The Miami Student Oldest university newspaper in the United States, established 1826
VOLUME 138 NO. 4
Friday, September 3, 2010
MIAMI UNIVERSITY OXFORD, OHIO
In 1999, The Miami Student reported that a number of first-year students were living in study lounges and offices. Miami had welcomed about 3,520 first-years, 125 more than the previous year and 75 more than the average at the time.
CAMPUS
ID cards to replace room keys in 2011
ASG creates website for off-campus living
By Kristen Grace Senior Staff Writer
Every year, the rush to find an off-campus residence in the first two weeks of school can be chaotic and stressful, and those ready to find a house or apartment around Oxford bombard renters for house tours. An effort to change the way that students decide where to live off-campus is on its way, according to Matt Ciccone, offcampus secretary for Associated Student Government (ASG). ASG now offers an online resource for students to search for houses and apartments in the Oxford area listed by participating landlords. Many students already living off campus, like senior Brittany Kaback, spent their first couple weeks of school looking for houses on foot. “When my friends and I were looking, we went around knocking everywhere,” Kaback
said. “Some of the places belonged to non-students, some were for too few people or cost too much, but we had no idea of any of that before wandering around town.” According to Ciccone, this is what he hopes the website will help students avoid. “Those (first) two weeks of school are when you should be getting yourself focused on classes,” Ciccone said. “Nobody likes the situation we are in.” The website is designed to help students locate housing by searching for criteria that may be ignored or forgotten during the rush to sign a lease, Ciccone said. The site offers searches for number of bedrooms and bathrooms, air conditioning and a number of other house amenities. Coordinator of Off-Campus Affairs Bobbe Burke said the
wSee WEBSITE, page 5
By Taylor Dolven Senior Staff Writer
SAMANTHA LUDINGTON The Miami Student
Students will no longer have to carry keys starting in the 2011-2012 school year. The university will install an electronic lock system that will work with ID cards.
What do breakfast, the Recreational Sports Center and a football game at Miami University all have in common? They all require the swipe of your Miami ID card, and soon, access to rooms in residence halls may revolve around this piece of plastic too. During summer 2011, all residence hall rooms will be outfitted with electronic door locks as part of a master housing plan, according to Larry Fink, assistant vice president of housing and auxiliaries. Fink said this change is part of a larger housing project that will span over the next 20 years. “This is the first of many projects that we will tackle,” Fink said. First-year Austin Card thinks the
wSee KEYS, page 5
CAMPUS
More students request residential services into the bag and bring them to the laundry room in their residence hall on the hall’s designated laundry day. The students receive their laundry folded, bagged and delivered to their room within 24 hours. Jules said he dropped his laundry off on Monday and it was returned Tuesday. “It saves a lot of time,” Jules said. “I’d recommend it to friends.” Jules said he thinks the service could be cheaper, but for him it’s definitely worth it. The cost of laundry services is $319 per semester. Room cleaning is $105 for monthly service and $165 for biweekly service. Charges are billed to the student’s bursar account and show up on their semester bill. Students who sign up for service midway through a semester pay a prorated fee based on when they begin using the service, Woodruff said. Suman said he has received mostly positive feedback from students and parents about the service. In one incident, however, a student signed up for the service without consulting their parents, and the parents called to cancel service. The cleaning service, Suman said, includes the
Campus Editor
A record number of students are utilizing the residential laundry and room cleaning services this year, according to Brian Woodruff, assistant director of housing and meal plan services. Woodruff said this is the third year the services have been offered and the number of students served has risen each year. This fall, 238 students are signed up for weekly laundry service and 159 students are using the room cleaning service. First-year Francis Jules said he selected the laundry service option on his housing contract because he figured it would save him the extra time and hassle of doing laundry. “It’s extremely convenient,” Jules said. “I’m just lazy I guess.” Joe Suman, senior building and grounds manager, oversees the laundry service. He said the housing department provides students registered for the service with a laundry bag and a lock. The students place up to 20 pounds of laundry per week, including clothes, bedding and towels,
THE
INSIDESCOOP
CAN YOU DIG IT?
UPTOWN IMPROVEMENT Check out the latest construction projects and businesses coming to High Street.
I SEE YOU
Stalkers rejoice! We’ve got some tips for all your Internet stalking needs.
AMUSEMENT, page 8
WESTERN LODGE
FEATURES, page 6
Sat
71 q 47 p
WIN A
COUPON good for a
$1 Sandwich from SoHi Follow @miamistudent on Twitter and look out next Tuesday for your chance to win a coupon for $1 sandwiches from SoHi!
Do you know how the Western Campus cabin came to be?
Sun
76 q 53 p
Mon
p q
ONLY
u
SPORTS, page 14
FEATURES, page 7
COMMUNITY, page 4
wSee SERVICES, page 5
MU gets ready to face the Gators in “The Swamp” this weekend.
Rising star Sam Adams will hit up Brick Street Bar Sept. 6 and 7.
CAMPUS, page 3
cleaning of all hard surfaces including doors, doorframes and hinges, cleaning of appliances, changing of bed sheets (if students lay out a clean set of sheets), vacuuming of carpets, cleaning of mirrors and interior glass and removal of trash and recycling. He said the housekeepers only clean what is accessible to them without moving students’
FOOTBALL FRENZY
I HATE COLLEGE
Senior Beryl Wallingford discovers artifacts in Spain over the summer.
SAMANTHA LUDINGTON The Miami Student
Sophomore Lauren Hall does her laundry Thursday afternoon in the basement of Richard Hall, opting out of the laundry services.
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WWW.MIAMISTUDENT.NET AMUSEMENT: MUSIC REVIEW Find out what editor in chief Catherine Couretas thinks of Intercept’supcoming album.
BLOG: HOPEFUL FOODIE Learn an easy way to make a tasty tomato salad and bruschetta.
SPORTS: NFL PREDICTIONS Sam Hitchcock provides his insights on the upcoming football season.
Day one
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By Courtney Day