The Miami Student | March 15, 2024

A lone bald eagle soars out of trees against a deep gray sky, high above a restored prairie full of legumes and big bluestem. A vintage but functional weather station creaks nearby, and in the distance, a red barn sits on the edge of a large grassy feld dotted with vegetation plots.

Miami’s Ecology Research Center (ERC) is alive with natural systems and scientifc wonder.

Located fve minutes north of campus along Somerville Road, this 170-acre feld station was founded in 1969 to research the natural world. The diverse parcel of land includes agricultural felds, prairies, old and newgrowth forests, and dozens of acres of grassy felds that have been manipulated to allow for extensive feld research.

The ERC does not stick to one area of research but rather allows students and professors the opportunity to conduct many diferent types of studies. Dozens of water tanks dot the western side of the

feld station, while hundreds of individual research plots ranging from low-growing herbs and legumes to closed habitats housing prairie voles are scattered around the central feld.

“We have so many diferent things going on that we can ofer,” said Jeremy Fruth, who has been the manager of the ERC for the last 10 years. “You know, we're going to go grab some tadpoles out of a pool today, or we're going to collect some insects that we're going to do some further research back in the lab on or we're going to go explore some honey bees.”

Everything from agricultural research to weather monitoring can be found among the woods and prairies, and Fruth believes the ERC’s large size and diverse

SHR-HUA MOORE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

HAYLEY LUBY

THE MIAMI STUDENT

The Miami University RedHawks men’s swimming and diving team has claimed the Mid-American Conference title for the 2023-24 season. This is the team’s fourth consecutive year winning the title.

The team, led by head coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron, 2024 Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year, secured its win last weekend in Carbondale, Illinois, with a combined 724 points.

The championships kicked of March 6, beginning with two program record-setting performances from the swimmers. During the frst event, Owen Blazer, Adrian Dulay, Henju Duvenhage and Jack Herczeg, fnished frst overall in the 200 med-

ley, for the program’s record time of 1:25.72. The second event saw Uroš Djokovic, Ian Kmiliauskis, Bryce

DEVIN ANKENEY OPINION EDITOR

Bradley Whitford, star of the hit drama “The West Wing,” and for his role in Jordan Peele’s “Get Out,” brought the house down with laughter in Miami University’s frst lecture series event of the spring semester. Opening with a big, “What’s up, Miami?”, the Emmy-award-winning actor known for his role as Josh Lyman kept the atmosphere

Menchhofer and Allen Cotton fnish the 800 freestyle relay in 6:26.53.

light while delving deep into his view of the current political landscape.

“It’s easier to be cynical now more than ever,” Whitford said. “That’s exactly what the forces of repression want us to feel: that your vote doesn’t matter, that your participation doesn’t matter. The moment you abandon the political process, you sentence yourself to a gulag dictated by the people who do participate. Despite some darker moments as Whitford talked about political afairs, he spent most of his time remembering “The West Wing,” which he jokingly described as “soothing, progressive porn,” its unexpected infuence and how he made it big.

In high school, many students were told that becoming a computer science major was a path that guaranteed a six-fgure salary straight out of undergrad. Computer science was seen as a feld with explosive job growth — the perfect blend of job security and benefts.

For Bricen Raynold, a senior computer science major at Miami University, that path is looking more like a pipe dream.

“I’ve put in between 45 and 60 applications so far, somewhere in that range,” Raynold said. “I’ve only had two serious inquiries and a couple of coding assessments.”

Coding assessments are meant to serve as pre-interview challenges that evaluate an applicant’s coding skills with increasingly more difcult tests as the application process moves forward. Raynold said that so far he has only gotten generic assessments and hasn’t advanced to further stages of the application process.

Bill Hutson, another senior majoring in computer science, applied to 50 jobs this spring and has also only gotten two interviews. He said the struggle to fnd a job isn’t unique to him or Raynold.

“I know that there’s a lot of people who have submitted hundreds, literally hundreds of job applications to diferent companies,” Hutson said. “And yet, they’re receiving very few responses and fewer interviews. So, a common trend that we see is that we often get ghosted.”

Hutson said the struggles in fnding a job could stem from the big tech layofs that have happened

‘In a bit of a rut right now’: Students struggle to find computer science jobs Kasey Turman elected Editorin-Chief of The Miami Student

CHLOE MCKINNEY ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR

In just over a year, Kasey Turman, a junior journalism and political science major, went from being a new writer to the next Editor-in-Chief of The Miami Student.

Turman brought several ideas for change during the candidate forum this past Sunday, including revamping the audio editor position and taking time to attend diferent section meetings.

“I want to go every so often to a lot of types of meetings,” Turnman said, “meet new people and … just be interactive with everyone at the paper.”

Turman ran uncontested and won in a vote of confdence over no confdence. He looks forward to taking on this new role and continuing in the footsteps of those before him.

“I’m excited for the next year,” Turman said, “to continue all of the great things The Miami Student has done while extending into the future and seeing what is possible for us.”

Turman made his frst appearance in the newsroom as a sophomore in January 2023 at what he thought was a Campus & Community (C&C) section meeting. Imagine his surprise when he found himself at an Entertainment meeting instead.

SAM NORTON GREENHAWKS EDITOR

Fred

Kasey Turman elected Editorin-Chief of The Miami Student

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

“I was his frst connection at TMS,” said Sean Scott, current Editor-in-Chief. “I remember inviting him to the frst meetings and then accidentally inviting him to the wrong one.”

Yet, Scott’s mistake didn’t dampen Turman’s spirit. Instead, Turman embraced the chance to work across sections, and over his frst two months at The Student, he wrote not only for C&C but also for the Entertainment and Opinion sections. Eventually, the newsroom became a second home and his dedication to TMS continued to grow.

“I want to keep the paper at the highest standard that it is,” Turman said. “Journalism is changing all the time and we change with it.”

Fred Reeder Jr., the faculty adviser for The Student, has been Turman’s professor for several semesters. Last fall, Reeder chose Turman to be one of his Undergraduate Assistants (UA) for his JRN 101 class. Reeder said he is confdent Turman will make a great Editor-in-Chief because of the skills he displayed as a student and UA.

“When I choose UAs, I choose them based on a number of variables,” Reeder said, “and their ability to lead a group of students is high on that list.”

Turman and his Managing Editor, Olivia Patel, will ofcially take on their new positions on March 14. mckinn15@miamioh.edu

Bradley Whitford talks politics, brings laughs to Miami’s lecture series

CONTINUED FROM FRONT

As a graduate of the Juilliard School, Whitford struggled to fnd worthwhile roles. He described one of his earlier flm roles, “Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise,” as a bad movie. However, it came right before Aaron Sorkin, writer and creator of “The West Wing,” found Whitman a leading role on the acclaimed show.

“Aaron really went out on a limb and fought to keep me in the game,” Whitford said. “I was at a gas station in Santa Monica, and I had a new thing called a cell phone. Aaron called and said, ‘Great news. You’re in the show. You’re going to be Sam.’” Whitford had the crowd laughing constantly, with several moments when the crowd’s laughter interrupted his answers during the Q&A with John Forren, executive director of the Menard Family Center for De-

mocracy. Many in the crowd of hundreds were excited to see the actor who played a role that defned television dramas.

“We try to watch everything he’s in,” Michele Abrams, a Miami alumna who graduated in 1972, said. “We grew up with ‘The West Wing.”

Bob Viney, Abrams’ husband, hoped to see if Whitford’s politics matched the character on the show.

“[We’re most interested in] seeing if the political views on the show match his own and what he thinks about the diference between the ideal west wing and the current and previous west wings,” Viney said.

Whitford, an outspoken progressive Democrat, has worked on fundraisers for Democratic candidates including Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, and President Joe Biden. Though weary of celebrity infuence in politics, Whitford hopes

to use his infuence for the better.

“Most people want to spend the currency of celebrity productively,” Whitford said. “Politics is where you create your moral vision.”

When not talking about Democratic candidates or his disdain for Republicans in contemporary politics, Whitford spent much of his time joking about experiences on “The West Wing,” including his years-long battle with former co-star Josh Malina. Whitford recounted prank wars in which Malina got the director of an episode arrested for stealing props — Malina planted them. Whitford also talked about his failed plan to get Malina in the Screen Actors’ Guild “In Memoriam” reel to have Malina pronounced “dead” to Hollywood. He also told the story of one of “The West Wing” episodes he wrote,

which he used primarily to get Malina to say, on national television, “I can’t act.”

Attendees of the lecture were happy to see a partisan speaker, seeing it as refreshing to hear from someone who had defned views. Jaime Spears, a Miami 2018 alumna, thought hearing from someone passionate in his beliefs was great for college campuses.

“I think getting students access that might not easily get access, to hear it from a perspective in person is a good idea,” Spears said.

Whitford closed his lecture with a Q&A from the audience. Among the topics discussed were specifc infuential episodes like “Isaac and Ishmael” and when Yo-Yo Ma guest starred and passed his priceless cello around to the extras. Whitford also talked about the experience of shooting when former co-star John Spencer, who played Leo McGarry, passed away.

“It was very weird to shoot a scene where I’m told Leo’s dead, I have a scene where I’m a pallbearer,” Whitford said. “It was like a month after …”

The episode in which Spencer’s character passed away mimics the actual events following Spencer’s death in 2005.

Whitford made sure to keep things happy before and after each sad moment he recounted. Eerily echoing the persona of his character on “The West Wing,” he joked with an attendee about one of his romantic moments in the series.

“‘If you were in an accident, I wouldn’t stop for red lights,’” the attendee quoted from the show.

“Say it again,” Whitford replied, leading the

to erupt in laughter.

p.m. in the 200 block of Judy Drive, a male died of what was suspected to be an overdose. A death investigation was initiated by the Criminal Investigation Unit and the coroner’s ofce.

out through the Butler County Sherif’s Ofce and was transported to Butler County Jail.

At 2:10 a.m. on March 7, ofcers were dispatched to the 30 block of E. High St. for an intoxicated female who was unconscious in the bathroom. Ofcers found that the female was 19 years old and possessed a fake ID. She was taken to McCullough Hyde Memorial Hospital and charged with disorderly conduct, underage drinking and possession of a fake ID.

Later in the day March 7, at 3:01

At 11:37 p.m. on March 8, ofcers responded to a burglary in progress in the 200 block of N. Ridge Drive. Ofcers found forced entry of the back door. They searched the house but didn’t fnd the suspects. The investigation is ongoing. On March 9, at 7 a.m. in the 300 block of W. Withrow St., a caller reported hearing an argument between two people who live across the street. The female involved was found to have assaulted her boyfriend, with whom she has a child. She was arrested and transported to jail, while the male party was found to have a warrant from the Butler County Sherif’s Ofce and was transported by a deputy.

smith646@miamioh.edu

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Gwen Fears and Amy Bergerson, co-chairs of the committee to change Miami University’s mission statement, visited the Associated Student Government (ASG) on Tuesday, March 12. They shared the key concepts used to decide the statement and listened to senators’ feedback on those concepts.

Fears said the committee received around 1,000 responses from a survey sent to Miami faculty, staf and students last semester. Since then, the committee has held town hall meetings at the regional and Oxford campuses.

Fears expressed the importance of community representation in determining the mission statement and how the committee wants to hear from everyone connected to Miami.

Miami’s mission statement was last updated in 2008. Fears and Bergerson both said that it was time for a change, mentioning the current statement’s length as a problem. The committee wants to shorten it to less than 10 sentences.

Bergerson outlined the fve concepts identifed in the survey data: character, community, diversity and

inclusion, expertise and content, and the future. She said the committee is considering the idea of shared importance.

“We are striving for people to have exceptional experiences,” Bergerson said.

Bergerson said the terms “diversity” and “inclusion” may not be explicitly included, but the committee acknowledged their importance.

Some senators suggested that the concept of diversity and inclusion could be combined with character or community.

Bergerson said “Love and Honor” was recorded in the survey and some senators voiced their agreement, saying it should be incorporated.

Senators Nya Hodge and Jackson Abram talked about the incorporation of history into the mission statement, and that it should include Miami’s past and present.

“In order to face the discomfort [of history], we have to explain it,” Hodge said. “Because then once again, we are doing a disservice to Black and brown students who go to this campus. It’s not always comfortable.”

Senator Gracie Grady wanted to include students’ and alumni’s connection to Miami in the updated

“In a bit of a rut right now”: Students struggle to find computer science jobs

for the past few years. Despite these challenges, Hutson doesn’t think that the job market is in permanent decline.

“Five or six years ago, everybody was saying, ‘You need to learn how to code,’” Hutson said. “Well now people do know how to code and they’re all looking for a job. I think we’re just in a bit of a rut right now, and [the job market] will eventually rebound.”

Eric Bachmann, the chair of the department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, wrote in an email to The Miami Student that Miami students have more or less succeeded at getting jobs after graduation.

“Based on senior exit interview data, we are continuing to see virtually 100% placement for CSE graduates,” Bachmann wrote. “However, my sense is that the job search has become more difcult and is taking longer than in the recent past.”

Bachmann also emphasized how the computer science job market has always experienced ups and downs. After the industry experiences dropofs, he said, it later comes back stronger. Although the consensus is that the job market will improve in the future, some students still have reservations. Ben Zazycki, a frst-year computer science major, is planning to look for an internship next year after being unsuccessful this spring.

“Next year I plan to start [internship applications] basically as soon as the semester starts,” Zazycki said. “I am a little anxious about being able to fnd one, though ... an employer I talked to for a job I applied at said that they have received more applications for this summer than ever before.”

Zazycki said even his friends joke about the perceived loss in value of computer science degrees.

“My friends in other majors always talk about jokes on the internet that are talking about how devalued computer science degrees are,” Zazycki said. “They’re just joking, but I think there’s an ounce of truth in it. The notion that [it’s a] degree where you go in and it’s an easy path to one specifc job … that notion is kind of dead.”

Raynold agreed that the idea of

what a computer science major leads to is generally not the reality.

“When you’re in high school, a lot of people who just don’t know what they want to do are going to go into computer science,” Raynold said. “And secondly, a lot of people really bought into the idea that you’re going to go major in computer science and come out with a $120K entry salary … and that is just not there.”

So, how do students make sure they can get a job by the time they graduate? Norm Krumpe, the lead departmental adviser for computer science and software engineering, said the key is casting a wide net as early as possible.

“Always start early and leave no stone unturned,” Krumpe said. “You have to go the extra mile and look everywhere. The students who get the most internships and are the most successful are the ones who go beyond in most of their classes, internships, research or projects.”

Krumpe, who helped start an “internship night” where students could network with other students who had already done internships, said the department was continually changing its curriculum in order to respond to new trends in the computer science world. Over the next year, he expects the department to ofer more course oferings focused on deep learning and generative AI, and the university recently added a cybersecurity major.

For seniors about to graduate without a job lined up, the answer may be more school.

“I actually already got accepted into graduate school,” Hutson said. “I think that if a computer science graduate can’t fnd work right now, graduate school can let them gather more skills, network and maybe get more internships while in school, which I think could boost their chances of getting a full time job in the future.”

moorese6@miamioh.edu

version.

“You don’t lose your identity once you graduate,” Grady said.

The committee will submit the revised statement to Miami’s Board of Trustees in September. To end its meeting, ASG heard student concerns and reports.

Secretary of On-Campus Afairs Grace Payne said students need to confrm food poisoning with a positive test. If they do not take a test, there’s little the university can do. Additionally, Grubhub cannot list allergens on the app because of legal restrictions, but they are available through Miami’s website. The next ASG meeting will be at 6 p.m. on March 19 in the Joslin Senate Chamber.

grovergc@miamioh.edu

Men’s swim and dive claim MAC title for the fourth year in a row

South African native and senior Duvenhage had multiple standout performances that weekend, winning the 200 individual medley (IM) on day two in 1:43.96, which qualifed him for an NCAA B cut. On day three, Duvenhage won the 100 butterfy as well in 46.37, just .11 seconds ahead of his Southern Illinois University opponent, Jack Khrypunov. Duvenhage set yet another pool record in the 100 backstroke, fnishing frst place overall (46.17) and qualifying for the NCAA tournament again. After the championship weekend, the MAC named Duvenhage as the most outstanding senior during the 2024 Men’s Swimming & Diving Postseason Awards, as well as being named All-MAC First Team.

Other All-MAC First-Team nominees were Cotton and Blazer. AllMAC Second Team swimmers were

Djokovic, Menchhofer, Kmiliauskis, Yonatan Rosin, Mason Miller and Gabriel Perseguin. Menchhofer fnished second overall in the 500 freestyle clocking a time of 4:26.67 just moments behind the race champion. The frstyear also fnished second in the 200 freestyle, coming in at 1:36.64 before receiving his MAC recognition.

Other recognized NCAA qualifers were Cotton in the 200 IM (1:45.98), 400 IM (3:48.46) and 200 butterfy (1:45.43) as well as Blazer in the 100 backstroke (47.20).

The post-season competition will continue with the NCAA Zone Diving Championships set to take place March 14-16 in Louisville, Kentucky, followed by the women’s NCAA Championships beginning March 20 in Athens, Georgia. The men’s NCAA Championships will begin on March 27 in Indianapolis, Indiana. lubyhj@miamioh.edu

GRACE GROVER

GRAPHIC BY MACEY CHAMBERLIN

‘At the halfway point’: How Miami’s Honors College helps students succeed while navigating changes

MOLLY FAHY

THE MIAMI STUDENT

When Miami University announced that it was reorganizing its Honors Program in April 2020, students were introduced to the newly renamed Honors College. The following fall semester, a whole new set of requirements and opportunities were rolled out for honors students to utilize.

“We were looking at comparable competitor institutions, and saying, ‘Look at [how their] profle of their student has increased, given the fact that they just started an Honors College,’” said Zeb Baker, the executive director of the Honors College.

After reviewing this data, Baker said the university concluded that

having an honors college was necessary to attract top students from across the state and country.

However, rebranding the Honors Program as the Honors College was not the only change Miami made to attract top students from around the world. The transition from the Honors Program to the Honors College brought more academically rigorous classes, opportunities to work oneon-one with Miami faculty, a minimum GPA requirement and a senior capstone project.

Kayla Williams, a frst-year public administration and social studies education major, found that there were many things she had to do to remain in the Honors College when she started at Miami last semester.

Honors students are required

to maintain a minimum 3.25 GPA, take two designated honors classes in their frst year, complete four honors experiences and do an extensive senior capstone project.

“[This semester] I’m doing an honors experience rather than an honors class,” Williams said. “[I’m in a] book club where we read politically based books.”

The requirements that current Honors College students have to achieve are a stark departure from what students in the old Honors Program had to accomplish.

Cameron Tiefenthaler, a senior political science and business analytics major, was admitted into the Honors Program her frst year and only had to complete honors experiences.

“There were eight criteria we had to fulfll,” Tiefenthaler said. “Half of them had to be academic-related, and the other half could be professional or leadership experiences. You could do a senior honors thesis, but that was not a requirement. I don’t think there were requirements for our GPA.”

But of all the changes, the one that was felt the most was Miami’s emphasis on its honors program and students.

“I think the biggest change was just the emphasis that the university was placing on having this opportunity of the Honors College to exist,” Baker said.

Tiefenthaler echoed the senti-

ment. “[The transition] gave more resources to the Honors Program, more staf, more fnances and space to enhance the experience of honors students on campus,” Tiefenthaler said.

Although the Honors College may be more academically rigorous and seem daunting to students, Baker said students are sticking with it. Just 18 of the 600 sophomores who entered Miami as members of the Honors College have left the university, a retention rate of more than 95%.

Although a greater amount of resources were used to shape the Honors College, the changes to the student acceptance process were the greatest factor in how the Honors College looks today. While 83% of students who submitted applications to Miami were admitted in Fall 2023, the acceptance rate for the Honors College was just 22%, according to Baker.

“That was equal to the acceptance rate for all undergraduate programs at [UNC] Chapel Hill and [UC] Berkeley,” Baker said. “So, yes, it’s become more competitive and a little bit more selective.”

When the Honors Program transitioned into the Honors College, it also revamped its admissions process. Originally, students had to write a separate essay to be admitted into the Honors Program. Now, prospective students have to select a box

How one professor and her classes are preserving Oxford’s Black history

SEAN SCOTT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

In Miami University’s history department, students can take their pick at courses spanning thousands of years across every continent.

Interested in world history before 1500? There’s a class for that. Not quite through your “Percy Jackson” phase? Take a class on ancient Rome.

Drawn to how gender plays a role in Middle Eastern Conficts? HST 360Q has you covered.

But you don’t have to cross oceans or eons to make historical inquiries.

Jazma Sutton and her students are focusing on Oxford for her courses

this semester.

Sutton, an assistant professor of history, teaches The Black Midwest (HST 350Q) and Black Women in America (HST 450D) classes. In both courses, she has students working with the Smith Library of Regional History and Miami’s archives to document and preserve Black history in Oxford.

“I try to zoom in on the local perspective,” Sutton said. “What was the African American experience like in Oxford and at Miami University? As much as possible, I incorporate their stories [and] primary sources related to them into the classroom.”

Part of the local perspective Sut-

ton brings into the classroom comes from her partnership with local archives. For Miami’s archives, she had students help describe documents in the Jennie Elder Suel collection, which will eventually be digitized.

Jacky Johnson, university archivist, said the Suel collection includes photographs, newspaper clippings, letters, marriage certifcates and other items related to Black history in Oxford that Suel donated in the 1990s. Johnson said professors often use the university’s archives for educational purposes.

“Our focus is that we continue to help [Sutton] and support her in her research, along with the students,” Johnson said. “Every student in her class is an undergraduate researcher or a graduate researcher, so it’s important for us to make sure that we help them and that we exceed their goals.”

Sutton was born and raised in the Midwest, but her interest in regional Black history didn’t develop until she attended Southern Illinois University.

“It wasn’t until I got to college that I even started to learn about African American history besides the few

‘I keep coming back’: Miami’s increase in demand for learning services

TAYLOR STUMBAUGH

CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR

Across Miami University’s campus, the Rinella Learning Center and the Miller Center for Student Disability Services have seen an increase in students walking through their doors. Individual tutoring sessions, supplemental instruction and test proctoring are just a few things ofered by Rinella, and all services are open to everyone.

The two centers have worked hand-in-hand for years. Gary Ritz, the associate director of the Rinella Learning Center, said the partnership is twofold. Once a student has registered through the Miller Center and decides assistance is needed, they’re transferred to the Rinella Learning Center and paired with a learning specialist and/or academic coach. The second part of their relationship deals with testing accommodations for students with learning disabilities.

“We like to try to make sure that

we’re addressing [the] diferent needs of diferent students,” Ritz said.

According to a special report from December 2023’s University Senate, tutoring services and supplemental instruction usage have increased since 2015. From 2018-2023, the number of students afliated with the Miller Center has increased from 2,000 to 3,100.

Ritz believes there are a few things pushing the numbers up.

Every new school year gains larger frst-year classes, which causes the student population to grow, and Rinella with it. The incoming frstyears, and sometimes sophomores, then take courses like biology, chemistry and statistics that often require the most help.

Ritz said Miami is also seeing those high school and middle school students whose education was afected by COVID-19.

“I think there’s still some remnants of the pandemic and of the help-seeking that students kind of need, based of of maybe some lack of skills that they didn’t develop in high school as much as what they had in the past at that point,” Ritz said. He also pointed toward how re-

cent classes are more open to seeking help.

“We’re seeing that not just with our ofce, [but] if you talk to a counseling center, if you talk to other ones, students are a little bit more comfortable with asking for help when they need it,” Ritz said.

According to a report by the Rinella Center, in the 2022-2023 academic year, a combined 32,142 sessions were attended for tutoring and supplemental instruction. The main focus of growth is the ratio of students to visits. Last year’s average was more than seven visits per student.

“The service is quality enough that they’re coming back, and they’re coming back often at that point, and so that’s what we’re really noticing,” Ritz said. “[What] we want to focus on is making sure students feel comfortable with coming back on a regular basis.”

With this increased demand, the center has also taken on more tutors, now totaling 54.

Caroline Daggett, a senior biomedical engineering student at Miami, has been tutoring since the fall of her sophomore year, the year following COVID-19 when the campus

when they’re applying to Miami that would allow the Honors College to look at just their regular admission application.

“We’re doing much more of a holistic review of students, really looking at each student on the basis of who they are,” Baker said. “We want more English majors. We want more teacher ed majors.”

For prospective students who want to apply to the Honors College and may seem intimidated by all of the requirements, Williams said it is all worth it in the end.

“[The Honors College] has set me up for success like no other program at Miami has,” Williams said. “[I’d] absolutely recommend it.”

Now that the Honors College is halfway through its fve-year transition plan, Baker expressed that there are many more things for current and future honors students to look forward to.

“We’re really at an important moment where we’re at the halfway point of a fve-year rollout,” Baker said. “We are working with all of our divisions here to really think about how to create really meaningful pathways for students in those divisions to marry honors education and whatever feld those students are studying, and I think that’s exciting.”

fahymm@miamioh.edu

individuals that we oftentimes like to focus on — MLK, Rosa Parks, et cetera,” Sutton said. “So I started to get a more complicated history of the United States from the perspective of African Americans in college.”

Miami is a predominantly white institution, and Sutton knows that many students may take their frst class focused on African American history while on campus. While that does pose a challenge, Sutton also sees it as an opportunity to provide students with a new perspective.

“There’s a lot of myth breaking that we have to start of with foundationally in my class … It allows me to introduce them to an aspect of history or a diferent type of way of doing history than they typically associate with it,” Sutton said. Beyond teaching her students about Black history in the region, Sutton hopes her hands-on approach to local history will have a positive impact on the community. By having her students describe and annotate primary source documents and explicitly relate them to Black history, her goal is to make it easier for educators and interested members of the community to fnd these resources and incorporate them into their teaching.

If someone wanted to go to the Smith Library today and research local Black history, Sutton said they would have to start broadly and narrow their focus to fnd the right resources. Her classes’ work will change that. “The archival resource guide is … just to help future researchers, stu-

dents, anybody interested in this history, descendants of the individuals that have lived here, to have a better research process,” Sutton said.

Elijah Walter, a senior history major and graduate student, is taking his second course with Sutton this semester, Black Women in America. He said the frst week of class was especially helpful in understanding how to approach Black history with sensitivity. Sutton focused on the proper terminology to use in discussions, such as saying enslaved people instead of slaves.

“[Sutton told us] don’t be scared to bring up something into discussion,” Walter said. “If you’ve maybe misunderstood this article, don’t be embarrassed. It’s your bias you don’t understand, it’s still good to bring up and have a discussion about it.”

Olivia Freeman, a frst-year chemical engineering major, took a course with Sutton last semester in African American history before deciding to enroll in a course with her again this spring.

Freeman said Sutton is the frst Black female instructor she’s had since ffth grade. She said having Sutton to look up to has helped her feel less isolated on Miami’s Oxford campus, which is 80% white and only 3% Black.

“As a Black woman, I like learning more about Black women in America, like our place in history here,” Freeman said, “and the kind of history I will be able to leave when I’m of into the world.”

scottsr2@miamioh.edu

was transitioning back to in-person classes. “As a head tutor, we’ve been doing a really big initiative,” Daggett said, “to get tutors more involved and kind of make it more fun for them.”

Daggett believes that the center’s eforts to reach out to parents and students have led to the infux of students seeking academic assistance.

“I’m kind of glad people are taking advantage of something that’s literally free,” Daggett said. As the Rinella Center transitions into next year, Daggett hopes to hire 15 new tutors to replace her and the other graduating seniors.

Keya La Baugh, a frst-year psychology and pre-med major, has frequently used the center since classes

began this spring. She gets tutored in statistics and chemistry.

“I love that it’s free,” La Baugh said. “That helps a lot. I love it. I keep coming back.”

La Baugh said it was easy to set up a weekly tutoring time at the beginning of the spring semester and had no further worries. She has used the tutoring center and supplemental instruction sessions this semester and plans to utilize the center next year for her organic chemistry course. On the Rinella Center website, students can sign up for content-based academic support services and service-based options.

westonce@miamioh.edu stumbata@miamioh.edu

CLAIRE WESTON THE MIAMI STUDENT

JAZMA SUTTON (LEFT) HELPS GRADUATE STUDENT TYAYIA YOUNG

‘Without community, you’re missing something’: How one Miami student is using social media and art to build a community

ALICE MOMANY

PRINT MANAGING EDITOR

In October 2017, Isa Obradovich laid out her sketchbook with a colored pencil drawing of a mermaid, snapped a photo and posted it to Instagram.

Students from her middle school liked the post and commented on her artistic ability. She had only been drawing for a little more than two years, but the validation was enough for her to keep going.

A year later, she reached 10,000 followers on the social media app. Now, she has more than 170,000 followers on Instagram and 1 million followers on TikTok. Her social media accounts consist of progress pictures, process videos and fnished products, but she doesn’t consider herself an infuencer.

“I’m an artist and an educator frst, and then I also do content creation on the side,” said Obradovich, a sophomore art education major at Miami University.

Many of her life experiences were shaped by the teachers she’s had along the way, which is a big part of why she wants to work in education.

In addition to studying art education, Obradovich is working toward her endorsement certifcation for Teaching in English to Speakers of Other Languages to become an art teacher for English language learners.

Obradovich is French-Peruvian, and English is her third language. She grew up speaking French and Spanish at home, but once she got to preschool, she knew she was different. While the other children were learning the color purple from yellow, her music teacher, who was the only teacher at the school who spoke Spanish, worked with Obradovich to learn English.

“Just having someone there who cared and was taking the time and effort to help me get acclimated to [the culture] … and be there for the kids who feel like they don’t ft in, who feel so behind, who feel so isolated, is something that I want to do,” Obradovich said.

In the second grade, she knew she wanted to become a teacher when working on a worksheet about the weather, but it wasn’t until she switched middle schools that her interest in art peaked.

“In middle school, I had the most incredible art teacher,” Obradovich said. “He believed in me and saw my worth and my value, not only as an

artist but also as a human being.”

Charles Raubacher, Obradovich’s middle school art teacher, said he remembered her coming into his classroom to draw during lunch or staying after school to work on her pieces. Inspired by her dedication and talent, he began to give her more challenging assignments that went beyond the regular requirements of the class.

“Typically, I would almost force every student to do the same assignments, but with her, I did not do that,” Raubacher said.

Obradovich goes back to Raubacher’s classroom to help out in various ways, hoping that one day, she will be that person for others.

Raubacher, who taught Obradovich when she frst started on Instagram, said he was not surprised to see her gain a mass following.

“She was using social media the way it’s supposed to be used, in a positive manner, trying to reach out and get feedback,” he said. “But she was also communicating and spreading her art, which is difcult.”

Obradovich also manages her account, meaning she responds to all of her own emails, signs all of her contracts and decides which brands to partner with. While the business side of social media is taxing, she said the toxicity is worse.

“Once you get to a certain point of having attention on you, some of it’s bound to be negative,” Obradovich said. “There were so many times where I quit. I was like, ‘I’m never doing this again … I’m not going to

‘Something for everyone’: How students at Miami navigate their faith through college

ALICE MOMANY PRINT MANAGING EDITOR

When Olivia Waits settled into her dorm during her frst year at Miami University, she was met with the fear and anxiety that many students struggle with when adjusting to the college transition. She worried about making friends, ftting in and fnding a community. To help combat the overwhelming chaos in her life, she leaned on one of the very few constants in her life: her faith.

come back.’”

But then, she did.

“I made a lot of friends on there at a time when I didn’t really have that many people to rely on,” Obradovich said. “I made a lot of lifelong friends on the internet … They mean so much to me, and I just couldn’t let that go.” A common theme refected throughout Obradovich’s social media and in her day-to-day life is community. Her dream is to connect her platform on social media with education.

“I think that without community, you’re missing something,” Obradovich said. “That’s what I was missing for forever … When you fnd your community in real life, that’s really special.”

At Miami, Obradovich already has some experience teaching as an undergraduate assistant (UA) for Jordan Fenton, an associate professor of art history. She took Fenton’s ART162 African, Oceania and Native American art history class in the spring of her frst year, and it quickly became a favorite. She enjoyed learning about non-Western art and the struggles of colonization that indigenous communities experienced.

Her natural enjoyment of the course motivated her to be an active participant in the class, prompting Fenton to ask her to be a UA. An educator himself, Fenton said students like Obradovich make him confdent in the future of art education.

“In this particular moment in society, in higher education, and education in general, the humanities, the arts, are not given the value they deserve, and that’s unfortunate,” Fenton said. “Knowing that I have the opportunity to help, mentor, teach, and push Isa to the next level, I’m confdent that our future is safe in the hands of someone like Isa.”

Despite being warned about the future of the education landscape, Obradovich can’t wait to instill in her students the drive to be a champion for the arts.

“You only hear about the bad things, you don’t hear about the one student whose life was changed for the better by an educator who really believed in them,” Obradovich said, refecting on the many who believe in her. “But I think that’s important to continue.”

momanyaj@miamioh.edu

Now, Waits can be found every Sunday sitting about seven pews back from the altar at Faith Lutheran Church. For Waits, now a junior kinesiology major, her relationship with her religion began at a young age. She grew up in Georgetown, a small town near Cincinnati, so her entire family would clamber into the chapel on Sundays to be in each other’s presence. When the service was over, they knew they would all see each other again next week.

“Going to church on Sunday was a nice grounding moment,” Waits said. “It was a piece of home. It was a good reset for the next week.”

When Waits got to Miami, she wanted to fnd a similar environment to practice her religion while meeting people with the same beliefs. Her pastor recommended Faith Lutheran Church, and she decided to attend a service. Now, she is the leader of its campus ministry program, hoping to help others looking for a similar community.

The same was true for Aissetou Diombera, a junior fnance major who grew up in the African Muslim faith. She didn’t realize how important her faith was to her until she celebrated her frst Ramadan away from home. Although she was sad about celebrating the Islamic holiday without family and friends, she met new people at Miami who quickly helped fll that gap.

Diombera grew up spending most of her weekends at the mosque her family worshiped at and has been an active member of Young Muslims Cincinnati Sisters throughout college. There, she works with young girls to help them grow and foster their faith.

The community aspect of Islam prompted Diombera to get involved with the Muslim Students’ Association at Miami.

“A lot of people see religion and see Islam as really strict and you can’t do anything that you really want, but when you look at it through a diferent lens … you can have a diferent meaning with religion,” Diombera said. Finding a diferent meaning of religion was something that Maya Mehlman, a senior media and communication major, discovered when she came to Miami.

Mehlman grew up practicing conservative Judaism, a form of the religion her parents still practice today. However, during her second semester at Miami, her sorority sister took her to a dinner hosted by Chabad, an organization that promotes orthodox Judaism. After attending her frst dinner, she saw it as an opportunity to engage with students who took a diferent approach to the religion she grew up in, but her parents were con-

cerned when she joined.

“They are happy now that I want to practice my Judaism and are seeking out opportunities and ways to do that, rather than dragging me to the synagogue on the weekends or Hebrew school,” Mehlman said.

Mehlman, who is now the president of Chabad, said going to Hebrew School on Sunday and Wednesday felt like something she had to do, rather than wanted to do, but college changed that.

“College does give you a great opportunity to explore other religions or just explore other variations of your faith,” Mehlman said.

For others, college is an opportunity to strengthen your faith. Anna Pritchard, a junior organizational leadership major, runs the evangelization team at the Catholic Newman Center, a campus ministry organization.

While Pritchard is passionate about her beliefs today, that hasn’t always been the case. Pritchard grew up in the Catholic faith, and when she was young, her parents got divorced – an action that is traditionally looked down upon within the religion. After her parents split, Pritchard began to question her faith. However, instead of falling out of her beliefs, it strengthened them.

“I thought the Church was kind of just all about rules until I learned that it’s more about what the Church offers, not so much what it takes away,” Pritchard said.

In Pritchard’s current role with the Newman Center, she organizes events to get students involved with the Catholic faith.

While some struggle with their faith, others have always known where they stand with their beliefs, and college is an opportunity to strengthen that. Andrew Stigler, a senior emerging technology in business and design major, grew up non-denominational Christian and participated in youth groups as an extracurricular activity outside of school. Because Stigler went to public school, youth group was an opportunity where he could engage with his faith.

He began participating in Young Life, a global Christian organization where leaders go to area schools to help foster faith, when he was in middle school. He participated in the program throughout high school, and when he came to Miami, he had no doubt about becoming a leader.

“[I] wanted to give back to an organization that gave so much to me,” Stigler said. Stigler is a leader at Lakota East middle schools in West Chester where he holds weekly Bible studies and hosts events where the students play games, sing songs and end with Christian discussions. Stigler engages with his faith outside of Young Life, too, by living with people who share his same beliefs. With many faith-based student organizations at Miami, there are many opportunities both on and of campus to connect with religious beliefs or discover a new one.

“There’s some great organizations on campus, but they’re just not always the ft for everybody,” Waits said. “And so it’s nice that there is something for everybody.” momanyaj@miamioh.edu

OXFORD AND MIAMI UNIVERSITY BOTH OFFER MANY OPTIONS FOR STUDENTS TO ENGAGE WITH RELIGION. PHOTO BY JAKE RUFFER

ISA OBRADOVICH, A SOPHOMORE ART EDUCATION MAJOR, CENTERS HER SOCIAL MEDIA AND DAY-TO-DAY LIFE AROUND COMMUNITY. PHOTO BY ALICE MOMANY

OBRADOVICH HOPES HER FUTURE STUDENTS WILL BE AS PASSIONATE ABOUT ART AS SHE IS. PHOTO BY ALICE MOMANY

JIM RUBENSTEIN COMMUNITY COLUMNIST

Leafy greens, including spinach, Swiss chard and kale, are the principal local vegetables available this time of year at Oxford’s Farmers Market. Our local farmers have fgured out how to grow leafy greens indoors when it is still too cold to plant outside.

I like to look up the history and geography of our local produce. Spinach and chard have similar stories. Both were domesticated in Asia, carried to Europe by traders and brought across the Atlantic Ocean by European settlers. Precise dates and responsible individuals are unknown.

I expected to fnd a similar story about kale, but I was wrong. We know kale’s precise arrival in the United States. It was brought to the United States from present-day Croatia in 1900 by David Fairchild, who was known as the Food Spy.

At the age of 22, Fairchild was hired to form the Section of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For the next several decades, Fairchild traveled around the world in search of plants, cuttings, seeds and ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables that he considered suitable for growing and consuming in the United States.

Fairchild was responsible for introducing more than 200,000 plant species into the United States during the 1890s and frst decade of the twentieth century, ranging from avocado to zucchini.

Fairchild was known as the Food Spy because he sometimes resorted to theft and undercover work. For example, he stole lemons that he found growing in Corsica and smuggled them out of the island in his pockets. America’s beer industry is built on hops that Fairchild snuck out one night from a well-guarded feld in Germany.

Because of Fairchild, Americans grow and consume cashews, pistachios, quinoa, soybeans and dozens of other foods – not to mention beer. He is credited with having a greater impact than any other individual on what American farmers grow and what Americans consume. He was also responsible for bringing the cherry blossom trees from Japan to Washington, D.C.

At the Farmers Market, the freshly-picked leafy greens are sold in plastic bags. Make sure to buy enough, because a big bag of greens cooks down to only two portions. The reason is that leafy greens are composed mostly of water: 86% of kale, 91% of spinach and 93% of chard.

To prepare fresh chard and kale for cooking, tear the leaves of the pithy stalks. Spinach doesn’t require this step. If the stalks look good, don’t discard them. Chop them up and throw them into a stir-fry.

Don’t cook the greens in a pot of boiling water. The cooked greens will emerge waterlogged, and most of the nutrients will leach into the water. The best way to cook leafy greens is in a large skillet. Gently heat a small amount of olive oil and add the leaves a few at a time. Keep adding more

For students, making time for the gym is hard. Between writing papers, reading books and taking tests, those trying to squeeze in an hour at Miami University’s rec center will often fnd it absolutely packed.

Wall to wall, as far as the eye can see, gym bros and girls dominate the space. Excessive wait times for a rack, bench or machine can easily test anyone’s patience. This can make it difcult to stay in the correct headspace students need to work out.

For residents who don’t have a connection to Miami and students who want to get away from the crowds, Oxford has several less populated workout options to explore.

Anytime Fitness

Anytime Fitness is located just of campus on 5276 College Corner Pike, heading toward Walmart. Members can sign up for one of three payment plans: a 12-month basic membership for $50 a month, a 12-month premium membership for $70 a month or an open-ended membership that costs $78 a month and can be canceled any time.

One of the perks that comes with

being a premium member at this gym comes in the form of access to its red light therapy beds and Evolt 360 body scanner. Kelsey Telker, manager at Anytime Fitness, said that the red light therapy beds have quite the number of capabilities and benefts.

“The red light therapy basically looks like a tanning bed, but it does the opposite,” Telker said. “It’s great for anti-aging, helps with joint infammation and with recovery after a workout.”

Anytime Fitness ofers all of the necessary machines and equipment a member might need on a 24/7 basis. The gym also provides multiple personal training options. Private training includes one-on-one attention for a client and trainer. Semi-private training can be thought of as a small group session for you and your friends. Lastly, group training involves a larger number of people training together.

Prime Fitness

Prime Fitness is a family-owned gym in Oxford, located down the street from Gaslight Brewhouse on 507 S. College Ave. The gym, owned by brothers Dakota and Nick Byrd who live mere minutes away, operates 24/7. Potential clients can call ahead to schedule a tour or walk-in any day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

While ofering all of the amenities and equipment that can be expected from a gym, Prime Fitness prides itself on a particular aspect of its facilities. Dakota Byrd said the facility’s fattering lighting keeps members coming back.

“We have pink, blue and purple

lights,” Byrd said. “We’ve done research and [that’s] what helps show your muscles of best.”

Prime Fitness sets its payment plans up with Miami students in mind. The gym ofers either a $45 per month yearly plan or a $50 per month monthly plan. On top of the yearly plan, the gym allows students to take of two months of fees to cover things like winter break when they won’t be in town to use the gym.

Planet Fitness

This purple-and-yellow-themed gym franchise can be recognized all around the country. Ofering a wide selection of workout equipment and ample space to exercise in, the nearest Planet Fitness is just 20 minutes down the road in Hamilton.

Planet Fitness ofers two membership packages, both of which include a starter fee for account activation. Opting for the black card entails a premium membership which costs roughly $25 per month.

With this membership, members gain unlimited access to all Planet Fitness locations and can bring a guest with them anytime they choose to. The black card also gives members access to some of the gym’s more exclusive facilities, such as massage chairs and tanning booths. There is also the regular membership, which lets members access the Hamilton gym and costs $10 per month. The gym is open weekdays from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on weekends from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Along with the amenities Planet Fitness ofers, Adrianna Day, the club manager at the gym, said that one of

the benefts anyone, member or not, can get is the Planet Fitness app.

“There are tons of diferent videos you can follow along with, whether it be at the gym or at home, you don’t even have to be a member to have access to some of these videos,” Day said. “You can just download the app and use it.”

Work out at home

The thought of working out at home can often rehash COVID-19 memories. Whether you’re reminiscent about the days of lockdown or glad to be back out in the world, it’s hard to deny that many people’s ftness patterns were changed during the pandemic. Working out at home ofers many benefts despite what some may think.

For one, it’s free. There are no monthly withdrawals to worry about. While most college students probably lack the equipment that commercial or private gyms can aford, body-weight exercises can be just as impactful.

Working out at home means one can do it on their own time and in their own privacy. You can sweat it out away from judgy eyes or even the tripod cameras set up by the so called, “gym-fuencers” often found in gyms.

It can be hard to get into working out. Tack on the frequent capacity problems of Miami’s rec center, and an average gym-goer may just be inclined to turn away. Before you give up, try to continue in your ftness journey at one of the alternative options listed here.

skolnyjc@miamioh.edu

JOEY SKOLNY

THE MIAMI STUDENT

MOLLY FAHY

THE MIAMI STUDENT

For Miami University students spending their break in Oxford, spring break can seem boring; however, there are still plenty of ways to have fun without going broke. Miami’s spring break runs from March 25-31. Check out the events below if you’re staying in the area.

Adult-only easter egg hunt

The City of Oxford is hosting an adult-only easter egg hunt at the Oxford Community Park on March 28 at 7 p.m. Anyone 18 years or older can meet at the park’s basketball courts and have the chance to search for eggs that are flled with coupons and other fun prizes.

Friday public skating

On March 29, from 12:10 to 1:10 p.m, Miami will open up the Goggin Ice Arena to the public for ice skating. Admission is $5 and includes a free skate rental. If you have a Miami ID, admission and the skate rental are free.

Museums

The Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum will be open throughout spring break, which is a perfect opportunity to see all of its new exhibits. Current collections include “The World in Which We Live: The Art of Environmental Awareness,” an exhibit focusing on the environment and “Minohsayaki: ‘Painted Robes,’” an exhibit featuring Myaamia Art. Admission is free for everyone.

Explore Oxford’s natural areas Oxford has a lot of great parks and trails, and the warmer spring weather is the perfect time to enjoy them.

Hueston Woods State Park, Pefer Park and the Oxford Area Trail System (OATS) ofer lots of great places to hike, bike or explore. Not sure where to start? Check out our list of the best trails in Oxford before heading out.

Catch up on your ‘to read’ list With recent book prizes such as The Booker Prize and the Women’s Prize for Fiction announcing their longlist and winners for the best books of 2023, a week-long break is the perfect time to catch up on all of these good books. If you have a library card, the Lane Libraries - Oxford branch has all of these books and more available.

Try new restaurants

A lot of restaurants have opened in Oxford recently, from Tous les Jours to several chicken restaurants. With most students leaving for spring break, it should be easy to enjoy their tasty oferings without a huge crowd. Spruce up your spring wardrobe

Oxford has a lot of great shops to explore. Juniper, The Apple Tree and several second-hand clothing stores ofer students opportunities to add to their spring wardrobe at a less expensive price.

fahymm@miamioh.edu

OLIVIA PATEL ASST. CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY EDITOR

With the November elections less than eight months away, Oxford city council and staf debated possible solutions to Oxford Fire Department’s ongoing fnancial defcit. Assistant city manager Jessica Greene presented these possible solutions to council members last Tuesday.

According to Greene, Oxford’s population has increased by 1,700 residents in the past decade, contributing to a gradual rise in calls over the years. Now, the defcit is too large to be ignored.

“We have to do something,” Greene said. “We acknowledge that this is hard, but something has to be done, otherwise we will have to make some drastic cuts in services or public safety.”

Greene opened the work session by discussing the source of most fre and EMS calls. In 2023, The Knolls, Woodland Country Manor and Parkview Arms Apartments were the leading sources of emergency, followed by Brick Street Bar. The Knolls, a retirement community, accounted for 176 calls compared to Brick Street, which totaled to 40.

For fre calls, four of the fve leading sources came from Miami University housing. In 2023, Hepburn

Hall, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house and Havighurst Hall were the three leading sources of calls.

In 2023, nearly a quarter of all fre and EMS calls came from Miami University’s on-campus properties. Although Miami students make up a large portion of the calls, Oxford’s elderly population accounted for 43.4% of EMS calls in 2023, surpassing the number of calls made by students. However, Chantel Raghu, vice mayor of Oxford, said the elderly should not be taxed for the number of calls they make.

“I struggle with [the idea of] taxing the elderly,” Raghu said. “I hope that one day when I am older and may need assistance, I won’t be living in a society that punishes the elderly for needing to call the fre department.”

At the current rate from 2023, the fre department faces a $1.82 million average annual defcit over the next 12 years. For 2024, this number was adjusted when considering new contract wages, applying

property tax income from new valuation and six new staf, amounting to $1.66 million over the next 12 years. To address the situation, Greene presented three possible solutions to Miami President Gregory Crawford’s executive cabinet in December.

The frst solution presented and recommended by city staf is a property tax levy, so that those at Miami can pay a share of the fre and EMS services they use, said Greene. The staf recommends this because Oxford has the lowest property tax in Butler County, and the addition of a property tax would bring Oxford to the third lowest property tax town. Miami verbally agreed to contributing to a property tax, but city staf has not shared any concrete numbers with the university, Greene said. According to data presented by Greene, city staf would ask Miami to contribute in lieu of taxes based on the 36.9% of Miami’s students living on campus. This amount is currently set at $612,312 from Miami and is subject to change. Students living of campus would contribute to this property tax through their rental property owner. Greene also presented an income tax levy, which would increase income tax from the current 2% to 2.3%. Through this, Miami is still willing to assist fnancially; however, the formula of how it would contribute has yet to be determined. Miami employees currently pay the income tax, making up the “largest revenue source,” according to city manager Doug Elliott. Councilor Jason Bracken didn’tt see this as a fair solution because it doesn’t address the strain students themselves place on the fre department through the number of calls.

In place of an income or property tax, Bracken suggested that Greene should present to Miami a student fee of $83, the yearly cost per student to address the $1.82

million defcit, in order for Miami students to fairly contribute.

“Every student I’ve talked to would have no problem with the [fee],” Bracken said. The third solution involves a public input strategy, which would necessitate an education campaign with the community through a series of question-and-answer sessions regarding the defcit. With these three solutions in discussion, councilors asked staf if the fre department can cut any internal costs, including by changing how the department handles false calls, which made up 682 of the total 1,098 calls in 2022. Elliott said he hopes some of the responsibility for these calls can shift onto Miami’s police department, so the fre department would only respond in a case of actual emergency. Beyond its fnancial woes, the fre department is also facing a personnel shortage. The nine current full-time fre and EMS employees are overworked and exhausted, Raghu said, sometimes working up to 48-hour shifts at a time.

“The biggest issue is we don’t have enough people,” Elliott said. “We have to have a system that is sustainable and equitable.”

Councilors and staf debated how Miami students should weigh into the situation, and what a fair solution looks like for all those who use Oxford’s fre and EMS services. As Greene prepares to meet with Miami in the near future, conversations about the fre department will continue to circulate by city staf and councilors.

patelou@miamioh.edu

Reds on the rise: Preseason expectations after surprise 2023 season

SEAN WIESEMANN

THE MIAMI STUDENT

As Lefty Gomez, a pitcher for the New York Yankees in the 1930s, used to say, “It’s better to be lucky than good.”

The same could be said of the 2023 Cincinnati Reds roster. A combination of talented young players and an overachieving roster, the Reds outplayed their underlying metrics and outsider expectations to an 8280 record.

After shocking not just sportsbooks, which predicted the team would win about 66 games, but even the most optimistic fans, there is much to be excited about for the Reds’ faithful in the 2024 season.

Lineup:

The excitement starts with the young core that came up through the Reds minor leagues. Leading

the group is the man who took Major League Baseball by storm with his massive home runs, exciting base-stealing and rocket arm– infelder Elly De La Cruz. The 22-yearold was dynamic, fnishing with full-season averages of 21 home runs, 58 steals and 73 RBIs.

Despite fading as the season went on, the raw tools are impressive. According to baseballsavant.mlb.com,

De La Cruz has a 98th-percentile arm, and his sprint speed makes him the fastest man in baseball. He also has multiple home runs over 440 feet. The fact that he is one of the youngest players in baseball still puts the ceiling for him in a stratospheric realm.

Another new player in 2023 is fellow infelder Matt McLain. Despite only playing 89 games, McLain fnished ffth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting.

His full-season averages are

jaw-dropping for a player who is only 24 and had zero games played at the major league level before the 2023 season. He put up almost 30 home runs, nearly 200 hits and 25 stolen bases. That pace isn’t just All-Star worthy: if he continued to play like that through a full season, he would’ve received Most Valuable Player (MVP) votes. Many others look to be massive contributors to the lineup. Utility player Spencer Steer is a fexible player, with the sixth-place recipient of Rookie of the Year starting games at six diferent positions while still hitting .266 and 18 home runs.

Adding to positional fexibility, the Reds signed former Chicago Cub Jeimer Candelario.

Candelario, who has played frst and third base, has been taking reps at second base during spring training to add to his repertoire and adds a veteran presence with a great bat, hitting 22 home runs in 2023.

Fellow rookie Christian Encarnacion-Strand can also play frst and third base, and that doesn’t include rookie Noelvi Marté, suspended for 80 games due to performance-enhancing drugs, who hit .316 and stole six bases while playing primarily third base in 36 games.

There are plenty of other people who will make an impact: center-felder TJ Friedl, corner outfelder Will Benson and infelder and former Rookie of the Year Jonathan India. All of them will make this one of the deepest, yet youngest, lineups in baseball, as the oldest player among the group is 29.

Starting Pitching:

The pitching was a massive struggle for the Reds. Fringe major league players such as Ben Lively, Luke Weaver, Luis Cessa and many others combined to make almost 50 starts for the Reds. Their cumulative earned run average (ERA) was north of 6.00 when the major league average was 4.33. Injuries wrecked the starting rotation early and often. Top-of-the-line starters Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft spent time on the injured list. These circumstances forced into action multiple rookies such as Connor Phillips, Brandon Williamson and Lyon Richardson, who all showed fashes of promise. However, of those rookies, Andrew Abbott stuck out the most. Abbott became the frst MLB pitcher to throw three scoreless starts of at least fve innings since 1893, when the mound moved to its current distance of 60 feet, 6 inches. Although he faded much the same way De La Cruz did due to the amount of baseball he was playing, he still fnished with a 3.87 ERA with 21 games started.

There is much to be excited about with the previously mentioned pitchers and the signing of pitchers Frankie Montas and Nick Martinez. Montas got hurt almost all last year, but when healthy, he can be a number-one pitcher. Martinez has shown he is very efective from both the bullpen and starting, pitching 63 games and starting nine games.

Bullpen: The biggest surprise of the season came from the bullpen, who arrived

into the season a much-maligned group.

It started with the continued emergence of the only All-Star on the roster, closer Alexis Diaz. He had 37 saves and a 3.07 ERA last season. Diaz looked like the best closer in baseball during the frst half of the season and will only improve upon his numbers with additional bullpen depth and not having to pitch 71 games, which tied for 11th most in the MLB.

The midseason addition of Oakland Athletics pitcher Sam Moll gives the Reds an additional standout arm out of the bullpen and another left-handed option other than Alex Young, who pitched to a 3.86 ERA in 63 games. In the 25 games pitched with the Reds, Moll has a 0.73 ERA.

Another leader in the bullpen is right-hander Ian Gibaut, who tied for ffth in games pitched with 74. Despite being asked to pitch almost every other day, Gibaut had a 3.33 ERA and was the leader in innings out of the bullpen.

Multiple other pitchers, such as Fernando Cruz, Derek Law and new addition (and Cincinnati native) Brent Suter all look to make this a top 10, and even potentially top fve, bullpen in the league. Reds fans have much to look forward to in the 2024 season. They possess the third-best odds to win their division after the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals. Those are odds anybody in Cincinnati would be happy to take as they look to go from, “Oh, what a fun story” to signifcant contenders.

wiesemsm@miamioh.edu

Willie Escala’s journey to the World Baseball Classic is about cherishing opportunity and an insatiable love for the game

JEFFERY MIDDLETON SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Since its inception, baseball has held a unique place in American and global culture. With the number of leagues and teams, there’s no telling the kind of opportunities young players can receive.

For Willie Escala, it wasn’t long after his brief tenure with the Miami University RedHawks that he found himself on the biggest stage against the best players.

Escala started his collegiate baseball career at the University of Miami in Florida, where he played 93 games throughout two seasons. The following year, he transferred to the Division II level at Barry University.

COVID-19 cut his junior and senior seasons to less than 25 games each, so Escala entered the transfer portal hoping to fnd a solution to his playing time problem which led to a call from the RedHawks.

Escala had a strong year as a graduate student with the RedHawks, hitting .275 with a .737 OPS, the highest of his career at the Division-I level.

“I loved [Miami],” Escala said. “I thought Coach [Danny] Hayden was running a really good program, and I always liked what he had to say about being mentally tough and working through adversity. If you take it the right way and you have somebody who mentors you through it, they can help you understand that it’s a part of life.”

The former Miami manager Hayden complimented Escala’s attitude he brought every day to the clubhouse.

“Willie is a ballplayer in every

sense you can think of,” Hayden said. “He is at the feld early every day, the last one to leave, and the whole time, he has a smile ear to ear. He is truly one of my favorite players I’ve had the pleasure of coaching.”

Escala was only with the RedHawks for one year before moving on to his future in baseball. He found his way to the Sussex County Miners in the Frontier League because of a friend who played there.

It was thanks to his third base coach at Sussex, Simon Walters, and a delay from the initial date of 2021 due to COVID-19 that Escala experienced the wonders of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in 2023.

Walters, who was coaching Germany in the WBC, was talking with Pavel Chadim, the manager of the Czech Republic team, and coaches Alex Derhak and John Hussey when the conversation turned to Escala.

“[Simon Walters] said, ‘Hey, we have this guy who is half-Czech, half-Cuban, but his mom was born in the Czech Republic, so he would be eligible for a passport,’” Escala said. “I guess they looked into my numbers and my baseball resume and gave me a call.” After a couple of workouts, Escala went from playing on a small team in the Independent League to playing on a national team for a country he has a connection to but had never visited.

Escala arrived at camp two weeks early and was brought in by the players quickly.

“[The guys] were cool people to be around,” Escala said. “They had such a joy of playing baseball. It was refreshing because when you start playing at the professional level, it becomes more of a business, more of

a career. But they reminded me that baseball is fun, too.”

The Czech Republic was slotted into Group B with Korea, Australia, China and Japan for pool play starting on March 7, 2023. The Czech Republic was scheduled to play Japan in the frst round. Escala’s frst international game was in the Tokyo Dome in front of 55,000 people.

A favorite to win the tournament, Japan boasted tons of top-tier professional talent from the MLB and the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB), the highest league in Japan.

Shohei Ohtani, the two-way talent then with the Los Angeles Angels, was the main attraction for everyone.

“I remember watching Ohtani’s batting practice,” Escala said. “I got out [to the feld] for his last round, and he hit fve balls of the scoreboard. He was putting them dead center over the batter’s eye. They’re people, but you can see what makes them special.”

Despite the fantastical events of batting practice, Escala’s big moment was against Japan’s starting pitcher, Rōki Sasaki, in the top of the fourth inning.

Sasaki pitched in the NPB and was regarded as one of the fastest-throwing pitchers in Japanese baseball history, throwing a 102.5 mph fastball in an exhibition game leading up to the WBC.

After striking Escala out with a fastball in their frst encounter, Sasaki went ahead 1-2 in the count during their second meeting.

Escala fouled of a splitter before a fastball, instead of hitting the strike zone, hit Escala on the outside of his right leg at 101 mph, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Escala managed to walk of the pain and make his way to frst base, earning him recognition from both teams, Sasaki himself and fans in the audience. After the game, Sasaki gave two large bags of Japanese candy as a gift and an apology for the hit. Japanese baseball culture isn’t just about countless hours of training to be the best: it’s also about respecting the game and your opponents. Escala witnessed these values frsthand with Sasaki and all of Team Japan after the 10-2 defeat.

“Seeing the level of respect they show to the game was refreshing,” Escala said. “They were chatting it up with our infelders after they got on base during the game. And at the end of the game, they bowed to the crowd and then bowed to us for putting up a

fght and playing the game with a lot of respect.”

After his experience at the WBC, Escala went to the Czech Republic, where the national team would be competing in the European Baseball Championships in Prague. He hit his frst international home run during the competition.

Escala has since returned to the U.S. While he continues to work out in anticipation of the 96-game Frontier League season after re-signing with the Miners on Feb. 19, he is working as a construction assistant superintendent and assistant coach for the Miami Country Day School varsity baseball team.

middleje@miamioh.edu

Latvian hockey recruits skate to success at Miami

GRAHAM SCHEESSELE

THE MIAMI STUDENT

Going into the 2023-24 season, the Miami University RedHawks hockey team had only three frstyear signees: Tanyon Bajzer, Bruno Bruveris and Rihards Simanovičs. The latter two signees are both from Riga, Latvia. Their journey across the world to Oxford has been lengthy, but well-deserved.

Bruveris, a goaltender, and Simanovičs, a defenseman, both grew up playing through the same camps, but never played together, as Bruveris is one year older than Simanovičs. Although they didn’t play together, both

players found themselves on similar routes to playing for Miami. They played for junior hockey leagues in the U.S. before attending Miami and on Latvia’s World Junior team, where they built an initial connection. “Our frst time playing together was on the U20 World Championship team (Latvia World Juniors),” Simanovičs said. “We’ve created a nice bond and have been living together at Miami.”

Bruveris was the frst to commit to Miami in November 2022. When he heard about the coaches’ interest in his former teammate, Bruveris put in a good word for him and even encouraged Simanovičs to commit.

“I realized that the coaching staf were asking me questions about Rihards,” Bruveris said. “I described him as a great human being and that he’d make a great impact on Miami hockey. I had a couple of chats with him as well and convinced him to just jump into it”

Simanovičs also refected on their experience in committing to Miami and about junior forward Raimonds Vitolins, another player from Latvia. Vitolins shared a similar route to both Bruveris and Simanovičs with his experience in a junior hockey league and for the same Latvian World Junior team before committing to Miami in 2022.

Simanovičs was unsure about committing to Miami, but the other Latvian players ultimately convinced him to give Oxford a shot and committed in April 2023.

“I saw Bruno and Rai (Raimonds) committed, and it was interesting, but I didn’t know anything about Miami,” Simanovičs said. “I was looking for somewhere to commit and then Miami reached out. I remembered about Bruno and Rai and had good conversations with the coaches and Bruno.”

Both players have found success early in their collegiate careers. The transition from junior leagues to the

National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) hasn’t been easy, but both Bruveris and Simanovičs have been paving their way. During his time in the United States Hockey League (USHL) on the Cedar Rapids Roughriders, Bruveris averaged a .897 save percentage. He is already putting up similar numbers for Miami, averaging a .866 save percentage in 15 appearances and 794 minutes of game time.

Bruvreis really stepped up when graduate student goaltender Logan Neaton was injured. In a game against the Denver University Pioneers, Bruveris saved the game for the RedHawks with a block in overtime to send the game into a shootout, earning him the NCHC play of the week. For Bruveris, the major element of transitioning from junior league to the NCHC is the intensity and speed of the game.

“You have to make that jump from juniors to college,” Bruveris said. “College hockey is a lot faster. It’s just a diferent level. Learning to manage my schedule so I can have the best version of myself in class and on the ice was a crucial thing to me.”

Simanovičs went a diferent route and played in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) for the Amarillo Wranglers. He was frst in goals

scored for defensemen (16) and second in points (45) across the entire conference. At Miami, Simanovičs already has seven points and 22 shots over 27 games.

“The skill of the game is just way diferent,” Simanovičs said. “The level of play is way faster and harder. I’ve had to adjust a lot and pay more attention to details so I can play at this level and try to do what I did last year in juniors. I’m gonna try to do my best here and keep going.”

Both players have high aspirations, not just for themselves but for the team as well. Although the transition into collegiate hockey has been a process, Bruveris and Simanovičs still hope to make a playof run.

“I believe that we can take a step forward during this last stretch of the season,” Bruveris said. “We’re looking forward to the playofs and to just leave it all out there and make a run.”

Miami currently sits at 7-24-3 on the season. They head to North Dakota to play the No. 1 University of North Dakota Hawks in the NCHC Tournament on March 15.

The team believes they can make a run. All that is left is for them to prove it on the ice.

scheesgd@miamioh.edu

The ERC is set up to allow researchers to conduct replicate studies, slightly changing variables of the experiment while allowing natural processes to interact. Students using the ERC appreciate how the close location and natural setting allow for greater complexity and variability in their experiments.

Isabelle Turner, a second-year master’s student in biology, uses both the Belk Greenhouse on Western Campus and the ERC to conduct her research on prairie diversity and microbial mutualists.

“It’s really nice to have the greenhouse component where it’s not as contaminated, and then in the feld, you can see how environment infuences, and insects and pretty much everything else,” Turner said.

Along with its size, the ERC is close to Miami’s main campus for a feld station. This accessibility makes it easier for hundreds of students to interact with it every year.

“It’s not uncommon for universities to have feld stations or things like that,” said Jonathan Bauer, an assistant professor of biology and director of the ERC. “But it’s pretty uncommon to have it just right here to where you can bring students out in the middle of the workweek and get stuf done.”

Those who work at the ERC see that the plentiful use of the area has created a warm and collaborative community. Along with sharing tools, equipment and spaces, those working at the ERC learn from each other. The natural outdoor classroom and lab doesn’t have walls sectioning of the diferent experiments and disciplines, so students interact with each other often.

“A lot of labs get tied down to like, being in their lab,” said Emily Galloway, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of biology studying prairie diversity and restoration. “So it’s really special to be able to interact with them face to face or to see them later in the day, like, ‘Hey, I saw you at the ERC. What were you doing?’”

Along with student research, the ERC hosts and collaborates with many other organizations, both local and national. Audubon Miami Valley uses it for its Christmas bird count, and in 2022, the National Envirothon, a conservation and leadership

competition for high school students, was held at the ERC.

Undergraduate students have plenty of opportunities to use the ERC outside of classes to enhance their college experience. Fruth explained that in the past he had to hire technicians to keep the ERC running, but nowadays undergraduate students fll that role. Nearly all of the graduate students have an undergrad helping them with their research.

Field research at the ERC can be time-consuming. In the summer, students may spend nearly every day in the feld, and the semester still requires lots of time spent on their research. But this commitment to uncovering the mysteries of the natural world has formed a tight community, and those who use the ERC cherish the scientifc and personal growth that comes with it.

“I don’t know if it’s because they’re in my cohort or if it’s because we do research here,” Galloway said, “but the people I’m closest with do research at the ERC.” nortonsm@miamioh.edu

SARAH KENNEL STAFF WRITER

After being vacated for renovations, buildings such as Pearson and Stanton halls on Miami University’s campus came back a little greener, now boasting a LEED certifcation.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, and the designation aims to provide both framework and certifcation for green buildings.

The framework promotes eco-friendly features such as lower emissions and better health through improved air quality. Buildings are certifed through a point-based system and can rank as certifed, silver, gold or platinum status.

Miami’s campus is home to 32 gold and silver status buildings, amounting to 31% of total building square footage. This number will soon increase.

At the end of the spring semester, Bachelor Hall will undergo renovations. According to Robert Bell, di-

rector of planning, architecture and engineering, the university hopes to bring Bachelor to LEED silver status. Another renovation goal is to create better community spaces for humanities majors.

Jen Sammons, a visiting assistant professor in the English department, will temporarily move her offce from Bachelor to Harrison Hall during these renovations. Temporarily moving will be an adjustment for Sammons, but she’s optimistic about Bachelor’s future. “I do look forward to coming back and seeing the new designs that promote both sustainability and collegiality,” Sammons said.

One aspect Sammons would like to see in the Bachelor renovation is the addition of water bottle reflling stations. She believes this would be both eco-friendly and practical for people. This is a major goal of LEED building projects. Olivia Nixon, a frst-year kinesiology major currently living in Stanton Hall, has experienced the implementation of these goals frst-hand. Af-

ter its renovations in 2020, Stanton achieved silver LEED status. In Nixon’s experience, the quality of her living environment has been higher than that of her peers in other halls.

“I’m defnitely very lucky to live here,” Nixon said.

She feels good about Stanton’s facilities and her health living there. Bell said Miami LEED buildings have earned points on health and indoor air quality by having highly rated fltration systems, more fresh air and less stagnant air.

“[My roommate] and I do not have an air purifer, and neither of us have really gotten sick from it at all,” Nixon said.

Bell said renovated or newly built residence halls usually become LEED-certifed.

Cutting down on carbon emissions and water usage are also important goals for LEED-certifed buildings.

Bell said that Miami achieves this by using regionally sourced or recycled materials, moving away from steam-powered energy, using lowfow plumbing fxtures — which re-

AUSTIN SMITH ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR

Tucked away on the ground level of Upham Hall, more than 300 metal cabinets, flled to the brim with manila folders, spread across three foors. Although bland on the outside, the inside contains a treasure trove of dried plant specimens collected from some of the most remote places on the globe.

The Willard Sherman Turell Herbarium features more than 660,000 pressed and dried specimens from all over the world, all housed on Miami University’s campus for students, researchers and anyone interested in observing and studying to access.

“[The herbarium] is one of those unspoken gems that a lot of people don’t know about,” said Richard Moore, a botanist and associate professor who has contributed to the herbarium.

The collection, which contains species dating back to the 1790s, offcially started in 1906 with the appointment of Bruce Fink, a lichenologist and the frst professor of botany at Miami. A diferent herbarium previously existed under Joseph James, who taught in the 1870s but was later removed from his position.

The herbarium is home to a variety of specimens, including vascular plants, fungi, mosses, liverworts, al-

gae and various plant fossils. It also includes special collections of type specimens — specimens that serve as a reference point for defning a new species — along with a wood collection, stem and root sections and pollen.

“[Miami’s herbarium] is unique in that it is the largest and one of the oldest in Ohio,” Gretchen Meier, the herbarium curator, said. “It’s in the top 10% of the country. So it’s a very good herbarium … for a college this size.”

Plants are picked as specimens for the herbarium if they are in good condition and show key characteristics of the species. They are taken from the wild and brought back to Upham Hall for documentation.

The process for documenting a specimen frst includes drying and pressing a specimen to avoid shriveling. The rest of the process involves mounting them to archival paper, digitally imaging the specimens to include in the database, sorting them into the collection and creating labels that include the name, habitat and collection information for the database.

This task isn’t just reserved for professional botanists. Students are also involved, with the herbarium currently employing four students to help with this process.

Moore, who teaches BIO 302 plant taxonomy and BIO 206 evolu-

tionary biology, has incorporated the herbarium into his teaching. Meier and Moore worked together to create a teaching collection where student specimens collected from class can be deposited into the herbarium and the teaching lab.

“We can bring [the student specimens] out to teach in the classroom,” Moore said. “That’s the more active learning part of the class. Another component is learning about plant families [and their] characteristics … We can pull specimens from around the world that students can look at.”

Moore and his students collect specimens from Bishop Woods, right in the center of campus, and document the ecological changes happening in the area.

“We’re trying to get a record of Bishop Woods and get an idea of how these management practices afect what types of plants grow there,” Moore said. “Fifteen years ago when I started, Bishop Woods looked like … the Natural Areas … and now the species composition has

duce water use — and always aiming for energy efciency. Bell and his department also improve the energy effciency of buildings by replacing old, leaky windows with new ones that better retain heat.

Miami’s work to make buildings sustainable is not limited to the LEED framework. The university has also submitted unique ideas to earn LEED points, such as using cleaners with

fewer chemicals that harm environmental and human health.

“If there’s a reason why we can’t achieve LEED,” Bell said, “we still do what we can to incorporate all the sustainability aspects that we’re able to.”

kennelse@miamioh.edu

changed a lot.” All the plant specimens in the collection, and others around the Midwest, can be found via the Consortium of Midwest Herbaria. Staf at the herbarium are currently working on making a database specifcally for Miami, citing software upgrades as the reason its database is currently unavailable.

According to its website, the collection has nearly doubled in size since 1993, with specimen holdings from Latin America, Africa, Asia and

the

The herbarium is located at 79 Upham Hall,

Pacifc basin increasing by 500%.

‘eternal sunshine’ goes above and beyond any of Ariana Grande’s previous work

STELLA POWERS ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR

I have always been very casual when it comes to Ariana Grande. I like a few of her songs, but I never really considered myself a fan. “eternal sunshine,” Grande’s latest album, changed that.

Prior to the release of “eternal sunshine,” Grande had not released a new album since 2020. Fans of the singer were disappointed to fnd out that despite the long wait, the new album has only 13 tracks, with the “slightly deluxe” edition having 17.

Personally, I think the length is perfect. Grande tells a beautiful story of heartbreak and hope in 35 minutes, and any additional tracks would’ve been unnecessary.

The album was preceded by the lead single, “yes, and?” While the song is fun and very catchy, it isn’t my favorite. While I will admit it has grown on me with time, it seemed repetitive and lowered my expectations for the rest of the album.

When I sat down, opened Spotify and pressed play on the album’s release date, I was pleasantly surprised. The rest of the album is almost nothing like the lead single and a million times better.

The album opens with “intro (end of the world)” which sets up the tone of the rest of the album beautifully, beginning with the lyrics, “How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship?”

That idea carries through the rest of the album, with Grande refecting on past and future relationships and important events from her life.

On top of the beautiful and catchy music aspects, “eternal sunshine”

includes an interlude titled “Saturn Returns Interlude,” which features a speaker discussing the Saturn cycle, bringing an interesting element to the album.

The closing track, “ordinary things,” features Grande’s grandmother, credited as “Nonna,” giving Grande life advice about how to tell she’s in the right place, providing a perfect ending and answer to the lyrics that began the album. The album release was accompanied by a spectacular performance by Grande on “Saturday Night Live” where she performed two tracks from the album, “imperfect for you” and “we can’t be friends (wait for your love),” which somehow made the songs even better. Grande’s live, heartfelt vocals added so much depth to the already incredible songs in the breathtaking performance. Grande got the idea for the album title from the 2004 flm “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and takes inspiration from it in her music video for “we can’t be friends (wait for your love),” recreating a scene from the movie.

The pop and R&B album is full of fantastic musical elements, with each track beautifully telling its own story while also contributing to a larger, overall narrative.

“eternal sunshine” may just be a no-skips album, which I believe is a frst in Grande’s discography. Every track helps to tell the beautiful, heart-wrenching story in its own unique way.

Rating: 9/10

powers40@miamioh.edu

The wonderful world of niche YouTube series

CHLOE SOUTHARD ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

YouTube is nearly 20 years old.

Since its launch in 2005, the video sharing juggernaut has become home to countless channels, videos and communities. There’s a never ending feed of content; from makeup tutorials to vlogs to animation — YouTube has it all.

So, it’s no surprise that the platform houses a plethora of web series, ranging from professional grade productions to amateur projects.

You’ve probably come across at least one of these series, especially if you watched YouTube in the 2010s. Web shows like “Annoying Orange” and “Fred” were some of the most popular examples of the genre at the time.

But there’s more to YouTube series than obnoxious, nonsensical channels like those previously mentioned. Some channels, such as GenoSamuel2.1, have dedicated their craft to creating documentary series.

On GenoSamuel2.1’s channel resides “Chris Chan: A Comprehensive History,” a docu-series that details the life and online presence of polarizing fgure Christine Weston Chandler, AKA the most documented person in internet history. The series is extremely well done and feels like a professional documentary, with each episode spanning over 40 minutes long.

I’ve only made it to the 10th episode so far — there are currently 84 in total, and the series is still ongoing. Samuel does an excellent job at detailing Weston’s history (often dubbed Christory) while remaining objective, unlike most other creators.

If you aren’t a fan of docu-series, fear not, because there’s much more available on YouTube. If you’re

looking for something short and comedic, try giving “UNHhhh” with drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova a watch. Most episodes run a little over 10 minutes long. Mattel and Zamolodchikova are given a topic to discuss in front of a green screen and simply ramble, but the way they feed of each other’s energies is highly entertaining.

Both “Chris Chan: A Comprehensive History” and “UNHhhh” are popular web series, and you may have already heard of them. Let’s get a little more niche, a little deeper into the iceberg.

One of my favorite series to ever grace YouTube is “The Most Popular Girls in School,” created by Mark Cope and Carlo Moss. I know what you’re thinking: that sounds like a dumb, corny high school drama. But it’s much, much more than that.

“The Most Popular Girls in School” uses stop motion with Barbie and Ken dolls to portray its characters, and yes, I know, these toys are often associated with children, but “The Most Popular Girls in School” is certainly not meant for young audiences.

Rife with vulgarities and absurdities, the series begins with a new girl, Deandra, as she navigates life at Overland Park High School. What unfolds is a hilarious story of rivalries, romance, sex scandals, mercenary cheerleaders and an ongoing ploy to expose a student who claims she’s from France. Think of it as a lovechild between “South Park” and “Euphoria.”

I’ve watched “The Most Popular Girls in School” several times since I frst discovered it in middle school, and I can confdently say that it’s shaped my sense of humor.

Speaking of web series flmed

with toys, it’d be a shame if I didn’t mention SophieGTV’s “Littlest Pet Shop: Popular.” If you couldn’t tell from the title, this series is created using Littlest Pet Shop fgurines to tell a “Mean Girls”-esque story about two childhood best friends turned enemies.

While “Popular” isn’t as geared toward a mature audience as “The Most Popular Girls in School,” it’s still entertaining and nostalgic for those of us who spent our formative years watching YouTube. SophieGTV uses a professional grade camera along with advanced editing and set design, which is impressive for a series about plastic toy animals.

If you’re a fan of anime or animated series, I present to you: “Nyan~ Neko Sugar Girls,” a fanime (fan anime) created by SoapOpera46 in 2010.

This series, created in MS Paint and edited in Windows Movie Maker, is a laughably bad attempt at an anime, and it’s certainly a product of its time. It’s gained a cult following since its release, and most people who enjoy the series do so ironically.

There are 11 episodes in total, each of them short and amusing. It’s unclear whether the series is meant to parody the fanime genre, but it’s still worth a watch if you’re looking for a laugh.

Since the beginning of time, humans have found ways to tell stories, whether it was through word of mouth, hieroglyphics, writing and so on. These web series are simply another way for people to share stories, to create and entertain. How lucky we are to live during a time in which we get to experience a never ending supply of these narratives.

@_chloebowie_ southacr@miamioh.edu

‘Oppenheimer’ discovers victory at 2024 Academy Awards

REECE HOLLOWELL ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

As the aftershocks of 2023’s Barbenheimer phenomenon start to fade, the 2024 Academy Awards saw one fnal surge for the latter half of the moniker. “Oppenheimer” took over the ceremony, ending the night with seven wins out of 13 nominations, including Best Picture.

Christopher Nolan’s historical/ legal epic was a dominant force, winning Best Actor for Cillian Murphy as the titular scientist and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr. as politician Lewis Strauss, as well as Best Director for Nolan. Earlier in the show, it also took home Best Original Score, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing.

In his acceptance speech, Nolan thanked his many collaborators and

highlighted how young of an art form flm is. “Movies are just a little bit over 100 years old, I mean, imagine being there 100 years into painting, or theater,” Nolan said. “We don’t know where this incredible journey is going from here, but to know you think I’m a meaningful part of it means the world to me.”

Coming second in number of wins was “Poor Things,” which went home with four of its 11 nominations. Emma Stone was awarded Best Actress for her portrayal of scientifc experiment Bella Baxter, and the flm also won Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Costume Design. Stone’s win was the most unexpected of the night. Many critics were predicting Lily Gladstone to take the award for her quietly devastating per-

formance as Mollie Burkhart in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which left the ceremony empty-handed despite receiving 10 nominations. Gladstone was the frst Native American actress to ever be nominated at the Oscars.

Despite a frazzled appearance, Stone used her speech time to pay tribute to the other nominees in her category, including Gladstone.

“Sandra, Annette, Carey, Lily, I share this with you. I am in awe of you,” Stone said. “And it has been such an honor to do all of this together, I hope we get to keep doing more together.”

“The Zone of Interest” was the last flm to win multiple awards, walking away with Best International Feature Film and Best Sound.

Director Jonathan Glazer was the only winner to acknowledge the

ongoing confict between Israel and Palestine in his speech, protests of which blocked trafc outside the venue, causing the ceremony to begin fve minutes behind schedule.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph was the remaining acting winner, claiming Best Supporting Actress for her turn in “The Holdovers.” She delivered an emotional speech praising all the people in her life that helped her get there, earning tears from co-star Paul Giamatti. Other notable winners included court drama “Anatomy of a Fall” for Best Original Screenplay, authorial satire “American Fiction” for Best Adapted Screenplay, Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron” for Best Animated Feature and “Godzilla Minus One” for Best Visual Efects. Wes Anderson also won the frst Oscar of his career in Best Live Action Short Film for his Roald Dahl adaptation, “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.” Despite only winning one Oscar for Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell’s “What Was I Made For?” in Best Original Song, “Barbie” was still given plenty of attention throughout the night. The highlight of the ceremony was a bombastic performance of “I’m Just Ken” by the titular doll himself, Ryan Gosling. Paying tribute to “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and joined by his fellow Kens on stage as well as producer Mark Ronson and guest guitarist Slash, Gosling committed fully to the number, having the time of his life. The fun of Gosling’s performance stood in contrast to the rest of the night, which was plagued by the continued presence of Jimmy Kimmel as host.

Now in his fourth year of hosting the Oscars, Kimmel feels like an in-

evitability, rattling of the same tired jokes and uninteresting observations. Whether it’s cracks about flm runtimes, Downey Jr.’s former drug addiction problems, animation being a medium of kid’s flms or how certain movies could have been written by A.I., anytime Kimmel was onscreen felt exhausting.

A few bits did manage to stick out as gems, however. Pairing Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito as presenters was inspired, allowing them to reminisce about their collaboration in the flm “Twins” as well as their shared history as Batman villains, including a great crowd reaction shot from Michael Keaton.

Similarly, John Cena showed great comedic chops while presenting Best Costume Design, emerging from backstage completely naked except for the envelope.

The real star, however, was John Mulaney, who stepped up to present Best Sound. Mulaney matched his typical fast-paced and witty delivery style with a clear genuine appreciation for flm, rattling of jokes about famous (and infamous) flm lines as well as hilariously recounting the plot of “Field of Dreams.”

“You know, for years movies didn’t have sound, and then, they fgured it out,” Mulaney said. “Some people say that the silent era was the golden era of flm. These people are difcult and insane.”

Mulaney’s exceptional performance, as well as the rave reviews he received for hosting the Oscars’ Governor’s Awards earlier this year, have led many to call for him to host the show next year. Considering what he would be replacing, it’s not hard to see it as a step up.

GRAPHIC BY CHLOE SOUTHARD

GRAPHIC BY CHLOE SOUTHARD

ARIANA

Queer music icon Chappell Roan came to Cincinnati and brought kinky fashion with her Darty season is upon us: 3 going-out trends that Miami students are on top of

to a majority of outfts at this venue.

At her sold-out Cincinnati concert on Sunday, March 10, singer-songwriter Chappell Roan noticed someone in the audience wearing only a black leather vest and red speedo.

“Guess what? You’re allowed to wear that at a Chappell Roan concert … even in Ohio,” Roan said into the microphone while playing the opening chords to her song “Kaleidoscope.”

Referred to as a “queer pop powerhouse” by the Washington Post, Roan is an American pop artist on her frst headlining tour, the “Midwest Princess Tour.”

Not only is queer music at the heart of Roan’s tour, but so is queer fashion.

Over the past few years, themed costumes for live concerts have become increasingly popular.

Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour,”

Harry Styles’s “Love On Tour,” and Beyonce’s “Renaissance Tour” all set the stage for what a concert costume looks like. Some fans dress up as specifc songs or lyrics from an artist or match their outfts to the cover picture of the album.

In Roan’s case, she leaned into the idea of a concert costume when she announced on Instagram that each of her tour dates would have a dress-up theme based on songs from her album.

One theme was based on her song “Pink Pony Club,” where the audience would dress in pink cowgirl attire. Another one of her hit songs, “Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl,” was a space-alien theme that focused on silver and sparkles.

For the Cincinnati concert, the theme was based on the song “My Kink Is Karma.” As a sexy, petty ballad about relishing in an ex’s misfortunes, the song lends itself to bold costumes. With her theme announcement, Roan posted photos in devil horns and red lingerie. The outfts at her concert certainly lived up to the theme, with many fans wearing black and red leather harnesses, mesh, devil horns and corsets. Other audience members wore red boas, cowboy hats and anything with a heart print. Leather and lace were central materials

Queer fashion is often associated with blending masculine and feminine clothing, broadening the idea of who can wear what. At the Roan concert, the confdence and self-expression that comes with queer fashion were key to many of the outfts.

Fans also followed the theme when it came to makeup. Audience members wore heavy blush, dark black eyeliner and clown makeup. One fan even arranged pearls on their face to replicate the specifc makeup look Roan wore in her “My Kink Is Karma” music video. Makeup was worn by any gender at this concert — men, women and nonbinary people could be seen with sparkly blue eyeshadow or a bold red lip.

Roan herself always dresses up for the theme as well. At the concert, she wore a black and red bedazzled leotard with fshnets and black gogo boots.

Much of Roan’s music often mentions the importance of fashion too, usually in a humorous manner.

While the audience sang the lyrics to “My Kink Is Karma” at the concert, the lyric “No need to be hateful in your fake Gucci sweater” was sung by countless fans dressed in bedazzled red clothes.

After noticing the fan in the red speedo and complimenting the audience on their outfts, Roan spoke about the unique experience of performing in Ohio. Particularly, she spoke about how the midwest infuences or restricts queerness, mentioning how her concert can be an escape for many young closeted queer people.

“It’s pretty wild to feel this way in the Midwest,” Roan said in this video from the concert. “...I hope you know you can be whatever you want here… it’s ok to be queer here.”

shafea8@miamioh.edu

Students are sprucing up their style for spring

studio art and art education double major. McKay incorporated neutral colors with a white T-shirt, black jeans and black sneakers, balanced with a bright blue button-down shirt detailed with colorful dragonfies and matching blue socks detailed with pink shrimp on them. Despite the loud prints, the true standout of McKay’s outft was their jewelry. “I like to accessorize a lot,” McKay said. “It makes a lot of outfts look better.”

McKay’s silver rings — which hugged six out of 10 of their fngers — varied in styles from waves to fowers to even a frog and snake.

been trying to add more colors [to my outfts] because if you can’t tell by my hair, I love colors,” Balla said.

Balla said spring is her favorite time of year to dress for because she loves to include tights into her looks, and the spring weather is cool enough where she won’t get too hot.

Also sporting bright colors and crazy prints was Will McKay, a senior

Opting for a less colorful look, Oliver Wang, a junior organizational leadership major, also sported a white T-shirt with black jeans. Instead of a colorful button-down shirt, Wang wore a cream denim jacket.

Wang, an international student from China, said his style doesn’t differ from living in China, but he usually sticks to neutral basics. He also likes to incorporate his culture into his style.

“It means ‘hope to the whole valley,’” Wang said, pointing to the Chinese characters hidden behind his

jacket on the upper left corner of his T-shirt. Even the faculty at Miami were embracing the warmer weather. Mary Jean Corbett, the interim chair of the English department, was walking from a meeting at MacMillan Hall to her ofce in Bachelor Hall.

Corbett, who has been teaching at Miami since 1989, said one color has stayed consistent in her wardrobe: black.

“Everything I have is black, because everything that is black matches everything else that is black,” Corbett said. “Students even wrote about it in my teaching evaluations.”

Corbett, who added a muted neutral scarf to her all-black ensemble, said the key to self-expression when committing to a monochromatic look is through the accessories.

“Black is always good because you can make it seem less black and accessorize in a way that you are comfortable with,” Corbett said.

Although Miami’s campus was buzzing with the warm weather, the March temperature is expected to drop next week.

momanyaj@miamioh.edu

ALLISON LEE STYLE COLUMNIST

Going out is one of Miami University’s favorite pastimes. Bar themes like bomb night, country Wednesdays and Beat-the-Clock fll the schedules of students across campus. With warmer weather rolling back in, students have been able to ditch their pufer jackets for springtime threads.

Matching sets

A chilly weather and darty classic, matching sweat sets have made their way into the Miami social life. While it may have been frowned upon in the past, being comfy is now popular in virtually every bar Uptown.

Often paired with trucker hats, sleek sunglasses and trendy sneakers, sweat sets have proven that they’re able to be made cute for going-out. Dressing it up by layering jewelry pieces can also give your set a little bit of fair.

Though groutfts (all gray outfts) are the most common color among sets, hues of reds, greens and blues are extremely trendy and add a pop of color into an otherwise more laidback outft.

Lace If you’re not looking for the comfy look, try a lace top. Sheer lace tops and skirts have circulated on popular online websites and have been included in several outft videos on TikTok. Most popular in black, lace outfts are the epitome of sleek, sexy and fun. Even a simple lace tank top can be styled to make the perfect ft.

Try pairing lace with leather for the ultimate going-out look — like a lace tank with a leather skirt and a matching lace set with a leather jacket. The outft combinations can be maximized with a little creativity and plenty of accessories.

Even though lace is usually classifed as nightwear, switching to a lighter color or even patterned lace can make a lace outft perfect for spring and summer. Plus, lace is perfect for warm evenings in crowded bars because the material is so breathable and fexible.

Lace is my personal favorite choice, equal parts stylish and practical.

Denim

Another Y2K throwback, Canadian tuxedos have been spotted everywhere. The denim on denim look is a little more unique than some of the others, and for good reason.

The resurgence of all-denim looks has shown the creativity of people in all aspects of the fashion industry – denim mini dresses, denim corsets and even denim tube tops have made their way into the Miami fashion scene.

Denim has always been a staple, but dressing denim up is no challenge for students. Associated with the clean girl aesthetic, all denim outfts have been paired with dainty accessories to highlight the denim as the star of the show.

If an outft made of exclusively jean material seems like a sensory nightmare, scaling back on the denim is always a safe bet. The denim craze can be more accessible by even adding one show-stopping denim piece.

A simple jean mini skirt can be paired with almost anything — for game days, throw on an oversized jersey for an efortlessly cute look. If it’s just a fun night out, get creative and try a graphic baby tee.

It has been a bitter winter, and that makes it hard to go all-out with going-out outfts. With a promising spring headed their way, Miami students are sure to step out with their outfts.

leeam8@miamioh.edu

OLIVER WANG, A JUNIOR ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP STUDENT, MATCHES A SIMPLE CREAM JACKET WITH BLACK JEANS. PHOTO BY ALICE MOMANY

AVA SHAFFER THE MIAMI STUDENT

CHAPPELL ROAN PERFORMED HER SONG “MY KINK IS KARMA” IN

RED LEOTARD AND BLACK

MEREDITH PERKINS COLUMNIST

It’s no secret that it is easier to eat out than it is to make a home-cooked meal.

When you go to your favorite Italian restaurant, all you have to do is sit at a table and sip on your drink of choice as a chef prepares a chicken alfredo dish.

However, this convenience comes with a catch: you’re going to overpay for that chicken alfredo.

The average restaurant markup is 300%, as chefs and staf need to

be fairly compensated for their labor, and restaurant owners seek to maximize profts from each dish.

For dishes that have many, hardto-fnd ingredients, it can be cheaper to order a dish at a restaurant than to buy every single ingredient.

Or, for something like McDonald’s french fries, something like a $2 side dish isn’t going to break the bank, and the price of convenience is worth it.

However, for chicken alfredo — my favorite Italian-inspired dish — the restaurant markup is often absurd for a meal that is, in my opinion, quite simple to replicate at home.

At Olive Garden, a four to six portion catering pan of chicken alfredo costs a whopping $62 before tip. While I agree a night out to the Olive Garden is a classic midwestern American experience, I feel there is no reason to drop $70 on a chicken alfredo dinner when you can make a better-tasting version at home for less than a third of the cost — especially when you’re on a college student budget.

Thus, I prefer to make my better, cheaper version of chicken alfredo, without having to leave the comfort of my apartment.

My chicken alfredo recipe comes from my mother, who taught me how to make alfredo sauce from scratch.

This recipe uses favorful, fresh, yet simple ingredients to make irresistible servings of grilled chicken and pasta that cost me $2.27 a serving: quite the bargain when compared to restaurant prices.

I enjoy making chicken alfredo when I want a hearty, home-cooked meal that can feed a large group of people (i.e. the roommates who regularly test my food column meals) or when I’m craving some of Mom’s cooking.

For this recipe, the choice of ingredients matters. While you can use any type of chicken and any type of fettuccine pasta, using high-quality butter like Kerrygold and freshly-grated parmesan is imperative for a good tasting sauce. For best results, splurge on the

good stuf. After all, you’re already saving money by not buying this from Olive Garden.

The frst step is boiling your fettuccine noodles. Do not forget this step like I often do, or you will disappoint yourself after making a delicious sauce and realizing you must wait 15 minutes to enjoy it.

To start the sauce, melt one stick of butter in a pot on medium low heat. Then, once melted, mix in three cloves of minced garlic. There’s no such thing as too much garlic in this recipe, so measure more to your heart’s content if you feel inclined.

After the garlic is added, stir in the 1 ½ cups of heavy whipping cream and whisk occasionally until the sauce emulsifes. This might take a couple of minutes.

While the sauce emulsifes, put your salted raw chicken breast on a pan of neutral oil and begin cooking it. Cook the chicken on each side until it reaches an internal temperature of 155 degrees, then turn of the heat. The chicken will continue to cook internally to the recommended 165 degrees for food safety.

While the chicken cooks, stir in the 1 ½ cups of grated parmesan cheese. If you don’t have a cheese grater in your kitchen space, you can use a

knife to slice the cheese into thin pieces (it’s going to melt anyways) or buy pre-shredded cheese. After the sauce’s ingredients are melted together, add 2 teaspoons of freshly cracked black pepper. Strain the cooked pasta noodles and fold them into the pot with the fettuccine, stirring until each noodle is coated. Then, serve the chicken breast on the side or cut into strips and combine into the fettuccine mixture. Now, you are ready to eat a bowl of chicken alfredo so good, you’ll never want to spend $20 on a plate of Olive Garden alfredo again.

perkin16@miamioh.edu

JOHN HATCH

THE MIAMI STUDENT

It wouldn’t be a good weekend without a hot slice of pizza. While Oxford has plenty of reliable options like SDS Pizza and Rapid Fired Pizza, a new joint has joined the fray this semester: Bello Wood Fired Pizza Studio. Located next to Graeter’s on High Street, the new restaurant brings wood-fred ovens to Oxford’s pizza scene, ofering a more upscale and premium experience compared to other choices in the area. I visited Bello this weekend to see what Oxford’s new pizza bakers are all about.

I was immediately greeted upon entry and was pleasantly surprised by the restaurant’s interior. It ofers a homey, hip vibe that reminded me of a lodge with hardwood foors and countertops. The staf was all very friendly, and the whole vibe was perfectly complemented by the restaurant’s indie-folk playlist.

The menu ofers a variety of starters including diferent breads and salads. My friend and I decided on the Italian Salad which included mixed greens, pepperoni, pepperoncini, parmesan, croutons, red onion, carrots, cucumber and a choice of dressing. We ordered the creamy garlic dressing, as per recommendation, and were satisfed with the salad. The use of feld greens and spinach as the base ofered much more favor than something like romaine.

The salad was balanced and favorful, fusing together spicy, savory, rich and sweet. The creamy garlic dressing reminded me of caesar, but with a stronger garlic favor that paired beautifully with the garlic croutons.

We then started thinking about pizza. The restaurant ofers its own selection of specialty pies, but customers can order custom pizzas as well. After a quick glance over the selection, we decided on the “Kenesaw Mountain Landis” which included italian sausage, prosciutto, onions and jalapeños in addition to red sauce and the restaurant’s three-cheese blend. Bello had all but won us over with the salad and ambience, but the wait time for our pizza was fairly long. The restaurant wasn’t particularly crowded, and yet we had been waiting a solid 20 minutes for one pizza. Granted, the restaurant prepares all of their pizza fresh to order and may still be adjusting to larger crowds after recently opening. That said, if you plan to dine-in, be prepared to wait.

Our pizza fnally arrived at our table, and upon its delivery, my friend and I were ready to dig in. The pizza was fresh out of the oven, and piled high with toppings. The pie was 12 inches wide, making each half a perfectly-sized portion when paired with

a salad. The pizza was cooked masterfully, with a crispy outer crust and light charred bottom. The red sauce and cheese defnitely took a backseat because the pie was so packed with other ingredients. The sauce wasn’t too sweet, and the cheese was mild yet favorful, but I could’ve gone for a little more of both. The italian sausage was packed with favor, and the jalapeños brought a manageable yet favorful kick. The prosciutto had great texture and favor, and the red onions brought some needed sweetness to the palette.

The pizza was a lovely collage of favors, and I highly recommend ordering one of Bello’s specialties to get an idea of how their favors interact.

While I’m sure the more simple offerings such as the margherita are delicious, the beauty of these pizzas is in the quality of their ingredients and how they blend.

Finally we ended the night with a slice of lemon Italian cream cake. I have a pretty big sweet tooth, so I was excited to see their relatively large dessert menu. The slice was very generous and perfect to split between two people. It featured a zesty, tangy lemon cream between two layers of dense, moist lemon cake. The lemon was fairly prominent, however the favors of coconut and other spices typical of Italian cream cake were still present, making for a delicious and unique take on the classic dessert.

Excluding tip, the meal for two, which included pizza, salad and cake, cost $36. In my opinion, this is the way to go at Bello. The pairing of a delicious pizza and quality salad is just too good to pass on, and who doesn’t love a good dessert?

Most pizzas are about $20, so I defnitely encourage sharing a few things to get more variety for about the same cost. The meal was flling and made with quality ingredients, so it’s worth the premium price. On top of that, everyone there, especially our waitress, was friendly, and the vibe of the restaurant was impeccable.

The wait time for the pizza was long, but with good company, it’s worth the wait.

Rating: 7.5/10

I, Sean Scott, detest Skyline Chili. I, Devin Ankeney, would swim in vats of it if given the chance.

Naturally, we teamed up to try and dupe Skyline’s most elusive menu item, the “Breakfast Way,” currently available only at the Cincinnati Airport of all places.

The Breakfast Way is a gift from the heavens. It’s a beacon of light on an otherwise dim horizon.

Like any good chefs, we started by identifying a recipe — kind of. We disagreed on what should be included (Sean is a frm believer that if it doesn’t have beans, it isn’t chili, and Devin thinks Sean is annoying), but for the sake of accuracy and compromise, we agreed that beans should be an optional add-on cooked separately from the true chili.

The recipe we settled on came from The Chunky Chef, and we picked it for its prep time of 1 hour and 35 minutes, relatively low by chili standards. We switched out a spaghetti base for tater tot rounds and included our own toppings of beans, onions and cheese. So much cheddar cheese.

At the store, Devin also got a sixpack of Rhinegeist Truth, a Cincinnati staple, which they said would pair perfectly with our breakfast chili. I’m a little concerned that they have ofcial breakfast alcohol pairings beyond mimosas, but I didn’t ask questions.

When we returned with our ingredients in-hand, Devin promptly put 2 pounds of ground beef in the microwave to thaw. I didn’t realize this was an option and have spent the past year taking my meat out of the freezer at least six hours in advance any time I wanted to make tacos or other food.

It was also at this point that Devin hit their head against the microwave and proceeded to growl at it. I’m not sure why that was their response, but good for them, I suppose.

The recipe said to put fve cups of water, 6 ounces of tomato paste and half an ounce of chocolate into a pot (special thanks to Luke Macy for his massive pot that we did not use) to heat up. Neither of us was convinced by this step that the recipe would turn out well. To be perfectly honest, it looked like shit. Scary, bloody, watery shit.

Nevertheless, we persevered and started adding spices. So. Many.

Spices. While this was a great way to remember the joy of watching “Dune: Part Two,” (in theaters now!), we’re pretty sure this step was only supposed to take one minute, not the seven we spent on it. Despite many instances of Sean believing Devin to be a failure at this type of work, it’s worth noting Sean’s devastating inability to open simple spice containers. “You’re so helpful,” Sean said after Devin popped the lid with ease. Point for Devin. Now, our chili was looking like a spicy red broth. Promising! We arrived at what is ofcially known as step four in the recipe: “Crumble the raw ground beef into the pot with your fngers.” Absolutely disgusting. While for some, this may not seem repulsive. For both of us — Devin in particular as a pampered, spoiled child — touching the raw beef nearly made us pack it up in favor of some other fast food. Like Brutus, we had blood on our hands. Maybe we hadn’t stabbed a political leader in the back to get there, but we felt pretty well-shanked while squishing moist meat between our fngers. Devin was not completely convinced Sean didn’t shed a tear or two in the process.

We fnally squished all the meat blobs we could and proceeded to burn our hand skin of with blazing hot water — appropriate recourse, considering the nastiness.

The recipe called for the beef to be quite fne (Sean wants to remind Devin that this is a reference to size, not hotness), and we did not have any of the tools listed … besides forks.

Sean and Devin, ingeniously, mashed small, frail forks against one another hoping desperately to mash the beef into teeny tiny little bits. Ultimately, the forking around really just stirred the beef around. After several minutes of irately trying to achieve the impossible, we gave up. Chunky, stringy beef bits are cool too, we guess. After the meat was (in)sufciently crumbled, we adjusted the heat and watched as the churning water turned our concoction into a beautiful beef fountain. Time to play Mario Kart and let that baby thicken for an hour and a half. After Devin obliterated Sean in Mario Kart, we regularly stirred the meat fountain and came to the conclusion that it was not thickening. Though, it had only been a half hour (We are impatient).

Devin popped the tater tot rounds into the oven, and Sean put the beans on the stove. Devin made sure to in-

correctly advise that we leave the bean juice in the pot for the duration of the heating. After we crossed the hour threshold, the Cincinnati chili — known for its sauce-like texture — had fnally begun to thicken. The tater tots were ready, the beans were warm and it was time to dice the onion. Within mere seconds, it became clear to Devin that Sean had never once cut an onion in his life. With a 50/50 shot on how to make the frst cut down the middle, Sean picked the wrong 50. Nearly every little bit of Sean’s half of the onion was shaped diferently than the rest. Devin took a turn and diced the onion with a touch of beauty and skill that they bring to everything they do, and we were just about ready. The base and toppings were prepped. We got ready to serve.

First, a layer of tater tot rounds. To coat, a thoroughly helpful scooping of soupy chili. Atop the delicacy, a combination of onions, beans and a mound of cheddar cheese.

We sat down in suspense (after serving Luke Macy a bowl), hoping desperately that this relatively faultless exercise would pan out in the taste, and not just the presentation.

Carefully, the three of us each rose a forkful to our lips, and gave it a taste ….

“Wait, is this … kinda good?”

Devin asked the room.

Confused smiles took over the three of us. We weren’t puking, heaving or otherwise resenting the dish we’d concocted.

Is it possible that, in our fnal entry in “We can’t cook,” we learned that we can?

It wasn’t quite perfect, but it was good. Each and every ingredient of this notably messy food was not just edible, but added a delightful favor to the dish as a whole. Sean declared he still likes non-Cincinnati chili more (he’s from Pennsylvania, though, so does his opinion matter? (Yes, it does, Devin. Stop being mean)). Devin thought it should’ve had more of every spice.

But, on the whole, we liked it. Devin particularly liked their breakfast beer pairing. Still concerning, but OK.

We may not have come out of “We can’t cook” as professional chefs, destined to star in cooking shows and open restaurant chains, but we have indeed come out the other side as competent cooks.

ankenedw@miamioh.edu

@devin_ankeney scottsr2@miamioh.edu

SEAN SCOTT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DEVIN ANKENEY OPINION EDITOR

humor

My final words of wisdom

PATRICK SULLIVAN CO-HUMOR EDITOR

I like to consider myself a sage of unending wisdom. Nobody else does, so it’s important for me that I do. Over the past four years that I have written for The Miami Student, I have been kind enough to spread some of that wisdom with my two avid readers. Thanks, mom and grandma!

I have dropped bits of knowledge about surviving your frst year, fake ID’s and failed relationships, another frst year article (I really should’ve come up with more ideas for articles), Tinder advice and how to avoid the cops. It’s weird. Nobody has ever once asked me for advice about anything, but I have found a way to write six diferent articles flled to the brim with free advice. So it’s only ftting that I write one more advice article for those about to graduate.

Call your loved ones

Call your loved ones. Call each and every one of them, no matter how close or distant you guys are. Call them, tell them how much you love them and then ASK FOR A JOB!

Finding a job the traditional way is hard, and it takes a lot of work. First, you have to be qualifed for the position you are applying to. Ew. Then, you need to actually write stuf down on a piece of paper and give it to people. If that works, you have to actually talk to people and pretend to be uber passionate about Microsoft Ofce.

Believe me, it is so much easier to just ride the coattails of your much more successful distant relative. That’s what I hope to do, anyway.

Be sure to stay in touch

Be sure to stay in touch with your friends from college. Stay in touch with people you weren’t even that close with. There is nothing sweeter than a nurtured friendship over years, especially when that friend becomes famous and/or successful. That’s when you cash in your chips.

The more people you stay in touch with, the better your chances of getting fown in a private jet for free are. For example, I have a pipe dream of becoming a famous stand up comedian. I know 80% of my “friends” are just hanging around for the ofchance that I will make it big and will give them free cars.

I don’t blame them. Never forget your roots

When you graduate and grow up, it is so important for you to remember your roots. Never become too old or mature to come back here and party like college kids.

There is absolutely nothing a fraternity brother likes more than a bald 40-year-old with a backwards hat talking about the good ‘ole days in the frat house and asking them if they still go to CJs. Likewise, girls love nothing more than to see their suburban moms drunkenly dance with some frat guy in front of her embarrassed daughter and appalled husband. Love and honor, baby!

Last but not least: Beg for money

There’s no facade for this one. Beg for money. You’re going to need it. You already know the second we receive our diplomas, Miami University will send emails asking us for money. It’s only fair that we pass it on. There’s no shame in it.

Have you noticed that your grandparents aren’t putting the same amount of cash in your birthday cards recently? Call them out on it. You sure need the money more now than you did at 11. If a scammer calls trying to swindle money out of you, reverse it. Try to swindle them. The job market is tough, and prices are rising. Go beg for money, just stay away from my street corner.

If you follow these last few words of wisdom, you will be in good hands.

It has been an honor and a privilege to guide you through the ups and downs of these past four years. Hopefully I made you chuckle, or at least swiftly blow air through your nose, a couple times. Congratulations and good luck to those graduating! Time to become adults and fgure out how to do our own taxes. Shit.

sulli293@miamioh.edu

Thank you seniors

TEDDY JOHNSON

CO-HUMOR EDITOR

To my graduating TMS seniors, It has been my genuine pleasure to be a part of this organization with you. Now, I want to take the time to thank you.

Thank you Sean, for helping me avoid getting canceled. Your ever vigilant eyes keep my humor articles in check. I know you did this not to protect the newspaper from publishing something ofensive or inappropriate, but out of your love for me.

Thank you Luke, for being the best newsroom dad I could ask for. When the previous Editor-in-Chief gave YOU custody of me, she bestowed upon you a monumental task: keeping me, the King of Newsroom Shenanigans, in check. No one else would have the patience to deal with me constantly throwing things around the newsroom and randomly screaming. You are such a sweet angel.

Thank you Alice a.k.a. ALL ICE a.k.a the Queen of Girl Boss, for letting me pass out on your couch that one night after consuming many, many alcoholic beverages. I will never forget throwing up in your room-

mate’s bathroom, then her getting really ticked of that a rogue humor editor was using her bathroom.

Thank you Macey (Mae Mae), for making my incredibly stupid graphic ideas into reality. I don’t think anyone in this world could make such a beautiful graphic of me throwing up sorority hand signs into a reality. You are blessed with a gift, use it wisely.

Thank you Jake and Jack, for guessing the size of George Washington’s … well, you know … with me when we went to Washington, D.C. Sometimes, guys just need to be dudes, and you two made me feel like one of the dudes. P.S. Jack, I will never forget sleeping with you. It was an honor to share a hotel room bed with you.

Thank you Claudia, for helping me out in our MJF class. I would be failing the class by even more percentage points than I am now if it weren’t for you. Also, when is our next quiz?

Thank you Devin, for helping me turn a dream into reality. I never thought that in my lifetime, a humor editor would be paid. But with you as business manager, my dream came to fruition. Bless you. Thank you Reece, for lighting up

the newsroom with your infectious laugh and comedic relief. If Patrick or I were not the humor editors, you defnitely would be. The fathead in the newsroom will be a constant reminder of your greatness for generations to come.

Thank you Ragan, for writing for the humor section. Your contribution is greatly appreciated. I still struggle to spell your name by the way, but I’m confdent I got it right this time.

Thank you Abbey, for always being friendly at hockey games when I was a little freshie. I had very few friends that year, but you always made me feel like I had one at the hockey games. Remember we got on TV that one game? LOL!

Thank you Patrick, my partnerin-crime, my pookie bear, for being the best Co-Humor Editor a man could ask for. You are the funniest person I know, and your sexy morning voice lives rent free in my head 24/7. Please continue to tell people about how you took a crap in your host family’s bidet. I will miss you so much my friend. I love you seniors. Thank you.

john1595@miamioh.edu

Oxford

‘Rocky VII’ to be filmed in

BY JULIAN BIALOUS THE MIAMI STUDENT

I’m not a big fan of misleading headlines, but this one might as well be true. Sylvester Stallone did come to Oxford, and what’s he known for?

Rocky.

When I heard he was coming at the end of February to flm a movie, I knew “Rocky VII” was destined to happen. But in Oxford?! The movie is technically called “Alarum,” which is a weird way to spell “Rocky VII,” but I’m sure they’re waiting to change that in post. Students lined the streets just to catch a glimpse of Philly legend and America’s boxer, Rocky Balboa. But, on the frst day that students camped out, Rocky was a no-show.

But just like their idol, they didn’t quit. They came back in full force the next day. As everyone knows, it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. I forget who said that. Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Terminator?”

Rocky’s arrival in Oxford created the most buzz and excitement

I’ve seen since John Daly came into town. I was excited until I heard some crushing news. The humor staf completely blindsided me, informing me that I had to be Rocky’s practice opponent for his next flm. Are you kidding me? One day, a humor editor (who has cowardly requested their name be stricken from the record) came to me and said, “Look kid, the world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. You’re going to have to fght Rocky. Nobody else will volunteer, and you haven’t been to a meeting or written an article since last semester. It’s time to pay your dues.”

Hoping to avoid breaking my nose and every bone in my body, I protested, “What? You can’t do this to me! Is this some BS Miami Student rule?” To which the editor replied, “Uh yeah, sure let’s go with that.” Panic struck me, and I grew desperate. “Please, I’ll do anything!”

“Anything?” asked the humor editor slyly with raised eyebrows. I thought that was slightly sexual, but I redirected quickly. “Yes, what if I write an article right now?” He wasn’t sold, so I kept pushing,

Headline Dump

PATRICK SULLIVAN CO-HUMOR EDITOR

Senior prank goes wrong, 5 TMS seniors charged with arson

Oxford Knolls retirement home sues Miami University for using term “Senior Day” at athletic events, mistaking it for an event to honor senior citizens

Patrick Sullivan shatters records with 26 failed talking stages, zero relationships in 4 years of college Professor who scheduled an exam on GBD sued for student abuse and negligence

ROTC kids attacks Farmer School of Business mistaking it for Russian Secret Service, the FSB

Make it Miami tour guide stunned to find out that The Seal does actually get stepped on

“I’ll write the best article ever. It will be full of jokes, full of intrigue, it’ll be not too long but not too short.” I convinced him to give me 24 hours to write an article and that if it didn’t blow him away then I’d do it, I’d fght Rocky. He said it had to be hilarious.

Generational. Legendary. Then, I thought, what is more legendary than an article about “Rocky VII” — the movie we all desperately need but are too afraid to ask for? A new heavyweight champion for Rocky to defeat. A new training montage. Raw eggs. The movie literally cannot fail. So now that brings us to this point. I am frantically writing an article on deadline, to avoid boxing Rocky Balboa for “Rocky VII.”

They say you should never meet your heroes, but they never say anything about fghting your heroes. For now, only time will tell where my destiny lies, where the destiny of “Rocky VII” lies. If you never hear from me again, remember me as a man who fought valiantly to not fght valiantly against Rocky Balboa with the dash of his pen.

bialouj2@miamioh.edu

OPINION: Spring Break should be renamed Post-Winter Anti-Fix

8/10 gingers agree that classes the week before Spring Break are more of a ‘suggestion’

Student search parties begin to find four-leaf clovers in preparation for Thursday and Friday midterms

Survey finds that texts from parents were 72% more likely to be ignored following the publishing of midterm grades

39% of singles say they expect at least three new DMs after posting their spring break photos on Instagram

Big-Little reveal goes wrong, 20yard trip-wire gets in the way

FACT: Siri was listening to you when you told your roommate about your ex

LUKE MACY DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR

I’ve often heard people tell me to enjoy college because it contains “the best years of your life.” Now that I’m graduating in a few months, I get what they were saying. To be perfectly blunt, I feel like I’m dying.

It’s not a physical feeling. It’s just me coming to the realization that in a year, the Luke Macy who attends Miami University will only exist in people’s memories.

I’ve felt it in the air for a while now. People stop coming to you for help; they pay less attention to you. Your peers move on to other things or take over the jobs you wanted to do. It’s not their fault, and you’re proud of them for all their work, but you just start to feel so alone, left out and forgotten.

I was alone once, when I just started college. For the frst semester, I lived in my room back home in Springfeld, Ohio, only seeing people through my computer screen. The next semester, I had a roommate, but he had his own group of friends already. I had started working at The Miami Student in the audio section, but I didn’t truly feel connected to anyone at Miami until my sophomore year when I became a resident assistant and started writing for the newspaper.

I began to fnd my footing. I wrote flm reviews, which made me happy. I started to do reporting after being told I was good at it. I felt that I was in the right place as I won awards for my writing and was reinforced by other editors. I quickly moved from assistant campus and community editor to managing editor before I fnally ended up as digital managing editor, which will be my fnal ofcial role with The Student.

I truly felt like I had found my place. Now, just as suddenly as I had

REECE HOLLOWELL

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

A year and a half ago, I wrote an exhaustive breakdown of AMC Theatres’ promotional video featuring

found it, I’m leaving.

It’s hard to look back on something and only think about the fond memories. After all, I can never return to this life. I have many regrets — not doing more at The Student, chickening out on auditioning for Sketched Out improv, etc. — but I’m trying my best to only think about the good.

The good is that, if only for a little more than a year, I felt happy with where I was. I always felt welcomed in the newsroom. I found a place where I could be proud of myself. I found many professors and friends who supported me.

Friends like Sean, who always supported me more than I supported myself and gave me so many opportunities to grow as a writer. Friends like Devin, who consistently makes me laugh and feel special and who I wish I had become friends with sooner. Friends like Alice, Sarah, Reece and more names than I can type.

I’m not ready to leave. I feel sad that I’ve been slowly and quietly slipping away. I have to remind myself that The Student was not something just for me, and I was only a small part of its decades of existence. I wish it wasn’t ending this way, and I wish there were so many other ways I could have contributed, but now I have no other option than to look back on my contributions with fondness because I certainly can’t go back and change them.

Even though I still talk to my friends at Miami every single day, we’ll each be going our separate ways soon. I’m sure we’ll talk over text and try to coordinate days when we can see each other, but it won’t be the same. The same as it was when I could stop in the newsroom and see one of their smiling faces.

@lukejmacy macylj@miamioh.edu

DEVIN ANKENEY OPINION EDITOR

The past four years of my life, in the whirlwind of college, in the oversight-free environment of young adulthood, have not been the “best four years of my life.”

In my frst year on campus, there were only a handful of students to interact with. I had no sense of self, and people shouted homophobic slurs at me and threw trash at my door. I lived alone and drank too often with the people I was stuck living near in Peabody Hall because I thought those people were genuinely my friends.

It took my whole sophomore year to realize what I wanted to major in. I was stuck in a relationship I hated and never grew a pair large enough to actually pursue what I wanted to do on a given day.

For most of my junior year, I hardly ever left my apartment and found myself as the crappy half of an otherwise good relationship.

In these past four years, only one has truly been the best of my life.

Since the middle of March 2023, I’ve spent countless hours in The Miami Student newsroom. I’ve made great friends with my peers there and really found out who I am.

I’ve come out of a years-long struggle with my gender identity, not wholly happy, but proud of who I am.

I love my friends. So much so that listing out the names would be an injustice. You know who you are.

Except for the moments when my depression and anxiety get the best of me, I’m confdent they love me, too. These days, I spend almost every

day with them — even if doing so is virtual. Without these friends I’ve made, I don’t know what my life would look like today. Genuine “happiness” would almost assuredly be out of the question. I get too excited every time I get a text from my friends because it always feels like I’m lucky to have these people — whom I met in a college newsroom, of all places — in my life.

Until this past year, I didn’t believe I was someone capable of being “normal.” I didn’t think I could simply know who I was and have great friends with whom I do wonderful things and spend so much of my time.

While that doesn’t stop me from being a doubtful, anxious mess sometimes, I fnd myself realizing more and more that I’m not a screwup. I’m a human as much as anybody else.

Everybody takes time to realize what they love to do. Everybody gets jealous. Everybody’s living through a dumpster fre in their own right.

We’re all just fguring it out as we go along.

As I write this, I’m sitting on my couch on a Saturday night. In another life, I’d be out partying with depthless friends, getting drunk, waking up and repeating the process next week.

I used to hate spending my Saturdays in, doing assignments and other work. Now, I have found joy in the simple knowledge that I’ll hop on Discord with my friends in a few hours.

Looking back at these four years, I see two things. I see three years

largely of absentmindedly staying on course, trudging through the muck life threw at me. But, I see one year, tacked right onto the end of this train, where I found my people.

In this one year, I’ve met the best friends I’ve had since I was little. I’m trying so hard to cherish every damn second I have with them. Yet more often than not, I fear so much for what’s to come in only a matter of a few months, when the life I’ve spent four painstaking years building will cease to exist as I know it today. I’m trying to revel in what I have found, though, and who that has made me.

It took three long, shitty years to fgure out who I am. It’s going to be a painful reality when I inevitably move hundreds of miles away from the friends I hold so close to my heart. However, this past year will be the one above all before it, the one to sit atop the mountain of fear and loathing and aimless wandering that came before it.

Can it be that all I get is but one year I will remember so fondly?

But, I remind myself, that in just this one, unexpectedly jam-packed year, I’ve found myself.

I’m an imperfect mess. I love my friends dearly. I love writing. I feel like I’m behind the curve. I don’t know what I want to do with my life. I love movies and video games and any moment I can get with my friends. I’m anxious. I’m proud of myself. We all contain multitudes, and all it took was joining a college newspaper to start to be OK with mine.

@devin_ankeney ankenedw@miamioh.edu

Nicole Kidman. I was a semester into my time with The Miami Student, still learning the ropes and fnding my voice as a writer at the paper.

“We come to this place for magic,” Kidman said before almost every flm

I saw in theaters the last two years. Now, both me and Kidman have gone through some changes.

On March 1, AMC introduced a new pre-roll to run before flms, as well as an updated set of Kidman videos. These new 30-second versions are primarily cut using footage from the original shoot with some new voiceover added over top. Unfortunately, unlike the frst, there isn’t much to analyze here beyond the choice to replace the flms showcased with newer releases like “Elvis” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.” That said, this change meets me at my own personal moment of transition.

In the time since writing my article about Kidman’s ad, I have aged two years, become entertainment editor at The

Student, written a whole lot more and am now passing my title onto the next stewards of the paper. I’ve made close friends, had a lot of laughs in the newsroom, earned the eternal nickname of “Beece Bollowell” and learned a lot about myself as both a writer and a person. At the same time, however, it feels like not much has changed. Despite stepping down as editor, I’m still some distance away from graduating, and I end another term preparing to watch my friends receive their diplomas and move on to great things without me next to them. I’ve also been working through some signifcant mental health struggles which have dealt a severe blow to my ability to be as productive as I was in the past. But no matter how hard things may have gotten, or how stagnant things can feel, one constant remains: that indescribable feeling I get when walking into the newsroom. TMS may not have a movie theater showing “La La Land” (yet), but there’s a similar magic I feel when I’m with my fellow writers and editors. Everyone is so passionate about what they do, so dedicated to putting out quality student journalism about subjects they care about, and doing so with wit and skill. Whenever I think about my favorite pieces my friends have written — Luke Macy’s lament on the disap-

pearance of physical media, Devin Ankeney’s love letter to Miami University, Sean Scott’s account of experiencing a Taylor Swift concert from outside the stadium — it reminds me of how lucky I am to call them my friends.

And the same is true about everyone on staf. Great work is coming out of TMS every day, and I’m constantly impressed by both fourth-year veterans and frst-year newcomers. It’s easy to feel like the future of the paper is in good hands.

So what about my future?

My time with TMS has left me not just entertained, but reborn. I’m a better writer and editor, and I’ve learned to care about things I may not have considered before. Most importantly though, I’m a better person. There have been hardships, but no matter how bad of a day I’m having, heartbreak feels good when it’s in a place like the newsroom.

Awkward first encounters and painful goodbyes

SEAN SCOTT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

It’s my second semester at Miami University, and after writing a dozen stories for The Miami Student, I see the newsroom for the frst time.

Over J-Term, I got promoted to be an assistant editor in a new section, Campus & Community, which means I get to go to production nights now. It sounds like a lot of responsibility, and I don’t know what to expect, but Tim and Briah assure me I’ll do fne.

Only fve people are allowed in the newsroom at a time — COVID-19 rules — so each week The Student takes over the space outside the newsroom and the conference room next door so that everyone can be together. So I get to see the newsroom, but I don’t get to go in. Not yet.

I sit down, get some instructions from Abby and Madeline, two assistant editors I’m both impressed by and afraid of based on their friendship and their previous writing, and get to work.

Someone sits down next to me, but we don’t speak. I know her name is Cosette. I’ve seen her on Zoom meetings before, but we’ve never talked. I’d love to make a friend, but I don’t know how to break the silence.

Finally, she does it for me, and we work together for the rest of the night.

It’s the frst of many awkward experiences I wouldn’t have had without The Student. The frst of many lifelong friendships I’ll cherish long after I forget those awkward beginnings.

Before The Student, I had no idea what I wanted to make of my life. Now, I know that I’m meant to be a journalist, even if the industry is a bit (a lot) scary sometimes.

And yet when I look back at my time at The Student, I won’t remember what I said in a review about “Blue Banisters” or who voted for what at a city council meeting. The embarrassing interviews and missed emails will fade into the background noise of the past, along with all the times I awkwardly stood outside events, too nervous to talk to attendees about their experiences.

Instead, I’ll remember the people.

I’ll remember running out of things to do at an early production and learning how to throw punches with Cosette through WikiHow while the “Important Editors” tried to put together a newspaper one room over.

I’ll remember meeting Maggie at Abby’s house one night, deciding she had to be my friend, and texting her the next morning to see if she wanted to write about “WandaVision” together.

I’ll remember countless nights at Lexi’s and Hannah’s house, carving pumpkins and learning how to play Kings. If Maggie ever asks to carve pumpkins with you, say no.

And I’ll remember the fear I had when it was time for all of them to graduate, leaving me to run the paper alone with people my age, none of whom I knew as well.

I was so scared as I watched my best friends leave forever for Utah and Los Angeles and Chicago, scared that my senior year at TMS would be purely professional and that I’d waited too long to befriend the team that stayed back with me. Luckily, I was wrong.

I’m not sure how it happened, but I’ve become just as close to my friends this year as I was to the seniors last year. We see every movie together, play stupid games over Discord and

worry about the future as a group. I don’t know where I’d be without them. Somewhere less happy than I am right now, for sure.

No one else but Luke, Devin and Reece could convince me that no, I’m not too good to play Fortnite. No one else would accept a text from me one day saying “Let me use your oven” and not ask questions, instead embarking on a wonderful journey together and documenting our inability

to cook. No one but Luke and Alice could commiserate with all the unique challenges that come with running a student publication, either. Our group chat stays active at all hours of the day.

And fnally, after four years at TMS, I get to be just friends with my friends, not coworkers. I’ll be sad to miss out on weekly pizza and late-night productions.

I’ll miss all of the people staying behind, though we’ll still see each other around. But I won’t have to miss Devin, Luke, Reece, Alice, Reagan, Macey and everyone else who I was so afraid I’d missed my shot to be friends with. We’re leaving together, and I’m so excited for what the future holds for all of us.

scottsr2@miamioh.edu

Let go of expectations and challenge yourself

At the start of my junior year, I was casually skimming the weekly newsletter from the Department of Media, Journalism & Film in my inbox and saw that The Miami Student was seeking a new social media manager. I hadn’t heard much about The Student but quickly took to the

internet to learn more about the organization. After applying and interviewing, I found out I got the position. I was thrilled. However, I was equally terrifed.

I was joining The Student’s editorial team as a junior, non-journalism major with little interest in writing. Intimidated by the idea of walking into a room full of supremely knowl-

JACK SCHMELZINGER SPORTS EDITOR-AT-LARGE

I’ve been extremely lucky throughout my college career. Before my frst year at Miami University, I changed my major away from journalism. Thankfully, James Tobin, a journalism professor, somehow saw that, gave me a call and talked to me about the Miami journalism program. After we hung up, I went right back into the system and changed my major back.

A month or so later, I got a call from The Miami Student’s former sports editor and then editor-in-chief, Chris Vinel. I don’t remember how or why he got in touch with me, but when he heard I wanted to do sports writing — his passion — he lit up. He took me under his wing, and I wrote my frst sports story before I even arrived on campus. Ever since, he’s been a mentor to me.

Around that time, I got a text from Patrick Geshan, the former sports director of Miami’s student radio station, RedHawk Radio. He told me about some of the extracurriculars

a frst-year journalism major might consider trying out. I told him I’ve always wanted to talk about sports on the radio and asked who I might talk to about doing something like that.

“Well, that would be me,” Geshan said.

There aren’t many places you can step in as a frst-year and get straight on the air. But again, I got lucky. For the next three years, Patrick and I called nearly every home hockey, football, basketball and baseball game. We got to go all over the Midwest calling games, and he became one of my best friends.

What I benefted from is the best part of Miami and what sold me and my family on this school in the frst place. I don’t know how Tobin fgured out that I changed my major, but he did, and he took the time to call me and give me his pitch.

I don’t know who asked Chris or Patrick to reach out to me, but someone did. The two of them helped give me incredible opportunities and mentorship that have shaped my college experience and my life. I’ve been blessed. I’ve gotten to interview professional athletes, tell

edgeable reporters, I was also riddled with the thought that people had established close-knit relationships and that I would struggle to connect with others.

As I attended my frst budget meeting one Sunday afternoon, I was greeted by several stafers. I sat through the meeting and attended production later that week, feeling exceptionally welcomed; yet a nag-

ging feeling of unworthiness persisted, like a weight on my chest. It wasn’t until I got more involved with The Student and let go of my unrealistic, self-imposed expectations that I really began to feel at home.

While I try to think the best of others, I have a bad habit of assuming the absolute worst for myself. Part of this is anxiety, but another aspect is a strong feeling of self-doubt. Since a young age, I have worked to gain inner confdence through therapy, mindfulness and afrmations, but the process is not linear.

I started my position with an utter sense of imposter syndrome, but began to let go of false notions that I was not good enough. Some of this growth needed to be individual, but the unwaveringly authentic and inclusive environment in the newsroom made it easy to let my guard down.

From the creation of Pinterest boards of our ideal “types” to profound conversations about life, the people in TMS make me laugh my head of and feel uniquely heard.

Not only do I feel accepted, but I am positively challenged by my fellow stafers. One of the characteristics that has remained steady throughout my life is my eagerness to learn, and the newsroom is full of passionate and inquisitive people who match my energy and push me to be better — every day.

This position has also helped heal my relationship with social media. It’s ironic; I am the social media manager, and I have a complex relationship with the very platforms I post on.

I think most other people do, too. Social media is incredible for staying in contact with friends and sharing fun moments, but there is often pressure to post the best version of yourself for the world to see.

This pressure is even more pervasive in college but posting on The Student’s social platforms has truly reignited the part of me that enjoys sharing content. I have been able to post meaningful, informative stories from our student writers and editors while building friendships with those very same stafers.

I have also become more educated on the happenings at Miami University and in Oxford. Having the opportunity to share stories on social media has allowed me the pleasure of enhancing my own knowledge of school-related news and events.

I’ve even learned more about AP style! I catch myself questioning whether to use the Oxford comma in essays (I still do — Oxford comma for the win) and whether to capitalize certain titles. I have gained such a wide set of skills that have made me more well-rounded as a student and as a person.

To TMS: Thank you for providing a safe space, pushing me out of my comfort zone and surrounding me with friends who I will cherish forever. My advice to those out there who may not feel worthy: Get out of your own way, let go of expectations and challenge yourself; it will be worth it. erneca@miamioh.edu

CLAUDIA ERNE SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

REAGAN RUDE SENIOR CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR

If you didn’t know, The Miami Student distributes its own papers. That means one or two of us spend our Fridays lugging 2,000 copies to newsstands all around campus and Oxford. When I frst became an assistant editor and found this out I thought: These journalism freaks are insane. Think about the opportunity cost! How would that be utility-maximizing?

I asked my editor, Abby Bammerlin, why she did it, and she just looked at me and shrugged her shoulders.

“I’d do anything for this paper,” she said. Like it was the most natural thing in the world.

I honestly couldn’t tell you how I ended up here. I’m an economics and data analytics major, I’m not going into journalism and I frankly don’t like interacting with people. I especially hate feeling rejected, which is like 90% of what reporters deal with. But I was a frst-year, and I liked to write, and I was lonely holed up in my dorm — my classes were all online. So I fgured: sure. Whatever.

And then my frst story made the front page. I’m a narcissist, so obviously I loved that. But I also enjoyed writing stories. Maybe not the interviewing people part — that was an acquired taste — but I loved combining research and voices and telling a story with them. Turns out I prefer doing the same thing only with numbers. But I still love it.

So I wrote more stories. I talked to professors and community members and students and administrators. I covered protests, guest lectures, ceremonies and school board meetings. I reported on issues that were afecting the people who live and go to school here. I spent hours and hours in the newsroom, going on C&C walks to escape the body heat and faint scent of Domino’s pizza. I laughed and made friends, and I started to care so deeply about this town. About this school. About you all.

Getting to speak with so many people in this community, at Miami University and in Oxford, has been a pleasure. Reporting for you has been a pleasure. To anyone who’s read a story of mine, spoken to me for one or put up with my many emails (university administrators, I mean you), thank you.

And to my friends at TMS, gosh, this is the most sentimental you’ve seen me get and ever will see. I hate being vulnerable publicly, and my econ friends would make fun of me if they ever actually read anything we write, but I love

you.

To Kasey and Taylor, my fellow Campus & Community editors who I’ve been third-wheeling these past months (just kidding, but also not really), thank you guys for kicking ass these past few weeks while I’ve been MIA with my regressions and what have you. I think it’s clear my laissez-faire leadership is to credit for the excellent journalists you’re both becoming. I have no doubt you’re gonna make TMS even better than it was under me.

To Luke, sorry I said my Roman empire was making fun of you in that TikTok. Still kinda true though. But you seriously make me laugh so much and I’ve really loved having you around.

To Sean, I’ve looked up to you so much as a journalist, particularly as such a highly ethical one. We’ve covered some big stories, some with my name attached to them, and I always felt so secure in your ability to navigate those tough decisions and lead us as a paper. But more importantly, you’re probably the kindest person I know, and also the most map-obsessed person I know, which together make for a pretty awesome person. You’re gonna do incredible things, and I can’t wait to see them.

To Alice, who sends the best voice memos and emoji combos, you taught me about what being an editor, what being a leader means more than anyone has. I was seriously in awe of you when I frst moved up to C&C editor, and I honestly still am now (although now I’m remembering that you plan out your day to the minute in your notes app, so feeling slightly less awed). I’ve loved getting to know you and know you’re gonna girlboss so hard in life.

To everyone at TMS, thank you for making Miami feel like home. I know it’ll be so hard to go on without me, but to quote one of my favorite movies (“Dazed and Confused”), “You just gotta keep livin’ man. L-I-V-I-N.”

Reagan out.

ALICE MOMANY PRINT MANAGING EDITOR

I frst wrote this column on March 29, 2023, at 12:30 a.m. in the notes app on my phone.

I have since rewrote it six times.

I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to say about my time here, but I didn’t know how much my perspective would change in just a year. I’ve admittedly struggled with writing this column, trying to capture everything The Miami Student has meant to me in just 800 words. But mostly, I’ve struggled with the fact that this will be the last time “Alice Momany” appears under a headline in TMS. So to me, this column has to be perfect. If you’re a devoted reader of TMS, then you’ll most likely recognize my byline within the Campus & Community section. I never venture too far from pages four and fve because I like to write about others. Whether it’s good news, bad news or anything in-between, I’m usually the frst to ofer to cover it, but you’ll never see me jumping at the opportunity to write about myself, much less my opinion.

That’s because I’ve focused on telling the stories of others for the past four years, and it’s where I’m most comfortable. It feels wrong to write about myself. So I’ve decided to use this opportunity to thank those who let me tell their stories.

My frst story for TMS was about two girls who sold wafes out of their dorm room on Wednesdays as a sweet treat. I had no idea what I was doing, but I know I had fun, and seeing my frst byline in print made me keep writing. Thank you to those girls, who welcomed a clueless frst-year student to your dorm, and thank you to every student or student organization that has since welcomed me to cover events, protests and fundraisers.

To all the professors who ever commented on my coverage — critically or positively — I promise you it did not go unappreciated. It continually reminded me that the stories we tell do matter.

rudere@miamioh.edu

I want to extend my gratitude to all the professors who welcomed me into their ofces for a 15-minute interview, never reprimanded me for writing breaking news while sitting in class or excused me from class to take an interview. I was a student journalist with only 24 hours in a day, and you never held it against me.

I especially want to show my appreciation for the professors who have gone above and beyond for me over the past four years.

Thank you to Joe Sampson, who was my frst journalism professor at Miami and continued to support me beyond my frst semester of col-

always willing to

anything to help me in any way these past four years; David Wells, who was the toughest editor but always encouraged me to keep going; Rosemary Pennington, who is a huge inspiration to me as a leader and journalist; Stephen Sif, who treated me as a journalist frst and a student second; and James Tobin who has advised me beyond the journalism program, but through life at Miami, and who I know will continue to advise me beyond. Even outside the manicured lawns of campus, so many individuals in Oxford have kindly welcomed me into their homes or met with me Uptown to share their stories. Before writing for TMS, I had never gone to a city council meeting. Now, I get excited at the opportunity.

Oxford is truly an incredible town, largely defned by the people that live here, and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet people who I’ll still stay in touch with even when I no longer live within the 45056 zip code.

I have saved the most important thank you for last: my friends at TMS. There are far too many people to thank, but I promise that if we’ve ever interacted within the red (once green) walls of the newsroom, you have positively impacted my time here. I hope you all know how special you are to me.

I want to specifcally thank Reagan Rude for being the best partner-in-crime during my time at TMS. Thank you for always reminding me to laugh in stressful situations and have fun. Thank you Sean Scott and Luke Macy for being the most understanding and supportive team. You both have made me a better leader, a better journalist and a better friend.

Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank the person who got me roped into it all: Macey Chamberlin. I could write a book about how much our friendship means to me, but I know you hate reading, so I’ll keep it short. Thank you for suggesting we plaster newspaper to the ceiling of our frst-year dorm and for sticking by my side all four years. I could have never done it without you.

I think I’ve said “thank you” far too much in this column, but it’s to make up for the past four years when I didn’t say it enough. Writing a column about myself seems silly when I’ve spent my time at TMS writing about others. I can’t believe I’m saying goodbye to this organization, but I will be forever thankful for the people I have met along the way.

momanyaj@miamioh.edu

I had fun taking pictures of you all

JAKE RUFFER

You may have seen me. I’ve been out there a lot — random places, holding a camera. I promise I was working on stuf. Journalism stuf. News. Maybe sometimes I was messing around for art class or because I felt like it. But, like, usually it was work.

Thanks for being chill about it, if you were ever photographed. Thanks for talking to me about everything, too. Good things, bad things, sometimes even personal things.

Thanks for being willing to share what you had to say. It was great meeting all of you and getting to know the community a little better with each person I photographed or talked to.

Thanks for helping me create the work that pointed me in the direction I want to take my life, and that kept me in the organization that’ll help me get where I want to go. I hope that, even in small ways, the stories and photographs helped people

feel better about the school we go to and the place we live. The Miami Student gave me a greater purpose than I thought I’d have in college. It also gave me a lot of good times. I’m going to miss hanging out in the newsroom, photographing sports games and getting out on the street to pursue a story or a picture.

The Student was also one of the places I got to better know my best friend. It’s

to think it’s

but I hope everyone reading this has also gotten something positive out of The Student in the last four years.

ruferjm@miamioh.edu

PHOTO EDITOR

lege; Fred Reeder Jr., who was

drop

Hello, goodbye and thank you

room with bright green walls and posters plastered on the glass announcing:

“We’re Hiring

The Miami Student miamistudent.net/joinus”

I recognized the name from the newspapers we’d been plastering on the ceiling of our room out of sheer boredom. Being a pre-communication design student myself, and Alice a journalism student, we thought we might as well fnd out more.

Flash forward a year and four months later, and I stepped into my position as design editor.

TMS is where I started, but wow have I grown since then. At the very beginning of my sophomore year, I applied to work at the front desk of Miami’s art museum and was asked if, since I was a design student, I could also help with making marketing materials for the exhibitions and events.

Within two months, I was in meetings with our curator, concepting title graphics for the next semes-

ter’s exhibitions. Since then, I’ve come up with the visual identity for 14 exhibitions and have designed pretty much all of the promotional materials for each exhibition and most of our events. I get to see my work everywhere from the walls of galleries to the TV screens on campus. That same spring, just before taking up my position as design editor, I was asked to fll the opening of art director for The Miami Student Magazine. I was a designer for them in the fall and had no clue that my director was graduating that winter. I was so excited by this ofer that I had to accept it, soon realizing that I actually had no idea what I was doing.

Accepting the challenge, I learned the ropes and, by my third publication, felt like a pro. I loved having more freedom and fun with my designs and having more time to really dive into the creativity, something I wasn’t used to with the newspaper.

As a senior, I took up yet another design challenge – I am currently designing a collection for the Miami University Fashion and Design fashion show this spring. Clothing is something I’ve always had a passion for, so when the idea of trying it out this year was suggested to me, I thought, “Screw it, why not?” Thinking back to my high school or even frst-year self, I would have laughed if I thought I would be doing this now.

I am so proud of myself, and that’s something I don’t think I say enough. In high school, it was like pulling

teeth to get me motivated to do anything after school. I was a member of our theater program’s stage crew (which I loved, but still struggled to feel motivated for it) and had been playing lacrosse since ffth grade (which I loved a lot less, to be honest).

Honestly, I thought I was just kind of a boring and lazy person.

Over the past few years, I’ve learned that when I’m doing what I love, I never want to stop. It’s not that I can’t say no, it’s that I don’t want to. So I guess my message here is that

PATRICK SULLIVAN CO-HUMOR EDITOR

Four years ago, I was sitting in my bedroom at home when I logged onto myMiami for a virtual Mega Fair in September 2020. It was the beginning of a new chapter in my life, and I only knew two things: I want to get completely out of my comfort zone, and I want to make people laugh.

While I didn’t know it yet, holding myself to those two goals would completely alter my college career for the better.

I was scrolling through all of the diferent Zoom links that would connect me with a multitude of diferent clubs that could have moved my college career in all sorts of directions when I came across The Miami Student (TMS). I always enjoyed English class, but I’ve never had any experience with writing, much less with covering the news. But, it was out of my comfort zone, so I joined the Zoom.

The person sitting on the other end of the Zoom link at that particular time just happened to be The Student’s old humor editor, Jessica Robinson. I told Jessica my two goals, and she introduced me to the humor section. I explained to her that I had never written an article before. She told me to just write what I thought was funny, and we would work together to make it ft for the newspaper.

I wrote my frst article about how diferent it was to start college virtually. When I frst sent it to Jess, it was a complete mess. She had the patience and the skill to unearth the actual funny parts of the story, build around them, add jokes, fx grammatical errors and instill confdence in me to do it all over again.

Seeing my frst article printed in a published newspaper was so cool! I kept writing, and slowly, I became a stronger, funnier writer. I

cannot begin to thank Jess enough for all of the patience she had with me. She would edit the crap out of my articles to make them stronger, and then she would meet with me outside of TMS meetings to explain the edits and to make me a stronger writer.

At the end of my frst year, Jess asked if I wanted to learn how to be an editor, so that junior year I could replace her as humor editor. Her confdence in me was moving, and I said yes immediately. Jumping ahead to my fnal two years at Miami University, Teddy Johnson and I co-edited the crap out of the humor section.

I have loved every second as a writer and every second editing with Teddy. I loved meeting with our strong, always hilarious humor team to hear what ideas everyone has for the week. I loved sitting at production meetings sneaking seconds of free pizza while I hoped for our Editor-in-Chief, Sean Scott, to fnally accept some of my jokes that might toe the line. I loved hanging out with everybody at Claudia Erne’s house and growing close with a great group of people that I have been lucky enough to call my friends.

My one piece of advice to any who cares to listen is this: force yourself out of your comfort zone. If I hadn’t made that tiny little jump to a certain TMS Zoom link during my frst year’s virtual Mega Fair, my college experience would have been very diferent. I wouldn’t have a creative writing minor. I wouldn’t have met so many great people and made great friends.

I wouldn’t have had the confdence to continue putting myself out there and trying to make people laugh and trying to pursue professional stand-up comedy after graduation.

Take the jump. Force yourself out of your comfort zone.

sulli293@miamioh.edu

it never hurts to lean into the things you are passionate about or even just interested in. Go big or go home, you know? Never decline an opportunity to do something you love.

And as much as I can say I’m proud of myself, I am so, so grateful for everyone who has supported me and given me these opportunities. From everyone at The Student (especially my lovely designers), my art museum family, my actual family of course, my friends and anyone who has ever reached out to me or rec-

STAFF WRITER

I remember the frst time I set foot in Oxford, on a campus tour of Miami University. I was a sophomore in high school, the only one in the auditorium room full of juniors and seniors ready to move into the next phase of their lives.

I was too scared to raise my hand when they asked if there were any sophomores in the crowd, gripping my notepad tight. Then they played a video, which I wish I could fnd on Miami’s YouTube channel, about how college is made up of 2 million minutes.

My frst thought: That number has to be wrong. My second thought: How would I know where I want to go to college yet? I was only 16 years old.

And yet here I am, 22 years old, about to graduate with two degrees and 2,103,840 minutes of memories at a university two hours away from home and everything I knew.

ommended me for commission work and given me a chance. I am always willing to design, but without people looking for my skills, they are useless. So now, here I am, tying of the last of my new experiences on this campus — fnally writing my frst-ever article. I couldn’t ask for a better experience here at Miami, and I hope that those of you reading this will be lucky enough to say the same.

chambem9@miamioh.edu

@maceychamberlin

Over 150 visits to Western Dining Commons, Maple Street and Garden Commons to eat meals with people who would become close friends.

At least 5,000 hours spent in class, collaborating with my peers, rushing to complete assignments by our 11:59 p.m. deadlines.

I spent 700 or more hours reading creative submissions and student essays through organizations like Happy Captive Magazine and the Howe Writing Center.

I lived abroad for 1,176 hours in London, England, and I’m still convinced I never left. I wouldn’t have gone without my dad convincing me it would be life-changing. He was right.

Probably 50 or more Insomnia cookies consumed — thanks, Mom.

Four years of memories at Miami have prepared me for the next phase of my life.

Even if I said a million things, I’d still have a million more unsaid.

Oh, and I couldn’t forget about the countless hours I spent with The Miami Student. Another sophomore year experience — history does love to repeat itself — was when I met the editors of the school newspaper, Briah Lumpkins and Tim Carlin, at Mega Fair.

I still remember Briah’s smile when I approached the table, welcoming and curious about my interest in the organization. I had written for my high school paper and thought I could stretch my writing skills and learn from editors at The Student.

From the frst entertainment section meeting I attended, I felt this organization would have a greater impact on me than I could ever imagine. I enjoy being right and, thankfully, I was. I have written more than 40 articles for

The Student, ranging from critical reviews of media to recommending recipes to columns on career advice in an ever-changing job market.

To David Kwiatkowski, one of the frst people at The Student to compliment my writing and support any crazy pitch I had, thank you. To Maggie Peña and Sean Scott, two amazing and lovely people who let me criticize Marvel Studios for over a year, I owe you tickets to the next actually good Marvel movie. To Devin Ankeney, the hilarious editor who let me run with even more crazy ideas for opinion columns but also knew when to rein me in, thank you for pushing me as a writer. To everyone at The Student, you made this writer feel like she had a voice and a place on campus and, for that, I am eternally grateful.

As I move on from red brick buildings and streets, I will keep those 2,103,840 minutes in Oxford close to my heart. The senior

ABBEY ELIZONDO SENIOR

MACEY

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