Indiana Daily Student
2
CAMPUS
Wednesday, April 6, 2016 idsnews.com
Editors Carley Lanich & Taylor Telford campus@idsnews.com
Citizens angered by Congress’ lack of progress From IDS reports
PHOTOS BY CASSIE HEEKE | IDS
Jennifer Thuma, director of Victim Services for Greg Zoeller, Indiana’s attorney general, speaks about the sources and statistics behind human trafficking Tuesday in the State Room East of the Indiana Memorial Union. “The Hidden Reality: An Interactive Program on Human Trafficking” included an interactive process that led participants through various countries where human trafficking occurs.
Human trafficking takes toll By Hannah Rea hanrea@umail.iu.edu | @rea_hannahj
During an interactive look at human trafficking, students with paper “passports” walked around the room and visited “countries” where victims of human trafficking may have traveled on their journeys. Lives of victims were condensed to a few sentences on strips of paper. One strip told the story of two young boys traveling from Egypt to escape the destruction. Another spoke of a poor girl from Thailand who was sold to a brothel. Yet another was a boy from Brazil who was almost sold as a child prostitute to a tourist during the World Cup, but escaped. Jennifer Thuma, victims advocate at the Indiana attorney general’s office, led the discussion in a talk called “The Hidden Reality: An Interactive Program on Human Trafficking” at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the East and West Staterooms of the Indiana Memorial Union. “Victims are everywhere, in every country,” Thuma said. “What I tried to bring to you was something very real.” The stories students traced were based on real people, but the names were changed for privacy. The display was the result of a partnership between the Indiana attorney general’s office, IU Student Association, IU’s United Nations Association and the
Middle Way House. “Sometimes it’s hard to engage with an audience on a topic this serious,” said Katelyn Lipa, a crisis intervention service coordinator at the Middle Way House. An interactive display allows people to see it unfold in a more personal way, Lipa said. Around the room, tables were set up with information about countries commonly involved in the human trafficking industry. Brazil and Russia are countries with the highest number of victims. Under the wide umbrella of human trafficking are many different types, Thuma said. The event focused on three: sex trafficking, bonded labor and child labor. Thuma described bonded labor as a situation in which an individual with a debt attempts to pay off that debt by working, but the interest rates in the host country make this impossible. As a result, the individual is forced to continue working. The cause of this is simple, Thuma said. “That’s the name of the game – money,” Thuma said. “Human trafficking is the second-fastest-growing criminal industry in the world.” It produces about $150 billion per year, according to the Indiana Protection for Abused and Trafficked Humans task force. Another country with high rates of exporting victims of human trafficking is the United States. “In the U.S., about 80
Jen Burch, crisis intervention services coordinator at Middle Way House, informs students about human trafficking Tuesday in the State Room East of the Indiana Memorial Union.
percent of trafficking victims were born here,” Thuma said. It even happens in Indiana, Thuma said. IPATH reported that more than 100 tips of human trafficking were called in during 2014 alone. One of the most successful tactics traffickers use to entice poor victims is the promise of jobs. Children and teens who have no better option or who need to support their family may feel they have no other choice, Thuma said. Unlike drug smuggling, which leaves physical evidence, human trafficking is harder to trace. “It’s not as easy to see a trafficking victim who might be right in front of your eyes,” Thuma said.
Some people find it hard to believe that victims would continue to live in horrible conditions in which they work for almost nothing and are continually threatened or abused. However, the average age of a trafficking victim is 12 years old, Thuma said. “Once someone has been victimized as a traffic victim, that can go on for years,” Thuma said. If someone has been a victim since childhood, they may not know of any other course of life, Thuma said. “We believe that those are victims who need help,” Thuma said. “We’re one big world and whatever we do impacts someone else. There’s a lot of hope, I think, that survivors can give us.”
IFC opens philanthropy to non-greeks By Austin Faulds afaulds@indiana.edu | @a_faulds9615
About 8,720 men in the United States will be diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2016, according to a report from the American Cancer Society. About 380 U.S. men will die of this disease in the same year. Statistics like these led the Interfraternity Council at IU to create a philanthropy campaign with the Movember Foundation, said Jesse Scheinman, the IFC vice president of communication programs. The Movember Foundation helps fund testicular and prostate cancer research, mental health and physical activity, Scheinman said. The Foundation is the No. 1 global provider of testicular cancer research programs, according to its website. For this philanthropy project, IFC collaborated with the Panhellenic Association to involve more students in the cause, said Madi Lasson, PHA director of service. This will be the first time
IFC and PHA team up for a major philanthropy event, Lasson said. In addition to this new pairing, IFC recently opened an online application for philanthropy liasons, Scheinman said. This application will be open to all IU students, greek-affiliated or otherwise. Because such a significant amount of people are affected by testicular and prostate cancer in the U.S., Scheinman said, it only made sense to be inclusive with the application process. “Since it affects so many people, I think it would be counteractive to not open the application to others,” Scheinman said. Non-greek students can also provide original perspectives to help with the project, Scheinman said. The liaison application will be open until April 17, and more than 30 people have applied so far, Scheinman said. The liason will help promote the No Shave November philanthropy event before and throughout the
month, Lasson said. The IFC and PHA hope to have a liaison at each chapter promoting the event to IU students and faculty, Lasson said. “The plan of this liaison is to bring forth a sense of community through advertising, planning and marketing of this philanthropy,” Scheinman said. For the application process, Scheinman said the philanthropy council is more interested in personal passion than philanthropy work experience. However, he said he does encourage the latter. “We’re looking for people who are passionate about philanthropies and passionate about the issues,” Scheinman said. In order to raise money for the project, Lasson said those participating in the event will have individual fundraisers. The liaisons will be helping each of these participants raise money. Within their own chapters, Lasson said IFC and PHA hope to see younger members get excited about the initiative. “It tends to be the babies
who are most excited about doing stuff for their chapter and the greek community,” Lasson said. Lasson said IFC and PHA hope to be able to team with the Multicultural Greek Council and the National Panhellenic Council for the project. However, because both councils have very few members, they have less money to support the project. Regardless, Lasson said she still hopes to work with MCGC and NPHC to make the project stronger. “I think we’re so lucky here at IU to have a greeklife community of this magnitude,” Lasson said. “We have so much power, and we need to utilize it.” Lasson said she believes a unifying philanthropy project with so many organizations and students coming together can be beneficial not only to the cause, but also to IU greek life as a whole. “This could make us all the much stronger,” Lasson said. “That’s why I’m so excited about it.”
Americans are dissatisfied with Congress’ lack of progress, according to a survey conducted by the IU Center on Representative Government. While many are receptive to the challenges Congress faces, most feel members of Congress are failing to do the necessary work to actually achieve change, the study found. To the question “Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job,” 81 percent of respondents said they disapprove. When asked, “Who do you think is more responsible for the policymaking gridlock in Washington,” almost two times as many people say Congress is the primary culprit than those who blame President Barack Obama exclusively. The annual survey covers public perceptions of Congress and is overseen by Edward G. Carmines, Rudy Professor of Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Americans recognize there are a lot of diverse opinions in the country, and that those opinions are often reflected in Congress,” Carmines said. “But they do expect Congress to make some progress. Its policymaking capacity is just not very evident. When Congress seems to be immobilized, playing politics so much of the time, unable to address the country’s problems, there’s a diffuse disappointment and even anger that attends to the institution.” Although progress is expected, the poll showed people understand some issues are too partisan to easily achieve a compromise. Less than half of the public expected members of Congress to compromise on abortion and gun control. But by contrast, a majority of those surveyed said compromise should be possible on national security, immigration, health care and taxes. “Americans recognize that trying to get agreement in Congress is not easy,” Carmines said. “It’s very difficult. There are lots of different solutions, lots of different priorities. But they expect Congress to at least work at it and not to simply exacerbate differences on major problems facing the country.” More than 75 percent of those surveyed said either special or self-interests motivate most members of Congress. When asked if “information from my members of Congress is trustworthy,” 54 percent disagreed. To the question “Do members of Congress listen and care about what people like you think,” 62 percent said “No, not most of the time.” In the grading portion of the survey, the public consistently gave Congress D’s:
Americans frustrated with lack of progress How would you compare the polarization of Congress to the polarization among the American public? Is the public... Equal Less polarized More polarized
Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?
Approve
Disapprove
Using a grade A to F, please grade the current Congress’ performance in keeping excessive partisanship in check: A B
C
F
D
SOURCE: IU Center on Representative Government GRAPHICS BY EMILY ABSHIRE | IDS
a D on “keeping excessive partisanship in check” and “controlling the influence of special interest groups”; D+ grades on “dealing with key issues facing the country” and “holding its members to high standards of ethical conduct” and “conducting its business in a careful, deliberate way.” The survey suggested the American people would be patient if Congress prioritized thoroughness over speed. When asked, “Is it better for Congress to pass legislation quickly and efficiently, or take the time to consider issues thoroughly and carefully,” 83 percent chose the “thorough and careful” path over speed and efficiency. The 2015 findings are based on a nationwide survey of 1,000 people conducted in November and December by the Internet polling firm YouGov Polimetrix. Taylor Telford
CORRECTION A story in the campus section of Tuesday’s edition of the Indiana Daily Student should have referred to Mark Kruzan as former mayor of Bloomington. The IDS regrets this error.
Mary Katherine Wildeman Editor-in-Chief Alison Graham Katherine Schulze Managing Editors
Vol. 149, No. 28 © 2016
www.idsnews.com
Newsroom: 812-855-0760 Business Office: 812-855-0763 Fax: 812-855-8009
Scott Tenefrancia Managing Editor for Digital Anna Hyzy Managing Editor of Presentation Roger Hartwell Advertising Director Faishal Zakaria Circulation Manager
The Indiana Daily Student and idsnews.com publish weekdays during fall and spring semesters, except exam periods and University breaks. From May-July, it publishes Monday and Thursday. Part of IU Student Media, the IDS is a self-supporting auxiliary University enterprise. Founded on Feb. 22, 1867, the IDS is chartered by the IU Board of Trustees, with the editor-in-chief as final content authority. The IDS welcomes reader feedback, letters to the editor and online comments. Advertising policies are available on the current rate card. Readers are entitled to single copies. Taking multiple copies may constitute theft of IU property, subject to prosecution. Paid subscriptions are entered through third-class postage (USPS No. 261960) at Bloomington, IN 47405.
120 Ernie Pyle Hall • 940 E. Seventh St. • Bloomington, IN 47405-7108