Diversity, food highlight CultureFest

After a day and a half of "being oriented," many freshman are ready for fun. And fun is what they will get at CultureFest at 4:30 p.m. today in the IU Auditorium and around Showalter Fountain. The event, for new and old students, will last into the evening.\nOffice of Orientation Programs Graduate Assistant Emily McCallister said many current students call CultureFest the most memorable part of Welcome Week. The office is expecting thousands to attend. \nWhat students may remember about CultureFest is the wide variety of free food, live music, games and other events. But while these students are having fun, they can also learn about IU's diversity by visiting booths sponsored by campus organizations.\nMcCallister said CultureFest represents true diversity on campus. \n"It gets great information out to students about all the resources in those areas," she said. "All the groups have contact info and our Web site has cultural information."\nOne group participating is the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Support Services. GLBTSSS Assistant Carol Fischer said the office will distribute information about various GLBT organizations on campus, and it will also host a caricature artist. She said the GLBTSSS is proud to be part of CultureFest because the GLBT community itself is very diverse.\n"Overall, it is defined as a culture," she said. "The community would like for people to understand that we come in many different shapes, sizes and beliefs. Participation helps people understand we're people coming together as a community with all our differences."\nFischer said she hopes attendees learn gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people are just like them.\n"If we're included as a culture, then the message is we're OK, which we are," she said.\nAround the fountain at another booth, the Asian Culture Center will be distributing information about its various groups and playing games. ACC Director Melanie Castillo-Cullather said CultureFest is one event the center does not want to miss.\n"It's a great opportunity for students to learn about our programs and services, and to know that they can count on ACC as one of the places that they can hang out and learn from," she said in an e-mail. "It's also a great chance for us to tell the students that the ACC is open to everyone."\nShe said the booth will also be hosting interactive games, such as a chopstick contest and an Asian roulette.\nAdditionally, McCallister said the orientation office is presenting world-renowned motivational speaker Kevin Wanzer for his second year at CultureFest. Wanzer, a native Hoosier, has been noted as "'being able to reach the unreachable' with a style unlike most audiences have ever dreamt possible," according to www.kevinwanzer.com. \nShe added CultureFest will also include live music and dancing both as part of the speech and outside.\nBut if caricatures, games, lectures and live music don't give students enough of a taste of culture, they can also enjoy free food. Fischer said GLBTSSS will serve smoothies and ACC Program and Administration Assistant Babita Upadhyay said the ACC will serve samosa, barbecue chicken, spring rolls and crab rangoon.