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House name tradition creates controversy

By Elisabeth Greve, For The Miami Student

Anyone walking down Spring Street might happen to see "Morning Wood" - the house, that is. Oxford's infamous tradition of naming houses, such as "Miss B. Haven" and "The Panty Shanty," has given the town character, but has also raised some eyebrows.

The tradition of naming houses began in 1973 when a group of men named their house at 112 Tallawanda "The Pit." Shortly after, a group of girls named a neighboring house "Hut Hut" after one of their boyfriend's unusual laughs. The trend took off from there.

Some of the house names, such as "Dying To Get In" and "The Ivy League," have been around for decades, while other new ones pop up every year.

In fact, while the tradition may have started over 40 years ago, recent generations have really taken it to a whole new level with over 200 houses in Oxford now bearing names. Many of the new names have kept up with pop culture, such as "Blurred Vines" referencing the song "Blurred Lines" and "Army of Skanks" in reference to the movie Mean Girls.

Oxford's house names tend to revolve around three main categories: sex, drugs and location. Many have caused controversy, raising questions about freedom of speech and what restrictions should be put in place.

Sam Perry, Oxford's Community Development Director, said that city regulations on the signs are only allowed to cover time, place and manner. If the city goes outside of that, then it is violating freedom of speech. This has not prevented complaints from flowing in, however.

"Complaints are generally from non-student residents passing through the area that don't want their children to see it or they're embarrassed and think it's disgraceful," said Perry.

Three rules have been implemented regarding the signs for Oxford's house names. The sign must be no more than six square-feet in area, it must be attached between four and 18 feet above the adjacent ground and it must be naturally illuminated. No neon lit signs or attached lights are allowed.

The Oxford house sign rules were last modified in July 2005. Bobbe Burke was Miami's off-campus liaison at the time.

"College students tend to think they are the only thing in the community, but this community is pretty vibrant outside of the college," said Burke. "There are school kids that travel down the streets where these signs are located on buses to get to their elementary school. It makes you ask if you would you do this to your own family."

Burke said that everyone agrees the signs are very clever. In many cases, however, people said the signs are insensitive or inappropriate for a community of families.

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The real estate company that owns a home is the only entity that may turn down a house sign for its content. They may even build in their right to regulate the signs into their lease agreements. However, many property managers like the signs because they give their homes notoriety.

Katharine Dunn, a junior currently living at "Lyre, Lyre," noted that the house signs are extremely helpful to students going out to a party.

"It's funny to say you're going to a party at 'Phil Collins' or wherever you might be going," said Dunn. "It's also a fun way to claim where you live and makes Miami very communal."

In 2005, Miami's Associated Student Government created a House Signs Committee to act as a liaison between students and Oxford residents. It was said that the best people to reach out to students with inappropriate house names are other students.

"We all know if the sign is right or wrong to be up in this town, so the decision is do we do it anyway," Burke said. "But really it's a great tradition that adds flavor to this little college town."