May 1, 2018

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Indiana Statesman For ISU students. About ISU students. By ISU students.

Indiana Statesman

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

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Volume 125, Issue 80

Student commencement speakers announced

Indiana State University has announced the lineup of speakers for its 2018 spring commencement, set for May 12 at Hulman Center. Shalynn McNeal of Michigan City, Indiana, who is completing her bachelor’s degree in communication with a concentration in journalism, and Shan Antony of Mishawaka, Indiana, who is completing his bachelor’s degree in health sciences with a concentration in health administration, have been selected as student speakers. McNeal served as vice president, president and peer mentor in the 21st Century Scholars Program, was a member of campus’ Society of Professional Journalists and was cast in a lead role as Nettie in the campus performance of “The Color Purple” her freshman year. In her final semester at State, McNeal interned with KPLR11 and FOX2 in Maryland Heights, Mo. She plans to apply to graduate school to study public relations and marketing. In the future, McNeal hopes to become a producer in California. “I have gone through a lot during my four years of college, and I think I can make an impact on my peers by sharing my journey at ISU. I came up with a theme for my speech, ‘The Graduation Race’,” said McNeal, who ran cross country and track in high school. “The message is sim-

ple but the meaning is true, that life and college are like a race. There are unexpected things you’ll encounter along the way, but you have to go out and give it your all. Graduation is just one part of it, and I want to encourage the graduates to finish this race we are all in.” A graduate of Michigan City High School, McNeal will speak at the 10 a.m. ceremony for the College of Arts and Sciences, Scott College of Business and Bayh College of Education. Antony, a Rural Health Scholar, participated in Campus Ministry for four years and served as president of the Pre-Medicine Association and as vice president of finances for Timmy Global Health. Through Timmy Global Health, he traveled twice to Ecuador as part of a medical brigade. Antony is engaged to get married in June before enrolling this fall at the Indiana University School of Medicine-Terre Haute. He intends to pursue a career as a primary care physician. “I feel indebted to Indiana State for giving me so many opportunities I thought I would never have. I think having that passion made it easy for me to create a speech that would honor ISU and well represent the undergraduate experience,” he said. “I hope the graduates hear my speech and remember not to take for granted the opportunities ISU has granted us. I also want them to remember that getting a

ISU Communications and Marketing

Shan Antony and Shalynn McNeal are selected to be the spring commencement speakers for ISU’s upcoming graduation.

college degree is as much of a burden as it is a blessing - while they have the capability to be individually successful, they have the responsibility to serve those who may not have had the same opportunities.” A graduate of Penn High School, Antony will speak at the 3 p.m. ceremony for the College of Health and Human Services and College of Technology. Alumni speaker for both ceremonies will be Ron Culp, ‘70, a founding member and former chair of the Plank Center for Leadership

in Public Relations and professional director of the graduate program in public relations and advertising in DePaul University’s College of Communication. Both ceremonies will be livestreamed at https://www.indstate.edu/academic-affairs/commencement/live. A broadcast of the processionals will begin approximately 15 minutes prior to each ceremony. Story by Communications and Marketing

Love Your Curves fashion show aims to increase diversity Jack Gregory Reporter

Danielle Guy | Indiana Statesman

Liz Brown, faculty senate chair was one of the many to decide on the dates for the 2019 spring break.

Faculty Senate decides to push back Spring Break Rus’sel Butts Reporter Faculty Senate, with the approval of the board of trustees, has decided to move spring break from the middle of March to the end of March next spring semester. More specifically, the break starts on March 23 instead of March 12, which is when it started all the previous years of ISU. The new Spring Break time will be in effect starting March 2019. Spring break is a time of the year that students, staff, and faculty all look forward to. It is a time of relaxation where you can momentarily forget about collegiate work. So when there is change related to the break time students have, people pay attention. Faculty Senate is, for the most part, an advisory body composed of ISU faculty that works with the Staff Council and the Student Government Association to shape and improve University policy. They all draft policies they may or may not go to the Board of Trustees to make the final decision on any university legislation. Faculty Senate makes the first approval for the academic calendar that goes up to the Board of Trustees after the Senate’s approval. All break times are decided in this calendar. “Spring Break was originally in the middle of the semester because that just seemed best at the time,” Faculty Senate Chair, Liz Brown said. “The issue is that many faculties, staff, and even students have children that are in Vigo County Schools. Our spring breaks are never aligned, which is why there are a lot more kids on campus during Vigo County’s spring break.” Childcare is an expensive endeavor, and some people have difficulty affording it. Parents

do not want to leave their young children at home alone for extended amounts of time. Dr. Brown stated, “To combat this problem, some faculty will keep their children in classrooms so they can stay close to them while they are on break. Some faculty have faculty spouses who will trade off their kids to each other. So while one professor is teaching a class, the other professor will take care of the kids and they will switch off in between classes through the whole day.” Dr. Brown made sure to emphasize that this is not just a problem for employees at ISU. “I’ve let students bring in their children into my class during Vigo County’s break,” Brown said. “As long as they are not disruptive, then they can stay.” This spring break policy also impacts the staff at ISU. According to Dr. Brown, “they do not have flexible hours like faculty. Some take vacation days off to take care of their kids. It is an unnecessary problem for everybody. I believe this change benefits the staff and students even more than faculty.” There was overwhelming support from the faculty, according to Dr. Brown. Student input seems to be in favor of the change in calendar, but for different reasons. Residential Assistant Katelynn Cook, said that “It could be a beneficial thing for students since the break is warmer as it gets later in March. The warmer the weather, the better the vacation.” Freshman Alivia Williams, stated “It is better to have the break pushed back farther into the year because students just get out of Christmas break in early January. It is better to push the break back into the semester, so students do not feel like they are taking breaks back to back.”

On Monday night, First Klass Production, a student organization, put on a fashion show for plus-sized models in the Hulman Memorial Student Union, Dede I. The Love Your Curves fashion show was arranged in an effort to raise awareness for multicultural women on Indiana State’s campus by bringing together groups of different ethnicities in order to embrace their differences and to inspire young women to be confident in how they look, the way they express themselves, and the innate uniqueness all of us share. The show featured female student models, designers, and artists. The show was divided into four categories, broken up by five performances and a raffle for various prizes. The first category was Business and it featured seven models, all of whom walked the catwalk adorned in business attire. After the first category, there was a performance of Yolanda Adams’ “I Believe”. Nia, the student who performed the song, received a very enthusiastic response from the audience during her performance, which she had to do from a chair after having hurt her leg. The second category was Trendy and it featured five models and after all of them had come onto the stage, the host, Joy Dawson, feeling that her outfit was also very trendy,

walked the stage herself to great Anna Bartley | Indiana Statesman

A Fashion Show for plus sized models was held in the Hulman Memorial Student Union.

applause. Moments like this permeated the event and made it feel very relaxed and free-form. Dawson frequently interacted with the audience in a care-free manner and encouraged them to get more involved with the show. It was Dawson’s first time doing something like this.

“I was going to say I was nervous, but I wasn’t,” she said. The second and third performances were a cover of Alessia Cara’s “Scars To Your Beautiful” sung by a student named Tia, who was accompanied by guitarist Andy, and a reading of an original poem written by student Malaya. Following those was another video, a motivational speech by Ashley Graham, a plus-sized model who talked about the struggles she has faced trying to make a name for herself. The last categories were 90s, which featured five models, and Elegant, which featured seven models. These categories were broken up by the final performance, a rendition of Adele’s Someone Like You, performed by student Louis. Between the performances, various prizes were raffled off including a makeup bag, a big bag of candy, a Blank Panther tee shirt, a phone dock, and a duffle bag full of different items. wAll of the models and performers received a great amount of applause after they were on stage and the audience couldn’t seem to get enough, which hopefully means more events like this start showing up on campus. It’s important for us as a society to reevaluate what we consider beautiful and to be more inclusive towards people regardless of what they look like.

Farewell picnic set for international students Claire Silcox Features Editor To finish the semester out strong, the International students who may not be coming back to ISU next fall will be having a farewell picnic this Friday. From 5 to 7 p.m. at Wolf Field, the Center for Global Engagement is hosting this picnic. It is being co-sponsored by International Student Leadership council as well. This event is for everyone to come out and wish the international students who are leaving in May or August good luck. International students made up nearly 6 percent of the student enrollment in Spring 2017 according to ISU’s Institutional Research. Around half of the in-

ternational students on campus are from Saudi Arabia. 750 students from 10 different countries came to ISU for schooling in Spring 2017, as both undergraduate and graduate. In fall semester of 2013, there were 926 international students making up around 7 percent of the total enrollment of that semester. ISU has been hosting international students for quite some time from all over the world. The international students scatter across campus and the Center of Global Engagement hosts many events to bring the international students and their peers together. “I met my international friends via my own study of Japanese. I met them through other

international friends of mine as well,” sophomore student Trey Hallett said. “They have made a great impact on me and how I view the world. Hell, I’ve even gone as far as to change my career path because of my love for Japanese culture and language. It’s a fascinating world we live in and seeing new things in person inspire an even greater fascination.” Before the international students who have made Terre Haute and ISU their home for the past year or more, the CGE would like to send them off on a great note, with food drinks, soccer, volleyball and music! Wishing them good luck in their future careers and endeavors, CGE says goodbye to friends on May 4 at 5 p.m.


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