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Lexi Whitehead

‘Heavy metal will never die’: Community for Miami metalheads

By Lexi Whitehead | March 17, 2020

  In a classroom on the second floor of Upham Hall sit 10 students. They drum their fingers on desks, bob their heads and tap their feet while the song “Heading Out to the Highway” by Judas Priest plays. Instead of the regular sounds of muted lectures and shuffling students, the raw chords of the song reverberate throughout Upham’s hallways. At the front of the room, the music video dances across the whiteboard.  This is what a meeting looks like for Miami’s heavy metal club known as the Newly Woken Organization Based on Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). The name is a nod to certain metal subgenres like NWOTHM (New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal).

Underclassmen prepare to leave campus

By Lexi Whitehead and Maggie Peña | March 17, 2020

On Friday, March 13, Miami University President Greg Crawford sent an email to the student body informing them that a return to face-to-face instruction would not be possible this semester.  This announcement displaced many students in dorms, who were initially urged to move out by March 27. In an updated email from Dean of Students Kimberly Moore, students were informed that residence halls would close a week sooner, on March 21. Students may only stay on campus if absolutely necessary. 

Halsey’s ‘Manic’ shows us Ashley: the woman behind the music

By Lexi Whitehead | March 3, 2020

Since the release of her debut album in 2015, Ashley Frangipane has made a name for herself as singer-songwriter Halsey.  Halsey has been known to focus each of her projects around a fictional place associated with a certain sound and concept. Her EP took fans to “Room 93,” her first album to “Badlands” and her second album to “Hopeless Fountain Kingdom.”  “Manic” was released on Jan. 17, and it breaks the mold that her previous projects fit. Rather than a place, the album simply explores the self: self-love, self-destruction, self-acceptance and self-contempt.

Solitude: Coming to a dining hall near you

By Lexi Whitehead | March 3, 2020

Being by myself felt like I was behind the game. It felt embarrassing. But I reminded myself that, in reality, every new student had the same anxieties I did and were too busy worrying about themselves to even think about what I was doing.

Notes of Nostalgia

By Kirby Davis and Lexi Whitehead | February 11, 2020

High school dances may be a cesspool of sweat and hooligans, but one dance I went to will always hold a special place in my heart.  When I was a sophomore in high school, my school held a masquerade-themed Winter Formal. Traditionally, it was a girls-ask-guys dance, but I went with a few of my friends. 

Give credit where credit is due — that means to Billie Eilish

By Lexi Whitehead | February 4, 2020

As I scrolled through my Twitter timeline last week, I noticed a lot of tweets about Billie Eilish, something not out of the ordinary for the past few months. After releasing her debut album in March 2019, Eilish quickly rose to fame.  The hot topic trending on Twitter this time? Her first time at the Grammys.  At the 62nd Grammy Awards on Jan. 26, Eilish was the star of the night, winning five of the six awards for which she was nominated. She became the youngest person to ever win Album of the Year and the second person (and first woman) to ever win the Big Four: Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist.

The Scuba Diving and Snorkel Club took their marine conservation efforts to new depths during a trip to Caribbean.

Ocean ambassadors dive into marine conservation

By Lexi Whitehead | January 28, 2020

One thousand six hundred and twenty-five miles south of Oxford, five Miami University students spent a week of their J-term submerged in the Caribbean Sea.  From Jan. 11-19, members of the Miami Scuba Diving and Snorkel Club took a trip to Tom Owens Caye, an island 25 miles from mainland Belize, to delve, dive and help preserve the ocean. 

Taking spooky crafts to the next dimension

By Lexi Whitehead | October 29, 2019

The Makerspace, located on the 3rd floor of King Library, was decked out for Halloween. Paper bats and garlands hung from the ceiling and fake spiders were strewn about. Candy buckets adorned most of the tables. Some of the staff also embraced the Halloween spirit with t-shirts showcasing a skeleton or black cat.  On Friday, Oct. 25, King’s Makerspace hosted a Halloween-themed event for students to make “creepy crawly crafts.” The Makerspace offers students an area to use the numerous available machines and be creative. The machines, including 3D printers and electronic cutting machines helped students make stickers and heat transfer vinyls and sewing machines. They could design book covers and bind the books themselves, personalize tote bags or clothes with the heat press and make a sewing circuit. 

300 words: telling stories in seconds

By Lexi Whitehead and Skyler Perry | October 8, 2019

Some stories delve deeply into the lives of their subjects. Others seek to capture the human condition in just a few words. Modeled after journalist Brady Dennis’ 300 word stories that explore the unfiltered intimacy of the everyday, these pieces, written by first-year students, offer a glimpse into the untold experiences of college life.  

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