April 2017

A CLOSER LOOK at Stephanie Frasier | 28

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CONTENTS

THIS MONTH

2016–17 S TAFF EDITORIAL Writers WHITLEY BROCK DALLAS CARTER MATTHEW HUBACHEK LYDIA MAXWELL HANNAH ROWE

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EDITING Editing Director TREVOR RICHARDSON

Copy Editor JAYSA HOEG

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FINDINGS

COVER STORY

A CLOSER LOOK

A look at aphrodisiacs provides some weird and wonderful insight into foods that allegedly increase arousal and desire.

Sex is a part of everyone’s life, and we all deal with different experiences that help us make choices about our sex lives.

Stephanie Frasier, associate professor of art, has a deep passion for design as well as helping students succeed.

DEPARTMENTS

Columnists LEA ARNOLD KRISTEN BUHRMANN SAM FROST KRISTA LECHER MATT REED LILY RENFRO KAITLYN ROBKIN OLI ROSS-MUSICK

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is the University of Evansville’s student magazine.

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April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

VOICES OUR VIEWPOINT >

ENHANCING THE STUDENT

EXPERIENCE

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Student Congress funds many activities with your money.

So what should Congress buy next to make things better for everyone?

Student Congress helps with student life in a variety of ways, especially by providing funding to organizations and other projects that benefit student life. Weekly Congress reports are filled with students requesting money to go to conferences, to pay for activities and to underwrite other items that mean something to them.

A fall 2016 survey completed by representatives found that 48 percent of participants wanted changes made to the Fitness Center.

Based on the survey results, students also were interested in renovations being made to residence halls and Hyde and Krannert halls.

But updating Fitness Center equipment was a priority and Congress came through with the money. Representatives voted in February to approve a resolution that allowed funds to be provided to replace aging weightlifting equipment, to purchase other workout machines and to renovate a few areas of the center.

The cost is estimated to be a little more than $126,000. Taking money from the reserves and $30,000 from the pool dedicated to funding student-initiated resolutions, along with unallocated funds that were not used last year, the costs are being covered.

But Congress — or students, since it is our money that funds these projects — won’t be poor. There is still more than $96,000 in reserves, which is well above the minimum amount required to remain in reserves at all times. Also, any money not spent this year in other student activity fee-related areas goes back to reserves and can be used in the future on ways representatives see fit.

This is not the first time that Congress has spent a lot of money on UE projects. For more than 20 years, Congress annually paid well over $100,000 to help the University pay the mortgage on the Fitness Center, an agreement made between UE and Congress way back when the center was built.

Representatives voted last spring to help fund the upgrade to the campus Wi-Fi, where

Crescent Magazine | April 2017

$100,000 was given to the University to help complete the project. The addition of the water bottle fountains several years ago was also a Congress-initiated purchase. These are just several examples of how Congress and UE have worked together to meet student needs.

But is it the responsibility of Congress to renovate buildings and complete projects? According to the SGA Constitution, “Student Congress will review resolutions that are for the betterment of the campus and the student body as a whole.”

Within the guidelines it states that resolutions proposed to Congress can include and are not limited to activities to improve student life, projects to provide more freedom or enjoyment to current students and funding for individual student projects that may improve student life or provide a positive reputation for UE. With these guidelines directing Congress, representatives can do almost anything they want with their funds as long as it benefits campus and the student body as a whole.

While Congress spends money on renovations and ideas provided by students to improve campus, what does UE do to help? Is it really Congress’ responsibility to buy new equipment for the Fitness Center, help fund UE’s Wi-Fi infrastructure or install water bottle machines?

You might think not, but there is a reason Congress spends money on what it does, especially bigger ticket items.

UE spends money on something called IMPACT, the strategic plan in place to renovate the campus through the improvement of academic buildings, the curriculum and student life. There are about 13 projects and initiatives covered in the plan.

So far four projects have been completed: the renovations to the Bower-Suhrhenrich Library, the building of McCarthy Greenhouse and the Basketball Practice Facility and establishing the Center for Career Development.

Each IMPACT campaign is meant to bring a ma-

jor change to campus, raise lots of money and involve substantial renovations.

The projects UE plans to get done will take millions of dollars and months to complete. In comparison, Congress is able to fund smaller projects because they do not require the same timelines plus it has the funds to do so.

This is why many projects are covered under the funds Congress can provide. What Congress can approve can be done quickly and without interfering much with student life.

These projects also have a more immediate effect on campus.

Let’s face it — $126,000 is a lot of money and there is much that can get done with that kind of money. It is just a matter of students deciding what will benefit campus — and the majority of students — the most and what can wait until later. Changes really don’t even have to be expensive to benefit students.

While Congress has finished approving resolutions for the school year, fall semester is really not that far off. Joining Congress as a way to help guide what is in students’ best interest is time well spent and every Congress-recognized organization is always looking for a representative. Be that representative.

Congress has a direct line to students and is the best route for changes to be made. The questions you have to ask yourself are “What should Congress spend its money on next year to enhance the student experience and how can I get involved and make a difference?”

AT THE END OF EVERY SCHOOL YEAR, Crescent Magazine and the LinC say goodbye to its seniors. It’s that time. Good luck to all eight of you! We appreciate your dedication to the publications and wish you well as you move on to other things! And to all of our other staff members, thanks so much for your hard work, your ability to make everyone laugh and the seriousness with which you took your jobs. We look forward to your return in the fall.

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VOICES

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Millennials are so lazy — they can’t even do math in their heads. Millennials are so entitled — they just sit around and wait for people to like their photos and get their happiness from how many Facebook likes or Twitter retweets they have. Millennials are too sensitive and are overly concerned with political correctness.

In all honesty, none of these points are inherently false. Many millennials reach for a calculator before trying to calculate a tip in their head. It is exciting to get numerous likes and retweets from your friends about a sweet vacation you just took or a funny thing your cat did.

But this generation has grown up with more diversity, more globalization and more understanding of other cultures and people. It’s not being overly sensitive, it is being conscious of micro-aggressions and not overtly offending people different than ourselves.

We have all heard complaints about millennials. Not only are millennials suffering blame from generational gap differences, but also from gaslighting — defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as “driving someone insane by making them doubt their perceptions or memories.”

Day after day, parents and other adults criticize millennials as being entitled, selfish, narcissistic, unable to focus and generally privileged.

With this constant nagging, it is so easy to begin conditioning your brain to accept that “Yes, you the millennial are the source of all problems with modern society.”

But when you look deeper into it, it is pretty hard to blame all the world’s issues on the same people pleading for their first job and wanting nothing more than to pay off ridiculously high student loans.

In a 2013 TIME cover story, Joel Stein acutely described Gen Y or millennials with their faults, but also pointed to the fact that the root cause is most likely the technology being used by millennials and other generations.

“Yes, they check their phones during class,” he admitted in the article, “but think about how long you can stand in line without looking at your phone. Now imagine being used to that technology your whole life and having to sit through algebra.”

Not only are millennials blamed and insulted, but they are also constantly misunderstood and incorrectly described. And that is exactly what they say. “Nobody understands me.” and “But I am different.” litter their conversations.

In a Forbes 2015 article that took the business world by storm, “Why Millennials Keep

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< TRENDING TOPICS 1970s through 1990s may have led to some of these grandiose ideas.

It is not wrong of millennials to want more than what their parents have, more than a 9–5 job, more than a white picket fence, more than getting married, having kids and working the same job for 40 years.

Their parents want them to have a better life.

But it is time to stop blaming millennials for actively pursuing the future their parents never got but also wanted. It is time to stop blaming millennials for not settling.

And it is time to stop blaming millennials for the technolKRISTEN BUHRMANN ogy they have grown up with.

After all, how is posting hundreds of pictures from a vacation on Facebook any different than subjecting your neighbors to watching a slideshow of vacation photos.

In fact, most people would prefer the Facebook photos than a three-hour long slideshow of boring photos from Uncle Jimmy’s week in Hawaii.

At this point, we have all seen a wide range of viral articles shared on Facebook. “Millennials blamed for the falling sales of fabric softener” to “Stop Blaming Millennials.” Most people are just tired of hearing both sides of this argument, as they should be.

It is easy to complain about any generation, and generations are quick to defend themselves, especially the tech-savvy millennials that can quickly fire off a tweet or a blog post defending themselves.

Millennials are no different than other young adults through the ages, but they do have technology at their fingertips that their parents and grandparents did not have when they were Dumping You: An Open Letter to Management,” growing up. I mean, could you imagine the Lisa Earle McLeod and her millennial daughter Snapchats from Woodstock, the bitter tweets detailed how millennials want purposeful work, from the Depression or Instagram posts from exciting workplaces, high-achieving teams and the Roaring 20s (think of the scandalous ankles personal attention. people would have been touting).

Baby Boomers and Gen Xers will complain While millennials are continuing to be that millennials need so much attention and blamed for ridiculous things, they will also conneed everything to be entertaining that they tinue to be misunderstood. Millennials know excannot just do the job and get it done. But can actly what fabric softener is. They just think it is we really blame them? an unnecessary expense when they have much It is not the participation trophies that are higher financial responsibilities. the problem. “You can be anything you want to Like the Curse of the Billy Goat and Steve be.” “You are special and unique.” “You are the Bartman, people are quick to blame someone best dancer I have ever seen!” Do any of those else and millennials make an easy scapegoat phrases sound familiar? for their problems. Just remember, eventually All this self-esteem boosting that was so everybody gets a Cubs win, just like millennials popular for success with parents from the will get…eventually.

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THE LIVES OF GEN X, Y AND ME

Millennials are often blamed for their own faults without even considering how we got this way.

April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

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Crescent Magazine | April 2017

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VOICES

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< KALEIDOSCOPE

Like those who get attached to a character on their favorite show, queer people hate when our characters get killed off. Our representation is already miniscule when it comes to popular media since it has taken until 2017 for a queer movie (in this case, “Moonlight”) to win a Best Picture Oscar. The LGBT+ community is made up of real people with valid feelings. We are not your token GBF — short for gay best friend and an equally problematic movie.

Queerbaiting is the use of LGBT+ characters, or those who are insinuated to be queer but never confirmed to be so, to boost ratings or views without trying to show actual queer representation. QB is not always done out of malice. Some of the first widely accepted shows with queer characters made real attempts at LGBT+ characters.

“GLEE” is one such show. A main male cast member is shown to struggle with his sexuality — as many gay men do. With the show’s rise in popularity after this story arch was introduced, the producers rushed to add more queer characters in the hope that ratings would rise with each addition.

That plan backfired when their ideas about queer relationships involved abuse and biphobic themes. It is also popular to use characters of the same-sex to draw in a queer audience while dancing around the confirmation that those characters might be emotionally or romantically involved.

The leads of the TNT show “Rizzoli and Isles” have a lot of onscreen chemistry, which has led to theories about them dating in the show.

“The lesbian theory KRISTA LECHER endlessly amuses me, and it amuses the cast, said Janet Tamaro, one of the show’s writers, in an interview. “Rizzoli and Isles have been heterosexual from the first episode, though there is no way I would want to interfere with my viewers’ fantasy lives.”

This is inherently problematic when you look at the show’s history of using the con of Rizzoli and Isles being in a lesbian relationship to ward off unwanted male attention and being the comic relief. “Oh look, we fooled the dumb straight guy into thinking we are gay. Ha-ha.”

Queer life experiences have been taken out of context and used as ratings cushions for years, and we are tired of being the punch line or the tragic death that sets protagonists off on

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QUEERBAITING: BURY THE GAYS This is the formal call out for TV writers and producers to stop killing off queer characters. We have feelings too. their redemptive storyline. The first queer death was shown on the show “Executive Suite” in 1976 when the lead female character died after being overcome by her same-sex urges and walking into traffic. Autostraddle reports that since then 173 lesbian or queer women and 103 gay or queer men have been killed on TV shows.

Murder is the most popular way to die, with women being shot and men committing suicide. While 276 may not seem like a lot of characters, the number of queer characters on TV is small enough without a LGBT+ person dying every week.

When queer characters are shown on a TV show they often fall into the queer typecasting hole.

Queer men have to be hyper-masculine or effeminate in their mannerisms, and often don’t get to experience healthy and happy relationships. Either they are accosted because of their relationship or one partner is in a position of power. Queer women on the other hand are for the male gaze, their relationships are sexual in nature and you would be hard pressed to find a lesbian relationship in a movie or show that doesn’t have a sex scene somewhere in it.

Women are also typecast into hetero-normative roles: femme women are the nice, friendly characters who come out unharmed; the butch characters are not so lucky, they are usually the villainous characters or have ill in-

tents toward the main character and others.

“Orange is the New Black” falls into this trope in the episode where a screwdriver is accidentally stolen by the lead character, a nice blonde woman. It is later seen in the hands of a large butch woman with an attitude problem, and it is hinted that she might use it as a weapon — spolier she just uses it as a dildo.

It is the negative portrayals of queer people that bolster the idea that having same-sex attractions is immoral or unhealthy. Thankfully, not all shows use these negative techniques but instead show positive relationships and the reality of being queer. Shows such as “The Fosters” and “Sense8” use their fan-base to project messages of acceptance and diversity in ways that do not belittle or typecast any one minority. They also address current biases and social problems in a way that also presents a means by which to deal with those situations.

There should always be a minute of pause whenever you question a character and whether or not they are representative of a culture. All members of the KKK are white, but not all white people are members of the KKK. The same applies to queer people. Not everyone fits into the femme or butch category and our personalities are as varied as anyone else’s.

There may be a gay character on a show, but they may just be there for shock value or to boast about representation. In those cases, it is better to be honest and not have them at all rather than using a minority to look better for corporate.

April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

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RANDOM

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THE WEIRD HISTORY OF APHRODISIACS The life and mysteries surrounding aphrodisiacs is a long and weird collection of practices that are an attempt to increase sexual desire through food. The word itself is derived from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, sexuality, pleasure and procreation.

There are essentially two ways in which aphrodisiacs work. First is visual symbolism, which means that the look or texture of a certain food can arouse desire in the mind — think of foods like oysters, bananas and cucumbers.

Second, there are some foods that have an affect on the sex organs because of their nutrients and potency. They are the foods that get the blood flowing.

The first known aphrodisiac was body odor but later on, in ancient Egypt, people believed that consuming wine soaked lilies would help their sexual performance. Cantonese consumed cobra while the Amazons, a group of female warriors, broke the leg or arm of their captive believing that wounded men result in better performance.

FINDINGS HANNAH|ROWE

THE POSSIBILITY OF DEATH?

FOODS WITH BENEFITS Salmon, oatmeal and pine nuts are said to increase testosterone and sexual drive while helping male potency.

NATURAL MALE ENHANCERS Luckily for men, there are many foods that can naturally increase libido. Simple snacks like almonds boost sexual energy and desire while coconuts help to increase energy levels. The amount of sugar found in dates also provides a boost. Even common kitchen ingredients like eggs and butter contain high amounts of cholesterol that increase testosterone. Surprisingly, one of the most powerful aphrodisiacs for men is celery because it contains large amounts of vitamin E, magnesium, potassium and zinc.

THE HIGH LIFE Luxury can be an aphrodisiac, too.

Caviar and champagne are signs of affluence, which is seductive.

APHRODISIACS AROUND THE WORLD It is important to keep in mind that learning about other countries and enjoying their culture includes the stranger parts, too. Around the world, it seems as if people will stop at nothing for a little — or a lot of — sexual arousal. For example, those in Zimbabwe will drink baboon urine mixed with beer to increase desire while men in China and parts of Asia prefer to drink cobra blood.

And if you ever find yourself in the Philip-

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pines craving some street food, balut is an option. This aphrodisiac is a boiled duck egg that contains a duckling embryo. It might make your stomach turn, but it is high in protein and provides an energy boost that can stimulate desire.

While a gift card or a new kitchen appliance might do the trick for a wedding present, people in Colombia sometimes prefer gifting leaf cutter ants. This aphrodisiac is thought to be high in protein and can assist with sexual desire when consummating a marriage.

WAY BACK IN TIME Spanish fly used to be a common aphrodisiac because it causes a rush of blood to the genitals.

While some people might want to stick to the usual aphrodisiacs like bananas and oysters, those in Japan are a little more adventurous and willing to risk their life for a sexual thrill.

People seeking to arouse desire will eat fugu, which is a popular type of blowfish and is said to create a tingling in the cheeks and lips.

This tingling is caused by the poison that is left on the flesh after a skilled chef removes the toxic parts.

This poison is called tetrodotoxin, and is said to be 1,000 times deadlier than cyanide.

It takes a licensed and trained chef to prepare fugu and a mistake could end the person’s life, as there is no known antidote for the poison.

MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR DESIRE There has always been some debate on whether aphrodisiacs even work. The journal of International Society for Sexual Medicine published a study in 2015 reviewing the effectiveness of popular aphrodisiacs. The study found that common favorites like chocolate and honey might not result in an increase of desire.

Luckily, the study did find a few aphrodisiacs that get the job done. Maca, a root vegetable native to Peru, improves sexual function in both men and women while ginseng helps with erectile dysfunction.

Just because some aphrodisiacs don’t work for you does not mean you’re out of luck. Some people find that their best bet is actually a partner’s scent. After all, that was the first known aphrodisiac and clearly still works today. For them, nothing can compare to their partner’s smile or the sound of their voice. This combined with imagination is sure to do the trick.

April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

VOICES MODERN PERSPECTIVES >

NICE GUYS DON’T FINISH LAST Men want to get out of the friend-zone. Women want to know the nice guys aren’t just in it for sex.

We see it all the time. Boy meets girl, boy befriends girl, boy and girl hang out and, eventually, boy asks girl out. This is where things start to fall apart. Girl rejects boy. Boy whines to his friends that girl put him in the friend-zone and then everybody feels sorry for him.

In their pity for the man, people often fail to consider this scenario from the woman’s perspective. Maybe she is interested in someone else, simply not attracted to him or is happy to remain single. Her friend asking her out makes her feel awkward, but she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings so she apologizes and tries to reassure him that she still values his friendship. But the next thing she knows, she is being accused of putting him in the friend-zone and everybody thinks she’s the bad guy.

Being a lesbian comes with a get-out-of-jail free card when it comes to turning men down.

If a man asks me out, all I have to do is look vaguely apologetic and tell him sorry but I’m a lesbian. The lesbian card works so well that straight women sometimes use it.

But they shouldn’t need an excuse, and I shouldn’t have to clarify my sexuality in order to reject a man. The friend-zone is not a prison women throw men into because they are cruel.

The friend-zone is a sexist concept that vilifies women for exercising their right to say no.

Crescent Magazine | April 2017

We all get it, rejection sucks. When someone turns you down it hurts, especially if that person is a close friend. You feel sad, embarrassed and maybe a little insecure and it’s sometimes hard not to dwell on fantasies of what could have been.

Both men and women feel these things when rejected. The difference is that women are quicker to brush it off and try to move on. If they are friends with the person who rejected them, they pretend nothing happened and try to avoid awkwardness in order to preserve the friendship.

Men, on the other hand, tend to blame the women who reject them. They think they deserve sex or a romantic relationship because they were nice or treated her with respect — also known as basic human decency. Meanwhile, the woman who is accused of friend-zoning tends to feel guilty or even lied to. When the man she rejected cries friend-zone, it sends the message that their friendship was just his way of convincing her to have sex with him.

To make matters worse, if the man is a nice guy, she is likely to get grief from her friends if she doesn’t have a reason for turning him down. Women and men alike may pressure her to give the guy a chance or accuse her of leading him on.

After the initial rejection, if the man and woman try to continue a friendship, she is put un- OLI ROSS-MUSICK der a microscope. The smallest complaint about her current boyfriend prompts the rejected man to jump in about how much nicer he is. I hate to break it to you, but interrupting a woman to tell her how great you are is not going to make her any more likely to have sex with you.

The words “I’m just not into him” mean nothing out of a woman’s mouth — they don’t count. But a man who rejects a woman because he is just not into her is no big deal — it happens all the time.

This mentality stems from something called male sexual entitlement, which is the belief that men are owed sex from women simply because they are men. Male sexual entitlement is an idea that society takes for granted. It teaches guys to look at their female peers as existing only for their own desires, and it downplays female sexual desire by failing to acknowledge that women are just as capable of having high sex drives as men.

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This can be seen in everyday advertising and the mainstream media. It’s not often you see billboards with half-naked men lounging on

The friend-zone is a sexist concept that VILIFIES women for exercising their right to say no. the hood of the latest car model. Men in their underwear are limited to commercials for soap or Old Spice. Women in their underwear are in commercials for everything.

Our society has a problem with overvaluing romantic and sexual relationships. Romantic love is seen as the be-all end-all of love and other forms of it — such as familial and platonic love — are demoted to a lesser status. The friend-zone only adds to this idea because the name itself implies that friendships are a step below romantic relationships.

Platonic friendships are extremely important and can sometimes be deeper and more meaningful than romantic or sexual relationships. I have known my best friend for six years. We have been there for each other through bad breakups, family drama and chronic illness. We are such good friends that, for a long time, my family thought we were secretly attracted to each other. When my stepmother told me this, I laughed — my friend and I would make a terrible couple.

Yet people seem to think that if you have a connection to someone, you must want to sleep with them — especially if that someone is a person of the opposite gender. In this way, the friend-zone can create an awkward situation for men and women who truly are close friends. People start to think that one — usually the man — must be sexually attracted to the other or that both are secretly pining for each other. This can be awkward and uncomfortable especially if one or both friends are already in a romantic relationship.

You are allowed to be upset when someone rejects you — rejection is upsetting, and we cannot help how we feel. But that goes for the person who is doing the rejecting as well. They cannot help that they are not attracted or don’t have romantic feelings for you, so don’t get mad at them for it.

Let yourself be hurt. Cry, eat a pint of ice cream or marathon a season of your favorite TV show — whatever you need to do to make yourself feel better. But don’t make whoever rejected you feel like a bad person and don’t make them responsible for your happiness.

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< SEXPLANATION

The Cornell Daily Sun reported that only 54 percent of students regularly use condoms during vaginal intercourse and only 29 percent use condoms during anal intercourse. Only 4 percent use them during oral sex.

It seems as if those figures should be a lot higher, especially since the American Sexual Health Association reports that one in two sexually active people will contract a sexually transmitted disease by age 25. And Planned Parenthood says that 30 percent of American women become pregnant before the age of 20.

So why aren’t students using condoms?

Many claim that it takes away from the erogenous feeling. But these numbers are scary. Sex is fun, but STDs are serious and shouldn’t be risked just for the sake of feeling good.

Besides, claims such as “wearing condoms takes away from the feeling” or “it’s not as good with a condom” can be shut down with just a little bit of information.

Take full advantage of all the fun stuff out there. Everyone should know that the easiest and cheapest way to get condoms is walking into UE’s health center and grabbing a handful of free ones in the basket by the front door.

They’re colorful and you can have as many as you want. These will help prevent STDs and pregnancy, but they’re nothing fancy and as basic as it gets. If you’re willing to spend a little bit of money, there are tons of other options for safe, fun sex.

Condoms come in different varieties. There’s regular, ultra thin and all kinds of other options that can be used. There are the basic colored condoms that just add a little flare to SAM FROST the experience. These can come in almost every color. You can even find multi-color condoms that have colors for holidays such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day for a little bit of extra flirtation.

Glow in the dark condoms are another option — just something a little bit extra. A surprise in the dark, so to speak.

For people looking for a tasty treat, there are flavored condoms. Some of these are even colored to match the flavor, such as red for strawberry or yellow for banana. These can be used to both add another dimension to sex and taste better than latex. LifeStyles brand offers a “Kiss of Mint” option. It’s a minty flavor that’s supposed to leave users feeling refreshed.

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10

SAFE SEX SHOULD BE SEXY Let’s be honest: campuses are breeding grounds for onenight stands and hook-ups. There’s a lot of sex happening.

But Dawn Stacy, a mental health counselor and Planned Parenthood pregnancy options counselor, warns that if these are being used for vaginal sex, make sure they’re sugar free or they can throw off the pH in the vagina and cause yeast infections. Nobody wants that.

There are even edible condoms.

Yep, that’s right. These are rolled on, and then can be eaten off. But these are for novelty use only — they do not provide any type of protection against pregnancy or STDs. Studded or textured condoms can be used for extra stimulation.

Many of these condoms come in boxes that actually say “Ribbed for her pleasure” but they can also be ribbed on the inside for male pleasure. Some have ribs at the top and bottom, adding stimulation to just the right places for female pleasure. Others have hundreds of raised studs, some small little dots and others jutting out farther. These studs can be inside or outside of the condom.

Along with these are pleasure shaped condoms that tend to be looser with enlarged, pouch-like tips. The wider tops create more friction because the extra latex stimulates the nerve endings at the tip of the penis.

Stacy notes that many of the condoms that are made to enhance male pleasure or mutual pleasure are wider and have tips that are more bulb-like or a more contoured shape to increase

male comfort and allow nerve endings to remain at their most sensitive state to add more male pleasure.

People looking for a lot of extras might want to try a French tickler. It looks like a squishy puffer ball with spikes coming out of the top of the condom and is used to “tickle” the inner walls of the vagina. Before insertion, it’s important to note that these are made of soft rubber because they can look pretty intimidating.

These also are not protective against pregnancy or diseases and should be paired with another form of birth control.

Warming condoms are another option. They tend to be made of thinner latex to help increase sensation.

“This type of condom is designed to enhance sensual pleasure through the release of gentle, warm sensations for both partners,” Stacy said. “They usually contain a warming lubricant that is activated by natural body moisture, so it heats up during sexual intercourse.”

In that same vein, there are tingling pleasure condoms. They are designed to create a tingling sensation for both partners. The most common forms contain a spearmint tingling lubricant with a fresh, minty scent.

With all these options available, nobody should be making excuses for their lack of condom usage. Let condoms enhance your sex life instead of stilting it. And don’t forget that any time your are using condoms double check to make sure that they are FDA approved to prevent pregnancy and STDs.

April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

SNAPSHOTS THROUGH THE LENS >

With time running out, senior Nathan Lawson turns to senior Will Johns for advice on how he can quickly win the final round of the tournament. | Natalie Christy Studying his hand, senior Michael Pepin carefully walks through his play to ensure maximum damage. | Natalie Christy Ready to get the game started, sophomore Devin McGathey tries to intimidate his opponent a bit overenthusiastically. | MaKayla Seifert Sophomore Maggie Sullivan draws another card she cannot use against her opponent and her turn ends. | Rebecca Eimer Sophomore Branndon Castellano watches his opponent try to figure out how to beat his wicked strategy. | Rebecca Eimer

game PLAYERS “Magic the Gathering” was the game of the day as the Game Players Society hosted players who were pitted against one another, vying for the ultimate prize of 16 unopened packs of “Magic” cards.

Crescent Magazine | April 2017

11

VOICES < WITHIN FAITH

POP THE RELIGIOUS

CENSOR BUBBLE Religious censorship is a problem that is highly threatening to both people and their communities.

Many devout families severely shield their children from the world and the harsh realities it holds.

These children grow up with almost no knowledge of the world around them, unprepared for the various situations they will undoubtedly run into. They are susceptible to the troubles that can befall them because of their own naivety, which are unnecessarily created for themselves and others. Ultimately, this leaves those censored at risk for harming themselves and not fitting into the communities around them.

It also leaves them ignorant of society and those they must interact with; it puts them squarely in a bubble. Sometimes these bubbles pop, dropping people into a reality that catches them off guard and results in situations where they don’t know how to cope. Unfortunately, sometimes the bubble is permanent, causing ignorance to continue and possibly additional harm to occur.

Religious censorship is a form of censorship where freedom of expression is controlled or limited based on the teachings of a religion or religious dogma. This control encompasses everything from media to prejudices to criticizing other religions. While there is an appropriate way to emphasize the beliefs of any denomination and keep children safe, censorship is not it.

Many children growing up in households that censor what is happening in the world do not have or have restricted access to TV, the Internet, video games or popular media. They go into the world with no knowledge of what their friends are viewing, hearing or talking about, resulting in disadvantages as simple as not being able to hold a conversation with their peers.

Censorship leads to emotionally and socially stunted people. Most likely, those who have been sheltered will struggle to make friends and fit in at school. Studies already show that adolescents have problems with depression. It stands to reason that those who don’t feel like they fit in will have additional problems as they grow up if they don’t feel as informed as their peers.

Additionally, children in censored households miss out on many of the great joys of life, such as experiencing a new book, seeing a well publicized movie or anticipating the next episode of a favorite blog. While these joys may seem simple, it really is the small things that make life enjoyable. Without these pleasures, life becomes hollow and unfulfilling.

Granted, there are things happening every day that many people would like to ignore, such as the ongoing debate about LGBTQ rights, how to properly educate young people about sex, the concerns about women’s rights and the many changes happening around the world, but being informed helps

12

everyone become more productive citizens.

There are dozens of problems that can sprout from censorship, and oftentimes, young people rebel in extreme ways.

Many will alter their way of living, trying to soak up as many missed experiences as possible.

They spiral out of control, rebelling against the teachings enforced by their parents and the church that results in self-destructive behavior and breaking the law.

Many times these are people who drink to excess, vandalize property and have unprotected sex. All of the preparents took to ensure LILY RENFRO cautions that their children would live healthy, happy, religious lives are undone, simply because they had been living in a bubble.

If they do not rebel in high school, those who have been sheltered get to college and are overwhelmed by what they don’t know about living in the real world and the amount of freedom they suddenly have. It is an extreme change from living at home to being responsible for one’s self. Lacking the experiences most of their peers have had lessens the self-esteem of those who have been sheltered and heightens their need to fit in, but many times in all the wrong ways. They often crumble under the pressure of making their own decisions.

Restriction of media also leads to a lack of knowledge, since this is what pushes society forward. Censorship restricts, and the censored become a burden because they only see the world from an inflexible point of view. They cannot accept that there are those who are different or have different beliefs and experience the world in a different way. All of these things create wider gaps in communities.

For society, censorship leads to the regression of culture, of being stuck in the same mindset and not moving forward. Censorship stops the advancement of countries and societies.

If censorship persists, the world will continue to be divided and the progress we have made, such as desegregation, feminism and religious tolerance, will be erased. History’s clock will turn back.

While parents have the right to raise their children anyway they wish, they should think about how sheltering their children will affect them in the years to come. There are ways to explain, show and get points across without putting on blinders. By accepting that censorship is not the way to go, parents can help keep their children informed and knowledgeable about the world they live in.

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April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

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13

COVER

SEX.

Most everyone enjoys it, but people’s thoughts, experiences and decisions about sex are influenced by the world around them.

Let’s talk about sex. Everyone reacts differently to the topic; you may be blushing right now or barely glanced at the word.

No matter how you slice it, sex affects everyone’s lives.

There are many definitions of sex, but the most common describes sex as two consenting people who use words or touch to sexually excite themselves and/or each other. Many people consider sex a private matter, yet we come across it daily through the media and everyday conversations.

Many people have problems with some aspects of sex, yet everything in our culture is over-sexualized. While we can sit through a Carl’s Jr. Burger commercial with scantily clad babes eating an enormous burger with sauce dripping down their chests, talking about sex is considered inappropriate for dinner conversation.

WHY DO WE HAVE A PROBLEM? Why do we have such a problem with the idea of knocking boots when sex-based media, such as the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy or television’s “Game of Thrones,” is considered normal? Lora Becker, associate professor of psychology, said it is because people do not want to talk about the details.

We can hint about sex in novels, movies, music videos and advertising, but ac-

BY LYDIA|MAXWELL & DALLAS|CARTER have sex scenes — whether they are explicit or not — can only be shown at certain hours of the day, complete with warnings.

With the amount of skin we see in mass media, it would make sense that certain clothing styles wouldn’t make anyone bat an eye. But some clothing, such as crop tops or skin-colored leggings, can make people uncomfortable. Some depend on the timing — while a string bikini is appropriate for the beach, it is not the best choice for a trip to Wal-Mart. This still does not explain why some normal clothes are seen as disgusting.

Mari Plikuhn, associate professor of sociology, said the media plays a big role in our reasoning for what is appropriate and what is not.

“The media both shapes how we see things and reflects how things are seen,” she said. “Things change as time goes on and it reflects the ideals of what society believes at the time.”

Whatever the majority of society considers appropriate is fed back to us through the media, so if most people are uncomfortable with clothes such as crop tops, the media portrays this and influences others to feel the same. The same system is used for the topics in everyday conversation.

As students, we chat with our friends about everything and hurl around innuen-

ent things we did last Friday night or who hooked up with whom. Whatever it is, there is a reason for it and it varies for each person. Becker said college is a place of experimentation and discovery for everyone — people are just trying to find their space.

“This is a free zone to express yourself and learn what you feel comfortable with,” she said.

As people try to learn more about themselves, they will brag or talk as often as they want about sex since they feel the need to establish who they are. Plikuhn said what we talk about and whom we talk with is all based on impressions and how we want to be perceived.

“Some people are just more open, not because they brag but because they are comfortable and it’s a natural thing,” she said.

Every person has different levels of comfort concerning sex and that comfort comes from many places. How we were raised, what sex education we had and the religious messages we grew up with all affect this. Messages we got when we were younger are shaping who we are becoming as the years pass.

Most of the time, we end up believing something other than what our parents taught us and that can be pretty difficult to accept. Becker said it takes a while for

More than 50 percent of respondents ages 18–24 on the Kinsey Institute’s National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior survey said their most recent sexual partner was a casual or dating partner. tually talking about the deed is still considered taboo. In the media, the general idea of sex is more acceptable than the act itself. Videos like Ariana Grande’s “Dangerous Woman” can be aired but movies that

14

dos without a care in the world. This is normal and everyone busts a gut when they come up in a conversation. But why do we say what we do?

Sometimes it’s bragging about differ-

a person to work through everything they are feeling. We love our parents and it’s difficult to go against what they believe and have taught us. Often, it can feel like you are going against yourself and being con-

April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

fronted with a version of yourself that you do not want or did not expect, which can cause some level of self-hate or shame.

Becker and Plikuhn both agree that a person has to sort through any number of things and think them out before they can come to terms with new ideals. Plikuhn also said research shows that repeatedly experiencing new ideas can help change a person’s views.

Being exposed to different ideas makes it easier for a person to remember and relate those ideas to people they know. Plikuhn said this process helps people create their self-identity and discover who they are without relying on society’s standards.

“Society labels what we want to be until we figure it out for ourselves,” she said.

MESSAGES SENT & RECEIVED Society sets a lot of standards, but many of them are tied to sex and our bodies. The media takes advantage of this fact and uses it to sell products — after all, sex sells. But, with a constant flow of images that hint at various messages, self-esteem can be a big problem.

We don’t talk about self-esteem often because it reminds us of middle school assemblies and our preteen years. But in this case, self-esteem and sex go hand-in-hand.

Without some level of self-esteem, no one would be having sex, as we all would be too self-conscious to initiate it.

Unfortunately, the media can cause a lot of people to feel insecure by showing an endless stream of women who are a size 2 and men who have killer abs. By only seeing sexy models and actors in the media, we start to question if we can hold up to that standard and start to feel inadequate.

When we feel inadequate, we look for other ways to compensate and enhance — whether that is by spending $80 on protein powder or an equal amount on MAC makeup. The media sells products by subtly saying, “Buy X product and you’ll be Y.” Of course, this isn’t true but if your self-esteem is down in the dumps after a bad breakup, a rejection or in general, that could be just the thing to perk you up.

These messages, although a ploy to make money, list things we should be doing to be considered normal. But there are other messages that tell us what we shouldn’t be doing.

Crescent Magazine | April 2017

15

COVER Sex is surrounded by stigmas and if you cross the line, you will get the shame that goes with it. Stigmas are things that people do that are met with disapproval because they go against society’s general — and sometimes unspoken — rules.

On the flip side, shaming is the negative reaction people have when someone has broken society’s rules, such as the walk of shame after a one-night stand.

Feelings like shame and fear that come from stigmas can damage people. Beck-

er said they cause people to be disloyal to themselves and others unless they are comfortable and confident. Any set of friends can agree that lying to each other is a quick way to break a friendship.

Since society places such harsh judgments when people do not follow its messages, it would make more sense for those messages to be clearer.

But double messages make it harder to understand an already impossible idea. They cause problems when different “rules” are given to people.

Men are celebrated for traditional sex; their first time is a conquest. On the other hand, womACCORDING TO A SURVEY OF WOMEN: en are encouraged to keep their of men and women Minimum Penis Size Circumference: 4.75 in. legs closed. And when they do usually reach orgasm Considered “Enjoyable” Length: 5 in. during sex. have sex, it is seen as pure becomCircumference: 6.25 to 6.5 in.

The Perfect Fit: ing impure. Additionally, men stay Length: 7.25 to 8.25 in.

Penis Size Considered Most Pleasurable in bed after a one-night stand, but 32% women must gather their scatare women tered clothing and dignity and rush 64% are men The average non-erect into the world to face shame.

The average erect penis penis is 3.5 in.

44% of all people are totally is 5.08 to 5.35 in.

Homosexual sex is often stigsatisfied with their sex lives matized in different ways. With two women, intimacy is considered sexy, while intimacy with two men is seen as unacceptable.

Flipping the script, men also reAlthough porn is ceive double messages. For inFail: When used correctly, banned on the iPhone, a number of sexstance, while they are praised for condoms are 98% effective related apps have been created. Some of at preventing pregnancy these apps are designed to grade your having sex, not all men want to sexual performance, help you attract conquer the world from between a mate, conceive a child, or just find a of users use condoms ONLY the sheets. When men have this local booty call. There are also phone sex correctly during the first and sex trivia apps for the iPhone. view they are often considered year. weak because their lack of sexuof people find sex to be of Americans have an fun, enjoyable and an al thoughts reflects how a woman incurable STD. important part of their life. should think.

While men and women are often pitted against each other by double messages, there are some stigmas that affect everyone. Masturbation, a natural alternative to sex with another person, is viewed as gross and kept quiet.

MEN WOMEN Some people accept male masthink about sex crave more turbation more than female, but n every day or tenderness Plikuhn said it is something everyseveral times a from their sex day one does — although the number partners. n a few times a week of people who admit to it is much to a couple times a The average couple spends lower than the reality. month 20 minutes on foreplay before n less than once a month Some things were made to go burning 200 calories during the main not all day, every day together: peanut butter and jelly, event (30 minutes average). coffee and students, masturbation

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and porn. And if that pair makes you do a double take, then you are under the influence of another stigma. Once again, more

“People are having sex, no ifs ands or buts about it.”

— sophomore Morgan Mahaney people watch porn than they would care to admit. The porn industry used to be seedy VHS movies, but now anyone can access videos, exploring their wildest fantasies with one click. The Internet makes porn more accessible while also making it easier to hide from society’s judgmental eye.

Incognito tabs hide porn from the browsing history and personal devices keep our “private time” private. People are all doing the same thing and taking such great measures to hide it because they do not want to face the societal shame that often comes with pleasure.

SO, ARE YOU READY? A light shines down from the sky, divine music plays and your entire body begins to tingle — you are ready to have sex, or so you’ve been taught to believe.

“It’s a cultural myth that there is a magical formula for knowing when you’re ready.” Plikuhn said. “You discover retrospectively if you were ready or not.”

In reality, there are only a few physical aids and psychological signs that guide us on our magic carpet ride to losing our v-cards. Becker said one way to know you are ready is when your body is biologically ready. Hormones play a role in this.

Oxytocin, the “love hormone,” is a bonding hormone that is released at certain points of physical contact. When we kiss another person our bodies react to the hormone and crave more.

“People are ready when they can’t stop the desire anymore.” Becker said. “It’s hormones and curiosity.”

Your body becomes addicted to oxytocin and eventually must go to the extreme to get its fix. But outside forces, like your environment and friend group, also affect the decision to finally hit a home run.

Men and women must change and react in order to adapt to their environment.

On college campuses, students get used to no sleep, no money and being hungry. But they are also exposed to a world of explora-

Sources: Kinsey Report, PenisSizeDebate.com, 2007 Swivel Poll, Women’s Day, Psychology Today

16

April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

tion and sexual opportunities.

College also presents new ideas and chances to have sex. Sophomores Morgan Mahaney and Bailey Ranken were part of the group that presented the “Sex on Campus” project last month.

Both agreed that college makes it easier for students to make their own decisions about sex.

“People are having sex, no ifs ands or buts about it,” Mahaney said. “We’re college students.”

Ranken said one reason he didn’t have sex until college is because of his parents — he did not want them to find out. So if a person feels as if they want to have sex, their environment can keep them from being fully ready. A person’s peer group can do the same.

“When we come of age in a time when we are trying to figure out the rules of the game, peer pressure could play a huge role,” Becker said.

The peer pressure we experience can be positive or negative, depending on who our friends are. Sometimes a person is in conflicting peer groups or has experiences that differ from their friend’s. In those cases, we choose our own normal and combine factors to better decide when we are ready for sex.

Group pressure is different from oneon-one pressure; your relationship status can help you decide when to have sex. Some people would rather have no strings attached, but others prefer the intimacy of having sex with someone they know.

Mahaney believes being social does not make her more likely to have sex; she would rather have the comfort of being close to someone before it occurs.

But Ranken said that relationships that include sex are more likely to end badly.

“That’s how people get hurt,” he said.

“They put too much emotion in it.”

College is a life-altering experience, and for many people it includes having sex. Jamie Adams-Kemper, health education coordinator, said for many people, it is their first introduction to the different ways people express their sexuality.

And it is also their first experience with expressing their own sexuality.

“At the end of the day it is a very personal choice,” she said.

Crescent Magazine | April 2017

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VOICES

T

The most common misconception about transgender people is that we are some kind of new fad. Many Americans didn’t know that we existed at all until Caitlyn Jenner posed on the cover of Vanity Fair. Others might have had a vague idea that there were people out there who got “sex changes,” but they knew next to nothing about us The truth is, trans people have been around for a long, long time. In fact, there have been trans people on this continent since before western Europeans landed.

Before the European settlers arrived, many indigenous tribes of North America recognized more than two genders — and some recognized as many as five. These genders included masculine women, feminine men and intersex or non-binary people.

The most common of these genders was the feminine man, or someone who was born male but lived the lifestyle and gender role of a woman. They experienced no marginalization for their identity, but rather were respected for having both a male and female spirit. Many were viewed as healers and leaders in their communities. Known for their propensity for childcare, some would marry widowed men or foster orphaned children. Most lived, for all intents and purposes, as women.

Whereas transgender people today consider their identities no different from cisgender people of the same identity, the various Native American non-binary gender identities were considered to be distinct gender roles in and of themselves. That is to say, although a feminine man would live and behave as a woman, it would be inaccurate to actually call him a woman.

Because there were more than 100 documented indigenous tribes that recognized more than two genders, there were several names for native non-binary people. European settlers dubbed men living as women “berdaches,” a name that became the accepted anthropological term. But in the last few decades transgender indigenous peoples have reclaimed their identity, adopting the name “two-spirit.”

Two-spirit people discovered their own identity in different ways depending on the tribe.

Dancing to Eagle Spirit Society, a charity dedicated to empowering two-spirit people, reports that a tribe often would perform a ritual designed to prove that a child was two-spirit.

In one example of such a ritual, parents who noticed that their boy behaved in ways more commonly associated with young girls would

18

TRANSITIONS > ties, there is far more that we do not know. A lot of the historical accounts were lost when the European settlers arrived. What accounts that are known are colored by the biases held by the European explorers who first encountered two-spirit people.

Along with disease and genocide, these Europeans brought with them an intense and deep-rooted homophobia. They considered two-spirit people to be sodomites, even though the two-spirit identity had more to do with gender roles than sexuality. As they drove the indigenous people further and further west, Europeans forced many aspects of their culture upon them. Tribes KAITLYN ROBKIN desperate to identify with these imperialistic white men began to adopt the European hatred of queer people.

By the 20th century, two-spirit people were completely alienated from the communities they once called home. Cut off from their families and friends, they truly had nowhere to turn.

As the Dancing to Eagle Spirit society notes, indigenous queer people face bigotry from all sides; homophobia from Native Americans, racism from the American LGBTQ+ community and both from America at large.

This multi-front discrimination that two-spirit people face is something that non-Native trans people must always be conscious of. It is common for trans people to defend our own validity by pointing to the gender-diverse indigenous cultures that lived in the U.S. before the Europeans came.

The glaring issue that this argument ignores is that Americans only exist today due to the cultural genocide our predecessors inflicted when they arrived — the same cultural genobring the boy to a circle of brush. Inside this circide that lead to the gross mistreatment of the cle lay a bow and a basket. The child would be two-spirit people who we point to when we artold to enter the circle and retrieve one of the gue that trans people have always existed. items. As soon as he passed through the brush, We cannot use two-spirit people to fight for the tribe would set the brush on fire. If the our own equality without also fighting for child rushed out of the brush carrying the bastheir rights too. We must provide support for ket, then he would be raised and socialized as a two-spirit people as they seek acceptance withwoman from that point forward. in their own communities. Before we use their As the child grew older, his male body history as anthropological evidence, we must would provide him with advantages over many truly understand both who they were and what of his fellow women. He could accomplish daihappened to them. ly tasks quickly and effectively and thus was When we tell people about Native Ameriheld in high regard by his tribe. It’s no wonder can two-spirits, we aren’t talking about some then that a two-spirited man living in the role of ancient utopia where transgender people lived a woman would face little difficulty in finding a in peace and harmony. We are talking about husband. a demographic of gender-diverse people who For as much as we know about the history still exist, who deserve to once again live as reof gender diversity within indigenous communispected, valued members of their society.

|

TWO SPIRITS,

MANY STORIES

They have been genderqueer since before us, but much of their rich history has been lost.

April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

CAMPUS

CRIME

The following information was compiled from offense

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reports filed Feb. 23–March 28 in Safety & Security.

March 19 – A UE-owned house at 1503 John St. was vandalized. An incident report was filed with the Evanville Police Department. Loss not reported.

March 17 – A sign was stolen from the Armory gate at the athletic fields. Loss reported at $40.

March 15 – A pair of shoes were reported missing from McCutchan Stadium. Loss reported at $80.

— Two pairs of sunglasses were reported stolen from a vehicle parked in the Lambda Chi Alpha parking lot. Loss reported at $540.

March 5 – A license plate was removed from a vehicle parked in F-lot. Loss not reported.

March 4 – A vehicle parked in J-lot was vandalized. No loss reported.

March 3 – A vehicle parked in J-lot was vandalized. No loss reported.

Feb. 25 – A UE-owned house at 1513 John St. was vandalized. Report filed with the Evansville Police Department. Loss not reported.

Feb. 23 – A laptop was reported stolen from Shanklin Theatre. Item recovered and returned to owner.

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WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OF CAMPUS

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10 % off your purchase with a UE ID

Beer, wine & cigarettes excluded

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UE BOOKSTORE Ridgway University Center • 812–488–2678

www.evansville.bkstr.com

WHAT HAPPENS AT STAYS ON

UE

BE SMART. BE NICE. BE SAFE.

Crescent Magazine | April 2017

7 a.m.–9 p.m. daily Weinbach Shopping Center 19

RANDOM < WHO KNEW?

RUNNING THE NUMBERS 10 million People on Twitter tweet enough every day to fill a 10-million page book.

How does a touch SCREEN work?

We take it for granted, but how can we touch a screen and then things magically happen? Screens come in two different types. Restive is the kind used at store checkouts. These need pressure in order to work, which is why you have to apply pressure — or sign — once a transaction is complete. But capacitive screens work with anything that holds an electrical charge — including human skin. They are those found on smartphones and tablets. The two types of capacitive screens use sensors. When a finger hits the screen, a tiny electrical charge is transferred to the finger to complete the circuit.

$40

What makes glass BULLETPROOF? There is no such thing as bulletproof glass, since all glass shatters. But there is bullet resistant glass. Bullet resistant glass is created by sandwiching multiple layers of plastic and glass together. The more layers, the stronger the glass. And the glass doesn’t deflect bullets; the many layers absorbs them.

Reed Hastings started Netflix after he received a $40 late fee for renting the movie “Apollo 13.”

150 If weight loss is your goal, banging one’s head against a wall will burn 150 calories an hour.

5,000 While you’ve been sitting still, the Earth in the past 5 minutes has traveled more than 5,000 miles.

How should I treat my UNDERARMS? Remember that deodorant reduces stink and antiperspirant reduces sweat. Humans have two types of sweat glands and they’re both found mostly in the underarm. Everyone is going to perspire, but deodorants work to counteract the smell of perspiration. They target the bacteria that hang around your armpits. No bacteria, no smell. Antiperspirants keep you from perspiring by plugging the sweat glands found in your underarms. Some also have the same ingredients found in deodorants.

Where was ‘STAR WARS’ filmed?

The original 1977 “Star Wars” was filmed in remote locations in Tunisia. Director George Lucas needed a landscape that could look like a desolute planet, appear desert-like and wasn’t too far from Europe. Since Tunisia is only an hour from Rome, two hours from Paris and two and a half hours from London, its barren landscape won the job.

Tunisia not only provided the perfect backdrop but also helped create the planet’s name.

Lucas originally wanted to call it Utapau, but realized the name was too similar to Uhura, the “Star Trek” character. Instead, he named the planet after the Tunisian city of Tataouine.

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While filming, the crew experienced a variety of problems. The Sahara Desert’s dry, hot weather caused droids and other props to break down and several weeks into filming a rare rainstorm hit the area. Although filming was problematic, the crew felt Tunisia portrayed the fictional world perfectly.

“If you could get into your own mind, shut out the crew and look at the horizon, you really felt like you were transported to another world, I really was in a galaxy far, far away,” said actor Mark Hamill, better known as Luke Skywalker.

In all, there are 19 filming locations all diehard fans should pilgrimage to at least once.

What’s the sweet secret about HONEY? There is an old wives’ tale that honey doesn’t go bad and this time it turns out it’s true. Honey can last for years — thousands of years, as long as bacteria doesn’t get to it. Honey contains large amounts of sugar and little moisture. Without moisture, bacteria or microorganisms can’t grow providing a long shelf life.

April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

VOICES

R

FUNNY GIRL >

Rebecca Black’s song “Friday” is a song about a teen going through her average Friday.

The song is grating. Black’s voice is blatantly auto-tuned, but the song was extremely popular in 2011, the year it was released. And believe it or not, the song’s video is one of the most viewed on YouTube. Why was this song so popular? I’m sure Black is a nice woman, but the song isn’t exactly “Bohemian Rhapsody” or “Let It Be.” But maybe that’s the point.

The song and its video are easy to make fun of, which is what caused the video to go viral.

Everyone wanted to watch this teenager mediocrely perform a badly written pop song. But I think there is something to be said about the fact that I still sometimes get this song stuck in my head and then proceed to sing it out loud to the annoyance of my friends and peers.

But this is not the only example of viral pop music. There always seems to be some new song that is violently catching one’s attention for its obnoxious level. Viral pop songs have been around as long as the Internet has. An example of early viral music would be “Shoes,” which was released in 2006. The song and video were made by Liam Kyle Sullivan, a young comedian who plays Kelly, a teenager obsessed with shoes. I remember this song being super popular when I was in middle school.

You weren’t cool if you couldn’t quote the song verbatim. These memorization skills might have been used more beneficially with school work, but a funny man dressed up like a teenage girl was apparently more important than learning how to use the quadratic equation.

Viral pop music has grown into a monolith over the past couple of years. It seems as if every couple of weeks there’s a new song that goes viral. A few of the greatest include “Gangnam Style,” a K-Pop song that was super popular, even though not many people understood the lyrics —that were in Korean — touted ambivalent feelings toward commercialization.

Another is that horrible song “What Does the Fox Say,” which made me want to divorce myself from civilization and live with a pack of wolves. We would be called the “Timber Wolf Gang.” I would change my name to Moon Moon, our gang would rule the forest, and we would smite anyone who dared asked the question, “What does the fox say?” I genuinely considered this. It was that bad.

So is this where pop music is headed?

Where was it 60 years ago when the term was coined? Turns out, there has always been crappy pop music. Back in the ‘70s there was bubblegum pop, dubbed so due to its typically sweet lyrics and super catchy melodies.

Crescent Magazine | April 2017

IT’S STUCK IN MY HEAD AGAIN Sometimes I wake up on Friday with the words, “It’s Friday, Friday/Gotta get down on Friday” racing through my head.

This genre was known for being heavily manufactured, just like a lot of pop music is today. Just look at these top-notch lyrics from The Archies, a bubblegum pop band from the 1960s: “Bang-shang-a-lang, bang-shang-a-lang/Bangshang-a-lang, bang, bang/ They’ll go bang-shang-a-lang, bang-shang-a-lang/Bangshang-a-lang, bang, bang.”

I’d say these are about on par with Bob Dylan’s great work.

The Houston Press said in 2014 that one of the worst trends in music was the saturation of songs about “Poppin’ Molly.” The reporter suggests that the reason artists were doing this was because it sold more albums, believing that they have a greater chance of songs going viral.

Views on sites such as YouTube are directly correlated with album sales, so if people want songs about “Molly,” then they will get songs about it. I want more songs about unicorns and squirrels. Both of those topics are cooler, and one can still get high off of innocent cuteness.

Everything always seems to come back to sales. Can’t anything just be motivated by pure inspiration and art, not money? When it comes to viral pop music, it seems more often than not that people are in it just to make money, not to make something good. Also, young people are the one’s consuming this garbage, which begs

the question, are their minds turning into blue raspberry slushies?

The authors of “It’s Not Only Rock ‘n’ Roll” said teens generally spend five hours a day listening to music. It is used as a tool for them and young adults to discover their identity and place in the world. Music doesn’t reflect intelligence or rates of violence. Heavy metal seems to be the only genre that may have a correlation, and that in it self is dubious.

The good news is that teen’s tastes tend to mature and get better with age. So don’t be ashamed of all those Nickelback CDs you used to LEA ARNOLD cherish as a teenager! It was just your dumb, immature brain grasping at what sounded good at the time.

So where is pop music headed? What are the trends that we will see in the future?

How could it get any crazier? I suspect Miley Cyrus, the genius that she is, will do something mind-blowing in the next few years. But you don’t want my shitty opinions.

According to Spin, many music producers have a hunch that rock music will be a bigger influence in the next 10 years, with the guitar coming back to the forefront. One thing is for sure: there will always be pop music that will grate on people’s nerves, and that the world of viral will just get bigger and bigger.

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RANDOM < BRAIN BOMB

SHADE &

RAINSHADER.

TAKE THAT! A January 1902 article in The Daily

SHELTER

}

Mirror instructed women on how to defend themselves from ruffians with an umbrella or parasol. And during the 2014 Hong Kong protests, sometimes referred to as the “Umbrella Revolution,” protesters used umbrellas as shields against pepper spray and tear gas from riot police.

“YOU CAN STAND UNDER MY UMBRELLA” is what Rihanna sings in “Umbrella” and people have been doing just that for thousands of years to protect themselves from the wind, rain and sun. While the first collapsible umbrella popped up in China around 21 AD, the first modern folding one was only created in 1929.

ROBINSON’S. In the novel “Robinson Crusoe,” the main character creates a makeshift umbrella after being shipwrecked. Due to the novel’s success, people nicknamed umbrellas Robinsons.

CHINA. China is the leading manufacturer of umbrellas. Songxia, China, has been called the umbrella capital of the world. Its 1,000 factories produce about 30 percent of China’s umbrella trade.

A rainshader is a helmet-shaped canopy, which claims to stand up to gale force winds.

It does not turn inside out like other umbrellas when the wind catches it or drip on people. It also can easily fit in tight spaces.

COCKTAILS, ANYONE?

IT’S A PARTY.

Those little umbrellas that come in fruity drinks are colorful, playful and historically ambiguous. It’s likely that they originated in China, but other historians believe they date to the first half of the 20th century.

Celebrate national Umbrella Day every Feb. 10 with the rest of the world.

BUMBERSHOOT. It is another name for umbrella and is slang from the early 19th century.

Many think it came from the British, but in reality it is a fake Britishism created by Americans.

OOMBRELLA.

ONLY FOR THE RICH. Parasols and umbrellas were originally used solely by women and viewed as a symbol of wealth and power.

Modern day acceptance of umbrellas started to spread across Europe in the middle of the 18th century. English nobility preferred umbrellas made from blue or green silk.

Soon umbrellas will be just as connected as we are.

Oombrella is an umbrella that can connect to your smartphones through Bluetooth. It will alert you when it is about to rain and when you have left the umbrella behind somewhere.

PARASOLS. So what is the difference? If you’re blocking out the sun, it’s a parasol. If you’re using it to stay dry during rainstorm, it’s an umbrella. An umbrella can be a parasol if it can truly provide sun protection. And a parasol can be an umbrella if it is made from water-resistant material.

ORIGIN. People associate umbrellas with rain and the roots of the word have to do with shade from the sun. Umbrella comes from the Latin umbra for “shade.” After the word appeared in English, umbrella became something that kept off rain, especially if you spent any time in England.

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BAD LUCK. Having bad luck after opening an umbrella indoors is a Victorian Era superstition. It was believed that umbrellas were unreliable and could be dangerous, especially if the metal springs pop out when indoors. You could poke your eye out!

SOMETHING NEW. The U.S. Patent Office has seen more than 3,000 plans for redesigning the umbrella, from adding a pet leash to attempts at creating a flying umbrella.

April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

RANDOM

ON THE CHEAP

WHITLEY|BROCK

PLANNING A NIGHT OUT? RIDE FREE WITH UBER UBER has finally arrived in Evansville. To help raise awareness, customer support and build a customer base, Uber has teamed up with UE for a special deal — a free ride. Just use the promo code UBERACES in the app, available in both the App Store and Google Play, for a free ride up to $15. Just create an account and use the code and get your free ride.

DISCOUNTS Los Bravos is a great place for when you crave authentic Mexican food. Now you can get the food you love at a discount. Present your UE ID when you pay and receive a 10 percent discount off your meal. Offer excludes alcohol.

LOCAL SAVINGS

1O%

It’s that time of year again when it pays to look your best. If you have a job or internship interview lined up, you’ll want your clothes looking fresh and professional. Head to any local PEARL CLEANERS location and get a 10 percent discount off your order by telling them you’re a student.

BUY ONE, GET ONE

ME AL

SCHAUM’S PIZZERIA, 240 S. Green River Road, offers a buy one small pizza, get one free deal every Thursday with a UE ID. Thursday is also open mic night from 7–9 p.m., so whether you just want to listen to the acts or perform yourself; it makes for a cheap and entertaining night with good food.

DE A L

Crescent Magazine | April 2017

BEST KEPT

SECRET If you want a fun way to add excitement to your Tuesdays, check out SKYZONE, 49 N. Green River Road.

This indoor trampoline park has been around for a while but now has new activities and loads of jumping fun. Show your UE ID on Tuesdays to get $5 off ticket prices. Prices with the student discount are $7 for 30 minutes, $11 for one hour, $14 for 90 minutes and $16 for two hours. Also on Tuesdays they set up a volleyball net made for playing on the trampolines. This makes for an experience like nothing else you can imagine. If volleyball is not your thing, you can simply enjoy the standard trampoline walls and floors. Skyzone is also a good way to get exercise without even realizing you’re getting it.

a v i D l a e D t he

Freebies, coupons & other inexpensive stuff.

Now that spring is here it’s time to enjoy the fresh air and play some golf. THUNDERBOLT PASS GOLF COURSE, 6901 Petersburg Road, has affordable prices for all your golfing needs. Each hole is $1, which includes your cart fee all day on Mondays and before noon on Wednesdays, making Thunderbolt a great place to fight those Monday — or Wednesday — blues. If your weekdays are too full, then play on the weekend.

The price is still $18 for 18 holes, but excludes the cart fee. If you don’t want to pay extra for a cart, you can add to your golfing experience by walking the course instead. While Thunderbolt is a championship course, it has all sorts of other things to indulge your passion for the game. If you want to hit a bucket of balls instead of playing the course, you can visit their driving range, putting green or chipping area. Prices are $4 for a small bucket of balls and $7 for a large. If you don’t have your clubs with you, no worries, rent some — $5 for nine holes or $8 for 18.

EATING CHEAP Hot Head Burritos, 5625 Pearl Drive, is a build-your-own burrito place that is cheaper than its competitors. It offers burritos for only $5.55 on Wednesdays with a UE ID.

EVV: HIDDEN TREASURES HEMLOCK CLIFFS is just the place to go to get away and take a break from campus for a great morning or afternoon adventure. Located about an hour away off I-64 in English, Ind., Hemlock has beautiful scenery that includes small caves, seasonal waterfalls, rock shelters and more. There is no cost, and the place is great for hiking and exploring. The climate and sandstone create a relaxing area you will not want to miss. The trail is only about a mile long but makes for an exciting escape. Hemlock is definitely a must see hidden treasure in southern Indiana.

Just Google “Hemlock Cliffs” for a downloadable brochure to learn more about this scenic wonder.

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VOICES < SPORTS JAM

FIGHTING FOR LORD STANLEY Crashing the boards, back-and-forth action, shooting into the net. All a part of the best pro sports playoff: the Stanley Cup. With March Madness finished, are there any other tournaments to watch? Never fear, NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs is here. I know what you are thinking: hockey is a Canadian sport. But until you have experienced the excitement that is the Cup, you have been missing out on pure entertainment.

Playoffs in the NHL work in a similar way to the NBA since 16 teams make the playoffs, eight from the Eastern Conference and eight from the Western. Because there are only four divisions in the league, the top three teams from each division are guaranteed a spot. Then, the next two teams with the most points from each conference are selected in the wild card slots.

A team’s points are decided from their record; two points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss. Each round of the playoff consists of the best-of-seven series matchups between two teams, from the first round all the way to the finals. There are no byes, so a team must win 16 games to hoist the Stanley Cup. The first Stanley Cup was awarded in 1893 to the winner of an amateur hockey league. The cup was named after Lord Stanley, Canada’s governor general at the time. In 1910, the Stanley Cup came to professional hockey by way of the National Hockey Association and then the NHL used it from 1926 on. The NHL gained sole control of the Stanley Cup in 1947, meaning no other league could use it to award a champion.

The Stanley Cup has a long and prestigious history, making the games played today that much more exciting. The captain of the winning team is the first person allowed to hold the Cup and then he brings the three-foot-tall, 35-pound cup back to his teammates. There are only 10 teams that have not won the Stanley Cup. Five of those teams have been to the final series and five have not.

Possibly the best part about hockey is its unpredictability. It is hard to speculate on how a game will go until a few minutes in. Hockey is different from any other sport because of how the players are used. Groupings of three offensive and two defensive players, called lines, cycle on and off the bench during the flow of game. Play can go on without stopping for five minutes, with each team going through its entire lineup.

This is much different from other sports — such as basketball, baseball and football — where play takes a break for various reasons fairly often. But with each hockey team switching lines independently, this creates more excitement with different matchups taking the ice.

Hockey fans are truly passionate about the sport and even more so about their teams. But the

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number of people who watch hockey and ultimately the Stanley Cup doesn’t compare to the other major sports playoffs.

Yahoo Sports reported that last year’s Stanley Cup finals between the the Western Conference champion San Jose Sharks and the Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins brought in an average of 4 million viewers throughout the series compared to the NBA conference finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Oklahoma City Thunder, which drew 16 million.

MATT REED One of the problems facing the Stanley Cup playoffs is scheduling. Both the NHL and the NBA start their playoffs the same week and finish about a week apart. Most of the time there are both basketball and hockey games being played at the same time. With the popularity of basketball, hockey loses out every time.

And it is much easier to watch NBA playoff games since they are shown on ESPN, TNT and ABC. The NHL’s partnership with NBC means that not everyone has access to all the playoff games if you do not have NBC’s sports package. The good news is that popularity is increasing for the NHL. This decade has seen an overall increase in average attendance.

Automated Insights reported that since the 2000 season, game attendance has increased 5.6 percent. And last year’s Stanley Cup final was the highest rated final between two non-original six teams — meaning the six teams the NHL started with.

The emergence of the Chicago Blackhawks has also raised popularity. The Blackhawks have won the Stanley Cup three times in the past seven seasons. Before the World Series win by the Cubs last season, the White Sox were the only other Chicago pro sports team to win a championship in the 2000s. The key to the Stanley Cup’s success is having major market teams like the Blackhawks competing at a high level.

Sports fans who have not considered hockey are missing out. Last year’s playoffs featured 20 overtime games, including two in the final series. And there is no shootout at the end of overtime in the playoffs. Teams play until somebody scores a sudden-death goal. Watching professional hockey and the Stanley Cup can appeal to anyone who enjoys competition, intensity, fast action and punishing physical moments. And the players do it all on ice.

Oh, and go Pens!

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April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

SNAPSHOTS ATHLETES IN ACTION >

Plenty of ACTION The action continues as the softball team continues its race for May’s MVC Tournament. With a group of seasoned veterans, the much-improved Aces are a fun team to watch.

There are still five home games slated this month at Cooper Stadium. Check gopurpleaces.com for the upcoming dates and times.

Dirt may taste bad, but it is worth it as catcher Hayli Scott makes the slide into home plate, kicking up a shower of dust as the umpire signals her safe. | Brenna Kincaid Maintaining the dug out dynamic, outfielder Olivia Cheatham and infielder Kori Keyes lead cheers and chants while watching the game. | MaKayla Seifert “You can make it Hay!” With the bases loaded, shortstop Brittany Hay races toward third base after trying to make it home but falling short. | Brenna Kincaid Almost there! Breaking the tie, second baseman Michal Luckett slides into home, adding a run for UE and the win against Loyola. | Brenna Kincaid Her face says it all. Pitcher Morgan Florey sends batter after batter back to the dugout based on her combination of powerful pitches. | MaKayla Seifert

Crescent Magazine | April 2017

25

RANDOM

bring IT BACK

It is Saturday night and you want to go out dancing with your friends. The only place to go is a club but the music is way too loud to have a conversation and it’s extremely crowded. Or maybe you want to get away from the regular bump and grind and go out and dance a waltz, tango or lindy hop.

But where could you go to do that?

Dance halls. Dance halls were the forerunners of nightclubs and the discotheque but these classy establishments deserve a come back. Just imagine it — a swirl of skirts and the blare of a live brass swing band. It is a great chance to show off some dancing skills while still being able to pull off to the side and get to know someone. It’s the exercise of dancing like at the club plus the social atmosphere of a bar all in one place — a bargain for your night out. So put on your dancing shoes and practice that waltz or tango.

PACKING SMART No one likes trying to pick out which clothes to pack for a long trip and which to leave behind. There just never seems to be enough space in one suitcase to fit everything from your everyday clothes to that special outfit. Luckily, there is a way to compact most clothes into a tight bundle and free up more space so you can bring everything along.

DOTM

LIFE HACK 1. Take a pair of underwear and fold them in half. Place them inside a short sleeve shirt and fold it lengthwise over the underwear.

2. Grab your socks and with the feet facing inside the shirt roll the shirt over the socks to the bottom.

3. If the ends of the socks are sticking out take the ends and slide them over the roll.

GO for the GOLD

blueberry rum smash Relax and get ready for summer with this sweet and easy to make cocktail. The drink is a twist on blueberry lemonade and is great to sip on during a spring afternoon. THEKITCHN.COM says to cover the bottom of a glass with a layer of blueberries, and then add the brown sugar and lemon juice. Muddle or mix together until the sugar is dissolved and the skin on the blueberries are broken but not mashed. Then fill the glass with crushed ice and add the rum. Top it all off with ginger ale and stir.

ingredients: blueberries | 1 tbsp

> Bryan Berg made the largest playing card structure, which measured 34 feet long, 9 feet high and 11 feet wide on March 10, 2010. > The largest ride-able bicycle was made by Jeff Peeters of Belgium on May 25, 2015, and weighed 1,895 pounds. > The biggest snail on land is the African giant snail. It can be 15.5 inches long and have a shell about 10.75 inches. > Vittorio Innocente holds the record for cycling underwater the deepest at 218 feet and secured the record July 21, 2008. > 6,261 people participated in the largest pillow fight. It was staged in St. Paul, Minn.

brown sugar | .75 oz lemon juice | 2 oz rum | ginger ale

HEARD IT HERE

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.”

> Preacher Maud’dib holds the record for most apples held in one’s mouth and cut by a

< inventor Thomas Edison

funbits

chainsaw in a minute by cutting 18 apples on July 5, 2014.

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The earliest use of biological warfare was under Genghis Khan. Mongols would catapult dead victims of the bubonic plague over city walls during sieges.

A honeybee has 3 million hairs on its tiny body — the same number of hairs that squirrels have. A human head, by contrast, only has 100,000 hairs.

Pigtailed macaques in Thailand are trained to harvest coconuts and can harvest up to 1,600 coconuts in one day. Humans can harvest about 80 per day.

April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

< OFF<THE OFFWALL THE WALL

people tweet

THE DAMNDEST THINGS How much for the horse tornado? Sir, that is a carousel. I must have it. @neworimproved “Are you sexually active?” No. “Any drug use?” No. Doctor laughs, does jerk off motion and leaves. @OBiiieeee Is there anything more capitalist than a peanut with a top hat, cane and monocle selling you other peanuts to eat? @skullmandible The most embarrassing part about farting myself awake was that it was the most interesting aspect of my PowerPoint presentation. @Zailus13 What moron called them marriage vows and not terms of service? @Hormonella Do lady dolphins ever get tattoos of 19-year-old community college students? @BoweKnows My girlfriend and I always laugh at how competitive we are but I laugh more. @LeeMifsud

*

Things that PISS us off WEATHER WOES

CLOSE PURSUIT

Indiana weather is hard to read at best. And it doesn’t get any better with global warming.

This winter it didn’t even get below freezing and then out of nowhere a cold front rolls in. If only the weather followed the seasons like it is

Nothing worries a driver more than when a cop car is cruising behind them. The car is even more intimidating when the lights are off. Even when following all the rules of the road we start to panic and constantly check our speed.

supposed to so I’m not wearing a winter jacket one minute and a T-shirt the next.

Then to make things worse they follow you for the next 20 miles or so. Just turn down another road or pass me already.

PERSONAL SPACE MALL KIOSKS

We all bump shoulders from time to time and just keep going. But it is quite different when you are face to face with someone and your noses are almost touching. There is nothing

Malls have almost anything you can think of when it comes to shopping. But kiosk salespeople try too hard. There is no need to run up to

more uncomfortable than having your personal space invaded. Just back up and talk to me like a normal person. We are not in a relationship

offer me multiple deals on an item I am not interested in. Let the product speak for itself and buyers will naturally want to check you out.

so there is no need to be that close.

Also, you will appear much less annoying.

Be smarter than a 5TH GRADER We have all heard the common phrase in crime shows “You have to tell me if you are a cop, right?” but that is not the case. Police officers are UNDER NO OBLIGATION to tell you the truth. Even if they just need a statement they can still arrest you if you say anything incriminating. But there is always the right to remain silent.

While carrying pepper spray is a helpful tool to deter would be attackers so can a FLASHLIGHT. Shining a flashlight that can reach about 300 lumens or more into an attacker’s eyes can temporarily blind them and give you the time you need to get away. Plus, if it turns out the person was not threatening you there is no major harm done to them.

There is a simpler way to study instead of trying to cram all that information into one concept or idea. CHUNKING is the approach where you take a block of information and break it into smaller parts. When you do this you are using more of your short-term memory, which allows for information to be more easily committed to memory.

Flooded roads are one of the most dangerous conditions a driver can face. It only takes 12 inches of MOVING WATER to cause an average automobile to lose control and float away. Roads are more prone to collapse and if the water is high enough it can stall your engine. The safest thing you can do is to take an alternate route or to just find high ground and wait.

Cormorant, Minn., has had a Great Pyrenees dog named Duke as its mayor since 2014. Duke has won the mayoral election three times.

Crescent Magazine | April 2017

Ming the Clam was the world’s oldest animal when it died at 507 years old.

Researchers accidentally killed it while studying it to learn its age.

The French have trained four golden eagles they named d’Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis, to destroy drones.

They plan to train more soon.

You’re blind for about 40 minutes a day. It’s called Saccadic masking and it blocks your vision while your eyes are moving so that you don’t get dizzy.

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PROFILE < A CLOSER LOOK

GOING THE EXTRA MILE

T

HANNAH|ROWE

There are some people who figure out what they want to do in life at a young age. Based on their interests, they typically have a future profession in mind based on what they love and then complete what is necessary to achieve it. This may sound simple enough, and for Chair Stephanie Frasier, associate professor of art, it was.

Frasier knew from a young age that design would be a large part of her life.

As a child, she enjoyed anything having to do with being creative, including drawing the interiors of houses — an unusual interest for a child since most children spend their time playing videogames or running around outside. Frasier found fun in designing — she even created the floor plan of a house that she played in with her younger sister.

“I love being creative, to approach problems and solve them creatively,” she said. “I’m constantly looking in my environment from the perspective of design.”

Eventually her love of art and design led her to UE and the graphic design program. After graduation, she worked in the design industry before coming back to UE to teach. She eventually completed her master’s in fine arts at Indiana State and was named department chair in 2012.

“Teaching was in the back of my mind and I wanted to do it,” she said. “It is very rewarding to come back and work in a program that I am a product of.”

Chair Kristy Miller, associate professor of chemistry, met Frasier after they had both been named department chairs. Their monthly get-togethers over lunch allow them to catch up and talk about their families and work — two things that take up most of their time.

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“We’re both passionate about students, both preparing them and getting them to the next step,” Miller said. “We relate on that level.”

It is not easy balancing teaching and a department with family, but Frasier thinks it serves as an important lesson for her children, Grace, 16, and Grant, 13. They are able to see that she can juggle the many responsibilities she has and tackle any issues that might come up.

“It’s good for my kids to see how I can handle challenges and that I strive to do more and get out of my comfort zone,” Frasier said.

Frasier’s commitment and love for her fami-

ly shows clearly in the messages from her daughter on the whiteboard in her office. While family comes first, it does not prevent her from giving the same time and attention to students.

Senior Corinne Werner has had Frasier for a number of courses and this semester is also completing an independent study with her.

“You can definitely tell when she’s talking about something she’s passionate about because she’ll smile when she talks about it,” Werner said. “You can hear it in her voice and see it in her face.”

And while independent studies are not part of a typical teaching load for Frasier, she is always committed to student success.

“I think a lot of (what makes her a good professor) is her attention to detail,” Werner said. “It’s obvious how much she cares about her students. She knows each of us really well and all of our skills and weaknesses.”

In the visual communication design program as well as in other areas of art, students have the chance to get involved with local businesses doing projects. This semester Werner has been involved in a project through Berry Plastics that has given her the opportunity to redesign packaging and allowed the team of UE students who are working with Berry to pull together their skill sets and apply it to a real-world situation.

While Werner said it was intimidating to present artwork to top-level Berry employees, she said the preparation she received from Frasier beforehand was helpful and appreciates her ongoing advice.

“It‘s a real-world situation that students are getting exposure to,” Frasier said. “Any opportunity I get to bring real world projects into my classroom, I do that.”

Werner said Frasier emphasizes important information during lectures and labs but also includes fun, creative exercises that allow students to practice their skills. And while students see Frasier as inspirational in her approach to teaching, she finds them to be motivating as well.

“They inspire me to be the best teacher that I can,” Frasier said.

“Teaching is the best part of my job.”

‘‘

Any opportunity I get to bring real-world projects into my classroom, I do that.”

April 2017 | Crescent Magazine

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