WHO’S THE MAN BEHIND THE TUX?
SOCCER ADVANCES IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
FEATURES 6
SPORTS 8
videtteonline
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2016
Vol. 129 / No. 25
ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSIT Y’S NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1888
Left: Monica Mendoza | Vidette Photographer Top: Aakash Shah | Vidette Photographer
Jon Korsgard and Alec Steenbergen won first place for their 3D printed candles, Scandles.
Students build dreams at Startup Showcase This year’s winners featured 3D printed candles, care packages CASSIE MCNEIL News Reporter | @165_Cassie1
Illinois State University had its sixth annual Startup Showcase Friday. The event, targeted toward students and future entrepreneurs, originally evolved from ISU’s Entrepreneurship Day. The Startup Showcase, held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Uptown Normal Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, gave student teams the opportunity to present their startup businesses to a panel of judges to compete for over $11,000 in financial support and in-kind services. The second-place winners received $3,000, third-place winners received $2,000 and fourth-place winners received $1,000. As the event came to a close, the winners were announced. First place went to Scandles, custom candles made with a 3D printer. Scandles was created by a team of two seniors: Jon
Korsgard and Alec Steenbergen. Last place went to an ISU freshman, Febin Chirayath, for his idea called the Jollychest, which is a way for parents to send their children custom care packages while they’re at college. The Startup Showcase was organized by the George R. and Martha Means Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and had over 16 teams participate. “We are building a pipeline of entrepreneurial capability for students who are interested in starting their own business. The goal is to make their ideas go from a dream to reality able,” Director of the George R. and Martha Means Center for Entrepreneurial Studies Mark Hoelscher said. The event had three rounds for contestants to compete in before winning the grand prize of first place and a $5,000 reward. After the first round, six teams were eliminated, and the remaining 10 competed in the second round. The final round, comprised of only four teams, determined
the first, second, third and fourth-place winners. The teams presented their ideas in front of a panel of four judges. A majority of the teams had at least two students in them. Victor Osuyak, a senior graphic communication major at ISU, was one of the only teams to have a single person in it. “It may have set me back slightly by having only me to present my idea unlike other contestants, but the amount of passion I have is as big as two people,” Osuyak said. Osuyak’s idea was to create a mobile app that connects users to local barbershops and hairstylists using their location called the Vidy app. He hoped, just like all the other contestants, to receive the money from one of the four prizes to make his dream a reality. Hoelscher was very proud of his team and staff members who helped him to put together the event, including professors Terry Noel and Terry Lowe. “They’re the team responsible for the logistics and I couldn’t have put this together without them,” Hoelscher said.
Watterson’s Rosa Parks Conference Room welcomes updates MALLORY LOVINGS News Reporter | @MalloryLovings
Illinois State Universit y renovated a conference room in Watterson Towers to honor a woman who has made a difference in the country. The Rosa Parks Conference Room was once bland with bare walls that contained not only mirrors, but an entire timeline of the story of Rosa Parks and her legacy. Stephanie Robertson, assistant director for marketing and assessment for university housing services, said different committees and governments came together in 1989 and “unanimously proposed the room to be named after civil rights leader Rosa Parks as a result of her courage, dignity and determination — all important virtues to the committee as advocates for modeling change.” The room is now more versatile
with the mirrors, allowing dance students to host events. It also is more welcoming due to having more technology for conferences and meetings. This allowed it to be used for early voting in the 2016 presidential election. Ashley Shannon is a junior journalism major and is involved in groups on campus that use the space for meetings and practices. She said the timeline shows how far we have come but still how far we have to go, especially in this time in our society. “I feel like the new renovations to the conference room really show that the school has placed value on her life and wants students to understand the importance she served in our communities,” Shannon said. But the timeline shows more than just Rosa Parks. The Rosa Parks Room Committee especially wanted to showcase more of a balance between male and female
activists, as women traditionally r e c eive le s s r e c og n it ion. Robertson said it addresses the NAACP as well. “There are now details on the wall that tell a story you maybe haven’t ever heard before,” Robertson said. “… unless you’re a real history buff, you will probably learn something new about the old story when reading through the mural.” She said including history in a room, especially one that is used, is extremely important because it truly provides a learning experience on campus. “I believe it was a great choice to honor the phenomenal woman she was,” Shannon said. “The people that use that room the most are incoming freshmen and I believe it is important that we remind the younger generations who she was and how they are benefiting from her legacy.” Robertson said the ultimate
Natalie Stuckslager | Vidette Photographer
The Rosa Parks Conference Room now includes historic murals. goal is for people to leave with additional knowledge than they had before they came in. She said the only way for that to happen is if they put the information right in front of students, faculty, staff and the community.
Mallory Lovings is a News Reporter for The Vidette and can be reached at mloving_vidette@ exchange.ilstu.edu. Follow her on Twitter at @mallorylovings.