop him stoic superheroes, stealthy killers on the loose, cowboys bandits with bandanas pulled up to all the time.” This happens in South Korea as well, their eyes. All these characters are hiding their identiwhere masks are more commonly worn there ties for self protection but also just look really to protect the lungs from air pollution. K-pop stars (known as “idols”) are the predominant cool while doing it. Miami junior Ahmed Kafashion icons and also frequently incorporate and hoodie.” Once COVID-19 isn’t as much of a direct but to avoid being recognized. threat, we’ll still have our face masks left over. “It kind of takes away the identity a little What will we do with them? Will we get rid of bit,” Andrews said. Anything that obscures one’s face seems to them? Throw them out? Will Goodwill even have an innate connotation to celebrity. The take donated face masks (ew)? Maybe we’ll take the route that so many idea of the celebrity in public, hiding behind mirrored shades, a baseball cap or a pandem- countries did after SARS hit, and wear them ic-appropriate face mask, trying to remain when we are feeling mildly ill, to show compassion for our fellow citizens. Or maybe we’ll simanonymous, has a certain appeal. This feeling of anonymity and privacy was ply wear them for fashion, to look cute, keeping cited by many as a main reason why wearing our faces to ourselves in the gentle privacy that a mask feels so cute. Masks shield most of the masks provide. wearer’s identifying facial features from the public eye, making them less recognizable.
bergoe@miamioh.edu
Sports
NELSO156@MIAMIOH.EDU
9
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020
The excitement and sadness of the Reds’ 2020 postseason LILY FREIBERG THE MIAMI STUDENT The excitement was fun while it lasted. ly had a breakthrough. For the last six years, the Cincinnati Reds haven’t made it to the postseason. Each season, the team makes promising transactions to improve its performance. And each season, the fans are hopeful and optimistic that this is the year the team will do great things. I’ve watched the Bengals get to and lose many times. The Reds have followed in those footsteps. Friday, Sept. 25 The stakes were high. If the Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Milwaukee Brewers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals and the Reds won their game against the Minnesota Twins, Cincinnati would clinch a postseason berth. Two of those things happened. If the stars aligned, and the Reds pulled
ALTHOUGH THE MAC DECIDED TO PLAY FOOTBALL IN THE FALL, NO SCHEDULE HAS BEEN RELASED. THE MIAMI STUDENT ZACH REICHMAN
Despite MAC football’s return, uncertainty surrounds 2020 season CHRIS VINEL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Greek philosopher Socrates apparently once said, “The only thing I know for sure is that I know nothing at all, for sure.” That’s the situation the Mid-American Conference (MAC) is in right now, albeit to a lesser degree. On Sept. 25, the league brought back football after initially deciding in August to postpone it to the spring. Now, it’s left with a lot of planning to do and a lot of uncertainty to deal with. “We have a lot of work to do to get to the point where we’re playing,” Miami athletic director David Sayler said. Even the schedule, besides the announced start date of Nov. 4, is up in the air. Sayler initially predicted the ofnounced late last week. It still hasn’t been released. will play six games, all against MAC opponents. The RedHawks their East Division and schedule one contest against a West Division foe. Sayler predicted the sixth opponent would be the Ball State Cardinals to maintain the Redbird Rivalry. Because Miami won’t play any out-of-conference programs, it loses games against Cincinnati, Army and Pittsburgh. “I have impeccably bad timing with sports, and there is no question that this year’s schedule being interrupted is probably one of the worst ones we could’ve had interrupted,” Sayler said. “I mean, having Cincinnati (and) Army at home, coming home games — we were trending in a really positive direction with our fan support and everything else.
COVID’s changed everything, and it’s changed everything for a lot of people, so no complaining. I get it. It is what it is.” The Battle for the Victory Bell rivalry with the UC Bearcats is on pace to resume in 2021. Sayler said possibility. Besides the regularly scheduled games, Miami will have to consider COVID-forced cancellations. The virus has already caused two dozen college football, and it struck the NFL this week, too. The league made it through three unscathed weeks before postponing two Sunday games. If an outbreak happens to Miami or its opponent, would the game be made up? When?
To hopefully avoid a large-scale infection, Miami will test its players for COVID-19 four times a week. “Obviously, from an organizational standpoint and having protocols in place, it’s going to be like nothing we’ve ever been through,” Martin said. “I think, once the kids they’ll forget about all that. That’ll be what’s so good about this. A couple-hour practice or a three-hour game, it’ll take them out of reality for a short period of time, which we all need at times, and just go back to enjoying what they do ... “Me and [Sayler] talk a lot, and I don’t know what it is. It is what it is at the end of the day — funny, sad, whatever — the last time we had a conversation about anything but COVID is a long time coming.
“We have a lot of work to do to get to the point where we’re playing.” -David Sayler Those questions will have to be answered on a case-by-case basis. “A lot of the cancellations have not been too many positives,” Miami head coach Chuck Martin said. “It’s been a position group got a positive, and their contact tracing knocked out the whole position group, and you can’t play a game without a quarterback or a linebacker or a defensive line. And you keep reading in these articles that, ‘Hey, it wasn’t a big outbreak.’ But one or two kids got it, and it took out a whole group of players which didn’t allow them to compete on Saturday.”
He said a couple weeks ago, ‘Man, I wish we could just talk about how we’re doing practice,’” he added. Martin and Sayler should be back to talking about practice and x’s and o’s football in the next couple weeks. Then again, the only thing known for sure… to be resolved in terms of how this works itself out over the next month within the entire sport of college football.” @ChrisAVinel vinelca@miamioh.edu
‘Hawks Talk “VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE
- Miami football’s Jalen Walker on Twitter
I went to my neighbor’s house around 9 p.m. for what we like to call “driveway talk.” She asked me about the Reds and if they were go-
worked extremely hard for years to come to this moment made me tear up. Homer Bailey went 1-14 in the 2018 season. I experienced the pain when the Reds ended fourth in the division in the 2019 season. I know what it’s like to work as hard as you can to achieve something but never achieve it. It made me happy to watch the Reds succeed. And with that, I had a sense of pride in my hometown. I felt that this was the end of a long history of being “mediocre.” My neighbor texted me and asked me if the Reds “cinched” (Remember, she’s a new fan.) “It’s ‘clinched,’” I responded. “But yes, they did!” Wednesday, Sept. 30 I was busy with classes all day, but I still managed to keep up with against the Atlanta Braves. I usually know how well the Reds are playing based on how active their Twitter account is. When they score runs, they’ll post a highlight reel. When they’re not doing so hot, they won’t post anything. I checked the score of the game in fear Cincinnati was losing big time, as I had no Twitter
“I’ve watched the Bengals get to lose many times. The Reds have followed in those footsteps.”
fairly new fan of baseball, she was intrigued by the excitement of it. “Hopefully,” I responded. “But we have to win the game that’s going on right now.” As my neighbor and I talked for about two hours, I kept checking my phone to look at the score. The Reds were winning 4-2. I said “goodnight” to my neighbor and immediately turned on the radio when I came home. I anxiously sat in my room, hoping our pitchers wouldn’t allow any more runs. By the ninth inning, the Reds extended their lead to 7-2. I sat on pins and needles and listened to the last out of the game. The Reds were gosince 2013. I shot up and ran around my small room, trying not to scream because I didn’t want to wake up my parents. Once I calmed down, I texted some friends in excitement and went to bed. Saturday, Sept. 26 I woke up and scrolled through Twitter. My timeline was full of excitement from Reds fans. I watched the video of the Reds celebrating on I’ll admit, I didn’t become a hardcore Reds fan until the summer before my freshman year of college. For most of my life, football was always the more fascinating sport. But to see how happy the team was and knowing everyone involved
score was 0-0. I sighed in relief and went about my day. I had some free time in between classes, so I decided to see what was going on in the game. I hadn’t gotthat the game ended so I assumed it was almost over. The score was still 0-0 in the 11th inning. I quickly turned on the radio in my room and multitasked by listening to the game and a video for my Spanish class assignment
at the same time. There were times when I had to completely stop what I was doing to listen, especially when the bases were loaded for the Reds. The game went into one of my classes. At this point, it was the 13th inning. I kept the radio on and my phone nearby with the live stats as I sat in a Zoom lecture.
sadness. “The good thing about baseball is that there’s more chances,” I thought to myself. “We’ll win tomorrow, for sure.” Thursday, Oct. 1 I jinxed it. Everything seemed to be going came alive for the Braves, but not — 5-0, Braves — was heartbreaking for me. The pitching for the Reds was spectacular, but their hitting wasn’t so great. There were so many opportunities to bring in runs, but it just didn’t happen. It’s sad I won’t be able to root for my favorite team throughout the rest of this postseason, but I’m grateful the Reds community got to experience at least a little bit of the fame and glory of success. Maybe next season. @lilyfreiberg freibell@miamioh.edu
Opinion
10
WOLFFRG@MIAMIOH.EDU
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020
STAFF EDITORIAL
Reading days? We sure hope not. When you think of spring break, you might think of college kids heading down to Florida beaches for a week of binge-drinking, hooking up with strangers and whatever else goes along with MTV’s idea of a good time. That seems to be exactly what Miami University President Greg Crawford and the administration are picturing. As a result, they have followed in the footsteps of nearby schools by dismantling the weekbeing placed sporadically throughout the spring semester. So, get your books ready … I guess? We get it; this will help cut down on widespread travel by students in the spring which will help control COVID-19 case numbers. And the administration didn’t drag its feet on this one, giving us notice months in advance, which we, of course, appreciate. But, just because you take the spring out of spring break, doesn’t mean you can take out the most important part of it — the break.
These shouldn’t be called reading days. They should be branded as mental health days, intended for students to shut down their laptops and take some time for themselves like we typically do in midMarch. Many of us count down the days until that hats and just breathe. To ensure students get a real break on these days, there needs to be parameters for professors to follow — for their own good as well as ours. There shouldn’t be any assignments due on these days or the day after, otherwise it will be like any other day where a professor emails you that class is canceled for the day. These are not days to catch up on work or revise an essay due at 10 a.m. the following day — they are a necessary break from being a college student. ing anyone’s inboxes. We don’t want to see a single Professors should be taking a break, too, so no
Live for the now, you’ll die anyhow REBECCA WOLFF OPINION EDITOR Live today like you’ll die tomorrow … or whatever. A common expression that encourages people to take risks and do what makes them happy because, well, we’re all going to die and some of us could die tomorrow. But how realistic is this, really? If I knew, like really knew, that I would die tomorrow, my day would look like this: Get up … early, eat the food I want, take a walk on some beautiful path, listen to sweet music, look into the eyes of the people I love and live a day of complete and total honesty and freedom of self. Pretty great day if you ask me. But, if that was everyday, it couldn’t be a great day anymore. Beautiful days are only so beautiful because of normal days and bad ones — that’s just logic. So, how can this be applied to everyday living? Perspective.
Slow and steady, the old me died out like Juicy tracksuits from 2003.
I feel as though about every two years, I sort of morph into whatever my next phase of personality and life is. I’ve gone from goodytwo-shoes, to reckless, to not caring at all and now … I can’t tell yet because I have zero objectivity on my present state of being, obviously. But, I’m certainly in a new place. Values change. By that, I don’t mean your core values — what makes you who you are in your soul. I mean what motivates you and but I’m 20 years old, and I act like it. So, when it comes to goals and future plans, my eyes are always way bigger than my naive little mind even knows. Dream big and all that jazz, of
how often I change my mind from one thing to the other, doing little to no research on any of it. And that’s straight-up beautiful. I live in the moment, and I’ve accepted not planning ahead when I change my mind about who I want to be more than I change my sheets. I hope I don’t die tomorrow and I don’t think I will, but who I am right now and the things I value and prioritize will die. Sure, it might be a slow transition, but the me that exists in this moment won’t anymore. A few years ago, I would’ve told you about my plans to go to a fashion design school in LA, and probably also way too much about the guy I was dating at the time — I mean, he was the captain of the football team… Or the year and some change after that, you could’ve heard about my secret desire to go to take a gap year so I could move to Mexico, become bilingual and learn how to bartend, betone of sarcasm, because I no longer believe in making plans my future self will have complete disinterest in. Slow and steady, the old me died out like Juicy tracksuits from 2003. Don’t live today like you’ll die tomorrow, but maybe try and live today knowing that in a couple years everything that you’re scared of right now will no longer matter to you. Put yourself out on a limb, don’t be afraid to fuck up because who you are a year from now or two years from now is going to cringe at you either way. But at least try and give the future you a reason to thank you for something — anything. you. Wear the clothes that bring you joy, eat food that feeds your soul, be around the people that laugh at your jokes and go ask for that dude’s number. Be who you are in complete honesty, because the you that you have the pleasure of being today won’t exist later on in your life. So, you owe it to yourself to be just as stupid, hopeful, honest and bold as you think you can be, because you’ll never get another chance to be in this moment as this version of yourself ever again. That version will die tomorrow.
radar, as a sender or receiver. er that a mental health day is coming up. The university should send an email the day before and the Especially with these days being placed throughout the semester on random days, the school needs to be clear about when they’re happening. Make it clear to professors as well that they not only more than deserve, but also need a break themselves. We’ve all heard so many stories of overwhelmed professors trying their hardest to give their students the best remote-learning experience they possibly can, and it takes a toll. health days, prioritize giving students and faculty a well-deserved break, set parameters and remind us all when they’re actually happening because there’s a lot going on, if you haven’t noticed, and we could use a little extra help. This is going to be weird, but make the purpose of these days clearer than a blue sky over the beach in a Florida spring.
Getting to know the Gilmore Girls ter relationship appealed to her. My sister was drawn to the close-knit nature of Stars Hollow and how Lorelei and Rory have rules
MANAGING EDITOR A couple of months ago, my sister told my mom and I that she’d started watching us to watch an episode or two. It’s probably important to mention that my mom, sister and I can hardly ever settle on a new television series to watch. We pick one, it’s too boring. We pick another, and my mom likes it, my sister doesn’t. This goes on for a while, and we usually end up rewatching a show we’ve seen before or picking a movie instead. I didn’t know much about the series at all. I’d heard people mention it in passing, and one of my friends posts about it on Twitter sometimes, and that was about the extent of my knowledge. But I was bored, and frankly, dying for a new series to delve into, so I said yes, and watched a couple of episodes. For those of you who haven’t seen the show before, I’ll give you the gist of the plot. The show takes place in Stars Hollow, characters are Lorelei Gilmore (a single mom to daughter, Rory, intelligent sense of humor, runs the Independence Inn), Rory (Lorelei’s daughter, gets into prestigious Chilton School, loves literature), Sookie St. James (the chef at Independence Inn and Lorelei’s best friend), Luke Danes (usually crabby, but secretly kind, owns the diner in town) and Rory’s wealthy grandparents, Richard and Emily Gilmore (Richard is a savvy businessman, always wears a bow-tie; Emily is perpetually stirring up drama). The show details the lives of these characters, and others who appear for a few episodes, with charming and quaint Stars Hollow as a backdrop. With plenty of heart, some helpings of drama and quippy dialogue, this seven-season series takes viewers through the happenings of everyday life. After watching a few episodes, suddenly, I was invested, and surprisingly enough, so were my mom and my sister. My mom loves Hallmark movies, so naturally, the heavy emphasis on family life and mother-daugh-
grocery shopping. And so it began — a tradition of sorts. semester, and nearly every evening, the three of us would trek down to the basement and watch a couple of episodes. The show proved to be both engaging and a lovely break from things for each of the three of us. For me, it’s the responsibilities of senior year; for my mom, it’s work; and for my sister, it’s remote learning. For all of us, it’s this global pandemic that doesn’t seem to have an end date in sight. sion series we can all relate to and take comfort in. After returning to Oxford, I watch the show on my own, and my mom and sister watch together at home. When we talk on the phone, we chat about the show, making sure not to spoil anything since we’re no longer on the same episode. (I still have two seasons to go.) Though hours apart and perhaps at different times, we’ve watched Rory talk about Harvard for years, and then, all of a sudden, then Jess, then Logan. We’ve watched Lorelei get engaged, freak out and end the relationship. We’ve watched Emily try to sabotage Lorelei’s love life. We’ve watched Luke er’s no cell-phone policy. Oct. 5, 2000 — which explains the rudimentary technology and the interesting fashion the world looked then, and I can’t help but appreciate the simplicity. phone that I am transported (for 40-some minutes at least) to Stars Hollow — a town that celebrates the smallest of holidays and even makes up its own, to a cast of characters with vibrant personalities and a time far from the present. And in light of all this craziness and uncertainty, I’ve found it quite a nice place to be.