According to Business Insider, career fairs present great opportunities for students and employers. Putting this message to the test, IPFW Career Services has hosted an the IPFW Industry Fair for the past several years.

This year’s Industry Fair differs from the past events. IPFW CSC collectively decided to move the event to the IPFW International Ballroom, and make the event industry specific.

Those at the Industry Fair seemed to enjoy the intimate students and employers quickly filled the room to engage in conversation.

“This is an excellent setup we have this year,” Dr. Eric Norman, the chief of student affairs, said.

Dr. Norman said he could instantly feel the closeness in the room.

“The lighting and the warmth and intimacy of being here in the ballroom really brings a different vibe than we’ve had in past years,” Norman said. “Which I think is a huge benefit.”

Director of Career Services Ashley Calderon also shared her excitement about the new setup, but said that employers will have the final say.

“The setup we have is really cool and different than past years,” Calderon said, “but ultimately we want to know if the setup pleases the vendors because without them we wouldn’t be able to put on this event.”

The IPFW First Destination Survey says just around 89 percent of IPFW graduates are employed in Northeast Indiana. This makes it important for IPFW to bring in many local businesses in order for students in the area to make connections that are close to home.

Nancy Schmidt, who represented the Fort Wayne City Department at the fair, stated just how important these connections are.

“This fair is a great way for students to get out and get a good idea of jobs and positions that are open in the area,” Schmidt said. “Even though this year’s fair is industry specific, you never know who you might meet.”

Positivity seemed to surround the event’s new setup and concentrated agenda, as chattering and smiles were abundant. IPFW student Zack Sarra expressed his appreciation of the event’s great opportunities.

“The setup is pretty nice,” Sarra said. “It’s so much more cozy to have the fair in here instead of in the gym like past years.”

Sarra also believed that the focus to one specific job field was more beneficial to him as a student.

“For me, every vendor in here is right in the career path I want to follow,” Sarra said. “This fair eliminates some of the guesswork and allows me to go straight to the employers I want to talk to.”

According to Job Mob, students should use the job fairs as an opportunity to hone their interviewing skills, while also getting help with their resume.

“I think students should still come out to the fair, even if we don’t have anything in their field at the moment,” Director Calderon said. “At the bare minimum, they can get help with improving their resume and work on their interviewing skills.”

It’s gaining popularity at IPFW despite a lack of support.

While living a vegan lifestyle may be a breeze at schools like the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, students at IPFW have far fewer vegan options.

According to Google, searches for the term “vegan” increased by 32 percent in the past year. In addition, orders for PETA UK’s vegan starter kits have increased from 14,000 in 2013 to 35,000 in 2015, according to its website.

“It’s so easy,” said Zoya Chicks, a freshman industrial design major at MIAD. “It’s hard to think about even not being able to eat vegan, especially since I’m in the city. There are so many vegan options.”

The MIAD cafeteria offers an array of vegan options, ranging from salad bars, vegan pastries, and vegan sandwiches. Chicks also said that some field trips offered only vegan options to students, and described her school as supportive.

However, this is not the case in her hometown of Muskego, Wisconsin. Chicks said being vegan was impossible, and that friends had difficulty making the dietary change too, due to the lack of options.

This same lack of vegan options is prevalent at IPFW, said Aubrey Brinneman, an IPFW senior nursing student from Fort Wayne.

Brinneman said vegan options on-campus are non-existent, making a vegan lifestyle inconvenient but not out of the question.

“I make really good food, but it’s hard to find that, especially here at school,” Brinneman said. “And I think that, from what I know, there are a lot of vegan and vegetarian students here. But no options.”

Brinneman said most vegans at IPFW are used to bringing their own food to campus, but it is hard when they are studying for long hours. She said it would be nice not to have to drive off-campus in order to find vegan choices, which is inconvenient and time-consuming.

However, Brinneman doesn’t see IPFW’s lack of options as the biggest obstacle in being vegan.

“Most of the time that we do struggle is not with eating out,” Brinneman said, “but with going to family member’s houses.”

Judy Tillapaugh, a licensed dietician at IPFW, said the majority of families in the area tend to follow a meat-based diet. Because of this, she said the smaller number of vegans in Fort Wayne compared to other areas could have to do with both social and cultural factors.

Both Brinneman and Chicks described a lack of support from their families who eat meat. However, both stated that eating a vegan diet itself was not as difficult as they had thought it would be.

Brinneman said lack of awareness probably has a lot to do with why fewer people in Fort Wayne are vegan than in other places. However, she said people have appeared interested in the diet, and often come to her with questions.

“When you teach them that there’s meals that are easy and delicious and cheap too, it’s really easy for people to make that connection and make the switch,” Brinneman said while smiling. “In the past year-and-a-half, I personally know five more people that have become vegan, and it’s definitely growing.”

Event for vegans and vegetarians:

• “Where Do You Get Your Protein: Chickpea Cooking Demo”
• For anyone wanting to add more protein and whole foods to their diet
• 3405 Sun Valley Drive, Fort Wayne
• From 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday
• To learn more about the vegan community at IPFW, view the Fort Wayne and NE Indiana Vegans and Vegetarians Facebook group.

The Student Senate reviewed and approved the Allocation Committee’s final budget request for the next school year.

Over the past couple months, IPFW organization members have been presenting their budget requests to the committee.

The Allocation Committee received $1,015,226.50 of requests from organizations and only had a budget of $842,412.83.

Victoria Spencer, IPSGA coordinator, said the committee did well, and were thoughtful in their deliberations.

“They went into it very frugally minded to find cost savings to try to balance the budget,” she said. “They had to reconcile more than a million dollars in requests with less than $850,000.”

Spencer said the budget has been approved by the Student Senate and it will go to the office of the dean of students, Eric Norman. It will then be passed to Chancellor Vicky Carwein, and will head to Purdue to be finalized.

“Generally, once the senate approves it, changes are not made,” she said. “This is more of a student lead process and the institution has respected that.”

The biggest budget cut was to the IPSGA student activities board. They received $200,000 total, for next school year. The budget is $24,800 less than they received this year.

Maggie Baren, vice president of programming, said as long as members know how to shop around and have people who understand the circumstances, they can still do a lot with what they have.

“We were rather fortunate this year,” Baren said. “For homecoming, we spent significantly less than what we were allocated. It goes to show that you can put on a pretty awesome event rather than to spend a substantial amount of money.”

Baren said students should not know a difference in the cut the student activities board received. The members on the board know ways to continue to give out awesome merchandise without going over the budget.

The IPSGA senate also received a cut to their budget. They will get $50,000 next school year, $14,000 less than what they had this year.

Alexander Sanderson, vice president of legislation, said he is not really happy, but understands what they received such a large cut.

He said about one-sixth of their budget went to programs requesting money. This year the student senate set an amendment which lowers the funding cap for an organization based on the money they received the last couple years. This prevents the senate from losing most of their funding to support organizations.

“It should not affect anyone trying to start a program,” Sanderson said. “In regards to funding, programs can still ask but the cap will be less. We hope this will get programs to be a little self-efficient.”

James Hoppes, vice president of finance, said the IPSGA is always the first branch to make sacrifices in terms of the budget.

“When it comes to the IPSGA budgets, they tend to ask for more money, with the mindset that they will be getting cut down,” he said. “All three go into it asking for more just so they can get cut and hopefully get a number that they actually need.”

Hoppes said with the decrease in the budget, they will have less flexibility with spending and helping assist programs. Just because an organization’s budget dropped does not mean they disapprove the program. It is because they do not have enough money.

Hoppes said there are a lot of unknowns about the budget for next spring.

“It is hard to say because of the whole university split,” he said. “It could be higher or it could be lower. It also depends on banded tuition because it may effect student fees. It is just too early to tell.”

Budget cuts and a smaller staff are not hindering the IPFW police department’s focus on safety, says IPFW Police Chief Steven Kimbrough.

“There’s been a pinch across campus,” he said, “but we still have officers working 24/7.”

The campus police department’s salaries and wages budget has decreased by more than $225,000 since 2012.

Dr. David Wesse, IPFW vice chancellor of financial and administrative affairs, is currently working on the IPFW budget. He provides budget information for 12 different IPFW department heads.

Wesse’s biggest financial change, most recently, has been the Purdue University realignment. With the realignment and budget cuts, Wesse said this year balancing the budget this year has been a challenge.

“You gotta’ go backwards to meet the budget,” Wesse said.

Wesse said the IPFW police department felt the pain of this year’s budget cuts. In order to keep costs low, IPFW Police Department did not hire replacements for their most recent retirees. Instead, Kimbrough’s previous position as lieutenant to chief has yet to be filled.

“You manage your time,” Police Chief Kimbrough said. “You manage your staff to make sure needs are being met.”

He described the extra hours required after budget cuts as “peaks and valleys,” with managers and directors rising up for a time until things settle down.

Kimbrough said he and Wesse have started conversations about additional expenses for safety, including defibrillators in every squad car and electronic door locks.

IPFW currently has over 800 security cameras on campus. Wesse and Kimbrough are interested in obtaining body cameras for IPFW officers, said Kimbrough.

“The world has changed. If people can’t see it, it doesn’t exist-it just doesn’t,” Kimbrough said.

When Kimbrough requests things outside of budget, it’s up to the IPFW budget and planning director, Walter Soptelean, to request the needed funds. Soptelean reviews the budget and records the data so funds can be allocated to the requested expenses.

Soptelean said the budget is not a fixed number when it comes to safety and that both Wesse and Kimbrough review the previous year’s expenditure and request more funds as need be.

Things like squad cars need to be replaced every three to seven years, Kimbrough said.

“Every year it’s a new living document. What can we do to provide safety to the campus,” Soptelean said.

Wesse and the chief are also looking for a new location for the IPFW Police Department, somewhere more accessible, they said.

“People should really know, ‘where’s the police,’” Wesse said.

More information about the IPFW Police Department can be found at: https://www.ipfw.edu/offices/police/

People for the Common Good coalition hosted an Our Promise Peace Rally and March on Jan. 21 at the Allen County Courthouse Green, followed by an informational fair at the downtown Allen County Public Library.

“We wanted people to be able to leave that day knowing that they can volunteer or donate,” said Sarah Hyndman, founder of the event and coalition.

Reporting from the Peace Rally and March happening at the Allen County Courthouse. #ZRA pic.twitter.com/EGggn0qZME

— IPFW MoJo (@ipfwmojo) January 21, 2017

The rally began at 3 p.m. under sunny conditions. It featured five community leaders speaking outside the courthouse. As people listened and held signs or flags, cars drove by honking in support of the protesters, although some seemed in opposition.

Fort Wayne resident Marsha Wallace said she thinks it is important that the world hears people want equality and justice for everyone.

“We have to stand up to make sure people know we’re not going to shut up about it,” Wallace said, smiling.

Another rally attendee, Ron Tutwiler of Fort Wayne, said he showed for various reasons, but felt more empowered surrounded by others who had similar opinions about past and current events.

"I may be a small voice, but I have a sign and all these people by my side." – Ron Totwiler #PeaceRallyandMarch #ZRA pic.twitter.com/lVakyD5low

— IPFW MoJo (@ipfwmojo) January 21, 2017

Hyndman said over a 1,000 people attended the rally, and she was extremely pleased with the turnout. But the main goal of the day was to give people opportunities to make their community a better place, something she hopes she accomplished.

After the rally, protesters marched to the library to attend an informational fair where they could learn how to participate and volunteer with local organizations.

Hyndman said approximately 35 organizations were set up in the library. People had various groups they could connect with, everything from advocating for the environment to supporting refugees in the community.

James Cary, a representative at the fair from a local business, Friends of the Third World, said he felt excited about the interest and diversity on display that day, especially in the younger people who attended.

Hyndman said she titled the event Our Promise because she wanted to send a message that showed people are going to do more than just talk about critical issues. Instead, they are promising to do something about them.

“We’re all here to put our actions where our hearts are, Hyndman said, “and we promise to do more.”

The IPSGA student senate held an all-branch meeting on Monday to discuss banded tuition, Spring Fling and suggestions on campus.

The student senate tries to hold at least one all-branch meeting every semester. Some branches included are the executive branch, media board, and the student activities board.

Victoria Spencer, IPSGA coordinator, said they generally have two all-branch meetings a year depending on what is going on at IPFW or IPSGA itself.

“This is a chance for all the branches of IPSGA to check in with each other to see what is going on,” Spencer said. “This is to see if there is anything that needs (to be) addressed or give branch reports.”

Last week, the IPSGA media attended an IPFW Banded Tuition Panel and discussed the proposed tuition changes.

Diana Jackson, director of administrative business services, said the biggest part is to have students register for a full load of classes, which is 15 credit hours.

“The banded tuition can be looked at as a flat rate,” Jackson said. “If the student takes 12 to 18 credit hours, they will pay a one cent amount.”

IPSGA members also discussed updates on Spring Fling and had an open discussion about suggestions from other branches on ways to improve campus for students.

Spencer said the focus for the meeting was to talk about things that organizations need help with, such as finding people to help plan Spring Fling in a couple months, and give the executive officers a chance to provide information about banded tuition.

“Basically if there are some changes coming up that will affect students, our officers usually work with the university to get more information to share with the branches,” Spencer said. “That is typically why we like to meet.”

James Hoppes, vice president of finance, said the meeting is not just for updates but an opportunity for members of other branches to meet everyone involved in IPSGA.

“We also like to have these meetings so we get to learn who everyone else is,” Hoppes said. “Also the more input that we receive from other branches, the better we can work on improving the campus.”

Sara Wegmann, media board editor, said this was her first time being involved in the all-branch meeting.

She started working for IPSGA this spring semester and did not realize how many programs are in the student government.

“I think this was very beneficial,” Wegmann said. “I got to personally learn a lot more about IPSGA and some of committees that I did not know existed before now. It provides information to everyone in the branches that we usually do not hear from during the week.”

Wegmann said this meeting also provided a lot of information about upcoming changes to campus she was not aware about, such as the banded tuition and Spring Fling.

She also did not realize how many volunteer opportunities there were on campus that the members were sharing during open discussions.

“It was extremely helpful for me and knowing that there are other things I can volunteer at other then my specific spot at the media board,” Wegmann said.

Though this is the only planned meeting of the semester, IPSGA officials said there will be another all-branch meeting if needed.

The Fort Wayne Men’s Volleyball team played No. 11 in the country George Mason at 7 p.m. Friday night.

Going into the game, Fort Wayne had a record of 1-8 to George Mason’s 4-2.

J.W. Kieckhefer, the Mastodons’ assistant coach, said their first win from the week prior will help with confidence issues and give them a good attitude for this game.

“I think it’s hard not to be more confident once we’ve had a win under our belt,” Kieckhefer said. “At the end of the day, I think we’re doing some really good things, and we just need to continue what we’re doing to get another win.”

Coach Kieckhefer said he did a scouting report on George Mason’s team to see what they were up against.

According to the report, Kieckhefer found George Mason’s go-to player is their right-side hitter #20 Jack Wilson. Going into Friday’s game, Wilson had attacked 50 more balls than anyone else on his team this season. Wilson is also an All-American candidate with a hitting percentage of .296.

Kieckhefer said the key to defending him would be to slow down their left and right side attackers, since they don’t set their middles in close-game situations.

Gabriel Quinones, a senior computer science major for the Mastodons from Dallas, said through their past losses and mistakes, they have prepared mentally and physically for this team.

“We don’t have to play amazing every time,” Gabriel said. “As long as we play consistently then wins will come and I really think that’s what we need to do.”

Gabriel said to succeed against a good team like George Mason they would need to start out early with confidence.

“I think the key is going to be the first set,” Gabriel said. “It’s an emotional kind of mental rollercoaster when a game starts, but once that first set is over and you win, you can go into the second set with confidence, which will ultimately be a big part in helping us win the game.”

That they did, as Fort Wayne won in three straight sets, shocking George Mason in a sweep.

“It was really just a combination of everything. Not one specific part sticks out, we just really played unbelievable volleyball tonight,” Coach Kieckhefer said following the win. “I really think that’s the best volleyball we’ve played in probably two years.”

Coach Kieckhefer said the saying “winning is contagious” definitely applied to the Mastodons this weekend, as they continued their 3-game win streak into Saturday night’s game against NJIT, resulting in another 3-0 sweep.

Fort Wayne now holds a record of 3-8 for the season as they go into conference play at home this weekend against McKendree and Ball State.