Oxford News

Making the decision of where to live and perhaps raise a family are legitimate questions for any new employee or family wanting to come to Miami University or relocate to the Oxford community. Among the attractions in Oxford are the Uptown Park, the Community Arts Center and the city park, all within walking distance or a few minutes' drive from the residential neighborhoods.

The Uptown Park at the center of the traditional small town is a particularly favorite spot for families to visit, take an evening walk, watch the Fourth of July parade go by, listen to the summer music events, or shop at the local Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. The nearby Hueston Woods State Park also is an acclaimed recreational facility any community would be proud of.

By living in Oxford, Miami faculty can easily devote their full time and attention to teaching, advising, mentoring, engaging students in scholarly research, and participating in various service activities of the shared governance, instead of showing up two or three days a week as commuters to meet their minimum teaching obligations at the university. By residing in Oxford, one also can easily attend to their children's school needs.

Families can count on high quality and friendly professional service from the local physicians and staff at McCullough Hyde Hospital. In the evenings at Miami University, one can attend events featuring national and world leaders as well as many events that feature academic scholars. Also available are a variety of multi-cultural, theatrical and musical performances and student sporting events that can be enjoyed without spending much money or facing a long drive home each night.

The quality of the local Talawanda Schools is often used as the final reason by the parents with school-age children. One way to ascertain the quality of a school system is to examine the quality of its high school graduates. The recent June 8 graduating class of Talawanda High School, like other THS graduating classes, included two National Merit Scholars, students with admissions to Stanford University, Washington University, Barnard College (affiliated with Columbia University) as well as a number of other prestigious universities (including Miami University), 24 students with highest honors and many more with high honors and several members of the National Honor Society. The 2007 graduating class received more than four million dollars in scholarships and awards.

An additional outstanding value is that students from THS can take classes at Miami University without paying MU tuition. In addition to high academics, THS also offers many quality sports and academic extracurricular activities for student and parent involvement without the inconvenience of distance and a long drive.

Finally, the cost of living in Oxford is economically reasonable. Less driving daily to work means saving time and fuel energy. One can, however, periodically attend professional sports, cultural events or educational programs in Cincinnati or Dayton without facing the everyday driving hassles.

Last but not least, as more individuals and families make their home in Oxford and engage in civic duties and philanthropy, they enrich the quality of life for themselves and the Oxford-Talawanda community. On a personal level, working (teaching, research and service) at Miami University has been more than a dream come true like a "kid in a candy store." I also have received so much more, living and raising my family in Oxford, than I could ever give back.

J.K. Bhattacharjee is a professor of

microbiology emeritus at Miami University.