Crescent Magazine November 2010

crescent College Culture Upfront

November 2010 w uecrescentmagazine.com

University of Evansville

magazine

DINING, DICE & DOWNTOWN Crawl through the hot spots by the river

Finding Refuge with Rachel Rachel Brinkers welcomes incoming refugees

Confundus FANDOM

Exploring the Harry Potter phenomenon

Changing the FACE of November Unfurling the hairy history of No Shave

RITE of PASSAGE

When did virginity become a bad thing? $2.50

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• We do Private Parties! [ October 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

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R E A S U R E T R A D I T I

Student Events include

• Monday, Nov. 8 • Newly Wed-style Game Show — • Tuesday, Nov. 9 • first night of UE’s Best Dance Crew — • Wednesday, Nov. 10 • Ace Factor Challenge Competition — • Friday, Nov. 12 • Pep Rally and Dance-A-Thon benefiting the Abby Guerra Fund 7 p.m. Women’s Basketball and Volleyball — • Saturday, Nov. 13 • 1p.m. Parade 3:30 p.m. Chili Cook-off 5 p.m. Volleyball 7:05 p.m. Men’s Basketball IDAY is Eve r y F R E. iday at U P u rp le Fr r we a r yo u Be s u re to PLE! b e st PU R

& O N S

November 12–14 Reunion Weekend

welcome

Alumni Celebrating Reunions • UE Veterans • Theatre Alumni • Archaeology Alumni Class of 1960 • Class of 1985 • Swim and Diving Team Delta Sigma Pi • Festival of Young Preachers • 1980s WUEV All Classes Ending in 0 and 5

University of Evansville Alumni Association • www.evansville.edu/homecoming [ October 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

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[ THIS MONTH’S ]

directors’

Memorable Milestones Delving deeper into the ultimate coming of age event and exploring its varying significance to students and society.

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ociety is obsessed with the concept of virginity. Questions center around “what is it exactly” and “when is the right time to lose it.” Our parents, role models and church doctrines all tell us different things. But we wanted to know what students think. Exploring the ambiguity of virginity, its history, its terminology and its lack of scientific definition seemed like a good place to start. We also wanted to reiterate how your virginity — or lack thereof — is yours. Having sex, for the first time or with your newest partner, is an individual choice. No one else can, or should, dictate when the time is right for you.

Media bombards us with sexually explicit content. The magazines we read, the websites we visit, the music we listen to and the TV shows and commercials we watch are saturated with sexual innuendos. But, at the same time, abstinence is also forcefully preached. Are we supposed to put chastity on a pedestal and save it until marriage? Or is that an unrealistic goal in our sex-crazed society?

It is clear we are pulled from polar opposites, one side telling us to exploit ourselves and the other insisting we cover up and remain pure. These contradictions cause conflict among students. Many are gripped with fear and perpetual turmoil, as they ponder when to “give it up.”

But most of these discussions revolve around the physical implications of sex and losing one’s virginity. What about emotional and mental components? Some believe the first time should be for love; others aren’t even in a relationship. Sex, especially our first time, holds a different level of significance for everyone, although the general consensus holds that the big moment is always memorable.

Whatever your stance, sex is a big deal. If you aren’t having it, you’re talking about it. And if you aren’t talking about it, more than likely, you are thinking about it. Sex permeates our culture. That’s why we wanted to take a fresh approach and examine it from the perspective of those still sitting on the bench as opposed to playing the field. Losing the big V has become a rite of passage, a coming of age event, which can catapult us into a new realm of pleasure, pain and exploration.

Not all coming of age stories involve having one’s cherry popped. For men and women alike, the first act of shaving is a milestone. Now the novelty of shaving has worn off, and it’s become a hassle. Thank goodness the month of November provides us with the excuse — and great cause — to give up our beauty regimens.

It all began in Australia with a group of men wanting to raise awareness about prostate and testicular cancer. Movember has since grown into an international philanthropy, all while encouraging men to forgo their razors for the month and grow mustaches of every size, shape and color.

As of yet, No Shave November in America doesn’t have quite the status as Movember, but on campus, Men’s Awareness is hoping to change that. Most men probably don’t think of their facial hair as a symbol for prostate and testicular cancer awareness, but at least during the month of November, they can be proud of their Hulk Hogan or Ron Burgundy ‘staches, knowing they are doing some good.

We at Crescent Magazine want to show you the inspiration behind the annual event, which allows us to bring out our inner mountain men. w Wondering about Campus Crime and what’s happening with Student Congress? visit uecrescentmagazine.com every week for updates

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Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

CRESCENT MAGAZINE IS:

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Available on newsstands: Dec. 1, Feb. 1, March 1 and April 1 For Advertising Information, uecrescentmagazine.com crescentadvertising@evansville.edu or (812) 488–2221

crescent MAGAZINE w w w

EDITORIAL Writing Director: Rachel Solava Writing Editor: Brennan Girdler Assignment Editor: Kristin Benzinger Columnists: Regan Campbell, Jon Harvey Contributing Writers: Elizabeth Crozier, Cassie Gutman, Mindy Kurtz, Klara Nichter, Danielle Weeks, Megan Werner

contents

uecrescentmagazine.com

4 Sports

6 In the Know 8 Schitzengiggles

CREATIVE Assistant Creative Director: Amanda Topper Photo Editor: Chris Keith Designer: Tiffany Conroy Advertising Designers: Yolanda Alvarado, Ryan Cramer, Andrew Schulingkamp, Amanda Squire Web Designers: Alyssa Key, Duong Pham Contributing Photographer: Sunny Johnson, Kandace Leehans Website Consultant: James Will

9 Through the Lens 10 Off the Wall 11 Janky vs. Juicy 12 Fascinating People: Finding Refuge with Rachel 15 Rite of Passage

EDITING Editing Director: Lacey Conley Copy Editor: Nick Holder

18 Changing the Face of November 21 Food

MARKETING & SALES Marketing & Sales Director: Andy Bennett Advertising Sales Manager: David Riedford Marketing Liaison: Jessica McClure

22 Confundus Fandom 24 Health & Science

HOW TO CONTACT US: Address: 1800 Lincoln Avenue, Evansville, Ind. 47722 Phone: (812) 488–2846 FAX: (812) 488–2224 E-mail: crescentmagazine@evansville.edu Marketing & Sales: (812) 488–2221 and 488–2223 Advertising E-mail: crescentadvertising@evansville.edu Printer: Mar-Kel Quick Print, Newburgh, Ind. CRESCENT MAGAZINE is UE’s student magazine. It is written, edited and designed by and for students, and distributed seven times during the academic year. The magazine is funded through advertising revenue and a subscription fee paid on behalf of students by SGA. Circulation is 1,700. © 2010 Student Publications, University of Evansville.

Editorial Policy. Commentary expressed in unsigned editorial pieces represent a consensus opinion of Crescent Magazine’s Editorial Board. All other columns, articles and advertising are not necessarily the opinion of the Editorial Board or other members of the magazine’s staff.

Letter Submissions. E-mail your letters to crescentmagazine@evansville.edu and write “letter” in the subject line.

Crescent Magazine welcomes letters from members of the UE community, but material the Editorial Board regards as libelous, malicious and/or obscene will not be published. Letters should not exceed 400 words. For verification, letters must include the author’s name, year in school or title and e-mail address. Crescent Magazine will not print anonymous letters or those letters that cannot be verified. Letters may be edited for length, style, grammar and spelling. They may also appear on uecrescentmagazine.com.

NOVEMBER 2010

26 A Conversation With 28 Entertainment 30 Sports in Action 32 The Lists 33 A Closer Look 34 Read with Passion 35 Campus Comment 36 Just the Facts 36 Crossword

SLICE of life

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On the Cover: Unwrapping her pottery like a present, senior Allyson Hoch uses her well-trained hands during Art 360, “Ceramics,” to make sure that no harm has come to the piece. After extensive scrutiny, she is comfortable adding new ribbons of clay to expand the piece. Kandace Leehans/Crescent Magazine

[ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

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[ SPORTS ]

by Brennan Girdler

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tanding shoeless on the wet pool deck, I wipe sleep from my eyes wondering if it is 6:15 a.m. To be part of the team you need dedication.

For me, shadowing the divers took more than that, and it was only for a day.

I reviewed what I thought I knew about diving: you need to be able to swim, to dive and flip, you have to look good in a Speedo and you need to be at least semiathletic — I barely qualified.

Eric Blevins, assistant dive coach, said I was missing one thing — being on time: 6:15 a.m., or you have to do double the morning exercises in the afternoon.

“My brain hasn’t started to function yet,” senior Andy Balczo said.

Blevins set up workout stations on the pool deck.

There were jump ropes, medicine balls, mats and nine index cards taped to the walls, describing the workouts.

“I guess we aren’t diving this morning?” I asked.

“No,” Blevins said.

“We’re never flexible in the mornings so we never get in the pool.”

I felt the same way. Each station’s routine was to be completed twice, which meant 400 jump ropes, two minutes of push-up holds, 40 log rolls and many other abdominal exercises.

“We might not have the [best] abs in school, but we try to,” said freshman Katrina Kain.

Freshman Mallet Reid said morning practice is a challenge, but no one misses it because it makes the afternoon miserable.

After practice, the team

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Mallet pretends the water is a bunch of boobs and jumps into it.”

—Katrina Kain

said they “quit diving” — as in, mentally — until the afternoon. I was exhausted, my earliest class only an hour away and breakfast a mere afterthought.

“Balance is key,” Balczo said. When it comes to athletics and scholarship, you need to leave the athletic part at practice and refocus your attention on schoolwork.

The team said I should go take a nap, chug a protein shake and do some homework before class.

“You don’t get to eat or shower in the mornings,” Balczo said. “You sacrifice personal hygiene and food, but I love it.”

It was hard to imagine how the divers maintain such a high level of dedication throughout their entire season — from August to March, given 13 meets and two conference events.

My three classes that day were miserable. I was tired, starved and my stomach felt like it had been hit with a sledgehammer. And of course, that was only from morning practice.

I lined up in my swimsuit at 4:40 p.m., the only one on the pool deck without a

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

spending THE DAY as a diver Speedos, shammys and shame — lots of shame. All of these I came to know well during my day with the diving team. shammy or a calm face.

We started with “Vegas day,” when each diver rolls dice to decide which abdominal workout the team will do and how many repetitions. And finally, when I had begun thinking all they did were pike-ups, it was time to dive — but first, the approach.

Four steps, a hop and a bounce, I kept telling myself, counting off four steps from the end of the board.

I tried, launching into front flip with my arms above my head. When I surfaced, the team seemed to think something hysterical had happened.

“Not bad — try it again,” Blevins laughed. “But don’t forget about height, distance, your look in the air, flight and entry,” he added.

To perfect all the parts of a dive, Blevins uses a video camera he connects to a TiVo so he can instantly replay and show the team their dives.

I got to watch every attempt of my own and saw I went out 10 feet further than I should have. I was given a two of 10 for style.

“The approach is the first thing you learn and the last

thing you master,” Blevins said, in a tone reminiscent of Mr. Miyagi from the “Karate Kid.” While the divers are a lively bunch who quote YouTube videos, sing and dance, they take their sport seriously. As soon as they stepped onto the board, their personas changed.

They took deep breaths, went over their moves in their heads and waited until they were ready. Reid, on the other hand, jumped on the board, smiled and made short work of his dives.

“Mallet pretends the water is a bunch of boobs and jumps into it,” Kain said.

“We all focus differently.”

The day I visited, the team was fine-tuning their dives; Blevins had them practice one flip or twist or approach. But for me, anything head first or twist was terrifying, especially when I tried the 3-meter board.

But to the team’s dismay, I made it through the day and didn’t “smack” the water once.

“Smacking is the worst that can happen to you,” Childers said. “It’ll sting for a while, but then you can try again.” w

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fter practicing twice a day and doing the same dive hundreds of times, she knows she’s ready, but for freshman Katrina Kain, getting off the board is the hardest part. She said the best way to balance the first semester of her sorority commitments, her athletic training major and her diving is with lots of ice bags.

“Once you leave practice, you leave it there and keep it separate from school,” Kain said. “Unless, of course, you’re injured and have to hobble to class.”

Pulling late nights is familiar to Kain. With her schedule, it would be hard to nap during the day or procrastinate on papers until morning. Why? Unlike most students, Kain has diving practice early each morning.

“I’m used to it, and I like the morning exercise,” she said. “You just have to balance your priorities well.”

Kain started swimming in the third grade and diving two years later.

“I love the water, but I didn’t like swimming between walls. And I’m too small to be a swimmer, so I switched to diving,” she said.

Having talent helps, but once you can do the physical stuff, Kain assures the motions become natural, and it becomes a mind game.

“You know you can do everything right in your head, but the rest of you is like ‘oh God, there’s no way,’” she said.

Kain has been struggling with a shoulder injury all year but has been doing her best to dive around it. She has aspirations of going to nationals before she graduates but knows she still has three years of work to do.

“I don’t want to go out there and fail, but I guess that’s what most people do,” Kain said. “And it helps [to know it’s OK].” w

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[ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

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[ IN THE KNOW ]

Faithful Communication Religious forums offer an opportunity to get to know our spiritual neighbors.

by Rachel Solava

w w w w

“Peace be upon him.” This phrase was repeated many times throughout a September evening, during a discussion forum on Islam. But one might be surprised to discover this kind of reverence was not reserved just for the Prophet Mohammad; Muslims say “peace be upon him” when mentioning Jesus Christ as well.

This was one of many insights into the Islamic faith discussed by the five Muslim panelists who shared religious information with more than 200 attendees at the first “Who is My Neighbor?” religion forum series in Neu Chapel.

“What I learned is that we are more alike than different as people of faith,” Chaplain Tammy Gieselman said.

And that was her goal for the forum: for the audience to better understand their Muslim neighbors.

“Everyone comes with their own beliefs and theologies, but we have the power to change how we perceive others of different faiths,” Gieselman said.

The program began with each panelist presenting a different aspect of Islam, ranging from the six articles of faith and the Quran to misconceptions of jihad and the treatment of women.

But it was not a typical presentation on religion. Gieselman said the event was structured to allow for conversation and questions — a back-and-forth “conversation” rather than a confrontation.

“A conversation means to me that it can happen around the kitchen table,” she said. “Any one of the panelists would be comfortable sitting down with you for a cup of coffee and continuing the dialogue.”

Gieselman added that the purpose of the night was to foster understanding.

“Hopefully we can call each other by name, instead of using ‘us’ and ‘them,’” she said.

The discussion began with Dr. Zahid Saqib, president of Evansville’s Islamic Society, who spoke about the six

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Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

articles of faith, many of which overlap with Christian beliefs. He began with the basics: Muslims believe in God — their one creator.

“We do not see Him; we do not know Him, except in his attributes,” Saqib said. “He is merciful, the most great, the most high, the wise, the truth, the unique, the first and the last, all forgiving, the light — owner of all attributes.”

He went on to explain Muslims’ belief in scripture, in the Day of Judgment and in angels.

“We all have two angels with us at all times, recording our every action,” Saqib said. “God instructs the angels; he tells the one on the right to write the good deeds down immediately and tells the one on the left that if [the sinner] repents, don’t write it down.”

Martha Al-Hieh, a society member, chose to address common misconceptions non-Muslims have about the Islamic faith.

“We hear terrible things about the treatment of Muslim women across the globe,” she said. “We hear about little girls being forced into marriage. We need to separate cultural practices from the teachings of Islam.”

Mohammad Hussain, the society’s president-elect, also discussed several THE BOTTOM LINE

sensitive issues, covering terrorism, jihad and extremism.

“I don’t think anyone can say that terrorism is limited to those in the Islamic faith,” he said.

Like the other panelists, Hussain referenced the Quran to clarify the meaning and teachings of Islam, as opposed to the misrepresentations publicized in the media.

“One thing that is repeated over and over in the Quran is the sanctity of human life,” he said. “If anyone kills one person, it amounts to killing the whole human race.”

Hussain also stressed the fact that acts of terrorism are committed by only a very small fraction of the Islamic population.

“Your Muslim neighbor is like the vast majority of Muslims, like the vast majority of the human race: a peaceful, productive citizen,” he said.

Dr. Mohammad Mourad commented on another controversial, and often misunderstood, aspect of Islam — Shariah law. Shariah literally means “the path to the Islam is meant watering place.”

Mourad explained to speak to all it is a path that humanity.” guides many parts of a Muslim’s —Myeda Hussain life, from the daily routine to marriage, divorce and financial dealings.

“Shariah law is flexible; it can adapt to any time, any place,” he said.

Mourad also addressed the issue of secular law in Islamic countries, and he stressed that Christians and Jews living in these countries are free to practice their own religions.

“Muslims, Jews and Christians live together under secular governments, and they are working out all over the world,” he said.

Myeda Hussain, connected with the audience on a different level. As a recent graduate of Indiana University, she described the Islamic view of community and the unity among all faiths.

“Islam is meant to speak to all huw w w w

This new series on world religions attempts to bring the community together to foster understanding of non-Christian neighbors and enrich the campus culture.

manity; this is fundamental to everything we do,” she said.

After the panelists spoke, the floor was opened for questions, several of which concerned the treatment of Muslims following the Sept. 11, 2001, terriorist attacks and current issues in the media, such as the construction of an Islamic community center near the former World Trade Center site in New York City.

“It is very misleading to label it as the ‘Ground Zero Mosque,’” Al-Hied said. “It is a community center with a culinary school, a fitness center, prayer space, a theater. It is not visible from Ground Zero; this never should have been an issue.”

These hot-topic concerns have been on the forefront of Muslim and Christian minds alike and provided some of the inspiration for the religion forum series.

“At the height of all the media coverage, I felt like someone needed to respond to the negative impressions of Islam,” Gieselman said. “Because we’re a university, it seems appropriate that we would issue a reasonable response through informed Muslims.”

In order to locate the Islamic experts in our community, Gieselman enlisted the help of Mohammad Azarian, professor of mathematics. As the two began to plan the event, they realized the conversation could be expanded to include other world religions.

Gieselman is planning a discussion on Judaism this month and Hinduism in January. The next forum, “Who is My Neighbor: The Jew Next Door,” will take place at 7 p.m. Nov. 1 in Neu Chapel. Each event is free and open to the public.

Gieselman is excited for the discussions and hopes they will expand to include people of all faiths.

“There is a hunger out there to participate,” she said. “This is a place we can talk about faith issues.” w

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Happy Retirement

Barb Lutterman [ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

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[ SCHITZENGIGGLES ]

Citizens — your gene pool needs you! Procreate today! But be forewarned that you’ll carry the burden of passing down more than just your genetics.

forwardPLAY

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The entirety of human experience and wisdom can be found in one place: the extensive, compiled body of adages. For instance, “there’s more than one way to skin a cat.” Though you likely haven’t skinned a cat before, you feel it in your heart that this advice is true.

Adages can apply to virtually anything, utilizing strange word pairings such as “horseshoes and hand grenades,” to more suggestive euphemisms like “the birds and the bees,” which are all a way of both giving advice and dancing around some crude central truth.

Let’s arbitrarily run with the “birds and bees” example. One day, some of you will be parents, and a few others are parents already. Either way, God bless you and keep you sharp and euphemism-wealthy, because you’ll soon have to explain the details that led to the creation of your dastardly inquisitive offspring.

Now, in handling these adages to explain something important, there is a wrong and right way to go about it.

I will proceed with a slightly dramatized account of how “the talk” was given to me. You can either read it as a cautionary tale, or if you’re the brutally sociopathic sort, you may find just the right formula you need to rear your very own family of Timothy McVeighs and Jeffrey Dahmers.

On a bright, brisk fall afternoon, my father and I ventured out to gather wood for our wood-burning stove. I was about 10, toting a chainsaw about as long as I was tall.

I don’t know what it was about hacking up naturally

8

felled trees and spewing sawdust all over oneself that inspired him to speak up, but my father suddenly stood upright and said mistily, “You know son, sometime, a girl is going to ask you to make a decision, and you’re going to have to know what you’re gonna say.”

I wasn’t listening. I was trying to break some of the flimsier branches with all of my 70 pounds. “Yeah, obviously,” I said. I don’t think I realized what he was talking about for several years.

To this day I refuse to count that as a “sex talk.” If he were talking me through defusing a bomb, he would have told me that at some point I was going to be in need of scissors and perhaps some burn ointment.

No, the job was left to the school administration. There, we had a health and physical education instructor with a notorious mean streak, which was really more of a “dried-up old woman who has seen things that would make your sphincter pucker” kind of attitude.

Her health classes amounted to this: sitting and listening to her lecture about the nuances and bodily evils associated with human maturation, sexuality and chemical recreation. It was not as easy as it sounded.

It was our job to sit and listen while she instructed the girls in the room on how to use toilet paper most sanitarily and insisted that we boys didn’t know what toilet paper was, based on the example of her son and husband.

She’d discourse fluently and unapologetically about the act of coitus, using such heavy, deliberate phrases as “when they pierce us” while the gentlemen

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

in the room chewed their lips, stared at the floor and thumbed the lead at the tips of their mechanical pencils.

On the days we loathed most, we’d have to read short, strongly worded paragraphs from our workbooks aloud, while filling in blanks with selections from a word bank.

One of my paragraphs read, “The symptoms of chlamydia include painful urination and a watery, greenish-yellow…”

The room gave the impression that it was waiting for something. “… discharge.”

“Yes. A discharge. Very good,” our instructor purred It happened that on a particular day of summer P.E., which she also happened to teach, that fate took one of the most disgustingly cruel turns I’d ever know. My father had signed on to chaperone this field trip to Marengo Cave, a museum of natural phallic phenomena, and as the bus was loading, something terrible happened.

My father and teacher stopped and looked at each other for a moment. Then something sparked.

“Ronnie?”

“Gloria?”

They smiled. They embraced. I dropped my sack lunch. These two were first cousins. They grew up on the same street, and somehow, neither knew they had moved into the same school district some 30 years later.

I’ll always have a hard time thinking of the whole thing as anything less than a grand conspiracy. Just like whether some girl’s ever going to ask me to choose between Pokemon and Digimon. w

Now, in handling these adages to explain something important, there is a wrong and right way to go about it.

w Regan Campbell, a senior creative writing major from Vincennes, presents his special brand of humor on life’s lighter moments.

[ THROUGH THE LENS ] A monthly look at campus happenings

Yea! for guys in dresses W

hile Delta Omega Zeta raised more than $866 for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children during their annual “Price is Right� philanthrophy, it was the Barker Beauties, dressed in their best drag, who kept the audience laughing. Sporting names like Roxy, Saphire and Ellie, the six men, representing various campus organizations, strutted their best stuff as they showcased the items up for bid.

Posing onstage with the next item up for bid, sophomore Derrick McDowell skips for joy over the turtle-shaped kite. Kandace Leehans/ Crescent Magazine Junior Brian Knowles and sophomore Lujack McReynolds grace the stage with another wonderful item up for bid. Kandace Leehans/ Crescent Magazine

Freshman Chris Kuester and senior David Kirkwood attempt to entice the audience. Sunny Johnson/Crescent Magazine Showing off more than his presentation skills, senior Marco Butturi reveals the price of an item. Kandace Leehans/Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

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[ OFF THE WALL ]

of the

ciroc blue ocean

Add a splash of color to the dreary deadness of fall with this flashy blue drink. According to thebar. com, this drink is best made with Ciroc vodka — but any brand will do. Just combine ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake, strain into a glass and garnish with a lemon or an orange slice.

INGREDIENTS 1 oz vodka 1/2 oz blue Curacao 1/4 oz grapefruit juice Splash simple syrup

WATCH OUT JELL-O • Pour a pack of clear-colored Jell-O into a toilet and let it solidify. The unsuspecting victim will second-guess him or herself by seeing — or feeling — the recent deed hovering above the water line. Having flushed, the victim will again be surprised to see nothing happen.

Thankfully, it just takes a small push with a plunger to get the Jell-O down.

MACLEODVISION

(thegag.com)

by james macleod

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Crescent Magazine [ October 2010 ]

Two-Wheeler Jimi Heselden, 62, fell off of a cliff while riding an off-road Segway. Despite his role as company founder, even he wasn’t able to stay balanced as he teetered on the edge of the rocky precipice before falling 80 feet into the river. No foul play is suspected.

UE TFLN A Safety & Security vehicle just pulled in behind me at Taco Bell. In retrospect, going in reverse through the drive-thru may not have been the best decision.

Mouse Bread While making cheese sandwiches for his twin sons and daughter, Stephen Forse discovered a mouse baked into the corner of his loaf of bread. Unable to stomach the idea, he quietly used a different loaf to make his children mouse-free sandwiches.

de

Oddlaws Disturbing Religious Worship

Yep, you heard it here first. No one shall disrupt a religious assembly with whispering or noise of any kind in Rehoboth Beach.

ar

Sounding of Horns

In Little Rock, it is illegal to honk your horn at any establishment where sandwiches are served after 9 p.m. That’s un-American.

ut

Causing a Catastrophe

It is a felony for a person to knowingly cause widespread injury or damage by fire, flood, avalanche or release of poisonous gas.

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Penalty for Mutilation

It is illegal to maliciously slit the nose, ear or lip or to bite off the limb of another person.

Damn the luck.

ca

Hides

In Chico, it is unlawful for anyone to keep or store green or smelly animal hides. And why would anyone want to?

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Tires Screeching

Citizens of Derby face a fine or imprisonment if they accelerate their cars or turn corners as to cause the tires to screech.

Information provided by dumblaws.com

WE’RE CELEBRATING WHAT...

Vegan Month • Recognize those people in your life who take vegetarianism to the next level — no animal byproducts for them.

Peanut Butter Lover’s Month • Celebrate chunky or creamy varieties covered in chocolate, slathered on an Oreo or paired with jelly.

Dr. MacGyver Doctors told Lexi Lacey’s mother that no baby born 14 weeks premature had ever survived in their hospital. Doctors had to improvise, using a sandwich bag to keep her insulated. She was in intensive care for 11 weeks before being allowed home and is now healthy.

Pink Panther Using food coloring, a woman dyed her cat to match her hair. When finished, her white cat’s fur was a vibrant pink. Outraged, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals took the cat into protective custody, but it was eventually reunited with its owner.

High-Heeled Hustle A four-woman relay-race team called “the Pinkettes” broke a world record when they finished a 263-foot course in one minute and four seconds — in 3-inch stilettos. They won a $10,000 prize, and $20,000 was donated to the National Breast Cancer Association. compliments of telegraph.co.uk

Just a few of our favorite things When the Scandinavian company Aurumania first made this bike, it was intended to be a showpiece. Soon owners realized there was a demand for the sweet ride and released 10 bicycles — only five of which have been purchased.

According to BusinessWeek.com, each bike is made

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Sweet Potato Awareness Month • It’s the perfect month to pay homage to this delicious vegetable in the classic Thanksgiving casserole.

of 24-carat gold and contains 600 Swarovski crystals. At a mindblowing $114,464, one might think twice before taking this bike for a ride through the local park.

PROFTIFICATING

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least common multiple

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32 4:20 The number of muscles a cat has in each ear. .

The time all the clocks are stuck on in “Pulp Fiction.”

24 336

hours. The total lifespan of a dragonfly.

The number of indentations on a golf ball.

2 /3

of the world’s eggplants are grown in New Jersey.

w w w w

J

Janky: UE E-mail — Completely unappealing aesthetically with barely-there storage. Gee, I would love to save the 5 million AceNotes I receive every week, but my mailbox is full — again.

Juicy: Gmail — Illustrate the real you with themes and folders and all sorts of virtual goodies.

Create a folder that will safely save away all of those e-mails from Residence Life, just because you can.

Janky: Weekend Brunch — You would think that combining two mealtimes into one would create a super-powered feast of awesomeness. Instead, we get leftovers.

Juicy: Late Night at Ace’s Place — Freshly made tacos, wings and curly fries? You mean we don’t have to hitch a ride to a fast-food place when we finally have time to eat dinner at 10 p.m.? It’s like Santa is real again.

Janky: Misspelling “A lot” — You would think by the time we reach college we could spell simple words. “A lot” is two words, and that is not going to change.

Juicy: An Alot — This brown, furry creature, born on the blog “Hyperbole and a Half,” is the only true alot. You love that alot? Do you hug it every day?

“Huge fake dildos are funny in any culture.

Fake dildos... Is there a real kind?”

— Paul Bone, assistant professor of English

madconomist.com.

[ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

11

[ FASCINATING PEOPLE ]

Finding Refuge with

by Klara Nichter Resettling refugees in Indianapolis and serving as an International Orientation Leader, senior Rachel Brinkers is always ready to lend a hand.

12

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

E

very day, millions of people around the world are forced to leave their homes, fleeing persecution. Innumerable refugee camps are set up in bordering countries, and what begin as temporary shelters become permanent residences as refugees

wait for the opportunity to return home for years to come. Exodus Refugee Immigration’s website states less than 1 percent of refugees are relocated to a third country.

Exodus’ mission is to integrate the international refugees who arrive in Indianapolis every year with the local community. As a 2009 summer intern with the program, senior Rachel Brinkers was responsible for helping refugees adjust to American life and aiding their journey towards self-sufficiency.

“I’m glad to be able to welcome these people into our country,” Brinkers said.

Brinkers and about 40 other summer interns gained internationally centered work experience at Exodus. Through July, she worked part time accompanying refugees to their various appointments, teaching one- to two-week intensive English classes, visiting refugees’ homes and helping them with paperwork.

And while these tasks might sound simple enough, a great deal of time and effort is required for a refugee to become established in this country. Ex-

odus said most refugees arrive without conversational English, and Exodus associates must ensure refugees learn enough of the language to complete basic tasks native speakers take for granted such as filling a prescription or writing a check.

The volunteers and interns will often accompany refugees on bus rides, teaching them about inter-city transportation as they go, or will drive them in organization-owned vans to work, appointments and other everyday activities. Because these people often come to America with hardly any knowledge of the culture and customs, Brinkers and the other volunteers help them combat the culture shock.

Because refugees arrive with next to nothing, fulfilling their basic needs — especially the need for housing — is difficult. Exodus must obtain donations enough to stock entire households with food, furniture, baby supplies and any other necessities. More than 500 refuges were resettled with the help of Exodus in 2009, and their website predicts that 650 will be welcomed in 2010.

“The place was swamped, so it was

nice that I could pay attention to them as individuals,” Brinkers said.

There were several Chinese and Iraqi families, but most of Exodus’ refugees were Burmese. NPR said Fort Wayne contains the highest Burmese population in the country, but Indianapolis is not far behind. Brinkers said there are generally more refugees from Burma because their government is trying to force out a single ethnicity.

Exodus aims to place refugees of all nationalities in jobs that will allow them to become more independent members of society by earning steady incomes.

For Brinkers, helping people was the most rewarding aspect of her intern-

ship. She said many of the refugees became her friends and were grateful for the help they received. Often, Brinkers was invited into their new homes for tea and cake.

She said the summer also opened her eyes because she hadn’t worked

She seems happy to be spending quality time with everyone.”

—Cesilie Myers with refugees previously and knew little about Burma before her time at Exodus. The internship gave Brinkers the opportunity to learn more about the way the US government deals with refugees and to appreciate the charities of non-government organizations.

But Brinkers did not limit her international involvement solely to summer internships. She studied in Chile for five months last year, where she fell in love with the people and culture.

On campus, she welcomed international students as an International Orientation Leader.

“I like to reach out to people,” she said.

Brinkers is very interested in Latin culture in particular, which is not surprising since she is a global business major with Spanish and interna-

Chris Keith/Crescent Magazine

tional studies minors. She is also interested in the Middle East and said she finds a different country fascinating every week.

Her current fascination is Cuba because of Cuban natives she met over the summer, and she hopes to travel there someday. Brinkers also hopes to return to Chile and teach English for a year in South America before returning to America for graduate school.

But, while she is here, Brinkers takes advantage of the diverse community she finds on campus.

She loves having “brinner,” or eating breakfast for dinner, with her friends and sampling foreign cuisines.

Because of Brinkers’ social, caring nature, her personality extends beyond the international community, encompassing nearly everyone on campus.

“She seems happy to be spending quality time with everyone,” senior Cesilie Myers said.

Whether it’s chipping in to buy gifts, giving people rides or bringing friends soup when they’re sick, Brinkers is always prepared to do what people need.

Brinkers said, if she could, she would be a bird because she likes to be in lots of different places at once — reflected in her passion for both international and on-campus activities.

“I’m a free spirit,” she said. w [ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

13

International Education Week November 15–19

MONDAY Featured Speaker: Dr. Morag Kersel, Archaeology, Cultural Diplomacy & Foreign Relations 7 p.m. Smythe Lecture Hall TUESDAY • Students & Faculty Present: Endeavors in International Education and Exchange, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Eykamp • UE in Asia Programs, 12:30 p.m.

Eykamp Hall • Intersections of Diversity Panel, 7 p.m. SB 272 WEDNESDAY • International Education and Exchange Information Fair, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.

Eykamp Hall • Language and Culture Capsules, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Eykamp Hall • I-House International Poetry Reading, 7 p.m. Ridgway Center, second floor THURSDAY • Student-Alumni Mentoring, Live from London. Reservations made through Career Services

IE W

FRIDAY • International Bazaar, 4:30–8:30 p.m.

Eykamp Hall and more....

@

UE

Visit iew.evansville.edu or e-mail studyabroad@evansville.edu

IEW is sponsored in part by grants from the Office of Diversity Initiatives and the Institute for Global Enterprise in Indiana.

14

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

[ VIRGINITY ]

ite assage

By Kristin Benzinger

We have always been told virginity is a virtue — how can that be if we don’t even know what it is?

W

hat is virginity? It seems like an easy enough question.

“I wish I could remember,” junior J.R. Fralick said.

He may joke about not being able to remember it, but no one can really say what virginity is for sure. Virginity cannot be defined, as there is no medical definition for what constitutes virginity loss.

In Laura M. Carpenter’s book, “Virginity Lost: An Intimate Portrait of First Sexual Experiences,” she points out that first coitus is the only sex act that has a specific phrase associated with it — what is commonly referred to as “losing your virginity.”

Still, the simple fact is that virginity is a subjective term, and its definition differs from person to person.

Some may consider this loss to occur at the time of first penetration; others may consider it to happen the first time any sexual act is performed.

[ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

15

[ VIRGINITY ] Lora Becker, associate professor of psychology, said that she feels it has a lot more to do with an emotional state rather than something that happens physically.

“The importance of virginity started before we knew a lot about how we reproduce,” Becker said. “It’s more a mental state of purity than a physical one.”

Carpenter found, when interviewing different Americans about what constituted virginity loss, that most believed it was vaginal intercourse. She found that most people she interviewed did not even consider anal sex, oral sex or same-sex relations when defining virginity. In fact, finding a definition to encompass all these experiences would be extremely difficult to do.

In a poll conducted on Crescent Magazine’s website, 85 percent of respondents defined virginity as anal or vaginal penetration. Less than 5 percent of respondents believed oral sex would count as losing one’s virginity.

“I don’t believe oral sex counts,” Fralick said. “I don’t want it to, because I wouldn’t want oral sex to count for my number.”

It seems the fear of having too many sexual partners motivates this uneasiness about “counting” oral sex. This most like-

MILESTONES 1920s “Necking” and “petting” become accepted practices.

1924 Percy Marks releases his tale of the changing sexual norms, “The Plastic Age.” 1930 A study of 1,300 college students finds most women prefer a sexually experienced husband.

16

ly stems from an unclear definition of what sex is in the first place.

If one is going to define virginity, then sex must be defined as well. According to Webster’s Dictionary sex is “anything connected with sexual gratification or reproduction or the urge for these.”

Even this definition is somewhat inadequate because sexual gratification does not always come from sex acts meant for reproduction.

“I would define sex as an intense physical and or emotional intimacy more than likely leading to orgasm,” Becker said. “Neurologically it is backed up by when you release oxytocin — which is released during very intense pair bonding times like sex, child birthing and breast feeding.”

In our generation, doing “everything but” has become increasingly popular. This approach treats anything other than vaginal penetration as a safe zone that does not violate one’s virginity.

“I think that you can’t say ‘I’ll do everything but’ to save your virginity,” senior Beth House said. “If you’re doing ‘everything but’ just to say you are a virgin, you already lost your virginity.”

Engaging in sexual activity of any kind certainly challenges the status, or intactness, of virginity. Many people think that an “everything but” approach diminishes — if not eradicates — the innocence crucial to the concept. Those who engage in any sort

of sexual activity are often stigmatized and considered impure in some way.

“We take a lot from our Puritan and religious roots to define what we see as virginity or pureness,” Becker said.

Religion and sexual education programs are key players in the development of beliefs about virginity. Senior Caroline Buckman attended a Catholic high school where abstinence until marriage was emphasized as part of her education.

“In high school I was a virgin, and I was pressured not to [have sex] because I went to a Catholic school,” she said. “I feel like it was kind of a bunch of crap — sex is awesome.”

Becker also believes that there are definite drawbacks to the abstinence only teachings because they prevent students from getting all the information they need to enter into a sexual relationship. She emphasized that if younger people are more informed, they can make better decisions when it comes to their sexual activities.

“I think the abstinence only until marriage [method] is not allowing people to understand this human experience,” Becker said. “Information is key to making your own decision.”

We perpetuate an emphasis on virginity being tied with purity and innocence — and even ignorance — everyday. House said she has a friend her age that is still a virgin. Despite the fact that the woman is in her twenties, her coworkers treat her like a child because they see her lack of sexual experience as somehow tied with mental immaturity.

“I think there is a stigma of naivete and

Virginity, like anything else, has evolved over time. From the days of chaperoned dates to surgically replacing a woman’s hymen, our views of the concept have changed drastically. Even today deflowering celebrations occur on campus — virginity is growing up.

1948 Alfred C. Kinsey publishes “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male,” with shocking information about a man’s ability to orgasm with a same-sex partner.

1950s America returns to more classical views on virginity after years of longing for normalcy following World War II and the Great Depression.

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

1953 Kinsey publishes “Sexual Behavior in the Human Female,” which dispels such myths as women not being able to orgasm.

1953 Playboy comes on the scene, scrutinizing male virgins and encouraging male promiscuity.

1962 Helen Gurley Brown publishes “Sex and the Single Girl,” a guidebook for women contending that sex outside of marriage will not lead to a life of misery.

1964 The counterculture begins the Sexual Revolution, an exploration and rejection of traditional views on sex.

1967 The Summer of Love brings more than 100,000 people to the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco in a cultural rebellion.

1972 “The Joy of Sex” by Alex Comfort brings oral sex, bondage and swinging to the masses — this fully illustrated sex guide spends 11 weeks at the top of the New York Times best-seller list.

1980 In the movie, “Little Darlings,” Tatum O’Neal and Kristy McNichol play two girls in a race to see who can “lose it” first.

youth attached to being a virgin,” Fralick said.

This idea of virginity as immaturity can be seen in the language we use every day.

When a drink is made without alcohol, it is called a virgin — because alcohol is something for adults. Children are innocent and pure and largely ignorant of the world; once you become sexually aware, that innocence is lost, and you transition into adulthood.

As much as the concepts of both purity and maturity play a part in defining virginity, it cannot be ignored that gender plays a large role as well. Society treats keeping or losing virginity differently based on gender.

Senior Jon Golding said it seems guys have it worse when it comes to societal expectations about virginity.

“It is almost like a stigma for guys,” Golding said. “I guess after the whole prom night thing it’s like ‘What the [heck]? You’re still a virgin?’”

Men have to deal with the implication that, if they are virgins, they are either homosexual or prudish. Golding explained that being a virgin male does put him in the minority but said he was not pressured by his former fraternity brothers in Sigma Alpha Epsilon.

Michelle Blake, associate professor of sociology and social work, said that there is a definite double standard in views on virginity from one gender to the other.

“A lot of this dichotomy helps perpetuate unrealistic views about sexuality and sexual activity, and as such, I think it sends mixed messages to both genders,” Blake said. “I think it has to do with the conflicting wants. It’s a real no-win situation for everyone.”

A woman’s virginity is many times treated like a commodity. Phrases like “she lost” or “gave up” her virginity are evidence of this.

1981 The Adolescent Family Life Act passes, requiring federally funded sex education programs to advocate abstinence.

1981 The AIDS epidemic officially ends the Sexual Revolution.

1990 Tori Spelling’s character Donna Martin on “Beverly Hills, 90210” tries to show viewers that being a virgin is cool.

“I think a lot of it has to do with the perception of women as property,” Blake said.

“Making sure you are not acquiring used property.”

The common view of each gender’s relationship with virginity is unfair. These gender biases set us up to follow what is considered the social norm and further prevent the possibility of a culture-wide paradigm shift.

So why is our culture so obsessed with virginity? It seems society has a strong compulsion to name things in order to understand them. To us, it seems second nature to give something a title or term because then it has purpose. We know what to do with it and can ascribe it significance. Even abstract things can seem tangible if they have names.

But society cannot pin down virginity, because it is subjective, and we don’t always know how to deal with things that have more than a single meaning. Virginity loss is largely considered a physical state, but it’s much more than just the breaking of a hymen.

“For some it’s a rite of passage, for some it’s a required step — particularly to manhood, and in that case, for women, it can be a shameful event because our society relates it to marriage,” Becker said.

In today’s society, if we can define something, we can control it. Once we have a label for something, opinions can be formed and rules made. But no matter its proposed rulings on virginity, society has yet to control the emotions of an individual. You’ll feel what you feel about your sexual status and experiences regardless of the majority’s verdict. Virginity will always be abstract.

“I don’t think virginity is something you can categorize for the masses,” Fralick said. “It is something you have to come to terms with as an individual.” w

1998 The first formal “purity ball,” in which a daughter makes a pledge of abstinence to her father, is held.

1998 At a press conference, President Bill Clinton claims, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman,” referring to White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

U O Y E R A

?

• Writers • Photographers • Ad Designers • Page Designers • Sales Associates • Marketing Liaison • Copy Editors

2003 Britney Spears admits, after years of defending her virtue, that she is no longer a virgin.

2005 Steve Carell stars in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” a story of what happens if you never give it up.

2005 Hymenoplasty, or vaginal rejuvenation surgery, makes it possible to reclaim your virginity — at least aesthetically.

Applications at uecrescentmagazine.com Deadline: 4 p.m. • Nov. 19 Questions?

Call 2725 or e-mail [ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine 17 tm2

[ MEN’S HEALTH AWARENESS ]

Changing

by Danielle Weeks

the face

of

t

During the month, men and women show a growing level of support for men’s health awareness.

he average man spends 140 days shaving his face, as James Buckley Jr. reported in “The Bathroom Companion.” And many women shave their legs daily.

But a growing number of adults are choosing to cast aside their razors for a month every year.

Besides saving money, time and effort, these people are also supporting an important cause — men’s health awareness.

What began in 2003 with a group of friends in Melbourne, Australia has since become a global campaign, stated on Movember.com. Whatever one calls it — No Shave November, Novembeard or Movember, November’s hairy history grew from a few Australian

18

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

men endeavoring to increase prostate and testicular cancer awareness.

Inspired by women’s success with breast cancer awareness, the men decided to establish their own version of the pink ribbon — the mustache.

Mustaches are a simple, effective way to make a statement. Changing facial hair is so subtly powerful that it has supplemented social changes throughout history.

Department Chair Daniel Gahan, professor of history, said that multiple societies — such as those of Greece, Rome, France and England — distinguished themselves from past rulers and generations partly by defying the hair grooming standards of earlier days.

A more current example is the vast difference between hairstyles from the 1950s and the 1970s. Whether we consciously realize it or not, facial hair has power. While the Mo Bros —

“Mo” being the Australian slang for “mustache” — did not raise any money in 2003, by 2004 they had 432 members who raised $55,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.

The Movember Foundation’s 255,755 registered members — residing anywhere from Australia, the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Ireland and New Zealand — raised $42 million last year.

The foundation uses donations to fund its partnerships with Livestrong and PCF. Livestrong programs offer support to young adults who have survived or are still battling cancer.

PCF is researching better treatment options for patients. Funding research is vital, but Movember also works to educate people about cancer preventive measures and encourages annual screenings. Numerous groups and individuals support the original Mo Bros’ cause.

Noshavenovember.blogspot.com covered the story of Rocky and Balls, a British female duet that released a track in 2009 called “The Mo Song.” The track was available as an mp3 file on their website, rockyandballs.com.

A buyer set his or her own price for downloading the song, and that amount was donated to the Movember Foundation. Groups on social networking websites, such as Facebook, connect people either locally or even internationally to work together and donate.

Individuals can seek out sponsors, often family and friends, who will support the individual’s lack of shaving by donating to Movember. Despite Movember’s male focus, men are not the only ones who can be sponsored.

Officially, Movember’s website de-

fines a Mo Sista as “a girl who loves the Mo and wants to support the cause,” since women cannot grow the handlebars and Fu Manchus that men can; nonetheless, many women do choose to actively participate by not shaving their legs.

Unshaven legs — although less visible than facial hair, since many women wear pants through November — still violate a social norm, which inspires conversation.

Sophomore Jillian Smith participated in a no-shaving contest with sophomore David Welbourn last November.

Their efforts raised money for Powell Hall’s so others could become aware of the health issues.

“My legs were a furry plain of grossness,” Smith said. “But if I could somehow help raise money, I would do it again.”

Although Movember began with mustaches, the cause has evolved to include full, mountain man beards. A single set of rules does not exist, but most participants start clean-shaven Nov. 1.

Beard purists say trimming is unacceptable, while others allow grooming because of jobs, interviews, school and significant others.

And anyone who cannot grow a beard or mustache because of those restrictions — or simply cannot grow facial hair at all — is still encouraged to participate in Movember.

Even without an eye-catching set of overgrown muttonchops or a sponsored donation, a Mo Bro or Mo Sista can still help the cause simply by spreading the word. A fairly new UE student organization will be available this year to help even the beardless get involved.

Junior Ben Quinn is the president of Men’s Awareness, which officially started last spring and combines men’s health awareness with volunteerism.

The group, much like Movember itself, was inspired by the Women’s Awareness organization on campus.

Men’s Awareness meets at noon every Saturday at The Slice and welcomes anyone to join and have a good time.

The club will kick off Movember Nov. 6 by having a chili cookout, and the month will close with a Mr. Movember contest for best mustache and costume. Entrants might look for inspiration at the World Beard Championships website or various beard-related blogs, such as build-abeard.com.

The cause is an especially good fit for Men’s Awareness.

“Movember is a meaningful month of support for a serious issue done with a sense of humor,” Quinn said.

Because Quinn was in a UE theatre production last November, he had to remain clean-shaven.

But this year he plans to become a grizzly man and hopes to see the campus become “very beardy.” The club will be selling mustache pins for $1 so everyone can, in a way, sport and support facial hair for Movember. w

[ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

19

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20

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

[ FOOD ]

BREAKFAST: Nothing like a good breakfast to soak up what’s still floating in your system. With so many combinations to choose from, there is something for every hungover stomach.

by Megan Werner

hangoverFOOD

Fight off your blues with the food of these local restaurants.

Each one offers its own flavor to help you recuperate.

GRAB A SLICE Satisfy cravings for Mexican food at Los Bravos, where you can grab chimichangas or a hot tamale and snack on the unlimited chips and salsa. For vegetarians, there are plenty of no-meat offerings.

End a meal with a fried ice cream. • 834 Tutor Lane• 812–424–4101 BOTTOMS UP After a night of partying, lights and noise the next day are awful. People stagger out of bed, looking for relief. For some, one greasy, salty meal is all that’s needed to fight the day after blues. Here are some local spots that can help satisfy your hangover hunger.

1st Ave. Diner offers a wide variety. The restaurant serves hamburgers, fries and other sandwiches. The cheap breakfast, served all day, is good for students on a budget. Nothing makes you feel better than eggs and bacon. • 520 N. First Ave. • 812–423–7011

Based on a 1940s diner, Ritzy’s has good old-fashioned American food like burgers, onion rings and hot dogs. If you are still hungry after the meal, satisfy your sweet tooth with ice cream or a “build your own” sundae. • 601 N. Green River Road • 812–421–1300

Crazy Buffet has a variety of Chinese dishes. In addition to sushi, they serve steak, crab rangoon, dumplings and barbecue chicken.

The buffet includes a Mongolian barbecue, where you can customize your own noodle dish. • 701 N. Burkhardt Road • 812–437–8833

Serving Asian, American, Italian, Mexican and seafood specials, Food with Flair caters to all. They even serve a hamburger stuffed with cheese and bacon. Other items include wings and spicy chicken. • 112 N.W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

• 812–250–7995

The fine service at Kipplee’s Party House cannot redeem its lackluster taste and quality.

• KIPPLEE’S PARTY HOUSE • 2322 E. Division St. • 812–476–8800 All-you-can-eat is an enticing phrase for students, and for around $7 you can eat your fill of pizza at Kipplee’s Party House. Overall, the pizza is hot, and new pies are added to the buffet every few minutes, which makes it a great choice for those looking to sample different types of pizza.

The most popular toppings are pepperoni, supreme and barbecue chicken. The pepperoni is crispy and tasty and aptly covers the pie but is a little on the greasy side.

The supreme toppings are average; the bite from the onion should combine well with the bitter bell peppers and the sausage, but too many peppers overpower the rest of the toppings. The Kipplee’s barbecue chicken pizza has a sweet barbecue sauce, cheese and grilled chicken. This nontraditional pie adds a bit of variety to the conventional pizza buffet.

The Kipplee’s salad bar provides the basics but does not offer anything exceptional. Students might find a better variety of salad at the Cafe Court and would do better to skip the greenery altogether and just head for carbs.

The breadsticks at Kipplee’s could cause some dissention among the ranks. If you prefer yours smothered in butter and coated with a salt, pepper, garlic and spice mix, then pile as many as you like on your plate; others might prefer subtler flavoring. While Kipplee’s is a good place to stuff your face, if you’re not feeling ravenous, then it’s not worth the trip. w [ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

21

[ HARRY POTTER MANIA ]

C

By Cassie Gutman & Brennan Girdler

nfundus fandom People across the world have strained their eyes into the wee hours of the morning, racing to finish the books before neighbors, friends and parents. So, how did this scared little boy from “the cupboard under the stairs” become such an international phenomenon?

I

t all started with a book. “‘Harry Potter’ made reading cool, something that hadn’t been prevalent before,” said Mari Plikuhn, assistant professor of sociology. “The amount of attention the series got was amazing — it became a part of the American lexicon.”

The “boy-who-lived” has become a craze in America. He’s been on an episode of “The Simpsons” and

22

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

has invaded YouTube with fan videos, musicals and puppet shows. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a theme park in Orlando, Fla., opened over the summer, giving fans and fanatics the opportunity to experience that world of which they had only dreamed.

“Harry Potter” is so popular that daily conversation has adopted words from the chart-topping series — the noun “muggle” has been added to the Oxford Dictionary.

“It’s strange,” Plikuhn said.

“The craze started in England — across the pond, you could say, and the idea of going away for school is uncommon in America, but it is popular because Harry Potter exists in an ordinary world where extraordinary things happen.”

Of course, soulless Dementors, three-head-

ed dogs and bubbling potions brewed in the ladies lavatory aren’t your common, everyday sights, but themes like growing up, having friends and family and dealing with first crushes are.

“The books are relatable in many ways, even with the magic,” said junior Josephine Curtis, Quidditch Club president. “It still has livelihoods that we’ve all experienced.”

The theme of loss is prominent throughout the series as Harry loses his parents, friends and mentors. Plikuhn said that American parents don’t talk about loss with their children enough and that it is helpful for the books to explore that concept. “[These are themes] you could put into any context, but Harry Potter is a new and magical world,” Plikuhn said.

Calvin Wertman, Hale Hall residential coordinator, said the books were always checked out from his high school’s library.

“People who grew up and hated reading had read them,” he said. “J.K. Rowling put enough detail into the books to make it real for fans, but left enough vagueness so you could easily imagine it in your head.”

It became so popular, in fact, that schools formed clubs devoted to Harry Potter. As UE’s own club president, Curtis is at the heart of fandom when it comes to the boy-who-lived.

“We had 20 members in Quidditch Club before, but we just sorted 50 to 60,” she said.

The club “sorts” members into the four different houses — Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and each house participates in different activities each week. The club even hosts a Yule Ball in the style of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.”

Curtis said the club is arranging for groups to go to attend the premiere of the seventh book at midnight Nov. 19.

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part One” will follow Harry, Ron and Hermione set out on a perilous mission to track down and destroy the secret to Voldemort’s immortality and destruction — the Horcruxes.

And whereas fans often dress up for the movies and stand in line for nine hours or more, Curtis said she would wear her Potter swag if she could get her cloak ready in time.

Wertman, Quidditch Club’s adviser, said he nearly died buying tickets for the fourth movie.

“I remember cutting across three lanes of traffic at a red light,” he said.

“But, we were first in line.”

Fans’ love for the story goes beyond the adventure and magic. Our generation followed the characters Rowling created. Senior Devin Chambers said she grew up along with Harry Potter.

Because Harry was 10 years old when he went off to Hogwarts, she was able to follow his years through school — his adolescence and adventure.

“It’s like my childhood was over with the last book that came out,” she said.

Rowling brought to life characters to whom many could relate. Mothers have associated with Mrs. Weasley, eclectic professors with McGonagall and Dumbledore and notorious pranksters

with the Weasley twins.

“I liked Sirius Black,” Chambers said. “He died — my heart never mended after that.”

And like an “unbreakable vow,” the ties readers have with the series have been magical. Fans still read the books, unable to recall how many times they’ve made it through the series — it would seem there hasn’t been a book in history surrounded by so much hype.

“When book seven came out they had a midnight release party at Borders,” Plikuhn said. “I brought my two nephews and husband, and we all dressed in costumes.”

Harry Potter has invaded America much in the way the Beatles did more than a half a century ago, bringing new culture, ideas and lunchboxes. But the

mania hasn’t stopped there, and the enthusiasm radiates as a new movie premiere approaches.

Whether Harry has affected your wardrobe, wallet or midnight moviegoing schedule, it would be impossible to say that the boy-who-lived hasn’t made a sizable impact.

Though not everyone carries around an Elder wand or wonders what their Patronus would be, there is room in Hogwarts for everyone to embrace the Potter phenomenon — no matter his or her house.

“You can be a fan [without being] a fanatic,” said Chambers, a Ravenclaw by choice.

The themes, characters and celebrated storytelling techniques of Rowling have cast a spell over readers, and even with the conclusion of the series, Harry Potter won’t “disapperate” anytime soon. w

All HP enthusiasts seem to have a favorite spell. Here are just a few.

“Expelliarmus, because it was used in ‘Dr. Who.’” Marley Rardin, sophomore “The Imperius Curse. It’s a spell where I could have control over people, which would be really amusing.” ­Jillian Smith, sophomore

“Alohomora, because I’ve locked myself out of my dorm, and I’ve tried to break in with a coat hanger.”

Alayna Pierce, sophomore “Sectumsempra, because it’s pure evil.”

Caci Budde, senior “Anything transfiguration — I’d be able to turn a pencil into a snake when I was really mad.”

Ashley Smith, sophomore “Accio. It just brings out the lazy American in you.”

Devin Chambers, senior

vember 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

23

health&science Raise Awareness, Not Your Sugar Diabetes is invading America. Type 1 Diabetes, mostly found in infants and children, robs the body of its ability to produce insulin. Type 2 Diabetes, the most common type, develops later in life due to high levels of sugar in the bloodstream. MayoClinic.com warns that diabetes affects many functions in the body, including those of the nerves, kidneys, eyes and feet. It may also induce osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s disease. Countless risk factors increase chances of developing diabetes, and while old age might not be a factor for students, obesity and inactivity are common. You don’t have to plan a strict diet and workout every day, but try buying water in place of a sugary soda or taking the stairs as opposed to the elevator in order to cut your risk.

Cleaning Up the Gulf It’s no news that there are still millions of gallons of oil floating in the ocean. Recently patented at MIT, new solar-powered robots have been invented to help with the cleanup.

Inhabitat.com reports that the “Seaswarm” robot moves like a conveyor belt to skim the surface of the water, collecting as much oil as possible. The bots are made of an ultra-light nanomesh and can absorb up to 20 times their weight in oil. The robots are designed to work as a fleet, communicating via GPS and WiFi signals, and do not require human navigation, unlike current skimmers.

The robots work like paper towels for oil spills; each robot detects the edge of an oil patch and moves inward, trapping it. The robot’s head then consumes the oil, so it does not need to make repeated trips back to shore, making it a much more efficient system for cleanup at the Gulf.

Roller Coaster Rupture As a 24-year-old man turned to speak with his friend, the roller coaster they were riding plummeted. The man felt a sharp pain in his left ear, and his right one was filled with sound equivalent to a rocket ship lifting off for space — right next door. When physicians from the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit examined the patient’s ear closely, they saw major bruising of his ear canal and eardrum.

Countless patients have arrived at Henry Ford with the same symptoms, leading doctors to believe that roller coasters pose a real threat to ear health. According to PopularMechanics.com, these symptoms are common among people who have experienced sudden changes in external air pressure, such as scuba divers who descend too quickly. Physicians are concerned with the number of roller coasters appearing across the globe that continue to increase in size and speed, and they are concerned about the future of ear injuries.

Laptops Bring the Heat As outdoor temperatures drop, your laptop may provide some welcome warmth during study time, but don’t be fooled — laptops may actually be damaging your skin. Yahoo News reports that “toasted skin syndrome” is an emerging problem around the globe.

The average laptop can reach around 125 degrees, a temperature capable of scarring skin tissue. In addition, it leaves skin permanently sponge-patterned and darkened.

Dermatologists at the Eastern Virginia Medical School determined that skin affected by laptop heat resembles skin harmed by long-term sun exposure and can lead to skin cancer.

Students are the most common patients with “toasted skin syndrome.” Avoid looking like you spent too much time in the tanning bed by using a cooling pad while you peruse the In-

24

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

ternet or by working at a desk instead of on a couch, removing the laptop from direct contact with your skin.

Space Tourism You don’t need to be an astronaut to head to space. Boeing Co. and Space Adventures announced it is entering the space tourism business and will be selling seats to tourists ready to brave the solar system.

The company plans to take tourists on a variety of trips, including orbital exhibitions and voyages to the International Space Station. Spaceadventures.com says that no price has yet been named, but Boeing did say flights could begin as soon as 2015 and that the company is ready to speak with customers interested in traveling to the ISS. Russia has been giving wealthy citizens tours for years, charging around $40 million for an eight-day round trip to the ISS. Save up your money, and soon, you too may be in orbit.

Less Plastic for Your Wallet A kind of computerized credits cards are carrying a convenient and protective new feature. According to Popsci.com, these “MultiAccount” cards can reprogram their own magnetic strips and hide their account numbers — a helpful service to bank customers who dislike carting around several cards in their wallets.

The MultiAccount card has buttons on its face that allow users to switch between cards and an indicator light showing which card is in use. For safety purposes, the card displays only a portion of each credit card number. A PIN must be entered to view full card numbers, rendering it useless to thieves. In addition, MultiAccount cards are waterproof — a necessary attribute for those who accidentally send their wallets through the washer with their jeans.

Bizzarities!

Power to the poop! Recent breakthroughs in the study of feces have advanced green technology.

Popsci.com has introduced a sewage utility in the United Kingdom that has

converted a Volkswagen Beetle into an ultragreen car that runs on human waste, called the Bio-Bug. Wessex Water, the company responsible for developing the car, is thinking of producing an entire fleet of Bio-Bugs. Upon discovering they had surplus methane gas, the company decided not to let it go to waste.

Instead, they built a car. It takes the sewage of about 70 average homes to run the vehicle for a year — not bad for a car that runs on poop.

Massachusetts is heading up a poop project as well. Matthew Mazzotta, a conceptual artist from Cambridge, Mass., is using dog feces to power park lights. Called the Park Spark Project, it aims to convert freshly scooped poop into methane gas.

Wired.com explains that dog owners collect their furry friends’ waste in special biodegradable bags handed out at parks.

After the waste is broken down, methane gas is produced as a byproduct, powering old-fashioned gas lamps throughout the park. In the future, Mazzotta hopes to install similar underground systems in parks across America. w —compiled by Cassie Gutman

Game Day Starts Here

Celebrate Veterans Day 11/11 at 11 A.M.

The campus community, friends and alumni are invited to celebrate Veterans Day with a special service at 11 a.m.

November 11 in Eykamp Hall 251. A reception follows on the second floor of Ridgway University Center.

When out with friends,

UE Bookstore

of

UE students would prefer that their FRIENDS don’t drink or drink moderately and stay in control.

Ridgway Center

Keynote speaker:

(812) 488–2678

Army officer and UE alumnus Jeff Cox

M-Th 8 a.m.– 6 p.m.

Fri 8 a.m.– 4:30 p.m.

Sat 10 a.m.– 2 p.m.

Purchase Officially Licensed University of Evansville Merchandise Fall 2009 UE Social Norms Survey Sponsored by UE Health Education

www.evansville.edu/offices/ bookstore/

Cox is a 1991 graduate of UE and is an advocate for the U.S. Army Wounded Warrior Program. He served as a clinical social worker with the 883rd Medical company (Combat Stress Control) for Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2005–06.

For more information, contact Cherie Leonhardt at cl29 or call 812–488–2141

[ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

25

[ A CONVERSATION WITH ]

Chris Keith/Crescent Magazine

SHELBY GEORGE & AARON PAUL WILSON These two committee members agree this year’s Homecoming celebration will be wild.

S

enior Aaron Paul Wilson and junior Shelby George don’t have to be picked out of the crowd. More often, the crowd follows them.

As co-chairs of the Homecoming committee, knowing people is a must. Their bright personalities are known to make others enthusiastic, and they’re hoping to channel that enthusiasm in support of this year’s theme: “Wild, Wild West.”

“It’s fun, and everyone, whether they want to admit it or not, likes the country theme a little,” George said.

But this theme was no last-minute decision.

In fact, planning started last spring. At the time, Wilson and George found themselves feeling a bit separated from the 30-member committee as the two were studying abroad.

“We started coming up with themes in April,” Wilson said. “A lot was done by e-mail.”

Several events are returning, such as Ace Factor and the Chili Cook-off — of course, with a western twist. The Newlywed Game, a game show at 7 p.m. Nov. 8 in Eykamp Hall, is one of the new additions to the schedule.

Two standout events include the Pep Rally and a Dance-A-Thon charity event at 7 p.m.

Nov. 12. All proceeds benefit Abby Guerra, the women’s soccer player who was involved in a devastating car crash last summer in Arizona.

“We think that this will get more athletes to come and get involved to support Abby and her family,” George said.

And Wilson and George believe everyone should take part, not just athletes and Greek life.

“We want everyone to feel like they can participate,” Wilson said. “From organizations like PRIDE to a group of 10 friends who want to compete.”

Even small groups that elect to compete have a chance to win by gaining “spirit points.” These points are not based on the performance of competitors but are earned by tallying the number of spectators coming to cheer on each team.

For complete listing of Homecoming events, visit evansville.edu/homecoming. w

by Mindy Kurtz 26

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

Homecoming is about unity, celebrating your school’s past. Knowing you have pride for UE and showing it.”

—Shelby George

UE

Coming Home to

Our compass doesn’t just point due north,

IT POINTS TO YOUR CAMPUS!

Chapel to host inspiring student preachers during Homecoming.

The Campus Festival of Young Preachers will provide an opportunity for four students and alumni, plus one high school student, to step up to the pulpit and practice preaching professionally during Homecoming weekend.

During this festival, lasting from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 13 in Neu Chapel, the aspiring ministers will prepare and present different sermons.

A panel of experienced pastors will offer feedback for improvement to each student presenter following the presentations. The theme for the sermons is “The Ten Commandments.”

“We want to help and encourage young preachers, especially current students or graduates heading into ministry,” Chaplain Tammy Gieselman said.

The students selected to preach are junior Nick Joyner, sophomore La Nette Urbin, Alex Thompson, ‘10, Nancy Gerhart, ‘09, and Castle High School student Taylor Dore.

Urbin has the advantage of previous experience, preaching at her home church in Logansport.

“I’m excited,” she said. “It’ll open my eyes to what it’s like to do sermons in front of different kinds of people.”

Though Urbin’s passion is clinical social work, the thought of seminary has also crossed her mind.

“I think that having a theological background is good,” she said. “It will allow me to connect with [others] on a deeper level.”

The festival will be introduced as a small-scale version of the national festival set for January 2011 in Louisville, Ky. Students who participate in the campus festival will have the chance to earn scholarships to attend.

For Gieselman, this festival is about giving those pursuing careers in ministry the chance to present their skills and learn how they might improve.

“When it comes down to it, the more you preach, the better you get,” she said.

— Mindy Kurtz

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Stay forever connected to UE Thank you to the Senior Gift Committee members: Alex Warrick, Alicia Neaves, Ava Schwalb, James Freeman, Jason Hisle, Jenna Stratman and Zach Kanet

[ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

27

[ ENTERTAINMENT ]

R

The beer flows like water at RiRa. Pair your favorite brew with fish and chips or shepherd’s pie. You can challenge your wits in the pub quiz at 8 p.m. every Tuesday. With its friendly atmosphere, you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to the Emerald Isle.

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Roll the dice and press your luck at Casino Aztar. There’s blackjack, craps, Texas hold ‘em and more. They also have video poker and electronic games. Get a little taste of Vegas close to home. • 421 N.W. Riverside Drive • 812–433–4400

EVANSVILLE MUSEUM 28

•

HISTORY

•

SCIENCE

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

The Peephole has a relaxing atmosphere where you can chat with friends while enjoying a drink. You can also gobble down one of their burgers or brats. If you’re looking to revisit your childhood, you can order a PB&J. • 201 N. Main St. • 812–423–5171

Although its name is evocative of sparkly vampires, the Twilight Bistro is actually a quaint restaurant where you can dine on a Philly steak, BLT or other fare. If you stop by for breakfast, you can customize your omelet. The bistro features a different soup and special daily. • 221 Main St. • 812– 421–0606

butter cookies or various cakes. If you are feeling bold, try one of their decadent treats, like “Death

by Chocolate,” a chocolate chip cookie baked inside a brownie. The most difficult part is choosing what to order.

• 210 Main St. • 812– 424–2253

Bust a move at this joint where you can get a drink and have some fun. If you’re not into dancing, you can still have a good time, meet new people and flirt. Stop in for $1.50 Budweisers on Wednesdays. • 317 Main St. • 812–421–8492

3rd Street

Stop on by this museum where you can view pieces by Georgia O’ Keefe and Pierre Renior. If history is more your style, check out exhibits on early human history, transportation through the ages and Abraham Lincoln. For those who enjoy science, the museum has exhibits on DNA and boasts its own planetarium.

• 411 S.E. Riverside Drive • 812–425–2406

ARTS

Nothing on the menu costs more than $5 — a bargain if you are looking for some tasty off-campus food. Stop by for “Taco Salad Thursday” or try a Reuben with the soup of the day. If you are looking for something sugary, step over to the ice cream bar and get a cone or malt. • 206 Main St. • 812–422–3026

2nd Street

Rive r sid e D rive

For those over 21, Fast Eddy’s is a great place to grab a drink and shoot some pool. The food is incredibly affordable, with almost nothing more than $5. Eddy’s has cornhole every Monday and Tuesday and poker on Sundays. Live music every weekend. • 507 N.W. Riverside Drive • 812–424–7625

You’ll have a sweet time at Piece of Cake, where you can order favorites like brownies, iced

5th Street

4th Street

dining, dice & t down own

by Megan Werner Take a break from campus life and explore the food and fun of downtown Evansville.

As it gets colder outside, more and more time is spent shut up indoors, wishing for more things to do. Many students do not consider the option of taking a trip off campus and exploring downtown Evansville. If you know where to look, you can have a fun, cultural experience. Here are some places, ranging from cake shops to nightclubs that provide students with alternative ways to have a good time.

me

to

koch family children’s museum of evansville

The Evansville Children’s Museum is a great place to destress and play around. You can make your own stop motion video, get your face painted and participate in the oversized Simon-like memory game. It’s a place where you can let your inner child run free. • 22 S.E. Fifth St. • 812–464–2663

6th Street

If you want to get your sushi on, head to Jaya’s, where they have tuna, shrimp, octopus, red snapper and salmon. You can also pick from a variety of Asian dishes. Whether you are hankering for a bento or some kimchee, Jaya’s is the place. • 119 S.E. Fourth St. • 812–422–6667

follow

W S

N E

Map not to scale, locations approximate

Martin Luther King, Blvd.

What sets The Jungle apart is its specialty coffees.

Rush out to get your own Snickers latte or cafe mocha. There are also wraps and sandwiches available to pairwith your favorite cup of java.

Round out your meal with a slice of tiramisu, red velvet or chocolate forever cake. • 415 Main St. • 812–425–5282

Stre et n i a M

[ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

29

[ SPORTS IN ACTION ] A monthly look at Aces athletics

Yea!

The line of defense starts here as setter Ellen Sawin, middle hitter Emily Wandersee and outsider hitter Brooke Maher create a wall that sends the ball back to Creighton and rightside hitter Allie Oelke. Sunny Johnson/Crescent Magazine

for women in spandex

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arson Center has been rockin’ this season as the Aces are playing some exceptional volleyball. With six conference matches remaining until the MVC Tournament begins later this month, the Aces have already improved greatly from a year ago, leaving their 14–16 record from last season far behind. As of press time, UE was sitting in the MVC’s fifth spot, but with those remaining matches to go, it’s anyone’s guess what may happen as play progresses this month and the Aces compete in the tournament. w

After middlehitter Kaisi Nixon sets up the ball, setter Ellen Sawin gets some height, as she prepares to spike it toward her opponent. Sunny Johnson/Crescent Magazine Celebrating the point, middle hitter Emily Wandersee helps keep the team’s momentum going, leading to a win over Loyola. Kandace Leehans/Crescent Magazine

30

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

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31

[ THE LISTS ]

it came from the internet

t If you didn’t already know you were ADDICTED to the Internet, here is a checklist of symptoms.

great reads

as far as sophomore Kyle Broxon is concerned. He enjoys reading thought-provoking novels in his spare time. Some of his favorites deal with war, government and history.

“Catch-22 ” by Joseph Heller (Simon and Schuster, 1961) • This is the perfect book. It’s an anti-Vietnam book that takes place during World War II. The protagonist believes the enemy is anyone who is trying to kill him. The book is lighthearted with doses of dark humor.

1

“1984” by George Orwell (Signet Classics, 1949) • The continued relevance of this book scares me a little.

It takes place in a dystopian future set in 1984, but in a world given the Patriot Act, it could just as easily be titled “2050.” It proves that any group can control the future.

“Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky (MTV, 1999) • Coming-of-age novels have been overdone, but I find this book successfully builds on everything that “Catcher in the Rye” made popular. The story is told by the young teenage protagonist through a series of letters to an unknown recipient who never responds.

“Slaughter-House Five” by Kurt Vonnegut (Dell, 1969) • Vonnegut is probably my favorite author. This is another anti-war book set during World War II, but it is much more than just an anti-war book. The story also explores ideas of free will and the nature of humanity.

“World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War” by Max Brooks (Crown, 2006) • Brooks records a horrifying zombie invasion that changed the world.

He critiques America’s individualistic nature and the ineptness of governments when it comes to crises.

2 3 4 5

32

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

You check your e-mail every five minutes “just in case.”

••• You wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and stop to check your e-mail on the way.

••• You’ve started using emoticons in college essays.

••• Your cat has its own homepage and Facebook profile.

••• When your connection goes down, you spend every waking minute trying to guess your neighbor’s Wi-Fi password so you can “borrow” her connection.

••• When you hear a good joke, LOL is the first thing that pops into your head.

brent’s guilty pleasure BANDS Senior Brent Sigler reveals four artists he has never been proud of liking. michelle branch

I’m a huge Michelle Branch fan. I’m generally associated with the indie scene so it was taboo to listen to her. avril lavigne

It started with the music video for “Complicated.” Her first album was great, but the rest weren’t so good. justin timberlake

It’s taboo to listen to boy band music, and Timberlake is one of those things you know is not OK to listen to. timbaland

It’s like he doesn’t understand how phonics and spelling work. But I still catch myself listening to him.

It’s the only movie I’ve ever walked out of. It seemed like nothing was happening. The jokes were crude, and the main characters were not likable” w Alaina Clingaman w junior w “Barbarella” (1968) Picture starships covered in shag carpet — brown, poop-colored shag carpet. Barbarella, played by Jane Fonda, has sex with aliens throughout the movie.”

w Kenzi Alsip w sophomore w “Dances With Wolves” (1990) I don’t like it because Kevin Costner is in it. I had to watch it for school, so that’s probably another reason I hate it.”

worst movies

[ A CLOSER LOOK ]

by Elizabeth Crozier

CUNDIFF

w Tom Williams w junior w “Stand By Me” (1986)

dianna

Chris KeithCrescent Magazine

Title: Career Outreach Assistant Director Years at UE: 2 Relationship Status: Married with Stepchildren Crescent Magazine: What do you feel is most important about what you do for the University?

Cundiff: The most important aspect to me about my job is getting to know the students and helping them look into career options that they may not have considered before. Through Career Services, we offer assessment tests such as “Do What You Are” and “What Can I Do With a Major In…” Both help students identify what careers they can put their strengths toward.

CM: What do you enjoy doing after you get off work?

Cundiff: At home I like to spend time with family and the dog. Also, I like reality TV — it’s my vice. Watching “Hoarders,” which is terrible, I finally found people with messier lives than I have. I watch “American Idol,” “Project Runway” and “The Amazing Race.” I don’t know that I would ever be on “The Amazing Race.”

I’ve noticed people on the show are good

at planning, but I am not a strategist.

CM: What was your favorite part about college?

Cundiff: What I remember most was the freedom to take road trips whenever we wanted. One time we were eating at a restaurant, and a college-aged man that we didn’t know had dinner with us. He said his friends had left him.

CM: What is the best nickname anyone ever gave you?

Cundiff: When I was in college, I got the nickname “Cheeseburger.” At Indiana State it’s tradition to do a bicycle race.

I was on the sorority team, and before practice, I would always eat a cheeseburger. Thankfully the name didn’t stick.

CM: What music do you currently have on your iPod? Cundiff: Matt Costa’s “Sweet Rose.”

Anything by Jason Mraz — I usually go back to “Geek in the Pink.” I also like Abba; my favorite is probably “Mama Mia.” I just like music with a good beat. w

Happy Holidays and All that Jazz: w Kevin Kay w sophomore w “Manos: The Hands of Fate” (1966) Think of any good movie; now imagine the exact opposite. The acting is terrible. The fight scene is like a 20-minute tickle fight.”

A Jazz Concert to benefit WUEV

6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Nov. 30 Eykamp Hall Students free with UE ID [ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

33

[ READ WITH PASSION ]

Manners GET YOU NOWHERE Why being a jerk will get you further in life. And what nice folks should do about it.

w

We see it all the time — that guy strutting his way to Ridgway, thinking he’s the greatest thing since canned beer, pointing out all the women he’s slept with, or that woman giggling to herself, making a mental note about the flaws she sees in her “friends” to gossip about later that evening.

These people care about no one but themselves and see nothing wrong with their actions.

Despite what you might assume, these are the successful ones. At school they are buddybuddy with professors. At work they steamroll over others to get to the top. They treat their significant others — those deserving of so much more — like trash.

Who are these jerks that society has allowed to act this way?

The collegiate society has dubbed them “douchebags,” and they are making life hell for the rest of us.

It is important to define the jerk so we are all on the same page.

The four elements of being a jerk, as defined by ABCNews.com, are callousness, impulsive behavior, extroversion and narcissism.

Individually, these traits don’t make a bad person, but mix the perfect amount of each, and you have the quintessential jerk.

Those who fit this mold have grown up and realized the chivalrous fundaments promoted by Mom and Dad are not working as they had expected. But, why have these people abandoned morality? Where has the want for chivalry gone?

These jerks left chivalry behind because they know something the rest of us haven’t learned yet: chivalry, as we once knew it, is dead — hope you sent flowers.

34

Its new name is common courtesy. This modern chivalry, as defined by askmen.com, refers to acts of all-inclusive kindness and courtesy. And where we once used chivalry to stand out and be noticed, if you thought being chivalrous would give you that unique edge, you were wrong.

Now, everyone expects to be treated chivalrously. But if everyone is expecting chivalrous behavior, then the actions that will make you stand out are those of a jerk — hence our conundrum.

The jerk has found his or her niche in society and is thriving there. One such location where he or she succeeds is in relationships. The relationship-jerk seems to hypnotize his prey with loving whispers of “that shirt is tight on you.”

In the office, chivalrous people are left by the wayside. Kind men and women try and prove their worth by putting in extra hours of work. Meanwhile, work-jerks take their bosses out to lunch and start up the same old hypnosis act.

Although society frowns upon these words and actions, most are not gallant enough to put a stop to it. Society wants to wait and see what will happen, and by that point, the jerk has fled the scene of the crime.

No matter the type of jerk, they all have very specific short-term goals. They want something, regardless of whether it is a raise or a date, and they will stop at nothing to reach their goal.

To be a true jerk, though, you must not realize you are one. In fact, you may even be reading this article, seeing nothing wrong with the behavior de-

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

Chivalry, as we once knew it, is dead — hope you sent flowers.

scribed. Jeffery Zaslow with The Wall Street Journal says this is the key to being a jerk.

You cannot second-guess yourself. You, for some unknown reason, think that this is the way to live.

I began wondering if the infiltration of the douchebag into normal society was being addressed or if I should simply agree to put up with it for the rest of my life.

The Daily Business Review reported that several legal businesses were instilling a “jerks-free” policy. The New York Times had a similar report that, in order to become “jerks-free” zones, businesses are doing their best to stop verbally abusive coworkers and end office politics.

So a couple of businesses are trying to stop jerks? Big deal. Everything seems to point to the “nice guy finishing last,” so why don’t we all just become jerks?

If just reading about these jerks has upset your moral compass, then it is impossible for you to become one of them. The best thing to do now is to avoid putting too much stock in chivalry and instead take pride in the fact that you have morals.

Removing theses jerks from our society is impossible, so as a nice guy or gal, you must tighten your belt another notch and face the jerkfilled world. Be a good person. Treat everyone the way you would like to be treated. At the very least you won’t have to put on your w Jon Harvey, a resume “Professional senior theater Douche.” w management major from Chesapeake, Va., weighs in on the issues affecting students today.

[ CAMPUS COMMENT ]

If you were a dessert, what would you be and why?

“Chocolate chip cookies. My grandma makes them, and they are full of love — just like me!”

• Quinn Brown • Freshman w

“I would probably be a banana split; there are so many things that make them up, and they’re amazing.”

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• Nora Reed • Senior

Admissions/Appointmets: 812.437.TSPA (8772)

www.tspaEvansville.com

COSMETOLOGY, ESTHETICS, & NAIL TECHNOLOGY

“Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Its eclecticism appeals to a wide array of people.”

• Nick Joyner • Junior w

Day & Evening Courses • Financial Aid Available to qualified students.

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$3 OFF ANY SERVICE with your student ID

“Something with chocolate because I’m brown — like chocolate fondant, because it’s hard on the outside and soft on the inside.”

[ November 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

35

[ JUST THE FACTS ]

[ CRESCENT CROSSWORD ] ACROSS

1888 —

Faculty permits students to organize a dramatics club, allowing members to put on one “entertainment” as long as proceeds are used to purchase new chairs for the chapel or books for the library. But President George Jenkins orders the club dissolved.

1889 —

Junior and senior classes publish the Moores Hill Collegian, a student newspaper originally opposed by faculty.

1900 — 1927 — 1949 — 1951 —

Before this date, $1,000 is the maximum salary of any faculty member.

Naomi and Ruth Heugel attend UE as the first set of student twins.

Lambda Chi Alpha, then known as Phi Zeta, has a kazoo band.

An “Ugliest Man on Campus” contest is held to raise money to provide food for underprivileged Evansville families. The winner, Harold Bell, is a member of the former fraternity Alpha Phi Omega.

1960 —

Freshmen students face “Hell Week.”

Men are required to wear green-colored beanies and women have to carry matchboxes at all times to be slapped out of their hands.

1 5 9 12 13 14 15 16 18 20 21 23 24 25 26 29 30 31 32 34 36 37 38 40 41 43 46 47 48 49 50 51

First principles

Small goby

Bird

Vegetable

Hence

Yellow Sea arm

Evening (Ital.)

Bosh

Grandfather of Saul

Weight allowance

Hog’s guts Biddy Begin Daughters of the American Revolution (abbr.)

Double (abbr.)

Isben character Science class 3 (Rom. Numeral) Sp. article cork

Desolate Bird Headstrong Scientific name (suf.)

Card Dire Freshwater worm Grab Gray wolf Eight Father: Arabic Elbe tributary Interpret

9 10 11 17 19 21 22 23 25 26 27 28 30 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 44 45

Without (Ger.) Old-style verb Tall tale Sea eagle Comparative ending Cure Handle Habakkuk (abbr.)

Drop Shame Chew Song (Ger.) Afr. eye-worm Church officer Cooking vessel Trojan hero Cyclades island Sorrow Arabic (abbr.)

Phil. island Rood screen Genetic letters Daze Thus (Lat.) Arabic letter

ANSWERS

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Able-bodied seaman (abbr.)

Stinging insect Horned viper Firm Fr. artist Absent without leave (abbr.)

Son of Hermes Edible shellfish

1969 — 1971 — SGA

The Crescent runs ads for the Cinema 41 “Family” Drive-In, which shows X-rated films.

President Joe White is suspended after being arrested and convicted for the possession of marijuana. But after the threat of a court battle, President Wallace Graves reinstates him.

1971 — 1983 —

Hughes Hall becomes the first coed

residence hall.

Student Congress submits a request urging administration to allow alcohol on campus, which is ultimately denied.

1986

— In Hale Hall, a freshman male is surprised to find that his bed has been moved out of his room and placed in the bathroom.

2002

— The first Drag Show, sponsored by PRIDE, is held to raise money for the Matthew Shepard Foundation. w

36

Crescent Magazine [ November 2010 ]

©2010 Satori Publishing

live the life

The University of Evansville’s Greek Community wants to promote putting the UNITY back into CommUNITY, and foster the collaboration of non-Greek students and Greek students. Let’s support each other in our efforts and work with one another to make UE a better place.

Congratulations to each chapter on their recruitment of new members and for continuing the strong tradition of community service, campus involvement and raising money for the philanthropy of your organization.

THE FIVE PILLARS OF OUR COMMUNITY: • Scholarship • Leadership • Social • Community Service and Philanthropy • Lifelong Brotherhood and Sisterhood

Visit the UE Greek Life website to learn more about what Greek Life has to offer greeklife.evansville.edu

FUN FACTS…

COMING UP...

• 26% of UE students are Greek • Greek organizations raised more than $50,000 for numerous philanthropies during the 2009–10 school year • Greeks have maintained an all-Greek GPA average of 3.00 or better since 1996 • Greeks donate more than 1,500 community service hours annually • 63% of Greeks are members of other campus organizations

• Nov. 6: Phi Mu’s “Rock-4-Riley” • Nov. 20: Chi Omega’s “Make-a-Dish for Makea-Wish” • Nov. 12–14: HOMECOMING • Dec. 8: UNC vs. UE Men’s Basketball game • Go out and support the Volleyball, Men’s and Women’s Soccer and Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams.

• Show that UE Purple Pride! [ October 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

1

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[ October 2010 ] Crescent Magazine

1