IDS 2022 FRESHMAN EDITION
Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
Hello and welcome to IU Bloomington! This is the Freshman Edition of the Indiana Daily Student, the student-run newspaper here on campus. This edition of the paper features some of the biggest stories from the past academic year, selected to give incoming freshmen a glimpse into campus life. The IDS has been covering campus and the Bloomington community for over 155 years: older than both of IU’s basketball teams and even the football program. Every article, photo, illustration and page were created entire-
for reporters, photographers, designers, web developers, and podcasters of all experience levels. I hope you enjoy the stories we have put together for you, and good luck with your freshman year!
ly by students. Our coverage includes city government, campus news, local arts events, every IU sports team and much more. We post to our website daily and print a free paper every Thursday. Follow us on social media, @idsnews, or visit our website at idsnews.com to check out more of our reporting. If you are interested in working with us, feel free to reach out to me with any questions! My email is editor@idsnews.com, and I am happy to answer any questions about the hiring process or the IDS in general. We are always looking
‘This is a happy ending’:
Ethan Moore Editor-in-Chief
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Indiana crashes out IU student with cancer recieves liver donation of March Madness in first round
ALEX PAUL | IDS
The Indiana bench watch the game slip away Mar. 17, 2022, at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. Indiana lost 53-82 against Saint Mary’s College. By Kamil Gut
kgut@iu.edu | @GutKamiI
COURTESY PHOTO
Christian Daake, Yi Jia and Shiqiao Wang pose for a photo on Dec, 18, 2021, at Northwestern Medical Hospital. Jia received a liver donation from Daake a few days prior to treat his stage-four cancer. By Lauren Ulrich
laaulric@iu.edu | @LaurenUlrich5
IU graduate student Yi Jia had one chance to survive stage four cancer: a partial liver donation from a living donor. Today, Jia, a 32-year-old from China, has a new liver and a second chance at life thanks to a donation from a stranger. Jia’s medical scans of his liver — once riddled with cancer cells at risk of spreading to other organs — are now cancer-free after a successful liver transplant surgery Dec. 15. “This is a happy ending,” Jia’s wife Shiqiao Wang said. “We feel really relieved, and we are really happy now.” Jia received his liver donation from Christian Daake, a 25-year-old IU School of Medicine student and IU alumnus. After a 15-hour surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Jia’s diseased liver was replaced with a removed portion from Daake’s healthy liver. Daake said his liver is expected to fully regenerate. Jia and Daake were discharged from the hospital within a few days post surgery and report they are both in good health, although Jia is still in recovery with ongoing medications, check-ups and rehabilitation for pain in his right arm due to surgery complications. Jia’s journey to find a donor began when he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, colon cancer cells in his liver, in October 2020. When he was placed on a liver transplant list in September with only months to find a match, he and his wife sent out an urgent request for a donor. The couple said they were initially hesitant to reach out and were worried they wouldn’t find a match because most of their friends and family were home in China.
However, after sharing their request, Wang said she received more than 100 emails from people across the U.S., China and Canada interested in donating. Memorial received around 50 donor applications, she said. Daake said he heard about Jia’s story after seeing a social media post of an Oct. 7 Indiana Daily Student article about Jia’s request for a donor. “My only thought was ‘I can’t imagine one of my friends going through this,’” Daake said. “I’d want to do everything in my power to help one of my friends in that situation.” Daake said he called Memorial’s organ transplant line, applied to donate and told no one except his mom as he went through rounds of screenings to see if he was a match. A few weeks later, Wang and Jia received a phone call. The couple clutched each other as they heard Jia’s doctor say Memorial found a matching donor who agreed to surgery. “We were thrilled,” Wang said. “I was shocked. Speechless.” Daake said he met Jia and his wife for the first time during pre-surgery preparations. The pair developed a friendly relationship and still keep in contact. “I was really humbled by seeing how appreciative Yi and his family were after that experience, which is one of the reasons why I think this will probably be one of the most impactful things I ever do in medicine,” Daake said. Wang said she’s been inspired by the support she’s received from strangers like Daake. “We just feel so grateful for what everyone did for us, especially Christian, and we really want to help others in the future,” Wang said. Wang said she and Jia plan to transform the social media accounts and
website they used to find a donor into a platform to spread awareness on organ donation and help match recipients with donors. Wang said the experience of finding a donor made her feel more like a part of the United States and strengthened her faith in humanity. “At first I was worried people would not be willing to help because I’m Chinese,” Wang said, “But when I was looking at the emails of people who wanted to donate, there were people of all different races and ages who were willing to help and that was really awesome.” Wang said she made many friends in the Chinese American community while looking for a donor. Vivian Liu, who became a close friend of Wang’s after helping the couple, said she was inspired by the love she received helping the couple to share Jia’s request and speak with prospective donors. “The climate recently in the past two, three years — I think everyone’s felt some type of grief in believing in humanity,” Liu said. “It's kind of a terrible place to live these days, but with how strangers will just give you love and support — it’s a very strong and powerful feeling.” Daake said he’s sharing his experience as a donor to encourage others to consider organ donation. “I’m just trying to make the world a better place,” he said. Daake said knowing he’s changed Jia’s life will never make him doubt his decision. “I hope he lives to be old as hell, and that he has an awesome life,” Daake said. “Yi, I’ll grab a drink with you in six months because that’s how long we’re not allowed to drink after surgery.” This article was orginally published on Jan. 24, 2022.
Indiana men’s basketball’s NCAA Tournament run came to an end Thursday night with a 82-53 loss in its First Round matchup against No. 5 seed Saint Mary’s College. After a journey full of ups and downs in head coach Mike Woodson’s first season back at his alma mater, the Hoosiers posted a 21-14 overall record in 202122. “It just means we've got to go back and get busy this summer and get better,” Woodson said. “It was a great run for our ball club this season getting back to the Big Dance, and now we've got to build on it for the future.” The Hoosiers ended their season with a stretch of five games in eight days dating back to March 10, the beginning of their Big Ten Tournament run. Wins over Michigan and Illinois were enough to get the Hoosiers into March Madness, but they were dealt an unfavor-
able hand by the selection committee in the form of an extra game — the First Four play-in. Just before midnight local time on Tuesday night in Dayton, Ohio, Indiana advanced into the First Round with a win over University of Wyoming. This left the Hoosiers with less than 40 hours to get to Portland, Oregon, and plan for Saint Mary’s. Whether it be the congested schedule or having to face one of the best teams in their region, the No. 12 seed Hoosiers looked disoriented on offense and unprepared for the questions Saint Mary’s guards asked of their defense in the blowout. “Tonight we just didn't have it,” junior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis said. “We didn't have the spark. We were letting guys dribble, drive past us, screen and rolls, open layups, and just not being tough at the rim. Tonight they really dictated to us, and we didn't punch back.” SEE BASKETBALL, PAGE D1
FOOTBALL
Connor Bazelak’s former teammates reminisce on their friend By Luke Christopher Norton lcnorton@iu.edu | @ByLCNorton
Connor Bazelak jogged onto the field. The Archbishop Alter High School quarterback stood on the sideline as his squad’s defense claimed a fumble by Norwalk High School just eight yards away from Alter’s endzone. Winning this game meant Alter would go on to compete for a state title, and the fumble recovery gave it a chance to seize some momentum. Alter’s coaches were calling on Bazelak and his strong arm to do just that. Derek Willits, one of
Alter’s top wide receivers, stood at roughly 6’3” in pads and cleats. He liked to leverage that size against opposing defensive backs, going for jump balls or blazing past the secondary for the rare deep strike in Alter’s wishbone-style offense. Nobody knew that as well as his quarterback. Bazelak approached Willits and asked what kind of route he’d like to run on the ensuing play. The two glanced at Norwalk’s secondary and noticed Willits would be lined up on a smaller defender. SEE FOOTBALL, PAGE D5
Check out our features online:
The IDS publishes in-depth and feature reporting into topics that affect students and the Bloomington community. Visit our website to read the examples below.
DISSONANCE IN DUE PROCESS
‘LET’S GO FINISH THE MISSION’
‘A CRISIS OF FAITH’
After IU suspended a music student for sexual assault, he was readmitted to the Jacobs School of Music in 2020 despite violating his suspension.
After two Little 500 heartbreaks, Andrew La Valle is ready to end Phi Kappa Psi’s drought
Members of the LGBTQ community say Catholic Bloomington ministry promoting chastity is unwelcoming, traumatizing and disturbing.