Preparing for the final days?

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the prefaceIU South Bend’s official

student newspaperWednesday,

November 21, 2012

INSI

DE Goverment aide rethought

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College: The non-traditional route

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By JOE KUHARICStaff Writer

On a chilly November morning in South Bend, a group of EDUC-U 100 students packed the Univer-sity Grill to listen to the second day of speeches and discussion on this year’s One Book One Campus title, “Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich. Panelists for the morning’s event included the Mayor of South Bend Pete Buttigieg, Center for the Homeless Director Steve Camillari, Executive Vice President of Strate-gic Business Development for Spe-cialized Staffing Solutions Sharon Keane and IU South Bend Women’s Studies Professor April Lidinsky. The panelists provided a local context for the issues that were de-scribed in Ehrenreich’s book. Ca-millari recounted stories of several homeless people in the South Bend area, describing them as everyday individuals who had fallen on hard times and were having difficulties breaking out of poverty. Much of the discussion focused on poverty and the working poor—those who have jobs but are stuck in a cycle of debt. Buttigieg said he was shocked to have recently received an inter-office email asking Thanksgiving food donations for members of his own staff; he had not realized some of his staff members were having these difficulties. During his speech, Buttigieg said that a staggering 25 percent of South Bend’s 100,000 population lives at or below the poverty line. “The reality is, it takes an entire community, working in concert, to make things happen,” Buttigieg said

“One Book, One Campus” draws community leaders Mayor Pete Buttigieg talks about local pov-erty, social mobility

about solving the issue of poverty in South Bend. Margaret Tam, an IUSB junior majoring in special education, has felt the sting of the current financial crisis first hand. The recession of 2008 cost her her job. She and her husband went from supporting their five children on a household income of $150,000 a year to $26,000. “You can either lie down or fight back,” Tam said. She noted that financial problems aren’t the only new worry that she has. The stigma of poverty is an is-sue. “Once someone sees that you make $26,000, that’s all they see,” she said.

The shrunken middle class is something that Tam identifies with. “You’re either rich or you’re poor. There’s no in between,” she said. Buttigieg is aware of these types of concerns from community members. “The important thing is that there’s an ability for [financial and social] movement,” he said. His plan to address this in South Bend is to provide increased and more efficient forms of public transportation to allow better and cheaper access for citizens to get to and from work. He also suggested that IUSB will provide an important part in the fu-ture of reducing poverty in the city. “Social mobility is fueled by edu-

cation. The growth of IUSB is in-tegral [to the community],” he said. Lidinsky sees hope through all of the bad news of poverty. She sees the difficult economy bringing people together in new ways. “All of these problems are solv-able,” she said. “We’re here to theo-rize and discuss the issues and pro-pose solutions. If we don’t, who will?” After the panelists finished speak-ing, the students had an opportu-nity to go into break-out discussion sessions for a chance to speak with the panelists one-on-one. Julie Elliot, an associate librarian at IUSB, explained that this event was the culmination of the One Book, One Campus series, which is

in its ninth year. “[This is] an opportunity to get students to know community lead-ers,” she said. “We wanted to have something where they could inter-act [with one another].” As Buttigieg wrapped up his speech to the students, he addressed the difficulties of poverty. “Sometimes, I think we have a narrow idea of what freedom is,” he said. “If you don’t get a chance to do what you want to do, are you really free?” n

Mayor Pete Buttigieg spoke with students during a break-out session about addressing poverty in South Bend. Preface Photo/JOE KUHARIC

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2 The Preface

The Preface is the official student newspaper of Indiana University South Bend, pub-

lished every Wednesday during the fall and spring semesters. The Preface receives funding from the Student Government

Association and through adver-tising revenue.

The Preface is a student written, edited and designed publication.

Editor-in-Chief Sarah Duis

Managing Editor

Joseph Graf

Multimedia Editor Malory Pecina

Design Editor Cecelia Roeder

Advertising Manager Stephen Kowalski

Staff Writers Elisha Hostetler Mackenzie Jarvis

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Mandi Steffey

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jThe Preface

By MACKENZIE JARVISStaff Writer

On the night of Wednesday, Nov. 14, Jac Jemc, author and Pushcart Prize nominee, took center stage at the last of the IU South Bend Eng-lish Department Fall Event Series. Jemc read chapters from her first novel, “My Only Wife.” The event took place on Wiekamp’s third floor bridge. To introduce Jemc, her gradu-ate school peer and IUSB Assis-tant Professor of English Marga-ret Chapman said a few words of praise about the author. “[She is] one of the most widely published and well-read authors that I know,” said Chapman. Jemc’s novel was published in April 2012 by Dzanc Books. The novel features a man who one day comes home to find his wife miss-ing, and is then troubled by pensive recollections of her. Jemc read a few chapters of her novel, which are fairly short in length. Jemc then took a moment to an-swer questions from the audience. She discussed her personal writing process, the implication of a Mas-ter of Fine Arts (MFA) degree and what most excites her about writing. “I have a funny way of generating work,” said Jemc.

Author Jac Jemc reads from debut novel, “My Only Wife”

To fuel the writing engine, Jemc starts by creating a list of phrases that interest her, using language that inspires her. Though these phrases aren’t always grammatically correct, she uses them to generate creative thoughts whenever she becomes

stuck writing a story. Language is what excites Jemc most about a story. She also loves reading other people’s work. Jemc said, in an interview with IUSB Associate Professor of Eng-lish Kelcey Parker, “I love to read,

and so I want to write things that I would like to read. It’s the only thing more rewarding than read-ing for me.” She also spoke about pre-conceived notions of receiving an MFA degree. One audience member asked if it was true that the degree was a “magic bullet,” or something that highly aids in the development of work for creative writers. Jemc said it’s as much a “magic bullet” during the course of a student’s creative work as he or she makes it. She received her MFA from the School of Art Institute of Chicago. IUSB student Joe Eggleston was able to find bits of wisdom during Jemc’s reading and the Q&A portion of the event. “I keep one quote about writing near and dear to my heart and it’s that ‘inspiration is for amateurs and the rest of us get up and go to work,’ cause it sounds all hard-ass and gritty and down to business,” said Eggleston. “So, I don’t really look for inspiration in things like this. But I do look for little kernels of wisdom and I found some of those.” After the Q&A portion, the reading was followed by a book signing. More information on Jac Jemc, including information on her work and even her rejection letters, can be found at www.jac-jamc.com. n

Jemc (right) signed copies of her book and talked with IUSB students, faculty and fans.Preface Photo/MACKENZIE JARVIS

Sudoku CornerSolution on backF

Wednesday, November 21 3

Titanby JESSICA SCHLISKA

This week, we asked...

“What are your plans for break?”

Talk

Hannah Allen -

“I plan on hanging out with friends and family, and probably just relaxing.”

Komal Shahidi -

“Shopping! I’m going on a road trip to go shopping.”

Sisters!

Nava Shahidi -

“I’m going to Kansas for a wedding.”

Hannah Richards -

“I plan on spending some family time. My siblings are coming home from IUPUI and I look forward to see-ing them.”

Shaniqua Melchor -

“Over Christmas break I’m going to Mexico. I’m going to Cavo for 5 days. It was my Christmas present from my grandma.”

By JOSEPH GRAFManaging Editor

On Nov. 6, IU South Bend for-mally appointed Scott Strittmatter as Director of Student Life. Strittmatter had served as the Interim Director of Student Life during the current fall semester in the absence of the previous direc-tor, Sam Centellas, who left IUSB to take the position of director of student life at Ivy Tech North Central last spring. Strittmatter says he sees a lot of potential with the future and development of student life on the IUSB campus, and is excited to be a part of it. “There were many aspects of

Scott Strittmatter officially named IUSB’s director of student life

He’s excited for the future and what he can bring to campus

this position that I really liked. The first and foremost aspect was being able to work with students who are engaged, want to be involved and are taking opportunities to have a rich and complex experience at col-lege,” said Strittmatter. “Many of the students here want their time at IUSB to be more than just go-ing to class and then going home. Our students want to participate in social activities, educational op-portunities, community service and other things.” Though Strittmatter did not have a former connection with IUSB before taking the position, he has been able to acclimate himself to the campus and the students fairly quickly. After his first semester at IUSB, many students in clubs and organi-zations already know him personal-ly, and his quick and direct involve-ment with the existing student life

has benefited both himself and the involved students. “I didn’t know much about IUSB before I came here. As I’ve said before, since the first day I stepped foot on this cam-pus, I’ve been really impressed with the student leadership [here],” said Strittmatter. “Get-ting to work with Hannah Dill and the rest of SGA has been tremendous experience. Our student body is well served by their representatives. I’ve also had a chance to work with great student leaders from Titan Productions, Greek Life and Housing as well as students from various clubs and organi-zations.” This is Strittmatter’s first ever

Continued on page 8

S4 The Preface

Illustrated by Traci Bremer

IUSB Adventures By JOSEPH GRAFManaging Editor

Student Government Association (SGA) Presi-dent Hannah Dill has been working hard to keep the SGA involved with the students of IU South Bend. Since it’s her senior year at IUSB, she wants to leave behind a lasting impression on campus and help facilitate more awareness about what the SGA can do for the student body. “I knew it would be a lot of work, and there would be a lot of challenges,” said Dill about her position heading into the 2012-2013 school year. “There were major transitions. We started off the year with five open positions in the SGA. We filled the seats but now our vice presi-dent had to resign. We had to appoint a senator to vice president, and then shortly thereafter lost another senator.” Dill said that those open senator positions would likely be filled again by Nov. 16. Still, besides the setbacks in filling SGA spots, Dill finds happiness in her responsibilities as president. “It’s enjoyable to do, totally worth all the stress,” said Dill. Luckily, Dill says that the SGA hasn’t had to deal with many big campus issues so far this se-mester, which makes her job a little bit easier. “Initially, we though the new vendor policy would be an issue. We were able to meet with [Director of Dining Services] Ziggy Pairitz and Marueen Muldoon early in the school year to get to the bottom of it. We got the information we needed and were able to answer student’s ques-tions by the time we were approached about it,” said Dill. “Other than that, there haven’t been too many issues, mostly just internal structural things with the SGA.” Dill admits that the SGA hasn’t been able to

Student Government Association working through transitions to serve students

establish a solid mission for the school year since the members keep changing, but there have been a couple areas of focus that the members would like to tackle. “One thing we’ve been continuing since last year is bringing awareness of the SGA to the stu-dents. We want to show them that we’re available, that they can contact us through the iusb.edu website, and just generally make ourselves acces-sible to the students.” In addition, the SGA wants to help provide free transportation for students who live on or near

the local Transpo bus routes. “We’re working with Trans-po to try to get free bus pass-es for IUSB students. Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s, and Ivy Tech already have free passes,

and we think it would be good to make them available for IUSB students as well,” said Dill.

For any students who plan to host campus events, programs or projects, and especially those in clubs and organizations, the SGA does hear funding requests every week. Funding requests need to be submitted to the SGA by Wednesdays at 1 p.m., . Students will then will have a chance to present their case and have their requests heard during SGA meetings on Friday at 1 p.m. in the Fireside meeting room in the University Grill. A schedule of the meetings is posted on-line, and if the time or location of a meeting is changed is will be changed online in advance as well. SGA meetings are also open to anyone, regard-less of their personal purpose to attend. “Anyone who has any interest in who we are and what we do is more than welcome to come,” said Dill. For more information or to contact the SGA, visit www.iusb.edu/stu-gov/index.php. n

By JESSICA SCHLISKAStaff Writer

Coalition: a word used to de-scribe the unity of a single goal. In history, leaders have formed coali-tions to voice their opinions, bring people together or to prevent a cer-tain outcome. IU South Bend psychology stu-dent Justin McCammon is one of those leaders striving to form such a coalition with a very specific goal in mind: suicide prevention. After enrolling in a Depression and Suicide course at IUSB, Mc-Cammon was assigned a project to get involved in the community. He took the assignment to the next level and began working to form a suicide prevention coalition in the Cass County area.

Student seeks to form suicide prevention coalition

“The project is important to me because it represents a way that I can use my acquired knowledge to help give back to my home community,” said McCammon. “Cass County is a good area to have [a prevention center] because, obviously we cur-rently don’t, and Michigan as a state

compares pretty strongly to overall rates of suicide in the US.” According to www.michigan.gov, in 2010 the national average of deaths by suicide was 11.9 percent. Michigan, however, succeeded the national average with a 12.5 percent. While these statistics show that suicide is indeed a problem for the state, it does not making forming an alliance any easier. “Forming a coalition is hard as it is,” said McCammon, “but suicide is a taboo topic that makes it more difficult.” Looking for advice, he sought counsel from IUSB graduate Chris Drapeau, a psychology doctoral student at Ball State University. He formed The East Central Indiana Suicide Prevention Coalition in April of this year.

According to the coalition’s mis-sion statement, the organization is a non-profit union committed to pre-venting suicide, increasing suicide awareness and teaching prevention, intervention, and postvention skills in the community. “The most important aspect of forming a coalition is to ensure that it is sustainable and filled with indi-viduals who are fully committed to suicide prevention,” Drapeau told McCammon. At the moment, McCammon de-scribes his project as being in the “grass-roots formative stage” and he is seeking any collaborators in the community to assist in the coali-tion’s formation. “The kinds of people I am seeking to be involved are residents of Cass County, community leaders, emer-

gency response personnel, mental health providers and people in the school systems,” said McCammon. “I am looking for partners, stake-holders and community members who are interested in promoting community awareness, providing support groups for suicide loss or trainings for suicide prevention.” Those interested in taking part in this grass-roots process can email Justin McCammon at jumccamm@iusb.edu. To learn more informa-tion on suicide prevention and sup-port, visit IUSB’s Suicide Research Team webpage at www.iusb.edu/suicide-research. n

Justin McCammon

Wednesday, November 21 5

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Black Friday Special:

By KELSIE FERGUSON Staff Writer

Prepping for doomsday may sound crazy to some, but not prep-ping sounds crazy to the rest. But why? There are a million different speculations, some ridiculous and silly, others realistic and historical. Each person, community or fam-ily of doomsday “preparers” has a different style of preparing and a different reason for doing so. What about IU South Bend students? What are they preparing for? “You never really know. That’s the point of preparing. Anything could happen,” said IUSB student Adam Wierzbicki. A few top theories include con-cerns that the poles are going to shift, a global pandemic, the fa-mous 2012 cataclysm, a war be-tween countries involving nuclear powers, solar flares causing power failures and economic collapse. The most popular and recent the-ory is, of course, the 2012 end of the world theory. There are a few different reasons for why people think that December of 2012 will be the end. According to www.nasa.gov, “the story started with claims that Ni-biru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened, the doomsday date was moved forward to Decem-ber 2012 and linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Ma-yan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012.” NASA further explains that, though the Mayan calendar ends in December, it will restart in another long-count cycle come January, just as our own calendars do. Student Cory Seifer explained his own doomsday theory in an email. “Most likely the economy will

DOOMsday Prepping: The theories that keep us ready

crash and our country will divide,” he said. “Someone like China might come in to buy us out. By that time I think our enemies will take war to our soul. Probably about then some people will fire some nuclear weap-ons or make us fire some nuclear weapons.” Sophomore Chandler Granack has his own theories. “I think that most likely a nuclear war will start, eventually creating World War III,” he said. “Honestly I pray for the best but I expect the

worst.” Another worry often discussed in the world of preparing is a pole shift. It is argued that the poles shift about every 400,000 years. The last observable shift occurred 730,000 years ago, leaving us long overdue for this occurrence. There are some scientists who de-bunk this theory, arguing that geomagnetic shifts take thousands of years and are not harmful to the population. Still, others argue that this will

happen all at once, throwing our world into a vat of chaotic possi-bilities. “When the time comes, you’ll rely on most people that do pre-pare, rather than the ones that are completely lost in the chaos,” wrote Seifer, who is prepared to survive if the need ever arises. Granacki holds a similar view-point. “When it comes down to it, I believe that Darwin’s theory of the strongest and best will survive, nat-

ural selection,” he said. Whether you’re a believer of a doomsday theory, or simply aware that the world might not always be perfect, it’s hard to find a drawback to having a backup plan. There are different levels and styles of preparing. There is even a diverse number of tactics and plans one could have to get out of the city. To hear some of these plans, including those from IUSB stu-dents, check out next week’s ar-ticle in the DOOMsday series. n

With fears like Mayan calandar predictions and nuclear aggression, some people feel our days are numbered.Photo courtesy of ocdemoness.wordpress.com

6 The Preface

Stats courtesy of iusbtitans.com

Titans Sports Update: Men’s and Women’s Basketball

IU South Bend at 65Olivet Nazarene University 60

Men

IU South Bend at 90Olivet Nazarene University 94

Women

Chris Beam: 17 points Kyle Heatherly: 15 points, 5 rebounds

Courtney Simpson: 17 points, 16 rebounds Emily Strilich: 17 points, 11 rebounds

TITAN WIN

Record: 2-5 (1-2 CCAC) on the year. Next game: December 1At Andrews University6:30 p.m.

Record: 5-1 (3-1 CCAC)Next game: December 1At Andrews University 8:30 p.m.

As of 11/17/12

Best start in school history!

“Why do campus computers take so long to load?”The Preface tackles the age-old question…

Background: The mystery around slowly-loading campus computers is solved, yet the problem remains Preface Photo/CECELIA ROEDER

By KELSIE FERGUSON Staff Writer

You sit down at a campus computer and type in your login information,

just hoping to print out your final paper or check your email before heading to

class. You hit “enter,” and then—you wait. And wait some more. Slowly loading

computers is a commonly expressed frustration on campus. So what is the cause

behind the lag?

“I think it takes so long because the system has to load your profile and that

has a lot of information in it,” speculated freshman Mark Chichos.

He is largely correct.

“There are a number of reasons why the computers take so long to load,”

explained Beverly Church, senior director of information technologies (IT) in a

recent phone interview.

“The main part of the reason, however, is the number of programs that are

on each student’s profile to accommodate their potential needs.”

While a computer at home only needs an operating system, a security pro-

gram and maybe a few games, the computers at IU South Bend need much

more. There are programs loading on each student’s profile for a number of aca-

demic purposes. Currently, IT has a specialized group working on this problem.

Another cause of lag is the number of things that are ready instantly once

you already logged in. For example, while you wait, drives and printers are being

loaded and found so you can print and access items on the computers quickly

once you’re logged on.

The team is working on eliminating some of the programs and other items

that are pre-loaded during the log-in process in hopes of speeding things up for

the students who aren’t necessarily logging in to use all of them.

“A team called University Information Technology Support (UITS) is cur-

rently working on an improved build and improved log-in time. We still have

some testing to do but UITS will be sitting down with the Student Government

to discuss the problem, among other things,” said Church.

“When I come into my computer class and I sit at a different computer than I

did before, I waste at least five minutes of class time waiting for it to load,” said

Chichos.

Other students have the same experiences. Why? According to Church, each

computer will store your profile information for up to eight days. If you come

into the same classroom each day and use the same computer, you should be

able to log on much more quickly.

What about the distance between here and Bloomington? If we get our in-

formation from a server there, could that be why it takes so long? Jim Christ,

another IT representative explained that while that distance may be relevant to

us as people, our computer systems take nanoseconds to exchange information.

While previously waiting for the computers seemed unnecessary, now you

can be glad that by the time it does log in, everything you need will be at your

fingertips. n

Wednesday, November 21 7

Photo/Hostess, Art by Mandi Steffey

SteffeyMandi

By MANDI STEFFEYColumnist

Well, the unthinkable has hap-pened. Stoners, sugar-junkies—brace yourselves. Has anyone heard the legend that the only things that would survive an apocalypse are cockroaches and Twinkies? Well, it looks like the roaches will have nothing to snack on after the world ends this Decem-ber. Yep, Hostess, the maker of the legendary Twinkie, is going out of business. The buzz around the internet on Nov. 16 was that Hostess has been facing financial problems for a number of months allegedly due to a nation-wide baker strike. Host-ess CEO Greg Rayburn told Fortune magazine that the company ran out of lenders to finance the company while it sat in its $1 billion hole of debt. The company plans to auc-tion its assets, so Hostess’ popular brands might live on. Unfortunately, about 18,500 people will lose their jobs because of this. Hostess factories and distri-bution centers will close nationwide, including the Hostess distribution

Junk food lovers mourn the loss of Hostess

center here in South Bend. This loss of jobs is no doubt tragic to those involved, and even though Hostess products may live on through the highest bidder, the employees will not be going along with the Ding Dongs and loaves of Wonderbread. A CNN Money article says it’s un-likely that any of the workers will get their jobs back. Thursday night was the last night Hostess sent out deliveries to stores, and production has stopped for all products. You can still buy things in the store, but when they’re gone, consider it an indefinite hiatus, be-cause they might not come back. Perhaps the question burning in people’s minds is this: will these fa-mous nutritionally-void snack cakes live through this? If you asked yourself this question, you probably need to reevaluate your life. People are apparently stocking up on Host-ess products, getting their hands on as many cakes as they can. It’s my opinion that nobody over the age of eight should be eating any of that crap in any capacity. I’m not the least bit sad that there’s a possibility Twinkies will cease to be. They’re pretty gross. n

By CHRISTINA CLARK Guest Columnist There are lots of Americans down on their luck. Some say that there is more of that to come. Whether you feel America has improved or is declining economi-cally, there is a disturbing trend that I have found: vilifying the less fortunate. I see Faceboook memes and rants about how those on welfare are draining the pocketbooks of the rest of us, and how “they” are taking advantage of the system. One person using food stamps happens to have an iPhone, or has a vehicle to get around, or name brand shoes and, according to some, they are automatically taking advantage of the system. Those might have been gifts, or are rem-nants from a more successful time. I’m aware that there are those who do take advantage, but we simply cannot vilify all the poor for being less fortunate, or for taking the help that they need that is offered to them. It’s easy to talk about the poor as if they are dis-eased or not even human. I am faced with a homeless man every week on the same day I work one of my jobs at a bakery. His hair is unkempt, longer and more unruly since the beginning of summer when he started showing up. This man is in his mid-twenties, wears the same two t-shirts with flannels and jeans, and smells in-creasingly worse when the weather is warm. He has gotten thinner since the first time I saw him, but still buys a muffin and a cookie. His debit card works about two thirds of the time he comes in, and when it declines I just hand him his food and quietly pay for it later as if his card went through. My co-workers and I have com-

Food stamps and an iPhone: The perception of poverty

mented on seeing him walking all over town, and at all times of the day. I have expressed concern about him to many friends and nobody knows what to do to help him. He is very polite, and self-aware, but I feel like I cannot ask for his story if I cannot change his future. Poverty is not always on the street. I grew up in Granger, which Michiana locals will know is an upper middle class community. In elementary school my mother re-ceived a phone call from the school secretary about a bounced check. My mother, meticulous about her bookkeeping, knew it wasn’t hers and the secretary realized she’d dialed the wrong number. It became clear that there was financial struggle even in a white picket fence community. It was a lesson that you can’t judge by ap-pearances, that people you see with a slick image might have hit a road bump on their way to the Ameri-can dream. It should be upsetting to hear a person telling another that they need to “get a job” when they’re down on their luck and asking for help. There are people who take advantage of unemployment and welfare, but you cannot make as-

sumptions that they don’t have a job or that getting a job will take care of their problems. I am fortunate enough to have parents who can help me out financially. They put me through beauty school in Kokomo in 2008. That Great Recession was in full swing and the Delphi Automotive plant had laid off most of its work-ers when I moved for school. I had promised to find work to help pay for the apartment and living expenses. I had access to work clothes, many amenities, was in beauty school and could have my hair done for cheap. I had worked in service and retail with good references from former employers and co-workers, not to mention a steady contact number. I could not get hired for six of the eight months I lived there. The two jobs I held for a short amount of time were as temporary front desk help at a hotel, and at a McDonald’s for the last few weeks I lived in town before returning to the South Bend area. Upon returning to town, I held three jobs at one point between a salon, Coveleski Stadium and the bakery I’ve worked at off and on for years—and I still wasn’t reach-ing 40 hours a week. Three jobs and not enough hours. If I had not had a place to live with my parents, I would have been in trouble and someone telling me to “get a job” would have made me want to tear my hair out. We’ve all felt the economy shift in the last ten years, and we’ve seen the results, if not felt them directly. Let’s not forget that someday we might be in a situation we have no control over, and no matter how hard we work, sometimes life pulls the rug out from underneath you. n

Strittmatter Continued from

page 2

Wednesday, November 21 8

Funny, ancient pharaohs looked forward to the end of the world.

Must currently be holding breath in anticipation.

Hoping the cadavers would rise, and reclaim hearts from golden jars.

- Rorschach

Sudoku Solution

By DANIELLE MILLER Staff Writer COLUMN

IU South Bend has a long his-tory of non-traditional students—non-traditional in the respect that they are over the age of 24, have a job or family commitments and live off campus. There has been a re-cent paradigm shift towards the at-traction of traditional students and traditional college campus activities and organizations. The university is growing and morphing into a dif-ferent animal. Are these changes ex-cluding the non-traditional student? I first came to IUSB ten years ago. I switched gears and went to massage therapy school after two years into my business degree. I de-veloped my own brick-and-mortar business, providing massage ther-apy to over 400 clients in Elkhart County. When the economy tanked, I was forced into closing down my busi-ness and took a job at an upscale day spa where I worked myself into exhaustion. I realized that it was time to finish the degree I was pay-ing for. I came back as a communi-cation student. While I was away from IUSB, it went through many changes. They now have a mascot, a café, a stu-dent activities center and sports teams. Not to mention Barnes & Noble now owns the bookstore. It has grown into a separate campus instead of just being an extension of IU Bloomington as it once was. I am a non-traditional student. I personally chose IUSB over other colleges that offer programs for working adults because I wanted the

The IUSB experience from a non-traditional perspective

“Power of an IU degree.” You may recognize this as IUSB’s slogan. It takes every ounce of my or-ganizational skills to mesh my per-sonal life with my student life. Aware of the new clubs on cam-pus and ways to get involved, I feel very excited, but it is hard to find time to participate. I want to meet other students because in my per-sonal life, it is hard to connect to others my age who understand what it’s like to juggle many academic re-sponsibilities. When you are part of a cam-pus club or group, not only do you meet others but you make con-tacts that can help in your future career. You also learn of oppor-tunities that can be used to bulk up your resume upon graduation. These are critical opportunities to survive and succeed in the job market today, and since getting in-volved in extracurricular activities is harder for non-traditional students, that automatically puts them at a disadvantage. While I am proud and excited about the new opportunities on campus, I find myself wondering about other non-traditional students and whether they feel they are in the right school. Are they taking advan-tage of the new opportunities or do they feel they no longer belong here? I sought out fellow non-tradition-al students and asked how they felt. Michael Church chose IUSB

because of the flexibility in class schedules offered for working adults. He is not involved in any clubs or student organizations be-cause he has a job that takes all of his extra time. “I think that [student clubs and organizations] are good in the sense that they establish a strong social network based on activities regard-ing such. However, I feel that it leaves non-trads feeling a little out of place at times or maybe feeling a bit socially awkward. I’m 26, I’m not interested much in clubs with fresh-out-of-high-school students,” Church added that, when it comes to the traditional student, “there is a perceived bias in their favor.” Alyssa Utter agrees. “I feel like there are fewer opportunities for me to get involved in clubs and or-ganizations,” she said. “I feel like an outsider when I’m on campus. I think they are trying to attract new, fresh out of high school students. All the campus activities seem to be geared more towards them and the rest of us are forgotten.” She is not involved in any clubs or student organizations due to time constraints with her job. Christina Clark considers herself a non-traditional student. “I work when most of the ones I would like to attend are happening”, she says “It would be nice to settle into a club or something in a later semes-ter.” Like myself, she is back at IUSB after pursuing other career options. “I like the feel on campus more than I did 5 years ago, when I did two semesters before leaving for beauty school,” she said. “[There’s] a better vibe on campus, more ac-tive and involved yet accessible to those not on campus.” So what can IUSB do to better include the non-traditional student’s needs? “Ease them into the process but not in a subservient fashion,” said Church. “Give them more practical advising, and help establish the im-portance of learning styles and time management.” n

job as a director of student life, but he is far from under-qualified. His career has taken him down a path involved with college students and programs for nearly the last two decades. “I’ve worked in student affairs and on college campus for almost twenty years now,” said Strittmat-ter. “I’ve been a graduate hall direc-tor, graduate teaching assistant, professional hall director and an area coordinator. I’ve done a lot of work in advising student groups as well as directing and planning programs and events.” Strittmatter says he has three main goals for the student life at IUSB. First, he wants to help students become more involved with com-munity service and service learning opportunities. Second, he wants to create more opportunities and ways for student

organizations to earn money through fundraising. Third, Strittmatter wants to help students familiarize themselves with the MyInvovlement website so they are more comfortable using it and utilizing its functions, like posting events and communicat-ing between students and other organizations. Strittmatter would also like to continue his involvement with the student body, and encourages stu-dents to come talk to him person-ally if they have any questions. “I would just like to get it out there that if students are looking to get involved and need help, they should stop by my office,” said Strittmatter. “I’m willing to help them find a club or organization that would interest them, or even the helping them start their own club or organization. My office is located in 201 Student Activities Center at the top of the stairs.” You can also contact Scott Strit-tmatter via email at sstrittm@iusb.edu. n

Director of Student Life Scott StrittmatterCourtesy of www.iusbtitans.com

Danielle Miller