Monday, Feb. 5, 2018

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Monday, Feb. 5, 2018

IDS

#METOO Jake Taylor’s story of acceptance, strength and change on page 7

Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com

WRESTLING

Wrestling drops two more Big Ten meets By Daniel Zur dzur@umail.iu.edu | @DanielJZur

Queens of Death Drop Student-organized drag show came to IU’s stage Saturday night By Caroline Anders anders6@umail.iu.edu | @clineands

The heels were towering, the hair was larger than life and the cheekbones could’ve — should’ve — cut glass. IU's own drag queens took the stage Saturday night in Life’s a Drag (Race), a student-organized drag show, swathed in velvet, sequins, and even trash bags. The night, which took place in Alumni Hall at the Indiana Memorial Union, drew a crowd of over 450 to watch the queens dance and lip sync to artists like Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj. Many in the crowd donned their drag finest, from mesh tops and glittery faces to velvet shoes. From the time Demi Lovato’s “Sorry Not Sorry” started pulsing through the speakers, the audience was rowdy, dancing in the aisles and cheering for their favorite queens. The event was the second of its kind, organized by sophomore Rylan Deer and hosted by his drag persona, Gaia Ciccone. Ciccone is the ‘drag mom’ of one of the other queens who performed, Taera Ciccone. “A drag performance is not something most parents approve of,” Ciccone said. “Thankfully, I’m not like other moms. I’m a cool mom.” Ciccone sashayed on stage after the first act in a royal blue sequined floor-length gown and a red bob wig. Deer said his queen, Ciccone, was wearing a corset as well as silicone hips to get the curves she wanted for the night. He started getting ready for the event at 10 a.m. and finished around 6 p.m. after hours of makeup and hair removal. Each queen has her own persona. With names like Ima

Wreck, Jenna Talia and Mary F. Kills, the queens all cultivated performances around their stage identities. Kade Padgett, known as Ima Wreck, said his queen persona came from an alias his grandmother wrote under in her church publication. Padgett said Ima Wreck is the personification or mental illness. “She’s not meant to be pretty,” he said. “She’s meant to make a statement.” Many of the queens said the show “RuPaul’s Drag Race” inspired them to explore the drag culture. Freshman Ethan Tinsley did his makeup for the first time on May 12, 2017, after starting to watch the show as a freshman in high school. Tinsley said he never thought he would try drag, until he put makeup on. His queen persona is named Jenna Talia, and she’s a party girl. Talia likes pink, she said. Tinsley does not. Freshman Ashton Murray went to his high school prom in drag. He also credits RuPaul’s Drag Race for inspiring him to explore the art. Murray’s persona, Taera Ciccone, is the daughter of Gaia. Saturday

“She’s not meant to be pretty. She’s meant to make a statement.” Kade Padgett, drag queen performer under the name “Ima Wreck”

was Taera’s debut on stage, and she was the race’s runner-up. A total of four death drops, a dance move where the dancer falls backwards to the floor, were executed on the stage. The move is characteristic of drag performance and culture.

COURTESY PHOTO

Sophomore Rylan Deer as Gaia Ciccone speaks on the stage in Alumni Hall at the Indiana Memorial Union. Life’s a Drag (Race) featured drag queens from IU’s campus and took place Saturday, Feb. 4.

Some of the queens gave theatrical performances, some were choreography-focused and others used props to convey their stories. Six queens total performed during the event along with a special intermission show from last year’s winner, Avasa. 2017 was the first year Deer arranged the show. As the queens stomped across the stage throughout the night, wigs were lost, fake blood was spilled and dollars were thrown to the queens. “We should’ve practiced tipping,” Ciccone said when queens kept leaving cash on the stage. “We did a shoes rehearsal — that was stunning — but we should’ve done tipping.” Five audience members were chosen to judge the competition and crowned Ima Wreck the winner with a rhinestone-encrusted tiara at the end of the night. Drag often involves dancing, the removal of clothes and tipping from the audience, but performances are more focused on the queens’ personas. Ciccone was surrounded by fans at the end of the night for photos. No one measured up to the queen, who stood six feet and three inches in her heels. After months of planning, Deer could finally take off his wig cap and call it a night. “Life’s a Drag (Race)” will be held again next year, Deer said. He’s already secured Alumni Hall for the event.

CBD supporters urge passage of legislation By Laurel Demkovich lfdemkov@umail.iu.edu | @LaurelDemkovich

Supporters of cannabidiol oil legalization gathered at the Statehouse on Thursday with a goal of educating themselves and the public on the uses and benefits of CBD oil. Users and supporters of legalizing CBD oil and industrial hemp, two products derived from the cannabis plant that are sometimes used to treat epilepsy or other seizure disorders, gave testimonials as well as showed their support for three current CBD-related bills. Jesse Bunnell from B-Town Botanicals talked about how his Bloomington store recently started selling CBD-related products. He said he had seen many people use it and have positive results. “It doesn’t work for everyone, but the people who do use it should have access to it,” Bunnell said. Ashlie Kehrberg spoke on how CBD oil changed her life. Kehrberg said she suffered

EMILY ECKELBARGER | IDS

Michelle Lennis, a co-organizer of the Hoosiers for CBD Rally, speaks on Thursday at the Indiana Statehouse about the need for awareness about CBD oil.

from a spinal injury that caused her legs and arms to go numb. Doctors put her on numerous prescriptions, but she started suffering severe side effects, such as insomnia and eye problems. She decided to try CBD oil. She

found that she could sleep through the night and did not feel nerve pain in her arms anymore. Kehrberg urged citizens to get educated about what the product is and isn’t. “We started educating

ourselves just like every other person in Indiana needs to do,” she said. The Indiana House of Representatives passed two bills this week involving CBD and industrial hemp. CBD oil and industrial hemp are both products of a cannabis plant and can be used for similar purposes but are made from different parts of the plant. House Bill 1137 passed unanimously through the House on Wednesday. The bill would establish a pilot program allowing for the cultivation of industrial hemp and industrial hemp products. Industrial hemp is a type of cannabis plant with low THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. The bill would allow farmers to grow the plant, which can’t get users high. Hemp can be used for a variety of purposes, including food or fuel. It also has numerous health benefits and can work to treat epilepsy and other seizure SEE CBD, PAGE 5

A comparable sentiment has been felt after each of IU’s Big Ten wrestling matches. The same wrestlers for the Hoosiers pick up points for their team while the rest do not. But, with two big matches at home versus Illinois and rival Purdue, the Hoosiers were almost shut out and ended the weekend with very few positive results. On Friday, IU fell to No. 14 Illinois 33-9. On Sunday, the Purdue Boilermakers came to town, and the Hoosiers were not able to figure out how to get any points on the board to beat Purdue, as they got the loss 34-3. On Friday night, a few of the always-reliable Hoosiers fell to the Illini. It was a difficult match for IU, and they were lucky enough to get the points that they did, three of them coming through a weight class forfeit for the Illini. After Purdue on Sunday, IU Coach Duane Goldman explained why his team didn’t come out with the energy needed to get the win. “I think they were more aggressive when it got down to the really nitty gritty, someone’s got to score,” Goldman said. “They just took more risks than we did. I think that we didn’t execute late in the match when we needed to. We were waiting for the right time or right situation, rather than just going in there.” The Hoosiers have looked over matched in each of these conference matches. Last month, the Hoosiers emphasized improvement for the end of the season. So far, they have looked completely flat in each of their match-ups. Perhaps it is because their conference foes are difficult, but each of the matches have seemed to skew more and more toward their opponents than toward the Hoosiers. No. 13 junior Cole Weaver, who has been consistent and reliable all season, couldn’t get anything done against either of his opponents. These were big duals for the junior, as he needs all the wins that he can get as seeding for the NCAA tournament becomes more important. No. 18 sophomore Devin Skatzka got a big win against Illinois and scored the Hoosiers’ first points of the night. However, against Purdue, Skatzka couldn’t figure out how to finish as he lost a tough fight in a revenge match against No. 9 Dylan Lydy. The only positive on the weekend goes to sophomore Buddy Conley as he picked up two wins. The first versus Illinois came because the Illini couldn’t field a wrestler in his weight class. However against Purdue, Conley was the lone performer and scored IU’s only three points. This brings his season dual totals to 7-8 with a chance against Northwestern to finish the year at .500. He was content with his outing over the weekend and mentioned his mentality as one of the reasons he has been able to succeed lately. “Coach has helped me a lot with my effort and mentality during the match,” Conley said. “It feels pretty good. It’s a long season, we still have the postseason and the Big Ten. So I’ll be wrestling all these guys again. I have to have a good attitude and not get complacent.” The attitude that the team gets all comes from the coaching staff and the outlook they give the team on the rest of the season. Goldman emphasized this inspiration after the match. “I think there can be a lot of inspiration in just effort,” Goldman said. “There’s guys like Buddy who’s a walk on. And Raya who last year was seventh in the state in California, and now he’s wrestling some of the best guys in the country toe to toe. There’s a lot of inspiration in that for me.”

“They just took more risks than we did.” Duane Goldman, IU men’s wrestling coach


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