Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018

Page 1

Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018

IDS

weekend Indie darling digest Your guide to the musical worlds of three indie powerhouses releasing music this year.

Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com

IU enters agreement with DOE over Title IX By Peter Talbot pjtalbot@iu.edu | @petejtalbot

Band of brothers

TY VINSON | IDS

Little-known team contributes to women’s basketball’s success By Jordan Guskey jguskey@umail.iu.edu | @JordanGuskey

To the average fan, the four IU students walking across Branch McCracken Court might as well have been randomly selected from the student section and handed matching shirts. Their faces, while well-known to IU women’s basketball players and staff, are unfamiliar to Hoosier nation. Even longtime PA announcer Chuck Crabb’s storied Assembly Hall boom can only give their names so much weight. “Seth Cooley.” “Tanner Farmwald.” “Matt Siegel.” “Austin Halcomb.” Four of 14, they make up the majority of the seniors on IU Coach Teri Moren’s male practice team — the “black squad” — a special branch of the basketball family that sweats each week alongside her Hoosiers. The aftermath of IU’s seventh straight Big Ten win is a celebratory one. Tyra Buss and Amanda Cahill just combined to hang 53 points on Nebraska on senior day, and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall will soon run their tribute videos. But for the first time on senior day during Moren’s tenure, graduating black squad members are getting their own moment. Near half court the coaching staff thanks them one by one. This isn’t forced pageantry. Each embrace is genuine. * * * Some were born to wear candy stripes. None could stay off the court. Every practice player has their own story, some intertwining, for how they found out about the male practice squad IU’s women’s basketball pro-

gram uses, and each one understands their role is to make the team better. This band of brothers, named after the practice jerseys they wear, don’t get the recognition the coaches and student-athletes think the group deserves. “Our black squad does this really just out of the love that they have for the game, the kindness of their hearts that they want to help us,” Moren said. “Those guys are our friends, we consider them a part of our family, and I coach them up sometimes just as hard as I coach up our group.” The program aims for about half the practice squad to show up to each

“Those guys are our friends, we consider them a part of our family, and I coach them up sometimes just as hard as I coach up our group.” Teri Moren, head coach

practice, a time commitment of about 10 to 15 hours each week, depending on the team’s schedule and each student’s availability. Ashley Williams, IU’s first-year graduate assistant in charge of the group, values their commitment and effort. Physical skill and basketball IQ are great, but if no one shows up, none of that matters. The logic behind a male practice team is if Moren’s student-athletes can guard guys who are bigger, stronger and more athletic, they should be able to guard the women they play against. However, it’s not a free-for-all. “There are a couple guys who are

Seniors Seth Cooley, Tanner Farmwald, Matt Siegel and Austin Halcomb were honored during the women's basketball team's Senior Night on Saturday, Feb. 17. The men are veterans of a group that helps IU’s women’s basketball team prepare for each game in practice.

not realistic for any type of female player that we’re going to see,” Williams said. “So there are definitely times where I have to go, ‘Hey, maybe tone it down, go 70 percent today.’” But, if IU is facing a shot blocker like Purdue’s Ae’Rianna Harris, one of the nation's leading rim protectors, Williams will tell a practice player like Austin Halcomb to swat what he can. Halcomb often scouts opposing bigs. If a guard is a shooting threat, someone like Seth Cooley or Tanner Farmwald won’t hesitate on an open jumper. “We have a lot of teams that are similar to them who are very athletic. It helps us,” junior forward Kym Royster said. “We get used to that. It helps us handle pressure.” Williams has her scouts come to practice about 20 minutes early so they can learn plays IU’s next opponent runs while the team is watching film. Sometimes, at games, black squad members will sit together and watch opponents run the plays they practiced. “It’s amazing,” Halcomb said. “They’ll set up in a certain set and we just look at each other and go, ‘Oh yeah, this is what they’re going to do. This is exactly how the play is going to go.’” They do not get animated much during games, though. Since they are around the program so much, when the clock is running they let the likes of SEE BASKETBALL, PAGE 8

Student climbs Kilimanjaro, despite hurdles

rsmack@umail.iu.edu

SEE CLIMB, PAGE 8

SEE MIDDLE WAY, PAGE 8

COURTESY PHOTO

IU sophomore Sneha Dave climbed Mount Kilimanjaro during winter break. At age 6, Dave was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an autoimmune disease that targets the colon and has given Dave fatigue and abdominal tenderness.

an attempt to lessen the severity of her symptoms. When these methods proved to be ineffective, she was admitted to Riley Hospital for Children in middle school. She had her first major operation in 2012 to extract her large intestine. “Having your colon removed

By Robert Mack

can be pretty defeating and emotionally challenging,” Dave said. “But Riley is a great hospital that focuses on the whole care of the patient rather than just the immediate needs.”

leborja@iu.edu | @LexieBorja

mune disease that not only targets the colon but also affects the entire body. Some of those effects, at least for Dave, have included fatigue and abdominal tenderness. In the beginning stages of her illness Dave’s family first tried holistic, or alternative, treatments in

Concert raises money for Middle Way House Middle Way House’s third annual benefit “Love Songs for a Lasting World” will take place 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. It will honor the organization's former executive director, Toby Strout, who died in 2017 at age 71. All proceeds will benefit Middle Way House. Middle Way House seeks to bring awareness to domestic abuse, sexual violence and human trafficking, as well as helps victims escape their situations. Its services include emergency shelter housing, transitional housing, legal help, child care and more. The 90-minute performance is produced by Toby Strout's daughter, Anna Strout, and Bloomington-based composer Malcolm Dalglish. It will feature songs by Dalglish, as well as performances by IU students and his group, the Ooolites. It will also present work by choreographer Jun Kuribayashi, a former artistic associate with Polibulos, a modern dance company. Anna Strout's husband, actor Jesse Eisenberg, is a major sponsor and supporter of Middle Way House. "It was shocking to learn about, but even more so shocking to learn how prevalent issues of sexual vio-

By Lexie Borja

Challenging her limitations, Sneha Dave neared the end of her journey to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. After powering through dizziness and days of climbing, she was greeted by forceful, cold winds, she said. She could have stopped. But she didn't. “It was worth the climb to see the Kilimanjaro summit sign in person,” Dave said. Dec. 25, 2017, Dave, a sophomore at IU, successfully climbed to the highest point in Africa. Located in Tanzania, Mount Kilimanjaro is the fourth of the seven highest summits in the world. Dave was accompanied by her parents and older sister in the the mountainside journey, which lasted a total of seven days — five to ascend and two to descend. Adding to the difficulty of the climb, Dave made the 19,341-foot trek while enduring health complications. At age 6, Dave was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an autoim-

IU entered an agreement with the Department of Education following multiple federal investigations of the University’s sexual misconduct policies. The resolution will seek the creation of two “working groups,” or committees, organized to study IU’s practices of sexual assault training, education and prevention. While the resolution stated IUBloomington’s involvement in this agreement did not reflect any wrongdoing found in the DOE’s review of University policy, IU will continue reflection of its sexual misconduct response and education efforts, while providing updates to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. As of last semester, five federal investigations into IU’s sexual misconduct practices had been opened — the first dating back to 2014. Of the 242 postsecondary institutions that were under investigation, IU was one of three schools with at least five open cases. It is unclear if all five have been resolved. “It certainly doesn’t mean anything we’re doing stops, but it resolves what has been a very thorough, comprehensive review by Office of Civil Rights,” said Emily Springston, IU’s Title IX coordinator. The OCR requested IU create its working group and greek working group by June 30, 2018. By that time IU is also requested to provide a written narrative for the current academic year that shows IU completed specific training and education programs. The general working group will help identify areas of concern where sexual misconduct may be more prevalent to suggest changes to existing response and prevention plans. The greek working group will do much of the same work to address sexual misconduct, specifically within greek life. The group is also asked to consult with either someone from within IU or an outside consultant as an expert who has experience preventing sexual misconduct in greek organizations. “While this action resolves OCR’s audit, it does not end IUBloomington’s commitment or obligations to our students, faculty and staff,” Provost Lauren Robel said in a press release. “We take this issue very seriously and will continue to provide rigorous education and training as we work to create a safe campus environment.”


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