Laura Caruso, communication senior, has not had a typical college experience. She has not attended college for four straight years or been ready to graduate, until now. However, she said this long, winding journey through school was not due to a lack of motivation, but rather to a plan for the future Caruso said she first attended IU Southeast straight out of high school in 2005, took a break after 2008 to put her husband, Michael, through classes at Purdue University and returned in 2011. “It’s a big deal to me that I actually got myself back here, and I’m balancing — sometimes horribly — making sure my husband has food and getting good grades,” she said.

“Urinetown” is a musical based around comedy, greed, love and a revolution of the people. This musical has won several awards nationally, including several Tony Awards — best book of a musical, direction of a musical and original musical score. “Urinetown” takes place during a 20-year water shortage, which leads to the government taking action and putting a ban on private toilets. Cladwell B. Cladwell, the CEO of Urine Good Company, controls the public toilets, and becomes rich from this drought. The musical has a cast of 22 people, and it has approximately 40 people working on it during a two-and-half month period to set this musical up for production. The music is done by musicians, two of which are professors at IU Southeast — Joy Cofield, who instructs piano and Jim Dersch, who is a vocal/choir accompanist. Simeon Burks, the other musician who played drums in the performance, is a pastor at New Albany First Church.

Four more years under President Barack Obama – let us all release a collective sigh of relief. Or for those of you who did not vote for him, a collective groan. This election became a real-life Saturday Night Life skit with former Gov. Mitt Romney saying things that Jason Sudeikis could not even write. Binders, bayonets and Big Bird. Oh My.

When starting college, some students struggle with declaring majors due to the variety of opportunities offered to them and concerns about choosing the right degrees. However, for Benjamin Johnson, music junior, he said he had a rough start when he first came to college and was unable to focus due to having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. “I was failing my classes,” Johnson said. “I didn’t know what I would do with a music degree.”

Crimson Crew members, also known as orientation leaders, help new students transition into college life in the IUS community. Orientation leaders help incoming students become acquainted with the IUS campus and let students know about the different resources the campus has to offer. Casey Parker, nursing sophomore, has been a member of the Crimson Crew for three years and said she joined the Crimson Crew to getinvolved with campus because she did not know a lot of people.

Close your eyes and think about the images that come to mind when you hear the word marriage. Common images could be a wedding with heartfelt vows, the wedding cake, a reception with funny toasts or having a little too much champagne by the end of the night. Now imagine going through the whole marriage process, only to find out your marriage is not legally recognized because of your sexual orientation.

The moment Yvonne Bagshaw, general studies senior, walked into the Adult Student Center for the first time, Kim Pelle, coordinator for Non-traditional Student Programs, said she knew Bagshaw was going to be very successful and inspirational. However, Bagshaw said she did not always feel that way. “I hated school,” Bagshaw said. “I dropped out of high school and had no intentions of coming back.”

Megan Schultz, English junior, who answers mostly to Megz, said she is an amazingly busy individual. She spends about 10 to 15 hours on homework per week, as well as being on campus nearly 30 hours per week. However, Schultz still tries to find time for herself by participating in a particularly unique activity called LARP.

Smells of meatballs rose and filled the air in The Commons. Sounds of chatter joined in. Students scrambled to get that last piece of homework done while scarfing down whatever they could of their salads and baked potatoes. Then it came. An unfamiliar sound had entered the mix. It was the sound of the beach. It was the sound of a ukulele. It was the sound of Mike Sullivan.

Quirky. Random. Talkative. Hard-working. Loyal. Helpful. These are just a few adjectives that describe Misti Whitaker, newest academic adviser for the School of Social Sciences. “I think one of the things that makes me so unique is my sense of humor,” Whitaker said. She said her sense of humor runs in the family. Each one of her three sisters, as well as her mother and stepfather, have a similar sense of humor.

The plush, behemoth of a coach bus lumbered to a curb stop at Louisville’s Belvedere entrance. IUS students poured out and scattered up the concrete ramp into the 10th annual WorldFest for the free, three-day event, hosted by the city of Louisville, to display its growing cultural diversity. The event highlighted food, music and culture from around the world. Spices sailed in the hot river breeze. The humidity carried distant rhythms of world music for blocks. After the bus arrived at the Belvedere entrance, most of the students headed straight into WorldFest, but a group of five students, led by Chris Cole, general studies senior, headed out on foot for the first IU Southeast scavenger hunt in downtown Louisville.

Evan Biesterveld, criminal justice senior, said he does not play hooky. He plays tennis. Biesterveld admits he can honestly say he has never skipped a single class in his college career. He has only missed to compete in tennis matches.