Crescent Magazine November 2015

crescent November 2015 | University of Evansville | College Culture Upfront | issuu.com/uecrescent | $2.50

MAGAZINE

SCREENING REALITY

TV shows are meant to be entertaining, but does the subject matter of fact-based shows need to be accurate? | 16

ENVISIONING THE END

APOCALYPSE Whether by zombies, disease, nuclear war or holy annihilation, people seem to be obsessed with how the world will end. | 18

SEX-CRAZED MEN The joke has always been that men think about sex more than anything else. Is there any truth to it? | 22

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Contents

EDITORIAL Writing Directors MARISA PATWA RYAN MURPHY

Writers JAMES BARTON KEZIAH COLLETON CHARLIE ERICSON ALEX GOULD CHRISTINE GRAVELLE JULIE KENDALL LACI ROWE OLIVIA SHOUP MAGDA SOKALSKI ISAIAH STEVENSON AJAY SUNDARAM ERIN WILLER

THIS MONTH 4

The Texas “Campus Carry” law gives students the right to carry guns on campus. Is it the right thing to do or not?

6

TOBY KUHNKE

16

CREATIVE Creative Director

FEATURE | Laci Rowe & Ryan Murphy

Some TV shows and movies are based off real events, but their depictions might not be as accurate as you think.

18

COVER | Marisa Patwa & Charlie Ericson

The apocalypse has changed from an age-old prediction to a nightmarish cultural fascination. But why is everyone so obsessed with the end of days?

22

SEXUAL TENSION | Erin Willer

It is time to discover the truth. It’s been said that men think about sex every seven seconds, but do they really?

Copy Editors NEIL BROOKHOUSE TREVOR RICHARDSON

INNOVATION | Ryan Murphy

Senior Daniel Vibbert experiments at Vanderbilt to find out how radio signals are affected when exposed to radiation.

EDITING Editing Director

IN THE NEWS | Marisa Patwa

24

OVERTIME | Ajay Sundaram

DEPARTMENTS 3 OUR VIEWPOINT 8 WITHIN FAITH 10 TRENDING TOPICS 12 FASCINATING PEOPLE 14 STATE OF AFFAIRS 21 THROUGH THE LENS 23 CAMPUS CRIME 26 THE HOT CORNER 27 6 QUESTIONS 28 BRAIN BOMB 29 WHO KNEW? 30 OFF THE WALL 32 A CLOSER LOOK

Guard Sara Dickey is all about working hard, and as the basketball season begins, she will try to create a few more records.

TROY BURGER

Photographers KATE SARBER NATALIE CHRISTIE

Designers SYDNEY BLESSINGER LELIA DANT ANNIE TAYLOR

MARKETING & SALES Circulation Assistant PATRICK ROQUE

Marketing Assistant MENGXUAN GAI

2 |

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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 1,700, and it is distributed to 18 campus locations and housed online at www.issuu.com. 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. © 2015 Student Publications, University of Evansville. | LETTER SUBMISSIONS: Crescent Magazine welcomes letters from UE students, faculty, staff, administrators and alumni, but material the CMEB regards as libelous, malicious and/or obscene will not be published. Letters should not exceed 250 words. For verification, letters must include the author’s name, class standing or title and email address. Crescent Magazine does not print anonymous letters or those that cannot be verified. Letters will be edited as needed. Email letters to crescentmagazine@evansville.edu, with “letter” written in the subject line. | 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.

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

Crescent Magazine | November 2015

The goal of bills like these is to make campuses safer, but laws ultimately do not determine the behavior of people during dangerous situations. When shooters come onto college campuses, they are not considering the campus’s regulations on guns.

And conversely, when responsible gun owners are faced with situations where they could potentially use their gun to stop a crime, the intensity of such sensitive situations removes all sense of caution and the ability to approach the situation rationally.

There is no predicting how people will behave, and there is no way to legislate behavior. But that does not mean we should turn a blind-eye to something as dangerous as guns, particularly when in the setting of a college campus.

Legislators should not waste their time putting guns into the hands of people who are not trained to use them under difficult circumstances. Texas legislators have done just that. All they have managed to do is bring more guns into the equation.

Guns and the people who use them for whatever reason are the problem.

But the solution is not to let everyone carry a gun. Instead, we should create laws that allow colleges and universities to make their own decisions about what will make their campuses safer.

There is no denying that campuses are not the safe havens of education they used to be. College should be a time of learning and exploration, but instead, students walk to class with a tinge of fear in their minds that tells them that someone might be lurking around the next corner with a gun.

If we want to make campuses safer and prevent guns from getting into the hands of dangerous people, we shouldn’t be passing laws that reinforce carrying a gun and ultimately gun use.

It is easier — and much safer — for university security departments and other trained officers to be able to intervene in dangerous situations instead of leaving it to students and other weapon-carrying nonprofessionals. With the number of fatal school shootings on the rise, the last thing any college campus needs is more guns.

OUR VIEWPOINT

W

ith school shootings on the rise, most agree that the environment of college campuses is changing. Many don’t feel safe anymore since anyone can find their way into our buildings or onto our grounds. Something needs to be done, but no one can agree on how to fix the problem.

There is a tremendous amount of pressure on policymakers to make the right decisions. After all, the decisions they make have an impact on the lives and safety of real citizens.

Something must to be done to stop these shootings, and in an attempt to make campuses safer, Texas lawmakers passed a bill that could have consequences for schools in Texas, perhaps eventually in other states, too.

The Texas “Campus Carry” bill would allow students with concealed carry handgun permits to carry their weapons on college campuses. The law does not go into effect until Aug. 1, 2016, giving colleges in Texas time to figure out how they will go about implementing this new legislation.

Students, professors and university administrators nonetheless fear the bill will not bring about the positive change Texas lawmakers expect. Some students who attend the University of Texas are protesting by carrying large dildos as a way to voice their opposition to the bill, saying guns would be as effective as the dildos in keeping students safe.

In Texas, the minimum age to qualify for a concealed carry license is 21, making many college students eligible.

And Texas is not the only state where laws like this are in place. Eight other states have laws that allow students to carry concealed weapons on campus.

On top of that, three of these states — Colorado, Idaho and Utah — don’t allow for colleges and universities to create gun-free areas on their campuses.

Even Indiana has considered passing a similar bill.

Even though the Texas bill does allow college and university presidents to create gun-free zones on their campuses, it completely takes away the ability of college and university officials to make choices for themselves.

CARRY LAW

WON’T MAKE

LIFE SAFER

College campuses are not the safe havens of education they used to be, and allowing guns on campuses is not the answer.

| 3

IN THE NEWS

MARISA PATWA

ALLOWING GUNS

ON CAMPUS

Texas law allowing the carrying of guns on campuses causing uproar.

T

he Texas “Campus Carry” bill was signed into law June 1 by Gov. Greg Abbot and will allow students 21 and older with a licensed concealed carry permit to carry a handgun on public university campuses in Texas. When the law goes into effect next year, it will do so on Aug. 1, the 50th anniversary of when Charles Whitman shot 43 people and killed 13 from his vantage point in the University of Texas-Austin clock tower in 1966.

The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that Texas is actually the eighth state to allow concealed handguns to be brought into residence halls, classrooms and other buildings at public universities. But what most people do not realize is licensed holders have been allowed to carry concealed handguns on Texas campuses for the past 20 years — just not in buildings.

Junior Alison Peregory, a pre-law major at UT-Austin, said in an interview with CNN that the law is nothing radical or new, and most students on campus are not even eligible to carry. UT-Austin reported that less than 1 percent of students are qualified to carry. But even that has not calmed the fear of many students, faculty and staff on Texas campuses.

Almost 300 UT-Austin professors have signed a petition against the new legislation, calling it an assault on their freedom of speech. A professor of economics even quit.

“With a huge group of students,” Daniel Hamermesh wrote in a letter to President Gregory Fenves, “my perception is that the risk that a disgruntled student might bring a gun into the classroom and start shooting at me has been substantially enhanced by the concealed carry law.”

There have been 52 shootings this year on school grounds and 23 on college campuses. Advocates of this law say this is just another reason why students should have the right to carry guns on campus.

4 |

Students for Concealed Carry, a national student-run group that advocates for legal concealed carry on U.S. college campuses, sees carrying a handgun as an effective means of self-defense and believes every student has the right to arm and protect themselves and feel safe while going to class.

But gun control advocates believe the lack of guns on campuses is what keeps everyone safe. Colin Goddard, a victim of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, spoke out against the law in 2011, when it was being considered in Texas.

“That was the craziest day of my life,” he said, “with one person walking around with two guns. I can’t even imagine what it would have been like with multiple students and multiple guns.”

But Peregory said she does not think the Texas law will be as dramatic and explosive as people believe.

“I don’t think [UT-Austin] will suddenly become the Wild West with open carry and guns flying,” she said.

Things might change in Indiana, too. Rep. Jim Lucas proposed House Bill 1143 in January. It would allow firearms on state property, including state-supported colleges and universities.

With 20 states banning concealed weapons on public university grounds and 23 leaving the decision up to individual universities, Lucas said he wants to decriminalize self-defense in Indiana. He believes it makes students potential unarmed victims by not allowing them to carry guns.

As a private school, the bill would not apply to UE, whose policy prohibits handguns on campus.

Harold Matthews, director of Safety & Security, said he would hate to see guns on campus.

“I can’t imagine a university that would want to have guns on campus,” he said. “I don’t think it would be the Wild Wild West, but I still think it has the potential for some problems.”

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

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| 5

INNOVATION & SCIENCE

RETHINKING photo by Kate Sarber

RADIO RYAN MURPHY

N

othing is worse than when you’re jamming out to some tunes in your car and the radio signal is interrupted as you drive through a tunnel. It just dampens the mood. But it just so happens that there are many things that can affect radio signals.

Senior Daniel Vibbert, an electrical engineering major, interned at Vanderbilt’s Institute for Space and Defense Electronics over the summer. He completed a study with staff engineer Andrew Sternberg that used software-defined radio to examine what happens to radios when subjected to massive units of radiation.

The experiment was a change of pace for Vibbert. He was given an open-ended project and the freedom to design the experiment.

He had his own goal in mind: to find out how radio audio was affected by radiation.

“I had to determine what was worth monitoring,” he said, “and how on earth I was going to do it.”

Vibbert is one of the first researchers to look into this new field of study, but instead

“

of being intimidated, he buckled down. He went beyond what his courses taught him, quickly learning more about radio theory and radiation — subjects usually taught in upper-level engineering courses. He made the radio for the experiment by hand and set up a program to automate the process of the experiment.

Sternberg said Vibbert was able to get firsthand experience in areas that Vibbert had not previously studied. And Vibbert was thrilled to work on the project, not only to gain the experience and design his own experiment, but also to work with Sternberg.

“He’s a communications genius, in my opinion,” he said.

Sternberg said he knew Vibbert was serious about the study when he saw that he kept a toolbox full of electronic equipment in the trunk of his car.

With only 10 weeks, a small budget and minimal time to use the necessary equipment, Vibbert managed to record changes in the voltage and in the audio. He and Sternberg expected the power to decrease from all

the radiation, but they didn’t expect the radio to survive more than 10 kilorads of radiation, let alone 25.

“It just looked perfect,” Vibbert said, “even though the device would shut down after so long with the voltage drop.”

Vibbert hopes to return to the project so he can test different radios, use more radiation and look closer at the signal for minor changes.

While radiation may not be something most people have to worry about, these findings have other applications. Researchers who work with radioactive materials and machines need to know their equipments won’t malfunction and lose data or endanger workers. Vibbert’s findings also have applications for astronauts who deal with cosmic radiation and depend on SDR to communicate with Earth and each other.

Vibbert said SDR is the way of the future, and understanding how it behaves around radiation is crucial.

“I wasn’t able to record audio degradation, but maybe that’s a good thing,” he said.

“

i had to determine what was worth monitoring.

6 |

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

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WITHIN FAITH

JAMES BARTON

GODLESS BUT

NOT FAITHLESS Some religions don’t have gods. It may sound odd, but they exist.

I

n temples across Asia, forests in Britain and churches in the United States, many people worship something other than a god. They are believers, but not in the traditional sense. Some borrow from other religions and lack a single text like the Bible.

Buddhism is the largest of the non-theistic religions. The Pew Center for Research reported that as of 2010 there were more than 488 million people practicing Buddhism, making it the fourth largest religion in the world. There are about 3.8 million people who practice it in North America alone, and it is the main religion of people in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Buddhist Centre describes Buddhism as the practice and spiritual development of people that leads to their gaining personal insight about life. Because Buddhism does not include worshiping a creator god, many do not see it as a religion in the normal sense.

But that doesn’t keep people from practicing the teachings of founder Siddhartha Gautama. Buddhists focus on personal spiritual development, where people reportedly develop inner peace, kindness and wisdom through the daily practice of meditation. Meditation is at the center of the Buddhist way of life.

“Meditation intensifies the spiritual experience because it is the vehicle to obtaining spiritual experiences,” said Ryongwan Karuna, Mindful Heart Buddha Sangha. “Meditation is about directly seeing, experiencing and expressing these principles in our life.”

Not all nontraditional religions originate in Asia.

Unitarian Universalist started as two separate movements within Christianity. Unitarianism began in the 16th century, but organized in the U. S. in 1853. Universalists organized in the U.S. in 1793 and called for a unified church without a unified creed.

By the early 20th century, both groups were advocating that people could be religious without believing in God. Both realized they could have a strong liberal religious voice if they joined forces, so in 1961, they

8 |

formed the Unitarian Universalist Church. They were united by their shared search for spiritual growth.

“We feel exploring is a good way to find out what works for you,” said Ashley Perkins, Evansville’s Unitarian Universalist Church exploration director.

The theology of those who are members of Unitarian Universalist churches varies since some believe in a creator god while others do not. Many follow the church’s principles for guiding their behavior that many times does not include beliefs from the Bible.

“We pull a lot of stories from different religions,” Perkins said, citing role models that range from Buddha to Martin Luther King Jr. and Carl Sagan.

The Unitarian Universalist Association reports that members join not because they have a shared concept of God but because they realize life is richer in a spiritual group than when they try to go it alone.

Not all non-theist religions are organized under a specific creed or church. Some, such as Druidry, are dependent on people’s individual interpretations.

The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids explains that Druidry is a form of spirituality that promotes harmony and embraces a deep devotion to nature and respect for all beings, including the environment.

For junior Kat Wilson, who was raised Southern Baptist but now practices Druidry, religion isn’t based on worship but on faith and belief.

“I believe religion is a way to bring peace to oneself,” she said. “Druidry helped me open my third eye and distinguish good and bad and the power to ward off the bad.”

Since there is so little known about ancient Druidry, it is believed to have been revived around the time of the Industrial Revolution as a way to preserve Celtic culture. Because of these things, it is no surprise that it is related to Celtic culture and nature.

“It not only helps me keep [an inner] peace, but protects me from outside evil,” Wilson said.

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

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| 9

TRENDING TOPICS

Drone regulation is coming, but they’re still unsafe.

Is the cool factor more important than public safety?

THE DANGERS OF

DRONES CHRISTINE GRAVELLE

I

t started with Amazon’s idea that, with drones, we could have the latest book delivered to us in a matter of minutes. But there is much more to drones than being a simple delivery service.

These flying cameras with wings, sometimes as small as a watch, are expected to hit American skies with force by the end of the year. Drones in the hands of the wrong people still cause a multitude of problems for civilians.

Although the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration are planning a mandatory registration of drones, use of drones by the U.S. military and other government agencies has already caused problems.

Drones many times cause problems for civilians before they even reach their targets because of various errors. Most military drone accidents have occurred overseas, but a yearlong Washington Post investigation found that more than 49 large drone crashes have occurred since 2001 during training flights close to domestic bases.

And drones are about to get even closer.

Thousands of remote-controlled drones are set to soon liftoff over U.S. skies. Some are concerned for people’s privacy since enforcement agencies seem to be using drones to monitor civilians without legal permission.

“Right now police can’t come into your house without a search warrant,” former Rep. Rex Damschroder of Ohio told The Associated Press in 2013. “But with drones, they can come right over your backyard and take pictures.”

Lawmakers in California approved a

10 |

measure in August that would restrict the use of drones without permission over private property, but a similar bill that would have required law enforcement agencies to set up policies governing the use of cameras failed.

In addition, The New York Times reported in 2013 that Homeland Security has also created grants to help law enforcement purchase drones. The Obama administration pledged to relax the FAA’s restrictions, and the DOT has formed a task force to create mandatory registration, including retroactive registration for current owners.

Most people think of the military when they hear the word “drone” and for a good reason. The government claims to have the ability to drop bombs with “surgical precision” thousands of miles away from their targets. But statistics say otherwise.

The ratio of civilians-to-terrorists killed by drones is as high as 50–to–1. In Pakistan, one of the primary targets of the U.S., less than 2 percent of those killed from drones are terror suspects. With such high civilian death rates, the drones the military uses clearly are not as precise as they say.

“We always wonder if we killed the right people,” said Heather Linebaugh, a former U.S. drone operator, in an 2013 article for The Guardian. “If we endangered the wrong people, if we destroyed an innocent civilian’s life, all because of a bad image or angle.”

The Obama administration classifies every male between 18 and 60 who is killed as a result of a drone strike as a terrorist, even if they are not involved with a terror-

ist group. In many cases, there is no justice for his life. And what’s worse is that drone strikes are also responsible for the death of a high percentage of women and children.

While the government has plenty of drones, the closest drones to home will be the ones in civilian hands. The potential of drones is unknown because the FAA only recently opened U.S. airspace to them, but the consequences of drones without much regulation are already being seen.

A video of an 18 year old’s handmade drone with a firing arm went viral earlier this year. It was later determined that he made the drone with his college professor for a school project, but it is still disconcerting that such a dangerous drone was so easy to make.

“We are attempting to determine if any laws have been violated at this point,” Police Chief Todd Lawrie of Clinton, Conn., told CNN at the time. “It would seem to the average person, there should be something prohibiting a person from attaching a weapon to a drone. At this point, we can’t find anything that’s been violated.”

While drones may make for a cool photo op, are they worth our privacy or our lives?

Even worse, with discrepancies in casualty numbers, it seems as if we are being lied to about what drones are doing overseas and what law enforcement is doing with them stateside.

Although drone regulation is on the way, there’s no telling how effective it will be.

Let’s look at the facts, become educated and take a look at what drones really mean to our country.

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

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Crescent Magazine | November 2015

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| 11

photo by Kate Sarber

FASCINATING PEOPLE

LIFE IN THE

FAST LANE OLIVIA SHOUP

12 |

S

ophomore Kindra Hurlbert was putting on racing gear long before she was old enough to drive.

And while she has been involved in the world of go-karting her entire life, at age 5 she almost blew her chance.

“I mostly remember crying on the grid,” she said. “When you’re 5, you’re not even able to touch the steering wheel, and now suddenly, it’s like, ‘get in the car and drive.’”

Her father, Kregg, said he coaxed her into the kart and ran next to it as she got used to being in it. But still afraid of getting hurt, Kindra drove slowly. The other children were taking two laps to her one — at least at first.

“By the end of the day,” Kregg said, “she was just as fast as the other kids, banging and bumping.”

Even though she was initially scared of driving, Kindra said she has loved racing ever since her dad took her to a roadster race when she was 2.

“I pointed to one of the cars and said, ‘I want to race that,’” she said. “It came naturally, but I was terrified at first.”

Kindra started racing at 6 — 14 years ago — and recently moved up to a shifter kart. But Kregg, who used to race stock cars and previously coached his daughters, said shifter karts are beyond his

“

abilities, so he hired Indy Kart racer Jay Howard to coach Kindra.

“There aren’t that many female drivers out there, and not a lot of shifter drivers,” she said. “People are excited to see me going in that direction.”

Before she switched, Kindra raced in the Pro Leopard Senior race, the most advanced class of “touch-and-go” karts there is. These karts suit Kendra since she describes herself as a competitive person who likes to express herself through racing.

“She’s an unusual kid that way,” Kregg said. “She seems to be able to drive well under pressure. She doesn’t like to stop moving.”

Kindra is ranked in the Top 40 of more than 1,000 go-karters. She won first place this year in her class at the Route 66 Sprint Series — 10 races over five weekends. She has also won six major titles, including the 2012 Midwest Sprint Series. Her next contest is in November at the Superkarts USA Super Nationals in Las Vegas, where she will race a shifter kart.

Since Kindra is going to Harlaxton next semester she won’t get to race while she is there, but she hopes to watch races in Italy and practice at the top outdoor karting facility in Western Europe — right there in Grantham, England.

“

she doesn’t like to stop moving.

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

WITNESSING FIRSTHAND MAGDA SOKALSKI

S

photo by Kate Sarber

tudents pick their majors for many different reasons — from the prospect of making good money to being pushed by parents who think they know best.

But for sophomore Hunter Brittingham, he selected his major based on something more powerful: death.

A nursing major, Brittingham said he witnessed death firsthand while taking a summer course at the Deaconess Health Science Institute. It was during this experience that he knew he wanted to be a nurse.

“I got to witness a couple of surgeries, see a few births and witness a death,” he said. “It definitely made me realize I wanted to go into healthcare.”

So far, Brittingham said has been able to watch more than 12 surgeries.

“You’re right at the bed,” he said.

“It is really eye-opening.”

With the stigma attached to male nurses fading, more men are entering the profession. CBS News reported that the number of male nurses in the U.S. has tripled since 1970. In 2013, the Census Bureau reported that about 9.6 percent of all nurses were men — about 330,000 in total.

Brittingham said he is interested in becoming a certified nurse anesthetist, a wise move since they earn more than twice as much as the average for men in all nursing occupations.

But he is also seriously considering becoming a travel nurse, someone who travels to areas of the world that are experiencing nursing shortages. If this turns out to be the path he takes, Brittingham said he would like to specialize in critical care nursing.

“Being able to take my love for nursing and my love for traveling would be the best job,” he said.

PRAYING WITH PURPOSE

M

any students change majors at least once before they figure out what they really want to do with their life. Senior Jalen Chestnut’s switch was a little different.

Chestnut started at UE as a communication major, but he said he did not feel fulfilled, so he switched to religion his sophomore year.

“At first I tried to run from it,” he said, “but the Lord called me.”

Chestnut’s job is a little different than most students, too. He works part time for the Physical Plant, where his father, Jeff, who is now the Fitness Center director, started more than 25 years ago.

Some students might be mortified by the idea of working at the same place as a parent, but Chestnut said he loves it.

“It feels like home,” he said. “You get

Crescent Magazine | November 2015

to know everyone. Everyone gets to know you.”

And another difference for Chestnut is that he got married over the summer to Dionna Snaden, a Mead Johnson Nutrition product information associate. He also became stepfather to her 3-year-old daughter, Alasia.

The couple met at church back in July 2014, and Dionna said she loves Chestnut’s devotion to God. “He loves God before anything,” she said, “and that’s very attractive.”

As for the couple’s future, Chestnut said he wants to become a minister after graduation.

“I would preach anywhere,” he said, “on the streets, crack houses, across the globe, Evansville, Antarctica, Florida, California.”

photo by Kate Sarber

MAGDA SOKALSKI

| 13

STATE OF AFFAIRS

The time has come to demystify stereotypes attributed to blacks and flesh out the fact from the fiction.

THE FRIED CHICKEN

FALLACY KEZIAH COLLETON

I

love fried chicken, I have a great relationship with watermelon, and swimming is not my strong suit. All of these things are not causal on the basis of my race.

In every race, gender, culture and sub-culture alike there are stereotypes — fixed conceptions applied to all members of a group.

They allow us to simplify and organize our environments, and they help us preserve social values. They aid in expectations and responses to certain situations.

Additionally, negative stereotypes have the capacity to incite or intensify discrimination and racism. They can circulate throughout cultures and distort the truth.

A few months ago, I was in conversation with two friends, one of whom was white, when she nonchalantly brought up some common negative stereotypes about blacks.

While on the topic of swimming, I mentioned that I never properly learned how.

With a smirk she replied, “You can’t swim?

That’s so stereotypical.”

In the same conversation, my other friend and I were having a lively discussion over the topic of race. As our opinions began to differ and the tone of the conversation shifted, our white friend excitedly said, “This is about to get ghetto!” She got two holes punched in her “stereotype spotter” card.

Why must it be the case that when blacks argue or speak in a higher tone we are being ghetto, but when whites do the same, they are simply having a discussion?

Too often, we take stereotypes at face value without searching for the meaning behind them. A study done by USA Swimming found that about 70 percent of black chil-

14 |

dren cannot swim, while about 40 percent of white children can. If this stereotype has some truth to it, what is the cause of it?

As it turns out, the reason dates back to the height of segregation in the U.S, when blacks were prevented from visiting public pools and beaches. This lead to many blacks neglecting to learn how to swim altogether.

There are more than a few common stereotypes that plague the black community.

But these stereotypes are not one for all. No matter how delicious watermelon and fried chicken are, not all blacks like them. Despite the statistics, not all blacks lack the ability to swim. We are not all allergic to punctuality. We don’t all know each other. And we are not all ghetto.

There are countless videos online of young black males being racially profiled in gas stations and grocery stores. Store personnel watch or follow them closely to be sure that they do not steal anything. Instances like these prove that we still have a ways to go as a society. We should not assume that someone is a criminal because of his or her race.

In Katy Perry’s music video for her hit song, “This Is How We Do,” she lounges on a chaise eating watermelon and is later shown in cornrows talking about getting her “nails done all Japanese-y.” In her efforts to admire a culture, she ended up perpetuating stereotypes. It’s these stereotypes and others that drive a wedge between races.

Granted, there are stereotypes against whites as well. Not all are positive. But I’m sure pumpkin spice latte is not the drink of choice of all white 20-something females.

It is important to note that stereotypes

and microaggressions all work together to promote racism and discrimination.

Microaggressions are forms of discriminations, no matter intentional or unintentional, that are brief and common. They communicate discriminatory or hostile hidden messages. Most people who show microaggressions are often unaware they are doing so.

We are all guilty of microaggressions in one way or another. We have all heard about the white person who clutches his or her bag a little bit more closely as a black or Latino approaches, because they assume that that minority passing by is a criminal.

Or someone crossing to the other side of the street when they see a black person because they see the person as dangerous. No matter what race someone is, if I’m walking down the street and someone looks shady — rest assured I would cross.

Let us end the era of assuming that the black man who enters a gas station late at night has intentions to rob it. White people can be dangerous, too.

“When people rely on surface appearances and false racial stereotypes, rather than indepth knowledge of others at the level of the heart, mind and spirit, their ability to assess and understand people accurately is compromised,” the Rev. James A. Forbes Jr., senior minister emeritus of Riverside Church in Manhattan, N.Y., wrote in an article for the Huffington Post.

Let’s listen to Forbes. We should not be haste in our assumptions of others. We need to look beyond the surface and push past the stereotypes to create an environment for positive race relations.

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

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Crescent Magazine | November 2015

| 15

FEATURE

A People say you shouldn’t believe what you see on TV. Is fiction stranger than fact?

SCREENING REALITY LACI ROWE & RYAN MURPHY

16 |

group of scientists and investigators comb through the grass and dirt around a taped-off crime scene, trying to find that one tiny speck of evidence — a portion of a bloodsmeared license plate or a minuscule strand of hair — that will serve as the final clue.

Forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan stands up, eyes glued to the evidence bag in her hand, and declares that she knows who committed the murder. This makes for a compelling ending to an episode of “Bones,” but is this representation an accurate one?

As millennials move into their college years, they bring with them the ritual of marathon TV and Netflix watching. Mindless hours are spent sitting with friends in one place, viewing episode after episode, show after show. Aspects of reality inspire some of the most popular series, whether it is history, science or politics. Many of these series reach broad audiences that enjoy them for different reasons.

But “based on fact” does not mean that all of a show’s content is factual. Writers and directors take creative liberty with content, which means that, even if they are based on history, books or real people, shows can stretch and bend the truth.

What might be a problem is that shows affect people differently. To some, shows are only for entertainment, but to others, they might be seen as fact. Shows bring awareness to lesser-known topics such as prison life or they can inspire people to act a certain way, to be more like a certain character or influence career interests.

Some people use fact-based TV shows as a way to learn. Period dramas such as “Reign” and “Masters of Sex” present information in such a way that viewers believe that the information provided is true. But the emphasis has to be on “drama” since many of these shows are not always accurate but fictionalized to draw in larger audiences.

The CW’s “Reign” promises the retelling of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, but those involved with the show openly admit that history is only used for inspiration.

“It’s TV so, you know, we can take creative license with it,” Adelaide Kane, who plays Mary, told the Television Critics Association. “It’s entertainment — it’s not the History Channel.”

That does not stop history fans from

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

looking for facts or casual viewers from assuming that what they are viewing is true.

While historical figures can be portrayed as charming and beautiful, they might have been largely different in real life. Shows such as “Reign” rely on historical events that occurred centuries ago but may not be accurate since the history behind the events is not thoroughly known.

James MacLeod, professor of history, believes that some changes are acceptable, such as actors’ accents and the portrayal of characters being older than they actually were when the events occurred.

“It’s a delicate balance,” he said, “but if you’re going to be based on a true story, there’s a limit.”

More recent history often comes with concrete details and more accurate information. Showtime’s “Masters of Sex” is based on the lives of sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson, whose lives were captured in Thomas Maier’s biography of the same name.

Although it is still a period drama, “Masters of Sex” has firsthand accounts to reference and it also has science behind it that makes the topic more interesting. But modern media has barely touched the science of sex, which puts pressure and expectations on the writers of the show.

Lora Becker, associate professor of psychology, thinks there is some accuracy in the clinical portrayal of the show’s characters.

“To be taken serious in research, you need to use the correct medical terms,” she said, adding that non-scientists get shocked when they find out what it all means. “There are certain paradigms that we, as scientists, have to be aware of.”

Becker also believes that as long as shows such as “Masters of Sex” are not promoted as factual, then the amount of truth is up to a show’s creator.

“Creative liberty sells more viewer time than basic simple truth,” she said. “They need more emotional action going on.”

Becker also believes it is unnecessary to add things to the show that have not happened. During one episode, Masters and Johnson treat a gorilla instead of a human, and because this did not actually happen, Becker believes the show has a tendency to reinforce certain stereotypes.

“It doesn’t seem to be necessary to add in something that wasn’t done,” she said. “I

Crescent Magazine | November 2015

guess [many believe] you’re not a real scientist unless you test on animals too.”

She also said things are not always transferable from a book to a TV show and that some things are better left in books.

Science is a complicated field, and while “Masters of Sex” introduces newer ideas, there are other shows that interpret modern science but in exaggerated ways. Well-known crime shows such as “Bones” present science in a captivating way, but writers mix realism with embellishment.

“In real life, every single case does not get solved,” Kathy Reichs, the forensic anthropologist who is the author of the “Bones” books, told NPR. “You don’t find that, you know, a sliver of skin cells in an acre of grass that cracked the case open.”

This heroism in the TV series keeps the show’s audience captivated. Larry Caldwell, professor of English, is a longtime fan of the series and appreciates the way the characters come together to work as a family, but also acknowledges the fantasy side of the show.

“On one level, it’s science-fiction, isn’t it?” he said. “It’s make-believe. You posit that world exists. You carry out the implications of that with this given.”

Shows are meant to take what might be thought of as a dull topic and give it an interesting turn, whether it is the narrow field of forensic anthropology or the more relevant field of politics. Portraying politics is difficult because every politician has a different perspective, but the Netflix original series “House of Cards” makes an attempt, one that has been commented on by real-life politicians.

Actor Kevin Spacey, who plays the conniving Frank Underwood in the Netflix hit, told Business Insider that former President Bill Clinton believed the show to be 99 percent accurate. President Barack Obama shared a different opinion.

“I wish things were that ruthlessly efficient,” he said after admitting to be a fan of the show.

Robert Dion, associate professor of political science, thinks politicians like the show for other reasons.

“It’s a fantasy world where the rules don’t apply as much,” he said. “If ‘House of Cards’ was really like the U.S. Congress, it would be like watching paint dry.”

The award-winning show creates a cutthroat environment that can inspire or dis-

suade people to be interested in politics, regardless of the show’s portrayal of a government that gets things done quickly. Many believe what they see, and unless you have first-hand knowledge of how government operates, you really don’t know for sure.

Dion believes the efficiency of government is exaggerated and in reality the process is much slower with changes constantly being made.

Modern themes in shows such as “House of Cards” can make them more appealing, which means that accurate portrayals and storylines are important.

Netflix’s other award winner, “Orange Is the New Black,” is a hit because of the plotlines and how the characters are depicted in the female correctional facility. The idea of openly talking about prison experiences is new, and for some, OITNB is a truthful look inside a women’s prison.

But even Piper Kerman, the real-life Piper Chapman and author of the book, “Orange Is the New Black,” insists that the show is rarely factual and misrepresents prison life. “[There are moments that are] actually very closely derived from what’s in the book and from my own life,” Kerman told NPR. “But there are other parts of the show that are tremendous departures and pure fiction.”

In fact, prison life is not the party as presented in the show. It is a harsher reality.

“The show is not Piper’s story,” said Becki Ward, a former convict and panelist for September’s Prison and Beyond: On Women’s Incarceration and Rehabilitation at Ivy Tech. “I love the book because it puts real life into it.”

Shows have a different meaning depending on the person watching. They can be pure entertainment, but they are often something people can connect to. With OITNB, the book was a way for Ward and her daughter to bond, but the TV show was much too different to have the same effect.

To Ward, the differences mattered, even if OITNB successfully brought the issue of women’s prisons to light. Caldwell believes the effect a show has on someone depends on the show itself, and that, at least for “Bones,” there are more important things to consider.

“It has a higher truth as its fictional goal,” he said, adding that as long as there is that other purpose and the changes made are not senseless, it is fine to stray from fact.

| 17

MARISA PATWA & CHARLIE ERICSON

ENVISIONING THE END Whether by zombies, disease, nuclear war or holy annihilation, people seem to be obsessed with the apocalypse.

18 |

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

COVER STORY

Y

ou rush through an abandoned mall, whacking rotting skulls off half-eaten necks as they stumble hungrily toward you. You feel no qualms about leaving piles of bodies behind when the creatures you are killing already happen to be dead. Besides, if the world has ended, who is left to tell you what you are doing is wrong?

When most people think of the end of days, they think of utter destruction and doom. But for some, it is an idealized fantasy that just might be in the realm of possibility.

Whether someone has built a secret bunker in their basement and loaded it with an endless supply of Spam and ammunition or has even just seen a few episodes of “The Walking Dead,” many people contemplate how and when the apocalypse will occur and imagine what they would do if they were faced with that terror.

Larry Caldwell, professor of English, said as long as culture and society have existed, people have feared its demise. From the ancient Mesopotamian “Epic of Gilgamesh” to the Norse tales of Ragnarok and African folklore, there have been stories foretelling the end of days.

Christians are acutely aware of the apocalypse because of the Book of Revelations, where the prophecy states that when the world we live in ends after the second coming of Jesus, a new one will begin.

“Christians have created a universe with a single timeline from the creation to the apocalypse,” Caldwell said. He added that most Christians do not believe in finality; the end is more of a cyclical manifestation rather than a linear one.

Jonathan Kirsch, author of “A History of the End of the World,” told The Atlantic in 2011 that people who have been raised religiously are constantly hammered with the notion that the world will end. He said this is what causes Christians to continuously predict the end of the world.

“We experience the world and life forms in the world as having a beginning and an end,” he said. “So we are imprinted by our

own experience with the expectation that the world in which we live might come to an end too.”

Harold Camping, a Christian radio broadcaster, predicted that the end of the world would occur in May 2011. The New York Times reported that he promoted the date on 5,000 billboards, and although most did not believe the world would end that day, thousands of people still bought into Camping’s ideas.

Many quit their jobs and blew their money on frivolous things. Some eloped, and

“

Crescent Magazine | November 2015

spread human pandemic. The harrowing result was zombies were created by a virus.

“We have transmuted the mythological into the scientific,” Caldwell said, “but we haven’t really changed it.”

Sometimes ideas concerning the apocalypse have spawned real preparation. Even the Centers for Disease Control — the government agency known for protecting Americans from health, safety and security threats — released a set of guidelines in 2011 for people to follow in case a zombie apocalypse occurred. The online page was so popular,

Humans are hard-wired to find the worst situation. it’s a survival thing, we want to know what to do.” — Krista Lecher

some even killed. Three days before the predicted date, a Palmdale, Calif., mother stabbed her daughters to death before cutting her own throat in what was assumed to be a way to avoid calamity.

Apocalypse narratives are not just found in ancient and sacred texts. They are depicted in movies and TV shows as well and have become popular in the last 10 years.

“The 100” and “The Leftovers” are just two of the post-apocalyptic TV shows currently airing. “The Walking Dead,” whose sixth season premiered in mid October with a viewership of 19.5 million, has become so wildly successful that producers created a spin-off, “Fear the Walking Dead,” along with several web series.

“If I had a choice, I would chose a zombie apocalypse,” said senior Khadija Evans, a “Walking Dead” fan. “I have a higher survival rate with zombies.”

And movie theaters have been filled with post-apocalyptic films like “Divergent,” “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “The Hunger Games” series, which has grossed more than $1.1 billion worldwide since its premiere in 2012.

“I think [“The Hunger Games”] reflects different things about a dystopian government,” said senior Eunice De La Torre. “It’s what the government would look like if things fell apart in a near future.”

And in 2013’s “World War Z,” there were two fears: overpopulation and a wide

the CDC’s website crashed within two days.

Sophomore Krista Lecher, a literature and psychology major, finds that reading about the apocalypse fits her interests, and she thinks the apocalypse is possible. She has even prepared herself by knowing where she will get supplies and what supplies to get when the apocalypse arrives.

“I don’t know that it’s going to be zombies exactly,” Lecher said, “but I think a government collapse is definitely possible.

Caldwell said the recent recession also might have jump-started an irrational fear that the world might end. He said people lost their homes, jobs, savings and investments, and it was a really alarming time.

“To some people, it looked like the end of the world as we knew it,” he said.

Steven Schlozman, a child psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School and author of “The Zombie Autopsies,” grew up in Kansas City, Kan., during the Cold War. He said everyone feared nuclear war at the time and that it would bring an end to the world. He believes people are fascinated by the post-apocalyptic landscape.

“There is a general anxiety that many people share that if the infrastructure fell to pieces, we would be screwed,” Schlozman said. “We rely on civilization to help us get by, but in the back of our minds, we want to know how we would do.”

Caldwell said he believes there are three

| 19

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they would defend themselves in a world without technology because it makes them feel more human. In a post-apocalyptic world, everything is lost, leaving humans to rely on only one basic instinct: survival.

“It takes away all of our props and everything we think is fundamentally us and reduces us to our most primordial selves,” he said.

The reality show “Doomsday Preppers” follows people who are set in their belief that the end of days is coming and that they must prepare for it. Preppers confuse art with reality, Caldwell said, and they cannot differentiate between metaphors and the real thing. Christian apocalypticists have the tendency to accelerate this idea.

“These are people who are yearning for the second coming because they want to be redeemed from the world,” he said.

Schlozman said tales of the apocalypse should teach us something about the world and we should voice our opinions and make necessary changes now. But the question remains: why are people are so attracted to the idea of having to fight for their lives at the end of the world?

“We have the capacity to do incredibly amazing things, but we also have the capacity to do awful things,” he said. “They’re cautionary tales, telling us what not to do.”

honors activity boa

reasons people are so fascinated by the idea of the apocalypse. It is popular because it gives a liberating feeling, and people’s beliefs are validated through art. The explosion of apocalyptic narratives in all mediums, especially horror media, has allowed people to believe it is possible.

Schlozman said he experienced this feeling when he was young and watched the apocalyptic TV movie, “Day After,” which was filmed in his hometown. He and his friends watched the basketball courts they played on turn to ash in the movie, and he said there was something weirdly intoxicating about seeing their hometown become completely demolished.

Caldwell said the second reason people have become entranced with the apocalypse is because they get to kill mindless, soul-less versions of people. In their minds, they can destroy humans without remorse.

“It’s liberating,” he said. “You don’t identify with them.”

Caldwell said the third reason is because people like to wonder how they would survive if they were in a post-apocalyptic world.

“It gives us the opportunity, through art, to look at the end of the human world,” he said.

“We like to contemplate how we’d defend ourselves because it makes us feel free.”

Caldwell said people like to contemplate how

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Pick up your copy of the

2015 LINC

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20 |

the LINC

Still going strong after 93 years.

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

CREATE

THROUGH THE LENS

NATALIE CHRISTY

Clay takes form.

Even though midterms have thankfully come and gone, students across campus were fast at work long before the middle of the semester, creating all sorts of different projects, including the students in Art 360, “Ceramics.� Learning to master the art of throwing clay on a pottery wheel is a skill that comes with time and is not as easy as it looks. The first challenges are getting the clay centered while your feet operate the wheel at the speed you want. And it justs gets harder from there as the artist shapes the clay into a work of art. Students spend a lot of hours in the Art Mart working on all kinds of creations.

With small, intricate strokes, junior Dillon Wire steadys his fingers as he meticulously perfects his design. | Natalie Christy

Crescent Magazine | November 2015

Careful not to distort the shape, junior Alexis Peterman watches how much pressure she applies as she starts designing. | Natalie Christy

Throwing takes patience and a gentle touch. Junior Grace Guarniere synchronizes her fingers to shape the sculpture and her feet to power the wheel as she creates her piece. | Natalie Christy

| 21

SEXUAL TENSION

ERIN WILLER

ALWAYS THINKING

ABOUT SEX

It’s time to figure out if men are as sex crazy as many people think.

U

rban legend says men think about sex every seven seconds. It would be like Doug shouting “squirrel” every seven seconds during the movie “Up.” It would be intolerable.

If the urban legend holds true, men think about sex about 8,000 times a day. Studies have sparked interesting questions about how often men actually do think about sex and how social influences and biology play a role in the frequency of sexual thought.

The origin of the legend is linked to what many perceive to be a stereotype of men’s sexual behavior. Behavioral scientist Christie Hartman, who has a doctorate in behavioral genetics, said the stereotype comes from personal experiences, the media and men actually perpetuating these ideas themselves.

A 2011 study by Teri Fisher, a professor of psychology at Ohio State, examined whether this stereotype might be true. She had 283 college students keeping track of the number of times they thought about food, sleep or sex for two weeks. The results showed that the average man thought about sex 19 times a day and the average woman 10 times a day.

While men do think about sex more often than women, Fisher found that women think about sex more than originally thought. Before the study, students took a test called the sexual opinion inventory. It measured a person’s response to sexual cues and determined how positively or negatively they were perceived. All the information gathered provided evidence for a personality trait called erotophilia.

Fisher said the scores on this test were more accurate at predicting the amount of sexual thoughts a person had rather than predicting gender stereotypes.

This accounts for the number of women who had more sexual thoughts than men throughout the day.

There was no statistical evidence to prove people think about sex more than food or sleep. But there was a difference between how often men and wom-

22 |

en thought about food and sleep, suggesting that men may be more aware of their bodily needs.

“Men didn’t just think about sex more,” Fisher said, “they thought more about eating and sleeping as well.”

Social psychologist Letitia Anne Peplau, who serves as a distinguished research professor at UCLA, said men have more sexual fantasies than women and are more likely to masturbate. With men’s genitalia being external, they have more physical contact with their penis than women do with their clitoris.

“It’s more difficult for a man to be sexually aroused and not know it, than a woman to be aroused and not know it,” Fisher said.

Bruce M. King, a professor of psychology at Clemson, wrote in “Human Sexuality Today” that men with low testosterone levels had a higher sex drive when their testosterone levels increased.

It was once believed that when men’s testosterone reached a specific level, their sex drive would no longer be affected. Recent research has found that even men with normal testosterone levels experienced an increase in sex drive.

The research indicates that men think about sex more than women, but it is dangerous to believe the stereotypes since not enough research has been done to really prove anything. But it is known that the stereotypes can cause performance anxiety in men who experience a below average number of sexual thoughts.

This can cause problems in relationships where the woman thinks about sex more than the man. Simply put, men are not talking dogs with uncontrollable impulses. And while Fisher’s study gained a lot of attention, she calls for more research.

“We never intended our study to be the final word,” she said. “We just wanted to start a conversation.”

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

campus crime

The following information was compiled from criminal offense reports filed Sept. 23–Oct. 20, 2015 in Safety & Security.

Oct. 18 — Intoxicated student witnessed on Walnut and proceeded to run. Officer eventually apprehended student near North Hall. Referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action.

Oct. 17 – Non-student found intoxicated at the Sigma Phi Epsilon house. Evansville Police called and removed the non-student from campus.

— The “Don’t Do Drugs” sign located on a Moore Hall third floor wall was vandalized. The “n’t” had been removed. Loss not reported.

Oct. 8 – Student found intoxicated walking down Weinbach. Referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action.

— Graffiti found on the walls of Hughes Hall basement. Loss not reported.

Oct. 6 – Employee reported two-drawer filing cabinet stolen from her office in Olmsted Hall.

Loss reported at $50. Determined on Oct. 7 that the employee’s supervisor had removed it.

Oct. 4 – Two engraved bricks were stolen from the walkway near the Graves Hall entrance.

Loss not reported.

— Student found intoxicated near the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house. Referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action.

Oct. 3 – Two students stole WFF’s golf cart and were found riding around in it in H-lot. Referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action.

— Student found intoxicated in the Powell Hall honors lounge. Referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action.

Sept. 29 – Graffiti found on the walls of the Hughes Hall south stairwell. Loss not reported.

Sept. 27 – Male student found urinating on a bush near the Sigma Phi Epsilon house. Referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action.

— Male student stole a UE folding chair and was found with it at the corner of Rotherwood and Lincoln. Referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action.

WHAT HAPPENS AT

UE STAYS ON

BE SMART. BE NICE. BE SAFE. Crescent Magazine | November 2015

| 23

OVERTIME

With a knack for scoring points, this outstanding guard is getting ready for hopefully another record-breaking season.

ON HER WAY

TO SCORING

MORE POINTS AJAY SUNDARAM

A

s the seventh seed, the Aces beat No. 2 Drake in the quarterfinals of last season’s MVC Tournament.

The game looked like another defeat for UE until a basket by guard Sara Dickey forced the game into overtime.

The Aces never trailed after that, only their second extended period of the season.

And Dickey also set the single-season scoring record with her first field goal of the game, which she describes as the best game she has ever been a part of.

As the only player in UE history to score 600 points in a season, the exercise science major also has been named twice to the allMVC first team. She became the second UE women’s basketball player to have two 500-point seasons, and as she enters her junior season, all bets are on her ability to accomplish even more.

The farmer’s daughter from Montezuma, Ind., started playing basketball in the first grade and readily admits to enjoying time at home, kayaking and four-wheeling. She describes her family as outdoorsy and active.

“Our family is all about working hard and not taking breaks,” she said.

Her decision to attend UE was a fairly easy one, and it turned out to be a good thing for the Aces.

“

“UE was the only team looking at me,” she said, “and the only offer I got.”

Dickey enters the season with 1,148 career points, and her goal for the Aces is to get more wins this season after going 13–19 last season. As captain, she knows she will need to be a bigger influence on the court.

“I think I need to have a more vocal role,” she said. “Coach [Oties] Epps is always saying ‘you’ve got to hold people accountable.’”

And it sounds like Epps will hold her accountable, too. While she’s in great shape and can stay on top of her game even when she’s tired, he said it’s time for her to step up as a leader.

“Right now, it’s a new role for her, being vocal,” Epps said. “We need her to be more vocal for the new players and younger [players]. That’s the challenge. She’s doesn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.”

Well-liked by her teammates, she is described as laid-back and brings experience to her role as captain and a self-deprecating sense of humor.

“The thing I love most about her is her ability to laugh at herself,” Epps said. “As a freshman, she wouldn’t say two words. But not as a junior. She talks all the time and cracks jokes.”

While Dickey can make baskets like any great shooter, everyone agrees that defense is her weakness. But she compensates when she shoots the ball.

“She’s so talented in her ability to shoot,” Epps said. “She’s fit and in good shape.”

But Dickey herself knows that defense is her weak spot and hopes to make improvements this season.

“I’ve always been a little scared to play defense and coach says ‘it’s in my mind,’” she said. “I always felt I’m not really good at it. I think it’s just the lateral movement.”

Dickey might need to depend on her pregame habits to get the defense working with the offense. And while she doesn’t admit to having any superstitions, forward Sasha Robinson knows differently.

“She and [guard] Laura [Friday] drink Spark,” she said. “She straightens her hair for games and has to have her pony braid.”

While Dickey has what Robinson calls a pretty chill personality, it is apparent when it comes to basketball that Dickey plays hard no matter the circumstances and will work for her team.

“Even though she gets a lot of points, accolades and shots, she knows she has a gift,” Epps said.

“

she’s so talented in her ability to shoot. she’s fit and in shape.

24 |

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

photo by Kate Sarber

Crescent Magazine | November 2015

| 25

THE HOT CORNER

If they are good enough to play professionally, why should there be restrictions on college-aged athletes to do so?

MAKING THEIR WAY

TO THE PROS ALEX GOULD

P

arents tell their children to stay in school and graduate from college so they can get better jobs and make better money. It’s advice I’ve heard time and time again, and it is good advice.

Earning a degree strengthens one’s ability to make a living, but it doesn’t necessarily apply to those who have the talent to make a lot of money without a degree.

Some people are athletically talented enough to make lots of money by the time they graduate from high school, and some are fortunate enough to eventually make salaries they never dreamed of.

But there are roadblocks for those talented enough to play professional sports.

The NFL has strict rules when it comes to draft eligibility. And players must fall within those tight parameters before they can be drafted and sign a contract.

The NFL rule states that in order to be considered draft eligible, a player must have used up his college eligibility before the beginning of the next football season, and he must have been out of high school for at least three years. This forces players to go to college and attend classes they may not be interested in just to further develop their football skills.

True, not every player is talented enough to be drafted into the NFL. And while this eligibility rule may benefit the NFL, the goal of highly talented athletes is to play the game they love that, in turn, allows them to live a financially stable life. If athletes right out of high school are good enough to follow their dreams and play in the NFL, why shouldn’t they be allowed to?

26 |

Case in point: Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, who attended the University of South Carolina and was chosen as the NCAA Defensive Player of the Year in 2012. He knew he was ready to go pro — everyone knew he was ready to go pro — following his sophomore season, but there was no way for him to enter the draft because of the NFL eligibility rule.

“It’s an arbitrary restriction of the free marketplace, but I understand the NFL’s reasoning,” Peter Berkes wrote for SBNation in 2013. “NFL football is a brutal sport played by large men capable of moving at incredible speeds, and 99.9 percent of college underclassmen are not physically equipped to compete at that level.”

But that was not the case with Clowney, who was a 6-foot-6-inch, 250-pound wreaking machine, who Berkes said ran like a deer and hit like a truck.

Clowney took out an insurance policy against any type of injury that would lower his draft stock. He wanted to make sure he would get an NFL contract that would pay him what his skills were worth. He was Houston’s first pick in the 2014 draft, and received the contract he wanted.

If Clowney had been a baseball player, the story might have been different. Major League Baseball’s eligibility rules state that players can be drafted right out of high school. But if they do decide to enter college, they must attend either a two-year junior college or a four-year university. They can be drafted only after three years of college, but they still must be 21 years old to be drafted out of a four-year university.

Unlike the NFL, the MLB has a minor league system with more than 100 players in each organization.

“The college player, in theory, is always the safer pick,” said Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington in an interview with USA Today. “But the right high school guy beats the wrong college guy every single day of the week.”

High school players can be developed for the major leagues by the time they’re 20 — before college players are even draft eligible.

The NBA has different rules altogether, which forces players to go to college for a year before being drafted — the strictest standard of them all. The number of college players that go to school for a year and leave is extraordinary. In fact, since 2010, Kentucky has had 14 players drafted after their freshman season, most of whom have done well in the NBA. Before the NBA changed its rules in 2006, two of the greatest players who’ve ever played the game, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, were drafted out of high school.

They didn’t need a year of college to develop their skills. They needed NBA coaches and players to help them further improve the already great skills they had.

Graduating from college is a great achievement. Making millions of dollars before others even graduate is a dream. But having to turn down millions is insane because players can always go back to get or finish their degrees. Athletes should be allowed to enter the draft or leave school whenever they want in order to follow their dreams and get their careers started sooner.

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

Q&A

Questions For years, student attendance at sporting events has been pretty dismal. The new rewards program hopes to change that and develop a new campus culture.

DUSTIN HALL Director, Marketing and Event Management Carson Center ticket office. You can come over to Carson, register your group of at least 10 people and pick a team captain.

You can also register by email at dj89@ evansville.edu. We’ve made it a priority to keep track of points so everybody knows where they stand. Team captains will get regular email updates. photo by Kate Sarber

Q: Are there any other incentives be-

Q: What is the Rewards Program?

A: It is a program the Athletics Department came up with to try to drive students to athletic events. We are trying to encourage campus support, trying to get campus involved with athletics and encourage athletic support and pride with our athletic programs from students. We’re trying to extend that olive branch and give back to those who are supporting us in some way. I think our student rewards program is a start in that general direction.

Q: Where can students and groups go to sign up for the program?

A: We are working on setting up an online sign-up form on gopurpleaces.com.

Right now we have sign-up sheets at the

Crescent Magazine | November 2015

sides cash rewards?

A: The cash is what we decided to go with. We had a budget for rewards. We came up with prizes some groups weren’t interested in. We thought a cash prize was a lot more flexible and something that would entice everyone. Winners can do whatever they want with it.

Q: Are you hoping to accomplish something else besides higher attendance at sporting events?

A: We’re having students check in at games. We’re forcing them to sit in the student section to give them the feel that their presence could make a difference. We know some of the upperclass students may have been here when going to the basketball game wasn’t a thing to do. We’re hoping to change that and develop a different kind of student culture.

I hope we can create this culture at UE, where students support fellow students, cre-

ate camaraderie on campus and bridge the gap that exists between athletics and the rest of campus. Where freshmen and sophomores look forward to the schedules coming out, circling those dates and saying, “Hey, the Aces play tonight!”

Q: Why do you think it has been so difficult to get students to attend events?

A: There are a variety of reasons. We polled students and asked them what their opinions were. Some of them said, “We’re not interested in athletics.” We tried to address that problem. [We said,] “If you do come, you can win cash.” And who doesn’t want cash? Also, the area where we located students at basketball games wasn’t the best.

There was a small set of risers we had behind the basket. This year, we’ve given students the big set of risers.

Q: How is the Athletics Department advertising the rewards program?

A: We had a table during Welcome Week and distributed flyers. We’ve had employees from the department go to meetings with fraternities and sororities to hand out information to hopefully get them involved.

We’re hoping to start distributing flyers during the lunch hour in Ridgway Center. We’ll see what kind of attendance we will have, not only at games, but how many teams sign up.

| 27

BRAIN BOMB

CRAZY IN THE CROWN Although royalty is notorious for bizarre behavior, kings, queens and emperors are highly regarded and sometimes even worshipped. Most of the time, when we talk about royalty, the British and French get all the attention, but all thrones throughout history have had their share of memorable quirks. From crazy kings to egregious emperors, every royal has a story to tell.

Fan of pedigrees? Spain’s Habsburg dynasty went extinct after two centuries of rule because of inbreeding that was intended to keep the family line pure.

This caused hormone problems and infertility in King Charles II of Spain.

Princess Alexandra of Bavaria believed her body had turned into glass because she thought she swallowed a glass piano.

28 |

King Farouk I of Egypt took lessons to become a pickpocket, and he became pretty good at it. Once he even stole Winston Churchill’s pocket watch.

King Charles II of England declared that six ravens must keep guard at the Tower of London. These birds are enlisted as soldiers and are required to take an oath.

They can even be fired for poor conduct.

After falling ill, Roman Emperor Caligula tried to name a horse his consul and executed people at random, leading to him being stabbed more than 30 times. Eat your heart out, Caesar.

Performance anxiety is evidently common among royalty. Emperor Pu Yi of China married five times and never consummated any of his marriages.

Sultan Mustafa I of Turkey was thought to be insane and was heard running about his palace, crying out for his dead nephew and predecessor.

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

WHO KNEW?

JUST WHO SPILLED THE BEANS THIS TIME? Spilling the beans is something everyone has done. But exactly where does the phrase come from? The phrase has its origins in horse racing. It was first used when a horse won that nobody thought would win and the betting system was upended. In the early 1900s, the term was adopted by boxing and baseball. It then meant someone had made a mistake or said something they shouldn’t have, costing a team the game. Today it means to divulge a secret, especially to do so inadvertently or maliciously.

WHERE DOES MAYDAY COME FROM? Everyone knows the word “mayday.” Most from old movies where sailors or pilots would scream the word multiple times as every thing fell into chaos. The word is actually used as an alternative for the SOS distress signal. So why do we still need “mayday?” It turns out that SOS had issues being distinguishable by telephone

EYEBROWS AREN’T NEEDED, ARE THEY? Eyebrows are a big deal. Besides helping convey emotions, they are arched to keep harmful sweat away from the eyes. Plus people would look weird without them.

WHY DO WOMEN SHAVE THEIR LEGS? Fashion has always been a big thing with women. Before dresses started to reveal more skin, women were as hairy as men.

But when sleeveless dresses became popular around 1915, the added exposure made many women feel vulnerable.

Crescent Magazine | November 2015

because of the letter “S.” A senior radio officer in 1923 was asked to come up with a new signal. He came up with “mayday” from the French term “m’aider,” short for “venez m’aider,” which means, “come help me.” In order to not mistake the signal from everyday language it was decided that it would be said three times.

HOW DO WE TASTE? Ever tasted something so bad, you gagged? You can thank your taste buds. They have microscopic hairs that send messages to the brain about taste — like nose hairs but smaller.

WHAT MAKES A RAINBOW’S COLORS? When it rains, the air is filled with raindrops, and the raindrops act like a prism.

If sunlight passes through the raindrops at the proper angle it is split into its spectrum, which is made up of the colors of the rainbow — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

| 29

OFF THE WALL

DOTM

JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

zand hotels — the sandy way to stay Anyone who has ever vacationed near a beach has at some point in time tried to build the biggest sandcastle the world has ever seen. Children quickly grab shovels and pails and pack down buckets of sand, carving out turrets and using twigs as makeshift flags. But it is hard to top the sandcastle hotels built in Holland.

According to ATLASOBSCURA.COM, as part of two yearly sand sculpture festivals, two temporary hotels are created

by Global PowWow, an event planning company, out of reinforced sand and concrete. There are also about 30 other sand sculptures on the premises, but none are as impressive as the 26-foot high hotels.

One is crawling with smaller sand sculptures of dragons, terracotta soldiers and the Great Wall of China. Another is themed after the Middle Ages and is

reminiscent of the bedrock homes of “The Flintstones.”

Both locations boast of turrets and spires, just like the sandcastles children make. There are even helmets of sand decorating the insides that are modeled after a knight’s armor.

Located in Oss and Sneek, the Zand hotels both have modern amenities, including Wi-Fi, running water and glass windows, real furniture and bathroom fixtures. A one-night stay costs $168.

If it bums you out that you can’t hop a plane and head to The Netherlands to sleep under a roof of sand, don’t fret.

Both locations will reopen next summer in time for the sand sculpture festivals. The company also plans to sculpt buildings of the same sandy variety in Germany and the United Kingdom.

really awful pick up lines

TIDBIT

> Hi, my name is Microsoft. Can I CRASH at your place tonight? > Feel my SHIRT. Know what it’s made of? Boyfriend material. > Well, here I am. So what are your other two WISHES? > If you were words on a page, you’d be some FINE print. > If I were an enzyme, I’d be DNA helicase so I could UNZIP your genes. > What’s your FAVORITE silverware? Because I like to spoon. > Charizard is red. Squirtle is blue. If you were a POKEMON, I’d choose you. > On a scale from one to America, how FREE are you tonight? > Do you have a Band-Aid? I SKINNED my knee when I fell for you.

30 |

Atoms are about 99.9 percent empty space. If we took out that space, all the atoms that form the human race could fit inside a teaspoon.

autumn manhattan

Mulled wine is a favorite drink of the “Game of Thrones” characters and with winter on its way, it is perfect for warming you up on a chilly day. Although this traditional drink is hard to find nowadays, you can still find the perfect recipe. FOODNETWORK.COM says to throw the ingredients in a small saucepan, simmer them for four minutes and then pour them into a mug for a drink that will keep you warm. You can include some orange zest or peel as a garnish if you want to get fancy.

ingredients: 4 cups apple cider |

1 bottle red wine | 1/4 cup honey | 2 cinnamon sticks | 1 orange juiced | 4 cloves

heard it here “People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.”

When someone mispronounces a word based on its sound, like pronouncing Alzheimer’s disease as “Old-Timer’s” disease, that’s called an eggcorn.

– author A.A. Milne

The name “Oz” from The Wizard of Oz might have come from a filing cabinet author L. Frank Baum saw while writing — one drawer was labeled O-Z.

November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

people tweet the damndest things If I have to be somewhere at 7:30 and don’t get in the shower until 7:45, how much do my friends hate making plans with me?

@brettryland We live in a time where taking out one earbud is a sincere sign of respect.

@SamReidSays Our kids won’t even understand the game “Telephone.”

They’ll play “text message” where you get the words right but misinterpret the tone.

@joshgondelman “All you need is love.” See? Nothing about pants.

@HonestToddler My college roommate finished baking a cake. I said, “that looks good.” He licked the entire top of it and said, “it’s mine.” #MyRoommateIsWeird

@jimmyfallon The Internet is like the boyfriend or girlfriend who promises that everything is going to be different if you stay, and it never is.

Things that make us Crazy THE SLOW AND STEADY

LITERALLY ANNOYING

Everyone has their own walking speed, but you never realize just how slow people are until you need to get somewhere fast. You try to dodge and weave to get around someone, but there is always someone blocking you. When you do finally get around a slow person, the cycle starts all over again. Plan accordingly so that you can be the leisurely stroller.

Are you really so bored that you’re literally dying? Is it literally freezing outside? Let’s have a quick English lesson. Unless you are lying on the floor breathing your last breath, you’re not “literally” dying. If it is above 32 degrees outside, and you’re not slipping on ice, it’s not “literally” freezing. Use it; don’t abuse it.

LEAVING US TRUMPED Donald Trump: everyone’s favorite toupeewearing presidential candidate. In fact, he’s such a favorite that the moment he comes on TV, someone changes the channel. He’s got enough money to buy the presidency, but he should really just give it up and beg NBC to let him host “The Apprentice” again.

@Manda_like_wine

IPHONE 12000S PLUS It was only eight fateful years ago that the first iPhone was released. Since then, a total of 36 phones of varying GB storage and model have been released. If Apple releases phones at this rate, there will be about 100 new phones in 14 more years and more than 450 in a century. That is, of course, only if the rate of release doesn’t increase.

REMEMBER WHEN... …people would waste hours on PINBALL SPACE CADET? The digital version of a pinball machine was one of the best games and an instant cure for boredom. But people took that game way too seriously, and it caused more than one person to shout a stream of obscenities. There are people to this day who still use it to waste time, mostly when there is homework to be done. ...the GAMECUBE came out? It was awesome. The design was strange and interesting, and it had quality games. And it got even better when the maker came up with the attachment that let you play the games on your TV. We all got out our old Game Boy games. It was like those old cartridges were brand-new. …we would eagerly wait for Saturday morning cartoons to come on so we could watch “TEEN TITANS,” was one of our generation’s most popular cartoons. We all loved to watch Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy and the rest fight crime. But the 2013 series reboot, “Teen Titans Go!” just wasn’t the same. …you watched ALADDIN swing from canopies and steal bread with Abu, his monkey? The down-on-his-luck street rat hits a stroke of luck when he finds a magic Genie in a lamp. One of his wishes is to be a prince so he can marry Princess Jasmine. Many people tried to reenact the scene when Aladdin rolled the apple over his shoulder and popped it to the princess. But let’s face it, most of us loved Genie. He was a favorite character. And you know you cried at the end of the movie when Genie was finally set free.

The combination of a question mark and an exclamation mark, normally typed “?!,” is technically called an interrobang. Say what?!

Crescent Magazine | November 2015

Monaco, the second smallest country in the world, has the longest life expectancy of any country. The average Monacan lives 89.57 years.

The longest movie was filmed in 2011. It lasts 240 hours, about 10 days, and is called “Modern Times Forever” — emphasis on forever.

In medieval times, a “moment” was a unit of time. One hour contained 40 moments, making one moment exactly 1.5 minutes.

| 31

A CLOSER LOOK

REMEMBERING

photo by Kate Sarber

THE GOOD STUFF JULIE KENDALL

I

n an empty Carson Center gym, where every word, footstep and thought seems to echo, Terry Collins, associate athletic director for sports medicine, leans back in a folding chair and stares at the ceiling, contemplating something but looking completely relaxed and at home. To him, UE is home.

The same things that drew him to UE as a student have kept him here almost 30 years.

He likes the one-on-one feel, the smaller class sizes and the fact that the sports teams still compete against larger schools.

“There are challenges within the job, but it’s a place to call home,” he said. “A place that I have pride in. I feel like I can expand.”

Collins, who pitched for the Aces as a student and graduated from UE in 1982, was hired following graduation as UE’s pitching coach and as an athletic trainer. He left for three years to take another training job, but when he was offered the top position at UE in 1987, he jumped at the chance.

“I fell right back into place,” he said.

Sports have always been a part of Collins’

“

life. He grew up near Kansas City, a major sports hub, and he passed his love of sports, especially baseball, to his now grown sons.

“We’re a baseball family,” he said. “It’s part of our lives.”

Collins also sees UE’s student-trainers and student-athletes as family. Everyone in the Athletic Training Center has a common goal — to make sure injuries are prevented as often as possible and for student-trainers to perfect the skills needed to diagnose injuries.

“We are very close,” he said. “We work together, and we work things out.”

For Collins, it all comes down to the education of student-trainers and the care of student-athletes. And learning how to get back in the game as soon as possible is the goal of every athlete.

“He treats everyone the same,” sophomore Korbin Williams said. “If you need something, he’ll get it for you or point you in the direction of where you can get help.”

Collins said that while he believes winning isn’t everything, it is special to see teams

succeed. He has had the privilege of seeing a number of teams excel, and it has been his responsibility to make sure they stay healthy in order to help those teams continue to do well.

“That’s the closeness,” he said. “That’s the family. The good things you want to remember.”

After 29 years, Collins said athletic training has changed, college has changed and the need for support has never been greater. Student-athletes also have to work that much harder. But he’s not complaining. Collins feels blessed to work at UE. “I can have fun, do something I enjoy and work with really good people,” he said.

But above all else, Collins credits much of his success to his wife, Gloria, whom he met while they were students at UE. “To do this job, I’ve had to have support from my wife,” he said. “You have to miss birthdays and holidays. My family has put up with my being gone a lot. I appreciate their efforts. Hopefully, we all come out with good memories.”

“

we are very close. we work together, and we work things out.

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November 2015 | Crescent Magazine

noh8campaign.com

TSA now has two LGBTQ groups. Under 21 group meets at 7 p.m. Saturdays and 21–29 year olds meet at 7 p.m. Sundays at the TSA office, 501 John St. Suite 5 Evansville.

c

g i f e h t n joi

q t b g l r o ht f

! s t h g i r l ivi TRI-STATE ALLIANCE

Serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities of the Tri-State since 1980.

(812) 480-0204 • www. tsagl.org • facebook.com/tristatealliance • #tsaglbt

Make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities.

The Arc of Evansville has many opportunities so you can make an impact on one or many of the 750 people we serve.

The Arc of Evansville’s mission is to empower individuals with disabilities to build relationships, gain independence and achieve their full potential.

VOLUNTEER on a regular basis, in a group or at a community event.

The Arc of Evansville has many opportunities so you can make an impact on one or many of the 750 people we serve. We’re looking for volunteers who can: • Bring their special talents to “Tri-State’s Got Talent” from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14 at Eastland Mall.

Watch our website for more details.

• Have fun, watch amazing acts and meet people while working at fundraising events such as “The Really Big Show” on Feb. 13, 2016.

• Be a mentor to a child or adult. Spend quality time helping them meet individual goals and developing relationships by providing one-on-one attention.

• Help fill our program needs by planning and running a donation drive.

• Show off your creativity by developing lesson plan activities for our programs.

• Present a special talent or demonstrate an interesting hobby to children or adults we serve.

Visit www.arcofevansville.org for a full list of volunteer opportunities or contact Jennifer at 812-428-4500, ext. 307 or jennifer.jones@arcofevansville.org.

(812) 428–4500 | 615 W. Virginia St., Evansville, IN 47710 | www.arcofevansville.org