Monday, July 16, 2018
IDS Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
West Nile Virus found in county By Dominick Jean drjean@iu.edu | @Domino_Jean
TY VINSON | IDS
Sophomore guard Bendu Yeaney claps after a timeout is called by Purdue in IU’s game against the Boilermakers on March 22 at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Serving
up smiles Sophomore guard Bendu Yeaney is serving the Bloomington community by making kids smile. By Murphy Wheeler jonmwhee@iu.edu | @murph_wheelerIU
Brayden Wierzba doesn’t want people to be mistaken. When Brayden, the twoyear-old son of IU women’s basketball assistant coach Rhet Wierzba, wears his cream and crimson IU jersey with the number one on it, many people assume he’s a fan of the men’s team’s incoming freshman Romeo Langford, or former point guard Jordan Hulls. But he wants to make something very clear — that’s no Romeo jersey. That’s his Bendu Yeaney jersey. He dons his Yeaney jersey with pride and considers her one of his “big sisters” on the team. “He takes on loving them,” Rhet said. “They basically treat him like a little brother.” After constantly being around the program with his father, who is going into his fifth season as an assistant coach, Brayden has grown close to the entire team. However, he and Yeaney, a sophomore guard who averaged 8.4 points and played an integral part to the Hoosiers’ WNIT Championship run last season, have built a special bond
over the course of her first season in Bloomington. She babysits him, plays race cars or play-doh with him and always comes and finds him to talk after each home game. “For whatever reason, he’s just really hit it off with Bendu,” Rhet said. “After the games, Bendu signs autographs and she always comes and finds him, and they talk and sit down.” One doesn’t have to look much further than Yeaney’s Twitter page to see the kind of relationship she’s built with Brayden. In her pinned tweet, there’s a picture of the two of them sitting together on a sideline bench in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall after the Hoosiers' 74-54 WNIT secondround victory over Milwaukee on March 18. Yeaney scored 12 points on 50-percent shooting that night, but it was her missed layup with 4:40 left in the first quarter that still lingered on Brayden's mind, as evidenced by their dialogue featured in the tweet. “Did you like watching the game?” Yeaney asked. SEE SMILES, PAGE 3
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Sophomore guard Bendu Yeaney poses with Avery Schwartzman outside Schwartzman’s home in Bloomington. Yeaney, a women’s basketball player, offered to take Schwartzman to see “Incredibles 2” after Schwartzman’s father contacted her on Twitter.
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Sophomore guard Bendu Yeaney sits on the bench and talks with Brayden Wierzba at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Wierzba is the son of assistant women’s basketball Coach Rhet Wierzba.
Medical information in this article was provided by the Monroe County Health Department. The Monroe County Health Department announced Friday a sample of mosquitoes in Monroe County had tested positive for West Nile Virus, according to a press release. “You can help protect your family and your community from West Nile Virus by eliminating areas of standing water available for mosquito breeding in or near your property,” Environmental Health Specialist Simeon Baker said in the release. Mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus breed in places like ditches, open septic systems, unused or untended pools and unused containers of water left stagnant. A small bucket of water, if left stagnant for seven days, can breed as many as a 1,000 mosquitoes, according to the release. West Nile Virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes that have first bitten an infected bird. A person who is bitten by an infected mosquito may show symptoms within three to 15 days after the bite. Most people who get infected with West Nile Virus will have either mild or no symptoms. There is no specific treatment for West Nile Virus. In cases with severe symptoms and health issues, the best way to deal with West Nile Virus is respiratory support, good nursing care and plenty of fluids, among other things. According to the press release, people over 50 years old are at higher risk for serious illness. Persons who develop high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, muscle weakness or paralysis, nausea or vomiting, sore joints, or confusion should see a doctor. People can protect themselves from mosquitoes by: Avoid being outdoors in the late evening, early afternoon and early morning. Use insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus or p-Menthane-3,8-diol. Cover exposed skin by wearing a hat, long sleeves and long pants in places where mosquitoes are especially active. Install or repair screens on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes out of the home.
IU theater presents classic comedy ‘The Foreigner’ By Christine Fernando ctfernan@iu.edu
IU's Summer Theatre cast will present the classic two-act comedy “The Foreigner” this month. The play, which has become a staple of professional and amateur theater alike, will run through July 29 at the Wells-Metz Theatre. “It’s very funny,” Director Jonathan Michaelsen said. “It’s farcical. It’s got interesting characters. It’s just a lot of fun.” The play follows two Englishmen who arrive at a rural town in Georgia. Charlie, one of the Englishmen, is nervous about interacting with the townspeople, so his friend, Froggy, introduces Charlie as a “foreigner” who does not speak English. Thinking Charlie cannot understand them, the townspeople share their secrets, and awkward, absurd conversations ensue. Michaelsen, who is also the director of graduate studies for the theater department, said he rediscovered “The Foreigner” when perusing plays for the summer and chose it because it was particularly poignant in today’s political climate. “When I read it again, I went ‘wow’ because there’s some things
in there that could be from today’s headlines,” Michaelsen said. The play includes white supremacists and characters wanting to cleanse their town of “foreigners” like Charlie. “When the play debuted in the (19)80s that was very poignant too, but I think it also matches the tenor of our current political debate,” Michaelsen said. “Albeit funny, the play has darker elements that express what we’re seeing in current discourse.” Since choosing the play, Michaelsen said the play has become more timely as perceptions of immigrants in the U.S. have worsened, culminating in the Trump administration’s now-abandoned zero-tolerance immigration policy that separated parents from children while crossing the U.S.Mexico border. As a “foreigner,” Charlie has a positive influence on the “good” characters of the play, making them more human and allowing them to reach their full potentials, Michaelsen said. While the people around him transform, Charlie also blossoms as he becomes used to being the center of attention, becomes part of the community and finds happiness. At the same time, the dark-
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Glynnis Kunkle-Ruiz and Michael Bayler, both second year M.F.A. actors, rehearse as characters Catherine Simms and David Lee in the 2018 IU Summer Theatre production of “The Foreigner.”
er characters grow even darker around Charlie as they treat him as an outsider. “So he has the opposite impact on these groups,” Michaelsen said.
“He enables certain characters and brings out real hatred in others.” Michaelsen said this effect may reflect how people today respond to interacting with immigrants
and refugees. Both the good and evil characters make assumptions about SEE THEATER, PAGE 3