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The PrefaceWednesday, January 27, 2010 www.iusbpreface.com

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Academics ............. 5Life ......................... 6

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By REBECCA GIBSONStaff Writer

The ceiling tiles have been re-paired and the projector replaced, but it will take more time to fix the broken sensibilities caused by a recent theft at IU South Bend’s Franklin D. Schurz Library.

According to University Chief of Police Martin Gersey, the break-in to the Library Instruction class-room in the library’s basement oc-curred sometime between the last

By KRYSTAL VIVIANStaff Writer

The Alumni Association is in-viting all students and commu-nity members to Get on the Bus and take a trip to the Indiana state house to meet and thank legislators for supporting IU South Bend.

For the 19th Annual Hoosiers for Higher Education Statehouse Visit, all eight IU campuses visit the statehouse and thank legisla-tors for keeping IU in mind and for helping fund campus needs.

This year, IUSB representa-tives will thank the legislators for approving funding for a new, up-dated Education Arts building. They will also be asking legislators to consider not cutting any more of the state appropriation for IU as a whole.

Students, alumni, and other community members are encour-aged to “tell legislators what IU South Bend has meant to you, your family, [and] your future,” said Julienne Turner, assistant di-rector of alumni affairs.

The Alumni Association will be

Theft at library fuels confusion, tighter securityclass on Jan. 15 and the morning of Tuesday Jan. 19.

In addition to a ceiling mount-ed overhead projector, the perpe-trators took a computer and moni-tor and left a jimmied door and a large mess.

“Initially two incidents were reported,” said Gersey. “We deter-mined that was in error, and that the projector and computer were stolen at the same time.”

Dean of Library Sciences Mi-

chele Russo relayed puzzlement about the equipment taken.

“It’s confusing. Why the pro-jector? Why only one computer when there were so many others in the room?” said Russo.

Russo stated the value of the projector to be $1700 and con-firmed that the computer theft was overlooked at first due to the dam-age that the projector’s removal had done to the ceiling and the wires which powered it.

The next day facilities manage-

ment repaired the ceiling tiles, and information technologies brought over a table top projector as a re-placement. Facilities management also placed an anti-theft device over the gap between the doors, and IT has outfitted an alarm for the classroom.

Gersey was unable to comment on an ongoing investigation.

“We are fully investigating the incident, and we are taking steps to ensure that it won’t be repeated,” said Gersey.

Time to Get on the Bus

PHOTO COURTESY/tysto.com

The annual Get on the Bus trip gives students, staff, faculty and the community an opportunity to talk with state legislators at the state capital in Indianapolis about funding for higher education. The trip is sponsored by the Alumni Association.see BUS/8

Shopping for a cause

By TERRIE PHILLIPSStaff Writer

We buy them. We wear them. For some, we love them. They are jeans, and on Jan. 20 in the quiet lounge of The Grille they were sold for charity.

Theta Phi Alpha and Charity Denim teamed up to help raise money for the Center for the Homeless.

“Charity denim actually got in contact with me and I decided it would be a good idea to have the blue jean sale here,” said Jasmine Woodcock, president of Theta Phi Alpha.

The sale raised $90 and all pro-ceeds went to the Center for the Homeless. All merchandise was supplied by Charity Denim, which included women’s and men’s blue jeans, shirts, and other merchan-dise.

“What we do is provide the in-ventory and the infrastructure for other organizations,” said Jared Orme, director of operations for North East for Charity Denim, in a phone interview.

Orme also said there are no up front costs to organizations. “We’ve been doing between four and eight events a week,” he said.

They have raised over $100,000 for organizations of all sizes in-cluding Children’s Miracle Net-work, food banks and St. Jude’s. They have also worked with high schools.

“We were hoping to get a cou-ple hundred [dollars] but seeing it is such a commuter school that’s not really available to us,” said Woodcock.

Theta Phi Alpha will be hold-ing another blue jeans sale at Regal Lanes on Jan. 30 from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. The money raised during this event will go to Theta Phi Alpha.

The Preface

The Preface is the official weekly student newspaper of IU South Bend and is published every Wednesday during the fall and spring semesters. The paper receives funding from the Student Government Association and through advertising revenue. The Preface is a student written, edited, and designed newspaper.

JENN ZELLERSEditor-in-Chief

MEAGEN THOMPSONManaging Editor

JEFF TATAYPhotographer

APRIL BUCKAdvertising Manager

KRISTINE BAILEYColumnist

STAFF WRITERSErika BlumeApril Buck

Timothy Dann-BarrickRebecca Gibson

Kendra Horsman Dani MolnarTerrie Phillips

Andrew ShenemanJeff Tatay

Krystal Vivian

PRODUCTION

JENN ZELLERSLead Production Designer

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“Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods, ” —

Aristotle, from Nichomachean Ethics

QUOTEof the WEEK

By REBECCA GIBSONStaff Writer

W e are rapidly ap-proaching V-Day, a day that gives many people con-

siderable apprehension. Not the day marked in remembrance of victory over a great enemy, but Valentine’s Day.

Although it does put pressure on relationships, there are several positive ways to look at Valentine’s Day. First of all, this is one day, guaranteed, that you have no ex-cuse to not buy your sweetheart a gift. And because it comes every year, (like Christmas, which no one has any problem remember-ing), it is a way to work off all gift related guilt for the whole year.

Forgot her birthday? Wine and dine her for V-Day. Did the un-equal gift exchange for Christmas? Find something smashing for him for V-Day. However, there are also several ways to mess up this most romantic of holidays. A little at-tention to Valentine’s manners can help a lot.

Never break up on Valentine’s Day. This should be obvious, yet too often one hears stories which culminate with “…and he couldn’t have even waited until the week-end? He had to break up with me on Valentine’s day?”

Know your target. Your part-ner is not a generic woman or

a generic man. Not all scents of perfume suit all women. Not all men like chocolate or will wear the boxers with hearts and kisses on them. Be especially mindful of food aller-gies, scent allergies, taste in flowers, and size of clothing.

If you do not know your sig-nificant other very well, do not buy clothes. I cannot stress enough how much of a faux pas it is to pres-ent the object of your affection with a negligee two sizes too big or small. Too big, and you run the risk of him or her thinking you think they are huge. Too small, and they might be in-sulted that you think they should lose weight. Better to go to dinner

If going to dinner, once again, make sure to pay attention to aller-gies. Lobster for dinner is exotic, expensive, romantic, and for some people, deadly. Before you make reservations, make sure that your partner can eat at the restaurant, and likes the type of food.

Make reservations now. There is little more embarrassing than arriving at a restaurant and find-ing there are no tables left and you

need to get very close, very quick-ly because in order for both of you to sit in the waiting area, one needs to sit on the other’s lap.

Flowers are lovely, and some people put great stock in red roses for V-Day. However, unless you are prepared to drop $40 or more on a florist’s arrangement, you might want to try a different ar-rangement with flowers that are actually in season. Roses are sum-mer flowers and are forced (a pro-cedure which makes plants bloom out of season) in greenhouses in the Southwest and in tropical countries. This raises their prices,

Manners and Mannerisms: Two weeks to V Day

and can include exposing agricul-ture workers to harsh chemical fertilizers.

Lastly, remember that this is one day out of 365, and with all the importance placed on the trap-pings of the day, the important thing is to be with someone you care about. If you are not plan-ning on doing something super romantic, consider having a small party with friends, or a movie date with those who don’t have some-one special. All holidays should be occasions for making people feel welcomed and valued.

DOES THE PHRASE...

To boldly go where no man has gone before. ,,,mean anything to you?

Tell us your convention story at preface@iusb.edu.

The IUSB Preface Page 3

PAGE 4 www.iusbpreface.comNEWS

Extended Hours in The Grille

For one week only, Jan. 25 to Jan. 28, the Grille will stay open until 3 p.m. to determine student inter-est. If there is no interest shown, the Grille will keep its traditional hours of 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Alumni Day Jan. 30

Alumni Day for the men’s and women’s basketball teams is Jan. 30. Vintage Titan apparel will be available for purchase and former players will be honored during halftime of each contest. Tip-off for the women’s team is 12 p.m. in the Student Activities Center. The men’s game will follow at 2 p.m.

Pink Zone Feb. 2

IU South Bend Athletics and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Asso-ciation will present the Pink Zone at the Student Activities Center during the Feb. 2 doubleheader against Olivet Nazarene Univer-sity. Pink Zone Day is to promote the awareness of the fight against breast cancer. Game time is at 6 p.m. for the women’s team and 8 p.m. for the men’s team.

NVG Lecture Feb. 10

The New Views on Gender, a stu-dent publication, is sponsoring a lecture by Dr. Betsy Lucal about Gender in Society on Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. in DW1001. Coffee and do-nuts will be provided.

Senate approves gay marriage measure

The Indiana Senate House passed a measure on Jan. 21 that would de-fine marriage between a man and a woman. The Senate has passed several similar amendments since 2005, but the House has failed to pass such measures.

State smoking ban advances

The state house has advanced a bill that would ban smoking in most public places throughout the Hoo-sier state. A similar measure passed last year, but failed to pass through the Senate.

News briefs compiled from wire services.

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By ANDREW SHENEMANStaff Writer

Every year IUSB selects a new ‘theme’ for the campus in an ef-fort to focus the campus and the community on a single topic that can reach across various disciplines and inspire dialogues. This is done through a series of lectures and special events done over the course of the fall and spring semesters.

“The idea is to generate some common set of issues that we as a campus can share, and maybe to see some connections in places that might not have been otherwise vis-ible,” said Steve Gerencser, asso-ciate professor of political science and one of the co-coordinators for this year’s campus theme.

This year’s campus theme is “The Urban and the Rural”.

The idea is to examine the dif-ferences between inner city life and life in small towns or rural areas,

‘Urban and Rural’ events planned for Marchemphasizing the similarities and differences between the two life-styles, and what this divide means in historical, political, economic, and a variety of other contexts.

Gerencser volunteered to co-coordinate the theme after he came up with the idea for what the theme should be.

“I became interested during the 2008 presidential election cam-paign in how various politicians and the media sliced and diced the American electorate,” Gerencser explained.

“Especially one division that kept coming up that took the fa-miliar Red State/Blue State version [of ]American politics and grafted it onto small town and rural Amer-ican versus big city.”

Gerencser said that this divide was nothing new and goes back at least to debates between Jefferson and Hamilton.

His initial idea was to focus on

how the urban/rural divide has af-fected America. Speaking to mem-bers of other departments helped him realize that this issue has a much broader historical and geo-political impact.

He also hopes that maybe this will help people to see how the di-vide really isn’t so wide after all.

“Consider a place like South Bend,” Gerencser said. “Com-pared to a small town like Middle-bury it might seem like a big city with serious urban issues. But compared to Chicago, it is a rela-tively small town. It doesn’t really fit the urban rural divide.”

The biggest event for the cam-pus theme was held last semester when Alex Kolowitz, author of the campus theme’s official book There Are No Children Here, came to campus to meet with students and give an address.

Nancy Botkin, senior lecturer

for the English department and co-chair for the campus theme, said some events for this semester include assisting with the school’s philosophy day. Dr. Paul Thomp-son will give a speech on agricul-tural ethics, which will be held on March 23.

On March 4, there will be a panel to discuss new urbanism. The panel will include Andrew Von Maur of Andrew’s University, and representatives of the Eddy Street commons and Ironworks in Mishawaka.

She also said that she is hop-ing to have Father Daniel Groody, who is both a Catholic priest and a scholar of immigration issues, to discuss issues involving the Ameri-can/Mexican border. No time commitment has been made for his discussion as of yet. .

Next year’s theme will be ‘the meaning of work.’ Plans for this theme are not yet in place.

By TERRIE PHILLIPSStaff Writer

Enrollment for the spring se-mester is up 9.4% from 2009 with credit hours up 11%.

Enrollment rates for this semes-ter are 7,812 students with 74,880 credit hours being taken.

“We do have record enrollment right now, all time record, both fall and spring,” said Jeff Jones, vice chancellor of student affairs and enrollment management, “all of the IU campuses are up right now.”

Jones believes part of the reason for high enrollment is the economy and that they are not competing with jobs. He feels the university is doing a better job of following up on potential students.

“We are also working hard on the financial aid pieces,” said Jones. “[We] try to get our financial aid applied earlier in the cycle to help the students make decisions about being able to attend here.”

International student retention is higher than average. IU South Bend retains international stu-dents better than domestic. Jones believes it is because they are more motivated.

“If a student is here from Mish-awaka, and maybe they’re not real motivated to be here, that’s prob-ably part of the reason,” said Jones. “But if somebody’s coming from China and their paying $20,000 a year in fees to be here, their prob-

ably pretty motivated to be suc-cessful.”

Under the Reaching Higher program schools will no longer re-ceive money based on how many students are enrolled but by how students complete courses.

“It’s in our best interest to make

sure that the students we accept here and the students who enroll here finish their classes,” said Jones.

To help with this IUSB has ini-tiatives to help students succeed.

“We have a program that we be-gan two years ago called degrees of excellence,” said Jones. “With the

degrees of excellence funding we were able to put about $117,000 each of the last two years into spe-cial retention programs.”

The money has been used to fund additional tutoring services and add peer mentors to the U100 classes. Additional sections have been added to the class as well as linked courses. They have also been able to fund book loans and provide additional math study software.

“We do know that students who take U100 have succeeded at a rate greater than those students with the same general character-istics that have not taken U100,” said Jones

There has been an increase in non traditional students as well as traditional.

“We did increase in that area this year but we’re still moving in a direction where we’re getting more and more traditional age students, full time students,” said Jones.

All of the Schools have in-creased on campus, but the School of the Arts has had the biggest in-crease. There have been a couple new degrees added in the School of the Arts, including a New Me-dia degree and a Music Education degree.

Jones believes that some of the reasons students are attracted to IUSB is the faculty and the small size of the campus.

Spring enrollment near record levels

PREFACE PHOTO/Jenn Zellers

Students walking between classes on Monday enrollment continues to go up as more and more students stay closer to home to go go school.

The IUSB Preface Page 5ACADEMICS

By JEFF TATAYStaff Writer

IU South Bend offers various options for students who need help meeting their academic goals and for students who are not strug-gling but are compelled to be ex-ceptional in even the most diffi-cult courses.

The Academic Center for Ex-cellence (ACE) offers students free tutoring in many courses. The ACE has a large staff of student tutors from various academic dis-ciplines who are dedicated to help-ing students learn to perform bet-ter in their classes.

“Students should visit the ACE if they are struggling to pass a course or if they are just the type of student that wants to improve their grades,” said Paul Schmucker,

ACE tutor and accounting major. The ACE wants students to feel

comfortable and enjoy the experi-ence of learning.

“We offer one-on-one tutors and we also tutor groups of s t u d e n t s from the same class or sub-ject,” said Schmucker.

T h e ACE is located in room 122 of the Administration Building and is open Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more informa-tion visit www.iusb.edu/~sbtutor/.

The Writing Center is provided for students who are looking to fo-cus strictly on their writing skills.

Improving your academic performance

“We can help with any stage of the writing process: getting started, connecting ideas, staying on topic, etc.,”

—Rachel CheesemanTutor in Writing Center

Computers are available in the WC where students can work on papers with a tutor. printers are also available so students can print rough drafts of papers for

proofread-ing and fi-nal drafts when work has been p o l i s h e d and edited.

“We can help with any stage

of the writing process: getting started, connecting ideas, staying on topic, etc.” said Rachel Chee-seman, Writing Center tutor. “We help students with any paper and for any class. Dedicated students who want to get better grades on their papers will often come to the

WC as well as students who are in danger of failing W130 or W131.”

The tutors of the WC under-stand the writing goals of W130 and W131.

“We meet with freshman level writing professors, so, as tutors, we understand what the professors are looking for and we can help the students meet these goals,” said Cheeseman.

The WC is located in room 124 of the Administration Build-ing and is open Sunday 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Wednes-day 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information visit www.iusb.edu/~sbwrite/.

Talking with and taking advice from other students can also be an

By APRIL BUCKStaff Writer

Even with the poor economy, scholarship funds are still available. The IU South Bend and IU Foun-dation scholarships have not been diminished by current economic troubles.

According to Cynthia Lang, associate director of financial aid, the university is currently seeking a new scholarship director. The va-cant position was recently posted and she hopes it will be filled soon.

In the meantime, students should apply for scholarships as normal and trust that questions will be answered in a timely man-ner by the financial aid depart-ment.

Applying for many scholar-ships at IU South Bend is simple. Students can apply for more than 30 IUSB and 200 IU Founda-tion scholarships by simply filling out an online application through their OneStart account under ser-vices and information and then click on the financial subheading.

It is still possible to complete a paper application, these will re-quire students to print the applica-tion, fill it out, and return it to the correct office by the deadline to be considered for a scholarship.

Lang reminds students that it is important to remember to check the deadline for each scholarship.

“And be sure to fill the applica-tion out thoroughly. If it isn’t filled out entirely, an application cannot be considered.”

Students should also file a FAF-SA before the March 1 scholarship deadline as well.

All applications that are proper-ly filled out are reviewed by a com-mittee and applicants are notified of their status by email as soon as decisions are made.

Students are encouraged to search out additional scholarship opportunities through reputable sources such as FastWeb.com. It is important to remember that scholarships are gifts that students should never have to pay a fee to receive. A good rule of thumb is, if it sounds too good to be true, be sure to proceed with caution.

According to FastWeb.com, students should research scholar-ships early and often. New scholar-ships are posted often and search-ing frequently will help them find new opportunities.

For additional information re-garding the IUSB and IU Foun-dation scholarships, please e-mail finaid@iusb.edu, or call (574) 520-4357.

Scholarships available

By DANIELLE MOLNARStaff Writer

Online classes are becoming more and more popular with tech-nology popping up everywhere.

Students are continually warned against taking online class-es, yet through email interviews with professors of these classes, it seems students are urged to take online classes during their college career.

Nursing faculty Glenda Da-vidson has been teaching online courses for a few years now. She, like others, believes that any stu-dent who can be successful in a regular class can be successful in an online course.

“Fear of taking an online class seems to be the biggest issue at the beginning of a semester,” David-son said, yet she claims the classes are just a different manner of help-ing the students learn. Davidson recommends contacting your professor if you have questions on these classes, just like others.

“Go online early in the first week to see how their course is set up,” Davidson said.

Micheline Nelson, associate professor of art history, holds the same cautionary belief.

“Online classes are not all the same,” Nelson said.

Students, however, do require the same traits to be successful in these classes. Luckily, many stu-dents who do well in regular col-lege courses already possess these traits.

Students who want to take an online course should be organized, disciplined, self-motivated, have good study habits, and be able to manage time wisely.

“Students should be realistic about their own work habits. If they tend to meet deadlines and are motivated, they should do fine,” Nelson said. “If, on the other hand, self-discipline and sorting out priorities are not a strength, maybe online is not the best choice until they get a handle on their work habits.”

According to Dennis Wolf, lecturer in mathematical sciences, for students who do possess these skills, online courses may in fact be easier.

What is important to consider before signing up for an online course?

“Most online courses have a “Readiness Check List,” Wolf said.  “If a student does not have good study habits, up to date tech-nology at home, or poor time man-agement skills, an online course is not for them.

Aside from those skills, it is important to realize that online classes, though not set up for a scheduled time each week, may require the same amount of hours as a regular class. Students should also consider their amount of ac-cess to the internet.

“Basic computer skills are im-portant,” Nelson said. “If the stu-

Online classes not so scary

PHOTO COURTESY/randolph.edu

For a list of online courses offered at IUSB, visit the class schedule page on the main website under academics tab.

dent does not have access to a reli-able computer and has weak basic computer skills, this may really im-pair their ability to do well.”

Pamela Zarazee, lecturer in management and human resourc-es, recommends that students at-tempt these classes.

“This opportunity allows the students to work at their own pace and get specific questions they may have addressed directly with the professor,” she said.

Online classes offer students a new means of learning, allow-ing them to practice time man-agement and teaching them new technologies.

see STUDY/8

PAGE 6 www.iusbpreface.comCAMPUS LIFE

By ERIKA BLUMEStaff Writer

Music, television, movies, books; all of these things are mul-timedia and are pretty important to most of us.

IU South Bend student Jake Jones started the IUSB radio club and also a class devoted to multi-media. The club is fairly new and is devoted to distributing multi-media to campus and to the com-munity.

So far there has been a lot of in-terest in the club. They currently have about ten core group mem-bers.

“There was a big response last semester so I didn’t feel the need to advertise at first because of so much interest,” said Jake Jones,

club president. The club is plan-ning on posting fliers in the near future to draw more interest.

The club is currently using the multimedia room in the library to record but since this room is open to all students they are look-ing for a more d e s i g n a t e d room to use. The content that the club offers is being decided by the club members.

Podcasts are currently in the works but there is no set date for any podcasts to be available yet. The club is looking into other ar-eas of media, such as a blog, which

has been set up this past week, to deliver content.

Music is also an option but it depends mostly on the type of audience and getting licensure to

play popular music. One goal of the club is to get the communi-ty involved by playing music by local bands.

The club is also interested

in working with other clubs on campus to help deliver content.

“One goal is to become an in-stitution for other clubs to come to once we become more known,” said Jones.

The club is not looking for

Radio club seeking unity with other clubs

“One goal is to become an institution for other clubs to come to once we be-come more known,”

—Jake JonesClub President

Native American student union seeks to promote inclusion, education

By KENDRA HORSMAN Staff writer

We’ve all seen stereotypical media representations of Native Americans in Disney films and on covers of western novels. A new IU South Bend club seeks to dis-pel some of those myths, offering students some cultural education.

“Native Americans are very un-derrepresented,” said Charles Hat-ley, founder of the Native Ameri-can Student Union. “I wanted to start a group that promoted inclu-sion.”

He got the idea after attending other universities and noticing the absence of Native American groups. .

“Most schools don’t have clubs for Native Americans,” said Hat-ley.

The club is currently working with the Band of Potawatomi in South Bend. They are encourag-ing education and community in-volvement.

A film series featuring Native Americans is an event the club is going to sponsor. “We want to raise awareness of Native Ameri-cans on campus,” said Hatley.

In addition to this event, the club plans to set up a booth to col-lect funds for Haiti.

“It is a good cause because 100% of the money goes directly to Haiti,” said Hatley. They are able to send all of the funds be-cause they don’t have to pay ad-ministration fees like other orga-nizations.

This club is for anyone, not just Native Americans. In the future the focus will be to expand the group’s size and become active par-ticipants in the community.

Meetings take place on Thurs-day’s online to work around every-one’s schedules. For more infor-mation contact Charles Hatley at cdhatley@iusb.edu.

equipment at this time because most of the members have their own but later on the club may need to request a grant for equip-ment.

The Radio club is also asso-ciated with an English (W250) writing class devoted to writing for the radio. The one- credit class and is offered on Fridays from 12 to 12:50 p.m. Some space is still available for spring semester. The class is about radio writing and will be offered again in the fall se-mester.

For more information on the Radio club or the class, contact Jones at iusbradio@gmail.com or you can join the Facebook group by searching for it under IUSB radio. They can also be found on Twitter at IUSBradio.

By TIMOTHY DANN-BARRICKStaff Writer

Have you ever attached a pin to your lapel or stuck a yard sign next to your mailbox? Do you vote all the way down the ballot even for the town coroner? Whether you’re blue, red or none of the above, if your heroes are senators, represen-tatives, presidents past or present, the Political Science Club may be the group for you.

Lead by advisor Dr. Elizabeth Bennion, the Political Science Club (PSC) is essentially IU South Bend’s chapter of The American Democracy Project. According to the mission statement, the goal is to “expand student knowledge of and participation in politics at the local, state, and national levels.”

Comprised of about ten active members and many attendees, the PSC has hosted a number of cam-pus events.

During the 2008 election, de-bate watch parties were organized, free snacks included, which at-tracted The South Bend Tribune,

FOX28, WNDU and other media outlets eager to discover what was on the minds of local college stu-dents.

Earlier that fall, PSC kicked off the year with their Democracy Plaza.

During welcome weekend they distributed p o c k e t -sized US c o n s t i t u -tions along with copies of Darwin’s The Origin of Species, a banned book in some na-tions. They also offered free nachos with cheese to stu-dents.

Other past PSC activities have included a film screening of Sicko by Michael Moore, voter registra-tion tables, public forums, and a lecture series on Revolutionary Politics.

“We hold forums so that vot-ers can actually hear both sides of a debate and make up their own minds,” said Bennion. She also noted that voter registration tables and class presentations have a sig-nificant impact, increasing voter registration and voter turnout

among stu-dents.

C l u b m e m b e r s also volun-teer in the community with the South Bend Center for the Home-less.

“ W e were able

to donate over 20 thumb drives for the students to be able to save their work and track their prog-ress,” said Charles Hatley, club president.  “We are also working on setting up an ongoing donation through the local universities to assure a constant supply of much

needed computer equipment.”The first meeting of the semes-

ter was held Jan. 21 at 5:30 p.m. in DW 2170. New members are welcome to attend future meet-ings. One of the many activities being planned for this semester is a political poetry jam. Any IUSB student can submit a poem, song or free verse with a political bent.

PSC is also planning to screen two films Iron Jawed Angels and Dreams of Equality. Both docu-mentaries portray the persecution endured by participants during the Women’s Rights Movement in America.

“It’s important to hear and to see those stories of the sacri-fices that people made to have the right to vote, a right that so many people take for granted today,”said Bennion.

Any students wishing for infor-mation on participating in events or becoming a member of the club can add the Facebook group called “IUSB Political Science Club” or email Dr. Bennion at ebennion@iusb.edu.

PSC planning poetry jam, movies

“We hold forums so that voters can actu-ally hear both sides of a debate and make up their own minds,”

—Dr. Elizabeth Bennion Professor, Political Science

The Preface is your campus news connection.Visit us at www.iusbpreface.com.

The IUSB Preface Page 7LIFE/ENTERTAIMENT

By APRIL BUCKStaff Writer

A cataclysmic event during a war in the not-too-distant future has left the remains of the human race scrambling to survive.

In the Book of Eli, like so many other films of this nature, (The Postman, Waterworld, The Road, The Road Warrior), mankind has managed to destroy our world, and civilization as we know it is all but forgotten. The main difference is that the violence in this rendition is peppered with Psalms.

Denzel Washington stars as a loner on a mission, wandering through a bleak post-apocalyptic American wasteland. Eli has been heading west for more than 30 years.

He walks along the desolate roads full of the remnants of civi-lization with a leather-bound Bible packed carefully in his ragged knapsack. Eli is forced to defend himself against a desperate gang of highwaymen with stunning mar-tial arts sequences. Washington shows his ability to still kick butt

and be a badass, as he confronts the leader of the gang.

“You lay that hand on me again and you will not get it back.” This threat is, of course, carried out in all its gory glory.

During his trek west, Eli comes to a town held together by the vil-lainous dictator, Carnegie (Gary Oldman). Carnegie needs Eli’s Bi-ble because he believes it will give him power over the townspeople and he is determined to take it by force if necessary.

Carnegie forces his girlfriend’s daughter Solara (Mila Kunis) to spend time with Eli so he can be convinced to stay and thus allow Carnegie to gain access to the book. This cannot be allowed to happen because of Eli’s destiny and he and Solara end up on the run together to keep the Bible safe from Carnegie’s designs. The story is convoluted but largely predict-able although there is an unexpect-ed twist at the end.

The Warner Bros. film was written by graphic novelist Gary Whitta and directed by twin brothers Allen and Albert Hughes

(Menace II Society, From Hell). Al-though the film is superbly shot in a monochromatic palette, the sto-ry never really seems to hit a clear conceptual course. At one moment there seems to be a true contem-plation of faith, and at so many others it is simply a bloodbath full of gratuitous violence.

From the moment viewers saw the trailers for this movie, The Book

of Eli was one of those films they really wanted to like. However it is difficult to reconcile the storyline with the many holes in the plot and extreme oversights. Many of the weaknesses are explained away by a religious destiny that needs more support to be convincing. Overall, The Book of Eli is enter-taining as long as you come fully ready to suspend your disbelief.

Post apocalypse wandering

By JAKE JONES Preface Correspondent

The IU South Bend Poker Club has been one of the biggest event draws over the last few years. The club holds about three free tour-naments per semester presenting a one hundred dollar cash prize to tournament victors.

The next tournament is Friday, Jan. 29 in the Student Activities Center room 225. Registration starts at 6:15 p.m.

“[The tournaments] are great because it involves the community and anyone can play” explained club advertising consultant Kim Alford. The poker tournaments are not restricted to just IU South Bend students but are open to all.

The tournaments are devoted to games of no limit Texas Hold Em’.

“The club helps new players improve their game and strategy” said club treasurer Emily Pressler. The club posts new information on its facebook group which can be found by searching “IUSB Poker Club”.

There are also club T-shirts available at the tournaments that help the club continue operations with funds. Through funding from

the Student Government Associa-tion the Poker Club has been able to afford a number of tournament necessities.

The club plans to increase the number of tournaments in the future to have five regular tour-naments with one championship tournament per year. There are two more regular tournaments this semester, with the dates to be an-nounced.

Through increased advertising

the club also hopes to draw more people in the community to the tournaments. The most recent tournament drew 62 players. The club offers concessions for pur-chase in order to reduce the length of breaks between rounds.

Since the tournaments take place at 7 p.m. in the Student Ac-tivities Center after normal operat-ing hours, the club registers with security for safety reasons.

In order to register for tourna-

IUSB Poker Club: Tournaments abound

Got a poker face? Get in the game with the IUSB Poker Club tournament, Friday, Jan. 29. Registration begins at 6:15 p.m. in the Student Activities Center, Room 225.

SEA taking donations for Haiti relief

By DANL DURALLStaff Writer

Two weeks ago Haiti suffered a violent earthquake and subsequent aftershocks near its capital, Port-au-Prince, that devastated the city and claimed somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 lives.

The Red Cross estimates that n e a r l y t h r e e m i l l i o n p e o p l e h a v e been left h o m e -l e s s , w i thout electric-ity, or basic ne-cess i t ies such as clean wa-ter and food, not to mention the inevitable trauma of both the event and dead or missing loved ones.

IU South Bend’s Student Edu-cation Association (SEA) is step-ping up and taking action to raise money for relief efforts coordinat-ed by the American Red Cross.

A donation jar has been avail-able in the Educational Resource Center in Greenlawn for a few days and will remain available throughout the next few months.

Anyone can make a donation. So far, a little over $30 has been collected. SEA advisor Marylin Nash says she hopes to raise at least a couple hundred dollars be-fore she sends the check out to Red Cross.

Nash and SEA advisor Kim Parker have been coordinating fundraisers, social events, clothing and food drives through SEA for roughly eight years at IUSB. The SEA advisors, president and vice president are more than willing to collaborate with any other clubs or organizations willing to contribute over the next few months

Any money raised will go to the Red Cross. Depending on how the fundraiser develops, SEA may de-cide to contribute some of its own funds to the cause.

More information can be found on SEA’s Facebook page, the Haiti Relief Project Facebook page, and Redcross.org.

OTHER HAITI

RELIEF EFFORTS

Text to 90999($10 will be added to your cell phone

bill. Donations will go to the Red Cross)

Other organizationsSalvation Army

Feed the ChildrenHabitat for Humanity

ments, people need to present their names and emails at the door. The tournaments are randomized with a computer program that places players at different tables.

The club executives responsible for running tournaments are Presi-dent Justin Matthews, Vice Presi-dent Joe Spencer, Treasurer Emily Pressler, and Advertising Consul-tant Kim Alford.

PHOTO COURTESY/cinemadope.com

Denzel Washington stars in the new film THE BOOK OF ELI from New Line Cinema © 2010.

PAGE 8 www.iusbpreface.comTHE BACK PAGE

BUS from page 1

STUDY from page 5

Alumni Association in-vites all students and community members to Get on the Bus

taking two or three charter buses to the statehouse on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 8 a.m. Attendees are asked to meet in the lobby of the Admin-istration building. Coffee will be available and a free lunch will be served on the bus.

After hearing IU President Mi-chael McRobbie speak and visiting with the legislators, all attendees will attend a reception at the In-diana Roof Ballroom. Attendees should expect to return to IUSB around 8 p.m.

Turner feels this is an experi-ence any attendee will never forget.

“For many students, they’re like ‘Oh, I just go to IU South Bend, it’s just a commuter school’ or whatever they want to call it. And you are part of the big IU and you see the influence when you sit in a room with representatives from all eight IU Campuses. It kind of gives you that sense of being part of IU, the big IU,” she said.

The Alumni Association is hoping for 140 participants, and any person in the community is welcome to sign up. If anyone is interested in attending, e-mail Juli-enne Turner at jukturne@iusb.edu with a full name, full and complete address including zip code, and a phone number to register. The last day to sign up is Friday, Jan. 29.

excellent source of help and inspi-ration for becoming a more suc-cessful student.

“Don’t procrastinate,” said el-ementary education major Jenn Fink. “Review everything and make notes of the things that you need to work on.”

One-on-one interaction with other students and studying in groups has also helped Fink be-come a more successful student.

“Study groups are very helpful. Find a study partner that is in your class so that you can learn from one another,” said Fink. “And don’t just memorize the course material, but create relationships between ideas.”

The sources for excellence are all over campus. Students, professors, tutors, the library, computer labs and learning resources can help students improve their academic performance and experience.

By KRISTINE BAILEYStaff Writer

We’ve done it – resolved to be lighter. Living lighter on the planet is a matter of making changes in things we do every day. What we choose to change has a lot to do with the strength of our resolve to drop some pounds of CO2 from our carbon footprints.

Last week, the choices were about lighter food. Since the food system is accountable for roughly a third of green-house gases, this is a good place to start.

Another choice that is available to ev-eryone, every day, no matter the lifestyle, is how to get around. Cars, buses, b i c y c l e s , feet – all are common modes of transport. Which you choose on a daily or even a weekly basis should be a way that meets your needs and suits your conscience.

Transportation is responsible for up to 51% of greenhouse gases and air pollution and up to 23% of toxic water pollution. These big numbers are numbers everyone can do something about. Let’s start by prioritizing. Which are you able to alter, adjust, or drop altogether?

Try walking, biking, or tak-ing the bus at least once a month. More than half of all trips are made within two miles of home,

according to a recent Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey. Half all of work commutes are five miles each way - a very bike-able or bus-able distance that won’t add too much extra time. Most people make those short trips in a car, adding pollution and adding pounds to the greenhouse gas load.

Speaking of adding pounds, m a n y

commuters find the exercise of walking or bik-ing these short trips is enjoyable. They have the added benefit of not only dropping some pounds of CO2 but potentially some pounds off of you. If the weather or your body won’t allow for foot-powered travel, try the bus. The ride allows for time to read, rest, or text and despite the act of dropping in coins for every trip, it can save you

Learn More – Do More

Go Car Free

For ideas and resources:

www.bikesatwork.com (check out the car free infor-mation link)

League of American Bicyclistswww.bikeleague.org

Bike to Work Week 2010 will be May 17-21www.michianabiketowork.org

Transpo Bus Route Map and Information. www.sbtranspo.com

Resolve to be Lighter:Choose Green to Go

big money.Car ownership accounts for

17% of our annual budgets due to the combined costs of the ve-hicle itself, payments on car loans, gas, oil, insurance, maintenance and repair, licensing… Save some money and save the planet – that’s a win-win!

For future reference: make it easier on yourself. Choose a

place to live where the need to drive is reduced. Pick a place w i t h i n w a l k i n g d i s t a n c e to school, work, food s o u r c e s , and rec-reational

areas. IU South Bend is

in a very walk-able neighborhood with

lots of amenities within a short walk or bike ride and is on a bus line. Notice what is around, and watch for other neighborhoods that offer similar amenities when seeking a new homestead.

G R E E N E V E N T S Science and Stories: Snow-flakes, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2 p.m., Elkhart Environmental Center. A $3 per child donation is appreci-ated. To register or for more infor-mation, call 574/293-5070.

Chill Out: Campus Solutions to Global Warming, Jan. 31 (entry due date), For more information: www.nwf.org/campusecology/chillout.

Southwest Michigan Sustain-able Business Forum Annual Meeting, Kalamazoo Nature Cen-ter, Feb. 18, 2010, 12—1:30 p.m. To register: www.swmsbf.org. For more information: www.south-westmichigansustainablebusiness-forum.org.

To submit a green event, email con-tact Kristine Bailey at kob@iusb.edu.

STUDY TIPS:Review material and make notes of things that need more work

Spotlight on the SGA: Brittany GriffithBy REBECCA GIBSON

Name: Brittany Griffith Age: 23 Year: 2nd year, Freshman Major: WOST Minor: Undecided

After IUSB: “I have three years left, and I have an internship lined up at Disney. I want to move to Orlando and make myself a place in the Disney culture. I’d like to stay here, but it’s really about what IU South Bend has to offer.”

Role in the SGA: Senator

What that means: “I am a voice for the students, from them to the administration and from the administration back to the students. As a senator, I can direct students to the appropriate administrator to address their concerns. I do as much as I can to guide them to resources that will help make IUSB a good environment for their time here.”

Committees in the SGA: “I’m on the Recycling Committee and the Environment and Community Service Committee. We plan events such as last year’s large recycling program with Apple Computers where students could recycle electronic equipment. We plan on doing it again this year because it was such a success. We got 16 pallets of electronics last time and we had to have two or three trucks to take it away!”