Thursday, April 12, 2018

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Look inside for special offers from Kroger. Find the insert in the IDS print edition each Thursday.

Thursday, April 12, 2018

IDS

weekend Have a drink from all around the world (responsibly). page 7

Indiana Daily Student | idsnew idsnews.com ws.c s..cco s om

3 reports of rape made to police this week From IDS reports

KINSEY JOHNSON | IDS

Better than before Natalie Whalen suffered a back injury her freshman year that left her future uncertain. By Lauralys Shallow lshallow@iu.edu | @ShallowLauralys

One tiny movement completely changed the next year of her life. Natalie Whalen, IU women’s tennis junior, was playing doubles against Michigan State the spring of her freshman year when she lunged for a shot hit toward her, and she herniated a disc in her back. Whalen and her partner, then-senior Sarah McLean, were winning 4-1 in a sixset match, and Whalen tried playing two more games despite the pain she felt. She described the feeling as a numbing pain shooting up and down her legs. Whalen focused on lobbing the ball over the net and trying to get through each point, but eventually she collapsed and could not finish the match. “I couldn’t feel my legs at all,” Whalen said. Whalen was immobile. She had to be wheeled out of the MSU Outdoor Tennis Courts on a cart. In that moment and the months after, the future of Whalen’s young collegiate tennis career was uncertain. One wrong twist, and Whalen was facing pain medication and rehab just to be able to move her legs. One play, and her tennis career hinged on her body’s ability to respond to rehab and rest. * * * Whalen picked up her first racket when she was 4 years old. She was in

Florida and her grandmother put her in tennis lessons. Whalen said at first it was mostly her mom pushing her to play tennis, but when Whalen turned 14, tennis became less mundane to her and more personal. “When I got to the age where I could travel on my own more, I created good friendships with all the girls in Chicago,” Whalen said. “That is something you don’t wanna miss out on. No matter how good you are, if you really like getting to play and foster friendships with people in your sport, you’ll keep wanting to train.” Colleges started taking notice of Whalen’s skill, and she took her first unofficial visit to IU at the end of her sophomore year. She committed to IU the summer going into her senior year. “I was in a cab on a way to my friend’s house,” Whalen said. “I called coach and I was like, ‘Hey, by the way, I think I wanna come to IU.’” Whalen committed to IU because of the coaching. Lin Loring was the head coach at the time and held the most wins as a head coach in collegiate women’s tennis. Loring retired from the helm of the program in January 2017. Ramiro Azcui, the current head coach, was the assistant, and Whalen said she knew she was going to be treated right because they all had the same priorities — a commitment to giving Whalen the opportunity to play her best tennis.

Then-sophomore Natalie Whalen, now a junior, waits for her partner to serve the ball in a February doubles match. Whalen’s career was in doubt after suffering a herniated disc injury her freshman year.

* * * Prior to Whalen’s commitment, she herniated her disc for the first time at one of the biggest tournaments of the summer. She had tremendous pain in her legs and was out for a month. Whalen likened the disc in her back to a donut between the vertebrae and spine. There’s gel inside of the disc that is supposed to lubricate the spine. When she herniated her disc, the gel seeped out and hit the nerves that cause the severe pain and muscle spasms in her legs. Whalen said she freaked out and spent that month lying in bed. When she was cleared to hit again, she could only play five minutes a day, which was frustrating for her. Whalen was used to hitting and practicing for hours, and now she was limited to minutes. When Whalen arrived at IU, Azcui and Loring were understanding of her situation, and they knew they would need to be cautious and take it slow, because a herniated disc is easy to rupture again if not properly rested and monitored. Whalen said she had back problems throughout the fall of her freshman year, SEE TENNIS, PAGE 6

Three alleged rapes were reported to the Bloomington Police Department this week. No arrests have been made in relation to the cases. The first report came April 7 afternoon. A 21-year-old woman told police she was raped by a coworker the night before making the report. She went to the hospital, where a sexual assault forensic exam was done. There is a suspect in this case, but no arrests have been made. BPD Lt. John Kovach said the suspect is cooperating with police. The second report came April 8. A 19-year-old woman told police she thinks she was raped by two unknown men early that morning. She did not want to press charges and did not identify the men she said raped her. The third report came Tuesday. A 22-year-old woman went to the police station with two of her friends to report a rape that allegedly happened when she was a senior in high school in 2014. She told police she chose to make the report now because of the emotional problems she has experienced since the event. The friends who went to the station with her reported they were there on the night of the incident. They told officers they were the ones who told the woman she was raped after she blacked out. Kovach said the woman told police she went to the hospital the day after the alleged rape but did not have a rape kit done. The two cases with suspects are under investigation. Caroline Anders

Artist Song Dongye performs hit ‘Miss Dong’ By Kathleen Clark-Perez

‘Very good boy’: Puppies help fundraise By Emily Isaacman eisaacma@iu.edu | @emilyisaacman

Six puppies drew more than 100 people to Dunn Meadow on Wednesday afternoon. As part of Medlife at IU’s fundraiser for a daycare in Lima, Peru, students paid $5 to play for an unlimited time with puppies from Anthony’s Pets. The organization called it a puppy cafe. “Spending the afternoon playing with dogs is something you shouldn’t pass up,” junior Xavier Martinez said. Medlife is an international nonprofit organization whose name is an acronym for Medicine, Education and Development for Low-Income Families Everywhere. With bases in Latin America and Africa, its international chapters raise money and organize mission trips to help low-income families access the three principles in the organization’s title. Medlife at IU president and senior Keaton Wieschhaus said the Puppy Cafe Medlife had last spring raised $1,100 for a family whose home was ravaged by an earthquake in Ecuador. “Compared to something like IUDM, that’s nothing,” Wieschhaus said. “But for us that was a lot of money.” This is Medlife’s third year on campus. Starting with $600 in donations

before the event began, Wieschhaus said he expected to raise even more money this year. “We decided everyone loves puppies,” Wieschhaus said. Tony Taboas, owner of Anthony’s Pets, said he often brings the puppies to fraternity and sorority philanthropy events, independent fundraisers such as the puppy cafe, and destressing activities during finals week. As an IU alum, Taboas said he remembers playing with puppies himself during study breaks. “I spent two years in Wright Quad, getting my puppy fix,” Taboas said. The puppies in his store don’t yet have names because they are for sale. Here are some of the puppies that not only help students relax, but raise money for philanthropic causes. The terrier Taboas said terrier comes from “terra,” meaning dog of the Earth, but he likes to joke the name comes from “terror” — meaning to run and play nonstop. The 3-month-old, black-andwhite spotted puppy ran and played while students crowded into and around his pen. After making two or three rounds among the puppy pens, Martinez said the terrier was his favorite. Martinez said the puppy was playful, but calm when held. “It’s like the best of both worlds,”

MALLORY SMITH | IDS

A 10-week-old husky sits in a playpen. Anthony’s Pets owner Tony Taboas said the husky is super smart, active and never stops moving.

Martinez said. After one hour with the puppies, Martinez said he still didn’t know much about the fundraiser’s cause. He came purely to play with puppies. The puggles Taboas said the puggles, born on Dec. 2 and Dec. 6, 2017, are good for shorter durations. Because of their low endurances, they came later in the afternoon to replace a beagle. Though sometimes they played together in their pen, at other times the small brown puggles split their duties between the pen and a puppy kissing booth. Freshman Andres Ayala said the

puppy in the pen was more cooperative than others. He didn’t squirm when Ayala held him. “He was just a very good boy,” Ayala said. Ayala said he didn’t know exactly what the fundraiser was, but he knew his $5 was going toward a good cause. He played with the puppies for almost an hour as a midweek break from studying. “It’s relaxing after weeks of late nights and projects and homework,” Ayala said. Freshman Rachel Michelsen clutched the second puggle tightly in her arms as her friends closed SEE PUPPIES, PAGE 6

kathleenclarkperez@gmail.com | @KatperezIN

Before Chinese musician Song Dongye took the stage Tuesday in the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, one band member entered holding an erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument that resembled a small, two-stringed cello. Only a spotlight shined as he began with low-throat singing to accompany the haunting sound of his erhu. A pianist, drummer, guitarist and bassist soon joined the band member playing erhu on stage. At last, Dongye emerged with an acoustic guitar to wild applause. Song Dongye is a singer-songwriter from Beijing. His 2012 single “Miss Dong” went viral after singer Zuo Li performed a cover of it on “Super Boy,” a TV singing competition. “My favorite song is ‘Miss Dong,’” said Jiaxi Lu, a junior studying informatics and computer art. Dongye and the five members of his band are currently on their “Go West” tour of the United States, visiting cities such as Boston, New York and Los Angeles. The crowd cheered when the lights of the venue went down and left the lights on the band members’ music stands shining brightly. Dongye sang the song “Anhe Bridge” in a powerful, booming voice with his eyes closed as audience members bobbed their heads to the heartfelt ballad. Like most of his set, he performed this song in Chinese. SEE DONGYE, PAGE 6


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