Unnecessary movements: Miami’s costly construction project

It is not new news that Miami University's historical basketball and multipurpose arena, Millett Hall, has been marked for demolition and relocation. This project has been widely opposed by the Miami community with a large list of complaints: substantial costs, the damning transformation of beloved Cook Field and the direct effects on student life.

For me, the loss of Cook Field represents a loss of memories. Every fall, I get to reignite my passion for soccer by playing intramural with current and soon-to-be friends. It is an area where I run around to let off some steam. It is an area where I have shared many laughs at, and it is an area where many of my embarrassing, but cherished, missteps are held.

In addition, to the countless moments that will be lost with Cook Field being repurposed, I have recently come across another grievance that must be added to the list: the construction.

If the Board of Trustees and President Gregory Crawford allow this project to proceed, a large amount of deafening construction will occur on Cook Field. Research from the National Library of Medicine studied the brain waves, beta and theta, of students directly related to attention spans. The results yielded a decrease in the strength of the beta and theta brain waves within noisy conditions. Since stronger waves are linked to higher attention, the drop suggests it is harder to concentrate in noisy environments.

Geographically, Cook Field is surrounded by lecture halls and residential dormitories. In the case of Millett Hall’s relocation, the construction will fill the air with the sound of jackhammers drilling into the ground, cement mixers constantly whirring and hundreds of other crashes and bangs. All of this commotion can generate up to 100 decibels of sound with the ruckus from the completed arena itself reaching upward of 130 decibels.

This noisy environment substantially exceeds the 82 decibel sound limit used in the experiment, which proves that noise has adverse effects on focus. It makes you wonder how drastically students’ attention span and productivity will be negatively impacted at Miami. This project will not be completed in a week, a couple of months or even a year. It will take a considerable amount of time to construct the multimillion-dollar “Arena District.”

Years of loud sounds and trouble concentrating can eventually affect Miami’s esteemed national ranking if students begin to receive lower grades due to impaired focus. All of these “what ifs” and “maybes” could be avoided if Miami leaves Millett Hall in its current location.

The university should not and does not need to take the risk of detrimentally affecting a student's academic performance. The Miami community needs to come together and make sure that the Board of Trustees and President Crawford understand the full effects – and hidden consequences – of relocating Millett Hall to the Cook Field site.

zawilasn@miamioh.edu

Sidney Zawila is a sophomore studying political science with a minor in social justice. On campus, she is involved in her business fraternity, Pi Sigma Epsilon, and is the chief of staff of Local Relations for the Government Relations Network through the Office of ASPIRE.