Veterans Issue | Fall 2012

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 From the Editor

2 ADIE Service Fellowship

3 ADIE Explained

4 Diversity Faculty Fellows: Update

5 Student Veterans on Campus

6 A Life Directed by Service

8 The Road to Recovery

12 Gentle Touch, Inner Strength

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Transformations is produced by the Office of University Communications.

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The second year of publication for Transformations begins with our Fall 2012 issue. Transformations is the IU Southeast magazine published twice a year by ADIE, the Academy for Diversity and Inclusive Education. As the Coordinator of Diversity for Academic Affairs, it is my hope that Transformations will increase faculty awareness of opportunities for enhancing diversity and inclusiveness on our campus. Service opportunities, research support through our diversity faculty fellows, and assistance in developing inclusive curriculums are all part of the ADIE mission. Each issue of Transformations will be devoted to a theme relating to diversity and inclusiveness. This issue will focus on student and faculty veterans.

FROM THE EDITOR

Faculty members who have served in the military have a heightened understanding of the difficulties veterans face when they begin their education. The number of veterans in our classes is steadily increasing and there is a concerted effort from IU Southeast administrators, faculty, and staff to assist our student veterans as they make the often difficult transition from military to civilian life. Kevin Powers, a veteran of the war in Iraq and author of Yellow Birds, spoke to these challenges when he said, “There can be a profound sense of purposelessness. You can get back into life or, sadly, you can be lost. I think ‘rudderless’ is probably an appropriate way of describing it. You see the world; you see all these directions that you could go. How do you possibly begin to decide?”

I hope the perspectives provided in these articles will heighten your awareness of veterans and veteran issues on our campus.

DIANE REIDCoordinator of Diversity for Academic Affairs

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ADIE SERVICE FELLOWSHIP FOR SUMMER 2013 AND FALL 2013ADIE is calling for applications for a two-semester service fellowship to assist with planning and implementing the academy’s first state diversity conference on Oct. 12, 2013. The conference rotates every third year between Indiana State University, Ball State University, and IU Southeast.

The fellowship will pay for three hours re-assigned time for both summer 2013 and fall 2013. The service fellow will assist the Coordinator of Diversity for Faculty Affairs in the call for papers/proposals, the review and selection process, and the organization and implementation of the one-day event. Information about this year’s symposium at Indiana State University (Nov. 3) can be found at www.indstate.edu/diversity/symposium2012.

If you are interested, please submit a letter which discusses your professional interest in the position, how your background would help you contribute to ADIE and to the conference, and a copy of your curriculum vita by Dec. 14, 2012 to:

Diane S. Reid, Coordinator of Diversity for Academic Affairs, Knobview 110F

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What can ADIE do for you?

Fellowships: ADIE can sponsor one-and two-semester teaching,

research, or service-related fellowships for faculty projects which

support the ADIE mission of diversity and inclusiveness. These

fellowships will pay for three hours reassigned time a semester to

complete accepted proposals.

Faculty Learning Communities: Faculty can be invited by the

academy or may volunteer to form a working group of faculty

to study teaching and learning around a diversity-related topic.

Members of the FLC will attend eight or nine seminar sessions

- approximately one session per month - and a facilitator will be

provided. These sessions are to help participants develop (first

semester) and implement (second semester) diversity-related

material in a specific course of study. Participants earn a $500

honorarium for course-related materials or additional training,

and lunch is provided at each session.

General Facilitation of Teaching, Research, and Service:

The academy facilitates individual teaching, research, and service

projects in a variety of ways. Workshops on topics of interest to

faculty which are related to diversity can be arranged through

deans, coordinators, or individual faculty. In addition, ADIE provides

consultation in course development, research, and service projects

which have a relationship to the ADIE mission.

ADIEAcademy for Diversity and Inclusive Education

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Update on ADIE Faculty Fellows

Judy MyersADIE Faculty Fellow in Research, 2009-2011

The first ADIE Faculty Fellow in Research was Judy Myers in the IU Southeast School of

Nursing. From 2009-2011, Judy collaborated with Floyd Memorial Hospital to test the

efficacy of massage therapy to alleviate the after-effects of fatigue and insomnia suffered

by women during breast cancer treatment. As faculty fellow and principle investigator,

Myers facilitated the development of a multidisiciplinary research team representing

nursing, radiation oncology, immunology, biostatistics, massage, and biofeedback

therapy. Six IU Southeast undergraduate students have served as research

assistants. Randomized clinical trials to investigate non-pharmacological

interventions such as massage and biofeedback are relatively uncommon.

While a number of studies have shown the clinical benefits of massage and

biofeedback during cancer treatment, few have looked at the biochemical

effects. To date, 23 women have completed the massage therapy trial

with no adverse events and another nine are currently enrolled in the

heart rate variability biofeedback trial. It is anticipated that data analysis

will be complete and findings presented in a variety of professional

venues in the fall of 2013.

Valerie ScottADIE Faculty Fellow in Research, 2012-2013

The second - and current - ADIE Faculty Fellow in Research is Valerie

Scott, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology. This past

summer Valerie attended a workshop to learn about administration

of the IDI: Intercultural Development Inventory. The IDI focuses on

one’s ability to shift cultural perspective and behaviorally adapt. In

the educational setting, assessment of cultural competence skills and

training has shown inconsistent results. During her fall 2012 Psychology

and Cultures course, various assignments collected during the semester

will help Scott determine the basic cultural competence levels of these

students. Thus, she is hoping that a more systematic approach (activities

designed to match the developmental goal of the course, assessment

geared at measuring various intercultural strengths and weakness)

will prove to be a reasonable and practical option. She intends to run

correlations between the pre-post scores of the other instruments and

between those and the IDI. Upcoming issues of Transformations will

detail Scott’s progress in this research venture.

You may not easily spot them on campus, but as of September 2012, Indiana University Southeast had 210 student veterans enrolled. IU Southeast has made a concerted effort to ensure that these men and women receive as much help as possible when making the transition from military to civilian life. For each of the last four years, IU Southeast has been recognized as a military friendly school by Victory Media, Inc., and G.I. Jobs – a good indication of the campus’s relationship with veterans. This status was achieved through the efforts of numerous faculty, staff, and administrators on campus. A study conducted by the Pat Tillman Foundation and Operation College Promise suggests that schools like IU Southeast, which offer a solid support system for student veterans, should see those veterans make degree progress at a rate similar to those of non-veterans. Although there is not reliable data available at the state and national level, best estimates indicate that the national graduation rate for student veterans is only six to eight percent. This puts veterans in a high-need category for assistance toward degree completion.

Several staff members play important roles in assisting student veterans. Jack Howell, the VA Certifying Official in the Registrar’s Office, offers personal assistance to

veterans and has set up a website to answer common questions of student veterans. The site also contains links to veteran services, GI Bill information, and job searches. Readers can review the site at www.ius.edu/veterans. Matt Springer, the Coordinator of Disability Services on campus, finds that veterans are often frustrated because his office must abide by the definition of “disability” according to the ADA. The VA defines “disability” within the context of a monetary benefit. “I need evidence of an impairment”, says Matt, “not some official service-related percentage scale. I will work with the VA, but more commonly Vocational Rehabilitation and even our Dr. Michael Day, to get documentation of an impairment and will accommodate from that. That is why it has been so helpful to me to have other vets say things like ‘Hey, if you are having issues with test taking, go talk to Matt. He is a cool guy.’”

The Student Veterans Organization (SVO) aids returning student veterans by providing social and networking support to help them make the transition from military to civilian life. There are currently about 60 active members. In addition to social and networking opportunities, the SVO coordinates Veterans Day recognition and activities during the fall semester and has a series of veterans-related events during Victory Week in April.

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Student VeteranS on CampuS

Current SVO OfficersPresident: Logan Walsh Secretary: Katrina Ortensie

Vice President: Nancy McLain Treasurer: Shannon Jackson

Master of Arms: Richard Weaver

hat do you get when you combine equal parts motivation and honor with opportunity and time? You get a person who serves his or her country with unerring respect and dependability. You get a person willing to sacrifice for the betterment of our nation’s safety and well-being. You get someone like Carolyn Babione, who has continued her service beyond the military into her teaching career.

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A Life Directed By Service

By Preston BodineIU Southeast English Student

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For Babione, the idea of going to college was far beyond her reach as a new high school graduate. Most young adults at that time were not lucky enough to go to college unless they were valedictorians or were financially able.

When her cousin mentioned to 18-year-old Babione that she was going to join the military and use her veteran’s benefits to go to college, the idea struck Babione that she could do the same.

She selected a branch of the military and was ready to take the first step in her journey. Although her cousin backed out, it did not deter Babione from continuing as a young naval recruit.

Determination earned her two awards in basic training: the Honor Woman and the Military Award. The Military Award was a standard award for service men and women who had accumulated enough points in their training to merit recognition in front of the entire squad. The Honor Woman award was bestowed upon a servicewoman in the squad who was selected by both her peers and her superiors.

Because of her motivation during basic training, she was assigned to a high profile administrative position at a NATO facility in Virginia. While serving in this position, she met the man who would eventually become her husband.Following their marriage,

when the two of them had fulfilled their military obligations, they used their veteran’s benefits to pursue their separate vocations. Babione pursued a teaching career and her husband pursued administrative work.

Her husband would take classes during the day while she took classes at night so that one parent was always at home with the children. During this time, it was unusual for someone to be a nontraditional student, but the same motivation that got her through naval training got her through college as well.

The couple graduated in less time than it would normally take for their degrees and celebrated their accomplishments by immediately pursuing employment. However, during her time as a teacher, the still youthful Babione felt incomplete.

The couple decided that it would work out well for the two of them if her husband took a promising administrative job in New Mexico and she could pursue her Ph.D. Eventually, Babione came to New Albany, where she was hired at IU Southeast.

Babione is currently a professor of education in the area of elementary education. She also continues to work with the veterans on the IU Southeast campus.

When asked about her service to veterans on campus she said, “My husband and I were

so fortunate to use veteran’s benefits [for our education], that it feels like we have to give back.” Because of her own experience, Dr. Babione has done as much as she can for the veterans at IU Southeast in order to help them reacclimatize to civilian life.

Some veterans face additional challenges because of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and other physical and psychological injuries. Babione has responded to these challenges in a variety of ways.

She helped obtain financial support for IU Southeast and Ivy Tech campuses through the Lilly Grant’s Operation Diploma and the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue. This support helped the campuses prepare educational programs directed at student veteran success and supports faculty and staff training on student veteran-related issues.

All her adult life, Dr. Babione has been devoted to the betterment of others. As a naval petty officer, mother, elementary teacher, and college professor, her life continues to be directed by service.

“My husband and I were so fortunate to use veteran’s benefits [for our education], that it feels like we have to give back.”

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A Road to

RecoveryBy Joshua MastersonIU Southeast English Student

n April 5, 2004, during his second of three deployments, Aaron Neely stood on the bank of a highway overlooking the Iraqi city of Fallujah. The day before, the U.S. military had dropped leaflets over the city and had overtaken a radio station and begun broadcasts, asking non-combatants either to leave or stay indoors to keep out of the line of fire during an upcoming assault. At the time, Neely was a Religious Program Specialist in a Fleet Marine Force, attached to the Battalion Aid Station sailor, embedded within the marines in a manner similar to the Marine Corps’ relationship with Navy medics.

When the battle began, insurgents – armed with machine guns, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, and anti-aircraft weapons – fired at Marines both within the city and surrounding it. Neely recalls, “They were lobbing rockets at us. The rockets were landing too close... it felt like my insides shook when they exploded, and it hurt.” Remembering one round in particular, Neely describes watching a shockwave pass him – and pass through him.During the five-day battle, soldiers were kept awake for days in a row as the rockets and mortars kept coming in. Neely didn’t report his experience because, compared to the injuries and deaths his fellow soldiers were sustaining, getting rattled in this way didn’t seem like the life-altering event that it would become.

Sean Masterson, Doctor of Neuroscience and Postdoctoral Fellow with Indiana University Southeast’s chemistry department, was able to discuss the effects such a shockwave might have on the brain: “As the shockwave travelled through his brain, the tissue was compressed and stretched. Individual neurons were damaged from the increased pressure and connections between neurons were torn. Entire networks weren’t lost, but individual neurons and specific connections

within networks were...; the networks became too active or too inhibited and the function of the network was compromised.”

“I noticed I was a little bit different after that [injury] – less patient,” Neely explained in the vernacular of enlisted personnel that he still sometimes uses when discussing his life in the military. He found himself having difficulty coping with everyday stresses, much less the kinds of stresses that military life can impose on a person. “I was starting to sleep less at night and getting aggressive. I was tired and just worn out.” Neely had begun to see in himself the same symptoms he’d been trained to look for in his fellow soldiers.

In looking at the early onset of his own illness, Neely recognizes that “it helped me that I was reaching out to other people.” When he began to see himself growing distant and becoming aggressive, he knew what it could mean, and his friends and chaplain supported him in his decision to seek the kind of help he’d spent his short career recommending other soldiers receive.

When he first began talking to doctors about his symptoms, Neely was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Neely’s doctors put him on two medications, both meant to treat PTSD. “I did okay for awhile. I got married [in California], and I got great orders to be an instructor at the Chaplain’s School.” He made it through training, but on the move from San Diego to Rhode Island, he and his young bride stopped in Indiana to visit Neely’s family and to celebrate his recent wedding with a reception. While in Indiana, Neely and his wife had an argument, after which Neely “walked out to my car just like a zombie, wrote a note on my hand, and went in the bathroom.”

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“Being a Vet is a title you carry out of humility, and Iím not saying I was owed anything... [but] this is the only place where I feel I was treated like it really mattered.”

“I was getting ready to swallow [a bottle of ] these pills and I was like Why am I doing this? I’ve got a good life, everything is fine... so why do I feel this way?” After reminding himself of his good life – a young wife with a baby on the way and a job he enjoyed so much that he planned to make a career of it – he still swallowed that bottle of pills.

While Neely thought he’d been receiving appropriate care for PTSD, he didn’t know he had other medical problems that so far had gone undiagnosed and were reacting poorly with his treatment. A year after the birth of his daughter – nearly two years after his suicide attempt,Neely was stationed in Rhode Island and still working through his trauma-related injuries.

After Neely had a conversation with a friend who suffered from

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), he returned to his doctor to ask if some of his symptoms might stem from a misdiagnosis. While PTSD and TBI share many symptoms – and it’s possible to have both at the same time – they are not the same problem, and so need to be treated differently.

Sean Masterson, Doctor of Neuroscience and a Postdoctoral Fellow with IU Southeast’s chemistry department explains it this way: “The medication that he was given to help with PTSD was an antidepressant. In general, an antidepressant is a compound that enhances excitation by either activating neurons directly or by inhibiting inhibitory neurons. Because his ailment was due to TBI and not depression, the medication exacerbated his problems by enhancing the activity of unstable networks.”

As Neely stood alone in that Indiana bathroom and wondered why he wanted to end his own life, he hadn’t known – no one had known – that the medication he’d been given to treat PTSD was causing havoc with his physically traumatized brain. Neely’s doctor sent him to Bethesda, where he was screened for head injuries. “They couldn’t see it on an MRI, but they got it

on an EEG. I was lucky.”For Neely, who was now medically retired from the military, “It was a difficult time. All of a sudden, I didn’t feel comfortable going to the VA for benefits; I didn’t understand the education benefits.”

Neely had to work with seven different bureaucratic systems, from his VA medical benefits and the Department of Defense to the Unemployment Office, creating the kinds of frustrations that are known to compound the problems that come with both PTSD and TBI. Dr. Michael Day, Director of the IU Southeast Personal Counseling Services, said “[TBI] can result in symptoms such as confusion, disorientation, slowed thinking, and language problems. Individuals with whom the veteran has to interact in order to access benefits may, if unfamiliar with TBI, misinterpret these symptoms as related to drug use, a lack of motivation, disrespect, or incompetence... which [can] cause the veteran to become frustrated and to stop attempting to access benefits.” Day added, “One of the most important and helpful things that can be done to support our veterans is to assist them in accessing their benefits through understanding the potential obstacles, advocating for their

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rights, and assisting them in navigating the complex processes that are often in place.”

Neely believes that in transitioning from military to civilian life, “if there’s one simple common denominator, it’s finding that sense of belonging. For me, my career was over. If there’s anything you can tell a veteran who’s just getting out, whether he’s having problems or not, it’s find somewhere to belong to give back [to the community].”

For Neely, part of giving back meant becoming president of IU Southeast’s Student Veterans Organization, a role he used to increase awareness within the community and to reach out to his fellow veterans. “If there’s one thing I’m proudest of [about the SVO], it’s that we can walk up to a veteran, shake hands, and say, ‘Hey man, welcome home.’ You’ve got people around here that care about you. The University went after the opportunity to create this. They went after grant money that created awareness and brought in training for the staff. They went after funding and sought Dale Brown to start and facilitate grant events. They did that. If they did nothing else, I hope the administrators and whoever designed this plan will keep that with them the rest of their lives. Everybody here, from the police department to the maintenance department... and the staff... everybody cares. Being a Vet is a title you carry out of humility, and I’m not saying I was owed anything... [but] this is the only place where I feel I was treated like it really mattered.”

In looking at where he’s been and where he hopes to be, Neely reflects: “Even though I had a lot of other support in my life, this is what’s set me up to have a better future.”

Neely had begun to see in himself the same symptoms he’d been trained to look for in his fellow soldiers.

By Lori TannerIU Southeast English Student

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One might not initially notice the quiet strength and solidness of character that lie behind the gentle voice, soft brown eyes, and wistful smile of Jacquelyn Reid. Yet the level-headedness and staunch sense of duty needed to serve in the United States military are strong within her. She is a woman of paradox, possessing both an impulse to nurture and an inner strength, which have served her well as an accomplished veteran and educator.

Gentle Touch, Inner Strength

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Reid’s interests became evident at an early age. When Reid was just a child of four, she matter-of-factly informed her mother and father that she was going to be a nurse. Reid’s father had served in the Army during World War II, and she looked up to him immensely. Hearing his stories as she grew up fed her desire for service and sense of duty and patriotism, refining Reid’s natural inclination to care for others.

She went on to obtain a degree in nursing, however, a slight twist of fate would bring that nagging desire for a military career back to the center of Reid’s attention.

While working in a hospital and about to graduate as a nurse, Reid spoke by phone with a Navy recruiter, who told her to call him back when she had a degree in hand. A physician with whom she worked overheard the conversation and shared that he belonged to the Air National Guard. He encouraged her to look into the military if she was really interested, and the rest was history.

She entered the Air Guard as an officer due to her status as a nurse. Unfortunately, there were no slots available for officer training until nearly a year and a half after she began her service. Many people would have hesitated, but Reid jumped into the new situation headfirst, seizing every opportunity to learn that presented itself. When she finally got her new rank, she was off to Texas for Officer’s Training.

While she and her fellow officers were completing a field training mission, a physician unexpectedly informed Reid in the chaos of the drill, “You’re the triage officer!” She had to think fast, deciding which soldiers would theoretically live or die.

The triage coding system may seem brutal to civilians: injured soldiers are assigned a color. Red means that they are in need of immediate care, yellow that they may be wounded quite seriously but must wait for care, green that they have a minor injury and will receive care last, and black that they will not receive care at all because their wounds are too severe to survive given the resources available.

Reid was understandably disturbed by this experience, explaining, “You know, as nurses, we were trained to do no harm. It shakes you a bit,” she adds, “to think that we don’t have the resources to save [a] life.” She came to understand that her role was to help as many people as possible. “You’re not doing harm. You’re doing the best for the most,” she said.

Over the years, it would be difficult to gauge just how much good Reid has done and for how many. She would continue to serve in the Air Guard through 1988, and continued her education, earning a master’s degree in nursing, master’s and doctoral degrees in counseling, and midwife certification. In 1988 Reid transferred to the Air Force Reserve, pursuing military service until 1993. During this time, Reid was needed for full-time service at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base during Operation Desert Storm. In fulfilling her duties, she went above and beyond because of her caring nature and pride in her work. “The beauty of the military... is that they expect you to practice to the level of your training,” she said. “I always felt like the people who put their lives on the line deserve the best care they can get.”

In 1994, Reid went on to practice as a midwife, bringing her childhood passion for caring for babies and mothers full-circle. Since 1999, she has been on the full-time nursing faculty at IU Southeast. Through that same gentle touch and inner strength, Reid’s students are in good stead to find passage through their most demanding and darkest hours of service, to the fulfillment to be had in personal and professional excellence for the sake of country and humankind.

“I always felt like the people who put their lives on the line deserve the best care they can get.”

IU Southeast Student Veterans Organization selected for Hall of Fame

The Indiana University Southeast Student Veterans Organization placed second in a statewide student veterans Hall of Fame Competition. IU Southeast joined five other award-winning student veterans’ organizations (SVOs) on Oct. 27, 2012, to compete in an invitation-only SVO Hall of Fame Competition aimed at showcasing the talents and achievements Indiana’s best SVOs. IU Southeast received an award of $2,000, made possible by the Lilly Endowment, for their achievements. The money is granted to help the IU Southeast SVO with development and ground-breaking programming. Students presented to a panel of expert judges before a live audience at the NCAA Hall of Champions in downtown Indianapolis. The event, organized by the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University (MFRI), was the culmination of previously-held grant competitions sponsored by Operation Diploma, MFRI’s post-secondary education

initiative. SVO leaders had the opportunity to demonstrate their achievements, lessons learned and promising practices to the judging panel, as well as to an audience of their peers, mentors, and supporters. Since September 2009, Operation Diploma has sponsored the Operation Diploma Student Veterans Organization (SVO) Organizational Plan Competition. The event aims to help SVO members hone entrepreneurial skills and fund local initiatives through grants of up to $2,000. Judges evaluated SVO presentations based on criteria that included quality of mission, clarity of initiatives, and a commitment to sustainability based on their presentations. Grants totaling more than $60,000 have been awarded through these competitions. SVO Hall of Fame competitors were chosen from the highly-ranked participants in those events. In addition to the SVO at IU Southeast, organizations from Ball State University, Ivy Tech Bloomington, Ivy Tech Sellersburg, Purdue University, and University of Evansville participated.

IU Southeast is veteran friendly!

IU Southeast has been designated a 2013 Military Friendly School by GI Jobs.

If you’re interested in learning more about our services for veterans and active-duty military, please visit ius.edu/veterans.

www.ius.edu