Campus & Community

NEWS

Empathy across lines

By Briah Lumpkins | January 28, 2020

Miami University professor Hillel Gray knows that empathizing with others who hold opposing views can be frustrating. Gray aims to close this gap by teaching his students firsthand how to empathize with some of the most controversial groups in the nation.  Empathy and the Religious “Enemy” is an ongoing fieldwork project led by Gray. Students participating in this project have had the opportunity to interview members of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) and the Neturei Karta, an Orthodox, anti-zionist Jewish group since 2017.

---

NEWS

Nerf Wars cause community disruption

By Abby Bammerlin | January 28, 2020

The snow was still crisp as Oxford Police Department (OPD) Lieutenant Lara Fening was answering a call about an alleged trespassing on a local Oxford community member’s property. There were footprints on the resident’s upper and lower decks. When Fening looked closer, she noticed that the imprints were of bare feet. With two kids of her own in high school, she knew the culprit.

---

NEWS

Armstrong installs new accessible features in elevator

By Justeen Jackson | January 28, 2020

Over winter break, an elevator inside the Armstrong Student Center (ASC) became more accessible with new buttons installed on floor panels both inside and outside the elevator.  

---

NEWS

ASG looks forward to a spring semester of ‘large-scale conversation’

By Erin Glynn | January 28, 2020

The efforts of Miami University’s Associated Student Government (ASG) all seemed targeted on students’ well-being during the last semester, a focus ASG hopes to continue in the spring.

---

NEWS

Miami Art Museum to feature Myaamia ribbonwork

By Madeline Phaby | January 28, 2020

One of the Miami University Art Museum’s new exhibitions for the spring semester will feature several pieces of Myaamia ribbonwork — both historical and contemporary.

---

NEWS

Jeff Pegues appointed national trustee

By Hannah Horsington | January 18, 2020

The Miami University Board of Trustees (BoT) has appointed Jeff Pegues, a 1992 Miami graduate, to serve as a new national trustee.

---

MULTIMEDIA

This Week @ TMS - Why the increase in sexual assault reports this semester?

By Ben Deeter | December 6, 2019

This week, Ben Deeter sits down with News Editor Rachel Berry to discuss why more Miami students have reported being sexually assaulted this semester than in any other in recent memory.

---

NEWS

Sexual assault reports increase this semester

By Rachel Berry | December 3, 2019

More Miami University students have reported being sexually assaulted in the last three months than in any other semester in recent history. The number of students reporting sexual assaults and choosing to follow through with the university’s complaint process through Miami’s community standards office has also increased this semester.  Since the beginning of the school year, Miami and Oxford police have received 40 sexual assault reports.

---

NEWS

Cycles and ceramics: Oxford’s Small Business Saturday

By Owen Berg | December 3, 2019

Small Business Saturday, which falls between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the two largest shopping holidays in the U.S., aims to encourage shoppers to buy from locally-owned stores instead of large retailers and e-commerce websites.

---

NEWS

Armstrong to open 24 hours for finals week

By Rachel Berry | December 3, 2019

Armstrong Student Center and Pulley Diner will remain open for 24 hours a day during finals week. 

---

NEWS

Public university, private bias reporting data

By Matthew Rubenstein | December 3, 2019

Miami University has declined to make the bias reporting system data available to the public. Associated Student Government (ASG) hopes to change that.

---

NEWS

Miami employee hits the books to pursue new career

By Skyler Perry | December 3, 2019

In the late 1980s, Rebecca Heftel was a student at Wright State University pursuing a major in music. As a lifelong singer, Heftel’s plans went awry when she began to experience issues with her vocal chords, forcing her to switch her major.

---

NEWS

University Senate votes to dissolve Department of Classics, split kinesiology and SLAM

By Madeline Phaby | December 3, 2019

University Senate approved recommendations to merge the Department of Classics with two other departments and to establish Sport Leadership and Management (SLAM) as its own department separate from the Department of Kinesiology and Health (KNH) at its meeting on Dec. 2.

---

NEWS

New budget model takes decisions from each college

By Hannah Horsington | December 3, 2019

Last July, Miami University implemented a new budgetary system where, instead of having each college’s dean distribute money to the departments within their schools, individual departments will now apply to the provost’s office for funding.  

---

NEWS

‘If you treat it like a big deal, it's going to be a big deal’

By Skyler Perry | November 26, 2019

On his 18th birthday, Michael Molchan received a dog named Hawkins. While many people dream of getting dogs for their birthday, Hawkins is special.  The highly-trained yellow lab is not just a welcome companion. Hawkins serves as Molchan’s guide dog, too. 

---

NEWS

Fighters Guild provides community for gamers

By Matthew Rubenstein | November 26, 2019

Walking around Miami University’s campus on Saturday night, most buildings are closed. But Benton Hall remains well-lit and open. Visitors that walk inside the building from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. will be greeted with chatter coming from room 100 just to the left of the entrance. 

---

NEWS

Kasich talks civility at regional campus

By Rachel Berry | November 26, 2019

Former Ohio Governor John Kasich may have run as a Republican, but that isn’t the main way he chooses to identify himself.  “I’m an American more than anything else,” he said in an interview with The Miami Student. “I want to be respectful to people who are in the Republican Party; it’s my vehicle, but it has never been my master.”

---

NEWS

Tree programs help Oxford improve environmental impact

By Meghna Santra | November 26, 2019

As fall settles over Oxford, leaves float to the ground, their rich hues of vermillion, burgundy, apricot and gold creating a blanket of color across Miami University’s campus.  Thanks to two tree programs initiated in 2018, Oxford may be seeing even more of these trees over the next few years. The Oxford Urban Forestry and Tree Replacement programs are two funding sources aiming for effective tree management in Oxford. 

---

NEWS

The breakdown: How much do Miami’s highest paid employees make?

By Rachel Berry | November 26, 2019

Miami University employees’ salaries range more than half a million dollars from the highest paid to the lowest.  Three of the ten highest paid employees are coaches. Three are college deans. One is a person of color. None are women. 

---

NEWS

Miami wins award for internationalization

By Maggie Peña | November 26, 2019

Miami University President Greg Crawford and other faculty members traveled to Washington D.C. to receive the 2019 Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization on Thursday, Nov. 21.  Miami was one of five institutions that won the award back in March 2019. The award was in the comprehensive category, which recognizes schools who use an “integrative approach” to internationalizing their campuses.