Sept. 27, 2023 | The Reflector

Campus security upgraded

UIndy Police Department has a new system of security cameras to provide more safety to campus

By Michael Harrington FEATURE EDITOR

The University of Indianapolis Police Department has made updates to improve campus safety, according to an email sent by UIndy Police on Sept. 9. It also said updates include the addition of 23 Flock Security cameras. e email said that the camera system is integrated with other Flock Security cameras around Indianapolis, allowing law enforcement to track suspects and make arrests quicker.

According to University of Indianapolis Chief of Police and Director of Campus Safety Brandon Pate, the new camera system expands the security coverage on UIndy while creating a secure perimeter around campus. e cameras also help to tag people and vehicles of interest, according to Pate.

e Flock cameras create a digital border around campus,” Pate said. “So the entrances and exits [are where] we monitor vehicles coming in and out. It has been greatly bene cial in that we get instant alerts if a stolen vehicle comes on campus or if a vehicle that's been involved in a crime comes on campus, or if someone who has a warrant were to come on campus.”

According to Flock Safety, their camera system utilizes license plate and vehicle recognition technology, real-time alerts and is powered by solar panels. is allows for more streamlined and constant surveillance. Pate said that the new cameras also allow for facial recognition when uploaded on UIndy Police’s data system.

e data system has facial recognition, so we can upload the photo and put an

alert on there that says if this person comes on campus or into a building, it will immediately send a noti cation to the o cers,” Pate said. “Not only are we able to get vehicle noti cations, we can get personal noti cations as well— people that have trespassed, people that have been involved in commission of a crime and people that we just want to keep an eye on to make sure we know where they are at and that if they are a threat to the campus.”

According to Pate, the cameras cover a wider area on campus and are integrated with surveillance cameras within Indianapolis. Pate said the system also allows for an integration with existing systems within Indianapolis, creating a list of suspects.

“[ e camera system] covers way more than we used to before,” Pate said. “Previously, we used to cover just little spots of parking lots and now we're getting a full encompassing view of everything around campus. So it broadened that surveillance area. It is also an active system versus a passive system. A passive system just watches you drive by or just watches you walk across the lawn. An active system noti es us if you are a person of interest or if that vehicle is from a person of interest.”

UIndy students will begin to see a new campus police dog soon, according to UIndy Police Sergeant Blake Benton. Benton said that the dog is a German shepherd named Riley and is being trained in narcotics detection.

“[Riley] came from the Pittsboro Police Department where she was fully trained in narcotics detection,” Benton said. “She is a single-purpose dog, meaning she only has one job and that

According to Pate, Riley was a gift to the police department from the Pittsboro Police Department. Benton said that students can expect to see Riley working on campus after her training is completed in the next few weeks.

“Riley and I are in training right now for at least the next two weeks,” Benton said. “So probably the beginning of October is when [students] can expect

to see her on campus. Her and I trained as a team ready to go do anything.”

In addition to the new camera system, UIndy students can expect to see several other events put on by the police department, Coffee with a Cop and campus Safety Walks. According to Pate, UIndy Police held a campus safety walk for students on Sept. 26 where students can ask questions or address concerns regarding campus

security.

“[ e Safety Walk is] where we invite every student that wants to come out,” Pate said. “We will go walk campus and they can point out the areas that they think are safety issues, that need more lighting or that need us to pay attention to more. We have discussions, answer questions about the new cameras that they see and try to bridge that gap so that we can be a stronger community.”

Crowe Hall closed for 2023-24 school year

By Hannah Biedess ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Crowe Hall has been closed for this academic year, according to Associate Dean of Judicial A airs and Residence Life Rob Williford. He said that Crowe Hall is not fully closed, however it is not operational. With enrollment for living on campus being down, he said, the University of Indianapolis decided to make Crowe Hall non-operational. Williford said that Crowe Hall would be used in cases of emergency like a policy violation, Title IX or for a COVID-19 in ux.

“Crowe is one of our older buildings,” Williford said. “As you can imagine, with buildings that age, over time, there are several maintenance related concerns or things like that. So, when we were determining which hall would be [closed], Crowe was the one that we determined.”

Although Crowe Hall is currently not operational, the lights and the necessary safety processes are still on, Williford said. It is not currently sta ed, and will remain this way until there is a need for resident assistants and professional sta

Last academic year, there were renovations done on Cory Bretz Hall. ere are no plans to do renovations on Crowe Hall because giving a residence hall a “face lift”is an investment, Williford said. ere are a lot of deciding factors that go into doing renovations on residence halls and those decisions fall

upon the facilities team, Williford said.

As it pertains to RAs, Williford said none were hired for Crowe Hall, however, there were more RAs hired in other buildings for the Living Learning Communities. Crowe Hall being closed does not a ect students signi cantly because there is still wiggle room in most of the currently open halls if students need to be moved, he said.

“If somebody wants to, or needed to move because of an accommodation request … We still have this space right now and several of the halls to be able to do that,” Williford said.

Crowe Hall is still able to be used in emergency situations. Williford said that previously for COVID-19, students have been sent to a nearby hotel in order to isolate themselves. Now, students can request to move into Crowe Hall for an interim period. He said that it would also be used if a student needed to move for Title IX or other policy violations. ere is hope that Crowe Hall will reopen at some point, Williford said. ere could be an in ux of transfers at the semester or commuters who do not want to commute, he said. For the 2024 fall semester, he said that he is hopeful that enrollment will be at a place where they can reopen Crowe Hall.

“[The] most important thing is that we want to give people a safe and comfortable living space,”Williford said. “And if that's not possible with any of our halls, we would like to take a serious look at that so that we don't give people a negative experience.”

Photo by Michael Harrington

UIndy Police Sergeant Blake Benton and police dog Riley in front of one of UIPD's cars. Riley will specialize in narcotic detection.

Photo by Michael Harrington

To the right of the directory is one of the 23 new Flock Security Cameras, this one located on Shelby St. and Greyhound Lane. job is narcotics detection.”

Photo by Breanna Emmett

Hall will remain unoccupied for the 2023-24 academic

The power and other necessary safety precautions are still on in

Highs, lows of dining updates

Unlimited meal plan presents postive change, 'Flex Dollars' seem puzzling

By Mia Lehmkuhl EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & CO-ONLINE EDITOR

I have had a meal plan on campus for the entirety of my going-on-three years at the University of Indianapolis. When I arrived at college my freshman year, I was excited to have a meal plan. I mean—who does not like the convenience of a snack or a meal being one meal swipe away? Last year, I had the 14-meal plan and received 224 swipes per semester to budget as I pleased; Meaning that, if I planned my swipes just right, I would have not wasted money by not using all the swipes I was billed for. Now, picture it: It is the end of last semester. I had finally mastered the art of getting my swipes to last just enough to get me through finals week. I was elated that I, somehow, perfectly divided my swipes so that not a single cent was wasted. I was eager to execute my plan again the coming semester… That is, until I checked my inbox four months later.

Meal plans were revised for the 2023-2024 school year, as students were informed in an email from the Office of Student Affairs on Aug. 3. For starters, the 19 meal plan was replaced with an unlimited meal plan, meaning that students with this plan get unlimited swipes in the dining hall. I agree with this change—if you are

shelling out nearly $3,600 a semester to eat on campus, then you should not be limited in your swipes. However, a new three swipe limit per day at retail locations (think the Perks, Streets Grill, Fiesta Grill and Hounds Express) is not so great, especially if you are a student like me who is already limited to six swipes a day. The policy does take a little meaning away from the term “unlimited.”

However, I am not so sure about the addition of “Flex Dollars.” According to a recent The Reflector article titled “Dining hall renovations and meal plan updates for new school year,” the purpose of Flex Dollars is to increase spending options for students. This means that, let’s say, if one wants to spend four meal swipes to get coffee at The Perk III, Flex Dollars can be used to cover that last swipe that goes over the three swipe limit. Or, if students simply do not want to spend an extra swipe for their meal due to an upcharge or adding another item, Flex Dollars can cover whatever that difference is. Most institutions I considered when applying for college, such as North Carolina State University (I am an N.C. native) or Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, have something akin to Flex Dollars as part

of their meal plan systems. However, it is important to note that a lot of these institutions have multiple restaurant chains and/or options available for students. IUPUI offers both a Panda Express and a Pizza Hut location among others. NC State allows students to spend their respective versions of Flex Dollars at an on-campus ChickFil-A. At UIndy, the only outside vendors we host are a Sushi Boss in the Health Pavilion and two coffee shops with partnerships with Starbucks available to students. While something is better than nothing, if the purpose of Flex Dollars is to increase students’ spending power, why not continue the precedent other universities have set with having chain locations available to students? But I digress. The addition of Flex Dollars also raises another concern: How will pricing be handled by the university? According to a Reflector article published last year about the previous meal plan system, price increases were posted around campus last semester for various items in multiple locations, such as the Perk III and Hounds Express. Not to mention that adding guacamole or queso to your burrito at Fiesta Grill

still costs students an extra $2. While the addition of Flex Dollars makes sense overall, I feel as though it is a band aid to students’ concerns about not getting their money’s worth out of their swipes. According to Dine at UIndy, the 14-meal plan still gives students 224 swipes per semester for a price of $2,990 per semester. With those numbers in mind, this means that each swipe is worth around $13.35 ($2,990 divided by 224 total swipes). The price of our swipes has increased; however, the worth of each swipe has not. This is my main complaint. In the Midwest where food prices are still increasing due to inflation, according to the Consumer Price Index, I feel as though the university should have increased our purchasing power per swipe rather than implementing a new system that, quite frankly, is sometimes confusing (especially the whole allotted swipes for each week system and the one-week swipe rollover period, per the Aug. 3 email. I am still trying to figure that out).

In the end, the new meal plan system is not all that bad. Sure, it is a bit confusing to implement after multiple years of its predecessor, but ultimately some students’ concerns were addressed through these new implementations. I am glad that students were heard. Nonetheless, that does not mean there is not still room for improvement, but we have to start somewhere.

Corrections

The Reflector acknowledges its mistakes. When a mistake occurs, we will print corrections here on the Opinion page.

If you catch a mistake, please contact us at reflector@uindy.edu.

In our Aug. 23 Issue:

For future clarification, the UIndy dining hall is officially referred to as the "Ober Dining Hall."

We did not clarify that Leah Milne was not a recipient of the PALNI Innovation Grant in connection with Krannert Memorial Library. Marisa Albrecht and James Willis should instead receive that distinction.

What do you think?

Send your letters to the editor or other correspondence to: reflector@uindy.edu

the city on pace to 192 homicides this year,” according to Axios Indianapolis. Reporting from Axios has revealed that Indianapolis has recorded 200 criminal homicides every year since 2019, rising in turn with other Mid-Western cities and the national rate. With violence of all kinds on the rise, as a young woman and also a foreigner, it is important to me that the police and legislators do what they can to make us safer in Indianapolis. A recent Republicansponsored law aims to do exactly that.

By Brid Peoples STAFF WRITER

As a non-native of the United States, the prevalence of violence and gun culture left me feeling somewhat apprehensive about living here. There were 96 criminal homicides from the beginning of 2023 until the end of June in the City of Indianapolis, “putting

Republican state Rep. Jim Pressel said Indianapolis will be safer as a result of the House Enrolled Act 1186.

According to the Times of Northwest Indiana, Pressel said the law will improve officer and public safety by pr eventing distractions to law enforcement that could give criminal suspects the opportunity to become violent.

The bill was written by Republican state Rep. Wendy McNamara. According to this law, a person who

can charge those that intentionally trespass the boundary with a Class C misdemeanor, which can carry up to a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail, according to an article from The Law Office of Joseph M. Roberts LLC’s website. HEA 1186 is unconstitutional, too vague and effectively squashes the notion of government accountability by the public and media by attempting to limit the ability to record and view police officers at crime scenes.

By Hannah Hadley OPINION EDITOR

Signed into law by Gov. Eric J. Holcolm, Indiana House Enrolled Act 1186 gives law enforcement officers power to enforce a 25 foot border all around a designated “emergency incident area” (e.g. crime scene), according to the General Assembly's website. The law states that officers

“knowingly or intentionally” approaches within 25 feet of law enforcement engaging with their duties after the law enforcement officer has ordered the person to stop approaching “commits unlawful encroachment on an investigation.” The violation of HEA 1186 is a Class C misdemeanor, which can include up to 60 days of jail time and up to a $500 fine, according to Avnet Law. Channel 8 News reported that McNamara said she wrote the bill as officers increasingly have to manage an active crime scene while simultaneously dealing with interference from bystanders. The Indiana Capital Chronicle quoted McNamara in the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee saying, “If there’s something that we can do [for] preventing that escalation, preventing the officer from being touched by someone who’s not even involved in the situation, I hope that this bill is the one to do it.”

rising crime rate would seem to be a positive step. In recent years, there has been an uptick in officer-involved shootings, CBS reported. The numbers of shootings in 2021 were higher than both 2020 and 2019.

Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police President Rick Snyder said to CBS4 that, “The vitriol and the violence towards officers is absolutely increasing,” which he said reflected an “overall increase in violence.” In 2022 and 2023 alone, there were 33 officer-involved shootings that resulted in at least one death in Indianapolis, according to data collected by the Washington Post. According to the numbers, all but two of the victims were armed.

Rule,” according to PBS. Essentially, this rule asserts that a potential attacker or suspect could cover a distance of about 21 feet towards an officer before that officer could identify the threat, unholster and fire their weapon. It is important to state that although this rule is taught to police cadets around the country, it is merely a guideline and not based on law or science. However, common sense tells me that law enforcement officers would need sufficient time and space to react to any potential threats. Officers keeping themselves safe provides for them to keep us regular civilians safe too.

Although the law went into effect July 1, according to the Indiana Daily Student, challenges to the statute have already risen. Several recent and previous court rulings have found that recording active-duty police is part of the freedoms outlined in the First Amendment, according to the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University. ACLU v. Alvarez was a lawsuit between the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and the State Attorney for Cook County, IL

(Anita Alvarez) regarding the right to film law enforcement officers in

Increased legislation to target the

It would be purely speculative to try and determine if the number of shootings, deaths and injuries over recent years could have been decreased if the 25-foot rule was introduced earlier. However, there is an already established training technique taught in police academies across the country, called the “21-foot

officer, with their own discretion, can order a bystander to back away from the emergency incident area, according to an article from FOX59. However, the law vaguely details what constitutes an “emergency incident area,” defined by “police or firefighters with flags, barricades, barrier tape or other markers.”

So, does that mean that different officers all have different interpretations of the bystanders and the beginning of the emergency incident area? Does that mean the law is not “narrowly tailored?” How does a law protect police when there is no concrete standard to stand by?

Amendment and is nearly impossible to do 25 feet away from an already blockedoff area). The bystander argument is null, as well, when over two-thirds of the U.S. population needs to wear prescription eyewear, according to the Washington Post. Being able to freely record and easily watch police carry out official executive duties are vital to a democratic society with checks and balances of power.

Of course it is important for the public to hold law enforcement accountable and film and record activities that breaches citizens’ rights. After all, that is how the world found out about George Floyd’s murder. However, to keep the public safe, a balance needs to be struck. Yes, it may be annoying that you may be legally required to move back from a scene if an officer orders you to, but who are we to question if it helps keep our streets safer? public. The suit’s initial ruling in favor of the county was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit—which includes Indiana— in 2011 as being unconstitutional. Similarly to ACLU v. Alvarez, the ACLU of Indiana is challenging HEA 1186 as unconstitutional on the grounds of the First Amendment after a South Bend police officer used the law to require a videographer to move back 25 feet from a crime scene area. It is obvious to me that HEA 1186 is unconstitutional due to precedent set by several courts that says trying to curb civilian recording of police is illegal.

Those who support HEA 1186 claim it is “yet another tool to keep first responders safe,”according to a broadcast from WTHR. As much as I agree that police officers and other law enforcement deserve safety when carrying out their jobs, I do not believe a law with this wide array of interpretation and individual discretion can do that. HEA 1186 dictates that a single law enforcement

Proponents of HEA 1186 may bring up that with today’s camera technology, 25 feet does not do much to curb video recording or bystander observance. The recording argument may be partially true with an expensive, professional camera, but the average citizen does not have one of those. As an owner of a newer iPhone, even my own up-to-date camera system gets blurry trying to zoom in more than about five feet (not to mention audio recording is also protected under the First

In a country where an instance of filmed police brutality prompted one of the largest protests in U.S. history (Google “Black Lives Matter protests”), according to the New York Times, it seems like general public safety has a serious investment in the topic. I ask myself, “How many serious crimes are committed against law enforcement officers by bystanders of a crime scene?”

It seems to me that Indiana’s legislature is addressing an issue that is, well, not really an issue. In the end, how are We, the People—AND the media, serving as government watchdogs—supposed to hold the government accountable if we can not even see what it is doing?

Headline Graphic & Badges by Hannah Hadley

In the end, the new meal plan system is not all that bad.

Academic advisors will no longer be centralized through CASA

By Olivia Hogsett STAFF WRITER

The Center for Advising and Student Achievement at the University of Indianapolis has formally disbanded. Among other changes, what was referred to as CASA will now be referred to as advising. Associate Provost at UIndy Rebecca Gilliland said CASA’s purpose was to make advising more centralized and to function as one entity that served over all academic advising. With the change, advisors will now be located in the specific building in the major they advise over.

Gilliland said advising has evolved since she began working at the university 17 years ago. She said this change has decentralized advising and given individual majors their own advisor.

“The advising function is going to be more within units, meaning there will be a specific advisor over an area, and then a faculty advisor will still be assigned to all students within their major,” Gilliland said.

Staff advisor for the Shaheen College of Arts and Sciences

Christopher Carrier said that students will now be assigned a faculty and staff advisor. He said faculty advisors will focus more on scheduling, while staff advisors will focus on bigger picture things.

“One of the biggest structural changes is that every student, from day one, has two advisors, a staff advisor and a faculty advisor,” Carrier said.

Faculty Senate President

By Anika Yoder MANAGING EDITOR & CO-ONLINE EDITOR

e University of Indianapolis has entered the new school year with its 20th Faculty Senate and Professor of International Relations and Director of Graduate Program in International Relations Jyotika Saksena has been named as the new UIndy Faculty Senate President.

Saksena said she has been at UIndy since 2001 when she completed her doctorate in political science at the University of Georgia and moved to Indianapolis for her rst job out of graduate school. She said she has been one of several female faculty senate presidents since the committee’s formation in 2004. Currently, according to Saksena, there is an international oversight committee that helps to provide faculty perspective on international partnerships. Saksena said she was responsible for creating the international oversight committee and wrote the charter, and then became the subcommittee chair before being elected Faculty Senate President.

“I interviewed during the last year of my degree, and this was my rst job right out of grad school,” Saksena said.

“And I came from the University of Georgia. at's where I got my PhD in Political Science, and that was really a large university. is was a really tiny school but I just loved UIndy and never thought about leaving.”

e Faculty Senate, according to the UIndy University Committees webpage, functions as a cabinet aimed towards dealing with issues within the institution that are not within the principle responsibilities of faculty. The Faculty Senate is made up of faculty members elected to executive committees as well as school administrators, according to

the webpage, and is also overseen by administration. According to Saksena, the faculty senate president functions for the Senate as representation for all faculty and serves on the Faculty Senate Executive Committee which is made up of five members. The Executive Committee is composed of the president, the vice president, the secretary and then two faculty members at-large, Saksena said.

“Every month we have our faculty senate meetings. And then, once a semester we have the full faculty meeting,” Saksena said. “[ e Executive Committee] runs those meetings. But broadly, any concerns related to issues that come up regarding the faculty at

our committee structures,” Foley said. “And also supporting administration, and onboarding President Singh and also working in collaboration, so being able to work back and forth with administration to have a positive voice and continuing our path forward as an institution.”

According to Saksena, goals for the Faculty Senate include ensuring that there is a certain level of shared governance between the administration and the faculty, which involves issues that relate to any concerns to the academic aspect of the university.

Saksena said that one of the faculty senate’s goals is to look into making sure that the general education core is well-researched and well-documented curriculum is implemented. Another goal is to look at the different committees that the university has and assess and see if they might need to be sunsetted or if a new committee should be created, Saksena said.

NOTE: To be considered for publication,

the University are brought to us.”

According to Assistant Professor for Art & Design and Faculty Senator Nathaniel Foley, the Faculty Senate is currently working through curricular elements for the university. The Faculty Senate, according to Foley, is currently working through updates on discussion points for the committee and that general education core is a conversation that the committees are continuing.

“We have elements of just updating on di erent things that are going on. So that's de nitely a goal that is always an ongoing element within all the committees that we have for

to condensation and editing to remove profanity. Submission of a letter gives e Re ector permission to publish it in print or online. All submissions become the property of e Re ector in perpetuity.

Advertisers: e Re ector welcomes advertisers both on and o campus. Advertising rates vary according to the patron’s speci cations. For advertising, contact 317-788-2517.

Readers: You are entitled to a single copy of this paper. Additional copies may be purchased with prior approval for 50 cents each by contacting e Re ector business manager.Taking multiple copies of this paper may constitute theft, and anyone who does so may be subject to prosecution and/ or university discipline.

“So overall, our goal is to just review the governance structure that exists and assess it and reform and revise it in a way that best serves the interests of the faculty, the students, the sta and the university overall,” Saksena said. According to Saksena, creating a more positive relationship with the administration is another aim for the Faculty Senate. She said other objectives for the university include administration being interested in rethinking and revising the mission of the university.

“So this is really, I think, a good opportunity for us to look at UIndy with fresh eyes. We have to respect our history, our culture—which has been wonderful,” Saksena said. “It's a great college. It's a great university, but keeping in mind our history and our culture, it is an opportunity for us to look at new ways of moving our mission forward. And we hope to work with the administration and integrate that.”

EDITORS / MANAGERS

EDITOR - IN - CHIEF.....................MIA LEHMKUHL • lehmkuhlm@uindy.edu

MANAGING EDITOR...........................ANIKA YODER • yoderav@uindy.edu

Gilliland said one purpose of the changes within advising is to create a better connection between the students and advisors. An example of how this is being implemented is that now advisors are located in the areas in which the students will be. For instance, for communication majors, their advisor will now be located in Esch Hall instead of in Schwitzer Student Center where they used to be located. This gives the students more direct access to their advisor, Gilliland said. The hope is that this change will drive more relationship building between students and their advisor.

is still figuring things out as they go, but their main priority is helping students succeed.

“It's helpful to remember that we don't have it all figured out yet, we're still figuring out how some things work and fit together… but that's also just a reminder about how the world is. We encounter uncertainty and unknowing all the time and have to figure stuff out all the time,” Carrier said. “It doesn't mean we don't know what we're doing. It also doesn't mean that we don't care. We care about all of our students and helping them succeed.”

Overall, it's going to be a positive thing for relationship building."

Gilliland said that the UIndy website gives a good overview of what advising is now and which advisors are in which major areas. Students can expect communication about these changes to come directly through email by the student's advisor. Students are also welcome to reach out to their advisor at any time through the contact information on the website.

Gilliland added that she is hopeful things within advising will continue to evolve and improve as these transitional changes are being made. She said there are no other expected changes in the advising area in the future. Carrier said it is important to remember that advising, as a unit,

Gilliland said she thinks this transition will be a positive implementation and that she hopes it will allow for students to have oneon-one opportunities to speak with their advisors. A lot of students come to UIndy for personal attention and relationship building, according to Gilliland, so this change will provide more opportunities for that.

“This adds another element to that, where these advisors are much more concentrated over an area and you have your more specific advisor over the department,” Gilliland said. “I think that it just gives you two people who are a little more acclimated and in-tune to specific areas that will be able to help you long term. Overall it’s going to be a positive thing for relationship building.”

All students regardless of their year will be assigned to an advisor based on their major. Students can contact them through email. UIndy's meet with an advisor webpage has helpful information on how each advisor would like to be contacted.

COVID-19 policy update

By Mia Lehmkuhl EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & CO-ONLINE EDITOR

An email sent out to students by Student A airs detailed the University of Indianapolis’ updated COVID-19 policies outlining new procedures for positive test results, exposure and the end of contact tracing. Students are no longer required to report a positive test result to the O ce of Student A airs unless they are residential students, according to UIndy’s website. In that case, a positive test result should be reported to Associate Dean of Judicial A airs and Residence Life Rob Williford. Provost and Executive Vice President Chris Plou said that the university will no longer be doing contact tracing. Plou said that the university’s policies on COVID-19 will continue to mirror the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines.

“It's not as if people are required to report that they have [COVID-19] but … especially from the faculty and sta side, we know of a faculty member here or there that will either be exposed or get COVID and they notify their department chair or whoever else and so they have means of transitioning their courses or covering their course….” Plou said, “And then, you do hear about students from here and there. … We're providing accommodations to ensure that they're able to continue their learning without getting behind and that sort of thing.”

According to the Indiana Department of Health COVID-19 dashboard, COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations rose in August with 839 statewide COVID-19 cases recorded in the week of August 24. Nationally, weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased by nearly 8%, according to CDC data.

“… We are seeing an uptick,” Plou said, “and we were concerned about

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS

ARRIANNA GUPTON...................guptonal@uindy.edu

it coming into the year, that there are upticks, especially with groups of people being together. When you have a campus community, you have a more concentrated area, people coming back together. ankfully, most of us in the country now have gone through the process over a few years and we've gotten vaccinated.”

A new COVID-19 variant, BA.2.86, has been detected in the United States, according to the CDC’s recent risk assessment; However, it is not responsible for upticks in Indiana or in the US overall. BA.2.86 has also been detected in Canada, Denmark, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Thailand. The CDC recommends that all individuals six months and older get an updated vaccine to better protect themselves from severe illness.

“We continue to encourage people to do the things that you should do to help with reducing the spread,” Plou said, “washing your hands regularly, having hand sanitizer and stu available in all of our locations and that and we still have that largely available, and if it's not, we ask people to notify us because we are trying to make sure that hand sanitizer is everywhere.”

Plouff said that the health and safety of the campus community is the number-one priority and that members of the UIndy community can expect the university to keep monitoring COVID-19 as developments occur. Plou said he encourages students to follow whatever precautions they are comfortable with, including wearing a face covering.

“If you're either uncomfortable, because of the potential chance of exposure because of being in closer contact with a larger group of people or you think you've been exposed— certainly wear a face covering where that makes sense and so forth so that we can help stop the spread.”

ALLISON COOK ...................cookaa@uindy.edu

ALFREDO GUERRERO ALONSO..........aguerreroalonso@uindy.edu OLIVIA HOGSETT...................hogsetto@uindy.edu CONNOR MAHONEY...................mahoneycj@uindy.edu BRID PEOPLES...................peoplesb@uindy.edu NICHOLAS VARENELLI...................varanellin@uindy.edu

SAKSENA

Graphic by Breanna Emmett

Building a winning culture

University of Indianapolis football team starts the season building upon the program’s success

By Connor Mahoney STAFF WRITER

Kicking o their new season, the University of Indianapolis football team defeated Hillsdale College 39-20 in their opener, according to UIndy Athletics. Football head coach Chris Keevers said the team sets their goals at the beginning of the season, and they do not talk about them again.

“We mentioned our goals [at the] very beginning of the season, and our goals are simple,”Keevers said.“Our goals are to win the conference, qualify for the playo s, win in the playo s and then win the national championship. ose are our four goals every year and we talk about them at the very beginning of the year, and we don’t talk about them again…. We’re one day at a time, one week at a time… If you go one game at a time, you’ll get to where you want to be. But if you just keep looking forward or looking back, you’re asking for problems. So, we don’t talk about it.”

Keevers said he has adopted this philosophy from the previous UIndy football head coach, and has followed it ever since. According to sophomore quarterback Gavin Sukup, he felt the culture of the team’s mentality even in his rst few months with the team.

“... e culture here is to go game by game, which is, personally, how it should be because you [could] overlook opponents,” Sukup said. “If football teams come out, they [could] punch you in the mouth, and it’s hard to rebound sometimes. So really, it’s a cultural thing… is is already built in within the program here.”

Last season, the Greyhounds lifted the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) trophy while stamping their place in the NCAA tournament, according to UIndy Athletics. However, the team lost some valuable players, but Keevers said they have talented players ready to step into those roles.

“Every year is a new year… we lost some good players, [and] we gained some really good players,” Keevers said. “…We’ve got some really dynamic receivers, we’ve got some running backs that we like and think will step up and play very well… Every year changes, with who’s the better players and who’s their leaders and that’s what’s exciting. Every year is a new year for us.

It’s why I like college football… Every year teams have strengths and weaknesses, and you got to play to your strengths and cover up your weaknesses as much as you

The University of Indianapolis football team runs out onto the feld at Key Stadium to take on their next opponent

while at home defeating Hillsdale College and Wayne State University. The Hounds next match will

can and [that] makes college football fun.

We’ve got a good football team; we got a bunch of guys who have worked really hard… ey care about winning when you have that, you have a good chance.”

Creating a strong connection within the team is important, according to Keevers. Having a tight bond is something important for a football team to be successful Sukup said, it is something summer workouts help with that having

just transferred from College of DuPage.

“It’s the game of football: if you don’t have strong connections or teammates, you aren’t able to produce [an] e cient [job] stopping the ball,” Sukup said. “Summer camp helps a lot of that, you’re around [the team] all day, eating together.”

According to Keevers, the family atmosphere starts with the coaches hired and transitions to the players.

Keevers said one of his favorite parts of this team is their love for football.

“[ e team] is a bunch of kids who love football…,” Keevers said. “In terms of character and quality people [they are] a joy to be around. I really like this football team.”

With more home games in the season, Keevers said he hopes to see more students at the game, and he encourages them to come out and have

a good time.

“I want to get students out to the games…, it’s very important to me that our student base [is there.]” Keevers said. “It’s a good product if you come out and take a look at it and get here. Everybody’s having fun…. It helps when our students are involved, my whole thing is together, we win. at’s not just the team. at’s the whole university.”

Competing in a new volleyball season

By Michael Harrington FEATURE EDITOR

The University of Indianapolis volleyball team is on a winning streak of six matches according to UIndy Athletics. e team went 3-0 against Glenvale State and Lock Haven as of Sept. 16. e team also was ranked sixth in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) preseason poll on Aug. 22 according to UIndy Athletics.

Head Women’s Volleyball Coach Jason Reed said that the team’s win streak is the result of the extra work the team has put in during summer conditioning. Reed also said that the team is also constantly practicing when nobody else is watching.

“We have had the bulk of our group here right after the Fourth of July, putting in the extra time over the summer with our strength conditioning people organizing open gyms,” Reed said. “ e reason for a strong start has everything to do with the girls on the team that have put in the time outside when nobody else is watching them play. ey are in there and they’re getting better. So hats o to them, for organizing and putting in the work when they didn’t need to be.”

According to outside rotational hitter Sophia Parlanti, the team is in a better position than it was last season and is having an exciting season. Parlanti said that the team’s biggest strength is the relationships the players have with each other.

“Our biggest strength is that we know each other well, we uplift each other and when we make mistakes we do not take anything to heart. We support each other so [players] do not take anything to their heart,” Parlanti said.

Reed said the team is doing a better job working as a group this season. While the team was strong, they improved with responding to stressful situations during games according to Reed. “ is year’s group has done a much better job of responding to stress,” Reed said. “ at [was] a conversation that we had in the spring where we tried to appropriately apply stressful situations in practice and kind of hold their feet to the re a little bit more, that way by the time we see that stressful situation in a match, it’s not novel. It is something that we are used to.”

According to Reed, the easiest matches are behind the team and now they get to look forward to more challenging matches. Reed said that this is something that competitive teams get excited about.

“We get to knock heads against one of the best conferences in the country,” Reed said. “ ere is no weekend we look at it, especially in our GLVC schedule, and think ‘Oh, we’re going to win that one.’ And that’s exciting because if you’re truly competitive … if there is no risk, there’s no reward. If you are just going [against a team that] you are going to blow the doors o , it can be fun, but you are not learning much about yourself. You are not growing because you are not getting stretched.”

Parlanti said that being a junior comes with the responsibility of mentoring the underclassmen. According to Parlanti, she is getting to know the underclassmen and helping their skills develop.

“It’s my second year at UIndy and my second year playing, but I have started to get to know the underclassmen and especially the freshmen and feel as though I have to be a leader for them and help them grow,” Parlanti said.

Photo contributed by UIndy Athletics

at home. The Greyhounds have started the season with a 2-0 record

start conference play against Missouri S&T University on the road in Rolla, MO.

Photo contributed by UIndy Athletics

The University of Indianapolis Greyhounds celebrate the point scored in the game. The Greyhounds have started the year at 10-2 before starting Great Lakes Valley Conference play. The next match will be their frst on the road in the conference on September 29.

Photo contributed by UIndy Athletics

UIndy volleyball player Sophia Parlanti rises to spike the ball over the net onto the other side to challenge their opponent. In her second season at UIndy, Parlanti is leading the team in kills. Before joining the Hounds, Parlanti played volleyball at Yavapai College.

I have to be a leader for them and help them grow.”

Intramurals expand on campus

By Anika Yoder MANAGING EDITOR & CO-ONLINE EDITOR

The University of Indianapolis’ intramural sports program has picked up its season for the school year with leadership overturn as well as new additions to the program. According to the new Intramurals Coordinator Marcel Atisso, ag football has been recently added to the program along with an increase in signups from last school year.

Intramurals began last Monday for volleyball, basketball and soccer with ag football beginning earlier this month according to Atisso. Volleyball in particular, according to Atisso, has seen a spike in numbers.

“We have a lot of signups this year, more than we’ve had, especially for volleyball,” Atisso said. “Last year, I think in the spring, we had around eight teams for volleyball, maybe six, and this year, we already have 15 signed up. So really a big jump there, which is good, as many people as we can get out to any of the sports is great. But yeah, those are the biggest things we’ve been working on so far.”

Social Media Coordinator for intramurals Emma Beasley said for marketing and campus

outreach, that posting more on the intramurals Instagram page is part of the response to the increase in interest for the program. Beasley said incorporating videography into the program’s online presence as well as

thinking about posting on Instagram

Reels are what intramurals is looking at to boost campus awareness.

“A lot of our marketing has been with our Instagram page as well as word of mouth,” Beasley said. “So I

go around talking to classmates and former athletes I know that didn’t play in college but are wanting to still be in a team based environment, to come out to intramurals.” According to Atisso, last year

the program had around 170 people participate across all sports offered at the time and now this semester around 215 people have signed up. In terms of expansion, Atisso said that the program is looking into adjusting times available for tournaments for next semester but that currently games are 7 - 9 p.m. every night except for Fridays.

“For expansion, we’re [looking to] adjust times, probably next semester, if we get more people than what we have right now,” Atisso said. “And then we’re going to have to nd another court space because for example, volleyball, we’re only using Ruth Lilly instead of Nicoson because we don’t have enough poles for that … Also with sta , there’s only a certain number of people that can work each night. So that’s another thing, but we’re happy that there’s more people coming on, we’re gonna figure out a way to make sure that everyone’s able to play and that everyone’s able to have fun and because that’s really what it’s all about.”

Beasley said that Mondays and ursdays volleyball is held at the Ruth Lilly Fitness Center. On Tuesdays, soccer will be at Key Stadium and ag football will be at the lacrosse practice eld. Basketball is then held on Wednesdays at the Ruth Lilly Fitness Center.

Taking on a new position for soccer

By Hannah Biedess ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Women’s Soccer Head Coach

Kelli Beheler said she has been coaching at the University of Indianapolis for a year, but recently became the new head coach for this season. She said that when it was announced to the team, they were excited and supportive of the change.

Beheler said that her coaching style is not much different from those of the past, but she does encourage the team to take risks and have fun. During practices, she said that they try new things that they normally would not. Beheler said that she brings music out for the team to practice with. e girls just seem more motivated … they just seem excited to get into the new season,” Beheler said.

Senior midfield attacker Stephanie Brady said that the chemistry is better with Beheler as the new coach. She said that previously, the team was scared to make mistakes,

but the new head coach tells them what they did wrong and how to x it.

“I think with the new coach, our chemistry is definitely a lot better and practices in general are a lot more enjoyable to be at,” Brady said.

According to UIndy Athletics, the Women’s Soccer Team currently has two wins, three loses and one tie. Their next home game will be Oct. 8 against the Lewis University Flyers, and will also be an alumni appreciation night, according to UIndy Athletics.

“I’m excited for them to just kind of bring the energy and show me what they got this season, because I think we’re still evolving,” Beheler said.

Beheler said that she is excited to see the team grow. Brady said that she is hoping for a better record and that they are already improving from last year. She said that the team is hoping for conference wins this season.

“We’ve improved a lot compared to last year,” Brady said. “I’m excited to see how the season goes for us.”

Creating their strong leadership

University of Indianapolis men’s soccer continues a new season built upon leaders and success

By Olivia Pastrick NEWS EDITOR

e University of Indianapolis men’s soccer team began their season Sept. 2 with a 3-1 win over the Lake Erie College Storm, according to UIndy Athletics. According to Head Coach Gabe Hall, the team’s success comes from their constant competitive nature and the expectation to win that has been put on the team for years now.

[Winning] has been the expectation for the last 10 years here, and nothing’s really changed,” Hall said. “Our expectation is we’re one of the top teams in the region. And if we can be one of the top teams in the region, we’re ghting for a national championship. And it’s step by step, right? It doesn’t just happen overnight, and it’s not a straight line. But we have a really competitive team and a team that’s bought into that mentality and that expectation of we’re here to compete to win every day.”

Senior mid elder Michael Tselios said the team’s goal has always been to win in the four years he has played for the team. He said this year’s team is doing a great job of achieving that goal through their leadership and shared goals.

“I’ve been here for four years, every year we have to come here with a winning mentality,” Tselios said. “I think all the guys are doing a great job with that. We have winners in the team and leaders.”

The environment at practices is constantly challenging and competitive, according to Tselios. Even though everyone is competing with each other to be the best, he said, the team stays positive and supportive of each other.

“It’s always positive and very, very challenging every time,” Tselios said. “Everybody wants to be the best player in practice.”

is year is Hall’s second year as head coach, and he said this team is di erent from last year’s because the team gets along so well. He said they all want to win for each other, which keeps them motivated and moving in the same direction.

Hall said leadership takes many forms in this year’s team. He said there are vocal leaders, those who lead by example and those who make practices and games fun.

It is important, according to Hall, to have all of these types of leaders on the team and that they all have important, unique roles to play.

“We’ve obviously got some guys that are leaders in the vocal sense, guys that drive the training, they drive the team in the game,” Hall said. “We’ve got a good set of guys that lead by example … And then and then we have another group that I think gets kind of lost in the group that kind of keeps it fun and a little bit a little bit loose, because they’re just they’ve got good character. ey just want to have a little bit

University of

of a laugh at times … And I think that’s really important because we get some guys that are very serious and sometimes you just need that to break up those moments.”

According to Hall, the team’s biggest goals moving forward into the rest of their season are to win the regular

season conference title, to ght in the GLVC championship and hopefully make a run in the NCAA tournament.

“It’s week by week, but we can find success game by game.

If we’re doing all the little things that we want to do as a program, that’s going to help us have success

game by game,” Hall said. “I think the big goals are always to compete to win the conference regular season, compete to win the conference tournament and then make a run in the NCAA Tournament. Right, and that’s always going to be the goal or the ambition here.”

Photo by Breanna Emmett

Snapping the football off the turf, UIndy’s intramural football league starts off their evening. The intramural teams play on the practice feld where players can compete against fellow classmates. This is one of the multiple sports offered at UIndy for students to play in.

I’m excited to see how the season goes for us.”

Photo contributed by Jacob Walton/UIndy Athletics

University of Indianapolis women’s soccer head coach Kelli Beheler addresses the team. The Greyhounds opened up their GLVC season play with a win against Southwest Baptist 3-0. The Hounds will travel on the road and will be against Missouri S&T and McKendree.

Photo contributed by UIndy Athletics

Indianapolis senior defender Michael Tselios delivers a corner into the box looking to provide a ball for the team to attack with towards goal. The Greyhounds have started this season 2-0-1 before conference play while also being ranked in the coaches poll.

Tony Morris receives service learning award

University of Indianapolis Service Learning Department announces Distinguished Faculty Award

By Elyssa Merrill DISTRIBUTION MANAGER & BUSINESS MANAGER

The University of Indianapolis Service Learning department has named Associate Professor of Nursing Toni Morris as Distinguished Faculty of Service Learning, according to UIndy 360. This award is presented to a faculty member who best represents the UIndy motto, ‘education for service,’ through their teaching, says UIndy 360.

The article said that this award is being attributed to her support on campus through aiding the on-campus clinics during the pandemic as well, as implementing the White Coat Ceremony within the nursing program. According to Morris, she is honored to have received this award, and believes it speaks to those who have aided her in her journey.

“I feel extremely humble," Morris said. "I feel there’s been a lot of people who have helped me. I don’t feel like the award is for me. I feel like there’s a lot of people that have helped me get to this point. I’m very honored, very energized and engaged to use it to pay it forward and to keep working on our projects."

The service-learning curriculum at UIndy, as stated by the Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement, requires students to learn by serving in the community, complete a reflective learning assessment and evaluation. It also mentions that project-based service learning courses are included within the service learning curriculum, such as the course Morris said she had interest in aiding further in order to improve relations with the partners and communities involved in the projects.

“We have groups of nursing students that work with community partners and

the end goal for each group is to develop a health promotion project for that community partner or for the population that they serve,” said Morris. “My goal [is] to further that reach and enrich

the community partners that they are working with and then the population that is served by those community partners.”

Morris said she has had a passion for service learning from a young age. She said she went to a Lutheran high school growing up, and she uses her experience as an operating room nurse to go on surgical mission trips to maintain her care for service in her own life beyond campus. She said that it is important to use what you can when you can in order to help benefit others.

According to the Center for Service Learning and Community Engagement, there are many ways on campus that the UIndy community can get involved as well whether that is volunteering, taking a class or incorporating it into a degree. While 'Education for Service' is the university motto, Morris speaks on how significant it really is to embody it and how unique UIndy really is to incorporate service into such a central piece of the institution.

those relationships and those projects so hopefully supporting the student projects that my students in my class will work on will ultimately then benefit

Art & Design 100 years

By Mia Lehmkuhl EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & CO-ONLINE EDITOR

The Department of Art & Design is celebrating their 100th anniversary with a gallery reception come this October, according to Associate Professor and Co-Chair of the Art & Design Department Katherine Fries. This event will take place during Homecoming Week on Oct. 6 from 5-7 p.m., Fries said, and an open house is scheduled for the following Sunday from 2-4 p.m. where the department will open newly renovated spaces and studios to guests. There will also be a limited art sale featuring student works during the open house, according to UIndy 360. Attendants are requested to register for the Art & Design Gallery Reception, according to UIndy 360, and it will be taking place inside the Christel DeHann Fine Arts Center.

“We're having [a] gallery reception where we'll have some speakers, we’ll have the gallery open filled with faculty work, combining all the alumni, all the students, it's just going to be a time for us to commemorate and celebrate this 100 years," Fries said.

Associate Professor and Co-Chair of the Art & Design Department James Viewegh said that over the past two years the department has added the Art & Design Annex which increased the department’s space by 11,000 square feet. This

allowed the department to renovate the newly-freed up spaces in Christel DeHann. The department also recently installed a new sculpture on Lilly Hall’s greenhouse wall, according to Viewegh.

“[The department] also provide[s] a lot of artwork for campus and a lot of arts activities," Viewegh said.

“So if you have noticed the new sculpture out on the

students, faculty and staff to reflect on the Art & Design Department’s past. Part of celebrating the department’s 100th anniversary was an opportunity to think about its “rich and exciting history,” according to Fries.

“When we think about 100 years, it's a long time and through this process of getting ready for the reception, we've been doing research and looking at our archives and seeing who started the department,” Fries said. “We found that many of our traditions or trips, or our student engagements, you know, they've trickled down through the decades.”

Students can involve themselves with the department by taking studio classes, which fulfills the applied fine arts general education requirement in order to graduate, or attending events such as the Art & Design Lecture Series or the 100th anniversary celebrations during Homecoming Week.

Viewegh said that they typically do about six of these lectures per semester.

“Education for service is having a purpose," Morris said. "To me it’s having a servant’s heart. Being able to utilize your skills, your talents, your assignments and your courses in a manner that will better and benefit others. It’s that servant’s heart that is kind of a guiding compass or a guiding star to try to make an impact and leave whatever you do and whatever you touch in a better place."

“I just think that UIndy is a special place due to our motto of education for service, so I think that anyone that has classes here hopefully is touched in some way by that, even if they are not directly taking a service learning course,” said Morris. “Hopefully they are touched in some way by our education for service motto, because we have a lot of really great service learning courses that happen all across campus.”

MSA seeking members

By Olivia Pastrick NEWS EDITOR

The Myanmar Student Association at the University of Indianapolis held their callout meeting on Sept. 8. According to senior business major and MSA president Hla Laithang, one of the goals of MSA is to preserve Burmese culture on campus, as well as to share it with others.

“Our goal is to preserve our culture on campus." Laithang said I don’t want this [group]to be temporary,” “I know in the past there have been a lot of temporary Asian organizations, but I don’t want MSA to be one of those—I want this to keep going on. I want new, incoming freshmen to join and in the future be a part of the board members and just keep the MSA going.”

One of the ways Laithang said MSA’s board members are working to preserve their organization on campus is by working with underclassmen and showing them how to take their positions so that the transitional periods are not as difficult for MSA. She said the executive board has been recruiting interns, who can watch what board members do so they can take over after the current board members graduate.

even more daunting. For so many students on campus, it is important that they kind of find their thing, the thing that gets them excited, the thing that makes them feel like they belong.”

Laithang said her goal is for MSA to bring cultural awareness to UIndy’s campus. She said MSA can inform Burmese students about things going on in their home countries, as well as bringing awareness to non-Burmese students about that culture.

“We can bring more awareness on campus and to other students who might not know, and also bring our interesting and unique culture on campus,” Laithang said.

Laithang emphasized the importance of non-Burmese students becoming involved in MSA. She said the association is not only for Burmese students, but also to create a community for everyone to recognize the culture.

greenhouse wall, that's out of this department, so that is a project we worked on for seven years, it didn't just pop up overnight. We started seven years ago with the design stages and then and then it took time over that to work with various students and faculty to get all the elements fabricated and then we were finally able to install it this summer.”

Fries said that she encouraged

“I'm incredibly proud of our students,” Fries said. “And the fact that the growth that you see that they go through from the time they get here to when they leave is tremendous and very exciting. [It’s] one of the reasons why I love teaching. I'm really proud of our faculty. They work really hard to provide our students with the best education and exciting experiences and transformational opportunities.”

Graphic by Breanna Emmett

Assistant Director and Title IX Coordinator Cari Freed said it is important for UIndy to have groups such as the MSA in order to give students a place to feel like they belong. Freed said this is particularly important for students that are from minority groups because UIndy is a primarily white institution.

“When it comes to going to college,it can be really hard in general,no matter who you are,it can be really hard to navigate growing up, learning new things, figuring out what you want to do with your life,” Freed said. “Doing all of those at one time can be really daunting and to do it in isolation can be

“We’re just trying to bring more Burmese students on campus and recruit them. We also want to reach out to nonBurmese students,” Laithang said. “The point of us creating this organization is so that we can build community and put ourselves out there on campus, and ways we can do that is by bringing non-Burmese students to our organization.”

Freed said that one of the great things about UIndy being such a diverse campus is that students have the freedom to create clubs and organizations like MSA to preserve and celebrate their culture within the campus community.

“There are lots of students who maybe are commuting or maybe are coming from different schools or high schools and they're not used to being around people that look like them,” Freed said. “The beauty of UIndy being so diverse and growing as a more diverse institution, is that we are able to create communities and create clubs and organizations that allow people a safe place to celebrate who they are.”

Student provides hair services

By Arrianna Gupton EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Whether students are looking to get braids, a retwist or a ponytail, Junior self-taught stylist LaMonica Smith does that and more. Smith, also known as Sty.ledbymoni on Instagram, has been doing her own and relatives' hair since middle school, but, after being urged by friends, decided to open up her services to those living on campus.

“I got started on campus because my friends [influenced] me to start doing hair on campus,” Smith said. “I wanted to be able to help fellow African American girls on campus be able to get their hair done for cheaper because I know it can be pricey at other places.”

Smith said that although her business is starting out, she has not had many stressors, as she keeps her availability for only after class and on the weekends. Despite this, Smith said doing other peoples hair can be a bit nerve wracking. She said that when it comes to her own hair she

is very particular, so when she does someone elses hair she puts in the same level of care as to meet a client’s expectations.

One of Smith's regular clients, sophomore nursing major and Project Regalia President Shakyla Archie, said that Smith is consistent and fast whenever she books an appointment. Archie stated that she found out about Smith’s business after inquiring about a style Smith had done on herself. The clean parting and neat sizing caught her attention, leading to Archie asking to book an appointment with Smith.

“Before she even created an Instagram page, I asked, ‘Hey, I know you do hair. Can you do this?’ and she [said] , ‘Yeah, that's fine,’ and so she'll let me know her availability. One thing she'll never do is try and book you between her classes. That's one thing that I do love about her,” Archie said.

According to Archie, Smith is very professional when it comes to booking clients and when makes sure her schedule is clear for the day, respecting client's time. She said that

Smith is a sweet and nonjudgmental person and no matter what state you arrive in, she is going to do her job.

Smith's prices are also reasonable, according to Archie, especially compared to stylists she’s previously gone to. Archie said Smith will work with the hair she is given, rather than make comments about a client’s hair.

Although Smith said her business is small and just starting out, the most common ways she receives new clients are via word-of-mouth and people resharing her posts. Clients according to Smith will share on their Instagram stories about her business which has helped with publicity.

“My favorite is probably doing retwists, and the styles I offer are pretty much anything, but my [Instagram account] only [shows] certain [styles]. So, braids or, French braids and retwists,” Smith said. “ It is very minimal. There’s not a lot of things that I offer on the page, but if someone was to directly ask me if I could do something that's not on there, I would most likely say [yes].”

Smith stated for booking an appointment you can reach out to her via Instagram.

MORRIS

UIndy junior LaMonica Smith, owner of @Styled.bymoni on Instagram, poses with products for upcoming client in her home salon. Smith can be contacted via Instagram

Photo by Michael Harrington

The point of us creating this organization so we can build community..."

Kellogg’s Writer Series: Brian Evenson

By Nicholas Varanelli STAFF WRITER

The University of Indianapolis hosted author, Brian Evenson, at the Kellogg Writer Series for their fright night event.

On Thursday, Sept. 21, in Uindy Hall A, the University of Indianapolis welcomed author Brian Evenson to read his short horror stories for the Kellogg Writers Series, according to an email sent to students and faculty on Sept. 11. Evenson said he writes scary plots mixed in with dark humor and has a wide collection of work and he has a huge passion for his writing.

“I want to write the kind of work that I want to read. And there was a certain point where I realized that not that many people were writing the kind of work that I was really, really fond of,” Evenson said.

Throughout his career as an author, Evenson said he has won three O’Henry Prizes and was a finalist for countless others. Evenson said that he comes from a family of writers as his mother had published a science fiction story in a magazine when he was at a young age. Even before he started taking creative writing classes, Evenson explained that he won an award for a story he wrote in highschool.

“With my youngest brothers and sisters, she kind of just said, oh, you can do art, or, you know, you can do

this or that. And with me, she was like, oh, you should create a story. And so I tried that and realized I really liked it. And then it just kind of stuck,’ Evenson said. “It was something that I didn’t take a creative writing class in, in high school, but I wrote a story in high school and had won a prize in a contest for it. And then when I went to graduate school, I just when I went to undergrad, I ended up taking a bunch of writing classes. So yeah, from a very young age, I knew I wanted to.”

The Kellogg Writers Series is an event held on campus multiple times a year, where faculty and students from the English department work together to bring a local or, like in Evenson’s case, more renowned authors to our campus, Chair of the Kellogg Writers Series and Professor of English Barney Haney said.

“We’ve been a premier reading series, like when you compare us with other reading series, like in this state or nationally, we put on an amazing one. One of the poets [Jose Olivarez]

I contracted back in the summer just got his collection that he’s going to come and read from and just got long listed for the National Book Award for poetry, which is a big deal. That’s like the biggest award you can win in this nation for poetry,” Haney said.

It is guests like Olivarez and Evenson that make these run as great as they do because it is an enjoyment for them as well, Haney said. While

Evenson was here, Haney said he was able to record a podcast with students as well as do a Q&A before he read his work to an audience. Being able to talk about their work is just as enjoyable for authors as those listening to it for the first time, Haney said.

“I really like coming out and

talking to people. I mean, one thing that’s great about it is you realize that people are reading and enjoying fiction, which is great. And another thing is, it’s just really nice to be able to kind of demystify fiction for people and give them the sense that they’re real people who

are writing the books, as opposed to like, they just magically appear in the bookstore,” Evenson said.

The next Kellogg Writer Series event is scheduled for Oct. 11, with Sarah Layden and Professor of English Rebecca Mckenna on Nov. 15, according to UIndy 360.

Faculty play music from 1680s

teacher at Butler University, played harpsichord according to the program. He was accompanied by Benn, a current Assistant Professor of Musicology at Butler University playing the Cello, the program said. Gerber was also accompanied by Thweatt, who is currently an instructor of flute at UIndy, playing the historical baroque flute according to the program. Each artist has an extensive background in music and performs in several orchestras, concerts and side gigs in the Indianapolis area, the program explained.

The concert premise was Gerber’s idea according to a short speech he gave before the concert began. He invited Thweatt and Benn to accompany him to bring the idea to life according to his speech. The pieces performed were slightly challenging, Thweatt explained that working with the lengthy historical pieces was quite a journey with the historical flute.

“[It was a] real challenge and a big project for me, because I played [the songs] many times on the modern silver flute. But I’ve never played [them] on the historical flute.”

By Allison Cook STAFF WRITER

Soft music played as seats filled with spectators waiting for a performance for the first part in this year’s faculty artist concert series. Student workers dressed in all black set the stage and prepared every little visual detail, and audience members whispered amongst themselves

in anticipation as faculty artists took the stage.

Monday, Sept. 18, Dr. Tamara

Thweatt, Sophie Benn, and Thomas Gerber performed together at 7 p.m. in the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall to showcase their talents in “The Faculty Artist Concert Series: The Auspicious 1680s” according to a Sept. 6 email from UIndy Arts. Instructor of flute Dr. Tamara Thweatt said the program was

aimed to feature the music of composers all born in the same decade, the 1680s. Works from Francesco Geminiani, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jean-Philippe Rameau and George Frideric Handel were featured and performed by the three musicians according to a program handed out at the concert. Gerber, a former professor of history, humanities, and harpsichord at the University of Indianapolis, and current

Thweatt said she practiced several times a day for nearly six weeks leading up to the concert, especially since the concert was on a version of the beloved instrument she wasn’t super familiar with. According to her she would also do another short practice before bed on the baroque flute to ensure she could retain the information.

“[When I slept], my brain was thinking about the Baroque flute techniques,”

Thweatt said.

The location of the Ruth Lilly Concert Hall had a big impact on the performance as well. Since the concert was performing music from hundreds of years ago,Thweatt said that the historical instruments did not have as much projection to them. According to Thweatt, the concert hall provided an adequate space to work with.

“We have a beautiful recital hall here that is very resonant with a lovely acoustic. The flute I was playing on is meant to be played in that kind of space,” said Thweat. “[...] I felt like the entire concert hall was my instrument, not just this little wooden flute. So that was wonderful for me to sort of find a voice with this instrument in that space on a very, very challenging piece.”

Thweatt encourages attendance to the Faculty Artist Concert Series. Students can even listen live on the radio, but connecting with live music is important for both the audience and performers according to Thweatt.

“I think everybody needs in this day and age, some beauty and creativity for their soul. It’s a way for human beings to connect in some way,” Thweatt said.

“[...] “I think that’s important. Instead of sitting in your room and looking at your phone or a computer screen”

The next Faculty Artist Concert Series comes up on Oct. 9 and will focus on “Genre and Gender in Music’’ according to the UIndy website. It will be featuring a Stravinsky octet, performances by Thweatt, and several other pieces, Thweatt explained.

‘Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind’ returns

UIndy Department of Theatre presents play which consists of multiple skits during

By Alfredo Guerrero Alonso STAFF WRITER

“Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind,” or as it is simply referred to as “Too Much Light,” is a collection of 24 plays that are to be performed in under 48 minutes, said Director and Assistant Professor of Theater Grant Williams.

“Too Much Light” was performed by UIndy Theater at IndyFringe during midAugust before arriving at The Wit Theater, hosted by Comedysportz, Williams said. The original premise of the play is if it takes longer than 48 minutes, then the audience gets rewarded with a treat, Williams said.

The treat for the audience of “Too Much Light” was pizza during its first year, Williams said. The former director of the show, James Leagre, would have to appropriately time the show just right so that pizza would be available at the end, said Williams.The treats would later change to cookies, to nothing during COVID-19, to candy, Williams said.

The 24 plays are from a collection of a hundred short plays that are handpicked by the actors and the director for the master script, which is able to provide Too Much Light with a different experience every year it shows, said Williams. The plays are placed in order in the back of the set from 1 to 24, said Williams.

“You have to be focused,”Williams said.

“There is a lot of trust that has to happen as well because the audience may cry out five and all of a sudden you’re doing a new play, and you have to automatically know that your counterpoint on the stage is ready with their line and ready to go.” Williams said.

Stage Manager Abigail Wittenmeyer said that this show and the audience reaction changes every night, which makes it feel like a different show every time it is performed.

“It was refreshing because when you do a usual typical theater show, you know exactly what’s gonna happen, when [and] how the audience is going to react every night [be]cause it’s methodical and this one, it keeps everybody on their

toes,” Wittenmeyer said.

According to Williams, the show was originally written by Greg Allen and was showcased by an improv troupe called the Neo-Futurists based in Chicago. UIndy Theater is also trying to start their own improv group that would perform at the Wit every Thursday night, Williams said.

“Too Much Light” gave the students the opportunity to work in a professional setting, said Wittenmeyer. The student actors were hired on and received a stipend for their work, she said. The students are able to walk away with professional credits prior to graduation, said Wittenmeyer. The duties of a stage manager, according to Wittenmeyer, are to be an advocate for the actors, call the cues and be the facilitator between all the departments that are a part of the show.

“To know that I have a professional experience when I’m interviewing or when I’m auditioning for things later on when I graduate, it just gives me a bit more of assurance that I know what I’m doing and I’ve been in this world before, it’s not so big and scary.” said Wittenmeyer.

September

Photo contributed by Ama Ocasio

Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind” performance in the UIndy Studio Theater. From left to right: Dipper Dickerson, Dailyn Burks, Elizabeth Enderle and Kelli Thomas.

Photo by Allison Cook

From left to right: Sophia Benn, Thomas Gerber and Tamara Thweatt perfom in the Faculty Artist Concert Series on Sept. 18, in the Ruth Lily Performance Hall. Benn is playing the cello, Gerber is playing the piano and Thweatt is playing the historical baroque flute.

Photo by Breanna Emmett

Author Brian Evenson stands at a podium and reads from his short story collection “A Collapse of Horses,” the Kellogg’s Writer Series.

The event was hosted in Schwitzer Student Center in UIndy Hall A on Sept. 21. “A Collapse of Horses” is a short story horror collection.

I felt like the entire concert hall was my instrument...”

Biden administration launches SAVE plan

Income-based student loan forgiveness plan aims to reduce the size and interest of payments

By Caroline Krauch SPORTS EDITOR

The Saving on a Valuable Education Plan was announced by the Biden administration this past August and is an income-based loan repayment plan that will reduce the size and interest of loan payments for students whose income is below a certain level. According to Federal Student Aid, not only will this plan reduce the size of payments, but it will also reduce the impact of interest of low-income Americans and will reduce the amount of time people will be paying their loans. According to Federal Student Aid, the proposed plan will go into effect for most Americans in the summer of 2024, for those who qualify by earning below the income amount, it could go into effect now.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration paused the payment of student loans at a time when most people were struggling economically according to a fact sheet from The White House.

Associate Professor of Political Science Greg Shufeldt said that originally Biden agreed to wipe out $10,000 for most Americans and $20,000 for those in extreme poverty. Ultimately, the Supreme Court rejected this plan, ruling that this was not constitutionally within the president’s power. According to Shufeldt, a lot of people disagreed with this, calling into account the ‘Heroes Act’ which gave the Secretary of Education the power to waive or modify student loan payments during times of distress. The Biden administration proposed the SAVE plan as a backup option to the original plan. Shufeldt said although the SAVE plan is not as generous, it still has the goal of reducing the overall pressure that student loan payment

can cause.

“Initially, the Biden administration proposed doing a very broad student loan forgiveness. For some people this was as much as $10,000 being just completely forgiven from their student loans. For some Americans this was up to $20,000,” Shufeldt said.

“This was going to be a really big effort to reduce the amount of student loan payments that people have and the Supreme Court struck that down. They said it was unconstitutional that the president didn't have the authority to do this. So [the SAVE plan] is kind of, ‘You wouldn't let us do this, here's this other thing that we can try to do to reduce the burden of student loan payments that Americans feel.’”

When the SAVE plan goes into effect next year, it will replace the current Revised Pay As You Earn plan, according to Federal Student Aid. Shufeldt said the biggest difference between the two is that the SAVE plan expands the program to more people, and it changes how people think about interest by preventing interest from piling up.

“In these income-driven plans, like the SAVE plan, if your income is at a certain level, then they are actually saving you money by reducing the monthly payments,” Shufeldt said.

Instead of taking the $10,000 off the loans outright like the original plan, people will still be saving that money, but in the form of having reduced monthly payments. For those who are above the set threshold, this will not mean anything to them, and their payments will continue as regularly scheduled. Those that have already qualified for the REPAYE plan automatically qualify for the SAVE plan, and could be receiving the benefits as early as October.

Shufeldt also discussed potential issues with this plan and said he anticipates conflict along party lines.

He said it is especially important for college students to pay attention to this and keep updated in case this applies to them. There are people above the threshold of poverty that Biden set that will see no changes whatsoever in their loan payments, according to Shufeldt, making it even more crucial to double-check whether

one could be eligible.

As for UIndy students, Shufeldt advises students to pay attention to the news if they are looking to go to graduate school. He said it is important for students to be having conversations about financial aid in order to make well-informed decisions.

“I would follow the news to pay attention if you are thinking about going to graduate school,” Shufeldt said. “I would encourage students and their families to have conversations with financial aid here and any other kind of trusted financial advisors or sources to make decisions that are best for them.”

IGA passes near-absolute abortion ban

By Elyssa Merrill DISTRIBUTION MANAGER & BUSINESS MANAGER

The Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Enrolled Act 1, which puts a near-absolute ban on abortion in Indiana. The act was passed on June 30 and enforced across the state the following day. According to NPR, this bill was put into effect for one week last year before being halted by court challenges up until now. While not outlawing abortions entirely, SEA 1 states that there are very few instances in which it can be performed. The act says an abortion is only legal if it is within the first 20 weeks after fertilization, the abortion is necessary to prevent any serious health risk of the pregnant woman, it would save the pregnant woman's life or the fetus is diagnosed with a lethal fetal anomaly. If a minor seeks out an abortion, they must have parental or guardian approval. However, this is not required if the minor was raped by a parent, guardian or custodian of the unemancipated minor according

to IGA. There is also an exception to the ban if means of fertilization are due to in vitro fertilization as specified in the senate enrolled act according to IGA. This amendment went into effect Sept. 15.

According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, looking towards states such as Illinois and Minnesota which have created laws with protection in mind may bring some ease to those seeking an abortion in cases of emergency. Associate Professor of Political Science Laura Merrifield Wilson said there are still resources available to those who are seeking the procedure.

“Being prohibited in Indiana doesn’t mean it’s not available elsewhere, and there are states in the United States that have expanded access since Dobbs v. Jackson,” Merrifield Wilson said. “But if you look at a state like Ohio, [abortion laws are] as restrictive there, if not more so. So for people to whom this applies, it doesn’t mean you can’t get an abortion, it means you can’t get one in Indiana, and you do have to seek outside availability in terms of

[other] states.”

Dobbs v. Jackson being overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court in June of 2022 was the turning point in the subsequent overruling of Roe v. Wade, according to the National Library of Medicine. This decision allowed states to decide the laws surrounding abortion themselves, according to the New York Times. All the conservative states needed was the permission to enforce their bans, according to Merrifield Wilson.

“[The abortion ban] was specifically reactionate to Dobbs v. Jackson, which the U.S. Supreme Court said [abortion rights are] a state level decision,” Merrifield Wilson said. “Since it overturned Roe v. Wade which said it was a constitutional right at the federal level. This was the moment for

conservative states to say, ‘Perfect, we’ve been wanting to ban it. Now, we have the constitutional authority to do so.’”

In order to get an abortion, Indiana residents must meet the requirements that the fetus is within the first 20 weeks after fertilization, the abortion is necessary to protect the pregnant person or the fetus is diagnosed with a lethal fetal anomaly, according to the Guttmacher Institute. In addition to that, one must make two visits 18 hours apart. The first visit is for in-person counseling and the second is for the procedure. State Medicaid insurance, as well as private insurance, will not apply in most cases, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Additionally, the six abortion clinics throughout the state are no longer able to provide abortion services, as the procedure must be provided by a physician instead.

For people who are scared of what the abortion ban could mean for their other rights, Merrifield Wilson said the law was made specifically as a response to Roe v. Wade being overturned.

“I mean, that decision is pretty specific to abortion,” Merrifield Wilson said, “but there's a lot of concern, and probably well-founded and justified, but what else would they be able to ban or limit?”

Voters have shared their worry and fear that their voices are not being heard. Planned Parenthood said that 50% of Indiana Voters identify as pro-choice, based on a 2019 phone poll. Merrifield Wilson said she encourages everyone to use their voice and right to vote.

“First and foremost for anyone, I’d say make sure you vote,” Merrifield Wilson said. “It’s not enough now just to vote in the general election, because you may not have a lot of choices … Quite frankly, I’d encourage people to run for office or to work for candidates to support the candidates that they love … Then in voting, in running for office, in supporting the candidates you’re going to see a policy change. Laws can be changed very easily, but you have to have lawmakers that want to change them, and you have to have constituents who put pressure on the lawmakers to change them.”

Graphic by Alfredo Guerrero Alonso

Being prohibited in Indiana doesn’t mean it’s not available elsewhere."