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(01/09/13 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As a community, Bloomington needs to grow and expand, but we have no means of doing so. Ergo, we need I-69.This is a big college town, with students from anywhere and everywhere. Businesses grow here, people are successful here, and with all the commercial trade and the diversity of the population, we need a means to commute, a means for business to export and import.And while we could argue environment and cost all day long, at the end of the day, we don’t have an efficient means of commerce and trade.And because we don’t have efficiency, we limit the abilities of business and the abilities of our residents.On top of that, the Monroe County residents who protest the building of the highway are, albeit vocal, few. Many individuals in surrounding counties like Vanderburgh, Gibson, Pike, Daviess and Greene are strongly in favor of the build. Mike Sprinkle of the Daviess City Council is adamant the new highway is vital to the survival of southern Indiana. He says he feels like southern Indiana is “the stinky toe” of the state. The highway is seen as the missing link, the thing that will connect southern Indiana with the rest of the world, and I agree. I live an hour away, and it’s hard to get here. It’s a labyrinth of back roads and truck freeways, with cop cars waiting around hidden bends and corners to leap on the unsuspecting driver.It’s simply not an efficient way to build the Bloomington economy, especially Bloomington proper. There is a clear disparity of commerce between the Bloomington surrounding the secluded IU campus and the Bloomington that thrives around the commercial trade across the freeway. And with instability in the economy, without the guarantee of commerce, Bloomington is more likely to lose residents. It has already begun. We produce, as a University, some of the most qualified business professionals, doctors, nurses and artists this side of the Mississippi, most of whom leave for the bright lights of Chicago, Indianapolis, Seattle, Minneapolis, New York — anywhere other than the city that produced them. And they leave because there’s nothing here.Coupled with limited opportunity, many students feel uncomfortable leaving campus. They don’t feel safe in the city of Bloomington, they don’t feel the cushion of a comfortable economy, so evident on campus, in Bloomington itself.And they don’t want to stay in southern Indiana when they graduate.But I-69 is at last a solid guarantee of commerce and trade, a guarantee that business will come here and then stay here. Then, rather than losing our business and exports, and the people that go along with them, we can keep them and build a more successful town and a more stable economy. We can turn the skills we teach the students here and funnel them into the city they live in.If we want a safe environment for students, if we want an economy that guarantees jobs and prosperity for both graduating students and local residents, if we want stability and success, we need I-69. — ewenning@indiana.edu
(12/10/12 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I don’t have a Twitter, and I’m not entirely sure I want to acquire one. Not out of any strong statement against mainstream culture, but just because I don’t understand why I have to let everyone know how my day is going. It’s a day. It’s going. I’ve even managed to remain relatively unattached to my phone. I don’t check in on Facebook all that often, I don’t have a Tumblr I could update and the max amount of people I’ll text throughout the course of the day is maybe five.Which means I’m always taken aback by some people’s strong attachment to their social outlets. I, to the eternal frustration of my friends, fail to understand the nuances of these same social outlets. Someone could post something on Facebook practically screaming at me and I would not receive the message until a week later and not understand who it was about.I value face-to-face conversation more. I’ve always thought if someone wanted to see you and hear about you, they’d find a way to make time for you. But, the more the world changes, the more I think I might have to plug into social media outlets, if only to let people know I’m still alive. Even though I’m absolutely terrible at communicating via my phone and computer, they’re still important. As if they’re not already relevant enough, they’re becoming tools that everyone relies on. The world is a technological one, and we have all of these tools that we’ve invented to help us advance and learn. While the constant updating and flow of information makes me just the tiniest bit uncomfortable — why in the world would anyone want to know how I did on a math test and vice versa, I mean, really? — I know it’s useful. Essentially, while I don’t get social media, I’ll have to become a part of it. Someday. If I’m honest, it might or might not be because I’m technologically handicapped. I just figured out text messaging.Right now, though, I think I’ll stick to what I’ve got. Maybe later it will become a strong statement against the use of the Internet and how big corporations are taking control of our lives or some such clichéd trope.Right now, I just don’t feel like plugging in. — ewenning@indiana.edu
(12/06/12 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>How should we use the Lauren Spierer case as a reference for future situations?Spierer’s legacy is a sad one, and I sincerely hope, as I’m sure most do, that someday she is found alive and well. But for now, she serves as a lesson, especially to the younger girls on campus, of how careful one has to be. Bloomington is a safe city, and IU is a safe campus, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that people won’t try and take advantage of students.She’s everyone’s cautionary tale, essentially the ghost story told around the campfire to incoming freshmen. During high school, I think I attended more “Be Careful at College” programs than I care to count. Earlier in the year, when I told my co-worker that I was going to IU, the first thing she said was, “Oh, be careful. Remember Lauren, that could be you.”Not exactly encouraging.But she made a good point. Spierer could have been anyone. I could be writing a column about a completely different girl right now. I could even be writing a column about something else entirely because no one went missing last year, and Spierer could be happily preparing to go home for winter break. Unfortunately, she’s not. Her disappearance is a great tragedy, but I think the whole horrible thing would be pointless if no one learned any lessons from what happened. During my time at IU, there’s never been one moment where I haven’t felt secure. But even I get jumpy at night. One time I made my friend stay on the phone with me all the way back home, a short 10-minute walk, mind you, because I’d gotten it so in my head something was going to happen to me. But I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. Every time I go out at night, I make sure I have a group of friends around me, and I never let a friend walk a distance alone. Everyone is on their guard, because everyone remembers Spierer. Security on campus has stepped up enormously. The students are even more protected and better protected than before. I only wish it hadn’t taken the disappearance of a student to ensure that security.In short, Spierer’s tragedy should not have occurred in vain. She should be remembered not only for the good person that she was, but for the lesson that she teaches. We shouldn’t let her become just another Bloomington ghost story. She’s an IU student and just like that, she was gone. Hopefully, the more we learn from her and about her, the more students we can protect, and nothing like this will ever happen again.— ewenning@indiana.edu
(11/30/12 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Gay conversion therapy will be tested in a New Jersey court case filed by four gay men who cry malpractice and deception against a prominent counseling group. Maybe I’m a little behind, but the only thing I can think is: they have counseling for that?I’ve heard stories about gay men who follow the straight and narrow now because they’ve been “saved” and about therapists who claim they can somehow wave their magic prescription pads, and poof, heterosexuality! I never took it seriously. How can you change the biological makeup of the brain and somehow become straight?Sure, I understand the sentiment, however bigoted. Some people have lived through some pretty traumatizing stuff. There is a small percentage of psychologists, psychiatrists, life coaches, etc., who believe there’s still a clear and direct link between childhood trauma, sexual abuse or shock and homosexuality. They believe “converting” a person to heterosexuality will help that person overcome the damage and emotional scarring and at the same time clean up their moral compass, as defined by the doctor.But overcoming a traumatizing past by trying to rid a person of homosexuality is like trying to set a broken leg by giving a person sinus medication. The majority of the time, it’s just nonsense — the counseling group being sued is the perfect example. The men would sometimes have to strip naked, and other times they would beat effigies of their mothers — all tactics that did more damage, and all tactics that cost the four men thousands of dollars. But what’s more disturbing to me is the implication that homosexuality is a disorder. I can’t accept that, even with my conservative views and reservations, I wouldn’t ever be stupid enough to label it as a disease.More should be done to protect patients. It’s astounding to me that this counseling was even allowed to take place and that more wasn’t done to investigate its tactics or stop its practices. That it was allowed to prey upon vulnerable people scares me. What if this hadn’t been stopped? How many more men and women would be damaged because they believed they had a disorder? What would it have affected?But above all else: really? Gay conversion therapy? Someone really thought that was a good idea?— ewenning@indiana.edu
(11/15/12 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU might be one of the most culturally diverse schools in the Midwest, but how integrated are the students? Can we be doing more?To put it in perspective, international enrollment has increased 6 percent in the last year. In the Midwest “heartland” schools alone, there has been a staggering increase in international students, especially at Big Ten universities. In a recent census, international students make up more than 15 percent of the student population, which is more than 6,000 students at IU alone.IU has cut an overwhelming number of in-state and out-of-state U.S. students in favor of international diversity. Upward of 4,000 U.S. residents were denied application here, and while Indiana has the capacity to accept and educate these American students, their reasoning is simple. If they are going to accept out-of-state students anyway, why not have them be international?But more international students are struggling to fit in here and make it a home. Language and cultural barriers prevent them from really integrating themselves into our community, and many students leave before completing four years here in favor of going back home and learning at a university that will cater to their needs or at least understand them.Why bother accepting international students if we won’t make a solid attempt to understand their culture, language and customs? It makes more sense to me to accept U.S. residents who will complete their four years and graduate instead of the international student who will leave after two years because they feel uncomfortable. This is all in favor of increasing our diversity on paper.And more than diversity, many international students are not awarded financial aid, and will pay their full four-year tuition out of pocket. For every international student here, the University makes about $32,000. In this economy, can we really blame IU for making that kind of financial decision? Still, I can’t accept the disregard for these students’ personal well-being. About 40 percent of international students at Midwestern schools polled said they had no American friends and nearly exclusively hung out with students from their respective countries, like they were little islands of China, Japan, India and others among a sea of American students. I think if IU wants to increase their diversity, we should be doing more to really integrate our international population. We should provide more multi-linguistic classes, initiate more study groups, create more cultural awareness and cultural identity, allow these international students to bring their culture to us and be willing to learn from them. Otherwise, we should just chuck the whole thing and accept U.S. residents instead. If we’re not taking the diversification on paper and applying it to our actual college experience, we’re not really a diverse University. We’re just a U.S. University with a bunch of segregated international students.— ewenning@indiana.edu
(11/08/12 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In lieu of the recent election and all various and sundry bad feelings that it has stirred up, I decided to go to E! News Online to lighten the mood and see what the stars are up to these days because, after all, nothing is more important on this Earth.Unfortunately, I could not escape the election hype. Almost everyone in Hollywood voted for President Barack Obama, and somehow that was a huge shock.I found out that Katie Holmes kissed her co-star on Broadway in front of millions because she’s coming back. But did she even think about how Tom Cruise would feel when he saw his ex-wife doing her job? Because she gets paid to act? Because she’s an actress?But she rode the subway home because she’s down to earth. In the emotional roller coaster ride that was this article, I was left conflicted.In fashion news, Kristen Stewart rocked an edgy ponytail. It was not just any ponytail but an edgy one.Lady Gaga recently got fat and said, “Adele is bigger than me, how come nobody says anything about it?” That was probably not the best way to announce to the world that you’ve gained 20 pounds. She’s a good role model.Also, apparently manicures are in fashion right now. Because remember how they went out of fashion earlier?Coco, Ice Cube’s wife, will compete in the Booty Olympics, because that is a thing.Finally, you can vote about DC vs. Marvel, Taylor Swift vs. her exes and Team Edward vs. Team Jacob. Don’t worry, it was Marvel, her exes and Team Jacob.If that did nothing to cheer you up, then know that golden retriever and corgi mixes exist, you’ve never been in a Tosh.0 video and the sun will come out tomorrow.— ewenning@umail.iu.edu
(10/25/12 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I’ll be the first to tell you I have my fair share of prejudices. I won’t say what they are at risk of offending someone, but they’re there.One of my friends was recently given an assignment in which she had to write an essay about her prejudices, why she had them, and where they might come from.It got me to thinking.Why am I prejudiced?And where do my prejudices come from?Obviously we’re not born racist, sexist, bigoted or prejudiced. Why do stereotypes and snide judgments influence our opinions of people? This is immediately creating for us an idea of who a person is and what they stand for before we even begin to know them, before we can really say anything about who they are as a person.During one moment, we are learning 2+2, and the next, to borrow a stereotype heard often on this campus, we are wishing we were Asian so that we could more easily excel at math.Beyond that, I know my prejudices and automatic judgments of people should not define how I think about them. Even so, why do I still get scared of big dudes walking down the street at night as I walk home? Why do I consciously let my prejudices influence my behavior, when I’m completely aware they’re irrational?Why can’t I just let them go? Perhaps because, over time, prejudices become so ingrained in our minds that they become mini personal ideologies. We use them to launch our viewpoints and opinions about everything and everyone. I thought my friend’s assignment was interesting, to say the least. We got to talking in depth about our less politically correct and more offensive and embarrassing views, like small homophobias, racisms, sexisms, and bigotries we share. They’re ideologies we both know are wrong but that, all the same, we use to judge others and that we know others use to judge us. While I don’t have an answer for why prejudice and judgment is our main launching point by which we see the world, I now somewhat know why I think the way I do.I do what I can to stop myself from automatically disliking a person simply because there is something about them that is intrinsically different from myself. I think these kinds of open discussions should happen more often. It helped me, to say the least, to delve into the reasons behind my prejudices and made me really think about my own views.Hopefully this will even change a few, for the better. — ewenning@indiana.edu
(10/18/12 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Authority is not a black and white concept, and not all those in positions of authority are to be respected. Just because someone is in a position greater than you doesn’t mean that they deserve your respect. Good leaders know how to earn trust from their followers.How many times have you been inspired by a teacher who made your education more important than your friendships, or learned from a supervisor who cared about who you were as a person just as much as the hours you worked?I’m not saying to thumb your nose at all authority. Without leaders, nothing would get done. Just remember to always use your own judgment. Sometimes people who do not deserve respect are placed in powerful positions. That does not make them worthy of your trust or admiration. It means that you need to be aware enough to know when you are being mistreated.Most people in authority deserve to be there. They will earn their position. Good leaders inspire and create other good leaders. So be discerning. Know true authority when you see it. Recognize and adopt the characteristics of those who inspire you. Authority is not about leader and follower. It’s about working together towards a shared goal. Sometimes people are able to come together and move the world in ways it has never moved before. It just takes the right kind of authority.— ewenning@indiana.edu
(10/11/12 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>All too often pro-life and anti-abortion supporters are depicted as belittlers, manipulating desperate women in desperate situations. However, the vast majority of pro-lifers are disgusted by the actions of some of their cohorts, and many seek to help and empower women just as much as their pro-choice counterparts do. Many times the image of an abortion protester presented in pop culture is a bible-thumping bully standing outside of Planned Parenthood screeching about going to hell and shoving pamphlets and fliers into the faces of struggling, scared women. But, as a pro-life Catholic, let me be the first to tell you that that is not, nor has that ever been, the way I want to be represented. Many of my friends and peers have gone and protested outside of abortion clinics. Instead of waving signs around and demanding that the women walking inside listen to “the word of God and be saved,” they sit on the curb and pray a rosary. They do not speak. They do not call out. They quietly pray. Women have approached my friends multiple times asking questions like “Why are you doing this?” “Why do you feel so strongly about this?” and “Why does my choice affect you?”They do not call these women over, they do not wave a Bible around and they are approached. Once approached, they explain their beliefs and their stance, their decision to be pro-life.During the 40 Days for Life, a popular pro-life protest, people at my high school would wear red tape around their arms and not speak for an entire day. The halls would be eerily quiet as people young and old silently protested the deaths of countless unborn.Hotlines like the Gabriel Project and the Knights of Columbus work to explain to women the full scope of their options in a crisis pregnancy and they exist for women’s healthcare and to help women, and I’ve never heard of a woman who has been bullied into keeping her child by either one.In the multiple conversations I’ve had about abortion with pro-life and pro-choice supporters alike, not once have I ever heard and not once have I ever said that a woman who had an abortion was going to hell. It is not my place to judge the actions of others. It is only my place to be the judge of myself. The unfortunate thing is that the actions and the beliefs of pro-lifers are not well represented at all in popular media. It makes it hard for those who think like I do to be listened to, to be heard and then to be understood. If we want to open up channels for real debate about healthcare options, all sides must have accurate representation, must be open to the opinions of others and must be willing to compromise. If we cannot remain tolerant of the others, be they pro-life, pro-choice or anything in between, we will ultimately fall on the sword of our own intolerance. It’s a very, very big world we live in, and we have to find a way to live in it in peace.— ewenning@indiana.edu
(10/10/12 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I should be able to say what I want to say when I want to say it, right? Well, what if what I want to say is offensive — not racially or religiously offensive, just in the way I want to say it? What if I want to use a bad word? Well, no, of course I wouldn’t be able to say what was on my mind. It isn’t polite. But aren’t you cutting me off from my right to say what I want?Yes, you are. Why are some words given so much %$#@ for being bad? What makes them so awful? Is it the sound they make?Is there actually something offensive about the word %$#@? Is it their meaning? Well, who assigned meaning to them? And why, for that matter, do I have to adhere to societal rules that tell me how and when I should speak?*&^% that.It seems to me that by making some words inappropriate, we are cutting ourselves off from the full scope of the English language. Not only that, but we are practically putting these words on a pedestal to be used only when we really want to shock and awe. If we don’t want to have bad words, don’t give words a bad stigma. Think about how much more pleasant things would be. We’d have fewer insults. Fewer ways to be insulted. Moreover, we’d have fewer reasons to judge the actions and mannerisms of others.If we stop making such a big deal out of cursing and using words that are “bad,” for whatever reason, we might actually find that people will be more willing to communicate simply because they can speak their minds, whatever they happen to say.— ewenning@indiana.edu
(09/27/12 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This week’s episode of things I have a problem with: older women who dress like teenagers. Maybe it’s because I’m feeling particularly judgmental this week.Maybe it’s because I watched “Mean Girls.” But when I recently went to the mall, I saw many moms dressed in clothes I would have problems wearing even now, as a freshman in college. They walked around with their younger daughters like some kind of mother-daughter combo platter.And what do I think when I see people doing that? Sadness. That’s what I think.Why in the world would anyone want to dress like their teenage daughter? It’s embarassing for everyone involved: the mother, for looking ridiculous, and the daughter, for having a mother that wants to be like a teenager because, as Amy Poehler says in “Mean Girls,” they “keep (her) young.”I don’t know about other people, but I wore some stupid crap when I was in high school. I couldn’t imagine wanting to wear those outfits again, let alone with my child, in public. Matching mother-daughter combos aren’t even that cute when the daughters are babies. They’re definitely not when a daughter is older than 6 years old.Perhaps some of these women are skinny and young-looking, with tasteful Botox work done and fresh off their last laser sea salt embryo facial peel. They’re making an effort to keep the vivacity of youth about them. There’s really nothing wrong with that.But once you hit a certain age, some things just should not be worn. There are some styles you must abandon as mistakes of your youth.If you are a mature, grown woman, you probably don’t need to validate the fact that you are “flawless” by wearing a Juicy Couture sweatsuit with the word emblazoned on the rear.Which brings me to my next point. There are ways in which it is inappropriate to dress at any age — mother, daughter, or anywhere in between. Here’s something to consider: Would Audrey Hepburn wear it? And if the answer is no, then back away slowly.And for the love of God, stop wearing words across your ass.It’s icky. — ewenning@indiana.edu
(09/20/12 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>So I want to pose a question. Was Shakespeare a good poet?Now, before I get inundated with the infuriated responses of more than 3,000 English majors, hear me out.It seems the trend in poetry, and in prose as well, is to simplify, delete articles and use concise adjectives and speak as simply as possible and create the most impact. I suppose I should rephrase my question. Would Shakespeare be considered a good poet by today’s standards?If Shakespeare walked into any campus poetry workshop as a bright-eyed freshman ready to stun the world with his brilliant metaphors and flawless rhythms, wouldn’t his peers edit the snot out of him? My answer is yes.However, we should never forget that without Shakespeare, the poetry we know today would not exist. In fact, the language we speak today would not exist. Read again the beginning of this article and I dare you not to find something influenced by Shakespeare.He’s practically a metonym for the English language. But it’s something to think about, is it not, my fellow English majors? Was Shakespeare a good poet? Or was he just wordy?— ewenning@indiana.edu
(08/30/12 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The other day I went out to dinner with a friend, and we talked about obesity, specifically childhood obesity. She works with children at an after-school program designed to help them stay active.She sees one child, a first grader, who she believes weighs close to 70 or 80 pounds. The parents pack about five pudding cups in his bag for the day, all of which he eats in a single sitting. He has trouble keeping up with the other kids and often stops in the middle of the track because his feet hurt. He can’t wear jeans because none fit him, so he is forced to wear basketball shorts and size XL T-shirts. Keep in mind this kid is 7.My friend’s concern was simple. The mother of the child obviously loves her son but is not putting his health first. In the last few months he has grown even larger. His mother recently posted a YouTube video encouraging her son to dance around in what was supposed to be a funny, quick message to his sister. In reality, it is a 3-minute display of a 7-year-old boy dancing to Lil Wayne and stripping his shirt off because he is hot. He even asks his mom to stop during the video, but she tells him to keep going. As we watched we could hear her at some point say, “Whoo, Chippendale dancer!”Where does my friend draw the line? Her work, as in all workplaces geared toward children, has strict policies on suspected abuse. If a child shows up with repeated bruises, cuts or injuries that do not seem typical, they are recorded, and the police are notified. If a child arrives at the center clearly starving and/or losing weight rapidly, the parents are called into question. But what about an obese child? What about this video, which displays to an uncomfortable end how huge this 7-year-old boy is?We came up with no answer. One can’t call the police to report the existence of a fat kid. Most officers would probably laugh at the thought. But the obesity itself points to a lack of knowledge or failure on the parents’ part. After all, if one’s child weighs 80 pounds, one might want to rethink packing him five pudding cups or even buying pudding at all. One might also want to rethink posting a video of their young son stripping on YouTube, no matter how funny one thinks it is.However, the dinner conversation and video made me realize how careful I have to be when I eventually have kids. Children have no off button when it comes to portion control and balanced diet. These things need to be taught. An obese child is just as malnourished as a skinny one, and if we really want to change the way we view healthy living, we must use that often-clichéd expression to start with the kids.— ewenning@indiana.edu
(08/17/12 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This summer has seen quite a collection of superheroes — the Avengers garnered raging box office success. Batman broke opening weekend records worldwide. Spider-Man, lucky duck, got with my girl crush Emma Stone. Next year we’ll welcome back the Man of Steel, DC’s revamp of the Superman franchise. If someone doesn’t follow up with Wonder Woman, soon I might be writing a strongly worded letter. DC’s got Ages of the Green Lantern and the all-encompassing Blackest Night saga up its sleeve, now that Marvel has exhausted its origins of the Avengers franchise and can move on to a full-blown Avengers party.So why, after nearly 90 years of superheroes, do these characters still inspire us? One could argue it scientifically. In the brain there is a concentration of nerves that make up the “god-spot”, the place that controls belief in a higher power. Eighty percent of Americans believe not only in religion, but in angels, demons and miracles. Why?It’s a survival skill.Surprised you, didn’t I?By striving to be like an authority or power stronger than oneself, the human being learned the survival skills necessary not only to stay alive until the next mammoth showed up, but to develop a highly sophisticated culture. This means in the freezing cold of Stone Age wintertime, our early ancestors survived because they believed that eventually the sun god would show up again and instead of giving in to the fatal sleepiness brought on by cold, they should continue to survive so they could harvest crops for said sun god.Then we can argue superheroes historically. Mankind has always created legends and tales of heroes, stories of people, either remarkably gifted or not, that overcome impossible odds to do something for the benefit of a community.Superheroes are just another story to add to the massive collection of legends that human beings have created since we first formed an intelligent thought.And we create these hero-tales for the same reason our Stone Age ancestors believed in the sun god, or the Greeks believed in Zeus. We need to believe in some sort of higher authority that demonstrates the qualities and survival skills that allow us to create sophisticated culture and all that entails: food, art, theater, community, language, education and science. The list goes on.But on a less formal note, superheroes simply teach us how to be good people, no matter who we are or where we’ve come from. We continue to pay millions of dollars to create and view these characters because we need hope, and we need to hope. We need it in each other and in ourselves, the hope that it doesn’t take Superman to save someone, just a kind face in the darkness.— ewenning@indiana.edu