ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
Volume 151 No. 8
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2022
Enrollment numbers are up, but what’s different in the Farmer School of Business?
RedHawks to play AlabamaBirmingham in Bahamas Bowl
MIAMI WON ITS FIRST BOWL SINCE 2010 LAST YEAR WITH A 27-14 VICTORY OVER NORTH TEXAS IN THE FRISCO FOOTBALL CLASSIC PHOTO BY JESSICA MONAHAN
JACK SCHMELZINGER SPORTS EDITOR
FSB ENROLLMENT INCREASED BY MORE THAN 37% BUT FACULTY NUMBERS HAVE NOT INCREASED. PHOTO BY JAKE RUFFER
OLIVIA PATEL
THE MIAMI STUDENT Students and faculty alike may have noticed a few more faces in classes and around the halls of the Farmer School of Business (FSB). Bethany Perkins, assistant vice president and director of admissions for Miami University's Oxford campus, said Miami enrolled around 850 students into FSB in 2018, keeping the prestigious program small among its competitors. Since then, those numbers have increased by more than 37%. “We plan on keeping the goal at 1,100-1,300 students, hoping to land around 1,200 students,” Perkins said.
In this issue
In 2021, FSB enrolled more than 1,300. Jess Bathe, personnel manager for FSB, said it aimed to cap admissions at around 1,200 students in upcoming years. For the current semester, more than 1,100 students are enrolled. One less professor, 250 more students While the number of students has increased, the number of professors in Farmer has remained virtually unchanged since 2018. Bathe wrote in an email to The Miami Student that the college had 170 professors in 2018, and 169 professors in 2022. The static number of instructors, along with an increased number of students, has led to enlarged class
sizes, mainly in the 100 and 200 level courses. Brian Ballou, professor of accounting and Miami MBA faculty director, said FSB took a financial hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. He believes the increased enrollment was a way to remedy that loss in revenue. Despite their efforts to avoid sacrificing quality for quantity, Ballou feels certain aspects of what makes FSB great have been lost in order to accommodate growing class sizes. “There’s always a bit of a quality/ quantity trade off when it comes to class sizes getting bigger,” Ballou said “The faculty care, but there is only so
much we can do as class sizes get bigger and bigger.” Ballou said larger class sizes also make activities like group projects harder to manage. He added that professors in FSB have had to work longer hours and even teach overflow classes in Upham. Anna Iacobucci, a first-year marketing major, said although her professor tries to reach all students in her business calculus (MTH141) class, the large numbers make establishing personal connections difficult. “The teaching assistants do a lot of work for the professor in helping CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
FOOD EDITOR
CAMPUS & COMMUNITY Miami goes green with renovated sustainability efforts - page 5
CELEBRITY CHEF, TV PERSONALITY AND AUTHOR CARLA HALL WON THE HEARTS OF MIAMI WITH HER NOV. 14 LECTURE AS A PART OF THE LECTURE SERIES. PHOTO BY AMES RADWAN
Student-run thrift shop brings sustainable fashion to Miami’s campus
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
HUMOR A Miami students' Christmas list - page 9
FOOD Ohana Island Grill brings a taste of the islands to Oxford - page 10
OPINION A college student’s best friend - page 13
PHOTO Students show out to watch World Cup at Brick Street - page 14
After winning hearts and inspiring fashions all across the world with her down-to-earth humor, brightly-colored clothes and contagious laugh on Bravo’s “Top Chef,” Carla Hall is as real in person as she is on the screen. Hall proved that when she visited Miami University on Nov. 14 for the last Lecture Series talk of the fall 2022 semester. Growing up as a self-proclaimed borderline-introvert extrovert, Hall
found her passion in performance at age 11, when she saw her uncle perform in the musical revue “Bubbling Brown Sugar.” She did theater until age 17, when she was deferred from Boston University for acting. Taking that as a rejection, the Nashville native went on to study accounting at Howard University instead. After attending high school in the 80s, Howard was where Hall’s fashion sense truly began to flourish and where she modeled for the first time; even though she went on CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
‘I get to do what I love’: MEGAN MCCONNELL
ENTERTAINMENT It may not always be a Wonderful Life, but ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ reminds us why it’s worth it - page 8
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
Carla Hall cooks from the heart and styles from the soul AMES RADWAN
SPORTS Star junior quarterback Brett Gabbert to transfer from Miami - page 6
Last Tuesday, exactly three hours before kickoff between Miami University and Ball State University, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced on Twitter that the winner of that night’s game would be headed to the Bahamas Bowl. To gain bowl eligibility, a team must win six games in a season. Going into Tuesday, both Miami and Ball State were 5-6. On Tuesday, in spectacular fashion, the RedHawks punched their ticket to paradise. The RedHawks will face off against the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) Blazers in the Bahamas Bowl on Friday, December 16, at 11:30 a.m. EST. If you aren’t able to get yourself to Nassau, Bahamas for the game, it will be broadcast on ESPN that day. How Miami got there Going into the fourth quarter, Miami was down 17-6. This year’s Cardinals have a potent rushing attack that’s led by sophomore Carson Steele, college football’s sixth leading rusher in 2022. Miami’s defense was holding strong though. The offense on the other hand had obviously sputtered to that point.
Lila Jernovi scans the sections throughout the store until she sees it: men’s sweaters and flannels. She surveys the seemingly endless line of clothing racks, searching for hidden gems scattered among them. Most of the pieces in this section tend to be in good condition and from quality brands. However, she can’t buy them all, so Jernovi ignores those with damage or stains and grabs a few that look vintage and slightly worn before moving on to the next section. When her cart is full, the first-year psychology major at Miami University heads back to Thomson Hall and heaves the clothing up to her residence hall room. Beneath her bed, hidden behind a dresser and white bed skirt, are various crates where she keeps a stockpile of vintage clothes to sell on her online thrift store, Oxford Thrift. Jernovi started the Instagram page, @theoxfordthrift, in early November after going on an impromptu shopping trip at a thrift store 2o minutes outside Oxford. The stop resulted in an $80 clothing haul, inspiring Jernovi to look for similar stores in the area. But, besides the Oxford Goodwill, her search turned up empty. “I thought that it would be good to give people more access to cool, unique vintage pieces because, obviously, everybody loves having a one of a kind piece,” Jernovi said. Items are posted on Jernovi’s Instagram page twice a week, and interested buyers are instructed to direct message Jernovi so cost can be negotiated, if necessary. Although no pric-
es are listed on the page for browsing, everything is available for $25 or less, and all transactions are completed with Cash App or Venmo. In order to stay organized, Jernovi keeps track of available items with a Google spreadsheet. “I thought, ‘Why not give more students access to thrifted clothing?’” Jernovi said. “Because then, I get to do what I enjoy, which is find[ing] unique pieces … And, I still wanted to make it relatively affordable.” After purchase, customers can pick up their item at Jernovi’s residence hall. Even with classes and extracurriculars — Jernovi is also a Student Engagement and Leadership Ambassador (SEAL) — she tries to be available for pick-up at least two or three hours every day. Because access to thrifted clothing is somewhat limited in the Oxford area, Jernovi often travels home to Columbus or out of town to stock up on new pieces at local consignment stores and second-hand shops. Each trip typically results in five to 10 items. Her favorite stop is the Goodwill in Westerville, Ohio. Besides affordability, Jernovi enjoys thrifted fashion for its experimentation and sustainability, features she hopes to bring to the Oxford area. Before starting the shop, Jernovi said she was hesitant to even tell her family about the entrepreneurial idea because her parents have long been involved in the business industry. “I admire my parents so much, and I didn’t want them to think it was something stupid because I obviously didn’t want to disappoint them in any way,” Jernovi said.
LILA JERNOVI, A FIRST-YEAR PSYCHOLOGY MAJOR, SPENDS HER FREE TIME RUNNING AN ONLINE THRIFT STORE ON INSTAGRAM. PHOTO BY MEGAN MCCONNELL
But, when the two visited for Family Weekend and Jernovi revealed her stockpile of thrifted clothing, her parents were ecstatic. “They were very excited about it, and, right away, wanted to help in any way that they could,” Jernovi said. “They were very supportive, very helpful.” Now, anytime Jervnovi has a question, they’re the first people she goes to for advice. “They’re immigrants,” Jernovi said. “They’re entrepreneurs. They’re speakers; my mom has done TED Talks. They write books. They make websites. They sell products … They have been an excellent resource because they have so much experience with that.” Since starting the business last month, Jernovi has already learned a lot. For example, she said it’s best to group and style items together, rather
than post them individually. Additionally, displaying a wide variety of items offers buyers more options to choose from. “It’s been less than a month so far, so I’m still trying to figure out how I want to post, how often, what items, how I want to group them [and] how I want to price them,” Jernovi said. “I’m just taking it day by day.” Although the business is still new, Jernovi has several plans to help the shop grow in the future. The first step? Creating a website over winter break. “My goal is just to get more people to buy thrifted clothing,” Jernovi said. “I think sustainable fashion is a good idea, and I get to do what I love. I get to thrift. I get to share it with other people.” @meggy_nicole mcconnmn@miamioh.edu