The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
VOLUME 138 NO. 2
Friday, August 27, 2010
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
In 1984, The Miami Student reported the demolition of Tallawanda Residence Hall. The building was replaced with a parking lot.
Task force to hold forums
By Andrew Duberstien For The Miami Student
With the recent recession, a 10 percent decrease in Ohio’s college-age population and redirection of state resources to an aging baby boomer generation pose an obstacle to Miami’s financial stability in the coming years, change will be occurring. To overcome some of these lingering issues, last semester President David Hodge assembled the Strategic Priorities Task Force (SPT) and charged the members to address these challenges. The SPT was specifically created to “prioritize and align the university’s goals with the new fiscal realities in higher education, to create an outline of a sustainable baseline budget for the Oxford campus and identify strategic options for improving [Miami’s] research base,” an Aug. 19 letter from committee chairs Chris Makaroff and Steve Wyatt said. There are a number of paths to long term solvency that the SPT has brought to attention,
including a slight expansion of Miami’s graduate program, enrolling more out-of-state students, implementing additional fees and hiring more clinical faculty and lecturers. According to a preliminary report released Aug. 19, Miami offers 77 majors for its 14,841 full-time undergraduates. Universities between 10,000 and 15,000 students typically offer 55 majors. The preliminary report also said, “A statistical analysis of the data suggests that Miami should have a full-time undergraduate enrollment of at least 22,000” given the extent of its undergraduate programs. Miami’s greatest annual expense is personnel at nearly 42 percent of the budget, which makes reducing the number of major offerings a notable way to scale back costs, according to the report. The SPT co-chairs declined to comment further on their findings in the preliminary report. However, this process is not unilaterally the work of
wSee SPT, page 5
Feature photo headline 3/5 MICHAEL GRIGGS The Miami Student
Allison Berkey and Brooke Livingston embrace Julie Thompson in celebration after a win last season against Xavier.
SPORTS
Soccer team celebrates 15-0 victory By Alex Butler Senior Staff Writer
After being caged for the offseason following a 1-0 loss in last season’s Mid American Conference (MAC) Championship, the Miami University soccer team was ready to fly in the 2010 season opener. The Red and White hosted
Alabama A&M Aug. 21, and spread its wings on the soccer pitch for a 15-0 win over the bamboozled Bulldogs. The victory set a school record for goals in a game, besting an 8-0 victory in last season’s finale over Ball State University. “I’m not sure that that team was an accurate reflection of anything,” Head Coach Bobby Kramig said.
“While I’m very happy to have the win and happy that we got some goals and showed some offense, I really do not view that team as any indicator of how good we may or may not be.” One of Kramig’s players played good enough to take home some hardware, as junior midfielder
wSee SOCCER, page 5
SCOTT ALLISON The Miami Student
Miami seniors DJ Bruggemann, Melissa Leonard, Nikki Kozel, Grace Chensoff and Steven Baybutt blow bubbles Thursday evening at the OPD Pig Roast in Uptown Park.
CAMPUS
Research suggests MU administrative expenses too high
By Lee Jones Staff Writer
Inquiring minds want to know why tuition at top universities keeps increasing each year, and part of the answer is something called an “administrative bloat.” This occurs when more university funds
are allocated to administrative spending than educational spending. A study by the Goldwater Institute suggests that Miami University is among the many schools that have this problem. Researchers at the Goldwater Institute said per 100 students at American universities, the number of full time
THE
INSIDESCOOP
JUSTICE IS SERVED
Miami will soon offer a new social justice major.
CAMPUS, page 2
HELPING HAND
McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital recieves rave reviews.
COMMUNITY, page 4
GET THAT “A”
A new website that allows students to bet on their grades may soon hit Miami.
CAMPUS, page 3
LITE NOT SO BRITE
administrators rose 39 percent, while the number of educators rose only 18 percent from 1993 to 2007. According to a Goldman Institute index of spending increases at nearly every American university, Miami is not behind the times. During that same 14-year span, the amount spent on administration grew
Students were surprised to find lampless desks on campus this year.
CAMPUS, page 3
ASK YO MAMA
by nearly 50 percent, while the change in instruction staff cost per 100 students rose only 5.5 percent. James Brock, an economics professor at Miami, said the university needs to look closely at this issue.
wSee EXPENSES, page 5
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WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET COMMUNITY: FRIED CHICKEN
Mama Miami hasn’t been asked any questions in almost a year.
Brick Street debuts their new fried chicken concept this week. Find out what we thought of it.
KNOW YOUR STUFF
SPORTS: UNDER REVIEW
FEATURES, page 6
Miami lingo is an art to master, especially for all you first-years.
AMUSEMENT, page 8
Read Rob Johnson’s take on Lou Piniella retirement and Steven Baybutt’s analysis of the Big Ten.
SPORTS: SPIKE IT
Sat
86 q 59 p
Sun
91 q 63 p
Mon
90 q 62 p
The Miami volleyball team will debut at the Belmont Invitational this weekend.