Lighting the way

Chi Omega sorority members and friends bundled up and braved temperatures in the teens Thursday night to hold a vigil in honor of the victims and survivors of the Dec. 26 tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia.\nA group of about 150 students on the sorority's front lawn lit candles and bowed their heads for a moment of silence in memory of those lost in the natural disaster.\nSorority members circulated the crowd with cans, asking for donations for the tsunami relief fund. Donations will be turned in to the Red Cross, where the money raised will be counted.\nSeniors Liz Doukas and Laura Klang-Glienna, event organizers, read an excerpt from the journal of a tsunami survivor in Sri Lanka named Cov.\n"... up and down the beach bodies were laying by the road, buses were turned over and cars were in trees," Doukas read. "I can't imagine how many will be among the dead, but it will be much higher than the numbers indicate right now ... so many lives are ruined."\nDoukas said the journal entry, which was found on the Internet, was important to the ceremony because of the large number of people killed in the disaster. \n"Over 220,000 people are dead. People can't comprehend that amount of people," she said. "It adds a personal account to help people understand."\nLadies First, IU women's a cappella singing group, also performed two songs, including a version of Mariah Carey's "Hero."\n"Ladies First sounded amazing," Klang-Glienna said. "When they started singing 'Hero' I got choked up."\nSenior Mackenzie Hartman said she felt the vigil was important for those in the greek community and those outside it.\n"It affected not just people there, but us too," she said. "Some of those who were lost were American tourists. We wanted to get together and remember everyone we lost, and the families."\nDoukas and Klang-Glienna said they were pleased with the turnout, especially in spite of the winter weather. \nThey started planning the event shortly after break, hoping to help people realize the magnitude of what happened and its effect.\n"Money is great, but it's more important for people to realize how lucky they are and that there are so many important things going on," Klang-Glienna said.\nBoth agree being in college can make people lose sight of the bigger picture, especially in a town like Bloomington.\n"We wanted people to get out of the college bubble," Doukas said. "See what's going on the world."\nDoukas also said she feels strongly about the tragedy after visiting Thailand last May while studying abroad.\n"It was gorgeous, and already so poor," she said. "They lost the little they did have."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Haley Beck at habeck@indiana.edu.