Nov. 29, 2006

THE WIRED ISSUE

THE WIRED ISSUE

INTERNET

JUNKIES THE FIXATION OF OUR

GENERATION

10

Amazing Web Sites

You Don’t Know

BUT SHOULD

SUICIDE OR

MURDER? IU’s 45-Year-Old Mystery ALSO: DISCOUNT DESIGNING & SIMPLE STRESS SOLUTIONS IDS COLUMNIST

COLIN

DUGDALE

GETS WIRED

YOU HAVE ALL THE FUN. WE’LL KEEP ALL THE MEMORIES. How to order your Arbutus 1. Order your Arbutus in the Optional selection screen.

2. Save selection before continuing registration.

1.

ARBUTUS (YEARBOOK)

59.00

0.00

2.

New to the Arbutus This Year: Yearbook portraits are free and all students, especially seniors, are encouraged to have their pictures taken. Arrangement of the portrait section of the 2007 Arbutus yearbook will be by academic schools and colleges of IU. Each student photographed will be included with their respective college or school, and their name, major, hometown and class standing will be included. Go to www.mysenioryearbook.com to make your appointment now. Or call, (812) 855-9737.

arbutus

INDIANA UNIVERSITY YEARBOOK

Ernie Pyle Hall 120 (812) 855-9737 selkins@indiana.edu

THE WIRED ISSUE [ What’s Inside ]

features 8

The Web That Binds Us

A writer’s experiment and an editor’s research result in a brand new look at addiction in the Internet age.

12

.com/pelling 10 Web sites you need to check out.

Your résumé, wardrobe, and taste in music may never be the same again.

Killed 14 Who Michael Plume?

In 1960, a man was found hanging at an IU construction site. Forty-six years later, a father still seeks closure.

16 Blisters

8

& Big Dreams

You thought your major was tough.

Wait until you meet IU’s ballet students.

departments 6 The Tip Jar

4 Editor’s Letter 4 Ms. Know-it-all

Spruce up your space for less than $100. An expert helps out.

Chalkboard chills and the monster who stole your remote.

How to beat the blues - we’ve got the professional answers.

5 Confessions

Meet a master of the ultimate sports guessing game.

[

Vol. 1 • Issue 2

Cover – Photo by K.A. MacDonald Photo illustration by Nina Mehta www.idsnews.com/inside

7 Self-Enomics 22 INside Out

[

IDS Columnist Colin Dugdale pulls an all-nighter and shares the experience of “not getting any.”

16

Letter from the Editor

THE WIRED ISSUE

MS. KNOW-IT-ALL

You realize how crazy we’re all going to sound when we get older.

“I remember driving to these giant buildings and looking through ‘books’ – made of paper – just to find information.”

“I remember when my friend moved away and I wrote him a letter.

It took two weeks before I heard back from him.”

“I remember the days before the Internet!”

Like it or not, that will be us. In fact, we’ll be the last generation in history to have lived without the Web. And it’s the absurdity of this notion that got us thinking: What does it mean to be the Internet generation?

Sure, things are faster and easier, but it can’t all be for the better – can it?

Frankly, the answer is no. And that’s why we did The Wired Issue.

The Internet has opened more doors than we ever imagined, but nothing in life is free – everything comes at a cost. The greatest of which may be that people don’t talk anymore, they chat.

Nothing seems to happen face-to-face, it’s via e-mail, text message, or maybe cell phone.

I just pray it won’t seem crazy one day to say: “I remember when people sat and talked to each other.”

– Brian Janosch, Editor

Please read and ‘apply directly to the forehead’ Icy Hot. While none of the group had more than a sleep-deprived, overcaffeinated, journalist’s headache, the tiny tube offered a surprising amount of relief – or at least, a nice distraction.

WHY CAN I NEVER FIND THE REMOTE WHEN I NEED IT? – LEAH, SOPHOMORE

[ Illustration by Nate Bethea ]

WHY DO WE GET CHILLS WHEN WE HEAR NAILS ON A CHALKBOARD? – KYLA, SOPHOMORE

the sixth symphony) is such an alien sound, it triggers a negative sensation for most people, giving you the heebie jeebies.

Believe it or not, our senses affect each other. What we smell influences what we taste, and the same goes for what we hear and feel. Like all relationships, the outcomes can be great or lousy.

If your ears don’t like what they hear, chances are they’ll take it out on your skin with spine-tingling chills. Or, if the ears hear something particularly invigorating, you could start to feel a tad bit prickly. This is because we all have certain trigger sounds, says psychologist Dr. Carl Mumpower. They evoke good and bad emotions and vary from person to person. Dr. Mumpower says pitch and intensity of a noise are determining factors in your ear-to-skin happiness. Because a rousing chorus of nails on a chalkboard (I recommend

DOES HEADON REALLY WORK? – ELISHA, GRAD STUDENT “HeadOn, apply directly to the forehead. HeadOn, apply directly to the forehead.” Even thinking about that commercial gives me enough of a headache to try the product... and then answer your question, of course. After obtaining the precious substance, the INside staffers gathered round the tiny tube like children oogling an ice cream truck. Straws were drawn, and, nervously, we embarked on our drug experimentation. Overall, the experience was rather pleasant, minus one newspaper editor who used a little too much. We were greeted with a slight cooling sensation, reminiscent of a mild (less smelly)

Brian Janosch, Editor Michelle Manchir, Managing Editor Allie Townsend, Managing Editor Jordan David, Art Director Nina Mehta, Art Director Nancy Comiskey, Adviser

4 • INside

Oh, the mystery of the monster that steals your remote control every night.

After searching under countless couches and beds for the little devil with no avail, I started to search for an answer with fewer claws. Going back to my good friend Dr. Mumpower, I learned that small objects, like car keys, remote controls, and cell phones, do not appear on the same brain frequency, serving as “secondary brain functions.” The good doctor told me that this is because these items are used as gateways to the actual task at hand.

Your car keys are used for operating your car, remote controls for watching TV, and cell phones for communicating with others. The brain’s focus is usually on the primary goal at hand, not the secondary elements. Translation: Why would you notice the remote when you’re so involved in that Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon?

Moral: Stop hunting for the thieving monster. If you found him, he probably wouldn’t remember where he put your remote, either.

NEED AN ANSWER? SEND A QUESTION, ANY QUESTION, TO NOITALL@IDSNEWS.COM

THE WIRED ISSUE

CONFESSIONS

gambling guru Confessions of a...

Kurt Arbuckle doesn’t have a problem.

Problems don’t rake in $8,000 per semester.

SPORTS ARE MY LIFE. I always want to win, and I love the power of being right.

I never really thought about gambling, but my first semester freshman year, someone said they were betting on a game, and I thought, “Yeah, I can try that.”

First it was $10 bets, $20 bets.

But my biggest bet – the one my parents are really proud of – was $2,750 last semester. That was the game I call a gold mine. Right now, though, my focus is football.

I’d say in a given weekend, I’m betting on 11 games. It depends on what kind of matchups are going on.

Sometimes I do parlays, which are where I’ll bet on anywhere from two to six games at a time. But they all have to win for me to cash in, so it’s a much bigger payout.

Before I bet, I play with the lines.

I plug numbers to see what I could win and decide if I should drop a game and bet a little more elsewhere.

It’s not just like, “Oh, you’ve got to get lucky.” It’s really not. You know the teams; you know the sport, so all I do is follow the games. You really have to do your homework. But it’s not homework because I’d be doing it anyway. So it’s fun. It’s easy.

I try not to think about the NFL until I wake up Sunday. I always check to see if any last-minute changes happened. Then I’m like, “OK – game time.”

There have been times when I’ve been really, really stressed out about bets.

So much is on the line; I get nervous. If my game’s not on TV, I’m checking the scores online every two seconds. I can’t concentrate on anything.

When I think I’m going to lose, I try not to watch it. I can’t take the bet back, so I’m stuck. I try to act like I don’t care, but that’s a lie.

Sometimes it all comes down to the second half. That’s when I start to buckle down. I don’t want to talk about sports – I just want to watch. I can’t re-

lax until I know it’s in the bag.

After I win, I look at my account and watch the money come in. It’s immediate gratification. So far, I’m $200 shy of earning $8,000 this semester. If I stay on this pace, theoretically, I could have a $40,000 year.

My dad always taught me: It’s not how hard you work; it’s how smart you work. I always throw that back at him.

I’m a junior, and I haven’t had to work since coming to college. I know I could lose $40,000 too, but that won’t happen. I start small, so I’m usually not risking too much.

Sometimes I feel kind of embarrassed about gambling, but I don’t know why. I’m relatively proud of how I’ve done. It sounds shady, but it’s really not. You’ve got to know if gambling is a problem or if it isn’t. If someone told me, “You can’t do it anymore,” it would suck because I like it, and I’m winning a lot, but I don’t need it.

I don’t know when it will end. I’ve got a passion to compete, passion to get better. And it’s a challenge against myself more than anything.

– As told to Chip Cutter

INside • 5

THE WIRED ISSUE

TIP JAR

How toREDECORATE your room for$100or less Personalizing your space in a cramped apartment or dorm room can be nearly impossible. But revamping your room is easier – and cheaper – than you realize. Designer Nadia Geller of TLC’s While You Were Out shares her years of decorating experience on how to give your space a face lift for $100 or less.

1.

2.

1.

Lightweight mirrors on the wall are a decorative way to make a small space feel larger.

Malma mirror, $4, ikea.com.

2.

3.

6.

3.

Floor lamps in your dorm or apartment don’t take up a lot of space and provide a great way to brighten dark corners. Orgel Åoor lamp, $20, ikea.com.

Vertical stripes are the best pattern to work with because your eyes move with those lines. It’s all about tricking the eye. Reversible comforter, $30, target.com.

6 • INside

4.

4.

5.

Storage in a small bedroom is vital. Use bed lifts to maximize the space below the bed.

Black bed lifts, $10, bedbathbeyond.com.

5.

Pick out inexpensive baskets for exposed storage under the bed. They are easy to access and attractive. Medium woven storage basket, $10, walmart.com.

6.

[ Graphic by Simon Weinstein ]

Find a desktop Äle organizer to eliminate clutter. Use it to hold all your vital to-do information and keep it in clear view. Silver mesh magazine Äle, $10, thecontainerstore.com.

THE WIRED ISSUE

SELF-ENOMICS

What’s got

you down?

There will always be that lifelong battle between work and play – the key is finding balance. Come up with a time-management schedule that includes at least two hours of study time for each hour of classes you’re taking. Talk to counselors, professors, and assistants, but above all, talk to your friends. They’ll be more inclined to distract you if you haven’t told them you are struggling.

Come to terms with the fact that sometimes the holidays are overdone. In our culture, we tend to overdrink, overspend, and overexpect. And when these expectations aren’t met, our tenancy is to break down. Try to put everything into perspective and stop waiting on that Christmas miracle. It sounds cynical, but when it comes to depression, you need to be realistic.

My boyfriend/girlfriend says I don’t spend enough time with them, but I’m so busy. How do I keep them happy and not fall behind in class?

Relationships

School

I’m behind in my classes, and finals are right around the corner. How do I keep from going crazy?

I always feel depressed during the holidays. How can I change that this season?

The Holidays

INside asks the stress experts* for advice so you don’t have to.

There is a good reason to spend time with other people, especially significant others. If you study too much, you’ll tire yourself out and do worse on exams. You need to take breaks, so why not have company? For instance, eat with someone. You have to do this anyway, you might as well make the best of it.

*

Chris Engle, IU Health Center’s Counseling and Psychiatric Services Lou Moir, Group Student Support Services Program.

E. Veronica Lenard, local therapist

Family

I’m not used to being home after coming to college, and I’m worried about telling my parents I need more freedom. What do I say?

Realize that the people who have to do the major adjusting are your parents. You just have to make them see that you have spent the past two or three months at school becoming an independent person. Talk about it in a preventative manner, not after they hear you come home at 3 a.m.

Sit them down and tell them about your experiences, then gradually work the conversation into your newfound freedom. If you approach the situation as an adult, they’ll treat you like one.

[ Illustration by Jesse Burroughs ]

INside • 7

10010

web binds us the

that

Our generation is plugged in.

But are we disconnected?

8 • INside

THE WIRED ISSUE

1001101110011011101010110010101010100011010000110010100100000010101110110100101110010011001010

F

ifty years from now, historians will look back on the ’90s as the dawning of the Internet era – a period that shaped the future in every way imaginable. That same stretch of time just happens to be our childhood. We are the products of the Internet age. But what does that mean? The Internet has grown up right along side us, but how has that shaped who we are? Sure, the Web has changed us – made things easier – but has it all been for the better?

In search of answers, we presented a self-proclaimed light Internet user, Paul Coover, with the task of staying ofÆine for an entire week. He was worried it would be too easy. Afterward, INside Managing Editor Michelle Manchir asked professionals about the meaning of Paul’s wireless distress.

They both found that the concept of Internet addiction is more real than many might imagine.

SUNDAY_8:21 P.M.

❏❑❑

It is the night before I will no longer be able to use the Internet. I am having mini panic attacks. Is there anything I need to do before I quit?

I have a story due in a journalism class – what if I need to research for it?

I have a test in philosophy on Tuesday – what if the teacher puts a message about it on Oncourse?

I have an assignment for a sociology class, and the teacher said she will send an e-mail if there are any changes – what if I don’t get the e-mail?

My heart is beating faster than usual, which strikes me as incredibly lame, but does not deter my opinion that there is no way a week without the Internet could be a good thing.

8:22 P.M. I check my e-mail, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. There is an e-mail from my mom, which I read. My mom never writes anything I need to know. I should have known that before I read the e-mail. I delete it.

8:24 P.M. I check Facebook. Normally, I don’t even really use Facebook. I realize I am overreacting to this whole ordeal.

8:28 P.M. This undertaking seems like such an irrational thing to do; I decide to play some music to calm me down. I keep telling myself that this is stupid, and then I tell myself to shut up. Things alternate this way continuously. I never knew I was so addicted to the stupid Internet.

Photography by K.A. MacDonald

INside • 9

contributing factor to other issues, like relationship problems.

Rory Starks, a graduate student at IU studying immersive mediated environments, says those interpersonal issues only perpetuate Internet addiction.

For example, people might spend a lot of time online and turn their friends away. This can result in them feeling lonelier, and therefore, they turn back to the Internet to fulfill that feeling of intimacy.

“It can effectively snowball in certain people,” he says. “It can make them almost like a hermit.”

As a college stu Internet is a se making other p as well as my o MONDAY_7:42 a.m.

My morning seems unusually empty since I routinely waste a good bit of it doing pointless things online. This leads to an important realization: There is no tool more efficient at wasting a few minutes than the Internet. It’s not like you say, “I have five minutes before I leave for class; I think I’ll read a book.” But you can check your e-mail and surf the Web for four or five minutes, which is what (I expect) many of us do when we have a little time to kill. You don’t actually accomplish anything; you just feel like you do.

Maybe I’ll waste less time this week. Or, more likely, maybe I’ll just find new ways to waste time.

7:50 a.m.

“I don’t know who is trying to get a hold of me, I don’t know if I will be missing anything when I walk into any given class.”

❏❑❑

Paul might be overreacting this early in the experiment, but Internet addiction is certainly very real.

Dr. Hilarie Cash, cofounder of Internet/Computer Addiction Services in Redmond, Wash., says she was first introduced to the problem of Internet addiction in 1994, when few academics were writing or talking about it. The case involved a young man who was losing grip of his marriage because he was addicted to the online game, Dungeons & Dragons.

Cash receives at least one or two calls a week from people around the country seeking help for an online addiction. They are mostly men preoccupied with video games or pornography, but Cash says women experience 10 • INside

Internet addiction as well; they just aren’t calling her.

“This addiction is something which is largely unrecognizable because it’s new,” she says. “So it’s really difficult for someone to know if they have a problem.”

Nancy Stockton, director of Counseling and Psychological Services at the IU Health Center, says Internet addiction is different from addiction to, say, nicotine because it doesn’t have negative consequences in and of itself. Instead, the Internet robs time from human relationships and keeps people shut out from the real world.

“Most of us need an escape from reality,” she says.

“Some people lose control and escape way too much.”

Still, online compulsion is less often a chief complaint at the IU Health Center than it is a

I wonder what the weather will be like today. I cannot go to The Weather Channel’s Web site like I usually would, so I walk outside. This is a much nicer way to find out what the weather’s like than staring at a computer screen. Unfortunately, it looks like rain.

8:08 a.m.

I head out the door for a short run before class.

While running, I see my friend, George. Somehow, the first words out of my mouth are, “Hey, guess what I’m doing this week?” There is no way he’ll guess, so I tell him. “I’m going a week without the Internet.”

He seems only mildly interested, which surprises me, since in my mind, my task is epic. He tells me that he already checked the weather this morning, and I can only assume he means he checked it online. “It’s going to rain,” he says.

We part ways. There are two results of this interaction. One, I realize that it is impossible to totally avoid the Internet, even if it’s your intent.

People will inevitably tell you things they learn or see online. Two, the Internet has created a false sense of security. George assumes that if the Internet says

❏❑❑

Paul raises an interesting notion: We’re beginning to trust the Web more than what we can see and feel outside our doors. Cash says some people use the Internet as an escape from reality, and they fail to distinguish cyberspace from the physical world.

She is concerned with people spending more time online than in the real world, where they obtain skills

is going. I tell her that it sounded like a good idea for a story, but it is more trouble than it’s worth. I don’t know who is trying to get ahold of me, I don’t know if I will be missing anything when I walk into any given class, and since e-mail is now considered official correspondence by IU, it seems like the risk I am taking by not keeping up with it could be pretty big.

Here I learn another lesson: As a college student, going without Internet is a selfish undertaking. I am making other people’s lives more difficult, as well as my own.

If anyone wants to get ahold of me and doesn’t know me very well, they have to go through all kinds of hoops to

udent, going without elfish undertaking. I am people’s lives more difficult, own. necessary for meaningful living – like being an effective husband, wife, or parent.

She added that people who spend a lot of time using the Internet for recreational activities develop a desire for more external stimulation. They’re no longer comfortable with reading. They have shorter attention spans.

“Moderation is the key,” she says. “Research is showing that two hours or less of recreational use of the Internet will not lead to harm, but more than that can lead to an addiction.”

TUESDAY_1:28 P.M. I am two minutes early to my meeting with my academic adviser, but she lets me in anyway. Again, even though I’m trying to avoid the Internet, I can’t escape it. She pulls up my transcript on the school’s server, and we talk about what classes I should take. It dawns on me that my mission may be doomed to fail since I have to register for classes on Friday, and I do not know if this is possible without using the Internet.

3:47 p.m.

I talk to one of my editors about registering for classes. He says I can do it without the internet if I go to the registrar’s office in Franklin Hall. I call Franklin Hall (via 855-IUIU, since I can’t look up the number myself ) and ask if there is a way to register without the internet. The lady asks me to repeat myself to make sure she heard right. When I ask again, she says that the University no longer allows students to register without OneStart except for extreme cases. I wonder if an experiment for an article for INside counts as an “extreme case.”

THURSDAY_1:07 p.m.

A teacher asks how my week without the Internet

find me. My e-mail address is posted on IU’s directory. My cell phone and address are not.

❏❑❑

THE WIRED ISSUE

it will rain, it will rain. I, too, think it will rain because I stepped outside this morning, but George feels absolutely sure.

Paul is right to be concerned that without e-mail he will become unreachable. A recent congressional report states that “increasing numbers of Americans are becoming ‘wired’ and view e-mail as their preferred form of communication.” That said, nothing really substitutes for real face-to-face contact with people, says Dr. Stanley Wasserman, IU professor of sociology, psychology, and statistics.

“The interactions you have (in person) are better psychologically than any other form of communication,” he says. “Body cues clearly are important, and you just don’t have those if all you’re doing is IM’ing somebody.”

Wasserman points out that online communication is still a pool of study relatively untapped as far as social psychology is concerned.

“I suspect people are going to be studying different communication patterns for years to come,” he says. continued on page 20

Are You An Internet Junkie?

1. Are you unable to predict how much time you spend on a computer?

2. Have you tried and failed to control computer use for an extended period of time?

3. Do you have a sense of euphoria while on the computer?

4. Do you crave more computer time?

5. Are you neglecting family/friends as a result of your computer use?

6. Do you feel restless, irritable, and discontent when not on the computer?

7. Do you lie to employers and family about computer activity?

8. Are you having problems with school or your job performance as a result of excessive computer use?

9. Do you have feelings of guilt, shame, anxiety, or depression as a result of time spent on the computer?

10. Have your sleep patterns changed due to computer use?

11. Are you experiencing health issues such as: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, eye strain, weight change, and backaches?

12. Do you deny, rationalize, and minimize adverse consequences stemming from computer use?

13. Have you withdrawn from real life hobbies or social interactions?

14. Do you obsess about sexual acting out through the use of the Internet?

15. Have you created an enhanced persona to Ånd cybersex or love?

If you answer “yes” to three or more of the following questions, it may be a symptom of Internet/Computer Addiction. Compiled from Internet/Computer Addiction Services Web site by Hilarie Cash, Ph.D INside • 11

threadless.com

wnmap

A design contest where everybody wins!

Threadless.com is a Web site devoted entirely to original T-shirt art – and cheap art at that ($17$25). Anyone with something compelling to offer can submit a design. The site’s organizers then pick 10 of the best designs every two weeks, and the T-shirts are sold on the site. All T-shirts are limited edition, so they’re unlikely to be hanging in your neighbor’s closet.

MOST CLICKWORTHY: Click “Participate” to contribute and potentially win $1,500. The less creative can rate submissions. We voted favorably for one featuring an evil Pilsbury Doughboy. Biscuits!

The news knows no boundaries. Neither tive, superinformative site is a news jun any country in the world and multiple scrolling along the bottom of the page – of Brazil to the Kenyan economy, and when world news breaks, why not go rig MOST CLICKWORTHY: Even if you of President Bush, it’s fun to play with ested, the Mongolian Times called him

.com/pe emurse.com Apparently, it’s important to impress employers. And another INside scoop: Résumés help! It doesn’t have to be a complicated process though. Browsers use emurse.com to enhance a current – or create a new – résumé online. Emurse provides templates and editing tools to maintain and update your résumé whenever necessary. What’s more, job seekers can send their information directly from the Web site to any e-mail address, and then Emurse sends you a notification e-mail when the recipient opens the message. You’ll never make that awkward “Did you get my e-mail” call again.

MOST CLICKWORTHY: Be sure to utilize the site’s feature that allows you to display your information as a Web site at yourname.emurse.com. Yep, that’s free too.

meebo.com Need to passively and ineffectively break up with your girlfriend but aren’t around your home computer? Or do you just flat-out love Web lingo? Either way, meebo connects you to any Internet messenger service – from any computer – for free. Meebo offers access on AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo!, MSN, Google Talk, ICQ, and Jabber – no downloads or installs required. It also keeps all the message boxes in one window. OMG this Web site is gr8!!

MOST CLICKWORTHY: The meeblog (blog.meebo.com) map that shows where instant messages have been sent or received through meebo – across the globe. Crazy fun!... At least for a couple minutes.

10 Web sites that will get you jobs, deck you out in the Äne arm you with worldly knowled change the way you listen to [ Contributors: Jodi Bradley, Shannon Dahmer, Katie Ingmire, Joe Jasinski, [ Illustration by Josh Zurawski ]

del.icio.us More than an adorable URL, del.icio.us is a “social bookmarking” site that allows users to accumulate links to their favorite articles, blogs, music, reviews, and essentially anything online – all in one location. As the site points out, everything on del.icio.us is someone’s favorite. The primary use of the site is to store your bookmarks online and check out other people’s. On del.icio.us, you can use tags to organize and remember your bookmarks – and also to search for new ones. Mmmm... Web sites!

MOST CLICKWORTHY: The “tag cloud” that scales all the most popular categories by size. Hard to explain, but cool to look at.

S m is le d le w fr M u

INside’s choice: pandora.com

r does wnmap.com. This superinteracnkie’s paradise. Slide your cursor over e news sources from that nation start – everything from the maritime status even your fill of the Yemen Daily. So ght to the source? u don’t care about Mongolia’s opinion the map (by the way, if you are interthe “Global Jailor”).

Remember radio? You won’t for long. Pandora bridges the gap between the randomness of radio (negative potential for bad songs) and the predictability of your iTunes (never anything new). Just take those favorite artists that you keep resorting back to on your iPod, and plug them into Pandora. Not only will you get selections from those artists, but the Web site will automatically broaden your horizons by streaming similar artists and songs to you based on your suggested bands or tracks (note: just a stream, not downloads). And it is free. Free, free, free.

MOST CLICKWORTHY: Did we mention that it’s free?

bape.com

elling u jobs, cost you est threads, and ge. Oh yeah, and o music forever.

Michael Reschke, Teri Rosenbaum ]

miniclip.com If you’re going to slack off, you might as well play games with penguins. Let’s be honest, if the Internet provides anything, it provides a source of procrastination. Miniclip has that down to a science. All ranges of gamers – from X-box freaks to those unable to grasp Pong – have a home at miniclip.com.

Note: INside is not responsible for any bad grades, lost jobs, or ended relationships due to excessive game-related procrastination. We will, however, take credit for high scores.

MOST CLICKWORTHY: Waste time like a REAL American... By punching terrorists. The War on Terrorism game allows you to shoot up freedom-haters before the final level, where you literally beat the crap out of Osama. We hear that Dick Cheney has the high score.

snopes.com wallow all the chewing gum you want. According to Snopes.com, the myth that it takes our bodies seven years to digest the chewy substance s absolutely false. An urban legend utopia, the site differentiates the egends it believes are baloney from the ones it recognizes as the real deal. From Toxins to Titanic to Risque Business, Snopes divides the egends into distinct categories, then gives the title of the legend, a written example of it, its origins, variations, and the textual sources rom which the legends came.

MOST CLICKWORTHY: The live frog found in a packaged salad under the Photo Gallery category. You may never eat lettuce again.

A visit to bape might not initially spark excitement in some, especially those unfamiliar with character-based languages. But a quick click on “download” opens up a world of hyperchic shoes, hoodies, wrestling matches, and beats. The threads come from Pharrell’s Billionaire Boys Club clothing line and Ice Cream shoes, but the computer-takeover interface is bape’s shining feature. One click, literally, transports you to an entire shopping center.

In other words, bape.com takes shopping into Web 2.0. And it doesn’t hurt that the styles are slayin’ the kids from Brooklyn to Berkeley. The only downside: Buyers must calculate the exchange rate between yen and U.S. dollars.

MOST CLICKWORTHY: The vinyl shoes shine like 20inch rims on a Cadillac. Yellow and teal highlights on a green base sounds like an acid trip, but they’re not. Bape also offers boat shoes, sandals, and clogs for the non-sneaker sporter.

pinkisthenewblog.com Put your History of Russian Politics reader aside and, instead, enjoy a blog that posts large pictures of Heidi Klum dressed as an apple.

Not to mention a whole assortment of other mindless, wonderful celebrity photos, gossip, and news. Trent Vanegas – the blog’s flaming sarcastic writer – posts daily and is supported by E! Online (so you know it’s quality infotainment).

MOST CLICKWORTHY: The side-by-side photos illustrating Ashlee Simpson’s bizarre makeover under the Oct. 31 post. “The new Ash should be the old Ashlee for Halloween,” Trent notes.

THE WIRED ISSUE

p.com

the stadium by uestioned, how an?

dium esged n? e

There is a reasonable possibility that the death might not have been suicidal, and if the death appears to be from foul play, we have a reasonable suspect. – from an internal Air Force memo 14 • INside

Who killed Michael Plume In 1960, a father lost his son. He’s spent the past 46 years searching for answers.

By Molly K. Brush

T

officials, and local reporters.

After surveying the scene briefly – and without securing the area or collecting any evidence – Huntington pronounced the cause of death as suicide. He told the crowd that the man had jumped into the noose and broken his neck. Price Cox, an investigator for the IU Division of Safety, added that the man had died instantly.

Huntington then went back, removed a wallet from the man’s jeans, and identified him as Airman 3rd Class Michael F. Plume, a student at the United States Air Force Language School at IU. The workmen then lifted the body in the air and untied the rope at the top of the scaffold. The crew lowered him to the ground and cut the rope, leaving the noose attached to the body.

Michael’s body was loaded into a vehicle for transport AT ABOUT 7:15 A.M., Michael Plume enjoyed Bloomington and took a lot of photos. His father described to Day Funeral Home in Bloomington Chief him as highly intelligent and generally Bloomington.

Having comof Police and Monroe happy. Michael was 18 when he died. pleted his investigation at the County Deputy Corostadium, Huntington left the ner George E. Huntington received word that a man’s body had scene and went to the funeral home, where he been discovered in the new stadium. He arrived made arrangements with an employee to handle on the scene fewer than 10 minutes later to find the body. continued on page 20 the area crowded with police officers, university

he man’s body hung from a piece of rope attached to a construction scaffold, lifeless in the chilly winter air. Around his neck was an expertly tied hangman’s noose. His highly polished combat shoes barely touched the platform. The dead man was clothed in blue jeans, a dark windbreaker, and gray woolen gloves. Dust and debris covered the ground just below his clean, black shoes.

It was 7 a.m. on Feb. 15, 1960, when the morning construction crew discovered the man hanging in the partially completed IU football stadium. An investigation began that morning and ended two months later.

But for the father of the man in dark clothes and clean shoes, the case is far from closed.

INside • 15

Blisters

16 • INside

s&Big Dreams IN A DEPARTMENT WHERE SIMPLY BEING ACCEPTED IS AN ACCOMPLISHMENT, IU’S BALLET STUDENTS SHARE THE UGLY SIDE OF A BEAUTIFUL DANCE

By Joanna Borns • Photos by Aaron Bernstein TEPHANIE LAMPE UNLACES her satin shoes, revealing toes covered in bubbles of calluses and blisters. If a blister breaks open, she puts her foot in salt water. It hurts, but she wants to keep a layer of dead skin to form a new callus.

The shoes she sets aside are pink and elegant but lined with tiny tears and coated with gray dust. They typically cost $50-$70 and rarely last longer than two weeks – sometimes not even two days.

But as a dancer in IU’s ballet department, Lampe is required to dance for hours each day, taking a toll on feet and shoes alike. To appear virtually weightless on stage, her shoes, made mostly of fabric and glue, must be virtually weightless on her feet.

In spite of the pain and the price, ballet is her life.

IF YOU ASK someone carrying a French horn case in the basement of the Musical Arts Center where the ballet department is, they probably couldn’t tell you. In a corner on the third floor, ballet majors dance from 11:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. in three studios – classes in the morning and rehearsals in the afternoon.

“Sometimes you get a break, sometimes you don’t,” Lampe says.

Lampe grew up just east of Indonesia in Papua New Guinea, where her father worked as a campus pastor.

She says she started ballet because in Papua New Guinea, all the little girls danced. Her sister started taking

classes at the age of 6. As a 4-year-old, Lampe was too young to take the class, so she watched from the school’s lobby and mimicked the moves from afar.

Today ballet takes up most of her time and she admits she doesn’t have a very active social life. She calls her relationship with her fiancé, John, “a negotiation” because she disappears for hours at a time to dance. She goes to bed every night at 10 p.m. and wakes up every morning at 6 a.m. to do her homework. She likes to bake at least once a week to relieve stress. She makes whole wheat bread, coffee cake, cookies, pies, or biscuits, depending on what she has in her kitchen.

INside • 17

As a senior, she’s working on her DVD resume to send out to professional dance companies – common among ballet majors. But she came to IU so she could have a backup plan, a double major in math – disciplined thinking to go with the disciplined movements of her body. She likes math because it gives her the opportunity to sit and be absolutely still.

ABOUT 90 PERCENT of graduates from IU’s ballet program find places in professional ballet companies. Don’t tell anyone, but freshman Anton LaMon doesn’t want to be in a professional ballet company.

He sees himself in musical theater on Broadway, but hopes his formal ballet training will give him an advantage.

“A guy who can dance is gold,” he says.

LaMon is one of 10 men in this year’s ballet program of 40 students. He began jazz and tap dance when he was 3 years old, and he was on the dance team in middle school. Being a male dancer at that age was tough because, as he says, “people talk.” He

Pointe-d Discussion • A pointe shoe is more than just a tool for ballet dancers— it’s an extension of the body.

Pointe shoes are usually worn only by the female dancers.

The Ärst dancer danced “en pointe” in 1832. The original pointe shoes were satin slippers with leather soles. The shoe evolved to have a hard section at the tip of the shoe called “the box,” which is usually made from layers of burlap, paper, and glue.

• Brand new pointe shoes are rigid so dancers have to break them in. The process can involve manually Åexing the shoe, hitting it with a hammer, soaking it in water, or slamming it in a door.

• The shoes offer little support for the feet and ankles. Medical ailments caused from hours of dancing en pointe include blisters, bunions, bruised toenails, tendonitis, degenerative joint disease, stress fractures, corns, and fungus. [ Photo by Kelsey Peters ]

quit dancing because he didn’t want anyone to think he was gay. After three years without dance, he knew something was missing.

“I just had to dance,” he says.

LaMon attended Bloomington High School South and received formal ballet training in the pre-college program at IU taught by ballet majors, convincing him to come to IU for ballet. Once he started college, he admitted to himself, and everyone else, that he was gay.

“I came out,” he says. “I don’t have anything to hide.”

Because there are only 10 men in the department, most of the male roles in IU Ballet Theater productions get cycled around, so taking time off or getting injured aren’t options. LaMon wishes he could trade majors with another student for just one day.

“I don’t really know what happens during the day on campus.”

He does a lot of jumping and suffers from shin

splits. In spite of the pain, he likes having rules that govern the movement of the body. For LaMon, ballet is clean and flawless. He likes being part of a story on stage.

“The moment I perform, I know I made the right choice.”

LAUREN FADELEY HATES telling people that she’s a ballet major. She’s afraid most people don’t see it as a “real” major. But Fadeley, a senior, was a “real” dancer in the New York City Ballet when she was 16. She achieved her life dream before graduating high school.

Fadeley moved to New York City by herself at age 15 to attend boarding school at the School of American Ballet. The ballet selects students from the school every year to join its company. Fadeley didn’t have to audition – she was chosen.

Being a professional dancer gave her everything she wanted, but she felt lost in the huge company of nearly 100 dancers. And her schedule was draining.

She would go to school in the morning then dance until 10 p.m. Dancing was her job.

Monday was her only day off and she spent it in class trying to finish her high school degree. The company wasn’t sympathetic when she needed time off to take the SATs. A lot of professional dancers never graduate from high school.

And then there was the pressure to be really thin.

Ballet dancers spend all day in a room with mirrors wearing leotards and tights. The body line is important. Whenever Fadeley had a break from dancing, she was at the gym. She saw a lot of dancers with eating disorders. Some would smoke to keep their weight down.

“Management would tell people ‘You need to lose weight or you won’t be on stage,’” she says. “They told me to lose weight when I was injured.”

But at 17, Fadley broke her foot dancing and it suddenly sank in — ballet wasn’t permanent. She was unprepared for life beyond the stage. The average retirement age of a ballet dancer is between 35 and 40 years old.

“You hit 35 and that’s it,” Fadeley says.

So after two years of performing professionally, she came to IU. When IU Ballet Theater dancers perform “The Nutcracker,” there are four shows. The NYCB performs 60. The university setting allows Fadley to continue dancing while getting an education. She wants to help dancers as a physical therapist after she graduates.

DANCERS CONSTANTLY PUSH their bodies physical limit as every muscle must be used in exactly the right way. If a dancer is performing on a stress fracture, she can’t limp out of character. Some dancers never tell anyone about their injuries and hold the pain inside. Doricha Sales was one of those dancers.

“That’s when you know you have the dancer mentality,” she says.

Sales was a dancer in the Boston Ballet in the

Freshman Anton Lamon is one of 10 men in the IU Ballet Program. He says dancing ballet is like throwing a football: It’s not just taking it and throwing it, it requires precise, calculated movements. He says ballet classes are a workout for the mind and body, and they leave him exhausted at the end of the day.

mid-’80s. She came to IU’s ballet program in 1990, where she says she matured as an artist. She later danced with the Florida Dance Theater. Her ankle hurt, but she never went to the doctor, and one day during rehearsal the tendon in her ankle snapped.

“I felt it pop and tear,” Sales says. “Then I had to go to the doctor.”

She had to get surgery and wouldn’t be able to dance for two years. At the age of 24, her professional career had ended.

“Your instrument is your body,” she says. “You have to take care of it.”

She returned to IU to get her master’s in ballet pedagogy and educational psychology. Now Sales, 34, is an academic adviser in the ballet department at IU, where she helps the next generation of dancers function in an environment she says is just like a ballet company.

Outside her office, ballet majors sit in the hall between rehearsals inspecting their blisters and unlacing worn out pointe shoes.

“You have to be proud of every single one of these dancers,” she says.

Senior Lauren Fadeley moved to New York City by herself at 15 to attend the School of American Ballet. She says she became obsessed with ballet when she Ärst saw “The Nutcracker” at age 2.

Internet from page 11 “It’s revolutionary.”

Cash, however, is on the forefront of that line of study.

She says online communication modes provide a false sense of intimacy with another person.

“It’s fine in limited doses,” she says. “It is not at all an adequate substitute for getting to know a person slowly and building a relationship. Intimacy is properly satisfied in faceto-face interaction with somebody that you can touch and hear and see and smell.”

1:30 p.m.

I meet with an academic advisor, who I have to talk to in order to get permission to enroll in a certain sociology class. She says I could have simply e-mailed her to ask for the permission, and I remind her about my plight. She sighs and says she remembers, then goes onto her computer to give me the permission. She reminds me that although I was not physically sitting at the computer, I could not have gotten permission to enroll without her using the Internet, so I’m still reliant upon the Internet even though my mission is to avoid it. I tell her that this lesson has become very clear to me this week. She tells me to include it in my story. I will.

2:30 p.m.

I walk to Franklin Hall and into the Office of the Registrar. I ask the woman behind the big desk if there is any way I could possibly register for classes without using the Internet.

“No.” She could not be any clearer about this.

Reality sets in. My mission is irresolutely doomed to fail.

••• The Web has greatly evolved in our lifetime, and Pual experienced that first hand. Cash says the development of more psychologically sophisticated Web sites and online graphics for gaming and recreation – especially those with chat capabilities – are vaguely concerning to her. Cash wants to make sure people still care about what she calls “the real world” and sustain relationships with others by communicating in person.

However, Starks said there have been studies where people with social anxieties were able to transfer communication skills they develop in cyberspace into real life.

After all, he says, any means to get people to commu-

nicate is a good thing.

Friday_9:30 a.m.

I give up. I go online to check my classes. While I’m at it, I might as well check my e-mail. If I’ve gotta go down, I’m not gonna fight it.

9:32 a.m.

Whoa! Sixty-five e-mails! I check only the ones I think are urgent, but it’s nice to get rid of that feeling I’ve had all week that maybe I was missing something.

Saturday_12:15 I go online and surf the Net for a while. It’s a huge relief to know I’m back in the loop. It feels like I’ve been rescued from some faraway place and have been reintroduced to civilization.

To go without the Internet is to constantly have your hands tied. In class, teachers constantly mention Web sites we should look up for information: Check such-and-such site for internship opportunities or such-and-such site for summer grants. Magazines and newspapers tell readers to check such-and-such Web site for more in-depth stories.

Without the Internet, all this information disappears. Once I get back online, it’s all available again. That is what the Internet does for us now: It connects us to people, to distant places, and to information.

In-and-of itself, that can’t be a bad thing.

Michael Plume from page 14 Huntington also placed a call to Dr. Neal Baxter, Monroe County coroner, to discuss the need to perform an autopsy.

Since the cause of death had been determined at the scene, Huntington and Baxter decided that an autopsy was unnecessary. However, Baxter, still seeking a motive for the suicide, scheduled an inquest into the death for the following day.

By 7:45 a.m., the first stage of the investigation into Michael Plume’s death had been completed. The process had taken about half an hour.

THAT SAME MORNING, nearly 1,100 miles to the west in Evergreen, Colo., 42-year-old William Plume stayed home from work with a cold. His youngest son, 5-year-old David, kept him company while his wife, Marjorie, visited a neighbor.

When the phone rang at about 9 a.m. Mountain time, David

answered it and roused his father from his sickbed.

The caller was a reporter from the Denver Post. He wasted no time in explaining the purpose of his call: He wanted comments on the story that Plume’s oldest son, 18year-old Michael, had been found dead in Bloomington, Ind. Stunned, Plume told the reporter he didn’t know anything about that. He had spoken to Michael just three days ago, and he had seemed fine.

He quickly ended the call and found the phone number Michael had given him in case of emergency. He dialed it and asked to speak to his son. After a few moments, he was connected to Capt. Edwin H. Shuman, commanding officer of Michael’s unit. He asked if Michael was there.

Shuman answered without preamble: “He hanged himself last night.”

Plume felt as if he had been hit. Shuman’s words were the first indication he had received that Michael had taken his own life. With a growing feeling of disbelief, Plume called his neighbor’s house and told his wife to come home right away.

When his wife and their neighbor arrived, Plume broke the news to them. The neighbor left to pick up Michael’s five younger brothers from school. Plume had to break the news of Michael’s death yet again, this time to Gordon, 16; Stephen, 15; Russell, 12; Larry, 10 and David, 5.

Later that afternoon, Plume received a call from a family friend in Indianapolis who told him that an inquest was scheduled for the following day. He immediately decided to attend.

Plume arrived in Bloomington on Tuesday, Feb. 16 – the first of approximately two dozen visits he would make to the city in the course of investigating his son’s death. He could not believe that his son – a happy young man who had given no indication of any significant problems in his life – would suddenly kill himself.

BY ALL ACCOUNTS, Airman 3rd Class Michael F. Plume was an outstanding student who enjoyed life at the United States Air Force Language School. He had enrolled in the Air Force in July 1959, shortly after high school graduation.

He had planned to specialize in electronics until Air Force officials learned that he had studied Russian in high school and sent him to the their newly inaugurated language school at IU to study Slavic languages.

Michael arrived in Bloomington in October 1959, one month after his 18th birthday, and quickly established a reputation as one of the top students in the language school.

In letters to his family and friends, he described Indiana as a beautiful place, sometimes enclosing his photos of

Bloomington and the IU campus. He became popular with his fellow airmen and made many friends on campus. In a letter to a friend sent three weeks before his death, he wrote: “Man, this is the life!”

Michael last spoke to his father Friday, Feb. 12. He talked about a Russian exam he had recently taken. It had been difficult, but he thought he had done well. The last thing his father told him was to take care of himself.

Michael laughed and said he would.

AFTER THE INQUEST, Monroe County Coroner Dr. Neal Baxter told Bloomington’s Daily Herald-Telephone that he would issue a ruling on Michael’s death within a week.

The official verdict, however, did not come until April 15, 1960, nearly two months later: suicide, motive unknown.

Plume completely disagreed with the verdict. By that point he strongly believed that his son had not killed himself. He began to focus on the initial investigation conducted

by Huntington and Baxter. Plume believed they had jumped to the conclusion of suicide and consequently failed to conduct a thorough inquiry into his son’s death.

With pressure from IU President Herman B Wells and Dean of Students Robert H. Shaffer, Baxter eventually allowed the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations to open an inquiry into the case. In June 1960, the OSI exhumed Michael’s body from his grave in Colorado and conducted an autopsy. They performed laboratory tests on his clothing and the rope, and conducted more than 200 interviews with family, friends, classmates, and everyone involved in the initial investigation, including Huntington and Baxter.

Plume had achieved his goal of an independent investigation into his son’s death. But there was a hitch: The OSI was merely a fact-finding agency and was prevented from providing any sort of opinions about its findings – that was left to Baxter.

To make matters worse for Plume, the Air Force would not provide a copy of the OSI’s report to him without Baxter’s permission. Baxter denied Plume’s request to see the report.

IT WASN’T UNTIL after 1966, with the passage of the Freedom of Information Act, that Plume was able to obtain a copy of the OSI’s report from the Air Force. The report’s findings convinced Plume beyond a shadow of a doubt that his son did not take his own life.

One of the key conclusions was that, contrary to Huntington’s and Baxter’s reports, Michael had not died of a broken neck, nor had he jumped into the hangman’s noose from atop the scaffold. According to the autopsy conducted by the OSI physician, Michael had slumped into the noose, and the pressure of the rope had cut off his airway, resulting in death by strangulation. His neck had not been broken at all.

Then there was the matter of Michael’s shoes. Though the ground at the stadium had been covered with dirt and cement dust, the workmen interviewed by the OSI had reported that his shoes were highly polished and almost completely free of scuffmarks – even the soles. If he had walked into the stadium by himself, the workers questioned, how had he managed to keep his shoes so clean?

Michael had also been wearing woolen gloves. Though the Air Force-issued gloves had been dry-cleaned immediately following his death, the OSI sent them and the rope to the FBI for analysis. The FBI reported that there were fibers from Air Force-issued gloves on the rope, but there were no rope fibers found on the gloves that Michael had worn.

Furthermore, because Plume had requested the report through the Freedom of Information Act, he also received the Air Force’s internal memos, which Baxter had not seen.

One read: “There is a reasonable possibility that the death might not have been suicidal, and if the death appears to be from foul play, we have a reasonable suspect.”

OSI agents learned through their interviews that three airmen, including Michael’s roommate, had been engaging in homosexual activity around the time of his death. According to statements from the three airmen, one encounter had even taken place in Michael’s room while he slept.

Air Force regulations at the time made homosexual behavior grounds for dishonorable discharge – in fact, simply letting homosexual behavior go unreported could result in dishonorable discharge. Plume believes that Michael became aware of his classmates’ activities and, wanting to avoid a discharge, planned to report them to his superior officers – but before he could do so, his fellow airmen silenced him and made his death look like suicide.

IN THE YEARS after receiving the OSI report, Plume met with a succession of Monroe County coroners in his attempts to have the suicide verdict changed. Baxter was the first to review the report, but the OSI’s findings did not sway him. He refused to change the verdict of suicide, although he did change the cause of death from “broken neck” to “strangulation.”

The verdict stood for more than four decades as three of Baxter’s successors – including George E. Huntington, who had played such a crucial role in the initial investigation – declined to change it. Finally, in June 2003, Plume met with current Coroner David Toumey in Bloomington. Encouraged by Toumey’s willingness to review the case, Plume prepared materials explaining exactly how the physical evidence supported a verdict of homicide.

More than a year later, in 2004, Toumey issued a finding of “undetermined.” For Plume, unwavering in his belief that his son was murdered, this was not enough.

AT THE AGE of 89, William Plume has been working on his son’s case for 46 years. He has always been clear about his objective in trying to reopen the case. Despite his firm belief that his son was murdered, he has no interest in pursuing a criminal case.

“I don’t give a hoot about who did it, or why it was done,” he says. “I think I know both pretty close, but I don’t care about that.”

Plume’s only goal is to have the Monroe County coroner change the official ruling on Michael’s death to homicide. After years of trying to work quietly with the coroner’s office, this year he has changed tactics and made his efforts public. In September 2006, he put together materials summarizing the case and mailed them to more than 80 influential people in Bloomington and Monroe County, including the mayor, city council, county prosecutor, county commissioners, chamber of commerce, IU administrators and faculty, IU trustees, and local media.

Plume’s hope is that enough people with political clout will apply pressure to Toumey and persuade him to change the verdict from “undetermined” to “homicide.”

Plume’s relentless pursuit to change the verdict is deeply rooted in his commitment to his family. He believes that Michael’s five younger brothers – now grown men with children of their own – deserve to have the records show that their brother didn’t kill himself, he was murdered. As he told Michael’s mother when he began his efforts more than four decades ago: “Someday they’ll be grown up, and they will want to know what happened to their brother. I’m going to find out.”

THE WIRED ISSUE

INSIDE OUT

DOIN’ IT ALL NIGHT LONG with Colin Dugdale For The Wired Issue, we thought we’d Änd the most wired students on campus. There was only one man for the job.

HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT IT? If you’re like me and not currently “getting any,” the withdrawal is probably driving you insane. Nuts. Perhaps even – dare I say it - bonkers.

This primal desire for release is, in fact, quite like the great humpback whale of Bar Harbor, Maine. It’s wild, unruly, and yearning for the juicy kelp of gratification.

My whale is now deep within this ocean of deprivation. To be quite honest, at this point, I’d sell my little brother for a quickie. (Sorry Sean... you were always mom’s least favorite).

The fact is: I like it. I love it. I want some more of it.

So, point me to the nearest bed... because I’m horny for sleep.

Like sex, sleep is an activity few IU students would claim to get enough of. Sleep deprivation has become a collegiate staple, as common as beer pong or ramen noodles.

Some caffeine-pumped crazies, in fact, stay up all night, not going to sleep until the sun awakens. Indeed, it’s the circle of life – just as the night owls are flocking back home, the early birds begin migrating back to campus.

In hopes of observing this bizarre, nocturnal migration, I decided to pull an all-nighter myself and observe the nightlife happenings of after-hours IU. Meandering along the twisted, moonlit sidewalks of campus, I began bird-watching for the elusive owls. As I walked, the playlist which I had compiled earlier on my iPod – the “Red Bull” mix – blared. The lyrics of the songs eerily paralleled the events of that evening.

INSOMNIAC (GREEN DAY) At 3 a.m., the latest I had been up since my first night in prison, I approached the McDonald’s at the Read dormitory. Outside, under the flourescent light of the golden arches, I saw an employee bagging trash.

Clad in a sleeveless t-shirt, his collection of decorative arm tattoos were fully exposed. One bicep featured a frightening picture of the Grim Reaper, the other, Jesus Christ.

As he lifted the heavy bag, which drooped sadly – and ironically – under the weight of Happy Meals, his arm muscles flexed, making Jesus dance.

“I like to balance good and evil,” Israel Jimenez said, in reference to the tattoos. “I got them when I was 14.”

Jimenez, 26, works the late-night cleaning shift at McDonald’s from 1-7 a.m. The hours are late but fitting for Jimenez’s sleep habits.

“I suffer from insomnia,” Jimenez said. “I usually sleep only 3 to 4 hours ... so I work late to support my kids. One

22 • INside

lives here, the other in Mexico.”

“I love them,” he said.

With that, he retuned to his work, the leaky trash bag leaving scattered drips of brown goo behind him.

ALL NIGHT LONG (LIONEL RICHIE) At 4:00 a.m., I began walking up the slanted street near Teter, following the faint sound of distant voices. As I trudged upward, the volume of voices got steadily louder, as if I were walking atop a paved, musical crescendo.

At the peak, gathered around benches, was a foursome of dorm-dwelling night owls: Liz Carey, Liz Umstead, Aimee Zborowski, and Peter Trausch.

“We have a little group of us who stay up insanely late,” Zborowski said, “We mostly do nothing. Just talk, chill ... whatever.”

“I have 8 a.m. classes during the week,” Carey added, “But I’m always out this late.”

While the girls are all self-proclaimed “sleep anorexics,” Trausch, the lone male, often performs a binge-purge cycle.

“Last week, I didn’t sleep at all for five days,” Trausch said, “I spent, like, 30 hours sleeping on the weekend though.”

It seems implausible – almost inhuman – and upon hearing it, I arched my eyebrows skeptically. But his friends reaffirmed his statement.

“No seriously,” Umstead said. “He’s crazy.”

IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT (FRED PARRIS) At 5 a.m., in the main library, tables were littered with thick textbooks and Polar Pops – the quintessential accessories for all chemistry majors.

In the lobby, accompanied by such a beverage, was 25-year-old Michael Wartenbe, who was preparing for an upcoming class discussion.

“I enjoy working late,” Wartenbe said. “There is a weird camaraderie of people here at night. You can go outside, have a cigarette, and share bizarre conversations with strangers.”

When I finally left the library at 6 a.m., even the strangers had gone to bed. As I walked home, through the Arboretum, it was practically silent. The paths were empty – devoid of the usual clamor of Ugg Boots and Pumas.

And suddenly, embracing the essence of nocturnal randomness, I stopped to smoke a cigarette under a tree.

With my back against the wet grass, I gazed up at the stars, breathing in the peaceful toxins of smoke and silence.

And, of course, I thought about the dancing Jesus.