Monday, March 26, 2018 | Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
INSIDE Voter guide to the 2018-2019 IUSA Elections, page 3 SWIMMING AND DIVING
IDS
IU finishes third in the country By TC Malik tcmalik@iu.edu | @TCMalik96
“Spread the word.” Local students march in Washington, D.C. By Lydia Gerike lgerike@iu.edu | @LydiaGerike
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The crowd is waiting for an unannounced guest on the March for Our Lives speaker lineup, and it seems not one of the 800,000 people near the National Mall knows who it could be. A pod of Bloomington kids, part of a group of 46 students who traveled to the march the day before, try to guess. Bloomington High School North seniors Caleb Poer and Ruth Nall had told each other earlier they hoped former President Barack Obama would surprise everyone — could it be him? They strain to see the stage above the crowd, and watch as a girl emerges and introduces herself to the crowd as Yolanda Renee King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s 9-year-old granddaughter. She’s like her grandfather, she tells the crowd. She also has a dream. “I have a dream that enough is enough,” Yolanda says. Many of the speeches at the march so far have quoted her grandfather, but now Bloomington high school students are listening to a direct descendant of one of history’s best-known political activists. Yolanda begins a chant. The crowd, fueled by the energy of those around them, shout back at her. “Spread the word. Have you heard? We. Are going to be. A great generation.” Their words grow stronger with every line, as if slowly convincing themselves during the chant that the young King’s words are true. * * * Bloomington students want to be part of that great generation, one that will not stand idly by af-
ter 17 people were killed Feb. 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. They had watched the responses to this shooting start off the same as always: Politicians offered thoughts and prayers. Gun reform proponents demanded the nation talk about gun control, while others claimed it was insensitive to bring up politics in the wake of a tragedy. Many people waited for the news to die from the media.
“Now that it’s finally happening, I’m not stressed out anymore.” Ruth Nall, Bloomington High School North senior
But this time, something feels different. People — especially high school students — seem ready for a change. Parkland survivors led the call to action simply by speaking out, and like many others across the nation, Bloomington students followed suit. In an age where shootings have killed children of all ages across the country, it’s no longer difficult to imagine gun violence affecting their own schools. Bloomington High School South senior Malachi Britton says he can see the outer doors of his high school from where he sits in the cafeteria at lunchtime. In the weeks since Parkland, he’s caught himself looking at the doors and realizing if someone with came in with an gun, he could be one of the first to die. “How are you supposed to operate with that?” he asks. Their first chance to make their fear and anger clear is the march, which is what brings them and at 6:30 a.m. Friday to the AMC Classic Bloomington 11 to wait for the Miller charter bus taking them and four chaperones through the 13hour journey to Washington, D.C.
Bloomington High School South freshman Marleyla Wiltz holds up a protest sign at the March for Our Lives rally Saturday in Washington, D.C. Wiltz was one of 46 students who traveled 13 hours from Bloomington to stand against gun violence in the United States.
LYDIA GERIKE | IDS
Indianapolis joins hundreds of cities in March for Our Lives By Laurel Demkovich lfdemkov@iu.edu | @LaurelDemkovich
The local Moms Demand Action chapter donated care packages. In the gallon-sized Ziploc bags packed with clementines, Oreos and Mott’s fruit snacks, the group also included MDA buttons and stickers demanding gun sense in America. “Safe travels,” someone wrote on the bags, “We’re so proud of you!” With the support of MDA, other political groups and members of the community, the students raised $15,000 to travel to Washington. It’s been a largely self-organized trip, with only minimal organizational help from adults, which Nall says could be difficult as she worked to organize the trip. There were people who
INDIANAPOLIS — Protesters started lining up before 10 a.m., and by 11 a.m., the crowd had wrapped all the way around the Statehouse and across the street. It was snowing and cold, but the crowd didn’t mind waiting. They had come to join hundreds of thousands of people across the country to rally for gun reform. Some children wasted the time by building snowmen. Others learned about how to register to vote. When Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana, walked through the crowd, they shook his hand and thanked him for coming. Annalise Janke, 16, and Dora Reed, 14, from Fishers, Indiana, spent their time starting chants the whole line eventually joined in on. “Tell me what democracy looks like!” they shouted. “This is what democracy looks like!” others responded. Janke and Reed were among
SEE WASHINGTON, PAGE 5
SEE INDIANAPOLIS, PAGE 5
MALLORY SMITH | IDS
Protesters raise their fists and have a moment of silence in remembrance of those lost from gun violence. The protesters gathered Saturday for the March for Our Lives rally in Indianapolis.
The historic season is over for the IU men’s swimming and diving team. IU Coach Ray Looze said his squad exceeded his expectations during a season in which he only had hope for a top-five finish. Yet, the Hoosiers finished in the top three. IU's finish marks the sixth time in the past seven years it has placed in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships. The year proved to be historic for the Hoosiers, with IU setting Big Ten records on a daily basis at some points. IU's third-place finish marks the best it has placed in the NCAA Championships since 1975, when it finished second. Despite only having eight swimmers, while other teams had upwards of 18, the Hoosiers were within reach of the national title once again. “We had a shot until the last three or four events and our guys ran out of a little bit of gas,” Looze said. “Honestly, it was the best meet I’ve ever been a part of.” Going into the championship, Looze said IU needed to perform perfectly in order to take home the crown. They almost proved him right. Looze said his team performed at 95 percent, falling just short of perfection and the title. It could've been said that the Hoosiers collapsed going into the events Saturday, when they held sole possession of the lead, but Looze knew the finish would be grueling. “We put a tremendous amount of pressure on them,” Looze said. “They would’ve had to have handed it to us, but we had an incredible run.” Texas and California overtook the Hoosiers on the final day of the championships. Texas battled back and claimed its fourth consecutive NCAA title with 449 points. California and IU rounded out the top three with 437.5 and 422 points, respectively. While the Hoosiers fell short of their overall NCAA Championship goals, they racked up 42 All-American honors among 12 swimmers and divers. Senior Blake Pieroni led the way, earning All-American honors in all seven of his events. Pieroni closed his career at IU with 19 AllAmerican awards overall. Next year, the Hoosiers will be without their standout Pieroni, and Looze said he knows it's going to take a collective effort to replace him. “Blake's career at Indiana was so incredible and his impact was huge,” Looze said. “He’ll be a hard guy to replace. One guy doesn’t replace a guy like that.” While Pieroni’s importance to the team will be missed, another senior, Michael Hixon will also leave a void. Hixon earned All-American awards in his events, the 1- and 3-meter dive. Hixon is a NCAA Champion, winning the 1-meter dive, but finished third in the SEE FINISH, PAGE 5
Ugandan children to bring ‘Dance of Hope’ to library By Kathleen Clark-Perez kpclark@iu.edu | @KatPerezIN
From a Ugandan orphanage to the Monroe County Public Library, Ugandan children will present Dance of Hope at 7 p.m. March 29 in the Monroe County Public Library. The free event is sponsored by the Bloomington-based Lotus Blossoms Educational Outreach Program. Dance of Hope is a touring program made possible through a the program's collaboration with the M-Lisada orphanage in Kampala, Uganda. The performers are children ranging from age 9 to 17, many of whom live in M-Lisada, said Herbet Kinobe, DOH co-founder and internationally recognized musician. “The mission of DOH is to build communities and inspire young people to become independent global citizens,” Kinobe said. The children will tell the stories of Africa through original dances to the music of instruments such as the talking drum, a drum that can adjust pitch so much it is said to be talking, and the kora, a 21-string harp lute from West Africa. The group members will also share their own narratives on how music has become a means of survival, transformed their lives and
COURTESY PHOTO
"Dance of Hope" will bring African music, dances by Ugandan children and colorful costumes to Bloomington at 7 p.m. March 29, at the Monroe County Public Library. The performers of Dance of Hope are children ranging in age from 9 to 17, many of whom live in the M-Lisada orphanage, in Kampala, Uganda.
given them hope, Kinobe said. The children have been working on this performance for six years Kinobe said. Some of members of DOH were 6 or 7 years old when they joined the group. This is their first tour
and their first time leaving Uganda, Kinobe said. “DOH is different from any other kind of cultural entertainment group,” Kinobe said. “The kids are amazing dancers, entertainers and singers, but that is not the only thing
we represent.” The children in DOH will be leading educational outreach programs about Ugandan music and culture at schools and universities all over the United States, Kinobe said. DOH empowers children, who have
come from a place of no hope and low self-esteem, to become teachers. This gives the children a great sense of pride in themselves and their culture. Before Bloomington, DOH performed and taught in New Jersey, Texas, Arizona, California Washington, Minnesota and Michigan. The tour will end in mid-May with performances in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. “The theme of the tour is to build bridges and to build self-esteem,” Kinobe said. “We are going to 40 schools in the U.S. on this tour and performing for 15,000 children in total.” Another way DOH is building bridges is by having the children from DOH spend time with American host families while on tour. Here in Bloomington, the children from DOH will be staying with three host families, said Loraine Martin, outreach director of the Lotus Education and Arts Foundation. “This is a way for this group to have an experience learning what it is to be part of a family here in the U.S. and learn about what kids their age do for fun, what kind of meals and food we have," Martin said. In addition to performing and SEE HOPE, PAGE 5