ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
Volume 151 No. 13
Miami University — Oxford, Ohio
FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2023
Students ‘It’s just another way to advocate to micromanage our topics’: expand kosher Faculty and students options on react to Ohio Senate Bill 83 campus
JEWISH STUDENTS AT MIAMI HAVE LIMITED OPTIONS FOR KOSHER FOOD. PHOTO BY JAKE RUFFER
MEREDITH PERKINS COLUMNIST
GRAPHIC BY MACEY CHAMBERLIN
OLIVIA PATEL RILEY CRABTREE STAFF WRITERS
Students, faculty and staff at Miami University have mixed feelings as Ohio’s Senate Bill 83 sits in the Senate Committee, looking for support to be released. If it passes, the bill will affect a number of Ohio universities that receive state funding and may lead to numerous changes in higher education throughout the state. Line 229 of the bill states that universities can’t “… endorse, oppose, comment, or take action, as
In this issue
an institution, on the public policy controversies of the day, or any other ideology, principle, concept, or formulation that requires commitment to any controversial belief or policy, specified concept, or specified ideology …” Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), the sponsor of the bill, has worked on education bills in the past, including a large oversight bill in the Department of Education, and serves as the chair of the Workforce and Higher Education Committee. In the bill, Cirino defines controversial beliefs or policies as, “any belief or policy that is the subject of po-
litical controversy, including issues such as climate change, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion.” One of the bill’s main goals is to set limits on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) relating to faculty, staff and students to promote individual intellectual diversity. The legislation would also regulate lecture content for faculty and eliminate certain classes and programs altogether. However, Anne Whitesell, an assistant professor of political science at Miami, fears the
passing of this bill could mean more than the removal of courses. “[The bill] would take away a lot of the independence and autonomy that universities have,” Whitesell said. “Some of these provisions would require extra staffing or extra resources, and as far as I've seen in the bill, there are no provisions to provide extra funding, making this a sort of unfunded mandate.” The bill would restrict the discussion of widely-debated issues within classes and could prohibit lecturers from taking a political stance. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Ryland Zaborowski doesn’t let autism stop him from crushing baseballs JACK SCHMELZINGER SPORTS EDITOR
CAMPUS & COMMUNITY From Richard Hall to the federal courts: Two Miami alumnae share their stories - page 4
ENTERTAINMENT ‘I’m no Thumbtack Mechanic’: Student band is rocking Oxford - page 6 HUMOR April Fool's Day Coverage
- page 12
SPORTS Miami softball is a well-oiled machine in Kirin Kumar’s third season - page 8
OPINION From the Editor's Desk: Here's to listening - page 10
PHOTO Spring sprang
- page 14
Even before he was diagnosed with autism at 3 years old, Ryland Zaborowski always had a baseball bat in his hands. Today, he’s one of Miami University baseball’s best players. A 6-foot6, 235-pound, baseball punishing machine, who’s hitting .299 with 11 home runs in 97 at bats this season. Zaborowski’s dad and his friends are die-hard Los Angeles Angels fans. His parents had season tickets when he was a kid, so since he can remember, he’s been at the ballpark. “At a very young age, my dad just handed me a bat and put me in an Angels jersey, and going through the days, I just wouldn’t take it off,” Zaborowski said. “I learned how to hit a ball off the tee, and that’s kind of just where it all started.” He hasn’t stopped loving the game yet. “Once I learned how to hit when someone was throwing to me, that’s when I kind of realized, ‘Dang. I’m somewhat good at this,” Zaborowski said. “Around the age of 7 or 8 is the earliest I can remember that I just fell in love with the game. You couldn’t take me away from it.” During his first year in high school, as a 14 year-old, Zaborowski had to get Tommy John Surgery. It’s a procedure common among baseball players who tear their Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL), the main ligament that connects the humerus, the upper arm bone, and the ulna, the forearm bone. The surgeon takes a ligament from elsewhere in your body, usually the hamstring or forearm, and replaces the UCL with it. Recovery takes about a year. It’s common among baseball players, but not so much among 14-year-old baseball players. It was tough on Zaborowski, especially right after the surgery. Baseball had always been his life, but suddenly he couldn’t play. “It really hit me that I needed to learn how to become mentally strong and deal with failure,” Zaborowski said. “I had to figure out how to come back stronger. I feel like that’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I rebuilt my body and my
RYLAND ZABOROWSKI IS HITTING .299 WITH 11 HOME RUNS IN 97 AT BATS IN 2023. PHOTO BY JAKE RUFFER
strength, and it really helped me mentally. I know I’ll be failing a lot more in the future, a lot of stuff is out of my control.” At a young age, Zaborowski was always in different classes than the “normal” kids at school. He finally moved from California to Arizona when he was a sophomore in high school. When he started school in Arizona, he got put in class with everyone else. He says that if it wasn’t for that, he wouldn’t be playing Division I baseball right now. Zaborowski remembers one friend he made in class who was also diagnosed with autism. “I was really good friends with this one kid,” Zaborowski said. “And he didn’t function as well as me, but he was addicted to cars. I would point out a car part to him, like ‘Hey what’s this?’ He would name it on the spot.” It’s a point of passion for Zaborowski. He believes everyone should be given a chance to succeed. He believes that everyone has the chance to succeed. “If your kid’s diagnosed, you can’t just go straight to the negative,” Zaborowski said. “I mean yeah, it might be bad news that they’re on the spectrum when you find out, but if you see something they’re good at, let them pursue that. Maybe they’re
great at a sport, or maybe they’re in love with cars. It could be anything. They don’t know where that will take them. It can be their escape from reality.” Cam LaLiberte, a catcher at the University of Arizona who played baseball with Zaborowski in high school and bonded with him over a love of baseball and Marvel movies, says Zaborowski is as impressive on the field as he is off it. “He’s a very kind-hearted, determined person,” LaLiberte said. “I don’t think he’d swat a fly. Just the nicest guy. He’s also just so motivated, both in the weight room and on the field. Whatever he sets his mind to, he sees it through.” Despite his kind attitude, Zaborowski’s autism can cause him issues. He started his college career at Grand Canyon University, and it wasn’t always easy interacting with teammates. “At Grand Canyon, I wasn’t that open about it at first, so guys didn’t really know how to interact with me,” Zaborowski said. “For example I don’t always catch on with sarcasm that well.” At Miami, it’s been different. CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
Growing up in a conservative Jewish household, first-year games and simulation major Caleb Krainman has always kept kosher as part of his religious expression and identity. While personal practices vary, the “gold standard” of keeping kosher incorporates detailed dietary and food preparation guidelines, including consuming and preparing meat and dairy separately, only consuming meat from kosher animals slaughtered according to shechita guidelines and avoiding shellfish. “In my house, we’d always have kosher meat. If we were out of the house, we’d keep vegetarian if there wasn’t a place with kosher meat,” Krainman said. When it was time for Krainman to choose a college, coming to Miami University was a no-brainer. “When I was looking for a university, I was always looking for if they had a Chabad on campus or if they had a Jewish community,” Krainman said. “At Miami, I loved the campus. I loved the people.” However, transitioning from his predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Los Angeles to the predominantly Protestant community of Oxford posed a unique set of dietary challenges for Krainman. There are no kosher delis or kosher restaurants in Oxford. While there are some certified kosher snacks in the marketplaces, there are no certified kosher dining stations. Although York Street offers kosher and halal menus for purchase online, it appears none of the York Street to-go meals available at Miami have the Orthodox Union kosher certification. “I can really only get pizza and salad. I’ve basically been vegetarian. I only get kosher food when I can go to Hillel or Chabad, and it’s been hard on me physically,” Krainman said. For junior psychology major Maya Nathan, a Jewish student from the Greater Chicago area, keeping kosher at Miami her first year was similarly difficult. “I grew up in a conservative household and a Kosher household. I wanted to keep kosher in college,” Nathan said. Like many kosher students, Nathan opted to a vegetarian diet to try to keep kosher: a difficult diet to maintain for someone who had never been full-time vegetarian before. “I struggled a lot freshman year with my weight, being low energy… I ended up eating vegetarian and it took my body a while to adjust,” Nathan said. At a university where nearly 6% of students are Jewish, the only places students can get fresh-made, certified kosher food are Hillel or Chabad, Jewish outreach programs. Rabbi Yossi Greenberg, the leader of Miami’s Chabad chapter, hosts weekly shabbat dinners for dozens of Jewish students and, during holidays, hosts holiday dinners for hundreds of Jewish students. “Immediately when I came into Chabad, there was such a huge connection: we were all Jewish, we had common interests — let’s be friends. It made me feel close with the Jewish community on campus,” Krainman said. “Both Hillel and Chabad have wonderful people, and if it wasn’t for them, I feel like I wouldn’t have felt like my Jewish identity was intact.” As early as 1976, The Miami Student has reported on the lack of food options available for Jewish students. In the 1970s, Jewish students were allowed to opt out of board fees due to the school’s lack of kosher options. In 1989, formalized efforts were put in place to supply kosher food options on campus during Passover, a season where many Jews — regardless of how kosher they keep typically — adhere to strict kosher guidelines in addition to special Passover guidelines. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7