IUSA looking for 'spirited' design

The IU Student Association and the T.I.S. Bookstore are unifying Hoosier basketball fans by challenging IU students to create a design for a unified fan T-shirt, which will be passed out at the first three men's basketball home games.\nMany colleges throughout the nation, including the University of Illinois, University of Iowa, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina and Michigan State University, show spirit with a school-sponsored "spirit T-shirt," but this is something IU is lacking, said junior Scott Norman, IUSA press secretary.\nStudents should submit ideas or designs by Saturday to the IUSA office in Room 387 of the Indiana Memorial Union. The student who wins the contest will receive a free semester of books from T.I.S. \n"Last year's shirt was designed by T.I.S.," Norman said. "It was IUSA's idea to put together a contest this year where the student shirt, inherent that the shirt would be for students, would be designed by students. No such contest has been run until this point. Many schools have spirit shirts. In fact, we are currently in the minority." \nIUSA President Casey Cox, a senior, said you can see many similar examples of unified fandom at other schools, such as Purdue University's "Gene Pool" and MSU's "Izzone." \n"We are aiming to enrich student life by providing solidarity among students and fans in general at various events," he said. "We'd like to establish an IU tradition in which students consistently identify with the name that they assigned themselves." \nCox said he hopes the student body will spread this idea throughout all sporting events, creating a more intense level of competition for athletic teams. \nMike Mann, marketing manager at T.I.S., said both IUSA and T.I.S. plan to pass out 800 free T-shirts at the games. Norman said the shirts will be placed on the bleachers prior to the game. The shirts passed out will be primarily larger sizes, but if someone who received a T-shirt needs to switch sizes, they can do so at T.I.S., Mann said. \nMann said T.I.S. will donate a portion of the proceeds to IUSA for student scholarships and another portion to the IU Varsity Club. \n-- Contact staff writer Alex Moore at mam3@indiana.edu.