ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
Volume 168 No. 14
Miami university — Oxford, Ohio
FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2025
Miami … Merged: Written in the stars?
Martin Dining Commons to be converted into full rec center and ghost kitchen PAUL GOLLIS THE MIAMI STUDENT
MARIZA AND JOSH SAID THEY WOULD BE OPEN TO KEEPING IN TOUCH AS FRIENDS. PHOTO BY LAUREN AURIANA
LILLIAN WAHL SENIOR STAFF WRITER
TAYLOR STUMBAUGH SENIOR CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR The participants One application for Miami … Merged was very particular about something rather specific. “If I get chosen for this, PLEASE no Aries men. Please. I can’t do it again. I wholeheartedly believe that every Aries man lives up to all of the negative stereotypes,” Mariza wrote in her application for the project.
In this issue
The senior media and communication major said she was looking forward to the chance to try something new. In her application, she wrote she likes to read, work out and listen to Fleetwood Mac, and she enjoys the occasional night Uptown and loves to hang out with her cat, Olive. “She’s a little angel — she’s the light of my life,” Mariza said, grinning. “If a guy doesn’t like cats, that’s an immediate no.” She said she saw a flyer for Miami … Merged hanging near a printer one day in Armstrong and was intrigued. “I feel like I have confined myself to a very tiny bubble of what I feel my type is and the people that I should
SPORTS EDITOR
A springtime spectacle: Wildflowers bloom in Oxford’s natural areas - page 12
CAMPUS & COMMUNITY
Associate Student Government runs out of surplus funds, leaving student organizations worried - page 5
When Max Edling first arrived at Miami University in 2021, he quickly joined the club dodgeball team, looking for a fun extracurricular activity. The senior sports management major played dodgeball all four years of high school, and he heard the team found some success before the COVID-19 pandemic. He was half-right in his expectations for the club. “Everyone graduated from [the previous year], and there were only three returning players my freshman year,” Edling said. “We weren’t very good … We won our first game on the last day of the season on day two of nationals.” The team improved slightly the following year before taking a big step forward in 2024. The RedHawks made it to the Elite Eight of the national tournament after defeating Pennsylvania State University 4-3. They fell 6-1 to The Ohio State University in the following round.
SAM NORTON
A new “Arena District” on Cook Field, but at what cost? - page 12
SPORTS
‘This is a leap of faith, and I’m glad I did it’: AJ Brown speaks to Miami students for Stress Less Week - page 7
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Despite the loss, Miami pushed farther than ever before in program history. The RedHawks only made one Elite Eight appearance before 2024. However, Edling wasn’t satisfied just yet. In his fourth and final season, he helped the RedHawks put forth their best season performance ever, culminating in Miami’s first National Collegiate Dodgeball Association (NCDA) championship on April 6. The win marked Miami’s first championship in program history and the first time an Ohio team had won it since 2006, when Ohio State took the title. Miami Club Dodgeball originated in 2006, one year after the formation of the NCDA. However, the club shut down after seven years due to a lack of interest. It returned in 2016, and the team saw some success, even reaching the Elite Eight in 2019. After COVID-19, the RedHawks went from a top-five team in the NCDA to nearly winless the following year.
Edling witnessed the early version of the team before its national success. He especially liked that the club was entirely student-run, even though other teams like Michigan State University have a head coach and sponsorships. “There’s something to be said about how truly student-led our club is,” Edling said. “Three of the four Final Four teams have a head coach that travels with them for every tournament [and] coaches them and goes to their practice. We’re the one that doesn’t have a head coach, and we beat two of them.” As a student organization, the players don’t feel that the team becomes too much of a time commitment. Philip Hampton, a junior computer engineering major and a team captain, still enjoys spending extra time at practice. “This is a great sport if you want to play [something that’s not] a big time commitment,” Hampton said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
A week of celebration: How Oxford and Miami are preparing for Earth Day EDITOR AT LARGE
OPINION
“I’ll be honest, I’ve never really been in a sincere relationship before,” he said. When asked what he was looking for in a relationship, he mentioned that he had been into stargazing recently. While that might not seem especially related to going on his first-ever blind date, that seize-themoment attitude impacted his mentality about dating. “I went to a blood moon yesterday,” he said. “That was fun. I kind of couldn't bring myself to go to sleep.”
Miami club dodgeball brings home school’s first national title KETHAN BABU
GREENHAWKS
date. It would be a very interesting experience to have someone chosen for me, and I’d love to see how that could go,” she wrote in her application. For her, kindness, respect and a good sense of humor are essential to a healthy relationship. “It’s better when things happen organically,” Mariza said. “It’s just kinda nice to do things a different way. I’m so over the dating apps.” Josh, a sophomore cybersecurity and robotics engineering double major, is both introspective and extroverted. In his free time, he fences, plays the drums, marimba, and banjo and skateboards.
Each year since 1970, people across the globe have banded together to celebrate our planet on April 22, better known as Earth Day. While some confine themselves to just one day, Miami University students are able to celebrate for a week. Miami’s 2025 Earth Week will be from April 21-27, culminating in the annual Earth Fest in Uptown Oxford on April 26. Before that, the week will be filled with sustainability-focused events for students to attend across campus. The Student Sustainability Council (SSC), which organizes Earth Week, brings together multiple green organizations to create one week full of activism and education. John Day, a junior psychology and English double major, Secretary for Infrastructure and Sustainability in Miami’s Associated Student Government and president of SSC, said he enjoys the exposure Earth Week provides.
“I really wanted to get exposure to different greener works on campus,” Day said. This year, the week will kick off with Miami’s Office of Sustainability hosting a LEGO building competition in Armstrong, with prizes for winners including new LEGO sets. That event will be on Tuesday, April 22 in Armstrong 1082 at 7 p.m. On Wednesday, April 23, therapy dogs will be in the Armstrong Pavilion from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. to help students cope with climate anxiety. Following that, on Thursday, April 24, EcoReps will host “cards for a cause” and highlight service opportunities on and off campus. Throughout the week, students can browse second-hand clothes and more at Zero Waste Oxford’s, pop-up thrift shop. The store will be open Monday through Friday across Armstrong’s tech lounge on the first floor. At the end of the weekend, on Sunday, April 27, Miami Activities and Programming (MAP), Leaders of Environmental Awareness and Protection (LEAP) and Miami’s Amer-
ican Conservation Coalition (ACC) are collaborating to lead a hike in the Marcum Woods. This section of the Miami Natural Areas follows the Four Mile Creek and is bordered by Miami’s Equestrian Center and Ruder Preserve. Despite changes in higher education that could limit discussion of climate change in classrooms, the environmental traditions at Miami are continuing. Day said he does not see this changing soon, especially as it is spearheaded by students. “Even if the conversation is stifled in the classroom… our [student] presence on campus will still be here,” Day said. The main event of Earth Week is the popular Earth Fest, which will be held in Uptown Memorial Park on Saturday, April 26 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. After a unique change during last year's festival, which included circus-like performances and collaborations with entrepreneurial clubs on campus, Earth Fest will return to its traditional roots this year. CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
Martin Dining Commons, located in North Quad, will be changed into a small recreation center and ghost kitchen, similar to Bell Tower Commons, by the beginning of next semester. The current building houses a dining commons and convenience store with a to-go pick-up window on the upstairs floor. The basement holds a smaller rec space with a mix of strength and cardio machines, as well as a multipurpose exercise room. Mike Arnos, senior director of programs and academic partnerships, said the renovations will transform the buffet and seating areas into three primary rooms. The main room will contain equipment similar to that of the South campus rec center, including strength machines, free weights and treadmills. The second area will be a turf room with 1,000 square feet of space for a sled, kettlebells, plyo boxes and medicine and slam balls. The final room will be a dance studio with hardwood floors, AV equipment and mirrors. Arnos said that currently, there are no plans to change the basement area, which will be open for informal use and will also be available for organizations like ROTC, fraternities and sororities to reserve for group workouts. The kitchen will be getting small renovations to make it ready to serve as a ghost kitchen. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
‘Alarum’ released following production in Oxford SYDNEY MULFORD STAFF WRITER After nearly a year of anticipation from Miami University students, ‘Alarum,’ the film that took over Oxford’s Uptown areas and Hueston Woods, is out. Starring Sylvester Stallone, Scott Eastwood, Willa Fitzgerald and Mike Colter, ‘Alarum’ was officially released on Jan. 15, but it did not make much of an impact in the box office. The plot follows two former spies, Joe (Eastwood) and Lara (Fitzgerald), from rival organizations who went rogue after they met on a mission. Now, they are suspected of joining the organization Alarum. The movie opens with a shot of Action Lake from Hueston Woods, and is followed by shots of the Hueston Woods Lodge and Conference Center, where Joe and Lara are on their honeymoon in Poland. The flagpole outside of the lodge is replaced with a Polish flag in the film, and the setting is modified to look like a resort. When a plane crashes near the resort, Joe finds the pilots shot by an assassin and a flash drive in one of the pilot’s stomachs. He quickly finds himself under the attack of an international spy organization who wants the flash drive and him dead. Eventually, Joe’s former spy organization sends Agent Chester (Stallone) to figure out what is going on and “help” Joe. In less than 24 hours, Joe, Chester and Lara embark on a mission to fight off the other spies and determine where their alliance falls. Outside of filming, Somerville-native Tammy Anders found the plane crash while horseback riding with a few of her friends. Anders said she and her friends saw a lot of white vans driving around nearby before finding the plane crash 25 feet into the trailhead at Hueston Woods. However, they quickly realized that the crash was staged. CONTINUED ON PAGE 9