Take back the night\nIt's proven that numbers speak louder than words. So how about you ponder over this one: 11. That's the total number of students who reported a sexual assault from August 2004 to April 2005 on the Bloomington campus. Now, consider that only 16 percent to 28 percent of rapes are reported to the police. We are then left with an even more disturbing statistic: 69 women, at least, were the victims of assault on our campus in that time period..\nThe problem of sexual violence is unfortunately prevalent on college campuses. It is widely reported that one out of four college women are sexually assaulted during their four years of college. It is easy to get overwhelmed by these statistics, but, to be fair, the community has responded fairly well to the needs of victims. For instance, IU operates a Sexual Assault Crisis Service that offers a 24-hour crisis line. Middle Way House also offers services and support to sexual assault victims. \nThe only paradox with the presence of several resources seems to be that many students are unaware of them. This is one of the primary reasons why the IU Women's Student Association in conjunction with other students groups has organized the Take Back the Night March and Rally. The rally is our way of raising awareness about a problem that can no longer be tolerated. It is also a march of solidarity in that it lets victims of domestic and sexual violence know that they are not alone. If what I have written has moved you into action, we ask for your presence at this rally. We need a united campus with a goal of eliminating any form of violence toward women. In the past, we have been criticized about not being inclusive enough, primarily in regards to men. However, let me make it clear: this is not just a woman's problem. Men are to be included as part of the solution, and we greatly appreciate the active participation of the IU Men's Coalition and welcome anyone to attend the rally.
Indira Dammu\nDirector of Education, IU Women's Student Association
Ruckus a bum deal\nRegarding "IUSA brings music downloading service" by Julie Mahomed (Oct. 3):\nAfter reading today's article on the Ruckus music service, I was confused on how the service actually worked, in a technical sense. After some brief research, I learned that the music downloaded does not belong to the listener but is in essence "on loan" for the duration of their subscription. Music cannot be burned to CD and can only be transferred to portable audio players that support Ruckus' format. As an avid Mac user, this means I can only enjoy music from Ruckus on my laptop. I cannot take it in my car, and I cannot bring it on my iPod to campus. It also means I must download a separate audio program than iTunes, which currently houses all 2,000 of my songs and also add-ons to make Ruckus work better on my Mac. Call me crazy, but I do not see a single advantage to this program at all. I can understand IUSA's goal and IU's campaign against illegal music downloading, but I find it hard to believe Ruckus comes close to fulfilling either groups' goals. In addition to leaving the Mac/iPod community out to dry, the service does little to nothing to affect illegal music sharing situation. In order to combat that, IU must find a service that is more convenient and practical than P2P services, similar to how iTunes revolutionized Internet music downloading several years back. Until a better option is presented, I will stick to buying music online and at Best Buy, where I can do whatever I please with it once I get it.
Curtis Grace\nSophomore
Phi Psi officials shouldn't apologize for lying to IDS\nResponse to "Honesty is our policy" by Michael Zennie (Oct. 3): \nWho are you to publicly ask for Phi Kappa Psi to apologize? I mean, give me a break. It was a harmless joke intended to make people laugh.\nIt's not like Phi Psi completely destroyed the reputation and credibility of the Indiana Daily Student. If anything, you are the ones that are making yourselves look bad by bashing Phi Psi and making ridiculous demands.\nI suggest to you and your buddies at the IDS that you learn to take a joke because, quite frankly, you're the one who is making the IDS look like a bunch of idiots, not the brothers of Phi Kappa Psi.\nIt's obvious, Mike, that you take great pride in being a writer for the IDS, which is perfectly fine. Just learn to take a joke, and let stupid little things that don't matter go. Your newspaper will be better off.
IDS shouldn't waste time on \nPhi Psi story\nAndrew Lukaszewski\nPhi Kappa Psi junior\nIt's a sad day when such a petty issue as having a hot tub in the chapter of a fraternity sparks the attention of the editor in chief for the Indiana Daily Student. In my opinion and many others', it was a complete waste of space and time for the IDS to publish such a meaningless article. It was said that members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity lied to the IDS making you look like idiots. Well let's face it, until the issue was brought back up by you ... no one knew that these accusation were false, or, better yet, no one cared. It was forgotten information, and, trust me, as students we have a lot more to worry about than Phi Psi having a hot tub. In his column, IDS Editor Michael Zennie stated that it is hard to verify the facts visually, especially in such a "light-hearted story." Well, that's exactly what it is ... "light-hearted," meaning carefree, fun and cheerful. The original article wasn't breaking news on a serious issue; it was a fun article students could read to see what perks greek life has to offer. I'm not condoning the fact that lying to a paper or lying in general is acceptable; however, you need to pick and choose your battles. The IDS looks like idiots, not because of the false information given, but the fact they published a column the next week blowing the whole thing out of proportion. In addition, you pride yourself on honesty when last year you published an article about an assault incident occurring in the Phi Psi house. The information and small details of the article were completely wrong which shunned negativity on the fraternity and its members. It was stated that a brother from the house assaulted a female student. The person that assaulted the girl was not a member of the fraternity and, furthermore, had zero connections to the fraternity. I realize this article was published last year and is completely water under the bridge, however, this is an instance when the paper reported wrong information about a very serious issue. I'm sure the IDS didn't publicly apologize to the community or the fraternity for its mistake. In conclusion, as a avid reader of the IDS, I would appreciate that you didn't write about such arbitrary and meaningless issues.\nStick to the REAL news because that is what people truly care about.\nThanks.
IDS wastes time on\ngreek luxuries\nChase Oswald\nPhi Kappa Psi freshman\nEditor's note: In the Jan. 31 Indiana Daily Student article "IUPD responds to pair of assaults during weekend," a woman reported being assaulted in the Phi Kappa Psi house. In the article, there was no mention of a member of the fraternity being involved in the assault.
Sugar and Spice: new, but not improved\nRegarding "Chapters boast all the luxuries of home - and more" by Kasey Hawrysz (Sept. 28):\nI found your article on fraternity luxury, "Greek Cribs," a vapid and classist waste of space. While some students may enjoy a life of luxury during their college years, many others struggle to make ends meet by juggling classes, loans and jobs. I have known several students who were more worried about paying their heating bill than how many people fit in their hot tub. For a publication that claims to represent students, I find this article in poor taste, exalting the lives of a privileged few in what is tantamount to an advertisement for fraternity life rather than an interesting or insightful report on class difference on campus. Notably, it was positioned next to an article claiming that low-income students don't really count as low-income citizens. It is true that students who are temporarily low income and who may (or may not) have assistance from family occupy a significantly different category than those people who live in situations of persistent economic duress, but there are some students who really do struggle. These are the people you should be doing stories about, people who work 30 hours a week to pay their rent and still carry a full class schedule. You might also consider reporting on actual poverty in Monroe County. Poverty is a serious and underrepresented issue in our country. Often, these are the people who most need their stories told and who could benefit from a serious report on the complex social conditions that contribute to poverty.\nWe already know that people in fraternity and sorority houses live a cut above the rest of us. You don't need to rub it in.
Brian Stewart's empty 'truth'\nMaria Kennedy\nGraduate student\nRegarding "Sugar 'n Spice and Everything New" by Peter Stevenson (Aug. 30):\nAbout a month ago, the IDS ran an article on the Sugar and Spices's face-lift. However, these changes are not necessarily as good as we, as students, have been led to believe. I am thrilled to see that the small shop is exploring new food groups besides sugar. Bananas and veggie meals are always welcome; however, it seems to be coming at a price. When I started school in 2003, the price of a chocolate chunk was $1. Now it has jumped to a remarkable $1.19, a price difference for us who indulge in cookies on a regular basis. Further, it's just annoying to have to fish out 19 cents and only slows the process of going through line even more. And you better get in line early because the shop has changed its hours. No more late-night cookie and coffee breaks; Sugar and Spice is closed by 7:30 p.m. Where have all the cookies gone? They're still there, just behind early closed doors.
Bloomington \nfederal money should go to poor\nPatty Hake\nSenior\nOpinion columnist Brian Stewart wrote on October 2 ("Postmodernism vs. principle") that "objective truth" is what the world needs now, more than anything. How easy taking that position becomes when this "truth" is on your own side. Not to mention when it is, by definition, infallible.\nUnfortunately, he forgot to mention what exactly the "truth" was. Not a word of elaboration. He went on and on with pseudo-eloquence about how Christopher Hitchins and Orwell agree with him but offered no specifics there, either -- only that "it" was profound, right, and necessary.\nSo, for those who might be wondering what in Christ-our-only-lord's name he's talking about in his vaccuous column, I thought I'd try to guess:\nIt's the same truth that thinker Leo Strauss ingrained in his students heads, many of which are now our heads of state. And, by proxy, it's the same truth that makes Bush's ilk believe that they can deliver democracy to the Middle East at the point of a rifle. In fact, it's the very same truth that has fueled East vs. West controversies for centuries, religious and otherwise.\nThe all-defining trait? That those who believe in "it" refuse to believe that they can be questioned, and consider any evaluation of their own actions nonsense. (After all, they're speaking "The Truth.") How else do you explain the fact that Stewart and his noble masters appear to believe that the current world situation popped up in just the last few decades, as a result of "uncivilized" cultures' jealousy of our televisions?\nI hope this clears some things up for Stewart's readers, though I'm sure he'll explain it all to us in due time.\nOr perhaps no one's told him yet.
Reallocate money for residence improvements\nMark Casey\nSenior\nIn response to Paige Ingram's report on the misallocation of federal dollars to Bloomington ("Low-Income students bring city big bucks," Sept. 28) and Kristi Oloffson's article on the Shalom Center homeless shelter ("Local homeless shelter still has no place to go," Sept. 29):\nIf Bloomington really wants to distinguish itself as a city that cares for the poor and homeless, they should decline these grants so that they can be given to cities that really need them, cities not flushed with future middle-class college graduates. While there is no denying that homelessness and poverty are present in Bloomington, the fact that the city is using some of the grant money for city beautification is sad. The noble act of giving up the money allocated to Bloomington could set an example for the other cities that are in a similar situation. It is a sad state of affairs when money allocated to the poor does not get there because of constituent politics. If that is out of the question, the money should be spent entirely on the poor in Bloomington. The problems that the Shalom Community Center faces could easily be improved upon in a city-run homeless shelter. The fact that the homeless and impoverished have very little political influence should encourage the city government to reach out to and fund programs that benefit them. After all, this is their city; most of us students are just visiting.
Patrick Bishop\nJunior
Reallocate money for residence improvements\nAn Open Letter to the board of trustees:\nDear Trustees,\nI opened the IDS newspaper on September 25 to find a surprise: the bathroom on the first floor of the Elkin wing of Teter Center (in which I had bathed and relieved myself not 20 minutes earlier) is going to be renovated (see "3 residence halls to be renovated, Forest to get air conditioning" by Chris Freiberg). I didn't know there was anything wrong with it, but, hey, who doesn't want fancier toilets? Then I read that the project is going to cost $3 million. Are we getting golden taps? We're talking $214,000 a bathroom. Appropriate? I think not.\nNow, I don't know about you fellows, but I'm on familiar terms with at least one of these bathrooms, and I'm here to tell you that there are not that many problems with it. It is true that of the four sinks, only one has good pressure, but if you look directly above one of the weak ones, at the mirror, you will see a flier blazing the words, "DO NOT PUT FOOD IN THE SINKS!" That this sign is a necessity is a sign of how little we respect the resources entrusted to us. If we're going to throw stuff in it, we don't deserve anything better than what we already have.\nThe article specified that renovations will include improvements to the shower stalls to increase privacy. Those stalls are already pretty private. To get to the shower in Elkin 1, one must pass through two curtains and enter a stall which is separated from its neighbor by a solid wall. Granted, the curtains are a little nasty, but to replace them would cost, what? Fifty bucks each?\nNow, I don't disagree with your financial plan entirely; I think the new greenhouse will be great, taking asbestos out of the dorms can't hurt and on-campus housing in South Bend is overdue. But if you're looking for a way to burn $3 million, how about installing some more bike lanes on campus? While I've never heard anyone complain about the showers, I get comments everyday about how scary my zipping by to avoid SUVs is.\nOr if you're set on the bathrooms, don't flush cash on showers. Give to the ladies that clean them daily. Their job sucks, yet they're the nicest people on campus. It would be good of you if they could afford to take such care of their own homes.\nI haven't been in Bloomington long, and I won't pretend to know exactly what I'm talking about, but I do know ridiculous when I see it, and I encourage you to reconsider.\nSincerely,
Joan Russick\nFreshman
Hitchens = \nwarmonger\nIt was disheartening to see the IU School of Journalism lionize Christopher Hitchens, who practices the ultimate form of "newspeak" by domesticating the iconoclasm of George Orwell into sycophancy for President Bush's "War on Terror."\nIn the Sept. 11, 2006, Wall Street Journal, Mr. Hitchens wrote: "'We' -- and our allies -- simply have to become more ruthless ... An unspoken advantage of the current awful strife in Iraq and Afghanistan is that it is training tens of thousands of our young officers and soldiers to ... 'turn,' isolate, and kill the worst imaginable enemy." It is an unusual truth-teller who uses the opinion page of the nation's leading conservative newspaper to call for ruthlessness, when the world is outraged at this administration's practice of torture and its contempt for international law.\nMr. Hitchens claimed that the invasion of Iraq was justified because Saddam Hussein was a supporter of terrorism -- despite all credible intelligence that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and minimal contact with al Qaida. He claimed that the American occupation has "liberated" Iraq and that Iraqi democracy legitimizes U.S. occupation -- although all major Iraqi parties campaigned for us to leave, a pledge they betrayed because the occupation tacitly supports the sectarian and ethnic basis for their power (Shiite and Kurd against Sunni Arab). He claimed that the U.S. military's greatest mistake was squeamishness in targeting, lest we offend -- although at least 43,546 civilians have been killed by U.S. military in Iraq and more than 100,000 have died in the chaos.\nMr. Hitchens said of the Islamists: "If they want a clash of civilizations, they can have one." This, in an Oxford accent, is George Bush's "Bring 'em on." It has turned millions of moderate Muslims (who after September 11th sympathized with the United States) into our reluctant but determined enemies. Mr. Hitchens claims that "our victory" and "our superiority" are "a certainty." The only certainty on this course is tragedy for all.\nAnother Oxonian, W. H. Auden, wrote in 1939:\n"Intellectual disgrace\n"Stares from every human face,\n"And the seas of pity lie\n"Locked and frozen in each eye."\nSincerely,
David Keppel\nBloomington Peace Action Coalition
Stopwalks: \nThey're there \nfor a reason\nI had the misfortune to be driving today when I experienced a common college part of life: jaywalking. I have no problem with jaywalkers, heck I do it myself all the time. But the person I saw doing it today has to take the cake. I was trying to turn right onto Jordan from Third, but a young lady started to jaywalk. Light turns yellow and I console myself and say, "Hey, I'll just right on red it."\nBut no, she stops halfway through the lane and pulls out her iPod. Meanwhile, the light has turned green, and cars have started to move. Then her cell phone starts to ring, or maybe the song she just turned to spontaneously caused her to remember to call a friend. So she stops again pulls out her cell phone and then begins to shuffle over to the other side while fiddling with her phone. I wish the story stopped there. Oncoming cars have started to honk their horn, and the woman does the "I'm on the phone" signal. Call me crazy, but the people that I see on the freeway and city streets motivate me to run across the street through the crosswalk lest I be run over by the drivers who are probably drunk or talking on their cell phones while driving and will run me over. So now my recommendation is that there be no more of these crosswalks anymore. Just paint over them; take down the signals too. That way if you have to cross the street, you know there is no "safe" place, and Darwin's theory of evolution says that bad street-crossers will eventually be weeded out of the gene pool. Course that's me.
Brett Kirby\nJunior
Quality of art is subjective\nRegarding "Art from all angles" by Colleen Carol (Sept. 21):\nI think art, whether it's literature, sculpture, painting, etc. is completely and wholly subjective relative to the individual experiencing it. Twenty-first century dogma tends to take a piece of art and want to deem it "good" or "bad". We don't take the time to understand why we declare something one way or another. Is it because of some societal standard?\nPerhaps we just find it aesthetically unpleasureable? Whatever the case may be, I'm a ardent relativist. What's good for you is good for you, and what's good for me is good for me. We might not think alike, but that's the beauty of it. Two people might see a bejeweled urinal on display in some chic art gallery, and one might think it's beautiful, a symbol of the glamorous, yet wayward times in which we live in. The other might look at it and feel like taking an expensive leak. However, to deem that urinal "good" or "bad" is to force your own, subjective opinion on the masses. And who, really, can do that? There will always be someone that will debate you, like me.
N.D. Spangle\nSenior
IU needs more trash cans, \nrecycling bins\nA friend of mine pointed out to me the other day that there are very few trash cans outdoors on the IU campus. The lack of trash receptacles on campus is unfortunate because it leads to more litter on the grounds of our beautiful home. If a student has a small piece of trash in his hand, he is more likely to throw it out if there is a trash can near by. Otherwise he will probably just drop it on the ground. I see no reason why there are so very few trash cans on campus. \nAnd beyond just trash cans, there is also a need for more recycling bins on campus for all sorts of recyclables: aluminum cans, plastic, glass, newspaper and paper. IU students should help save the environment by recycling more, but this is also very difficult if the receptacles are rare and hard to find. There should be recycling bins on every dormitory, library and classroom floor. So much notebook and computer paper is wasted in a university of this size, but if all of it was recycled properly, we would be helping a major problem.\nAs a member of Collins' E-Force organization, a group working to help save the environment, we are already working to get more recycling bins on every floor of the buildings.
Kate Slabosky\nFreshman\nt\nSH: Athletics facilities need improvements\nJust recently read the opinion column "IU's sugar daddy" (by Abram Hess, Sept. 27) regarding the new $55 million athletic facilities and I'm not too happy with what they say. All you guys do is complain about EVERYTHING and never give any plans a chance. Sure, no one wants to pay more but raising ticket prices aren't part of the agenda (for now at least) and without these additions our athletic program will suffer even more. The athletic department is paying for athletic facilities with athletic money ... what's there to cry about? Be ignorant to YOUR school's programs but when IU's football team goes bowling or when YOUR IU basketball team goes to the Final Four, I don't want to see you haters anywhere near us supporters or our team.\nScott Beck\nFreshman
SH: Athletics facility upgrade worth it?\nRegarding "Trustees approve $55M athletics facility upgrade" by Chris Freiberg (Sept. 25):\nAfter witnessing the pitiful attempt by our football team to try to win the game on Saturday, a big question came to my mind: Why do we want to upgrade a stadium for 55 million dollars if they get 52 points scored on them in the first three quarters? Considering how we can't even fill in the seats we have now, and also the mass exodus that occurs from anywhere between the first quarter to the third quarter, why add more? A lot of people say we need the new additions because our stadium looks like a high school stadium, but, as a friend of mine pointed out "I bet South (high school) could beat IU!" I think that if IU plays like a high school team, then they deserve a high school stadium. If they want to get a Big Ten stadium, then they need to earn that Big Ten stadium.\nCharles Corbin\nIU Student
SH: We need cheaper football tickets\nRegarding "Trustees approve $55M athletics facility upgrade" by Chris Freiberg (Sept. 25):\nSpend just how much on it? Come on, like you can't even fill the stands now. How do you think you could then? Let's fill the stands? Sell one get one free wouldn't even do it. Give them out free and maybe you get people from IU and Bloomington. It's sad. Coach Hep is a wonderful guy. The players are wonderful people. They need the support but who can afford tickets at the price they are?\nMaria Lee\nStaff, Office of the Vice President for Information Technology
