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September 25, 09 Vol. 9, No. 3

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Celebrity at ISU Pg. 2

Banned Books Pg. 4

Drug Tests Pg. 8 and more...

John K. WilsonIndy Staff Writer

The new movie, “The Informant,” is being advertised as a Matt Damon comedy about a bumbling informant named Mark Whitacre. But the reality behind the movie isn’t quite so funny. Archer Daniels Midland, based nearby in Decatur, used to be known as “the supermarket to the world” thanks to its ads

on political talk shows. But after an FBI investiga-tion in the 1990s, ADM pleaded guilty to fixing in-ternational prices on citric acid and lysine, paid a $100 million fine, and saw three of its top executives

convicted and sent to prison. The scandal devastated a politically influential company that had long been viewed as a success story. Founded a cen-tury ago to make linseed oil as Archer Daniels Linseed (it ac-quired Midland Linseed in 1923 to become ADM), the company began to lag in the 1960s. ADM offered the Andreas brothers, Lowell and Dwayne, 6 percent of the company to come in and

revitalize it. The company’s fi-nancial picture quickly turned around, and the Andreas family and its trusted friends dominat-ed ADM’s executive ranks and its board of directors. Much of ADM’s prof-itability came from its former chairman and CEO, Dwayne An-dreas, who was legendary for his political contacts. Contacts that proved crucial as ADM be-came the world’s largest recipi-ent of corporate welfare. With the help of a high cane-sugar tariff and support that costs the government consumers billions annually (to protect the $3 bil-lion high-fructose corn syrup market that ADM dominates), and the heavily subsidized and protected ethanol business (an-other ADM specialty), Dwayne’s empire grew as did his political influence.

Hubert Humphrey was godfather to Dwayne’s son Mick, and despite a lousy golf game, Humphrey regularly managed to beat Dwayne -- an excellent golfer -- during rounds in which they bet $100 a hole. Dwayne also had less subtle ways of giv-ing money to politicians. He left $100,000 in cash for Nixon during a 1972 visit to the White House and also gave $1 million to the Nixon library. He bought Jimmy Carter’s peanut farm for $1.5 million and organized House Speaker Tip O’Neill’s re-tirement dinner. ADM also was adept at protecting itself from media in-quiries and political opposition through its sponsorship of news programs. From January 1994 to April 1995, ADM spent $4.7 mil-lion on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” $4.3 million on CBS’s “Face the

Nation,” and $6.8 million on PBS’s “MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour.” It also was the primary sponsor of ABC’s “This Week with David Brinkley.” But the PR machine and price-fixing schemes fell apart thanks to Mark Whitacre, presi-dent of the ADM Bioproducts division. When Whitacre blamed problems with the company’s new lysine plant on industrial sabotage -- inventing Japanese extortion threats in the process -- the FBI was called in, and then just as quickly kept at bay for fear the group would uncover instances of price-fixing. While the company realized Whitacre had invented the threats, he was too valuable as a knowledgeable insider to be fired. What ADM didn’t real-ize was that Whitacre had admit-

See Sundown on Page 3:

See ADM on Page 3:

Renter Beware: Teresa WashingtonIndy Staff Writer

Last semester, with the recent housing ordeal, many students found themselves in the chaotic cycle of finding an apartment elsewhere. Many students, primarily up-perclassmen, found themselves run-ning around McLean County in search of affordable living arrangements with apartment groups like Sami, Redbird and Young America who were willing and ready to take our money. Terrible customer service, main-tenance, and well-being are the result of the money hungry system called college living. This concept has become the epit-ome of survival which nevertheless has consumed the apartment heads’ minds. Students who have branched out of the classic dormitory style living find themselves so caught up with the excitement of having their own place to party, no curfews, and no constant check-ing in of guests that they lose sight of the responsibility of having an apartment. When I was in full swing of find-ing an apartment I failed to understand

The Apartment Game.Magan BelcherIndy Staff Writer

After the first time I had to sign up for an apartment my parents thought I was crazy. We were looking for one as soon as we got back to school after Labor Day. According to Young America Realty’s website, “Open leasing for the 2010-2011 school year begins September 29th.” The truth of the matter is, if you don’t sign ear-ly, you’re not left with much to look at. The first year I got an apartment there were four of us looking for one and we really didn’t want to spend a lot per person with utilities included. My first apartment was a four bedroom, one bath apartment that was behind Watterson and cost $340 a person. With utilities it was $1360 a month per unit and our building crammed about 20 units in it. You can do the math on that one. Needless to say we were young and stupid and thought this was an awesome deal. The leasing agent showed us a newly remodeled apart-ment. It had new carpet, new appliances in the kitchen, and an apartment full of girls that had it decorated in all things Pier 1. We thought this was the unit we

See Beware on Page 3: See Games on Page 3:

Price-Fixer to the World: Central Illinois Meets Hollywood-

Yuri GonzalesIndy Staff Writer

Welcome to the South. That is my inside joke that I tell people about liv-ing in the Twin cities of Bloomington and Normal and McLean County. This is what I term border country for the cultural sympathies between North (Urban and Contemporary Mores) and South (Agrar-ian and Rustic Mores) mesh. I have met people who, when relaxed with family, have the tendency to slide into a south-ern accent like they were from Kentucky. As a historian, I learned the early settlers of the Southern interior during the colo-nial era were primarily Celtic. The interior regions were preferred due to similarities in terrain to the homelands of Scotland, Ireland, and the Northlands of England. These lands were squatted upon un-til legal claims were made and then the squatters would simply pick up and find another settlement where the land was unclaimed or undeveloped. The Louisi-ana Purchase was tremendous in allow-ing Celtic Culture to take root into the heart of the Midwest. Celtic Culture is a herding cul-ture of honor. Violence in defense of ones name from insult, defense of ones family, and in defense of property are the norms

from the Scot-Irish traditions transferred to this continent. In 1996 the social psy-chologist Richard Nesbit found that the culture of honor is an integral compo-nent explaining why homicide rates are higher in the South. In his book Culture of Honor: The Psychology of Violence in the South he states: “Employing experimen-tal methods, we have collected evidence showing that southerners respond to insults in ways that are cognitively, emo-tionally, physiologically, and behaviorally quite different from the pattern shown by northerners. In field experiments, we have shown that southern institutions are more accepting of individuals who have committed violent crimes in defense of their honor.” I like to summarize my ex-periences with the descendents of Celtic Americans in this region in four words: White People Are Crazy! When the Louisiana Purchase gave the U.S.A an opportunity to expand, it was the rural poor of the Southern in-terior who most easily migrated into the new Midwest. They lived off the land and settled it to become propertied landown-ers passing titles of ownership to the next generation. Communities developed and commercial relationships formalized. The

When The Lights Go Out: Sun-down Towns in American History

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Executive Editors:Amanda Clayton & Lisa Shelton

Layout:Casey Reynolds

Indy StaffYuri Gonzales, Jon Kindseth, John WilsonConnie Bach, Teresa Washington, Carolyn O’hearn, Blair Wittig, Magan Belcher, Phill Earhart, Ryan Mostardo, Olga Vladimirova,

Tesia Schiltz

Indynews@hotmail.comWhat’s the Deal?: It Seems the Vidette is Confused.

It seems the Vidette has not quite figured out how it feels about alcohol. This is in reference to the September 17 issue. The problem was pointed out by a student. The Vidette states that there is an alcohol problem on campus. Yet there are at least two liquor advertisements inside this very same issue. So what’s the deal? Apparent-ly, the paper’s contributors believe, or are encouraged to say, that there is an alcohol problem on campus. Well, it’s rather hard to make a statement like this when alcohol is advertised to raise readership and sales at local businesses. Students are attracted by advertising to buy alcohol. Therefore the Vidette is both the opponent and proponent of alcohol consumption on campus.

Student Loans

Congress is finally moving to end the corporate welfare for banks known as the student loan program. Instead of handing piles of money to banks to do paper-work on government-backed loans, the House of Representatives last week passed a bill to end the private loans by 2010 and adopt the more efficient direct lending sys-tem. Naturally, the far right is upset. Rush Limbaugh declared, “You’re going to have to have some government bureaucrat. Van Jones will be the loan committee head, and, you know, whether you’re Republican or Democrat will matter; who you’ve donated to will matter.” It takes a certain kind of conspiracy theory to imagine that student loans (which are automatically given to anyone who is eligible) will be allocated based on campaign donations and party affiliation, and Rush is that kind of crazy.

John Edwards, Scumbag

The sleazy tale of John Edwards keeps getting worse. According to a New York Times report about a book proposal by his former aide, “Mr. Edwards once calmed an anxious Ms. Hunter by promising her that after his wife died, he would marry her in a rooftop ceremony in New York with an appearance by the Dave Matthews Band.” He’s a real charmer, isn’t he? But if you’re planning to dance on the future grave of your wife, shouldn’t you choose a better band than Dave Matthews? Or did Edwards figure that they’re the only major band willing to sink that low?

Really Andy? WEEK-TV 25 news on September 17 ran a story about Republican Senate candidate Andy Martin’s allegedly deep commitment to high-speed rail. (http://www.centralillinoisnewscenter.com/news/local/59674137.html). WEEK reported, “Martin says he plans to set up a toll free line soon with information about his proposal for residents. The number will be 1–800–RAIL–NOW.” But if you call that number, it says, “call the talk line for exciting people nationwide” gives out another number, and then hangs up. In case you haven’t guessed, it’s not a talk line for Amtrak fans. But the bigger story is what WEEK didn’t report about Martin: the fact that he’s one of the world’s biggest crackpots. Martin was the original source for the false rumor that Obama is a Muslim, before it spread around the internet. Then he became a leader of the “birther” movement claiming that Obama was born in Kenya. He’s also a notori-ous anti-Semite who once referred to a judge as a “crooked, slimy Jew.” Now, these views may make him more popular among some Republican voters in next year’s Sen-ate primary. But people deserve to know what kind of lunatic they’re voting for, not fawning coverage of some lunatic’s phony concern about public transit.

Crying Racism

The Daily Vidette’s editorial board would like to imagine that there is no racism in America. In a September 18 editorial (“The ex-president who cried ‘racism’”) they denounced Jimmy Carter and demanded that “the race card stops being played.” But recognizing racism isn’t playing the race card. It’s the racists who are playing the race card. It’s true that not every opponent of Obama is motivated by racism (and Carter never said that). But you do have to wonder if racism is involved when you look at the two leaders of the right-wing movement against Obama, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. In reference to Obama Glenn Beck said “He has a deep seated hatred for white people, or white culture....this guy is, I believe, a racist.” Rush Lim-baugh called Obama a “little black man-child” and accused him of being a rac-ist. These statements are both loony and racist. So when Jimmy Carter says there’s racism involved in the opposition to Obama, all he’s doing is playing the same race card thrown out by the right-wing, with one exception: Carter’s correct. Shortly after the 2008 election, a poll found that 22% of Americans believed that Obama is an Arab, a particu-larly bizarre racist smear spread by Limbaugh. That group represents roughly half of the anti-Obama force in America. So is it really unbelievable to imagine that race has nothing to do with the fight against Obama? Instead of being apologists for racists like Beck and Limbaugh, and try-ing to pretend that racism doesn’t exist, we need to confront the real racism that still exists in America. Whenever someone tries to deny the reality of rac-ism, we all need to say, “You lie!”

Banned Book Week

September 26th through October 3rd has been declared banned book week. Illinois State University is not encouraging the banning of books but yet cel-ebrating the freedom we all have to make our own choices. Ten individuals from the campus and the twin Cities will participate in activi-ties recognizing Banned Book Week: Celebrating the Freedom to read at Illinois State University’s Bone Student Center on September 30 and October 1 and 2. The event is free and open to the public. Hosted by Milner Library and Barnes & Noble College Book Store, all read-ings will be in front of Barnes & Noble in the student center for one hour beginning at 11:30 a.m. National Banned Books Week, launched by the American Library Associa-tion in 1982, recognizes that “intellectual freedom can exist only where the freedom to express oneself and the freedom to choose what opinions and viewpoints to consume are both met.” Excerpts from banned and challenged books will be read by Illinois State faculty, staff and students, and community members. A brief introduction of the selected books will cover the reasons why they have been banned or challenged.

Tuesday, September 29

11:30 - noon “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine12:00 - 12:15 “Chinese Handcuffs” by Chris Crutcher12:15 - 12:30 “Goodbye Christ” by Langston Hughes & “My House” by Nikki Giovanni

Wednesday, September 30

11:30 - 11:45 “In the Night Kitchen” by Maurice Sendak11:45 - noon “A Light in the Attic” by Shel Silverstein12:00 - 12:15 “And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell12:15 - 12:30 “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Thursday, October 1

11:30 - 11:45 “Tailypo” by Joanna Galdone11:45 - 12:00 “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult12:00 - 12:15 “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Mcguire12:15 - 12:30 “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” by John Locke

All this information was found on ISU’s webpage www.ilstu.edu

Celebrity coming to Illinois State!

Get your butt over to the Braden Auditorium September 30th at 7 p.m. for “An Evening with Morgan Spurlock.” Academy Award nominated director, Morgan Spurlock is the creator and pro-ducer of FX’s critically acclaimed and award winning series, 30 days (Season 1 and 2). His first feature film, Super Size Me, was released in 2004 and went on to become the sixth highest grossing box office documentary of all time. This comedic and telling documentary was named to more than 35 Top Ten lists in 2004 and received an Oscar nomination, the Writers Guild of America Best Documentary Screenplay Award and Best Director prizes at the Sundance Film Festival and the Edinburg Film Festival. It is an honor to have such a creative and talented individual come speak to Illinois State University and the University Program Board has made this event free so make sure to get good seats. There will be a Q & A session after the event so bring some good questions and enjoy meeting Morgan Spurlock. Thanks UPB!

All this information was found on ISU’s webpage. www.ilstu.edu

September 25, 2009 IndyIndy news 3Sundown from page 1:

the conditions by which my contract held me responsible. Instead I was more con-cerned about having a big closet. One must recognize that these companies do not have your best inter-est at heart but more about getting their rent for the month. It’s funny how you can tell your leaser that the furniture in your apartment has holes in it and it takes them centuries to get a replacement to you but, if you’re late on your rent they instantly apply late fees. The leaser is only the begin-ning of problems you may encounter. Incidents with roommates are one of the common reasons why students must be careful with leasing apartments. Decid-ing on whom to live with is different than being assigned a roommate with the uni-versity. You have to find someone who is trustworthy, respectful of one’s space and actually pays their rent. I challenge everyone to do their research and outwit the very people who perceive us as gullible, narrow-minded college students. There are many outlets by which you can become aware of the apartment scheme just by going on the Dean of Students website. They offer leas-ing workshops to help students under-stand contracts and give legal assistance whenever possible. Remember you have rights un-der a legally binding contract that your needs be met and vice versa.

were getting but this was not the case. When we got around to signing our lease the company told us that we had gotten the last unit in the building, so it wasn’t a remodeled unit, but we figured that we had liked the layout and it should be fine. Move in day came, we all had our cars packed up and I remember being so excited to get my key. I walked into the leasing office and told the woman my name and my apartment number. She found my paperwork, gave me a strange look and went over to a tall blonde guy who I had seen in the office several times before. She whispered something to him and he looked down at my paperwork. This didn’t look good. He patted the girl on the back and walked over to me. Nor-mally when you move into a new apart-ment they are supposed to “clean” and “paint” and “repair” things as we were told. It looks like the previous occupants had done some damage. The man told me that they were aware of the damag-es and that they would be taken care of within the next week. We had gotten our warning, but I still don’t think we were prepared for what we saw. Our carpet looked like the Astroturf lawn that the Brady Bunch had, complete with various dark stains of ori-gins I am not even sure about. Our appli-ances decided to add to the Brady Bunch theme by being worn, old, and probably from the ‘70s. How can you make an out-dated apartment better? Well you could

have the previous occupants smoke a ton of marijuana in it and have the apart-ment reek of it as well as have them put various degrees of holes in the wall they must have made while they were disarm-ing the smoke detectors. Needless to say, we weren’t impressed. My next apartment hunting ex-perience, at first, started out as a pleasur-able one. I was living with one other per-son and we had found what were referred to as “luxury apartments.” We thought since they were farther off campus, there wouldn’t be as much noise and since these apartments were recently built we thought we wouldn’t have to deal with outdated appliances and furnishings like my last apartment. Well I guess that’s what we get for wishful thinking. Luxury apartments are great in theory, but put into practice they are the same shabby apartments as everywhere else on campus. Have you ever seen how long it actually takes them to build an apartment? I watched one getting built this summer it took about three months, if that and I felt like I was watching an episode of “Extreme Home Make Makeover” doing a weekend job. That’s exactly what my “luxury” apart-ment was. Our cupboards were basically plywood with fake wood sheets glued on that would peel off whenever I would put something in the stove. My roommate and I also had problems with our dryer not actually drying out clothes. When we told maintenance about this, they came

up and said that we just needed to clean out the lint trap and then proceeded to charge us for it. Everything that our “lux-ury” apartment had advertised seemed a lie from the free tanning booth that was either never open or always full to the free computer lab with free printing, in which only one computer seemed to work and the printer would always conveniently break down when I would have to print a paper. Now I am sure there are some great real estate companies and some great apartments in Normal and around campus. Okay, maybe I’m actually not too sure of that because I probably wouldn’t have paid the price they would have wanted for the better apartments. But my advice is to do your research before you go and get an apartment. Actually talk to the people who have lived in that building or have rented from that com-pany. My best advice would be to go off campus if you have a car, you may have to furnish your own apartment and drive to campus, but I guarantee you’ll play half the price for rent and you can actually find some pretty decent places. I decided to get out of the Bloomington-Normal real estate game and just buy a house. Some may think I’m crazy, but my mortgage payment is less than both of my apartments that I have lived in, so ponder that one while you play the rent-ing game.

Beware from page 1: Games from page 1:

ADM from page 1:

ted inventing the threats to the FBI and agreed to cooperate with them. Over the next several years, Whitacre would make tapes of ADM price-fixing meetings. ADM had been tainted by al-legations of price-fixing before. In 1965, it paid fines for helping to fix the price of bakery flour. In 1976, the company pleaded no contest to charges of short-weighting and false grading of grain exports. In 1978, ADM was convicted of conspiring to fix Food for Peace program prices. In 1994, ADM paid $1.5 million to end a lawsuit over price rigging in the liq-uid carbon dioxide market. In 1998, ADM paid nearly $70,000 to settle a sodium gluconate (MSG) price-fixing lawsuit. ADM’s main defense was that its competitors were already fixing prices when it entered each market. However, Whitacre’s tapes showed that ADM took the lead in price-fixing and even added a new twist: allocating sales volume among its conspirators. At a 1992 meeting, when lysine was under 80 cents per pound, ADM Corn Processing Division President Terry Wilson proposed “friendly compe-tition” to raise the price to 80 cents, 95 cents, $1.05 and then $1.20. Now, that’s putting the “friendly” in competition. As Wilson told the other lysine makers in a secret meeting recorded by Whitacre, “You’re my friend. I want to be closer to you than I am to any customer ‘cause you can make us money.” ADM president James Randall told the group, “We have a saying here in this company that penetrates the whole company. It’s a saying that our competitors are our friends. Our customers are the enemy.” ADM officials see their company as a victim of government persecution. However, James B. Lieber’s book, “Rats in the Grain: The Dirty Tricks and Trials of Archer Daniels Midland,” (Four Walls Eight Windows, 2000), raises questions about the government’s failure to pursue the case against ADM completely. Far from treating ADM unfairly, Lieber finds the government did not pursue some of its

most damaging evidence, such as Whi-tacre’s claim that the company accepted embezzlement by its top executives or the strong evidence that ADM fixed pric-es in the corn-syrup industry. As Dwayne Andreas told a Senate committee in defending the Export En-hancement Program -- which gave $130 million to ADM between 1985 and 1995 -- “When it comes to agriculture there is no such thing as a free market.” In 1999, ADM set aside $269 million to deal with its fines and lawsuits--$4 million more than its most recent net earnings. ADM settled a citric acid price-fixing lawsuit for $35 million. Price-fixing at ADM was part of the corporate culture shared by the entire upper management, not simply Wilson and Mick Andreas, who were left unpro-tected by the plea agreement and ended up receiving two-year prison sentences. The government was more concerned with getting a guilty plea and a successful case rather than prosecuting ADM for all of its crimes. Whitacre, the informant who revealed the scheme, ended up with the harshest punishment: He was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison, most of it due to a fraud conviction for embezzling $2.5 million from ADM. ADM has cost consumers and farmers billions through government subsidies and price-fixing. And it’s quite likely that in spite of the record $100 mil-lion fine and the embarrassment to the company, ADM still made a healthy profit from price-fixing. ADM’s current problem is that its guilty plea included an agree-ment to allow monitoring to ensure the company does not continue to fix prices for its products. However, with govern-ment subsidies continuing to prop up its dominance in ethanol and corn syrup, ADM has survived its scandals. “The Informant” may bring more attention to this ugly record of central Illi-nois’ most powerful corporation, and the terrible consequences of corporate wel-fare that bred corruption at ADM.

land was so bountiful it allowed for a set-tler to allow a herd of pigs to roam the forest and graze until plump. The settler would then herd the pigs from grazing by either walking or shipping them down the Mississippi River to sell the herd in New Orleans, and simply walk home to invest the earnings in other endeavors. Thus aspects of the Southern psychol-ogy resonate in the heartland of America and have come to shape the practices in the lifestyle of the people of Celtic Amer-ican decent. Intrinsic to the experience of Southern Whites is that of racial domi-nance over the Afro American. Especially after Reconstruction the Afro-American became an enemy within the ranks of a people whom had lost their honor to the Union Army during the Civil War. This impart gives some explanation for the more than five thousand lynchings of Afro-Americans by Euro-Americans that occurred from the end of the Civil War until 1968. It came as a mild surprise to my understanding of American his-tory when James W. Loewen went on a book tour supporting Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Rac-ism. Loewen determines that many ru-ral towns had ordinances against Negro people sleeping overnight in a commu-nity, and the use of forced resolution was acceptable. Lynching was implied on city limit signs reading “Nigga Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on You in …(insert any-where in the Midwest here.) This made complete sense to me for I had to reason that some Afro-American Southerners really liked the agrarian way of life, and would have preferred small town life versus urban life. It puts a twist on the urban migration patterns that occurred for Afro-Americans from the Jim Crow Era. It was not about job opportunities in the cities. It was about lack of choice to be anywhere else to utilize labor re-sources. The phenomena of Sundown towns allows understanding regarding how fiercely insecure Euro-Americans

have been in establishing social order. It appears that cultural conceptions of self-determination in Celtic Culture ne-cessitated that there be an enemy to be determined against. The similarity be-tween lynchings and Sundown Towns is that both endeavors had the support of all members of a community to terrorize the weakest members of the society.

Whats do you think about these issues? Let us know...

indynews@hotmail.com

September 25, 2009 IndyCampus news4

BookLord of the FliesBy: William Golding

Reviewed by Amanda ClaytonIndy Staff Writer

Brief summary: When a plane crashes in a Pacific island a group of English schoolboys have to work together in order to survive. Eventually one of the boys becomes obsessed with hunting and forgets about the democratic vision in mind. The boys abandon any thought of being rescued and split into two groups… one which focus on hunting and killing and one try-ing on hold onto a democratic society. When searching for the beast they all fear is on the is-land they instead kill one of their schoolmates. Now it’s one group against the other fighting and killing for survival. Their smoke signals on the beach eventually get noticed and the boys who are still alive do get rescued. Once reality sets in the boys start whimpering like little ba-bies realizing in the society they belong to… killing people and acting like a savage beast is NOT okay.

Why ban books from academia? Students are go-ing to learn about sex, drugs, violence, and all those question-able topics one way or another. The media and television shows

show and explain everything our parents try to hide from us. But these morals, or lack thereof, are shaping our culture no matter who tries to block, ban, or hide them. Some of those “question-able topics” though, are neces-sary for students to learn what is right and wrong in society. In Lord of the Flies au-thor William Golding writes about the evil inside all of us. He examines the causes and effects of human evil and the meth-ods people use to conflict evil amongst others. Golding states, “The theme of Lord of the Flies is grief, sheer grief, grief, grief.” This alone could possibly be why it is banned in schools today. That, or the fact that young boys kill each other on a deserted island instead of working together in a harmonious effort. But let’s get real… even on shows like survi-vor the contestants don’t always get along. Aiming to teach stu-dents that in life everyone will get along even in the midst of a crisis is unrealistic. Because when these school boys are deserted on the island their natural instincts come out. These are instincts that we are all born with. Such characteristics like fending for food and shelter so as to save your life. “We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re Eng-lish, and the English are best at

everything.” Even though some characters, as evidence from this quote, tried to hold the group together, it didn’t work. The raw competition among the group grew and grew the longer they stayed stranded on the island. By placing these boys on this uninhabited tropical is-land Golding was illustrating how savagery is not confined to certain people in particular envi-ronments but exists in everyone. Once these schoolboys caught a glimpse of power they sought to dominate those who were not in their group. The discrimination took over and just like World War Two, in which the setting of this novel took place, the boys turned against each other and created a civil war on the island. Teaching students that these realistic themes and ide-als occur is more important than banning the book because it’s a little graphic and gory. Yes there is bloodshed and fear within the characters of the book but that’s what makes such an impact of the theme Golding created. This book shows a true message at the end of the book when the boys get rescued and begin to cry. It’s the end of innocence that we all face in our lifetime. That one moment where we all real-ize, in different ways, we need to grow up. These boys learned the hard way and will forever be affected by their time spent

stranded on the island... but will indeed grow from these events

as will all of Golding’s readers from this great plot.

Their Eyes Were Watching God By: Zora Neale Hurston

Reviewed by Lisa SheltonIndy Staff Writer

I remember reading this novel for my AP English class in high school. It is often associ-ated with other great works such as “The Adventures of Huckle-berry Finn” by Mark Twain and “Native Son” by Richard Wright. With her second novel, Zora Neale Hurston made herself a household name and focus of much scrutiny. With this book that has arguably become her most prominent work Hurston sheds light on the black society in the Renaissance period. She pays special attention to the lives of young, intelligent, and strong black women through her protagonist Janie. After spending much time away from her hometown of Eatonville, Florida Janie returns without her younger husband Tea Cake. Her being a strong, confident, and beautiful woman it causes quite a stir in her com-munity as to the whereabouts of her other half. Her friend Phoeby visits her to see about her well being and Janie pours out her soul to her friend.

Throughout the novel Janie struggles with her grandmother whom she affectionately calls Nanny. Nanny was a former slave. She raised Janie after her own

daughter abandoned her. Nanny does not see a future for a single black woman in the South. Thus, she attempts to marry Janie off to an affluent and much older farmer named Logan despite

Janie’s intelligence, wit, and strength. Janie eventually gives in and is treated horribly by Lo-gan. As a result, she runs off and marries a man named Joe and later returns to Eatonville. Twenty years of being with Joe turned him into a mon-ster. He gained authority in the small town with a small business and quickly became the mayor. He then became controlling and overbearing. Janie’s wits proved too much for him and after she bad mouthed him in public, he beat her severely. Joe then grows terribly ill and eventually died. To the dismay of towns-people Janie met and married a younger man named Tea Cake less than a year after her hus-band’s death. Janie sold Joe’s business and moved to Jack-sonville. Their marriage suffered at first with issues of trust but proved able to stand the test of time. In a strange twist of events a hurricane approached. Amidst the storm Tea Cake is bitten by a rabid dog. He goes mad on account of rabies and accuses Janie of cheating on him. In a fit of rage he tries to shoot Janie. Janie shoots and kills Tea Cake to save her own life. After sharing her strug-gles with her friend Janie is con-tent with her relationship with Tea Cake and more she is content

with herself. Somehow Janie has found a way to rise above every situation she has encountered in her life. She decides to let her townspeople think whatever they choose to about her life. This book was banned for a multitude of reasons. It was banned on account of its explicitness. The strong imagery gives the reader an uninhibited perception of Janie’s sex life and physical abuse. It could have been banned on account of the book’s overall at-titude to humanity at the time. A woman in the 1930s running off with another man wasn’t an ac-ceptable thing in society. There is also the factor that this book sheds light on the life of a ne-glected race in that time period. Some people argued that this is a feminist novel. Hur-ston also empowers women with this book. She shows them that they can take control of their own lives. This is yet another rea-son the book would be frowned on in earlier societies. This is a story about one woman’s quest for happiness. All Janie ever desired was to be content with who she was and to live a fulfilling life. Aside from the controversy it is still a classic and one of the groundbreaking novels for its time period. It’s definitely worth the read.

Banned

September 25, 2009 IndyIndy news 5

Book

Grapes of WrathBy: John Steinbeck

Reviewed by Phil EarhartIndy Staff Writer

In 1939, John Steinbeck wrote a book that, within a year of publication, would become immensely popularized, highly controversial, and eventually banned from many schools and libraries. Nearly overnight, “The Grapes of Wrath” had become a national sensation, transform-ing Steinbeck from a strug-gling writer to an illustrious, yet controversial author. However, the rapid success of the book came with a consequence, and Steinbeck’s first hit would face tremendous opposition due to its examination of a struggling workforce and a country on the brink of collapse. The novel takes place dur-ing America’s Great Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s, a time associated with poverty, strug-gle, and fading hope for many Americans. The novel follows the Joad Family on their journey across the American landscape, destined for the West in search of work. Steinbeck reveals the hardships of rural life during the Dust Bowl and exposes the bit-ter reality of life in 1930s. Tom Joad, the books central charac-

ter, fights for his family through-out the story, finding strength in numbers all while refusing to surrender his dignity. For Stein-beck, Joad represents thousands of migrant American workers who significantly struggled to provide for their families and survive the calamity of the ‘30s. However, Steinbeck’s dire depic-tion of American workers was highly contested by a country too proud and ignorant to ac-knowledge its own genuine di-lemma. “Grapes of Wrath” was banned, burned, and challenged for reasons like “sexual refer-ences” and vulgar language”. In reality, the book angered many people because of his honest portrayal of the political and economic landscape of the ‘30s. In a time when growing fears of socialist takeover and Marx-ist ideologies were whispering throughout the country, the nov-el’s undertones seem to almost disparage the capitalistic system and expose some of its fatal de-fects. Americans were shocked by the poverty and desponden-cy of the book and could simply not believe that these circum-stances were occurring in Amer-ica. Ample charges of obscenity were brought against the novel, and it was banned and burned in Buffalo, New York; East Saint Louis, Illinois; and Kern County,

California, where much of the novel is set. In fact, the novel continues to be one of the most frequently banned books in our country, according to school and library associations. In 1939, Congressman Lyle Boren of Okla-homa denounced the book, and

called the novel’s depiction of migrant living conditions “a vul-gar lie”. Charges were made that ‘obscenity’ had been included in the book to increase sales rather than reveal truths. Eventually, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt de-fended “Grapes of Wrath” and

publicly praised the controver-sial author and his novel. As I see it, books are banned not out of vulgarity or sexual content, but rather because of fear. In the case of “Grapes of Wrath”, humiliation was at stake for a country already struggling from a massive depression. Moreover, book banners feared the dispersion of ideas that would repudiate capitalism and potentially guide the country to consider other economic sys-tems and ideals. However, in my opinion, banning books seems to be entirely ineffective, be-cause ideas simply do not parish when books are outlawed. Ideas do not suffocate when someone tells you not to read them, but rather they provoke attention and perpetuate the ideas that book banners strive to silence. Additionally, book banning seems completely contradictory to some of the most basic rights promised in our constitution. However, regardless of book banners and burners, Steinbeck’s novel has endured criticism and achieved great success, earn-ing him a Pullitzer Prize in 1940 for his contentious novel. “The Grapes of Wrath” is considered to be a classic piece of literature: one that reveals a damaged, yet unyielding working class, and one that exposes truth of the American experience.

The Harry Potter SeriesBy: J.K. Rowling

Reviewed by Carolyn O’hearnIndy Staff Writer

One of the most success-ful fantasy series for children is also one of the most challenged novels in recent history. It is not banned yet, but many want it to be. For those of you who have

been living in a cave for the last decade and have no idea what the story is about, let me summarize it for you. A young orphaned boy, liv-ing with his abusive aunt and uncle, finds out he is actually a wizard, and is taken to a school called Hogwarts in order to learn magic. Pretty sim-ple stuff. And in spite of how dark the last few books in the series have been, most would consider the first three or four books to be appropri-ate for kids. So why does a series that emphasizes love, tolerance, and intelligence (in addition to be-ing an all-around fun read) cause so much opposition people? Because some religious people claim the series promotes devil worship. Yes, some claim that a reading series in which kids wave around sticks and shout out made-up spells in broken Latin will some-how push little kids into Satanism. That sound you just heard was that of my brain breaking under the weight of such stupidity. Never mind the power of love emphasized by the series. Nev-er mind the main characters work-ing to prevent genocide. Never mind the fact that the antagonists are unambiguously evil. Because kids might believe magic is real! CALL THE POLICE! Yet these are the same people who praise the Chronicles of Narnia as a good and Christian series. The kids in those books rou-tinely went on crusades and bru-tally killed people. How is waving a wand around worse?

Fahrenheit 451By: Ray Bradbury

Reviewed by Connie BachIndy Staff Writer

“It was a pleasure to burn” runs the opening line of Bradbury’s fu-turistic novel; the title refers to the temperature at which books burn. In this Guy Montag grows in char-acter. He begins as a fireman, and in this era, firemen are in charge of destroying homes where books are found. His change of heart be-gins when a woman commits sui-cide, burning alive in her home as a rebel until the end. After meet-ing Clarisse, a rebellious teenage girl, he begins to understand many things. First, society is completely beaten down, given over to cul-tural biases, and books are taboo because they present other ideas, secondly that his own wife is as mindless as all the rest. He begins feeling guilty about his destruc-tive habits. He begins to dwell on the hidden treasure in the air vents in his home; banned books. In the end he abandons society to join a band of rebels trying to pre-serve the ideas of the old world, as the city is destroyed by people who hate their culture. The book, ironically, is a banned book, and it’s talking about banned books, and the ignorance of people denied the opportunity to challenge concepts they read about. This is what may happen if books are banned. Ray Bradbury’s

vision of the future may come to pass. In some aspects it already has. We are intent on the visual and sensual output of others, not on their abilities and personality because certain parts of culture are repressed. So the question is: has society reached 451 degrees? Is our zest for a way of life so hot that we ban controversial books? And are those of us who still value the ideas of the past doomed to be pariahs? To stop this split, and the death of wisdom in society, we must stop banning books.

Sepember 26th - October 3rd Week

September 25, 2009 IndyIndy news6

by Thom Zimmermann “Nerds” like myself have histori-cally been thought of recluses, the type of people who sit in a dark room and play Legend of Zelda games end to end in one sitting. This idea is still true but the ref-uge of the “nerd” is being taken away. With Nintendo’s Wii there is an increase of what the industry refers to as “casu-al gamers” that are being brought into the community. While this is a great way to get new customers, it’s also a great way to alienate your existing customer base. Some of the first Wii commercials ever to hit the airwaves involved two Japanese men show-ing up at families’ homes and stating “Wii would like to play.” They then pro-ceeded to play games like Wii Sports, Madden 07, Warioware and Raymen Raving Rabbids. These commercials instantly told me that I was no longer Nintendo’s intended target, but they’d rather cater to the type of person who would never appreciate the Post-Colo-nial insinuations of Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 and would rather just play short bursts of 5 minute games. Nintendo commercials seemed aim at middle class families who wanted something to do together. This didn’t deter me from purchasing a Wii, but it did turn me off of the system and I found myself more inclined to purchase titles for other con-soles due to this “shift in audience” that I felt Nintendo made. These ads helped fuel a consistent stream of poorly made ports, casual game collections and movie licenses. The ads made it clear that I was

not the target, but it also made clear to the targets that the Wii changes ev-

erything. Nintendo then saw record con-sole sales and their consoles were consis-tently sold out for almost two years. Microsoft didn’t do much differ-

ent. What I found with Microsoft’s com-mercials regarding the next generation was somewhat similar, but far less insidi-ous. Microsoft commercials generally involved teenagers and people in their 20s gathered around a flat screen play-ing games like Forza, Halo and several other popular titles. These commercials were focused on community which is an

interesting approach to take with gam-ing. As gamers (and this is a fairly fast and loose title now-a-days) are generally thought of as recluses with no friends, the Microsoft commercials seemed to appeal to a gamer’s “desire” to have friends and be popular. This was a bold assumption

on Microsoft’s part, but it paid off in the end. Their game system is built almost entirely around an online community while still offering epic gameplay. They showcase this in their commercials very tastefully and without alienating the al-ready alienated. One commercial that has always stuck with me concerning the console was one in which hot air balloons

descended into a parking lot, dropped off a living room equipped with the Xbox in the parking lot and left the patrons of a nearby store to play, and that playing brought them together. The ads were edgy enough to appeal to Generation Y cynicism while still appealing to our

sense of community. The other kind of Xbox commercials that stick with me were the “cops & robbers” com-mercials and “gun fight” type com-mercials. These never got airtime in the US but I recall seeing them online or through the 360 console itself. These ads would take “normal” looking people and put them in the aforementioned situations without any props and they would act them out. There was something so humor-ous and appealing about a train sta-tion full of people pointing their fin-gers at each other and saying “bang.” These commercials were obviously meant to highlight how realistic the gaming experience was while draw-ing on our need for community and people to “play with.” While the “gamer” has been alienated from “gaming” since Sony’s ad campaign for the original Playsta-tion, it has become painfully obvious that the “gamers” are no longer who

the companies care to cater to, but some of the companies are doing a much bet-ter job of covering that up than others. I’ve been playing videogames since I was four years old and I feel that with all the money I’ve spent on consoles, games and accessories that I feel they owe me some-thing. And at the very least they can try to hide the fact that they no longer care.

Re-alienation: Gamers

Grade: C+

By The Skinny Critic Based off the Oscar nominated short film (also entitled “9”), “9” tells the story of a bunch of “stitchpunks” (basical-ly ragdolls that talks) fighting for human-ity in an apocalyptic world that has been taken over by the machines. A stitch-punk only named “9” awakens from his slumbers to only find out that the world is deserted, showing no signs of life at all. After venturing out into the wasteland, he meets other stitchpunks, one of which is captured and brought to the machines’ abandoned tower. It’s up to the group of stitchpunks to rescue #2 and defeat the machines that threaten humanity. Al-right, at this point, you’re probably think-ing, “wow, sounds a lot like Terminator and every other film relating to machines killing the human race”. Well, you’re half right and half wrong. Newbie director Shane Acker does a great job with the overall direction of the film. He brings the overall dark and grim tone to the film.

He wants the audience to see the apocalyptic world as something that we the audi-

ence constantly fear the most, total world destruction. Along with the great direc-tion, come some truly outstanding over-all visuals. The film showcases not only great character animations, but setting animations as well, which help convey the overall mood towards the film. Also, the animation looks more “cartoonish” compared to most animation films today that look like Xbox 360 games. Because of this, I was quite pleased by the visuals and animation that “9” had. “9” also has an ex-cellent cast of some very talented actors who voiced the characters, which includ-ed: Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, Christopher Plummer, John C Reilly (For your Health), and Crispin Glov-er. With a great cast of actors, there are no complaints here with the voice acting. John C Reilly truly stands out with his role as the comedic, yet naïve #5. Also, Elijah Wood does a great job as the protagonist #9, as well Jennifer Connelly with her role as #7. So what is wrong with “9” anyways, you might ask? Well for starters, the film is very unoriginal on the surface. The ba-

sic premise involves a group of ragdolls fighting for humanity against crazed ro-bots. We get it Hollywood, if people mess with machines, they will kill us all. Please stop making these movies. Though the basic premise is unoriginal, the plotline concerning stitchpunks and mad scien-tists isn’t. The main problem here is that with an unbelievably short runtime of 79 minutes, Acker only scratches the surface of the film. I don’t want to spoil the rest of the film because as it progresses, the audience begins to learn the truth about the apocalyptic world and the reason why it is the way it is. All I can say is that by the end, the audience will ask more ques-tions about the story, than walk out of the theater accepting the overall storytell-ing. There’s also a lack of complexity that mainly hurts the story, but with short run-time of about 1 hour, 15 minutes, there’s only so much you can do. Overall, Acker does a decent job with directing his first feature film. The visuals and voice acting are top notch as well as the overall mood to it. If only the storyline were more origi-nal and complex, the script didn’t leave so many questions, and the film run longer, this could have been a truly great film.

Either way, if it came down to the stitch-punks from “9” or John Conner fighting for humanity, I’d choose the dolls over whiny John Conner any day.

The Indy Reviews: “9”

by Blair Wittig The Resistance keeps with the operatic anthemic style of previous Muse albums. They keep the notion that they have come back and they are ready to take on the world. This newest work can easily be viewed as a cry from the agi-tated masses, powerful and prepared for a... resistance. Quite a few songs go back to learning from history. The ballads con-cern the future of losing a love and a per-fect life, due to this higher power not tak-ing on their responsibility and bringing about an unspoken apocalypse. “Uprising” keeps their wall-to-wall melodies in tune with a marching beat and a large chorus of chanters. From that charging intro they subcede into a gentle abyss with haunt-ing sad echoes from a synth and piano, with Queen-esque backup vocals and a

c h a r g i n g chorus of p o s i t i v e

persistence. The title track deviates and breaks out with an offbeat from the others, evoking ‘80s pop love sonatas. “Undisclosed Desires” starts out again slow and anthemic, piano ballad, violins, then, ask-ing “Must we do as we’re told?” eager to keep their lover close. The backtalk trails over to “United States of Eurasia”, to “Unnatural Selection” and then comes to a climax on “MK Ultra”, organs pulsing and steady, screaming, “How many lies will you create? How much longer till you break?” un-

til the wall of guitars is showered with strings. The album transitions when ad-mits, “They are breaking through...we are losing control”. The “Exogenesis” trilogy flexes Muse’s orchestral muscle, pushing in the full band and operatic vocals by front man Bellamy, inching in the guitars as the song progresses. Drama is inher-ent, pleading, “The edge of all our fears/ rest with you/ we are counting on you.” The album fades out gracefully with a piano solo worthy of most tearjerker movies, asking, “Why can’t we start it over again? This time we’ll get it.” It’s hard to tell whether he’s speaking of a failed rela-tionship or the entirety of civilization. This album will remind fans of Black Holes and Revelations: balls-to-the-wall epic ballads worthy of drunken, bad-ly tuned sing-a-longs. Although it flips from charged to melancholic, this is one for your canon of Muse.

The Indy Reviews: The Resistance from Muse

September 25, 2009 IndyIndy news 7

Blair WittigIndy Staff Writer

Imagine your job. Your over-worked underpaid bullshit job. You see the florescent lights staring at you angrily trying to rip out your eyes. Below that, a client wanting to do the same, because they have been waiting a half hour to get what they paid for. The counter top your aggravated client is waiting at is old. T he paint is chipping at the edges. This is at-tached to a desk with an outdated com-puter and a malfunctioning multi-line phone system. Sounds accurate right? Only at this job, the person waiting is shaking, because they may or may not be going through relapse and the hospi-tal has sent them back. You have to deal with the fact that you have to tell them you cannot accept them into treatment, because there is a waiting list two months long and the state has eliminated our de-tox system. What do you say? Sadly, this has been an instance in my life in the past few months. Mental health and Chemical dependency servic-es have suffered greatly due to the state budget cuts Governor Pat Quinn has ad-ministered. These much needed services have given agitation and stress to these facilities and left some addicts that have wanted to recover back on the streets. One of these services is the most impor-tant, the detoxification process. While the most important, it is also the most

expensive. The state had allocated funds to support the services, yet not enough were provided. Only 75 percent of the funds were awarded, resulting in its local elimination. Following the first round of budget cuts, the only local facility able to conduct them is St Joseph hospital. To date, they take most but send back some to treatment centers, most likely due to o v e r c r o w d -ing. The treat-ment centers cannot take them in un-less they have an appoint-ment, and even then the wait time for a bed is three to four months. The person has nowhere to go for help. These people become dis-traught or upset, and may react violently at home or in the streets. This causes com-munities a high risk of increased crime. An increase of crime leads to increased taxes and so on.

Say your client was able to get in to the hospital, go through detox, get registered and get a space at the facility. They’ll need to be screened constantly. The budget cuts implemented removed those who conducted drug screenings,

leaving it to the unit su-p e r v i s o r s to do the work. Since the cuts re-moved half the staff, there are less people to do the job who are not certi-fied, mostly not of the appropriate sex (males have to be s c r e e n e d by males yet females make up majority of unit super-

visors). That leaves clients, some of whom have jobs, waiting half an hour to two hours to do a screen that is demanded of them within an allotted time. These con-straints are not fair and leave clients an-noyed and reluctant to completing treat-

ment. Then the cycle starts over again. This is the worst case scenario. Overburdened by incoming files, you look for a break. You back away from the computer for a second to catch a breath. Immediately the phone rings, and a cli-ent shows up at the desk. On the phone is a client, and at the desk are twenty cli-ents here for a meeting. Regularly, there wouldn’t be so much to deal with. Since the budget cuts, the receptionist staff has been reduced and you have to take on twice your workload. There are new things to be learned and four times the database load. The counseling staff is irri-tated because they have to deal with new staff members that aren’t accustomed to their personal quirks. Communication er-rors occur between staff and clients. The clients are confused as to whom to check in with, the receptionists are confused by any of the counselor’s personal requests, and the clients get upset explaining their schedules to a new receptionist. It’s all a big cluster of ‘what’s going on?’ that leaves everyone incapacitated and results in a less than perfectly run machine. I end with a collective cry from those in the social services industry. Give us our funding back so that we can get people off the streets and keep them safe and clean. We are worn out, aggravated, and upset but we will do anything just to get our community in the right place and prevent people with needs from being pushed aside.

The Sick get Sicker: Pat Quinn’s Disgusting Allocation of Expenses

Carolyn O’hearnIndy Staff Writer

I’m sure you’ve been through it; we all have. You’re waiting in line at Kroger’s or Tar-get, just wanting to pay for your stuff and go home in peace, when an ear piercing shriek cuts through the air. The kid in line behind you is stamping his feet and screaming some-thing along the lines of ‘WANT CANDY! WANT CANDY!’ while the mother shakes her head and gives bystanders a look that says ‘What am I going to do with him?’ while making no move to even shush her child. Said mothers are usually un-aware that the bystanders are mentally sharpening knives. Many of you have probably heard the story about Roger Stephens, a man who slapped a crying two-year old in an Atlanta Wal-Mart earlier this month. While I in no way condone physical abuse to-wards children, it can be infuri-ating to have to listen to a child shriek nonstop in a public place while the parents either ignore them, or when their efforts to quiet them are as effective as an umbrella in a hurricane. To be fair, young chil-dren are sometimes going to cry in public, even with the best parenting. In those cases, while it’s not necessarily the parents fault, the parent should quickly remove the child from that situ-ation, for the sake of not just fel-low shoppers or diners, but for the child themselves, who is be-ing put in a situation in which he or she is clearly uncomfort-able. And yet parents often do nothing to prevent this behav-ior. Some even encourage what most would see as unaccept-

able behavior because they be-lieve their children are special. For example, a friend of mine was at the mall once and saw two children playing on the escalators. They were running up them the wrong way, trying to slide down the railing, etc. He saw the older sister fall and hurt her leg while attempting this, so he quickly rushed over and helped her and her brother off the stairs and told them not to play there so they wouldn’t get hurt. It was at that moment the children’s mother came up, slapped my friend on the back of the head, and told him ‘Don’t tell my kids what to do!’

Another time, I was playing with my Nintendo DS in a train station, when a boy who looked about six or seven came up to me and grabbed it out of my hands. I grabbed it back, and he started screaming and reaching for it. His dad came up to me and told me “Oh, just give him the toy. You’re too old, and girls shouldn’t play video games anyway.” My shock turned into smoldering rage, and I told him that my ‘toy’ had cost over $150 and I didn’t give a sweet shit about what he thought was ap-propriate for girls my age. He

called me a bitch and yelled at me for swearing in front of his son. I just gathered up my stuff and moved somewhere else. Dear parents and fu-ture-parents: your children are not the center of the universe. It is not other people’s job to fawn over them and indulge their wants. It is your job to teach them that they can’t always get what they want, and that cer-tain actions are completely un-acceptable. You may think I’m advocating the harsh treatment of kids. I’m only advocating that they be shown there are conse-quences for their actions. When my brother and I were little, my father took us out to lunch at a sit-down restau-rant. My brother and I started fighting, and my dad calmly in-formed us that if we didn’t stop, we would leave. We stopped for a few minutes, and then started up again. Without a word, my dad put down enough money to cover the food that hadn’t arrived yet, and dragging his stunned children out of the res-taurant. To him, the food was less important than teaching his kids a lesson. Needless to say, we never acted up in a res-taurant again, and my dad ac-complished this without laying a hand on me or my brother or even having to raise his voice. Let me finish this up by once more saying I do not advocate violence against chil-dren, and I believe that Roger Stephens should be punished for what he did. However, in-dulging their every whim can be even more harmful than a slap, especially when these chil-dren grow up and go out into the world, only to discover that it is not as kind to them as their parents were.

Teresa WashingtonIndy Staff Writer

In the hustle and bustle of daily college life, many stu-dents are not concerned about co-ops and their goals within the community. Moreover, many stu-dents do not have any idea as to what co-ops are. Co-ops stands for co-operatives, in which, a group of people in an independent asso-ciation unite voluntarily for their common economic, social, and cultural needs or aspirations. In so many words, it is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individu-als for their joint benefit. There are various types of cooperatives and all are shape to adapt to the specific needs and objectives of its members. They are operated through self-reliance and self-help.

Though students are un-aware of co-ops, they are appar-ent throughout the Bloomington-Normal community. One co-op in particular is located right here on campus. ISU Credit Union was founded in 1960 to serve the em-ployees of Illinois State University. Once a member you are a mem-ber for life. With its 10,000 members, this co-op is committed to offer-ing excellent member service, ex-cellent rates, and low or no fees.Unlike the traditional banks whose main objective is to make a profit, ISU Credit Union mem-bers are the ones who benefit from their financial success. From business co-ops to housing co-ops Blooming-ton-Normal offers them all. As students, we should explore the community in which we study beyond the shopping malls and restaurants.

When Kids Won’t Shut Up

Understanding Our Community One Co-op at a time

September 25, 2009 IndyIndy baCkpage news 8

Belka VovkinaIndy Staff Writer

PRIVET! First off, let me warm you up with some questions...

Have you ever heard of Vladimir, the Russian sister city of Bloomington/Normal?

Have you ever heard of Vladimir State University for Hu-manities or Vladimir State Uni-versity?

Hm…probably not, but it’s totally understandable: Russia is too far away, and the above mentioned universi-ties are probably not as big as ISU. However, believe it or not, some of the Bloomington/Nor-mal community members have been committed to the devel-opment of partnership relations with Vladimir for almost 20 years already! In Normal there is a Sister City garden, planted to celebrate this American-Russian long term friendship. From this international friendship you can now hear my voice. Yes, I am one of the few Russian students, who is now part of ISU Campus “mot-ley crew” (my COM422 fellow students know what the inside joke is about). A very common ques-tion I hear regarding the ISU life – How do you like it here so far? Guess what I say – I like it so far! And I really mean it! I am en-joying every single bit of every single day because it is different from what we have in Vladimir. ISU is like a city in a city, both of abovementioned Vladimir uni-

versities are smaller and they don’t have this Campus struc-ture, though some big universi-ties in Moscow other large cities will have it, especially those in-volved in a lot of research in the field of technology. Vladimir State Univer-sity for Humanities has its de-partments located in different parts of the city. You can jump on a bus and get from one Uni-versity building to another pret-ty quickly because of the de-veloped public transportation networking. But for those who really value their private space, rush-hour bus rides will not be the time of the life. Vladimir State Univer-sity is more well off and they are now trying to turn the univer-sity department buildings and dorms in a kind of a Campus. They even built a small Ortho-dox church for student and fac-ulty close to one of the univer-sity buildings. (That’s the way local government is trying to bring religious heritage back to Russian culture and somehow raise the significance of Ortho-doxy as the official religion of the state) For all the students, school begins on September 1. The school calendar differs from America for the reason that Rus-sians celebrate their national holidays on different dates. We don’t have Thanksgiving; Rus-sian Orthodox Christmas is Jan-uary 7, Russian Labor Day is in May. We celebrate International Women’s Day that was initiated by women in America, but for some reason it did not turn into a holiday on its native land. You guys have an awe-

some library here, compared to what we have in Vladimir. Some departments at the University for Humanities have their own small libraries and the variety of books is not that vast. One of the important things which makes a big dif-ference in terms of technol-ogy, books, computers, is that Vladimir universities are funded by state, and the state doesn’t provide that much money for all the educational needs. Now though, Vladimir universities can get additional money from grants, but it is still not enough for students needs or for faculty salaries. Salary issue affects teaching greatly. I dare say that some Vladimir universities’ pro-fessors are not very enthusiastic about what they do. The style of teaching is more formal, and some teachers still practice the authoritarian approach that means “the teacher is always right”. Oh, and I enjoy the local coffee drinking culture. Vladimir Universities don’t have coffee houses.I wish they did. There are no fast food restau-rants near universities in Vladi-mir, but you can always get some tea and “pirozhki” at the students’ cafeteria. And yes, Russian students prefer their tea and coffee hot. No ice. Beer will be the bev-erage that breaks all cultural boundaries. I know you guys have Baltika 9 (beer from St.Petersburg) at Budget Li-quors. These are just a few things I’ve noticed during my first month here and I intend to write more about differences and similarities between ISU and Vladimir Universities. You are welcome to ask me any questions about Russian education and Russian culture in general. I’ll try to cover them in my further articles.

-- “Privet” is Russian for “HI!”-- “Pirozhki” – Russian traditional yummy pastries with fillings.

PIROZHKI vs. HAMBURGERS orRussian University vs. Illinois State

Tesia SchiltzIndy Staff Writer

Just a little over a month ago the halls were lined with kids fresh out of high school and the people suckered into help-ing them move into their new home. Among those kids was me. Standing in that line I real-ized I was in for a lot of changes. For example, I’m from a smaller town, a lot smaller. In my town there are about 15,000 people. On the ISU campus there are around 20,000. That right there is a change from everything I know. Another is that I came here alone, completely alone. Of course some kids from my high school came, but I didn’t hang out with then, why would we now? In addition, I moved into a quad. I’ve been an only child for more than half my life and I’ve never really had to share any-thing. It also probably doesn’t help that my room-mates are the girls I would normally avoid like the plague. At first I thought

maybe I had judged too soon, but no, I was right. They showed me that not everything changes, but then again “high school nev-er ends”. Overall I’ve spent a lot of the past month trying to join as many things as I can. I’m figur-ing that finding things I like will help me meet people I actually want to be around. That’s why I’m in choir, Bel Canto, WAG, and I plan on attending regular Mon-day night swing dance. Once I joined these things, I started meeting people who actually wanted to talk to me and hang out outside of these activities. Though, I spent a lot of this first month alone won-dering why, I’ve found things I’m passionate about, classes that really make me excited for my future profession, and met some amazing people. College and even life is hard, but it’s what you make of it that de-termines the experience you’ll have. I already can’t wait for the next 35.

One Month Down, 35 More To Go

ConfidentialIndy Staff Writer

Pre-employment drug & alcohol tests. Why is it even called pre-employment if you

don’t have to take un-til you have worked there for a couple of days or even weeks? You think that a per-son would have al-ready proven their personality and work ethic. Drug tests are so degrading, the fact that you can’t be trusted on your own recognizance or bet-ter yet accepted for who you are. I think it is especially degrad-ing when you are a professional who has clearly worked hard 6 years plus earning a degree, but even you have to pee in a cup.

Drug tests that are used really only test for marijuana, if you think about it. Almost any and every drug you can take, whether illicit or prescription will be out of your system in 2 to

4 days. This means you could be doing lines of coke off the bath-room counter at work one day and pass a drug test two days later in the same bathroom. But not pot, if you happen to smoke a joint at some party one night, you will paranoid, and rightfully so, for the next 2 to 4 weeks. So what does this mean, it means really only the pot smokers suf-fer the drought that comes with having to pass drug test. And finally, alcohol tests, come on I just got off work-ing a 8 hour day and I am going to take an alcohol test. Even if I showed up to work drunk, after dealing with stupid questions at work all day I would unfortu-nately have sobered up. So how do you past these tests? Well stop drinking for 12 hours seems obvious, but to pass the marijuana test you need to drink 1 to 2 gallons of water for a week and you should fair well. Don’t try the bleach stunt, chances are it won’t work.

You Want To Know What Really Grinds My Gears...

Alpha Gamma Delta hosts

POWDER PUFF FOOTBALL

October 3rd at Hancock Field

10 a.m. till 2 p.m.

Only $2 entrance fee

Come watch sororities girls battle it out on the football field for victory!

Different sorority chapters on campus will be playing a flag football game against each other

for first, second, and third place. During half time begins the WEENIE WOLF DOWN (hot dog

eating contest) for the fraternity men.

There will be a raffle with great prizes

All the money raised will be donated to diabetes research and prevention.

For questions email nmprice@ilstu.edu

AGD