Established 1826 — Oldest College Newspaper West of the Alleghenies
NEWS

A stop along the way

Megan Brooks

When the elements hit Oxford, students across campus struggle to make it to class. For some students, walking down Slant Walk is the final leg of a seemingly long journey.

Imagine having to drive an hour before making that icy walk to class.

That's exactly what the 6,000 students who commute to Miami University everyday must endure-well maybe not quite 6,000. The number of commuter students is hard to calculate because students beyond their first year who choose to live off campus are technically registered as commuter students. Therefore, the Commuter Center only has an accurate number for first-year students and can only estimate the number of upper-class students who commute to class.

"A rough estimate would be around 6,000 students, but most of those just live off campus in Oxford," said Ann-Drea Hensley, the graduate adviser for the Commuter Center. "I only academic advise 43, so we aren't really sure how many commute."

While Hensley's current commute is simply taking a bus to campus, she understands her students' perspectives since she commuted as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan.

"After having lived on campus my first year as an undergrad and then commuting thereafter, I definitely learned some major differences between commuting and living on campus that most commuter students also face," Hensley said.

Tucked away deep in the Shriver Center is the Commuter Center, which gives students who do commute a place to go in between classes. Just taking one look at the Commuter Center, it becomes clear that 6,000 students are not frequenting the center every day; Hensley estimates the number is closer to 200.

The Commuter Center is open from 7:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, providing commuter students a place to go when they are not in class. Sitting down on the U-shaped couch with cartoons on the television, it is clear the atmosphere is comfortable as the students joke and poke fun at one another.

Travel plans

The distance students travel and the reasons for their commutes vary from person-to-person. The drive time ranges from 15 minutes to upward of an hour and Hensley said most students who commute come from the towns of Hamilton, Eaton and West Chester.

Enjoy what you're reading?
Signup for our newsletter

Laura Sietsema currently commutes to Miami from West Chester as she finishing up her master's degree.

"I was actually an undergraduate at Miami and did live in Oxford for my first four years," Sietsema said. "I needed to go to school for one last semester but didn't want to get stuck in a year lease, so I moved back into my parent's house."

While she only intended to stay through her December 2006 graduation, she has since decided to return to earn her master's in statistics and plans to continue her current living arrangements with her family.

"The little things, like sharing dinner or watching CSI together, are really nice now that I am out of the phase where I needed my freedom all of the time," Sietsma said. "All my friends, my family, my job, the activities and places I enjoy, and my gym membership, are here in West Chester where I grew up."

First-year student Anja Redzepagic commutes from Middletown for a different reason.

"My parents made a deal with me," Redzepagic said. "If I lived with them for a year or two then they would buy me an apartment uptown and pay for everything."

Redzepagic thinks she will be a little bit homesick when this happens, but is looking forward to the independence and no longer making the 30-minute drive.

For Miami senior Matt Buttram, this is his final semester making the commute from Mason before he begins student teaching in August. He started attending classes at the regional campuses, as both Hamilton and Middleton are approximately 25 minutes from his house, but notices the 45 minute commute to Oxford taking a toll on his gas tank.

"Last semester I came everyday and I had to fill my gas up twice a week at least," Buttram said. "Now I only have class on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays so I only fill it up once. That helps."

Although there may be some downsides to having commuting to daily to Oxford, benefits exist as well.

"I may have to get up earlier than the students on campus, but I don't have to have a roommate," Redzepagic said.

Hensley cited financial benefits.

"I did like commuting, it was cheaper," Hensley said. "I could pay for school without so many loans."

Additionally, students who commute often have other responsibilities far beyond earning a degree and living at home with their parents-in fact some commuter students, such as senior Beth Dalton, are parents.

"There aren't any dorm rooms for five people," Dalton said. "A lot of us have kids and families, so we're really busy."

The Commuter Center tries to offer a unique and comfortable environment for students to enjoy in between classes.

"We have a lot of regular students in the Commuter Center, from 10 (a.m.) until 2 in the afternoon, it can get really busy in here," Hensley said.

Around lunchtime students often become creative just in order to find a place to sit.

"Around noon tons of students will come in and people will be sitting everywhere," Redzepagic said. "On the table, on the floor, anywhere."

Commuting to more than classes

Many of the students who commute do have jobs-but this does not mean they do not have time to be involved on campus.

"We have one kid who is in the Associated Student Government (ASG), and some people are involved in theater," Redzepagic said.

Beyond the normal on-campus activities that students are involved in, the Commuter Center offers programming of its own.

Hensley said a commuter council provides traveling students with a way to stay involved.

"It's just like what residents assistants have to do; they have to have an educational, a social justice and a social event," Hensley explained.

Redzepagic usually attends the planned activities, which occur weekly at noon around the couch.

"It's an activity we all do together," Redzepagic said. "One girl talked about Anne Frank and showed a clip to go along with it."

The students who commute also know how to create their own entertainment.

"We have two kids who write movie scripts and cast us in their movies, which is fun. Occasionally people will get together and go to a hockey game," Sietsema said.

And there are always videogames.

"Mario Kart and Guitar Hero are big," said Michael Cotton, a second-year commuter student.

The students keep a schedule for what days of the week are for which videogames-there never seems to be a dull moment.

Sietsma checked out the Commuter Center for the first time a few weeks ago and enjoyed adding more social interaction to her typical school day.

"Everyone was really friendly and we had a lot of fun playing UNO and relaxing together," she said.

Within the walls of the Commuter Center these students share a unique and comfortable environment that serves as a haven between classes and offers a sense of belonging.

"We have a close knit community, which is way different than when I was a freshmen here," Sietsema said. Referring to the lively environment she added: "It used to be like King Library in here."

In fact, the students at the Commuter Center have even given each other nicknames that are posted on the wall.

"Well my nickname is 'Onion,' cause it sounds like Anja," Redzepagic said. "Bobbi Sue is 'Soup' and Beth is 'Olds,' short for Oldsmobile."

Room for improvement

Equipped with a television, couches, lockers and tables, the Commuter Center tries to be a home away from home, but both students and staff agree that improvements could be made. p>

Dalton said many students feel there is a divide between full-time and commuter students.

"I think for the most part there are misconceptions on both sides," Dalton said. "People think we're not a part of campus at all, but at the same time we have misconceptions about Miami students. Certainly stereotypes have a basis because they started for a reason."

Students who commute have other difficulties around campus.

"Parking!" Redzepagic said. "It's so annoying when we have to park at Ditmer or Millett and the students who have their car there all year round park in the front and so we have to park in the very back everyday."

Hensley sees parking as one of the three primary concerns that commuter students approach her with.

Group projects, specifically being required to stay late at night and commute home and professors assuming that all commuter students make a personal choice to commute are the other most common concerns Hensley sees.

She understands community is not always a choice on a personal level.

"Many commuters are doing it because they cannot afford to go here otherwise, which was the same reason I commuted to U of M," Hensley said.

Other changes the commuters would like to see are the addition of simple amenities.

With Miami's new Bicentennial Student Center design in progress, Dalton has been active in making sure the needs of commuting students are heard.

"We became proactive with the people who are designing the new student center," Dalton said. "They thought about not even having a Commuter Center, but they came back and talked to us when they found out that a lot of us had ideas and we had a meeting."

And the commuters have a list of simple amenities they would enjoy having in addition to the things that they have in the Commuter Center currently.

Dalton would like to see the creation of more than one room in the center to foster a more conducive study area.

"There's no separation from the people who are studying and the people who are socializing," Dalton said. "There's no noise barrier so you can have quiet studying."

Many students go to King Library to focus because of the combined background noise of socializing and television.

Redzepagic expressed frustration on the lack of space.

"There's just not enough room," Redzepagic said. "We have a kitchen, but we don't have a sink. We really would want a bathroom too."

Hensley has hope for more than updated amenities.

"I think that once students, and most importantly professors, understand that this campus is no longer just students living in dorms or down College or Main Street, that they will be a little more accommodating," Hensley said.

She has already seen some positive changes.

"I think it helped that they did not raise in-state tuition because a lot of students, if they keep raising tuition, will want to commute to save money or they will choose to go elsewhere," Hensley said.

Spend just an hour in the Commuter Center, and it becomes clear many of these students have found their niche at Miami University, but Hensley holds out that the acceptance will widen.

"I am actually pretty hopeful that as word gets out about commuter students and what they face, and that this is no longer just a residential campus that some changes with parking and overall acceptance will happen," Hensley said.


Read More

Trending