ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
Volume 149 No. 1
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2020
First year, first 24 hours:
What did move-in look like for a first-year student?
Oxford preparing for unprecedented election
IN-PERSON VOTING WILL LOOK DIFFERENT THIS YEAR IN THE FACE OF THE PANDEMIC. PHOTO EDITOR BO BRUECK
HENRI ROBBINS
THE MIAMI STUDENT
FIRST-YEAR KYLIE WHITEHEAD MOVED INTO HER DORM AFTER MONTHS OF ANTICIPATION, BUT CAMPUS LOOKS A LOT DIFFERENT THIS SEMESTER. PHOTO EDITOR BO BRUECK
HANNAH HORSINGTON STAFF WRITER
While COVID-19 has changed virtually everything about moving into college campuses across the country this year, one small thing remains the same: the fire alarm is bound to go off.
This is exactly what happened to first-year Kylie Whitehead within her first three hours on Miami’s campus. As she hung up clothes in her closet, unpacked her collection of coffee mugs and swapped travel stories with her roommate, they were interrupted by the tell-tale shrieking of a residence hall fire alarm. A few seconds later came the announcement over the intercom. “MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE … THERE HAS BEEN A FIRE EMERGENCY REPORTED IN THE BUILDING. PLEASE EVACUATE THE BUILDING BY THE NEAREST EXIT.”
This was just one part of a move-in experience unlike any other for Kylie. From Northbrook, Illinois, outside of Chicago, she and her family drove to Oxford Thursday and spent the night in a hotel, not wanting to make the fivehour drive and a move all in one day. Kylie and her family explored the campus and even walked all the way from the hotel to her dorm, Dennison Hall, to see where she would be living. Later, she and her sister, Alexa, wandered around Oxford and took note of any absurd house names (“Afternoon Delight” stood out) to tell their parents about later. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
In the face of a pandemic, the Butler County Board of Elections and local political organizations have both been working to allow Oxford residents to vote as safely and efficiently as possible this coming November. For the upcoming election, there are three ways to cast a ballot: One can vote in-person on election day, in-person early at the board of elections or through the mail by absentee ballot. Board of Elections Deputy Director Eric Corbin said they have seen a massive increase in the amount of absentee ballots this year, but he does not have concerns over the safety of absentee voting. “We’ve had this mail-in system for a long time,” Corbin said. “We’ve been working with it, and we’ve worked out the kinks. This year we’re scaling up from 10% to a much higher percent of mail, but we already have the process in place.” Along with this, the board is still having in-person voting and will be asking voters to wear masks and follow social distancing guidelines. While Corbin said the board of elections lost many poll workers due to the pandemic, it has also gained some due to active recruiting. “We have recruited more people at this point in time than we ever have before, but that’s also because we started earlier,” Corbin said. “Of course, you can imagine the population of poll workers and the population of
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What does “the video” mean for Miami’s reputation? DAVID KWIATKOWSKI
CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR These past two weeks have proven to be quite eventful for Miami University. Underclassmen began to move into dorms Sept. 14, and simultaneously, the viral video of a police officer confronting a student having a house party while positive for COVID-19 made headlines from news sources ranging from TMZ to The Washington Post. But what does this all mean for Miami’s reputation? During a town hall meeting Sept. 9, Provost Jason Osborne said the decision to come back was influenced by the actions of other Ohio universities and how those would compare to Miami’s reputation. “What we’d be saying to our students is that we can’t do this when all our neighboring universities can,” Osborne said. A lot of universities across the nation are dealing with rising COVID-19 cases as not all students are complying with social-distancing guidelines. Miami is no different, and community members were forced to face the implications of the viral video on Miami’s reputation. Class of 2020 Miami graduate Makenzie Mercer believes the video showcases a selfishness displayed by certain students. “It shines a light on some of the more deeply-rooted issues at Miami,” Mercer said, “this culture of entitlement. This group of boys didn’t see anything wrong with the fact that they were partying together even though they had tested positive.” Mercer pointed to the lack of punishment for racism on campus, sexual assault cases and hazing in Greek life as further evidence of Miami students contributing to a sense of entitlement. “I don’t know what it’s going to take for the administration to want to do more,” Mercer said.
A VIDEO OF COVID-POSITIVE PARTIERS MADE NATIONAL NEWS, SPARKING CONVERSATION ABOUT MIAMI'S REPUTATION. PHOTO EDITOR BO BRUECK
Junior public health major Morgan Manski questioned how many cases it would take for the university to shut down. “If I were a freshman or sophomore [right now], I’d be asking when they’re going to send me home,” Manski said. University officials have previously said they do not anticipate sending students home if an on-campus outbreak occurs. They might issue a shelter-in-place order, but they don’t want
students to return home and potentially spread COVID-19 to their communities. Some people, like Miami parent Laura Herrick, believe the university cannot be solely responsible. “I think that the behavior of the people in the video was more indicative of the way that they have been taught at home than it was of anything Miami is teaching them,” Herrick said. Osborne understands that most students are complying with regulations but realizes that ev-
eryone is navigating life during a pandemic for the first time. “We’re all trying to do the right thing,” Osborne said. “Students make mistakes, faculty make mistakes, everyone makes mistakes. We’ve got to recover from this. But we’ve also got to hold people accountable.” While Brent Shock, vice president for enrollment management and student success, agrees CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
This Issue NEWS
CULTURE
STAFF
OPINION
Students talk testing positive for COVID-19
When it comes to virtual learning, are we all the ghosts in the machine?
Meet the faces behind the bylines
RBG died.
page 4
page 6
page 8
What does that mean for all of us? page 10