173 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(01/21/14 5:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>S.B. 28: Alcohol consumption by a minorThe bill would make it illegal to allow underage people to consume alcohol on your property.Specifically, it forbids renting or allowing for the use of property for the purpose of allowing people who are not 21 years old to drink.If passed into law, such a crime would be a class B misdemeanor for a first offense, a class A misdemeanor for a later offense and a level 6 felony if serious injury or death results from the drinking.This would treat those who knowingly provide space for underage drinkers to drink the same way the law treats people who buy alcoholic drinks for underage friends.Status: Will be read to the state Senate today. It passed the Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee unanimously.Sponsor: Sen. Pete Miller, R-DanvilleH.B. 1001: Tax exemption for business personal propertyThe bill would allow county income tax councils to eliminate the business personal property tax, which taxes a business’ equipment.Supporters tout the benefits to the economy, saying it would attract more businesses to Indiana. However, opponents say it would put more of a burden on regular taxpayers to make up for the lost revenue.The state of Michigan recently passed legislation for exemptions for a similar tax. The legislation went into effect Jan. 1.Status: Has been referred to the House Ways and Means committee.Sponsor: Rep. P. Eric Turner, R-Cicero— Rebecca Kimberly contributed reporting.
(01/14/14 5:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>INDIANAPOLIS – After hearing almost four hours of testimony Monday, a state legislative committee delayed the first in a series of key votes that could put a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in front of Indiana voters this November.Supporters and opponents of the amendment, House Joint Resolution 3, and House Bill 1153, a clarification of the amendment’s purpose and language, presented experts to give testimony before the state House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and a packed crowd of onlookers from both sides of the debate.When seats in the House Chamber were filled, onlookers packed the hallway outside the room, watching on TV screens, often side by side with people who wanted an entirely different outcome from the hearing.H.J.R. 3 has two provisions: The first reaffirms the existing state statute that only heterosexual marriages are recognized in Indiana, and the second prohibits creating a legal status “substantially similar” to marriage, such as civil unions.The Judiciary Committee vote, which was expected to take place Monday, but will now be rescheduled for a yet unannounced date, would allow the full House to consider H.J.R. 3. After the House, a Senate committee and the full Senate could vote on the resolution.Indiana law already bans same-sex marriage, but putting it in the constitution makes it considerably harder to overturn because amending the document requires overcoming several hurdles.An amendment must be approved by the state House and Senate in two successive legislative sessions and then win support from the majority of voters in the next election. Nullifying an amendment requires the same process.By contrast, existing laws defining marriage would require only a new law to be passed or for a state judge to declare the law unconstitutional.“This amendment simply protects state statute,” Turner said.Even though the ban already exists, opponents say an amendment will hurt the state’s public perception.“It actually matters little how voters vote on this amendment,” Eli Lilly Senior Vice President Stephen Fry said. “The damage to our reputation will be done.”In recent months, businesses and other large organizations, including IU, have expressed concern about the latter provision, saying it could make recruiting employees difficult.“We will be reluctant to continue to add jobs in Indiana if our state is less welcoming and inclusive to employees,” Cummins Vice President Marya Rose said in her testimony.Cummins and IU worry their policies of allowing same-sex partners of employees to receive health benefits could be in jeopardy if the amendment passes. “I advised the president of IU that there is a high likelihood that IU would be sued to stop providing those benefits,” IU Vice President and General Counsel Jackie Simmons said in the first testimony of the day. “I also think there’s a high likelihood IU could lose.”But supporters of the amendment say these concerns are unfounded, that the amendment was never intended to interfere with the benefits companies and universities provide for their employees or their families. That’s why H.J.R. 3 author Rep. Eric Turner, R-Cicero, wrote H.B. 1153.It says the marriage amendment is not intended to interfere with employee benefits, including for state entities like IU, or the adoption of state or local laws to “protect or provide for the property, health or safety of unmarried persons.”Supporters testified mostly about the role of marriage and its historical roots and urged the committee to put the amendment on the ballot for Hoosier voters to decide.Ryan Anderson of the Heritage Foundation, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., said the primary purpose of marriage is the wellbeing and positive upbringing of children, and allowing same-sex marriage changes that focus to “adult desires.”If the amendment does not pass, nothing will change about the state’s existing ban on gay marriage, but opponents are concerned it could take years to overturn it if it does make its way into the constitution.“We support H.J.R. 3 as a means to defend the nature of marriage as a union between one man and one woman,” said Glenn Tebbe, executive director of the Indiana Catholic Conference.Meanwhile, outside the House chamber, supporters and opponents of the amendment watched the hearing. Most opponents held signs furnished by Freedom Indiana, a nonprofit dedicated to stopping H.J.R. 3 from passing. Supporters wore buttons and held signs demanding the amendment be put on the ballot for voters to have their voices heard.Though there were no major incidents, the tense environment outside the House Chamber led to several small conflicts between advocates from the two sides. One man was ejected from the chamber during the pro-amendment testimony. Amidst cheers, laughs and retorts, the environment was tense.Students and staff from Freedom Indiana’s IU affiliate made the trip up from Bloomington to stand alongside volunteers from around the state.“This bill promotes discrimination,” Kayla Davenport, a volunteer from Lafayette said. “It promotes an environment of discrimination. It’s not conducive to an environment I would like to see in Indiana.”If the House and Senate support the amendment and it goes before voters on the November ballot, Davenport said she’ll continue advocating for its defeat.Just a few yards to Davenport’s left, Jocelyn-Tandy Adande, president of the African American Republican Council of Marion County held a “Vote yes on H.J.R. 3” sign.“As a black female, I’ve been discriminated against all my life,” she said.But for Adande, same-sex marriage is not about discrimination. It’s about declining morality.“I don’t want to live in Sodom and Gomorrah in Indianapolis, Ind.” she said. “They say the climate has changed on this issue. Let’s hear from all the voters in 92 counties.”This amendment and ones like it have been considered in the General Assembly for 10 years.The Senate has passed similar amendments six times, and the House has passed it twice, but the full list of requirements to amend the constitution has yet to be completed.The current amendment passed both houses by overwhelming majorities in 2011. At the time it was called H.J.R. 6.If any of the votes this session fail, supporters will have to start fresh during the next legislative session, which begins in January 2015.“We’ve been debating this since 2004,” Turner said. “It’s time to put it to rest, put the debate to rest.”Follow reporter Michael Auslen on Twitter @MichaelAuslen.
(01/14/14 4:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>INDIANAPOLIS – After hearing almost four hours of testimony Monday, a state legislative committee delayed the first in a series of key votes that could put a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in front of Indiana voters this November.Supporters and opponents of the amendment, House Joint Resolution 3, and House Bill 1153, a clarification of the amendment’s purpose and language, presented experts to give testimony before the state House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and a packed crowd of onlookers from both sides of the debate.When seats in the House Chamber were filled, onlookers packed the hallway outside the room, watching on TV screens, often side by side with people who wanted an entirely different outcome from the hearing.H.J.R. 3 has two provisions: The first reaffirms the existing state statute that only heterosexual marriages are recognized in Indiana, and the second prohibits creating a legal status “substantially similar” to marriage, such as civil unions.The Judiciary Committee vote, which was expected to take place Monday, but will now be rescheduled for a yet unannounced date, would allow the full House to consider H.J.R. 3. After the House, a Senate committee and the full Senate could vote on the resolution.A ban on same-sex marriage is already codified in Indiana law, but putting it in the constitution makes it considerably harder to overturn because amending the document requires overcoming several hurdles.An amendment must be approved by the state House and Senate in two successive legislative sessions and then win support from the majority of voters in the next election. Nullifying an amendment requires the same process.By contrast, existing laws defining marriage would require only a new law to be passed or for a state judge to declare the law unconstitutional.“This amendment simply protects state statute,” Turner said.Even though the ban already exists, opponents say an amendment will hurt the state’s public perception.“It actually matters little how voters vote on this amendment,” Eli Lilly Senior Vice President Stephen Fry said. “The damage to our reputation will be done.”In recent months, businesses and other large organizations, including IU, have expressed concern about the latter provision, saying it could make recruiting employees difficult.“We will be reluctant to continue to add jobs in Indiana if our state is less welcoming and inclusive to employees,” Cummins Vice President Marya Rose said in her testimony.Cummins and IU worry their policies of allowing same-sex partners of employees to receive health benefits could be in jeopardy if the amendment passes. “I advised the president of IU that there is a high likelihood that IU would be sued to stop providing those benefits,” IU Vice President and General Counsel Jackie Simmons said in the first testimony of the day. “I also think there’s a high likelihood IU could lose.”But supporters of the amendment say these concerns are unfounded, that the amendment was never intended to interfere with the benefits companies and universities provide for their employees or their families. That’s why H.J.R. 3 author Rep. Eric Turner, R-Cicero, wrote H.B. 1153.It says the marriage amendment is not intended to interfere with employee benefits, including for state entities like IU, or the adoption of state or local laws to “protect or provide for the property, health or safety of unmarried persons.”Supporters testified mostly about the role of marriage and its historical roots and urged the committee to put the amendment on the ballot for Hoosier voters to decide.Ryan Anderson of the Heritage Foundation, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., said the primary purpose of marriage is the wellbeing and positive upbringing of children, and allowing same-sex marriage changes that focus to “adult desires.”If the amendment does not pass, nothing will change about the state’s existing ban on gay marriage, but opponents are concerned it could take years to overturn it if it does make its way into the constitution.“We support H.J.R. 3 as a means to defend the nature of marriage as a union between one man and one woman,” said Glenn Tebbe, executive director of the Indiana Catholic Conference.Meanwhile, outside the House chamber, supporters and opponents of the amendment watched the hearing. Most opponents held signs furnished by Freedom Indiana, a nonprofit dedicated to stopping H.J.R. 3 from passing. Supporters wore buttons and held signs demanding the amendment be put on the ballot for voters to have their voices heard.Though there were no major incidents, the tense environment outside the House Chamber led to several small conflicts between advocates from the two sides. One man was ejected from the chamber during the pro-amendment testimony. Amidst cheers, laughs and retorts, the environment was tense.Students and staff from Freedom Indiana’s IU affiliate made the trip up from Bloomington to stand alongside volunteers from around the state.“This bill promotes discrimination,” Kayla Davenport, a volunteer from Lafayette said. “It promotes an environment of discrimination. It’s not conducive to an environment I would like to see in Indiana.”If the House and Senate support the amendment and it goes before voters on the November ballot, Davenport said she’ll continue advocating for its defeat.Just a few yards to Davenport’s left, Jocelyn-Tandy Adande, president of the African American Republican Council of Marion County held a “Vote yes on H.J.R. 3” sign.“As a black female, I’ve been discriminated against all my life,” she said.But for Adande, same-sex marriage is not about discrimination. It’s about declining morality.“I don’t want to live in Sodom and Gomorrah in Indianapolis, Ind.” she said. “They say the climate has changed on this issue. Let’s hear from all the voters in 92 counties.”This amendment and ones like it have been considered in the General Assembly for 10 years.The Senate has passed similar amendments six times, and the House has passed it twice, but the full list of requirements to amend the constitution has yet to be completed.The current amendment passed both houses by overwhelming majorities in 2011. At the time it was called H.J.R. 6.If any of the votes this session fail, supporters will have to start fresh during the next legislative session, which begins in January 2015.“We’ve been debating this since 2004,” Turner said. “It’s time to put it to rest, put the debate to rest.”Follow reporter Michael Auslen on Twitter @MichaelAuslen
(01/13/14 8:32pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>INDIANAPOLIS — After more than three hours of testimony from supporters and opponents of Indiana’s proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, the House Judiciary Committee adjourned without a vote at about 1:40 p.m. Monday.The House chamber and hallways in the Statehouse were filled with people on both sides of the issue awaiting the vote, which is the first of several House Joint Resolution 3 must survive for the amendment to go on the ballot for November’s general election.The amendment would enshrine the definition of marriage in the state constitution as being between a man and a woman and prevent the creation of legal statuses similar to marriage, such as civil unions.Continue checking idsnews.com for updates.
(01/13/14 7:43pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>S.B. 197: Higher education funding The bill would bring representatives of 15 state campuses into the process for determining public university funding for the 2015-2017 budget. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education makes recommendations to the state legislature and governor for state school funding every other year. The recommendations are typically based on a formula determined by the commission and requests from university administrators.If this bill passes, a majority of campus representatives would need to approve of the funding model by the end of the year in order for the commission to recommend it to the state. The universities to be included are all IU and Purdue University campuses, Ball State University, Indiana State University, University of Southern Indiana and Ivy Tech Community College.Status: Referred to the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development after first reading.Sponsor: Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-AuburnH.B. 1105: Welfare benefitsThis pushes the state toward two changes to government assistance programs that could limit their flexibility.The bill calls for the state Division of Family Resources to develop a pilot program requiring some recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly called food stamps, to purchase only food and drinks deemed highly nutritious by the state with their benefits.A successful pilot program could lead to broader adoption of the rules in Indiana.It also would require a photo ID to spend any money from government benefits beginning July 1, except for those 65 years or older.Status: Referred to the House Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs after first reading.Sponsor: Rep. Cindy Ziemke, R-BatesvilleFollow reporter Michael Auslen on Twitter @michaelauslen
(01/10/14 4:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s legislation season in Indianapolis. The state General Assembly won’t be looking at a budget this year, but there are hot issues ahead nonetheless during this “short session,” which started Tuesday and continues through March 14. Among them are a constitutional amendment reinforcing the state’s ban on same-sex marriages and an expansion to the school voucher program.Local elected representatives will be working to see the bills they think are most important enacted this session. Here’s a look at what they’re focused on.Rep. Peggy Mayfield, RWork toward lower unemployment“The No. 1 priority for, I think, everybody in this session regardless of party is jobs and the skills gap,” Mayfield said. “Jobs, regardless of the economy, is always going to be a top priority.”She said she’s hoping to see legislation try to increase training for technical skills, but many businesses have told her they’re concerned about soft skills, like punctuality and professionalism as well.Reform criminal sentencingMayfield will take on one of several bills as part of an ongoing effort to reform the state’s criminal sentencing requirements. This is a process that started several years ago, she said, and will continue to be tweaked during the session until being enacted July 1. Most notably, the new sentencing rules have six categories of felonies, rather than four, which is intended to curb sentences that are “too harsh or not harsh enough,” she said.“They broke it down even further to try and make the sentence more appropriately fit the crime.”Allow electronic insurance notificationBelieve it or not, in the year 2014, state law often specifies that insurance providers must issue notices via first-class or certified U.S. Mail.Mayfield has introduced legislation to allow customers to opt into electronic notification.“I think we’ll see that more and more, the permissive electronic commerce,” she said.Rep. Matt Pierce, DRaise the minimum wagePierce said his main concern is that wages aren’t increasing fast enough for many Indiana workers.“We have a really terrible record when it comes to wage growth,” he said. “We’re really behind the curve. We’ve lost a lot of those manufacturing jobs that not only paid high wages but had good benefits.”His solution? Increase the minimum wage from $7.25, a decision many states have made in the past year to encourage higher wages.Keep top science and technology students hereAnother way Pierce said he hopes to build higher-paying industrial and manufacturing jobs is by encouraging the state’s top 1,000 graduates in STEM fields to stay in Indiana. STEM fields are the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics.He plans to support legislation that would waive the first five years of income taxes for these 1,000 top university graduates.Increase renewable energy usePierce is writing his own bill to encourage building more wind and solar power infrastructure in Indiana.“Once you get the infrastructure in place, they last for a long time and the cost of that energy doesn’t increase because the wind doesn’t arrive one day and say, ‘I’m going to charge you more to come through here,’” Pierce said.His bill would require utility companies to purchase energy from individuals who install solar panels and wind turbines. The goal is to allow people to profit from renewable energy they generate and pump more of that energy into the power grid.Sen. Mark Stoops, DExpand the Lifeline LawStoops is writing legislation to expand the protections of the Lifeline Law, which currently provides amnesty from underage drinking charges for those who call for medical help when people around them have consumed too much alcohol.He said he hopes an expanded law would also protect those under the influence of illegal drugs.“We shouldn’t have people die because other people are afraid they’ll get in trouble,” Stoops said.Make Medicaid more availableIndiana is one of the handful of states that have chosen not to expand Medicaid using funds made available by the federal Affordable Care Act.Rather than expand Medicaid, Republican Gov. Mike Pence has promoted the Healthy Indiana Plan, which he says incentivizes preventative care, but Stoops said hasn’t helped many low-income Hoosiers.“We’re looking at about 300,000 people in Indiana who are not eligible to purchase subsidized coverage on the exchange and are also not low-income enough to be eligible for Medicaid,” Stoops said.Encourage recycling statewideStoops is working on bills he hopes will require recyclables not be put in landfills and make it cheaper for individuals to recycle than to throw away trash.“In Monroe County, you pay for trash and recycling is free, and that encourages diverting recyclable materials from the landfill,” he said.He said he hopes to achieve the same effect statewide.Follow reporter Michael Auslen on Twitter @MichaelAuslen.
(10/22/13 4:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When IU women’s soccer players compete at home, they’re surrounded by success — not their own, but that of the men who play on the same field.Fourteen Big Ten season titles. Eleven Big Ten tournament titles. Eight national championships. Eighteen College Cups. Even the grass beneath their feet, Jerry Yeagley Field, bears the name of the men’s team’s most successful coach.On Oct. 12, the Hoosier women took on the Iowa Hawkeyes. The team ran onto the field undefeated at home. Crowd members cheered for friends and family. A loyal group of Iowa supporters congregated in one section of the south bleachers.Four hundred forty-four people came on the Saturday evening to watch the Hoosiers and Hawkeyes.Three days later, droplets of rain fell on 1,434 people as the men’s team was shut out 3-0 by Louisville.On average, seven times as many fans have watched the men play at home this season than the women, according to IU Athletics Department data. The men’s budget is 1 1/2 times larger than the women’s. Men’s Coach Todd Yeagley’s base salary is almost twice as much as Women’s Coach Amy Berbary. In IU’s history, the women’s soccer team has won one Big Ten season title and one Big Ten tournament title, both in 1996, a season the Indiana Daily Student called “surreal” at the time.This sort of inequity is commonplace in collegiate athletics, not just in the Big Ten but throughout the country.In June 1972, President Richard Nixon signed Title IX into law. One of the effects of the law, written by Sen. Birch Bayh of Indiana, was a theoretical end to inequity in college sports.IU is compliant with Title IX, which bans gender discrimination in education but doesn’t set specific requirements for college athletics departments.“The reality is, Title IX is broad legislation,” said Julie Cromer, executive associate athletics director. “There are three ways to demonstrate compliance with Title IX. We focus on all of those, but any one could be enough to satisfy the law.” A MEN’S SPORTS SCHOOLFor 41 years, IU has had to meet a legal obligation of equity.Despite the vague demands of Title IX, athletics department officials hold themselves to a high standard, Cromer said. Every year, they submit compliance documents to the NCAA and evaluate their programs independently.Are there the same number of positions on teams for both women and men?Are scholarships distributed equally between men and women?Is the quality of the experiences and services provided to athletes the same for both sexes?On paper, these metrics fall within the athletics department’s targets. The gender breakdown of athletic programs is within a few percentage points of the campus enrollment breakdown, according to IU’s Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act documents. Athletes have access to the support and amenities they need, and coaches are paid competitive salaries within their respective sports, Cromer said.Yet this mathematical equity doesn’t often translate into women’s championships on the court, track, course or field.As a community, Hoosiers glory in the five national championship banners in Assembly Hall. They wear with pride eight stars on men’s soccer apparel. Those athletic successes help define IU, said Gary Sailes, a sports sociologist and associate professor in the School of Public Health.“This is a men’s basketball school,” Sailes said. “Sport is a religion. We lead that cultural ideology for the state. Every kid grows up and wants to play basketball for IU.”Since 1932, IU teams have won 25 national championships: eight in soccer, six in swimming and diving, five in basketball, three in cross country, one in track and field, one in wrestling and one in tennis.Twelve of those championships came after Title IX became law in 1972.Only the last one — tennis in 1982 — was won by a women’s team.That tennis championship was far from the only success in IU’s women’s sports history. Ten women have won individual national championships, and the women’s swimming and diving team won four Big Ten championships in five years from 2007-2011. Five Hoosier women competed in the 2012 Olympics, and Margaux Farrell was part of a bronze medal-winning French team in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay.“While we have one team national championship on the women’s side, there have been individual performances that have been pretty spectacular as well,” Cromer said. “We’ve had some pretty phenomenal women come through the program and gone on to win medals and national championships after their time at IU.”These successes are prominent in IU sports history, but the athletics department hasn’t been able to expand them across more sports to create the sort of tradition of success that exists in men’s sports.“The history is what it is,” she said. “I don’t think Indiana University was necessarily an outlier in its approach to women’s sports in the past. My sense is that we were very much in keeping with what was going on nationally.”SOLVING FOR EQUITY“All they have to do is win.”That’s what Sailes’s students tell him each year after he instructs his Sport in American Society students to attend a women’s basketball game.His students all go to a game — they’re free with a student ID — and report back. As a class, they discuss what they saw and how the women’s and men’s games differ.“Would you go to another women’s game?”That’s the last question Sailes asks his students after their discussion.“Yeah, I might,” they say. If the team starts winning.Since Athletics Director Fred Glass was hired in 2009, the athletics department has prioritized success in women’s sports, embarking on what Cromer called an “aggressive” campaign to hire the best coaches.“We will not just win and not just compete but win championships,” Cromer said. “What I think is unique about this time in IU athletics history is that we have a real opportunity to make some headway with women’s sports.”Success in any athletic program requires highly competitive players and highly competitive coaches.One of the largest roadblocks preventing IU from winning more in women’s sports has been a shallow pool of top players that almost always go to the elite programs. In women’s basketball, schools like the University of Connecticut and University of Tennessee, both of which have eight national championships, have commanded national attention for their success and attracted top players at the same time.“UConn’s been great because there’s been a thin pool of players, and they’ve been in that pool bringing most of the players to them,” Cromer said.Sailes said he believes IU will never be on the level of UConn or Tennessee in women’s basketball. “It’s about the culture of the institution,” he said. “It’s about men’s basketball here.”But the athletics department disagrees. It sees women’s basketball as a sport ripe for improvement.The basketball culture of Indiana could easily embrace success in the women’s team as well as the men’s team, Cromer said.In an attempt to turn around a women’s basketball program that hasn’t played in an NCAA tournament in more than 10 years, the athletics department hired Coach Curt Miller, whose record of success is better than any other women’s basketball coach in IU history, Cromer said.“We’re very happy with the progress he and his staff have made on the recruiting front here,” Cromer said. “Much of the reaction we’re seeing confirms our notion that there’s a target-rich environment and people who would be interested in coming to Indiana to play women’s basketball.”Sailes said a couple of successful seasons could completely change fans’ perspective of the team. And in a state where basketball is more a way of life than a game, that could change the whole culture surrounding the sport at IU.“Winning takes care of everything,” he said. “That’s what my students believe.”PAYING FOR 24 SPORTSThe IU Athletics Department commands a budget of $70.1 million a year.That’s more than the annual budget of the Jacobs School of Music, the School of Public and Environmental Affairs or the School of Education. It’s more than the University spends each year to operate its campuses in Gary, Richmond and Kokomo.Cut out a little less than half the budget for general operations, facilities and academic support. Take another $13 million to cover scholarships. What’s left — $23.6 million — funds IU’s 24 sports. It pays for coaches’ salaries, travel, recruitment and office fees. It feeds athletes and provides them with equipment.When IU Athletics allocates each year’s budget, it focuses on meeting each team’s needs, which means each team won’t have the same expenses as every other team, Cromer said.“The food bill for our offensive linemen alone is much more expensive than for our entire women’s cross country team,” she said.There remains, however, a massive discrepancy between the funds available to the men’s basketball and football teams and those available to the remaining 22 sports. Football and men’s basketball, the revenue sports, will together spend more money this year than every other IU sports team combined. Coaches Tom Crean and Kevin Wilson will each earn a salary higher than IU President Michael McRobbie and could be eligible for $1 million to $2 million in bonuses. This reflects the income model of the department, which is almost completely self-supporting. Almost 60 percent of the department’s revenue can be tied to men’s basketball and football. Fifteen percent of the department’s annual revenue came from radio and TV contracts for football alone.Across the board, IU directs its spending to follow market trends. Cromer said the athletics department aims for near the middle of the Big Ten when it makes salary offers for coaches.“You can pay a very competitive salary to a softball coach that is different from a men’s basketball coach,” she said.In 2012, Crean earned almost $2.5 million, making him the highest-paid public employee in Indiana. Softball Coach Michelle Gardner made $106,386.“One of the things that I often say here as we’re planning and preparing budgets for future cycles is that we don’t have to spend money the same way we make money,” Cromer said. “We only have two truly revenue sports here at Indiana.“That doesn’t mean that we have to spend all our money in the same two sports where we make it.” A CHANGE OF MINDSETThe sun starts to set on a lazy Bloomington Saturday evening. From her spot in the front row of the bleachers in Bill Armstrong Stadium, sophomore Samantha Feather can see Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium to the west.She’s a director on Student Athletic Board, which organizes student sections for every sport. At the women’s soccer game, the student section is small.Feather said she thinks people have higher expectations for men’s sports than women’s.“People think they have a more exciting atmosphere and they’re more aggressive,” she said.Although the Hoosiers lost to the Hawkeyes 2-1, they’re in the middle of one of their best seasons in years. They’ve won 11 games for the first time since 1998.“I think you have to just completely change mindsets,” she said. “They (were) undefeated at home, women’s soccer. But people still don’t come out to see them.”Follow reporter Michael Auslen on Twitter @MichaelAuslen.
(10/03/13 4:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In front of Bloomington’s Social Security Administration building, one of the few federal services still open during the government shutdown, Democrat Bill Bailey announced Wednesday he will run for the United States House of Representatives in 2014.A former Seymour, Ind., mayor, Bailey is the first Democrat to declare for the 9th District seat, which covers most of south-central Indiana including all of Monroe County and is currently occupied by Republican Rep. Todd Young.“The country and future that my children and grandchildren seem destined to inherit are not as full of hope and opportunities as I enjoyed,” he said to a small group of journalists and local supporters.Bailey said among his primary legislative priorities are supporting education, reducing unemployment and helping seniors through Social Security.“Congress gives bazillions of dollars a year to people around the world, many of whom don’t even like us, and yet Congressman Young tries to increase the cost of a college education by raising the interest rates on Stafford loans,” he said.More than a year out from the General Election, Bailey and Young are the only two candidates who have filed with the Federal Election Commission. Bailey filed his first paperwork with the FEC at the end of July. Young filed initial paperwork last November.Bailey said he’s joining the race early so he can get ahead of the pack.“It’s like starting on the inside lane in Churchill Downs,” Bailey said. “Anyone else who joins the race will have to catch up to me.”A race against Young or another Republican wouldn’t come until after the Democratic primary election May 6, 2014. Right now, though, Young is focusing on his congressional responsibilities, not next year’s election, campaign spokesman Trevor Foughty said in an email.“Campaigning will come when it is appropriate, but now is the time to put politics aside to develop responsible solutions,” Foughty said. “While Rep. Young will likely seek reelection next year, he is currently focused on doing the job he was elected twice to do.”Bailey and others at his announcement said they were concerned by the current government shutdown.Dee Owens, who works for the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., was declared non-essential personnel Monday. Going to work or even checking her email would be considered a felony, so she came home to Monroe County until she’s allowed to go back to work.Owens said she hasn’t decided who to support in the primary because most candidates still haven’t declared their intention to run, but she has been displeased by the current Congress’s disagreements and the shutdown.The Monroe County Democratic Party is gearing up for a fight. Chairman Trent Deckard said he thinks a Democrat could win the 9th District.“Todd Young has done everything possible to not only make the 9th District competitive but to make it a Democratic pickup,” Deckard said.The last Democrat to hold the 9th District seat was Baron Hill, who served five non-consecutive terms in the House before Young unseated him in 2010 as part of the wave of Republican victories nationwide.Young won again by a wide margin in 2012. Monroe County was one of just three counties where Democratic challenger Shelli Yoder beat him.Now, Bailey thinks he’s up to the task.“Members of Congress seem more interested and intent on finger pointing, political bickering and polarizing than governing,” Bailey said. “Like never before, we need a congressional representative who isn’t owing to extremist factions and is willing to work across the political aisle to get things done.”Follow reporter Michael Auslen on Twitter @MichaelAuslen.
(09/17/13 4:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Two hundred twenty six years ago in Philadelphia, 40 men signed the Constitution.Today it still guides our government, our politics and our national conversation.With every new controversy or issue, citizens and leaders appeal to the principles enshrined in the document and beg to protect it, as with the ongoing debate about the National Security Agency that began this summer.For Constitution Day, Sept. 17, the Indiana Daily Student talked to two experts and former national security leaders with IU ties — former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and former Rep. Lee Hamilton — about what role the Constitution plays in a modern world.Robert Gates served as Secretary of defense from 2006-2011 as a member of both George W. Bush and Barack Obama’s cabinets. Prior to that, he was director of the Central Intelligence Agency for President George H.W. Bush. Gates earned a master’s degree in history from IU in 1966.IDS What do you see as the role of the Constitution in our government and our society today?GATES The key for me in the national security arena has been the dual responsibility under the Constitution of Congress and the president. In the realm of national security under the Constitution, Congress is charged with raising armies and maintaining navies, and clearly there is a role for the Congress in terms of declaration of war.We’ve fought two major wars in the last decade, and in neither case was war declared by Congress. I think the continuing dilemma that faces government in terms of the continuing balancing of power between the executive and legislative branches in the world in which I operated. There (intelligence), I think Congress has been more assertive in the creation of congressional oversight committees where they have done a good job, I think over the last 30 to 40 years in overseeing the executive branch intelligence community.IDS In the NSA debate, we’ve seen two constitutional principles of security and privacy at odds. How can we find the right balance for them?GATES This debate over the balance between freedom and security has been going on since the beginning of the Republic. It is an inherent tension, and it goes on the national security side back to a statement by Chief Justice Rob Jackson that the Constitution is not a suicide pact. We can’t make known all our secrets in the name of freedom, because then we’ll have no freedom or security.Congress has done a good job. Can it do better? Always. But what has struck me is that neither Republicans nor Democrats serving on oversight committees have identified any wrongdoing by anyone, have not identified anything they were not already aware of.IDS Young people have a reputation for not being engaged in the political process and these constitutional discussions. Is that something you see to be true, and how do we fix that?GATES That may be true for young people as a whole, but I will tell you the young people I came in contact with as president of Texas A&M and chancellor at William and Mary were engaged, knowledgeable and passionate, many of them in public service. If you want to paint with a broad brush any people between the ages of 21 and 31, that generalization may be true, but I ran into a lot of young people engaged with public service and the community.Lee Hamilton represented Indiana’s 9th District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1965-1999, including as chair of the House Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees. He was also a member of the 9/11 Commission. Hamilton is now the director of IU’s Center on Congress.IDS What do you see as the role of the Constitution in our government and our society today?HAMILTON The Constitution is absolutely bedrock. It infuses and should infuse everything that is done within government, and it sets the institutional arrangements, it limits government power and government intrusion. It is deeply respected.One interesting thing from my experience is that I, like any politician, you hold a lot of public meetings. Over a period of 34 years holding public meetings in Indiana, I cannot remember a single time when a person rejected the Constitution. In other words, they accepted it, and they accepted the validity of it, and they accepted it as setting the parameters of government. And that's extraordinary.You and I may have a lot of differences of opinion on what do you do about health care or what do you do about Syria, but we know that we're going to resolve those differences within the institutions, the procedures, the processes that were set out for us in the Constitution, and that's been a major factor — some people would say the major factor — but it's been a major factor for sure in the unity and the success of our country.IDS Is there any validity to the mindset that the Constitution is being in some way trampled on?HAMILTON The founding fathers were deeply suspicious of concentrated power, even in the president. And they did not think that power should be concentrated in one person, so they developed this elaborate system of checks and balances.The debate today about the NSA surveillance and monitoring is at heart a question of power. Should the intelligence community have that kind of power? And they argue they should and others say it's too much power.IDS Young people have a reputation for not being engaged in the political process and these constitutional discussions. Is that something you see to be true, and how do we fix that?HAMILTON The reason you have a struggle over student loans and the interest rates while older people are very amply funded in Medicare and Social Security is that they pay attention and you don't. They exercise their vote and their responsibility of citizenship much more than you do generally. The politicians know that, and so the federal government budget is heavily tilted toward older people, not younger people. That doesn't make any sense in terms of the priorities of the nation. We ought to be at least as supportive of the young people as we are of the older people because the younger people are the future, not old people like me. So young people pay for their lack of interest in government.There are a lot of reasons, but young people need to pay more attention to the Constitution and to vote.Follow reporter Michael Auslen on Twitter @MichaelAuslen.
(09/12/13 1:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>About three dozen firefighters and police officers saluted a flag swiftly raised then lowered steadily to half-staff. Bagpipers, a trumpeter and dignitaries stood by U.S., Indiana and Bloomington flags.Outside Bloomington City Hall in Showers Plaza, people commented how Wednesday’s humid, 90-degree heat reminded them of the weather on Sept. 11, 2001. They shared their stories, where they were when they heard about the terrorist attacks and how much had changed in the last 12 years.“Most of us remember where we were that morning,” said Tom Hanify, president of the Professional Firefighters Union of Indiana. “We watched on TV while the world changed.”Yet among the more than 50 people who gathered at the city’s annual ceremony to mark the anniversary of Sept. 11, almost all were emergency personnel or elected officials. Few other community members or traditional college-aged people were there.“That’s a real problem for us,” said Bob Loviscek, president of the Bloomington Metropolitan Professional Firefighters Local 586. “Crowds have gotten smaller, but it’s still important.”Twelve years after the attacks, Bloomington’s newest residents — the IU freshmen class — were just 6 years old on Sept. 11, Hanify said.They have limited memory of what happened. With each new group of freshmen on campus, fewer people will have any memory of Sept. 11 at all. In six years, most of the freshmen wouldn’t have been alive the day of the attacks.“Our ability to do these ceremonies and pass on knowledge is the best we can do,” Loviscek said.Loviscek said Sept. 11 plays a role similar to Pearl Harbor in our history. As it becomes part of the increasingly distant past, the day’s significance remains strongest in those most intimately involved and those who continue to do the same work in communities like Bloomington.“The further away from Sept. 11 we get, the easier it is for some of us to forget,” Hanify said. “It’s important that we keep our promise to never forget.”***Sirens broke through the mostly quiet ceremony as emergency vehicles hurried away in response to a call.“There was almost a poetic nature to the fact that just as we’re starting this ceremony, that 911 call comes in and the firefighters head off to who knows what,” Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan said. “That is just what you all as police, firefighters, rescue workers do on a day-to-day basis, and the rest of us are just in awe of that.”Kruzan and other dignitaries spoke about the uncertainties of a post-Sept. 11 world, underscored by President Obama’s address Tuesday night about military action in Syria.“It was such a shock to all of us what happened that day,” said Dick Dunbar, commander of American Legion Post 18 in Bloomington. “We thought it couldn’t happen in our country, but it did, and it could happen again. The War on Terror continues today.”Although the ceremony took place near the Bloomington Police and Fire Memorial in Showers Plaza, speakers honored civilian victims of the attacks in addition to the emergency personnel who responded to the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the field in Stonycreek Township, Pa.They laid a wreath by the memorial, raised a U.S. flag to half-staff and performed a three-volley salute — seven officers shot rifles three times each in unison.A trumpeter played “Taps.” One bagpiper played “Amazing Grace,” and two others joined in for a second chorus.“We continue to mourn the more than 3,000 souls that were lost that fateful day,” Kruzan said. “But it’s important to remember the thousands of lives that were saved.”***On Sept. 12, 2005, the Indiana Daily Student ran a front-page story saying that just four years after Sept. 11, “commemoration of the attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, appears to have taken a backseat.”As time passes, even an event as momentous as Sept. 11 slips into the background, becoming history.But for Bloomington firefighters who organize the event each year with the city, Bloomington Police Department, IU Police Department and various speakers, the event still serves a purpose in attempting to educate the public and remind Bloomington residents of the tragic attacks 12 years ago.“We’ve kept it alive and will continue to keep it alive,” Loviscek said. “If firefighters are the only ones who attend, so what? We’ll still be here.”Follow reporter Michael Auslen on Twitter @MichaelAuslen.
(06/07/13 8:47pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Before Herman B Wells took charge of IU as president in 1938, the University was just a small midwestern college with 11,000 students. By the time he died in 2000, it had become a world-renowned institution with more than 90,000 students on eight campuses.“He put Indiana University on the map,” James Capshew, associate professor of history and philosophy of science and author of a Wells biography, said. “Not just in the Big Ten, but nationally and internationally.” Wells served as the 11th president of IU from 1938 to 1962 and as chancellor from 1962 until he passed away in 2000.He came here as a student in 1921 and fell in love with the campus, Capshew said.“When he became president, he was determined to offer students a similar experience to what he had,” Capshew said.Wells is known for making some of the most substantial changes to the University that helped make it what it is today.“He created, I think, a very extraordinary culture in Bloomington,” Chancellor Emeritus Ken Gros Louis, a man who knew Wells, said. “The most recently hired custodian was as important to him as the most distinguished professor.”There are many stories about Wells’ successful desegregation efforts in Bloomington and on campus, and they were all done in a similar, nontraditional fashion.“He didn’t rustle feathers,” Capshew said. “He found a way to remove barriers.”During the early part of his presidency, The Gables, a restaurant originally located on Indiana Avenue, did not serve black students. Wells called the owner of the restaurant and asked him to serve blacks. The owner refused.“Wells said, ‘I understand, but I hope you will understand if I make The Gables off-limits to all students,’” Gros Louis said. “The owner started serving black students.”Wells was also the driving force behind IU recruiting the first black basketball player in the Big Ten. He stood up against powerful figures, such as the governor, in defense of Alfred Kinsey, whose controversial research into human sexuality drew criticism from big name leaders locally and internationally. As president and chancellor, Wells kept in mind the future growth of the University and realized that because the institution would far outlive him, he ought to provide for its future.The board of trustees criticized Wells when he bought the land upon which Assembly Hall now rests, Gros Louis said.“That’s the kind of vision he had,” Gros Louis said, “And it’s why IU’s campus is so centralized.”The first building Wells had constructed as president was the IU Auditorium.“He said he built it because he wanted to tell students, especially students from rural Indiana, that the world was available to them,” Gros Louis said.That same spirit of global education was what led Wells to find instructors who could come from other countries and teach at IU.“Indiana University built the strongest foreign language program of any university in the nation,” Capshew said. “That really got started with Wells after World War II.”But beyond providing for its future, Wells genuinely cared about the University’s students, Capshew said.Wells developed a reputation for remembering people’s names, even if they had only met once, and he frequently took strolls around campus to meet students.In his old age, when he was not able to do that anymore, his assistants helped him.“He really led through that empathy, that fellow feeling that he had for students and faculty,” Capshew said.Today, Wells is still remembered on campus. The main library is named in his honor, and a bronze statue of him sits on a bench in the Old Crescent looking over Dunn Woods, an area he banned the University from developing.“He’s the one that made what I think is a very special culture,” Gros Louis said. “The time will come when nobody living will remember him, but he’ll still be remembered because of what he did for this University.”
(05/15/13 11:59pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Last month, a life jacket likely saved Robert Gilliland’s life.The 69-year-old Bloomington resident was thrown from a boat in Lake Monroe after the vessel hit something underwater. Conservation officers attributed his survival in part to his life jacket.Now, with summer here and people spending days out on Indiana’s lakes, a life jacket is one of the precautions experts say every boater should take.“Most people don’t like to wear the jackets because they feel they’re uncomfortable or they feel they’re not particularly stylish,” said Bob Kessler, a School of Public Health lecturer who teaches a course in boating safety.The number of open water drownings in the state has increased in recent years, reaching 47 last year, said Lt. Bill Browne of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.Nationwide, in more than half of boating accident deaths last year, victims were not wearing life jackets, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard.Indiana law requires that life jackets be onboard a boat, but do not require that people wear them, Browne said.“Not wearing them and only throwing them under the seats is legal, but it doesn’t make you any more safe,” he said. “There’s a public opinion that they want to make those decisions on their own. We’re just trying to get information out there.” But life jackets aren’t the only key to safety on the water. Kessler said it’s particularly important to be aware of other boaters and swimmers.“We see tragedies occur because they’re following tubers too close,” he said. “They’re running into other boaters and swimmers and people, so that’s probably first and foremost.”The Indiana Department of Natural Resources recommends one passenger serve as an observer whenever a boat is towing a tuber or skier to ensure safety. He also suggested taking the time to become familiar with a boat before using it.“Whether it’s the boat you’ve owned for a couple seasons or if it’s a rental boat or if it’s a friend’s boat, make sure you take time doing slow maneuvering, learning how to back the boat properly, how to spin your boat 360 degrees in a small area,” Kessler said. “These small maneuvers will help you with docking and putting your boat back on the trailer. These are probably the most stressful times.”There are a number of resources for those who aren’t familiar with power boats or want to learn more. Kessler teaches a course through the School of Public Health, I374: Keelboat and Powerboat Safety, which includes classroom teaching and hands-on boating experience.The U.S. Powerboating Association and United States Power Squadrons also offer online courses. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has an official course at inhea.com and additional resources on its law enforcement website, in.gov/dnr/lawenfor.Regardless of how much preparation goes into a day on the water, problems can still occur. State conservation officers patrol waterways to ensure laws are followed and help in times of crisis.Kessler also made some basic recommendations for trying to avoid collisions and managing unexpectedly rough weather.“In the vast majority of situations, the best choice is going to be to slow down,” he said. “Unfortunately, sometimes people will take the opposite reaction and think, ‘I’ve got to get out of here fast,’ and gun the engine.”Moving too fast limits maneuverability and decreases reaction times, he said. Most importantly, though, Kessler tells his students to think.“Do not let your enthusiasm for an activity override your common sense,” he said.The Customer Service Center offers DNR licenses, permits and maps. The center is at 402 West Washington Street, Room W160A in Indianapolis and is open 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Phone: (317) 232-4200 or (877) 463-6367.Also, visit the Department of Natural Resource’s website at in.gov/dnr.
(04/15/13 4:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>An Indiana Daily Student columnist was arrested Thursday evening by IU police after posting what officers considered a death threat on his personal Twitter account.At about 5 p.m., Alex Carlisle turned himself in at the IU Police Department station on East 17th Street, where he was interviewed. He was booked at Monroe County Jail at 5:26 p.m., Interim IUPD Chief Laury Flint said.Carlisle was released after posting bond and faces a preliminary felony intimidation charge. Carlisle tweeted “Kill Provost Robel” alongside a retweet of an @IUonStrike post. In his interview with IUPD officers, he said he was being sarcastic and did not intend the tweet as a threat to Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel. His Twitter account is no longer active.“He thought he was making it clear he was using sarcasm, so it was not meant to be taken seriously,” Flint said.Regardless, she said IU police take any apparent threat seriously, regardless of the circumstances or intended tone. Flint said the strike on campus did not lead police to treat this threat any differently. They followed usual procedure.Additionally, she cautioned that social media gives little context to posters’ thoughts beyond the words they transmit.“Much like email, it’s hard to communicate tone on social media,” Flint said.IDS editors are reviewing the situation and determining if Carlisle violated the IDS Code of Ethics or agreement for employment. Possible repercussions include suspension or dismissal, but no decision will be made until the review is complete.— Michael Auslen
(03/29/13 5:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After more than a week of uncertainty, the SPARC for IU ticket will remain on the IU Student Association ballot, the Student Body Supreme Court ruled early Thursday morning.SPARC was initially disqualified March 20 after Thomas Dauer, the ticket’s candidate for vice president of congress, withdrew citing time constraints, according to emails obtained from the court.“I recommend that you have Bronson (Bast) replace me; he seems very passionate about student government and his interests are more aligned with sustained commitment to the ticket,” Dauer wrote to presidential candidate Sidney Fletcher on March 19. “I don’t know if election rules will allow you to formally put him in my spot or if you’ll have to do that after the election.”This email was forwarded to Election Commissioner Melody Mostow, who suggested Dauer should withdraw officially before the commission would react. In response to his official withdrawal, the commission disqualified SPARC from the election, citing that the ticket did not have a full executive slate as required by the Election Code. As the filing deadline had passed, the commission said SPARC would not be able to replace Dauer.The SPARC ticket claimed Mostow violated a portion of the code that requires the commission to issue advisory opinions interpreting the code. Mostow and the commission said there was no request for an advisory opinion.“I was never asked for ‘an advisory opinion,’” Mostow said. “I’m not a law student, so my original interpretation of the code was based on common understanding of the words. It was not until I was accused of violating the code that I understood an advisory opinion had a technical legal definition.”There is no formal training process for the commission and very little institutional memory even for those who serve for more than one year because a new commission runs each election, she said.Although the court’s full opinion has not been released, the initial decision says the commission “failed to provide a sufficient advisory opinion.” It also says “SPARC must be allowed to replace members of its executive slate.”Chief Justice Matthew Bower did not release the court’s vote but said SPARC had a distinctive majority.“We were all obviously really happy,” Fletcher said. “My attitude personally is that the devil’s in the details, and it’s not clear at the moment what the court is going to say.”The court mandated that the Election Commission determine how Dauer’s replacement will be chosen and certified. Unless the full opinion suggests otherwise, Mostow said Dauer would likely need to be replaced by a congressional candidate who attended the All-Candidates Meeting. Because Dauer withdrew and never attended the meeting, he remains ineligible.Currently, the IUSA Election Code is silent on the issue of candidates dropping out mid-campaign, leaving it to the discretion of the commission.“We strictly interpreted the code,” Mostow said. “It had nothing to do with setting or not setting precedent. It was our honest attempt to understand.”She said one concern was maintaining a fair election not just for SPARC but for the other two tickets on the ballot, YOUniversity and Hoosiers 4 Solutions.“Had we tried to allow them to replace a candidate, I don’t think I would’ve felt right about that, and one of the other campaigns probably would’ve appealed it,” Mostow said.For his part, YOUniversity presidential candidate Jose Mitjavila said he’s glad SPARC remains in the race.“I wanted to see a better turnout candidate-wise this year,” he said. “I greatly appreciate the competition, and I’m glad they get to stay in the race.”Mitjavila is a member of the current administration, which ran unopposed. He also echoed concerns raised by the Election Commission about the need for candidates to be committed through the whole campaign process.“I feel the Supreme Court made the right decision, but I think it should’ve been emphasized that in the future we should be looking out for the commitment of the candidates,” he said. “You don’t want candidates that are just going to back out of the race halfway through.”Hoosiers 4 Solutions presidential candidate Casey Shelburne said he understood the commission’s initial decision that the filing deadline was final and believed they made the right call initially.“The Election Commission’s done a good job, and I understood where they were coming from,” Shelburne said. “Now I’ll just be interested to see where the Supreme Court was coming from.”He also said Hoosiers 4 Solutions is looking forward to a competitive election regardless of whether ticket members agreed with the court’s decision.For the time being, Fletcher and the SPARC ticket are waiting for details from the Election Commission about how to proceed. The commission will set the rules about who is eligible to fill Dauer’s vacated position.“We haven’t heard anything, and my guess is they’re doing the same thing we are, which is waiting for details from the court,” Fletcher said. “We’re dependent on the details and how the election commission reacts to that. We’re just waiting and listening at this point.”
(03/28/13 3:59am)
After a public hearing Wednesday night to hear evidence in the case of
SPARC v. Election Commission, the IU Student Supreme Court will take up
to 48 hours to decide whether SPARC will be allowed to continue in the
IU Student Association election next Tuesday and Wednesday.
(02/25/13 6:21pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Before Herman B Wells took charge of IU, the University was just a small Midwestern college with 11,000 students.By the time he died in 2000, it had become a world-renowned institution with more than 90,000 students on eight campuses.“He put Indiana University on the map,” said James Capshew, associate professor of history and philosophy of science and author of a Wells biography. “Not just in the Big Ten, but nationally and internationally.”Wells served as the 11th president of IU from 1938 to 1962 and as University chancellor from 1962 until he passed away in 2000.He came here as a student in 1921 and fell in love with the campus, Capshew said.“When he became president, he was determined to offer students a similar experience to what he had,” Capshew said.Wells is known for making some of the most substantial changes to the University that helped make it what it is today.“He created, I think, a very extraordinary culture in Bloomington,” said University Chancellor Emeritus Ken Gros Louis, who knew Wells. “The most recently hired custodian was as important to him as the most distinguished professor.”There are many stories about Wells’ successful desegregation efforts in Bloomington and on campus.“He didn’t rustle feathers,” Capshew said. “He found a way to remove barriers.”During the early part of his presidency, a restaurant originally located on Indiana Avenue, The Gables, did not serve black students. Wells called the owner of the restaurant and asked him to serve blacks. The owner refused.“Wells said, ‘I understand, but I hope you will understand if I make The Gables off-limits to all students,’” Gros Louis said. “The owner started serving black students.”Wells was also the driving force behind IU recruiting the first black basketball player in the Big Ten.He stood up against powerful figures in defense of Alfred Kinsey, whose research into human sexuality drew criticism.As president and chancellor, Wells kept in mind the future growth of the University and realized that because the institution would far outlive him, he should provide for its future.The first building Wells constructed as president was the IU Auditorium.“He said he built it because he wanted to tell students, especially students from rural Indiana, that the world was available to them,” Gros Louis said.Wells genuinely cared about the University’s students, Capshew said.Wells developed a reputation for remembering people’s names, even if they had only met once, and he frequently took strolls around campus to meet students. In his old age, his assistants helped him.“He really led through that empathy, that fellow feeling that he had for students and faculty,” Capshew said.Today, Wells is remembered on campus. The main library is named in his honor, and a bronze statue of him sits on a bench in the Old Crescent looking over Dunn’s Woods, an area he banned the University from developing.“He’s the one that made what I think is a very special culture,” Gros Louis said. “The time will come when nobody living will remember him, but he’ll still be remembered because of what he did for this University.”
(02/22/13 5:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s rare that a newspaper is justified in printing a 120-point, bold headline. Today is one of those days.Provost Lauren Robel has endorsed a plan that reverses the School of Journalism’s 27-year independence and interrupts its century-long heritage. This same plan calls for unspecified changes to student media, possibly affecting the IDS.Her decision is drawing much controversy and will alter the academic landscape of our University. For our readers, it’s a story we have a duty to report.For many at the IDS, it’s our story.We are proud of our independence. As editor-in-chief, I make the final decisions about what we publish in consultation with other student editors and professional staff.Yet we’re also proud of our history, a legacy that stretches back to this day 146 years ago, and a century of close partnership with the School of Journalism.We share Ernie Pyle Hall, and most of the students who work to bring you the news study journalism, including myself and the rest of the IDS management team.The school’s professors teach us about responsible journalism and perfecting our craft. It was the school that attracted most of us to IU.This is enhanced by its autonomy, which allows it to instruct with limited outside influence, while still giving a broad liberal arts education.We work together toward mutual successes.Our futures are inherently tied.A diminished school, particularly one caught in the bureaucracy and revenue sharing model of the College of Arts and Sciences, would suffer.That’s why we’ve dedicated so much attention to reporting this story: Any decision that harms the School of Journalism also runs the risk of harming IU Student Media.Further, it is part of a campus-wide conversation affecting us all.In the last year, the School of Library and Information Science was folded into the School of Informatics and Computing. The Office for Women’s Affairs and the Leo R. Dowling International Center were closed.Across the board, student input has been limited.Our University is experiencing a time of great change. Change is often good, but the brash elimination of programs is irresponsible.In July, President Michael McRobbie told the Herald-Times, “There’s no point in saving a school that trains people to manage fleets of horses if the motorcar has taken over horse-drawn transportation.”Contrary to McRobbie’s belief, journalism isn’t dead. It is in a state of flux, as is the journalism school.Nor is journalism dead in the IDS newsroom. I proudly work alongside others who dedicate themselves to informing our community. We have created an investigations team and a digital desk to report important stories and adapt to new media.In the past, we may have been complacent. We’ve let opportunities to question decisions by administrators and trustees pass us by.That stops today. We’re rededicating ourselves to asking tough questions, seeking the truth and serving you as the student voice of IU in every story we report.We are not a horse-and-buggy operation. We are — in print, online and through social media — your news.Michael Auslen, Editor-in-Chiefmauslen@indiana.edu
(01/28/13 4:55pm)
Everything you need (and want) for your big move off campus.
(11/07/12 5:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>INDIANAPOLIS — Hoosier Democrats, adorned with stickers and buttons and clutching bottles of beer, let out explosive cheers as Sen.-elect Joe Donnelly made his first appearance of the night.“We love Joe! We love Joe!”Surrounded by family, friends and supporters at the Indiana Democratic Party election watch party in Indianapolis, Donnelly promised to be a bipartisan senator on a polarized Capitol Hill.“You gave us a chance, and what we said was we think the most important thing is Hoosier common sense going to Washington, D.C.,” Donnelly said to the assembled crowd.He defeated Republican State Treasurer Richard Mourdock and Libertarian candidate Andrew Horning with just shy of 50 percent of the vote, although Mourdock had not conceded the race before Donnelly began celebrating.The result wasn’t clear earlier in the night. Despite opinion polls reporting as high as an 11 percent lead for Donnelly last week, early election results showed Donnelly with a 2 percent margin of victory until just after 10 p.m.The Donnelly and Mourdock campaigns had been neck-and-neck until the Oct. 23 senatorial debate, when a Mourdock statement about abortion policy gained national attention.“I think even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen,” Mourdock said in the debate.In the weeks following, Mourdock lost a 5-point lead reported by Rasmussen Reports on Oct. 11, setting the stage for Tuesday night’s Donnelly victory.“I think Donnelly is a moderate Democrat, a conservative Democrat and just a nice person,” said Mary Scifres Grabianowski, a Zionsville, Ind., schoolteacher and 1971-’72 IU Student Association president. “I believe he’ll work very well with others no matter what. He understands the legislative process and wants to get things done.”Donnelly will replace longtime Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., in the Hoosier congressional delegation. Since Lugar was first elected in 1976, Hoosiers have elected three Democrats as governor and one Democrat to the U.S. Senate. Lugar has remained despite these shifts in state party voting patterns.“I’m a lifelong Democrat,” Scifres Grabianowski said. “I’ve never actually voted for Lugar, but I’ve been proud to call him my senator. What Mourdock did to him in that primary was terrible.” The Hoosier common sense platform Donnelly campaigned on echoed Lugar and former Sen. and Gov. Evan Bayh, who traveled with Donnelly during the final week of the campaign. “He’s humble, he’s hardworking, he’s honest and he will do us right,” Bayh said Tuesday night. “It’s no secret that Washington needs a breath of fresh air, and that’s exactly what Joe Donnelly is going to provide. He understands that America can no longer be divided in red states and blue states.”Donnelly is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of congressional Democrats with centrist ideologies and voting patterns. Lugar developed a similar bipartisan reputation in the Senate and was attacked by Mourdock advertisements for this during the May primary campaign. “We have a tradition in Indiana in the United States Senate,” Donnelly said. “In that tradition are people like Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh, who work together, who only focus on what’s right for our country.” After leaving the stage, Donnelly received a phone call from former President Bill Clinton, who campaigned for the senator-elect. “Thank you so much for coming out with us and traveling with us,” Donnelly said. “Thank you so much, Mr. President.” Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Dan Parker said the Donnelly campaign has been a long journey — more than a year in the making. In recent weeks, the Indiana Senate race has catapulted Donnelly, a U.S. House representative from northern Indiana, into the national spotlight.Donnelly, though, is focused on the six-year term ahead. He said his top priority will be improving the economy through deficit reduction and increasing employment, and he plans to work closely with Lugar and Bayh while he prepares to join the Senate. “My passion is jobs, and so I’ve been working on a bill, the America Works Act, over in the House,” Donnelly said. “And then, we obviously have big things ahead in terms of the budget deficit, and so I want to be part of the solution.” The end of the Senate race focused largely on abortion, but Donnelly, a pro-life Democrat, explained his goal for Indiana to lead the nation as a state built on bipartisanship and common sense.“We need to focus on moving forward, and we need to make sure we build everybody together in our state,” he said. “Our state is a model for the rest of the country, which is Hoosier common sense. We’re not about partisanship. We’re not about extremes. We’re about results.”
(10/05/12 3:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Ken Gros Louis’ office is small and unmarked, tucked away in a back corridor of Woodburn Hall.It’s on the other side of campus from the space he occupied as University chancellor in Owen Hall, a spacious room with big windows that was once used by Herman B Wells, the only other man to be honored by IU with the University chancellorship.Gros Louis, now University chancellor emeritus, was informed in spring 2011 that his office would close effective June 30, 2011.However, no formal review — customary in the closure of senior administrative offices and promised by then-IU President Adam Herbert in a letter signed upon Gros Louis’ appointment — was undertaken by the Board of Trustees. Gros Louis was not informed of the trustees’ decision until after it had been made.Student and faculty governing bodies were also unaware of the change.Before being named University chancellor in 2006, Gros Louis had been on IU’s faculty since 1964 as vice president for academic affairs, Bloomington chancellor, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of English and comparative literature.The University chancellor has long been a resource to student and faculty leaders in the University. Gros Louis worked closely with the Bloomington Faculty Council, IU Student Association executives and Union Board directors during his five years in the chancellorship.In the past year, after learning of Gros Louis’ office closure, IUSA and BFC officials passed resolutions requesting further information about the process used by the trustees.Now, Gros Louis continues to occupy an office in Woodburn Hall, where he works without a support staff and continues to meet with student leaders whenever it is possible. However, he said the removal of his office more than a year ago limited his ability to serve as a resource to student and faculty leaders.IDS: Before the office closed in March of 2011, what was your role as University chancellor?GROS LOUIS: “Actually there’s no definition. In the original appointment letter from Adam Herbert, one of the things would be to stand in for the president if the president requested it at, say, the inauguration of another president, which I did several times.“I made calls on behalf of the (IU) Foundation to thank people for their gifts, made talks to alumni clubs around the nation about IU history. “I spent a lot of time with student leaders. That I loved, and I still do. (Former IUSA President) Justin (Kingsolver) was a very good friend last year, as is (IUSA President) Kyle (Straub) now. (Former Union Board President) Evan Farrell and I were very good friends last year. I’m friends with the Union Board president now. And other IUSA execs come by to ask advice about things.”IDS: How has your role, or your ability to be a resource to students and faculty, changed since the closure of your office and your reappointment as University chancellor emeritus?GROS LOUIS: “It’s really difficult because there’s no secretary to make appointments. They’ve got no one to contact. I mean, they can contact me if they want. They don’t even know where I am. They ask, ‘Where is your office?’ The office has no number on it. It’s been more challenging.“Those who I do know, when they find out, they usually send me an email or something. To many of them it kind of ignores the special culture that Herman Wells created on the Bloomington campus. Strangers who have relatives here stop me at Marsh and say, ‘I don’t know you, but I have a sister or a brother, and I just think what they’ve done to you is outrageous.’”IDS: When did you come here and how have you worked your way through the institution?GROS LOUIS: “The trustees, when they named the president of the University also president of the campus (in 2006), made (current President Michael) McRobbie provost and gave me the title of University chancellor with the understanding in the letter from Herbert that it would be reviewed in five years and see whether or not it would continue, and a core part of that review would be my assessment of the success of the office and my willingness to continue. Five years passed, and (Board of Trustees Chair) Bill Cast came to the office to say the trustees had decided to close the office, and I said, ‘I thought there was going to be a review.’ He said, ‘Well, since we’ve decided to close the office, there’s no reason to have a review, but a review would be very positive.’“It was a lie, unless Cast thought it was a contract, but if so, he didn’t see Adam Herbert’s letter of appointment.“Since then, the trustees have gotten a number of emails from alumni saying, ‘This is an outrage and it shouldn’t be done, etc. These are not the values that IU holds.’”IDS: What kind of communication have you had with the board or with Bill Cast in the past year or so regarding the future?GROS LOUIS: “Nothing. No communication from the board.”IDS: What are your plans if there isn’t any sort of restoration of an office or a fund or anything to help?GROS LOUIS: “I’ll keep on doing what I’m doing.”