Freedom of Expression

If you've been paying attention to the chalk writings around the campus this week, you've seen the "freebiblenow.org" promotions--and if you're really lucky, you have seen the giant man on the Quad yelling (or creepily whispering) about how Jesus is not the Messiah and how God is great. The school allows for all kinds of freedom of speech and expression, and new this week though is the Pagan Pride Day on October 8th.

CAR SMASH!!

All I can say is car smash! When I was on my way to English 101 I saw a fraternity (TKE) having some fun in the quad. They were letting people have five hits on a car for a dollar. I didn’t know you could make money off of this my brother and I used to do this just for fun and not thinking we could get rich off of this. I think that was a good way to get rid of steam and also have fun doing it. I wish I had a dollar I would have done it. Even though this was a fraternity doing it, they still got the school involved.

Hancock Stadium

While going over the posts I noticed that someone did a blog about Redbird Arena but saw that Hancock Stadium had not yet been done. So I figured I would be the guy to do a blog about it. Hancock Stadium is just as important as Redbird Arena and any other building for that matter. Not much is known about the stadium to the students on campus except that it id the football field. Since I did not know much either I figured I might as well do it for a blog as another reason.

Hancock Stadium is actually a multi-purpose stadium because not only does it serve as their home filed for the Redbirds but also for the University High Pioneers. I know this because i have played football against them two times here before. Another item that the stadium is used for is the playing and practicing ground for the marching band of ISU which is named the Big Red Marching Machine. It was built to seat 9,500 people and it opened its doors in 1963. The stadium was named after former athletic director Dr. Howard Hancock. The artificial turf was not put in until1969 and became the first Illinois college to have artificial turf. Another item of importance that was added was the scoreboard as well as the turf. Now going back to high school football Hancock Stadium served as the playing field for the Illinois High School championships but in the modern day it no longer does that anymore.

As for the current day material you can thank Dr. Al Bowman and Dr. Sheahon Zenger. They are the ones responsible for the modern day renovations that were released in 2006. From the seats that spell out ISU in red to the scoreboard which was installed in 2007. The current amount of people that the stadium can hold is 24,000-25,000 people. Hopefully this was a good blog for all of you and I know you learned more about the stadium like I did.

You can Avoid it!

There are those two words that ever freshman in college dread to hear…
I bet you could guess, it the terrifying “Freshman Fifteen”.
Gaining weight is very common especially your first year of college. Most freshmen have the 7 day unlimited meal plan, and abuse it, getting burgers, fries, and all those other greasy foods.
Coming from high school, most students were involved with a sport or club, and were forced and required to stay active. Having so much extra time and freedom, freshmen either just sit around or eat out of boredom, because they have no one telling them what to do; no one to motivate them.
Since we are on a college campus, of course there is going to be parties, and believe it or not, there will be alcohol, I know shocking. Alcohol believe it or not is full of calories and if you’re drinking every weekend, those calories will build up and you will start packing on the pounds. Now, I’m not trying to tell you how to spend your weekends, but just realize all play and no work, you will gain weight.
In order to be successful you need to be mentally strong. Avoid the pizza. Avoid the burgers. And especially avoid the fries! If you don’t think you can do this alone, get a friend to do it with you! Having support from someone else makes everything easier.
When it comes to the gym, start off slow. If you don’t know how to work out, ask someone. Employees at the Rec Center are very friendly and would be more than happier to help or assist you while working out. If you’re afraid to work out alone, take a class there! The Rec Center has multiple classes every day and various times to fit into all students’ schedules. They even have a brochure with the times of every class so you can’t forget! If you’re not a fan of working out, just stay active by getting involved on campus.
Now how do you go about this? Start a plan!
Decide what days you can go to the gym and what you are going to do on those days when you go. Try to make every meal healthy and well balanced. But, also remember to treat yourself, look forward to something in the week. For example, back at home my mom would buy ice cream every time she went grocery shopping, and every time I would eat it all in about a week. Now, since I’m on my own I only eat ice cream once a week, crazy right? But, now every week I have something to look forward too.
Avoiding the freshman fifteen is very do-able. Try to eat healthy, work out or just stay active somehow. Stay mentally strong, and if you can’t bring a friend with you. Having support from someone else is huge a part of staying on track. Well I hope my advice was somewhat helpful. Good Luck!

Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Huffelpuff and Slytherin- Sound Familiar?

If you’re a muggle who loves the world of Harry Potter than you should know that those are the four houses from the whirlwind series. Here at Illinois State University there’s not only fellow Harry Potter fans, but there’s also a Quidditch team which recently joined the international Quidditch association this year. Ground Quidditch began in 2005 at Middlebury College in Vermont and is now played at more than 200 colleges in 45 states. From Quaffle and Bludgers to broomsticks and the Golden Snitch this game isn’t trying to pull magic on you-it’s the real deal.

However, for obvious reasons ground Quidditch is a little different than the Quidditch featured in Rowling’s novels. The players run on the ground using a volleyball and dodge ball in place of the Quaffle and Bludgers, which are used in the book. The most important ball, the Golden Snitch, is played by a neutral player with a tennis ball stuffed in a sock running around the field. You can watch these entertaining games on the quad during the week and if you want to feel like you’re at Hogwarts, feel free to join in on a game or two. The attempt at bringing this game to life and recreating the sport really reveals how much the Harry Potter books have changed the literary world.

T.K.E Fraternity Car Smash

"That was totally worth a dollar," said the girl walking away with the sledgehammer in her hand. On wednesday, September 21st, on my way from class there was an old black car on the walk way near the quad. It had been vandalized and sprayed with green spray paint with the letters TKE on the side. I thought to myself, "wow so this is college life." T.K.E is one of the many fraternities at Illinois State. It stands for Tau Kappa Epsilon. It was founded on January 10, 1899. T.K.E aims to cultivate leaders, provide them with the tools and application of a solid life skills portfolio in a controlled environment. I stood and observed as students paid money to smash the car with a sledgehammer. By-passers stopped from their journeys and crowed around the walkway. Some watched in laughter as their fellow school-mates pummeled the car with a sledgehammer. It might seem crazy but, at that very moment I knew that college would be a very different, but rather good experience. In movies I often seen fraternities smash cars and I always wanted to do it. However, I wondered why other students wanted to do it. I guess it was to release stress, anger, or frustration. But it may have been for the same reason that i would engage in this activity. Which would be to have fun. From my knowledge this activity is usually done for a good cause. The money is often raised for charities or in use of the fraternity.

On Two Wheels at ISU

Here at ISU, one thing I can’t really live without is my bike. On a normal day I get up ten minutes before class and make it to my class, 8 blocks away, in about five minutes. Not saying that waking up for class 10 minutes early is a good thing, but without that bike I would be fifteen minutes late for class everyday I mistakingly wake up a little to late. During that journey to class I encounter all types of ISU community members. On my way out of Tri-Towers and towards Stevenson I pass the football fields where all see scattered athletes and students going back and forth. Once I go under the viaduct at main and College I see volunteers or flyer givers. All this time dodging my fellow students on the side walk hoping that my foot doesn’t accidentally slip and fall to my misery of embarrassment. From getting to class on time, to just riding for pure enjoyment riding my bike in bloomington, a bicycle is a useful piece of equipment here at ISU.

Dorms Can Be An Inconvenience

As it is commonly understood, all freshmen, unfortunately, must live in the dormitories at Illinois State University. Move in day is a great day. Unloading all your stuff, seeing new faces, pretty girls, and knowing you will be on your own without your parents in a short while is a lot to take it, but an incredible feeling. I got all my boxes and bags into my room and thought living in Hewett room 1424 would be, not luxurious, but decent living. However, after just a few short weeks, I am finally beginning to realize I was sorely mistaken and that when upperclassman said “the dorms suck”, I should have listened. It isn’t even October yet and the air conditioning got turned off, so my fan is on all day and night, as well as the window being open. The window being open, sadly, doesn’t bring in much of a breeze because the twin building next to mine shields wind blowing south-east. Also, the elevators are terrible, and when I say terrible, that’s an understatement. One of our three elevators is currently being redone, so we have 2 elevators for 17 floors. They’re always packed, and for some strange reason, stop at every floor on the way down- and being on the 14th floor sucks in that aspect. One last complaint, not that I’ve been complaining too much, is that night ops can be real sticklers. Perfectionists in the sense that you have to show your key and id, can only have three guests over that have to get checked out the next day or the privilege is lost, and stepping outside for a quick second doesn’t grant you access back in the building. I learned this last week when I ordered a pizza, stepped outside to pay the guy, and couldn’t get back in because I left my id in my room. As you can see, living in dorms sucks; definitely going to stay at my fraternity house next year ΔΧ.

There Is a Place For Everyone!

Being new to the college experience may not be easy. You have to get new friends, meet new teachers, and try to figure out where you fit in. Here at Illinios State University there are many clubs people can join if they want to get involved. For me, I am not the biggest sports fan and of course would not tell people that because they would think I am some kind of crazy person but since I get to blog about it, it’s okay right? Well anyways I have a desire for clothing and I found out that Illinios State has a club just for fashion. It is called the A.M.D.A Club, which are held on Wednesdays. When I first came to the meeting everyone was so welcoming and up beat. I sat in a room full of girls that I have never met before and it was great knowing they had the same interest as I do. The club is very interesting; we get to go to fashion shows, learn how to sew and create clothing, and do exciting fundraiser events! For example we are going to do a trick or treat for change, American Recycles Day, and also a Toms event. For those who don’t know what Toms are, it is a company that sells shoes and for every purchase Toms will give a pair of shoes to a child in need. The A.M.D.A club allows students to be creative, active, and meet new people. Even if you are not into the fashion thing at least look into joining a club and to get involved!

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Did you ever watch “Who’s Line is it Anyway” or love going to see live shows or just listen to some good jokes. Well if you did then you will enjoy the fact that every Tuesday night Illinois State University has a free Improv show open to everyone. The shows are put on by a group called the Improv Mafia, an audition group, the Improv Mafia practices multiple times a week, and performs every Tuesday night In the Center of Visual Arts. There shows are funny and are always fresh. Each of their shows have a theme one week their show’s theme was a rave, and one week their show was baby themed because it was their newest members first show. On September 20^th their show was dinosaur themed and all of the members were dressed up wearing different dinosaur themed objects. No matter what the theme of the Improv show I always left the shows laughing and wanting to go back the following Tuesday.

*This picture was taken on September 20th for the Improv Mafia's dinosaur themed show. These are all of the members that were in this particular show. The cast can vary from show to show.

A Day at the Rec

Today on September 22, 2011 my buddy from my floor Kyle and I went to the new rec center. We went there to run, lift weights, and play basketball. We go to the rec center every other day to work out. We did our usual of running for 4 laps around the indoor track to warm up our muscles. After the solid run we stretch. Next we went to work our upper bodies. We started off the chest press then the fly machine. For each machine we did 3 sets of 10. After working on the chest we decided to work on our biceps and triceps. We did the triceps push machine and the bicep curl machine. We only did one machine for each, because we didn’t want to do too hard of a work out before playing basketball. Before we played basketball we worked on our abs. Today we focused on the lower abs. We used these chairs that you hold yourself up in to work on the abs. We did a total of 100 lower abs crunches. After working out we played basketball for a little while. We went on to the basketball courts and played a few pick-up games. The first game we played was a full court 5 vs. 5 scrimmage. The game was very fast and very competitive. I only made 4 shots and Kyle made 3 shots. We won 21 to 16. The next game we played was a 2 vs. 2 scrimmage. This game was a lot slower, because there were less people. The game played to 11 points. Kyle and I won this game 11 to 7. I had 6 points and Kyle had 5 points. After this we went back to our dorm. We will be doing this a lot more often.

What is a Pokey?

One of the most unrecognized advantages of being a Redbird is that there is a Gumby’s Pizza & Wings restaurant and delivery in Normal, IL. You may think of Gumby’s as your typical pizza delivery place, but they are far from typical. They offer you heaven in a box, also known as Pokey Sticks. What is a Pokey Stick? Well it is basically a pizza with no sauce cut into sticks, and they are served with a garlic dipping sauce. That may sound average, but they are nothing like I have ever tasted before. Another positive about Gumby’s and their Pokey Sticks is that they deliver till 3 in the morning. How many times have you been up late at night and everything else is closed? Well this restaurant solves this problem. So next time that you come home late and the dinning center is closed and you can’t get food anywhere else I suggest that you pick up the phone or go on the internet to order yourself some pokey sticks. I recommend an extra-large, because you will finish any smaller size in no time. Don’t forget to tip the delivery guy!

Tri-Cafe

The day started for my roommate and I around 12:30. The first thing that popped into my head was lunch. I was starving and need some food so me and my roommate Hayden walked down into the cafeteria here in Tri-Towers. We weren’t even in the cafeteria when the smell of something delicious cooking infested our nostrils. We walked in signed in and were quickly overwhelmed with all of the choices. Between the pizza, pasta, all of the options at the grill, and the Mongolian Grill we didn’t know where to start. Its safe to say that on this first day I ate more food in one sitting then I ever have in my entire life. We tried everything they had to offer us, from the sidebar to the salad bar, and the home style section to the sandwich bar. I ate until I couldn’t move, and honestly don’t have any complaints about the food. The cafeteria defiantly makes up for the further from Tri-Towers. Now I am glad I chose to live exactly where I do in Haynie 322.

Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. Transgender.

Dan Savage was a guest speaker at Illinois State University last week. Other than cracking inn appropriate yet funny jokes he is known as the man who started a YouTube sensation that's saved the lives of kids around the country, and bigger- the world. Him and his husband Jerry ave been together for 17 years now and have raised a child together as well starting 14 years back. Dan told his story about when he grew up as a little boy and got bullied for appearing to be a gay boy. Yet he had not come out of the closet yet Dan was indeed a gay young boy searching for his place in the world. He was one of those kids that wasn't supported by his family once he did come out. The goal behind this video him and his husband Jerry created for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and trans genders out there who were in need of support that they are not receiving from their family or friends. They wanted to send the message out that it gets better and here Dan was all grown up with a family of his own. They explained their situations in the video and spent more of the time in the video enhancing the fact that it does get better and there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the LGBT youth. They received so many feedback videos about kids everywhere letting Jerry and Dan know that their videos have truly helped them. Today the it gets better project is a worldwide phenomenon with over 35,000 videos on YouTube. I found this speaker very intriguing to listen too and also a very humorous speaker. I believe that their YouTube videos changed the lives of so many LGBT kids worldwide and if one person can do that, anyone could to it.

Up Up and Away!

We have all been on them and some of us fear them. Of course I’m talking about nothing other than elevators! It seems almost every day that we take them numerous times and we have all heard the stories about how people get trapped in them. The thing that concerns me more about elevators however is the awkward moment going up the elevator trapped in a quiet compact room with multiple strangers. You never know what that person is up too they could be drunk or have the flu and throw up on you, they could be having one of those gases days and just cut some fresh and wet cheese right on the elevator, or worst of all they could be a mysterious elevator murder and stab you with a knife on the elevator! Thankfully we don’t have an elevator murderer at ISU but considering how often we take the elevator we are more than likely going to experience one of these awkward moments. I experienced one of these awkward moments today when a small red headed girl walked into the elevator carrying a box that was almost bigger than her! This girl was very clumsy about carrying a box and kept on bumping into me and it is more awkward when you forced to be in this situation due to space restrictions. I’m sure that these awkward moments will just become more accepted later into the year and it will become a regular part of our everyday lives. Anyone else have awkward elevator stories similar to mine?

A New Start

So far, my time here at Illinois State University has been enjoyable, but much different than high school. My studies here are much more difficult than they were back in high school. I used to not have to study or do homework. Here at Illinois State, it is the opposite. I have to study and use a lot of new skills that I never have had to use. I am taking only 13 hours of credit so I am able to adjust and get used to this new college lifestyle. I have a fairly nice schedule. The only class I really am having trouble with is math 119. I have that class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. To this point, I have had a test and a few quizzes in that class. Let’s just say I probably could have studied and prepared myself a little better for these quizzes and tests. Other than math, most of my classes are going smooth. Adjusting to all the homework has been the only real trouble I have gone through. So far my time here at ISU has been good, but I am ready for the adjustment period to be done. I just want to be settled in and comfortable with my classes.

The one and only redbird arena

The redbird arena at Illinois State University. Redbird Arena seats 10,500 people and is home to Illinois State Basketball, both men's and women's. The redbird arena host the intense basketball games are held during the winter. The arena is not only where sports are played but where students gather to have a good time and mingle during games. Redbird Arena's uniquely-designed roof is a key to its bright appearance, inside and out. The 65,000-square-foot, low-rise cable dome features reinforced exterior fabric!