Girl Talk, along with Breathe Carolina and The Ready Set, performed at the Arena for the Activities Council of Bradley University’s Spring Concert which sold the lowest amount of ticket sales ACBU has seen in recent years.

“I thought it was awesome, but the turnout wasn’t what we hoped,” said ACBU President Bryant Au. “None of the circumstances were in our favor. It is unfortunate that the numbers don’t reflect how good of a show it was.”

A total of 885 tickets were sold for Tuesday’s concert, 585 tickets were sold to students, 54 were sold to faculty and staff and 135 tickets were sold to the public.

Girl Talk’s concert sold 249 less tickets than the fall concert, which sold a total of 1,134 tickets, 600 of them to students, faculty and staff.

Taking Back Sunday’s performance sold 55 percent less tickets than the previous show, Jason Derulo and Mike Posner last spring, which sold 2,516 tickets.

“It was a good concert,” ACBU Concert Coordinator Matt Olivero said. “I still would have liked to have seen more students but we did everything we could to market the event and spread the word to get people out to the show.”

Although there were about 900 tickets sold, Olivero said there were only about 400 students who were present while Girl Talk performed.

Junior civil engineering major Derik Leary only attended the concert for Girl Talk’s performance. He said that regardless of the number of students who attended, the experience of the concert was unchanged.

“I thought Girl Talk was awesome,” he said. “He put on a really great show and played a bunch of awesome mixes. Even though there weren’t a lot of people there it was still worth going … [Greg Gillis of Girl Talk] was engaging the crowd even though there weren’t that many people there.”

Sophomore education major Gianna Campione said she felt that Breathe Carolina put on the best show.

“It was so much fun,” she said. “Almost like one big party. I had no idea that Breathe Carolina was so good. They had all different types of music, plus all the music was their own.”

Because there was a low attendance of Bradley students, ACBU concert coordinators decided to open the general admission pit to all ticket holders for Girl Talk’s performance.

“The ultimate decision behind that was that we wanted to see the floor filled,” he said. “Having more people in the pit meant that we would have that big party atmosphere and we wanted everyone to go out there and have fun.”

ACBU member Deshawn Cason said those who attended the concert had fun.

“I think the concert went well and it was better than I expected,” he said, “I liked it and I definitely think the students that came enjoyed the show.”

Director of Student Activities Michelle Whited said she agreed that students who attended had a good time.

“If more people were there it would have been a higher energy show,” said Whited. “The more people you have in a venue the stronger the experience is. The people who were there last night had a ball.”

Mitt Romney visited Bradley on the eve of his win in the Illinois Republican primary, Mar. 19. He addressed a crowd of about 1,000 students, faculty and community members and took questions from a handful of people in the audience.

Romney’s appearance was a last-minute decision, and students were informed less than three days prior to the event. For hours, Founder’s Circle was crowded with news vehicles and national press personnel as they prepared for the speech.

That same day, Rick Santorum, who was also running for GOP nominee, made a stop at Davis Brothers Pizza in East Peoria.

2. Renaissance Campaign completed

After three years of construction and more than $161 million raised, the Campaign for a Bradley Renaissance is on the eve of its completion.

The campaign surpassed its original goal by more than $11 million, making it the most lucrative fundraising effort in Bradley history.

The Markin Center, the Renaissance Coliseum, the Main Street parking deck, the renovation and expansion of Westlake Hall and the construction of the Hayden-Clark Alumni Center were all products from the campaign.

Money generated from the campaign was also used for 79 new scholarships and $15 million will be used for scholarship assistance.

The most recent project was the alumni center, opening its doors during Homecoming Week. A new quad, located in front of the alumni center, was also debuted during the festivities.

Westlake Hall will open its doors in the fall semester, concluding the campaign.

3. Free condoms available on campus 

Beginning in January, free condoms were available on campus to students for the first time. As a result of a Student Senate resolution, the president’s cabinet voted in October to support and implement the resolution, which requested that free condoms be available in residence hall offices and in the Wellness Center.

During office hours, students were able to pick-up one package of 10 Trojan brand condoms without having to sign-up or provide a student ID.

The program was successful and program coordinators said they had few problems.

This was not the first year that condoms were provided on campus. The Wellness Center previously had a program where students who attended a Help Empower and Teach sexual education class were able to pick up 15 condoms a month for one dollar.

4. Sold-out game back on the hilltop

It has been thirty years since students packed a home court on campus during a regular season for the Braves. But on Nov. 16 the Renaissance Coliseum sold out for the men’s basketball game versus Southeast Missouri State University.

The game theme was “throwback,” in honor of the 1981-82 NIT Championship team, who was the last team to play a game on campus.

5. Glasser diagnosed with breast cancer

In December, university President Joanne Glasser announced she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Later that month, she underwent surgery. After three weeks of recovery, Glasser was back on campus and said she was feeling great.

As a result of routine examinations and early detection, Glasser said she did not need any additional treatment such as follow-up radiation or chemotherapy.

This was the second time the president has been diagnosed with breast cancer and received treatment for the disease. She was first diagnosed in December 2008.

Even though this is her second time battling a life-threatening disease, Glasser said she has never considered stepping down from her position as president.

6. Eurest dining contract expires

Bradley’s nearly 60-year-old contract with Eurest, the university’s food provider, ended this year. The change means that every food item sold on campus will be swapped for other products in June, and the university has not revealed if a new company has been selected.

Eurest currently employs 108 staff members at Bradley. In a letter they received April 9, employees were told that the new company Bradley chooses may interview former employees to hire “with the intention to maintain continuity of services.” The contract ends officially on June 10 of this year.

7. Geisert cafeteria renovations complete

After years of planning, renovations to Geisert Cafeteria were completed in August, providing students with more healthy food options and twice as much seating.

“The original Geisert cafeteria was built in the ‘60s to service only Geisert,” the Director of Dining Services Rob Gibson said. “Now, we have a restaurant-style kitchen and can store a lot more food.”

The renovation has provided dining services with a variety of new benefits including a larger kitchen in addition to a kosher kitchen, state-of-the-art serving lines, more cooler and freezer space and new public bathrooms.

8. ACBU weathers disappointing year

It seems like the Activities Council of Bradley University couldn’t catch a break this year.

ACBU hosted Taking Back Sunday, The Maine and The Bad Rabbits for the Fall Concert. In comparison to the Jason Derulo and Mike Posner 2011 spring concert, ticket sales dropped by 55 percent.

In February, ACBU announced that DJ Redfoo from LMFAO would perform at the spring concert. However within a few weeks, DJ Redfoo cancelled the show along with other shows in their tour for the month of April.

After quickly assembling a list of new artists, ACBU said Girl Talk would take the place of DJ Redfoo for the spring concert.

Even with the new idea of a general admission pit, which was only open to Bradley students, Girl Talk sold less tickets than Taking Back Sunday.

9. New police chief starts at BUPD

Bradley University Police Department Chief Brian Joschko moved to Bradley from Marquette University, where he was the Lt. Police Chief, last summer. Halfway through first semester, Joschko left campus for several weeks for training to become an accredited Illinois police officer.

Since his arrival, Joschko said he has aimed to promote greater police presence and improve student-officer interactions.

“One of the things we’re transitioning on is letting officers and the university know that we’re a student-centered operation,” he said in a Sept. 2 article.

10. Pi Beta Phi and Hillel find new homes

Two organizations on campus made their way to new locations on Fredonia Ave. this year: the Bradley Hillel house and the Pi Beta Phi sorority house. Hillel’s new home finally opened its doors after 13 years of planning, funding and waiting.

Pi Phi, after 20 years of planning, finally broke ground in October for its new sorority house.

The old house, located on the corner of North Institute Ave. and Main Street, needed expensive updates. The new house will be open in August for the new members to move in.

The Braves pitching staff gave up 25 total runs on Saturday and Sunday, but have only allowed six runs combined in their last two contests.

“I felt pretty good after Friday night,” coach Elvis Dominguez said. “We just did not pitch very well on Saturday or Sunday.”

Dominguez said he enjoyed seeing his team’s ability to put losses behind them quickly.

“It was great to see the way we came back yesterday against Iowa and today against Northern Illinois,” he said. “The resiliency of our ballclub is really impressive.”

One reason the Braves may be so good is their never give up attitude.

“Our guys have never been down, “ Dominguez said. “They feel like they’re never out of it. Today we got into the eighth inning down by a run, and it was like it was no big deal. They competed really well up at the plate. We were able to hit two home runs and we took the lead. This ballclub does not get down on themselves often.”

One Brave who has been hitting well lately is sophomore first baseman Greg Partyka.

Dominguez likes what he has seen from Partyka, noting he has the ability to carry a team during one of his hot streaks.

Dominguez commented on the lineup and how having Max Murphy, a freshman outfielder who leads the team in slugging and runs batted in, has benefited Partyka.

“They key is the guy that hits behind him, normally Max Murphy, who has been able to produce as well,” he said. “Greg has seen more pitches to hit and gives us a presence in the middle of the lineup that is tough for guys to pitch around.”

The baseball team has seen their share of tough losses on the schedule, so being able to move on quickly has been imperative for the Braves this season.

Dominguez believes baseball, more than other sports, requires  short-term memory to move onto the next at bat, or pitch or ball game.

“It’s just one game or one at bat and you’ve got to turn around and be just as good tomorrow,“ he said.

Touching on those struggles, Jason Leblebijian, one of the best all-around hitters on the team the last two seasons, has only managed a .250 batting average on the year. However, Leblebijian came through in a big way Wednesday evening against Northern Illinois, as himself and Bob Schuch each hit solo home runs in the eighth inning. He went three for four and had two RBIs to get out of his slump.

“I’m really happy for Jason,”  Dominguez said. “He’s a kid who had very high expectations for himself. He didn’t have a very good game offensively [Tuesday] night, but he bounced back today. I think that’s the sign of a great leader.”

Dominguez said he believes Leblebijian is consistently having quality at bats but the hits just don’t always fall. If they start to fall along with the continued production of players like Partyka and Murphy, there is no telling how far the Braves can go.

First-place winner Liveable Tech will receive cash prizes and other incentives to help provide financial backing and real-world experience as they launch their business.

Director of Project Springboard Amy Fairfield Doering said this was the project’s sixth edition and the competing teams did not disappoint.

“These projects were phenomenal this year,” Doering said. “Every single one of them was extremely successful.”

Doering said the field started with 22 teams, with only 14 moving on to the second round. From the second round, the final six were chosen for Monday evening’s events.

Senior mechanical engineering and business administration major Ryan Miller, who is also the CEO of Liveable Tech., said he and his team felt really good about their project going into the competition.

“We’ve been able to work really hard at something we’re really passionate about and create something we feel is really innovative for the market,” Miller said.

By being named top team and awarded the most financial support, Liveable Tech may also receive office space, legal and insurance advice as well as other assistance by program sponsors.

With the money and recognition, Miller said he’s optimistic this is only the start of great things to come for Livable Tech.

“We hope to revolutionize the market [with our design],” Miller said. “We also are going to try and create some awareness as far as where we could be in a few years.”

Senior entrepreneurship major Nicholas Swiatkowski was part of the Swiatkowski Welch Real Estate Project and said it was a huge honor to be considered as a finalist for this year’s competition.

“I’ve spent the last four years as an entrepreneurship major,” he said. “To be in an entrepreneurship contest and have my work actually appraised by judges and everything…it’s an honor in itself.”

Doering said she hopes Project Springboard will help these entrepreneurs not only realize their dreams, but have the resources to actually achieve success.

“This is a great hands-on experiential learning opportunity for these students,” Doering said. “It gives them some real life experience in real life venture capital world, it looks good on their resume and it just gives the opportunity to present themselves not only to the venture capital world but to the world in general.”

This year’s cash prizes were sponsored by Ditch Witch Midwest and the Harbaugh family. Second place and third place winners this year were Apptix and Dress to Impress for Less, respectively.

Illinois State swept the Braves in their three-game series, including a 5-3 victory in 10 innings Sunday. It was the first time Bradley has been swept in a three-game series since playing Drake on March 25.

“It was unfortunate,” coach Amy Hayes said. “We didn’t come to play. We didn’t follow the plan and we honestly, in a couple of games, didn’t look very good.”

Saturday, I-74 rival Redbirds beat Bradley 4-1 in the first game and 9-4 in game two. In those two games, Bradley’s defense committed seven errors.

“Our defense fell apart on us which hasn’t happened in a while,” Hayes said. “However, I was glad to see them bounce back defensively on Sunday.”

Senior Julie Sherman shined throughout the weekend with five hits, two runs scored and two RBI.

Sophomore Madeline Lynch-Crumrine tossed 10 innings Sunday, striking out four while also giving up 15 hits and five earned runs in the loss. Lynch-Crumrine also received a losing decision in the first game Saturday after tossing seven innings in which she struck out two and only gave up two earned runs.

Wednesday, Bradley lost 4-1 to first-place Northern Iowa, after splitting a two-game series last week, which included a 9-3 victory for the Braves.

The Panthers scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning, before sophomore Mariah Cole drew a bases-loaded, two-out walk to score Lynch-Crumrine for the Braves’ only run in the top of the second inning. Bradley was only able to muster one more hit in the rest of the game.

Lynch-Crumine went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double and run scored, while also tossing 3.2 hitless innings, and recording four strikeouts in the pitch circle.

“It meant a lot to beat Northern Iowa, but in the Missouri Valley Conference you can’t get comfortable,” Hayes said. “The thing about the Valley is anyone can beat anyone and it forces you to come ready to play everyday.”

The Braves falls to 17-26 this year, and to 7-13 in MVC action.

Bradley stays on the road to face Wichita State for three games starting Saturday at noon, and then going to Wisconsin to play the Badgers at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Braves will close out their regular season against Southern Illinois in Peoria starting at noon on May 5.

“We are here to win championships,” Hayes said. “The Wichita series is extremely important and we need to go down there and take care of business.”

It was the fall of 1982 and Carraway was the new Director of Residential Living at Bradley. She planned on going to the first Lovelace/Sisson Hall staff meeting (now Baker Hall), and when she arrived a group of young men in suits presented her with the plaque.

“I walked into the hall and all of these guys were dressed up for the meeting and I thought, ‘Oh, this is nice,’” Carraway said. “And then they gave me this plaque. It has always been a treasure to me.”

Carraway has worked with students at Bradley for more than three decades, serving as a professional counselor, the Director of Residential Living and is currently the Executive Director of Student Support Services. After this school year, she is retiring.

With 34 years at Bradley, Carraway is used to receiving gifts and gratitude from the students she’s influenced.

“I love getting announcements to weddings from people I’ve met from [residential] staff and meeting children of staff members who now go to Bradley,” she said.

Working with Student Support Services, Carraway said she helps students going through rough times.

“I help students with anything that keeps them from going to class or doing well in class, whether it’s a disability, death in the family or illness,” she said. “We let professors know [what’s going on with the students].”

Deborah Fischer, Director of the Center for Learning Assistance, works for Carraway.

“Barbara is amazing,” she said. “She has been such a great mentor to me. I have learned how to be a better leader and person through her advice and actions.”

Carraway is very involved in student activities, something she said is important with her profession. She has been a judge for Bradley Idol since its inception, an advisor to Rotaract and an advisor to a sorority chapter once on campus.

Joyce Shotick, Executive Director of Student Development and Health & Transitional Services, said a search committee conducted six Skype interviews with selected candidates to replace Carraway.

“It will be a major challenge to find an individual who has the breadth and depth of both student affairs and academic affairs that will ensure student success at Bradley,” Shotick said. “Barbara Carraway has been a tremendous liaison and advocate for students in need.”

Carraway said she will miss being a part of the Bradley family the most.

“My daughter and one of my sons went to school here,” she said. “I got my master’s degree here. My husband teaches here. Bradley is a family for me.”

Fischer said the Bradley community will miss Carraway as well.

“I enjoy listening to her tell stories about spending time with students,” she said. “She will go to lunch, have coffee or just hang out with students. She truly loves it. Anyone can tell by watching her walk across the quad.”

The plaque in her office is a reminder of all the support Carraway has provided students over the years. She said it was a blessing.

“The best thing about my job is being there when someone is in need, whatever the situation may be,” she said. “There’s a saying in residential staff: ‘we should make a difference’. I hope I did here.”

The team also won the American Forensic Association national championship just weeks prior to the NFA tournament, marking the first time since 1998 the team has won both national titles. The team scored 608.5 points at the NFA to beat second place Western Kentucky University by 19.5 points. The NFA tournament was held at Ohio University from last Thursday to Monday.

Junior Jacoby Cochran won five individual titles between both national tournaments, including being named top speaker at both.

“It felt humbling to win a national title as always,” he said. “To be recognized as the best in any category is exciting and very rewarding.”

Six Bradley team members placed in the top twenty in individual championships and three students won national individual championship titles, including junior Cecil Blutcher as national champion in poetry and Cochran as national champion in rhetorical criticism.

Senior and president of the speech team Camille Yameen won the national champion for prose interpretation, an event where participants turn a novel or short story into a ten minute performance. Yameen chose a short story by Amy Bloom called “A Portion of Your Loveliness.”

“Winning an individual title is perhaps the most humbling experience I have had while being on the team,” Yameen said. “The individual titles are extremely prestigious, because not everyone can win one – that’s just the nature of the beast of this competitive activity. So to win is an extreme honor; there are truly no words to describe it adequately.”

Team coaches are Director of Forensics Dan Smith and Assistant Director of Forensics Michael Chen. Smith, who will be leaving the position of coach after this school year, said the team stayed cool despite pressure to win both national championships in 2012.

“I’m incredibly proud of all of the hard work they’ve done,” he said. “It’s been 14 years since we were able to win [both titles], and it was a lot of pressure. You either respond to it or let it break you. But the team was determined to use the pressure to push them.”

Cochran said his individual wins came from the help of his team.

“Despite being recognized for our individual accolades, I speak for the others when I say this was a team effort and every speaker and round mattered,” he said. “I would never want the attention to sway from the group effort it took to accomplish this task.”

Yameen said the “two in ‘12” wins were a tribute to Smith.

“When we found out that this year was going to be [Smith’s] last, we decided as a team that we wanted to send him off the right way – with two national championships,” she said.  “It was daunting at times, but we all kept our eyes on April and kept our hearts on Dan.  We wanted to win these two tournaments for him.”

Smith will be working as head of COM 103 next year and said he will continue to watch the team despite not being a coach.

“I’m looking forward to watching them succeed,” he said. “I’m staying in the COM department, so I’m looking forward to seeing them from a perspective I’ve never had before.”

With Congress’ College Cost Reduction and Access Act, which decreased the interest rate on federal student loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent, set to expire July 1, both class-equality advocate Obama and champion for the private sector Romney have finally found some common ground. Not extending the act could cripple the future generation of college students and workforce beyond repair.

According to The Atlantic, the typical college tuition has tripled over the last 30 years, yet the earnings gap between college graduates and high school graduates has also tripled during the same timeframe, from 75 percent in 1979 to 230 percent in 2003.

This “paradox of college costs,” as The Atlantic calls it, means that it is now just as expensive to go to college as it is not to go. And when considering that tuition in Florida is set to escalate yet again — the State University System sustained a $300 billion funding cut in next year’s budget — loans will have an even bigger presence in Florida students’ battle against a 9 percent unemployment rate, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

If the act is not renewed, students would watch those loan rates double overnight — a difference of about $1,000, according to the Washington Post.

The only hitch in the plan, and the issue giving pause to Congressional action, is the $6 billion it would cost to extend the program for another year, according to the Post. However, it’s worth noting that the cost could have been almost completely covered by the extra revenue brought in from the “Buffett Rule,” a tax plan recently defeated by Congress that would place a minimum tax of 30 percent on American millionaires.

There is no easy solution to helping today’s college students when 50 percent of recent grads are unemployed or underemployed, as Romney told reporters Monday. Without changes to government spending, this temporary solution to boosting job prospects for students will become a repeated discussion. However, with severe cuts to federal aid programs and 7.4 million students across the U.S. affected by the act, according to the Chicago Tribune, it is necessary to preserving the future of the economy.

Romney and Obama have realized that this is not a party issue and Congress should too. Creating opportunities for future generations is a platform that all allege to work toward, and actually finding a solution to turn words into action would secure votes on either side of the political spectrum.

With his recently released solo album “Blunderbuss,” White puts it all out there with no one to hide behind. So does it work? There is no straight answer for that, just like there is no real way to categorize the artist.

“Blunderbuss” presents a compilation of everything Jack White has done with his career. It boasts the lyrical passion and simple drum lines of The White Stripes, the bluegrass inspired rock melodies of The Raconteurs and the gritty blues utilized by The Dead Weather. Every song has a different element that a long time fan can easily spot, but they all come together so cohesively that it not only works, but a first time listener can appreciate the unique sound.

Fans of White’s former projects will appreciate this album for its dedication to deep lyrics and White’s ability to tell a story. The album works together well and it is something that you can easily listen to straight through and not feel fragmented.

This inevitably means there are a few tracks that you can just lose within the album. This happens with more of the songs than I’d like, but there are a few that stand out and can hold their own. “16 Saltines” is one of these, and die-hard White Stripes fans will love it. It showcases everything the former band did best: simple sounds, intense lyrics and a strong guitar line. This is one of the stronger songs on the album, showcasing not only White’s undeniable talent, but the incredible result that is produced with said talent is actually utilized to its full potential.

There are other songs on the album that shine including “Love Interrupted,” a ballad about wanting love to finally come to you instead of searching it out. Lyrics like “I want love to walk right up and bite me/Grab a hold of me and fight me/leave me dying on the ground” demonstrate the passion and loaded meanings that White croons throughout the album. Some meanings are obscure, but others are painfully obvious.  “Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy” is an upbeat attack on the women who have left him, one in particular being his former drummer, Meg. He doesn’t insult them, he simply cuts his ties and puts it best in the lyrics “but I can’t sit still/because I know that I will” that he will continue to make music because it is what he’s meant to do.

While it is not an overwhelming success, “Blunderbuss” is a good listen, and won’t disappoint fans of White’s former projects. It is musically and lyrically solid and the passion is there, it’s just the putting it together part that White needs to work on.

Executive Director for Residential Life and Leadership Nathan Thomas said the housing consultants, who surveyed students earlier this year about what they prefer in a campus residence, have compiled data about Bradley and other comparable institutions.

“They are putting together possible plans for the future, and the future is more like 10 to 15 years from now rather than immediate things,” he said. “But we are still committing to those immediate things, like safety and cleanliness in housing.”

The consultants have created scenarios and comparisons, and they presented those findings to the Board of Trustees on Thursday. But as of now, there are no concrete plans in place, Thomas said.

“I imagine the plan for next year will be that a more long-term, strategic plan is put together,” he said.

So even though students won’t be seeing a brand-new dorm building anytime soon, some residence halls will have noticeable improvements by next move-in day, Thomas said.

“To me, looking at long-term housing is a real positive for the students, and a real positive for the university,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop upgrading the dorms as they are now.”

Thomas said some of the buildings to see upgrades will be Heitz Hall, Williams Hall and Geisert Hall.

“We’re finishing Heitz, and it will be available for students next year. We have more demand for Heitz than we have rooms available, and we’re losing about 50 beds with the remodel,” he said. “We will finish the heating and cooling, as well as renovating floors two and four. We will be done with all that come move-in day. That construction will begin the second students move out.”

Construction on the Williams Hall lounges will continue as well, but it will break for finals, he said.

“Williams’ lounges will be finished during the summer, and the work we’re currently doing will stop on study day, and continue after finals,” Thomas said.

And in Geisert, as well as other residence halls, bathroom improvements will be a main focus, he said.

“In Geisert, we’re out for bid on redoing the bathrooms. It depends on the bid how many floors we’ll do,” Thomas said. “We may do all of it, a half, a third, but we’re committed to beginning bathroom work and completing them over the next couple years. Across the board, our major project will be renovating resident hall bathrooms.”

Thomas also said Elmwood Hall, which was closed this year because the extra rooms were not a necessity, should be open at the start of next year.

“We anticipate Elmwood will be open in the fall,” he said. “We will be working on the floors and the ceilings before it opens again.”

As the university considers plans for the future, Thomas said students indicated one essential component in moving forward.

“We’ve continued to see that students are very price-conscious, and that’s something we need to maintain,” he said.