Dr. Darryl Scriven speaks to IUPUI, for Black History Month, about the State of the Black College Student.

In your opinion, what is the worth of your education? Why do you seek education when it is so costly? These are a couple of questions raised yesterday. We sat in on the lecture of Dr. Darryl Scriven, writer and producer of State of the Black College Student, a documentary, and co-founder of the African American Family Enrichment Institute, in hopes of getting these questions answered.

Scriven joined IUPUI to celebrate Black History Month by giving a talk discussing the plight of African American college students. He presented his 30-minute documentary, State of the Black College Student, to begin the lecture.

“A profitable education should not be measured in dollars and cents,” said Scriven, “but in power.” In the documentary Scriven describes education as the acquisition of information, and information as power. Your education is intended to prepare you for success. However, Scriven suggests if students are not being taught to handle power their ability to retain success is uncertain. “If I am not being taught to handle power,” said Scriven, “then, am I being taught to be under someone else’s power?”

“Education teaches you your identity,” said Scriven. This is not in a racial context, however. While in college you study English, Sociology, Political Science, Art, History, Economics, etc. Education teaches you who you are in relation to these world subjects and where in which you fit.

The documentary also showed interviews of college students recounting their experiences and providing their opinions. These students spoke to concerns regarding:
• the recession.
• job opportunities upon graduation.
• their ability to create jobs for their communities.
• student loan debt accumulation.

The Recession
The fact that our economy has been in so much turmoil has made it rather difficult for many college students. Students must find means to support themselves, especially when parents are no longer able to provide for them, while still finding time to attend classes and present their best work. Often part-time jobs and internships do not cover room, board and books. Many turn to student loans which present their own list of problems.

Job Opportunities upon Graduation
When taking the recession into consideration, it is expected to be quite difficult to find employment at all, much less in your field of study. It is reported that the average starting salary, in America, across disciplines, is $41,000. So, after studying hard, working hard, dealing with the expenditures associated with college education, and maybe even coping with lingering student loan debt what is a new grad to do?

Creating Jobs for Their Community
Some African American graduates rush off to suburbs and forget where they came from, but many do not. There is a large population of African Americans who wish to provide for their community and assist those who helped them reach their level of success. However, if you graduate already in debt with no foreseeable employment for yourself, how is this possible?

Student Loan Debt Accumulation
The inability to afford college is an echoing deterrent many African Americans cite for neglecting to attend college. The mere idea of taking out students loans is enough to steer people away from the admissions office.

“Sallie Mae is the biggest legal pimp in America,” said of the students in the documentary.

Currently, 81 percent of African American college grads graduate with student loan debt. The average amount of student loan debt upon graduation is $80,000. If you cannot pay back your loans everything you worked so hard for may come crashing down. You can lose your possessions and even your license to practice. If you continue practicing, unaware that your license has been suspended or revoked, you can be placed in jail.

Scriven believes people have been silent about this for far too long and it is time for change. “Silence is betrayal,” said Scriven.

The Solution
People must focus attaining not merely representation, but positions of power. The emphasis should be on becoming great entrepreneurs, creators, innovators, community builders, leaders and collaborators. We should look at the like-minded people around us as not simply classmates, but as future business partners, investors, etc. “The future belongs to those who prepare today,” said another student interviewee.

“Power,” said Scriven, “is the ability to do. Measure college costs in terms of power. If there is nothing to do, there is no power.”

Scriven suggests we rethink what we should get out of college and how we go about paying for it. “People have gotten away from the type of skill acquisition of the past,” said Scriven. He suggests marrying liberal arts with industrial arts and acquiring as many skills as possible. Secure numerous skills that will help rebuild families and help communities. We need to learn how to think and produce, not one or the other.

“You must be able to create multiple streams of revenue for yourself,” said Scriven, “which will help create jobs for your community.”

The monetary cost of our education should mirror its returns. We should gain skills that are marketable locally, nationally and internationally. Learn foreign languages, and open opportunities beyond the borders of the U.S.

“Education is priceless,” said Scriven, “but get what you pay for.”

The upcoming Super Bowl held in Lucas Oil Stadium has caused an intense amount of hysteria through the IUPUI campus. Where will we park? How will we navigate campus with all of the traffic? Are classes being held? Will my department be closed? Well fear not, the IUPUI Division of Finance and Administration has devised a comprehensive plan to help everyone enjoy the festivities and allow campus to run smoothly.

Parking
IUPUI has assigned 3900 parking spaces for Super Bowl parking. IUPUI Super Bowl lots will be in effect on Jan. 28 and 29 and Feb. 3 through 5, but you are encouraged to purchase your permit in advance. No decal/permit parking will be allowed on Super Bowl lots during these days, and no visitors will be allowed on lots other than Super Bowl lots. The lots will be located on the east side of campus, this includes lots 72, 83, 85, 92, (every surface lot east of Blackford Street) and the Gateway and Blackford Street garages. Thus entering campus from the west side is highly encouraged.

All Super Bowl parking lots costs $25 per day, those with IUPUI decals/permits included. The Super Bowl parking permit includes parking and Shuttle Service from the lots to the Super Bowl Village/Experience on Jan. 28, 29, Feb. 3, and 4 with everyone in the vehicle receiving an armband. This does not include game day.

During those four dates of the Shuttle Service decal/permit holders may park in other lots and pay $5 to use the Shuttle Service to enter Super Bowl Village/Experience.

Monday through Thursday, between the two weekends, Parking Enforcement will be enhanced greatly and will not allow any Super Bowl Parking in an effort to keep class schedule disruption at a minimum.

Classes
All classes will be in session unless otherwise instructed by your professors. However, on Feb. 4 and 5 classes will be cancelled, with exception to some clinical classes. It is strongly recommended that students, staff and faculty enter campus from the west end due to Super Bowl traffic and Super Bowl parking on the east end of campus.

Departments
The following list was provided by the DFA as suggestions for organizing flexible work arrangements.
• Flex start/stop times to avoid periods of heavy traffic/activity.
• Work a compressed work week, i.e., four 10-hour days, three 12-hour days and one 4-hour day.
• Work from an alternate location (another campus location or home).
• Work a different schedule within the same work week, e.g., Sunday through Thursday rather than Monday through Friday.

The following list was provided by the DFA to address alternatives for time-off regarding staff employees:
• Utilize one of the flexible work arrangements listed above, with supervisory approval.
• Use accrued paid-time-off/vacation benefits.
• Use accrued compensatory time.
• As a one-time exception, staff employees may use income protection/PTO sick bank if all other options (e.g. vacation time, PTO, flexible scheduling, variable scheduling, or alternative workweeks) are not available.
• Instead of using paid-time-off benefits, request an absence without pay and with paid-time-off benefit accrual (AWB), with supervisory approval.

For more information on how the Super Bowl may affect IUPUI visit the IUPUI Super Bowl website.

IUPUI supervisors raise their bags high to exhibit their diverse worlds.

IUPUI Office of Equal Opportunity wants to know…”How diverse is your world.” The Human Resources Administration, here at IUPUI, has implemented Fundamentals of Supervision, a 12-week diversity training program. The program is designed to educate supervisions regarding diversity management and team dynamics.

As a part of this training HRA enlisted the assistance of OEO to conduct a diversity exercise to exhibit how diverse the participants’ worlds have been up to this point.

When the participants entered the room they found clear, plastic bags and cups of multicolored marbles at each of their seats. The plastic bags represented their worlds. The marbles consisted of six different colors, all representing the different ethnicities that make up our society. The red marbles represented Native American people. The orange marbles represented Hispanic/Latino people. The yellow marbles represented Asian people. The black marbles represented African/African American people. The white marbles represented Caucasian people.

Naturally, this is a somewhat awkward exercise considering the peculiar racial history of our country, but an eye-opening and relevant exercise nonetheless.

So, the participants were read a series of questions and based on their lives to respond accordingly. Some of the questions asked were:

• What is the race of the neighbor living on your right?
• What is the race of your best friend?
• What is the race of your favorite entertainer?

just to list a few.

These types of questions were designed to examine the choices we make in our personal lives. How diverse are these choices? “What is your race,” was not asked because this is not a choice we are able to make; it is decided for us. The questions asked all represented voluntary decision-making.

At the end of the exercise, participants were asked to hold their bags up high with pride. It didn’t matter if their worlds were as colorful as they would have liked or not. The object of the exercise is to impartially evaluate our decisions, based on diversity, and see if we need to strive for greater diversity or see if you are on the right track.

Don’t fret, though, there is a lot of talk regarding cultural competency we will never reach this height. “Cultural competency is a lifelong journey. We should strive for cultural competency while understanding it will never be attained. Culture is shifts and changes,” said Foreman, “experiences shift and change. So, you can never walk away thinking ‘okay, now I am culturally competent’.”

What suggestions do you have regarding how IUPUI OEO can improve campus diversity?

The IUPUI Staff Council has provided a list of gift ideas, it is as follows:

• sticky fingers
• silly string
• romance and mystery novels
• Flavor-Ice
• Yo-yos
• Nerf anything
• silly putty
• puff pills
• stickers
• bouncy balls
• stress balls
• DVDs
• squirt guns
• water balloons
• board games
• hand-held video games
• playing cards
• books, books, books
• New Year’s Eve stuff
• NFL stuff
• temporary tattoos
• bubbles
• craft supplies (pipe cleaner, glitter, etc.)
• IUPUI goodies
• cash (to offset the shipping costs)

These are just a few examples of appropriate and appreciated gifts to send. “Some people are inviting their child’s classroom to write letters to send,” said Kelly Miholic, “and we are collecting those as well. The best things, the things we get the most praise for are the inappropriate thing – the silly, funny, crass things. We need to be careful not to offend, especially as these are going to people we do not know, but do not be afraid to be silly.” These are great ways to show support and encouragement.

Try to avoid sending chocolate; they tend to melt during the shipping process and you effort will go to waste. Also sending candy is discouraged as they receive a huge amount of it. Sending weapons, liquor and/or pornography is completely prohibited.

You can bring your items to LD154, in the Science Building, for delivery. It does not matter if you bring them in sacks or boxes, and they can be prearranged or jumbled. The IUPUI Staff Council will organize the items into neat care packages for shipment. Several departments around campus are collecting items if you have any questions, such as which department is closest to you, contact Kelly Miholic at kmiholic@iupui.edu.

David Bornstein speaks on changing your world at IUPUI Common Theme Project.

Yesterday, David Bornstein spoke to IUPUI, at the Common Theme Project, about how to change the world around us. He discussed the problems of homelessness in America, poor business ethics, our lack of empathy, and what takes to make a change.

Bornstein revealed that the life expectancy of a homeless person, in the U.S., is early fifties, lower than those living in very poor un- or underdeveloped countries. Many feel empathy for the homeless, but don’t know how to address the situation. They also feel this is a sign of the absence of ethics, the failure of our country, and something should be done to end it.

So, what type of person does it take to change the world? Bornstein said people can be leaders of all kinds, quiet or outspoken leaders. To be most effective people must understand they do not have to be granted permission, “you must impose on people,” said Bornstein, “and make them uncomfortable.”

Improving our conditions and contributing to the world is what gives life meaning. “Don’t sleepwalk through life. Make the tradeoff of stuff for meaning,” said Bornstein. Without risks there are no rewards.

One of the most important characteristics Bornstein stressed was the willingness to fail. Most great leaders have failed many, many times. What sets them apart from the rest is they were not too hard on themselves for it and they continued to try.

“Capacity is not fixed,” said Bornstein, “it grows.” When you first begin an endeavor you may not have the necessary abilities, but through practice, trial and error your abilities grow over time. To further articulate this point he quoted Antoine de Saint Exupéry, “No single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born.”

All IUPUI shuttle buses have been accommodated for accessibility purposes.

As part of the IUPUI Weeks of Welcome we invite you to the JagPerks & Resource Fair tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. IUPUI Office of Equal Opportunity is seeking to alleviate some of the hardships associated with attending college while having a diagnosed disability. IUPUI offers accommodations to assist you. It is important to this university that every students has an equal opportunity to succeed.

You may wonder, “how do I know if I qualify for an accommodation?” Well, there are many conditions that may require an accommodation, such as: mobility impairments, low vision or blindness, hearing impairments or deafness, psychiatric disorders, learning disabilities, and many more.

Above is a keyboard with enlarged font and brightly colored keys to support those with vision impairments.

You can find the disabilities accommodations request procedures here. If you visit our table you will get a walk-through of the process in person, the opportunity to ask questions, and our free giveaways.

If you believe you may be eligible come visit the office, email us at affaindy@iupui.edu, or visit our website. Accommodation request forms can be found here.

How can IUPUI accommodate your disability?

Students – contact:
Adaptive Educational Services (AES)
Joseph T. Taylor Hall (UC), Room 137
815 W. Michigan St.
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Tel: (317) 274-3241
Video phone: (317) 278-2052
Fax: (317) 278-2051
email: aes@iupui.edu

Staff and Faculty – contact:
Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO)
UN117
620 Union Dr. Suite 117
Indianapolis, IN 46202
Tel: (317)274-2306
Fax: (317)274-3963
Hotline: 1-866-245-1310
email: affaindy@iupui.edu

In the newsletter you will find articles on coming attractions, helpful tips to improve employment and academics, our endeavors to enhance diversity at IUPUI, and much more. So sign up today!

How to subscribe:

1. Email us at affaindy@iupui.edu.
2. In the body of the email indicate that you would like to be added to our mailing list.
3. Enjoy your monthly issue of the IUPUI Office of Equal Opportunity e-newsletter.

Don’t forget to connect with us on Facebook and Twitter for more regular updates.

What topics would you like to see addressed in the OEO e-newsletter?

Since the Purdue School of Engineering appeals to the largest number of veterans on the IUPUI campus, plans will begin there.

This program’s primary ambition is to help service members and veterans’ obtain college credit for training received while in the military.

IUPUI hopes to match specific military training to IUPUI curriculum requirements and issue college credit for this training. To do this a committee will be assembled to review military information and the training veterans received while serving.

IUPUI hopes this program will spread across campus and to other universities throughout the city, and ultimately expand across the country.

What else can IUPUI do to further assist in the success of service member and veteran students?