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(04/30/01 5:03am)
I started crying in the grocery store Saturday. While sorting out hot dogs and buns for a camp-out I was about to embark on, I was chatting with my best gal pal on my cell phone. I had been trying to convince her to come camping with me, and thought I had succeeded. \nBut while I was picking out ketchup and mustard, she told me she had too much studying, housework and sleeping to do and wouldn't be able to come.\n And there in the condiment aisle, I realized that this terrific four-year rollercoaster ride is coming to an end, and I have less than a week to cram in as much quality time with my friends as possible. Sure, I'll keep in touch with them after graduation, maybe even come back to visit for a reunion next year. But life will never be like this again.\nConsider the life of a college student.\nYou get up about an hour (if that) before your first class, which can be anything between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. You go to your classes, stopping in between to talk to the many people you know on campus. On any given day, you might run into a girl who lived on your floor freshman year, someone you went to high school with and your current next door neighbor.\nAfter classes, you might go home and take a nap. If you feel up to it, you study for a while. If not, you veg with your roommates or make plans to go out for the evening.\nThrough classes, activities and jobs, you have an instant circle of friends your own age, most with similar interests. \nSchool nights are fair game for parties, bar hopping and any other procrastination. You say you can't go out on a Monday night? But it's happy hour at Kilroy's on Kirkwood, and you don't have class till 1 p.m. on Tuesdays!\nWant to go on a road trip? Just skip your Friday classes (if you have any) and hit the road!\nLife will never be this carefree, this responsibility-free, again. When I move on to the real world, I won't be able to skip work because it's beautiful outside, or blow off my job for 15 cent draft night at the Bluebird. I will not have the huge circle of friends in my sorority. I won't have a fabulous roomie who is always willing to order food with me or give me her shoulder to cry on when I need it. \nWhat I will have is responsibility. And as much as that scares the living daylights out of me, it's a step I'm willing to take. I've spent the last four years having a damn good time, all the while keeping my grades up enough to get into a decent law school and building my resume with work experience here at the IDS. I even had the privilege of spending the most amazing year studying abroad in Canterbury, England, and travelling around Europe.\nAs much as it will hurt to stop playing around and strike out on my own, it's time.\nAnd I am not going to say life will never be this good again. I refuse to be one of those people who thinks that life after college is all one long downhill struggle.\nBut I am becoming conscious of how good I have had it here, and I've been trying to take advantage of everything I can during my last week here. Sunning myself in the Arboretum, running through the fountain in front of the Music School library, eating Jiffy Treet, sinking the Biz at Nick's, fighting the crowds at Sports, dancing the night away at the Bluebird.\nAnd, as I (unsuccessfully) tried to convince my friend who was too busy to go camping with me, these are the days to enjoy ourselves. \nMy mom breeds nerds, so I can't in good conscience tell all of you to blow off studying to party it up your last few days here. But I am a strong advocate of study breaks, and what better way to take your mind off biochemistry than a stroll around Kirkwood and the Bloomington square? I don't know many adults who look back on college wishing they had just spent a few more hours studying. But I have heard countless adults whining that they didn't spend as much time with their friends as they wanted, or didn't pursue that crush hard enough to make something happen.\nSo, my parting words of wisdom (take them or leave them as you will) are these: make something happen. Do what you love, spend time with the people you love, and above all love your four (or five, or six…) years here. \nLife will never be like this again.
(03/23/01 3:51am)
After putting spring break columns on the opinion page every day this week, I felt like I would be remiss if I didn't share my own vacation experience with all of you.\nSome of you might remember my short and ill-fated attempt at being a correspondent columnist last year while I studied abroad in England (I don't blame you if you don't remember: I only produced two lousy columns before jetting off to Europe to travel for five weeks, much to the chagrin of my editor). \nThis spring break, I revisited England, gallivanting around London and Canterbury, the university town where I spent most of last year.\nLet me preface this with the fact that I never intended to go back this soon. I was still adjusting to being back in the States this fall, when all my sorority sisters were busy booking cruises and condos in warm climates.\nBut then an e-mail came my way advertising ridiculously cheap flights to the UK and Europe -- unbeatable prices that were hard to pass up.\nAll it took was a little convincing and I had found a travel partner in my best gal pal, Holly, who studied in Canterbury with me. \nI knew the trip would be a success when we were met by a large group of British men, all dressed in matching rugby shirts, at our departure gate in Newark. Just hearing the British accent was enough to put smiles on our faces and good spirit in our hearts as we boarded the plane that would be our home for the next six hours.\nWe started our trip with a few days in London. We had done or seen most of the sights last year, but did a few we missed: Madame Tussaud's amazing wax museums, the Tate Gallery of modern art and Harrods department store. \nBut I felt like the trip really began when we stepped off the bus in Canterbury. It was like coming home.\nDespite its reputation for awful weather, England really does have some beautiful days, and this was one of them: sunny, crisp and bright. Walking around the High Street, I couldn't seem to wipe the ridiculous grin off my face, but what I was feeling was more than euphoria at returning to a town where I spent eight months.\nI never felt this way about coming back to Bloomington after a vacation. Perhaps I embraced Canterbury so fully while I was there because the British culture is so different from America's and it was a challenge to assimilate into it. \nI've never cried when leaving one location and moving on to another: not when I moved from Nashville to Memphis in junior high, not when I left for college, and certainly not when I got on the plane to go to England. \nBut I cried when I left Canterbury, and going back brought me close to those same tears.\nThings only became more surreal when we left town and made the short trip up the hill to the campus where we studied, at the University of Kent. We met up with Phil, one of my British housemates from last year, caught up while "having a coffee," and ran into many other acquaintances and friends while walking around campus. \nOnce again, I felt like I had never left. Walking around Eliot College, where I spent countless hours slaving away on essays, it seemed like I was just on a study break, walking down to the bar to grab a pint. \nThat evening, we ate at our favorite pub for traditional British food and danced the night away at the on-campus night club, the Venue. \nI won't even go into the exorbitant amounts of money I spent while shopping on the High Street the next day, the great West End theater or the street markets we explored on our last day in London. Suffice it to say that the rest of the trip was a dream come true. And it rained only five out of the seven days we were there! \nOf course, some things were different and made me a little sad: I was very close with a small community of Americans at the university, and their absence was definitely felt. Canterbury without the other two American Girls, California Dave and Julie, Indiana Mike and Courtney and the Marley crew was strange.\nBut the essence of Canterbury was still there, and that's what I find myself missing the most. \nSpending a year abroad is like no other experience I have had, and probably none other I will have. Part of it will always be with me, and there will always be a special place in my heart for all things British, and for the fine Kentish lads and lasses with whom I had the pleasure of spending a year.
(12/07/00 6:29am)
The frat party many IU students once knew is now officially dead. Beginning this fall, the administration stepped up enforcement in an effort to force parties out of basements and into local venues, where a third-party vendor can sell alcohol only to those students who are legally of age.\nBut how has this transition from loud, boisterous parties with free-flowing beer for all who could hold a cup into a primarily off-campus, legal party scene happened? \nThis semester of change has not passed without struggles. But both the administration and greek leaders see the shift as a positive one which will bring fraternities and sororities back to the ideals on which they were founded: brotherly and sisterly friendship, leadership and scholarship.\nThe beginning of the end\nThe frat party did not bite the dust overnight. According to Stan Sweeney, associate director of student activities for greek affairs, it began in 1997, when three national fraternities decided to become substance-free by the fall of 2000. This sparked the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), the governing body of national sororities, to pass a resolution in 1998 that all sororities must stop attending functions at fraternity houses if alcohol is served.\nIn reaction to this local PHA resolution, IU's Interfraternity Council (IFC) passed its own resolution supporting NPC and PHA and adopted a new policy toward social functions.\nThe fact that the greek leadership at IU was taking a proactive stance towards alcohol management got the attention of the administration.\n"The University policy has always been the same for us," Sweeney says. "But what's different is that students are buying into it." \nJim Gibson, assistant dean of students and director of student activities, was proud of greek leaders since IU was one of only two universities in the nation to pass such a resolution. \n"That led Dean (of Students Richard) McKaig and I to sit down and say, 'Guys, what needs to happen? What do you need from us to help make this work?'" Gibson said.\nInvitation to the \'enemy\'\nAfter meeting with both sorority and fraternity leaders last spring, the administration realized the greek leaders wanted two things to help them function under their new resolutions. The first part was a list of local third-party vendors who would accept their business.\n"The students understood, and this is absolutely true, that their reputation preceded them," Gibson says. "Very few businesses in town wanted to touch the greeks with a 10-foot pole."\nThe greek leaders also asked for more even enforcement of the alcohol policies already in effect. \n"There was a perception out there, I would say a misperception, that only certain houses got checked on and certain groups got picked on more than others," Gibson says. \nIn the past, Dean Gibson and his staff were responsible for checking up on fraternities and only went on party patrols about four or five times a semester. Fraternity leaders asked the administration to make this enforcement more consistent. \nThe problem that kept the administration from cracking down on alcohol abuse in the past was money. There were not enough funds in the Student Activities Office budget to cover the assistance greek leaders were requesting. That changed last spring.\n"We got really lucky, to be very blunt," Gibson says. "The IU Foundation was able to identify a benefactor, a gentleman who was a greek member at IU and was very supportive of greek life." \nWith these new funds, Bill Eggleston was hired over the summer as a consultant to initially work on identifying third-party vendors in the community. When classes began, he took on the enforcement aspect, visiting fraternities six nights of the week and ensuring that each house received a visit at least once a weekend, every weekend. Eggleston has since resigned and has been replaced by Scott Thiery, who continues the patrols. \nGetting used to The Gables\nEach sorority and fraternity chapter has made changes in social policies in order to adhere to the new policy. Moving functions to third-party vendors has brought its own set of challenges.\nJennifer Urbanski, a senior and president of Alpha Phi, says although her sorority has been successful in adapting, the cost of functions has risen significantly.\n"It's a different way of planning social functions," Urbanski says. "It's more expensive in a sense because you have to use third-party vendors, but the experience is something we've all learned from."\nAll sororities have struggled with the changes on some level. \n"Our members weren't happy about it at first," senior Meghan Hasser, president of Kappa Alpha Theta, says. "They're still not happy about it. We're looking into different types of social functions. We'll go bowling or roller skating. But programming this year has been really difficult because it's so new."\nFraternities are adapting as well. \n"Our new parties are much like the traditional parties," senior Eric Christopher, president of Lambda Chi Alpha this fall semester, says. "We've had lots of themes, like a beach party. We went camping. We're trying to do a traditional frat party but taking it out of the house."\nOther fraternities have had more problems finding new ideas for social functions. \n"We've had a couple of functions at the house," senior Matt Hanson, who was President of Acacia this fall, says. "We started doing third-party vendors in the beginning of the year and found that it was a huge hassle with cost and holding people accountable. Now we're treading water trying to find out what else is out there."\nThe appearance of problems\nNongreek students have moaned and wailed that without fraternity parties to occupy them, greek students have overcrowded the bars. \nHowever, local bar owner Linda Prall, who runs Kilroy's Sports Bar and Kilroy's on Kirkwood, disagrees that there is overcrowding.\nWhat Prall has noticed is an increase in the attempted use of fake IDs by underage students.\n"We have absolutely seen an increase, almost a doubling in students using fakes," Prall says. "We've increased our training to help employees spot them better and we're working with excise to stop it."\nDavid Wilkerson, head bartender of the Bluebird Nightclub, agrees. \n"Our attendance varies night by night, and it was pretty high when the parties were going on," Wilkerson says. "We based our numbers on how many people came to see a particular band in the past, and we haven't really seen an increase due to the parties being shut down."\nThe problem of increased drunk driving has been another misconception. Lieutenant Jerry Minger of the IU Police Department reported that the current number of drunk driving arrests for 2000 is 54, almost double the 31 arrests for 1999, but comparable to the 50 arrests in 1998 and 43 in 1997. \nMinger insists that this rise cannot be attributed to the lack of fraternity parties.\nBack to basics\nGibson said one positive result this change will bring is a return to focusing on the values fraternities and sororities were founded upon.\n"To underage members who have told me that part of the reason they joined a fraternity was so they could have a place to drink underage and not get caught, I have advised them to resign," Gibson says. "That's not what this is all about, if that's why they joined, it's for the wrong reasons."\nOverwhelmingly, leaders agree that although members are struggling with the changes now, this new approach will bring positive effects in the future.\n"Everyone pretty much realizes that this is supposed to be the progressive step to deal with the alcohol issues within the greek system," junior Tyler Mensch, president of Sigma Nu, says. "Alcohol isn't the main reason that most of the people here joined the house; if it had been, we might have had problems."\nNo one will know the difference\nGibson and Sweeney agree that the program is working. They have seen far fewer instances of large-scale fraternity parties than in past semesters. Individual violations have been found in the fraternity houses, but the beer busts of the past appear to have died for good.\n"It's gonna take some time," Gibson says. "One of the wonderful things about a college campus is that it only takes about a year and a half to establish a tradition. Next fall, it's going to be easier than it was this fall. A few falls after that, no one's going to know any different"
(12/07/00 5:00am)
The frat party many IU students once knew is now officially dead. Beginning this fall, the administration stepped up enforcement in an effort to force parties out of basements and into local venues, where a third-party vendor can sell alcohol only to those students who are legally of age.\nBut how has this transition from loud, boisterous parties with free-flowing beer for all who could hold a cup into a primarily off-campus, legal party scene happened? \nThis semester of change has not passed without struggles. But both the administration and greek leaders see the shift as a positive one which will bring fraternities and sororities back to the ideals on which they were founded: brotherly and sisterly friendship, leadership and scholarship.\nThe beginning of the end\nThe frat party did not bite the dust overnight. According to Stan Sweeney, associate director of student activities for greek affairs, it began in 1997, when three national fraternities decided to become substance-free by the fall of 2000. This sparked the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), the governing body of national sororities, to pass a resolution in 1998 that all sororities must stop attending functions at fraternity houses if alcohol is served.\nIn reaction to this local PHA resolution, IU's Interfraternity Council (IFC) passed its own resolution supporting NPC and PHA and adopted a new policy toward social functions.\nThe fact that the greek leadership at IU was taking a proactive stance towards alcohol management got the attention of the administration.\n"The University policy has always been the same for us," Sweeney says. "But what's different is that students are buying into it." \nJim Gibson, assistant dean of students and director of student activities, was proud of greek leaders since IU was one of only two universities in the nation to pass such a resolution. \n"That led Dean (of Students Richard) McKaig and I to sit down and say, 'Guys, what needs to happen? What do you need from us to help make this work?'" Gibson said.\nInvitation to the \'enemy\'\nAfter meeting with both sorority and fraternity leaders last spring, the administration realized the greek leaders wanted two things to help them function under their new resolutions. The first part was a list of local third-party vendors who would accept their business.\n"The students understood, and this is absolutely true, that their reputation preceded them," Gibson says. "Very few businesses in town wanted to touch the greeks with a 10-foot pole."\nThe greek leaders also asked for more even enforcement of the alcohol policies already in effect. \n"There was a perception out there, I would say a misperception, that only certain houses got checked on and certain groups got picked on more than others," Gibson says. \nIn the past, Dean Gibson and his staff were responsible for checking up on fraternities and only went on party patrols about four or five times a semester. Fraternity leaders asked the administration to make this enforcement more consistent. \nThe problem that kept the administration from cracking down on alcohol abuse in the past was money. There were not enough funds in the Student Activities Office budget to cover the assistance greek leaders were requesting. That changed last spring.\n"We got really lucky, to be very blunt," Gibson says. "The IU Foundation was able to identify a benefactor, a gentleman who was a greek member at IU and was very supportive of greek life." \nWith these new funds, Bill Eggleston was hired over the summer as a consultant to initially work on identifying third-party vendors in the community. When classes began, he took on the enforcement aspect, visiting fraternities six nights of the week and ensuring that each house received a visit at least once a weekend, every weekend. Eggleston has since resigned and has been replaced by Scott Thiery, who continues the patrols. \nGetting used to The Gables\nEach sorority and fraternity chapter has made changes in social policies in order to adhere to the new policy. Moving functions to third-party vendors has brought its own set of challenges.\nJennifer Urbanski, a senior and president of Alpha Phi, says although her sorority has been successful in adapting, the cost of functions has risen significantly.\n"It's a different way of planning social functions," Urbanski says. "It's more expensive in a sense because you have to use third-party vendors, but the experience is something we've all learned from."\nAll sororities have struggled with the changes on some level. \n"Our members weren't happy about it at first," senior Meghan Hasser, president of Kappa Alpha Theta, says. "They're still not happy about it. We're looking into different types of social functions. We'll go bowling or roller skating. But programming this year has been really difficult because it's so new."\nFraternities are adapting as well. \n"Our new parties are much like the traditional parties," senior Eric Christopher, president of Lambda Chi Alpha this fall semester, says. "We've had lots of themes, like a beach party. We went camping. We're trying to do a traditional frat party but taking it out of the house."\nOther fraternities have had more problems finding new ideas for social functions. \n"We've had a couple of functions at the house," senior Matt Hanson, who was President of Acacia this fall, says. "We started doing third-party vendors in the beginning of the year and found that it was a huge hassle with cost and holding people accountable. Now we're treading water trying to find out what else is out there."\nThe appearance of problems\nNongreek students have moaned and wailed that without fraternity parties to occupy them, greek students have overcrowded the bars. \nHowever, local bar owner Linda Prall, who runs Kilroy's Sports Bar and Kilroy's on Kirkwood, disagrees that there is overcrowding.\nWhat Prall has noticed is an increase in the attempted use of fake IDs by underage students.\n"We have absolutely seen an increase, almost a doubling in students using fakes," Prall says. "We've increased our training to help employees spot them better and we're working with excise to stop it."\nDavid Wilkerson, head bartender of the Bluebird Nightclub, agrees. \n"Our attendance varies night by night, and it was pretty high when the parties were going on," Wilkerson says. "We based our numbers on how many people came to see a particular band in the past, and we haven't really seen an increase due to the parties being shut down."\nThe problem of increased drunk driving has been another misconception. Lieutenant Jerry Minger of the IU Police Department reported that the current number of drunk driving arrests for 2000 is 54, almost double the 31 arrests for 1999, but comparable to the 50 arrests in 1998 and 43 in 1997. \nMinger insists that this rise cannot be attributed to the lack of fraternity parties.\nBack to basics\nGibson said one positive result this change will bring is a return to focusing on the values fraternities and sororities were founded upon.\n"To underage members who have told me that part of the reason they joined a fraternity was so they could have a place to drink underage and not get caught, I have advised them to resign," Gibson says. "That's not what this is all about, if that's why they joined, it's for the wrong reasons."\nOverwhelmingly, leaders agree that although members are struggling with the changes now, this new approach will bring positive effects in the future.\n"Everyone pretty much realizes that this is supposed to be the progressive step to deal with the alcohol issues within the greek system," junior Tyler Mensch, president of Sigma Nu, says. "Alcohol isn't the main reason that most of the people here joined the house; if it had been, we might have had problems."\nNo one will know the difference\nGibson and Sweeney agree that the program is working. They have seen far fewer instances of large-scale fraternity parties than in past semesters. Individual violations have been found in the fraternity houses, but the beer busts of the past appear to have died for good.\n"It's gonna take some time," Gibson says. "One of the wonderful things about a college campus is that it only takes about a year and a half to establish a tradition. Next fall, it's going to be easier than it was this fall. A few falls after that, no one's going to know any different"
(11/15/00 4:43am)
As America waits for the results of Election 2000, it seems a few hundred votes will decide the next president because of one state's electoral votes. The Electoral College is an outdated system, which should be abolished to make elections more fair.\n Under the current system, whichever candidate gains the majority of votes in a state wins the entire number of electors in the Electoral College. Even if a state's returns are close, the electoral votes are winner--take--all. Maine and Nebraska are the only states that divide their electoral votes proportionally.\nThis can be problematic, because a candidate could win a high percentage of votes in several large states but not win any of their electoral votes. This would result in a president elected without a popular majority of votes. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the election, and California alone represents 54 electoral votes.\nIf the Electoral College were abolished, the entire nation would elect the president, instead of a few key states. The current focus on Florida's recount would not be as important if it weren't for the exact number of electoral votes Florida represents.\nAbolishing the Electoral College would mean increased voter turnout. Many voters think their votes do not count. Here in Indiana, a Republican candidate has taken all of the electoral votes in every election since 1960. If candidates were elected by popular vote alone, each vote really would count.\nThe Electoral College was put in place in the 18th century because citizens lacked knowledge of candidates. The Electoral College was filled with the best and brightest to elect a national leader, to avoid each region voting for its favorite citizen and resulting in no clear national majority.\nThese problems do not exist today. The Electoral College has outlived its usefulness, and a return of the election to the people will result in a more fairly elected president.
(10/12/00 12:05pm)
There are only a few times when Union Board actually encourages students to squirt water guns, throw rice and toilet paper and hurl toast at one another in Alumni Hall. Saturday night's showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" was one of those times.\nThis cult classic movie usually inspires audience members to dress up like characters, scream irreverent lines at the top of their lungs and throw assorted props around the room. \nAlthough most in this crowd were dressed normally and were a bit hesitant to scream the audience participation lines, several "Rocky" veterans wandering around the room yelling them at the top of their lungs helped them along. By the end of the first few scenes, students were eagerly shouting the requisite "ASSHOLE!" and "SLUT!" whenever Brad and Janet introduced themselves. \nAnd when characters on the screen began singing the "Time Warp," probably the best-known song of the movie, most attendees sprung out of their seats and danced in the aisles, singing along at the top of their lungs. \nStudents were given bags of props by UB and threw handfuls of rice for the opening wedding scene, squirted water and covered their heads with newspapers during the rain scene, chucked toasted buns hard enough to leave bruises for the grand dinner toast, threw streamers for Rocky and Frank's wedding night and flung toilet paper after the line, "Great Scott!"\nUB members protected Alumni Hall from damage by covering the walls in black plastic, which also added to the mood of the show.\nSome audience members localized their comments, yelling, "Describe Myles Brand!" just before Frank sings, "A weakling, weighing 98 pounds..." \nLater, they yelled, "What does an Eminem concert look like?" as the screen showed a theater full of empty chairs.\nAlexandria Chrisman is a high school senior but participates regularly in a "Rocky Horror" showing in Indianapolis. She came to the IU event in full costume for her favorite character, Columbia, a red-haired, tap-dancing, squeaky-voiced Transylvanian. If there had been a "best costume" contest, Chrisman would have won hands down: she wore a bright red wig, fake eyelashes, a sequined jacket and matching bustier, striped hot pants, fishnets, glittery tap shoes and the finishing touch of a sequined top hat. \nChrisman said she hasn't counted how many "Rocky Horror" showings she's attended, "like a true 'Rocky' fan should," but estimates it's more than 50.\nShe even brought a suitcase with other Columbia outfits so she could match the character on screen throughout the show. \n"I wasn't crazy about it my first time," Chrisman says. "But the more I saw it, I started taking a shine to certain characters. I thought it would be really cool to be one of the characters who act it out up front. \n"At first I hated Columbia, I thought she was annoying, but she was the one I look the most like, so my mom and I went to work on the costume, and I watched the movie over and over until I learned the part."\nChrisman brought her mother Victoria Bigelow, an IU aluma, to the show with her. Bigelow was dressed as a Transylvanian extra, in a white buttondown shirt, sunglasses and a party hat. \n"This is only my second show," Bigelow said. "My daughter got me involved, and I'm not sure I'll go to any more. I'm just the costume maker."\nOthers in the audience came in white face paint or gothic black clothing. Junior Jeramy Foltz, clad in black leather pants, has been coming to "Rocky Horror" shows for the past four years and says he's been to about 70 total. He was one of the most vocal attendees, walking up and down the aisles screaming lines.\n"I felt like somebody had to rile up the crowd," Foltz said. "I think most people didn't know the lines, but it was pretty good that Union Board was willing to show it in Alumni Hall."\nIn the 26 years since the film premiered in 1974, audiences around the world have been doing the "Time Warp," and perhaps Saturday's showing in Alumni Hall transformed some "Rocky Horror" virgins into future die-hard fans.
(10/12/00 4:00am)
There are only a few times when Union Board actually encourages students to squirt water guns, throw rice and toilet paper and hurl toast at one another in Alumni Hall. Saturday night's showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" was one of those times.\nThis cult classic movie usually inspires audience members to dress up like characters, scream irreverent lines at the top of their lungs and throw assorted props around the room. \nAlthough most in this crowd were dressed normally and were a bit hesitant to scream the audience participation lines, several "Rocky" veterans wandering around the room yelling them at the top of their lungs helped them along. By the end of the first few scenes, students were eagerly shouting the requisite "ASSHOLE!" and "SLUT!" whenever Brad and Janet introduced themselves. \nAnd when characters on the screen began singing the "Time Warp," probably the best-known song of the movie, most attendees sprung out of their seats and danced in the aisles, singing along at the top of their lungs. \nStudents were given bags of props by UB and threw handfuls of rice for the opening wedding scene, squirted water and covered their heads with newspapers during the rain scene, chucked toasted buns hard enough to leave bruises for the grand dinner toast, threw streamers for Rocky and Frank's wedding night and flung toilet paper after the line, "Great Scott!"\nUB members protected Alumni Hall from damage by covering the walls in black plastic, which also added to the mood of the show.\nSome audience members localized their comments, yelling, "Describe Myles Brand!" just before Frank sings, "A weakling, weighing 98 pounds..." \nLater, they yelled, "What does an Eminem concert look like?" as the screen showed a theater full of empty chairs.\nAlexandria Chrisman is a high school senior but participates regularly in a "Rocky Horror" showing in Indianapolis. She came to the IU event in full costume for her favorite character, Columbia, a red-haired, tap-dancing, squeaky-voiced Transylvanian. If there had been a "best costume" contest, Chrisman would have won hands down: she wore a bright red wig, fake eyelashes, a sequined jacket and matching bustier, striped hot pants, fishnets, glittery tap shoes and the finishing touch of a sequined top hat. \nChrisman said she hasn't counted how many "Rocky Horror" showings she's attended, "like a true 'Rocky' fan should," but estimates it's more than 50.\nShe even brought a suitcase with other Columbia outfits so she could match the character on screen throughout the show. \n"I wasn't crazy about it my first time," Chrisman says. "But the more I saw it, I started taking a shine to certain characters. I thought it would be really cool to be one of the characters who act it out up front. \n"At first I hated Columbia, I thought she was annoying, but she was the one I look the most like, so my mom and I went to work on the costume, and I watched the movie over and over until I learned the part."\nChrisman brought her mother Victoria Bigelow, an IU aluma, to the show with her. Bigelow was dressed as a Transylvanian extra, in a white buttondown shirt, sunglasses and a party hat. \n"This is only my second show," Bigelow said. "My daughter got me involved, and I'm not sure I'll go to any more. I'm just the costume maker."\nOthers in the audience came in white face paint or gothic black clothing. Junior Jeramy Foltz, clad in black leather pants, has been coming to "Rocky Horror" shows for the past four years and says he's been to about 70 total. He was one of the most vocal attendees, walking up and down the aisles screaming lines.\n"I felt like somebody had to rile up the crowd," Foltz said. "I think most people didn't know the lines, but it was pretty good that Union Board was willing to show it in Alumni Hall."\nIn the 26 years since the film premiered in 1974, audiences around the world have been doing the "Time Warp," and perhaps Saturday's showing in Alumni Hall transformed some "Rocky Horror" virgins into future die-hard fans.
(10/03/00 6:46pm)
Living in a foreign country, gaining on-the-job experience and earning academic credit all at the same time: For many it sounds more interesting than another semester in Indiana. If you're suffering from the tired-of-Bloomington blues, then an overseas internship next semester is the perfect solution. \nWhen senior Brian Walton, a marketing major, decided to study abroad in London last spring, he took advantage of his program's option of a part-time internship in addition to taking classes. He learned about this program through the Office of Overseas Study, the on-campus liaison for students wishing to study, intern or work abroad. \n"I went through IES (Institute for the International Education of Students) and sent my resume with my application," Walton said. "They looked for jobs for me, then once I got there I could pick and choose. I set up an interview with the marketing department of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, and they hired me on the spot."\nSenior Lisa Yu, a political science and Spanish double major, spent last fall interning with the House of Commons in London, then last spring interned at the American embassy in Madrid, Spain. She set up the Madrid internship herself and was able to take part in the daily life of the embassy. \n"I went on my own through the State Department to find the Madrid internship," Yu said. "I got to go to meetings, write reporting cables and work with Foreign Service officers."\nOverseas internships can offer hands-on experience, allowing students to learn about their field of interest as well as the country's culture. The highlight of Walton's experience as an assistant marketing intern was spearheading his own Web site project for the museum. \n"I worked two full days a week," Walton said. "I started out doing some analysis of market research. Then one day in the mail we got this thing from a tourism site ... wanting us to buy a microsite to advertise the museum. My boss was busy, so I put together a presentation, and she decided to buy a site based on my presentation."\nWalton spent the next month and a half seeing the project through.\n"I put together everything on the site," Walton said. "It gets a couple thousand hits a day. I had direct impact with my project." \nFinding an internship abroad rather than in the United States allows students to have a cultural experience as well as learning job skills.\nYu said doing business in a foreign-language speaking country was challenging but did not keep her from enjoying the experience.\n"I had to read two or three Spanish newspapers every day, and there were some people I had to use Spanish to interact with," Yu said. "It took longer to complete certain projects because everything was in Spanish, so that was kind of frustrating." \nBut Yu's favorite part of the embassy internship was bringing to life the political lessons she learned in the classroom. She learned firsthand how two different governments work.\nWalton said he hopes having international experience on his resume will help him find a full-time job working overseas. \n"Now that I'm a senior and I'm looking to graduate, I see all these companies that have offices in London," Walton said. "I'm hoping that I can work somewhere here and then transfer to London. Hopefully when they see my internship in London, that experience will show them that I don't mind being abroad, soaking up the culture."\nCombining classes with an internship is the most popular way of finding an internship abroad, overseas adviser Paige Weting said. Finding a full-time job overseas is more difficult, especially for undergraduates. Students typically take three or four regular academic classes and work 10-15 hours a week at an unpaid internship. \nOne of the few problems with adding an internship to a study abroad program is getting credit for it. \n"We stress that students must see their adviser to make sure they can get academic credit for the internship," Weting said. "Some departments generally don't give credit for internships, and we've taken issue with that. Because they almost always have a cultural experience with the internship, the students should be getting credit. The business school is usually good about giving credit, but we sometimes have a harder time with other schools."\nWeting said the office works with departments that usually don't give credit and encourages them to grant students the equivalent of an academic class for the internship.\nIf you're already considering studying abroad, adding an internship can give you professional experience and a greater interaction with the culture. Plus, having an overseas internship on your resume might just separate you from the pack of students hoping to find international jobs after graduation. It might take some courage to face a foreign office environment, but Walton and Yu agree the frustrations were worth the lessons they learned.\nFor more information on internship opportunities abroad, contact the Office of Overseas Study at 855-9304.
(09/21/00 6:24am)
Late on any given night, a woman walks alone across a dark campus. But she doesn't fear for her safety. She feels empowered. She knows the facts about violence against women. She knows the chances of a stranger attacking her are slim. She knows the real danger lies in her comfort zones with people she already knows.\nShe walks with her head high because she has taken back the night. \nFor more than 25 years, "Take Back the Night" has been an international event dedicated to raising awareness, dispelling myths and protesting violence against women. At the Bloomington level, the event's organizers hope to raise awareness about the reality of violence against women and send a message to the community that domestic violence is unacceptable.\nThe impact of the "Take Back the Night," which includes a rally, march and vigil, isn't what one might expect: It has not lowered the number of rapes on campus. IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger said reported rape statistics have remained relatively static during the years since the protest began. \nBut many say the event has achieved its goal of empowering women on campus and in the Bloomington community, as well as raising awareness, comforting crime victims and fostering a community of women and the men who care about them.\nThis year's event is chaired by Julie Thomas, a visiting professor of gender studies. She said it is hard to trace the impact of the march on the student body, since the student body changes each year. But she has noticed the effect on individuals.\n"Students are usually amazed to learn what is presented at the rally," Thomas said. "They consistently express astonishment at how many people it affects."\nThomas has also seen how the march can benefit the rest of the community.\n"Each year after the march, students want to help solve the problems they've learned about," Thomas said. "Often they're more interested in volunteering. This is a definite benefit for a place like Middle Way House, where the volunteer numbers increase."\nSenior Rebecca Snyder, the IU Student Association's health and safety director, has also seen the direct impact of the event on men and women who attend. \n"The march puts out awareness that things like this can happen," Snyder said. "Especially for men who attend, they find out it can be anyone: a sister, girlfriend, acquaintance."\nBut Thomas said those who sometimes benefit most from the event are those who have survived rape or violence. \n"I've seen a group of friends attend the march together, and one will get up and speak out about being the victim of violence," Thomas said. "The friends are shocked because they had no idea. And the friends always reach out to that woman and embrace her, and the crowd supports her."\nCarol McCord, the assistant to the dean of the Office for Women's Affairs, has witnessed firsthand the effects of the rally on victims of sexual assault.\n"When the victims hear individual stories, it brings it home again," McCord said. "People who had experienced sexual assault and had never shared it before had one of two experiences. They either felt, 'I'm not comfortable speaking about this, but I'm glad others are,' or 'I couldn't have spoken out before now, but since I heard others, I can.'"\nSenior Jimmanee Spears, herself a victim of sexual assault, said the rally sometimes helps women deal with past experiences they might never have faced before.\n"For a lot of women who come out as freshmen or sophomores for the first time, when they hear someone tell their story, it triggers whatever small thing they've been hiding in the back of their minds," Spears said. "This causes the pain to resurface and helps start the process of healing."\nSpears also said the action of yelling chants and actively protesting empowers women.\n"In our society, women aren't supposed to be loud and scream in public," Spears said. "This rally is exhilarating."\nMcCord hopes that, in addition to the impact of the events on individuals, Take Back The Night will remind the entire community that violence against women has not lessened in recent years.\n"My concern is that people have come to feel very blase," McCord said. "It doesn't have the glamour it did in the '60s or '70s. They have become passive rather than active about the issue. Our message is that violence against women is simply unacceptable in our communities"