THE
SHIELD
T h u r s d a y, F e b r u a r y 1 8 , 2 0 1 6 | U s i s h i e l d . c o m | v o l . 4 6 i s s u e 2 2
YAKKERS ANONYMOUS
Bennett says anonymity promotes uncivil behavior
Illustration by philip kuhns | The Shield
by gabi wy news@usishield.com @ShieldsterGabi President Linda Bennett announced at the beginning of the semester that the university will focus on the concept of “civility.” Bennett said this focus promotes healthy discussion despite critical differences in opinion, beliefs and culture. Over the next few weeks, The Shield will explore different aspects of civility and how they impact the campus environment. The first time McKenzie Cobb used Yik Yak, she saw a post that called the dance team “fat.” Cobb, a freshman history major, opened her dance team group message several weeks ago to find a screenshot of a Yak post. At the time, Cobb didn’t have the anonymous message board app downloaded on her phone and she never felt compelled to add it. The post she found in her messages degraded the girls’ body shapes as well as their dancing abilities. While campus administration pushes for civility, students continue to take to the app to hurl insults at groups such as Cobb’s. The dance team took the Yak as a challenge to work harder, but Cobb said the demeaning comments were still painful. “That’s my team. Those are my girls,” Cobb said. “It just hurts when you put so much effort
into something.” Yik Yak posters not only attacked Cobb’s dance team, but also her sorority. Within one hour of anonymous posts Tuesday, seven of them insulted Greek life on campus. Several posts later defended fraternities and sororities, but the negative posts outweighed the positive. Presidential monitoring Bennett scrolls through Yik Yak every so often on her newly repaired Android, absorbing the same posts students do when they open the app. “Oh, I check in from time to time,” Bennett said. “I think at times it’s very crude.” Bennett witnesses vulgar exchanges on Yik Yak, but she said civility isn’t just about being nice. “We ought to be able to talk about things, and at times we have to acknowledge that we have deep differences, profound differences,” she said. “That doesn’t keep us from having mutual respect.” Bennett said students need to step up and not be afraid to state what they believe. “When I think about the way social media is used, at times with great harshness and great cruelty, we need to develop the courage to speak up,” she said. “If we hear a statement that is demeaning, speak up. Say, ‘I disagree with
that, and here’s why.’” She said Yik Yak’s structure allows for more rudeness than students would be willing to convey in person. “Any time you have anonymity, you have irresponsibility,” Bennett said. “Some of the communication on (Yik Yak) is just inappropriate. Sometimes, though, I check (Yik Yak) to get sort of a temper of what’s going on on campus.” University of Houston assistant professor Arthur D. Santana released a study in 2014 titled “Virtuous or Vitriolic,” in which he found a link between uncivil comments and anonymity. In the comments of online news stories, Santana found 53.3 percent of anonymous comments included language that was vulgar, racist, profane or hateful, according to the study. Only 28.7 percent of non-anonymous comments were found to have the hateful language. Dean of Students Bryan Rush, on the other hand, does not check Yik Yak and said he doesn’t intend to ever download the app. He said he chooses not to have the app on his phone because he doesn’t like to see students insulting one another or using vulgar language. Rush views the app as primarily dominated by that cruelty. “Students need to do things to build people up, not tear them down,” Rush said. “It’s being civil.”
Mandela speaker talks racism by abigail suddarth acsuddarth@eagles.usi.edu
When Tim Wise’s 5-yearold daughter asked if Morgan Freeman was really God after seeing a trailer for “Evan Almighty,” he told her he was just an actor who plays God often. Her sister replied, “That can’t be God.” Even though he knew what she was going to say, Wise asked his daughter why she said it. “That can’t be God because God isn’t black,” she said. “God is white.” Tim Wise spoke about racism in America Thursday at the Nelson Mandela Commemoration Day in Carter Hall. Wise said the four things that make discussing racism difficult are people’s assumptions they themselves aren’t racist, the fact that people can see individual instances of racism but not systemic racism, people fail to see how the past affects the present and racial inequality not only hurts people of color but white people as well. Wise said many white people try to find reasons why they couldn’t possibly be racist, such as having black friends. He referenced a poll taken a few years ago which stated (75 percent) of white Americans said they had many friends of color. There were only 35 million black Americans at the time. Even if none of the white people polled lied or exaggerated, Wise said, that’s not a worthwhile argument against being racially biased. “Do you think that a guy can’t be sexist because he dates women?” he asked. Wise received a D- in reading in 1979 because his fifth grade teacher didn’t like that he had black friends, he said. “(The teacher) told my mom that any white parent that allowed their child to go to a public school in this day and age, meaning the integrated day and age, clearly wasn’t fit to be a parent and should have their head checked,” he said. His mother swiftly relieved this woman of her teaching duties in about six hours by making sure she was immediately fired, Wise said.
wise, PAGE 4
YIk Yak, PAGE 3
Schoenstein steps Event to educate entrepreneurs up, takes charge by Nick Leighty ndleighty@eagles.usi.edu
Photo Courtesy of Athletics Department
Eric Schoenstein, the newly appointed head coach of women’s soccer, talks to players last year during a game. Schoenstein spent two years as assistant coach before he was hired to replace former head coach Krissy Engelbrecht.
by caitlin golden crgolden@eagles.usi.edu This year, Eric Schoenstein landed his “dream job.” Schoenstein, who started coaching 30 years ago, will take over as head coach of the women’s soccer team for the upcoming fall season. He grew up playing soccer and when he moved to Evansville he played for Mater Dei High School. He went on to play for USI from 1988-1991, where he won four GLVC Championships and served as captain
his senior year. “(The experience) was very beneficial as a captain back in the early 90s. You were leading your peers,” Schoenstein said. “That was the base of learning leadership that I have taken with me in the coaching aspect, and now when I push players, I do it in a way to build confidence.” Schoenstein is familiar with some of the players because he was assistant coach and knows what the team needs to strengthen for the next season.
Schoenstein, PAGE 7
Fifty-four hours. That is all the time given to come up with an entire business plan and model proficient enough to move forward. A team containing a wide array of skills and entrepreneurial mentors dedicated to helping participants make the task possible. This is the goal of Startup Weekend Evansville. Benjamin Peyronnin attended the first Startup Weekend five years ago and plans to attend this year’s from Friday to Sunday. The senior’s father organizes the local Tech on Tap, and thanks to his father’s work, Peyronnin was able to realize the value of innovation leadership and entrepreneurship goals. Peyronnin left Evansville in 2006 for Seattle, thinking his hometown was a dead end professionally. When the 27-year-old returned in 2012, he noticed a shift from greasy, unhealthy food-chains to more healthy and organic options and new innovations in the Evansville community. While Peyronnin does not have an idea to pitch to the panel of judges, he said
Photo Courtesy of Bryan bourdeau
The judges at Startup Weekend Evansville 2015 ask questions about a participant’s idea during the Friday round. At this stage each year, 10 participants are selected to move on to the final stages.
Startup Weekend means so much more. He attributes the explosion of development and innovation that has happened in Evansville to this event. Peyronnin was set on continuing his college career and applied to many of the top business schools in the country, such as Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Seattle Uni-
versity and the University of Washington. The school’s treated him as nothing more than a number. Peyronnin ended up calling USI on a whim. He said he used to believe people only went to the university if they didn’t get into Indiana University or Purdue. This perception quickly changed thanks to Tim Mahoney. Af-
ter the first conversation they had, he said Mahoney was the first person in higher education to treat him as a peer. Registration and beginning pitches kick off Friday. Out of more than 80 pitches given, 10 students will be selected to move on to complete their business plan, prototyping and final presentation by Sunday.
startup weekend, PAGE 3