An Indiana Daily Student Publication
One student just wants to see the second oor of Goodbody Hall. Page 12
The ballet department demands grace, and dancers jump for it. Page 16
Our athletes play Xbox and drink cranberry juice, too. Page 20
Move. W W W. I D S N E W S . CO M / I N S I D E
Limited time offer 2 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
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The Movement Issue. VOLUME 4, ISSUE 2, TABLE OF CONTENTS
EDITOR’S NOTE This issue is about what moves us. It’s about sports, dance, transportation, road trips, and even unicycles. This issue is also about what stops our movement. For some of us, that’s walkers who text on the sidewalk. For others, it’s more serious. Read about Joannah Peterson, who uses a wheelchair and would like to see the second floor of Goodbody Hall. Read stories about athletes and dancers, who move despite injury. You’ll also see yourself in this issue, with your movement survey responses. This issue, Inside is on-the-go with you. So no matter your mode, keep moving.
DEPARTMENTS
FEATURES
CONFESSIONS
STEPS IN HER WAY
He decides the score and stops punches, armed only with a whistle. Meet the referee who makes the tough calls. Page 4
Thirty-five steps separate Joannah Peterson from her academic department. Her story reveals IU’s struggle to make the campus accessible.
TIP JAR
Pump up the tires on your car or bike, and let Inside be your road-trip guide. Page 6
ONLINE ONLY HOW-TO
Pack a cooler and explore Indiana with our neighborly roadtrip guide. INTERACTIVE
The most _______ road trip game. Fill in the blanks for these stories.
Page 12 DEMANDING GRACE
BETTER YOU
Take the stairs, get off Facebook, and sit up straight like your mother told you. Here’s why the little things work. Page 8 KNOW-IT-ALL
Whether you get to class on a unicycle or in tennis shoes, everyone could brush up on transportation etiquette. Don’t roll through this one. Page 10
We see tutus, they feel pain. One dancer shows us what we don’t know about dance, aching feet, and “The Nutcracker.” Page 16
INTERACTIVE
Can you spot what’s wrong with these dancing poses? Also, the anatomy of a ballerina’s foot. DID YOU KNOW?
ATHLETE CUBED
Before they were Big Ten superstars, three athletes were high school friends. They still find time for the simple things: Xbox and apple juice. Page 20
MORE ONLINE
Learn about bout hot air balloons,, airplanes, s, triathletes, and mimes. mes.
ABOUT THE COVER CJ Lotz
The strange Indiana laws that we didn’t even know control our movement.
Our cover photo is one exposure. No Photoshop. Once we found our top-secret, completely dark room, I used three strobe lights. All were independently fired as dancer Kelly Childs moved across the stage. Special thanks to James Brosher, Larry Buchanan, and Erin Wright for their strobe-firing talents.
All on idsnews. ws. com/inside nside
SE
REC YC
LE
VOL. 4, ISSUE 2
PLEA
— Zach Hetrick, photo editor
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 December, 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.
INSIDE MAGAZINE
INDIANA DAILY STUDENT
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF CJ Lotz ART DIRECTOR Larry Buchanan PHOTO EDITOR Zach Hetrick FEATURES EDITOR Sarah Hutchins FEATURES ASSISTANT Joe Jasinski DEPARTMENTS EDITOR Haley Adams DEPARTMENTS ASSISTANT Bryan Payton ASSOCIATE EDITORS Shannon Burruss and Nathan Brown EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Alyssa Goldman
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Natalie Avon MANAGING EDITORS Brad Zehr and Sarah Brubeck ART DIRECTOR Biz Carson WEB TECH SPECIALISTS Greg Blanton, Nick Cassidy, Carl Brugger, and Rashmi Aroskar ADVERTISING SALES MANAGERS Adam Diskey and Sean Williams ADVERTISING/MARKETING WEB MASTERS Adam Rochford and Dhanalaxmi Kulkarni
MARKETING MANAGER Kristin Carey DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Jeanette Booher CREATIVE MANAGER Matt Simanski IU STUDENT MEDIA DIRECTOR Ron Johnson
NEWSROOM 812-855-0760 BUSINESS OFFICE 812-855-0763 FAX 812-855-8009
W W W. I D S N E W S . CO M / I N S I D E
CONFESSIONS
TIP JAR
BETTER YOU
KNOW-IT-ALL
MOVEMENT
SURVEY
Inside sent out a survey for IU students via a public Facebook group . There were 354 responses. We used the Web site SurveyMonkey to gather answers. Who gets on your nerves the most?
Car drivers 38.1% Cyclists 26.1% Pedestrians 16.5% Other 9.4% Other people on the bus 5.4% Bus drivers 4.5%
Which of these do you do, if any:
Work out at the gym 70.8% Run 55.2% Play an intramural sport 24% Play a club sport 13.2% Play a varsity sport 1.6%
Rules and regulations: confessions of a referee AS TOLD TO SHANNON BURRUSS | PHOTO BY ZACH HETRICK
Most athletes leave their aggression on the field. We talked to the guy who sorts through the rage. Recreational Sports indoor soccer ref and junior Brian Howard tells us what it’s like when the game gets ugly. On aggressive action: Howard: “It gets really competitive. My freshman year, I had to break up a fight. Actual punches were thrown, and I had to try to break it up. One player got thrown into the boards, so he threw a punch at the other player. He missed the first punch, but I ended up having to call the game.” On trash talk: “People get mad no matter
GOING PRO Inside found out the hard way just how difficult it is to talk to a Big Ten referee.
4 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
what. They’re competitive, and they want to win. But once they calm down, they usually realize it was the right call.” On a difficult call: “In one game, there was less than 15 or 20 seconds left. A guy shot, and the ball went in the goal, but then bounced out. We called it a goal, and the goalie got pretty mad. It was for the playoffs, so the team that scored got to go and the other didn’t.”
We called the IU athletic director’s office and the events coordinator for IU basketball and learned that talking to a collegiate ref needed to be cleared through the Big Ten. So to the phones we went, leaving
On foul play: “My least favorite part is getting yelled at. It doesn’t happen every game, but it happens more with the guys than the girls.” Post-game analysis: “At the end of the day, we’re still students. ... We’re just trying to work and have a job g duringg college.”
messages n for Big Ten ners and commissioners ti di t communications directors. All went unanswered. Through some research, we learned referees
HEY, REF! These game-breaking calls made students want to break something. Indoor soccer: “I got knocked down on my butt by two dudes during my co-ed soccer game, which isn’t allowed. The refs didn’t call anything, and the guys went on to score a goal.” Marissa Posteraro, junior Basketball: “We were down by two points with five seconds left, and I shot a 3-pointer with like three people in front of me. It hit the rim, bounced up, and went in. Everyone was going crazy, and this ref comes over and says, ‘No, your foot was on the line. That was a 2-pointer.’ The game ended in a tie. It was the stupidest shit I’ve ever heard.” Mike Conlon, senior
aren’t allowed to discuss specific calls or games. That means they wouldn’t have cooled our nerves about that Donovan Warren “interception” call when IU played Michigan on Sept. 26.
DAILY SPECIALS
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$1.75 Select Domestic Drafts $1.75 Well Drinks $3 Jager Bombs
Bear Burger $6.50 Large Pitchers of Miller Lite $6 32 oz. Pitchers of Skip & Go Naked $5.50 All Ice Cream Drinks $5
Free Pool w/ Student I.D. Limited Time Offer Beer $1.50 - $3
TUES
“Tux and Tails” $3.00 Skyy and Skyy Flavors Doubles ONLY 25¢ More 23 oz. Draft $3
$1 off Craft Pints $2.75 Absolut & Stoli $3 Grape Bombs
Grilled Cheese Deluxe $5 Swiss Bacon Bluecheese Burger $6.50 Premium Pints $2.50, Domestic Pints $2 20 oz. Hairy Bear $4, Jameson $3.50
League Night Tables still available Beer $1.50 - $3 Pool 50¢ a game
WEDS
Half Price Wine Bottles All Day Pitchers: Coors Lite $6 Killians $7 Blue Moon $8
1/2 off Bottles of Wine $1.75 Select Domestic Drafts $1.75 Well Drinks, $2 Featured Martinis, $3 Cherry Bombs
Spinach Melt $5.75, BBQ Bacon Cheddar Burger $6.50, Pitchers of New Castle $9 12 oz. PBR Bottles $2, Well Drinks $2.50 16 oz. Long Island $3.25
Open Mic Jam Session $1 Beer Special w/ Student I.D. Pool 50¢ a game
THURS
“Life in the Big City” Cosmos, Martinis, Manhattan, Long Islands $3 Bud, Bud Select, Bud Light $2.25
$1 off All Select Domestic Mini Pitchers $2 off All Other Minis $4.50 Minis of Long Island, Margaritas, Long Beach & Blue Hawaiian
Patty Melt, Garden Burger, Black Bean Burger $6.50, Hairy Bear $7, Hairy Beaver $6, Long Islands $5.50, 32 oz. Domestic Drafts $3.50
Ladies Night Half-Price Wine Coolers Pool 50¢ a game
FRI
“Cruzan Through The Weekend” Cruzan Rum $4 Miller Lite $2.50
$2.50 Bacardi $3 Bacardi O & Bacardi Limon Bombs $8.25 Pitchers of Bud & Bud Light
Chicken Sandwich $6.50 22 oz. Domestic Bottles $3.25 Stoli $3 Premium Pitcher of Month $9
Karaoke Beer $1.50 - $3 Pool 50¢ a game
SAT
“Cruzan Through The Weekend” Cruzan Rum $4 Miller Lite $2.50
$3 Jack Daniels $3 Captain Morgan $3 Watermelon Bombs $8.25 Pitchers of Miller Lite
Bear burger $6.50 Large Pitchers Bud, Bud Light $6 32 oz. Jamaican Sunset $5.50 Stoli $3
Live Music $1 Beer Special w/ Student I.D. Pool 50¢ a game
SUN
Live Music Half Price Wine Bottles All Day Coors Lite $6, Killians $7 Blue Moon $8
$1 off Craft Pints $3 Yogi’s Bloody Mary’s, $3 Blueberry Bombs, $14.50 Buckets of Beer (Bud, Bud Lt., Miller Lt. or Coors Lt.)
Little Bear Burger & Fries $4 Domestic Pints $2 Premium Pints $2.50 Well Drinks $2.50 Absolut Bloody Mary 9 oz. $3.50 16 oz. $4.50
League Night Tables still available Beer $1.50 - $3 Pool 50¢ a game
W W W. I D S N E W S . CO M / I N S I D E
CONFESSIONS
Have you ever been out of the United States?
Yes 83.9%
No 16.1% Where would you most like to go if you could travel anywhere? The most popular responses were France, England, Italy, Greece, India, and Germany. Other not-sopopular responses were Iran, Uzbekistan, and Tibet. Getting the heck off this planet was a popular response: Six people would like to visit the moon, three would go to Mars, two to Jupiter, and three people just want to see outer space.
Other favorite responses: “Wherever it’s free.” “Anywhere? Rivendell. On Earth? Pre-culturalrevolution Tibet. On Earth in the present? Greece. You should really make your question more specific.” “If I ever get in shape, and assuming I had the time and the money, my partner and I would go touring across Europe on our tandem bike.” “Your mom’s house.”
6 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
TIP JAR
BETTER YOU
KNOW-IT-ALL
On the road B Y N AT H A N B R O W N A N D C J L O T Z
BOULDER, COLO.
SAN DIEGO
Fill up your3 tank, nd some $ fi& , ) friends, , & and grab a pad of Mad Libs, because it’s time for an excursion. We’ve hunted down adventures within 30 miles, and we talked to one student who will be driving across the country over winter break. Also, take some advice from one group of cyclists who pedaled from the mountains to the Midwest. WHERE HAUNTED MEETS QUIRKY Bakers Junction Smithville, Ind. 3.8 miles from Bloomington Open: Whenever anyone’s home.
“T
here’s lots of weird stories about us, but I don’t care as long as they’re still talking about us,” Johnny Baker says. Baker owns Bakers Junction, a railroad museum, haunted house, and his home. The horseshoeshaped enclosure is formed by 40-ton cabooses. Old rusting farming equipment and railroad antiques bought at auctions are tacked to the sides of sheds Baker made himself, or sit on shelves and in cases inside his haunted house. There’s a greenhouse with multiple broken windows and stray gourds and melons. The place feels a bit like a historian’s utopia, a horror movie director’s dream, and a child’s ideal playground. If you’re looking for a short trip to one of Southern Indiana’s most surreal and unpolished jewels, don’t skip this one. A few things you should know: • Baker purchased headstones from a friend who was swapping out the old ones in a nearby cemetery for new ones. Baker says people think there are bodies under them. • Inside the museum, look for a bulletproof glass case with a small glass orb on a key chain. Inside that orb is the tip of Baker’s pointer finger. He sliced
OVER THE RIVER, THROUGH THE WOODS, AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY Johnny Baker hangs out with friends at his house, also known as the haunted Bakers Junction railroad museum. Photo by Nathan Brown
it off while cutting stone. He’s interested in selling the key chain. • Baker was in multiple court battles with the Monroe County Planning and Zoning Department. In 1995, the county wanted Baker, his railcars, museum, and haunted house gone unless he updated his permits. After paying more than $100,000 in legal fees and acquiring multiple binders full of laminated permits, he says he will stay until he’s dead. • Baker made a guillotine out of the old wooden seats from Memorial Stadium. It’s eerily close to his front door.
A SHORT JAUNT Split the gas and get away Story, Ind. 26 miles from Bloomington
2 & ( $ 1
Get away, but get back in time to finish your homework. See more local road trips online at www.idsnews.com/inside.
B
link and you’ll miss this adorable SouthernIndiana town. Stay at Story Inn, which smirks with the slogan, “One inconvenient location since 1851.” Check in with your sweetheart to the Blue Lady room for $129 and turn on the blue light next to the bed. You may be visited by the inn’s friendly ghost. A cozy front porch features a checkerboard with beer cap pieces and the door to one of Indiana’s most delicious down-home restaurants. No more Cracker Barrel, this is true country comfort.
Forget a flight. This winter break, junior Kara Robinson plans to drive her Ford Explorer home to San Diego. She will leave the Gamma Phi Beta house on Jordan Avenue Friday, Dec. 18 and arrive home that Sunday. The adventure will take her mostly along Interstate 70 and through Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada before warming up in sunny California. Along her 2,131-mile trek, there’s one place she says she won’t miss: Zion National Park. Utah’s first national park has mild weather, towering cliffs that look like sandcastles against the huge blue sky, hiking trails, and 288 species of birds.
BLOOMINGTON
N
SPINNING THEIR WHEELS In May, two IU students—senior Julie Bembenista and junior Caitlin Van Kooten— who ride for the Teter Little 500 team joined three friends and set out on a 1,400-mile bike trip. They hopped a train to Colorado with their bikes, then crossed five states before reaching Bloomington. The friends busted a few tires, ate tin-foil dinners, and slept in tents just off the road. Fifteen days later, they rode through a human tunnel of friends who awaited the riders. The greeting party popped streamers outside the courthouse downtown.
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Here are a few things the riders encountered between Colorado and Indiana, Van Kooten says:
1
A guy named Washboard Willy. He lives off the grid in Kansas, and wore a baseball cap with tea bags stapled onto it. They ran into him three times in less than 24 hours.
2 3 4
Friendly pastors willing to let them sleep in church homes. A racecar track. The riders jumped in a car and rode a couple laps at 120 mph. A group of bike evangelists willing to barter for needed bike parts. They were nice, but hesitant to shake hands.
And don’t forget these essential items, Bembenista says, to take on a longdistance bike trip:
1 2 3 4
Gold Bond powder. You’re in Spandex for the majority of the day. Ouch.
5
A spare can of baked beans for when you can’t find dinner.
Bike tools and parts, especially spare intertubes. Speakers and an mp3 player for listening to music on the road and at camp. A real knife and a real fork because plastic utensils aren’t good for chopping meat. They also melt in campfires.
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CONFESSIONS
TIP JAR
BETTER YOU
KNOW-IT-ALL
Get a move on On a scale of 1 to 5, how active do you consider yourself ? Lazy 2.3% Kind of lazy 9.7% Eh
B Y A LY S S A G O L D M A N A N D J O E J A S I N S K I I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y E VA N M A N N W E I L E R
Subway guy Jared Fogle made a career of it: Change little things in your day and lead a healthier life. So follow the fit footsteps of the IU alumnus and make the small steps matter.
48.4% Active
Lazy 4.6% Kind of Lazy 13.4% Eh
57.8% Active 22.2% Very active 2%
Some of our favorite comments on this question: “Some are very active but others are basically rocks.” “You can’t live on campus without walking all the time. I don’t know how people manage to gain the freshman 15.”
Someone was confused by the question: “I guess they look good, but there are a lot of brats and I find that unattractive.”
8 VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
Step Into Fitness encourages IU faculty and staff to move out of their offices and around campus. “People perceive that they don’t have the time to go for a walk,” says Megan Amadeo, who runs the program. The program tells participants to aim for 6,000 to 10,000 steps each day, equaling roughly three to five miles. More than half of American adults aren’t coming close to these numbers, and nearly 50 percent of people ages 12 to 21 are not “vigorously active,” according to the Surgeon General. One participant, James Clark, a chemistry laboratory coordinator, said the experience made him add activity into his life. For instance, if he had to give a colleague a message, he would walk over to his or her office instead of sending an e-mail. He also did simple tasks such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or walking to Kirkwood Avenue with his wife for lunch. Clark was motivated by the number his pedometer recorded. On average, Clark achieved 10,000 to 12,000 steps a day with some help from his soccer games. “It was curious to me, to see how many steps I took,” Clark says. “If I didn’t take a lot of steps, I felt like I did nothing, so I went to the gym or went for a run.” Step just a little more, Amadeo says. Ten minutes here, 10 minutes there. “How people utilize their time is a choice, not a limitation,” she says. “Making exercise a priority is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, even when life gets hectic.”
354 students surveyed
Within reason, do you take the stairs or the elevator?
ELEVATOR
On a scale of 1 to 5, how active do you think IU students are?
YOUR PROFESSORS WANT TO WALK IT OUT.
STAIRS
30.8% Very active 8.8%
92.9%
7.1%
random quote from our survey “I could probably walk up to the third floor of Ballantine, but it’s so much easier to go up the elevator and walk down a flight of stairs.”
STILL CAN’T FIND THE TIME TO SWEAT? DO IT IN CLASS. Kelly Jo Baute, lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology, says we need to get up when we might be tempted to lounge. “As a whole, we are more sedentary because of electronic media,” Baute says. “We can do so much more on our computers such as blog and go on Facebook. Adding some movement can be as simple as catching up with a friend over a walk instead of e-mailing or texting.” In Baute’s lecture classes and in some other HPER classes with a lecture component, walk breaks are incorporated during class time. Long lectures cause students to be more fatigued, Baute says. “Most college professors are pressed for time, but they might have a win-win situation if they sacrifice a five-minute break
and have students come back more refreshed and awake,” Baute says. Sitting down in front of a computer or television for too long can make anyone drowsy. Baute says people should do an activity every half-hour. Try sit-to-stands in your chair and repeat them 10 or 12 times. Also, try to sit up straight to improve posture. Poor posture can lead to neck issues, back pain, and headaches.
for the wrists
How to sit up straight. Or, how to eat dinner with your ex-Marine grandfather. • Think ears-overshoulders-over-hips. Imagine a straight line through these three areas. • Pretend there is a string pulling your head up and squeeze your shoulder blades together. • Use your core muscles by sucking your navel inward and upward. It’s like sit-ups for people who don’t like sit-ups.
Fig. 2: Pull those typingtired fingers.
for the neck
SMART GRUBBING
Fig. 1: Gently press your head forward and tilt to the side. Do not roll backward.
for the torso
When covering so much ground, you’ll need grub. You may have too many options. According to a quick Google search, there are 366 restaurants in Bloomington. That’s a tempting 365-day challenge for any food lover. Residential Programs and Services offers 22 chomping spots on campus. The omnipresence of Taco John’s and Charlie Biggs consumes us, and the variety of options could be ruinous. To combat gluttony, Amadeo insists that students try the programs the IU Health Center offers. “Full-time students get one free nutrition consultation a semester,” she says.
Fig. 3: Twist and shout for some back relief.
IN THEIR SHOES Ten thousand steps shouldn’t be too much, we thought. Inside gave three people pedometers to check how far they walked in a day. Only one surpassed the recommended number of steps. Oh, and he’s a cross-country runner.
Megan Watson, second-year graduate student in Library Science and Musicology, is a reference/technical associate at the Herman B Wells Library. She recorded the number of steps she took during her work day. Her grand total was 2,456 steps. About 1,800 steps occurred from 9 a.m. to noon. Her tasks included walking up and down the stairs to refill the department’s paper and toner supplies. From noon until 2 p.m., she was at the reference desk, which limited her movements to getting books from directly behind the desk and walking between reference desk computers. From 2 to 3 p.m. she sat at her desk.
Kelley School of Business I-Core student Aaron Davis, a junior from Long Island, N.Y., walked 3,575 steps one day. Items on the day’s agenda included a walk to the bus stop from his Smallwood apartment, a walk back to Smallwood from the business school, and a walk to the Girl Talk concert at the nowrepaired Dunn Meadow.
Three days later, on a crisp Sunday morning, IU cross country runner Andy Bayer completed more than 16,500 steps throughout his team’s 10-mile morning run. The remainder of his Sunday proved less intense. He traveled to Target in the early afternoon and St. Paul Catholic Center later in the day, bringing his day’s total up to 20,000 steps.
W W W. I D S N E W S . CO M / I N S I D E
CONFESSIONS
TIP JAR
BETTER YOU
KNOW-IT-ALL
Ease on down How do you usually get to class?
B Y H A L E Y A D A M S A N D B R YA N PAY T O N PHOTOS BY ZACH HETRICK
IU has a walker-friendly campus, until that girl hammering away at her Blackberry takes up the whole sidewalk and you don’t feel like being a friendly walker. Here, students share their transportation stories, and the IU Police Department captain shares what you need to know about traveling from class to class.
84% walk
29% take the bus
16% ride a bike
CRASH TO CRUSH
6% drive alone 3% drive with other people
How long does it take you to get to your first class from home? 7.9%
< 5 mins. 6-10 mins.
31.4% 11-20 mins.
48.2%
10.8% 1.7%
4 QUESTIONS FOR A 21-30 mins. < 31 mins.
UNICYCLIST GREG SOLO SOLON, SENIOR
When do you usually ride your unicycle? “I usually ride around after class. I would consider riding it to class, but it’s really tiring because you have to pedal a lot.” What are some of the problems you encounter? “It’s hard to ride to class because sidewalks are uneven, and you’re going so slowly. It’s hard to keep it on the road. I thought about taking it to class a couple days, but how would you lock it up?”
10 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 1
Good question. Does anybody ever think you’re weird? “My freshman year, all of the guys on the floor were kind of shocked – it made them take a second glance. But eventually they were riding it down the halls.” We would’ve done the same thing. How long did it take to learn to ride a unicycle? “I’ve had it since seventh grade or eighth grade, and I used to ride it around the living room. It took about two weeks to be able to ride without falling.”
It was a warm day in September when junior Carley Hall raced to class in front of Ballantine Hall. Her friend Amber called her name from across the street. Hall decided to take a minute to chat. “I look at my phone to see if I have enough time, and I take one step off the curb, and I get hit by a bike,” Hall says. “It was pretty intense. I was told I was fine, but I remember lying on the pavement in front of Ballantine, destroyed.” The damage was done. Hall’s nose was split open and broken in three places. She had two broken ribs and a concussion. “His handle bars went into my ribs,” Hall says. “The guy who hit me broke his clavicle.” That guy was junior Jeremy Black. He was on his way to the HPER for taekwondo class. “There were people walking,” Black says. “I was dodging them, and I went to the right of them, and I swerved near the sidewalk. I just nailed this really cute girl. I thought, ‘This is not cool.’” With blood everywhere and his hair stuck in a cute girl’s nose (yeah, seriously), Black figured this wasn’t the smoothest of situations. So, he turned on the charm. “I knew I had to apologize somehow,” Black says. “I asked her if she wanted to get a bite to eat, so we went to Falafels.” Hall and Black have been dating ever since. “It was maybe, fate, I guess,” Black says.
A WORD FROM THE POLICE IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger clears up transportation myths and gives his take on how to move around campus. According to state law, bikes should stay on the roadway. “What winds up being illegal is impeding the flow of pedestrian traffic,” Minger says. While it’s possible that someone could get a ticket or even get arrested for riding on the sidewalk, Minger says it is not likely. He compares it to a football game: No one likes the referee who makes every call. Forget what your gradeschool crossing guard taught you: Pedestrians do not always have the right of way, even at a crosswalk. “People are brought up to think pedestrians have the
right of way, but they don’t always,” Minger says. This means jumping out in front of a car is impeding traffic, which is illegal. Indiana state law says pedestrians are prohibited from leaving the curb if they are to “walk or run into the path of a vehicle that is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.” So what do you need to remember? It is illegal to get in the way. Minger says it’s best for everyone to be aware of his or her surroundings and — hold on a second — look both ways.
YOU SAID IT. DON’T BE THAT ONE KID...
“When I’m a pedestrian, I hate people in cars. When I’m in a car, I hate pedestrians. But no matter whether I’m driving or walking, I hate people on bikes. They drive me nuts. They just come out of nowhere.” Karin Thomas, senior
Exactly where are those bike paths on campus? According to the city of Bloomington’s Web site, there are bike paths marked with signs on Seventh Street, Union Street, Jordan Avenue, and Fee Lane. Third Street and Tenth Street, two of IU’s busiest streets, do not have marked bike paths.
random quote from our survey “If I had a car, believe me, I would use it.”
“We need to be more aware of our surroundings, as we’re all trying to get somewhere. But some people need to slow down and others need to speed up.” Alex DeCoursey, senior
“Most people are polite. I mean, it’s just walking, but you will have the occasional person who will not get out of your way or just deliberately be in your way, and it’s just kind of a jerk move.” Steven Hightshue, freshman
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W W W. I D S N E W S . CO M / I N S I D E
Joannah Peterson works in a basement office in Goodbody Hall because there is no elevator to take her to the second floor. She even went on the radio to draw attention to IU’s accessibility problems.
12 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 1
STEPS
IN
HER
WAY
One student’s struggle to access the second floor of Goodbody Hall.
By CJ Lotz Photos by Zach Hetrick
J
oannah Peterson pulls up to the curb in front of Goodbody Hall. A handicap tag hangs in her silver Honda Accord, but the reserved spaces are taken. She parks behind them illegally, along the curb. She’s already found six parking tickets tucked under her wiper this year, but she can argue her way out of another one. This fall Friday morning, she’s running a little behind. She has office hours for an Asian history class and a few e-mails to send off. She opens the car door, lifts out her wheelchair frame, attaches one wheel and then the next. After scooting herself onto the chair, she closes the car door and rolls up to the sloped entrance. She zig-zags along the ramp, lifting up her wheels slightly so she
won’t get stuck in cracks. She reaches the big blue button with the image of a stick man in a wheelchair. Instead of pressing it, she opens the door herself and rolls inside. The basement of Goodbody is stark white. It smells a little moldy. Sometimes Joannah calls it The Dungeon, sometimes The Belly of the Beast. Inside, Joannah looks left. There’s a hallway and then a staircase. The East Asian Languages and Cultures department is on the second floor. There is no
elevator. Thirty-five steps separate Joannah from her department. She turns to the right and wheels silently down the hall and into room 003-6, the corner room that serves as her ground-level office.
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LITTLE BASEMENT OFFICE The first time you meet Joannah, it’s her huge brown eyes you notice, and the expressive way she laughs with them. She doesn’t usually tell people this, she says, but she loves to pop little wheelies and crunch Coke cans under her wheels. Some Friday nights, she and her friends visit Asian grocery stores and experiment with the ingredients. Or they play Apples to Apples, and turn it into a drinking game. Joannah’s best friend lives in Louisville, Ky. They’ve been friends since they were kids. A car accident the summer before her freshman year of high school paralyzed Joannah. She can’t walk, but she has full use of her arms. She picked a wheelchair that’s narrow and strong like those used in the wheelchair-rugby movie, “Murderball.” Joannah is not disabled because she uses a wheelchair, she says. Joannah gets around because she uses one. She confesses to studying about 10 hours a day. As a Ph.D. student in the East Asian Languages and Cultures department, she’s both a student and a teachPart I: Student Rights er. She writes papers about G. Right to Accommodation voyeurism — peeping for Individuals with through fences and blinds — Disabilities in Japanese literature. Indiana University is committed She doesn’t have free to creating a learning time to make sculptures, environment and academic something she loves to do. community that promotes Now, her creative releaseducational opportunities for all es are pumpkin carving and individuals, including those with cake baking. This summer, disabilities. she made a cake that looked like a platter of sushi with IU Americans with Disabilities jellybean fish eggs and fruitAct Policy leather seaweed. It is the policy of Indiana She wears her brown hair University to provide pulled back from her fair reasonable accommodations face. She rests her freckled or academic adjustments arms on her still legs. when necessary. These This fall Friday, three accommodations and other people are already adjustments must be made crammed in Joannah’s basein a timely manner and on an ment office, which also serves individualized and flexible basis. as a resource room for six Japanese assistant instructors. The room is crowded but the
IU STUDENT CODE
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Above: What Joannah sees every day at Goodbody Hall. Below: The stairs between her and the second floor, and the graduate lounge she cannot access.
walls are not. On the big bulletin board, there’s a business card for Domo, a sushi restaurant. Joannah is an assistant instructor for E-100, East Asia: An Introduction. Friday mornings, she talks with students in the office, and the department gives her the room to schedule meetings and print papers. There’s a phone to call upstairs if she needs something carried down. Today, she has pulled her red spokes and rubber tires up close to the desk across from the door. She is frustrated. She has 15 minutes to send her thesis to a regional competition, and the computer won’t read the document, a huge PDF file that includes full-color illustrations. It’s about female peeping in the Japanese novel, “The Tale of Genji.” The old Dell can’t handle it. The graduate secretary of the department enters the room and Joannah asks her to save the file on a computer upstairs. Joannah hands her a green flash drive shaped like edamame, a soy bean pod served in sushi bars. The secretary hikes the thesis in the bean pod upstairs. Joannah has never seen her printed thesis, which she completed last spring. She says it’s just a big heavy book. She could have someone carry it down-
stairs, she says, but perhaps she’d notice a mistake. Although Joannah’s adviser calls her one of the brightest scholars in the department, she can’t drop by for office hours or use the computer lab upstairs. Joannah is one of about 10 IU students in a wheelchair, according to Disability Services for Students. These students struggle through buildings with inaccessible areas, stairs to get to elevators, and narrow passageways. DSS addresses issues as they arise for each student, although there are only four professional DSS staff members. In 2007, IU’s disability services had the worst student-to-staff ratio in the Big Ten. For even the most focused small staff, an elevator is a $100,000 beast of a construction project to initiate. DSS director Martha Jacques Engstrom pushed for larger restrooms in the basement of Goodbody. Joannah was grateful, but soon realized the bathroom — not an elevator — was the University’s contribution to her case. “Martha fought tooth and nail to get that bathroom in,” Joannah says. “But the bathroom reminds me of how long I’ve been in that building without an elevator.”
WHAT’S UP THERE The walls on the second floor are bright yellow. Japanese tapestry hangs along the staircase. At the top of the second flight is a shelf of free books and magazines. A sign invites, “Please help yourself.” The department chair sometimes brings his famous oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to share. Down the hallway, the graduate lounge is quiet. There are Chinese and Japanese characters on the blackboard, remnants of earlier meal-time talks. There are plants in the corner and a table in the middle, covered in crumbs. The refrigerator in the corner holds someone’s Slimfast touching someone’s salad. There’s a reading room full of theses bound in hardcover, including Joannah’s. At the end of the hall is a computer lab. Her adviser’s office is in the middle. “It’s a real loss to her not to be able to come into my office,” Edith Sarra, director of graduate studies, says. “She should be able to see what my research collection looks like. This is where the scholars of her field are.”
OFFICIALS SAY Pete Goldsmith, dean of students The trick is balancing University policy with individual concerns. We work on a case-by-case basis, one student at a time. We need to make it as good as we can for Joannah by moving classrooms and appointments to accessible places. Hank Hewetson, director of IU physical plant This campus has many old buildings, and we’re obligated to bring them up to code when we renovate them. Goodbody Hall is a candidate for renovation. We should look at it from the standpoint of total accessibility, not just an elevator. We need to look at the overall plan, too. What is Goodbody going to be in 10 years? Karen Hanson, provost Wheelchair mobility on the campus is a significant issue. If the buildings have renovations, they are brought up to ADA compliance. I don’t think it’s a matter of anyone not recognizing that this isn’t an issue — it is an issue of having the resources.
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In the Ballet Department, preparing for your career can make you stronger or break you down. A dancer takes us inside her uncontrollable world.
DEMANDING
By Sarah Hutchins | Photos by Zach Hetrick
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This is wedding planning in a recession. In 2008, about 2.19 million couples got married on an average budget of $21,814. It is projected that in 2009, 2.22 million couples will marry for around $20,398. So how are brides still spending $20,000 but keeping the cost lower than last year in a market where everything costs more? Well, I didn’t survey every bride, but I can tell you what I’m doing: getting comfy with DIY. Do-it-yourself projects for weddings are becoming more and more popular among brides who are looking to cut costs. One of the first things I did to start planning after getting engaged a year ago was thinking about everything I could do myself or that a friend or family member could do. But don’t be surprised that a few vendors will still get some money from me. Here are a couple of the things brides are doing to go a little easier on dad’s wallet.
1. Get married on a Sunday I’m renting my reception site for $2,000 on a Sunday. The Friday price is $2,250; Monday through Thursday is $1,200; and Saturday is a pricier $2,800. Tying the knot during the wedding offseason months (November through April) could save you quite a bit too. 2. Hire a friend If you have friends with talents useful to your wedding, put them to work! Most friends and family members are glad to help out. For example, if you happen to know a violinist, maybe he or she would be willing to play the ceremony music. Or maybe your aunt makes killer cupcakes and would make and decorate 150 of them for you in place of a cake. 3. Put the iPod to work Why use a DJ when you have an iPod? Set up a playlist and ask a friend to “staff ” your iPod during the
reception, pausing it for cake-cutting and toasts. Most venues are equipped for you to be able to plug your MP3 player into their speakers. 4. BYOBartender If you know anyone who has some practice in mixing drinks and opening beer bottles, buy your own alcohol and ask them to serve it. You can still offer to pay, but if he or she is a friend, you’ll probably be able to pay a little less than you would for a professional. So, if you’re courageous and are getting married during the recession, good luck! And be open to new things. For more ideas, check out my favorite wedding-planning Web sites: www.diybride.com and www.theknot.com. This excerpt was originally printed in its entirety in the March 11, 2009, IDS WEEKEND.
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ines of perspiration bleed through Annie Duffey’s pink leotard. Thirty minutes into class, and already the dancers are sweating. Guys wipe their foreheads and necks while girls peel off layers of clothing. “One, two, three, four, out, out, plié,” barks an instructor. “Out, fifth, out, fifth. And the other side.” Leather shoes rub against the floor as the dancers turn, adding a symphony of squeaks to the classical music.
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The instructor strides around the room like a drill sergeant, demanding grace. The combinations are tough, but that doesn’t stop Annie from seeking perfection. Don’t get discouraged, she reminds herself. Like many of the dancers, Annie has been awake and moving for hours. She squeezes in education classes at 8 a.m. and reads Voltaire over the weekend for her French class. Her ballet schedule — dancing from 11:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. all week and teaching “baby ballet” classes on Saturday mornings — runs her life. She’s at IU to control what little she can of her future. Her dance career will be fleeting at best. Annie knows she’ll be lucky if she can dance until she’s 35. Her outside field — elementary education — is a safety net to protect her when it’s all over. Even a few years of dancing will make the training worth it. “Rise,” the instructor bellows to the dancers on the floor. Now it’s Annie’s turn. She banishes her distractions — French homework, upcoming auditions, throbbing feet. She can’t even focus on remembering the combination of steps. It’s all about precision and discipline, controlling every muscle. Each step needs to be as good — no, better — than the last. She’s moving gracefully across the room, light on her feet and concentrating on the grande allegro combination. She leaps. The piano is too close. Her right leg folds under her. Crumpled on the floor, she doesn’t get up.
T
he pain is disorienting, like a blackout. Someone has propped her right foot on a chair and tucked a blue piece of fabric under her head. The ballet department’s trainer Laura Mertz crouches near her right foot, gingerly touching the ankle. One of Annie’s roommates, Ben Warner, has moved from the bench to sit by her side. It’s all happening so fast. Ben and Laura hoist Annie up off the floor, each supporting an arm as she limps down the hall. The trainer’s office is on the fourth floor of the Musical Arts Center, a level beyond the reach of the elevator. She hops up ten steps, and then ten more. On a padded table, Laura looks at her ankle. She peels off her right shoe. “Can you pull your toes back?” Laura asks. “I can’t go back all the way,” Annie says, flexing her foot. “Just relax,” Laura soothes. “Does that bother you?” Annie looks to the left and grimaces. “Yeah, that really hurts.” The pain gnaws at her ankle and eats away at her confidence. Is everything over? “The Nutcracker” rehearsals just started. Will she be able to perform? Will she be able to audition for a job, graduate, and get out of here? One short leap, one misplaced step, one lapse in concentration, and a dream 16 years in the making could end in a second.
25-30 hours per week spent dancing
2-3
weeks to wear through pointe shoes
$85 for a pair of pointe shoes
47
dancers in the IU ballet program
37
people tried out at the program’s last audition
4
spots offered
Pointed feet, expressive hands. Roommates Annie Duffey and Ben Warner each dance for 25 to 30 hours every week.
O
One short leap, one misplaced step, one lapse in concentration, and a dream 16 years in the making could end in a second.
f course, Annie thinks, of course this would happen. During last year’s dress rehearsal of “Swan Lake,” she twisted the same ankle. The fall wasn’t nearly as bad as her current injury and she got up and kept dancing. After almost 10 minutes of movement, she went to the dressing room to change into her swan outfit. In that lull, the adrenaline slowed and the pain kicked in. No longer able to stand en pointe, Annie sat out the first show and only performed in one act the second night. She took a week off after the performance, but even then she came back too fast. Most injuries don’t happen in class. They sneak up on dancers right before or even during a performance. Long, intense rehearsals can exacerbate aches and pains. The trick — and the challenge — is to keep the injury at bay. During the fall ballet, Ben developed shin splints from repeated jumps in one of the numbers. The trainer massaged his shins to keep the pain from getting worse. Another dancer has been nursing a stress fracture. Dancers must know when to push and when to take a step back. “You’re in control of yourself and that’s all,” Ben says. The drive for physical per-
fection can push some dancers to seek the impossible. Take weight, for instance. Dancers should be small enough for men to hoist gracefully into the air, but strong enough to endure unrelenting physical demands. Despite the ballerina stereotypes, the department chair says eating disorders are not common at IU. Dancers constantly sip coffee and hot chocolate in the studio. There’s even an occasional donut. At home, Annie’s roommates chop shallots and roast vegetables for butternut squash risotto. “You can’t really change your body,” Annie says. “That’s where eating problems come in. You’re never really going to be satisfied.” Instructors and students understand that these physical limits can’t be taught. It’s a kind of self-awareness that comes with experience, patience, and, very often, pain. •••
P
osters of dancers are haphazardly Scotch-taped to the wall of Laura’s office. They’re the kind of photos you would expect to see in a training room: inspirational images of dancers perfectly posed in a forest, on a snowy field, and even in a meadow of daisies.
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CHRIS ADKINS
The lives of IU athletes look a lot like ours: They eat in dining halls, obsess over Xbox, and procrastinate doing homework. Three friends show us how their world isn’t as glamorous as we might think.
athlete
3
B Y R A C H E L S TA R K PHOTOS BY ZACH HETRICK
D
evin Pipkin, Chris Adkins, and De’Sean Turner have never been apart for too long. Devin, a junior track and field sprinter, Chris, a redshirt sophomore football player, and De’Sean, a redshirt sophomore cross country runner, grew up in Indianapolis. The athletes were teammates on the Warren Central High School track team and, come senior year, led the team to a state championship. Devin and De’Sean have always attended the same school. They even went to the same daycare as toddlers. When it came time to search for colleges, the two visited schools together. Coaches tended to look at the duo as a package deal. When the men visited IU, both had a feeling that this school and these teams were the right fit. “Honestly, if he would have decided to go somewhere else, I probably would’ve looked into going where he went,” De’Sean says. “But it was like he wanted to go here, and we looked at the other guys that were coming in, and we thought, let’s do this.” Today, the athletes continue to compete at the same high level. Their lives are linked through history, success, and a passion to excel. But the lives of collegiate athletes are a mystery to the rest of us. Here, the three friends invite us inside. 20 V O L U M E 4 , I S S U E 1
Devin’s Schedule: 7 a.m. – Wake up 8 – Career in Leisure class 9 – Biology of Food class 11:15 – Sports Violence class 12:30 p.m. – Head home and chill 3 - 5:30 – Track practice 6 – Work with tutor 7 – Training Table then relax at home, do homework, watch television, play Xbox About 1 a.m. – Bedtime
DE’SEAN TURNER
DEVIN PIPKIN
the jock table by a few. The volleyball players come in threes, says De’Sean. The female-filled table over there? Probably rowers, who typically sit together. e’Sean sits at a round table surroundThe guys sitting at a nearby table are swimed by fellow cross country runners. mers and divers — De’Sean has seen them To the right of them is a table filled before. Sometimes it’s sports gear that gives with track and field athletes, players away. Body types and behind them, football players. recognizable faces help, too. De’Sean’s dinner: It’s dinner time and the De’Sean and his friends disChicken quesadillas, athletes are hungry. About 15 cuss the new dessert, Blue Bunsteak, cake, and tables and several buffet carts fill ny ice cream bars. They crack jokes cranberry Training Table, the athletes’ dining with other athletes walking by. One runjuice. room under Memorial Stadium. ner writes, “Do you like me?” on a napAthletes in every varsity sport have kin, with “yes,” “no,” and “maybe” boxes to the option to pay for a meal plan that lets check, and hands it to a blonde athlete piling them fill up on pasta, meat, salad, and dessert food on her plate. The note is intended to be Sunday through Thursday. from the writer’s teammate, a joke that occurs The dining area has the feel of a high against the teammate’s will. The rest of the runschool cafeteria. Just eliminate the band, theners watch and laugh as she reads it. ater, and computer wiz clusters, and multiply
PULL UP A CHAIR AT TRAINING TABLE
JUST KEEP RUNNING
D
I
STAYING BEHIND
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n the gridiron, players decked out in pads and uniforms scramble as a football flies across the field. Amid the flurry, No. 29 stands still on the sidelines. A rolled-up sleeve reveals a bandage that runs from mid-arm to under his jersey. Three weeks ago, Chris injured his elbow in practice. This is the first season since third grade that he will not be on the field. Now frustration, not excitement, fills his fall Saturdays. As the team left Friday afternoon for Iowa, Chris stayed behind with his family to watch the team on television.
“The fact is that you only have so many opportunities to feel that way on Saturdays,” Chris says. “I’d feel bad if I missed one week. To be out every week, it sucks.” That made watching the Hoosier’s 14-point lead slip away in the Iowa game especially hard for Chris. The final score was Iowa 42, IU 24. Devin understands how difficult it must be for Chris to watch from back home. “He hates losing,” Devin says. “He’s been winning his whole life in everything he does. We never lost in high school, really.” When Chris arrived back at the apartment, the two friends shared thoughts on the game, like usual.
t’s Monday, and De’Sean’s cross country practice consists of staring at a blank wall. Only the hum of a treadmill and his thoughts keep him occupied as he runs three miles. Athletes stroll in and out of the trainer’s room, filling bags of ice and hopping on tables for treatment. But De’Sean is lost in his own world. He is preparing for the cross country Big Ten Championships on Nov. 1 in Pennsylvania. De’Sean consistently runs in the front pack of his team, but an injury could change that. He’s been struggling with his knees. This is the De’Sean’s first run he’s comdistance medley pleted in four days. relay recorded A trainer checks secondon the lone runner, raisfastest ing the intensity on the time in IU treadmill. De’Sean’s legs history: stretch farther and move fast9:31.81 er to keep up. “Does it get worse yet?” The trainer asks. “No,” De’Sean replies, staring straight ahead at the wall. “It just stays the same?” “I mean, it doesn’t feel very good,” De’Sean says. His soft voice trails off and disappears under the machine’s noise. Leading up to the meet, he stays positive. Normally, he wouldn’t worry about his chances of running in a meet. But today, he has doubts. “I guess it’ll just be a meet-time decision.” W W W. I D S N E W S . CO M / I N S I D E
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Joannah wants to see that shelf of free books, the computer lab, and Sarra’s office. “I’ve been thinking about having a friend bring me up there,” she says. “Maybe just carry me.”
UNIVERSITIES ARE MADE OF INDIVIDUALS Joannah doesn’t dwell on what she’s missing. “I’ve got too much to do to wait for other people to fix things for me,” she says. “I have too many places to go. Maybe that’s why I’m not a good activist. My focus is on being a good student.” Joannah has been asking for access since she arrived five years ago. She was admitted into the graduate department in 2004. In 2006, she traveled in Japan through a Stanford program. When she returned to IU in 2007, she pushed for recognition. She went on a local radio show. She challenged administrators and demanded action. As a state institution, IU must follow the Americans with Disabilities Act, which lays out codes for new buildings. The guidelines apply to structures built after 1990. Old buildings are only required to add accessible features if a renovation takes place. In 2007, Joannah met with Provost Karen Hanson. Hanson
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At home, Annie has her own wall of inspiration. Small pictures of her favorite dancers grace a bulletin board. They’re nestled next to Catholic rosary beads and a flyer from the Boston Ballet. Growing up in a Boston suburb, Annie spent her afternoons, evenings, and weekends dancing at the Boston Ballet School. Even in high school, ballet dominated her life. As she watches her younger twin sisters dance their way through high school, she’s reminded of all the things she sacrificed: student government meetings, horseback riding, lifeguard training, and elaborate class projects. The demure dancer photos stuck to her board are a reminder of everything she’s working toward. But on the trainer’s table,
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remembers meeting with Joannah, although she didn’t share good news. No one wants to deprive Joannah of access to her department, Hanson says. But the buildings are old. Goodbody was built in 1936. It is not high on the construction priority list. A university architect says it’s about money, of course. It’s expensive to conduct a survey to see if an elevator could fit inside Goodbody. There’s also the possibility of a chair lift, but that would also require an overall accessibility survey. Joannah is pinning her hopes on 2012. That would mean access eight years after Joannah’s arrival. By then, she hopes to have finished her three-year fellowship at IU, traveled and researched in Japan, then returned to Bloomington to finish her dissertation. There’s talk of construction: a new international building behind the Herman B Wells Library. EALC would move there, hopefully. Hanson says that in this economy, it’s a long shot to hope for a 2012 completion date. Joannah lives in a world where frustration is part of life. She knows the problems with asking for an elevator, she’s heard the reasons. She also knows that Kirkwood Hall, one of the campus’ older buildings, just finished its installation of an elevator. It is painted a gold color and its lights cast a soft glow.
Annie is fighting back tears. “Do you want me to go get your crocheting?” a fellow dancer asks. “Now’s the perfect time to start a blanket.” Another dancer comes over and kisses her on the forehead. Friends filter in and out of the room, checking to see how she’s doing. So many of them have sat on those padded maroon tables before. Laura grabs an ice pack from the freezer and places it on Annie’s ankle. “You might have sprained it again,” she says. “It’s hard to tell with all that swelling. Pretty much anything I do is going to hurt.” “Do you think it’s anything other than a sprain?” Annie asks. “No, I don’t think you fractured anything,” Laura says, eliciting a sigh of relief. “This is something you can really come
“I think they could have put one in here and one in there for the price of having it gilded,” she says. “It’s like if you needed five staircases, and instead you put one marble one in.”
THE SAMURAI TEACHER At 2:15 p.m., it’s time for Joannah to leave the little office and teach her second discussion section. She drives to the Ballantine Hall parking garage using hand controls made of long poles attached to her car’s pedals. The handicapped parking spots on the ground level annoy Joannah. They lead to stairs to get into the building, meaning there is no accessible entrance there. She drives past those spots and onto the first level. After parking in a handicap spot, she gets out of her car and slips onto her wheelchair. A ramp guides her way. Inside, she has a key to the elevator. She takes it up two floors and enters the classroom on the third floor. Joannah teaches with a calm command of her students. She wheels across the front of the classroom. When she asks questions, students are quick to respond. Today, she’s leading a discussion about Japanese history: about collectivism and unity, individuals and struggle. Joannah asks the students to write an essay about samurai warriors. “Why did we describe them as outsiders?”
back from.” Annie gives two thumbs up. It’s not all over. But how long until she can dance again? A week? Two weeks? Her muscles weaken every day she sits on the bench. Job auditions are creeping closer, and she needs to be ready. •••
O
ne week after the accident, Annie’s ankle has turned into a purpleblue bruise. For a few days, Ben drove her to class on an electric scooter, but now she’s walking. All week she’s been watching classes and rehearsals. Today is the first day she’s been able to do physical therapy — some Pilates and biking — and she has the goahead from Laura to participate in bar classes Monday.
“I’ve got too much to do to wait for other people to fix things for me. I have too many places to go. Maybe that’s why I’m not a good activist. My focus is on being a good student.”
ACROSS THE OCEAN Joannah traveled throughout Japan for the first time from 2000 to 2002. The prestigious Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme had never accommodated someone in a wheelchair before. The Japanese students who met Joannah were fascinated by her. She came at the end of one of Japan’s most successful TV shows, “Beautiful Life,” starring a mega-idol who falls in love with a woman in a wheelchair, also played by a Japanese superstar. Japan’s NHK news covered Joannah in an hour-long TV special, and she was the focus of a Japan Times article titled, “Challenging the stereotype: Breaking down people’s mental barriers.”
For the moment, however, she’s stuck sitting on the bench watching “Nutcracker” rehearsals. Pairs of dancers glide across the floor as the department chair looks on. “Stop, stop, stop,” he says, waving his arms at the pianist to cut the music. Everyone huddles around an old television to watch a DVD of the dancers performing the same number last year. Then it’s back to the floor. Cue the music. The dancers float across the room. Sitting on the bench, right leg propped up on a chair in front of her, Annie is dancing. She knows she can’t put on her pointe shoes yet. She can’t leap and spin and be lifted into the air. But she’s determined to keep up. Sweeping her arms gracefully from side to side, replicating the moves of couples of the floor, she dances.
Joannah is a teacher, a cakebaker, a scholar, and a woman who laughs when she pops cola cans with her wheelchair. She is, above all, a tired activist and an excellent student. If Joannah could roll onto the second floor of Goodbody, she could brush aside the crumbs on the graduate lounge table, set her bound thesis down, and pull her wheels up close to the table. She could flip to the back of her book, where colored pictures jump from the page. The final illustration in Joannah’s thesis—she hasn’t seen it in print— shows a large room divided. On one side of the room, two men play Go, a game with black and white pieces. On the smaller side of the room, two women in bright flowing robes look through a crack in the door. They move aside a veil of fabric and peer in.
The Nutcracker Dec. 4, 5 at 8 p.m. Dec. 5, 6 at 2 p.m. An American Evening March 26, 27 at 8 p.m. March 27 at 2 p.m. Visit www.idsnews.com/ inside for a diagram of a dancer’s foot. Also, see if you can spot the errors in dance photos, and read about some of the ballet department’s personalities.
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