ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
Volume 150 No. 3
Miami university — Oxford, Ohio
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2021
Since then, many theories have circulated, ranging from murder to temporary amnesia (mostly owed to a witness who claimed they saw Tammen the next morning, unable to remember his name and asking directions to the nearest bus stop). There has even been a theory purporting that Tammen was gay and secretly recruited by the CIA because of this. Fisher Hall was torn down in 1978, but a body was never found. However, some claim to have spotted Tammen — both alive and as a ghost — over the years. Regardless of what happened, the case of Ronald Tammen may prove to be one of Miami’s most intriguing mysteries for years to come.
HAUNTED MIAMI:
Myths and mysteries ASST. DESIGN EDITOR MACEY CHAMBERLIN
SHR-HUA MOORE ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR
on campus, but it will give a brief summary of some of the most disturbing disappearances and foreboding figures in Miami’s history.
Robert Frost once said Miami University’s campus was “the most beautiful campus ever there was.” But he neglected to mention its reputation as a school plagued by the unexplained and unnatural, from Helen Peabody’s ghost to the mysterious disappearance of Ronald Tammen. The following is by no means a collection of every spooky incident
A fish, then nothing: The disappearance of Ronald Tammen The date was April 19, 1953. For Ronald Tammen, it was a night to do psychology homework after a weekend of running errands and performing with the Campus Owls jazz band, playing the string bass.
For the rest of the university, the day would mark Tammen’s disappearance from both Fisher Hall and the planet. Tammen had been surprised earlier that evening with an ambiguous yet chilling symbol: a dead fish pulled from a nearby lake, tucked into his bedsheets. While some have speculated that the fish represented a threat by an unknown mafia, it was later revealed that the fish was simply a practical joke pulled by fellow student Richard Titus — the two frequently pranked each other.
APEIP: Miami cuts programs and reallocates resources with multi-year review process SEAN SCOTT ASST. CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR Three years. That’s how long Miami University’s energy co-major has to grow from 25 total students to 20 per class, or it may disappear forever. “We’ll give it a go,” said Jonathan Levy, director of the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability (IES). For Levy, the energy co-major stands out from environmental science programs at other colleges. “I wouldn’t go so far to say that [the major is] unique, but I think the energy co-major is unusual,” Levy said. “I think that there are a lot of jobs in the energy sector for which that co-major would be useful on someone’s resume.” Levy said students could pick up sustainability or environmental science co-majors with an emphasis on energy, if the co-major gets cut. If another program was at risk, though, the story would change. “If sustainability was going away because we didn’t have enough members, I would be terribly concerned
AS A PART OF ITS MOST RECENT STRATEGIC PLAN, MIAMI CREATED A PROCESS TO REVIEW EACH PROGRAM OFFERED BY THE UNIVERSITY PHOTO BY JUGAL JAIN
about that, because I think some things need to exist no matter what the numbers are,” Levy said. “ … How in this day and age could you argue that [sustainability] doesn’t belong in the university setting?” The numbers that put the energy co-major on the endangered list came from an academic review process called “Academic Program Evalua-
tion, Improvement and Prioritization” (APEIP), that began in fall 2019. Since then, energy hasn’t been the only program to face elimination. The team In June 2019, the Board of Trustees approved the Strategic Plan, a list of 30 recommendations for Miami to prepare for the volatile future of CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
This Issue
CAMPUS & COMMUNITY Why do professors in certain fields make so much more than others? Our Asst. Campus & Community Editor found out. - page 5 ENTERTAINMENT Our Asst. Entertainment Editor loves horror flicks, and he's letting everyone know which are must sees. - page 12
SPORTS Blaiden Kirk on the rise as a popular sports TikToker. The ardent Browns fan discussed his love of sports, computers and more. - page 20 FOOD Our Food Editor releases her definitive rankings on the best candy this Halloween - page 11
OPINION Highlighting her own experiences with Miami's Title IX office, one columnist is calling for change. - page 22 STYLE What will Miami students be wearing this Halloween? A style writer weighs in. - page 14
What happened next, however, was anything but a joke. Tammen was last seen going into his room with fresh sheets. His roommate returned at 10:30 p.m. to an empty room with the lights still on and Tammen’s psychology textbook open at his desk. Other than what he had been wearing that night, everything else he owned was still on campus — his car, his wallet and his beloved bass were untouched. He was never found.
Love and barbed wire: The Miami motorcycle ghost This legend begins with a love story. Supposedly, a farmer and his daughter used to live on the outskirts of Oxford in the 1940s. The farmer didn’t approve of his daughter’s boyfriend, who used to cause a ruckus driving through the streets at night to meet with the young woman. The farmer consequently forbade the man from seeing his daughter during the week or at night. The two lovers devised a system to circumvent this rule: after the girl’s parents went to sleep, she would drive up to a nearby 90 degree turn, park on top of a hill and flash her lights three times to signal that the coast was clear for her boyfriend. The furious farmer decided to put a permanent stop to the shenanigans by stringing up barbed wire at shoulder height at the bottom of one of the hills. One way or the other, the man wouldn’t be able to see his daughter at night again. The next night, the man went to pick up his girlfriend and propose to her. Instead, he was decapitated by the wire while driving down Oxford-Milford Road. It is said that if one goes to the lovers’ spot (the first four-way stop after going past Yager Stadium and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
“Halloween Kills” lives up to the name, but not much else ENRICO MEZA-CUADRA THE MIAMI STUDENT Ever since the release of “Halloween” (2018), fans (myself included) have been eagerly awaiting the release of its sequel, “Halloween Kills.” The 2018 film, a soft reboot of the series, served as a sequel to the original 1978 “Halloween” movie and erased the previous sequels’ as canon. It was also a return to form for the series, which had only gotten worse and worse with each release in the last few decades. “Halloween” (2018) was suspenseful, true to the series, had pretty great kills and a mostly coherent plot — more than what could be said about any of its predecessors. With the same director as the previous film, David Gordon Green, I had high expectations for this sequel. Unfortunately, “Halloween Kills” did not live up to the first film’s hype. Most of the original cast returns for “Halloween Kills,” aside from those who didn’t make it through the movie. A whole host of new and old characters are introduced and given significant screen time, and it’s painfully obvious they only exist to be killed by Michael Myers or provide annoying fan service. The central plot follows the hunt of Michael by the people of Haddonfield.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR As the seasons change in Oxford, our Editor-in-Chief reflects on endings, new beginnings and everything in between. - page 2 HUMOR See the news that didn't make the news ... because it didn't happen. - page 17
PHOTO FROM @HALLOWEENMOVIE ON INSTAGRAM
However it tries to keep the idea of Laurie as Michael’s target, the subplot of the Strode family itself attempting to survive, people like Tommy Doyle trying to get revenge on Michael, and even a weird and random love subplot with Laurie and Officer Hawkins. “Halloween Kills” makes a habit of bringing back characters from the original 1978 film and trying to make them plot-relevant, without developing them at all. They all boil down to one trait and are inevitably killed by Michael throughout the film. Tommy Doyle and Lonnie Elam, two of these returning characters, CONTINUED ON PAGE 13