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(01/30/04 6:04am)
Six days a week, Peter Lawrence balances a hectic work schedule as a waiter at two Bloomington restaurants. And on his day off each week -- a day when most would rest and relax -- Lawrence tries to supplement his income as an artist. \nWorking the cliche starving artist job as a waiter at the IMU Tudor Room and Casablanca has not impeded Lawrence's artistic progress. \n"My paintings follow their own sensibility, making sense in the context of themselves," he said. \nUnbound by social constraints, Lawrence, 41, wants to enliven the art world with his original style. But fearful of devastating artistic repercussions, he evades ventures into the lofty ideals of his style. \n"I hesitate to describe my work when there could be other sides to it — things that I don't fully understand," he said. "I find that work can't be fully realized if I say what it means."\nWhile Lawrence remains modest, Judy Drew, manager of the Tudor Room, doesn't hesitate to describe his work in the restaurant.\n"Peter is extremely dependable and loyal. He never misses work," she said.\nLawrence attempts to characterize his work as that of a perfectionist "who is meticulous and generous — but mostly ... as honest." \n "I try to seduce the viewer with the work so they don't get tired of it. To do this," he said. " I find that if I can make them look twice, I can make them look a lot of times."\nNorm Lann, owner of Gallery West, where Lawrence's work is currently exhibited, describes Lawrence's art as "special work."\n"It's wild, circular and abstract with dramatic swirling effects, but it is still realistic," Lann said. "He definitely paints with his own unique style." \nLawrence said his work is more than a painting of a subject; it is a physical object striving for a voice in a cluttered environment — so he makes his pictures big. Some of his paintings measure more than seven feet wide and 14 feet tall.\nLawrence's art begins with ideas garnered from philosophy and classical literature.\n"I have taken a lot of inspiration from tragic heroes in literature, particularly Ahab in "Moby Dick." I find I can dive into these kinds of characters with an incredible intimacy, making them salient for the viewer," he said.\nAs a child growing up in the San Francisco area in the small suburb of Pleasanton, life wasn't always easy. After high school, his family temporarily lost its home, and he had to live with other family members while he worked in the family business. \nAt 29, Lawrence enrolled at Sonoma State University, but he didn't stop working. He took a full course load and still made the trip home each week to help his family.\nThough Lawrence originally doubted art's profitability, he has always identified himself as an artist. And the "F" in his introductory business statistics class solidified any doubts and changed his life forever. \n"I had this illusion that you had to go into business to be successful, but my temperament is not for the business world," he said.\nSince Lawrence moved to Bloomington, the art community has taken notice of his talent. He was awarded the Elizabeth A. Griffin Merit Award and the Art Illiana Merit Award at the 56th and 57th annual Wabash Valley Juried Exhibition, respectively. The IMU purchased his painting "Girl in a Window" and displayed it in its principal collection.\nAlthough Lawrence waits tables 72 hours a week, he still finds time to paint nearly every day, and he's confident that his art will pay off in time. \n"I have no doubt at all that I will be a successful artist," he said. "It just takes time."\n-- Contact staff writer Chris Sommerfeld at csommerf@indiana.edu.
(01/28/04 4:46am)
As stress builds and deadlines approach, some students see cheating as the only viable option to save their endangered GPAs. To students, cheating might seem like a quick and painless way to remedy a study plan gone wrong, but campus officials take a far less forgiving view. \nThey condemn all accounts of academic dishonesty and warn students that they will be caught. \nCheating is nothing new, as students have been attempting to pass off others' work as their own for years. Jack Dvorak, IU professor of journalism, knows this first hand, recalling an incident when a student rather carelessly and humorously made an attempt at plagiarism.\nHis students had been given a few weeks to write an article profiling a person they found interesting and newsworthy. The student of interest had exhibited fairly poor academic performance, Dvorak said, and he didn't expect a stellar piece of journalism. But that's what he received when the student wrote a profile of a basketball player for the Denver Nuggets.\nDvorak said he was suspicious and decided that running the first few lines through an online search engine would not be a bad idea.\n"I tried to track down an article on the computer and found that nearly every passage was verbatim in Sports Illustrated Online," he said.\nThough the student's inability to consider the obviously small probability of producing such a stellar interview in such a short period of time was lacking, there was a greater issue at hand: a sheer lack of academic integrity. \nDvorak said the student failed the assignment and ultimately, though not directly related to the cheating incident, also failed the course.\nInstances of plagiarism are not the only examples of academic dishonesty. Pam Freeman, IU dean of student ethics, presented statistics documenting 292 instances of academic misconduct in the 2002-2003 school year. And although 150 -- more than 50 percent of all cases of academic dishonesty -- were classified as plagiarism last year, students have several other cheating options.
(10/20/03 5:20am)
Students stressed with midterms looming overhead need look no further than the IU Art Museum for a change of pace.\nMany fine arts students know this, but many others do not know that any group of students can arrange a free tour of the museum. Sophomore studio art major Carly Park has spent hours appreciating the IUAM's offerings, both in class and independently. She said she finds the museum is more than just an academic resource.\n"As a student, it's nice to identify things you may have read about in classes for yourself in the museum," she said. "But it's very calm and relaxing and fun to just go walk around too."\nThe IUAM opened in 1982, and includes over 30,000 artifacts and pieces of art, including masterpieces by such artists as Claude Monet, Jackson Pollack and Pablo Picasso.\nDesigned by the architectural firm, I.M. Pei and Partners, the building boasts a complete lack of 90 degree angles, other than where the walls touch the floor. As any passerby might attest, one of the building's most defining characteristics is the three-story glass atrium entrance. \nIU Web site said the IUAM is one of the top five University art museums in the nation.\n"I really liked going to the art museum for class tours," sophomore Laura Lindquist said. "But I didn't know you could actually see all the exhibits on all the floors until recently." \nJoanne Cross, tour coordinator at the IUAM, finds that many students fare like Lindquist and are unaware of the many opportunities that lie within the art museum. \nShe said many students don't realize how easy it is to become acquainted with the art museum and its collection. \n"We have extremely well-trained docents (museum tour guides), who are wonderful at building one-on-one rapport," she said. \nCross said one of the most valuable resources at the IUAM for students is the tour service. Any group of any size with any number of unique interests in art can arrange for a free tour with the IUAM, or individual tours. \n"We customize the tours to what the group needs," she said. "They're interactive tours, focusing on looking at and talking about the art and what the viewers perceive."\nFor those time-crunched students who prefer a more structured tour, the IUAM offers a free public tour of the general collection from 2 to 3 p.m. every Saturday. Thematic tours focused on specific nuances of the collection are scheduled for the first weekend of every month.\n"November's thematic tour will highlight 'Art and the Eye' and will deal with some of the more technical and scientific aspects of perceiving art," Cross said.\nThough taking a tour can be as simple as showing up, some students, perhaps feeling the pressure of a heavy load, have no time to tour this semester. \n"Though at times I feel pretty stressed taking 19 credit hours, I know it's still really important to take breaks," sophomore Vivek Chandrasekhar said. "If nothing else, it's relaxing to spend at least a few moments every now and then at the art museum."\nFor more information on tours, call Tour Coordinator Joanne Cross at 855-1045 or visit www.indiana.edu/~iuam..\n--Contact staff writer Chris Sommerfeld at csommerf@indiana.edu.
(10/03/03 5:15am)
IU-Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm knows that with more than 29,000 undergraduate students on campus, the concerns of the individual student can seem pretty distant from the administration.\nTo combat this communication problem, Brehm has designed a program to empower campus leaders through an intimate dinner at her home.\nThe year's first Leadership Dinner Series will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 14. All full-time IU-B students who have completed two full semesters of classes with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 and show initiative or potential for student leadership are encouraged to apply. \nThe Chancellor's Leadership Dinner Series was developed last year by Brehm and then-senior Erin Ransford as a venue in which the chancellor could engage with student leaders in a small, intimate setting to discuss leadership skills and campus issues. \n"We talk about leadership and what it means," Brehm said. "But we go where the group wants to."\nOutside of the benefits to students, Brehm appreciates the opportunity it allows her to stay informed of campus leadership issues and increase her understanding of student life on campus. \n"The biggest challenge for any leader in any position is to stay close to those you are working for," she said.\nHeld at the chancellor's home and funded by the Office of the Chancellor, the Leadership Dinners will occur four times throughout the academic year. Eight students will attend each dinner, allowing 32 different students the opportunity to interact with Brehm and other student leaders throughout the series.\n"The dinners help present campus in a smaller setting and make it all personal," said junior Grace Chung, the chancellor's current advisor to undergraduate leadership programs.\nChung said though the program attracts some very distinguished campus leaders, it is designed to combine a diverse sample of students and is not limited to club presidents and directors. She encourages students who would like to take a more active role in campus leadership but may not currently be involved in many campus activities to apply. \n"We really hope that the dinners will have students from different organizations and areas on campus," she said.\nD'Andre May, a junior and current president of leadership development for the Student Alumni Association, also participated in last year's series. For May, the dinner was a good opportunity to meet other students. He found the program initiated an important dialogue between student leaders. \n"At least some member of their organization should get involved in this series -- to learn what's going on around campus and to listen to the experiences of others," May said. "It's a real networking tool."\nMay appreciated the dinner's lack of rigid structure and enjoyed the opportunity to discuss practical issues in leadership with both students and the chancellor. The chancellor takes a hands-free approach, letting students direct the flow of the evening's conversation.\n"The students can do whatever they want," she said.\nBrehm said the dinners should be beneficial to all involved.\n"While I hope students can learn from me and our group's interactions," Brehm said, "I certainly want to meet the students and leave with a better understanding of the nuances of student life."\nApplications for the fall semester dinners are due today for the Oct. 14 dinner and Monday Dec. 1 for the Dec. 8 dinner. Interested students should e-mail gechung@indiana.edu. \n-- Contact staff writer Chris Sommerfeld at csommerf@indiana.edu.