Beyond sports journalism, my internship with the Oxford Free Press and experiences with other sections at The Miami Student has allowed me to create a diverse portfolio of stories outside of the athletic world.
From features on local businesses, profiles on city representatives, coverage of Senate Bill 1 in Ohio and scientific pieces, here are my non-sports stories!
Warbler birds hit travel troubles in Oxford
This story was originally published with The Miami Student on April 5, 2025
Every day in the spring, Miami University students walk around campus and see various migrating birds. These birds migrate long distances across two continents each year, stopping along the way in places like Oxford before continuing their journey.
Among these birds are the yellow-throated and cerulean warblers, which can be seen behind the Farmer School of Business and the Garden Dining Commons starting in late April.
However, billions of birds have died over the past 30 years, with migratory birds like warblers getting hit particularly hard. The cerulean warbler is considered vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Matt Valiga, a doctor of philosophy student in the biology program, studies these warblers and other neotropical migrants. His research found that although the focus so far has been on preserving their habitats, these birds often end up dying due to lack of food stocks during migration.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re spending all this money to conserve their breeding grounds if the only reason they’re dying out is because they’re dying during the migration,” Valiga said. “There’s a whole slew of issues that make this more complex than just trying to conserve the chickadees that live in your backyard all year round.”
Warblers breed in northern North America and spend their winters in South and Central America. These birds spend half their lives migrating, and by crossing continents, their preservation becomes even more difficult.
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Senate Bill 1 disrupts Miami’s academics and culture
This story was originally published with The Miami Student on March 17, 2025
Miami University’s academics may be changed after Senate Bill 1 (S.B. 1) goes through the Ohio House of Representatives. The bill was approved by the Ohio Senate last month and awaits approval from the House Workforce and Higher Education Committee before it’s sent to the Ohio House of Representatives floor for a vote.
Ohio Senator Jerry Cirino introduced S.B. 1 as the “Enact Advance Ohio Higher Education Act” to the Senate on Jan. 29. The bill covers a wide range of topics, such as prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at universities and forbidding discussions in classrooms about “controversial topics.”
Cirino previously presented Senate Bill 83 (S.B. 83), the “Enact Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act,” to the Senate on March 13, 2023. The bill passed the Senate before stalling in the House at the start of 2024.
Despite the modifications to S.B. 83, Cirino reintroduced S.B. 1 as the base version of the bill.
For Kevin Reuning, an associate professor of political science at Miami, he said S.B. 1 went further than the original bill.
“S.B. 83 was amended down a fair amount,” Reuning said, “and then S.B. 1 came in as sort of the original version of S.B. 83 with some other stuff added in.”
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University proposes new arena near Slant Walk
This story was originally published with The Miami Student on Nov. 21, 2024
For nearly 60 years, Millett Hall has served as the home for the Miami University RedHawks men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams.
Men’s basketball inaugurated Millett on Dec. 2, 1968, against the University of Kentucky Wildcats. The women’s basketball team played its first season in 1974, and volleyball moved from Withrow Hall in 1985.
In the near future, Miami might see these teams performing in a new location.
In October, Miami announced plans for significant campus additions. One project the university proposed is a $100 to $200 million sports arena to replace Millett.
Miami shared information on the other development, a potential hotel on Cook Field, to faculty earlier this year but the arena was confidential through the early planning process. University Senate and the Campus Planning Committee weren’t aware of the project until October.
Millett’s last renovations took place in 2014 with upgrades to lighting, seating and locker rooms. However, Miami estimates that more than $80 million in deferred maintenance is required for the 56-year-old arena.
The high cost of renovating Millett provides an opportunity for Miami’s administration. David Creamer, Miami’s senior vice president for finance, said the main goal with future projects is economic development.
“We have to think about what will economically grow the university,” Creamer said. “We’re at a place [where] future growth is going to be more difficult, and we have to be thinking differently. We can’t simply stand still.”
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Tree to Table … to Sauna: How a local company is taking another leap forward
This story was originally published with the Oxford Free Press on June 16, 2025
Vilppu Anttila and Ryan Murphy hated their jobs eight years ago.
Anttila worked in cybersecurity, and Murphy worked as a nurse. They met at church in 2017 and invited each other’s families over for weekly dinners. Over time, they realized they shared a passion for community gatherings, especially around a table.
“If you want to see a friend, you schedule out a month or two in advance,” Murphy said. “We’re trying to get away from that and trying to have a slower pace of life that made time for people.”
In their free time, Anttila and Murphy learned woodworking. Neither had much experience beforehand, but they eventually learned the full process behind turning a tree into a table.
Eventually, they quit their jobs to start their own business, Tree to Table. The duo took the plunge and began accepting custom orders for tables, benches, shelves and more.
Four years later, they are ready to take another leap: building saunas.
“The saunas really fit well with our mission,” Anttila said. “We’re passionate about gathering, we’re passionate about community, but we’re also passionate about wellness … Saunas have a really special role in that.”
Anttila grew up in Finland before studying engineering at Miami University. Saunas occupy a large role in Finnish culture, and with Tree to Table extending its catalog, Anttila is able to reconnect with his childhood and bring his home culture to the United States.
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John Buchholz celebrates 50 years of working for the City of Oxford
This story was originally published with the Oxford Free Press on Aug.7, 2025
John Buchholz sits at his desk in the city manager suite four days a week. He answers multiple phone calls each day from people in Oxford with questions or complaints about trash and parking, among other issues. Throughout the morning, Buchholz greets and talks with everyone who walks past his desk.
His business card shows that he is the community outreach specialist in Oxford. It also shows that he is a retired detective sergeant with the city.
What it doesn’t show is that Buchholz has worked as both a police officer and a city employee for 50 years this summer, making him the longest-serving city employee in Oxford.
Buchholz grew up in Dayton and knew from an early age that he wanted to be a police officer. He worked as a police cadet for the Randolph Township Police Department while in high school before joining the Air Force and serving two years in Vietnam.
While still in the service, Buchholz began applying to every small-town police department that he could find in southwest Ohio. He returned to Dayton in 1975 and took a patrol officer position in Oxford on July 15 of that year.
“I knew nothing about Oxford,” Buchholz said. “I’d never been here, even though I wasn’t that far away. I knew Miami University was here. As it so happened, they’re the first ones that offered me a job, and I took it. In hindsight, it was the best blind dumb luck that I ever had.”
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