March 2022 by UE Crescent Magazine

Is Ignorance Bliss? Maus and the resurgence of banning books MARCH 2022

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2021

STAFF

CONTENTS

REPRESENTITIVE STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION Jane Tafolla

3 Music Reviews

WRITING WRITING DIRECTOR

6 Photogrammetry

Avery Pereboom WRITERS

8 Campus Crime

Jasmine Brents Rylie Stephens Mayray Sung Paris Himes Baylee Minton Mitchell Bretz Maddy Webb

CREATIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR

9 Functioning Without the Bulbs 11 Cover Story Is Ignorance Bliss? Maus and the resurgence of banning books MARCH 2022

Rachel Fisher DESIGNER Baylee Minton ILLUSTRATOR Mikayla Duffy PHOTOGRAPHERS Jasmine Brents Rylie Stephens Baylee Minton Maddy Webb

CRESCENT MAGAZINE

is the University of Evansville’s student magazine. It is written, edited and designed by and for UE students and published six times during the academic year. Circulation is 1,500, and it is distributed to 18 campus locations and housed online at www.cresceent. evansville.edu It is funded through advertising sales and a subscription fee paid on behalf of students by the Student Government Association. Printed by Mar-Kel Printing, Newburgh, Ind. ©2021 Student Media, University of Evansville.

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EDITORIAL POLICY: Commentary expressed in unsigned editorials represents a consensus opinion of the magazine’s Editorial Board. Other columns, reviews, articles and advertising are not necessarily the opinion of the CMEB or other members of staff.

ON CAMPUS

Big Man on Campus; An Event by Zeta Tau Alpha By Maddy Webb

Ethan Brawley who did a presentation as to why pandas are evil animals and should be put into “panda jail” These talents were hilarious and amazing and made the entire crowd laugh out loud in enjoyment! After the talents one of the judges Pat Bowman told the story of her son Matt Bowman who tragically passed away from breast cancer. His story was an inspiring one and he pushed the narrative of ensuring that even men can get breast cancer and to always be aware. Down below there is a piece by Gary Brian (WTHI-TV) that wrote about Matt Bowman and Zeta inserted it in their program.

n February 5th, 2022, in Eykamp Hall, the annual event BMOC or Big Man on Campus took place with the theme Through the Decades. The sorority Zeta Tau Alpha usually holds this event in October since that is Breast Cancer Awareness month. However, Zeta wanted to show that the awareness of Breast Cancer is important all year. Each contestant represents a fraternity/sorority or a club. All Greek life came together to show their support to Zeta and their event. The event had an amazing show up with people of all ages attending to see the show! The first event of course was a hilarious and entertaining group dance by the contestants of the show. This dance involved a mash-up of songs throughout the decades while the boys wore matching shirt and jean shorts. I’ll have to say it was very entertaining! After the showstopping dance each contestant had their own runway walk accompanied by a Zeta. The runway show was also very entertaining, and the crowd cheered on for their respective contestant.

Then the talents were next! This was definitely the showstopping part of the show. Each contestant had to have a special talent to share to the crowd. This was also to help win for the crowd favorite called Mr. Think Pink that would be announced at the end. Of course, one of the popular talents was singing and our own SGA president Alex Ortiz sang wonderfully! Another talent was playing the guitar and another contestant solved a rubix cube! There were also some more interesting talents that were unexpected. One was Jacob Moffat who was representing Phi Kappa Tau fingerpainting a wonderful picture. Tate Cundiff who was representing Lambda Chi Alpha served complimentary Texas Roadhouse Rolls to all of the judges. There was also a wonderful presentation about bread! One contestant crushed a watermelon live in front of the whole crowd. Finally, the last contestant was 1 Crescent Magazine

After a break, the contestants answered some very important questions that narrowed down the final winner of BMOC for 2022. The winner for BMOC 2022 was Micah Johnson who was representing Sigma Alpha Epsilon! The Mr. Think Pink winner was Andrew Pool was representing Sigma Phi Epsilon! BMOC raised over $1379.54 in fundraising and donations with their silent auction for Breast Cancer Awareness. This event was not only entertaining, but all of the proceeds went to such an important philanthropy that is so important to many of us. Breast Cancer affects many women and men around us and Zeta Tau Alpha held such an amazing event to bring awareness about breast cancer!

ON CAMPUS

2022 Student Leadership Conference Mitchell Bretz

On Saturday, February 19th, the University of

Evansville welcomed musician Jason LeVasseur on campus to be a part of its annual Student Leadership Conference. Students representing various organizations and clubs were invited to take part in several activities and workshops to discuss what it meant to be an effective leader, while also providing them with an opportunity to network with others.

The event was held from 1:00 to 6:00 at Eykamp Hall. In addition to the activities, attendees were also given a t-shirt and treated to a taco dinner.

“I hope that each person who attended (the

conference) was able to feel more confident about

being themselves, and understand that they’re already good enough to make a difference in people’s lives,” said LaVasseur, who has been a musician since playing the saxophone in fifth grade. In addition to performing with well-known acts such as Maroon 5, Dave Matthews Band, and Sugar Ray, LaVasseur is also a speaker and workshop facilitator who travels the country to help people connect with one another through songs and stories. He has released several original songs over the years, including “The Driver Is The DJ”, which he personally performed at the conference. He can be found on Instagram @jasonlevasseur, and on his personal website, www. jasonlevasseur.com. As a student myself, I found the conference to be a very positive experience. I, along with everyone else, was able to spend a day reflecting on myself and what made me the “rockstar” of my life, as LaVasseur put it. I was also able to meet with people and get to know them in ways that would be difficult in a traditional everyday environment. I believe that events such as these have true value, especially at a time when many of us are becoming more and more isolated in light of the pandemic. Crescent Magazine 2

MUSIC REVIEW

TYLER, THE CREATOR DOES IT AGAIN Paris Himes

tarting off the album with the lyric, “The sun beaming,” Grammy award-winning artist Tyler, The Creator released his seventh studio album, CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST, on June 25th, 2021. This album is unique to his past work. He is collaborating with DJ Drama, a well-respected producer and DJ known for his mixtape titled Gangsta Grillz. His decision to honor 90’s R&B and early 2000’s hip-hop with a twist, CALL ME IF YOU LET LOST, is a pivotal moment in Tyler’s career, and proves that it’s time to give him his props. The album starts with a track titled “SIR BAUDELAIRE,” featuring DJ Drama. This song introduces Tyler’s persona Sir Tyler Baudelaire, a parody character of the French poet Charles Baudelaire. The song has a simple beat, with sound effects that help Tyler narrate the story he is trying to portray. In this album Tyler, The Creator, shows off his versatility and strength as a rapper. Unlike his previous album IGOR, released in 2019, that was mainly production-focused and drew from the pop and R&B genre of music. “CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST” is a heavy rap driven album, with impeccable features from 42 Dugg, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Wayne, Teezo Touchdown, Domo Genesis, Brent Faiyaz, Fana Hues, Daisy World, Lil Uzi Vert, and Pharrell Williams.

3 Crescent Magazine

Even though Tyler created a character around his album, Tyler uses this album to talk about his personal life and issues he faced while creating this album. The songs explore love, feeling lost in fame and fortune, and his feelings towards society’s portrayal of him today. An example of this is on the track “MANIFESTO” he says, “I was canceled before canceled was with Twitter fingers.” Here he speaks to how controversial he has been as an artist. He also sends a message to his Black fans, saying, “So I just tell these Black babies they should do what they want.” He has a similar lyric in the 2017 album Flower Boy. In the song “Where This Flower Blooms” featuring Frank Ocean, the lyric says, “Tell these black kids they could be who they are.” An honorable track off of CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST is “WILSHIRE,” an eight-minute song where Tyler vents in a poetic way about a love triangle he is part of. The song has a drum and synth loop that allows Tyler’s lyrics to punch. The lyrics help you understand Tyler’s love interest and his relationship and how it’s forbidden because she is dating his friend. CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST is an honest album that shows a more personal side of Tyler that listeners often do not hear in full detail. My favorite tracks of this album are “LEMONHEAD,” “WUSYANAME,” “JUGGERNAUT,” and “HOT WIND BLOWS.” Tyler proves how rap music remains a creative genre by keeping it authentic to the rap genre.

MUSIC REVIEW

Mitski Is Back

and Better Than Ever

If you’re familiar with the app TikTok, then no doubt

you’ve heard a song by the artist Mitski. TikTok popularized many of her previous songs, including her 2018 hit single “Nobody.” With anticipation for another album intensifying among her loyal and sizeable TikTok fanbase, Mitski released her sixth album Laurel Hell on February 4th, 2022.

Paris Himes

Mitski exposes an untapped side of her artistry, proving that she can stay true to her sentimental side while venturing into a more mature vibe. If you are in the mood for a different experience, check out Laurel Hell. Mitski is at her best.

The 80’s synth-pop sound makes Laurel Hell feel unique and unrecognizable compared to past work. While the album’s sound may seem different, Mitski remains true to her sentimental lyrics. The album takes listeners on a rollercoaster of emotions. The song “Love Me More” is about measuring one’s self-worth on how much love a partner gives you. The chorus, “I need you to love me more, love me more, love enough to drown it out,” reveals that Mitski lacks self-love and needs to be loved by someone to “drown out” her insecurities. Some believe Laurel Hell is not Mitski’s best work. Nonetheless, it is essential to note that this album is experimental, and the personal lyrics are unique to Mitski. My favorite songs from this album are “The Only Heartbreaker” and “Should’ve Been Me.” Crescent Magazine 4

B ON CAMPUS

efore the winter storm got to the University, I had a chance to listen to visiting artist David L. Gamble at the student lecture in the Melvin Peterson Gallery. Through telling stories and using photos, he was able to tell us about his art journey. David grew up in Pittsburgh, where Andy Warhol was also born. Now living in Plainville, Indiana, he owns a rather interesting building, an 1884 church that has been renovated on the inside to fit what every home needs. “Ceramic Confessions Church,” is the name he likes to call it. Walter their curious black cat hangs around the studio there and was even featured in Ceramics Monthly Calendar. David’s main medium of art is ceramics, and he has made many pieces throughout the years. He hosted “Camp David,” which was an affordable camp that brought in students to create ceramics pieces. An interesting thing David told his listeners is that he was an art show judge at Disney World that gave away $50,000 in prize money. Though one of his best experiences was visiting Lithuania. There he met many friends

of art and had amazing cultural experiences that influenced his art. More recently David studies color theory and helps educate people about all things art. He has found lots of inspiration in the science of things through reading books during quarantine. The theme of space can be seen in a lot of his artwork. Though time was cut short because of the winter storm, having an opportunity to listen to David L. Gamble’s student lecture was very interesting and something I will remember.

David L. Gamble

By. Baylee Minton

ON CAMPUS

Photogrammetry Lecture with Dr. Meg Hagseth

n February 9th, 2022, UE Alumni Dr. Meg Hagseth presented the topic of photogrammetry in a lecture run by the Department of Archaeology. Dr. Hagseth was in the graduating class of 2012 here at the University of Evansville and received her Masters in Anthropology Texas A&M University in 2015. She also received her PhD here in 2020 for Anthropology. Photogrammetry is the process of taking multiple 2-D models of something and then rendering it into a 3-D model. Dr. Hagseth actually visited UE last spring in 2021 to use our lab to work on one of her photogrammetry projects. She made a 3-D model of a Roman lamp, and the fingerprint of the maker is actually seen in the photos.

This process of photogrammetry is actually very simple. All that’s needed is a DSLR camera, lots of light, and a computer with the proper software needed on it. The software that Dr. Hagseth suggested was Cloud Compare which is a free program but the easier one is the Agisoft Metashape which does cost money. The main reason for this presentation was the ethos and ethics involving Archaeology and how this can be dealt with using the concept of photogrammetry. Ethos is the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, community, site or object as manifested in its beliefs. This concept is sometimes lost in the work of archaeology. Certain cultural beliefs can be conveyed wrong or ultimately destroyed if not dealt with appropriately. As Dr. Hagseth said and many others “Archaeology isn’t for the dead”. Photogrammetry can help with this issue. Using videos and pictures a 3-D model of a site can be used to teach and show others while also preserving not only the site but its ethos also. Dr. Hagseth proceeded to show examples of these that she has done easily. This presentation is just the start of a bigger idea and I highly recommend visiting her site and learning more about her projects that she has done and continues to do! https://www.meganhagseth.com/

Crescent Magazine 6

ON CAMPUS

Tunes @ Noon: Jay Filson Mitchell Bretz On Friday, March 25th, musician Jay Filson visited the University of Evansville to perform a free concert, which took place from 12:00-1:00 at Rademacher’s Café.

his own songs “6’3” and “I Hate This Phone”, as well as acoustic covers of “The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World and “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran.

Filson, a Michigan native, moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue his lifelong dream of being a full-time musician in 2017. He enjoys writing pop music about his life, as well as performing softer versions of his favorite songs. Highlights of his performance on Friday included

Since starting his full-time career, Filson has traveled to nearly 100 colleges to perform free concerts for students. He can be found on Facebook and Spotify as Jay Filson, and on Instagram @jayfilson

7 Crescent Magazine

ON CAMPUS

Campus Crime 2022-03-23 CR 22-0053 Reported: Wednesday, March 23, 2022 at 11:13 a.m. Classification: THEFT (FROM RESIDENCE HALL) Occurred: Wednesday, March 23, 2022 at 11:13 a.m. Location: MOORE HALL, Moore Hall laundry room Disposition: Closed 2022-03-16 CR 22-0042 Reported: Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. Classification: THEFT (BICYCLE) Occurred: Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. Location: Parking Area, Schroeder Hall bike rack. Disposition: Closed 2022-03-01 CR 22-0035 Reported: Tuesday, March 1, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. Classification: INDECENT EXPOSURE Occurred: Sunday, February 27, 2022 at 4:00 a.m. Location: HALE HALL, Room 303 Disposition: Active

2022-02-28 CR 22-0034 Reported: Monday, February 28, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. Classification: ASSAULT Occurred: Saturday, January 8, 2022 at 12:00 a.m. Location: SCHROEDER HALL, Room 211 Disposition: Active 2022-02-28 CR 22-0033 Reported: Monday, February 28, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. Classification: ASSAULT Occurred: Tuesday, February 22, 2022 at 12:00 a.m. Location: MOORE HALL, Room N3 Disposition: Active 2022-02-22 CR 22-0030 Reported: Tuesday, February 22, 2022 at 2:50 p.m. Classification: ASSAULT Occurred: Thursday, February 17, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. Location: HALE HALL, Room 232 Disposition: Active 2022-02-04 CR 22-0019 Reported: Friday, February 4, 2022 at 6:12 p.m. Classification: POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA Occurred: Friday, February 4, 2022 at 6:40 p.m. Location: POWELL HALL, Room 207 Disposition: Disciplinary

Crescent Magazine 8

FUNCTIONING WITHOUT THE BULBS BY LAYLA LEIGH WANDEL

The city is bright. No surface lacks a bulb and no area lacks a glow. It has always been that way and as far as anyone is concerned it will always be that way. Life is good here; the lights are a constant joy that make each day and night a little bit brighter (literally).

(The bus pulls into the parking lot, followed by the dozens of other buses that the school has. Once the bus stops, the boys get off and make their way to class and the rest of the day goes on just as lovely as it normally does.)

Scene 1 (Lights come on to reveal one character: a high school boy of basic build.) Boy: (talking to the audience) We don’t have a sun here, those set each night. I’ve read about them in books, you see, so I know all about them. Each morning the sun rises and people are joyful for the warmth it brings. Upon its rise they wake to complete everyday activities and tasks. But each night the sun sets and the world goes quiet. I have read that the nighttime is cold and dark and miserable. Thankfully, our world has no sun and our light never goes away.

Scene 3, Tuesday Boy: (wakes up, yawning; a confused look grows upon his face) What the— (His eyes dart to the chair beneath his desk and alarm grows from the ends of his eyebrows to the stretch of his pupils.) (His chair stands out obnoxiously as the only thing in the room that isn’t lit up.) Boy: (to himself) Am I dreaming? (He proceeds to get ready and proceeds downstairs.) Mom: (with the same joyful face as yesterday) Good morning, Sweetheart! Boy: Good morning! (not wanting to worry her, as she seems normal, he continues with the same customs as a usual morning) Dad how are you? Dad: Mornin’, son. (The rest of the day goes by just as it normally would, everything is lit up and everyone is happy. The boy almost forgets what happened that morning until he returns home.) Boy: (under his breath, as he enters the door) Oh gosh. (as he walks up the stairs his murmurs continue) Please be on. (He then turns the corner into his room and prepares for the worst and it’s — on?) Boy: (with a sigh of relief) Oh thank goodness! (now to the audience) Maybe I was dreaming this morning. Can you imagine a world where everything wasn’t lit up? Me neither. Scary nightmare I had, huh?

Scene 2, Monday (The boy is asleep in his bedroom: a glowing bed, floor, desk, chair, fan... the list goes on. Despite every inch of the room being filled with bulbs, light continues to seep in from the windows.) Boy: (wakes up, stretching; a big smile upon his face) (to himself) What a good day to be alive! (The boy prepares himself for the day and makes his way downstairs, to be greeted by his family and breakfast.) Mom:(her hair is dyed a bright shade of white, and her attire is glowing head to toe) Good morning, sweetheart! Boy: Good morning, mom! (as he sits down to the table) Good morning, dad! How are you this morning, lil bro? (Little Brother and Dad both greet him and the family continues on with their daily breakfast ritual. Eventually, they finish and head their separate ways for work and school. As the Boy walks toward the bus stop he is greeted by his friends, and moments later the bus arrives perfectly on schedule.) Boy: (as they climb up the stairs of the bus) I have a huge presentation in Anatomy at the end of this week that I am pretty worried about. Friend: What is it over? Boy: I have to locate and name every bone in the lower body. Off of memory I can’t do it so well, but when I have the skeleton in front of me I have been doing okay. Friend: Well at least you have four more days to prepare. Boy: Yeah, I should do fine on it since it’s just identification. The only thing stressing me out is how much of our grade it is worth. For some reason she is making the demonstration fifty percent of our quarter grade! And my grade is sitting on a sixty-nine, so if I don’t do well on it I won’t have the GPA to get into the school I want to attend! Friend: I can help you study sometime this week if you want. I have practice Tuesday but totally could help you Wednesday! Boy: Sweet! I’ll take you up on that. 9 Crescent Magazine

Scene 4, Wednesday (When the boy wakes up today, the first thing on his mind is the chair. Yesterday had scared him so much, and he prayed over and over in his head that he would not wake to the darkened chair again.) Boy: (murmuring in his head, eyes are closed) Please be lit, please be lit, please be lit... (Surely enough, when he opens his eyes the chair is as bright as ever.) Boy: (to himself) Okay, maybe today will be just fine. (The boy prepares himself for the day and eats breakfast with his family with just enough time to make the bus. As he walks out to the bus stop he meets up with his friend.) Friend: Are we still studying tonight? You can come over to my place if you want. Boy: Sounds good to me! (The day goes on normally, and at the conclusion of the day the friends meet up at the bus stop to go home.) Friend: We can go to my house if you want. Boy: (hopping on the bus) Sounds good to me. (When the boys arrive home, they are greeted by the friend’s home being in complete darkness.) Boy: Oh my gosh do you see th— (noticing that the friend wasn’t acting any different)

Friend: Alright let’s head in and get started! (With complete confusion, the boy followed his friend inside. The rest of the house was lit up. This all felt like it was in his head. Studying went well, and leaving the friend’s house, the boy felt confident in Friday’s test. Coming outside though, the exterior of his friend’s house was still dark.) Boy: (under his breath) So, so weird. Scene 5, Thursday (Nearly every day this week, the boy has woken up with a fear of what would be dark and what would be light. This day is no different.) Boy: (praying again about the chair) Please be on, please be on, please be on… (His eyes open and a loud gasp escapes from his mouth. The chair is not lit. In fact, nothing in his room is. The darkness makes him shiver and the room feels cold. This time he doesn’t even bother getting ready, but rather darts for the door immediately. As soon as he reaches the passageway to the stairs, though, he notices that the rest of the house is lit up perfectly fine.) Boy: What the— (He turns around, double checking himself. Surely enough his room is in complete darkness, while the rest of the room is lit up just fine.) (As he continues on through his day, the boy cannot focus on anything he is doing. The darkness of his room is one he has never seen before. He did not even know that darkness of that extreme even existed. Arriving home that night, the brightness of his home from the street brings him ease. So far, every evening his room had been lit upon his return.) Boy: (walking in the door) I’m home! Mom & Dad: (in unison, from across the house) Hey! Dad: (shouting) How was your day? Boy: (shouting back) Good! I’m gonna go put my stuff up then I’ll be down for dinner! (The boy, truly just desperate to know the state of his room, scurries upstairs.) Boy: (rounding the corner) C’mon, c’mon, c’mon… (A sharp scream from the boy’s room has the parents sprinting to his side.) Mom: Honey, what’s wrong? (checking his face for injury) Dad: Are you hurt? Can you breathe? Boy: No, no. I’m fine. I’m not hurt. Can you not see what is wrong here? (now pointing to the room) (With puzzled expressions, the parents shake their heads no.) Mom: What are you pointing at? (To the boy it was obvious: the lights are gone! No inch of his room is lacking darkness. This is a never heard of occurrence! Lights are everything in this city.) Boy: The lights are gone! (The mom and dad erupt in laughter.) Dad: Good one, kiddo. Mom: You really had me worried for a second. (turns to the dad) No lights… we raised a jokester! (The boy felt empty. Could they really see the lights in his room? Why couldn’t he see them? Going to bed that night, the boy felt at a loss. Why was this happening?) Scene 6, Friday (The boy woke up this morning with a fear of opening his eyes. What if the lights still weren’t on? What would he do? Not wanting to think about it any longer, he opened his eyes. Surely enough, every light was gone. He couldn’t see anything. It was almost as if his eyes were still closed. Getting ready took about ten times longer, as he had to locate all of his items through touch. Feeling around, he made his way down the stairs.)

Mom: (from the other room) Honey is that you? You’re a bit late, you might have to walk to school if you missed the bus. Boy: Hey mom! (the last thing he wanted was her asking him a bunch of questions) Yeah, I’ll go ahead and leave without breakfast so I can get to school on time. Mom: Okay, sweetie! I love you! Boy: Love you, too, mom! (Scurrying out the door, the boy stumbled with a lack of vision. There were absolutely no lights outside or on any surface. The boy luckily knew his way around his yard, but when he reached the street he tripped over the curb, landing on his face. He quickly got up and continued walking to school, touching mailbox-to-mailbox finding his way to the school. As he closed in on the school grounds he heard his friend holler at him.) Friend: Hey why did you miss the bus this morning? Boy: (trying not to worry him) Sorry, my mom made me stay home to eat a long breakfast with her. (trying to think of a way to get to class with help) Wanna walk with me to first period for my anatomy class? Friend: Sure! You look funny, are you okay? Boy: (not wanting to draw any attention to what was happening) Oh yeah! Prolly just nerves for my presentation of the skeleton. (Somehow, against all odds, the boy makes it up to his classroom at the same time as the bell rings.) Teacher: Phew, I thought you weren’t gonna make it. You know how important this presentation is for your grade! Boy: Yes of course! (The boy realizes that there is no way he can identify the parts his teacher points at, since all the lights are off for him.) I actually wanted to ask you if I could take this another da— Teacher: (cutting him off) Alright, let’s begin. What is this? (There is a moment of silence. The boy has no clue which bone she is pointing at.) Boy: Uhm, I’m not sure. Teacher: Okay, how about this one here? Boy: (he can feel his face grow red) I’m not sure. (This pattern continued on for the remainder of the exam.) Teacher: (pulling him to the side) You understand that your lack of knowledge will result in a zero, right? Boy: Yes, ma’am. (As the boy stumbles out of the classroom, he remembers the stakes of this presentation. With the failing grade, he will not be admitted into his dream university. As the thoughts of his failing future swirl in his mind, he becomes so overwhelmed that he falls to the floor.) LIGHTS

OUT

Author’s Note: This story is written to shed light (no pun intended) on the feelings those facing internal crises obtain. When someone is struggling with their mental health, the people around them cannot see how much they are battling. In this story, as the lights go away for the boy, he falls more and more apart. No one realizes his pain though, as their lights are still on. It is important to remember that while someone may look like they have it all put together, they could be falling apart inside. Treat each person as though their bulbs are fading, and share your light with those around you. Crescent Magazine 10

COVER

Is Ignorance Bliss? By Paris Himes

of a deceased mouse character and the book’s profanity was central to the board’s decision. The Associated Press reported Spiegelman’s response: “This is about othering and what’s going on now is about controlling … what kids can look at, what kids can read, what kids can see in a way that makes them less able to think, not more. And it takes the form of the criticisms from this board.” Reading things that may be uncomfortable to some educates us on this past and how to change the future.

read Maus, a graphic novel by American cartoonist Art Spiegelman in my high school English class. Maus tells the story of Spiegelman’s his father Vladek Spiegelman’s Holocaust experience and recounts the effects the holocaust had on its survivors. Published in 1991, Maus, a nonfiction work presented in graphic novel style, details the harsh reality of life in concentration camps. This novel is gripping because Spiegelman’s animal illustrations represent the novel’s characters; mice as Jews, cats as Nazis, pigs as Poles, dogs as Americans, fish as British, frogs as the French, and deer as the Swedish. Classified by literary critics as a mix of literary genres, Maus is the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize. I am as familiar with the holocaust as I am about the history of slavery but lack a clear understanding of the lingering effects of these ills on our present-day society. Reading Maus made me appreciate the depths one endures to protect oneself and loved ones and opened my eyes to the depths and lingering effects of holocaust tortures. Unlike the sanitized teachings of this history in my elementary and high school, Maus is raw and honest and magnifies sensitive issues. While scholars find Maus appropriate for schools and libraries, a Tennessee school board has banned Maus from its eighth-grade language arts curriculum. Members of the Jewish community, social activists, teachers, parents, and librarians spoke out against the Tennessee school board’s desire to ban the novel. Still, these voices were unsuccessful in persuading the board to change course. A nude illustration 11 Crescent Magazine

Maus has not been the only book that a school board has banned. In Texas, Republican State Representative Matt Krause has at least 850 books on a watch list. His list responds to the Texas House Bill 3979, an anti-Critical Race Theory bill banning teaching issues someone might consider uncomfortable. Some of the books on his list deal with race or LBGTQ+ issues. Book banning has a long history all over the world. According to Harvey J. Graff, professor emeritus of English and history and Ohio Eminent Scholar at the Ohio State University, “Previous banning movements did not overly concentrate on race, aim to empty libraries or associate so closely with one political party. The people behind these movements prided themselves on their direct familiarity with the explicit contents of that which they wished to ban (or even burn). They used their literacy in their brazen efforts to control the uses of others’ literacy. Today’s banners and burners, by contrast, are the new illiterates, achieving a rare historical distinction.” In the words of Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat.” Sadly, banning praised and celebrated novels that explore difficult, historical, or topical life experiences has resurfaced. Is it better to be blissfully ignorant of the past? If someone wants to challenge the message of books they disagree with, they have that right. But those who do so shouldn’t assume that what is best for some is best for all. Removing controversial books from public consumption bans free thought, stifles discussion, magnifies human ignorance, and vilifies human differences.

COVER

Proposed Banned Books: To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison Fallen Angels, Walter Dean Myers Heather Has Two Mommies, Lesléa Newman Maus, Art Spiegelman Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman Looking for Alaska, John Green Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas Gender Queer, Maia Kobabe In the Dream House, Carmen Maria All Boys Aren’t Blue, George M. Johnson

https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2022/02/ banned-books-list-to-kill-a-mockingbird-maus/621428/

Maddy Webb

rom February 25th-26th UE hosted the annual event called Road Trip. High school students from all over the country and world come for these two days to experience college life here in Evansville. Last spring Road Trip was held online but this semester it was back and in person. A group of us all signed up as hosts for the incoming road trippers that weekend. Our job was to open our rooms for these students, so they had a place to stay. We also were their new friends while they were here as they get the full experience. On Friday the 25th, was the day the road trippers were to arrive. Some flew and some were drive-ins. Most were on the buses on multiple routes. We all gathered in Eykamp while we waited for the names of our road trippers to be called. The energy was ecstatic, and everyone was talking and laughing. We cheered on as names were called and we met our road trippers! I had two road trippers both from Greenfield, IN. Grace was Undecided while Andrea was interested in Creative Writing. They were the sweetest people I’ve met and was so excited to be here. After a quick dinner we went quickly to the dorms to drop off their things, so we didn’t miss Musical Madness.

Then Musical Madness was next! Last spring Musical Madness was online so it was exciting to be able to sit in the audience. The theme was gameshow and each group had their own spin on it. Zeta, Sigep and TKE were Are You Smarter Than a Purple Ace? Chi-O, FIJI and Phi 13 Crescent Magazine

Mu Alpha Sinfonia had UE Jeapordy. Labda Chi Alpha and Alpha Omicron Pi did Total Drama College. Next was Phi Mu and SAE with Musical Feud. Then at the end Phi Tau, PRIDE, and Sigma Alpha Iota did Ace’s Take On: Deal or No Deal. Third place was Total Drama College. Second was UE Jeapordy and first place was Musical Feud! After Musical Madness we all shuffled out to receive drinks and snacks and enjoy some karaoke. Lots of wonderful and talented people sang and the song choices were fantastic. It was around midnight so we all decided to get some shut eye before the early day tomorrow. The Next Day As a host for Road Trip, I was not required to go to everything. The road trippers during this time had their welcome at 9:00 AM and then their mock classes after. The mock classes seemed to be exciting for the road trippers and even Dr. Thomas a professor of Archaeology here at UE taught one of these classes. After and impromptu shopping spree we met up in Ridge while the received some complementary free stuff. Lunch was quickly approaching so we all quickly grabbed a table. This was when most of the road trippers

could try Ridge food if they were not able to make it to breakfast. Let’s just say it was interesting. On the tables in Ridge though, there are these signs with some interesting messages written on them like… “Cult of the Garbonzo” and “Beans”. Who knows what that means?

Then we went back to campus and attended the magician/comedian show by Ben Seidman! It was an

The road trippers in my group decided that they wanted to visit the Mesker Park Zoo. Not all the animals were out, considering the weather, but a decent amount

amazing show and he even pickpocketed someone in front of us and we all didn’t even notice. My friend Ever and I went up and took a picture with him which was pretty cool. His Instagram is @benseidman were! The penguins were the first to see and they were definitely a showstopper! They were adorable! Then further along we came across the otters. The danced in the water, showing off their skills Finally, near the end, we saw the Siberian Tiger which seemed bored but that was okay! After the zoo we all took a much-needed break by winding down and playing some boardgames. We played two of the greatest games called Exploding Kittens and Unstable Unicorns!

After the show we ended up eating some ice-cream and went to bed for the road trippers to leave tomorrow. The next day at 9:00 AM I led my road trippers to Olmsted to say goodbye. It was bittersweet but they both said that they had a wonderful time! Road Trip was a very memorable experience as a host and for the road trippers it must have been even better! Many of my friend’s road trippers said that they are interested in attending here including my own!

After dinner we decided to go to bowling. It was a loud but exciting time and one of my very own road trippers won our game!

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Insider Look on UE Women’s Basketball Weekend Trip Rylie Stephens Have you ever wondered what goes on in the lives of the college athletes that you watch on TV? Hi, my name is Rylie Stephens, I am a sophomore at UE majoring in communication. Along with being a part of the communication program on campus, I am a part of the women’s basketball program. I thought it would be a fun experience for current students, potential UE students, administrators, fans, and professors that are all a part of the UE community to see the life of a college athlete while we travel to play the sport that we love. So that is exactly what I am going to do… tell you what goes on in my dayto-day life of being a women’s basketball player and give you the highlights of our trip! This week we traveled to a city up north with lots of activities, site seeing, and good eats. Can you guess where our next opponent was located? None other than Chicago, The Wind City. On Thursday January 20th we, the team and coaching staff headed out for our 5-hour bus trip to Chicago. The bus is a place where us as players have time to get our homework done, take our well needed naps, and bond with each other. Later that Thursday night we arrived at the hotel which was our first destination. After getting to the hotel, we quickly headed back onto the bus to get dinner at a hole in the wall restaurant called Pizzeria Uno, and we had the famous Chicago style pizza! After pizza us players thought that we were heading back to the hotel, but little did we know that we were going sightseeing after dinner. The bus stopped at a Chicago staple, The Bean. For me I was super excited to see this monumental piece of art because 15 Crescent Magazine

I had never seen it before. The Bean was a great surprise, and we got our cameras out and took selfies, videos, and pictures of the site. The rest of the night was spent in the hotel, the first thing we did was stretch as a team as we do before every game day. After stretching it was time to rest and do homework to get ready for the game tomorrow. Wake up it is game day! Our day started with breakfast, taping, and then head to Loyola to get our shoot around in before game time. After shoot around our coach planned for us to go shopping at Michigan Avenue for a couple of hours. This was a highlight of the trip because we have some shoppers on the team! We made our way to our first stop, the Nike Store. This was a hit for our team. I can personally say I got some fire green sweatpants at the store. But for some of my other teammates like Aniah Griffin, Nike is her store. She bought two of the same sweatshirts (but she will argue she had to have both color ways of the sweatshirt) and some other nice clothes. We made some other stops during our time like the fourstory Starbucks, because our team also loves a good drink from Starbs on game day. Next stop was our pregame meal with the whole team and coaches to fuel up at a restaurant called Exchequer. After this it was time to prep for game time. We headed back to the hotel to get taped, get our hair done, and look over the game plan. Next up we headed to Loyola for the game. I was particularly excited for this game because my best friend plays for Loyola, #10

Maya Chandler. This is common for players to know other players on other teams because of our old AAU teams, high school teams, and all-star team & games before college. Loyola was not just a special game for me, but for one of my teammates #14 Abby Fiet. This game was where she scored her 1,000-career point. This is a huge milestone and goal for all players, but what is very impressive is that she is only a junior. After the game we headed to our second destination to play the Valparaiso Beacons. Valpo was only an hour drive, which usually the drive from our first away game to the second is not very far because the Athletics departments in our conference plan our away games close together if we play in the same weekend, so we do not have two long drives. Saturday was a recovery and chill day for our team after a long few days. We wake up early for breakfast and then do some homework for a few hours because we have a prep day for game day Sunday. After our free time to get homework done, lunch arrived and then we headed to

practice at Valparaiso University. Later at night we headed to dinner at Industrial Revolution Eatery. Dinner was a success, one of my assistant coaches and I are vegetarian, so we were thrilled to see a black bean burger on the menu that night! After dinner me and a couple of teammates had to hit up the hotel hot tub, and then it was time to get ready for bed and rest for our afternoon game. Time to wake up again… It is game day! We started our morning off early with team review and breakfast. After this was the final time to pack up our things and get on the bus to head to the game. A short drive later we arrived at Valparaiso University to play our game. When the game was over, we got on the bus and headed back home to Evansville. At the end of the day all the hard work and hours travelling, away trips with my teammates are going to be forever a great memory. I hope that I have given you an insightful read into what the life of a college student athlete and more specifically what a college women’s basketball life is like.

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Fun Facts about England! • • • • •

Fought the shortes war in history (Anglo-Zanziber) Home to one of the weirdest sports… cheese rolling Birthplace of many famous scientists (Isaac Newton and Darwin) No plug sockets in the bathrooms National dish is an Indian food- yorkshire pudding, fish and chips, and shepheard’s pie • The Queen is not allowed in the House of Commons • You can’t get drunk (wasted) in an English pub • Champagne was incented in Englnad, not France

Quote of the Month

“I think London’s sexy because it’s so full of eccentrics.” -Rachel Weisz

Oldest ____ in England

British Snacks

Pub: Old Ferry Boat Inn Church: St Marin’s Church Town: Amesbury in Wiltshire

Building: The Salford Manor

Castle: The Berkhamsted Castle 17 Crescent Magazine

• • • •

Jaffa Cakes Galaxy Minstrels Scones Lancashire Eccles Cakes • Pork Pies

Time Difference

Cheers from Harlaxton

UK is 6 hours ahead of Evansville

Harlaxton Meals

Taco Tuesday Fish and Chips

Harlaxton Pie Night Beef Bourguignon

Honey and Soy Belly Pork

British Slang

American Meaning

1. Knackered/Shattered 2. Rubbish 3. Dog Bollocks 4. Dodgy 5. Dosh 6. Fancy 7. Flannel 8. Jiffy 9. Knob 10. Ducky

1. Very Sleepy/Tired 2. Trash 3. Really Good 4. Untrustworthy 5. Money 6. Desire for something or someone 7. Washcloth/Wash Rag 8. Short Period of Time 9. Annoying person 10. Our “Darling” or “Sweatheart” Crescent Magazine 18

HARLAXTON

Adventures Abroad with Jasmine Once we arrived at Harlaxton, we all had to stay at the manor to isolate until everyone received their negative COVID-19 test results. Luckily, we were free to explore the manor’s beautiful rooms and grounds. Check out the iconic red telephone box. Everyone was sorted into houses: Gregory, Mercia, Newton and Pegasus. I got sorted into Pegasus. But the first week wasn’t just full of games - we also went to learning seminars and jumped into our classes. After isolating for five or six days, we finally got to go into town. Although Grantham is only about twenty minutes away, it’s an adventure in itself! There is a Harlaxton shuttle that runs throughout the week that takes students from the manor to a shopping center in the heart of Grantham free of charge. In the town square, there is a statue of Isaac Newton, the physicist who came up with the theory of gravity. I went to an amazing pizza place called Prezzo that I would highly recommend. Returning to Harlaxton after spending the day in Grantham, I just relaxed. Your body gets tired after all that excitement. One week down and fourteen more to go!

My first day in London, I toured Shakespeare’s Globe, which is a close reproduction of what the theater would have looked like when Shakespeare was writing and performing there. After the tour, I just soaked in the sights of London. After exploring, I headed to dinner at Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza before going to the Phoenix Theatre to see Come From Away, a musical about the aftermath of September 11, 2001 and how it affected a small town in Canada. The next day was full of adventures! I went to the British Museum, which has some of the most important artifacts from world history, and then ate fluffy pancakes at a cute little cafe called Fuwa Fuwa. Next on the agenda was Platform 9 ¾, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the London Eye. After checking out London’s main attractions, I headed to the National Theatre to catch Trouble in Mind, a play about the struggle for racial equality in 1950s America.

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In Lincoln, I visited the castle and cathedral. Lincoln Castle was a prison during Victorian times. The prison was divided into two sides for males and females, and I found it interesting that female prisoners had their own cells, while male prisoners had to share with three cellmates. I also learned that if a female prisoner gave birth, she was allowed to keep the baby until it was done breastfeeding, but then it was sent to live in a workhouse. After walking through the prison section of the castle, I visited the inmate chapel, which is very different from how you might picture a church today. Instead of sitting down, prisoners had to stand up and were kept apart in closed stalls. The pastor stood on a platform above the congregation, so the prisoners could look up from their stalls to see him. Next, I walked around the whole exterior of the castle and saw where inmates were buried if they died in prison. After seeing the entire castle, I walked across the street to the cathedral. It was so large and beautiful; words and pictures can’t do it justice. When I was finished with the cathedral, I just walked around town, exploring the little shops until it was time to head back to the manor.

The college offered a trip to Peterborough so students would have a chance to get their COVID-19 booster shot if they wanted, so that’s exactly what I did. Getting the booster in England is different from the States because the British NHS gave us a new vaccine card to show we got it. After the booster shot, we were allowed to do whatever we wanted until it was time to get back on the bus to the manor. After my appointment, I went to the Peterborough Cathedral, which is a Catholic Church that is still in use today. Although the cathedral was beautiful, I didn’t get to see much because it was under construction and some parts were blocked off. After that, I visited St. John Cathedral across the street and ate lunch at the Argo Lounge.

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The first stop on our weekend road trip was Oxford, where I went on a walking tour of Oxford University. The tour guide had so much insight into the university, the town and Harry Potter. Fun Fact: Harry Potter was filmed at various colleges in Oxford. It turns out that Harry’s lightning bolt scar was inspired by a lightning bolt mark on the pavement left by old underground power sources. After the tour, I visited some shops before getting on the bus and heading to Portsmouth for the night. By the time we arrived in Portsmouth, it was late evening, so I just explored the hotel and grabbed dinner. The next morning, I walked all over Portsmouth and saw Portsmouth Cathedral, Spinnaker Tower and the Portsmouth Museum. The Portsmouth cathedral is beautiful and still used for services today. Spinnaker Tower is iconic, and you can see the whole city from the top. The Portsmouth Museum was huge! I also saw some golden ships because Portsmouth is known as the waterfront city. The next day we went to see the famous rocks…Stonehenge! It was a rainy, windy and very cold day. Although the main attraction is fenced in so you can’t touch the rocks, you can still get close enough for pictures. After a few hours at Stonehenge, it was time to bus back to the manor for dinner.

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This was another wet, windy and cold day trip. When we arrived in Nottingham, I headed straight to the castle! It had an exhibit entirely dedicated to Robin Hood, which I enjoyed because I loved the Robin Hood stories growing up. Many parts of the castle were closed due to the wind and rain, so after seeing the sections that were open, I went to England’s oldest pub. It’s called Jerusalem, and while it’s a little updated, the building is still mostly in its original state. I spent the rest of the afternoon looking through local shops and just walking around the city.

Friday Finally, spring break! I started off in London to celebrate my birthday, then traveled on to Paris. On Friday, I took the shuttle bus into Grantham to catch a train straight to London, which is about an hour away by rail. My friend and I had booked a hotel in advance, so the first thing we did was go check in. However, what looked like a nice, cheap hotel online wasn’t actually a hotel at all. It didn’t match the online pictures and was in a bad neighborhood, so we decided to just book a new hotel. After a long day of traveling and then searching for a new hotel, we were tired and hungry, so we went out for dinner. We grabbed pizza at Ciao Bella! Italian Restaurant then went to a local pub.

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Saturday The next day, we slept in and did not go out until noon because we had a big night planned for my birthday. That afternoon, we just strolled around London and went gift shopping. Around 7:30 p.m., we went to a Harry Potter-themed bar called The Cauldron to celebrate my birthday! We got to our hotel around 11 p.m. to pack for the next day’s adventure: Paris! Sunday Time to leave from London and head to Paris on the Eurostar. The Eurostar is a train that goes through a tunnel underwater to France, and it took us about an hour and a half to get straight to Paris. When we arrived at the Eurostar station in Paris, we were lost and confused. After exiting the train, there was no wifi to look up directions or English-speaking people that could help us, even among the Eurostar employees. After an hour of struggling, we finally got on the taxi line that would take us to our hotel, but this ended up being a mistake: we got scammed. After giving us our ride and telling us about the places we passed, our driver said we owed him 136 euros, which was crazy! He locked us in until we paid. So, we paid him, got our luggage back and checked into our hotel. That put us in a bad mood for the rest of the night, but there was some good news: our hotel was only ten minutes away from the Eiffel Tower!

After cooling down in the hotel, we finally went out to go to the pharmacy to get our “green cards”, which are passes that show we are fully vaccinated and allowed to go into places. After that, we spent some time walking around the city and taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower before eating dinner at Alfio Italian Restaurant. Monday This was our day for exploring Paris. First, we made our way to the Louvre, then Notre Dame and then did some shopping for everyone back home. After dropping off our things and resting for a bit at our hotel, we headed back out into the city to check out a big mall called Beaugrenelle and saw the Paris version of our Statue of Liberty. We went to dinner at Café Beaujolais and tried escargot (snails) for the first time…I thought they kind of tasted like seaweed. Then we finally went to Eiffel Tower - all the way to the top! The tower and its view of the city are beautiful at night.

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Tuesday We packed up all of our belongings in the morning and traveled to Troyes, France so my friend could visit family. We arrived in Troyes around 5 p.m. with greetings from her relatives, who were nice and welcoming enough to spend all evening showing us around the city. Troyes is beautiful and mostly made up of gothic buildings. Along the way, we stopped at a pub for German food, which was absolutely smothered in gravy.

Wednesday We woke up to a beautiful French breakfast set up by my friend’s family then began our journey back to Harlaxton. We traveled back to Paris by train, took the Eurostar back to London, and finally returned to Grantham on another train before getting a taxi back to the manor. It took all day to get back and was very exhausting, so for the rest of spring break, I just took time for myself and got plenty of rest.

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Oh, the Places You Can Go with a UE Communication Degree By Rylie Stephens

i, my name is Rylie Stephens. I am a sophomore here at the University of Evansville. I am currently studying Communications, but it has not always been that way. When I first decided, I was going to UE, I thought I was going to pursue a business major because I one day wanted to own my own business, so I thought that was the best way to learn the ins and outs of the business world. My freshman year I decided to take two introductory courses called Intro to Business and Intro to Communication alongside some required business classes. I decided to go this route because I was going to do a business major and was considering a communications minor. After going to classes I quickly learned that I loved the communications side more than the business side. I knew I was going to peruse the communications major because it got into depth about advertising strategies and how to work many different types of media production systems. As I moved into my sophomore year, which is my current year of schooling, I decided that I am very interested in the specific Communications major. I have to say that my sophomore year has been the most challenging but most rewarding year I have had at UE. This was the year that I found the perfect major for me, and I also have taken a plethora of classes in these past two semesters that have enhanced my communication skills. Some of the classes that I have taken this semester that I have enjoyed are Media Writing, Live Events, Advertising and Promotion Strategy, Media Design and Layout, Principles of Multimedia, as well as an internship that I have with the UE Cresent team. 27 Crescent Magazine

With my media writing class, I learned how to write papers in a professional manner as well as different formats of writing that are required for different fields of work. Live Events was a unique class that us students got firsthand experience in working with live sports events for ESPN and their crew. The Advertising and Promotion Strategy Class was an essential part of my education thus far because I learned the right and wrong ways that companies advertise their product and or service. In Media Design and Layout, I got my feet wet in creating graphic designs as well as talking about how media is portrayed today and how we as the next generation should use our skills to better our society. Principles of Multimedia has been one of my hardest classes, yet I think it may be my favorite class because I am learning how to create and edit videos in Adobe Premier Pro. My internship that I have with the UE Cresent team has opened so many doors for me as a communications student. Some of the projects that I have worked on so far are covering important events on campus by taking photos and writing a small article explaining what the event was about, documenting my life as a student athlete on a road trip, as well as creating videos for the Crescent social media pages and website. I am very grateful that I have this opportunity to work with Crescent because I get a lot of access to materials that I would not have been given the opportunity to use and I also get a lot of experience from just getting out in the field and doing projects. Just being at UE two years has made me a wellrounded student with a lot of firsthand experience that I plan to use after graduation. I also interviewed a former UE student Alissa Paik and asked her a few questions about her experience at UE, her experiences after UE, and what she is doing now.

Take a Break & Color

Coloring induces the same state as meditating by reducing the thoughts of a restless mind. This generates mindfulness and quietness, which allows your mind to get some rest after a long day at work. Crescent Magazine 28

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