His freshman year, the team won conference. His sophomore year the Wildcats tied for second place and this past season the team tied for third. Next year he’s looking for redemption.

But redemption does not come from laziness.

“Next year we want to win conference and go to NAIA Nationals in Alabama,” Ayers said. Our goal is to win a round of Nationals, which is extremely hard to do.”

With this as his motivation, Ayers is trying to make sure that he his in the best condition he can be in.

“It’s tough because there aren’t any indoor places,” Ayers said. “We practice right now two days a week, Tuesday and Thursday from like 9:30–11:30-ish at night because that’s the only time we can get in.”

This offseason has obviously not been a walk in the park. With tennis practices twice a week and almost daily 45-minute runs, it’s been busy.

The tough workouts help keep Ayers physically strong, but he is also mentally strong, proving to be a leader on the tennis team.

Men’s tennis coach Keith Ruberg describes Ayers as reliable.

“Basically he follows up,” Ruberg said. “Whatever he says he follows up with. And unfortunately a lot of leaders today don’t do that. The most effective leadership is by example.”

With Ayers helping lead the tennis team this spring and next fall, there’s no telling where the squad will end up.

Heading into next year.

Mornings don’t come easily to everyone though. Kylie Dial (jr) of the IWU women’s soccer team prefers to get her workouts in other ways.

“I am like a zombie in the morning,” Dial said. “I just don’t function.”

Fortunately, she finds other ways to get in her workout. She spends two sessions every week with the team working on skills and the rest of her workouts with a group of two other young women. In these groups they are responsible for weightlifting one day and working on overall fitness the next.

Wildcats coach John Bratcher explained what productivity can look like when the team isn’t playing games.

“Growth in the offseason can be measured in many ways,” Bratcher said. “It can be technical, tactical and/or physical. We want to be better players, teammates and have better match flow or chemistry in order to be a more successful team the following season. This also involves the growth of leadership for the upcoming seniors.”

Dial’s work ethic and determination do not go unnoticed by her coach.

“[Dial] demonstrates one of the highest work rates in any women’s player I have coached,” Bratcher said. “At the same time, she is aware of her teammates and can give them a verbal encouraging word, instruction or admonition to pick it up.”

Despite the name, “offseasons” can be stressful. Losing players to graduation, the pressure of classes and papers to write is enough to test the toughest of athletes. But Dial uses her soccer skills to relive her stress and sharpen her play. Her favorite stress reliever? Juggling a ball between her feet.

“Juggling is a big stress reliever for me,” Dial said. “I’ll usually just grab a racquetball court and juggle and listen to music.”

While all  the physical preparation does Dial good there is also a mental aspect that she enjoys. Working out with her team strengthens the Wildcats’ bonds and helped Dial step into a greater leadership role. A roll that may be vital to a team looking to make waves with a new coaching staff.

Kristen McCauley (sr), assistant resident director of the East Lodge, said she arrived on the scene to find water pouring from the second story of the Indiana Wesleyan University residence hall into the ceilings and offices on the first floor. She investigated the situation after receiving a distressed call from one of the student residents.

“When we arrived, there was water pouring down from the ceiling all along the north end hallways,” said McCauley.

Sandra Cash, resident director for the East Lodge, arrived at the residence hall after church to a similar sight.

“People were walking around with umbrellas and raincoats,” she said.

The water from the pipelines did not infiltrate any of the student dorms, but it flooded the RD office, located directly beneath the chapel, and flowed into the electrical closet next door.

“The [RD] office was a sight to see,” said Matt Decker (sr), recalling that it was “like a shower had been turned on.”

“Water came down through the ceiling and just poured onto my desk,” said Cash. “My computer was ruined and tons of files. My diploma and other papers were all messed up.”

Thanks to the quick response of residents and lodge staff, though, many items were saved. These responders worked quickly to remove bookshelves, cabinets, furniture and desk contents from the RD’s office and into the lobby.

Tech-savvy residents successfully salvaged the hard drive and external hard drive of Cash’s computer, but weren’t able to save the entire unit.

“The student effort was amazing,” said Cash. “They took ownership of the situation and really helped save a lot of my stuff.”

“From the RAs to the CC to hall leadership to East Lodge residents to North and South Lodge friends, we had more than enough hands to clear out the office and get to work on limiting the amount of water damage done,” said McCauley.

According to “Zippy,” one of the carpenters renovating the rooms, the students’ efforts were a success. “Most of the damage was to the ceiling tiles and the insulation which were dripping wet falling out of the ceiling,” he said. “But there won’t be any mold issues.”

Three large commercial dehumidifiers removed the excess moisture from the air while holes drilled in the dry wall aired out the most damaged rooms.

According to Mike Cooper, director of tech services in the facilities department, cold temperatures are to blame for the frozen pipe and subsequent flooding.

Fellow facilities worker Randy Dewing said that this is a “fairly common problem” and is unrelated to the fundamental design of the building.

“I can’t say why this hasn’t happened before,” said Dewing. “It just depends on the way the wind blows. We like to keep the cold out but sometimes it infiltrates.”

Dewing added that sprinkler systems are especially susceptible to freezing during cold weather due to the fact that the water in the pipes doesn’t circulate.

“It’s ironic because the sprinkler system is designed to protect the building,” said Dewing, “but these things happen.”

The cost of the damage remains unknown, but Dewing said that about 50-60 hours will be dedicated to renovating the building.

Facilities services employees are currently working to renovate the weather ceiling in the lodge. They are also upgrading the insulation in all three of the lodges to prevent similar incidents.

Dewing warned students to be wary of drips or leaks in the ceiling during the winter, as such problems may be the result of a frozen pipe. If that’s the case, “We want your call,” he said.

Kyra Pappas (alumna ‘10), assistant director of Intercultural Student Services, said Love Revolution is a week dedicated to recognizing and learning to love the differences among all people.

“It’s a distinctive love that God calls us to. It’s so different from the love that the world calls us to. It’s a love beyond boundaries, a love beyond borders, a love beyond differences, a love beyond similarities,” said Pappas. “God made all of us different, and we are supposed to embrace that.”

The event is a collaboration between the ISS office and the Dean of Chapel Office, with the DOC making more of the decisions regarding speakers and ISS more involved in planning events outside chapel.

“We were thinking about how we could shake up people’s concept of what love really is and give them a new perspective on love because that’s what revolution really means,” said Don Lawrence, director of ISS, who will speak on Monday, Feb. 6. “So we’re trying to get students to understand that difference is not a bad thing. It’s something that drew Jesus to us.”

The speakers for Wednesday and Friday will talk about this love of difference. For Friday’s chapel, author Steve Moore will talk about how to impact one’s community with love.  Coming on Wednesday is Christian author and activist Shane Claiborne, who has written the UNV-180 required books for incoming students in 2008 and 2010.

“We always bring in people who are pushing those boundaries, whether it’s physical boundaries to love people, like Michelle Perry two years ago, or cultural, like Eric Samuel Timm last year. I don’t think you make a difference without doing that,” said Abby Ill (sr), the student director of Love Revolution.

While Love Revolution in the past has set up its own events, this year the focus was on working with existing student organizations. Tuesday night, Feb. 7, the student-led worship night Exalt will focus on love as a theme in both the songs and the speaker. On Thursday, the ISS will be hosting a salsa dance night.

“We wanted to allow students to have different ways to worship God, so it’s not just like, ‘You have to come to chapel and worship in this way,’” said Ill. “We’re offering chapel, talkback sessions, the salsa night, Exalt, and we’re also partnering with the Prayer Furnace.”

“We really want these sessions to be very, very challenging,” said Pappas, “and then we want to provide opportunities throughout the week as a way to engage and put into action what they’re hearing. As a response – but not like an altar call – as an actual call to action. I really feel like Love Revolution is flowing straight out of Summit: ‘Here’s where we were challenged, now we’re going to take it a step further.’”

Talkback sessions will be provided for the chapel speakers both Wednesday and Friday. Steve Moore’s meeting time and place are yet to be determined. Shane Claiborne will have his session Wednesday in the Globe Theatre at 1:15.

Dr. Shawn Carraher, professor of business at IWU, commented on the professional standard of the CBEC: “We will have the only students to go there. It’s not designed as a student conference. Usually students don’t submit papers, almost none. Even graduate students wouldn’t stand much of a chance. University faculty primarily submit papers.”

Carraher said, in his past participation with the conference, there’s been as low as a 20 percent acceptance rate, adding that sometimes only one paper per university is accepted. Carraher said, of the 400-500 papers submitted, only about 100-150 are accepted for presentation at the conference.

Carraher explained the biggest hurdle in the process began before a single paper was submitted. First, students had to realize that they were capable of competing, so long as they put forth the effort, said Carraher, who taught a fall 2011 course on small-business management.

The course required each student to write a research paper, but Carraher then gave them the additional challenge to step their papers up to the next level to meet submission requirements for the Cambridge conference. A lead author wrote each paper with the help of several chosen co-authors.

Austin Doerr (sr), a business management major, wrote one of the 17 accepted papers. It was through Carraher’s class that Doerr was introduced to the presentation prospect. Doerr’s paper, “Ubiquitous Opinions,” required the help of five co-authors, including Carraher.

Michael Lipetri (sr), one of Doerr’s co-authors, said each co-author wrote a different portion of the paper specific to his or her area of expertise.

Doerr estimates that he spent about 55 hours on the paper, which is now 40 pages long, since the first day of class last semester. As a group, the paper required about 70 hours of work, according to Doerr.

But the paper is still in process. All the groups are currently in the data-collection phase of their projects. The final products will be put on a CD version of the proceedings, which includes the final papers of all the CBEC presentations.

Carraher explained that after each 15-20 minute presentation, a discussant, probably a professor from another country who had previously read the paper, would comment on it. Following the comments, there would be a 5-10 minute audience involvement discussion.

Carraher said he would be applying about four of the lead authors to be workers at the conference, including Doerr. He said that working as a discussant or session chair would be even more prestigious than having one’s paper presented.

Students will learn in July whether or not the Oxford Journal will publish their papers.

For Lipetri, the CBEC means a step up in the marketplace.

“I couldn’t pass up such a big opportunity,” said Lipetri. “It’s great to have on a resume. It really does change the way you’re looked at through human resources.”

“I feel very blessed to be able to have this opportunity,” said Doerr. “I know that I wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own, but through the help of Dr. Carraher and the other co-authors and through God’s grace. All I can do is do my best for God’s glory.”

Carraher said: “It’s really kind of a game-changer for IWU and for the students themselves. It’s a very good way for students to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.”

In addition to presenting at the CBEC, students look forward to spending time traveling around England to visit John Wesley’s church and house, Stonehenge and places related to Tolkein, Lewis and possibly even Harry Potter.

Professor Jason Thompson, who will conduct the orchestra, said this performance is unique compared with past orchestral productions.

“We usually plan these nights out the summer ahead of time,” Thompson said, “But when Tchaikovsky was picked out over Christmas break, I decided it was kind of a heartthrob concerto, and with the show being 10 days before Valentine’s Day, I decided to pair it with some other musical love stories like ‘Carmen’ and ‘West Side Story.’”

Hannah Pate (sr) said she believes that the selections for this performance will appeal to the IWU population.

“We really usually stick to classical stuff,” Pate said, “but for this performance, we’re doing a lot of things that people recognize, even if they don’t realize it right away, like ‘Carmen’ and ‘West Side Story.’” Also unique for this show is soloist Abigail Schubkegel (jr), violinist, who was selected to perform the solo in the Tchaikovsky piece.

“People from all over the place in the music department auditioned,” said Tim Perry (sr). “We had people from jazz combo, wind ensemble, string ensemble, everywhere.”
Bizet and Tchaikovsky are classical composers, but “West Side Story” is far more modern. Its first performance on Broadway was in 1957.

“It’s true we usually do classical music,” Thompson said, “but we have recently also been doing some ‘orchestral pops,’ things that our audience are more likely to recognize like a film score.”

In spite of the well-assembled group, many in the Music Division feel that more participation is needed.

“It’s important to know that we’re not just open to music or performance majors,” Thompson said. “We’re open to anyone who plays an instrument, and we have auditions at the beginning of every fall semester.”

Ellie Glorioso (so), principal cellist and president of the orchestra, said the orchestra creates a special kind of community among IWU students.

“It’s not like classes,” Glorioso said, “because with classes you’re only seeing each other every other day or even just once a week, but with orchestra you’re auditioning every day and getting to see people’s improvement constantly.”

The pieces to be performed are Suite No. 1 from “Carmen” by Bizet, Tchaikovsky’s “Violin Concerto in D Major” and a selection of songs from Bernstein and Sondheim’s “West Side Story,” including “Maria,” “I Feel Pretty” and “One Hand, One Heart.”

SIFE is “an international non-profit organization that works with leaders in business and higher education,” according to the group’s website. Ryan Eash (jr), a member of SIFE at IWU, describes the organization as a group of students who seek to benefit their communities “using the positive power of business.”

According to Eash, members of IWU’s section of SIFE are planning to participate in the organization’s regional competition in Cincinnati. The discount cards are being sold to help pay for the group’s travel expenses.

In trying to decide whether or not to purchase these cards, many IWU students may ask what types of discounts they can expect. All 12 of the companies offering bargains through the SIFE cards have locations in Marion. Two of them – McConn Coffee Co. and Wildcutz Salon – are located on the IWU campus. The majority of the business offering discounts through the SIFE card are food service companies

Six of the 12 companies offer discounts of 10 percent. McConn offers 20 percent off and JuJu Berry Frozen Yogurt offers 15 percent off. These discounts are reusable.

The remaining companies’ discounts are not percentage-based. The Potter’s House offers 50 cents off any ice cream purchase. According a Potter’s House employee, the cheapest ice cream offered is a single scoop for $2.39. Using the card, then, one could save up to 21 percent at that business, paying only $1.89 before tax.

Moe’s Southwest Grill offers cardholders a drink and burrito for $5, a savings of $2.08, according to the general manager of Moe’s Marion location. That’s a savings of 28 percent, making it the largest possible discount on the card, using a percentage-based scale.

Students who spend more than $50 at McConn by Aug. 31, 2012, the card’s expiration date, would save money by purchasing a SIFE discount card, and cardholders need only make five trips to Moe’s to start saving.

Students can purchase discount cards at a variety of locations around IWU, including McConn.

Jon Cole (alumnus ’07), after graduating from IWU with a Physical and Health Education degree, joined the Chimelong International Circus in June 2011 to perform as one of about eight human cannonballs worldwide, he said. The Chimelong International Circus is part of the Chimelong Resort (the Chinese Disney World) and is located in Guangzhou, China.

Cole is shot out of a cannon for the finale of each show, which occurs once a day, in an arena that holds up to 10,000 people.

“It’s a very non-stable and risky business, but I always tell everyone, ‘You only live once, so you might as well do something that you love!’ We’d like to replace my current boss as the human cannonball on the Ringling show when he retires next year, but we’ll see how everything works out,” Cole said from China in an email interview.

Working with the circus is not a new thing for Cole, who grew up in Peru, Ind. Every summer, the Peru Amateur Circus comes to put on shows for about a week and a half in July. Youngsters ages 5-21 who live in Miami County can try out for different acts – flying trapeze, high wire, juggling, teeterboard, double trapeze, etc. – and the circus will teach them how to perform.

Cole’s mother put him in that circus when he was 5 and, throughout the years, he did myriad things including teeterboard, juggling, flying trapeze, tumbling and trampoline. He considered it the “best youth program in the country,” and he loved it enough to continue with it until he was 21.

“He pretty much always participated in the circus events,” said Mike Fratzke, professor of health and human performance at IWU. “He grew up in the atmosphere. I can see him having an adventurous spirit that would want to do something like that.

He had a contagious smile and was always a fun-loving guy.”

After graduation, Cole traveled for a year with The Flying Pages as a middle catcher for a flying trapeze act. They toured throughout the United States and Portugal. After a year, Cole returned to Indiana to teach for two years. It was during this time that he married the trigger woman who now shoots him out of the cannon daily.

“During my second year of teaching, I had the desire to jump back into the circus world,” said Cole. “My wife wasn’t so sure about the idea, even though she grew up in the Peru Amateur Circus as well. So we started praying about any opportunity that could possibly come our way. It seemed sort of funny praying to an Almighty God about running away with the circus, but we stuck with it.”

An opportunity came about when Brian Miser, a man who grew up in the Peru Amateur Circus the generation before Cole, made a deal with a circus in China. According to Cole, Miser is and has been the human cannonball for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus for the past 12 years.

Miser’s deal in China involved sending one of his cannons to the Chimelong International Circus, but he needed a human cannonball to be shot out of it. Cole took the job.

“I would say it’s the best circus I have ever seen or been a part of,” Cole said. “Although I did several things in the amateur circus, there are few things that I can do at a professional level. When the cannon opportunity opened up, I loved the idea, and I thought it was a great way to get back into the circus world.”

While being a human cannonball may be an odd vocation, the people who knew Cole at school think it fits him.

“It doesn’t surprise me that he would do that,” said Sue Bowman, associate professor of physical education at IWU. “He loves the circus and loves being a performer.”

Cole and his wife are on their second contract with Chimelong International Circus, an agreement that ends at the close of February. But Cole said they would like to stay until November and then come back to the U.S. to join Ringling.

“That would be our dream, but we have no idea if that’s possible or not,” Cole said. “So, we’ll stay here as long as they’ll have us, probably. It’s a great gig.”

Previously, in May 2011, a group of IWU students traveled to China through World Impact to visit a medical group there named “Light.” Josiah Kaufman (so), a nursing major, traveled on that trip.

“Basically we went there to see what [Light does] and help them continue to build relationships with the Chinese,” Kaufman said. “I mean they have been there for like 24 years, but one thing that’s really big about the culture of China are relationships. …The reason why they’re able to be there is because they’re providing a service to the Chinese, a medical service, but they also have to be really concerned about their relationships with them.”

This time, as Chinese students visited the United States, they learned about American culture and American nursing, according to Hazel Tan with World Impact. Tan served as a translator and guide for the Chinese delegation through some classes and activities. She said the students and professor really appreciate the religion-based programming at IWU.

“They did an intercultural class which they communicated in because they would tell the students about Chinese culture,” Tan said. “They enjoyed learning about our culture from the students.”

The Chinese students didn’t review syllabi or attend enough classes at IWU to recognize any specific differences in nursing instruction techniques, according to Tan. But they did notice differences between the two countries in the practice of nursing.

“In China, there isn’t that level of nursing where there is a nurse practitioner who’s able to do prescriptions,” Tan said. “Only the doctors are able to do prescriptions.”

In addition to attending classes, the students and professor said they enjoyed chapel, especially the music.

During the 12 days, the students stayed with host families in Grant County except for the weekend of Jan. 20-22, when they stayed in IWU residence halls, which they called “beautiful,” “like a home” and “colorful.”

Kaufman said he, among others, spent time with the delegation, getting to know its members and making them feel welcomed.

“I really enjoy just being able to talk with them about their culture and our culture and kind of laugh about my horrible Chinese and their much-better English,” Kaufman said. “It was really fun learning about their personal lives. It was something that I very much enjoyed.”

This concept of an international education delegation is not a one-time occurrence. A group of students and a professor from the Shenyang Medical College are expected to visit IWU later this month.

Nicole Chromey (sr), a public relations major, will work for the White Lodging Services Corporation during Super Bowl week. Chromey will run social media sites for five Indianapolis’ major hotels: Courtyard Marriot, Spring Hill Suites, Fairfield Inn, the Marriot Downtown and the JW Marriot.

“There isn’t an official name for it, but [I’m] the ground social media person. I will have access to all their social media outlets,” said Chromey.

With the influx of social media outlets, monitoring the sites is a full time job. Chromey’s position was created specifically for Super Bowl week.

“For them to have someone to check in on Twitter all the time to make sure everyone is happy,” said Chromey. “It’s a good chance for them to build their social media presence as well as monitor their guest interaction.”

Chromey explained she will act as the go-between for fans and management.

“It will be like creating a Super Bowl experiences online for the followers and stuff. I’ll go to all the media things, interact with Mike and Mike, NBC sports, press conferences,” said Chromey. “[I’ll] go to all that and then go to the NFL Experience, just interacting with guests and taking pictures.”

While Chromey heads the social media front during Super Bowl week, fellow IWU student Jenn Goethel (jr) will interact with fans up-close during the NFL Experience.

Goethel a sports management major, is working for the NFL Experience. Described on their website as a “pro football theme park,” the NFL Experience, is a weeklong fan based event.Goethel explained that as part of the NFL Experience, fans can lean about different facets of Super Bowl history. Goethel, along with fellow IWU student Trevor Meyer (jr), will interact with fans as they navigate through what Goethel calls a “utopia of football.”

“I am an operational manager, which means they designate a certain area to me, and I’m in charge of volunteers coming in and coming out and also maintaining order, and on Super Bowl Sunday I will be working the tailgate party, which is for all the major ticket holders and managers,” said Goethel.

Goethel said this is a great chance to gain practical work experiences and see all the details of an event, skills she hopes to use later on in her career.

“The people who put on the NFL were explaining how this is the most complex Super Bowl ever put on because this is the first Super Bowl held in a metropolitan area.

Most of the time Super Bowls are held out in no mans land they ship everyone in,” said Goethel. “If you were to look at the delicate process of this entire thing, it’s interesting.”