Friday, Oct. 21, 2016 | Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
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Housing and Living Guide on stands now SWIMMING & DIVING
Top 5 teams coming to IU
Period project
Hoosiers to open season against national leaders By Ben Portnoy bportnoy15@gmail.com | @bportnoy15
If you want to be top-five, race against those who are already there. That’s IU Coach Ray Looze’s philosophy. The Hoosier swimming and diving programs kick off their seasons this weekend at home with the Texas Longhorns, the defending national champions, and Florida Gators, a perennial powerhouse. The Hoosiers come into the meet having finished ninth on the men’s side and 12th on the women’s side last season. The IU women’s teams beat Florida for the first time ever last season, and the men’s team is looking to avenge its 2015 loss. Neither the men nor women have ever beaten Texas in a dual meet. “The coaches’ thought process was to just put us against the best teams in the country and see where we stand,” junior Blake Pieroni said. “We wanna actually really see where we stand against the best in the country, and that’s gonna happen this weekend.” Something to watch between Friday and Saturday will be the change in distance between the courses. Looze said Friday’s meet will use an Olympic, 50-meter, long-course format, while Saturday will take place in the normal, short course, 25-yard distance. The meet will feature not only some of the best college swimmers and divers, but some of the best swimmers and divers in the world, as all three teams will boast Olympians on their rosters. Pieroni, Texas’ Townley Haas and Florida’s Conner Dwyer, who teamed up with Haas, Michael Phelps and
The IU Oxfam Club is posing a challenge to help with a lesser-talked about problem for the homeless population of Bloomington – periods. By Christina Winfrey | cawinfre@umail.iu.edu | @tinawinfrey33
For America’s female homeless population, one week every month can be a nightmare. Women that can barely find enough money to purchase food cannot afford menstrual products, and one IU club wants to help women in Bloomington with this problem. Members of the IU Oxfam Club started a social media challenge this month where students post a photo or video of themselves buying menstrual products that will later be donated to Bloomington’s Middle Way House. They said they hope this challenge will make students more aware of the struggle homeless women face. “We want to model it after the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge because that went viral,” said Aamina Khan, IU Oxfam Club president. While she said she doesn’t believe the Btown Period Challenge will go nearly as viral as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, she said she enjoys how it encourages people to tag one another and spread awareness of this issue. Students wishing to participate in the challenge can post their photos or videos and tag the Oxfam Club. Any items that are to be donated can be taken to the fourth floor of the student activities tower in the Indiana Memorial Union. Homeless women’s lack of access to pads and tampons is not an issue people often think about, Khan said. Because people don’t recognize the issue, shelters like Middle Way House don’t carry large
amounts of these products. “People don’t really think about donating them,” Khan said. “I know I always just donate food.” Without donations, it is nearly impossible for homeless women to get these products due to the fact that they can be very expensive. Both Khan and Bailey Hasler, IU Oxfam Club secretary, said they can’t imagine how these women must feel not having products to handle their periods properly. “I suspect that it would be incredibly embarrassing, having to admit that yes, you know your pants are stained, but there is nothing you can do about it,” Hasler said. “I imagine that it would make a week that is already physically uncomfortable even worse.” Khan said she feels uncomfortable when she is in public without a tampon or pad in her purse or backpack. “It must be a nightmare every single month for these people,” Khan said. With an idea of how these women must feel, Khan said this issue is important and one she hopes many more will soon understand through the Btown Period Challenge. The stigma of periods may have students uneasy about participating in the challenge, Khan said, but she has seen that participating with friends can often help people overcome their reluctance. After Hasler posted her video on SEE CHALLENGE, PAGE 6
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MATT RASNIC
“I want all of the women in our community to have access to menstrual products, and I want the rest of the community to be aware of the struggle homeless and impoverished women face.” Bailey Hasler, IU Oxfam Club secretary
SEE SWIMMING, PAGE 6
Student organization canning compared to panhandling By Dominick Jean drjean@indiana.edu | @Domino_Jean
As college students and Bloomington locals walk into or leave the bars on Kirkwood Avenue, they are asked for money. Homeless men and women and college students ask for donations, yet these two groups of people are treated differently. IU student Jessica Mann said she did not understand why the city is cracking down on homeless people and their panhandling but not on college students who do the same thing. “I think it’s a clear double standard,” Mann said. Mann said she dis-
liked Bloomington wasting money on new signs, many of which have been stolen, that discourage panhandling. Panhandling is described by the Indiana Code as the practice of soliciting money or donations from someone on the street or passing by in a public space, according to the City of Bloomington website. The 28 signs that were put up around downtown encourage donations to organizations rather than individuals on the street. Mann said money needs to be spent on housing and other services instead. “Stop blowing funds on things like unevenly en-
forced signs,” Mann said. “Start investing in lowbarrier shelter and rehab services.” Mann said she sees the college students as the aggressive panhandlers, rather than the homeless who sit with their signs. Nikki Dombrowski, a sophomore at IU and a canner for IU Dance Marathon, said her committee has actually tried to move away from something that might be construed as aggressive panhandling in order to get better results. “We try to be upbeat and happy,” Dombrowski said. “It’s about your persona.” Canners and Dombrowski’s IUDM committee have
moved away from asking for donations to asking if students and locals have any spare change. “I know I never have any cash on me,” Dombrowski said. She also said it can be hard when many people are canning because sometimes people will not participate or have a bad attitude. “Some people just hold out the bucket and expect people to donate,” Dombrowski said. Dombrowski said for the most part her experiences with canning have been positive. She said she did have friends who were confronted by an older woman who thought canning for
money was terrible and tried to punish them. “She claimed to be a witch,” Dombrowski said. “She tried to put a curse on them.” Some of the best times for IUDM and other groups to can are during bar hours. Technically, this is one of the times when panhandling can cross the line. Soliciting money after sunset or before sunset is one of many ways that someone can become an aggressive panhandler. There have been no reports in more than a month of any canners being charged with panhandling. Dombrowski said she is not aggressive, and her ex-
periences have mostly been positive. The worst sometimes comes from Bloomington locals who refuse to look at them as they ask for spare change, she said. “People will ignore you, which sucks,” Dombrowski said. Bloomington Police Department Capt. Steve Kellams said the best way to avoid aggressive panhandling, at least from homeless people, is to donate directly to charitable organizations. “Those people who want to do something for the homeless are much better served by giving money directly to those groups who provide services,” Kellams said.
IU Theatre brings sibling rivalry, comedy to Wells-Metz By Mallory Haag mjhaag@indiana.edu | @MalloryHaag
The IU Theatre will bring laughter to the stage with the comedic play “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.” The play, written by Christopher Durang, is centered around a family living in Pennsylvania. Two of the three middle-aged siblings, Vanya and Sonia, have spent their adult lives taking care of their aging parents, who are deceased by the time the play is set. Masha, the third sibling, is a successful movie star who pays for the house her siblings live in. She returns with her much younger lover, Spike, to attend a costume party to which a neighbor is the host. Childhood rivalries are dug back up and comical arguments ensue. The play has a limited cast with
only six actors and actresses. This has its challenges, said second year graduate student Tara Chiusano, who plays Sonia, but the positives of a smaller cast outweigh the challenges. “Our characters go through a journey, and we change,” Chiusano said. “That’s something that’s really nice about being in a show like this is that we all get that opportunity, each one of us.” The play, which gained popularity on Broadway and went on to win a Tony in 2013, incorporates comedy and drama into the uneventful lives of Vanya and Sonia. Chiusano said the brand of comedy is reminiscent of the famous playwright Anton Chekhov’s various characters after whom the three siblings and other characters in the play are named. Common themes and situations from the works of Chek-
hov are found within the play. “This show isn’t really serious with funny stuff in it,” IU senior Robert Toms said. “It’s funny with serious stuff in it.” Toms, who plays the part of Spike, said the comedy aspect of the play was central to the tone. “As long as you’re keeping that lightheartedness and just reminding the audience how light everything should be, then you can slip in more serious things,” he said. Chiusan and Toms said the small cast has an air of comfort with each other that enhances the show’s overall effect on audiences. “It’s brought us closer together, a lot,” said Chiusano. “I’ve been working with some of the folks for over a year now, and I think it’s really helped us to become better friends SEE THEATRE, PAGE 6
MARLIE BURNS | IDS
Justino Brokaw and Tara Chiusano play Vanya and Sonia in IU Theatre’s production of “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.” The play will run in the Wells-Metz Theatre Oct. 21, 22, and 25-28.