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THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS
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reflector.uindy.edu
FEBRUARY 22, 2012
Nobel laureate speaks By Stephanie Snay EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Photo by Kelbi Ervin
Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee spoke in Ransburg Auditorium about her time as a peace activist and women’s rights advocate.
Staying afloat during college price increases Presidential proposals seek to help students By Anna Wieseman NEWS EDITOR During the State of the Union address on Jan. 24, President Barack Obama outlined proposals to make college more affordable for students. Three weeks ago, the University of Indianapolis announced a 3.5 percent increase in tuition plus an increase in room and board.The recent proposals from President Obama are intended to help students currently enrolled in college stay there, even with increases in prices. College increases reached up to 6.5 percent over the years at other universities, according to a report by the College Board. The president outlined various solutions that he believes will help students afford college. One suggested solution would increase the number of work-study programs to help middle and lower income families afford college. Many workstudy programs give students the opportunity to earn money working on campus. Director of Financial Aid Linda Handy believes that an increase in work-study money would benefit students. “We can use more work-study money. We have not had what we consider our fair share of those moneys,” Handy said. “It all goes back to how the money is allocated. And so the university hasn’t had enough. In fact, we run out of work-study money each year.” Handy said that an increase in work-study programs would significantly help students but would not be the driving force behind why students might choose a college. “Work-study is not a good recruiting tool. It’s more a matter of helping students once they get here,” Handy said. “Once they get here, [it will help them] to find enough resources to be able to make it financially feasible for them to stay, as opposed to it being a real recruiting tool.” Other proposals include changing the way federal loans are structured. Under some of these changes the Perkins Loan and others would receive more money to benefit more students. An increase in these programs could help colleges reevaluate financial aid and how much money they can give to students. “What you’ll see is probably that colleges will look more at how they structure their financial aid to address some of this,” said Director of Admissions Ron Wilks. “As well, I think that probably what you’re seeing is there are students that are qualifying for more need. There are probably some students, given the economy, that are qualifying for more federal and state aid programs that are out there.” The recent UIndy increases have raised questions about the affordability of the institution. While the increase may come as a burden to students, Handy praises UIndy for keeping the increase low. “The university has done an excellent job over the last few years in keeping tuition increases to a modest level,” Handy said. “Any increase is not good, from the students’ point-of-view, but we are still, amongst the private schools, one of the most affordable institutions out there.” Both Handy and Wilks suggest that students explore all options before making decisions about the affordability of the college they are attending or want to attend. “I think the thing for families to think about is not necessarily jumping to the conclusion that it’s not going to be possible for them to attend the college of their choice,” Wilks said. “I think there’s this hesitancy, [this tendency] to say, ‘there is no way I can afford that.’ And sometimes the families are not necessarily aware of what help is actually out there.” Wilks believes that tuition increases will not cause students to stay away from colleges but will make them think harder about their final choice.
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2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee spoke in Ransburg Auditorium on Feb. 15 at 2:30 p.m. Gbowee is a peace activist and women’s rights advocate. She helped lead a coalition of Christian and Muslim women, the Liberian Mass Action for Peace, which staged public protests to help put an end to the Liberian Civil War that endured for 14 years. Gbowee accepted the award along with Yemeni activist Tawakkul Karman and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the woman who replaced Liberian president Charles Taylor after he was forced to resign and also the first female elected head of state in modern Africa. The speech was jointly presented by the UIndy International Relations program and the Sagamore Institute. Gbowee told her story about why she wanted to make a difference. She described the conditions that Liberia faced as having gone from bad, to worse, to ridiculous and she knew that change was needed. “We wanted the world to see that there was another side of that story,” Gbowee said. “Whatever we did, we were going to see [the] light of peace in our nation.” Gbowee said that her actions were guided by her desire to rebuild sisters one woman at a time. That led to keeping the community together and rebuilding and reconciling a divided nation. “Make the best of what you have, because all you can do for yourself is make your community better one person at a time,”
Gbowee said. After the speech and a standing ovation from the packed audience, Gbowee opened the floor to any questions. Associate Professor of International Relations Jyotika Saksena played a crucial role in setting up the lecture. She said that getting Gbowee to speak on campus was made possible by the international relations program’s strong partnership with the Sagamore Institute. “They wanted to know if we would partner with them, and the result was this collaborative event,” Saksena said. Gbowee’s speech was part of a series of events. “Pray the Devil Back to Hell,” a documentary featuring Gbowee, was shown Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. in Room 010 of the Schwitzer Student Center, and another documentary was shown Feb. 20 at the same location and time. Saksena believes that Gbowee shared an important message with the campus community. “This is about how an ordinary person can make a big change,” Saksena said. “I think she used non-cooperation as opposed to violence to achieve her goal–like Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Rosa Parks,”Saksena said.“She wasn’t some big person in politics, or a social leader, but she got a lot of people together and had an idea of ending violence. In a world where there is so much war going on, for someone to end a conflict purely by peaceful means, civil disobedience–it’s a big lesson for us.” Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion Michael Cartwright also played an important role in setting up this event.
“This really is a wonderful opportunity for the campus community,” Cartwright said. “Leymah Gbowee is in some ways Liberia’s Martin Luther King Jr. She is this incredible leader who has managed to use non-violence and her own ingenuity to bring warring factions together. And when you are dealing with Charles Taylor and the war lords in Liberia, that’s no small accomplishment.” Gbowee has continued her work by serving as the executive director of the Women Peace and Security Network Africa, which aims to strengthen women’s capacities to sustain their engagement in conflict prevention, peace building and peace support, among other things. “There are people at Manchester [College] who remember [Martin Luther] King [ Jr.] speaking,” Cartwright said. “This is not the same time and not the same situation, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if in 40 years people are saying,‘I was there when Leymah Gbowee spoke.’ She’s just really that kind of important moral figure.” Cartwright also said that Gbowee provides students who have a deep longing to make a difference in the world with a great example of how she was able to make a difference with other people. During the question-and-answer portion of the event, Gbowee spoke about how small actions can make large differences. “You see the little changes in communities, and it’s difficult to ignore,”Gbowee said. “Even the seemingly powerless are very powerful and can bring about changes.”
Ticket scam hits campus
Posters circulate campus advertising advance tickets to a fake concert By Kaley Belakovich & Anna Wieseman MANAGING EDITOR & NEWS EDITOR
A campus-wide email by Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Kory Vitangeli notified students on Thursday that posters had been placed around campus advertising advance tickets to a fake concert. The advertisement said that the concert would feature J. Cole and Katy Perry, with a guest appearance by the “Jersey Shore” cast. The poster claimed that advance tickets could be purchased for $15 each, as opposed to $60 at the door. The poster also claimed that the concert would take place on Saturday, Feb. 18, at Primo Banquet Hall. Vitangeli, who also serves as dean of students, said that no such concert had been planned. “You could tell by the poster that it was probably not a legitimate concert. So we did get them [the posters] down and let the [residence] hall staff know if they saw them in the halls [to take them down],” Vitangeli said. “They had tried to get some stuff into the residence halls as well—and so people were letting the police know what was going on.” According to the police report, the University of Indianapolis Police Department conducted an investigation around 1:23 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16. Officer Michael Horn contacted the owner of Primo Banquet Hall, who informed Horn that there was no such concert scheduled, and in fact a wedding was booked for Saturday, Feb. 18, the same day the advertisement claimed the concert would take place. Chief of Police Mick Reddick suggested that people should question something that seems like an extreme bargain. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said Reddick, who also serves as the director of campus safety. “So just ask the venue.” According to the police report, Horn then called the number listed on the poster and spoke with a male later identified as Andress Evans. Horn then made arrangements to purchase 22 tickets from Evans. Evans arrived at Nicoson Hall at approximately 1:30 p.m. and sold 22 tickets to Campus Police Patrol Officer Ron Olson. Olson paid with money that had been photocopied before the purchase, according to the police report. After the transaction was made, the vehicle Evans
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Poster contributed by Kory Vitangeli
Posters and flyers such as this one were found in buildings around the University of Indianapolis campus. was in was stopped. Inside the vehicle, police reported finding several tickets to the fake concert. The $225 that Olson had used to purchase the tickets were also found in the passenger seat in front of Evans, according to police. The driver of the vehicle was identified as Curtis Robinson. The police report indicated that Robinson was operating the vehicle without a driver’s license. According to the police report, Evans was arrested in connection with theft and Robinson was arrested in connection with operating a vehicle without ever receiving a license.
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In her email, Vitangeli urged that people who had purchased the tickets should go to the campus police department so that they could record their information. Vitangeli also said that in the future people should question anything similar to this that may look suspicious. “[Students should] just question whether or not that’s reality and then try to verify the information before they order tickets,” she said. “So [students should] just go with their gut and use their senses for things like that. And then if they are suspicious [they should] let campus police know.”
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