In the last few weeks, there has been a large student reaction to rumored cuts in the language department that would eliminate lower enrollment languages, such as Japanese, Chinese, and Russian.  As of right now, these rumors are false.  “No actions have been taken to eliminate or reconfigure any of these programs,” Provost Jonathan Green said.  While these programs will still be offered at Illinois Wesleyan University, both faculty and students in the language department are currently working to change the structure and goals of the secondary language programs.

The Problem at IWU
The problem is not that Illinois Wesleyan wants to stop offering these languages but that incoming students simply aren’t as interested in taking them as they used to be.  “In recent semesters, there have been sections of languages classes with very low enrollments,” Green said. “Independent of the financial implications, these small classes sometimes create less than ideal learning environments – conversations require company.”

“Chinese enrollment is a good example of lesser interest,” said James Matthews, the chair of the Modern and Classical Languages and Literature department. “We used to have good enrollment, with 12 to 15 students in every class. This year, we’ve had three or four students.”  While this low enrollment is most common in some of the smaller language programs such as Chinese and Russian, even some of the larger programs are starting to be threatened.   Most years, Illinois Wesleyan will have roughly five to 12 incoming students that have AP scores in French. This past year, there was only one.
“For the 26 or 27 years I’ve been here, we’ve been able to assume that students will have an interest in French and German. This is no longer true,” Matthews said.  “In the past, we’ve had to recruit students for languages like Chinese, Japanese and Russian. Now we have to recruit students for German, and I imagine next year we will have to do so for French.”

The decline in students interested in language starts at the high school level.   The No Child Left Behind Act has demanded numbers from standardized tests from school districts all across Illinois, which is where Illinois Wesleyan draws 80 to 85 percent of its students.  Programs like art, music and languages don’t generate the kind of numbers that standardized tests require, so many districts are either downsizing or completely discontinuing their language programs.

“The main source of our student population comes from a place where languages are decreasing in importance and the variety of languages offered is decreasing,” Matthews said. “It is becoming harder and harder to find students who are advanced in language study.  “Language is intimately tied to how we perceive the world. To not see the world through the lens of at least one other culture is a severe limitation.”

Over the past few years, IWU has seen a decrease from 2100 students to 1950.  Of the enrolled students, a vast majority of them are taking the placement test and opting out of the language requirement. The few who do not take the placement test are then spread out across nine languages, spreading the numbers thin.  “I think what we’ve come to realize is that it’s an issue with apathy towards the general education requirements,” said Katie Sill, a Chinese language student. “Language credits have become a thing you just get rid of or something you just have to get done with as opposed to something that opens doors and allows you to pursue passions or careers.”

“It’s disturbing to me that students can pass through IWU without taking a single college level language course,” Matthews said. “It’s frustrating to hear students say, ‘How can I get out of language?’ The irony is that we have an award-winning, nationally recognized language staff, so it’s hard to hear that students don’t want to take these languages.”

SOLUTION
“The one thing that is certain is that we cannot keep doing what we’re doing.  The numbers are talking to us,” Matthews said.
The first step is rethinking the structure of the MCLL department and its curriculum.
Matthews said, “We have to think about our curriculum – are we offering the right kind of classes for our students in the 21st century? What can we do to make them better and to better serve our students?  “The other thing I would like to do is get more feedback from students. We have talked to professional associations and consultants and had a review of our department. But I want to talk to people who aren’t enrolling in, say, Chinese and find out what I need to do to offer a better picture of what Chinese can offer them.”

The Asian Studies department has already taken steps towards improving the Chinese program.   At a meeting discussing next year’s plan for the Chinese program, it was suggested that time should be set aside to discuss how to proceed with Chinese language instruction. As of now, Chinese 101 will not be offered for one year in order to allow the department time to restructure the program and get it back on solid footing.

A letter drafted and signed by 20 faculty and staff members was sent to Green, Matthews and director of international studies Marina Balina expressing a desire to support and reiterate the value of these languages with low enrollments.  “The main thrust of the letter was that the Asian Studies faculty members believe strongly that both Chinese and Japanese language instruction should be strengthened at IWU,” said Thomas Lutze, coordinator of the Asian studies department. “We also shared some brainstorming ideas as to how we might help boost enrollments.”

So far, many faculty and students in the language department have come up with multiple suggestions on how to boost enrollment in a language.  Ranging from a World Language Center that would operate as a space to celebrate language learning to explaining to incoming students what pursuing a language could do for them beyond just meeting a general education requirement, the faculty and students have many ideas to increase the interest in and visibility of languages on campus.

“It’s really a visibility issue. Few people know these programs are even offered,” said Chris Tatara, a Russian language student. “Whether it be through the World Language Center or through more language-centered events on campus, there needs to be more promotion of these languages with lower enrollments.”  Additionally, there is talk of partnering programs both between majors and between students.

“I’d like to see us have more partnerships with other departments,” Matthews said. “Hispanic studies has a great partnership with the school of nursing, and the German and business departments have done some exciting things. That’s our future as a language department – we have to become more entrepreneurial in this way.”

“Pairing international students with IWU students dedicated and interested in working on their language skills might be a good route to take,” Sill said. “I know that a few international students have spoken up and are willing to work with American students who are trying to learn these languages.”

The role of secondary languages as general education requirements might also be reassessed.  “Part of the idea behind general education is to approach different problems from different points of view and angles,” Matthews said.  “Secondary languages fulfill this perfectly.”

Green said, “I wish that students who meet the current threshold to ‘test out’ of the second language requirement would be encouraged or required to take at least one language class at the university, either as a continuation of their second language or an exploration of a third.  “This would strengthen enrollments in those courses and enrich the academic experience of many students.”

Due to the commitment and passion of students and faculty at IWU, many ideas have been generated, and people are enthusiastic about the potential new directions the language department may go in.  “On the basis of several brief meetings with the Provost in the past week, it is clear that some new possibilities are in motion, though it is too early to report any concrete results,” Lutze said.

Whether you are an athlete, non-athlete, veteran or newbie to the Shirk Athletic Center, you should know about the heinous “Shirk Crimes” being committed every single day at Illinois Wesleyan University’s beloved gym.

If you have visited other schools or played them in athletic events, you have seen firsthand that Shirk is a top-notch facility in comparison.

Even some Division I schools cannot hold a candle to Shirk, and yet students here at IWU take it for granted.
At any given moment during the day, you could walk into the Shirk weight room and see proof of this negligence. What exactly are the crimes to look for?

For starters, the Shirk workers are not there to clean up after you. So when you have finished with a weight, be it dumbbell or plate weight, put it back where you found it.

This is a simple courtesy that all students should have learned in preschool. If you missed that day of preschool, please take the time to give yourself a refresher.

Nothing is more frustrating than being mid-workout and having to clean up after someone else’s last lift. If you’re in the mood to hang clean and you see that the last people to use the bars left 70 pounds of weight on each side of the bar, just stripping the bar is a workout in and of itself.

Not only is neglecting to strip the bar when you’re done an annoyance to everyone, it also leaves our weight room looking sloppy and mediocre.

This is not the respect that Shirk deserves. Leave the weights and dumbbells in their proper places.
Outside of the weight room, more “Shirk Crimes” continue. It is not the Shirk workers’ job to organize the equipment room every minute of the day.

For Pete’s sake, hang up your jump ropes, stack the orange hurdles and put the ladders back where you found them. It is beyond frustrating to spend ten minutes untangling the bands or searching every drawer for cones.

The IWU track team would most likely appreciate putting the jump boxes and hurdles back in their places. The coaches of all our teams would love to stop wasting practice time looking for equipment.

Imagine a day when none of these crimes occurred. Maybe it wouldn’t be all that groundbreaking, but maybe there wouldn’t be 25-pound dumbbells missing and broken machines.

If everyone would respect Shirk, it could stay the place that it was meant to be. So next time you finish a workout, wipe your sweaty butt mark off the seat, clear off the platform and hang up your equipment.

It’s that simple.

When everyone told me that I would have some transformative experiences during my study abroad, I never thought that I’d have to confront one of my biggest fears. It wasn’t the narcos my parents warned me of or Mexico City crime. It was getting tested for HIV.

I grew up in Wheaton, Illinois, which, as many people already know, has the most churches per square mile in the world.  Surprisingly, it did not offer the most stellar sexual education program. Ever since middle school, when I first realized I liked dudes, I presumed that gay sex in any capacity lead to HIV and eventually AIDS.

Considering our society’s obsession with connecting the two, it’s hard to blame the middle school me. America’s obsession with relegating HIV as a “gay disease” dates back to the days when the virus was first discovered in the 1980s, and it continues to manifest itself in the oddest of places.

When I was on my high school speech team, nearly every dramatic speaking piece involving a gay man invariably ended with him contracting HIV or dying of AIDS. The format was so common some people on my team called them “gAIDS pieces.”

Of course, it also says something that the only heterosexual character in recent memory to contract HIV, Precious, is a person of color.

Nor is the disease merely relegated to developing countries, as often portrayed. Washington, D.C. has a higher rate of HIV, at 3.2 percent in 2010, than a majority of African countries that seem to garner much more media attention.

Whether intentional or not, American culture seems to assume that straight white people are spared from HIV. In March, Reuters reported on a study of 8,500 heterosexual individuals living in cities. Of them, 2 percent had HIV, and of that group, 45 percent had never been tested.

While the Moral Majority celebrated the passing of a problematic demographic in the 1980s, Mexico City officials undertook serious efforts to fight the spread of HIV. Awareness campaigns were immediately implemented, and millions were granted free tests once they were developed.

The test is even administered free of charge to foreigners, completely subsidized. Aside from some confusion over what exactly a middle name is, as most Latin Americans have two last names instead of a middle name, and the fact that I was getting tested for a life-threatening illness across a language barrier, the process went smoothly. After a quick coffee break, I went back and picked up my results.

Once I had them, I felt oddly fulfilled. Finding out your HIV status of your own volition is one of the most powerful acts an individual can do, regardless of sexuality. It’s something uniquely yours, something that should be treated as only your own business and something no one can take away.

And while the point of this article is to urge everyone to get tested, I have some mother-daughter, Madonna to Gaga advice for all the recently out homosexuals that seem to pop up every time I leave Bloomington: getting tested for HIV is the most empowering thing you can do for the least amount of money.

In order for cultural discourse to change, individuals must make the first push. Only then can the stigma about testing, specifically for straight people, be lifted. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard my Mexican friends, gay or straight, say something like, “I haven’t gotten tested for HIV this year. I need to do that.” That’s a mindset I hope we can someday adopt in the United States.

Since 1897, the Boston Athletic Association has hosted the Boston Marathon on Patriot’s Day, the world’s oldest marathon. Roughly 23,000 people were registered to run in the marathon this year, and on average, 500,000 people attend.  This year, the marathon ran on Monday, April 15. At 2:50 p.m., about five hours into the race, two bombs near the finish line detonated in quick succession.  This event shocked Boston and the east coast, but the reverberations were felt much farther away as professors and students at Illinois Wesleyan struggled to accept the horror of the situation.  Three were killed and over 100 more were injured in the attack.  The three dead have been identified as eight-year-old Martin Richard, 23-year-old Lu Lingzi and 29-year-old Krystle Campbell.

Immediately after the detonation of the bombs, people were frantically trying to locate their family members to assure that they were safe.  Not long after the story had hit the news, many people with family in the Boston area were struggling to make sure that their family was safe as well.  Ashton Moss, a first-year at Illinois Wesleyan University, has two cousins that live in Boston and experienced this same panic.  Moss said, “As soon as I saw the story on the news, I logged onto Facebook hoping that my cousin had changed her status to let everyone know that she was okay. Luckily she had, and I didn’t have to worry for long.”

Assistant Professor of English Joanne Diaz is from Boston and also has many friends that were in the area.  “One of my best friends ran the marathon, and he was two miles away from the finish line when the bombs exploded,” Diaz said. “Also, I used to work at a publishing company a couple of blocks away from the explosion. I still have many friends who still work there, but none were injured.”

According to Mary Nicholas, whose family members were at the marathon, it was immediately evident after the explosions that while many people were running away from the area, there were also a remarkable number of people who ran straight into the chaos to help with the injured.  There were even some who ran to the hospital to give blood.
These heroic actions in response to this act of terror have left many people with the conflicting emotions of hope and horror.  “My sense is that there are two levels of response: first, I’m amazed by the doctors, nurses, EMTs, policemen and other helpers who saved lives that day,” Diaz said. “On another level, I’ve noticed that Monday’s events, and the scares that have followed, have left most people in the area very frightened and concerned about what will happen next.”
Junior Aaron Smith said, “Good human nature was revealed through those running to give blood, those opening their homes to stranded people, offering Internet access to contact families and those who voiced support across the country.”  The immediate bystanders were not the only ones to react quickly.
There were responses in New York City and D.C., which increased security at many important locations, and the FBI was quick to respond to Boston.  “My cousin did not get close to the affected area on Monday night,” Moss said. “But about two miles away at her office building, it was a completely different neighborhood. She saw unmarked police and FBI vehicles with lights flashing. She also saw many tourists and office workers on foot. While the subway was open, many people, including my cousin, did not feel safe using it right after the explosions.”
While it is easy to focus on the immediate event, there are many after-effects that the people of Boston and the United States are still struggling to deal with.  First-year Jess Omark said, “I was left wondering who was behind it and if there would be another attack.”  This was a common fear in the aftermath of these events, and the stepped-up security in NYC, D.C. and Boston did not help to ease this concern.
“I know that my cousin is really struggling to deal with that odd feeling of ‘it could have been me,’” Moss said. “It happened in a busy retail and business area, and it’s also a safe area in a safe city. She said that it’s odd to have military vehicles and national news reporters on the streets where you walk regularly. She has seen military personnel in the subway and on her way home from work. While it is reassuring, it also leaves that unsettling feeling behind.”
Many people are still struggling to wrap their minds around this event.  “I can’t stop thinking about my friend who ran the marathon,” Diaz said. “He tried to describe what it felt like to be two miles from the finish line and to have a team of volunteers in yellow jackets just stop the race. How do you stop thousands of people from running as fast as they can toward a bomb? The image has stayed in my head, and I can’t get rid of it.”

Every Wednesday at 8:43 p.m. for the past three years, senior Tyler Sill and I have traveled to Pheasant Lanes bowling alley in Bloomington. In August 2010, we found ourselves searching for a change of pace from the usual college routine.

When we learned that Pheasant offers $5 all-you-can-bowl on Wednesday nights from 9-11 p.m. for college students, the Wednesday Night Bowling Association (WNBA) was born.

The WNBA has successfully provided members with a reason to get excited about every week here at Illinois Wesleyan University. It has become a meditative sanctuary where no negative vibes exist.

“I co-founded this club in order to provide IWU students the opportunity to do something different,” Sill said. “WNBA’s mission statement, ‘Pleasant Games at Pheasant Lanes,’ really sums it up. We work to strike up friendships, one turkey at a time.”

Since its founding in 2010, the WNBA has seen a revolving door of membership similar to the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd. However, seniors Luke Radliff and Dan Oswald have emerged as core members.

The WNBA abides by several rules that have given the club a strong name. First, no actual names are ever used on the scoreboard. Creativity must be used to think of a name to amuse the fellas.

Next, polar pops must be purchased at Thornton’s either before bowling, after bowling, or both. Finally, no drama from real life can be brought to the lanes. Strict adherence to these rules has made WNBA membership a mentally and physically stimulating while relaxing experience.

“Membership in the WNBA has enriched my college experience in a number of ways,” Sill said. “Weekly traditions help get you through the week. They are something to look forward to and are something to take your mind off school. Weekly traditions with good people are going to be remembered forever when looking back at my college experience.”

Membership has been especially significant for Radliff. “One night, I settled on the name of my first born child: DeSalvage Radliff. The name was unanimously approved by fellow WNBA members,” Radliff said.

In addition to the psychological benefits of the WNBA, the core members have seriously honed their skills over the past few years. They have transformed from merely regular guys here at IWU to regular guys who also bowl well. All four frequently record scores over 200, including career bests over 250 for Sill, Oswald, and myself.

The core members have developed a belief in the “practice makes perfect” mentality, and they have all become more confident in real life because of bowling.
“Since bowling a 269, I now have the courage to talk to attractive females because I know they dig dudes who bowl high scores,” Oswald said.
Sill added, “Telling a girl I am a part of the WNBA is obviously a conversation starter. When I show them pictures of my highest bowling scores, game over.”

The core members have improved so drastically in terms of both bowling and life that they have formed an actual bowling team, The Bowl Movements. The four plan to continue bowling post-graduation, and they encourage others to do the same.

“Others should bowl, because you’re not just practicing rolling a ball at pins,” Oswald claimed. “You’re practicing life.”

The fellas of the WNBA will cherish the memories they made on the lanes forever. Senior Kevin Callahan’s ability to bowl a 200 with either hand, junior Kevin Miller’s pitter-patter approach, Sill’s flirtation with a perfect game, sophomore Kaileen Cumming’s refusal to take off her bowling shoes before leaving and the football team’s trip to the lanes in August 2012 are all moments that will live on in WNBA lore.

While starting a bowling club is a great break from the usual routine, it is not the only one. If bowling is not your thing, find other ways to have some good, old-fashioned fun here at IWU. During college especially, the emphasis is too heavily placed on resorting to alcohol or the party scene, sometimes even to the point where people convince themselves that it’s the only way they can have fun.

The lesson to be learned from the WNBA is that membership in clubs, whether they are officially school-sponsored or not, can enhance your life outlook and give you purpose. Being a part of something that is bigger than yourself improves your perspective and makes you a better person.

So go find something worthwhile to do, and find some worthwhile people to share it with. If you do this, I promise you will create lifetime memories and feel fulfilled. This is exactly what membership in the WNBA has done for me.

Let’s get one thing straight: the Faculty Choreographed Dance Concert did not disappoint. It was well presented and performed. However, in the spirit of the anti-racism rally earlier this year and the #HereAtIWU Campaign, a comment must be made about the content of one of the pieces in the concert.

The piece I am referencing was titled “Comanche Moon” and represented the sin of Wrath. Comanche Moon is a reference to the novel written in 1997, describing Texas rangers chasing a Comanche horse thief in the period before the Civil War.

The novel describes the burning of Austin, Texas and describes the rape of a white settler. I will not go into detail here to explain how this novel perpetuates the stereotype that Native Americans are violent and savage; however, this description certainly portrays the Comanche as barbarians.

In sum, choice matters. The title of the piece alone carries heavy cultural baggage of stereotyping and racism.

Furthermore, the intention of the dance itself is questionable. There was a clear choice to portray wrath through the portrayal of Native Americans dancing, and Native Americans were depicted as violent through dance.

In general, by choosing the title and the sin to portray, the dance concert, I hope inadvertently, helped perpetuate the racist stereotype that Native Americans are a savage people.

I say Native Americans and not Comanche for a simple reason – the music and the dress, complete with war paint, were not specific to a culture but instead was a “generic” Native American portrayal. In other words, a stereotype.

Perhaps most importantly, all of this stereotyping was done subtly. There were no headdresses, war chants or beaded clothing. Nonetheless, this portrayal was not honoring any Native American culture and was still a racist portrayal. Illinois Wesleyan University’s theatre department has been caught “playing Indian.”

While I do understand that the choreographer was brought in from New York City to instruct solely for that piece and that the full costumes were not ready until the week of the show, someone needed to recognize the significance of the choices made.

No one, faculty or student, expressed enough concern to prevent the final product from being racist. Art is an integral part of culture; art cannot exist for art’s sake, so the theatre department is not excused because it had to work within the deadline.

While this mistake may initially seem small, a broader context may help elaborate its significance. Native Americans have hundreds of unique cultures, and to lump them into one stereotype alone is disrespectful.  But to incorrectly portray a group of people as savage and violent when the United States perpetrated a genocide against them is inexcusable.

For further context, the land IWU’s campus is on once belonged to a group of tribes collective called the Illini. An aggressive history does exist within Native American culture, but it is a history of American violence.

Unfortunately, the theatre department failed to recognize this history when creating wrath and instead perpetuated stereotypes.

The Illinois Wesleyan University softball team crushed all competition on April 13 and April 14, winning all four games in the annual IWU softball tournament by at least five runs.

This year’s IWU softball tournament focused on promoting awareness of Myelodysplastic Syndrome, or MDS, a blood cancer that can lead to a type of leukemia. The proceeds went to Murelle Plotner, a young girl who is fighting MDS and is from sophomore left fielder Audra James’ hometown, St. Joseph, Ill.

“Hearing Murelle’s story, and having also been impacted by Weish and his positive outlook, reminded us how lucky we are to be able to play the game we love,” senior Kellye Kohn said.
On Saturday, April 13, the Titans were invincible. The first game against Washington University in St. Louis was the closest game for the Titans all weekend. Winning 8-3, IWU scored early with a two-out double in the first inning by junior Allie Riordan that brought in the speedy James.

Not only did sophomore Hannah Bowen single to score Riordan and senior Keri Leach, in the same inning, senior third baseman Emma Clark also sent a bomb flying over the fence in right field for a solo home run.

Although the Washington University Bears fought hard to defeat the Titans, they were no match. The Titans came back stronger every inning with the help of junior pitcher Molly McCready, who struck out nine in six innings. The Bears didn’t have a chance.
This win against the Bears was just the beginning of the Titans’ success on the IWU softball field. In game two against Anderson University in Ind., the Ravens were basically batting practice for the Titans. IWU came out scoring 11 runs in the beginning of the first inning, with Leach and Clark each hitting home runs in the opening frame.

The Titans shut down their opponents after the fifth with a score of 15-0. IWU senior Alyssa Vorel brought home the win on the mound.

“I think motivation came from each girl sort of putting things into perspective and realizing that it is a blessing we even have the ability to step foot onto the field each day,” James observed of the wins. “We get really inspired by quotes and stories, and coach Tiff read us a story before our first game of the weekend, encouraging us to never take our time for granted.”

Hard work continued to pay off for the fighting Titans as they began play on Sunday, April 14. Winning 12-4 against Anderson University, the Titans once again brought an intense aggressiveness that their opponents could not keep up with.

Riordan, junior Sara Daley and senior Courtney Martin each sent a ball over the fence. The hitting dominance continued when slap-hitter James smacked a two-run home run over the left-center fence, the first of her Titan career.

“Our hitting was the biggest highlight,” head coach Steve King said. “We had several players reach base on a consistent basis, so that was great to see.

“If I were to pick a single highlight, it would have to be the home run by Audra James. The excitement on her face as she sprinted towards home to meet her teammates was priceless.”
First-year Jenna Noland and junior Jessica Toth dominated the mound, each sharing three innings and two strikeouts.

In the last game of the tournament, the Titans had 15 hits and scored 10 runs against Blackburn College.

Senior Stephanie Polich had three hits, with Clark, Toth and Kohn each having two hits.

Once again McCready’s pitching dominated on the mound, striking out four and allowing just one hit in three innings. Vorel brought in the win in the final two frames, with two strikeouts.
The season will continue on Saturday April, 20 against North Park University.

We spend so much time and money arguing about the rights of the unborn that we often forget about the rights of the already-born.
I did a quick Google search and found that, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, pro-life and pro-choice advocates spent $1,292,741 on lobbying in 2009. When I tried to find out how much money was spent advocating for child protection services in any year, the most I found was the lump sum of money spent advocating for human rights in general.
Obviously, bringing attention to children’s rights isn’t something the media is concerned with. One just has to flip on the news to see that. But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be addressed.
While well intentioned, our foster care system doesn’t have a strong reputation. Why? Probably because it’s underfunded and understaffed.
According to The Foster Care Alumni Studies, nearly one-third of the foster children in Washington and Oregon reported being abused by a foster parent or another adult in a foster home. Another study by John Hopkins University found the rate of sexual abuse in-group homes to be more than 28 times that of the general population.
Our foster care system needs some work, yet we don’t seem to want to talk about it.
While foster care may have a bad reputation, biological bonds aren’t the end all be all. The stereotypical American “nuclear family” that many of us hold near and dear isn’t always as wholesome as we would like to think.
A study done in 2003 by the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect found that 31 percent of child sexual abuse survivors have lived with both biological parents. This same study found that approximately 150,000 cases of abuse and neglect were perpetrated by both the father and the mother.
This means that abuse and neglect aren’t issues we can pass off as the foster care system gone wrong. It happens to far more people than we realize.
Abuse and neglect happen far too often yet we don’t talk about it nearly enough.
We talk about abortion all the time. Pro-life and pro-choice flyers, posters and billboards can be seen all over the place, and the news absolutely loves the topic. But if we’re going to argue about embryos, fetuses and babies’ rights to exist, then we can’t stop thinking about them once they’re born.
It’s the same thing with LGBT marriage and whether LGBT people should be allowed to adopt. We love to argue about it, but once the decision is made to give a child to a couple, LGBT or heterosexual, the discussion is over, and those adopted children are forgotten.
That’s that. Let’s brush off our hands and move on.
That’s not how people work, though. Kids aren’t toys. You can’t put them on a shelf and forget about them when you find newer, more interesting topics to talk about.
Abortion and LGBT adoption might be hot topics now, but children’s safety should always be among our top priorities, and right now it’s not. Children deserve more protection, and for that, they need more of our attention.

With the completion date of State Farm Hall quickly approaching, students and faculty are eager and excited to begin having classes inside this brand new building.

But since most of the classes formerly held in Shaw will be moved into State Farm Hall, many students are asking, “What’s going to happen to Shaw?”

This 48,700-square-foot facility will replace Shaw Hall, which was opened in 1954 to be Illinois Wesleyan University’s primary classroom building.  Shaw’s classrooms are much too small to fit the needs of today’s classes.

The enrollment at IWU when Shaw was built was around 1,600 students, while today there are over 2,000 students in attendance.  Shaw also lacks the capabilities to incorporate technological advancements for teaching.

The Space Allocation Task Force – a committee comprised of faculty, staff and students – hopes to address these issues and has sent out a draft proposal for comments to determine how the space in Shaw will be used.

Four classrooms have been given to the School of Theatre arts for instructional space for drafting, acting, tap and voice classes.  Erica Werner, a first-year music theatre major, said, “I’m concerned that the classrooms are so small, and I can’t imagine having a dance class in there.”

It has been suggested to set aside space for the Advancement Office’s call center and the Office of Institutional Research.  Provost Jonathan Green said, “At present, there is still some flex space in Shaw, and we have received additional requests and suggestions which the task force will review before making a final set of recommendations to the president and cabinet.”

Other students have voiced their opinions about the use of the space.  Sophomore John Blumenreich suggested that the extra rooms in Shaw be “geared toward big student organizations, so certain groups can have their own meeting rooms.”

Austin Aldag, a first-year accounting and political science major, thinks that the empty rooms “should be used for faculty offices, storage and overflow classes.”

The Space Allocation Task Force has yet to reach a decision about the distribution of Shaw classrooms, but these students’ voices among others will be heard.  All suggestions will be considered and discussed, and a final decision will be released to the IWU public soon.