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(06/08/05 11:54pm)
Eevery morning at 7 a.m. my alarm blares that heinous new Will Smith song and by 8:30 a.m. I've gotten myself looking decent enough to stroll into the office with two Starbucks mugs of coffee. Somewhere in the time frame of 12:30 p.m., I take a lunch break during which I retreat to my couch for 50 minutes. By 5:30 p.m. I'm out the door of the office. If I can get myself off the couch, I'm usually on the Stairmaster by 6:30 p.m., eating dinner by 8 p.m. and in bed by 10:30 p.m. Thank heaven Desperate Housewives and The O.C. seasons have ended for the time being.\nThis is a typical day in the life of ... me. I'm a copywriting intern at the Bloomington-based advertising agency, Finelight. Two of our big accounts include Metropolitan Jewish Health System and Elderplan. In other words, I write articles all day long for geriatric foundations, an issue that doesn't quite relate to my generation just yet. But I guess I gotta start somewhere, right? \nBeing a native New Yorker, I interviewed this past spring for internships in both New York and Bloomington. Unsure whether or not I wanted to return home for the summer or stay in B-Town, I weighed my options:\nGoing home to New York meant commuting to and from the city every day, being too tired when I got home to drag myself to the gym, living in the house with my parents who are also in bed by 10:30 p.m. and sitting at the pool on the weekends. Oh, and I'd have a career-altering internship.\nOption No. 2: I could stay in Bloomington and basically walk to work (Finelight is located in Fountain Square Mall), get to the gym on a daily basis, sit outside Kirkwood for happy hour (which I have yet to do) and play on Lake Monroe for the summer. \nIn other words, to play or not to play? I chose to play. \nLittle did I know that just because I chose the internship that would keep me in Bloomington for the last summer of my college career, did not mean that I would actually get to do any of that playing. In bed by 10:30 p.m. is not exactly what I call playing. I think there comes a point, it's somewhere around now for me, we need to realize that one day soon this will be our lives. Only with one small adjustment, Mom and Dad won't be paying our $157 Cinergy bills.\nWhat I've realized from all of this is that life creeps up on us. We need to abstain from both consuming ourselves in needless drama and looking too far into the future. Want to know why? Because it will come -- yes that is right, the future will come. As my parents have told me on numerous occasions -- make a decision and stick with it, don't look back and wonder what would have been had you gone with the other option, be happy. \nSo what's a transitional college kid to do? Live in the present, take an hour and 15 minutes for lunch and sneak out of the office at 5:15 p.m.
(06/07/04 1:35am)
In less than one week, 22 women will compete for the title of Miss Indiana. The previously reigning Miss Indiana 2003, Bryn Lawton Chapman, is also a student at IU. \nHoping to take her place is 22-year-old senior, Ashley Laine Buck.\nFrom Buckskin, Ind., Buck has competed in pageants all her life in hopes to one day be Miss America. \n"Last year, I won the local title of Miss South Central," said Buck. "I waited until I was 20 years old to compete for the title because that's when I began to feel that I was ready for it. I was very active in sports in high school, and my first two years of college, I was just trying to find my way."\nAn important aspect of the competition is the cause, or platform, each contestant has been working toward. Buck's platform is Breathe Easy Everyday. Just BEE helps raise awareness about asthma. \n"BEE is a voluntary network who wants to reduce mortality," said Buck, who had been misdiagnosed with respiratory problems until age 15.\nBuck ultimately would like to make all of Indiana smoke-free. She believes if New York City can go smoke-free, so can Bloomington and the rest of Indiana, too.\n"I would feel honored to have another IU student be crowned Miss Indiana," said junior Stephanie Eyer. "Especially one who is fighting for such a great cause. I have asthma, too, and I don't think that enough people know anything about it. If Indiana went smoke-free, that would be amazing."\nThe pageant forges through many stereotypes. But state board member, Mark Edwards, repeatedly states the focus in this competition is on scholarships.\n"It's pretty rigorous to get to Miss Indiana. You must have won at another level which is fairly grueling," Edwards said. "Most of these young women have been working at this for a very long time. I'm always surprised to see the level of commitment."\nBuck feels well-prepared for the days ahead of her. If she wins the Miss Indiana Scholarship Pageant she will need to quit her schooling at IU and focus on the full-time job as a contestant on Miss America. However, Buck would not just be leaving behind her education, but her involvement in both the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity, as well as her position on the Student Athletic Board.\n"The closer the time, the more consuming it becomes," said Buck. "I try to spend quality time with my boyfriend, but it's really hard with all of the preparing."\nBuck competed all through last year without taking any titles. However, she feels confident going into the Miss Indiana Pageant. Her passion for performing and interacting with people is what she hopes will take her to the top.\n"I love going out into the community and seeing people's faces when I am the one to make a difference in their lives," said Buck.\nBuck's career goal is to design a nationally syndicated publication. But until then she hopes to inform those about Just BEE, tap dance and smile her way to the crown of Miss Indiana 2004.\n-- Contact staff writer Sarah Kanter at skanter@indiana.edu.
(02/12/04 5:18am)
Al Cobine will lead his 15-piece big band in serenading Valentine's Day sweethearts tonight at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The theater has been rented out by Bloomington's Community Kitchen, a local organization which has been feeding Monroe County's hungry since 1983. Proceeds from the benefit concert will largely go to the Community Kitchen, whose funding comes mostly from private donations. \nThe concert is a first as a Community Kitchen fundraising event, due to a generous donation given by Rosanna Lester, marketing director for CFC, Inc., a local real estate developer. Lester won the use of the theater for one night in a raffle contest and donated the night to the Community Kitchen, a nearly $600 value.\n"Al Cobine is such a legend, the romantic jazz music will be superbly done," said Community Kitchen board member Margaret Radke. \nRadke encourages people of all ages to attend the event, as many professors will be involved in the production. Performing faculty from the School of Music will include Mike Lucas on piano, Dominic Spera and Joey Tartell on trumpet and Deno Sanders on drums.\nBloomingfoods Café will be serving wine, beer and snacks throughout the evening. They will be donating much of the proceeds to the Community Kitchen. In addition to the music and dance, there will be a raffle with prizes ranging from a complementary night at Scholar's Inn Bed and Breakfast to an Oliver Winery gift basket.\n"One of the missions of the theater is to be accessible to all community groups," said Suzannae Strick, marketing director at the Buskirk-Chumley. "We love having community events, as well as large scale shows." \nThe Community Kitchen serves nearly 400 meals everyday in Bloomington and an additional 200 meals feeding local needy children during the summer. The kitchen is staffed with a social worker and approximately 10 volunteers throughout the day, but is always welcoming more volunteers to join the staff.\n"Both Community Kitchen locations are anonymous, anyone can come and get a meal. We offer easy access," Community Kitchen Director Tim Clougher said. \nHunger is a growing concern in Monroe County, as 30 percent of children apply for free lunches during the school day, Clougher said. \n"Maybe they're not homeless, but mentally, they are disabled," Radke said. \nTickets for the Al Cobine Big Band benefit concert can be purchased for $10 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave. The concert begins at 8 p.m. For more information, contact the Buskirk-Chumley Theater at 323-3020 or visit www.buskirkchumley.org.
(01/23/04 4:12am)
"AfroPunk," a documentary that investigates the two worlds of race, identity and the punk rocker, will be shown tonight at Boxcar Books, 310 A S. Washington. \nIt interviews and explores the lives of four people who have committed themselves to the punk rock way of life. It embarks upon issues such as loneliness, exile, interracial dating and black power.\n"It's important for the black community to be provided with examples of all the things we could be. We stereotype ourselves and let ourselves fall victim to those stereotypes. I am trying to build bridges within the black community," said James Spooner, director of "AfroPunk."\nThe movie deals with black identity and what it's like for a black person to look for and hold onto an identity in a white community. It goes beyond the archetypal "black history month" documentary and digs deeper into the lives of four very different protagonists' lives. The film's protagonists come from different genders, regions, generations and sexual preferences.\nSpooner himself was a black man living in the punk scene and wanted the film to mirror his life story. Spooner uses the punk scene as a medium to base his film and wants to inspire self awareness within black punk rockers. \n"While I was growing up, my best friend was into the punk scene," junior Dave Morrow said. "He was always being judged for his style. I would like to go see this film to know what he was feeling when people would stare and make fun at him."\nIssues concerning black people and the punk-rock lifestyle have never been tackled hand-in-hand in film before, Spooner said. While the issues are controversial, viewers might be surprised to find they are dealing with some of the very same issues.\n"Most people feel as though they are trying to fit into a scene where you feel out of place. This film is not just for blacks in the punk scene," Ali Haimson, co-founder of Boxcar Books and Community Center said. "It gives you a better idea of feeling like an outsider."\nSophomore Stephanie Eyer said she will attend the event to educate herself on the hardships different groups of people face.\n"Everyone's got a little 'punk-rocker' in them, and everyone's felt a little out of place at some point in their life," Eyer said.\nSpooner said once reflected on his life as a punk-rocker, he realized there was much he missed out on. He said the punk scene did nothing to inspire his self-awareness as a black man. \nAfroPunk will be shown tonight at 8 p.m. Admission is $3 and guests are encouraged to arrive early, as seating is limited.\n-- Contact staff writer Sarah Kanter at skanter@indiana.edu.