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(04/02/10 3:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The outdoors will come indoors this weekend for a film festival full of nature and adventure. The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, sponsored by IU Outdoor Adventures, is making a stop at 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater to showcase a collection of 15 environmental and adventure films. Ginelle Heller, IUOA assistant program coordinator, said the festival is put together by the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, and is meant to expose the world to mountain culture and outdoor sports.“It’s a film festival for independent films about adventure and mountain culture from all over the world,” she said. Heller said the festival has been shown in Bloomington since 2003 and features films about sports, from rock climbing to mountain biking, as well as films focusing on environmental issues.Films include a story about star climber Chris Sharma tackling what some believe to be the most difficult climb in the world, as well as one about a woman rowing across the Atlantic Ocean alone. Heller said she is most excited about a film called “Take a Seat,” about a man who travels across two continents on a tandem bike, picking up strangers along the way.Maarten Bout, marketing director for the Buskirk-Chumley, said the festival has been a great success in past years.Tickets for the event are $10 for students and $15 for the general public. Viewers are also able to purchase festival tickets that cover entry for both nights, which are $17 for students and $27 for the public. Heller said the festival will expose viewers to a variety of outdoor sports but has significant environmental messages as well.“It’s a great community event for people to be exposed to new sports, different ways of life and beautiful environments,” Heller said. “Sometimes ecologically important and significant environments, as well.”
(03/26/10 5:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Cinderella, Rapunzel and other fairy-tale characters will come together this weekend at the John Waldron Arts Center when senior Josh Cohen presents “Into the Woods,” a musical about what happens when familiar fables entwine.“It’s kind of like when fairy tales collide,” said graduate student Rachel Erie, who portrays the baker’s wife.Erie said the story revolves around a curse placed on a baker and his family. They must travel throughout familiar fantasy worlds in order to have it removed. Along the way they stumble upon other fairy-tale creatures still staggering through their own adventures, including Jack from “Jack and the Beanstalk” and Little Red Riding Hood, she said. The cast ranges in experience from freshmen through doctoral students, including members of the Indianapolis Opera, Cohen said. There will be six performances beginning Friday and continuing through next week, with seating for about 150. Originally produced by composer Stephen Sondheim, the musical is a morality tale about what happens when someone goes too far to get the things they want, Cohen said. “‘Into the Woods’ is all about fairy tales and different characters all trying to get their wishes granted,” he said. “It’s about what are the consequences? How far would I go to get what I want? Would I cause pain to someone else? Things like that.” Cohen, who previously produced the first stage adaptation of Joss Whedon’s Internet musical Dr. Horrible last semester, said he decided to put together “Into the Woods” because of its ability to spark peoples’ imaginations. The performance was put together by Cohen’s production company, JCA Management, with most of the $30,000 budget coming out of his own pocket. A crew of nearly 50 and a cast of 17 were required to bring it all together, but none are being paid, Cohen said. Profits will go to cover the cost of production, with all remaining proceeds donated to various charities throughout Indiana. Though the story serves as a warning about the dangers of selfish desires, it’s also known for its dark sense of humor, graduate student and cast member Sean McCarther said. McCarther, who portrays the baker, said although the first act is generally lighthearted and funny as the characters attain their desires, the second act is darker and ripe with the cynicism and wit for which Sondheim is known.Erie said the show will appeal to viewers interested in literature because of Sondheim’s use of lyrics and comedy.“It’s hilarious; it has maybe a darker, sarcastic sense of humor but a lot of really great, funny moments,” she said. “And a lot of tender moments, as well. There’s definitely a good message at the end of the show.” Cohen said he hopes that when people see the show, they’ll see something they can relate to. “This show is very much about everyone’s desires, and it’s something we can all relate to in today’s society,” he said. “What can you afford to have now and what is worth fighting for?”
(03/26/10 3:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For over a decade, members of the Full Frontal Comedy troupe having been exposing themselves to unsuspecting students. This weekend, they’re going to celebrate it.At 9 p.m. Saturday the improv troupe will commemorate its 15-year anniversary in the Frangipani Room of the Indiana Memorial Union by bringing together founding alumni and others from the group’s past for a show unlike any it has done before, said member and junior Lauren Schaefer.“As of right now we have 15 alumni coming back,” she said. “We’re going to be performing in different groups, so the current cast will perform, then the midrange cast will perform, the original cast, and then we’ll all perform together.”Included in the event, co-sponsored by Union Board, will be previous members who have gone on to make a name for themselves in the public eye, including co-founders Jill Benjamin and Derek Miller.Benjamin, who began the group in 1995 while studying journalism at IU, has since starred in a two-person comedy show with “Saturday Night Live” writer and comedian Seth Meyers, as well as had a recurring role on “My Name is Earl,” among others. Miller has gone on to write and star in the Comedy Central show “Secret Girlfriend.”Benjamin said she credits the troupe with starting her career.“Full Frontal Comedy helped reinforce the fact that I knew that I wanted to go into comedy,” she said. “I studied journalism at IU and speech communication and I didn’t do theater because I knew that I didn’t want to have anything to do with ‘Macbeth’ or Shakespeare.”The group began 15 years ago after Benjamin began taking summer classes at Chicago’s The Second City comedy theater and school. After returning to Bloomington, she discovered the city only offered one venue for comedians in Bear’s Place.Benjamin joined with Miller and other comedians on campus to form Full Frontal Comedy. They performed their first show in the Union basement, previously known as Kiva. Benjamin said there were about 20 people in the crowd the first night but around 200 during her last.As part of the show, the groups will perform in what she referred to as a “living-room format.” The groups will stage an actual conversation, then use parts of it to set up scenes for their improv.“All of our suggestions for our performances come from the audience, whether it be our short-form improvisational games or whether it be the montage,” she said. “If we need a location or a relationship or if we need a personality quirk, those all come from the audience. It’s very interactive.”The alumni will also hold a series of six workshops on the development of improvisational skills for the public. The topics will vary in theme, ranging from character development to hip-hop improvisation.On Friday, the current members of Full Frontal will perform their regular bi-weekly show with former members in attendance.Schaefer said the group wants to use this weekend as a thank you to the original members, as well as a venue for helping entertain for students and the general public.“All of these really established comediennes came from IU and now they’re going to be able to come back and share their skills and their comedy with the public,” she said. “School pride and student organization pride; it’ll be great.”
(03/23/10 1:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Shelly Deckard has been avoiding campus all of her life.Born and raised in Bloomington and in a family with no college education, she learned to steer clear of the blocks between Third and 10th streets, an area that, until recently, seemed inaccessible to her.But Deckard, 40, isn’t steering clear of campus anymore — she practically lives on it. She’s one of roughly 800 continuing studies students currently taking classes for a general studies degree on the IU-Bloomington campus. Deckard, who plans to finish her degree with a concentration in social and behavioral studies in May, graduated high school as a junior but had to put her education on hold when she was left to raise her newborn daughter alone.Up until now, she worked as a nurse and a real estate assistant before deciding that wasn’t enough. Now her daughter is grown and also a student at IU and Deckard said she was ready to finally finish what she started.“I wanted an education,” she said. “And IU has always been at my back door all my life.” With a normal course load consisting of 16 to 17 credit hours in classes ranging from criminal justice to anthropology, Deckard said balancing work and school became too difficult last year so she quit her job to focus on school full-time. Because of this, Deckard said her retirement savings are gone and she still has no idea how to pay her bills through May.But through all the stress she’s still happy. “I tell people that I’m poor but I’m happy,” she said. “As a single parent you learn to juggle whatever you have to juggle to make things happen because you’re the only one who’s going to make it happen. That’s really prepared for me being here now.” Though she’s managed to procure a few scholarships and grants, Deckard said it was the people at the Bloomington Continuing Studies program that helped her the most.The program has been helping adults since 1975, said Executive Director Ron White, and allows non-traditional students to tailor a general studies degree to meet their needs. Students are required to take courses in areas encompassing the arts and humanities, science, mathematics and the social and behavioral sciences in order to obtain either an Associate of Arts or a Bachelor of General Studies degree. “General Studies is IU’s degree program specifically for adults,” White said. “It operates on each of the eight IU campuses.”Along with the General Studies degree, the division also offers Lifelong Learning classes for adults to take just for fun. These classes typically revolve around the arts and humanities, while the degree program is meant to appeal to adults seeking to further their professional credentials, White said.Kyla Cox, director of communications and outreach, said the Bloomington Continuing Studies program’s primary goal is to connect with members of the local community and give them the resources to further their careers. “Our focus is definitely on Bloomington and the surrounding communities,” Cox said. “There are a lot of people who live here who never really got to experience IU, so this is a good way for adults in the community to take advantage of the resources we have.” Because most adults work a full-time job, Cox said there are many classes offered in the evening, but people seeking the bachelor of general studies typically take classes throughout the day with the rest of the undergraduate students on campus. Deckard is one of these. She said she spends around six to eight hours a day on campus. Though she’s not quite sure what she wants to do after graduation and she’s almost broke, Deckard said getting a degree is one of the best things she’s ever done, and encourages anyone considering it to go ahead and try. “Just do it, jump in with both feet,” she said. “If it’s even a question in their mind, they need to act on it, they need to go back, because there’s a way, there’s always a way. Look for the resources. They’re there.”
(03/12/10 2:08am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>If the non-musically inclined students on campus ever stumble through the Jacobs School of Music, they might not notice the enormous music library. Each day, hundreds of music students wander through the stacks of scores and browse the digital collections of the William and Gayle Cook Music Library, which houses more than 600,000 items for them to choose from. Philip Ponella, head librarian, said it is trumped only by the Library of Congress and the New York Public Library in terms of collection size.“It’s arguably the largest academic music library in the United States,” Ponella said. “Between us and the Eastman School of Music, this is perhaps the largest and finest music collection around.”The music library contains a variety of different books, printed scores of music, older LPs, VHSs, CDs and digital recordings that can be accessed through the library’s Web site. But what sets it apart from the rest, Ponella said, is a system called Variations2.Variatons2 enables the school to stream audio and creates a digitized collection of music, which allows students and researchers access to a collection of music in a variety of different formats. The original system was created by IU with funds from the National Science Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities, he said.Recordings streamed through the Variations2 system often date back to the early 20th century, said Keith Cochran, associate director of the library. Cochran said he estimates the earliest recording at the library dates from the 1940s, which is still contained on a transcription disc.Along with Variations2, Ponella said, the library has an active preservation program which allows it to hire an audio engineer who works to transfer the collection of more than 40,000 open reel tapes dating back to the 1950s to a digital format. These reel-to-reel tapes, because of their age, have become increasingly fragile and have begun disintegrating, necessitating a switch to digitized copies.In the open stacks, students can find rows of sheet music and scores, but the library also has recordings in the faculty and graduate student closed stacks of the basement that can only be accessed through the online catalog.The collection consists of a range of different music, from classical favorites by Beethoven to a large Latin American collection, which Ponella said is perhaps the most developed collection in the library due to the collaborative efforts of the faculty. Other collections include jazz, African-American music and concert performances.Ponella said the music library has the second-highest circulation on campus next to the Wells Library, thanks to the music students.Freshman Joseph Tatum uses the library daily and accepted a job at the library stocking shelves because he enjoys the atmosphere and likes stumbling across new finds.“Shelving the books, you find new things,” Tatum said. “I’m in here quite a bit either looking for scores or quartets for class and, occasionally, just stuff for fun.”While studying brings a lot of students to the library, so does research. Graduate student Laura Goodenkauf spends her time compiling lists of solos for a book her professor is writing. According to Ponella, the library is also used by researchers from across the country.Although the library is primarily used by students, Ponella said, the collections are open to everyone and he hopes students outside of the music school will find use for it.“We’re a music library for the entire campus,” he said. “I don’t want people to be afraid to come over and think it’s just for serious music students. It’s for everybody.”
(03/09/10 2:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Photographer John Bower finds Indiana’s history hidden in the abandoned farms and cemeteries lying along the road.Bower, a Bloomington resident and graduate of Purdue University, will display his exhibit “Capturing the Soul of Indiana, The Documentary Photography of John Bower,” in the City Hall Atrium throughout March.The exhibit will showcase photographs Bower took of old structures, abandoned businesses and historic landmarks found along the highways and back roads of Indiana. “It focuses a lot on the past,” said Miah Michaelsen, assistant economic development director for the arts at City Hall. “There are some images that you see there that are places that still exist and may still be familiar to you. But a lot of them are places that are in the process of disappearing or have already disappeared.”The photographs range from deserted railroads to an old chair sitting on a front porch, but all are in black and white. Bower said he photographs his subjects without color because color takes away from the image.“I think you can see more energy in it — color kind of gets in the way of a lot of things a lot of the time,” he said. “These have a little more drama in black and white.” The images come from Bower’s published collections of photographs, which cover 90,000 miles of the state. Each has different theme and story. But Bower, who isn’t always able to find a subject’s history, said he prefers to allow viewers to make up their own story for each image. Bower said he and his wife have been traveling the state since they were married in 1972, but he only began taking a camera with him 10 years ago. Since then he has published six books, each with roughly 200 images and started his own publishing company for photography, Studio Indiana. Though he has photographs taken from Bloomington to Gary, he said he doesn’t have a one particular place he prefers. “Each corner of the state’s got a different flavor,” Bower said. But, he said, people in southern Indiana tend to abandon their homes and belongings far more than those up north. Bower said he uses a medium-format camera to capture his images, which creates a negative nearly three times larger than a typical 35mm camera would, and never shoots without his tripod.He works as a photographer full-time, having saved money to travel by building his own house and avoiding credit cards.Though he lives frugally, Bower said he is able to spend nearly all of his time doing the thing he loves.When asked whether he would expand his exploration into states outside of Indiana, he just laughs. “I’m not done exploring Indiana, yet,” he said. “I’ve only covered 90,000 miles.”
(03/03/10 5:07am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Lennie’s restaurant, usually know for its gourmet pizza, became a coffeehouse on Tuesday, but it was more than just the lattes that brought people out. Instead, Bloomington residents and students gathered for an art exhibit featuring paintings by graduate student Alaa Abi Haidar, who creates his works using coffee. His exhibit,“Coffee on Canvas,” was on display from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday and featured surrealist images painted with espresso, as well as a collection of acrylic and photographic images. To create the paintings Abi Haidar said he uses homemade coffee that he brews very densely and allows to settle into a thick consistency that he is able to paint with. He then transfers the coffee to canvas directly with a spoon, applying multiple layers to create darker colors and texture. “I think the style of shading is really unique,” graduate student Tyler Coogan said. “I guess it’s how he brews the coffee at different levels to get the color darker and darker.”The subject matter of each painting varied from images of horses and portraits of people, to photos of scenery from places all across the world.“It’s great fun, the horse painting is lovely,” said Bloomington resident Shirley St. John. “It’s fascinating what can be done with coffee and a teaspoon.” Many of the viewers were friends of Abi Haidar, but some simply came for the food and ended up enjoying the artwork. By the end he had sold two of his paintings, one within fifteen minutes of opening the doors. “It was pretty amazing, lots of people came,” Abi Haidar said. “I got some pretty interesting feedback from people.”
(03/02/10 5:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When a student brews too much coffee while cramming for midterms, he might toss the extra in the trash or down the sink.Graduate student Alaa Abi Haidar prefers to paint with it. Abi Haidar, a Ph.D. student in informatics, will showcase an exhibit 5 p.m. Tuesday at Lennie’s to display art rarely taught in the classroom. While most painters might use mediums such as oil, acrylic or watercolor, he is more inclined toward espresso. A self-proclaimed “citizen of the world,” having spent the last decade traveling between Europe and North America, Abi Haidar was actually born in Lebanon to a family of artists.His father paints primarily in oils and acrylics and owns his own art school but never taught anything about painting with coffee. In fact, Abi Haidar said he only tried it because he didn’t want to be wasteful.A year ago, after arranging a coffee date with a friend, Abi Haidar was left with an extra shot of espresso when he found out she was unable to come. Instead of wasting it, he grabbed a spoon and a corkboard and started to play. What he ended up with was a portrait of his friend made out of his favorite drink. “I think if there’s enough inspiration coming from the other person or the other object and there’s a necessity to express yourself, you can invent any technique,” Abi Haidar said. “I was inspired by the absence of my friend, and I used espresso coffee to express it.” But while Abi Haidar recognizes he isn’t the only one painting with coffee, he said he hasn’t found anyone else doing it in Bloomington. He said at first he didn’t expect much, but found that the coffee had a quality he couldn’t find in other mediums. The feel and color of coffee, he said, is something he hasn’t been able to replicate with acrylics.“You can compare it maybe to acrylic, but this tone of brown is unique to coffee,” he said. “It’s kind of the sepia tone of older stuff.”To create the paintings, he said he brews the coffee extremely dense with very little water in the espresso machine, then allows it to settle into a thick consistency. When applying the coffee to canvas, typically with a spoon, he uses multiple layers to vary the colors, with each new layer creating a darker tone. To lighten the painting, all he needs is a wet towel. Instead of a palette, he has a cup.Abi Haidar said there is a lot of surrealism in his art, comparing it to works created by M.C. Escher, but he also enjoys painting scenery and objects such as his painting of the Sample Gates.Michael Fox, general manager of Lennie’s, said the restaurant has been using the walls to showcase local talent for years and was more than happy to have Abi Haidar exhibit his work.“I took a look at his work and I thought it was outstanding,” he said. “So I was happy to have it on the walls because it’s unique, very well executed.”During the exhibit, viewers will be able to see approximately 30 of Abi Haidar’s paintings, many of which will be on sale, along with a chance to enter a lottery to win posters and prints of his work.Afterwards, Abi Haidar said he plans to continue pursuing a career in informatics while painting on the side, as long as he can stand the smell.“You can usually smell coffee coming out of them,” he said. “When I’m painting I get coffee everywhere, my room just smells like it.”
(03/01/10 1:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Indiana Memorial Union served as a meeting place for women, many of whom were professors from universities across the nation, as they discussed citizenship and the role of feminism in politics and academia.The topics came from around the globe during this weekend’s 14th-annual Cultural Studies Gender and Citizenship conference.At Friday’s keynote speech, Srimati Basu, associate professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Kentucky, spoke of the issues surrounding violence in marriage, rape and the role of marital citizenship. Basu said rape has seen a steady rise in recent years, especially in India. Some of the main reasons are the view that rape cannot occur within a marriage and the flaws in the process for reporting a rape. “There are always cases where race is used in gender as well as class, caste and political domination,” she argued. Basu added that when a woman in India is raped, she will often then be pressured into marrying her rapist, which would typically void her argument.Members of the audience discussed ways in which feminists could overcome these issues, including debunking the idea that marriage should be used as a resolution to rape claims. On Saturday, three different panels were available to conference attendees, which included both men and women. One panel discussed issues of popular sovereignty and maternal citizenship and what they mean for Chinese and Taiwanese relations. Sara Friedman, associate professor of anthropology and gender studies at IU, said current immigration laws allow women from China who have children to more easily immigrate into Taiwan. As part of the final panel, the presenters discussed how feminism affected academia, particularly at IU. Panelist Maria Bucur, associate professor of history at IU, discussed the lack of sufficient roles for women at the University and pointed out that women currently compose only 32 percent of the faculty at IU.“Women as a group have not arrived and we need to call tokenism for what it is,” she said. “Top administrators need to tend to and mentor other young women.” She cited the slow promotion of women at IU as one of the reasons that more women are needed in higher positions, particularly in the boardroom where the decisions are being made. One of the coordinators of the event, Karma Lochrie, said the turnout had exceeded their expectations. “I think it was great,” she said, “Here it is, it’s a Saturday in late February when nobody wants to leave their house because of the snow and the cold, and there were so many people here.” Graduate student Zach Kelly said he attended the conference to gain more knowledge on the theoretical backgrounds in gender studies.“These speakers did a wonderful job of sort of bringing it home for some who’s new to the whole area,” he said.
(11/18/09 3:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Most people in a constant strap for cash are probably aware of just how far a few quarters can go. Two of them can buy you a bag of chips between classes, four a ride on the Bloomington Transit. But with enough of them saved up, some people can afford meals for a week, or maybe even an extra bed to sleep in. Bobbie Summers is hoping for the latter two. Summers is the executive director of Martha’s House, a homeless shelter in Bloomington that provides support services for men and women unable to secure their own homes. He is also one of the directors behind the program “Spare Change for Social Change.” The program, part of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, is a collaborative fundraising project that will provide money for four agencies that deal with issues of homelessness in Lawrence, Monroe and Owen counties: Shalom Community Center, Martha’s House, Stepping Stones and Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard. The agencies have set up canisters in about 60 businesses around Bloomington, where they hope people will donate their spare change, Summers said. “We’re trying to do something that’s really grassroots,” she said. “Because ultimately, when you have a social issue like homelessness and hunger, it really is an issue that can only be resolved by a community committed to addressing it.” But the program, which began last Saturday and will run until this Saturday, has gotten off to a rough start. As of Tuesday, a quick shake of the purple and white cans in businesses like Soma and Rachael’s Cafe reveals little more than empty air. Anita Edington, owner of The Chocolate Emporium, said the canister just went up in her store on Monday and she hopes things will pick up as the week goes along. “Nobody has donated yet,” she said. “We’ll just have to see how generous people really are.” According to Brooke Gentile, executive director of Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, the community could use a little generosity. Currently Monroe County has a poverty rate of more than 20 percent, the highest in the state of Indiana. The money raised from the fundraising program will go to help the four agencies involved in providing shelter, food and support services for the people affected by this, Gentile said. These services include providing case managers who help to get them social security, employment and plan budgets, among other things. According to Summers, 76 percent of the people who go through the homeless shelter suffer from health conditions and disabilities that make it difficult for them to find employment. Without a job or some form of income, they aren’t able to save up enough money for a mortgage or to stabilize themselves financially. Summers said she hopes that people will realize that it takes a support system to help someone out. “One of the things I have to tell you that I like about the community is that we seem to be committed to the quality of life for all our residents,” Summers said. “And for somebody in a crisis, that has no resources at their disposal, they need an advocate and they need someone to step up to the plate for them.”
(11/12/09 4:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A picture can speak a thousand words, but sometimes it only needs to say a few.In light of Maine voters’ decision last week to repeal a law allowing same-sex marriage, a group of IU students is looking to protest with photography.The group NOH8 @ IU, along with OUT, will be staging a photo shoot today to rally support for marriage equality and showcase IU student solidarity. The event is inspired by the grassroots photo campaign started by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska. The photos taken at IU will be sent in to NOH8 Campaign’s Web site to join thousands of photographs of celebrities, politicians and other supporters nationwide. According to the Web site, the photos will eventually be used as part of a billboard campaign and magazine spreads. The idea behind the initiative is to create a way to symbolize all the people who are oppressed through a form of silent protest, junior Chris Hall said. Students and Bloomington residents who come to have their photo taken will be asked to wear a white T-shirt and will have NOH8 painted on their cheek in black and red, he said. Then they’ll have duct tape placed over their mouth before the photo is taken. “They have to have duct tape over their mouths to symbolize all the people who can’t speak for themselves or can’t get the word out,” Hall said. “Basically, it just symbolizes all the people who are oppressed. It’s not necessarily just for gay rights, but it’s mainly for oppression anywhere.”Hall, who originally learned about the campaign while surfing the Web, got together with a couple of friends and decided to start the NOH8 group at IU. Senior Amanda Rafkin, co-founder of the group, said that the photo shoot is not solely meant to garner support for gay marriage but rather to give people the right to individual choice.“It’s not so much about the marriage facet for me so much as about the freedom to do as you choose,” she said. “So whether or not I think or you think or anybody thinks that gays or straights or anybody should be married, I think people should have the choice.” Rafkin said she feels rights and privileges that can really affect people monetarily, physically or emotionally should never be reserved for specific categories of people.A tiny percentage of people are controlling what everybody else can do, and nobody can act on it because it’s difficult to change, she said. With the photo shoot, the group is hoping to show people that something can be done about it – something done without being irrational, said Bloomington resident Sami Coop-Escudero. “The silent thing shows that we can actually do something about it without acting out irrationally,” said Coop-Escudero, “without being angry and hitting somebody and without bashing them like people do to us.” The first photo shoot is only a preliminary event, and NOH8 hopes to continue throughout the year so more people can participate. “Everybody needs to know that this isn’t just to make gay people able to get married,” Coop-Escudero said. “It’s not just for that. You don’t have to want to get married. You don’t have to be gay. You can be straight. You can be a supporter.”
(11/12/09 3:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With the number of bank failures in a year reaching the highest level since 1992, that shoebox under the bed may be looking like an increasingly better place to stash your cash. However, with the expansion of the Bank on Indiana program, the state of Indiana is looking to change that opinion. Based upon the successful Bank on Evansville program launched last year, Bank on Indiana will operate as an umbrella to help build infrastructure programs throughout the state, with the goal of improving financial education and creating bank accounts for more than 200,000 “unbanked” Hoosier residents. In less than a year, the Bank on Evansville program managed to open 625 accounts, more than half of its two-year goal. Currently, unbanked households are often forced to utilize check cashing services to receive money from their paychecks, which typically charge a service fee, said Patty Avery, project manager for the Bank on Evansville program. Avery said that unbanked Indiana residents spend an average of $1,100 a year on check cashing fees and check writing fees for using these services. “To be able to put your income to work you have to pay somebody to get that cash in your hands,” she said. “And then you have to turn around and pay them even more to write checks for you to pay your rent and your utilities.” Those residents without a financial institution are also unable to build a financial track record, making essential purchases like cars and homes difficult, Avery said. “You’re not building that track record with a checking account where they see that income coming in, and they see that being balanced every month,” she said. “So that when you need a car loan, you don’t have any opportunities other than to go to a place that’s going to charge you a much higher interest rate.” State officials are hoping that by expanding the program to cities statewide, they will be able to further educate residents about the pitfalls of remaining unbanked, said Chris Conner, director of communication for the treasurer. Conner said the program puts together a large steering committee that will work to set up smaller, local Bank on Indiana programs throughout the state, and create an interactive Web site where residents can get information about the benefits of banking. Previously, when residents left a financial institution because of accumulating overdraft fees they were unable to pay, they weren’t able to open an account at another institution, Avery said.The Bank on Indiana program allows participating institutions to waive the requirement of paying back these previous banks in order to create a new account. Laura Wilson, vice president of communications at the Indiana Bankers Association, said there is a general sense of mistrust for the banking system in the United States. Many people may come from another country with an unstable banking system and others from a family that has never banked in their life, she said. Wilson said that the main goal of the program is essentially to dispel this mistrust. “The program really benefits these people,” Wilson said. “If people have a reluctance to form a relationship with the depository institutions then it puts them at risk because it puts large sums of cash at home.” Avery said that program follows a very adaptable model that cities around the state will hopefully find easy to follow. The program, which began in San Francisco, Seattle and Evansville, has had success in all three cities, she said. “The program is raising awareness among people and letting them know that there is an alternative available to them,” Avery said. “It’s creating a second chance to create a bank account.”
(11/11/09 9:07pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A picture can speak a thousand words, but sometimes it only needs to say a few. In light of Maine voters’ decision last week to repeal a law allowing same-sex marriage, a group of IU students is looking to protest with photography.The group NOH8 @ IU, along with OUT, will be staging a photo shoot today to rally support for marriage equality and showcase the IU student solidarity. The event is inspired by the grassroots photo campaign started by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska. The photos taken at IU will be sent in to NOH8 Campaign’s Web site to join thousands of photographs of celebrities, politicians and other supporters nationwide. According to the Web site, the photos will eventually be used as part of a billboard campaign and magazine spreads. The idea behind the initiative is to create a way to symbolize all the people who are oppressed through a form of silent protest, junior Chris Hall said. Students and Bloomington residents who come to have their photo taken will be asked to wear a white T-shirt and will have NOH8 painted on their cheek in black and red, he said. Then they’ll have duct tape placed over their mouth before the photo is taken. “They have to have duct tape over their mouths to symbolize all the people who can’t speak for themselves or can’t get the word out,” Hall said. “Basically, it just symbolizes all the people who are oppressed. It’s not necessarily just for gay rights, but it’s mainly for oppression anywhere.”Hall, who originally learned about the campaign while surfing the Web, got together with a couple of friends and decided to start the NOH8 group at IU. Senior Amanda Rafkin, co-founder of the group, said that the photo shoot is not solely meant to garner support for gay marriage but rather to give people the right to individual choice.“It’s not so much about the marriage facet for me so much as about the freedom to do as you choose,” she said. “So whether or not I think or you think or anybody thinks that gays or straights or anybody should be married, I think people should have the choice.” Rafkin said she feels rights and privileges that can really affect people monetarily, physically or emotionally should never be reserved for specific categories of people. A tiny percentage of people are controlling what everybody else can do, and nobody can act on it because it’s difficult to change, she said. With the photo shoot, the group is hoping to show people that something can be done about it – something done without being irrational, said Bloomington resident Sami Coop-Escudero. “The silent thing show’s that we can actually do something about it without acting out irrationally,” said Coop-Escudero, “without being angry and hitting somebody and without bashing them like people do to us.” The first photo shoot is only a preliminary event, and NOH8 hopes to continue it throughout the year so more people can participate. “Everybody needs to know that this isn’t just to make gay people able to get married,” Coop-Escudero said. “It’s not just for that. You don’t have to want to get married. You don’t have to be gay. You can be straight. You can be a supporter.”
(10/30/09 4:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As a musician himself, John Weston thought it was only natural to help teach others to play. That’s why he decided to become a teacher at the CODA Academy, an after-school music program for kids in a high-poverty area in Bloomington, and at 10 p.m. Friday he and other members of the band The Buzzkills will be performing a charity show to help raise money for the program.The event at Video Saloon is free to the public, but Weston and the band are asking that guests contribute with a $3 suggested cover. The money donated at the door will then be delivered to the Academy in the form of a personal check from the band members.No money from alcohol sales will go toward the donation, he said.“It’s an after-school program for kids that basically can’t afford music,” Weston said. “With the economy they’ve lost a lot of donations and have had grants that have been cut, so we’re trying to help out.”Weston said a recent lack of funding has caused the children not to be able to afford cases for their instruments. Some have even had to put their instruments in trash bags to carry them. “I’m a guitar teacher, and I’m telling you it stinks,” he said. “We can’t even afford cases for their guitars – that’s how bad it is.” Until recently, the saloon rarely played host to bands, and Weston said it was his understanding that, with other bars changing their formats and businesses shutting down, they wanted to expand. He said this was great for the show because the bar is in a good location where lots of people go, especially on Halloween weekend. Kristina Armour, who is co-owner of Video Saloon along with Mike Black, confirmed that claim. “Since the first of this year, we’ve had the downstairs room open,” she said. “And we’ve had bands on a fairly regular basis since then.” The Buzzkills, who have been a Bloomington staple for around three years now, will play original songs inspired by classic rock and alternative as well as popular covers. According to their Web site, The Buzzkills “use an eclectic blend of old school rock and roll, progressive and modern alternative to create a sound one in their own.” Weston said that anything helps, but they’re hoping to raise at least a couple hundred dollars for the program. “I know it’s Halloween and it’ll be packed,” he said. “If we could get people to throw a couple bucks in when they walk in the door, that would really help out.”
(10/30/09 3:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Sara Watkins has always been part of a team.For the last two decades, she was a part of the Grammy award-winning band Nickel Creek, and she’s gotten used to sharing the stage and fame. Now she said she’s ready to strike out on her own.Watkins, who will be playing at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, is currently on tour promoting her self-titled debut solo album and will be making a stop in Bloomington at 8 p.m. Friday.Heavily influenced by her bluegrass roots, Watkins’ album features her skills on the fiddle, as well as the ukulele and the guitar, that fans of Nickel Creek have come to be familiar with. She said she will be showing off each of these skills and more in a largely acoustic set. “It’s totally different, because for me I loved being part of a team,” she said. “I’ve had to develop certain strengths in areas I never really had to before, and it’s been really great.” Watkins got her start in music as a child, she said, when her parents took her and her brother to see a band perform live for the first time. She attributed her desire to perform to seeing the band interact, improvise and have fun on stage. “Then I started taking lessons with me and my brother and a friend,” she said. “It just kind of tumbleweeded from there.”Watkins, along with brother Sean and mandolin player Chris Thile, went on to produce five critically acclaimed studio albums and win a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album as members of Nickel Creek before their hiatus in late 2007.Even with all the success as part of a trio under her belt, Watkins said she was never nervous about losing it when she ventured off on her solo career. In fact, she said she was pretty much counting on it. “It was a challenge early on,” she said. “But it’s really satisfying, and I’m having a really good time traveling around with a revolving cast of band members and getting to perform these sounds with someone different.” While she grew up listening to and playing bluegrass, Watkins said her music is influenced by all sorts of sounds. She will be playing songs produced by not only some big-name ers, but also by the likes of former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones.Fans and curious concert-goers will hear a mix of Americana and bluegrass, said Randi Seplow who handles Watkins’ publicity.Buskirk Marketing Director Maarten Bout said Watkins will be joined on stage by brother and former bandmate Sean, among others, “Audience members will first hear Chase Coy, the opening act, a very talented, very young songwriter from Greenwood, Ind.,” Bout said. “After that, Sara Watkins will head onstage with her brother Sean, her bass player Sebastian Steinberg and possibly a drummer to play a great set for us.” Bout said he expects Watkins to be on stage for a little more than an hour, and he said that tickets are selling fast. Watkins is also no stranger to the Bloomington scene. She said she has played here before as part of Nickel Creek and loves the city. “I definitely plan on going back to Soma Coffee House and hopefully getting to walk around campus.” Whether alone or with a group, Watkins said she plans on playing music for the rest of her life. One of the best parts of performing, she said, is seeing the audience’s reaction. “Recently, I’ve been really reminded about how crucial an audience is to the show,” Watkins said. “There’s a lot of teamwork there, and when that’s right and the audience is happy with what you’re doing, you can feel it. That’s the best part of being a performer, I think.”
(10/27/09 1:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Privacy in the Information Age might be getting more secure. The National Institutes of Health awarded $538,595 to the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research at IU to look for ways to improve privacy in health research. Law professor Fred Cate, director of the CACR, said the center will assemble a panel of experts to examine privacy issues. The project, titled “Protecting Privacy in Health Research,” will bring together a diverse panel of experts in the fields of medical research, law, ethics and patient advocacy to wrestle with the issue of how privacy should be protected, he said. Currently, health researchers must follow privacy regulations outlined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act’s “Privacy Rule,” which Cate said he believes is causing a lot of problems for researchers. “What we’re trying to do is come up with a better approach,” Cate said. “That doesn’t mean the perfect approach, but something that would free up the health researchers from these requirements that don’t do much to protect privacy, but that have tremendous amounts of cost to getting the job done.” Over the course of two years, the panel will work together to address issues expressed by the Institute of Medicine Committee on Health Research and the Privacy of Health Information, who argue for a new regulation that would exempt health research from the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The issues the panel will address include finding ways to share data across national boundaries as well as ways to ensure that personal information given by the public for research will be protected, said Barbara Evans, panel member and director of the Center on Biotechnology and Law at the University of Houston Law Center. The group will also look into the ethical aspects of controlling data in health research that has been de-identified, wherein a person’s name and identifying information have been withdrawn. “The problem we’re encountering in medical science is that we need access to data, but you know how you would feel if you hear your medical records had been taken to be used in a study,” Evans said. “You’d be concerned about it.” With breakthroughs in genetics and genetics medicine, it has become increasingly important to have access to tissue specimens and previous research, she said. Evans said the panel will be looking for ways to create a system of ethical protections. She said the panel also hopes the project will help to find ways to lower the cost of health research as well and improve the quality of the research performed. The money from the grant itself will be used to assemble the panel and educate the public on their progress through online distribution and a series of conferences, along with producing a final report that Cate said he hopes to complete by May 2011. “It’s going to be a lot of hard work but it’s really important,” Cate said. “Because otherwise we’re missing the chance to do research that can save people’s lives.”
(10/22/09 2:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The U.S. Department of Agriculture would like people to eat their veggies.Under the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture received $382,302 to help support healthy eating and increase the production of specialty crops, which are defined as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and horticulture and nursery crops. Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan recently announced the distribution agreements of a $49 million grant.The purpose of the grant is to spur economic opportunity by developing local food systems for the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative, Merrigan said in a press release. Amy Eizinger-Ott, grants coordinator for the ISDA, said they already have the projects in mind that will receive the funds. “We are awarded funds, and we try to find projects around the state that focus solely on specialty crops and award them funds to accomplish their goals,” she said. Projects to receive the funds in Indiana include efforts to produce a tourism directory for visitors to the state that will list local farmers markets and wineries, as well as funds that were awarded to Christmas tree growers, Eizinger-Ott said. Funds were also made available to the Local Growers Guild in Bloomington. The Guild, a co-operative of farmers and retailers dedicated to strengthening the local food economy, was awarded funds for its Backpack Buddies program. Assistant Director Katie Zukof said the program will fill children’s backpacks with fruits and vegetables for the weekend, along with information on how to properly prepare the foods in order to improve healthy eating habits for children. “The program creates 10-pound packages that they can give to low-income children on Friday so that they can have a good food source over the weekend,” Board Treasurer Bobbi Boos said. “It will get more local produce into those backpacks.” Boos said that a portion of the funds will also support the Bloomington Kitchen Incubator. The BKI is a non-profit organization that emphasizes the need for producing fresh, local goods, she said. The BKI will use the money to influence local retailers and try to get them to sell more local, fresh produce, she said and they will conduct market research on how to get retailers to begin using local produce in their canned foods and deli foods. Eizinger-Ott said the USDA awards money to states based on the amount of specialty crops they produce, Indiana has a pretty low percentage, she said, but the money still helps. “It’s a great resource for specialty crop producers to find some additional resources to support their production,” Eizinger-Ott said.
(10/21/09 1:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Indianapolis Zoo has announced the 2010 nominees for its biennial animal conservation award. The Indianapolis Prize is given to an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to the field of animal conservation, public relations specialist Maura Giles said. This year 29 nominees will be vying for the prize, which is the largest individual monetary award for animal species conservation in the world, Giles said. The winner will receive a $100,000 non-restricted monetary award as well as the prestigious Lilly Medal provided by the Eli Lilly and Co. Foundation. Past winners include cofounder of the International Crane Foundation George Archibald and field biologist George Schaller. “The prize was set up to honor and recognize individuals who have made a real change and who just have a tremendous dedication to improving the conditions of one or several species,” said Beth Cate, associate general counsel for IU and nominating committee member.Nominations are sent to the Indianapolis Zoo from all over the world, she said. From there, the nominating committee is tasked with narrowing the field to six finalists whom they feel have had the greatest influence on animal conservation, each of whom will be announced in the spring. The final winner will be announced Sept. 25, 2010, in Indianapolis. Cate said the committee looks at a wide variety of areas when determining the finalists. “What we’re looking for is what conditions have changed through the years due to their efforts,” she said. “Because really understanding the animals’ needs, both their environmental needs and biological needs, is pretty key to planning what will be successful conservation efforts.” The committee will also be looking at how much scientific knowledge a nominee has contributed to his or her species and how well they are working with government constituencies to effectively improve the state of animals and their environment. Many of the nominees reviewed are involved with teaching, Cate said, both through educating graduate students and through working with nonprofit organizations to instruct other conservationists to help continue their work. Perhaps one of the most critical aspects, though, is how much the nominee is involving the local population, she said. “So many of the issues about the future of conserving animal populations are bound up in the well-being of their surrounding local population,” she said. “So getting local, indigenous populations involved is critical.”
(10/20/09 1:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore was listed as one of 25 parks most threatened by climate change in a report released earlier this month by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The report, “National Parks in Peril: The Threats of Climate Disruption,” identifies the parks most affected by climate change in the United States, including well-known sites Yellowstone National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. To compile the list, the two groups worked together to study the effects of climate change in various regions throughout the country, specifically looking at the plant communities, said Tom Easley, director of programs at RMCO.The lakeshore, located in Porter, Ind., is home to more than 15,000 acres of forests and dunes and more than 1,100 different flowering plant species. It spans 15 miles of Lake Michigan’s shoreline. “When people think of national parks, they don’t necessarily think of Indiana,” senior advocate at the NRDC Theo Spencer said. “We wanted to show people that the system is broad and every state is affected by climate change.” Spencer said the lakeshore is in danger because of high temperatures that cause dropping water levels in the Great Lakes in recent years. In 2007, both Lake Superior and Lake Michigan dropped more than 20 inches below average. The loss of water reduces the habitat and food sources for the animals that live there, Spencer said. The report also states that with temperatures across the board continuing to rise, people are likely to seek out the cooler climate surrounding the lakeshore, overcrowding the park and endangering the wildlife. It also lists recommendations for what can be done by the parks to fix the situation, like reducing emissions and expanding and creating new parks to help protect more natural resources. But even with the parks working to solve the problem, the public still needs to lend a hand, Spencer said. “The first thing they can do is tell their senators to help pass climate legislation,” Spencer said. “Then the public can let the parks know that they’re concerned about the risks climate change imposes.” Supervisory Park Ranger at the lakeshore Bruce Rowe said there are plenty of volunteer opportunities at the park for people wanting to help, ranging from cleaning the trails or helping to take care of the wildlife. “There are a lot of things that both the park and the general public can do to help,” Rowe said. “Certainly anything that would reduce our carbon footprint, such as living off the land more and reducing our pollutants, not only helps the parks but also the earth.”
(10/16/09 2:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Many people can’t go a day without creating trash. Now some are trying to go a whole week. Beginning Sunday, participants in the No Impact Experiment will be cutting back on their use of energy, water, transportation and trash creation in an attempt to test how much they really need these “creature comforts.” The experiment, described as a one-week “carbon cleanse,” is an international effort inspired by the “No Impact Man,” Colin Beavan, who chronicled his year-long attempt to live a “zero-waste lifestyle” with his family in New York City. Each day, participants are given a challenge meant to motivate them to look for ways to lessen their environmental impact. The challenges vary, ranging from cutting out use of electricity to going an entire day without creating any trash. As the week continues, they’re expected to continue the previous day’s challenge until the eight days are up, said Stephanie Bleyer, associate director of the project.The How-To Manual, downloadable on the project’s site, lists ways to help participants achieve this goal. For instance, they are encouraged to put together a no-trash kit that includes a reusable drinking cup, utensils and bag as well as buying food grown within 100 miles of home. Those who feel they are unable to complete the entire eight days are encouraged to do as much as they can, Bleyer said.“The thing about this week is that we’re not telling people to go back to the land and become Amish and give up all their conveniences,” Bleyer said. “We’re telling people to take one step, try something for a week. You don’t need to go to the extreme that would totally mess up your life.”The goal of the experiment doesn’t stop there, though. Participants are also asked to get involved with their local and national communities. The guide lists different environmental advocacy activities going on during the week that participants will be able to engage in, as well as suggestions for volunteering in their local communities. For residents of Bloomington, Parks and Recreation Community Relations Manager Julie Ramey has some tips for helping the environment as well. “The most obvious way to help is to not drive your car,” Ramey said. “It cuts down on fossil fuels and saves energy, plus it’s just good for you to get out and exercise and walk around.”Ramey said she would also persuade people to buy locally. Purchasing food from local farmers keeps people from having to drive to deliver them, cutting down on emissions even more, she said. Once participants are done with the day, they are encouraged to go online and post a blog or video log of what they accomplished. They are then asked to fill out a survey and participate in a nightly discussion with experts from the No Impact Project. Bleyer said that like any program, the more people put into this, the more they will get out of it. “The idea behind it is that you can’t just make a behavior change if we’re going to make a change in the world,” she said. “Individual action is not enough. It has to be coupled with action in your community and action in your country.”