Crescent Magazine March 2012

crescent University of Evansville

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College Culture Upfront • March 2012

between the hangers It takes more than energy to clean out a closet

creatures of habit From nail biting to hair twirling, what effects do our habits have?

closing the grad gap

When it comes to connecting, UE has it covered

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crescent MAGAZINE

03.2012

28

Closets

Students face the task of cleaning out their closets, which luckily coincides with National Clean Your Closet Week.

03 Dorm Storm

This Schroeder Hall resident gives “community” a brand-new meaning.

14 Habits

We all have our little vices — but why? What do our habits say about us?

17 Lens

Grab a microphone and join the madness — Musical Madness, that is.

w w w

18 Beer

A St. Patrick’s Day staple and, for many, the ultimate beverage of choice, this frothy favorite has come a really long way since its very first sips.

22 Connect

Stay connected with UE’s newest networking program, UE Connect.

2/Viewpoint • 4/Vox Popula • 7/Arts & Entertainment • 8/Giving Back • 11/Health & Science • 13/Food • 26/Campus Crime 27/Lens, Too • 30/Fascinating People • 32/Sports • 35/Third & Short • 36/Off the Wall • 42/Lists • 44/That’s What She Said 03.2012/Crescent Magazine

1

Our Viewpoint

Drop your bags

Spring-cleaning can be liberating, too.

Ah, spring. The time of year for all the pleasing (and not-sopleasing) things: warm weather, hay fever and the ever-impending tsunabottoMs Up mi of clothing and who-knows-what residing in our closets. We leave for Spring Break and bid our rooms adieu, as though we will never see the inside of those four walls again. And for a week, life is wonderful. We are minimalists in our own minds, traveling to relaxing places or just chilling out on our couches at home, where our rooms can get as dirty as we like — because, after all, we’re just temporary residents.

But then we return to UE, skin peeling and motivation left washed up on the sandy shores of Panama City Beach, and then it dawns on us: “Oh God, I have to move everything in this room back into my one back home.”

Thus begins the daunting task of fitting everything into a small space, a real-life game of Tetris and a belief that we are all, in the brief moment we hover over our car trunks, packing masters. Overwhelmed by so many miscellaneous things, it’s easy to take on a “fight or flight” mentality, and getting rid of everything then becomes the main task.

From clothing to electronics to leftover

crescent university of evansville

magazine

College Culture Upfront • March 2012

between the hangers It takes more than energy to clean out a closet

creatures of habIt from nail biting to hair twirling, what effects do our habits have?

closIng the grad gap

when it comes to connecting, ue has it covered

Microbrewing, fermentation and a whole lot of hops. welcome to the world of beer.

$2.50

food, we pile it up in the hallways of residence halls and in dumpsters both on and off campus. Mountains of shirts and jeans form giant heaps, a motley island of misfit threads. And how did we end up with all this stuff? It all adds up as the academic year dwindles.

But what if we realized how much we had, not to throw away, but to give back?

What if, rather than tossing all of our unneeded things in the nearest dumpster, we gave them to someone who could actually use them?

Maybe your roommate needs a new rug for home, or maybe your neighbor could use a new shirt. This does not mean, though, that we should go dropping our unwanted things on other residents’ doorsteps like some sadistic, secondhand Santa. Rather, we should focus on producing less trash and just letting things go. For us, a lighter load for that trek back home will feel amazing; for others, a never-worn sweater or some gently used flip-flops can really make all the difference.

On that same note, consignment shops are another great way to help others, and they can even line your wallet with a little extra cash. Who knows? Those extra funds might help you fuel your overweighted car home. Take this month, this season for the packing and unpacking of space, as an opportunity to reassess your life. Ask yourself: How much stuff do you really need to get by?

crescent MAGAZINE

editorial Writing Director: Mindy Kurtz Writing Editor: Kate Wood Research Editor: Danielle Weeks Columnists: Mark Boxell, Lacey Conley, A. J. Ogundimu Contributing Writers: Taylor Hamilton, Cory Hart, Jessica Ingle, Lena McLaughlin, Chelsea Modglin, Amy Reinhart, Rachel Willis

editing Editing Director: Lacey Conley Copy Editors: Jenelle Clausen, Glen Miller

CREATIVE Creative Director: Amanda Squire Photo Editor: Samantha Cook Page Designer: Kaylee Harden Advertising Designer: Jeffrey Buente Contributing Photographers: Amy Rabenberg, Jessica Crihfield Taylor

marketing & sales Marketing & Sales Director: Blair Wissinger Advertising Sales Manager: Ryan Cramer Marketing Assistant: Mary Rose Pattara Circulation Assistant: Michael Armanno

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how to contact us Address: Ridgway University Center, University of Evansville, 1800 Lincoln Ave., Evansville, Ind. 47722 Editorial E-mail: crescentmagazine@evansville.edu • Phone: (812) 488–2846 • FAX: (812) 488–2224 Marketing & Sales: (812) 488–2221 and 488–2223 • Marketing & Sales E-mail: crescentadvertising@evansville.edu

Crescent Magazine is the University of Evansville’s student magazine. It is written, edited and designed by and for students, and distributed six times during the academic year. It is funded through advertising revenue and a subscription fee paid on behalf of students by the Student Government Association. Circulation is 1,700. Printed by Mar-Kel Printing, Newburgh, Ind. © 2012 Student Publications, University of Evansville. Editorial Policy. Commentary expressed in unsigned editorial pieces represent a consensus opinion of Crescent Magazine’s Editorial Board. All other columns, articles and advertising are not necessarily the opinion of the Editorial Board or other members of the magazine. Letter Submissions. E-mail letters to crescentmagazine@evansville.edu and write “letter” in the subject line. Crescent Magazine welcomes letters from UE students, faculty, staff, administrators and alumni, but material the Editorial Board regards as libelous, malicious and/or obscene will not be published. Letters should not exceed 400 words. For verification, letters must include the author’s name, year in school or title and email address. Crescent Magazine does not print anonymous letters or those that cannot be verified. Letters will be edited for length, style, grammar and spelling.

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Crescent Magazine/03.2012

Dorm Storm

This Schroeder Hall resident sets aside time for the best things in life and a little bit of fun.

by Cory Hart

A

A life of all work and no play is not how junior Desire Matouba rolls. When the finance major is not busy crunching numbers or studying for exams, he can be found lounging in his Schroeder Hall room, wrapped up in a game on his Xbox 360.

With so much to do, he is careful to leave time for fun, and he takes this free time very seriously.

“I don’t want to be inter rupted playing games,” he said. “I like to keep an open schedule.”

This is evident in the fact that he once braved a severe storm warning, playing games until the power went out. But while gaming takes up a good part of Matouba’s time, he maintains a range of hobbies.

He enjoys canoeing, group workouts, evangelical activities and attending I-House and residence hall events.

“Desire was always smiling at my floor events,” said junior Kyle Broxon, a Schroeder Hall resident assistant. “He’s definitely soft-spoken, but he’s an extremely nice guy.”

Who Knew?

Samantha Cook/Crescent Magazine

ness with weekly phone calls home and by hanging out with his younger sister, freshman Dahlia Matouba. Still, even given these comforts, there is one thing Matouba really misses about home.

“I miss the food,” he said.

While many students might look to mashed potatoes or snickerdoodle cookies, Matouba’s familiar diet of gazelle, ape and lampion is a bit more difficult to come by here.

Nonetheless, UE has become a second home, courtesy of its sense of community and fun, which Matouba owes to his many friends — and, of course, to his video games.

Quick Facts Matouba is also an avid soccer fan. And though he claims to lack any real athletic talent, he loves to watch his favorite team, Manchester United, battle it out on the field.

Take away video games and soccer matches, and you are left with a man who loves his family. Originally from the Republic of Congo, Matouba is comfortable with communal living, with friends and family always nearby. “[Home] is more collectivistic,” he said.

But because his parents wanted all their children to

attend the same university, when it came time for Matouba to head to college, he left his homeland and followed his brothers to UE. Matouba’s brothers, Desthy, 24, and Darrel, 22, played a key role in helping him adapt to campus life. Matouba, whose native language is French, learned English in high school, but his brothers helped him better his verbal understanding by watching movies and the BBC with him.

Now that both his brothers have graduated, Matouba battles the inevitable homesick-

n Favorite Foods: Steak and potatoes, chicken and spaghetti and salted fish with saka saka and banana n Favorite Athletes: pro soccer players Franz Beckenbauer and Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima n Favorite Video Games: Tekken and Pro Evolution Soccer n Favorite Tunes: those by religious musicians Don Moen and Chris Tomlin n Favorite Book: the Bible n Favorite Outdoor Activity: Canoeing n Favorite Place Traveled So Far: United States n Accessory of Choice: A pair of sunglasses

The average person has more than 1,460 dreams a year. • Ants stretch when they wake up in the morning.

03.2012/Crescent Magazine

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A gay ol’ tradition Every four years, the same-sex marriage question rears its head — right around election season.

Vox Populi / A. J. Ogundimu Oh boy. Here we go again.

It seems as though every This is almost certainly going to be an issue when the election season, almost like general election hits, especially if the case is taken all the clockwork, the gay marriage way to the Supreme Court, as many believe it will. But this issue comes up. It’s a political isn’t a legitimate issue. It’s a ploy made to lure in so-called tradition at this point, just like “family values” voters and a way to distract from big issex scandals and poorly modsues affecting the majority of Americans. Since the only erated debates. people gay marriage will impact are homosexuals, these From constitutional amendments to California’s Proparguments just eat up time and push America farther beosition 8, somehow the question of what, if anything, hind, since most of the West already has some kind of should be done about same-sex marriage rights once mechanism in place for gay families. again enters the public dialogue, and suddenly opinions Let’s face it. Having enough of an opinion against gay that have been kept personal all year are batted around marriage to invest millions of dollars, set up organizations left and right. opposing it, write lengthy essays Even though the issue doesn’t condemning it and travel around really have many verifiable, negThis isn’t really spitting anti-gay rhetoric into any ative, far-reaching implications, waiting microphone is like starting a question about presidential candidates must voice a national campaign against people their opinions regarding gay martolerance. that like butter pecan ice cream. riage, and sometimes votes are Since heterosexuals have nothIt’s a question of cast based on their answers. ing to lose and their fellow humans Prop 8, for example, almost what matters to (who happen to be gay) have evovershadowed the election of the erything to gain, putting all this efvoters: the bedroom nation’s first African-American fort into it is just another sideshow president. Prop 8 — an initiative activity of their attraction masquerading as an actuproposed on the California ballot al political issue. neighbors or the big during the 2008 general election to As if that isn’t bad enough, think essentially ban gay marriage withissues of our time. about all the ways the “sanctity of in the state, throwing the status of marriage” has been damaged by same-sex marriages already perthe very politicians looking to uphold it. Years back, marformed within the state into limbo — was an exclamation ried Sen. Larry Craig was arrested for soliciting sex in a point on an already historic night. men’s bathroom. Most students can probably remember Four years later, during another election season, Prop President Bill Clinton’s scandal with a White House intern.

8 has made its way back into the news. A February ruling Now Gingrich is running for president, as his own infideliby the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rendered it unties and troubled marriages come to light. constitutional. Of course, the presidential candidates had This isn’t really a question about tolerance. It’s a quessomething to say: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich tion of what matters to voters: the bedroom activity of claimed “more Americans are being exposed to the radtheir neighbors or the big issues of our time. Gays have alical overreach of federal judges and their continued asready married in some states and other countries, and the sault on the Judeo-Christian foundations of the United world hasn’t come to an end. Traditional marriages conStates,” while former Gov. Mitt Romney repeated how martinue down the same paths with the same ups and downs. riage should be between a man and a woman.

Disputes like Prop 8 are becoming tradition too, but this is President Barack Obama didn’t directly comment on one tradition American politics can definitely live without. the situation, but White House press secretary Jay Carney was quoted as saying “[the president] has long opposed Vox Populi columnist A.J. Ogundimu is a junior creative divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benwriting major from Evansville, Ind. efits to same-sex couples.”

Who Knew?

4

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Crescent Magazine/03.2012

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Crescent Magazine/03.2012

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Entertainment

Let the debunking of scientific myths begin as the Mythbusters head to the Louisville Palace.

Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, the same men who have been busting myths on the Discovery Channel for a decade, will host a demonstration this month, as a part of the team’s

local scene

If you’re in the mood for some guitar jams, drag or fresh vocal talent, be sure to check out these area events.

From “meh” to mesmerizing, these bars and nightclubs certainly put on a show.

“Mythbusters: Behind the Myths” national tour. The show, which includes audience participation and a chance to see the legends at work live and on stage, starts at 7:30 p.m. March 18 at the Louisville Palace, Louisville, Ky. Tickets start at $29.50 and can be purchased through livenation.com.

Arts & Entertainment / Kate Wood African American Artists Exhibit The Evansville African American Museum, 579 S. Garvin St., will display work March 3–24 from local African American artists. With a mission to collect, preserve and protect the history and traditions of African American communities, the museum pays homage to life in 1938 and promotes arts and education. Visit evansvilleaamuseum.wordpress.com for museum details, or call 812–423–5188 for exhibit information.

The Pink Floyd Experience This tribute to one of rock’s greatest icons exists to please the crowd and recreate Pink Floyd’s music note-for-note, hookfor-hook. You can catch the live show at 7:30 p.m. March 14 at The Centre’s Aiken Theatre. Tickets start at $28 and can be purchased through The Centre box office or online through ticketmaster.com.

again host this celebration of Native American fine arts. Representing several Native American cultures, award-winning Native American artists from across the U.S. will come together to showcase their work on March 24–25. Admission is $5. For more information call 812–853–3956.

Jane’s Addiction The alternative rock band will perform at 7:30 p.m. March 23 at Louisville Palace in Louisville, Ky. The band has been around since the mid-1980s, and after a short break in 2004 and a 2009 tour with Nine Inch Nails, the rockers are back to playing their hit songs “Stop!” and “Been Caught Stealing” as a part of their “The Great Escape Artist” tour. Tickets for the concert start at $39.50, excluding fees, and can be purchased through livenation.com.

Daughtry Broadway at The Centre “Damn Yankees,” a Tony-winning Broadway musical, will hit the Centre’s Aiken Theatre stage at 7:30 p.m. March 21. Set in the 1950s, this show follows a middleaged man who sells his soul to the devil for a chance to lead his team against the New York Yankees. Tickets start at $19 and can be purchased through The Centre box office or online through ticketmaster.com.

Native American Fine Arts Market Angel Mounds State Historic Site will

Who Knew?

Also coming to Louisville is Daughtry, who will perform at 7:30 p.m. March 31 at the Louisville Palace as part of the musician’s “Break the Spell” tour. Singer-songwriter Mike Sanchez, whose album “These Times” debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, is the opening act. For every ticket sold on his tour, Daughtry will donate $1 to Malaria No More, an organization that seeks to end African deaths from malaria by 2015. Tickets start at $30.50, excluding fees, and can be purchased from livenation.com.

Lindsey Williams

If you’re looking for background music, Williams is your man. Indie rockish with a country twang, this musician’s voice is plenty soothing, and his guitar skills are dexterous enough, but his music doesn’t exactly scream, “Listen to me!” Decide for yourself at William’s 10:30 p.m. shows, Thursdays at Fast Eddy’s, 507 N.W. Riverside Drive.

Katie Watts

Local rising star Watts has the kind of voice that reminds you of all the best things in life — dark chocolate, lazy rainy days and falling in love for the very first time. Catch one of her folk-indie shows at Hammerheads, 317 N. Main St., and witness the raw talent you’ve always been waiting for. The fun lasts from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesdays.

Drag Show

Evansville’s purportedly premier gay club Someplace Else is, well, someplace else. With queens clad in makeshift costume and only so-so lip-syncing acts, this nightclub is better suited for the hardcore drag show lovers, not the first-timers. Performances start at 11:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 930 S. Main Ave.

Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, England, but only in tropical fish stores. • The state of Florida is larger than England.

03.2012/Crescent Magazine

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by Cory Hart Bold and sassy or sweet and sophisticated, you can never go wrong with a good accessory. With these five web sites, you can feel good about your purchases — because helping those in need never goes out of style. n FEED Projects Those at the FEED Projects believe that every person has the right to be nourished and to live a healthy life, so the organization has set out to provide clean water and food to all. In 2008, Lauren Bush and Ellen Gustafson started FEED to assist children in Asia, Latin America and Africa. But what started with a handbag has since expanded. The FEED site now features items ranging from bags to T-shirts to bracelets and more. To date, FEED has raised more than $6 million and donated 60 million meals to people worldwide.

—feedprojects.com

Giving Back

Accessorize your wardrobe with the products from these web sites, and help improve countless lives around the world, one fabulous product at a time.

n Two Old Hippies

n ToeSox

n Vera Bradley

n Five Accessories

As the name implies, two old hippies, Tom and Molly Bedell, set out to combine their passions for peace, love and rock-n-roll to create something worthwhile in the form of one funkadelic, and charitable, online store. Available items range from knitted hats and scarves to hand-beaded tribal bracelets.

Each is designed and handmade by women in Northern Uganda working through Krochet Kids International, and part of the profits from each sale go to helping these women provide for their families.

—twooldhippies.com

Great for yoga, hiking, running and more, ToeSox are durable socks that are comfortable, fun and more natural than shoes.

Plus, proceeds from two special pairs of ToeSox benefit some amazing causes. A portion of Hot Pink ToeSox with a Grip sales go to the Beagle Freedom Project, a beagle rescue and animal welfare organization. And a fraction of proceeds from Pink Cocona ULTRA Sport Toesox sales support the Komen 3-Day for the Cure walkers, ultimately supporting the Susan G. Komen breast cancer fund.

—toesox.com

From the signature quilted purses and backpacks to folders and much, much more, women have been snatching these adorable paisley printed items off shelves for a long time. And now Vera lovers can give back in style. Vera Bradley has designed five special breast cancer awareness patterns — Tea Garden, Twirly Birds Pink, Loves Me…, Hope Garden and Pinwheel Pink — to benefit the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer. To date, sales have raised nearly $3 million for the foundation.

—verabradley.org

Don’t be fooled by the name of this web store — the site has a lot more to offer than a mere five items. Rather, the shop’s name refers to the number of countries its funding assists: the United States, as well as Bali, Honduras, Cambodia and India. In fact, all items available for purchase are hand made by the benefactors of Five Accessories donations, many of whom were, at one time, homeless. Choose from handbags, jewelry and more, and help support others across the globe as they get back on their feet.

—fiveacessories.com

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Crescent Magazine/03.2012

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Crescent Magazine/03.2012

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Health & Science / Taylor Hamilton

Leave it to nature Can opening windows downgrade damage from a tornado?

Can cheating partners be chalked up to bad genes? Read on to find out.

Otherwordly Atmospheres The Kepler Space Mission may have found a planet suitable for life, according to sources at National Geographic. The planet, named Kepler-22b, is situated just close enough to its star that its atmosphere could be warm enough for liquid water.

While many planets have been found in the past to have a temperature promising for such an endeavor, few are of a size similar to Earth and likely to encourage life.

The newly discovered planet is more than 600 light-years away, meaning that any light reflected off the surface of Kepler22b would travel for 600 years before it reached the Earth.

Scientists are still uncertain about the exact composition of Kepler-22b, but its size and location hint that it may be more like Earth than originally expected. Much depends on the atmosphere. If Kepler22b’s atmosphere is, in fact, similar to Earth’s atmosphere, the planet would have an average temperature of 72 degrees, obviously ideal for human-like life. But if the atmosphere is much thinner or thicker than that which is characteristic of Earth, the temperature would range from 22 degrees to 860 degrees.

Information about the planet’s orbit, chemical composition, density and atmosphere are still unknown, and each of these factors plays a huge role in determining whether or not the planet could hold life.

It’s Not You… It’s My Genes A study discussed by Discovery News suggests that monogamy may be an inherited trait. Apparently, a single gene that codes for vasopressin receptors in the brain controls whether or not a person has the genetic tendency toward promiscuity. Vasopressin is a hormone responsible for feelings of reward and attachment. But it is the

Who Knew?

number of receptors, not the amount of vasopressin, that determines monogamy.

While there are many others factors that may lead to promiscuity — you cannot blame a serious moral issue on genetics alone — the implication is this: Some people may be naturally more inclined to cheat than others.

The Truth about Twisters Tornados form when winds blow at two different altitudes and at different speeds.

The air forms a horizontal column of spinning air that rotates vertically when warm thunderstorm air rises upward.

Contrary to popular belief, tornados cannot “skip” houses, according to science web site EnvironmentalGraffiti.com.

While a tornado can retract its funnel and touch ground one or more times, this takes much longer than the time it would take to jump from one house to another. The average tornado spans only 10 yards in width, so the lucky house is, more accurately put, a narrowly missed home than one that has simply been passed over.

Another tornado misconception is that open windows can prevent a house from caving in. This myth operates on the assumption that open windows would allow tornadic winds to swirl around and through the house, alleviating pressure on the walls.

But windows do not take up enough surface area on most houses to make a difference. Instead of alleviating pressure, they actually would compound the mess.

Health & Science writer Taylor Hamilton is a senior applied biology major from Owensboro, Ky.

Thinking Green Home Remedies

Skip the drug store. HowStuffWorks.com states there are many useful items in the home that can be used to treat those minor ailments like sunburns or acne-plagued skin.

For a sunburn, try soaking in lukewarm water mixed with oatmeal or baking soda. Soak for 15 minutes and then air-dry your skin — and make sure not to skimp on this step, either.

Toweling off can irritate your skin and defeat the purpose of the soaking.

Also, make sure not to soak too long. The bath will dehydrate your already-parched skin. But if oatmeal water is not your thing, just be sure you are drinking lots of water to help your cells heal.

If pimples are what is ailing you, Acne.org suggests using baking soda mixed with water as a facial scrub. Along those same lines, try using green tea as a toner.

Organic honey can be used as an effective cleanser: Just smooth the substance over your skin, wait 15 minutes and then rinse it off. And for those trouble spots, plain white toothpaste may be worth a try.

It’s against the law to slam your car door in Switzerland. • A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.

03.2012/Crescent Magazine

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Crescent Magazine/03.2012

by Lena McLaughlin

These pubs got beef

J

Two nearby Irish pubs brawl for best burger bragging rights this holiday.

with several green jerseys from both local and regional teams.

With a prevailing laidback vibe and the sounds of football and trivia games on its 20 TVs, the restaurant is an ideal spot for gathering. And adding to the cheery sports-bar-like atmosphere, there is even a ministage for the occasional evening music event.

RiRa’s, on the other hand, has a classier interior with

fancy decor and eager staff who smile when waiting on customers, but are mostly stoic the rest of the time. And while RiRa’s design and high prices give the illusion of a highclass eatery, most patrons wear jeans and other causal attire when frequenting this pub.

As far as food goes, the RiRa Burger is thick and cooked to order and features a generous cut of beef. A crusty bun with sesame seeds and lettuce gives the sandwich an extra crunch and contrasts the tenderness of the meat.

Ripe tomatoes, cheese and onion ring toppings are the final touches that make the burger, despite its bank-breaking $10 price, enjoyable.

But without any special sauce or

seasoning to set it apart from other chain restaurant beefbased items, the RiRa Burger is, at best, blah.

Meanwhile, Beef’s boasts a burger rich with spices. Cooked like a steak and topped with freshly baked bread, tangy mayo, crisp tomatoes and tasty condiments like dill pickles and lettuce, the Brady Burger is a sandwich worth the $8.

Definitely a knife-and-fork kind of burger, the Brady Burger is a meal in of itself, which leaves little room for the heaping side of fries that comes with it. The plastic attelet that holds the sandwich together is actually necessary to keep from making a mess.

Once it all is said and done, Brady’s stomps the competition with its welcoming ambience and prices more typical of sports pubs — not high-dollar, pseudo-classy eateries. Bold, beefy flavors make for a memorable St. Patrick’s Day out.

Arby’s 1340 N. Green River Road www.arbys.com

Five Guys 5402 E. Indiana St. www.fiveguys.com

Rally’s 4720 E. Morgan Ave. www.rallyburger.com

Red Robin 6636 E. Lloyd Expressway www.redrobin.com

Arby’s adds an extra kick to the traditional fast-food side of fries with delicious seasonings and curly shapes.

Whether paired with a Jamocha milkshake or one of their classic roast beef sandwiches, Arby’s fries are tantalizing additions to any entree option. Spice up your fry selection with a Prime-Cut Chicken Sandwich, an Ultimate Angus Burger or a ‘Shroom & Swiss.

With a variety of burgers, dogs and sandwiches, Five Guys Burgers and Fries supplies the hungry customer with several mouthwatering options. The restaurant’s piping hot fries, for example, come in two flavors: Five Guys traditional style and Cajun. Either is sure to leave your stomach satisfied — especially if you add a juicy hamburger or a bacon cheeseburger to the mix.

Rally’s is known for its latenight hours — so if you find yourself in need of extra eveningtime fuel, stop by for a helping of the restaurant’s slightly spicy, extra-salty fries.

Seasoned to perfection, Rally’s fries go great with a juicy Rallyburger, Big Buford or Double Chili Cheeseburger. Pair them with a crispy Chicken Tenders meal, and don’t forget the extra-large drink.

With a wide selection of gourmet burgers, Red Robin is the place to be for fancier-thanusual, yet delightfully greasy, fare. Crispy and golden brown on the outside, Red Robin’s famously large steak fires are soft and fluffy — like a baked potato — and will have your mouth watering until the last bite. Add an All-American Patty Melt or a Banzai Burger to make your meal complete.

Just because St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday focused on drinking your heart out does not mean you must sacrifice style and flavor when eating out at a local pub. Less than 10 miles from campus are two Irish-style pubs — Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, 8177 Bell Oaks Drive, Newburgh, and RiRa Irish Pub, 701 N.W. Riverside Drive — with great atmospheres for celebrating the green holiday.

While both boast an Irish theme and similar burgers, the two differ in atmosphere and cooking style.

Beef’s is open and ready for any massive influx of patrons, its walls decked out

Others of Interest

03.2012/Crescent Magazine

13

DC

reature of

by Kate Wood

If you shower daily, brush your teeth every night, drive a car or walk your dog, then congratulations: You are a human being with habits. Whether you realize it or not, your brain has been working on autopilot, helping you to do things without having to consciously think about them.

Joe Z. Tsien, co-director of the Brain and Behavior Discovery Institute at Georgia Health Sciences University, told machineslikeus. com that habits are essential to being — habits help shape who we are. They give us the freedom to focus on the matters of our lives.

If we had to stop and think every time we wanted to breathe, the world would be an unsatisfying place. If we had to think through

D

Habit

rent, no reason for our bodies to reject them. But if a person overindulges enough times, the urge to overeat can become involuntary.

“The situation can lead you to the habitual behavior,” Felton said.

He used smokers who light up after a meal as an example. If a person usually smokes immediately after meals, that craving for a cigarette may eventually be triggered simply by eating.

Social learning theory says people learn behavior from what they see. One example is the way children often imitate their parents’ behavior. Social learning argues that we learn from others and technologies like TV and the Internet. But how do we know

Not all habits are bad. As Winston Churchill said, “Never trust a man without vices.” each syllable when talking or each muscle every time we moved our limbs, it would take hours to complete a 10-minute task.

In its simplest definition, a habit is a behavior that has become a tendency and is learned or reinforced through repetition. John Felton, assistant professor of psychology, helped shed some light on the psychology of habit formation.

Felton said there are three theories that explain behavior: classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning. Classical conditioning refers to the unconscious associations we make and involves an involuntary response. This explains a behavior like salivating when you see a piece of cake.

Operant and social learning theories, on the other hand, help explain behaviors acquired as we experience or view consequences. Operant conditioning refers to learning behaviors via outcomes.

If the consequences of an action are favorable — for example, you reduce stress by biting your nails — the behavior becomes learned, and you are likely to repeat it. If consequences are unpleasant, such as you get a low grade on a project because you procrastinated, the affinity for the behavior is weakened, and you probably will not do it again.

But even habits considered bad can produce a pleasant response. Sugary foods taste good — there is no immediate deter-

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what are good and bad habits? And how do we distinguish them from quirks and addictions?

Felton said that a quirk — a peculiar behavior that is a direct function of someone’s personality — may have more of a biological basis as opposed to a habit, which is learned later in life.

Jessica Zellers, health education coordinator, said one way to determine whether or not you have a bad habit is to ask yourself, “Is this behavior interfering with my life?” If it is not, then it could be a quirk — just part of who you are. If it is interfering with your academic success or healthy and satisfying relationships, then you might have a bad habit on your hands.

Although similar to a bad habit, an addiction is something considerably more severe. Addictions can lead to losses of normal functioning, marriages, friendships or lives. Felton said addictions are difficult to define, especially if they are emotional in nature and not primarily physiological — like a high experienced when gambling versus a chemical high from using drugs.

“There is no hard and fast criterion, aside from it interfering with your [quality of] life,” he said.

Zellers said an indication of addiction is continuing to do something despite facing the negative consequences. For instance, if a person has been arrested for multiple DUIs and continues to drive

under the influence, then he or she is likely dealing with something beyond his or her control.

But addictions are usually not as ingrained in us as habits. Good or bad, we all have certain habits, even if we are not aware of them or do not know how they came to be.

“A lot of it with human beings is anxiety reduction,” Felton said.

When stressed, people might bite their nails or twirl their hair; others might tense their shoulders or grow irritable.

“Most people don’t even notice they do these things,” Zellers said. “They have more coping methods than they might realize.”

So, what habits seem to be the most prevalent among students?

D Hair Twirling Hair twirling is one habit that is commonly associated with anxiety. The act may be comforting for someone who is tense; the physical activity distracts from stressful situations.

But hair twirling can also be a form of body language, which communicates different things depending on the situation.

Women might twirl their hair when talking to someone they find attractive to indicate interest. This method of flirting acts as an invitation for others to touch their hair. In other situations, hair twirling might indicate shyness or uncertainty.

D NAIL BITING Applying the principles of operant conditioning, Felton explained that the act of nail biting can calm anxious people, providing an oral source of satisfaction that relates to the comfort we experience when we eat.

At its mildest, nail biting gives you unattractive fingernails, but some psychologists say hardcore nail biting is actually a form of self-mutilation. In a child, this behavior might indicate abuse, and in an adult, it could be a physical manifestation of high anxiety or low self-esteem.

Freshman Mallory Mooney said she used to bite her nails but stopped after reprimands from her parents. She confessed that nail polish was a big incentive to stop, as it was more cosmetically appealing than the previous chewed-up state of her nails.

D PROCRASTINATION Zellers said the habit she hears about most is, without a doubt, procrastination.

People procrastinate for various reasons, including poor time management, an inability to prioritize, an overload of tasks to complete at one time, overwhelming stress, fear of failure and a desire to avoid things that are disliked or difficult.

Junior Sierra Burtis said she experiences this pressure daily. She makes to-do lists, but because the lists are extensive, anxiety often causes her to procrastinate.

Freshman Andrey Biryuchinskiy said he believes there is just not enough time in a day to get everything he needs to get done completely finished.

“Just another couple hours a day would help,” he said. “Maybe if someone could sleep for me.”

Felton said procrastination allows for a special kind of positive consequence: avoidance. By refusing to deal with something, we pretend it is not there, and we feel better — at least for a while.

D OVEREATING Most people overeat for psychological reasons. For example, if you put the recommended servings of food on a large plate, it will look like less food than it actually is, tricking our minds into believing that we have eaten very little.

Abcnews.go.com explains that people will often eat foods because they have access to them, not necessarily because they are hungry.

Overeating can then result from “mindless eating,” or eating without thinking about what and how much we are putting in our mouths. When people have busy lives, they oftentimes find it hard to sit down for a proper meal and get full, so they snack all day instead.

Biryuchinskiy said life as a student makes it hard for him to eat properly. He finds himself overeating because of stress or skipping meals entirely.

D

D poor time management

Managing your time efficiently might be easier than you think.

“If there’s something you’re dreading doing, just do it first,” Zellers said.

Set aside time to take care of just that, and even if you only work on it for 20 minutes before moving onto something

D

else, at least you have started the more daunting task.

“Once you’re in the groove, it’s a little easier,” she said.

That’s one example of anti-procrastination tactics. Mooney swears by her planner, adding that strict schedules have always been a part of her life. From Girl Scouts to dancing to cheer practice, she said she has always had to make

Habits that Help Brushing your teeth can help prevent a heart attack — Brushing removes bacteria responsible for tooth decay, which causes blood clots when it enters the bloodstream.

Using a cell phone can help prevent Alzheimer’s — Researchers zapped lab mice with electromagnetic waves — the equivalent of talking two hours a day for up to nine months — and found they had developed an immunity to Alzheimer’s.

Early bed time can protect you from depression and suicide — It has been found that if adolescents are forced to go to bed by 10 p.m. or earlier, they are 20 percent less likely to develop depression or attempt suicide.

Housework can prevent breast cancer — A study found women who spent 16 hours a week doing household chores had a 20 percent reduced chance of developing breast cancer.

Masturbation can prevent prostate cancer — Believe it or not, a study found that men who masturbated more than five times a week had a 30 percent reduced risk of developing prostate cancer.

Coffee may help with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — Researchers think caffeine is responsible for the decrease in ADHD symptoms as people get older.

03.2012/Crescent Magazine

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sure there is enough time for everything.

“Some of the best advice I was given is ‘What is important today?’” Mooney said.

The more you break down big tasks, she said, the smaller and more possible they seem to be.

Anderson tries to get homework done long before its due date to avoid cramming projects in at the last second.

“It’s really important to manage my time in order to be successful,” he said.

D lack of exercise Exercising is something that is easier said than done, especially when you are trying to make it a habit.

Felton said if you want to exercise but hate doing it, then you might just need more positive reinforcement. Make sure to give yourself many pats on the back and anticipate the long-term rewards, like improved health. You will notice other benefits, too.

“I’ve forced myself to have good habits for Bike Race,” Anderson said.

He said he works out three to four times a week for not only himself, but also his teammates, who will be counting on him.

What Mooney loves about exercising is that you cannot go wrong — even a little bit can go a long way. “[It gives me] kind of a kick-butt feeling,” she said. “Like I could own the world.”

And so, for those willing to change their vices into virtues, there is hope.

“To break a bad habit, you have to know you’re doing it,” Felton said.

First, you have to admit to yourself you need to make a change. Zellers said the easiest way to put a stop to bad habits is to replace them with good ones, which are developed through repetition, in the same manner as the bad.

Like anything in life, habits — good and bad — are simply a matter of reaching and maintaining balance.

Felton compared giving up a bad habit to tipping the scale in order to rebalance and recover. But good or bad, our habits all fall into the bigger picture of what makes us who we are — these behaviors form the routines of our lives, which outline our struggles as well as our joy.

“There has to be time for school, time for fun, time for friends, time for yourself,” Zellers said. “Strive for a balance in life — it makes all the difference.”

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College of Engineering and Computer Science wishes its students the best of luck as they burn the midnight oil in Koch Center in preparation for participating in the following research and design competitions. z Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Hardware Contest, Orlando, Fla. • March 15-18 z American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Indiana Section Meeting Senior Design Presentations, Indianapolis • March 21 z Math, Engineering and Science Conference (MESCON),

University of Evansville • March 24 z High Altitude Balloon Contest, University of Evansville • March 30–31 z Fire Fighting Robot Contest, Hartford, Conn.

• April 1 z

Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge Competitions at the ASCE Great Lakes Conference, Bradley University • April 19–21

z NASA Rocket Competition, Huntsville, Ala. • April 21 z Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Formula Car, Michigan International Speedway • May 9–12 z Autonomous Lawn Mower Competition, Beavercreek, Ohio • May 31–June 2 z SAE Baja Vehicle Competition, Madison, Wisc.

• June 7–10

www.evansville.edu/schools/engineering.cfm

Through the Lens

A blown kiss makes sophomore Hadley Lowe cringe, while sophomore Kenzie Sweeney makes her singing debut with her backup, senior Daniel Pleake. Samantha Cook/Crescent Magazine

Junior Samantha Whitcomb finds out that common sense isn’t really all that common. Samantha Cook/Crescent Magazine

B

Musical Madness

ased on ‘90s sitcoms and music, this year’s Musical Madness featured five teams that raised $3,100 for Big Brothers Big Sisters. After two performances of singing, dancing and taking fun jabs at all things UE, the team of Phi Mu, Sigma Alpha Iota and Phi Gamma Delta won for their performance of “Power Rangers.”

Senior Ryan Cramer flails his body as he tries to hit junior Jordan Stoltz during their version of “I’ll Make a Man Out of You.” Jessica Crihfield/Crescent Magazine Senior Deanna Hooper and junior Corie Fields are confused when freshman Josie Brown screams at them to be quiet. Jessica Crihfield/ Crescent Magazine Freshman Hannah Okray raps the opening theme song from the show “All That.” Jessica Crihfield/Crescent Magazine 03.2012/Crescent Magazine

17

From Sam Adams to Yuengling to Budweiser to Killian’s, beer is one drink that is chocked full of history and impacts everything from industry to lives.

Up

Bottoms Bottoms

by Jessica Ingle & Rachel Willis With St. Patrick’s Day approaching, there seems to be one thing on everyone’s mind: beer. Brewing it. Drinking it.

Loving it. Guinness, the famous Irish stout, has the numbers to prove it, too.

According to NationalGeographic. com, on any given day, 5.5 million pints of Guinness are consumed around the world — an amount that, on St. Patrick’s Day, more than doubles to 13 million pints.

And that is just one brand of beer among the hundreds sold today. Certainly, beer production and consumption have come a long way since millennia ago, when ancient peoples accidentally made their first brew with bread and rainwater.

Since then, beer has become an institution, a booming industry providing more than 100,000

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jobs, and has given way to its own community, which brings together the most diehard of brewers and the most avid, brewsky-loving consumers and enthusiasts, all of whom enjoy a nice cold one at the end of the day.

“One thing I love is that I can call up a brewer I’ve never met and have an hourlong conversation,” said Sean O’Rear, head brewer for Tin Man Brewing Co., a brewery coming soon to Evansville. “[Beer-lovers] are sociable and open people. It’s very much a community feel.”

This much is true: From the people who have yet to sip their first summer ale to the brewers whose lives revolve around making it, there is always something new to discover about this frothy, and historic, beverage.

To those of us living in the 21st century, the origins of brewing may not be apparent, though many agree that whoever first thought to do it must be some sort of venerable god. “He was a wise man who invented beer,” Plato once wrote.

That said, according to Alabev.com, the official web site of Alabama’s Birmingham Beverage Co., there is no way of knowing exactly who first concocted the fizzy yellow substance — and no, it did not originate in Germany, as popular culture might lead one to believe.

Rather, records of beer recipes date back thousands of years, even as long ago as 3000 B.C., and while historians are not

able to credit one person, or even one specific civilization, with the discovery, artifacts suggest the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Sumerians and Babylonians were among the first.

“One of the oldest [clay] tablets known was a recipe for brewing beer,” O’Rear said.

It is a common theory that the recipe was discovered unintentionally — apparently, Mesopotamian peoples left barley loaves in the open, and when it rained, the loaves would ferment. Upon discovering the liquid’s pleasing taste and inebriating aftereffects, the people went on to add flavors to the brew, which then consisted of pieces of the fermented loaves mixed with water, and would drink the concoction straight.

Around 1200 A.D., the first commercially successful breweries established themselves throughout central Europe, says Linda Raley, a professor at Texas Tech University. The main country that housed these breweries was Germany, which does seem to be the almighty superpower when it comes to beer.

The country is big on the beverage, that is for sure, and its citizens have proven picky when it comes to its ingredients. In the 16th century, the German government enforced purity laws that limited brews to four ingredients: water, malted barley, hops and yeast.

Technological advances for beer did not arrive until later. It was not until the Indus-

e1 th

3th century it

wa

trial Revolution in 19th century America ment, with an additional $20–30 needed A 12-ounce beer omary that two new inventions were introduced: for grain. u st c has fewer calories s the steam engine and a heat exchanger “It’s a lot like cooking,” Sramek said than two slices used to artificially cool the beer. with regard to the brewing process. of bread and During the late 20th century, smallFrey explained it is a lot like baking to use beer contains no fat. scale microbreweries — breweries that probread; the only difference is that the — not water — to duce less than 15,000 barrels of beer anyeast in beer is fermented after bakbaptize children. nually, with 75 percent or more being sold ing, while the yeast in bread is feroff-site — and, subsequently, more varieties mented before. O’Rear describes the Monks brewing beer in the of craft beers — beers produced by sourcprocess from a more creative angle.

Middle Ages were allowed es other than mainstream mega-breweries “I’m a scientist by education, but I’m to drink quarts per day.

— began popping up all over the country, an artist by heart,” Frey said. “There’s a changing the United States’ beer industry craft to brewing that is intuitive. It’s forever by allowing the average citizen to soulful. You can connect to it and creAt $800 a bottle, Antarctic Nail Ale is take the matters of beer-making into his or ate. But it’s also founded in hard scithe most expensive beer in the world. her hands. ence. There’s chemical diagnostics Since the establishment of microbrew— you’re testing constantly. It’s divided months, rs, eries, brewing has become more and more 50/50 between science and art.” yea da ys personal, and the art of homebrewing has Microbreweries, while not , become fairly common. Whereas consumable to produce as much ers used to have a scant selection of bigbeer as big-name companame, commercial brands to choose from, nies like Budweiser and beer lovers can now make their very own Keystone, still manage and add whatever flavors they like. What to hold their own in makes craft beer different from the poputhe beer industry. lar domestic brands is a matter of both flaAccording to vor and quality. the Brewer’s Asso“I would say that, more often than not, ciation, as of 2011, my go-to beer is Boulevard,” junior Kathryn there were 745 miWiglesworth said. “It’s a microbrew from crobreweries in the Kansas City. It always has a nice flavor but United States and isn’t too dark.”

1,877 craft breweries.

And Wiglesworth is not the only UE stuIn fact, O’Rear notes dent who enjoys experimenting with new In China, beer kinds of craft beer. is available in “People shouldn’t just try Bud and KeyActors who plastic bags. stone,” said senior Jack Sramek, whose started out as In Japan, senior project was an experiment in mibartenders: beer can be crobrewing, exploring the effects of inipurchased tial sugar content in beer on the sugar and from vending yeast levels post-fermentation. machines.

“There are a lot of other beer styles and Chevy Chase Bill Cosby a lot of beers better than those,” he said.

Sandra Bullock “There actually are tons of different inBruce Willis The first brewery gredients. Some of the ones I’ve made inin America was clude candy canes, oak chips, maple syrup, built in 1642 in brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger root, lemHoboken, N.J. ons and apricot extract.”

Usually, homebrewers make only 5-galTexas law prohibits lon batches of beer at a time. And the Labeorphilist: the taking of more than process is not very expensive, either. one who collects three sips of beer at a Jack Frey, head brewer at Turoni’s beer bottles time while standing.

Main Street Pizzery and Bakery, or labels.

The Mayflower landed at claims that about $75–100 is needCenosillicaphobia: Plymouth Rock because ed for homebrewing startup equipthe fear of an

In

The average American annually consumes [in gallons]

Prohib ition la

19

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empty glass.

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the ship ran out of beer.

03.2012/Crescent Magazine

19

that Tin Man Brewing Co. plans to distribute its beer to Walmart once it gains enough business.

“Sterling Brewery was a huge brewery, as big as Budweiser, in the 1950s,” O’Rear said. “They went out of business in the mid1990s. We hope to replace that for Evansville.”

Beer has definitely found its niche.

And now with so many different flavors to choose from, favorites vary vastly from person to person.

“It honestly depends on the time of year,” Wiglesworth said. “During the winter months, I prefer a darker beer, like Newcastle, and during the summer-ish months, I prefer lighter wheat beers.”

There are, of course, those people who are not picky in the slightest.

“My favorite beer?”

Frey said. “The one that’s in

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front of me. That’s always a good one to have.”

But what differentiates one beer from another actually depends on a few key factors. Possibly the greatest factor is hops, a staple in the brewing process today. Hops are flowers that look a bit like green pinecones and are used for a variety of reasons.

They affect the beer differently depending on what stage of the brewing process during which they are added. If added early on, hops function mainly as a preservative, but once the brew gets closer to finished, hops have the ability to add strong bitterness, flavor and aroma to the beer.

The color of the beer, likewise, depends on the type of barley that is used and how it is fermented in the brewing process. Brews are either “top fermented” or “bottom fermented,” terms that indicate where the yeast will be in the fermentation tank.

Ales are top fermented brews.

With a few exceptions, the colors of these beers are darker than lagers, and the tastes are described as being heavier. Ales range from the fruity in taste and amber in color “pale ales” to the bitter and nearly black “imperial stouts.”

Lagers, on the other hand, are bottom fermented.

These brews have a lighter body than ales and usually contain less alcohol.

They are the most popular type of beer in the world mainly because they are so mild — domestic beers, brewed in the U.S., are usually lagers.

In these, ingredients are diluted with water, and flavors are subtler, not nearly as well defined as those of an ale. In this sense, companies are able to cater to a much larger audience, includ-

ing those who prefer their drinks’ taste to be a little light.

At Turoni’s, the house favorite is a brew called the Honey Blonde Ale, which is a light ale infused with Indiana wildflower honey. And just as Turoni’s has its own signature lager, three different ales and one stout available, Tin Man Brewing Co. plans to specialize in ale and will open with four varieties: the Irish Dry Stout, the Irish Red Ale, India Pale Ale and Light Ale. “It’s a developed taste,” O’Rear said, speaking generally of beer. “I know beer so well that I now pick a [flavor] based on whatever mood I’m in. There aren’t many that I don’t like.”

Surprisingly, neither O’Rear nor Frey was partial to beer when he was younger.

Now, though, the two are willing to try literally anything they can get their hands on.

Beer is definitely not a drink that appeals to everyone, but sometimes that is the fun of it — tasting beer upon beer until one finds the perfect brew containing just the right balance of perfect ingredients.

Still, it is difficult to comprehend the sheer enormity of beer until one sees all its brewers united.

Throughout the year, there are several beer festivals held around the United States, some hosting more than 10,000 people. Local festivals include the Brew Ha Ha, hosted by the Evansville Museum, and the Zoo Brew, which takes place June 9 at the Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden.

A little farther out, there is the St. Louis Brewers Heritage Festival, which benefits the non-profit organization Lift for Life, as well as the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. Frey said festivals can sometimes be overwhelming events; there are just so many people who are passionate about beer.

“Beer is a much more elegant, wellrounded and historical drink than any other alcoholic drink I can think of,” O’Rear said.

And, all in all, he seems to be correct.

Beer has a long history, rich in diversity, which is transmitted today in its many flavors and brands. For some, beer is nothing more than what brand is on sale at the supermarket, but for others, for the people who enjoy it and who make it all possible, it is revered and understood as an art, a favorite pastime and a lifestyle.

apply for Crescent Magazine positions for 2012–13 • All positions are year-long • Each position earns academic credit fall & spring semesters • Fulfills practicum and/or internship requirements for certain majors • Excellent resume-building experiences

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student publications, ridgway or to tm2@evansville.edu

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Where to

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21

By joining alumni and technology, UE gives students a little help both on and off the job.

Closing

GradGap the

by Mindy Kurtz & Amy Reinhart

t

o say that a job is hard to come by today is an understatement. Unemployment was 8.3 percent in January 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And even though this has come down from the 2011 average of 8.9 percent, the odds are against graduates looking for a way to join the work force.

At UE, many employment resources are available to graduating students, or to those who wish to get a head start, but one potential source of assistance has remained mostly untapped. That source is Alumni and Parent Relations. UE has begun this year to utilize graduates to benefit its current student population.

And this is only the tip of the iceberg of APR’s newest mentoring program, UE Connect.

This program has been

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Crescent Magazine/03.2012

receiving a large portion of UE’s attention since President Thomas Kazee entered office.

He made it his mission to promote the means by which students and alumni form bonds and, through those friendships, use one another to meet their vocational and life goals.

“He wanted to extend [services] to alumni, young alumni and students,” said Monica Spencer, APR assistant director. “He wanted for seniors to get more assistance before they graduated and to have more tools for success after they [did].”

Kazee contacted Spencer; Gene Wells, Career Services director; and Sylvia DeVault, APR director, to help put these ideas into action.

“We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for a student to put forth the effort to search

for a job,” Wells said.

He explained that, while job information has always been available to students, not all have taken advantage of it. Rather than just hand out books with tips regarding interview attire and resume formats, UE decided to take it one step further.

“We knew we needed to utilize technology,” DeVault said.

Launched in October 2011, UE Connect is a consolidation of several programs that together make up the Partners Foundation. The program connects interested students and graduates to alumni, parents and friends.

When partnering alumni and students, APR considers factors like where students hope to work after graduation, their majors and their in-

tended professions, as well as alumni’s current professions, areas of study and geographic location. UE Connect has four components: the UE Online Community, UE Professional Network, Alumni Resource and Crib Sheet.

Through the UE Online Community, graduating seniors have access to a directory of 28,000 UE alumni. This allows students to stay tuned in to graduate goings-on, working independently to establish a network of friendships.

The UE Online Community guarantees that students will never lose touch with UE, giving graduates an outlet for news and for networking.

Through the UE Professional Network, a student can connect independently to a UE Partner, who can guide him or her through job searches and

career dos and don’ts, as well as provide field-specific information. Students can also link to partners through web sites like Twitter and LinkedIn. Alumni Resource is an easy way to connect with alumni. A student just has to fill out a form requesting a resource. Once paired with a mentor, students can request information about their career fields or majors.

They may also for help with their professional development — that mentors put in a good word with their contacts at a particular company, program or grad school.

And Crib Sheet is a mobile application that offers practical advice for graduating seniors, such as the best places for car rentals and where to buy engagement rings. The brainchild for the sheet is simple: UE is not just concerned with student employment; it wishes to help students in every aspect of their lives.

But despite these new features, UE Connect is not new; the service is merely an expansion of what Career Services has been doing for years.

The office had more than 4,000 contacts in 2011 with students, although the student population is about 2,500.

“You do the math,” Wells said. “That’s extraordinary.”

In its six months of operation, UE Connect has been well-received by alumni. More than 350 have joined UE Connect. But many may not be so keen to join right away.

DeVault said some may think

they do not need programs like UE Connect, or they could be afraid of developing such a personal relationship with someone they have never met.

“It’s something that takes a lot of time and a lot of effort,” she said.

But the benefits of UE Connect seem to outweigh any negatives.

“Alumni can help show you the ropes and help you with everything and anything from networking to what restaurant to eat at to transits around the city,” Spencer said. “It’s about making developments professionally and personally.”

UE Connect gives students a professional edge. Wells said that, in a bad economy, it may take 12 months or more to find a job, but alumni mentors can give students a leg up. DeVault said students in this area may not fully understand the economic situation today.

“We are a little sheltered from it here,” she said. “You can use the alumni as a resource for economic outlook to see where you need to be or what the cost of living is in certain areas.”

There are even some perks to joining. Alumni can give back to UE not only by helping to fund the education of future generations, but by donating their time and talents as well.

If past and present students are happy and fulfilled, then UE is doing its job.

“The connection [to the university] is lifelong and is one that has value,” Wells said.

UE Connect seeks to ensure that no student or graduate is ever left behind. Spencer cited theatre majors as an example.

“We have a lot of theatre alumni in New York and Los Angeles, and even locally,” she said. “The program works for all majors; I don’t think it’s limited to any one group.”

Another feature of UE Connect is the annually hosted Student-Alumni Mentoring Program, which runs from September to April. Through the program, students can make connections with a local company or group and could even be hired as a result.

“There was a student who wanted to study big cats like those in Africa,” Spencer said.

“He was connected with [a mentor] who knew a friend of the university who worked at the Mesker Park Zoo, and the student was able to work with them there.”

Spencer also mentioned sophomore Darwin Cordovilla.

Through APR, Cordovilla, an engineering major, connected with Craig Tooley, a 1983 alumnus who works for NASA’s Goddard Flight Space Center.

Thanks to the mentoring program, Cordovilla secured an internship with NASA for this summer.

“It is extremely satisfying to help UE students and, in the case of Darwin, help bring a very talented young engineer into NASA’s workforce,” Tooley said. “It helped make his dreams of working in the space program a reality.”

• Remember to research your potential location well. Be informed.

• Call ahead and ask about the company.

Ask what makes a good intern.

• Focus on the cover letter. Research shows that more companies are basing their yays or nays on what they see first, so make it good.

• Often forgotten, interview attire should always be a priority. Look like you really want the position.

• Believe it or not, different jobs in different fields call for different resumes in terms of content, layout, aesthetics and so forth.

03.2012/Crescent Magazine

23

Tooley applauds UE Connect and believes the resource has paid off.

“Even if only a few of the connections UE Connect makes result in such dramatic success, it is well worth the effort,” he said.

But UE Connect is not the sole key to students’ success; they also need to take advantage of social media, including national job databases. Wells said sites such as LinkedIn and Simply Hired are excellent starting points to begin a job search.

And there are big things yet in store for UE Connect. DeVault hopes that 350 students will have joined by the end of this year. To accomplish this, those at Career Services and APR are spreading the word and working on making its network more strategic, more immediately useful.

“UE Connect is a moving target,” Wells said. “We will always be making improvements.”

UE JobLink goes hand in hand with UE Connect. Another online program, it lists thousands of positions, including internships, co-op positions and part-time and full-time jobs. A student can browse about 400 positions on any given day.

Through JobLink, students can connect with Career Services and have resumes approved by knowledgeable staff members before making them viewable to companies online. This ensures that the students’ resumes are comprehensive and professional before they post.

UE also holds an annual Career Day. This event allows students to meet potential employers, and make sure the people making decisions know their names.

“If someone were to ask me which [program to use], I would just tell them to do everything — to fully utilize UE’s professional network and all the other resources available,” Spencer said.

Those at Career Services and APR explain UE is committed to ensuring things run smoothly for students before and after graduation. UE does not just want to prepare them for a career, but for challenges they face in the years ahead.

“We need to know that we’re making the right kind of connection and giving both parties a positive experience,” Spencer said. “We’re not just meeting up and leaving them on their own. We want students to know we are here for them always.”

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Crescent Magazine/03.2012

Yes, you may soon be reading about yourself in the April 2012 issue if you enter Crescent Magazine’s “You Can Read About You” contest.

It’s simple! Just fill out the contest entry, us at Facebook/uecrescent and leave a message on our wall telling us what you really like about the magazine. If you already “like” us, we appreciate it — just leave us a message!

u o Y u o Y d Rea n a C

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Name Year in School

E-mail Address

Cell Phone Number Download a contest entry at www.Facebook.com/uecrescent Drop off your entry to Student Publications or e-mail to crescentadvertising@evansville.edu

DEADLINE — 12 a.m. MARCH 18 • Only University of Evansville students are eligible to enter • One student will be selected • Students who have been profiled in a previous issue of Crescent Magazine are not eligible to enter • Winning student agrees to be photographed for his/her story • Must be available to be interviewed and photographed March 20–21

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campus crime

One StOp. One leSS thing tO wOrry abOut.

The following information was compiled from criminal offense reports filed Jan. 22–Feb. 20 in Safety & Security.

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Feb. 20 — Two students observed with drug paraphernalia outside of Hale Hall.

Suspects referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action.

— Items stolen from a Morton Hall third floor room. Loss reported at $400.

Feb. 18 — Money stolen from an unlocked vehicle parked at 308 S. Frederick.

Feb. 17 — Vehicle parked in N-lot had driver’s side window damaged.

— Two GPS systems stolen from vehicles parked in O-lot. Losses reported at $80 and $75.

— Two vehicles parked in O-lot had windows damaged.

Feb. 15 — Fire extinguisher stolen from Schroeder Hall second floor.

— Bicycle stolen from Powell Hall rack.

Loss reported at $100.

Feb. 13 — Bicycle stolen from Carson Center tennis courts bike rack. Loss reported at $100.

Feb. 12 — Student living on South Frederick reported being harassed. Evansville Police notified and suspect banned from campus.

Feb. 10 — Window damaged of a truck parked in the Lambda Chi Alpha parking lot.

Feb. 9 — Signs stolen from a SOBA restroom. Loss reported at $25.

Jan. 31 — Student accused of shoplifting from Ace’s Place. Referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action.

Jan. 28 — Plaques torn off a wall in the Physical Plant.

Jan. 27 — Bookstore reported receiving a bad check. Loss reported at $365.30.

— Alcoholic beverages found in a University Apartments residence. Suspect referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action.

— Traffic cone found in a Hale Hall student’s room. Suspect referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action. Loss reported at $15.

— Ridgway Patio paving found in a Hale Hall student’s room. Suspect referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action. Loss reported at $15.

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Crescent Magazine/03.2012

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Through the Lens, Too

Freshman Crystal Goodwin cuddles with her new friend, sophomore Matthew Hamilton. • Believing the room is full of laughing gas, sophomore Megan Loftin doubles over in hysterics.

Completing her Lady Gaga attire with a feather boa and a diva attitude, freshman Heather Browning pushes her way to the front of the stage while singing “Bad Romance.”

“Whath’s wong with my thongue?” Upset to find that they are unable to keep their tongues in their mouths, junior Miranda Stinson comforts distressed freshman Hannah Barrow.

by Samantha Cook

Road Trip Weekend

S

tudents and prospectives piled into Carson Center large gym to witness the hilarious effects of hypnotist Bruce McDonalds’ crazy hypnotic performance. Volunteers sang, danced and generally made fools of themselves for this annual Road Trip Weekend event. From believing their neighbors smelled horrible to becoming the “dance master” and leading volunteers in some pretty poorly choreographed prances, participants left no doubt in anyone’s mind that some students have powerful imaginations.

Dancing is always a crowd-pleaser during the hypnotist’s performance. Freshman Hannah Kaup gracefully glides across the floor while believing she is a professional ballerina.

03.2012/Crescent Magazine

27

Between the

by Chelsea Modglin

U

Hangers

sually the concept of open doors comes with positive connotations — unless, of course, those doors are the ones that constitute our closet space. Suitcases, forgotten tupperware, that busted DVD player and many mounds of unwashed laundry all wait for us behind barricaded doors. And even come spring-cleaning

season, one look at the interior wasteland is enough to send any motivation for a cleaner tomorrow expressly packing.

But a beacon of hope shines through the clutter: March 13 kicks off National Clean Your Closet Week, a celebration and collective confrontation of that activity most of us hope to avoid.

“Sometimes it is overwhelming,” freshman Diane McFeaters said. “I let [my closet] get bad toward the end of the week.”

It is true. Most of us would rather just force the door shut and hope something frightening does not emerge whenever we are forced to open it.

EzineArticles.com reports that getting organized was ranked No. 3 in the top New Year’s resolutions. Evidently, many of us realize organization is important, just like we know we ought to take out the trash and

“I like to take things out and put them back, to find a better place to put things,” said freshman Tami Pickett, who describes herself as a crazy organizer.

Like Pickett, some find organization is essential to getting things done.

“If I’m not organized, I feel stressed out,” sophomore Mellissa Rudolph said. “If I’m organized, I know what I need to do and what I have.”

But for those of us who struggle to feel the same way, cleaning the closet doesn’t have to be an issue. Onlineorganizing.com is dedicated to helping reluctant people be victorious in their battles against the closet bulge.

The site suggests cleaning in short

“If I’m not organized, I feel stressed out. If I’m organized, I know what I need to do and what I have.” change the oil in our cars, but — like these other eventual musts — we are a little lax in attending to them.

“Problems are something to avoid, like I avoid cleaning up this mess,” said freshman Dylan Kind, with regard to the heap of clothes covering his residence hall floor.

And then there are others who feel that cleaning the closet is really more of a favorite pastime than a kind of chore.

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Crescent Magazine/03.2012

bursts, starting in small areas like drawers and shelves — rather than tackling the whole closet at once — and using clear, labeled boxes to store your belongings.

“I like to separate things by color and type, and I try to keep that order,” McFeaters said.

One of the more popular methods does seem to be sorting by color, though there are many ways to organize your closet. It all

depends on what categorization or grouping system seems most logical to you.

“I drag everything out where I can see it and then organize according to what I wear most,” Pickett said. “Knickknacks are put in last, on the empty shelf.”

RealSimple.com says many students avoid cleaning the closet because of the huge chunk of time organizing can take out of their already overloaded schedules. As such, when it comes to finding time to do a major overhaul on a closet, the summer months seem to be the most viable.

clean is biological. Springtime marks the end of the long dormancy of winter, so we — right alongside sprouting flowers and stumbling lambs — feel the urge to become active again.

Another theory suggests that springcleaning is either part of or a follow-up to our New Year’s resolutions.

But Pickett suggests that people choose this time to clean out the closet because they are adjusting their attire to the seasons, exchanging sweaters for tank tops and so forth.

“The emotional closet is a place in our psyche where we stuff things we don’t want to deal with,” said Sylvia Buck, Counseling Services director. “[It’s full of] baggage and issues that we transfer from one situation to another whether that is good for us or not.”

Holding onto items, Buck explained, can be a manifestation of unresolved issues.

Just as we tuck items away in our physical closets, we can also push feelings to the back of our minds.

“I think, when we don’t know what to

Our closets have a way of just accumulating junk, and the makeshift storage can reach mountainous heights before we elect to do something about it. But what to do, and where to begin?

“I feel I need to have a lot of focus and a specific time to take everything out and throw it away,” Rudolph said. “You’re not doing anything [in the summer]; you have a lot more free time.”

But there are many others who would say such cleaning should be done just before summer, in spring. The practice of “spring-cleaning” is not only shared by European cultures similar to our own, but it turns out that Iranian and Chinese cultures all consider this practice custom, as well.

For Iranians and the Chinese, springcleaning is done in celebration of the New Year, but each culture has a different belief with regard to its importance.

The Chinese traditionally believe that sweeping the house just before the start of the new year will rid the house of any bad luck that accumulated during the old. After the new year has arrived, the house is then not swept for a few days, so that any accumulated good luck will remain in the house.

In Iran, the new year comes March 21 and is celebrated for two weeks. In that time the house receives a “shaking,” a term that stems from the meaning of the holiday’s name, khaneh takani, which constitutes purifying the space, according to Ashena.com. This purification of the Iranian house is done annually to ward off evil and as a symbol of the renewal that comes with the turn of a new year.

As for European cultures, there do not seem to be any specific reasons or occasions behind the springtime cleaning ritual, but researchers do have some ideas as to why we choose this time of year.

One popular theory is that the urge to

But there are those of us, like Kind and sophomore Sarah Malik, who feel that when or why we clean is irrelevant; it would be better if we never cleaned at all.

Malik said she will clean her closet just before moving to or from school, and Kind said having others over for a visit can usually motivate him to do a little sprucing up.

For many, it is not so much the actual task of cleaning and straightening the closet that bothers them — it is having to throw things away.

“If something has emotional value, I am really motivated to keep it,” Malik said. “I try to keep as much stuff as I can, unless it’s actually trash.”

But how does one distinguish between what is “trash” and what is actually valuable?

Onlineorganization.com says there are only three adjectives that can describe a truly valuable item: “beautiful,” “useful” and “loved.”

Applying this to the items in our closets, we realize that most of what is in there may not actually need to be. The closet may be a last-ditch storage spot for those things we are reluctant to dispose of — those earrings that you could maybe use with a Halloween costume or the gag gift your mother sent you last year.

“We like the familiar, even if it is junky,” said counselor Karen Stenstrom, of Counseling Services. “Usually there’s an emotional connection to a physical thing.”

The same holds true for closets: Just as there is a physical closet, there is an emotional closet, too. And you thought cleaning out the first one was bad.

do with something, we just shove it onto the back burner,” she said. “But it’s really better to deal with [a problem] directly. Take it out one bag at a time. Take each issue out and reflect on it. It can be really freeing.”

And just as there is no particularly correct way to empty out the physical closet, there is no one way to clean the emotional one either.

“Sometimes people need to do something symbolic to take the power out of those old memories, like art or writing,” Buck said. “Allow yourself time to reflect on how you are and how you want to be.

Some people need feedback [to accomplish this].”

But whether it is a mountain of dirty laundry, old tests and projects from freshman year or the unresolved tension of issues crammed in the emotional closet, there is one thing you certainly cannot do if you truly want to tame the untidy, and that is give up.

“In the meantime, it’s good to look at all you’re doing right,” Stenstrom said. “We’re used to looking at the negatives. We do that with other people, so we tend to look negatively at ourselves. I can’t think of any other word for that except ‘icky.’”

So, whatever kind of icky closet you find yourself cleaning in the future, persevere.

With some order in your life — or storage space — you may find yourself feeling better — both mentally and physically unburdened.

“I like cleaning closets,” Stenstrom said.

“When I do, I feel like I’ve moved a mountain.”

03.2012/Crescent Magazine

29

sitting around and sounding it out

French horn player Gorrell, a music major, eventually wants to get a master’s degree and then a doctorate in conducting.

“After being in music for so many years, you want to be at the podium,” he said.

Gorrell became interested in conducting after taking a class in which the students conducted to music using only their facial expressions. They were encouraged to get in touch with the emotion and story of the music rather than just the technical beats. More energy makes for better music, Pund said.

And good conducting can make all the difference. The long hours of sitting and practicing for the IIB concert could have easily been tiring if not for the group’s conductor. Chair Allan McMurray, professor of conducting at the University of Colorado, has guest conducted and taught conductors in 45 states and 15 Putting a concert together in two days is no easy feat, different countries.

Instead of just leading the IIB students through the music, but five UE musicians pack their instruments and McMurray encouraged them and ignited their passion for the head north to accept the challenge. pieces. Gorrell said McMurray had inventive ways of approachby Danielle Weeks ing the music, which appealed to every player.

“He put things in different perspectives for [different] people,” Gorrell said.

McMurray told the ensemble that being a musician means Some people might doodle on their notebooks or making music to give love. Since Handy wants to become a mustare out the window during a particularly dull mosic therapist, this ment in class. But a select few others, like sophstruck a chord. omore Meghan Pund, might bring sheet music Masolak said to class to practice clarinet fingerings and while McMurray helped away the time. the ensemble “I’m always thinking about music,” she said. members to go beThis kind of passion is what brought five musiyond the technicians from Wind Ensemble — senior Caleb Gorrell, calities of the mujuniors Travis Guffey and Jessica Handy and sophosic and feel the mores Chelsea Masolak and Pund — to the 2012 Indiana Intercolemotional conneclegiate Band. The IIB selected students from different universition and artistry of ties to perform in a single honor band.

Travis Guffey performing.

And in January, those invited students packed their bags and Besides playing with a different conductor, the UE performinstrument cases and headed to the Embassy Theater in Fort ers also worked with a completely different ensemble than they Wayne, Ind., where they parked themselves in chairs for nearly were used to. Other than fellow UE IIB invitees, the students two days straight. had never met any of the other musicians before — and when “We played more in the two days than we slept,” Handy said. you are practicing for nearly 10 hours “That’s how intense it was.” straight, the quality of your company Intense, maybe, but not unusual.

“There’s a secret about counts.

These performers are more than used music in that you can’t But these students were all invited to full schedules. Between the five of for a reason. Pund said all the performthem, they perform for a variety of endescribe it. I want to portray ers, while friendly, were incredibly serisembles at UE: orchestra, Wind Ensemmusic to the audience.” ous about music and pushed one anothble, Jazz Ensemble, clarinet quartet, saxer to play at the highest level. She said ophone quartet, Symphony Orchestra, at the end of the first day of practice, the rehearsal started runhorn choir, brass quintet and clarinet quartet, as well as groups ning over time. Exhausted as they must have been, none of the outside of UE. ensemble members moved to leave.

And while they each share a love for music and for playing “It was great just to be around people who get really excited their respective instruments, these all-star musicians have differabout music,” Pund said. ent passions within that field. Guffey, for example, is a music edThe IIB concert allowed the performers to meet and work ucation major. Pund, a clarinet performance major, loves the hiswith musicians from all around the country; it also helped the tory, sound and spontaneity of jazz. Masolak is a trumpet player UE musicians get to know each other better. Although the five majoring in music therapy.

UE musicians knew each other beforehand from Wind Ensemble “Music therapy is using the power of music to get through to rehearsals, going together to IIB drew them closer. people and help them,” she said.

S

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Crescent Magazine/03.2012

“We got to bond more,” Gorrell said.

Because they were working within such a small time frame, Pund said the band worked together as a whole — no sectionals or splitting up by instrument sections to work on the music before playing with the entire ensemble. In two days, they were supposed to prepare pieces they would have worked on for weeks otherwise. But between McMurray’s energy and the musicians’ focus, they pulled it off.

“You focus on the bigger thing, and it all just falls into place,” Masolak said.

Gorrell said they learned to blend their sound together right away — which he noted can be difficult for French horn players, especially.

“It sounded like we’d been rehearsing for months,” Gorrell said.

Not only did their instruments blend well, but the players got along, too. Masolak said the other musicians were not only incredibly skilled but also humble about that adept skill level.

“Everyone really supported one another,” she said.

Handy added that people who play the same instrument tend to have similar personalities, which can make for fast friendships between players within a section. She and her fellow euphoniums tend to be laid-back. This trait was especially helpful for such long and intense practices.

“Like-instrumented people are like-minded people,” Pund agreed.

By the time of the Jan. 20 concert, the performers felt ready. Besides having the technical aspects of the music down, McMurray’s influence inspired them, too.

Gorrell said good conducting is more than counting the beats, and good playing is more than sounding the notes. He said music is about reaching the audience on an

Jessica Handy

Caleb Gorrell

t

he Indiana Intercollegiate Band is a prestigious ensemble consisting of 75 student musicians from colleges and universities all over the state.

Schools represented at the 2012 concert include Anderson, Ball State, Butler, DePauw, IUPU-Fort Wayne, Indiana State, Indiana Wesleyan, Manchester, Saint Joseph’s, Taylor, UE, University of Indianapolis, Valparaiso and Vincennes.

The symphony consisted of saxophones, clarinets, bassoons, flutes, horns, oboes, trombones, trumpets and piccolos, as well as several percussion instruments.

This year’s concert program was composed of pieces “My Jesus! Oh,

Meghan Pund Chelsea Masolak

emotional level and trying to communicate meaning.

“There’s a secret about music in that you can’t describe it,” he said. “I’ve played a lot of music, but I want to educate people. I want to portray music to the audience.”

The audience for this concert included their peers and professionals in the field.

They performed for the 2012 Indiana Music Educators Association Professional Development Conference, also held in Fort Wayne’s Embassy Theatre at the time. The seats were filled with other all-state honor bands and band directors, along with anyone else who wanted to take advantage of the live music and free admission.

The ensemble played four pieces for the concert, which lasted an hour. Masolak said the music was a mix of classical and contemporary. And while some of the performers were familiar with a few of the compositions, the new environment put a different spin on the musical pieces. The concert as a whole was a novel experience.

“Once we started up, I kind of forgot we were even performing,” Masolak said.

Handy said that, although she played in honor bands in middle and high school, IIB was by far the best experience. She said, as a college student, she had more of an appreciation for what she was doing. She felt more ready to learn and so became a better player.

For Gorrell, who is close to graduating, the concert felt like a confirmation of all he has been working toward during his time at UE. “Things are starting to pay off,” he said.

What Anguish” by Johann Sebastian Bach, March from “Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes of Carl Maria von Weber” by Paul Hindemith (arranged by Keith Wilson), “Second Suite in F” by Gustav Holst and “Symphony No. 2” by Frank Ticheli.

To participate in the concert, student musicians were hand-selected by their university directors.

Seating auditions were held during the first IIB on-site rehearsal.

fascinating facts

03.2012/Crescent Magazine

31

by Mindy Kurtz Bookofodds. com says the chances of filling out a perfect March Madness bracket are 35,360,000,000 to 1. With the odds so stacked against us, why do we find ourselves betting every year?

ides of March Madness

As March begins, sports fanatics everywhere are caught in the magnetic pull — or pool, rather — of March Madness. The term itself had not been used to identify the NCAA Basketball competition, the three-week span of games from March 13–April 2, until the early 1980s, when Brent Musburger, a CBS media reporter, used it throughout the telecast of the contest.

Now, every spring, Madness becomes a household term, bringing to mind images of fast-paced action, Dick Vitale and a huge spike in the gambling scene. Though sometimes not considered as such, Madness is a hotbed for gambling all over the U.S. According to the Nevada Gaming Commission, the amount of money legally wagered on Madness games was estimated to be somewhere between $80 million and $90 million — quite a hefty chunk of change.

But this massive amount doesn’t account for brackets distributed in offices, online betting or illegal betting between bookies and their clients. Sports gambling analyst Danny Sheridan estimates that more than $7 billion is spent in these circles.

And that is just the beginning. Everything about March Madness has the potential to become a bet: Who will lose first? Who will advance to Week 3? Who will win the final game? All of these questions have an answer and an inevitable price tag.

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Crescent Magazine/03.2012

There are even contests to see who can fill out the perfect bracket or predict every game correctly. Yahoo, for example, has a prize of $1 million for the person who can manage, but honestly, you are more likely to be struck by lightning, win the lottery or even die from falling on a waterspout — all in the same year.

Improbability seems to be the theme when it comes to excitement. At the beginning of Madness, teams are split up into different matches depending on their current wins or losses, or they are seeded. And although some teams have better track records than others, anything can happen; teams such as Butler and George Mason have proven it, going far beyond their seeded spots to break brackets, and banks, all over the country.

“There are so many games — right away,” senior Kevin Brown said. “It’s so unpredictable.

There are so many upsets you don’t expect.”

Upsets can hit close to home — for example, UE’s February win over Creighton, a truly pleasant surprise.

“Sometimes you don’t hear about certain teams, but then people will get behind them,” Brown said. “Everybody always likes to root for the underdog.”

Not only can any team succeed, but any betting person can strike it big as well. Even people without sports backgrounds will pick up a bracket slip and fill out names of schools they have never heard of for a sport they hard-

“How to bet your bottom dollar” Parlay: Allows a participant to wager on more than one contest at the same time in one bet.

Close call parlays: Parlay bets that “almost” win — that is, for example, instead of hitting five out of five teams, the better will be awarded for correctly betting four out of five teams.

Props: Non-sports related bets on the outcome of an event. But they can be sports related, like whether or not a team will have so many turnovers during the first few minutes of the game.

Total bet: A wager placed on the combined number of points scored by both teams.

Future bet: A wager that some result will occur at a time other than during a sports season.

Teaser bet: A modified parlay bet, meant to reduce risk to the better by offering an chance to bet on total game points. The totals are adjusted — or “teased” — to give the person a better chance of winning, but at reduced odds.

If bet: A win-only bet that allows participants to bet on multiple teams in the event that each individual bet is won, thereby allowing the person to see action on his or her subsequent bets. But there’s a catch — a person can only wager up to the total payout from his or her previous wager on the next bet, except for the first if bet, which is open to any wager amount. If a better loses any wager at any point in the win-only process, the entire wager is off, and the person is allowed to keep the winnings accumulated up until the losing bet, which is subtracted from the total payout received prior to the point of loss.

ly ever watch for a chance at a win.

“Some people bet on jersey color or even the name of the mascot, sometimes,” Brown said, although he maintains his allegiance to the UNC Tar Heels. “My mom graduated from Murray State, so she’ll always pick them for at least one win.”

But the question remains: Is there really any foolproof method to picking out a winning team? With the endless numbers of unforeseen circumstances and upsets, the answer seems to be a resounding “no.” Still, sports fans swap tips constantly for marking up brackets, and there are hundreds of web sites dedicated to helping eager gamblers choose picks. For Brown, the most logical strategy is picking the Final Four first and then working backwards. He said some of the first-round picks are easy due to seeding, but once later rounds begin, anything is possible.

Either way, March Madness will continue to infect hardcore gamblers and firsttime bracketers everywhere, luring us all with the promise of bragging rights and the chance to prove we indeed know how things are going to play out. In the memorable words of Vitale, “It’s Madness, baby!”

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33

2012

LinC

Road Tour

TiMe iS RunninG OuT!

Freshly Baked Potatoes

Pick up your FRee copy of the 2010–11 LINC yearbook.

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Stop by the yearbook Graves Hall — Lobby 10:45–11:15 a.m.

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Wednesday, April 1 ••••••••••••• Memorial Plaza noon–1 p.m.

Friday, April 20 ••••••••••••• Ridgway Center 4:30–5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 25

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34

Crescent Magazine/03.2012

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Third & Short / Mark Boxell

The great masquerade Good recruiting is the lifeblood of any college football program and a source of fan excitement. But the process has become a spectacle that transcends the sport.

C

ollege football programs are only as good as their ability to recruit. One can argue that good coaching and the right attitude can turn minimal talent into maximum output; there are certainly instances of unheralded players becoming game-changers. But the mantra “It’s not the X’s and O’s, it’s the Jimmys and the Joes” certainly holds weight. A close look at annual recruiting will reveal that the schools who recruit the best players tend to finish near the top of the national rankings. Good coaching and determination can only go so far.

Many fans realize this and have started following recruiting with as much fervor and emotion as they follow each game. This has given college football increased attention but also presented a few problems.

The source of this newfound fervor can be attributed to the growth of the Internet and various forms of social media. Before the Internet there was little recruiting information available to fans — no way for them to know about the prospects that did not live in their vicinity.

Even local players could only be viewed on the gridiron a handful of times each fall.

Thus, fans were made to wait until team press releases were made public on signing day (the first Wednesday of February, when a recruit signs his national letter of in-

Who Knew?

tent, verifying what school he will attend in fall).

The whole process began to change around the turn of the millennium. Around this time, a number of web sites were founded that catered exclusively to scouting and ranking high school athletes who were being recruited by colleges.

The most popular of these sites, Rivals.com and Scout. com, began offering premium updates for a fee. Recruits, detailing their possible destinations and the schools that were working the hardest to recruit them, had suddenly become a source of business.

Fans continue to pay for this information. As such, the business of recruiting has turned into a spectacle far beyond what it was a few years ago.

Social media has played an integral role. YouTube has allowed overzealous fans to root out and critique recruits’ highlight tapes. Sites like Twitter and Facebook have allowed fans to communicate personally with recruits, which has espoused several controversies.

Recruits often make verbal commitments to universities

months or even years before they are seniors and eligible to sign official letters of intent.

Every year there are numerous examples of recruits who decide to renege on a verbal commitment to one school and who thereby enroll at another.

This incites outrage from the former school’s fan base, and almost always, there is a faction of fans who focus their feelings toward the recruit and proceed to insult him personally via online media.

Turning these 17- and 18-year-olds into nothing more than objects is a consequence of the culture that surrounds college football. In this, there is a disconnect between studentathletes and football fans, who begin to see players as tradable pawns that could potentially bring glory to a team.

Too, the attention surrounding these young athletes can provide a stage for immaturity

to go public. This January, one of the nation’s highest rated defensive backs was expelled from school due to sexually explicit content he posted on his Twitter page.

It’s unlikely that school would have felt it necessary to expel this player were it not for the amount of attention the incident received on various college football blogs and online message boards.

Recruiting has turned into a multimedia-based spectacle that is often more reminiscent of a soap opera than of anything really relevant to football.

The fact that the actors in this masquerade are a handful of teenagers and masses of clamoring, occasionally ill-tempered, fans only adds to its absurdity.

Third & Short columnist Mark Boxell is a sophomore history major from Evansville, Ind.

The highly recognizable Nike swoosh was designed by a Portland State University student and purchased by Nike for $35.

03.2012/Crescent Magazine

35

off the wall Who Knew?

A Wisconsin forklift operator for a Miller beer distributor was fired when a photo was published showing him drinking a Bud Light.

dotm

White Russian Martini Because winter months are still on their way out, why not warm up to a simple drink that’s easy to make and combines the creamy taste of Kahlua with the slight bite of vodka? About.com says to make this drink, just pour vodka and Kahlua into a glass, stir and gently top with cream. Hey, if it’s good enough for The Dude, it’s good enough for any occasion.

Ingredients: 1.5 oz vodka 3/4 oz Kahlua 3/4 oz cream

it came from the library n The first person to get a speeding ticket was charged in 1896 for exceeding the 2-mph speed limit. He sped by a police constable’s house going a breakneck 8 mph. The constable grabbed his helmet and gave chase on his bicycle. n Tobacco “honesty” boxes were introduced in English taverns in 1615. To partake, a customer would insert a penny into the box’s slot, which released the lock on the lid. The customer was then supposed to take one and only one pipeful of tobacco. n French couturier

36

Louis Reard designed the bikini, and dancer Micheline Bernardini modeled its design at a Paris fashion show in 1946. Once pictures of Bernardini wearing the bikini circulated, she received 50,000 fan letters.

Beautiful paintings can still feature ugly babies, as uglyrenaissancebabies.tumblr.com demonstrates. This site is a gallery that displays a range of Renaissance renderings of children, from wig-wearing, dead-eyed

Crescent Magazine/03.2012

n Two sisters, ages 14 and 11, allegedly made contact with the spirit world in 1848. Two years later, P.T. Barnum signed them to a contract, making them the first professional spiritualist mediums. cherubs to babies who defy all natural proportions. No one doubts the skill of artists like Giovanni Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci, but there is something creepy about disembodied baby heads. n If your wardrobe has always felt incomplete without a bacon bracelet, head on over to bacon-

gotta get it Carrying an iPhone 4 means that, when it comes to smartphones, you are willing to put down the dough to have the best. But plain old iPhones aren’t the best anymore. You are not up-to-date in smartphone style unless you are the proud owner of an iPhone 4 Diamond Rose Edition, crafted by designer Stuart Hughes. The backplate and antenna band of the exclusive cell are composed entirely of rose gold, and 100 carats of flawless diamonds — 500 individual stones — also sparkle along the band.

Composed of another 53 diamonds, the Apbaconbacon.tumblr.com to get one. “It’s All About the Bacon” is a blog with information about everything bacon. For those who cannot live without this salty meat, this site is vital. Content includes a recipe for whiskey, caramel and bacon bark as well as how to make bacon roses and perfume.

hole in the wall

ple logo shines up the cell body. And because you can never have too many diamonds, the platinum home button also features a 7.4-carat pink diamond. In case pink is not your color, the phone comes with a replacement 8-carat diamond, too.

This topnotch phone will only cost you a little more than $8 million. And there’s also a free gift. When you aren’t using it to order a new yacht, you can store it in your complimentary imperial pink chest, made from a single block of granite and Nubuck top-grain leather. most-expensive.net

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From pictures to documents, scanning can be a big pain, but with iPhone’s new TurboScan app, you can straighten documents, eliminate shadows and set contrast like a pro.

For only $1.99, TurboScan uses advanced algorithms to auto-detect source materials and store scans online.

While there has been very little research concerning the sounds women make during sex, the Kinsey Institute reports that a recent research article suggested one reason may be to enhance their partner’s arousal and encourage their partner to experience orgasm and, in the case of men, to ejaculate and end intercourse. But other research suggests that, at least for some women, noises are involuntarily emitted — meaning they just sort of come out. Some women likely feel turned on by making noises. Some likely started out making them to mimic what they saw — and heard — in porn or Hollywood movies. Maybe they ended up liking it or feeling that it’s now a normal part of sex for them. And certainly some women use noises to fake orgasm. Bottom line: There are numerous reasons why women make noises during sex. There are also reasons why some are quiet, including they feel shame, are embarrassed or modest, there are neighbors down the hall or they just never thought about making sounds.

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No Hats Allowed

In Fargo, one may be jailed for wearing a hat while dancing or wearing a hat to a function where dancing is taking place.

ak

Beary Illegal

While it is legal to shoot bears, waking a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited.

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Nature Calls

Animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school or place of worship.

de

Overseas Flights

It is illegal to fly over any body of water unless one is carrying sufficient supplies of food and drink.

telegraph.co.uk

Criminally Dumb A would-be thief entered a bank in London and demanded 700,000 pounds from the teller. But instead of handing his empty bag to the employee, he handed over his gun. Bank staff immediately activated the security shutters. But the thief managed to get away by stealing a bike, and police did not catch him. “This man is not the sharpest tool in the box,” a police officer said

Lost and Found Budget hotel chain Travelodge released a list of bizarre items its more than 13 million U.K. patrons have left behind. Most people forget phone or laptop chargers. But parents who were staying in Winchester forgot their 18-month-old boy. And besides children, people have also left Ferrari keys, a Vera Wang wedding gown, an urn containing a woman’s ashes and a suitcase of designer dog outfits.

The Dark Side The former mayor of Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, refused to judge a Halloween pumpkin-carving contest because he felt the act glorified Satan’s angels and celebrates the dark side. He said children should not be involved in Halloween activities. His remarks incensed pagan groups and the local borough council, which ordered him to make a written apology.

Digging In Thieves spent months digging a 100-footlong tunnel under a railway embankment and a car lot to reach their destination: a Blockbuster cash machine in Manchester, England. Police estimate the criminals managed to steal about 6,000 pounds from the machine, which was built to hold as much as 20,000, and had to cut through concrete to reach the machine.

n Janky: Being “That Guy” in Class Dude, we’re glad you think your opinion matters, but maybe, just maybe, it only matters to you. The class already knows how you feel about literature, religion and sexual encounters — but we’re in algebra.

You know it’s bad when even the professor has to remind you to speak in turn and raise your hand. n Juicy: Participating in Class Discussions Participating in class is something different alto-

janky vs. juicy

tidbits & assets

gether — as long as you do it with class, that is. This is college, a time to discuss our ideas and find out who we are. Don’t be afraid to share your viewpoint; just make sure your two cents’ worth don’t become whole dollars or more. n Janky: Intolerance So, you find yourself walking to class and spot people smoking — at a reasonable distance — from a building, and you can’t help but inform them just how damaged their lungs are and how your air is being poisoned by their life choice. But that’s just it; it’s their choice. So, cut it out, there’s enough pollution coming out of your own mouth. n Juicy: Respect Aretha couldn’t have put more clearly: Showing people some respect can have a big impact. UE is a place we come to learn, not to demean or tear others down — especially for the ways they wish to live their lives. Only once we can learn to respect one another will we all be able to get along.

03.2012/Crescent Magazine

37

Amy Restemayer

1. “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, 2008)

Senior “Tangled” (2010)

Get your hands on a copy of this book as fast as you can. This book is popular right now, and the film adaptation will be in theaters this month. Set in a dystopian future, the government hosts a yearly tournament where 24 children are forced to fight to the death.

You won’t be able to put it down.

The ending worked because it was part of the progression of the story line. It added humor but consistently satisfied the audience.”

Tiffany Winternheimer

Junior “Little Miss Sunshine” (2006) It was a hilarious ending with Olive’s performance dedication.

I love that they all join in without [caring what people think]. The film shows us how important family is and should be.”

2. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”

by Stephen Chbosky (MTV Books, 1999) Also undergoing transition to the screen, this book is written as a series of letters addressed to a classmate from a boy named Charlie, the titular wallflower. Shy and a bit of a misfit, he has faced many problems in the company of his less-than-empathetic peers.

Alyssa Stamps

Junior “Fight Club” (1999) I adore the ending because of how unpredictable it is. You end up with an odd sort of romance, self-inflicted injury and mass chaos as society collapses around the characters.”

Julia Finder as far as sophomore Mandy Sim is concerned. This psychology major’s picks range from popular titles commanding the airwaves to the undiscovered literary gems.

But he befriends a set of upperclassmen and they help him discover the perks of being a wallflower.

3. “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green (Dutton Juvenile, 2012) Hazel was diagnosed with cancer at age 13 and has never been anything more than a terminally ill patient — that is, until she meets Augustus Waters and falls in love. Although funny and entertaining, the story speaks of the tragedy of facing death at a young age.

4. “A Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin (Bantam Books, 1996) The basis for HBO’s series of the

Who Knew?

38

same name, the book is considered fantasy, but the characters and the setting are very believable. There is a medieval feeling to the story, and the universe is so well designed that you feel like you should have studied it in world history.

5. “His Majesty’s Dragon” by Naomi Novik (Del Rey, 2006) The first in a series called “Temeraire,” when I read it, although the plot seemed really strange at first, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s about the Napoleonic Wars — but with dragons. It reads like it was written by Jane Austen and J.R.R. Tolkien, and anybody can fall in love with the main dragon.

Sophomore “The Purple Rose of Cairo” (1985) The movie is set to be either super-romantic or heartbreaking. It’s hard to see someone go from everything to nothing.”

favorite

endings James Drury

Junior “Inception” (2010) I think the top falls in the end. It was a very well-done and original movie that actually left me wondering what happened next. Very suspenseful and tastefully written.”

Months that start with a Sunday always has a Friday the 13th. • 85% of the men who cheat on their wives die while having sex.

Crescent Magazine/03.2012

favorite international songs Students name their top picks for a night of intercultural tunes.

“La Vie en Rose” Edith Piaf “I love the French language, and this song has a very lilting melody. It’s a mezzo forte art song, which is great for studying.” junior Margie Heideman

“Glad You Came” The Wanted “This song reminds me of Harlaxton, with memories of the Bistro and everyone singing after the valedictory dinner.” sophomore Allie Deford

“Cemeteries of London” Coldplay “I love the vocals, along with the band’s stage presence. Coldplay is great to study to; I listen Coldplay on Spotify daily.” sophomore Jacob Peterson

“Knights of Cydonia” Muse “Muse is a great band to sing along with and jam to in the car. Sometimes I just sit down and think, ‘It’s a Muse day.’” freshman Tyler Arnzen

“Fight Fire” Pure Reason Revolution “I enjoy the band’s dual lead vocals and shine of modern production techniques, as well as the growth toward electronica without too much change from [its] roots.” junior Steven Stone

A Closer Look

Samantha Cook/Crescent Magazine

at Security’s Geneva Davis

When most people think of Safety & Security, its headquarters marooned on the outskirts of H-lot, parking tickets and fines are usually the first things that come to mind. But behind the glass in the very first office sits a woman who exudes positivity and gives even those with the biggest of troubles an enduring reason to smile.

Geneva Davis has served as senior administrative assistant for nine years, but she has worked at UE for 16, making her no stranger to the ins and outs of campus life. But even after all these years, she still manages to find a soft spot for students, no matter their dilemma.

“I had an international student who was coming to UE by taxi, and all he had with him was a $100 bill,”she said. “The cabby couldn’t take it from him. So I paid for his taxi.”

Davis would go on to call her son, who got her in touch with a translator to figure out what the student needed. The translator found that the student was hungry, so Davis bought him a snack from the vending machine.

“I know Security can sometimes be something people don’t like, but they only look at the bad,” she said. “We really try to go above and beyond when

it comes to caring for students.”

And Davis has a knack for silver linings. She has been a breast cancer survivor for 18 years — and counting. She said when she was first diagnosed, her condition could not be treated with chemotherapy or medication, and she was told she had a 5 percent chance of survival.

“I had nine major surgeries in a year,” Davis said, “but I’m more diligent about my healthcare now. I really try to look on the bright side of things.”

Baking and crafting keep Davis busy outside the office, although she has plenty of work on campus. Between manning door locks, billing, fines and handling new student IDs, she puts in a lot of overtime.

“I came in on Christmas and Thanksgiving my first year here,” Davis said. “People tell me, ‘You worry too much about this place,’ but I just like things to go as they should.”

But Davis does not care for the spotlight. She prefers staying in the background and takes time out for what she considers those things most important in her life.

“I love God, and I love my family,” Davis said. “They both mean everything to me.”

by Mindy Kurtz 03.2012/Crescent Magazine

39

That’s What She Said / Lacey Conley

Essay Never have I ever Yours truly, resident novice to all things life-related, opens up with some starling confessions, facing the ultimately sad reality: I’ve got alotta livin’ to do.

Whenever I’m in the company of others, even those I do care to meet, wading through the masochism of the getting-to-know-you, the inevitable anecdotes, recitation of memories and just general swapping of facts, I am — never fails — confronted with what is to me an inarguable truth: that I am incredibly, even ten kinds of lame. In fact, no stallion of a human specimen, no prize-winning sow of a person at all.

I was reminded this recently during one of those booze-guzzlin’ game aids, a rousing round of “Ten Fingers” at a friend’s. As I sat nursing my drink — straight orange juice with a plain water chaser — eight or nine fingers still stretched out in wait, party guests were busy conferring, divining “have done”s that might yet apply to me. Whereas people had been adding the phrases “while doing a headstand” and “with a midget” just to keep themselves in the game, I was scrambling to remember the guidelines, not having the best track record with fun.

You see, there are quite a few things I’ve not done in my lifetime, either by choice or because I never learned how.

This leg-long registry of “don’t-know”s and “never”s has led me to be the occasional group Debbie Downer — for example, when someone suggests a rollerblading jaunt, cue werewolf-like transformation into Rachel Dratch.

I mean, I’m not just talking the big kahunas: never got a tattoo, never carjacked someone, never got drafted into a sacrificial cult. I’m talking about the major mainstays of the human experience, or so it would seem, given the bug-eyed reactions I get when say-

Who Knew?

40

ing I’ve not read “Harry Potter” or seen “Star Wars” before.

For a long time, I prided in my “have not”s and “don’t do”s, the way some people tout a thing actually done. The way your stereotypical can-crunching broski might fist-bump in exult over a frat-tastic conquest, I would quietly congratulate myself for a life sans exploits — my ability to have inability, my calm dismissal of common pastimes like card games and camping and Mario Kart.

Like some weird phase of hipsterdom, resistance was its very own Boy Scout success badge: “Biggest, Most Naive Sombitch on Earth.”

In my defense, few of these gaps in basic human know-how have made it impossible for me to get by: Bike-riding for example — you don’t need that skill.

I’m not Pee-wee Herman; I don’t need to pedal to get from Point A to B. And then there’s swimming. A proud graduate of the North Side Elementary Third Grade Swim (also known as the Throw Your Unsuspecting Toddler into Open Water hour), I am confident that, should I ever have to swim for my life, I could sputter and flail my ass to safety; just, whenever possible, I prefer the shallow end of the pool.

College, luckily, has forced some experience, courtesy mostly of my dear friend Gabrielle, whose zest for life is manifest in her tendency to refer to things as “life-alteringly good.” It was Gabrielle who introduced me to hot wings and sushi, who taught me how to use a debit card and who saved me from my unawareness of sports — my dullard capacity to confuse baseball with badminton, that likelihood I would

rise at a touchdown to howl the word “Goooooaaaalll!”

Like Jane Goodall Junior, or the Miracle Worker, Gabi cleaned and deloused me, combed my hair — pulling kinks and tangles from my personhood with slow regimenting and some steely patience. “Pants up. Good job! You’ve earned an M&M.” But I am still learning. I have yet to ride my first-ever rollercoaster, to play my first game of Monopoly — to cook, to braid hair, to learn to drive and to sew. At 21, I still had never been on a plane. Heck, I didn’t use a tampon until I was 19, with my gaggle of girlfriends shouting instructions, cheering me on outside the bathroom stall.

The way things are going, one might worry I’m destined to be one of those people who call 911 whenever McDonalds’ McFlurry machines are down. But for the most part, and with Gabi’s help, I am a minimum level of functional — and pretty comfortable holding out on some things.

This kooky abstinence has, on the larger scale, protected me from some more questionable fads — for example, I’ve never owned a pair of pants with “Hottie” bedazzled on the assplate, and I don’t know all the lyrics to “Wonderwall.” And, despite that I am slightly cave-dwelling, despite being painfully, even vigorously lame, think of it: All the best is yet to come. In ironing and gocarts and “Lord of the Rings,” there is still a whole world out there.

Essayist Lacey Conley is a senior creative writing and psychology major from Kendallville, Ind.

The Bible, the world’s best-selling book, is also the most shoplifted. • All of the clocks in the movie “Pulp Fiction” read 4:20.

Crescent Magazine/03.2012

start something

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Our Accountability — We partner with parents/guardians, volunteers and others in the community and hold ourselves accountable for each child in our program achieving: • Higher aspirations, greater confidence and better relationships • Avoidance of risky behaviors • Educational success

For more information contact www.bbbsevansville.org or call (812) 425–6076

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