THIS IS THE LAST EDITION OF THE IDS FOR SUMMER 2014. LOOK FOR THE WELCOME BACK EDITION ON STANDS WEDNESDAY, AUG. 13. THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014
IDS
Meet Batman expert, IU alumnus Michael Uslan Weekend, page 6
INDIANA DAILY STUDENT | IDSNEWS.COM
Patrick Stropes is a third year medical student here at IU. As an undergraduate, he studied human biology with chemistry and Spanish minors. He is involved in Tennis Club as well as Taekwondo and frequents the gym in his spare time. His plans after graduating are to get a residency in Colorado or somewhere on the East Coast. Patrick can see himself eventually coming back to Bloomington to practice medicine and teach future medical students.
Aysha Jemison, Joseph Togh and Jon Stante were outside Ballantine Hall to capture footage for a project for the freshmen induction ceremony. “Aysha is one of many students that had a great study abroad experience and creative services is putting together a family of characters who are sharing their story, and we are filming that today,” Togh said. Jemison studied abroad in China, Japan and South Korea. “My trip was a travel-study course through the the School of Public Health,” she said. Togh and Stante graduated from IU in 2011 and started freelancing in Bloomington, working directly and indirectly with the University doing video production, Togh said. Togh said his favorite part about summer in Bloomington is the restaurants. “Being able to eat outside and enjoy all the good restaurants here is nice,” he said.
TIM FARIS | IDS
PORTRAITS OF
SAM STARR | IDS
BLOOMINGTON Here are some of the people and stories the IDS has discovered this summer.
SAM STARR | IDS
SAM STARR | IDS
Savannah McCain and Gabrielle Griffin were walking behind Woodburn Hall July 30 on their way to lunch in the Indiana Memorial Union. "We are here for the IU Groups Scholars program," McCain said. "We were given the chance to get a 2.0 so we could be admitted to IU in the fall. The campus is big, but we like it. There are a lot of nice places to go and eat. Our program was six weeks long and tomorrow is our last day." Getting to know new people was a highlight of the program, McCain said. "When I first came, I didn't think anyone would be as fun as they are, but now that I've got to know people I've become really close friends with them," she said.
Ph. D. student and biologist Daniel Schwab and his younger sister Elizabeth were studying a branch of the Jordan River July 30 near Ballantine Hall. "During the summer I taught this really great course as part of the foundations of science and mathematics," Daniel said. "It's about a two week course where we take the kids out to learn about cell biology, genetics, ecology and evolution behavior. One of their labs was actually looking at these two branches of the Jordan River and we sampled for diversity." Daniel said he is helping his sister with a class project. "My sister is actually visiting me,” he said. “She's going into 11th grade now and has a class project. She has to do pretty much what I taught in my class where we go out, ask some sort of an ecological question, make some sort of contrasts, and analyze the data, graph it, that sort of thing." Daniel said he has been in Bloomington for more than two years and has enjoyed visiting Griffy Lake. “In the summer I enjoy the abundance of natural resources,” he said. “We have a lot of great places to go kayaking. I'm an outdoorsy person, so it's nice we have all the trails to go hiking. There are a lot of nice places for recreation."
SAM STARR | IDS
Sophomore Sarah Purdy was sitting on a bench in the arboretum July 30 after her summer session organic chemistry class. "I heard it was easier in the summer, but that's not really the case," Purdy said. "I guess I took it in the summer so that I wouldn't have the distractions of the school year with it." Purdy said she plans to graduate with a degree in biology. "I would like to practice medicine overseas, maybe somewhere in Africa or South America, hopefully," Purdy said. "This summer I went to Africa on a mission trip to Swaziland where we worked with HIV patients. Working in the hospitals there was really cool, because it's just so different than the ones here, and you can really make a difference in their lives. I really liked the culture there and how everyone was so friendly and warm. It was beautiful seeing all the big animals in their natural habitat that you don't really see around here." Purdy said she hopes to move to Africa one day to continue her work. "I would move to Africa after I graduate in a heartbeat," Purdy said. "I would like to go back to Swaziland if I went to medical school and could specialize in tropical medicine or HIV so I could continue to help their efforts. It would be really hard to leave my family and friends, but I think it would be worth it, because you know that you are making a difference in the world."
County inmates, IU students talk on class visits BY SARAH ZINN
sjzinn@indiana.edu After all the keys and cell phones and purses were collected, after the elevator moved down a few floors, after his fellow inmates stared at the guests through a window in the wall, Michael Luper took out a folded piece of paper from the breast pocket of his orange jumpsuit. He read it again before his speech. “I want to paint you a picture...” the first line of the page said. Luper was nominated to make a persuasive argument in front of the class as a part of the final ceremony in IU’s Public and Oral Communication course, which comprised IU students and male inmates at Monroe County Jail. The course is often referred to as an “inside-out” course, because it combines students from outside the jail with
the inmates. “They’re not studying one another,” the course instructor Lindsey Badger said. “They’re not tutoring each other. They’re learning together.” The course met three times a week throughout six weeks of the summerto examine different modes of communication in the community while contemplating alternative methods of social justice in the county. Many of the issues discussed focused on the corrections department and what happens to inmates after they are released from prison. Luper advocated for free bus fare in Monroe County in his speech. He has written letters to the editor that have been published in the Herald-Times. A timeline of the American presidents hung on the SEE INSIDE-OUT, PAGE 3
TIM FARIS | IDS
Mark Edlin will be a fourth-year student here at IU in the fall and a third-year student of the Jacob’s School of Music. He is a recording arts major with a knack for playing drums and plans on graduating in 2016. Mark is from Zionsville, Ind., and came to Bloomington because he was sold on the music school. His life is centered heavily on music, but when he is not in the studio, he enjoys reading, swimming and drinking coffee. After graduating, Mark said hopes to move to Nashville, Tenn., Boston or New York and work in a studio or play in a band.
HEAR ME OUT
The defense just needs to be average Being an IU football fan has not been for the faint of heart. Some amount of optimism is always required to be a sports fan, but a smart IU fan has learned to limit the optimism and increase the realism to avoid a broken heart. IU football fans are more similar to Morgan Freeman’s character, Red, from ”The Shawshank Redemption,” fearful of hope. “Hope is a dangerous thing,” Red said. “Hope can drive a man insane.” The perpetually cautious optimism of IU fans has been increasing little by little since IU Coach Kevin Wilson took over in 2011. No bowl games yet, but noticeable improvements and an exciting unit to take note of: the offense. The Hoosiers were second in the Big Ten in total offense and fourth in scoring offense. As long as a team has an elite feature, they can compete. It doesn’t matter if it is speed or strength, offense or defense. Having an elite feature at least puts a team in ball games. Then there is IU’s other key feature, albeit a negative one, that keeps them from
winning big games: defense. It’s not a new topic of conversation for IU faithful, nor is the defense an area that has shown any improvement yet. Giving up 423 yards a game makes winning games difficult, regardless of how talented the offense is. Then again, none of this is new. The news of the week has been Big Ten Media Days in Chicago. Coaches and players giving their input on the upcoming season and answering questions about the ins and outs of this year’s squad. IU’s representatives, Wilson, seniors Shane Wynn and David Cooper and junior Nate Sudfeld, said all the right things and made it clear they hope to improve. What should give IU fans the most confidence was something simple Wilson said about the hiring of IU Coach Brian Knorr to run the defense. “We’re not expecting it to be lights out, but you just want to see some consistent, constant improvement,” Wilson said. “My first thought was not identifying a person. I looked at teams that
I thought were comparable to us, talent-wise, who they played and statistically for a couple, three years, who had played pretty good.” I know, it isn’t that enthusing of a quote, but it is the pragmatism he approached the situation with that is exciting. He did not go for some possible home-run hire that could turn things around in a year. That is unrealistic. He made the hire that would field teams that can play solid defense. This is an IU team that can win several more games if given at least a quality defense. One of the top offenses can win three or four more games if their defense can improve from the worst in the Big Ten by a margin of nearly 50 yards to a serviceable crew that can keep teams in the 20s. “If we get a couple of stops and get the ball back, think how much better the offense could be,” Wilson said. Drastic improvement is not needed. Only slight improvement would have a drastic impact. This is a squad returning 10 starters on defense, so
BRODY MILLER is a sophomore majoring in journalism.
the experience is there. Also, Knorr is a proven coordinator who turned the struggling Wake Forest defense into a consistently reliable unit. Lastly, there are some potential impact freshmen that could provide a boost, such as linebacker Tegray Scales, who was mentioned by both Wilson and Cooper during interviews. In Chicago, Sudfeld kept discussing how this defense has made trouble for the offense and even beat them a few times in spring practices. If this defense is proving capable of stopping an offense that was putting up 442 yards per game in the past season, then it is probably is not the worst in the Big Ten anymore. There I go with the optimism again. brodmill@indiana.edu MORE FOOTBALL COVERAGE PAGE 4