The Indiana Daily Student Magazine | Volume 9, Issue 3 | Spring 2015
When did turning the big two-one become such a big deal? ALSO Meet the IU cheerleaders. AND Your embarrassing Tinder fails.
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VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 | TABLE OF CONTENTS | SPRING 2015
Inside this INSIDE COVER STORY
EDITOR’S NOTE I don’t know about you, but when I walk outside, I pray to the Indiana weather gods for spring to come. If the cold has you down, we at INSIDE feel your pain. We’re looking ahead to warmer times, too. We compiled a list of do’s and don’ts for your sunny spring break plans and a guide for summer internship seekers. Think Tinder will brighten your love life? Perhaps rethink that as you read our Tinder confessionals. But we also managed to find the beauty of the present. Let our list of local winter destinations be your guide to happier times.You’ll be surprised at what you’ll find. We can’t wait for the future, whatever it may bring. But let’s enjoy the now together, too.
11 DEPARTMENTS
The story behind the most notorious birthday.
FEATURES
CONFESSIONS
A GUIDE TO ACADEMIA
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Weird stories from your favorite dating app.
KNOW IT ALL
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SPIRIT SQUAD
Find your own Monroe County winter wonderland.
TIP JAR
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Think you want to be a professor? Read what it’s really like.
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Our story following the IU cheerleaders as they prepare for the semester.
THE MAN BEHIND THE MESSAGE
Break out your flip-flops. Our tips for Spring Break.
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Meet the person who answers your sassy @IUBloomington tweets.
KATHRYN MOODY — EDITOR-IN-CHIEF C OV E R P H O T O I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y B E N M I K E S E L L February 17, 2015 Vol. 9, Issue 3 www.idsnews.com/inside Inside magazine, the newest enterprise of the Office of Student Media, Indiana University at Bloomington, is published twice an academic semester: October and November, and February and April. Inside magazine operates as a self-supporting enterprise within the broader scope of the Indiana Daily Student. Inside magazine operates as a designated public forum, and reader comments and contribution are welcome. Normally, the Inside magazine editor will be responsible for final content decisions, with the IDS editor-in-chief involved in rare instances. All editorial and advertising content is subject to our policies, rates, and procedures. Readers are entitled to a single copy of this magazine. The taking of multiple copies of this publication may constitute as theft of property and is subject to prosecution.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kathryn
Indiana Daily Student
ART DIRECTOR Lacey
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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IDSNEWS.COM/INSIDE • INSIDE MAGAZINE 1
C O N F E S S I O N S
Star-crossed swipers BY ELISA GROSS AND JOE WEBER
Along with skinny jeans and crop tops, the next generation won’t understand our fascination with Tinder. It’s the app that so many use, but so few admit to using. But we found four brave souls willing to share their experiences with this viral app that has become such a quintessential guilty pleasure.
LAURA HUEY, SOPHOMORE Laura Huey began using Tinder as a game with the girls on her floor last year to see how many different people they could match with. She found out quickly that Tinder definitely valued quantity over quality when it came to her “matches.” “A lot of guys just come right out and ask for something extremely sexual,” Huey says. “One of them asked me, if he dropped his pants, what would I do to him. Another had some crazy sex fantasy he just sent me by way of introduction. Needless to say, they got unmatched pretty fast.” While Laura says her experience on Tinder was fun at first, it quickly became boring and pointless. She deleted the app recently after downloading it last January and wishes those who want to use it good luck. “There are a lot of weirdos on there.”
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INSIDE’S TINDER TIPS While Tinder can be a fun diversion and easy confidence-booster, it can also put you in some dangerous situations. Here are some tips to stay safe while “matching” away. 1. Remember that it’s easy to lie or conceal information about yourself when you’re using any dating site or app. Stay on your toes when talking to strangers. 2. Don’t give out any personal information to people online. 3. While INSIDE doesn’t suggest meeting online strangers in-person, if you’re meeting someone in-person that you met online, be sure to meet in a public place during the day. 4. Be sure someone knows where you’re going and how long you will be gone if you do meet a “match” in person. 5. If at any point you feel uncomfortable, you should leave and get to a place where you feel safe. 6. If someone pressures you to meet somewhere or makes fun of you for wanting to meet in a public place, that’s a red flag.
AVERY WALTS, SENIOR INSIDE’s very own Departments Editor, Avery Walts, has had her own share of experiences on Tinder. “I started using Tinder after a breakup, even though I made fun of it for the longest time,” Walts says. “Turns out, it was just as dumb as I thought before.” Avery only used the dating app for a couple of months and warns people to be careful not to fall prey to dangerous situations or people.
NICK KREILEIN, SOPHOMORE Like many others on the popular social media app, sophomore Nicholas Kreilein does not take himself seriously when he scrolls through photos of the opposite sex. “For some people it could have value, but for me it’s just to entertain myself when I’m bored,” Kreilein says. “Like when I’m on the toilet.” Though currently single, Kreilein is doubtful a Tinder match will end in a serious relationship. He says a quick boost of self-esteem is at the core of its usefulness. “I’d definitely say it’s a bit of an ego boost--just feeling that love from random girls on the Internet.”
“I matched with a guy from my hometown and ended up seeing him at home at a bar on New Years Eve,” she says. “I never had any intention to meet him in person, but we talked and exchanged phone numbers. In an attempt to find a friend of mine, I accidentally texted the Tinder guy my address after he asked to come home with me thinking it was my friend. I was mortified and scared. I blame alcohol on that one.”
KEVIN SCHAEFER, SENIOR Senior Kevin Schaefer went on his first official Tinder date to Noodles & Company on Kirkwood early last semester. Now, he sits awkwardly near his past “match” in a classroom. “The date was a bunch of forced conversations--really awkward,” Schaefer says. “Now I’m in a 24-person class with her. We don’t talk. I’m just like, ‘Oh man, it’s you.’” Schaefer has used Tinder off and on for the past two years. And while he normally uses it to pass time, he isn’t afraid to meet face to face. “Since it’s connected to Facebook, I think it’s typically pretty legit and relatively safe.” While he is yet to form any long-standing relationships using the site, Schaefer has no problem giving it an honest try. “For single guys like myself, it’s a good way to joke around and have conversations with random ladies you wouldn’t normally talk to,” he says. “I can’t say if you meet them it’s going to go well, but give it a shot.”
PHOTOS PROVIDED
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K N O W
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INTO THE WINTER WILD
Cedar Bluff S TO RY A N D P H OTO S B Y M E R C E R S U P P I G E R
The trees may be dead and the air may be freezing, but the icy grip of winter cannot change the beautiful countryside of southern Indiana. We ventured out with a native son of Bloomington into Monroe County in search of the best locations to explore during these cold months. So grab your boots, pack a bag, throw on a jacket, and take a trip to these five beautiful Monroe County locations.
5. LAKE MONROE
4. CASCADE FALLS
Just 30 minutes from campus, Lake Monroe provides beautiful scenic views from the comfort of your car. This massive, man-made reservoir is dotted with cozy pebbled beaches along the shore. Take a drive on the Knightridge Road land bridge that goes right through the middle of the largest inland lake in the state. Fun fact: this bridge was used as a filming location for the music video for John Mellencamp’s 1982 hit, “Jack & Diane.”
Cascades Park, home of Cascade falls, is less than five minutes from Assembly Hall. As we approached the falls, we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, able only to hear the sounds of the water and wind. An easy hike over a fallen tree allowed us to climb to the top of the falls and look down on the small pool gathered beneath the limestone. Large icicle formations give this location a unique winter spin, and there are some great photo-ops waiting behind the falls.
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3. CEDAR BLUFF If you’ve been craving a little adventure, look no further. Cedar Bluff seems to be straight from the pages of a Mark Twain novel. It is about an hour south of campus, so prepare an awesome playlist to get you pumped on the way there. Essentially, Cedar Bluff is a tall, rocky, forested cliff right along the edge of the East Fork of the White River. Adrenaline seekers can choose to scale the steep, rocky hillside to the top (like we did), or opt out and take the easy, albeit lengthier hike along the river trail that winds its way to the top of the bluff.
2. LEONARD SPRINGS So much beauty, so close to campus. When we arrived at Leonard Springs, it felt as though we had entered a secluded National Park. After an easy 15-minute drive south, we arrived at a small parking area full of cars that gave the impression that the park may be crowded, but that was far from the truth. Leonard Springs used to be Bloomington’s source of fresh water before Lake Griffy. We hiked through the mud (expect LOTS of mud) and made our way to the ruins of the old dam. It is so overgrown with forest that we didn’t even realize we were standing on top of it. A massive bite out of the old dam has created a small group of rapids, and a perilous climb down the slippery edge rewards you with a more accessible view of the empty valley.
1. CHARLES DEAM WILDERNESS This location is number one on our list for a reason. Technically part of the Hoosier National Forest, the Charles Deam Wilderness is the ultimate getaway from college town stress--and it’s only a half hour south of campus. The crown jewel of this area is the locally loved fire tower, which can be easily accessed via car trail. The metal stairs are only wide enough for one person, and every creak and moan they made on the way up made us grip the rails even tighter. An incredible feeling of solitude washed over us as we peered into the endless horizon of rolling hills covered in brown and dark green treetops. Get up there, and you may be lucky enough to witness a bald eagle soaring through the clear winter sky.
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T I P
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SPRING BREAK DO’S AND DON’TS Our O ur tip tips for your best break ever BY PAIGE HUTSON
IF YOU YOU’RE GOING ON VACATION DO O Bring sunscreen sunscre This may be tthe most cliché piece of advice, but it’s real. You’re not invincible and you you’ve been out of the sun for six months. Unless you want to spend your w whole week being a lobster in your hotel room, pack a little SPF or buy a few ttanning sessions. or M t new pe Mee Me Meet people You’re away from fr You’re everything. You’re supposed to meet new people and spend time w with people you’d never be able to on campus. Be mindful of strangers That being sa said, be careful with people you don’t know. You hear spring break horror s stories all the time, so don’t be that guy. Never let strangers into your hote hotel rooms or trust them with your important belongings.
IIF FY YOU’RE OU’RE STAYING HOME DO Get out of the house Even if it’s cold outside, find something fun to do. Just because you aren’t on a fancy spring break trip doesn’t mean you can’t find something better than Netflix. Go on a road trip If you call Indiana your home, grab a group of friends and go to Chicago. Visit Navy Pier, shop, or watch a touring Broadway show. If you’re from out of the state, travel to the closest urban destination. Try something risky You’re only young once. Do something you’ve always wanted to do, like skydiving, or get that tattoo or piercing you’ve been looking at on Pinterest.
DON’T
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Know your lim limit Also cliché. C College spring break is supposed to be a blast, but know when quits Safety first, guys. to call it quits. Set a budget Watch how m much you’re spending. Don’t spend it all and not be able to get home.
DON’T Go to cliché c cities I know, it’s tempting to go to PCB or Cancun. Don’t. There are much less tem stressful plac places to go and get the same amount of rays. Try Tulum, Mexico or Palm Beach, Beac Florida. Less empty beer bottles and screaming college kids, same amount of fun. am Do something you’d be afraid to do on campus If you wouldn’t wouldn do it in Bloomington, don’t do it there. If anything, recklessness can only have worse consequences. Your reputation still counts in Florida.
Stay inside and watch Netflix every night Don’t avoid social contact to hang out in your bed all night. Meet up with friends, even if it’s just to grab some coffee or pizza.
Spend all your you money on crappy souvenirs Will you really use all ten of those tacky shot glasses with flip-flops on about those neon tank tops? Do you really think you’ll wear them? What a May? them after Ma
Mindlessly eat Okay, so you haven’t been dieting for a trip. Don’t let that justify sitting on your couch doing nothing but eating. You’ll regret it at the end of your break.
phone Lose your pho important belongings safe in hotel rooms or keep it on you at all Keep importa times. It just makes sense.
Mess with your sleep schedule One night of break, you stay up until four in the morning watching an entire season of Parks and Recreation. If you don’t balance it out, you’ll come back to Bloomington exhausted and unable to wake up for your 8 a.m.’s.
group or let a friend leave Leave the gro This is when problems happen. You came with a group, stay that way. If leave, stay in contact and make sure someone always knows you have to le are. where you are
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Land the perfect internship BY DEVYNN BARNES
Though we are stuck in the depths of winter, there is light at the end of this cold, blustery tunnel. Summer is not too far off, and sunny days await us. Alas, so does the pressure to land a summer internship. Resumes, recommendation letters, cover letters - it all might seem overwhelming, but don’t panic. We talked to Giff Reed at the Career Development Center and broke down the process.
HELPFUL HINTS Career Development Center 625 North Jordan Avenue (812) 855-5234 http://cdc.indiana.edu
BUILD A RESUME
Drop-in advising hours: Monday through Friday, 12:30- 4 p.m.
“The feedback that I give most often is you want your resume to be tailored to the job or internship you’re applying for,” Reed says. Reword your headlines or change the order of your skills. Go to the Career Development Center website or schedule an appointment for some help, or just an extra pair of eyes to look over your work.
Links for summer housing:
GET RECOMMENDATION LETTERS
New York City (NYU): http:// www.nyu.edu/summer/ housing/index.htm
Reed’s advice for recommendation letters is to ask for one from a faculty or staff member who actually knows you. Don’t worry about being awkward — part of a professor’s job is to transition students into a career. “Develop relationships with professors early,” Giff says, in order to avoid having to ask last minute for a letter from someone who has only seen your face in class. After you find the right person, he recommends students give plenty of notice and time for them to write it. The last thing you want is something that sounds rushed.
Los Angeles (UCLA): https://housing.ucla.edu/ summer-housing Washington D.C. (George Washington University: http://summerhousing. gwu.edu
FIND HOUSING After you land the perfect internship, your next step is to find housing, if you’re interning away from home. “Talk to the employer for trusted suggestions,” Reed says. Looking online for local colleges that provide summer housing is also a good option. Use social media to your benefit and post about looking for housing in your internship’s city. You might be surprised by who in your network could be of some help.
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Academia Working on tenure-track can be highly rewarding — but it isn’t for everyone.
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Associate professor Vivian Nun Halloran teaches American Studies and literature courses. S TO RY B Y TO R I FAT E R P H OTO S B Y B E N M I K E S E L L
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hink working in academia is a couple hours of teaching per week and then downtime for Netflix? Think again. INSIDE talked to four IU instructors about what to expect if you want to become a professor.
Getting tenure First, the bad news. Competition is fierce for tenure-track positions, which provide a path to a permanent job contract with a university. At IU, tenure-track faculty are hired as assistant professors for a probationary period of up to seven years – what they call the
tenure clock. When the clock runs out, the university will appoint the assistant professor to a tenured position if they’ve shown excellence in teaching or research, or deny them tenure and not renew their teaching contract. Tenure means job security and an automatic promotion to associate professor - a promotion process faculty stay on their whole career. Associate professors can be promoted to full professors eventually if they publish more of their research or make major contributions to teaching and administration. But you’re more likely to get hired as an adjunct lecturer,
people who fill empty teaching positions on short-term contracts. “When there is demand for teaching, that gap gets filled by adjuncts,” assistant professor of history Pedro Machado said. “As wonderful as this profession is, it’s also, certainly in the humanities, a landscape littered by people who don’t get tenuretrack jobs.” The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) estimated tenured or tenuretrack instructors were only about 25 percent of college faculty by fall 2011. Other instructors were full-timers without tenure, adjunct lecturers
or grad students working as assistant instructors and lecturers. Professors often go through three to seven years of graduate work to earn a doctoral degree, then take a postdoctoral scholarship – a research internship that’s supposed to be a stepping stone to more permanent work. Physics assistant professor Sabine Lammers said it takes ambition, perseverance and a love for the job to make academia worthwhile. “No job you do is going to be fun 100 percent of the time, but you want it to be interesting to you. And you want it to last,”
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she said. “Your interests lead you to develop the strengths that you need.”
Job flexibility
“If you’re an individual who has to be around people all the time, the life of the university professor may not be the life you wish to embrace. If you can’t abide solitude, this is a long profession.” Carolyn Calloway-Thomas, IU Communications and Culture professor 10
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But there is a lot of freedom within the boundaries of tenure-track jobs, said associate professor Vivian Nun Halloran, who teaches American Studies and literature courses. “I can do whatever kind of research I want,” Halloran said. “Not every kind of research, however, will count towards promotion.” Articles or books she publishes do not count toward promotion to tenure or to a full professorship unless they’re related to her field. Writing an article on relative physics wouldn’t help an associate professor move up in the comparative literature department. IU has university-wide promotion policies, and so do individual departments. Machado said there are some unwritten rules for publishing that would-be professors can learn about along the way or by talking to their own instructors. For example, while Halloran said she’s spent a lot of time working with colleagues in other departments, Machado said history professors are expected to author books and articles on their own. “You can think things through by talking to colleagues or presenting your work at a seminar,” Machado said. “It is a line of work where you’re really responsible for making your own name and establishing your own reputation.”
Daily responsibilities In addition to teaching two classes a semester, Halloran also works with grad students in the Department of American Studies. At schools where more emphasis is put on teaching
than research, Halloran said, professors might be expected to teach up to four classes per semester. They’d likely publish several articles while watching the tenure clock, but not have to publish a book to earn their promotion. Halloran organizes her classes around the university’s Themester, and, usually, whatever she’s researching at the time. She said she tries to get some writing done every day, but has to balance that with her responsibilities as an instructor and administrator. “Forty percent, I’d like to think, is research, but I bet you it’s 40 percent teaching, 30 percent administration, 30 percent research. And that’s just my workday,” she said. “My workday doesn’t really end at five.” Lammers takes a different approach, setting some days aside to focus on research and
some to teach and develop her curriculum. “I have a nice schedule this semester where I teach in the afternoons, so I can do a lot of my prep on the days that I’m teaching and it doesn’t spill over,” Lammers said. “Both teaching and research takes a certain amount of concentration... you need some really dedicated time.” There’s plenty of flexibility in her workday, Halloran said, but she laughed at the idea that academics don’t have much to do during the day. “I can take a break because I’m not on the clock in the same way that people with a salaried or hourly job are,” she said. “But then I’m up at midnight or one or two writing. And I like that! Not everybody does.” Machado said though professors often work towards deadlines set by themselves or by publishers, faculty can
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construct their time mostly as they want. “If you are someone who writes best at 3 o’clock in the morning, you can do that,” he said. “You have a lot of control over your time that many other professions just don’t have.”
Culture professor Carolyn Calloway-Thomas, who is also president of the World Communications Association, said would-be professors should expect to spend hours alone reading and writing. “If you’re an individual who has to be around people all the
Is academia right for you? IU Communications and
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You’re finally legal. It’s the last birthday that matters. The best night of your college career. But where did it all begin? B Y AV E RY WA LT S
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andles of cheap vodka litter the kitchen while friends toast to yet another shot. A light-up sash is probably forced upon you, and maybe a disheveled cake is half-eaten on the floor. If you’re lucky, an Uber is waiting outside.
It’s your twenty-first birthday. Realistically, the next step is probably stumbling to as many bars as drunkenly possible. The free drinks are flowing and you are the center of the universe. Every fly on the wall is wishing you “Happy Birthday” and you are thanking them with extreme passion. That’s the third long island talking. KOK to Dunkirk to Upstairs to Nick’s to…wait, what’s that one bar called? Oh yeah, Kilroys Sports. You actually did end up at Sports. But why do we celebrate this age by drowning ourselves in liquor? Surely this means we’re responsible adults now, right? Ellen Sieber, chief curator at the Mathers Museum, views the twenty-first birthday celebration as a rite of passage into adulthood, modeled after the museum’s current exhibition, “Thoughts, Things, and Theories…What is Culture?” “For it to be a rite, as in a ritual, there has to be actions and thoughts surrounding it,” Sieber says. “It doesn’t happen
unless you make it happen.” Rites occur when the community is involved, which depends on the scale and the culture. Milestones like high school graduation in 1950s rural Indiana was deemed a big event because of the ritual. In today’s society, there’s not one thing, but a combination of things to consider, she says. The lack of involvement of an entire community surrounding an individual’s birthday means that not everything is shared or celebrated as a whole community, but rather between smaller groupings within society. “Making it happen,” as in encouraging the opportunity to drink, is something college students can and will do. But not everyone is keen on celebrating with you. Sieber says that although society is allowing you to drink now, it doesn’t mean they’re ready to bar hop. The importance of repeated behavioral patterns and social activities that develop over time—going out, binging, etc.— turn it into a rite, instead of just
another birthday. Even post-graduation, celebrating 21 at your alma mater is too tempting to pass up. A lengthy drive from Wisconsin to Bloomington didn’t stop Rashmika Nedungadi, BAJ ’14, from visiting her old stomping grounds. “I hadn’t been able to get into the typical Bloomington bars when I was a student,” she says. “Going to KOK on your twenty-first birthday is a rite of passage for IU students, and one that I felt I needed to accomplish to have the full IU student experience.” Celebrating in Wisconsin would have been more low-key, Nedungadi says, because going out until 3 a.m. is usually not socially acceptable in the real world. Ideally, 21 should be an experience with peers, something that is essential in describing it as a rite, according to Sieber. Coming together to celebrate one’s legal ability to consume alcohol becomes a shared experience with peers, therefore becoming something
society recognizes as a big event. Obtaining your first driver’s license occurs once. Voting for the first time occurs once. Going out for a twenty-first birthday can become an all-week binge marathon. “Just one more shot” turns into a challenge, and suddenly, going out on a Sunday night doesn’t seem wrong. Senior Kelsie Lane celebrated her twenty-first birthday this past December, and left no day unturned. “I turned 21 at midnight on a Monday so that night wasn’t very exciting,” she says. “The actual day of my birthday was a Tuesday so my close friends and I watched the IUBB game upstairs at Nick’s and played ‘Sink the Biz.’ Then I went out every night that week.” With a birthday sash in tow, Lane says the free drinks lasted two weeks. Similarly, Nedungadi says she didn’t pay for any drinks, but thinks she should wear a tiara every time she goes out now. Tiara or not, junior Michael DeDomenic says he got a lot of “Happy Birthday” wishes and “a few free shots.” A few free shots for the man, a surplus of free drinks for the women. Those few free shots most likely lead into a slew of others, a trend among men celebrating twenty-first birthdays in a study by the National Center for
HISTORY OF THE 21ST BIRTHDAY The US is one of only four developed countries with a national drinking ban over the age of 18. The others are Japan (20), Iceland (20), and South Korea (19). 21 as the original drinking age stemmed from English common law in which 21 marked the age people could vote or become a knight—essentially when a person became an adult. Drinking age in some states fell to 18 during the Vietnam War as the voting age changed to 18. But concern over an increase in teen deaths between the borders of states with different drinking ages lead to an eventual national ban on selling alcohol to those under age 21 in 1984.
Biotechnology Information. The study indicated that men showed a greater prediction error than women in consuming more alcohol than anticipated on their 21st. Of course, situational factors like this are associated with how much you anticipate to consume and how much you actually consume. But it goes to show how ingrained drinking is on that day. Maybe throwing on that sash and tiara will help derail the inevitable hangover the next day. Or what Lane says she wishes she would have done, to “drink more water.” But once the festivities are over, a new social scene opens up for 21 newcomers. “Grabbing at drink” is no longer hypothetical, but the new phrase when seeing an old friend. It’s also the last age to celebrate in anticipation before turning the big 3-0. For Lane, 21 is a sign of maturity. “Once you’re 21 you can grab drinks with coworkers after
a long day or meet up at a bar to make a business deal,” she says. “Saying ‘Want to go get drinks?’ seems way cooler than ‘Let’s go get ice cream.’” Talking over the best and worst drinks (Jersey Turnpike at KOK, trust us) before a night out becomes a new form of social currency. The repeated action of going to bars becomes a ritual like Sieber explained. “Turning 21 may not mean much to some people,” she says, “but it means a lot in a community of people around that age, such as IU.” Now it’s time to peel yourself out of Sports amongst the wall of sweaty bodies—your IU community of sweaty bodies. This is the community that’s seen campus outside of four dorm walls. Follow their lead. Take off those shoes and walk home proudly, or make a pit-stop at B-Town Diner for a heaping plate of french fries. Chug a gallon or two of water and hit the bed. This is 21.
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Above Senior Liz Cross, top left, concludes practice Jan. 27. She has spent the past four years on the cheer squad, and has seen her team win three national championships in that span. This year’s all-girl squad came in 2nd place by .015 points. Left Darian Barnett cheers during a timeout in IU’s men’s game against Maryland on Jan. 22 at Assembly Hall. This is Barnett’s third year on the cheer squad. Head coach Julie Horine hopes this year’s juniors can redeem their championship loss in next year’s competiton.
Nationally recognized in the cheer community, but on campus? Not so much. We gather in the stands awaiting our IU athletes to run out on the court. The game starts and cheers erupt from the crowd. Spurring us on, another IU team of athletes fly through the air and backflip across the sidelines. They are more than just our pep rally. They are the cheerleaders, defending and representing the glory of old IU. The program consists of two teams, the Cream Co-ed Team,
which has 11 males and eight females, and the Crimson All-female Team. The Crimson group consists of 33 girls, and is built similarly to a basketball team. The team is built like a basketball team - an analogy Head Coach Julie Horine frequently uses to describe the formation of flying girls. There are flyers, main bases, side bases, and back bases, just like having a guard, forwards, and centers.
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Above The Crimson Squad warms up before practice Jan. 27 in Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse. Over winter break they had practices twice a day in preparation for the Universal Cheerleaders Association National Championship on Jan. 18. Left Head coach Julie Horine speaks to her cheerleaders before practice Jan. 27 in Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse. Horine has been coaching the Hoosiers since 1989. “This is the kindest group of kids in all my years,” Horine said. “It’s hard for them not winning the championship this year.”
When not cheering on various IU sports on campus, the team trains and competes for their own sport’s championship, the annual UCA National Collegiate Cheerleading competition that takes place in late January. Only 20 girls of the allfemale squad are able to participate, but the entire 52-person team supports them. Horine has been the head coach for the cheerleading squad for 26 years. She cheered on IU herself as a student here before being hired as the head coach the year she graduated.
This year the team was young and not as experienced as previous seasons, Horine says. But that didn’t stop the girls from rising to the challenge. “The Crimson squad this year is just fantastic,” she says. “This team works hard, supports one another, and the leadership provided by the eight senior ladies is outstanding.” For the past five years, the Crimson squad has finished in the top spots of their National championship meet. In 2011, the team was runner-up, but came back the next three years to win the
National title. This year, another win looked possible, but the IU girls were barely overcome by the Alabama Crimson Tide team, earning yet another second place finish. Horine and the other coaches, including Assistant Coach, Tony Nash, gathered the girls together after the announcement of the meet. “We encouraged them to process that moment and then decide how we were going to prepare for next year,” Horine says. “We both let the team know that the product they put on the floor was great, and
Hoosier Nation is proud of them and the work that they put into this year.” But it is not just the score that the girls care about. It is the symbol of IU emblazoned on their uniforms. Though their official season may be over, their jobs on the court are not anywhere close to being done. The squad returns to Bloomington to support the men’s and women’s basketball teams as well as continue on with their own practice schedules. Once other seasons CONTINUED ON PAGE 24
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IU Bloomington Social Media Supervisor Thom Atkinson works from his phone at the IU Communications office on Kirkwood Avenue. He dubs himself a social media strategist, as he constantly looking at ways IU can improve its social media presence.
The man behind the message Meet Thom Atkinson, official keeper of the keys for IU social media BY JOE WEBER
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Northwestern
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hom Atkinson is not a BIG TEN, BIG FOLLOWERS social media celebrity. But 200,000 The followers of each Big Ten School’s if you attend IU, you’ve official Twitter accounts are shown below. probably read his work. Nebraska leads the pack with 187,000 twitter followers. IU comes in third with As a senior social 116,000. Northwestern rounds out the Big 150,000 media strategist for the IU Ten with 25,800. Bloomington campus, Atkinson is the man clicking send on 100,000 every Tweet, Instagram and Facebook post sent through all official IUB social media accounts to hundreds of 50,000 thousands of followers. “It’s so easy, through a phone screen, to forget that there’s a 0 F O L L OW E R S S H OW N A R E AC C U R AT E A S O F J A N U A RY 2 7 real human being on the other side putting time and effort his workday on the second students, parents, and alumni to creating and responding are connecting with or even care floor of the Von Lee building to questions and comments,” above Noodles and Company about. It’s Indiana University.” Atkinson said. “Because it’s on Kirkwood Avenue. Home Atkinson spends most of not Thom Atkinson who
to several IUB communication departments, including the IUB public relations and campus initiatives team, the office is designed with innovation and creativity in mind. Traces of whiteboard markers are scribbled across white walls. The dress code leans toward Chuck Taylors instead of ties, just like the black pair Atkinson is wearing on a cold Friday afternoon. “There are only two things I need to do my job: coffee and an Internet connection,” said Atkinson, sitting with a Venti Starbucks coffee and an iPad. “I’ve done work in so many different locations from sitting in my car in a parking lot to a PHOTO BY BEN MIKESELL
hotel room in Jasper, Ind. at 3 o’clock in the morning. It’s a job that isn’t limited by time or location.� While social media often seems like an in-the-moment practice, Atkinson walks onto the concrete floors to his dualmonitor desk every day with a plan. But creating a daily agenda for the important messages of the day is only a portion of the job that consumes Atkinson whenever he has a Wifi connection. “Social media is weird,� Atkinson said. “It is as much an internal communication as it is public relations. It’s as
“That’s when I have a bad day. Which is weird, because I love snow. But now I dread it because I know I’ll be dealing with complaints all day.�
ACCOUNTS TO FOLLOW Twitter: @iubloomington Facebook: facebook.com/IndianaUniversity Instagram: instagram.com/iubloomington
Thom Atkinson on snowy days much marketing as it is news. It’s as much technology as it is personal service. It can be a hard thing for universities to quantify.� After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from IU in 1996, Atkinson worked as manager of the campus website after working with UITS and other technical departments on campus.
In December of 2008, he launched the official Facebook and Twitter accounts for the university and has been posting ever since. And while he spends countless hours posting predetermined content, responding to online inquiries and tracking online chatter related to IU, he defers the success of his efforts to the students, faculty and alumni that do things worth
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posting. “In one sense all of our social media efforts are a oneman team, because it’s all me,� Atkinson said. “But on the other hand, it’s all a team effort because mostly what I do is connect to other people.� Besides standard news and marketing messages, the IUB CONTINUED ON PAGE 24
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Jessie Cruse cheers during a timeout during the IU men’s basketball game against Maryland on Jan. 22.
begin, the squads also support the football and women’s volleyball teams. The cheerleading season officially starts in April, where the 2015-2016 team will be picked. Once school is over, the off-season begins. The cheerleaders, men and women, are all volunteers. They are not given any athletic sponsorship for their dedication to IU sports. Yet they continue to spend their summers training, log long hours with the travel teams, and spend weeknights
trying to up the cheers in the auditorium. In the life of an IU cheerleader, balance between cheering for IU and competing for IU can be difficult. Horine says that all the members of the cheerleading program are dedicated to support the teams at IU, and knows that the same goes for her team. As a member of IU Athletics, the cheerleaders are also athletes that gain support for their own goals, on and off the courts. They just do it with a bit more pomp and song.
“People can be very critical,” Atkinson said. “One of the most important aspects of my job is not letting the haters get me down, focus on those who appreciate what we’re doing, and need us to be out there doing what we’re doing.” For example, Atkinson no longer enjoys a snowy day in
Bloomington. “That’s when I have a bad day,” Atkinson said. “Which is weird, because I love snow. But now I dread it because I know I’ll be dealing with complaints all day.” Despite a few negative tweets and the occasional Internet troll, Atkinson remains loyal
and passionate about the college town he’s called home for over ten years. “I was a student, I’ve taught classes, and I’ve been an employee,” Atkinson said. “I’ve had this long, great relationship with IU and I want everyone to feel as good about the university as I do.”
of work can be really wonderful in terms of satisfying intellectual curiosity. You can follow, once you have tenure, almost any line of inquiry you want.” Like Halloran, who likes to read and grade at home, Lammers said she doesn’t mind having work ideas spill over into her personal time. But it can be stressful for people who want to go home at 5 p.m. and disconnect from their job.
“If you’re the kind of person who needs a very strong division between your work life and your private life such that your work life doesn’t go beyond 40 hours a week, it’s going to be hard,” Lammers said. But Calloway-Thomas believes people who love to learn don’t need to limit themselves to academia. “I think because professors have an aura about themselves,
that there are probably people in the world who think that certain ideas are bunched up in certain people and not in other people,” Calloway-Thomas said. “But I don’t think that’s the case at all.” “It is possible for a person who is driven. It is possible for a person who is interested in ideas keenly. It is possible for a person who has intellectual curiosity to write, regardless of the place or the space.”
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PHOTO BY BEN MIKESELL
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Twitter and Instagram accounts are known for retweeting accepted students, commenting on Instagram posts, and responding to complaints. For Atkinson, this is simultaneously the most rewarding and stressful part of the job.
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time, the life of the university professor may not be the life you wish to embrace,” she said. “If you can’t abide solitude, this is a long profession.” Machado said it’s important to consider whether you’d enjoy being on your own, thinking about your research, for long periods of time. If so, he said, “then this line
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