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CONTENTS

THIS MONTH

2016–17 S TAFF EDITORIAL Writers LEA ARNOLD WHITLEY BROCK MACKENZIE BRUCE RYAN MURPHY MARISA PATWA LACI ROWE OLIVIA SHOUP

Columnists KRISTEN BUHRMANN SAM FROST KRISTA LECHER MATT REED LILY RENFRO KAITLYN ROBKIN OLI ROSS-MUSICK

EDITING Editing Director MCKALA TROXLER

Copy Editors NEIL BROOKHOUSE JAYSA HOEG TOBY KUHNKE TREVOR RICHARDSON

CREATIVE Creative Director KAYLA SEIFERT

CRESCENT MAGAZINE

INNOVATION

COVER STORY

A CLOSER LOOK

Senior Breigh Anna House takes a look at how jurors make their crucial courtroom decisions and if racial bias is involved.

There has been an explosion of reality TV in recent years. Our generation seems so hooked on this guilty pleasure.

Professor Danny Gahan has traveled across the ocean to bring the past of the Irish countryside to the present in the U.S.

DEPARTMENTS 3 4 6 8 9 12 13 14 15 17

Our Viewpoint Trending Topics Kaleidoscope Findings Modern Perspectives Within Faith Who Knew? Adulting Through the Lens Fascinating People

23 24 25 26 28 29 30 31 32 34

On the Cheap Choices Transitions Verses Sexplanation Brain Bomb Overtime Campus Crime Sports Jam Off the Wall

Photo Editor NATALIE CHRISTY

Designers CHELSEA BLANTON SYDNEY BLESSINGER TROY BURGER

Photographers MAKAYLA SEIFERT TAYLOR WILLIAMS

MARKETING & SALES Circulation Assistant PATRICK ROQUE

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. 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. ©2016 Student Publications, 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.

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

VOICES OUR VIEWPOINT >

KEEPING OURSELVES SAFE & ALIVE Random gun violence is unfortunately a reality and Run, Hide, Fight is the new procedure meant to help people stay alive during active shooter situations.

Virginia Tech — 32. Umpqua (Ore.) Community College — nine. Santa Monica College — five. Oikos (Calif.) University — seven. Northern Illinois — five. As college students, we think of ourselves as invincible. Nothing can hurt us, because nothing ever has. Every space is a safe space. That is until something dangerous — and random — happens. More than 50 students have been gunned down on college campuses, with another 45 injured, since 2007. And with 50 killed this summer in Orlando, it is no wonder that UE decided to unveil the Run, Hide, Fight protocol this fall in an effort to be proactive about the increasing threat of random shooter violence. Conceived in 2012, Run, Hide, Fight is now promoted by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI and has been adapted as the nation’s response to an active shooter situation. The policy is simple: run if you can, hide if you cannot run and fight when all else fails. The procedure suggests that if it is safe to run, take as many people with you as possible, get as far away from the situation as you can and call 911. If it is impossible to run, hide and call 911 if you can make the call quietly. If neither of those are possible and you are capable of fighting, improvise weapons and rely on adrenaline to help fight off the attacker. With the promotion of the procedure, Student Publications decided to take a look at what the policy would look like for our office, located on the second floor of Ridgway Center. “Run” would be difficult with a shooter upstairs in the south end of the building because our office only has one entry; therefore, one exit. We could realistically only run if the situation was confined to another part of Ridgway, with our staff exiting to the fire escape located a short distance from our office behind WUEV. Since Ridgway’s architects placed a premium on designing with glass, including much

Crescent Magazine | September 2016

of our office, our “hide” option is precarious as well. Our only options are two windowless, locking rooms with solid wood doors. “Fight” would also be dangerous if someone gained entry into our office since we only have ordinary office supplies and things such as chairs and computers that we could attack with. From our perspective, Run, Hide, Fight may not be as simple as it sounds, mainly because most people react to crises differently. The New York Times reported that when in dangerous situations the first thing people normally do is freeze. It is not a choice, but a built-in impulse controlled by our brains. People freeze for different amounts of time since we all handle stress or are motivated by it differently. We know the natural response is to freeze, but we do not know what our individual reaction time will be or how much time we will need to embrace the situation. In addition, PoliceOne, an online law enforcement resource, explains that the Run, Hide, Fight model is based on linear thinking. Retired Lt. Col. Mike Wood explained that the model encourages victims to consider fighting only after the first two options have been tried or considered. As presented, it does not “allow” a victim to consider using violence as the primary response, even if the circumstances dictate it. Because of this, Wood believes the model fosters a nonaggressive mindset. If potential victims are encouraged to run and hide as their principal options, the average person is left unprepared to fight back since most people do not naturally think to use violence to defend themselves. People have also been conditioned to think that law enforcement have a monopoly on the use of violence. Greg Ellifritz, a 20-year veteran Ohio police officer who trains other law enforcement in active shooter defense tactics, believes Run, Hide, Fight is a dumbed-down principle and encour-

ages people to also think for themselves. “Proper response tactics for an active killer require an analysis of your own abilities, the environment where the violence is occurring, the presence of help, the response time of local police and the killer’s weapons/tactics,” he wrote on activeresponsetraining.net. “They can’t be codified into a simple Run, Hide, Fight playbook.” We recognize the new procedure is infinitely better than the previous one, which advised students to simply get into the closest unlocked building and wait for the all clear signal. Everyone should keep in mind the Run, Hide and Fight procedure and that the importance of planning ahead may save lives. But know your strengths and weaknesses. If you choose to run, make sure you’re capable of running for a long enough period of time in order to be safe. If you choose to hide, make sure you can barricade yourself well enough to keep the shooter out and be able to escape, if necessary. If you choose to fight, make sure you can commit to fighting without hesitation. In crisis situations, adrenaline induces protective instincts within the body, making us more capable of fighting and ensuring our safety. Regardless, it is crucial that you choose an acceptable option for your abilities. We suggest you do as we did — evaluate your surroundings. How would you proceed if you were in class? What are you going to do if a shooter gains entrance to your residence hall? Your fraternity house? If you are walking across campus? Students at Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois and the other campuses didn’t think it could happen to them, but it did. The possibility of an active shooter is real — even if we’ve never felt unsafe at UE. The Run, Hide, Fight strategy saves lives, despite its flaws. It’s straightforward and easy to remember, which could mean the difference between life and death.

VOICES

This political season feels as though it has overstayed its welcome. With candidates sparring on Twitter, even the meager downtime between tweets has been eventful. The nature of the political game has definitely changed. When President Barack Obama used Twitter during his 2012 campaign, it was revolutionary. Now Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat have become the norm for election chatter. While there is a constant flow of content, it has become overwhelming for many people who were already frustrated with the election long before Election Day was even a thought. Nobody can go on Facebook without seeing some political post. Whether it is about “Crooked Hillary” or the latest jaw-dropping Donald Trump remark, it is impossible to avoid heated opinions from both sides of the aisle. A 2012 Pew Research Center study reported that 38 percent of Americans who have social media accounts use them to share political content. While political engagement is commendable, a flood of opinions easily becomes obnoxious and redundant. And many often view posting a news article as a welcome mat for a debate over an issue. This behavior leads to a spiral of silence where people do not share their opinions for fear that it is unpopular. The problem with sharing too much political content is that people are constantly hearing about it and it gets exhausting. They hear it on the radio on their way to work. Their coworkers talk about it on breaks. They watch the evening news. They are bombarded with political ads. And now it is on their phones every time they check Facebook and Twitter. When everybody has a voice in the political process, there runs the possibility that uninformed opinions get thrown around, diluting the pool of quality and informed opinions. Policies and arguments are being condensed into 140 characters, which reflects negatively on the current political climate. Part of the political process is private. Politicians brainstorm ideas and vet them with advisers, but this can easily become “news,” especially if someone gets a hold of the information and shares it on social media. When this private part of the process becomes public, it becomes challenging to trust politicians because it looks as though they are flip-flopping constantly. With the overwhelming amount of news sources, it is impossible to follow all of them and get completely unbiased opinions. On top of that, not all news sources tell the whole sto-

< TRENDING TOPICS compared to Trump’s 15 percent truthfulness rating, it is pretty impressive. Trump uses his Twitter account like a madman wielding an axe. For his campaign, there is no limit on what can be said online or otherwise. His @realDonaldTrump account is full of vitriol. And while personal attacks in politics could hardly be called an anomaly, calling a member of your party “a spoiled brat without a properly functioning brain,” is harsh, especially coming from someone who constantly defends his own IQ and competency. Trump’s campaign has spent a measly $5 million on KRISTEN BUHRMANN advertising, compared to Clinton’s $110 million, according to an August Ad Age analysis. But he takes full advantage of news and public commentary in magazines, radio shows and social media. The conversations of his latest tweet not only take airtime, but also cause a stir in the social balance. Talking about your political opinions with family, friends and coworkers is becoming the norm. As King of Twitter, Trump attracts a lot of attention. There have been numerous parody accounts created mocking him and his campaign. These accounts add to the political environment and muddy the waters by pointing out hypocrisies and fallacies. They give people another voice, but by adding to the political mix, they can also add to the frustration that people feel they can never escape politics. People have easier access to more biased media than previous races. You can follow your favorite news accounts on every social media platform, and put blinders on to avoid sources you do not agree with. The Wall Street Journal created an interactive graphic called “Blue ry or opinions are so skewed they appear false. Feed, Red Feed” to show how your news feed And let’s face it — people follow the news can differ depending on what sources you folsources they agree with. Liberals follow The low. The more conservative your friends are, New Yorker, Huffington Post and The Econthe more conservative posts you are more likely omist, while conservatives follow Fox News, to see. By blocking ourselves off from more cenSean Hannity and the Rush Limbaugh Show. tral news sources, we miss out on the less poThe Hillary Clinton campaign is using Twitlarizing sides of issues and do not see all sides. ter to continuously take blows at Trump, while Social media usage in the 2016 presidenit avoids defending her own scandals. Her Twittial race is damaging voters’ views of the canditer strategy consists of fact checking and statisdates and creating the most exhausting political tics, both contributing to the stigma that she is cycle to date. It is a great tool, but not always if cold and distant. you want the facts. You may not be an advocate Pulitzer Prize winner PolitiFact analyzes for it, but mainstream media has a place in the statements made by a variety of political figures political conversation. Reporters reveal fallacies and found that 50 percent of the time, Clinand information candidates do not necessarily ton is fully or mostly telling the truth. While this want revealed. Listen, learn and diversify what may seem like an embarrassingly low number, political information you consume.

IT’S A SOCIAL

MEDIA MESS

This political cycle is a hot topic for many on social media, but at what point does it become too much?

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

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VOICES

< KALEIDOSCOPE

The first time I told anyone I was gay was in high school, but it wasn’t until I was a college freshman that I was comfortable enough with my identity to come out to my parents. There was a wall crumbling between us as the words fell out of my mouth. My mother cried, telling me repeatedly that she loved me, and my father held back tears that would later erupt into fits of anger. While it took a while for us to repair our relationship, I know he loves me. Since then, I’ve come out to lots of people. I honestly don’t know who knows and who doesn’t anymore. Gay is not a dirty word. It isn’t a life sentence and it is part of who people are. Rehearsing how to tell people that you are gay but still the same person they are friends with takes a lot of time. You’re afraid that opening up will result in rejection while praying that love is what greets you but fearing that hate may follow. While scary beyond belief, coming out was a relief. It allowed me to feel whole and genuine. But remember — it can be overwhelming. Fear of rejection, the ingrained societal idea that something about a core part of you is wrong and realizing that everything is going to change. For some, accepting they are gay is as simple as blinking, yet for others it is a constant battle against everything they have ever known. Being gay is often used as a blanket term for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. It also refers to others within the community. The American Psychological Association defines it as a person who has same-sex emotional, romantic or sexual attraction. The stigma surrounding the idea of being gay KRISTA LECHER persists within many aspects of society, which can hinder or even prevent many people from coming out. Some people may know they are ready to come out sooner than others. The Cass Theory, developed in 1979 by clinical psychologist Vivienne Cass, explains that there are six stages people go through when they are questioning their sexuality. It’s a process I wish I had known about before I finally made the decision to come out because it would have helped me to understand what I was going through. The first is identity confusion. It is when questioning begins — and there may be some denial and confusion. Comparison is where you accept that your identity may separate you from

YOU’RE GAY? ARE YOU SURE? Coming out is the single worst — and best — thing that can happen to someone. It can be really terrifying, but uplifting. others. Tolerance is coming to terms with your sexuality. Acceptance is the stage where the questions and confusion associated with your sexuality are resolved — knowing becomes understanding. Pride is the beginning of feeling satisfied about your identity and entering the LGBT community. Identity synthesis is the integration of your sexuality with the other parts of your personality and lifestyle. Not everyone goes through these stages back to back, or at all. It can be pretty daunting — the whole having to tell everyone that you are not who they thought you were. But it will be fine. And coming out is absolutely your choice. You can tell whomever you want, whenever you want, however you want. I found the best way to come out is to just say it, which is supported by evidence of a study done by Boston University School of Public Health researcher Emily Rothman. She found that there is a positive impact on overall health after coming out. If you feel the situation is serious, prepare what you want to say and go over it in your head beforehand. As with most things, there are a few common steps that people take when they want to come out. Define your sexuality in a way that is comfortable for you. Make sure your situation is safe. If you feel unsafe in any way, you are not obligated to come out. Do what is right for you

— no one is entitled to your identity. Think of the questions you want answers to before this point and be ready to answer them until your brain goes numb. Let it build up, begin with those you are closest to and slowly move out to others until you feel you are done. The people you come out to will need time to allow this information to sink in. Give them time. Be ready to answer and discuss things with those who may genuinely want to know more about your sexuality and the community. But always do what makes you feel safe. This is for you. For some, this discussion is a serious conversation. But if you feel you can approach it more lightly, lgbtlaughs.com and Buzzfeed have some suggestions as to how you can lift the mood. They include such things as recording your voice saying “I’m gay” in a Build-a-Bear and giving it as a gift, knitting a rainbow scarf and seeing the reaction when you give it as a gift or having a set of rainbow balloons delivered to someone that says, “I’m gay!” You should know that it will never turn out exactly how you imagine it will, but everything will be all right. If you want to know more about coming out, resources are available. PRIDE, a UE LGBT student organization, meets weekly at 9 p.m. Monday in School of Business Administration 251. And Tri-State Alliance, a local support group, sponsors a meeting for those 18– 29 at 7 p.m. Sundays at 501 John St., Suite 5. You can also find information on coming out at trevorproject.org and itgetsbetter.org.

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

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RANDOM

W NOT SO CAFFEINE-FREE

When people crave the warm, rich flavor of coffee without that punch of caffeine, they go for decaf. People believe that because coffee is decaf — having been rinsed with ethyl acetate — the beverage is completely free of all traces of caffeine, but that’s actually not the case. Decaffeinated coffee simply has a reduced amount of caffeine. In a 2006 report by the Journal of Analytic Toxicology, nine types of decaf coffee were tested and found to have 8.6– 13.9 mgs of caffeine, while a regular cup of coffee has 95–200 mgs. To put that into perspective, a can of Coca-Cola, reports the Mayo Clinic, has between 30 and 35 mgs. Dr. Bruce Goldberger, director of the University of Florida’s William R. Maples Center for Forensic Medicine, warns against drinking a lot of decaf for those cutting their intake. “If someone drinks 5–10 cups of decaffeinated coffee, the dose of caffeine could easily reach the level present in a cup or two of caffeinated coffee,” he said.

FINDINGS RYAN|MURPHY

NOT AS MUCH ENERGY AS EXPECTED

IT’S POSSIBLE TO OVERDOSE on caffeine. Roughly 100 cups of coffee in four hours could kill an adult.

IS DARK ROASTED FULL-BODIED? “Dark roast” is a term many people use to distinguish strong coffee from normally caffeinated blends. People think that the title means the caffeine content will be drastically higher, but, in fact, the richer blend has less caffeine. Dark roast comes from roasting coffee beans through a longer process. According to an NPR article, doing so causes the caffeine in the beans to get burned off. The less time the beans are roasted, the more caffeine is present in the blend. How’s that for a wake up call?

STARBUCKS COFFEE has more caffeine than energy drinks. A 16-ounce Monster has 160 mg, or half of a grande.

THE PERFECT CAFFEINE CLOCK People everywhere start their morning routines with coffee. They let the smell of the rich blend fill their nostrils before they down the beverage and enjoy the rush of caffeine kick in, so they can truly wake up and meet the day. While the body might like the sudden kick, the brain has a different biological plan for when coffee should be consumed in order to get the most out of a cup of joe. That plan is called the circadian clock —

a daily cycle that our bodies use to deal with alertness. It starts roughly at 8 a.m., fairly early for most people. The brain is completely full of a chemical called cortisol, which is naturally occurring and helps keep the body alert. It begins to drop off at 9:30, so that’s when the first cup of coffee should be enjoyed. Cortisol levels rise again before falling at 1:30 p.m., so that’s the perfect time for a second cup. Who needs to have five cups a day when only two will do?

Caffeine doesn’t just help humans. Recent studies show it actually increases long-term MEMORY OF BEES.

Caffeine is what keeps everyday coffee drinkers and energy drink chuggers going throughout the day. The energy it gives creates an intense rush for the drinker, and, thankfully, it’s all natural. So the caffeine in plants must give any animals that eat it the same intense jolt, and any bugs that eat the plants to go hyperactive, right? Well, not quite. Caffeine in its natural form acts as a natural form of pesticide when its found in plants like coffee beans, tea herbs, guarana and yerba mate. In high quantities, it’s toxic to insects and acts as a natural herbicide. If it gets into the soil, it will stop weeds from growing around plants.

MESSING WITH THE MIND Caffeine is perhaps the most widespread drug on the market today. It stimulates the mind to keep people awake and alert and stays in the system for several hours at a time. How does it do it? By mimicry. Caffeine looks and acts a lot like a natural chemical made by the body called adenosine. Adenosine is produced in the body and builds up throughout the day. Once the amount of adenosine reaches a certain level, the chemical will bind with special receptors that will immediately tell the body to get ready for bed. Caffeine attaches to the receptors to cause the opposite effect by blocking the adenosine from binding and allowing the brain to stay awake and alert, despite the fact it should be getting tired. This also explains why, when caffeine works out of the system, the adenosine rushes on the receptors all at once, sending massive amounts of the tired signals, creating the infamous caffeine crash.

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

VOICES MODERN PERSPECTIVES >

IT’S NOT WOMEN VERSUS MEN

Feminism is people versus sexism. But feminism has become a four-letter word. How can we change that? You’re probably thinking I’m just another angry, lesbian feminist. I’m not. I’m a frustrated, lesbian feminist. So are many of my fellow feminists — lesbian or otherwise — and you should be too. I’m not just talking to the other women out there either. I’m talking to the student body — men, women and all other genders alike. Our society is really dysfunctional, especially when it comes to gender, and that should upset you. From the moment we are born — even before then — everybody wants to know if you are a boy or a girl. People are talking about whether you will be a heartbreaker or a ladies man before you can see 10 inches in front of you. That’s a lot of pressure. Then, once they do know, it shapes the way they treat you for the rest of your life. I’m a feminist partially because people are too obsessed with shoving children into gender roles before they can walk. I’m frustrated because we live in a sexist society. And I’m concerned because, believe it or not, the same sexism that hurts women also hurts men. Feminism is the belief in equality for all genders. It seems simple enough, but there are still a lot of myths painting it as a “four-letter word,” so let’s look at what it’s not. Feminism is not women hating men or putting men “in their place.” I don’t know where

Crescent Magazine | September 2016

that “place” would be anyway. And it is not women taking over or dominating men. Granted, we still live in a patriarchal society and feminists want to repair it. The goal is not to replace it with a matriarchy but to even the playing field. And it is not about women being more like men, either. You don’t have to be a tomboy to be a feminist. Feminists can be girly, they can be stay-at-home mothers and they can be men. We live in a society that does not always respect women. A 2012 Pew Center Research survey reported that women in the workforce only earn 84 percent of what men do. That is the difference between earning $14.90 and hour and $17.79 an hour. The same survey reported that 51 percent of mothers said being a working mom makes it harder for them to advance in their careers. Raising children is hard for everyone, but society does not punish working fathers the same way it punishes working mothers. Pew reported that a mere 16 percent of fathers said having children makes it harder to advance in their careers and 17 percent said reducing work hours hurt their jobs. This shows that women in the workforce are being discriminated against for no other reason than the fact that they are women. The pay OLI ROSS-MUSICK gap alone is bad enough, but the fact that women are suffering for being working mothers is wrong. Plus it’s contradictory. An outdated, sexist society would blatantly say that women belong in the home, taking care of children and tending house. That is a sexist remark, but the same idea still persists in a much subtler way. Women today are still expected to have children. But, when they do, their careers suffer for it. It’s a classic no-win situation. If you are a man earning $2 more an hour than your female equal, it probably seems that this does not affect you — but you should still care. The fact that women earn $2 less an hour is wrong. Closing the pay gap will not hurt you. If you believe that the pay gap does not affect you, then you should care because indifference allows oppression to exist. Yes, feminism is about fighting for women’s equality. First wave feminism of the 1920s was all about gaining the vote, second wave femi-

nism in the 1960s was about closing that pay gap and third wave feminism of today is meant to tear down gender roles and shift the focus

The fact that women EARN $2 LESS AN HOUR than men is wrong. Closing the pay gap will not hurt you. from white middle class women to women of all races around the world. But it doesn’t just benefit women. Believe it or not, feminism has its benefits for men too. Men are criticized by society just as much as women. They are expected to be macho, muscular, leaders with thick skins who rarely show emotion. This is unfair. The third wave criticizes all gender roles, not just those imposed on women. What many people don’t realize is that sexism is a double-edged sword and feminism is the solution. It recognizes that men can be victims of domestic violence and unfair stereotypes. On the surface, the patriarchy seems only to attack women, but a closer look reveals that it stifles any behavior that doesn’t fit the binary. Women are taught to be aware of how they look — they have to look pretty but cannot wear anything too revealing. Men are taught not to show any outward affection to other men. If physical contact lasts more than a few seconds, people assume they are gay and often ridicule them for it. These are just some of the injustices that sexism creates. But simply being aware of what is wrong does not solve the problem — you have to be involved. Doctors don’t tell you that you have a broken bone then send you home. They inform you of the problem and then fix it. It is the same way with activism. You have to talk about injustices — if you don’t, nothing changes. Conversely, you do not have to stand on soapboxes preaching feminist ideals to passersby. Don’t wear yourself out trying to change everybody’s mind at once, but do take a stance. Recognize the problems and let others know you are frustrated. Bring it up in conversation. Try to persuade your peers that things really need to change. Don’t stay silent. If someone in your group makes a sexist comment or joke, call them out. You don’t have to yell at them or criticize them as a person to get your point across — you can correct them gently. But say something. Spreading awareness is the first step in solving an issue. The next step is speaking out. Gender equality can only make life easier.

PROFILE < INNOVATION

‘‘

We found they were more anxious, more self-monitoring.”

GAUGING JURY BIAS

Emotions run high in courtrooms, and that kind of pressure can result in biased juries, the group that affects outcomes. RYAN|MURPHY Courtroom pressure is not just on judges, defendants and prosecutors. It is also on juries — those groups who have the lives of others in their hands. Juries are supposed to be impartial so verdicts can be arrived at based solely on the evidence presented. And many hold the belief that racially diverse juries give the best results where impartiality is concerned. Senior Breigh Anna House put this belief to the test. The psychology major spent last semester working on a project that focused on how the language and opinions of those serving on juries differ based on how racially diverse the other jury members are. Maggie Stevenson, associate professor of psychology, initiated the project, and House was happy to step in and complete it. “I could just tell that she had this passion

for the subject matter,” Stevenson said. “I think she’s really going places.” And House was equally happy to take the reigns on the project. “She’s an amazing mentor and an amazing professor,” she said. “I’m glad I got the opportunity to work with her.” House began working on the project with Stevenson after she offered the research assistant position to students in her Psychology 246, “Research Methods in Psychology,” course. After accepting the position, House worked hard to earn some of the most competitive grants available for this type of research. The project was one of long-running interest to Stevenson, who said she has been gathering information from court cases and preparing the research for the past seven years. With much of

the preliminary work done, House was able to ease into her role as researcher and complete the experiment, which took a semester. For the experiment, House had 301 undergraduate, nonblack students read through an online mock trial transcript concerning different crimes. Participants believed they would be deliberating with other jurors, but they were actually interacting with preprogrammed jurors, portrayed as either white or as racially diverse. Participants determined their verdicts and responses privately and then sent them to House, who put the short-answer responses into a program that counted the number of times each person used certain words, tallied negative language, evaluated overall writing style and calculated each person’s word count. > Breigh Anna House While the negative > Senior language was unaffect> Psychology ed by jurors’ race, the findings showed that > Evansville, Ind. participants in all-white juries had much higher word counts, took less time to write, made more social statements and used fewer first-person pronouns. But participants were more cautious in racially diverse juries. They were more careful with word choices and stated their opinions as their own beliefs instead of the beliefs of the entire jury. This affirmed the project’s hypotheses. “We were [expecting] the racially diverse jury would be more angry,” House said, “but we found they were more anxious, more self-monitoring.” But Stevenson said she was not surprised since she expected the racially diverse subjects to be more self-monitoring based on research previously gathered about similar situations. “White people fear being perceived as prejudiced,” she said. “They don’t want to come off as being racist.” House does not plan to stop here. She went to a conference last spring in Atlanta to present her findings and left with the best student research presentation award. She also submitted her work for publication in a journal called “Translational Issues in Psychological Science.” As Stevenson’s assistant again this year, House said she is looking forward to taking the jury bias research to its next level.

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

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2020

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VOICES < WITHIN FAITH

TRUMP, MUSLIMS

AND HATRED The Republican presidential candidate will stop at nothing to get elected as he demonizes American Muslims. More than 13,700 soldiers have died in various wars since 9/11. Among those was Humayun Khan, an Army captain who was killed in Iraq in April 2004. After 12 sorrow-filled years and many months of listening to Donald Trump’s attacks on American Muslims and how unpatriotic he claims they are, Khan’s parents spoke out in June against Trump at the Democratic National Convention. The Khans wanted the country to know that American Muslims have sacrificed their lives fighting terrorism, not plotting America’s downfall. Khizr Khan spoke of his son’s tragic death and urged Trump supporters to rally against him. He said the Republican presidential candidate is full of ignorance and arrogance, especially his call to ban Muslims from entering the United States. “Let me ask you: Have you even read the U.S. Constitution?” Khan asked Trump during his address to convention delegates. “I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words “liberty” and “equal protection of law.” Rather than expressing remorse for the family and apologizing for his anti-Muslim statements, Trump attacked the soldier’s parents. He issued a statement claiming that Ghazala Khan did not speak at the convention because her husband did not allow her to do so. But Ghazala was quick to say that she still gets emotional when speaking of her son. While most people saw Trump’s accusations as wildly inappropriate and misplaced, he stuck to his rhetoric. But after realizing he was once again being seen as an insensitive jerk, Trump issued another statement apologizing for the family’s loss. But he added that Khizr had no right to attack his knowledge of the Constitution. Trump is ignorant about lot of things, including laws governing religion in a democratic society. Last November, he said if elected, American Muslims would be required to carry an identification card, marking them as members of Islam. Not only that, but he also suggested that spying on Muslim neighborhoods and mosques would be beneficial to stopping localized terrorism. These are laughable notions. Americans have freedom of religion, speech and expression. The First Amendment guarantees these rights. And we all know that if voted into office he would not be legally able to carry out such an unconstitutional plan. Plus, it is morally wrong. Nothing that he can say or do will ever convince Congress — and more importantly the majority of Americans — that this Nazistic approach is acceptable. Identifying and spying on American Muslims in such a blatant way dehumanizes them and makes them outcasts in a world where they are already

regarded with suspicion and hatred, not to mention what it would say about the rest of us if we allowed it to happen. Blaming the 3.3 million American Muslims for the hatred of a few is ridiculous. There is always a small percentage of any group — racial, ethnic, religious or otherwise — that go against the beliefs of the whole. And unlike the teachings of radicalized Islam, the Quran speaks peace. In fact, there are 200 verses in the text advocating love and respect that say Allah rewards those who practice peace. It appears that Trump LILY RENFRO hasn’t read the Quran. Instead, he focuses on his own belief that all Muslims are bloodthirsty terrorists. Islam prides itself on its loving, peaceful ways. As a whole, Christianity has a lengthier and more violent history than Islam. In spite of this, Trump has never applied the same logic to Christianity that he does to Islam. Because Christianity is the dominant U.S. religion, it is impossible for large-scale discrimination against it to ever happen. Because Islam is smaller and has been associated with terrorism, it is not impossible that American Muslims could be persecuted the same way Jews were during World War II. Trump is playing on fear and ignorance in order to achieve political glory. He is employing the same tactics to separate Muslims from the rest of the population, to demean them and make them pariahs. The fear and hatred of ISIS is fueling the fire. Everyone is nervously anticipating another 9/11 attack, another Orlando shooting, another Paris bombing. Trump is misplacing the blame. He is making American Islam a scapegoat for ISIS. He is generalizing and stereotyping, both of which are reprehensible. And that is exactly what ISIS wants. They want fear festering in the hearts of Americans, in the minds of all the families they want dead. They want war; they want blood. And as President Barack Obama said, “If we fall into the trap of painting all Muslims with a broad brush, and imply that we are at war with the entire religion, then we are doing the terrorists’ work for them.” Trump thinks that by demonizing Muslims he is protecting others; that he is the savior who will “Make America Great Again.” He needs to move past hatred and fear. He needs to move past discrimination. American Muslims are just as patriotic as other Americans. Discrimination against them is already too high. In electing Trump, the U.S. will be adding severe amounts of hate and despair to America.

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

RANDOM WHO KNEW? >

RUNNING THE NUMBERS 3,000 In movies, glass breaks slowly to show tension building, but the cracks really move at 3,000 mph.

Do humans have a MATING season? While humans aren’t bound by environmental restraints like other animals, we still follow patterns when it comes to mating. Babymed. com reports most births occur in the summer, meaning people have more sex in the fall and winter months. Infidelity also drops in the winter as people are forced to spend more time with loved ones. But for humans, choosing a mate is not entirely biological; during the Victorian era, it was custom for the eligible children of elite families to enter a season of courtship from April to July. Women who hadn’t found a man by summer were doomed to spinsterhood.

293

Why are footballs called PIGSKINS? The belief is that the name comes from the fact they were once made from the skin of pigs, but that is not the case. Footballs were originally made from animal bladders — usually pig. The gross part was inflating them. The use of animal bladders ended in the 1860s, and now they’re made from cowhide or vulcanized rubber.

The number of ways to make change for a $1 in U.S. currency — better save those quarters.

100 A hockey puck can be hit with a slapshot at more than 100 mph, which is faster than most fastballs.

35,144 There are that many museums in the U.S — more than double the 17,500 museums in the ‘90s.

What is it about bulls and the color RED? The color red often symbolizes anger and rage for humans, but bulls and other cattle cannot even see the color red because they are colorblind. So why does the color red make bulls charge full speed ahead? It turns out the thing that actually angers the bull is the movement of the cape, not the color. Actually, bulls will passionately charge matadors’ capes no matter the color of the cape. It turns out the reason red capes are used is to cover up the blood spatters that often accompany bullfights.

How do PARROTS learn to talk? Parrots have two tricks up their wings that help them imitate human speech: their brains and organs called the syrinxes. Parrots are vocal learners — animals that can imitate sounds. This includes lyrebirds, seals and even bottlenose dolphins. What sets parrots apart is their ability to imitate human speech. Some thought this ability came from well-developed brains, but new research has found that it’s how their brains are structured. There are two parts of a parrot’s brain — the core and the shell that surrounds the core. Birds with larger shells are the ones who have the ability to imitate human speech. Parrots also

Crescent Magazine | September 2016

have an organ called the syrinx — similar to the larynx in humans — that helps them produce human noises. While these imitations are impressive, they shouldn’t be confused with actual language. Parrots do not have higher functions of thinking but do seem to understand the concept of vocal symbols. Parrots are able to associate human language with objects, colors, shapes and numbers. Even with this limited understanding, when pet parrots escape, they can teach the phrases they have learned to wild flocks. Because parrots are social animals, communication is an important part of their lives.

What’s up with those strange white WIGS? Powdered wigs, or perukes, became all the rage in England after a syphilis outbreak in the 1870s caused people to lose their hair. Worried about their social status, some bought powdered wigs to cover up bald spots. The wigs became fashionable when King Louis XIV ordered 48 wigmakers to cover up his naked noggin.

VOICES < ADULTING

LEARNIN’ LAUNDRY Has your mom done your laundry since forever? Well, Mom’s not here. With laundry facilities in every residence hall, it’s time to learn how to wash your clothes. Here are a few tips so your favorite jeans don’t shrink. Your clothes have tags in them. Those symbols that look like hieroglyphics actually mean something. Laundry is like a science — different types of clothes have different formulas. As explained by One Good Thing, if you know the meanings behind the following symbols and codes, then you know what your clothes are trying to tell you.

wash

bleach tumble dry

iron

dry clean

MORE DOTS equal MORE HEAT MORE BARS equal MORE GENTLE

WELCOME TO

ADULTHOOD Getting used to the many responsibilities of adult life can be challenging for most of us. Once you arrived on campus, you left behind all those perks you got from living at home — like clean laundry, good meals and your own room. And once at school, there is no one to nag you to get your homework done and no set curfew to follow. On the other hand, no one is here to tell you when to get your oil changed, to fix your dinner or to remind you to watch how much money you are spending. Your parents aren’t around to do these things anymore. We have reached an age where we need to take care of things ourselves. That is adulting. TIME defined this new verb in a June article as doing things adults regularly do. This is where this column comes in. Its job is to fill in the gaps because many of today’s parents seem to want to do everything for their children, no matter the age, no matter the thing. This column is going to help you learn things you might not have by allowing you to take charge of

those “scary” adult activities and do them like it’s no sweat. Some of what it means to adult is LEA ARNOLD not our fault. TIME said millennials are trying to adult and recognizes that the transition is sometimes difficult. To us, it feels as if we have to exchange our youth for adulthood, and it’s daunting. And our generation is going through life stages slower than those before us, but college is the time to take the big step into the realm of adulthood. Getting used to paying bills, properly writing emails and communicating effectively with professors may be easy for some, but they also may be tasks you don’t know how to do. This column will explain adult pursuits step by step. Adulting has never been so easy.

cool warm hot perm delicate do low med. high press gentle not

OUR CHANCE TO VOTE

FOR EXAMPLE

Wash in Any Tumble dry warm bleach with medium water on temp on perm press gentle

Do not iron

There is also a symbol with a hand dipping into the bucket that means hand-wash. And anything with an ‘X” through it simply means do not do it, There are dryer symbols too. It’s a little circle inside of a square. The dots and the lines underneath mean the same things as the washer symbols. But if there’s an X through the box, it means to airdry the garment. And while you may not own any clothes that require dry cleaning, when the time comes, make sure you pay attention to the big circle. It means do not wash!

U.S. News & World Report found that more than 22 million people between the ages of 18–29 — about 49 percent of all Americans in this age group — voted in the 2012 presidential election. With this year’s presidential election so polarizing, students should be rushing to the polls on Nov. 8 — or beforehand — to get their votes heard. Though it may seem like more work than it’s worth, registering to vote is not a complicated process. To register online, you can do it simply by going to rockthevote. com, which is a super user-friendly website. Once there, you’ll see “Register to Vote.” Click it. From there, the site takes you to the application where you fill in the infor-

mation and click when you’re finished. It just takes seconds. Also found on the site is a link

to vote — and many of us can’t — you need to apply for your absentee ballot to be able to vote. But remember — it is getting close to being too late to register. Don’t procrastinate. Most state deadlines for registering are in October. If you plan to register, you can also also visit usa.gov/voter-registration-deadlines to find out your state’s deadline and a link to your home state’s election registration site. You can register from there and also apply for your absentee ballot. This is our first chance to vote in a presidential election. It only takes seconds to register and it could make all the difference in this year’s election.

Millennials are more than 80 million strong and growing, | Rock the Vote

to the student guide to voting. Just go to the bottom of the page and select Student Voting under Voter Assistance. It will take you to the Brennan Center for Justice. By selecting your state on the interactive map, you can get all your questions answered about registering, absentee voting and early voting. While different states have different deadlines for registering to vote, so are the deadlines for submitting your absentee ballot and early voting. If you can’t go home

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

SNAPSHOTS THROUGH THE LENS >

During Welcome Week, seniors Jalen Lee and Ruoqi Tian teach international students about campus life. | Natalie Christy Away from the lanes, freshmen Homoud AlSabhan, Hussam Taj and Ahmed Mohamed bond over a game of pool. | Natalie Christy Bowling and bonding. Junior Chieko Yamada and exchange student Sunghee Lee cheer on their friends. | MaKayla Seifert Freshmen Oti Oritsejafor and Abduludman Almutari and junior Sammi Shuler break the ice. | Taylor Williams Freshmen Abdullah Ajandali and Andrea Fuentes Rivero react to one of the International Orientation Leaders skits. | Taylor Williams

A different ADVENTURE While school has been back in session for a month, the memories live on. International students arrived earlier than most and enjoyed special ways of getting used to campus and their surroundings.

Crescent Magazine | September 2016

Welcome UE Families!

Love you, Dad! Did I mention I am running low on cash?!

Done – money transferred to your Old National account. Keep studying.

ONB Student Checking has convenience written all over it. Look at all it comes with:

Mobile Banking1 with Mobile Deposit2

Popmoney®

Digital Wallet

Free ATM Withdrawals3

Purchase Rewards

Account to Account Transfers

Visa Debit Card4

eStatements

University Square, 1925 Lincoln Avenue • ATM located in Ridgway Center Lobby hours: Monday-Thursday, 9am-4pm and Friday, 9am-6pm Drive-thru hours: Monday-Thursday, 9am-5pm and Friday, 9am-6pm

FAMILY

weekend Sept. 23–25

Some things to do with your folks! Bring the whole family!

1-812-469-7830

student.checkingmadebetter.com

There are no Old National fees to use Mobile Banking; however, there may be charges associated with data usage on your phone. Check with your wireless carrier for more information. 2Not all accounts or customers are eligible for Mobile Deposit. Deposits subject to verification and may not be available for immediate withdrawal. See Terms in App for deposit limits and other restrictions. 3Old National will waive our fees for the first five cash withdrawals per statement cycle from other banks’ U.S. ATMs; however, fees may be charged by the bank owner of the non-Old National ATM. 4Subject to credit approval. 0416-009 Member FDIC 1

Friday, Sept. 23 7 p.m.

“Musical Bingo,” sponsored by UEMTA, SOBA 170 7:30 p.m. UET’s presentation of “Failure: A Love Story,” Shanklin Theatre 9 p.m. Family Game Room, Class of 1959 Gallery, Ridgway University Center

Saturday, Sept. 24 10 a.m.–10 p.m. Family Game Room, Class of 1959 Gallery, Ridgway University Center 10 a.m. Greek Life Open Houses 11 a.m. Self Defense for UE Moms and Daughters, Student Fitness Center 1:15 p.m. Ice Cream Social, East Terrace Lawn, Ridgway University Center Lobby 2 p.m. Family Weekend Concert, Neu Chapel 7 p.m. Illusionist and Musician Kid Ace, Eykamp Hall 7:30 p.m. UET’s presentation of “Failure: A Love Story,” Shanklin Theatre

View the full schedule of events at evansville.edu/parents/familyweekendschedule.com. Contact ueparentrelations@evansville.edu or 812–488–2586 for more information.

Get your

GEAR at the

UE BOOKSTORE RedShelf ebooks now available thru Sept. 10

• Monday–Thursday: 8 a.m.–6 p.m. • Friday: 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. • Saturday: 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

Ridgway University Center • 812–488–2678 • evansville.bkstr.com September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

PROFILES FASCINATING PEOPLE >

all the world’s

A STAGE TOBY|KUHNKE

Not many students can say they have their own IMDb page, but senior Rachel Woods can. And on her list of credits is a movie that, for some, is a childhood favorite — “Hannah Montana: The Movie.” The theatre major landed the role when she was 11, and before she knew it, she was walking the red carpet with the A-list celebrities she shared the screen with. Woods, who played Phoebe Granger, the daughter of a British reporter, said she did a British accent for her audition. The director didn’t even know she wasn’t actually British until he called her back to tell her she got the part. “Billy Ray [Cyrus] I have to thank for [getting that role],” Woods said. “He was adamant about pulling local talent.”

“Hannah Montana” was filmed partially in Franklin, Tenn., Woods’ hometown, so it was the perfect opportunity for her. But while she said she is grateful for the opportunity, she has put that experience and role behind her. “You’ve got cameras in your face,” Woods said. “It’s all a blur. It was still a job; I took it very seriously. That’s just the kind of kid I was.” Her IMDb page also credits her with two short films, “Captivated” and “Forever Sam,” which are on YouTube. These shorts were made by Julia Jones, a friend she met in 2013 at the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts. While her Hannah Montana adventure is a thing of the past, acting is still her life. Woods said the Hollywood scene is not really for her —

her real passion is in stage work, especially performing Shakespeare. Woods had the chance to spend the summer of 2015 learning and performing at the famous Globe Theater in London. And it turned out to be an experience that reminded her as to why she loves to perform. “One of the things I loved at the Globe was there was no fourth wall,” she said. She explained that during a performance of “Measure for Measure,” one of the actors approached the audience holding a sword when he noticed a young boy in the audience. The actor handed the boy the sword, and Woods watched as the boy’s face lit up. That connection, she said, is the kind of experience theater should strive to create.

dancing her HERITAGE It is not often a neuroscience major prepping for the MCATs has time for Greek life and other hobbies. But senior Nehchal Bedi cannot imagine not being busy, a sacrifice she is willing to make in order to share her enthusiasm for her Indian heritage. “She’s really passionate about her religion and her family, and she loves to dance,” senior Mitchel Wolf said. “For all the dance philanthropies, she always says, ‘Yes, I will do that.’” Bedi transferred to UE in 2014 and jumped into campus life. The Newburgh, Ind., native took part in everything she could, including working in the Cognitive Neural Science Research Group rat lab and eventually rushing Alpha Omicron Pi as a junior. “I like keeping myself busy,” she said. “It gets hard maintaining all your grades and extracurricular activities, but it builds you as a person. The more you do, the more experience you get.”

Crescent Magazine | September 2016

MACKENZIE | BRUCE

In addition to volunteering at her temple and playing sports with her family, Bedi has been dancing since she was age 8. She taught herself a traditional Indian dance, Bhangra, just by watching videos and eventually began choreographing and performing her own moves. “It’s basically a Northern Indian folk dance,” Bedi said, “but when you see us perform it, it looks like an Indian pop dance. It’s a very powerful and energetic dance.” Bedi also teaches dance programs and even found attentive new learners last spring in her AOPi sisters. Whether it is in her dedication to schoolwork or her culture, Bedi is no doubt a confident and driven woman, and she would not tackle life any other way. “It’s more than her heritage,” Wolf said. “It’s her life, and she embraces it and is so eager to share. That’s the coolest part — she wants to share it all.”

Fantasy

COVER

E N T E R T A I N I N G NEVER-ENDING STORY

GUILTY POINTLESS EXTREME QUESTIONABLE PLEASURES ORDINARY PEOPLE FAME

COMPETITION

VAR MINDLESS EMOTIONALMINDLESS IETYSOCIAL MEDIA STUPID BAD M O ENTERTAINMENT RALLY

DRAMATIC

CELEBRITIES INFLUENCE

MARISA|PATWA and OLIVIA|SHOUP

There are more than 600 reality TV shows currently on the air, spanning genres such as dating and survival to makeovers, cooking and talent competitions. There is something for everyone, but can this kind of TV be bad for us?

hen Tomoaki Hamatsu, an aspiring comedian, applied for a mysterious show-business related job, he wasn’t expecting to be immediately blindfolded and driven to a small Tokyo apartment where he would be forced to live, naked and alone, for the next 15 months with only a telephone, coffee table and magazine rack to keep him company. It turns out, this job was to be the star of a Japanese reality TV show called “Prize Contest Life,” that ran from 1998 to 2000. But it didn’t involve the life of glamour one might assume. Instead, Hamatsu was humiliated daily on national TV and deprived of human connection for more than a year. The purpose of the show was to critique sweepstakes contests that had become extremely popular in Japan. Hamatsu, nicknamed Nasubi for the show — the Japanese word for “eggplant” — was forced to enter these magazine write-in sweepstakes in order to earn his clothes and food necessary to survive. After more than a year of isolation, Ha-

matsu finally raised enough money and was set free. Producers drove him to a TV studio and had him wait in a room, where he stripped naked out of habit. At that moment, the walls of the room dropped away and the ceiling was lifted, revealing to Hamatsu that he had been the subject of his very own “The Truman Show.” He knew he was being recorded, but he didn’t know that those recordings were being broadcast across Japan and that millions of people were watching his every move. Reality TV has exploded in the last 16 years. There were 660 reality TV shows airing in 2015 compared to only four in 2000. But what makes reality TV so popular? And what impact does it have on the viewers and on those being filmed? Lisa Nikolidakis, assistant professor of creative writing, included reality TV assignments in her composition courses when she taught at Temple and Florida State. She said one reason reality TV is so popular is because there is so much variety. Every channel seems to air some kind of re-

ality show, and each appeals to a different audience. She also said reality TV is booming right now because the shows are cheaper to produce than scripted TV. There are no elaborate sets to build and stage and reality stars are not paid as much as actors on other TV shows. But the concept of broadcasting reality is nothing new. It comes from the time of radio game shows, an early ancestor of reality TV. Quiz shows, featuring average people as contestants, flooded the airwaves in the ‘30s and ‘40s and moved to TV in the ‘50s. On one radio show, “Vox Pop,” various hosts walked down city streets, asking pedestrians to answer questions. Listeners loved to hear people like themselves being challenged, and using unpaid, ordinary people saved producers money and gave a sense of authenticity that many listeners related to. People still contribute to their favorite reality programs, but communication today is mainly through social media. We fol-

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

A PODCASTING

PHENOMENON

“Serial” started as a spinoff podcast of “This American Life,” but it turned into an overnight phenomenon that captivated millions of listeners, introducing many to the world of podcasts. It was the first podcast ever to pass 1 million downloads, and CNN said as of December 2014, it has been downloaded more than 40 million times. The first episode aired in October 2014, and by November, it had reached 5 million downloads and grew a fan base faster than any podcast before it. In 2015, “Serial” host Sarah Koenig accepted the first Peabody Award to ever go to a podcast. With the help of Koenig’s clever investigating and soothing voice, “Serial” takes listeners on a journey through the ins and outs, the details and rabbit holes, of fascinating stories that unfold by episode. While all three seasons have been popular, it was the first season, about the murder of Hae Min Lee and the subsequent conviction of Adnan Syed, that drew in so many listeners. Koenig took a look at the evidence the prosecution used to arrest and convict Syed, Lee’s ex-boyfriend, and found some things that didn’t add up. So she decided to do her own investigating and turned it into a podcast. Lisa Nikolidakis, assistant professor of creative writing, said she thinks the podcast’s success is due to the clever way the story of the murder and trials were told. But “Serial” has turned into more than just an average podcast. Syed was granted a retrial in July because of the investigative work of the “Serial” companion podcast, “Undisclosed: The State vs. Adnan Syed.” Nikolidakis said as soon as something like this case gets attention, it becomes impossible for injustices to fly under the radar. While the first season generated attention, Koenig said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that season two, about Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s desertion, actually had more downloads than the record-breaking first season. She also said earlier this year that the next season will deal with identifing the three mysterious members of the band Fugazi. “Serial” has brought podcasts into the mainstream and shows how their impact can be much more than a way to entertain yourself during your daily commute.

Crescent Magazine | September 2016

low all of the Kardashians on Twitter or text in votes to help decide who makes it to the next round of “Dancing with the Stars.” Nikolidakis said people use social media to foster a sense of community; modern technology helps us feel connected to celebrities. She said this is what makes reality TV unique. We can vote for our favorites on “The Voice,” but we have no say in what happens on “Modern Family.” For some shows like “The Bachelor,” the

One of the first reality TV shows was “The Real World,” which debuted on MTV in 1992 and is currently in its 31st season. While it is credited with launching the modern reality TV genre, reality TV did not really explode until “Survivor” premiered in May 2000. Most of the first reality shows followed the competition-based format of “Survivor.” These shows have an appeal similar to sports. Viewers pick a favorite and

A LOOK AT SOME WACKY

REALITY TV SHOWS 2003

2005

“Mr. Personality”

A dating show where one woman dates a group of suitors wearing gladiator masks.

“Who’s Your Daddy”

Adults who were put up for adoption at birth must guess who they think their birth father is. If they guess right, they win $100,000.

2012

2013

“Bikini Barbershop: Jersey”

“My Big Fat Revenge”

Documents the lives of women hair stylists who do hairdos while wearing bikinis.

2013

“Spoiled Rotten Pets” Howard Stern’s wife travels the country to meet people who are so obsessed with their pets that they treat them like royalty.

2013

“Celebrity Splash”

Instead of watching D-list celebrities fox trotting across a dance floor, viewers get to see them jump off diving boards.

viewing experience is not just interactive. It acts as a social occasion where people can get together to watch episodes. The show’s creator introduced a companion program last season called “Bachelor Live,” where host Chris Harrison talked with celebrity commentators and past cast-offs about the most recent episode of the show. But the interaction did not stop there. Fans could phone in or tweet their opinions about contestants and have them read live on-air.

Overweight participants endure a rigorous weight loss program so all they can confront their arch nemeses with their new, skinny look.

2013

“Naked and Afraid”

Two strangers must survive on a remote island for 21 days with nothing else but a personal item and each other. And they’re naked.

2014

“I Wanna Marry Harry”

A bachelor-esque show where 12 women compete to win the heart of Prince Harry. Except it isn’t actually the real Prince Harry.

root for that person or team to win. “Big Brother,” “The Amazing Race” and “American Idol” were some of the biggest early hits, and the most popular reality competition shows today include “The Voice,” “America’s Next Top Model” and “The Biggest Loser.” Nikolidakis said she loves competition shows like “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Top Chef” because they foster a sense of support between the judges or mentors and the contestants.

COVER

But most reality TV today falls under the category “celebreality” — not competition. Celebreality shows, like “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” and “Kendra on Top,” follow people living their everyday lives. And it’s not just famous people either; these shows highlight ordinary people who became stars, as was the case with “Duck Dynasty,” “Kate Plus 8” and “19 Kids and Counting,” making the family famous while appealing to a broad viewership. Nikolidakis said people are drawn to this style because they see the stars as representations of themselves more so than characters on a scripted series. “We see people who look more like us,” she said. “We get to root for real people.” Lora Becker, associate professor of psychology, explained how social cognitive theory applies to why we are so obsessed with reality TV. She said the social cognitive theory is a concept that describes the forces that drive us to imitate what we see other people doing. We watch what happens in society and mimic it in order to fit in. Since reality TV showcases real people, their good — and bad — behavior has a bigger influence on viewers than you might think. And the bad is much more noticeable. “We’re picking up ways to interact with each other that aren’t very socially conducive,” Becker said. Nikolidakis said ordinary people see reality TV stars doing ridiculous things — singing, surviving outdoors, being dramatic — and feel like they could do those things just as well. We often dream of auditioning for “The Voice” or trying to get our crazy family featured on a new reality show. And why wouldn’t we? Reality stars make achieving money and fame look easy. “Fame has become part of the American dream,” Nikolidakis said, “and reality TV seems like the way to get it.” Senior Mitchel Wolf auditioned two summers ago with a friend to be on “American Idol” in hopes of fulfilling that same American dream. The talented theatre major sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and made it to the second round of auditions. “I got a golden ticket and everything, but the second round was a couple months later, and we were already back at school, so I couldn’t go,” she said. “I was pretty upset.” Celebreality can also feature people living extravagantly, like those in the various “Real Housewives” series. Some of the strangest celebreality shows include “Armed & Famous,” where certain C-list celebrities train to become law enforcement officers, and “Vanilla Ice Goes Amish,” as if the rapper’s 15 minutes of fame in the ‘90s wasn’t enough.

Reality TV shows are often considered guilty pleasures. People love to watch them, but we do not always admit it because they are considered stupid and pointless by many of our peers. That said, some shows receive more judgment than others. “You don’t get the same flak for watching ‘The Voice’ as you do for watching ‘The Real Housewives of’ whatever corner of the world we’re obsessed with this week,” Nikolidakis said, adding that the stigma of reality shows being a waste of time comes from a logical place. “The shows aren’t very intellectually challenging or stimulating,” she said. “They require no critical thinking.” Another stigma about watching reality TV is that it is making us stupid, and there might be some truth to that. A 2012 Nielsen Media Research study found that more people watched a new episode of the TLC reality show “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo” than the airing of the 2012 Republican National Convention. But Becker said reality TV is just a way to give the more advanced side of our brains a break — it is not making us stupid. “We don’t have to challenge our minds to understand concepts while we’re watching it,” she said. “It’s playing on those basic emotional responses.” Nikolidakis said some shows pull at the worst of humanity. One example is “Bridalplasty,” a series that ran for one season in 2010 that Nikolidakis featured in one of her courses. In “Bridalplasty,” brides received plastic sur-

gery to compete for the perfect makeover and fantasy wedding. Nikolidakis said it was one of the most disgusting examples of reality TV she has ever seen. “It was morally and ethically questionable in every way,” she said, but added that the reason she thinks some people are drawn to shows like that is because it makes them feel better about themselves. Becker said another reason we are hooked on reality TV is that it is a never-ending story. At the end of an episode of many scripted series, viewers know the resolution is coming. But in reality TV shows, the drama keeps coming and coming and coming. It is real life, after all. People get into trouble every day, and some follow reality stars even after their shows end. “Jersey Shore” was canceled in 2012, but Nicole “Snooki” LaValle still has almost 7 million Twitter followers. And for four years, heiress Paris Hilton teamed up with Nicole Richie for “The Simple Life” until they had a falling out as friends in 2007. But Hilton still has 13.6 million Twitter followers while Richie has almost 3 million Instagram followers. Becker said reality TV also provides different ways to cope with problems. Stars on any of the “Real Housewives” franchise get away with lashing out against anyone who gives them a hard time. How many times have we wanted to yell at or hit someone we don’t like? Even if we do not act like that ourselves, we cannot get enough of the “Housewives’” drama.

A KILLER INSTINCT

Our hearts pounded as we watched the jury convict Steven Avery of the murder of Teresa Halbach. The case seemed unfair to many, but the jurors found Avery guilty, sending him back to prison and sending many viewers into an uproar. Netflix released the 10-hour documentary series “Making a Murderer” in December 2015 and it was an instant mega-hit. On average, 19.3 million people watched each episode that spotlighted Avery’s lengthy battle with — and ultimate defeat by — the U.S. judicial system. You were probably one of those 19.3 million. True crime TV, a subcategory of reality TV, spotlights unique cases, going through every detail step-by-step. Viewers get to play detective from the comfort of their own living

rooms, trying to piece together the clues and figure out who the murderer is before the episode comes to a dramatic conclusion. No two cases are ever the same. These shows have seen a surge in popularity, especially since the 2008 creation of Investigation Discovery, a TV channel dedicated to the genre. It was a result of the public’s demand for more crime-related shows. And it was a huge success. ID was the fastest-growing channel on cable in 2011. Some of the most popular shows on ID in-

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

“They’re able to do things we wish we could,” Becker said. “It plays out our inner thoughts of everything our parents — hopefully — told us not to do.” But reality TV does not just impact the viewers. It also impacts those participating. Kellie McGee, a contestant on “Extreme Makeover,” overdosed in 2005 after she was eliminated from the competition in which “ugly” women were given extensive makeovers with the help of plastic surgery, exercise regimens, hairdressing and wardrobing. And Paula Goodspeed, a woman who auditioned to be on “American Idol,” committed suicide outside of judge Paula Abdul’s house in 2009 after being harshly rejected on the show. The impact of reality TV on those actually on the shows has become harrowing. Psychologist Dr. Jamie Huysman has dedicated his career to treating former reality TV stars. Since starting in 1992, he has treated more than 800 reality TV stars as patients. And the problem, he said, starts with the producers. “Producers have to start being socially responsible,” Huysman said in an interview with Independent magazine. “At the moment, they are taking vulnerable contestants and treating them as what I’d call disposable people. They don’t seem to mind, because when someone goes home and dies, it happens off camera.” Nikolidakis said most people see their lives as boring and fail to remember that reality TV is heavily edited and manipulated by producers. “Producers are able to generate a story and

chaos out of what would otherwise be a mundane experience,” she said. And at least in Wolf’s situation, that seemed to be the case. While she choose not to participate in “American Idol’s” second round, she did meet with producers after receiving that coveted golden ticket. “They didn’t even listen to what I had to say,” she said. “They were too concerned with the intern taking Starbucks orders.” Wolf said the more outrageous a contestant’s stories might be, the more likely contestants were to be featured early in the season. In the end, it is all about making good TV. People have done some of the strangest things as contestants on reality TV shows, such as the man on “Fear Factor” who ate 12 live African cave-dwelling spiders to win a car or the time on “Man vs. Beast” when 44 dwarfs tried to outmatch an Asian elephant at pulling a passenger plane. And who can forget “Dating Naked,” where strangers met on blind dates on a tropical island and — you guessed it — were in the nude. Although reality TV is an entertaining guilty pleasure for many, are the effects on viewers and participants actually worth the laughs? Nikolidakis does not think so. She said she is genuinely worried about what alien anthropologists would think of us if they landed on our planet and got a hold of our TV viewing habits. What kind of message would we be sending to the rest of the universe? Tune in to the next episode of the “Bad Girls Club” to find out.

OMG MOMENTS OOPS, I PICKED THE WRONG ONE — When the star of season 13’s “The Bachelor” broke off his engagement with the winner of the show on the “After the Final Rose” special, he proceeded to ask the runner-up out for coffee.

TYRA’S BREAK DOWN — Supermodel Tyra Banks screamed, “We were all rooting for you!” at Tiffany Richardson, an “America’s Next Top Model” contestant, after Richardson didn’t take getting voted off the show as seriously as Banks expected her to. ANGRY HOUSEWIVES — Reality star Teresea Giudice famously flipped a table during dinner in season one of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” after learning one of the wives was involved in prostitution and dealing cocaine. BOYLE BRINGS THE HEAT — One of the most watched YouTube videos of all time is the moment when Susan Boyle, now famous worldwide for her amazing voice, performed during “Britain’s Got Talent” and stunned a dismissive audience with her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miserables.” SNOOKI GETS BOOKED — Let’s not forget the priceless moment when Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi got arrested for public intoxication during an episode of “Jersey Shore” while screaming to all within earshot that she was a good person.

OLIVIA|SHOUP clude older shows like “48 Hours” and “Dateline on ID” alongside newcomers like “Murder U,” a chilling look at murders on college campuses, and “Wives with Knives,” which features reenactments of gruesome murders of husbands and lovers with the wives commentating. Many people love the adrenaline rush and the feelings of intense anger or fear from watching shows about real-life death. Some might find the subjects repulsive, but Lora Becker, associate professor of psychology, said these feelings are just as important to the brain as the positive ones. “To be a whole person, it’s not a good goal to get rid of all negative emotions,” she said. “We need those emotions, too.” And true crime TV definitely makes us feel emotions we do not like. The shock value of

Crescent Magazine | September 2016

the featured crimes are what makes true crime TV so compelling. Viewers are addicted to following cases that are unexpected or simply unusual. One of the more outrageous examples is an ID miniseries called “The Wives Did It” that spotlights crimes of women in polygamist sects. One episode featured the murder of a sect leader who was killed by wives of another sect leader. Women killers are also highlighted in Oxygen’s popular documentary-style series “Snapped,” which has been on the air since 2004. Each episode examines a different felon, usually a female, who has committed murder or attempted murder. Often the target is the woman’s spouse. And “Making of a Murderer” is only one of Netflix’s popular documentaries on true crime.

There are plenty of other critically acclaimed options, including “The Central Park Five,” “Tabloid” and “Into the Abyss.” Even the more run-of-the-mill shows like “Dateline” take advantage of extreme cases, often dividing particularly juicy cases into several episodes in order to squeeze every last drop of suspense out of each detail. They know viewers love to get a good story out of the crime. “At our core, human beings want narrative,” said Lisa Nikolidakis, assistant professor of creative writing. The structure of true crime shows certainly includes traditional elements of narrative, including conflict, suspense, “good guys” and “bad guys.” True crime shows and documentaries have all the makings of a good story — ones that will not be leaving our TV or computer screens anytime soon.

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JUST HAVE TO SEND A PACKAGE? DO YOU HAVE A FRIEND attending school somewhere else in the country? Maybe you want to send him or her a special present, but are afraid it may be too expensive? Well, now there is a way to send that gift even cheaper than you might have thought. FedEx offers 20 percent off shipping packages. All you have to do is show your UE ID.

DISCOUNTS What better way to take a study break than with ice cream? Well, you are in luck because Cold Stone Creamery, off the Lloyd Expressway in the Target Pavilion, offers a 20 percent discount every Tuesday to students with their college ID. LOCAL SAVINGS

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Just show your UE ID when you checkout and you’ll get 10 percent off your purchase at WESSELMAN’S grocery store, located in the Weinbach Shopping Center just north of campus. The discount doesn’t apply to beer, wine or cigarettes, but everything else is fair game.

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Qdoba Mondays are a great deal for those burrito lovers out there. In order to get a buy one, get one burrito or burrito bowl, just go to Qdoba, 922 N. Burkhardt Road, between 5 p.m. and close on any Monday, show your UE ID and enjoy a couple burritos with a friend — or just save one for later.

MONDAYS

Crescent Magazine | September 2016

BEST KEPT

SECRET Going to the movies can get pretty expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Showplace Cinemas South, 950 S. Hebron Ave., offers movies for under $3. All matinees are $2 and evening shows are as low as $2.50. The movies are always recent releases, so while they may not be the most current ones, you can still catch movies for less than half the price of a regular ticket and before the movie comes out on DVD. Not only are the tickets cheaper, but the snacks are too. You can enjoy a 46 ounce popcorn and a 16 ounce drink for $3 every Tuesday. So, next time you are looking to catch a movie but don’t want to break the bank to do it, remember Showplace Cinemas South.

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MUSIC TIME Need a new playlist for your party, but you do not want to deal with pesky advertisements? College students can get Spotify premium at half-price just for being a student.

EVV: HIDDEN TREASURES Now’s the perfect time to head across town and enjoy a day or the weekend at BURDETTE PARK. The park offers a variety of outdoor activities including a miniature golf course that costs $4 and is supposedly quite challenging. There are stocked fishing lakes that are open at no charge year-round. There are also walking trails, open spaces and you can rent a chalet or camp if you need to really get away from campus. The camping area has shower and restroom facilities and there is also a wooded area for primitive tent camping. Chalets sleep up to eight people. Google Burdette Park for the direct link to the park’s website. Drive time from campus: 20 minutes.

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ARTICLES WITH FREAKY TITLES

UP GRIT CREEK WITHOUT A LADLE

GIVE “THIS WAR OF MINE” A TRY

A RAW WAY TO SHARE VIDEO

While Wikipedia still doesn’t count as a credible source for any of your research papers, the website has recently gotten much better about editing and fact-checking everything that goes into the more than 35 million articles across 291 languages that you can find on the site. And Wikipedia has a fun streak left from its factually questionable past that comes in the form of a list on the website nicknamed “DAFT,” which stands for “deleted articles with freaky titles.” The page gives you articles that were submitted and ultimately rejected but had titles that were just too funny to let disappear forever. Article titles on the page range from the nonsensical — “Clear lake Fudgsicle,” “Mythical chickens” and “Morman seaturtles” — to the satirical — “Apeism : Ape worship and the history of Apeism” — and the all-too-relatable — “‘Stay in Bed’ technique.” Next time you need a little study break, open up a new tab, go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Deleted_articles_with_freaky_ titles and laugh until you cry.

From the beautiful chaos of tumblr, the Denny’s page has risen! It’s perfect for when you’re bored at 2 a.m. and a little slaphappy from too much studying and too much coffee, much like the food Denny’s serves. The social media experts behind the page have managed to take the memes, gifs and inside jokes of tumblr and apply them to everyone’s favorite 24-hour breakfast diner. From funny food-related pics, clever puns and spot on memes, this tumblr page does an outrageously clever job of making fun of itself as the go-to destination diner for the hungry, the hungover and perhaps the slightly deranged. One time a tumblr user asked those who run the page which Denny’s location controlled the account so they could go to that specific restaurant and scream. Denny’s responded with, “[please] don’t scream inside of us.” So the next time you are feeling a little hungry and maybe even a little freaky, head over to blog.dennys. com and you won’t be sorry. They want you to stalk them online.

When someone mentions war-themed video games, most seasoned gamers will immediately think of first-person shooter games. Polish developer 11 Bit Studios teamed up with War Child, a charity that helps children affected by war, to change the concept of war in video games with a grim, stressful tale of survival and humanity in “This War of Mine” and its expansion “The Little Ones” for PS4, Xbox One, PC, tablet and mobile devices. In the game, the player controls a group of civilians hiding out in an abandoned building and must task them with collecting supplies in order to survive while the siege of the city rages all around them. With the expansion, there is the chance to have a small family in the group, or even orphans of war. Will the survivors steal necessary supplies from others? Will they kill others for personal gains or for moral reasons? Will they be able to protect their shelter when bandits attack, or lose everything and everyone? All of that is up to the player’s decisions.

Social media is taking a turn for the raw and unedited with a new video sharing app called Beme. Tired with the fine-tuned, polished videos that have taken over the Internet, the creators of Beme want to let users share moments of their lives the way they saw them. Here’s how it works: Beme starts recording when the sensor on the front-facing camera is covered up. You can use your finger to cover it up, or you can press the phone to any part of your body like your forehead — as the app suggests in the tutorial — so the camera catches exactly what is in your line of sight. When it starts recording, the screen on the phone goes black, forcing the user’s attention away from the screen and onto the thing being recorded. You might look foolish holding your phone over your face, but that’s half the fun. Once you have taken the video, it’s shared automatically. Beme lets its users share the world around them without being buried in their phones — no editing, no filters, no text overlays. Just raw video.

NEW TO

Viewers are tired of whitewashed TV sitcoms and crime dramas where the only minority characters are typecast as either comic relief or murderers. Netflix is turning the industry upside down, and by releasing two original series later this month it is bound to challenge stereotypes that run wild on the small screen. The Netflix Original Series “Easy” premieres Sept. 22. Its eight stand-alone episodes feature diverse characters in Chicago trying to navigate modern society. The comedy-drama spotlights people differing in sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity — there is even an episode completely in

Spanish. The show sheds light on the humanity of various groups, a big step for a low-budget indie series. Marvel releases “Luke Cage” Sept. 30. The comic book company’s third Netflix Original Series centers on Cage, a black man living in Harlem who was just released from prison on a wrongful conviction — and he happens to have bulletproof skin. Cage, who was introduced in Marvel’s Netflix Original “Jessica Jones,” tries to resist his destiny as a superhero but ultimately takes on both criminals and corrupted authority. The serious show makes the viewer question the “dangerous black man in a hoodie” trope.

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

VOICES TRANSITIONS >

Many thoughts flashed through my head in the moments before I clicked “post” on the Facebook status I knew would change my life forever. Concerns about my social life, my career and my safety almost made me decide against revealing my true self. But ultimately I knew I could never be happy living a lie. By coming out as transgender, I willfully placed myself under the magnifying glass of a society that only recently discovered that people like me exist — and does not seem too happy about it. Public opinion about those who transition has evolved from mild discomfort to outspoken rage. So why did I decide to come out? Why would anyone subject themselves to ridicule, odd looks and outright rejection? What could possibly be worth facing society’s wrath? The answer is the condition known as gender dysphoria. While the United States has been slow in properly defining the condition, the U.K.’s National Health Service classifies it as the feeling that your gender does not correspond with your sex. The key to understanding this concept is recognizing the difference between sex and gender. Your sex is your anatomy — or what you are. You can be male, female or intersex (someone born with both genitalia). Your gender is who you are. Gender is a diverse trait which society generalizes as boy or girl, although there are many more ways to describe gender. Essentially, your sex is dependent on your body; your gender is dependent on your mind. Gender dysphoria works like this: Imagine everyone in the world is born either wearing a well-cut suit or soft pajamas. You were born wearing the suit. All your life you have been told you look handsome in your suit, but all you can think about is how nice it would feel to take off the suit and slip into that pair of comfortable pajamas. Your desire to wear pajamas is so great that it is all you can think about, and eventually every compliment about your suit becomes unbearable. You reach a point where you would do anything to be able to wear pajamas. That is how it feels to live your life with dysphoria. Once a person recognizes one’s own dysphoria, it becomes increasingly difficult to live without finding a way to combat it. Fortunately, there are options for transgender people. The most commonly used treatment is hormone replacement therapy. Hormones have become increasingly available through U.S. insurance companies as they begin to recognize that

Crescent Magazine | September 2016

tremely expensive, but hopefully in the coming years more insurance companies will offer to pay for these life-saving procedures and expand its availability to all transgender Americans. So what does this all mean for society as a whole? Well, for starters, transgender people are not going away, nor are we a new phenomenon. There are examples of trans people worldwide and throughout history, including Native American cultures. We are not just some millennial invention. We are a demographic of people just like any other, who have always existed — often in secret, but alKAITLYN ROBKIN ways in fear of being attacked for who we are. Unfortunately, we don’t know how many of us there are. The U.S. Census does not include questions about gender identity. Different studies such as those conducted by the Williams Institute of Law at UCLA have estimated that anywhere from 0.3 percent to 0.6 percent of the population identify as transgender, but these numbers are flawed. There are more people living with gender dysphoria than can be estimated. Some may choose either to forego transitioning. Others may live as their preferred gender without disclosing their status as transgender. This is a problem because without a reliable estimation of the number of trans people in the United States, it is difficult to know how many resources and treatment centers need to be available to facilitate transition and combat dysphoria. Put simply, without a clear idea of the demand, it is impossible to create an adequate supply. Ideally, as our society becomes more aware dysphoria is a life-threatening condition. and accepting of its trans population, more peoHormone therapy is a two-step process. ple with dysphoria will feel empowered to disOne must first take pills daily to block the sex close their identity and take steps toward behormone — either estrogen or testosterone — coming their truest selves. naturally produced by the body. The next step is What needs to happen for us to reach that to add the correct hormone back into the body. point is for cisgender people (anyone who idenThere are different methods for this, but the tifies as a gender congruent with their sex) to way I do it is by injecting myself once a week learn more about us, to stop fearing us. As long with an estrogen shot. I will have to do this evas transgender people are viewed as some mysery week for the rest of my life, or at least until a terious “other,” we will never truly be viewed as better solution becomes available in America. human beings deserving of equal rights. Another option for transgender people is This means you allow yourself to learn more sex-reassignment surgery. For trans men, this about transgender people. It means listening to involves surgically removing the breasts and our stories. It means hearing our cries for help. sometimes constructing a penis. Trans womOnly when we are understood can we be acen can get breast augmentation surgery and, cepted, and only when we are accepted will we more commonly, vaginoplasty. Surgery is exbe able to truly find happiness.

OUR SEARCH FOR PEACE

Coming out as transgender to a not always welcoming world was not easy, but it was the only choice I had.

VOICES VERSES >

DEMONS

IN THE LIVING ROOM When I was about 7 years old, demonic possession became something I believed I needed to be intensely concerned about. I didn’t think this was odd at all. Most of my friends had seen some scary movies, and ghosts and demons became the talk of the playground. But there were some differences between me and my peers. They had cultivated a healthy fear of ghosts, demons and other paranormal entities from scary movies. For them, when the movie was over, the terror was over, and normal life resumed. This was not the case for me. My mother hosted Bible study in our home once a week. Nice, God-fearing church folk would gather on our couches and talk in a way that was half gossip and half evangelical fervor. To a child, it just sounded like boring adults talking about boring adult things. I would have been completely disinterested if my mother hadn’t told me I wasn’t allowed to be present because it was grown-up talk. It made no sense to me. My 7-year-old mind was pliable; it would make sense for them to want to plant the seed of religion into my impressionable mind. So I decided to take matters into my own hands. My bedroom door opened right into the living room, so, once a week, I would retire to my bedroom, and, as soon as I thought the conversation was getting interesting, I would plant my ear at the crack at the bottom of the door. One night they were beginning to transition between gossip and actual Bible talk when a certain woman — I didn’t know her name, but I knew her voice and the face that went with it — said, “I saw a demon this week.” The room fell silent, and I imagined the people sitting on our couches leaning in for more. “I saw him at the foot of my bed when I woke up,” she said. Her description was too detailed to be completely accurate, but she painted a clear enough image to terrify me. The demon was tall and black with piercing red eyes and cloven hooves. Your mind can play tricks on you when you’re in that unusual place between being asleep and awake. I don’t actually think she saw a demon, but I don’t think she was lying either. “I kept thinking, ‘what have I done, Father?’” she said. Lucky for this woman, she knew the magic

a personal essay by TOBY|KUHNKE

words to get the demon to leave her alone. She just had to rebuke the demon, name-drop Jesus a couple times, and the demon would scamper away, defeated. Kind of like Swiper the Fox in “Dora the Explorer.” That was my introduction to demons. I enjoy a good scary movie every now and then, but this was just too real for my 7-year-old mind to handle. Seeing a demon on TV is a lot different than hearing about it from someone in person — but it’s even less scary than when you see one yourself. I now know this was probably nothing more than a grown-up version of a ghost story, but at the time I had no reason to think an adult would lie about something like that. But it was too late by that point. The image of a demon had planted itself in my brain, and that night, I kept imagining the devil standing at the foot of my bed. But, of course, demons could probably take whatever less terrifying form they wanted through possession. A demon could find me in the form of a pig — or a cat even. One night I let the cat outside to do her business and was expecting her back any minute, but in the mean time, I was unprotected from any potential demons. I didn’t think I would be able to recite the proper demon-repelling words if one were to appear. I heard the cat slide through the opening in the screen door onto the front porch. The front door was glass, and I looked through it, waiting for the cat to come pawing at the handle. Instead, I saw a raccoon waddle toward the glass door, and I let its eyes lock with mine, its fat furry rolls shifting with it. It hissed. I screamed. This raccoon was hungry. Hungry, probably, for my soul, and in some deep corner of my young mind, I just knew that I had been possessed with the demon spirit of that raccoon. That was how I knew demons and raccoons to work. Although I admit my education on the topic was limited to what I heard that night through my bedroom door, I’m still a little disappointed in myself that I didn’t muster up the courage to rebuke the devil in that moment. After a month or so of reoccurring terror, I realized that my behavior had not in any way become more demon-like — or raccoon-like for

that matter. No army of exorcists had descended on my house, so I figured the demon had probably passed up the opportunity to inhabit my vessel after all. I was in the clear, but the thought of that hungry raccoon demon followed me. Possession became a real threat in my life, albeit entirely perceived. Things got a little stickier when I was 11 — an awkward age where most children start to figure out that the weird things they bought into when they were younger were actually a load of crap. By this point, my friends had grown out of their belief in demons, but I had a new problem that I had to confront. When I turned 11, I realized something else had gone horribly wrong — I was gay. I looked myself in the mirror and told myself the truth that I knew but didn’t want to face head-on. “You’re gay,” I said. I made myself say it out loud. I was terrified. Just like when I was looking into the eyes of that demon-possessed raccoon. Just like I was with my ear to my bedroom door, listening to stories about demons. I was afraid of myself. A quick Google search will give you lots of theories about how demons might influence homosexuality. Most people who care about that kind of thing seem to think a demon named Sitri is to blame. Some call him the protector of homosexuals, but people have said that about Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and Estelle Getty, too. Myths and stories can keep people in check as long as they believe them. It’s the reason we have fairy tales and Santa Claus. But there’s a difference between telling your child a small lie to get him to behave a certain way and making him afraid of being in his own skin. Believing I was gay because of some demon inside me was in no way out of the picture. It’s easy to listen to someone behind a pulpit talking about sin when it’s about someone else. It’s even manageable when it’s something you’ve chosen to do that you knew you probably shouldn’t have. But when I was staring at myself in that mirror and telling myself that I was gay, I was admitting that I had no control over the situation anymore. My body was in the hands of some other entity, and I couldn’t do anything about it, barring an exorcism, perhaps. I am still religious, but in a different way than when I was unable to separate the real from the fiction — the literal truth from the metaphorical truth. I don’t think I believe in demons anymore. But if I did, I would tread carefully around them, skeptical of their ability to have an effect on my psyche. Maybe a demon made me gay; maybe it was Judy Garland. In the end, who really cares? But maybe that’s the whole reason we make up demons in the first place.

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

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Crescent Magazine | September 2016

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VOICES

She walks into their apartment to find most of her clothes on the floor. “You take up too much space,” he shouts. “Most of this stuff makes you look fat anyway.” This normally happens about once a month, but this time as he goes to put a shirt away on a shelf where she has stored her belongings for years, he sees that her sweatshirts are there. He tosses them to the floor. Then he starts grabbing her things off their hangers. Designer dresses end up crumbled in piles on the floor. She comes home and starts picking up her things, not saying a word. But he pulls things out of her hands and tells her to try them on. It arouses him when she struts down the hallway pretending she’s a model, plus he likes the control. “You really have no idea what you look good in,” he says. “Thank God you have me. Nobody else would be this patient.” She used to cry when he did this, but she learned that only makes him angry. He will apologize later, she reminds herself. He always does. But the modeling makes her uncomfortable — miserable, actually. Many people do not give emotional abuse much thought, and it is common for victims to not recognize that they are being abused. Bruises and scratches are not a result of emotional abuse, but that does not mean victims don’t fight battles. The National Domestic Violence Hotline reports that nearly half of all women and men in the United States have experienced some sort of emotional abuse by a partner. An emotional abuser is someone who makes anothSAM FROST er person believe they are not good enough, are a lesser person, are doing something wrong or a combination of the three. “Emotional abuse is the most common form of abuse — and yet least talked about,” psychotherapist Kali Munro said. Emotional abuse is something people cannot actually see. If a woman walks down the street with a black eye, others can see it. But if the same woman is unmarked, no one knows that she might be constantly insulted, threatened, isolated, degraded, humiliated or controlled by another person. “Emotional abuse cuts to the core of a person, attacking their very being,” Munro said. “Many physical and sexual abuse survivors have

< SEXPLANATION

FROM HAPPY TO HOSTILE Emotional abuse can be just as painful as physical abuse. Learn to know when a relationship goes from good to bad. said that the emotional abuse was often more devastating and had longer-term effects.” Munro said society views many things as “normal” and “acceptable” forms of communication when they are actually abusive. People who have their actions constantly monitored are discouraged from seeing friends and family or have decisions made for them are often being abused. Being humiliated in front of others or constantly accused of being unfaithful are other examples of emotional abuse. These things do not leave marks on the skin, but affect people’s outlook on life and the view they have of themselves. “Unlike physical or sexual abuse, where a single incident constitutes abuse, emotional abuse is made up of a series of incidents or a pattern of behavior that occurs over time,” Munro said. No one knows exactly how many people nationally have been emotionally abused. This may be because it is not always taken seriously and therefore severely overlooked. But the stories of emotional abuse are endless. Even body language can have an effect. “He habitually chose to walk or stand in front of, rather than beside me when we were out together,” she said. “The messages I got were that he couldn’t care less about me. That I could never be his equal anyway.”

Emotional abuse is sometimes hard to recognize and even harder to break away from. It is embarrassing to admit that it is happening to you, especially if you care deeply for your abuser. Victims have to relearn how to love and value themselves and grow to understand that the things they have been told repeatedly about themselves aren’t true. Victims also blame themselves. They think that if they had been better in some way, their abuser wouldn’t have done what they did. “No matter how nice and accommodating you are, nothing you do will change an emotionally abusive person’s behavior,” Munro said. Learning that one is not at fault is one of the hardest things for a victim to do, but the key to healing is placing responsibility for the abuse on the abuser. Victims have to let themselves believe they are valuable. This is challenging and comes in phases. Healthy Place, an online site that provides support and information for those dealing with mental health concerns, recommends that victims seek help when abuse starts to negatively impact work, school and friendships; when friends and relatives start to express concerns and when the victim admits that the abusive patterns in the relationship are long-term and deep-seated. If you think you are being emotionally abused, contact UE’s Counseling Center at 812–488–2663 or visit albionfellowsbacon. org to get information about Albion Fellows Bacon’s services.

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

BRAIN BOMB >

FINGER

}

FOIBLES

BODY LANGUAGE is the first language we learn. Before we even know how to put sounds into words and words into sentences, we can still communicate by pointing with our pudgy little fingers. But hand gestures have cultural meanings too, and different societies may use the same gestures to mean very different things.

{

TURKEY. Playing “I got your nose!” might just get yours broken. In Turkey, putting the thumb between the first two fingers while making a fist is equivalent to the American way of flipping the bird.

ARGENTINA. The peace sign used to stand for a different “P” word: Peron. During and after his exile, Juan Peron’s supporters used the gesture to symbolize the word “vuelve,” which means “return.” FRANCE.

PHILIPPINES.

The “OK” symbol means exactly the opposite in France; it is used to tell somebody they’re worthless. You might mean to compliment a chef, but you’ll just leave him crying into his crepes.

While some cultures find beckoning with the index finger suggestive, in the Philippines it is only reserved for dogs and could land you in jail. Nothing says flirty like, “you’re less than human.”

{

RANDOM

SPAIN. If you ever find yourself at a concert in Spain, don’t flash the “rock on” symbol at a male musician — it suggests that his wife is unfaithful. If you do, the mosh pit will be the least of your worries. GERMANY.

UNITED STATES.

If you learn anything from “Inglorious Basterds,” let it be that when holding up your fingers to show the number three, remember to use the thumb, index finger and middle finger. It just might just save your life.

Before World War II, the Pledge of Allegiance was accompanied by the Bellamy salute that resembles the Nazi salute. After seeing Adolph do it, people bent their elbows and touched their chests. It’s best not support a xenophobic fascist, right?

{

VIETNAM. If you cross your fingers, you probably won’t get good luck, but you’ll definitely get slapped. This gesture is considered obscene because it resembles female genitalia.

GREECE. If a taxi is coming directly at you, whatever you do, don’t hold up an open hand. That means, “I’m going to rub fecal matter on your face,” and it will likely get you painted face down on the pavement.

AUSTRALIA. When offering encouragement in Australia, don’t use a thumbs up. That means “sit on it,” which is only encouraging in very select circumstances.

ENGLAND. While many think it’s a callback to World War II’s “V for Victory,” the two-finger V with the palm facing in is much older. After the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, English archers used the sign to show the French that they still had their trigger fingers.

Crescent Magazine | September 2016

PROFILE < OVERTIME

‘‘

If I’m not doing something soccerrelated, I’m doing something outdoors.”

GOING FULL THROTTLE

Soccer has given this fleet-footed defender the confidence to apply what she has learned as an athlete to life off the field. OLIVIA|SHOUP Confidence is a trait that inspires success. It is what drives people to work hard to accomplish their goals, stand up for themselves and in the case of athletes, lead their teams to victory. Defender Emily Richardson has gained the confidence that eludes many people, and she carries this poise into her daily life. Soccer has helped Richardson to become self-assured and self-aware. She said stepping into a leadership role as a senior member of the women’s soccer team has shown her how important it is to be confident on the field. “I’m definitely more cognizant of decisions I’m making on and off the field,” she said. “If you don’t have confidence, the people you’re leading or the people on your team won’t have confidence either.” The senior communication major has

learned many lessons through sports — and she has been reaping the benefits since she first kicked a soccer ball at age 3. Her parents got her involved in a variety of sports when she was a youngster, but soccer was the clear winner. It is hard for Richardson to pinpoint one thing about soccer she loves the most, but admits that everything about the sport drew her in. She especially loves being with teammates who are as dedicated to the game as she is. Growing up in a military family, Richardson moved frequently and got to play soccer in a lot of different places. She spent kindergarten through fifth grade in Vilseck, Germany, while her father was stationed there. Richardson was initially shocked by how seriously soccer is taken when she started playing in a league there. “There, you come out of the womb and

you’re given a soccer ball,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how old you are. You want to win.” While winning is always important, Richardson said these days she mostly concentrates on improving her game. She has spent the last two summers playing elite soccer for the Women’s Premier Soccer League, the world’s largest women’s soccer league. She was picked up by the Knoxville Force in 2015 and joined the Orlando Kicks this summer. Both teams won their conference championships. “We shared a common goal,” she said. “We wanted to be there, work hard and win when we did it.” Coach Krista McKendree calls Richardson the best defender in the MVC and sees her as the backbone of UE’s back line. Richardson is extremely consistent and McKendree said the coaches — and > Emily Richardson Richardson’s teammates > Women’s Soccer — always know the type > Defender of all-around effort Richardson will give. > Senior “She lives for this > Communication team,” McKendree said. > Elizabethtown, Ky. “She always has the best interest of the team at heart and wants so badly for us to be successful.” McKendree has also seen firsthand how Richardson has grown over the years, sharing that she has always been a hard worker and that has made her a positive role model for the younger players. “Once you become confident in what you’re doing, you can help others achieve the same success,” McKendree said. “She ensures that we don’t allow anybody to settle for less than their best. She’s a leader by example.” Named to the all-MVC first team following the 2015 season, Richardson took the selection by the conference’s coaches as a great honor. And she is hoping to prove them right again this year after being named to the 2016 preseason all-MVC first team. While her final collegiate season will be over before she knows it, Richardson isn’t sure where the road after graduation will lead her. But she does want to play somewhere professionally, whether it is in the states or overseas. “I definitely want to grasp at all options before hanging up the cleats,” she said. “My dream is to play soccer.”

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

CAMPUS

CRIME

The following information was compiled from criminal offense reports filed March 31–Sept. 5 in Safety & Security.

Sept. 3 — Student observed driving recklessly in F-lot. Alcohol found in the vehicle and student admitted to consuming alcohol. Referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action. Aug. 24 — Cash and its contents stolen from the Pepsi-Cola machine in Morton and Brentano halls. Theft apparently occurred sometime during the summer. Loss not reported. Aug. 20 — Physical Plant golf cart stolen from G-lot. Recovered by Evansville Police in the 1400 block of North Garvin Street. Aug. 19 – Student observed drinking an alcoholic beverage while sitting on the porch of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house. Referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action. — A laptop charger cord reported stolen from a Krannert Hall office. Loss reported at $24. Aug. 17 – Student found intoxicated in J-lot. Referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action. — Money reported stolen from a McCutchan Stadium office. Loss reported at $30. Aug. 13 – Four dozen bagels reported stolen from the men’s soccer lounge in McCutchan Stadium. Loss reported at $24. July 22 – A bicycle reported stolen from the Powell Hall bike rack. Loss reported at $120. June 25 – Window of the Schroeder Hall resident assistant office broken. Loss not reported. — Two Xbox videogames reported stolen from an Olmsted Hall office. Loss reported at $120. June 8 – Disturbance occurred in front of the School of Business Administration. Suspect escorted from campus by Safety & Security officers. May 14– Storm door vandalized at 456 S. Weinbach. Loss not reported. May 11 – Nonstudents tried to steal a statue located outside of the Sigma Phi Epsilon House. Suspects detained by Safety & Security officers. Evansville Police notified. Suspects banned from campus. May 6 – Street light in front of Olmsted Hall broken. Loss not reported. May 3 – Sodexo employee reported cell phone and debit card stolen. Items recovered. Employee did not press charges, but subject banned from campus. Loss originally reported at $664. — Mini-refrigerator reported stolen off a Walnut Commons townhouse porch. Loss reported at $99.01. — Student reported being raped. Incident reported to have occurred in April 2016 in Hughes Hall. Suspect identified. Case referred to the vice president for Student Affairs and the Title IX officer. April 18 – Bulletin board and window screen in Hughes Hall vandalized. Loss not reported. — Student reported decorations removed from a student’s door in Hughes Hall. Loss not reported. April 16 – An exit sign in School of Business Administration knocked loose from the ceiling. No loss reported. April 15 – Merchandise reported stolen from the Crescent Magazine | September 2016

UE Bookstore. Under investigation by Evansville Police. Loss reported at $653.90 — Nonstudent caught stealing items from a Pepsi-Cola delivery truck. Driver did not press charges but subject banned from campus. No loss reported. — Yeti cooler reported stolen from Memorial Plaza during Purplepalooza. Suspect reportedly a member of the Drake tennis team. Incident referred to Drake officials. April 13 – Money reported stolen from a filing cabinet in the Multimedia Center in Graves Hall. Loss reported at $35. April 10 – Student observed urinating outside near the Sigma Phi Epsilon house. Referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action. April 8 – Student reported being assaulted in the School of Business Administration. Assault investigated by Safety & Security. April 3 – Two students found intoxicated at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house. Referred to the vice president for Student Affairs for disciplinary action. March 31 – Two nonstudents found parked in a vehicle in J-lot smoking marijuana and in possession of drug paraphernalia. Escorted from campus.

Check out Safety & Security’s resources and policies at evansville.edu/safety/

To advertise in Crescent Magazine, call us today at (812) 488–2221 or 488–2846 or email us at crescentadvertising@evansville.edu

HARLAXTON SEE THE WORLD. START AT HARLAXTON. APPLY NOW.

Office of Education Abroad | SOBA 261 Fall 2017 applications due Dec. 7, 2016 | Summer 2017 applications due Jan. 25, 2017 Apply online at applytoHarlaxton.evansville.edu Visit London and ride the “Eye.”

VOICES < SPORTS JAM

NOTHING BEATS COLLEGE FOOTBALL College football is the best sports experience. With its rich history, great rivalries and fun traditions, what’s not to love? For as long as baseball has been called America’s sport, it is just not true. Football is America’s game. There, I said it. College football has all other sports beat when it comes to marketability, athletes and fan bases, with traditions going back almost 150 years. The NCAA reported in 2013 that during the 2012 season, more than 200 million people were devoted to the sport and watched college games on television, by video streaming and by attending games. Everyone has a favorite team. Some people, like me, spent their childhood going to games with family. No matter the reason, college football reigns supreme from late August through the first of the year. We plan our work schedules around it. We don’t do homework during it. We don’t miss the important rivalries. Parties are organized to watch games with friends. We impulse buy expensive apparel and wear it proudly. The NCAA makes a hefty $4.5 billion annually from merchandise bought by fans like you and me. While those of us who are football fans are devoted to the game, with its goal line stops, great runs up the middle and Hail Mary passes, another great part about the game is the pageantry. Every team has its own distinct traditions, which can lead to arguments when trying to decide which schools have the best ones. For me, Clemson sets the standard for pregame. Their team rubs Howard’s Rock, in honor of longtime coach Frank Howard who told his players that if they worked their hardest they could rub the rock for good luck. Many hands have touched that rock, and players still touch it as they charge down the hill at the top of Memorial Stadium to reach the field. Longtime ESPN broadcaster Brent Musburger calls it the most exciting 25 seconds in football. One also has to admit that the dotting of the “i” in Ohio during the presentation of “Script Ohio” by the Ohio State Marching Band, known as “The Best Damn Band in the Land,” is pretty fun to watch. And Auburn flies a bald eagle around Jordan-Hare Stadium while fans chant “war eagle.” It doesn’t get more American than that. Iowa plays mind games with its opponents since the visiting locker room at Kinnick Stadium is decked out in pink. Lockers, showers and bathrooms are all pink thanks to legendary coach Hayden Fry. He believed the color would put opponents in a passive mode. Even with multiple renovations, the locker room still remains pink. Texas A&M takes pregame pep rallies to the extreme. Every Friday night before a home game, Ag-

gies come out to Kyle Field at midnight for a final rally before the game. Close to 25,000 fans get together to practice different yells and celebrations to use during the game. They truly earn their “The 12th Man” nickname. Wisconsin fans manage to shake Camp Randall Stadium — literally. Imagine more than 80,000 fans packed into the stadium all jumping to “Jump Around” by House of Pain for 3 and a half minutes. That is what happens right before the fourth quarter of every Badger home game. The stadium literally shakes. MATT REED Rivalries in college football are the best. Ohio State and Michigan hate each other — and they like it that way. They rarely use the other’s school name when talking about the other. The Oklahoma and Texas rivalry is so big they need to play the game in another stadium just to accommodate all their fans. But who takes the cake? Alabama and Auburn. You pick a side at birth and stick with it. It also seems as though every car in the state has some sort of Alabama or Auburn sticker adorning it. That obsession even led to an Alabama fan poisoning a famous old tree on Auburn’s campus five years ago. He even proudly admitted to the crime on ESPN broadcaster Paul Finebaum’s radio show. No one takes their rivalry more seriously. And no one takes their rivalries more seriously than college football fans. College players worry about collecting helmet stickers to wear with pride. Their mindset is on winning and being proud of the college name stitched across their jerseys. “It’s the name on the front of the jersey that matters the most, not the one on the back,” coach Joe Paterno once said. As fans, we agree. Fans feel that passion and feed off it. A study completed last year by CBS Sports found that five teams had an average attendance of more than 100,000 fans for the season. College teams also have the 15 largest football stadiums in the country. It is no surprise that the teams with the largest stadiums also have the highest average attendance. Why? Because people love their college football. Sorry baseball. While your division playoffs will begin soon and the World Series will follow soon after, the only way anyone is going to be watching is if there isn’t any football being played. College football is the king of sports and that is not going to change. The passion and excitement of the high charging season just cannot be matched. Boiler Up!

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

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RANDOM

bring IT BACK

Of all the crimes waged against the public and stamped with the Fox Network logo, perhaps the most grievous is the untimely cancellation of the 2002–03 space western, “Firefly.” The show’s episodes were aired out of order and at 11 p.m. Fridays — the time with the lowest viewer ratings. To make matters worse, the unresolved storyline was hectically concluded in the 2005 film “Serenity.” Despite all of this, “Firefly” has gained a cult following that is demanding a reboot, which may happen soon. But don’t look for Joss Whedon, the creator of the beloved show to return to run the show’s reincarnation. Looks like Michael Bay will have that honor. Ron Glass, who played Shepherd Book on the show, is a 1964 UE graduate and now a member of the board of trustees, if anyone wants to start a petition to make sure the reboot happens.

STAYIN’ ALIVE The lifespan of phone chargers seems to decrease every time we buy a new one. They’re fine for a few weeks, but sooner or later, the delicate rubber coating starts to split and fray, and this tiny appliance turns into a giant fire hazard that won’t work properly. But there’s a way to nip this in the bud so you can enjoy that charger for longer.

DOTM

LIFE HACK 1. Remove the small spring from a click pen. 2. Gently stretch the spring out. 3. Spin the spring around the charger cord. 4. Slide the spring beneath the head of the charger to prevent the cord from bending too far.

GO for the GOLD

forbidden apple

It’s not that forbidden apple. This sparkly, fruity cocktail is perfect for those hot late September days when the weather is saying summer, but your heart is aching for fall flavors. It’s got the signature apples and oranges of fall, but it’s bubbly and refreshing from the champagne. Mmmmmm, champagne. LIQUOR.COM says all you have to do is combine the bitters, Grand Marnier and Cavaldos in your glass and top the rest off with chilled champagne. For extra class, garnish with an orange twist.

ingredients: 3 dashes of angostu-

> The record for the most eggs crushed by head belongs to Ashrita Furman, who crushed 80 eggs with his head in one minute on Dec. 10, 2008. > The longest ears on a dog belong to Tigger, a bloodhound, whose right ear measured 13.75 inches and left ear 13.5 inches when measured on Sept. 29, 2004.

> The farthest squirting milk from a eye record belongs to a Turkish man, whose record-winning squirt went a distance of 9 feet, 2 inches on Sept. 1, 2004. > Chris “The Duchess” Walton is the current Guinness World Record holder for longest fingernails. Her nails, which she’s been growing for 19 years, measured 10 feet, 2 inches on her left hand and 9 feet, 7 inches on her right when she secured the record in 2011.

ra bitters | .5 oz. Grand Marnier | 1 oz. Cavaldos | 4 oz. champagne

HEARD IT HERE

“Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won’t expect it back.”

> 102 people hold the record for most naked riders on a theme park ride when on August

< writer Oscar Wilde

funbits

8, 2010, they boarded a roller coaster in southeast England for the chilly ride of a lifetime.

Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna demanded that the Mexican government give a funeral to his amputated leg that he lost during the Pastry War.

Light doesn’t always have to move at the speed of light; it just can’t move faster. The slowest moving light ever recorded was crawling by at 38 mph.

A University of Texas study followed 474 diet soda drinkers for nearly 10 years and found that their waists grew 70 percent more than the waists of nondrinkers.

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

< OFF<THE OFFWALL THE WALL

people tweet

THE DAMNDEST THINGS Whew! Just flew in from Georgia, and boy are my arms racist! @ColesTwitt3r Stomps feet twice and claps over and over until everyone at the funeral is doing it. “We will, we will...miss you.” @murrman5 Narcotics complaint. Caller says a subject in a truck on NW 6th Street is selling fake marijuana. Officers have arrived to make sure it’s real. @EvansvilleWatch Yes, I’m pleased to meet you. No, I don’t want to touch your hand. @MaraWritesStuff I’ve been diagnosed with a type of amnesia where I deny the existence of certain ‘80s bands. There is no Cure. @michaeljhudson Realtor: You’ll see they installed subway tile in the kitchen. Even got a real homeless man to rub his balls on it for an hour. Very legit. @mametown The fire extinguisher was patented in 1863. Before this, fires were put out by encouraging them to get in touch with their feelings. @Disalmanac

Things that PISS us off PEE PROBLEMS

sign is there for everyone’s safety, but if there

Why are the urinals in Ridgway Center nev-

isn’t any traffic around, it’s just a nuisance.

er turned on? No matter how much you wave your hand in front of the motion sensor, they refuse to flush. Sure, Ridgway is environmentally friendly, and we don’t want to waste water, but the lights are on all night. I’d rather see a dark building at night than a cloudy mix of pee.

IMPATIENT TEXTERS Everyone has that friend who texts at inconvenient times. But when your response comes later than is evidently acceptable to that friend, he or she gets all huffy. Sorry. It’s not that I’m avoiding you, it’s that I’m avoiding you.

TO THE LEFT, TO THE LEFT You’ve waited in line for your Chipotle burrito and now have it fastened into the passenger’s seat of your car. You’re about to exit the parking lot when you notice a “no left turn” sign, blocking you from exiting onto Green River Road. Now you’re forced to take the long way, and precious minutes roll by when you could be smashing that burrito into your face. Sure, the

VOICEMAIL Nothing induces anxiety like a voicemail. First, there are the three missed calls from Grandma. Then it takes minutes just to punch in your voicemail’s password and cycle through saved messages. After an eternity, you finally get to Gram’s message only to hear her gravelly voice wishing you a happy Thursday.

Be smarter than a 5TH GRADER Should you use antibiotics when you feel a cold coming on? You shouldn’t. Antibiotics are only effective against bacterial infections. Any viruses you may get can only be fought off by your immune system. So next time, instead of downing those pills, try sleep or hydration. Which amendment gives us the right to privacy? Don’t know? No worries — the answer is none of them. Privacy is actually protected by statutory law. States regulate this right for the interest of public safety and improving the quality of life. How long do you have to wait to report a missing person? Movies and TV shows often play up the myth that you have to wait at least 24 hours to report a person missing. Luckily, real life is not a crime show. There is no waiting period in the real world. Ever needed a quick jump to get your car battery going? The ends of the cables are colored red and black. To make sure you don’t destroy your car, match the cables to the corresponding colors on the battery. In other words, positive goes to positive, and negative goes to ground. How nervous should you be when the National Weather Service issues a tornado watch? Not as nervous as when it issues a warning. Watches mean that atmospheric conditions are favorable for tornadoes to occur, and warnings mean that the radar has indicated rotation in the clouds.

Disney World’s lost and found departments collect more than 6,000 cell phones, 3,500 digital cameras and 18,000 hats every year.

Crescent Magazine | September 2016

The Loch Ness Monster, if it is ever found, is one of the protected animals in Scotland’s Protection of Animals Act that was passed in 1912.

The worlds longest-burning light bulb, called the Centennial, has been burning since 1901. You can watch it burn on a live stream at centennialbulb.org.

Ever have one of those days where you wake up grumpy? Those who suffer from cherophobia — the fear of fun — experience that every day.

PROFILE < A CLOSER LOOK

CONNECTING TO HIS PAST

LACI|ROWE

Green valleys and bright pastures make up the peaceful Irish countryside, but to Daniel Gahan, professor of history, the vibrant land tells a complicated story of combat, colonialism and civilization. Gahan cites growing up in the Irish countryside as one of the biggest factors in the development of his interest in history. Although he intended to study Latin and French during his undergraduate time at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, he found himself drawn to historic events and how they affected his native land. “There was a field about six miles from our little farm, which is called Essex field,” he said. “[It’s] one of the places the Earl of Essex had camped with his army in the late 1500s.” He believes landmarks such as Essex Field tied him to the countryside and everything it has seen. “It was a place where people felt unusually connected to their past and generations before them,” he said. “When you grow up in a place with real history, you can’t help but be aware of generations gone before and be very aware of how fast we’re going too.” This connection led him to focus on agrarian history, taking his studies from the National University of Ireland to Loyola University in Chicago and the University of Kansas. In 1986, Gahan applied to work at UE, and he has been here ever since. While he only intended to stay for two years, this spring marked his 30th. “The primary reason I’ve stayed is the students,” he said. “I have a fondness for the students that go here. I like how pleasant they are, how smart they are, how conscientious they are. I feel at home here.”

Having served as History Department chair, Honors Program director and History Club advisor, he has made an impact on students as well. Senior Megan Owens sees Gahan as welcoming and passionate about giving people opportunities. “You can tell he cares very deeply about students here,” she said. “He wants people to be included in the Honors Program and wants them to get the most out of it. He just wants us to succeed.” While high school education was accessible to Gahan and his family, he sees every educa-

tional opportunity as a gift, and he doesn’t take any of them for granted. Gahan said he is concerned about the equality of opportunity for future generations. “I could not have gone to university had the [Irish] government not adopted some of England’s policies,” he said. His concern for opportunity is reflected in his work, Owens said. Because educational conditions in the past were so lacking, Gahan devotes a lot of energy to the present, leading to unique discussions in the courses he has taught. “He’s very eager to talk and share information,” Owens said. “It’s the warmth he brings that makes it more lively.” Gahan believes kindness is a part of UE’s culture and that professors not only teach their students but also learn and grow with them, and he said the student-professor interactions are what make his job enjoyable. “I actually really like Monday mornings,” he said. “I’ve met too many people my age who never liked what they did or the place where they were working but put up with it. As far as we know we only live one time. If you choose a career your heart is not really into, you’re selling your life away.” In addition to working with students, Gahan has published two books and numerous articles, mostly about the effect the French Revolution had on Ireland. He is particularly interested in the everyday people involved in historical events and how the consequences of those events shaped their lives. “The struggle for justice and equality and liberty has always interested me,” he said. He has applied this research to the history of Irish immigrants in Southern Indiana, which has been a main focus of his recent academic career. He likes to keep his field wide, though, choosing to study new things to avoid becoming stagnant. “In terms of my research, I’d like to do a series of articles or a book on Ireland during the French Revolution or [take a look at] Irish immigration in some other rural part of America,” he said. “Maybe it’s because I grew up in Ireland, and my American part is interested in Ireland here.”

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If you choose a career your heart is not really into, you’re selling your life away.”

September 2016 | Crescent Magazine

TRI-STATE

ALLIANCE

the primary social service and educational organization that serves the diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities of Southwestern Indiana, Western Kentucky and Southern Illinois.

Attend our support groups: • 7 p.m. Saturdays — LGBT Youth Group for those under age 21 • 7 p.m. Sundays — LGBT Young Adult Group for those ages 18–29 501 John St., Suite 5, Evansville Like us on Facebook to find out about our events!

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

TRI-STATE ALLIANCE

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

Gene Wells Senior Director, Career Development

Linda Wulf Associate Director, Career Development

End-to-End Career

Dianna Cundiff Associate Director, Career Development

Abby Michel Assistant Director, Career Development

Development Services:

• Career assessment and major exploration • Job, internship, co-op and graduate school search assistance

YO U R

CAREER S TA RTS H E R E

• Help with résumés, CVs, cover letters and personal statements • On-campus interviewing • Networking and social media utilization • Job posting, résumé sharing web-based system — UE JobLink • Career fairs, events and programming • Mentoring program and alumni connections — UE Connect

Alison Morris-McDonald Coordinator, Employer Relations

Donna Schmitt Senior Administrative Assistant

Connect with the Center for Career Development on social media facebook.com/UECareerCenter • @UE Careers pinterest.com/uecareer/ • youtube.com/user/uecareerservices Join the UE Center for Career Development group on LinkedIn

Emily Fiedler Director, Employer Development

Ridgway University Center, second floor • (812) 488–1083 evansville.edu/careercenter • career@evansville.edu

UPCOMING EVENTS SEPTEMBER 2016 20 Humanities and Social Sciences Internship Showcase, Eykamp Hall 20 Humanities and Social Sciences Night, Eykamp Hall 22 Graduate Expo, IUPUI, Indianapolis

NOVEMBER 2016 9 Student-Alumni Mentor Luncheon, Eykamp Hall

MARCH 2017 14 Student-Alumni Mentor Luncheon, Eykamp Hall

10 Indiana Means Business! Career Fair, Indianapolis

22 Summer and Part-Time Job Fair, Ridgway Center

JANUARY 2017 25 Engineering Career Forum, Eykamp Hall

29 EXSS Forum, Eykamp Hall

22 Accounting Interview Day, Indianapolis

FEBRUARY 2017 16 Student-Alumni Mentor Luncheon, Eykamp Hall

APRIL 2017 6 Student-Alumni Mentor Program Closing Dinner, Biaggi’s

25–28 The Big Ten+ Graduate School Exposition, Purdue University

23 Career Expo, Indianapolis

11 Teacher Recruitment Fair, USI

28 UE Career Day, Meeks Gym, Carson Center

19 Teacher Candidate Interview Day, Hendricks County Fairgrounds, Avon, Ind.

28 Graduate School Fair, Class of ‘59 Gallery, Ridgway University Center OCTOBER 2016 3 Law Day, Indiana University 5 Engineering Speed Networking Event, Eykamp Hall 18 Health Careers Fair, Student Fitness Center 19 Student-Alumni Mentor Luncheon, Eykamp Hall