By Jenna NanceAssociate Sports Editor

Every nine-and-a-half minutes, another Ameri-can is infected with HIV.

This statistic was one of many brought up by guest speaker Danielle Van Fleet at the University of Toledo’s sixth-annual AIDS Awareness Gala.

The African People’s Association and UT’s Student National Phar-maceutical Association hosted the gala on Dec. 4 in recognition of World AIDS Day.

Van Fleet, who is also an HIV testing coordi-nator for the Ryan White Program on the Health Science Campus, has participated in the gala

for three years as an HIV educator.

“We are more comfortable with putting protection on our cell phones than on ourselves — what is up with that?” Van Fleet said during her presentation.

This is particularly rel-evant to the Toledo area, as Van Fleet said Toledo ranks between 14th and 15th in the nation for the most people with HIV.

According to the Tole-do-Lucas County Health Department and as of June 30, 2014, there were 891 people known to be living with HIV or AIDS in the Lucas County area.

The AIDS Awareness Gala aims to educate the UT community about AIDS and HIV through more than just a lec-ture; in addition to Van Fleet’s presentation, the gala consisted of poem readings, live music and dinner for those in attendance.

“I think people love this event because it gives people a relaxed way of

talking about such a hard topic,” said stu-dent volunteer Melody Orlu. “It’s definitely a judge-free zone.”

Orlu is the organization treasurer of Delta Sigma Theta, one of the student organizations helping to showcase the gala. The group spon-sored baskets, sold tickets and provided volunteers throughout the event.

Orlu enjoyed spread-ing awareness about this crucial topic, and thought Van Fleet’s style of ad-dressing the crowd was very successful.

“She gets really in-depth with making it ok and creates a fun environment with jokes so people are comfortable,” Orlu said.

Despite the fun, Van Fleet was also very up-front with those who

attended, sharing some

personal and eye-opening

stories in hopes of bringing insight to everyone.

“It is very important to raise awareness. HIV is not going anywhere,”

Van Fleet said. “The education has dimin-

ished, but the people affected has not.”

Many people enjoy and learn from the gala, returning every year, but there were several newcomers as well. One of those newcomers was biochemistry major Kirsten Clark, who said she learned so much from the event.

“So many people need to get educated on the subject, no matter what,” Clark said. “I’ve devel-oped more of a sensitiv-ity towards HIV and those with it.”

For free HIV testing or to learn more about the Ryan White Program, you can contact the University of Toledo Medical Center at 419-383-6057.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Serving the University of Toledo community since 1919

97th year • Issue 16

www.IndependentCollegian.com

INSIDE

UT takes the ship The Toledo women’s basketball

team won the Arizona State University Classic on Dec. 5 and 6.

SPORTS / 6 »

‘Out of the Box’ A new exhibit at the Toledo

Museum of Art discusses the culture of sneakers.

COMMUNITY / 4 »

Fashion: Easy, comfy, sporty chic

Emily Modrowski discusses the latest fashion trend sporty chic.

COMMUNITY / 4 »

““More importantly, their request to participate in the discussion in a productive way is welcomed, but their methods are more inflammatory than contributory.”

EDITORIALMisguided intent or

masked racism? OPINION / 3 »

Rockets finish third at Miami invitational

Toledo finished out the season in third place at Miami’s invite.

SPORTS / 6 »

AWARENESS STUDENT LIFE

Good luck on finals this semester!

New student group stirs up debateBy Yasmine AbdullahStaff Reporter

The creation of an unof-ficial White Student Union at the University of Toledo — through a Facebook page and posters on the free speech boards — has raised many controversial opinions and questions about tolerance against free speech on campus.

The page was originally created by two people. According to one of the original two founders, who chose to remain anony-mous due to the potential of threats, others have expressed an interest after seeing flyers and chalk messages, as well as hear-ing about it through word of mouth.

They founded the page

UT’s annual AIDS gala educates community

CULTURE

ISIS versus Islam: the group is not the religionBy Ashley DielStaff Reporter

After the recent ter-rorist attacks in Paris by ISIS, international leaders responded with varying messages, from support for the Muslim community in America to condemnations of the religion and its followers.

However, many follow-ers of Islam say ISIS does not represent Islam or what it truly stands for. Asad Ashim, a third-year engineering student, compared ISIS to ex-tremist groups present in other religions as well.

“Muslims have been outsiders in the United States for a long time,”

Ashim said. “People here are more prone to say ISIS is Islam because they do not know a lot about it. In my opinion, that is like saying that the KKK or the Westboro Bap-tist Church represents Christianity when they don’t. Just like ISIS, they are extremist groups even though they both consider themselves Christian.”

The Westboro Bap-tist Church, one of the groups Ashim compared ISIS to, is a Christian church in Kansas. It is known for its hate speech towards people within the LGBT community as well

as Jews and politicians. One of their most com-mon practices is picket-ing the funerals of dead soldiers as well as the funerals of gay murder victims.

Fatma Ismail, president of the Muslim Student Association, said she hates how ISIS claims to be followers of Islam.

“Seeing that the attacks in Paris were done by a group of people who like to claim that they are following my religion or that they represent my religion is extremely disappointing,” Ismail said. “I hate that people see this attack and blame and don’t want to associ-ate themselves with the

regular Muslims that they see every day.”

Fatime Al-Hayani, re-tired professor of Middle Eastern studies, said a double-standard exists in the United States’ society when choosing whom to label as terrorists.

“You see all these mas-sacres we are having in the United States that are not by Muslims? Do you ever hear them say ‘Christian terrorist’? No. But the minute it’s done by a Muslim, it’s a Muslim terrorist,” Al-Hayani said.

According to the New York Times, since the at-tack on the Twin Towers,

UT FINANCE BUSINESS

UT reduces overload fees for studentsBy IC Staff

Students who take more than a full course-load of 16 credit hours could save up to $636.78 dur-ing the spring semester.

The University of Toledo has a set tuition price for full-time undergraduate students. However, the set price — as of this semester — only applies to students taking 12-16 credit hours. Those who took additional classes were charged $318.39 per credit hour in “overload fees.”

According to a press release, UT is extending the set rate to include two additional credit hours next semester, allowing students to take up to 18 credits without the addition of overload fees. The press release stated that summer classes are included in the new extended set rate.

This change is all due to the two-year budget approved in June by the state of Ohio, which said universities are no longer allowed to apply overload fees.

“Finding additional ways to keep a college de-gree financially accessible to students is one of my top priorities,” UT President Sharon Gaber said in the press release. “This initiative will financially benefit many of our learners immediately.”

UT hosts regional competition between local businessesBy Joe Heidenescher and Trevor StearnsCommunity Editor and News Editor

The University of Toledo hosted a regional round of the InnovateHER competition, in which ten local businesses competed to win a $1,000 prize and a chance to move onto the national round.

The U.S. Small Business Administration launched this competition in March 2015. The goal of the competition is to find local businesses or entrepreneurs who can pro-vide a product or service that improves the lives of women or their families.

Gary Insch, dean of the College of Business and Inno-vation, was one of the judges at the event. Insch said this was the first year UT was able to host the event, thanks to the Northwest Ohio Minority Business Assistance Center putting in an application.

Following a live pitch round on Tuesday, Dec. 1, the online company One Seed Heritage won first place. Founded by

Hilary Dell, the company’s mission is to sell school uni-forms to private schools across the country that are fair trade. Dell said this means the people who make the uniforms also make a fair wage.

“We specifically support small women’s cooperatives in Guatemala and also a fair trade factory in India that works with a fair trade, organic cotton initiative that supports

marginalized farmers and women in the most rural poor areas of India,” Dell said. “We also have supporting social justice education programs for the kids at these schools that go hand-in-hand with their school uniform. One of those is Skyping with the artisans who made their uniforms in their Spanish classes.”

Dell said there are more

PHOTO COURTESY OF ONE SEED HERITAGE WEBSITEOne Seed Heritage, an online company who sells fair trade school uniforms, was the winner of the competition.

“It gives people a relaxed way of talking about such a hard topic.”

MELODY ORLUDelta Sigma Theta

treasurer

“Muslims have been outsiders in the United States for a long time. People here are more prone to say ISIS is Islam because they do not know a lot about it.”

ASAD ASHIMThird-year engineering student

See Islam / 5 »

See WSU / 7 »

See Competition / 7 »

Follow us on Twitter @TheICToledo www.IndependentCollegian.com

2 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, December 9, 2015

CAMPUS DIGEST

Facebook.com/ICollegian www.IndependentCollegian.com

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

What’s your favorite Christmas memory?

“One year my parents put a giant sack of Care Bears under the tree for me. I thought it was Santa’s sack.”

Hana Schnipke First-year

Accounting

“I got a dog for Christmas when I was eight.”

Joe HollingerFifth-year

Criminal justice

“It was my first time seeing snow.”

Mahdi Al Hazeem Second-year

Respiratory therapy

EDITORIALEditor-in-ChiefAmanda Pitrof Managing EditorColleen AndersonNewsTrevor Stearns, editorJessica Harker,

assoc. editorCommunityJoe Heidenescher, editorEmily Schnipke,

assoc. editor

OpinionMaisha Rashid, editorMorgan Rinckey,

assoc. editorSportsMarcus 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

Kyle Turner, directorDistributionMegan 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 Gamble

The Independent Collegian is published by the Collegian Media Foundation, a private, not-for-profit corporation. © 2015

Wednesday, December 9, 2015 | The Independent Collegian | 3

Picture this: you are a bright and beautiful little girl. You have great parents, bright blue eyes with a fire in them, have a generally good relation-ship with yourself at such a young age — and you’re happy. Then you get to elemen-tary school and that’s where it all goes to hell in a hand basket.

It’s hard to tell when I started hating the way I looked, but I feel that my elementary bullies had a decent amount to do with it, at least in the beginning. The way so-ciety is also had a huge role in dictating a lot of the negativity I felt for my body.

As a young kid, I was called every name in the book. Most of the torment I faced was because of my weight and intelligence. I was bullied for the way I looked and I reacted by eating my feelings. I ate and ate and I was almost 200 pounds, wear-ing size 17 jeans in fifth grade. I had no self-esteem. The bullies around me knew that and used it against me. They made my life a living hell, feeding off of my insecurities. I was being body-shamed, and it took me a long time to put a name to it. I just couldn’t under-stand how kids could be so cruel, and it has taken me years to feel good about my body after all that.

So, what really is body shaming? Body shaming is anything you say or do that makes someone feel bad about the way they look. These things have lasting effects on people. I have person-ally battled with this in particular. As a 20-year-old woman, I still struggle with it even though I have a much healthier relationship with myself than when I was in grade school. Every once in a while I’ll think, “God, I look disgusting. No wonder no one wants to be around me or date me.” That is a burden from my childhood that I will carry with me

for the rest of my life.Body shaming affects everyone dif-

ferently, but it is vital to realize that this battle is very different for everyone. It took me from elementary school until

my freshman year of college to completely be OK with how my body is. That’s a long time to battle with something that was being heavily impacted by the sur-rounding environment.

Yes, I have stretch marks all over my stom-ach from my battle, and yes, they do make me feel insecure a lot of the time; but these stretch marks show me that I conquered something. That I survived some-thing. Society can tell

me that my fat is ugly, that my face is ugly, and that my body type is absolute-ly repulsive. But what I do know now, is that despite my stretch marks, and my insecurities, I am more in sync with the inner self than ever before.

I gained control of my negative feel-ings, and turned them into some-thing positive; and so can anyone else battling with this issue. I am beauti-ful. I know my worth. I am worthy of beautiful things, despite my size. If I am enough for me, I am enough for anyone else. And people who don’t think that aren’t worth my time. Sometimes, I fall short of feeling good about myself, but just continu-ing to fight it every day is the best thing to do.

Body shaming is a huge problem, and it definitely isn’t something that is just

affecting thicker women like me, even though it’s the most talked about area of body shaming. What about women with sizes 0, 1, 2 or 3? Just because they are “skinny” does not mean that they are not body-shamed as well. It can be a huge problem for thinner women too. Things like, “real women have curves,” can be just as hurtful as making fun of someone because they are fat. It’s the same thing in a different context, and should not be tolerated. Some women can’t help the fact that they are thin, it’s just in their genetic makeup along with many other factors, just like thicker women. Body shaming can cause things like eating disorders, body dysmorphia, excessive self-criticism and self-judgment.

Body shaming isn’t just a “woman thing” either. Men are also affected by this ideology. Society tells men that they must have big muscles, big shoulders, a big chest and that it’s weak for them to show any kind of emotion. If they don’t have these things, it’s like they don’t matter. Men’s insecurities are played on just as much as women’s are. Calling a man scrawny, weak or

emotional takes its toll just as much as it does in women.

Body shaming is not just a “fat” person problem or a “skinny” per-son problem. It’s everyone’s problem, and it’s something we are all guilty of, whether it’s body shaming ourselves or someone else. How many people’s self-esteem have to

be wrecked to realize what a horrible and degrading thing we are doing to ourselves and others? When did it stop being OK to love ourselves for all that we are?

Gabrielle Hawkins is a second-year majoring in social work.

“Fifty-one kilograms. One hundred and twelve pounds.” It’s all I took with me to the U.S. two years ago.

It seems like just the other day when I wrote my first column for The Independent Collegian. And now that I am graduating, it sure has been a long journey. It is inevitable that life, lessons and relationships will change in our day-to-day lives. It is inevitable — we will all face new chal-lenges and things may seem a little different in the year ahead. I wouldn’t say it was all freedom and independence, rainbows and flower showers. It was rough. I had days of homesickness, stress, financial problems and depression, and days I wanted to be with my friends from back home. But as I look back on my journey — a journey that started out with hesitant steps, cautious of stepping into dangerous pits — I see just how far I have progressed both academically and socially. Despite the difficulties of my journey, good memories float in the waters of this voyage.

It’s very difficult and challenging to step out of one’s shoes. I’ve participated in different life experiments — both se-rious and funny — but new nonetheless.

When I started my first job, I had to learn a lot, which wasn’t hard at all. I loved it because I was prepared to learn. But when it came to the different work styles, communicating and using common sense, I was failing. And this gets to you. It was crazy. I felt like I was making a fool of my-self every single day, and I felt discouraged. It got to a point where I felt like a failure.

And I can’t afford to feel like that.I prayed to God, to ease my mind

and to make life easier for me. And for days onward, I worked harder than ever.

And believe it or not, things definitely started turning up for me. My boss — Marc Miller — never made me feel like the weird one. He was one of the best bosses I have had. I wasn’t sure if it was my boss making it easier on me or if it was my learning everything quicker. But whatever it was, it definitely gave me a lot of confidence. It is very important to have faith in God and in your-

self; things will turn out fine, eventually. During my second semester, I had a

small financial dilemma. It’s common knowledge that education is costly for any international student. I was stressed to a point when I didn’t know what to do. Now, I am a person with a lot of pride. It takes a lot for me to ask for financial support from others. At that point I happened to come across this amazing person. It wasn’t what he helped me with, but rather how he helped me, by giving me advice. I still remember his words, “Hold your head high!” Just that! And that was all it took: a little push to my confidence and the assurance that everything will work out. Head held high, shoulders straightened, I worked my way out of it. How I solved my financial condition wasn’t as important as those words of encouragement.

It is these memories that taught me some great lessons in life. I had some amazing and inspirational people around me. Thus, I would be a fool to

not call myself lucky. I have learned both good and ugly lessons from each and every individual I’ve met. They have all guided, molded and shaped me. As I face and tackle the inevitable changes in life, these things will be very important for me.

To all the graduating students, it is very important to hold onto your value system, your work ethic and most importantly, your humanity. It is these qualities that will guide you further on your journey. Today’s achievements may fade or even be forgotten. The ap-plause may become a distant memory and our certificates may gather dust on a shelf or in a drawer. But we will always be remembered for helping someone, for making someone feel spe-cial, and for being the kind of person that others enjoy spending time with.

Our life is a remarkable creation and yes, life is definitely going to become a little “shaken up and stirred” from time to time. It’s important to take everything in stride and enjoy a new adventure.

Shagufta Sami is a second-year com-puter science graduate student.

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

EDITORIAL

COMMENTARY

Misguided intent or masked racism?

I’m proud of who I am

The events that shaped me

GABRIELLE HAWKINSIC COLUMNIST

SHAGUFTA SAMIIC COLUMNIST

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 Pitrof Trevor Stearns Jessica HarkerMaisha Rashid

Colleen Anderson

Terrorism, racism, hate crimes and other forms of similar violence define the era we live in. The news is ablaze with increasing death tolls from terrorist attacks, courthouses are still occupied with discussions over LGBTQ rights and racist slurs and behaviors that are still prevalent in our society. As the world tries to rectify this, a group calling themselves the "White Student Union" has become an unofficial student orga-nization at the University of Toledo.

WSU was created because, as claimed by the founders, the white race is under-represented at UT. They write that their intentions for creating the group were simple and similar to all other groups on campus. First, they want to celebrate western civilization and indig-enous European cultures. Second, they claim to “enshrine” freedom of speech, and thereby reserve the right of free speech.

They maintain and reinforce that their group was not creat-ed in opposition or to oppose any other races or organizations on campus. They state that any “white or non-white allies” are welcome to join their group.

Sitting on a history where people of the white race have maintained more of a dominant role in different aspects of so-ciety and a majority of the world, including both the political and economic world, WSU's need to have a stage to voice their opinion seems unjustified.

WSU wants a platform to voice opinions, but when have ‘white’ voices ever been muted? In other words, if white people have always owned the platform, how can they justify talking about the difficulties of getting access to the platform?

As the world fights to obtain the proper rights for under-represented and oppressed races or communities, the creation of a “white student union” is ill-fitting. The first questions that come to mind are: what encompasses “white”? Has this “white” race been systemically under-represented, or suppressed or excluded from discussions of race, free speech, government, power, opportunities? What are the shared common historical events that banded this “white” race? Being aware of the op-pression of people of color, allowing the historical oppressors to use similar arguments of free speech and racial exclusion to form their own group, within this context, is not fair.

Cultural enrichment of different traditional histories and heritages is required if we want to build a civilized world. This kind of cultural enrichment educates the society as well as allows the person to become more accepting of those who are different. If the WSU’s intentions and foundations are as pure and simply restricted to that idea only, their creation is an extremely favorable statement for our divided world. However, even a slight abuse of this platform or a slight contamination of their founding ideas would leave dire consequences. These consequences range from instigating people to increase racial gaps and subtly planting malicious seeds that grow animosity for other groups. It seems WSU is very subtly, perhaps uncon-sciously, doing exactly that.

The WSU Facebook page contains material showing people of color and white people fighting and political leaders condemn-ing people of different religions. These stories are carefully in-terwoven with content showcasing contributions made by white people to television, poetry and literature. Instead of promoting freedom of speech and cultural enrichment, these actions do nothing but instigate conflict and opposition. While they state in their bylaws they did not form in opposition to any group or race, their actions speak of a devious intent. It seems like they are saying things but not following in their actions.

WSU is possibly unaware of the racist undertone that they are delivering, and so their actions and intents can be explained as accidental racism. However, racism is never ac-cidental; at some level of consciousness you are always aware if you’re displaying it. Even if they are sincerely unaware of this “accident,” it is time for WSU to educate themselves and understand the connotations and associations of their actions to the dialogues of race.

WSU’s naiveté of their subtle racist connotations in their actions is something that can be educated and changed, but these instances aren’t the root of the problem. We don't like what they are doing, and we don't like how they are going about it. They are being more destructive than productive. More importantly, their request to participate in the discus-sion in a productive way is welcomed, but their methods are more inflammatory than contributory. The root of the prob-lem is the existence of a white student union, which creates and perpetuates defensiveness rather than conversation, the opposite of the intended effect. Nothing is solved by defensive-ly shutting out opposing views, so if you’re going to use your First Amendment right, use it to build pathways of dialogue, not walls that separate us from understanding one another.

I have learned both good and ugly lessons from each and every individual I’ve met. They have all guided, molded and shaped me. As I face and tackle the inevitable changes in life, these things will be very important for me.

I am beautiful. I know my worth. I am worthy of beautiful things, despite my size. If I am enough for me, I am enough for anyone else. And people who don’t think that, aren’t worth my time.

The White Student Union has a questionable foundation

MORE ONLINE

Alternative holiday movies

Every Christmas, the television airwaves are filled with trash. The oc-casional Christmas film is appreciated, but this superficial theme can only go so far. While Hallmark or Lifetime tries to cram hundreds of Christmas-themed “movies” down our throats every year, we become more and more desensitized...

Finish reading this piece online at www.IndependentCollegian.com

EVAN SENNETTIC COLUMNIST

COMMENTARY

4 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, December 9, 2015

COMMUNITYCALENDAR

IN BRIEF

Wednesday, Dec. 97-11 p.m.Snowpile SweetsJoin Snowpile of Toledo in the Kappa Delta Rho basement for holiday treats, including cookies, cupcakes and more. All proceeds will go towards buying Christmas presents for patients at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Presale tickets at $3 and tickets at the door will be $4.

Until Dec. 11“Piece It Together”Two emerging women artists, Shanna Merola (Detroit, Mich.) and Sheida Soleimani (Providence, R.I.) will present their work at the Center for Visual Arts until Dec. 11. The exhibit is both artistic and a protest state-ment. Admission to the main gallery at the Center for Visual Arts is free.

Thursday, Dec. 1011:00 a.m. to 1 p.m.De-Stress FestPresented by UT Counseling Center and the ATOD Prevention Program invites you to De-Stress before finals. Come play with shelter animals from the Toledo Area Humane Society and learn healthy ways to de-stress before finals in Rocket Hall Room 1619.

Thursday, Dec. 107 p.m.UT Holiday Jazz ConcertJoin in the fun as all UT Jazz ensembles perform their holiday concert filled with holiday jazz hits in Doermann Theatre inside University Hall. Tickets are $5 for students, children and senior citizens and $10 for general admission. Order tickets at http://utoledo.tix.com.

Friday, Dec. 117:15 p.m.UT at Toledo Walleye GameCome cheer on Toledo’s own hockey team, the Toledo Walleye! UT will be well represented at the game’s student night, with more than 200 alumni and 200 commuter students in attendance. Join in as the UT Concert Chorale performs our national an-them. Visit the Walleye’s web site for tickets and information.

Follow us on Twitter @TheICToledo Like us at Facebook.com/ICollegian

Wozniak to speak at UT

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Inc., will be the guest speaker for February’s Jesup Scott Honors College Lecture series.

Currently tickets are only available to the UT community; how-ever, tickets will be made available to the public after a time.

Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs John Barrett recommended getting tickets now, ac-cording to UT News.

“We’ve already moved the event twice, from Doermann Theatre to Nitschke Auditorium, and now from Nitschke to Savage Arena,” he said in the story. “We’ve also distributed 1,000 tickets, and once news of the lecture is announced to the public, we anticipate a flood of requests.”

Wozniak will speak for the lecture series Mon-day, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. in John F. Savage Arena. The tickets are free, but there is a limited amount of them. To request tick-ets, go to utoledo.edu/honorslecture.

By Emily SchnipkeAssociate Community Editor

It’s a fashion choice that you make every day. Sometimes, your whole outfit depends on what you put on your feet. Sneakers, tennis shoes, trainers or whatever you want to call them, they aren’t just practical, they’re also art.

A new exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art explores the culture of sneakers and their impact in the world of fashion.

“The Rise of Sneaker Culture is an exhibition that everyone connects with, because we all wear sneakers, even if we call them tennis shoes,” wrote Brian Ken-nedy, director of the Toledo Museum of Art, in a press release. “We’re delighted to present an exhibition that’s as fun as it is informative and culturally relevant.”

This traveling exhibition cel-ebrates the origins of the ath-letic shoe since the mid-1800s to its current place in fashion. Organized by the American Federation for the Arts (AFA) and the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, Canada, The Rise of Sneaker Culture is the first exhibit in the United States to display an extensive study of the history of sneakers, their design and the cultural signifi-cance of sneakers.

According the museum’s website, the Bata Shoe Mu-seum has an international collection of over 13,000 shoes and related artifacts celebrating 4,500 years of footwear history. They host a semi-permanent exhibit called “All About Shoes.”

The sneaker exhibition is curated by Elizabeth Sem-melhack, senior curator of the Bata Shoe Museum. She has been working on this exhibi-

tion since 2010, when a graduate student

commented on

the lack of sneakers in the museum’s collection.

In creating this exhibi-tion, Semmelhack said she reflected on her own experiences regarding her work and found that many people think that her re-search on footwear revolves around women.

“I thought that this was very interesting, that we can construct gender by women wearing shoes and having men go barefoot,” Sem-melhack said. “So I thought looking at sneaker culture with a focus on its relation-ship to masculinity would be a way to engage with one of the most important forms of footwear on the planet and also shed some light on this issue. There are many men who are as interested in their footwear as women are.”

She said men increasingly express their own personal style through sneakers; it is not just women who like shoes in today’s culture.

Semmelhack explained that the history of sneakers had a modest beginning as simple rubber shoes. Early sneakers were expensive, not long-lasting and not very comfortable, but it was a start. Sneakers were seen as shoes for leisure time, which is something only the upper classes could afford, accord-ing to Semmelhack.

“The sneaker became de-mocratized because of larger issues as well as technologi-cal innovations,” Semmel-hack said. “Technological innovation is propelled by need and need is propelled by socio-economical and gender requirements.”

Over time, shoes became cheaper, much more comfort-able, stylish and longer-lasting. By the 20th century, sneak-ers were affordable, and they transformed from athletic wear to a canvas for artists. Gallery visitors can see this transition as they walk through the exhibit.

“So as you march through the history of the sneaker, as you go through the exhibi-tion, hopefully one of the main messages that will come across is that exact point,” Semmelhack said. “Sneakers are not simply related to shifts in style; they are intimately connected to much larger shifts in culture.”

Sneakers rose to symbolize cultural change. The exhibit includes a pair of 1985 Air Jordan 1s that came to repre-sent one of the more pivotal moments in sneaker history. According to the exhibit, in 1984, Nike began to make sneakers for rookie Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. Jordan wore the red and black shoes to each game, which was against NBA rules regarding colorful sneak-

ers and cost Nike $5,000 per game. This, and

Jordan’s

soon-to-be legendary basket-ball skills propelled the desire for the sneakers and made Air Jordans iconic.

“Why have sneakers become such a wanted and desired commodity?” said Halona Norton-Westbrook, exhibition coordinator and associate curator of contem-porary art at the TMA. “I think there are many reasons for that and one of them is that they’re just great vehicles for design and personal aesthetics.”

The 160 sneakers on display at the TMA showcase the rich history of the athletic shoe and is further developed by design drawings, photographs, films, a series of guest lectures, music and dance performances. Visitors are encouraged to take a #shoefie and share it with TMA on social media.

“I think a lot of people might think that footwear in general and sneakers in particular have very little to do with society in which they live and are not objects that can reflect these much larger culturally important,” Sem-melhack said.

The exhibit displays how cultural shifts tie into

sneaker trends. “Sneaker culture is really a

reflection of what is happen-ing in the broader culture, in terms of popular culture, sports culture and music cul-ture,” Norton-Westbrook said. “All of those cultures coalesce together. Sneaker culture is one way to understand the different aspects of changes in broader society.”

Featured sneakers of the col-lection include a complete set of Air Jordans I-XX3, 1936 track shoes similar to ones worn by Olympic medalist Jesse Owens, the original Air Force 1 and a pair of Run-DMC autographed Adidas Superstars.

Semmelhack said she was thankful for the amount of lenders they had for this exhibit. Shoe contributions came from the Bata Shoe Museum, the Kosow Sneaker Museum, Northampton Museums and Art Gallery, the archives of manufactur-ers such as Adidas, Converse, Nike, Puma and Reebok and private collectors such as hip-hop group Run–DMC, sneaker guru Bobbito Garcia and Dee Wells of Obsessive Sneaker Disorder, according to a press release.

The exhibition opened Dec. 3 at the Toledo Museum of Art and will continue to be displayed until Feb. 28. Previously, the exhibition was viewed by large crowds at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City and the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. After its close at the TMA, the traveling exhibit will move on to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Ga. and then end its tour at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Ky.

Admission to the Toledo Museum of Art and to the exhibition is free. For more information including mu-

seum hours and parking, visit toledomuseum.

org.

Sporty chic is 2015’s new hot look, and although the year is ending, the look isn’t going out of style anytime soon.

This fad is comfortable and casual with its own flair. It lets you go through your day feeling relaxed, while not looking lazy. You’ll look fashionable even though you threw your outfit together in 10 minutes. It’s nice to utilize when you’re running late, as most of us college students do, but you still want to wear a cool outfit.

This is my go-to look because it’s modern and styl-ish, but also really simple and easy.

Since it’s more of a sporty look, you’ll want to have more casual shoes like Keds,

Converse or tennis shoes (espe-cially Nike’s because those

have been a huge trend this year).

Jogger sweatpants are a must in order to pull this off. Joggers are baggier on the top, but are snug toward the calf and ankle, like skinny jeans. They are still casual like regular sweatpants, but they make the outfit look sleeker and thought-out. Although you’re really just wearing a warm, comfy pair of sweatpants, joggers make it look like you’re putting in the effort to look good.

Picking a top is almost as simple as throwing on sweats — a plain color or cute graphic T-shirt works best. If you wear something dressier, you might not match the overall tone of the outfit.

A jacket works really pairs well in this situation because it ties it all together. Whenever I try to rock this trend, I feel lost without a jacket to keep that edgy chicness.

A jacket also makes a bigger statement than just a T-shirt. A jean jacket or army jacket works nicely with the sporty chic ensemble.

You can get away easily with hair on this one. Messy buns and ponytails look adorable, and I don’t know about you, but

any day I can get away with my hair up in a mess and still be called fashionable, I’ll take it.

With make-up, go big with the cat-eye wings and some dark lipstick. The lipstick makes your

outfit look a bit more dressed up without feeling out of place with the rest of the look. Dark lips are also extremely in style at the moment.

Fashion doesn’t always have to be dressy and uncomfortable. It’s easy to look effortlessly stylish if you use the right tools.

‘The Rise of Sneaker Culture’exhibit comes to Toledo

FASHION

ART EXHIBIT

‘Out of the Box’

“Sneaker culture is one way to understand the different aspects of changes in broader society.”

HALONA NORTON-WESTBROOK

Exhibition coordinator & associate curator of

contemporary art

“‘The Rise of Sneaker Culture’ is an exhibition that everyone connects with, because we all wear sneakers, even if we call them tennis shoes.”

BRIAN KENNEDYDirector of the Toledo

Museum of Art

Easy, comfy, sporty chic

EMILY MODROWSKIFASHION COLUMNIST

Wednesday, December 9, 2015 | The Independent Collegian | 5

PUZZLESTHEME: THE

HOLIDAYS

ACROSS1. Post-employment

insurance6. T-cell killer9. Many focuses13. Finno-____ language14. Cassius Clay15. Noted Impressionist16. Russian pancakes17. And not18. Oxygen-containing

compound19. *Spiked holiday

libation21. *a.k.a. Timothy

Cratchit23. Not a regular teacher24. Animal waste25. ____ y pimienta28. *Hanukkah dreidel

has Hebrew letter on each one

30. 1/100th of a ruble35. “____ to perfection”37. Habitual twitches39. Wood turning device40. Back of neck41. Like the north face?43. Inmate’s weapon44. Nashville player46. Edible tubes47. Prima donna’s

numbers48. Not digital50. Wide river valley52. Break a

commandment53. No parking ____55. *Done during

Christmas dinner57. *Pan-African

celebration61. *Festival of ____64. Relating to birth65. Knot-tying words67. Shoelace bunny ears69. Skip the big wedding70. Jean-Claude ____

Damme71. Bar, legally72. Familiar deciduous

trees73. Hurricane center74. Easily irritated

DOWN1. Chicago baseballer2. Check out3. Place for mutinous

sailor4. Saturn’s feature, pl.5. Just one of acini6. *Done to ornaments7. International Labor

Organization8. Taste for fine objects

of art9. Like Jimi Hendrix’

Lady10. “Put a lid ____

____!”11. Ghana monetary unit

12. Found on a list15. Golden Horde

member20. Newspaper notices22. Octopus’ fluid24. Do like Pinocchio25. *One “chubby and

plump, a right jolly old elf”

26. “Encore!”27. Former Greek coin29. Flighty person31. Aaron Rodgers’

move32. Community spirit33. Popular cook-off dish34. *Macaulay Culkin’s

character36. *Look for a good one

on Black Friday38. “____ ____ good

example”42. Mushroom caps45. Hose attachment49. India’s smallest state51. Aerie baby54. Like Forrest Gump or

C-3PO?56. Not these57. Wounded ____

Massacre58. Hit this when tired?59. Tiny piece of

anything60. Takes a siesta61. Like TV’s famous

ranger62. *Marines’ holiday

donees63. Dick and Jane’s dog66. *Boxing ____68. Melissa McCarthy’s

2015 role

Last Week’s Puzzle Solved

Last week’s solution

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there have been 26 deadly terrorist attacks in the United States and all were done by homegrown terrorists, or terrorists that were born and raised in the U.S. Of those 26 attacks, seven were related to Islamic extremists while the other 19 were led by right-wing extremists.

Ismail said despite labeling themselves a group that fol-lows the teachings of Islam, ISIS violates Islamic law by going against the rules of war written in the Qur’an. According to Ismail, far from

denying this fact, ISIS even admits that their actions go against Islamic law.

“In their books they say that what they are doing is not Islamic, they admit it, but they say that sometimes you have to break the rules of a religion in order to win,” Ismail said. “But what are they fighting for? They kill more Muslims than anybody else. Anyone who is against them is out.”

To Ashim, education is the best way to combat false ideas and information. Ashim said it is important for people to learn about Islam so they understand the difference between followers

of Islam and the members of the extremist group.

“If people don’t know what Islam is they are going to blame all Muslims and that is just not the case,” Ashim said. “In Islam you can’t commit suicide, but there are suicide bombers. You can’t kill woman and children, yet they do. There are countless teachings which ISIS goes against which to me, means that they are not truly Islamic. People need to take the time to actually learn about and understand the religion.”

Al-Hayani said there are ways for people to fight back against the stereotype being spread, and the difference be-tween Islam and ISIS is easy to distinguish to those who have looked into the religion.

“Understand what Islam is. Read about it, talk to the people who really know Islam and not the people who know nothing about it,” Al-Hayani said. “All I want people to do is not to listen to the lies they hear on the news. They need to go to the basic sources and find out what Islam is really all about.”

Islam from page 1

“In their books they say that what they are doing is not Islamic, they admit it, but they say that sometimes you have to break the rules of a religion in order to win,” Ismail said. “But what are they fighting for? They kill more Muslims than anybody else. Anyone who is against them is out.”

FATMA ISMAILPresident of the Muslim Student Association

6 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, December 9, 2015

SPORTSFollow us on Twitter @IC_Sports www.IndependentCollegian.comLike us at Facebook.com/ICollegian

Standings

Men’s BasketballSchool MAC OverallEAST DIVISION Akron 0-0 6-2Bowling Green 0-0 6-2Kent State 0-0 5-2 Ohio 0-0 4-3Miami (OH) 0-0 4-4Buffalo 0-0 4-5

WEST DIVISION Northern Illinois 0-0 7-1Ball State 0-0 7-2Toledo 0-0 6-2Eastern Michigan 0-0 5-3Central Michigan 0-0 4-4Western Michigan 0-0 4-5

Women’s BasketballSchool MAC OverallEAST DIVISION Buffalo 0-0 6-2Miami (OH) 0-0 5-2Ohio 0-0 5-2 Bowling Green 0-0 4-4Akron 0-0 3-4Kent State 0-0 3-4

WEST DIVISION Ball State 0-0 5-2Western Michigan 0-0 5-2Central Michigan 0-0 4-2Eastern Michigan 0-0 4-2Northern Illinois 0-0 3-3Toledo 0-0 2-6

FootballSchool MAC OverallEAST DIVISION Bowling Green 7-1 10-3Akron 5-3 7-5Ohio 5-3 5-5 Buffalo 3-3 5-7Kent State 2-6 3-9Miami (OH) 2-6 3-9 UMass 2-6 3-9

WEST DIVISION Northern Illinois 6-2 8-4Western Michigan 6-2 7-5Toledo 6-2 8-2Central Michigan 6-2 7-5Ball State 2-6 3-9Eastern Michigan 0-8 1-11

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

UT takes the shipToledo rolled to an 80-61 victory over VCU in Sunday’s ASU Classic championship gameBy Justice SunderlandSports Reporter

The UT women’s basketball team won the Arizona State University Classic on Dec. 6, with a 88-75 vic-tory over Virginia Commonwealth.

Senior captain Brenae Harris was named tournament most valuable player. She averaged 30 points and 4.5 assists over the two days. Joining her on the all-tournament team was sopho-more Janice Monakana.

The Rockets (2-6) opened up the tournament on Saturday with their first win of the season in an 88-75 victory over Columbia.

Senior captain Brenae Har-ris exploded into action for a career-high 39 points which ranks third most in school history. Harris dished out four assists and grabbed six re-bounds. Also in double-digits for the Rockets was senior Ana Capotosto with 15 points, junior Sophie Reecher with 14 and sophomore Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriot contributing 12.

“My teammates did a great job getting me open,” Harris said. “We shared the ball and executed the offense.”

Columbia was paced by Camile Zimmerman and Emily Surloff with 25 and 17 points respectively.

UT started off the game trading buckets with the Bears and trailed by one after the first quarter. That would be the largest lead of the night for Columbia. Toledo battled back to a seven-point lead

early in the second period. After being tied at 29-29 with

over three minutes remaining in the half, both teams traded baskets until the Rockets claimed a one-point lead going into the locker room.

“I truly believe it’s just a confi-dence thing,” Capotosto said.

UT would come out scorching hot from the field in the second half, hitting their first five shots. Harris got the troops going with two early layups as the lead grew to nine.

The senior leader was unstop-pable in the third quarter, tallying 12 points to give the Rockets a six-point lead going into the final 10 minutes of play.

“Brenae has been great,” said Head Coach Tricia Cullop. “This weekend she really showed what she can do.”

Columbia would make a fourth-quarter push and cut the margin to as small as two points, but Toledo would eventually take control and hold on for a 13-point win.

Harris scored 12 of the team’s final 13 points to shut the door on the Lions.

“Sophie set me great screens,” Harris said. “Without my teammates, none of that would be possible.”

The next day, UT defeated VCU 80-61 to win the tourna-ment championship. The Rock-ets continued their hot shoot-ing, finishing at 49 percent on field goals and 84 percent from

the charity stripe.“That first win under our belt

really gave us confidence that we have the right pieces,” Harris said.

Junior Janice Monakana led the way for the Rockets with a season-high 24 points while grabbing 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Harris was also effective again with 21 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds.

Toledo also got solid contribu-tions from Capotosto with 16 points, seven boards and three

assists and Bravo-Harriott added 15 points and three assists.

The Rockets came out firing, hitting six of their first eight shots, building an early seven-point lead. Bravo-Harriott would score seven first-quarter points. The Rockets held a commanding 30-9 lead after 10 minutes of play.

“We just have to believe in our ability; we have a lot of talent on this team,” Capotosto said.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Sanford wins it at the buzzer on the roadBy Marcus DodsonSports Editor

Freshman guard Jaelan Sanford nailed the game winning three pointer at the buzzer to give the To-ledo men’s basketball team a 71-69 win at Green Bay on Saturday.

The three-pointer was the only basket of the game for the freshman and capped off a six point deficit with 2:30 remaining in the half.

The Rockets (6-2) were led by senior center Nathan Boothe and junior guard Jonathan Williams with 27 and 26 points, respec-tively. The two combined for 74 percent of UT’s points. Boothe also grabbed a team-high nine boards and blocked a season-best three shots.

Senior forward Jordan Fouse led a trio of Phoenix players in double-digits with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Carrington Love and Turner Botz contributed 11 and 10 points, respectfully.

UT got off to a hot start shooting 55 percent from the field in the first half, and was a perfect three-for-three from beyond the arch.

After trading buckets for most of the first half, UT went on a 9-0 run to jump out to their largest lead of the game, 35-26 with 5:26 remaining in the half.

Green Bay responded with a run of their own to tie things up at 41-41 with just under a minute to play. Freshman Nick Rogers hit a pair of free throws to give the Rockets a two-point lead heading into the break.

Toledo came out of the half still firing on all cylinders with a 10-2 run and jumping out to a 51-43 lead with 15:36 left in the game.

The Rockets cooled off, shooting just 37 percent from the field in the second half and struggling from beyond the arch hitting just three of 13 attempts.

The Phoenix answered the run with 12 unanswered points of their own for a 53-51 lead with just under 12 minutes to play.

From there, neither team led by more than three points until Fouse nailed a trey for a 66-62 advantage with 4:26 left in the game.

Down four with just under two minutes to go, Boothe nailed a jumper and was fouled to convert the three-point play to cut the Green Bay lead to 69-68.

After a missed three point at-tempt by the Phoenix, Williams grabbed the rebound and took it the length of the court for a con-tested layup.

Junior forward Jordan Lauf kept the possession alive with an of-fensive rebound. He threw the ball out to sophomore guard Stuckey Mosley on the perimeter who then fed Sanford for the game-winner.

The Rockets will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 9 to take on another Horizon League opponent when they travel to Detroit. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

Rockets finish third at Miami Invitational

SWIMMING & DIVING

PHOTO COURTESY OF UT ATHLETICSSophomore Katrin Streicher took second place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:02.19.

By Jenna NanceAssociate Sports Editor

The University of Toledo women’s swimming and diving team closed out the fall semester with a third-place finish at the three-day Miami Invitational.

At the end of day one of the invite, the Rockets sat in fourth place with 462 points. Toledo had nine athletes finish with a top 10 score, including seniors Lauren Comer and Brooke Edwards.

Comer finished second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:50.64 and junior Rachael Hester finished eighth with a time of 4:58.46.

Edwards took home a fifth-place finish in the 50-yard free with a time of 23.55.

“The girls did really well,” said Head Coach Chris Pe-ters. “We are a young team and the girls have their eyes and ears open, just willing to learn more.”

Sophomore Katrin St-reicher finished sixth in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:05.16.

To end day one, the Rock-ets finished second in the 400-yard medley, tallying a time of 3:44.46.

The Miami RedHawks finished with 659 points giving them the lead going into day two. Behind them were Emory in second with 479.5 points and Denison

in third with 465.5 points. “In this sport you’re not

always satisfied,” Peters said. “The effort was there, but we still need to work on some small details.”

Going into day two, Ed-wards, Streicher and senior Sammy Richart all tallied an individual win on the day.

Richart finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.61 while Streicher took first in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing with a time of 55.33.

In the 200-yard freestyle, the Rockets took home the top three spots with Edwards coming in the front with a time of 1:49.49. Behind her was Comer with a 1:50.47 time and sophomore Maggie Hack with a time of 1:51.27.

“I’m proud of the girls,” Peters said. “They’re mak-ing each session better than the last one.”

Closing out the day, the Rockets finished second in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:30.00.

Toledo finished day two in third place with 1,068 points, just behind Miami and Emory.

On the final day, the Rockets looked to jump two places to end the invite in first. To start the day off, Edwards finished second in the 100-yard free-style, notching a time of 50.81.

Candle takesthe reigns

The University of Toledo announced former Offensive Coordinator Jason Candle as the 27th head football coach, replacing former coach Matt Campbell after a five day span that felt like five years.

Candle is taking over a program that just won nine games and has improved each season, something a lot of new coaches can’t say when taking over a program.

But was this the right hire for the Rockets?I think so. Although I have to admit I thought Jon

Heacock would be named the head coach because of his 31 years of coaching experi-ence, this hire makes just as much sense.

Candle, who just turned 36 in November, will become the fourth-youngest head coach in college football.

But his age doesn’t matter; the only number that does matter is the number of wins he can bring to the program.

Just a little west of his hometown Salem, Ohio, Candle attended Mount Union in Alli-ance, Ohio which has been a Division III pow-erhouse claiming 11 national titles since 1993.

MARCUSDODSON

SPORTS EDITOR

PHOTO COURTESY OF UT ATHLETICSSenior Brenae Harris splits a trio of Arizona defenders on her way to the basket. Harris took home MVP honors after averaging 30 points a game in the Arizona State Classic.

See Championship / 7 »

PHOTO COURTESY OF UT ATHLETICSSophomore guard Stuckey Mosley sizes up a Hillsdale defender. See Invite / 7 »See Candle / 7 »

Wednesday, December 9, 2015 | The Independent Collegian | 7

VCU made a 16-5 run to bring the game back within 12 points before halftime. Chadarryl Clay would spark the Rams run with 11 points during the stretch.

Monakana and the Rockets were unstoppable early in the second half. She rattled off nine points in the quarter helping UT to a 23-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“I’m very proud of the two wins and I think it gave us the shot of confi-dence we needed,” Cullop said. “I’m excited about the rest of the season. We have a good group and they’re beginning to gel. We’re ready to play our best basketball.”

The midnight blue and gold return to Savage Arena on Saturday, Dec. 12 to take on the Cleveland State Vikings. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.

Championship from page 6

PHOTO COURTESY OF UT ATHLETICSSenior Ana Capotosto lays the ball up over an Arizona defender. Capotosto scored 15 points in Toledo’s 88-75 victory over the Columbia Bears.

Streicher also notched a second-place finish with a 2:02.19 time in the 200-yard butter-fly. Behind her, in third, was freshman Julie Schmidt with a time of 2:03.98.

Richart, sophomore Brittany Putoff and Hester all finished within the top ten in the 200-yard breaststroke, finishing third, sev-enth and ninth.

In the 1,650-yard freestyle, Hester finished sixth, whereas Hack finished in eighth.

To end the night, Comer touched fourth in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:00.65.

The Rockets closed out the invitational with 1,571 points, finishing in third place overall.

Seniors Richart, Comer and Edwards all tal-lied victories in individual events, setting the pace for the Rockets.

“Those girls work the hardest on the team,” Peters said. “They talk the talk, but they defi-nitely back it up.”

While it may not be the result they wanted, Peters said this performance is a huge step forward for the team.

During the holiday break, the Rockets will go home to their respective families before travel-ing to Orlando before January where they will train for the upcoming semester season.

“While it is a break, it is our most important month as far as training goes,” Peters said.

The Rockets will open their spring semester by hosting Oakland on Saturday, Jan. 9 at the UT Rec Center.

Invitefrom page 6

PHOTO COURTESY OF UT ATHLETICSSenior Jamie Schindler enters the pool off the three-meter diving board.

As an assistant there from 2003-08, the Purple Raiders posted a remarkable 83-4 record with five National Championship appearances and winning three of them.

Did I mention he won two National Championships as a player in 2000 and 2001? The man has been molded to know how to win.

After being hired in 2009 under former UT coach Tim Beckman, he was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2012 shortly after Campbell took over as head coach.

In 2014 under his control as OC, UT led the MAC in just about every major of-fensive category, including scoring offense (36.6), total offense (490.5) and rushing offense (256.4).

Not much should change with the offen-sive production as long as he is calling the plays. Candle told me that he won’t change anything until after the bowl game, where he will decide how to call the plays based

on how they perform. What else makes this the right move?The players wanted him and that was

seen clearly by their reactions on Twit-ter and after the press conference talk-ing to them. And when a team goes 9-2, the players get some say in the decision making process.

In 2010, Candle was named one of the top recruiters in the nation by Rivals.com. He was one of only nine coaches in the country from non-automatic BCS qualify-ing conferences to be named to the list and the only coach from the MAC.

He was named the Mid-American Conference “Recruiter of the Year” by Scout.com in both 2011 and 2012 and UT’s 2011 recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the MAC by both Scout.com and Rivals.com.

He can coach the players up when they get here, but he has this way of getting them here as well. Look for Candle to con-tinue to bring in one of the best recruit-ing classes in the MAC as players seem to gravitate to this man.

Not only did the players want him as head coach but so did Campbell as he recommended him for the job.

As of now, the hire looks like a great one but only time will tell.

Candle will get a chance to show what he’s made of when Toledo takes on Temple in the Marmot Baco Raton bowl on Dec. 22.

Candle from page 6

“His age doesn’t matter, the only number that matters is the number of wins he can bring to the program.”

Hannah DearthStaff Reporter

The University of Toledo Black Student Union held a charity lock-in event benefit-ting Toys for Tots and the Stu-dent Food Pantry on Wednes-day, Dec. 2, in the Student Union Ingman Room.

Over fifty students dressed in pajamas attended the first-ever lock-in, bringing either a canned food item or a new toy for admission to the event. The lock-in was the brainchild of Kyndra Gaines, a freshman biology major and a member of the Freshmen Leadership Program a group within BSU.

“We were in a cabinet meet-ing and we were trying to think of events to do for our BSU week. She came up with the

charity lock-in and we thought it was great when we looked more into it,” said MeKayla Pul-lins, vice director of the Fresh-man Leadership Program and a second-year studying biology.

According to Gaines, charity is the most important aspect of the event.

“We’re here for the kids by donating toys and we’re also donating canned goods for students that don’t have food,” Gaines said. “If they don’t have a canned good or toy, they could bring $3 to donate for Toys for Tots.”

Students attending the lock-in had their choice of board games to play and Madden and Mortal Combat were on projection screens. However, fellowship was the secondary

goal according to Gaines.“This week is all about

BSU and growing closer … we’re really just trying to fellowship with one another and grow better bonds and relationships with one an-other, as well,” Gaines said.

Students discovered the lock-in through social media and advertisements for BSU week.

“We’ve been handing out flyers and did a Rocket Blast so everyone got to put it on their Instagram and what not. And we’ve been networking and telling our friends,” Gaines said.

According to BSU President Lance Price, Jr., the Freshman Leadership Program — which Gaines is a member of — is a

mentorship program that focuses on professional development and is crucial for improving low reten-tion rates.

“Definitely here on our campus, retention rates for students of color are pretty low … So if we can have a Freshman Leadership Program where we try to bolster and build up our freshmen to help alleviate that issue, that’s what it is here for,” Price said.

Gaines is excited about how the event turned out and hope-ful for events in the future.

“This is the first year we've ever done something like this, but it is something I would consider talking to Lance about doing annually,” Gaines said.

STUDENT ORGANIZATION

Black Student Union holds new charity event

less than two weeks ago, hop-ing to find more current and former students interested in their ideas and trying to reach out to members of the com-munity in the Toledo area and around northwest Ohio.

During the Facebook inter-view with the founders, they expressed reservations about revealing their identities.

“For now, not many people have heard of us, and there are less than ten current students that we know of who have ex-pressed an interest in joining. On other campuses, groups like this have received death threats, so the anonymity of the internet is useful, given the real possibility of facing physi-cal reprisal,” the founder wrote.

They also added that they haven’t agreed upon apply-ing for an official status yet, and they don’t expect to get support from the adminis-trators. However, they think it might be better to have

an unofficial student group since it won’t allow people to get personal information like the names and addresses of members, which could be used to target the members and harm or harass them.

Lance E. Price, Jr., the UT Black Student Union president said, “To be honest, every-body should be proud of their heritage. However, when you look at the way that group of people lever it they are anonymous because I have yet to see anybody stand up and claim ownership to any of that. [There] is a right way [and] a wrong way to go about it.”

Prince also added that

ethnic-based organizations are here to empower and sup-port each other, not to be a mockery to each other.

Many of the ethnic-based organizations on campus are for minorities and since Cau-casian people are a majority on UT, some feel there is no need to have them.

WSU said their goal on cam-pus is to celebrate the identity of the indigenous people of Europe and to challenge the structural discrimination they see on campus. They added that there are classes at the university called “Introduction to the African Experience,” and “Foundations of Black Intel-lectual History,” but there is no class called “Introduction to the European Experience,” or “Foundations of White Intel-lectual History.”

Thomas Pasch, a third-year recreational therapy major, wrote in an email interview that the group “seems to be a very tolerant group opting for white people and their heritage, focusing on constitutional

rights, but there is some word-ing that makes me hesitant about their agenda ... There is a double-standard with white and black people; if a black person is proud of their heritage, then good for them, whereas if a white person is proud they can be deemed racist.”

The founder of the union wrote that they believe there are unfair racial double-standards on this campus and throughout society. They added that WSU will produce really positive effects, making things more fair and equitable.

“I don’t think they have an opportunity to be an actual group on campus or exist, but ... if they actually were able to physically appear and take ownership for what they try to start, I’d love to sit down to talk and hear what they have to say, but that hasn’t happened, so as far as I am concerned it’s irrelevant,” Price said.

WSU allows anyone to join as long as they share the same ideas and can be contacted through Facebook.

WSU from page 1

“I don’t think they have an opportunity to be an actual group on campus or exist.”

LANCE PRICEBSU president

programs that include a Spanish learning program, art classes, fashion design clubs, social justice clubs and more opportunities to communicate with those workers who help to make their uniforms.

Holding this competition on campus helped the local applicants get more attention for their business; this is the sort of work MBAC is cen-tered on, according to Insch.

“[The competition] was re-ally being hosted through the Minority Business Assistance Center,” Insch said. “They exist to help companies progress to taking ideas, to commercialization and then helping existing companies grow their businesses. They also have a lot of training for getting certified to be able to bid on government contracts. It’s all part of what they do in all this community outreach.”

Dell said she works with schools in northeastern Ohio

and her business doubled the student population they will be working with next year. She wants to keep adding unique experiences to their programs.

After presenting to the judges and winning, Dell said it was a “horrifying” experi-ence, but it meant a lot to take place in this competition.

“I get really excited about school uniforms, and for most people, I don’t think that’s an exciting thing,” Dell said. “When I was in Catholic school I dreaded my uniform. It means a lot just coming to a competition that’s about supporting women, being a woman and just winning is really cool, even if it is just school uniforms.”

For now, Dell plans to fund other uniforms with her first place prize. Since she won the regional competition, Dell is now able to run at the na-tional level for InnovateHER which takes place March 17, 2016 in Washington D.C. She will have the chance to win $70,000.

Competition from page 1

8 | The Independent Collegian | Wednesday, December 9, 2015

“Round and Round”“Way Cool Jr”

“Kiss Me Deadly”“Close My Eyes

Forever”

“Love of a Lifetime”“When I Look Into

Your Eyes”

“The Ballad of Jayne”“Never Enough”

“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”“Cherry Pie”

“Give It To Me Good”“One In A Million”

“Seventeen”“Miles Away”

from Rock of Love Celebrity Apprentice & Solo Career

“Every Rose Has Its Thorn” “Nothing But A Good Time”

“Unskinny Bop” “Talk Dirty To Me”

“Something To Believe In”