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(09/20/11 4:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU may lose its provost.Karen Hanson, provost and executive vice president, is a final candidate senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Minnesota.Hanson, who was named provost at IU in 2007, is one of four candidates for the U of M job. If selected, she would begin working at U of M in Minneapolis-St. Paul in early January 2012, leaving IU without a provost and the Bloomington campus without its primary administrative leadership.She will be in Minneapolis today to meet with “campus stakeholders” and participate in a public forum on campus.Hanson graduated from U of M in 1970 with a degree in philosophy and mathematics, one of the factors that set her apart from other candidates, said Tim Mulcahy, U of M’s vice president for research and the chairman of the provost search committee.The committee began looking for a successor to current Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Tom Sullivan early in the summer after he announced he planned to retire at the end of the calendar year.IU officials have declined to comment at this stage of the process.“Provost Hanson came to our attention as having been nominated by someone else,” Mulcahy said. “She took some time and consideration.”Ultimately, though, Hanson continued with the process and became part of the short list, which includes Robert Elde, dean of the U of M College of Biological Sciences, Allen Levine, dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at U of M and Gary Wihl, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences at Washington University.Mulcahy said all the remaining candidates fulfill the basic requirements the committee is looking for in a new provost, including proven leadership ability and a track record of solving problems in higher education.He said Hanson would bring other qualities to the office if she were selected.“Her background complements our president’s background,” Mulcahy said. “She rose up through the arts and humanities, and he is a scientist.”Mulcahy also said Hanson has a notable record in scholarship and education administration at IU.“She was a really outstanding match,” he said.
(09/18/11 9:19pm)
Front to Back
is a news podcast from the Indiana Daily Student. In this week's episode, we talked to Peter Oren, an IU student who was arrested during political action protesting the Keystone XL pipeline in Washington, D.C.Every Friday we will
discuss top stories from the week, talking with the writers, editors and
sources to gain additional knowledge and insight. A new episode will be
released every Sunday.The podcast anchors are Mary Kenney, managing editor, and Michael Auslen, campus editor. New guests are invited every week.If you have ideas for content or ways to improve the podcast, email us at fronttoback@idsnews.com.
(09/12/11 4:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Ten neat rows of American flags lined Dunn Meadow, a silent memorial to the victims of the 9/11 attacks. The flags, all 2,977 of them, were planted by the IU College Republicans, IU College Democrats, IU Student Association and Union Board as part of a nation-wide effort led by student group Young America’s Foundation. Each flag represented a life lost in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and on United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania, excluding the hijackers. In the afternoon, Rep. Todd Young, R-9th District, came to speak with students. He shared his own 9/11 story and invited the small group that had gathered to do the same.The Dunn Meadow memorial was designed to be a nonpartisan, student-initiated opportunity to come together in support and remembrance of the event that has shaped the last 10 years and continues to influence the future.
(09/12/11 4:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Front to Back is a news podcast from the Indiana Daily Student. This week we spoke with web editor Charles Scudder, who spearheaded our efforts to cover the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001. Every Friday we will discuss top stories from the week, talking with the writers, editors and sources to gain additional knowledge and insight. A new episode will be released every Sunday.The podcast anchors are Mary Kenney, managing editor, and Michael Auslen, campus editor. New guests are invited every week.If you have ideas for content or ways to improve the podcast, email us at fronttoback@idsnews.com.
(09/05/11 8:41pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Front to Back is a news podcast from the Indiana Daily Student. This week we spoke with reporter Meg Ely about her story "Indiana survey shows rise in teen marijuana use." She talked about historical changes of drug use and plans for a follow-up piece.We also considered "21 students face increased tuition after citizenship verification survey." We talked about the push to pass the bill last spring as well as implications of the requirement.Every Friday we will discuss top stories from last week, talking with the writers, editors and sources to gain additional knowledge and insight. A new episode will be released every Sunday.The podcast anchors are Mary Kenney, managing editor, and Michael Auslen, campus editor. We invite guests every week.If you have ideas for content or ways to improve the podcast, email us at fronttoback@idsnews.com.
(08/30/11 3:54am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A construction project underway in the Memorial Stadium parking lot should improve safety and comfort for campus bus passengers, IU parking and bus officials said.The project, which began in late July, will install two shelters for passengers waiting for the X and A buses in the parking lot, IU Landscape Architect Mia Williams said. “You don’t have students out there where they could potentially get hit by a bus,” Williams said. “To me that’s a marked improvement to standing out on the same surface that the buses travel on.”The project has an estimated completion date in late September. “What we told contractors is even if the roof is not in place, we need all the travel path of the bus and the parking lot open and available so the park-and-ride can run,” Williams said.The A and X buses will continue to pull into the stadium parking lot until the project is done, Perry Maull, operations manager for the campus bus system, said.The station will consolidate the multiple stadium stops, removing the East 17th Street and North Dunn Street stop.“There will only be one bus stop at the stadium,” Maull said. “Right now we have buses coming and going in all kinds of directions.”The project will also include a pedestrian-activated traffic signal on North Dunn Street at East 19th Street. This will be the first such traffic signal in the city, Maull said.“Before, you basically were standing in the middle of the parking lot in the rain waiting for the buses to cue up,” Williams said, “but now the buses will come up next to the shelters.”
(08/11/11 11:24pm)
____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 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 Chancellor Ken Gros Louis, a man 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 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 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.”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.”
(06/01/11 5:28pm)
____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,” 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 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, 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, 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 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.”
(05/04/11 2:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The votes are in, and Mark Kruzan has won the Bloomington Democratic mayoral primary election with 59.55 percent of the vote.He beat out John Hamilton, who began his campaign in January by demanding a change from the eight years of Kruzan’s leadership, which began in 2003.These election results all but guarantee that Kruzan will become the city’s next mayor in November because no Republican candidates have been declared. The Republican party has until the end of June to caucus in a candidate. If he becomes the mayor, Kruzan will serve until 2015.“I’m very proud for our volunteers, for those who endorsed us and for all of the city employees because this reflects on the job we’ve done in the past eight years,” Kruzan said.Prior to being elected mayor, he represented Bloomington in the Indiana House of Representatives.Throughout the campaign, he has touted his accomplishments for Bloomington and addressed issues related to the city’s future, including his plans to prevent Bloomington Hospital from relocating outside the city limits.He plans to continue focusing on the city economy and to develop downtown further to include more housing and centralized businesses and services. Hamilton began the campaign saying it was time for a change from Kruzan’s administration. He said the mayor has not adequately addressed pressing issues, including the hospital’s relocation and violent crime.“I have never been better prepared for a November election in my life,” Kruzan said. “This primary certainly has us engaged in the campaign already.”Kruzan graduated from IU in 1982 with a degree in journalism and political science and also holds a law degree from the IU School of Law in 1985.Incumbent Chris Sturbaum won for Bloomington City Council District 1, the only race which has a Republican candidate. He will face KC Baker, an IU graduate student in the general election in November. Martin Spechler won the 3rd District with just 35 percent of the vote. Darryl Neher won the 5th District, which includes the precinct Perry 8 where pollworkers experienced trouble reconciling the numbers. This delayed reporting for this district. Incumbent Steve Volan won District 6.In the general election, all five at-large council candidates will appear on the ballot: Democrat incumbents Timothy Mayer, Andy Ruff and Susan Sandberg and Republicans Jennifer Mickel and Ed Schwartzman.
(05/03/11 5:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On Monday morning, Kevin Ryan woke up and heard the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed, but Ryan had a few doubts.At about 10 p.m. the night before, news started to spread that President Obama would address the nation to announce that U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.“I think there’s a lot of reason to believe he’s been dead for some years,” he said.Ryan is a member of 911 Working Group of Bloomington, an organization whose members are skeptical of the widely accepted account of Sept. 11 and suspect some U.S. government involvement in the attacks on that day.In the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11, Ryan said Afghan officials were willing to hand bin Laden over to U.S. authorities if the latter could provide evidence that he was, in fact, behind the attacks.“No evidence was ever provided,” he said.He said news media outlets have reported bin Laden’s death on other occasions since Sept. 11 and that there are some gaps in the story this time.“If the body has been buried at sea, then there’s nothing we can do to corroborate that it was Osama bin Laden,” Ryan said. “What we really need to know is was that him that was killed and what does it mean for our mission.”Above all, Ryan said he hopes the government’s announcement of bin Laden’s death will lead to a quick end to military action in Afghanistan, which began in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and has continued ever since.“The president told us that justice is done, and I hope that means the mission is done,” he said. “If we can get that evidence and then evidence that he actually was killed, I think that will help us all get to a better understanding of this and some closure.”
(04/27/11 8:42pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU Recreational Sports will close much of the Wildermuth Intramural Center. The center will be closed May 9 to Aug. 15 to make necessary roof repairs.Most recreational activities and academic classes will be moved to the Student Recreational Sports Center during the closure.“We are committed to improving the condition of this historic facility and thankful to be able to address some long-standing facility issues by replacing the roof,” said Jackie Puterbaugh, associate director for Recreational Sports.During the repairs some parts of the Wildermuth Intramural Center will remain open including the Royer Pool, gymnasium 163, the lower level locker rooms and equipment and towel check-out.
(04/27/11 4:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Gesumino Aho-Rulli never even considered pursuing film until he took Introduction to Design and Production in the IU telecommunications department.Now, the fifth-year senior, is the three-time reigning champion of IU’s Campus MovieFest competition.“Film has always been something my family’s shared as a common bond,” he said.When he was growing up, Aho-Rulli said his father had a large movie collection and loved television, but no one he knew worked in the film industry. At IU, Aho-Rulli realized that was how he could do what he really hoped to do.“What I really wanted was to tell stories,” Aho-Rulli said.So he created a major. Aho-Rulli is studying 2-D and 3-D film and television direction through the Individualized Major Program because, he said, IU’s film courses are spread out between departments, making it difficult to truly study the craft.But what interests Aho-Rulli most about film is the collaboration that takes place to create a story.“‘Sparks’ couldn’t have been possible without the other people involved,” he said about this year’s winning Campus MovieFest film. “Being able to collaborate with other students here is what drove that desire over the years.”“Sparks” is about two cyborgs that fall in love after they each receive a heart. In five minutes it tells a story of freedom and unrequited love. It was filmed by Ed Wu and produced by Sophie Parkison and Chelsey McKrill.Aho-Rulli said he got the idea from a recent interest in robots.“I get kind of enamored in things,” he said. “This summer I was on this cyborg robot kick, so I guess I just got the idea.”“Sparks” is the third Aho-Rulli film to win IU’s Campus MovieFest. It will also air in May at the Cannes Festival in France.Now, Aho-Rulli is working with N’Ovation Productions, a student group he formed, to create what he calls a “modern fairy tale mafia” film.“The fairy tale characters will kind of exist within this modernized world,” he said. “Since no one’s paying us to make this we can be as creative and outlandish as possible.”In all of his films, Aho-Rulli said he tries to focus on social themes he thinks are important and express them creatively.“We try to make what we call socially responsible films,” he said. “We try to find creative ways to promote social responsibility.”N’Ovation Productions’ 2010 Campus MovieFest film, “Giggles,” was about child abuse, but the film portrayed the topic creatively using an imaginary friend.After he graduates and finishes the fairy tale film, Aho-Rulli said he wants to go to Hollywood and work within the studio system.“My dream is to be a creative director in a sort of Vegas-style stage show like Cirque du Soleil,” he said.But he said his more realistic hope is to find a job in the studio system creating films.“As long as I can tell stories, I’ll be happy,” he said.
(04/27/11 3:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With one week left in the Democratic mayoral primary race, John Hamilton and Mayor Mark Kruzan have each raised more than $60,000 for their campaigns.Hamilton raised $85,807.19 as of April 8, and Kruzan had raised $61,957.64 by the same date.Hamilton’s top contributors were two professors, a lawyer, a retired minister and his father, according to a campaign finance report submitted to Monroe County.According to a similar report, Kruzan’s top contributors were a physician, a retired professor and a lawyer who donated together, an engineer, a city employee and his parents.Hamilton has kept his pledge from early in the campaign that he would not take contributions from businesses.“None came from businesses, business organizations or corporations,” Hamilton said.Kruzan said to the Indiana Daily Student on Feb. 17 that he does not believe there is anything wrong with accepting contributions from local businesses.“A lot of our support has been from local businesses,” Kruzan’s Campaign Manager Jason Carnes said.In the last week before the Tuesday primary, Hamilton said his campaign is going to continue as it has been.“We’re going to continue to reach out to voters door by door and person by person,” he said. “We knocked on thousands of doors and held house parties with hundreds of people.”Carnes said throughout the campaign many local businesses have played host to fundraising events for the Kruzan campaign.“Most of the money we’ve received has been from local fundraisers,” he said.Hamilton has also brought to the forefront Kruzan’s use of the City of Bloomington logo on campaign materials.“We don’t think that logo should be used on political mailings,” Hamilton said.Carnes said the Kruzan campaign researched the issue before including the city logo on a mailing.“Mark checked with the secretary of state’s office and the attorney for the city to see if it’s something we’re allowed to use, and it’s definitely something we’re allowed to use,” Carnes said.He also said Kruzan and other city candidates have used the logo on campaign materials in the past without receiving criticism.
(04/25/11 1:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Floyds Knobs, Ind., resident and IU graduate Sam Locke announced Wednesday that he might run for the 9th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012.“We are exploring the race,” Locke said. “We are going to take the next couple of months to try and get a sense of the lay of the land.”Locke, a Democrat, has formed the Stand with Sam Exploratory Committee, as required by the Federal Election Commission. He said he will use the summer to speak with supporters and evaluate his personal life to ensure he will be able to run in 2012.Locke graduated from IU in 2004 with degrees in secondary education and political science. In 2010 he ran unsuccessfully for Indiana State Auditor.“We sort of got swept up in the Republican landslide that took over the nation in 2010,” he said.But Locke said he sees his political experience as less important than his personal and professional experience.“My background is in the Air Force and nonprofit marketing,” he said.Locke is the manager of relationship and development operations for the Presbyterian Church and served as a personnel and manpower officer in the U.S. Air Force.If he decides to run, Locke said he thinks he can bring a new maturity to politics, despite being a younger candidate. In fact, if elected, Locke would be the youngest member of the House of Representatives.“I think I can offer a brand of politics that’s different from what we’ve seen in recent elections,” he said. “We want to focus on the things that are actually important to the people of southern Indiana.”Among those, he said the economy, education and national defense are most important.Republican Rep. Todd Young currently has the 9th District seat. Although the state legislature is still finalizing the new congressional districts, Bloomington is currently in the 9th District and might remain there.Locke said students will play an important role in the election, particularly in Bloomington, which he said he considers to be one of his homes in the state.“Students are going to play a critical role in the 2012 election cycle regardless of if I run or not,” he said.
(04/22/11 2:18am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s almost election time.On May 3, four Bloomington City Council districts will have contested Democratic primary elections. The candidates have spent recent months knocking doors in their districts and campaigning for the issues they think are most important.The Indiana Daily Student asked each of these candidates what they think the biggest issue facing the city or their district is and how they plan to solve it if elected to the city council.DISTRICT 1Chris Sturbaum, incumbent“I think the most important issue is to keep having good, experienced leadership to answer questions that come up. I’ve been in for eight years, and you never know what the issues will be. We’re going to deal with transportation issues, and the current issue of the day is — let’s enhance our bike friendliness as a community. The way the city works is, issues keep coming up ... So the most important thing is for us to keep experience on the council.”Greg Alexander“It’s transportation. I would try to make it so that, you know, gas prices are nearly four dollars and they’re going to keep going up, and so when people say ‘I’m not going to pay it today, I’m going to bike or walk or do something else,’ I want to make sure that people using our roads don’t find them to be a hell hole because of all the cars.”DISTRICT 3Gary Charbonneau“I think the most important issue is that we’re probably going to be facing some severe economic difficulties down the road, and there’s not much the City of Bloomington can do to solve that. The only thing we can do is try to adapt to that if we can. While we have the ability, we should be investing in some critical infrastructure kinds of things in the neighborhoods.”Ron Smith“It seems like right now it’s the economy, and if we have an unemployment rate that’s eight-point-something percent in Bloomington, which is better than the state average and national average, it’s kind of easy to overlook that. So having some smart economic development is a good idea ... One of the concerns I have also is that we need to make sure we have enough funds allocated toward social service programs. If you have more jobs, you have more people working, more taxes and higher revenue, so that helps even down to the social services.”Brett Rorem“Keeping Bloomington strong and supporting our core economic values within the city and supporting our neighborhoods and keeping them safe.”Martin SpechlerSpechler was unavailable for comment before deadline.DISTRICT 5Darryl Neher“Residents want to know the infrastructure of the city is safe and functional and that public safety remains a priority. How do I address these issues? By being available to the constituents. I’ve pledged to be available to help constituents find the answers and solutions they need by being accessible and making local government responsive to their needs. Accessibility should always be the first priority of a City Council member serving a district. As I walk District 5, I hear more and more residents concerned about affordable housing in Bloomington. While the quality of life continues to improve for many in our community, we need to recommit to our efforts for identifying programs and policies that promote safe, secure and affordable housing to the citizens of Bloomington.”Megan Hutchison“One of the things that’s really huge is the fact that local governments and local communities are facing a lot of budget funding cuts from the state and federal level. The government has also been slashing public education funding. Most recently something called Community Development Block Grants has been cut, and that funds a lot of social services in Bloomington. It also supports infrastructure improvements in poorer neighborhoods ... I think we need to look at the priorities the city government has, and that is looking at our budget and seeing if there are ways we can better support low income folks in the community.”DISTRICT 6Sandi Cole“I think one of the issues for me in terms of my candidacy is that this is a district, not an at-large seat, and I think that makes a real difference in terms of how you look at the issues and talk about the issues. There are three things I think are really critical to the councilperson’s role for District 6. The first is to have responsive representation. The person who sits in the seat on the council for District 6 has to understand issues for the different constituencies for District 6. That requires that the person be visible and accessible for those different persons and listen and learn and act on those ideas. The second major issue, and this is a huge issue, is greater collaboration between the city and the University. What I’m proposing is that the city establish a commission on the status of core neighborhoods. One of the most important pieces of that would be to have student representation and student voice on that commission. The third issue is dealing with trash, graffiti and infrastructure in the district.”Stephen Volan, incumbentVolan was unavailable for comment before deadline.
(04/21/11 4:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The issues of violent crime and the potential relocation of IU Health Bloomington pervaded Wednesday night’s Democratic mayoral debate at the Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union.Democratic candidates John Hamilton and incumbent Mark Kruzan both appeared for the debate, moderated by IU Political Science Chair Russell Hanson and sponsored by Union Board, where they answered questions submitted by IU students.The candidates’ responses to a question about violent crime during Little 500 week extended into the subsequent questions.Hamilton accused Kruzan of allowing violent crime in the city to double under his watch and then not bringing it to the city’s attention.“I think as mayor there is a responsibility to talk about an increase in violent crime and how we can improve that,” Hamilton said. “The leadership of the mayor requires communicating to the people about challenges we face.”Kruzan said Hamilton did not disclose the full story behind the statistics, pointing out that in the most recent year violent crime decreased, and said the city has been open with the public about the crime increase.The candidates also heatedly discussed the city’s role in encouraging IU Health Bloomington to remain within city limits. Both candidates said they oppose the hospital’s plan to move to more land outside of city limits.“It is a very important asset to the city,” Hamilton said. He said losing the hospital is “one of the most anti-sustainable actions we have seen in years.”Hamilton said Kruzan ought to have delivered a plan by now that will keep the hospital within city limits.Kruzan said the city has taken a proactive role by preventing the extension of sewers to the hospital’s new land and stressing to the hospital the importance of the issue to the city.Hamilton and Kruzan both encouraged Bloomington residents and students to vote in the municipal primary election May 3.
(04/20/11 2:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The “hero of the Hudson” is headed back to Indiana.In 2009, Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III skyrocketed into the world spotlight after he safely landed a disabled U.S. Airways airplane in the Hudson River.Now Sullenberger, who graduated from Purdue University with a master’s degree in industrial psychology in 1973, is returning to his alma mater to deliver the commencement address at 9:30 a.m. May 15 at Purdue’s Elliott Hall of Music.“He only had 90 seconds to make a decision, but he’d spent a lifetime preparing for moments like that,” said Chris Sigurdson, assistant vice president for external relations at Purdue. “Part of that preparation included the coursework he took here at Purdue.”On Jan. 15, 2009, just after taking off from New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, the engines on Sullenberger’s plane failed after a flock of geese ran into them.He succeeded in safely landing the plane in the river, saving the lives of 155 passengers and crew members. He stayed on board until everyone else had made it safely out of the aircraft.Sullenberger learned to fly when he was a teenager growing up in rural Texas. After high school he graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he earned an Outstanding Cadet in Airmanship award.From 1975 to 1980, he was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force. After that he flew for Pacific Southwest Airlines, which later became U.S. Airways.On Nov. 12, 2010, Purdue and Neil Armstrong, also a Purdue graduate and the first man on the moon, presented Sullenberger with the Neil Armstrong Medal of Excellence, the university’s highest honor. Sigurdson said the award has only been given to a select few who exemplify the “Boilermaker character.”Since 2009, Sullenberger has stopped flying, but now he is an advocate for airline safety and preparing for unexpected emergency situations. He also wrote a book, “Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters,” which is about his life and what prepared him to save more than 150 lives.“For my part, I think he’s going to be able to tell them that a life of deliberate learning, education and preparation can set you apart and prepare you for a productive, satisfying life,” Sigurdson said. “It can also prepare you for those unexpected moments when someone has to stand up and deliver.”
(04/18/11 3:07am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>KC Baker doesn’t fit in with most of the candidates for Bloomington City Council.Of the 18 candidates in the May 3 municipal primary election, 10 are directly connected to IU, three are Republicans and just one, Baker, is a student.“I’m really glad that I’m a student and in this race because I think there’s sometimes an uneasy symbiosis between the community and the University,” he said. “I go to the west side, which is where my district is, and I hear people say, ‘I can’t get across town, those stupid kids are everywhere,’ and then you find out they work for the University, or their husband or wife works for the University.”Baker is a graduate student studying information science and public administration in the School of Library and Information Science and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, respectively.He is the only Republican candidate for the 1st District, which includes most of the city west of Walnut Street. In November, Baker will run against either Greg Alexander or the incumbent Chris Sturbaum, depending on who wins in the May 4 Democratic primary.He graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in political science. But Baker didn’t spend all those years in Bloomington. He worked as a math teacher and later as a technology director for a school in Virginia, he said.While in Virginia, Baker began his career in public office as a member of the Central Shenandoah Regional Planning District Commission, a 20-person board that helps cities take on infrastructure improvements.“The voters in Charlottesville loved it because they loved the alternative modes of transportation — it was fantastic. Across the mountain, the voters in Stanton and Waynesboro, where I lived, didn’t like it so much,” he said.Baker said these experiences would help him if he was elected to Bloomington City Council in November. He would also bring a Republican voice to the council, which he said would be important for allowing ideas to compete.“If you have nine people that think exactly the same thing, then what they think is what’s going to happen,” he said. “If you have five people who think one thing and four who think the other, then there’s a chance for real competition.”Baker said that kind of competition of ideas is the biggest problem in Bloomington today because nearly all of the city’s elected officials are Democrats. For Baker, this makes running for a city council position that much more difficult.“There are some who feel like it’s a pretty daunting task to run, especially in the city election because anyone can look and see that it’s largely Democratic as far as offices are concerned,” said Ryan Langley, a Republican member of Monroe County Council whom Baker approached for advice before deciding to run. “I think they’re all winnable districts. It just depends on who the candidate is and how hard they work.”Despite Democrats’ domination of Bloomington elected offices, those who know Baker have faith in his ability to win.“He’s simply very committed,” said Jack Schmit, adviser of the IU College Republicans. “He’s a guy who follows through on what he says he’ll do. He’s very reliable and has good sense of integrity and character.”Now Baker is starting to get his campaign rolling. He is holding a kickoff cookout Sunday for his campaign volunteers and then starting to recruit voters, said IU sophomore Holly Heerdink, Baker’s campaign manager.Baker said he will be putting a lot of effort into his campaign work on top of his studies because he knows Republicans are not generally well represented on the city council.“I am optimistic and realistic,” Baker said. “I’m not going to win in a landslide. Without a doubt this is going to be a fight.”
(04/11/11 1:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Two Hamiltons shared the spotlight Saturday at a rally sponsored by Democrat John Hamilton’s mayoral campaign.Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-9th District, spoke to a crowd at the John Hamilton campaign headquarters.He endorsed his nephew, who is running against incumbent Mayor Mark Kruzan in the May 3 mayoral primary election.“I believe, and I hope you believe, that John will be a terrific mayor of the city of Bloomington,” Lee Hamilton said. “Every job he’s undertaken he’s done very well.”Lee Hamilton said John Hamilton has the most important qualities of a public official: passion, competence and integrity.“You all know he has integrity. That’s the number one quality for any Hoosier voter,” Lee Hamilton said. “Poll after poll after poll shows they want people with integrity.”He also spoke about the importance of volunteers in John Hamilton’s campaign.“John will never have the opportunity to serve as mayor of Bloomington without you,” Lee Hamilton said. “He can work 24/7, but he cannot reach all the people. You have to help him. You are essential for John’s election.”IU senior Kelly Smith, John Hamilton’s deputy campaign manager, said she is confident they will have enough votes to beat Kruzan in May.“I think it’s going to be fine,” she said. “The momentum is really picking up right now.”After Lee Hamilton’s speech, John Hamilton asked people to go out and campaign, reminding them that the election has already started. He called their attention to a sign against one wall that said, “25 days until victory.”“Now is the sprint to the finish in the last three weeks,” he said. “I’m very excited about the opportunity to serve.”
(04/05/11 12:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Issues and services affecting Bloomington’s senior citizens were Monday’s battleground for the Democratic mayoral primary campaigns, which are in their final month before the May 3 election day.Incumbent Mayor Mark Kruzan announced Monday his plan to improve services provided for senior citizens in the city. Challenger John Hamilton countered later with claims that Kruzan made similar promises in 2003, which still have not been met.“While much is being done by the public and private sectors to improve livability, a lot of those decisions are made by people who are younger and mobile and don’t always address the needs of the disabled, less able and older citizens,” Kruzan said.Kruzan highlighted some of the actions made by his administration and outlined his plans for the future of the city’s senior citizen services.These plans include developing senior-oriented housing options downtown, the creation of a new senior center in the downtown area, working with social service agencies to ensure senior citizens are being effectively helped by the city and creating an Adopt-a-Neighbor program for younger citizens to help elderly neighbors, among other things.“Further establishing Bloomington as a retiree and senior friendly community is both a way to improve livability for more of our neighbors as well as another way to bolster the economy. It’s another way for us to set our community apart,” Kruzan said.Hamilton reacted later with accusations that Kruzan’s promises were nothing but talk.“Mark Kruzan is very good and experienced at holding press conferences in the month before an election to announce new plans,” Hamilton said in a statement to the press. “After eight years, though, he’s not proven effective at getting things done and following through on specific plans.”Hamilton also released a Kruzan press release from Oct. 7, 2003, which made several suggestions for improving senior citizen services that have not yet been implemented, including a job referral program and improvements to the city’s volunteer network.“I’m running for mayor because I believe Bloomington needs to see more results, not more press conferences,” Hamilton said. “When someone promises something to the community, it should get done. When I’m mayor, that’s what I’ll do.”