By IC Staff

This year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Celebration was all about turn-ing the dream of justice into a reality through activism and standing against intolerance.

The annual celebration of King’s life and work took place at 9 a.m. in Savage Arena. Cori Bush, pastor of Kingdom Embassy International and prominent member of the Ferguson movement, spoke about the importance of rising up and confronting injustice.

“We were everyday people who wanted to see justice,” Bush said, according to an article by the Toledo Blade. “So we ques-tioned, we shouted, we cried, we sang, we prayed, we yelled.”

Bush has been with the Ferguson movement since the beginning, and has been active in several protests. Even after being handcuffed, thrown to the ground and having a gun held to her head, Bush has kept her pas-sion and dedication to achieving justice.

In addi-tion to the keynote speaker, the event had a number of other performances. Students from the Toledo School for

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Serving the University of Toledo community since 1919

97th year • Issue 18

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INSIDE

Look for JOB OPPORTUNITIES

in our student paper every Wednesday.

Turn to JOBS / 6 »to learn more.

Rockets survive The University of

Toledo men’s basketball team survived Bowling Green 81-74 on the road to win the Battle of I-75.

SPORTS / 5 »

Bubbly grand opening

Balance Pan-Asian Grille opened a new BubbleTea restaurant.

COMMUNITY / 7 »

UT keeps on rolling

The Toledo women’s basketball team de-feated Northern Illinois 66-59 for their fourth straight win.

SPORTS / 5 »

UT gets grant The Ohio Attorney

General gave the University of Toledo $214,000 to combat sexual assault.

NEWS / 3 »

““The IC commends this move, acknowledging these hires as an effective allocation of the grant money towards improving its policies.”

EDITORIALConsistent progress

in sexual assault policy OPINION / 4 »

IC editor protests in WashingtonCOMMUNITY / 7 »

CRIME

Lifelong athlete in recoveryCorrections Read the letter to the

editor and the letter from the editor on the opinion page address-ing last week’s story, “Job search struggles.”

OPINION / 4 »

Artwork from UT students featured on local billboards throughout city

ART EXHIBIT CELEBRATION

Annual MLK unity event attendees promote activism

By Jessica HarkerNews Editor

After an assault that left her severely burned at an off-campus party Friday night, University of Toledo student Janelle Noe, 20, was in critical condition as of Jan. 19.

One of the people at-tending the party sprayed

180-proof alcohol onto a candle, which ignited and caused the flame to spread onto Noe, according to the Toledo Police Depart-ment report filed by Noe’s parents.

After arriving at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center, police were told Noe’s inju-ries covered approximately

50 percent of her body.The officers went back to

the party, hosted at 4142 Dorchester Drive in Toledo, after talking to the victim’s family. They found the house empty, although they could see numerous bottles of alcohol through a living room window.

Noe is a junior majoring

in pre-physical therapy and is a member of the cross country and track teams. Noe has a cross-country scholarship, which UT spokesperson Meghan Cunningham said is not in jeopardy.

“The university is aware of the incident and has reached out to the family for support,” Cunningham wrote in an email inter-view. She added that the university’s thoughts are with Noe and her family, but UT is respecting their privacy at this time.

A page on GoFundMe, a crowdsourcing website, has been set up to help Noe and her family pay for medical

expenses, and has updates on Noe’s condition posted by her mother.

The summary of the page says Noe will need plastic surgery and skin grafts; $17,368 was raised as of Tuesday night with a goal of $30,000.

One update stated that Noe “was able to use a fork to eat some fruit as well as a couple spoons of mashed potatoes,” and that she is continually working towards recovery.

“The doctor was opti-mistic that she might be up and running perhaps in a month,” read one update. “Janelle loves to run so this will be great news for her. Her being in great shape has really helped her in her healing process.”

To receive updates on Noe’s condition and express your support, visit www.gofundme.com/8pjjudhb.

SCREENSHOT FROM MAPQUESTThis screenshot from mapquest shows the location of the Jan. 15 party where Janelle Noe was assaulted and severely burned. She was in critical condition as of Jan. 19.

JANELLE NOE

Incident at party leaves a cross country runner covered in severe burns and in critical condition

By Emily SchnipkeAssociate Community Editor

How often can you say your artwork is displayed on 14-foot high billboards for thousands to see? A group of 13 Univer-sity of Toledo art students get that very chance, thanks to a partnership between the UT Department of Art and Lamar Outdoor Advertising.

For the past four years, the College of Communication and the Arts Digital Billboard Art Exhibition has provided UT students with a high visibility op-portunity through a submission and judging process.

One of the students featured this year is Crystal Hand, a fifth-year fine arts and art museum practices major.

“Going to Taco Bell at mid-night and looking up and seeing your work out in the real world is pretty cool,” Hand said.

Hand has one multi-media project on display this year and has submitted artwork to the competition in the past.

“The final product on the billboard is a screen print of my grandmother’s eyes,” Hand said. “I was just kind of experi-menting one day and after one of the prints came out patchy I decided to flip the image 180 and print again on top of it and it was so interesting the way they melted together.”

The exhibition is the brain-child of William “Barry” Whit-taker, who has taught art at UT since 2011.

“When I first arrived in Toledo, I

was interested in the large number of digital billboards I was seeing around the city,” Whittaker wrote

in an email interview. “I hoped to create an exhibition for this publicly-accessible technology. After a number of inquiries, I was able to find a great partner in Lamar Outdoor Advertising.”

The first exhibition Whittaker organized in 2012 was centered

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE UT DEPARTMENT OF ART’S FACEBOOK PAGE[Top and middle] These billboards, designed by Kayla Kirk, are two of those displayed in the art exhibition. [Bottom] Crystal Hand used a photo of her grandma’s eyes to create this piece.

See Billboards / 3 »

“Seeing your work out in the real world is pretty cool.”

CRYSTAL HANDFifth-year fine arts and art museum practices major

See MLK / 3 »

Follow us on Twitter @TheICToledo www.IndependentCollegian.com

2 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, January 20, 2016

CAMPUS DIGEST

Facebook.com/ICollegian www.IndependentCollegian.com

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

What’s your UT parking story?

“Drove around the parking lot for 30 minutes before leav-ing for home.”

Evan Baker Fifth-year

Human Resources

“Was backing out of a spot and was t-boned by a truck.”

Kayla BarrThird-year

Business Administration

“I was hit in the parking lot while in class, over $1200 in damage, there was no camera and the police could do nothing about it.”

Daniel Brandon Fourth-year

Human Resources

EDITORIALEditor-in-ChiefAmanda Pitrof Managing EditorColleen AndersonNewsJessica Harker,

editorCommunityJoe Heidenescher, editorEmily Schnipke,

assoc. editorOpinionMaisha Rashid, editorSports

Marcus Dodson, editorJenna Nance, assoc. editorCopy deskLauren Gilbert, editorJared Hightower, editorPhotographyAbigail Sullivan,

directorSavannah Joslin,

assoc. director

BUSINESSAdvertisingAaron DeGuilio,

sales managerCassandra Mitchell and

William Woodson, sales representatives

DistributionMegan Gaysunas, manager

Operations Andrew Rassel, managerProductionNick Wells, manager

The Independent Collegian staffVisit us at Carlson Library, Suite 1057Write to us at 2801 W. Bancroft St., Mail Stop 530

Toledo, OH 43606Contact the editor at editor@independentcollegian.comAdvertise by emailing sales@independentcollegian.comPhone: 419-530-7788 Fax: 419-530-7770

COLLEGIAN MEDIA FOUNDATIONGeneral ManagerDanielle GambleThe Independent Collegian is published by the Collegian Media Foundation, a private, not-for-profit corporation. © 2016

Wednesday, January 20, 2016 | The Independent Collegian | 3

NEWSFollow us on Twitter @TheICToledo Like us at Facebook.com/ICollegian www.IndependentCollegian.com

IN BRIEF

State Rep Honors UT researcher Ohio State Rep. Michael Ashford honored Dr. Kathryn Eisenmann, an assistant professor of biochemistry and cancer biology, for her work in researching the development of cancer-fighting treatments and for obtaining a grant from UT’s medical research society. The grant was for $50,000 and helped assist in the treatments she is developing which include ways to prevent cancer from spreading through the body.

Football team honored for bowl game victory The University of Toledo Rockets football team was honored for their victory at the Marmot Boca Raton bowl at the men’s basketball game on Jan. 15. The game was held at 7 p.m. in Savage Arena where the men’s team faced off against the Akron Zips. During the halftime show, a trophy presentation took place to honor the football players for their 32-17 point victory at Florida Atlantic University Stadium on Dec. 22 in Jason Candle’s debut as head coach. The honorees included quarterback Phillip Ely, who was named Offensive MVP, and linebacker Ja’Wuan Woodley who was named Defensive MVP.

New exhibit to open at Toledo Museum of Art

Photographer Daniel McInnis’ new exhibit is to open at the Toledo Museum of Art Tuesday Jan. 19th. McInnis will visit the Center for the Visual Arts Clement Gallery on UT’s Toledo Museum of Art Campus for the opening Thursday Jan. 21st from 5 to 9 p.m. During his visit McInnis will be talking with art students about his photography. McInnis, along with his photography, teaches both photographic practice and history at multiple different schools including Ithaca College, the American University of Dubai and more.

North Engineering rooms closed due to damage

A total of 17 rooms in North Engineering were closed on Jan. 13th due to water damage. A fire sprinkler pipe froze overnight and caused damage mostly to the second floor of the building, but the damage did spread to a few rooms on the first floor. The pipe was fixed and the building reopened with working water but a few rooms remained closed for cleaning.

EPA administrator tours UT facilities

U.S. Environmental protection agency administrator Gina McCarthy toured the University of Toledo’s research facilities on Thursday, Jan. 14 to learn about Toledo’s green energy economy. McCarthy was joined on the tour by a group of UT faculty, various students, and some colleagues from Bowling Green State University. The tour included a visit to UT’s Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercializa-tion where faculty and students work to develop and evaluate materials used in solar cells.

Steve Wozniak to speak at UTThe co-founder of Apple Inc. is set to speak in Savage Arena on Monday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. as

part of the Jesup Scott Honors College Lecture Series. Students can get in free, but tickets are limited. Claim your seat on the myUT homepage.

GRANTS

UT gets grant

By Colleen AndersonManaging Editor

The University of Toledo is continuing its effort to combat sexual assault with the aid of a $214,000 grant from the Ohio Attorney General’s office.

UT was one of 13 recipients to receive part of a grant totaling roughly $1.2 million. The grant came from a statewide Victims of Crime Act fund set aside by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine to increase sexual assault assis-tance and awareness in college campuses and communities.

“Sexual assault happens much too often on university cam-puses,” DeWine said in a press release. “These grants will help increase awareness of the issue and ensure that assistance is closer to victims by strength-ening campus and community efforts to help them recover.”

Grants were given to col-leges and universities, as well as crisis and advocacy centers, around the state. Bowling Green State University, The Ohio State University, Kent State University and the University of Cincinnati were among the other schools who received grants, although UT received the most money of any college and the second most of all recipients.

The money will be used to cre-ate a Center for Student Advoca-cy and Wellness at UT, which will include hiring graduate assistants and new counselors for sexual as-sault and domestic violence.

Kasey Tucker-Gail, an associ-ate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice, Social Work and Legal Specialties, wrote in an email interview that UT decided to create the center based on what it felt the students needed.

“The positions we have ten-tatively decided to hire for are based out of the need to pro-vide additional and supportive persons to the counseling center and [we] specifically identi-fied those two as being two of the most needed on campuses based on the academic research,” Tucker-Gail wrote.

The center will provide servic-

es like crisis response, hospital advocacy and criminal justice advocacy. Tucker-Gail feels one of the main benefits of the change is the ability to centralize all resources in one place.

“It will permit us first and foremost the opportunity to provide needed and valuable resources to students facing these difficult situations — all in one location,” Tucker-Gail wrote. “Access to criminal justice advocacy, hospital advocacy and general victim advocacy will be provided from this one location.”

The grant from the Ohio Attorney General’s office is a one-time award, so the uni-versity will need to find other avenues to continue funding the positions. However, Tucker-Gail wrote that the university is plan-ning to pursue additional grants and research through the center.

“We have already identified several other funding opportuni-ties and there will be opportuni-ties for individuals across the university to attach their related research to the Center,” Tucker-Gail wrote.

In addition to providing resources to those seeking them,

Tucker-Gail wrote that the center will also be a place for students in related educational fields to gain experience when appropriate, and the university plans to utilize the center for research purposes as well.

Currently, students who are in need of assistance concerning matters of sexual assault have the Counseling Center resources available to them as a student at the university, and the Sexual Assault Education and Preven-tion Program holds regular edu-cation and awareness programs.

The logistics of how the new center will coexist with current programs is still uncertain, accord-ing Tucker-Gail. However, she said the center and new positions are not intended to replace the Coun-seling Center.

“The Center for Student Advo-cacy and Wellness will be housed with/near the Counseling Center — it is and will be created in addi-tion to and as a compliment [sic] to the Counseling Center — not a replacement for it,” Tucker-Gail wrote.

Many of the changes made to UT’s sexual assault policy are

Outstanding Adviser Award nominationsbegin

ADVISER

by Amanda Pitrof Editor in Chief

The time is near — the annual Out-standing Adviser Awards is accepting nominations now until Feb. 19 at 5 p.m.

Developed in 1986, the award is meant to recognize advisers who have well-developed interpersonal skills, ensure students get the information and encour-agement they need to make informed academic decisions and know a great deal about UT’s policies and resources.

Kristen Keith — associate professor, undergraduate adviser in the Department of Economics and Outstanding Adviser Award winner in 2013 — is chair of the selection committee for this year’s awards.

“The Outstanding Adviser Award is for those advisers who have gone above and beyond to help empower their students,” Keith said in a press release. “We are looking for nominations from students because they are the ones who work with advisers most and whose academic lives are affected the most by outstanding ad-visers. Alumni, faculty and staff are also encouraged to submit a nomination.”

Once an adviser is nominated for the Outstanding Adviser Award, they will submit a philosophy statement explain-ing how they advise their students.

Two nominees will be selected based on those statements, and each will re-ceive $1,500, according to Keith.

“The philosophy statements are impor-tant,” Keith said. “They demonstrate the objectives an adviser has when working with students and what academic advising means to them.”

The Outstanding Awards Reception will be at 5:30 p.m. April 11 in the Radisson Grand Ballroom on UT’s Health Science Campus.

To nominate an adviser, fill out the form online at http://utole.do/adviseraward.

For further information, contact Kristen Keith by phone at 419-530-2801 or via email at kristen.keith@utoledo.edu.

“The Outstanding Adviser Award is for those advisers who have gone above and beyond to help empower their students.”

KRISTEN KEITHOutstanding Adviser

selection committee chair

Grant Recipients:1: Compass Inc. (Tuscarawas County) $10,3632: University of Cincinnati, $12,4003: Miami University, $14,5664: Urbana University, $18,4205: The Domestic Violence Shelter Inc. (Mansfield area), $50,6716: Crime Victim Services (Lima), $69,2357: Bowling Green State University, $82,835.8: Kent State University, $90,5659: Wilmington College, $114,21810: Columbus State Community College, $148,09311: The Ohio State University, $196,79112: University of Toledo, $214,00013:The Rape Crisis Center of Medina and Summit Counties,

$233,634

127

6

43

9

2

1011

5

13

8

1

See Sexual Assault Resource / 6 »

“Sexual assault happens much too often on university campuses. These grants will help increase awareness of the issue...”

MIKE DEWINEOhio Attorney General

on stories from Toledo. According to Whittaker, the project was a series of film-like images that suggested a larger narrative. Since then, there hasn’t been a thematic requirement for the exhibition.

“This sort of exhibition creates an opportunity to display artwork to a much wider audience, many of whom might not normally visit a gallery,” Whittaker wrote. “It is also possible to develop a new kind of project for a space where the public

is accustomed to seeing advertising.”Last year, the project displayed the

artwork around the cities of Lima, Find-lay and Detroit on digital billboards in addition to the ones in Toledo.

Kayla Kirk, a third-year double major in fine arts and art history, participated last year in the exhibition and the project features two of her pieces this year.

Kirk’s first piece is of her own body, screen-printed and edited in Photoshop. The second image is one she took at a grocery store with her own sticker in the top corner.

Kirk said these two pieces are her favorite out of her work last semester, which is why she chose them for the billboard exhibit.

“It’s great,” Kirk said. “It’s not some-thing a lot of artists my age get to do so it’s really awesome.”

According to Hand, this project is a good way to keep Toledo’s art scene active with student involvement.

“There are so many talented students included in this project. Toledo has a really strong art community to begin with, but not many people seek it out aside from the summer art walks so to keep that fire going through the winter months is important,” Hand said.

The chosen works will be on display January through the end of Febru-ary. Billboard locations include the intersections of Reynolds and Airport Highway, Glendale and Byrne, Mon-roe and Laskey and several more. For more locations and to see the rest of the images featured, check out the UT Department of Art’s Facebook page.

Billboards from page 1

Ohio Attorney General gives state institutions over $1.2 million

“We are looking for nominations from students because they are the ones who work with advisers most,”

KRISTEN KEITHOutstanding Adviser

selection committee chair

“There are so many talented students included in this project. Toledo has a really strong art community to begin with...”

CRYSTAL HANDFifth-year fine arts and art museum

practices major

the Arts performed a spoken-word piece on the journey of the civil rights movement. Mem-bers of the Justice or Else All-Stars group also per-formed a song and chant honoring those who lost their lives to the police over the last year.

Recipients of UT’s Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship were also announced at the cel-ebration. Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson, U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo), UT Presi-dent Sharon Gaber and Toledo Public Schools Superintendent Romules Durant all spoke, and Hicks-Hudson was hon-ored as the first African-American woman to be mayor of Toledo.

The event was esti-mated to have over 2,000 people in attendance, according to the Toledo Blade.

MLK from page 1

COURTESY OF THE UT COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENTCori Bush, pastor of Kingdom Embassy International, participated in 4 Miles 4 Justice event to fight for human rights.

OPINIONSend letters to the editor to Editor@independentcollegian.com www.IndependentCollegian.com

EDITORIAL

Consistent progress in Sexual

Assault Policy

Editorials appearing on this page represent the consensus view of the editorial staff. Columns and letters to the editor reflect the opinions

of their authors, not those of The Independent Collegian.

EDITORIAL BOARDJoe Heidenescher

Amanda PitrofJessica Harker

Maisha Rashid Colleen Anderson

The University of Toledo announced recently that a sexual assault counselor and a domestic violence coun-selor are going to be hired, and a Center for Student Advocacy and Wellness will be developed. The changes are being funded by a grant UT received from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. UT has been working con-sistently to redeem its sexual assault policies in order to aptly comply with Title IX, a federal law forbidding dis-crimination based on sex in educational institutions. The IC commends this move, acknowledging these hires as an effective allocation of the grant money towards improving its policies.

UT’s policies regarding sexual misconduct and violence were questioned when a complaint was lodged by a sexual assault survivor, who said her case was mishandled by the university. In September 2014, an anonymous female stu-dent who was the victim said she felt she was questioned and antagonized more than the perpetrator during the investigation. The survivor also alleged a disregard of the Rape Trauma Syndrome she was experiencing. She lodged a complaint with the university.

In a September 2013 incident, a female sexual assault survivor felt that the university’s victim resources were inadequate. She added that guidelines in the situation were hazy and there wasn’t a system in place to address challenges the survivor will face in the educational and university experience.

Additionally, former UT softball coach Tarrah Beyster filed a Title IX suit in October 2014. In her suit, she claimed UT was discriminating based on sex, and the male coaches and male student athletes and games were given preferential treatment. One of the complaints elabo-rated on the way in which UT used to assign the referees and umpires to the women coaches’ locker rooms. It was quite concerning to read that referees and umpires would walk in on sometimes-naked female coaches all the time.

These cases and complaints, especially concerning the sexual assault survivor’s speaking out in 2014, caused an outcry among the UT community, and we wrote an edito-rial strongly criticizing the university for the handling of the issue. The university promised change, and we demanded that their promise be kept.

UT hired the law firm Ballard Spahr LLP to review its policies as a response to the Title IX incidents, and in October 2015 changes were recommended to UT in ac-cordance with Title IX rules and regulations. Though it is disappointing that it took a mishandled sexual assault case to bring about these steps, we commend UT for being consistent in their steps to redeem past mistakes.

Some of the steps UT vowed to take are: hiring a new Title IX coordinator, clarifying and streamlining its previ-ously confusing and contradictory policy, revising how cases are handled, implementing sexual assault educa-tional programs across campus with increasing success and finally making a revamped website where information is readily available to all students electronically. These changes are either in the process of being implemented or have already been completed. These actions reinforce the idea that a student’s mental and physical safety and security, as well as an orderly and just system of handling sexual assault and violence cases, are some of the univer-sity’s priorities.

The above-mentioned changes were more effective in raising awareness and streamlining information on how to best evaluate a case. The latest change of bringing experts in to deal separately with sexual and domestic violence survivors, and their cases, will directly enhance survivor resources. UT has made a very effective and fitting move towards enhancing its policies by having two separate administrators to provide the distinct types of “attention” and time necessary in the two cases.

Issues related with sexual misconduct, abuse and vio-lence need to be handled with sensitivity and adequate attention. The survivor of sexual assault or domestic violence can be challenged with a variety of traumatizing emotions and physical afflictions. These expert advis-ers are important media to ensure the survivor receives the attention and information they need. UT is steadily making good on the promise they made to work toward a campus that rejects campus assault, allowing trust to be rebuilt between students and the university.

We live in a society where everything, from whom we associate ourselves with to what we wear, offends someone. No one can say exactly what they feel with-out some sort of backlash or accusatory remark. Why is that? Why it so hard for everyone to just take what people say as an opinion and leave it at that? The problem, at its core, is intolerance. My mom always told me something that I often think of, and smirk when it comes to mind. She taught me that opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one, and everyone thinks everyone else’s stinks. But just because we don’t agree with what someone says and think it stinks, it does not give us the right to treat that other person with disrespect or hatred. Whether or not you agree with an opin-ion, you should still make an attempt to respect the person behind the idea.

Intolerance comes from many places, including the double standards, unrest, lack of respect for human life, cultural differences and prejudices that run rampant in our country. We concentrate so much energy on racial profiling, sus-picion and everything that separates us. There’s double standards when choosing

between sexes, races, between different political and financial statuses, religions and anything in between. These aren’t just a race thing, or a sex thing, or a gen-der thing. Discrimination touches every part of life. There is not a single person who can escape it. Why are we so hung up on such things? Why can’t we all take a minute and rejoice in all the things we have in common, those precious moments that are few and far in between and where we all treat each other like we aren’t miles apart from one another? After all, aren’t these things merely a point of view, thus, an opinion?

I don’t understand why it must always be an ‘us’ and ‘them’ scenario. Making assumptions about people’s life experi-ences based on gender or race closes us off to learning things about other people. Closed-mindedness is a two-way street. If you can’t respect someone else’s opinion by trying to understand why they may feel the way they do, then you are only encouraging others to do the same to your opinions. Too many lives are cut short over the inability to compromise or meet the other per-son halfway. It comes down to two

things: differences in opinion and refusal to understand the opposing view point. It truly churns my stomach thinking that someone’s right to live was cut off by such petty things. The worst part is that this issue is not getting better.

This isn’t a new or even radical view-point. It’s merely a request to think with

Agreeing to a difference of opinion

GABRIELLEHAWKINSIC COLUMNIST

These actions reinforce the idea that a student’s mental and physical safety and security, as well as an orderly and just system of handling sexual assault and violence cases, are some of the university’s priorities.

Emily Schnipke

4 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Career Services helps students and alumni prepare for and launch their careers

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

We editors at the IC request-ed this letter to the editor from Career Services, as one of our stories last week caused some distress in that department. The story in question is no longer available online. We did not intend to report any informa-tion we feel could misrepresent any person or institution.

Students can face many challenges and choices as they navigate their way through college and transition into their careers. The Jan. 13 article “Job search struggles” attempted to highlight the struggle of some students to find viable employment opportunities to fund the cost of their education. Initially, I was interested to see how the article would address the issue but, after reading it, was left both disappointed and concerned with the reporting and the negative messages that students might take away from it.

As the Director of the Cen-ter for Experiential Learning and Career Services (CELCS), I take exception to the sub-heading “Career Services helps some students, lets others

down” and the last phrase in the first sentence, “though their success seems to be var-ied.” There is nothing reported in the article that supports those statements and they are misleading at best. Further, a Career Services professional was quoted as saying, “Career Services isn’t here to get you a job,” which was taken out of context and how it was edited sounded very harsh. The ac-curate statement is that while Career Services cannot place students in particular jobs, we can absolutely assist in helping students find desired employ-ment and career opportu-nities. We are here to help students launch their careers!

The article later goes on to imply that because a student may not be able to fund their entire tuition with an on-cam-pus job that it is not a viable employment option. Students might be discouraged from considering on-campus em-ployment as the benefits of it were not discussed including: income, the gaining of valu-able transferable knowledge and skills, establishing profes-sional references and great

networking opportunities with other students, faculty and the campus community at large.

Finally, it was suggested in the article that students are not able to find good paying jobs on Rocket Jobs. In reality, there are full and part-time positions that pay well posted on Rocket Jobs and there are employers who post on it that offer attrac-tive tuition reimbursement and/or scholarships for college students. Students who are unsure about how to find such employment/employers should make an

appointment with one of our professional staff to discuss their unique situation and needs.

The point I hope to make by responding to this article is to reassure students and alumni that there are multiple resources available to them to address their employment and career-related questions. Last semester alone CELCS assisted over 6,000 students and alumni via in-person appointments, online support, programs, events and student employment services. It is also important to note that there are faculty, success coaches, academic advisors, and other career services professionals embedded in the individual colleges who also provide valuable career-related ser-vices, programs and events. I am proud of my CELCS team and proud to work with colleagues across campus who are student-focused and committed to student success. Let’s focus on solutions and go launch some Rockets together!

- Shelly Drouillard, Director of the Center for Experiential Learning and Career Services

“I am proud of my CELCS team and proud to work with colleagues across campus who are student-focused and committed to student success.”

Acknowledging our mistakesLETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Admitting mistakes is always a hard thing to do. It’s awkward, extremely un-comfortable and usually comes about because someone else was affected. It happens to the best of us, and even to journalists at The Independent Col-legian. Our story last week, “Job search struggles,” affected those in the Career Services department in ways that we did not intend.

One issue with the story was the headline and subhead, which were both misleading and did not reflect the tone or direction of the article. Unfortunately, a lot of issues with this piece seemed am-plified because of them. As the start of the piece, it set an expectation that was not backed up by facts and numbers.

The story was comprised of mostly student opinions. Our intention was to give voice to students; we wanted to know their opinions of on-campus jobs

and how well holding minimum wage positions allow them to pay for tuition. There was a paraphrase we included in the article that we should not have be-cause we could not back it up, but other than that, the opinions stated belonged to the students we interviewed and ac-curately explain their views. However, the lack of context left these quotes open to interpretation in ways that reflected negatively on Career Services.

Having mentioned this, it is im-portant to note that we should have found students who had great success with on-campus jobs or employ-ment found through Rocket Jobs. We should have spoken with the director of the department instead of the job location specialist, and we should have spoken with her after interview-ing the students instead of before. Had we done so, she would have been

able to respond to the opinions of the students and provide us with concrete numbers and facts about Career Ser-vices and Rocket Jobs.

A part of these issues comes from the struggle of putting together a story on deadline, with only a few hours to work. Another part stems from a lack of experience and knowl-edge. Between the headline, the un-balanced opinions in our reporting and the lack of facts and numbers, this story ended up being far from the piece we envisioned it to be. It is not a representation of Career Ser-vices, Rocket Jobs, or the IC’s usual quality of work. In the future, our reporting will include more facts and numbers, more appropriate sources and a larger variety of opinions.

- Amanda Pitrof, editor-in-chief

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SPORTS In other sports news...The Golden State Warriors blew out the Cleveland Cavaliers 132-98 on Monday night. Reigning MVP Stephen Curry dropped 35 points and didn’t play the fourth quarter. Warriors improve to an NBA-best 38-4 record.

Women’s BasketballSchool MAC OverallEAST DIVISION Ohio 5-0 13-3Akron 3-2 9-7Buffalo 2-3 10-6 Bowling Green 1-4 5-9Miami 1-4 7-9Kent State 0-5 3-12

WEST DIVISION Toledo 4-1 9-7Ball State 4-1 12-4Eastern Michigan 3-2 12-4Central Michigan 3-2 9-7Western Michigan 3-2 11-6Northern Illinois 1-4 8-8

Men’s BasketballSchool MAC OverallEAST DIVISION Kent State 4-1 13-5Akron 3-2 14-4Bowling Green 3-2 12-6 Buffalo 3-2 10-8Ohio 2-3 11-6Miami 0-5 6-12

WEST DIVISION Northern Illinois 4-1 15-3Toledo 3-2 12-6Ball State 3-2 12-6 Eastern Michigan 2-3 10-8Central Michigan 2-3 9-9Western Michigan 1-4 7-11

Rockets surviveUT hangs on to defeat rival BG 81-74 to win Battle of I-75 for fifth straight gameBy Marcus DodsonSports Editor

BOWLING GREEN — The University of Toledo men’s bas-ketball team survived Bowling Green 81-74 on the road to win the Battle of I-75.

The win marks the fifth-straight victory against the Falcons since 2013.

The game saw three ties and eight second-half lead changes, as well as a loud, enthusiastic crowd throughout the game.

“This was the definition of a MAC grind-out win,” said head coach Todd Kowalczyk. “I don’t think either team played particularly well, but both played extremely hard. For us to get a win against our rival after not playing our best game is something we’re happy with.”

UT (12-6, 3-2 MAC) was led by senior center Nathan Boothe with 23 points and eight re-bounds. Joining him in double figures was sophomore guard Stuckey Mosley with 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting and no turn-overs just a week after going 1-8 from the field against NIU.

Junior Jonathan Williams and freshman Jaelan Sanford joined with 14 and 10, respectively.

Bowling Green (12-6, 3-2 MAC) was led by junior guard Zack Denny with 19 points and three steals.

Denny lit it up from the field

in the first half, shooting 6-of-9 from the field and going to the locker room with 15 points. The second half was a different story as he was held to just 1-of-6 shooting and four points.

Williams struggled taking care of the ball committing six turnovers and was 5-of-14 from the field.

“He didn’t play well,” Kowalc-zyk said, “but he kept playing and stayed positive. I’m proud of the way he’s matured. He was also going up against the best defend-er in the MAC, and I don’t think he was ready for that.”

Boothe started off the game with a 3-pointer from the corner to get UT on the board first. The Rockets opened the game on a 7-0 run before BG cut the score to one point by the first media timeout.

After the break, the Rockets jumped out to a 16-7 lead. BG stormed back to tie things up at 16 apiece following a Denny steal and layup.

However, Toledo wasn’t will-ing to give up the lead and went on a 13-0 streak over the next three-and-a-half minutes to take a 29-16 lead after back-to-back threes from Williams and Mosley.

Williams started to heat up from the field, knocking down his next two shots from three-point land, helping extend the UT lead to 35-23.

The Falcons responded with a

13-3 run to cut the deficit to two points with under three minutes left in the first half.

After a pair of Mosley free throws, the Rockets finished the last 2:30 scoreless, allowing BGSU to tie the lead 40-40 at the break.

The Falcons came out of the locker room with momentum and jumped out to their first lead of the night, 43-42 following a Jospeh trey.

Toledo reclaimed the lead at 49-48 with a layup in the lane by Williams three minutes into the second half.

The two would trade the lead over the next few minutes until the Rockets went on a 13-2 run to gain control at 66-56, following back-to-

back threes by Mosley and Navagato halfway through the period.

The Falcons kept the pressure on, cutting the UT lead to 72-66 with under five to play.

A pair of Denny free throws cut the lead to 74-71 with just over 2:30 remaining.

Toledo proved to be too much for the Falcons, refusing to relinquish the led and going on to win 81-74.

Toledo will return to the hardwood on Friday when they travel to Northern Illinois for a rematch of their Jan. 12 meeting where the Huskies won 71-66. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. The game can been viewed on CBS Sports Network.

RACHEL NEARHOOF / ICPoint guard Stuckey Mosley dribbles the ball up the court in the Stroth Center. Mosley finished with 19 points and zero turnovers.

FOOTBALL

MEN’S BASKETBALL

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

ANDREA HARRIS / ICSophomore guard Jay-Ann Bravo Harriott takes a defender to the lane in Toledo’s 84-67 triumph over the Akron Zips on Jan. 9 2015.

UT keeps on rolling

By Justice Sutherland Sports Reporter

The Toledo women’s basketball team defeated the Northern Illinois Huskies 66-59 on Saturday in Savage Arena for their fourth straight win and the ninth win in their last ten.

The Rockets improve to (9-7, 4-1 MAC) while the Huskies fall to (8-8, 1-4 MAC).

“This is a good win,” said Head Coach Tricia Cullop. “I think [NIU is] going to surprise a couple teams this year.”

UT was led by seniors Brenae Harris and Ana Capotosto. Harris tallied 17 points, eight boards and five assists in 38 minutes while Capotosto added 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Junior center Sophie Reecher hit five of her six shots for 10 points and tied a season-high with eight rebounds. Sophomore Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott only took three shots and was held scoreless but dished out a career-high nine assists.

“I think having a different person step up every night [is good],” Cullop said. “A lot of times Harris leads us in assists but tonight it was Jay-Ann and that’s what’s been clicking for us. Any given night someone different can step up.”

Northern Illinois was led by Kelly Smith’s 17 points and Ally Lehman pitched in 14 points and 11 boards.

Toledo came out of the gate scorching, hitting six of their first seven shots and building a 14-6 lead early in the first quarter. It looked like UT was going to run away with it, holding a 12-point lead after 10 minutes of play but the Huskies would not go away qui-etly. NIU cut the lead to one after an 11-0 run to begin the second quarter. Freshman Halee Printz hit a big three to push the margin to six and recapture the momentum.

“They made some good adjust-ments defensively and made it tough on us,” Cullop said.

Reecher came alive in the third quarter, setting the tone for the entire team. The bench made a big contribution for the Rockets by adding 21 points.

“It’s just one of those things where you catch your rhythm and run with it,” Reecher said.

UT held a five-point lead heading into the final quarter. They pushed the margin to as much as 14 early in the fourth quarter. But the Huskies would scrap until the final buzzer, closing the gap to as little as five points.

“There’s something special about playing in Savage Arena,” Capotosto said. “It’s making our community members proud.”

Toledo hit a couple of free throws to close the door and lock up their fourth win in a row. UT did not relinquish the lead the entire game, as the game was only tied one time for a total of 11 seconds.

“You can’t let a game like this slip through your fingers,” Cullop explained. “I also think a game like this makes you better.”

The Rockets return to the hard-wood Jan. 20 when they travel to Akron to take on the Zips.

New Toledo head coach Jason Candle finalizes coaching staff for 2016 season

Wednesday, January 20, 2016 | The Independent Collegian | 5

By Jenna NanceAssociate Sports Editor

After former Toledo head football coach Matt Campbell’s departure to Iowa State University, former associate head coach and offensive co-ordinator Jason Candle was named the new head coach in December.

Since he was named head coach, Candle final-ized his coaching staff, bringing in seven new as-sistant coaches and return-ing two previous staff.

Coming from Kent State, Brian George will serve as the Rockets’ new defensive coordinator and defensive line coach. George served as the Golden Flash’s assistant and defensive coordinator from 2011-2015.

“This school has a great winning tradition,” George said. “There is the opportunity to build something here.”

Robby Discher, previ-ous wide receivers, tight

ends and special teams coordinator for Oklahoma State, will join Toledo as the tight ends coach and special teams coordinator.

Serving as the offensive line coach for Toledo will be former Heidelberg head coach Mike Hallett. Hallett was a part of the Rockets 32-17 victory over Temple in the Boca Raton bowl game after joining the staff in December.

Brian Wright, former offensive coordinator for Florida Atlantic, will take the reigns as co-offensive coordinator and quar-terbacks coach. Wright is looking forward to contributing to make this program excellent.

“You look at a place that has a long history of success on and off the field,” Wright said. “I want to help our men be the best men they can be and work on getting them a meaningful degree.”

Coming from the University of Maryland, Cory Robinson will join Toledo as the corner-backs coach. Robinson was the director of player personnel at Maryland and has impressively coached six NFL defen-sive backs in his career.

Ross Watson, com-ing from MAC foe Northern Illinois, will serve as the Rockets’ safeties coach. Watson was NIU’s lineback-ers coach in 2015 and has coached for other programs as well — Youngstown State, Flor-ida Atlantic, Nebraska and Mount Union.

Watson was a fresh-man cornerback at Mount Union while Candle was there during his senior season, making yet another tie to the Purple Raiders.

Former Toledo co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Mike Ward will return from Illinois to be the linebackers coach for the Rockets. Ward was with UT from 2009-2011 before departing to Illi-nois with former Toledo coach Tim Beckman.

“I took the opportunity to come back and work at a university with a new

program, players and coaches who are commit-ted to winning,” Ward said. “When I left four years ago, it was tough to leave.”

The two returning coaches are the co-offen-sive coordinators, running backs coach Anthony Johnson and receivers coach Derek Sage.

In addition to the new coaches on the staff, Candle will be adding Brad Bichey, Ricky Cic-cone and Andrew Terwil-liger, who will be the new strength and conditioning coach, the new director of high school relations and the director of football operations, respectively.

The new staff is looking forward to the upcoming season and wants to move forward with one com-mon goal in mind.

“I think the opportu-nity for this team to be special is there,” Ward said. “We want to win a MAC championship and we will do anything and everything we can do to get there.”

The Toledo Rockets will open the 2016 sea-son at Arkansas State on Sept. 3 before returning home to the Glass Bowl Sept. 10 where they will take on Maine.

“There’s something special about playing in Savage Arena. It’s making our community members proud.”

ANA CAPOTOSTOSenior forward

JASON CANDLE

ANTHONY JOHNSON

DEREK SAGE

BRIAN GEORGE

ROBBY DISCHER

MIKE HALLETT

BRIAN WRIGHT

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THEME: SUPER BOWL

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the trophy is named after

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6 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, January 20, 2016

closely tied to changes in the handling of Title IX issues after a former student filed a Title IX complaint in the Spring 2014 semes-ter. She said her sexual assault case had been mishandled by the university.

Since then, UT hired an independent firm to evaluate the university’s Title IX policy and made changes based on those recommenda-tions. The changes included making Jovita Thomas-Williams the deputy Title IX coordi-nator, appointing three Title IX deputy coordi-nators and making Lindsay Tuttle the head of the Sexual Assault Education and Prevention Program.

“The University of Toledo continues to provide a variety of resources to our campus community as we implement best practices for preventing and addressing sexual assault and harassment,” wrote UT spokesperson Meghan Cunningham in an email statement. “Follow-ing the internal Title IX assessment, the univer-sity has updated its policies related to Title IX and continues to work to assist with reporting incidents of sexual assault and supporting victims.”

Despite the close relation between Title IX and sexual assault issues, Tucker-Gail said the creation of the Center for Student Advocacy and Wellness is unrelated to Title IX or the Title IX report that resulted from last year’s evaluation, and was not a factor in UT’s deci-sion to apply for the grant.

UT Police Chief Jeff Newton said in a press release that he is excited about the opportunity for UT to provide additional resources for stu-dents and tackle the issue of sexual assault.

“Sexual violence is a national issue,” Newton said. “We are excited about the opportunity to provide even more resources to our students.”

Sexual Assault Resource from page 3

“The University of Toledo continues to provide a variety of resources to our campus community as we implement best practices for preventing and addressing sexual assault and harassment. Following the internal Title IX assessment, the university has updated its policies related to Title IX and continues to work to assist with reporting incidents of sexual assault and supporting victims.”

MEGHAN CUNNINGHAM

UT Spokesperson

Follow us on Twitter @TheICToledo

Wednesday, January 20, 2016 | The Independent Collegian | 7

COMMUNITYCALENDAR

Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. “If I Only Had a Brain”There’s No Place Like Phi Rho. Follow the yellow brick road with the sisters of Phi Sigma Rho during their spring recruitment of women in chemistry, physics and engineering majors. Meet at 7 p.m. for a half hour of study time followed by brain teasers, puzzles and thinking games.

Saturday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. Scholarship GalaThe UT Filipino American Association presents their first Scholarship Gala on Jan. 23 in the Student Union Auditorium. Doors open at 5 p.m. Tickets for students are $5, non-students are $7 and table reservations are $45. The event’s dress code is semi-formal attire.Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. Basketball 101 with Coach K Come out to Fetterman Gym inside Savage Arena before the Toledo vs. Ohio game to hear a special pregame speech by the men’s basketball coach, Tod Kowalczyk. Free food and prizes will also be at the event.

Saturday, Jan. 30 7:30-9:30 p.m. The 24 Hour PlaysA series of short plays is created, rehearsed and performed in 24 hours. If you want to participate in this fast-paced play performance, sign up information is on the bulletin board in the CPA.

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ACTIVISM

RETAIL

Bubbly grand openingUT alumni open new BubbleTea on campusBy Lauren GilbertCopy Editor

Devoted drinkers of bubble tea and new patrons alike will be able to purchase this trendy drink in a new location on the University of Toledo campus.

UT graduates and co-founders of the fast-casual restaurant Balance Pan-Asian Grille, Hochan Jang and Prakash Karam-chandani, held the grand opening of their first standalone beverage location Saturday, Jan. 16, at Gateway on Secor and Dorr.

“We’ve always wanted to open a new location at the University of Toledo,” Jang said. “My business partner and I are both alumni, and we’ve always wanted to do something for the university. We came across this opportunity and it was just the right timing at the right place and we’re very excited to try something new.”

Balance Pan-Asian Grille specializes in food, but also sells bubble tea. Jang said the BubbleTea they opened up at UT is “kind of like a sister company to Balance.”

“We’re very excited to try this out and see what happens,” Jang said. “As far as goals and vision, we’re just trying to do something a little different and try this concept of standalone beverages. This area is still fairly new to bubble tea so we kind of want to make the drink itself more popular around this area as well.

As far as what we expect, we don’t really know.”

Jang said they are excited to experiment with different flavors and combinations for the tea.

“It’ll be a good test lab for us to see what flavors and combinations work at BubbleTea and we will be expanding that throughout our Balance locations as well,” Jang said.

Nour Barudi, a third-year majoring in political science and a self-proclaimed bubble tea connoisseur, is happy about the convenience of the new location.

“I am really excited, especially because I am a college student,” Barudi said. “The locations are a little bit farther from campus … it’s convenient that they opened one here. And I love the people who work at Balance. They’re so friendly.”

Meghan Leonard, employee at Balance Pan-Asian Grille and a third-year psychology major, shared some of the company’s values and goals for Balance as well as the new BubbleTea.

“We at Balance really like tight-knit communities; we’re very customer-based; we love our customers; we love our clientele,” Leonard said. “We are there for the people … On UT’s campus it’s obviously going to be a lot of college students and teenagers who are really involved in the bubble tea. So right on campus is a good location so then that way we can give every college student a chance to just go in for bubble tea so that way they don’t have to wait in a longer line.”

Leonard said she really enjoys being an employee at Balance and says it’s like being a part of a family.

SEND THEM HOME

“We came across this opportunity and it was just the right timing at the right place and we’re very excited to try something new.”

HOCHAN JANGCo-Founder of BubbleTea

COURTESY OF UT NEWSUT alumni and BubbleTea co-founders Prakash Karamchandani and Hochan Jang pose for a picture outside of their new location.

See BubbleTea / 8 »

By Joe HeidenescherCommunity Editor

January 11, 2016 marked the 14th anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo Bay, the notorious U.S. military prison located in Cuba, and during the first week of 2016, I joined over a hundred activ-ists in Washington, D.C. for a week of activism and fasting.

When I say fasting, I don’t mean that in the metaphori-cal sense. The other activists and I didn’t eat anything,

only consuming liquids for seven frigid and extremely active days.

Why would any sane per-son torture themselves in this way? Refusing to eat while walking miles each day in below freezing temperatures? It’s because of the strongly held conviction that the detention at Guantanamo Bay is unjust — a conviction I didn’t fully embrace at first, but finally impacted me when I began to view things from a different angle.

When you put it in per-spective, giving up food for a few days and being a little cold is nothing compared to what hundreds of men have faced at Gitmo. The U.S. government has admit-ted to torturing detainees in the past and vowed to never torture again; however, the current detainees are still kept isolated, many are even denied the ability to commu-nicate with family members.

The biggest problem is that many of these men have had charges dropped or have never been charged with a crime. Imagine serving more than 10 years in a prison, thousands of miles from home, for crimes you are not even being charged with.

Although this was my first time participating with this specific organization and I had little knowledge about Gitmo, the Witness Against Torture community provided me a place to sleep and shower for a week while

also granting me an im-mense amount of respect for my opinions, no matter how complete or ineloquent. That welcoming attitude caught my attention and en-abled me to join a group of activists with an extensive background in activism.

As the week went on, more and more people were drawn in by this same at-titude and joined together in D.C. to petition President Barack Obama to stay true to his campaign promise and close the unjust and torturous prison during his last year in office.

I can’t say I knew a lot about Guantanamo before, but the more and more I learned from the WAT com-munity, the angrier and more emotional I became. Why Guantanamo is problematic

There are 93 detainees held in Guantanamo as of Jan. 19, 2016 because of their supposed connection to terror plots against the U.S. Many detainees have been cleared for release, but have been stuck in prison for

years after they have been cleared. Because the govern-ment is dragging its feet, these men continue to suffer for crimes they have been absolved from.

Since its opening in 2002, Guantanamo has held over 700 prisoners and only four of them have been convicted by military commission, which calls into question how many of these men are guilty if enough evidence to convict could only be found four times out of 700.

27 of the current detainees have not even been charged or tried, but are being de-tained “indefinitely,” stuck in limbo where they aren’t able to leave, but haven’t been given the chance to prove their innocence in a trial.

The detention of and

COURTESY OF WITNESS AGAINST TORTURE

Joe Heidenescher protests outside of the United States Department of Justice building with WAT in a BlackLivesMatter protest.

“When you put it in perspective, giving up food for a few days and being a little cold is nothing compared to what hundreds of men have faced at Gitmo.”

JOE HEIDENESCHERCommunity Editor

See Activism / 8 »

COURTESY OF WITNESS AGAINST TORTUREHomeland Security police isolate WAT protestors behind police tape outside of the White House on Jan. 11. The demonstration marked the 14th anniversery of the openining of Guantanamo Bay.

Seeking justice for Guantanamo detainees

8 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, January 20, 2016

EXPLORING IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD

Students travel in Toledo and beyond to discover new food, new adventures, and new friendships

The ideal college experience is a perfect balance of having adventures while still finding a place to call home. With UT Explorers, you don’t just create a second home — you create a second family. UT Explorers is a program at the University of Toledo that helps engage both domestic and international students in different enriching activities. Students from all over the globe are welcome to join in and take part in different opportunities around the Toledo area. Ting Li, an ESL Specialist, has been a committee member for this program for a year and loves to see students from different cultures come together. “Students feel that we try to provide this sense of belonging towards them,” Li said. “We help them feel connected beyond the classroom.” UT Explorers provides students with different activi-ties to engage with each other, such as going to basket-ball games, Lights at the Zoo, shopping, roller-skat-ing, the Detroit car show, a ski trip, glass blowing at the Toledo Art Museum and many more. “I have new friends now and I can learn so much from them about their culture,” said Mohammed Aldawood, a first-year early childhood education major and an international student. After being part of UT Explorers for around four months, Aldawood said he specifically enjoys the Taste of Toledo, when the program goes to restaurants representing different cultures in the Toledo area.UT Explorers goes to a new cultural restaurant about once a month where they learn more about that culture and the people who share it. “Domestic students learn from the international students, too, so I like when we go to restaurants and meet new people,” Aldawood said. Even if you’re from the Toledo area, you could still be missing out on the different cultures the city has to offer. Anne Bennett, an ESL Specialist, is new to the area and teaches English to international students. Bennett loves that UT Explorers helps her see Toledo in a new, exciting light.“I learn more about Toledo every day. I used to think the city was boring but now I see all that it has to offer,” Bennett said. “I get excited to learn more about other cultures while seeing the community and I have met so many different people,” said Bennett.

Being a part of UT Explorers is more than being in a club. With this exciting and engaging experience, many will find themselves creating long-lasting friendships.Whether the students are domestic or international, UT Explorers provides opportunities for friendship and growth to all students, domestic or international. The program’s goal is to broaden cultural horizons while encouraging bonds between students.“What makes this program so special is that we are so diverse,” Bennett said. “Employees and students come together for the same reason to see the community while promoting cultural learning.” If you’re interested in joining UT Explorers, you can simply look for an event you’re interested in and tag along. Learn more about UT Explorers and upcoming events at utoledo.edu/cisp/utexplorers, or ask for more information at the Center of International Studies and Programs in Snyder Memorial Room 1000.

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AMANDA PITROF / ICAva Roberts, age 5, has fun blowing blue paint bubbles on the wall.

“The owners, PK [Karam-chandani] and CJ [Jang], they are very friendly; they try and meet every one of their worker’s needs,” Leonard said. “The co-workers and managers are really friendly … We call each other family because everyone’s there for each other. Everyone likes each other and supports each other every step of the way. And though it’s [Balance] a fast-casual place, we make it more personal for every one of our customers. We like to

make sure that we see all of their needs and meet every-thing that they want.”

BubbleTea is already mak-ing their new home a person-al place. During the opening, customers and BubbleTea workers alike decorated the walls of BubbleTea with paint bubbles. The collage created as a result is “all customer

based,” Leonard said.“We’re just very excited

that we got to be part of this project and able to work closer with the University of Toledo so we definitely want to give them a shoutout and to thank our team members,” Jang said. “We’re very excited to get something new started and to see what happens.”

BubbleTeafrom page 7

Our Editor PicksThe IC Staff tried some BubbleTea

flavors and here are their favorites:Colleen & Maisha: Orginal Milk Tea

Amanda & Jenna: Just PeachyJared: Strawberry CreamAbigail: Purple Taro Milk

prosecution of prisoners-of-war is legal under international law; how-ever, the Geneva Convention of 1949 states “any unjustifiable delay in the repatriation of prisoners of war or civilians” is a “grave breach” of inter-national law. By detaining prisoners indefinitely and delaying the process of repatriation, the U.S. is blatantly ig-noring international agreements, but still wants to call itself a role model for worldwide cooperation.

However, President Obama has tried to justify the detention of these men. His administration justifies detention without trial through the Authorization for Use of Military Force Act of 2001, which gives the U.S. military the authority to use “necessary and ap-propriate force” when prosecuting suspected 9/11 perpetrators.

Under this flawed justification, the U.S. executive branch can detain anyone it deems is connected to the 9/11 terror attacks. This means if the government believes you or I had connections to Al Qaeda, we could be imprisoned, too. Working with WAT for Change

The WAT community convenes every year during the week before Jan. 11 to plan and hold demonstrations that lead up to a public action protest-ing the prison in Guantanamo.

Our week began with a last meal together on Monday, where we braced ourselves for a whole week without food. As the week went on, we held mini-demonstrations and passed out flyers around D.C. Many of us wore orange jumpsuits and black hoods to represent the de-tained men we were fighting for and stir up some public interest.

Between Monday and the following Sunday, we held public demonstra-tions at the Pentagon, inside Union Station, outside the White House, at the CIA Headquarters, at a federal courthouse in Camden, NJ, and at the Department of Justice.

Each day we would wake up with a morning reflection and a group meeting to plan our action. After a very open, and sometimes lengthy, democratic discussion, our group rallied together on a mission and went out into the city, chanting and singing. The group wasn’t directed by a single leader, but seemed to be led by song. A group of people marching and singing in orange jumpsuits tends to draw attention.

The week was not always easy and the effects of hunger began to take a toll on energy levels and attention. The group fasted as a symbolic act of solidarity with the men in Guanta-namo who have been hunger-striking since 2005; many of these men are force-fed daily by military personnel.

We broke our fast on Monday, Jan. 11, right before we left for the White House for our largest and final action. Outside of the White House we held banners that read “Close Guantanamo” and “Send them Home [sic].” Several leaders of our coalition spoke to the audience that had gathered there and read our collective call to action.

“Now is the time for Obama to accomplish a central goal of his ad-ministration by closing Guantánamo,” the call to action read. “There is today a renewed climate of fear and hate reminiscent of the post-September 11 mindset that led to torture and

indefinite detention in the first place. Guantánamo is the bitter legacy of a politics of fear, which must be rejected.”

After speaking and holding a cer-emony that symbolized bringing the detainees home, 30 members of our group, dressed in orange jumpsuits and black hoods, walked up to the fence of the White House, into an ar-restable zone. The purpose was to civ-illy disobey the Secret Service’s orders to keep the pathway clear. The police told the protestors that if they did not leave they could be arrested, and none of the group moved. Moments later, Homeland Security police showed up and began to block off part of Penn-sylvania Ave. and forced the rest of us to move into Lafayette Park. There were more than a dozen police cars and it seemed like a very threatening

response to a peaceful protest. I was a little scared, but still did not

hesitate to get as close to the police line as I could.

For the next two hours, both the group dressed in jumpsuits isolated

by police tape and the group of us pushed off the road sang in unison.

We sang a song written by Luke Nephew, a poet, writer and member of the WAT community.

“We hear a beautiful sound/ It is the breaking of chains/ We see a path of hope/ We have found the way./ Let them go home/ Let them go home/ Let them go home/ Let them go today.”

Then I realized all the events of the week were adding up to this moment, and it is the moment that stuck with me the most. I welled up with tears. The men in Guantanamo are just men; they are separated from their homes and families. Aside from all the political rhetoric and fear of these men, the fear of their religion and culture, we as Americans are inflict-ing horror onto a group of people in search of some sort of revenge for an event that occurred over a decade ago.

But what are we gaining from de-taining these men indefinitely? We are creating and perpetuating the notion that it is okay to be afraid of Islam — a dangerous situation that leads to state-sponsored and justified violence.

Many of these men are wrongly accused of terrorism and an inde-pendent review board has found they are safe to be released. If we continue to hold these innocent men captive, we are making a statement as a na-tion that international law is useless, torture is necessary and justice is less important than our irrational fears.

It’s time to stop being afraid and live up to the models our country was founded on: “liberty and justice for all,” including prisoners of war or people of different faith traditions.

Let them go home.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WITNESS AGAINST TORTUREWAT protestors hold banners of two Guantanamo detainees outside of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. seconds before being told to leave the museum grounds by guards.

“Then I realized all the events of the week were adding up to this moment, and it is the moment that stuck with me the most. I welled up with tears. ”

JOE HEIDENESCHERCommunity Editor

Activism from page 7