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(11/21/05 4:56pm)
COLUMBUS, Ga. -- Several IU students traveled to the U.S. Army base at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga., this past weekend to participate in the symbolic protest against a military-run school, formally known as the School of Americas. \nThe base, now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, houses a controversial training facility that has been linked to human rights abuses in Latin America. The weekend's protest included a mock funeral procession, live music and speeches.\nSOA faced criticism from church and civil rights groups. In 2001, School of Americas was closed and WHINSEC was put in its place.\nMany demonstrators said they pay no attention to the name change and simply continue to call the school SOA -- what they call the "School of Assassins."\nCrowds of people moved freely in and out of the section of streets leading up to the base. Area law enforcers sealed off part of the road that led up to the fence so that there would be an area to accommodate the protestors that attended over the weekend. There were about 15,000 protestors Saturday and an estimated 20,000 Sunday.\nAt each of the annual protests an act called "Crossing the Line" takes place where demonstrators deliberately breach a fence guarding the perimeter of the army base. Protesters crawl to the other side where military police are waiting to flex cuff them. \nOnly 40 of the 300 who pledged to cross the line followed through on their claim.\nIU freshman Tim Gross saw at least one demonstrator "cross the line." Gross said he was struck by the protester, a young college-aged man in a brown hoodie and glasses, who crossed under the line and displayed conflicting emotions after he made it across. He looked like he just didn't know what to do -- his face showing both triumph and confusion, Gross said.\n"I think it's amazing people would give up six months of their lives for this," he said, referring to the maximum sentence allowed to be handed down by federal law for those charged with trespassing with intent to protest. \nIU student Jeremiah John, who attended the protests, did so for a second time. It was his first trip back to the protests held outside the 289-square-mile army base. \nIn 2003, with his now-wife Charity, the pair clipped the fence together, each holding part of a pair of bolt cutters. After six months in the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, John said he knows full well what it's like to have your lifestyle crimped with a federal prison sentence. \n"Prison is like a vice: it just keeps tightening and tightening," John said. "Prison is awful. It's like we're using injustice to teach people to be unjust."\nVoices in opposition of the SOA were counteracted by voices of surrounding the community in support of the military. \n"God Bless Fort Benning" was a festival running in the Columbus Civic Center on Saturday. It had live music, food and carnival rides for all the servicemen and women posted to the base. Many community members said they don't understand why the protesters are in their city and while they don't hate the protestors, they are considered an annoyance. \nJoe Leuer, the assistant dean of academics at WHINSEC, acknowledged that teachings at the SOA were sometimes used inappropriately by graduates who committed human rights violations. He also acknowledged the role SOA had in South America. \nLeuer says he's grateful for groups like School of America Watch because it brings attention to issues that need to be changed. \nJAG officer Capt. Brian Battles, a military attorney assigned to WHINSEC, said he respects the right of the demonstrators to protest. He said even though it is a military base, members of the community can enter and exit the base freely if they show a valid ID. The protesters are being arrested because of their intent to deliberately enter the base to demonstrate. \nGross said he didn't think anyone who crossed the line had any ideas about what a possible prison experience might be like. Gross said he didn't either, and while he said he might not have crossed the line, he's not sure if he'll stay opposed forever.\n"I don't feel like I'm called to do that right now, but who knows in the future," Gross said.
(11/18/05 4:16pm)
Students from the Collins Living-Learning Center and Global Village at Foster Quad are planning to drive to Ft. Benning, Ga., this weekend, risking the possibility of arrest to protest a military-run school located on the 289-square-mile Army base.\nThe facility, Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, replaced the School of Americas, a training center with notoriety among human rights groups for its possible connections with human rights abuses in Latin America. SOA faced criticism since its creation in the late 1940s and was shut down in 2001. Human rights advocates fear WHINSEC is simply SOA in disguise. \nThe school received much criticism during its more than four decade existence because students were sometimes implicated in human rights violations. \nFreshman Tim Gross and sophomores Brian Pike and Carley Knapp are planning to attend the demonstrations.\nGross, who represents Collins, said his interest in the human rights issues presented by antagonists of the School of Americas began because of a class he took while attending high school at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis.\n"This demonstration is important to me because it represents a way for me to do something to make a change in the world," Gross said. "By educating myself and by participating in such an event, I hope to contribute to causes that I feel are very important, such as the pursuit of peace and the availability of basic human rights to everyone."\nAccording to Center for International Policy, a private center studying U.S foreign policy, training manuals used at the SOA from the early 1980s through 1991 promoted techniques that violated human rights and democratic standards. \nFor years the School of Americas faced accusations that students who attended the school went on to commit human rights violations similar to the Jesuit murders, or work for corrupt Latin American governments supporting the violations. \nThe School of Americas Watch was founded in 1989 after six Jesuit priests were killed in El Salvador. Since its beginning, SOAW has committed itself to closing the SOA and ending what it calls "oppressive U.S. foreign policy" through non-violent protests. \nThe protests might have worked.\nIn 2001, Congress shut down the School of Americas replacing it with WHINSEC. The school is located in the same building as its predecessor and it's mandated by Congress to focus on leadership development and counter-drug operations. It has also mandated students receive at least eight hours of human rights courses. \nThe weekend schedule includes a Sunday event where demonstrators commit what they call an act of civil disobedience, and trespass onto the base drenched in fake blood and carrying dummy coffins to symbolize what they think are the results of SOA training. Participants deliberately get themselves arrested for trespassing as a way of making a point.\n"I think most of us who have anything to do with Fort Benning just see the protests as an expression of American-style democracy, although one that is misguided," said Lee Rials, a public affairs officer at Ft. Benning. Rials said the protests are misguided because it takes Congressional action to close WHINSEC, so SOAW's efforts should be directed toward Congress. \nRials also said the sight of the protest is near a gate that no longer serves as the main entrance to the post, so the protests aren't expected to disrupt access to Ft. Benning.\nGross said he doesn't plan on getting arrested, even though it is a possibility.\nIt isn't known yet how many students living in Foster Quad's Global Village or the Collins Living Learning Center will be taking part in the protest. It is equally uncertain how many IU students will face felony charges this weekend when they cross the line into civil disobedience by trespassing onto a U.S. military installation.
(05/12/05 8:46pm)
Since Valentine's Day, the Ellettsville Police Department has been policing the town it serves from a new, $1.5 million headquarters situated on State Road 46, west of town. The 22-man department will celebrate the end ofconstruction with a dedication ceremony and open house Saturday at 1 p.m.\nAs Chief Deputy Marshall Jay Humphrey directs a tour of the 9,000 square foot facility built in the shape of a square, he does so with a smile brighter than Times Square on New Year's Eve. And he has good reason. \nThe first location occupied 900 square feet of the old fire station and was plagued with a series of floods. The most recent one three years ago stole everything the department had, from chairs to computers. Ellettsville Marshall Ron McGlocklin even said there were substantial health concerns since the flood created a sewer back-up forcing officers to fill out reports while they walked around in solid waste.\nAt the time, McGlocklin said the Town Council took action partly because it didn't want its police force to work in those kinds of conditions, but also because of the growth within the 20 square miles of a chopped up jurisdiction EPD is charged with patrolling.\n"Some people may ask what's the big deal with a new police station?," Humphrey said. "Well, this is a small community, it's a big deal here."\nThe station boasts a number of features it didn't have before. There's a new dispatch center that will eventually be able to work as a back-up to Monroe County Central Dispatch. Secure interview rooms make it possible for officers to work more efficiently on station without having to drive to the Monroe County Jail to interview suspects, or take statements from the public. A new Breathalyzer room allows the department to video tape and get a breath alcohol reading on their own so they, again, don't have to drive into Bloomington and use someone else's. Another major improvement comes in the form of a squad room giving each officer his own computerized work station, and an enhanced training room allows all department meetings to be held at the station.\nRussell Harris, one of the department's eight full-time officers and a training officer as well, spoke of the improvements because of construction.\n"It's going to make it easier because of what we have at this facility as compared to the old one," Harris said. "It's not like in the old place where people sat people down between the microwave and coffee pot to interview them … We don't have to go to the Odd Fellows Lodge or the library like we used to to conduct training seminars."\nBut making the department's clerical and administrative work more efficient isn't the thing Humphrey smiles the most about. It's little stuff that most people would take for granted.\nThanks to the construction, Humphrey and the other full-time, part-time, and reserve officers have a state-of-the-art locker room to shower and change clothes in. There's an actual restroom for both men and women so now neither they nor the public have to use the filthy port-a-pot like they previously did at the construction trailer. \nMarlene Moody is a floral designer at Unique Flower and Gift Shoppe on Sale Street in downtown Ellettsville. Moody knew about the sordid history the department had when it came to working facilities.\n"It should have been done long before now … It's definitely something that needed to be done," she said.\nBut not everyone seems to share their sentiments.\n"If you're going to spend that kind of money, you need to build for the future, not just the present," said former Town Council member David Drake, who was on the council when the project was approved. \nDrake said he thought the building was bigger than was currently needed, but suggested that Ellettsville is growing and that if you're going to build a building that's supposed to last for 20 or 30 years, then you need to build one keeping that in mind.\nBut overall, Marshall McGlocklin said he thinks the community has been very supportive of the facility.\n"I haven't heard one negative comment," said McGlocklin. "John Q. Public gives us a pat on the back"
(01/27/05 5:08am)
The Middle Way House will offer a women's self defense class Saturday to raise money for its outreach programs that help women who are victims of domestic violence or rape. \nThe class teaches women how to use the body's pressure points against an attacker. Open to the public, the class costs $20 per person and is taught by Bloomington martial arts expert David Rhodes. The class will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Stonebelt Gym.\nRhodes will teach pressure point self defense -- a technique using the application of pressure to one or more natural points in the human body to disable an attacker. \nOr at least knock the assailiant down long enough to get away. \nMiddle Way House, a nonprofit organization helping victims of domestic violence and rape, is the fundraiser's beneficiary. With 75 employees across several counties, more than 25 percent of its $2 million budget comes from money raised at fundraisers such as Rhodes' class.\nRhodes teaches this course regularly at the Ryukyu Kyusho Martial Arts, his "dojo," or school, located on North College Avenue. He said PPSD is a self defense technique that can be used by anybody and requires little or no strength on the part of the defender. \n"Pressure point self defense gives a woman options to defend herself, if she chooses to do so," Rhodes said. \nWhile these options have a practical use in escaping from an attack, they also have a more visible benefit, said Toby Strout, director of Middle Way House. She said some research shows women who are victims of rape are often targeted because they appear to be unsure of themselves. \nStrout said particular benefit of the PPSD class is that it might help women appear more confident, thus reducing their chance of being a victim.\nBut Rhodes and Strout made it clear that knowledge is the key to the "empowerment" Middle Way House tries to promote among women. \nStrout spoke first and foremost about the guilt many women feel after being victimized -- an emotional double-bind. She said if a woman is attacked and she does nothing, she feels ashamed. Likewise, if she is attacked and isn't able to defend herself -- even if she had the training -- she feels ashamed.But Strout emphasized that a woman's first obligation is to survive an assault.\n"Taking a self defense class does not mean you won't be assaulted," Strout said. "It doesn't mean you'll even be able to use what you learned if you are assaulted. Whatever you did to stay alive was the right thing to do." \n-- Contact Staff Writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.
(09/28/04 4:31am)
The IU Auditorium will bring an audience through its limestone edifice at 8 p.m. tonight and Wednesday with Troika Entertainment's national tour of "Crazy for You." \nKen Ludwig, a playwright known for several Broadway farces including "Moon Over Buffalo" and "Lend me a Tenor," took his inspiration for tonight's billing from the 1930 Broadway hit by George and Ira Gershwin called "Girl Crazy." The similarities between the two shows are apparent, but Ludwig's flavor shines in "Crazy for You." \nThe original storyline told of a spoiled New York society brat whose family thought he needed an old fashion dose of the wild west to toughen him up. In Ludwig's version, the lead character, Bobby Child, the son of a wealthy banker, also winds up in Nevada. While there, Child, a wanna-be song-and-dance man that could easily add to Fred Astaire's job security, is supposed to serve a foreclosure notice on a dilapidated theater that now serves as a post office. \nBobby falls in love with the local postmistress named Polly, loses her when his New York fiancée crashes the party and then manages to sort out which of the two he loves the most. \nNew in Ludwig's version of Gershwin's classic is the use of mistaken identity in his plot construction, a device he has used in other shows. In this instance it involves a man named Bella Zangler, a sort of big-name showman loosely based on Florenz Ziegfeld, an impresario who at one time could make or break a career. \nOverall the structure of the show is very similar to its roots in the 1930s. The plot really depends on the whole concept of suspension of disbelief. The music does little or nothing to advance the plot, but it does a whole lot to add to the entertainment value. \nGershwin staples like "Someone to Watch Over Me," "I Got Rhythm," "Embraceable You" and "They Can't Take that Away from Me" fill Ludwig's two-act play. Much of the orchestra's playlist comes from a variety of places and not just leftovers from "Girl Crazy."\nHarvey G. Cocks has spent the last 60 years working in theater, 30 of which have been on Broadway. He directed "Crazy for You" last summer. \nCocks said that in their time, the music of the Gershwin brothers was a piece of Americana that could speak to New Yorkers, which was important because, in that era, the theater industry was locally supported, not tourist-based as it is now.\n"Much of the music in the show is taken from a hodge-podge of places. One was an old truck filled with sheet music that was recently uncovered. Another place is score written for a movie called "Damsels in Distress,"that was the only film Fred Astaire made without Ginger Rogers," Cocks said. "I think there's better music out there that could have been chosen from, but they're all numbers you can identify with the Gershwin's."\n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.
(09/15/04 4:41am)
Last year 556,500 Americans lost their battles with cancer.\nWhen we're emotionally uncomfortable as people, we try to find mental safety nets to give us the comfort we are seeking. But sometimes we need to give up our nets of safety so that we might comfort the uncomfortable.\nI have a pretty good friend lying in the Bloomington Hospital oncology ward right now, and he's been there most of the summer. With the onslaught of side affects from chemotherapy and radiation, he really can't remember a time before last January when he felt good. His days have been plagued by the emotional turmoil brought about by facing his own mortality: "When I'm in remission, how long will it be before I go back to work?" "If I can't make remission what's gonna happen to my family -- who's gonna take care of them?" "I'd really like to not throw up today, for once."\nBut since January, only a handful of people outside of family members have made that leap and visited with regularity. Many of his coworkers have all but forgotten him, so he's pretty much dealt with all this discomfort on his own.\nCancer is an infamous word. It's a pretty scary word, too, because before the age of medical miracles in which we all live now, cancer was pretty much a death sentence. \nIt's even more scary since you're never fully cured. You're just in remission for a period of time that no one can predict. I know a woman who has been in remission from breast cancer for 12 years and went on to have a daughter, even though doctors said the chemo would pretty much prevent that from happening. But I also know of someone who was in remission for 18 months. He's been dead 5 years.\nWe all have stories like these which make us aware that cancer is a nightmare for everybody and that survival is a crapshoot. This crapshoot makes us uncomfortably aware of our own mortality. But see, while we all either know someone or will know someone diagnosed with cancer, we can't let it make us so uncomfortable that we withdraw from our friends and loved ones during a time when we're needed the most.\nWhile people who don't have cancer may be uncomfortable visiting a friend or doing something with a friend who has cancer, we aren't the ones fighting it. They are. Before I knew him, I never fully realized the human face of cancer. I'd never emptied a bed pan, helped a 50-year-old get his legs back into bed or pulled 170 pounds of humanity up six inches in a hospital bed so there'd be room for a tray of food. After a while, the cafeteria food even seems pretty good. I do all of this knowing in some small way, it does something that maybe brings a smile, a laugh and a little comfort to someone who needs it way more than I do. Just then, he needed my safety net. I knew that by giving him my safety net, I would open myself up to a little pain and a little discomfort. Since knowing him, I've thought even more about my own demise -- not a comforting thought for a 21-year-old. \nWe can't let our own discomfort override the fact in their worst times of trouble and despair, our friends need to be comforted, even if it means we need to get rid of our safety net of comfort.\nLast year, 556,500 Americans lost their battles with cancer.
(07/15/04 2:02am)
During the 90-minute ferry crossing beginning at the white, chalky cliffs of Dover, England, to the sandy shores of the Pas-de-Calais, France, I sat in the saloon getting to know several of my fellow travelers. This was the first leg of a 29-day blitzkrieg across Western Europe with a hodgepodge of fellow adventurers. It seemed I was the only American. The others consisted of one Canadian and four Indians -- as in the former British colony, not the ones who bumped off Custer -- and everyone else was either English or Australian, aside from a South African, who smoked an endless stream of Marlboro Reds. I prefer Pall Malls, myself.\nWe then traversed the French plains to the center of Bohemian life -- gay Paris. \nThe first thing most people envision when they think of Paris is the Eiffel Tower. Built in 1889, it is still the tallest structure in Paris and was the tallest in the world until the Empire State Building was constructed. Several times the Parisians just wanted to have the thing torn down, basically because they just didn't like it. But during the German occupation, Hitler ordered it torn down. True to the stereotypical French personality, nobody tells them what to do, so the structure is still standing. Besides, the French also decided it was a really good place to shove a radio and television antennae.\nI walked from one end of the Champs-Elysees, beginning from the Place de la Concordé, to the Arch de Triomphe. I had to dodge the Parisian drivers who pretend everywhere is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As I did so, I reflected on the point-of-view of Charles DeGaulle as he walked that same route feigning his liberation of Paris in June of 1944.\nHe was lucky. He just got shot at by snipers atop nearby buildings. I had to deal with the traffic.\nDuring our jaunts through 11 countries, I often decided I had had enough of the group thing, so I took advantage of the European affectation for good public transport. I remained behind in Munich to do a couple of walking tours throughout the city, which was largely rebuilt after the Allied bombings. I left six hours behind the rest of the group. I then hopped a train and made it to our next stop in Austria (again) four hours ahead of the rest of the group.\nThe train reflects the large emphasis the Europeans place on public transport. If they didn't, the area would be a scene similar to crossing 10th and Jordan during the school year -- all the time. \nParisian traffic is at a usual standstill. Most commuters prefer the maneuverability of motorcycles, motor scooters and bicycles. Unless you live in the suburbs of metro French cities, you really don't want a car. People can usually afford them, just not the hassle that comes with them.\nAnother major city we visited was a city of Catholicism. Rome.\nI spent one day writing and lunching, sitting smack in the middle of Saint Peter's Square. I sat in the heart of the open arms of the church founded on the rock where Peter built it. But before I strolled through the Vatican, I went on a guided tour through ancient Rome and saw the Coliseum with its 80 gates leading to a stadium capable of seating more than 70,000 people.seating capacity of over 70,000 people. Indicative of Roman fortitude, the structure took only eight years to build. Compare this with the more than 200 years the French spent building Notre Dame.\nAfter Rome came Vienna. My first night there I saw Mozart play live.\nWell -- it wasn't him. \nThat would have been a hell of a lot better story than this one.\nThe 20-piece orchestra played the "Marriage of Figaro" with a skill and precision you would expect only from a group playing a Viennese opera house built for Emperor Franz Joseph. They were so good at their craft people there don't steal the symphony's instruments to stop them from playing the way they do here at IU.\nThroughout my journey, I learned one thing: The world is a classroom. And a much nicer one than those in the sickened limestone buildings we all seem to spend so much time rushing to, cooped up in or getting away from. College is good. It's a silver bullet. But that's college. You get your education through the world around you.\nEvery college kid needs that education.\nYou get a real education by taking a few minutes to stop by a place like Sunshine Travel on East Third Street and say: "There's a place called Europe that I long to see"
(04/20/04 4:29am)
I used to work as the Indiana Daily Student police reporter. One of my detective friends filled me in on some details as I rode with him to Ballantine Hall yesterday around noon. A 22-year-old IU student took a chair, broke a window with it and proceeded to jump out of the eighth floor of Ballantine Hall with the intent of falling to his death.\nAs I stood looking at the faces of other officers I knew, like Laury, George, Phil, Kevin and Tom while they surveyed the broken glass, I began thinking about my own experiences.\nI went to a Catholic high school in Fort Wayne. Needless to say, coming to understand my homosexuality wasn't the easiest thing to do in an environment filled with the testosterone-packed bodies of high school football players. And with that came a two-year period of depression.\nI began to feel at times there was only one alternative to end my suffering. Suicide.\nI had it all planned out. I wanted the pain to be over. And listening obsessively to "Will you Remember Me" by Sarah McLachlan didn't help. I had the service all planned, the note was written and redrafted repeatedly.\nBut I didn't do it.\nI got to thinking and the bottom line was this: My family and friends loved me.\nI knew my family would torture themselves with questions.\n"What could we have said," "What could we have done," "If only I would have given him a hug yesterday."\nI didn't want my parents to feel the nightmare of losing a child.\nI didn't want Del Nelson, my beloved Spanish teacher to have to clean out my locker for my parents. Not that she'd be able to figure out what was trash and what was actually valuable stuff. \nI've never been the cleanest person.\nI knew if I would have killed myself, I would have missed out on a lot.\nThe most important lesson I would have learned was from Mike Hanson, IU Police Department's longtime chief. He's my dad away from Dad. \nMike is indeed an interesting person, one with whom I have shared quite a lot of this struggle during our many private, wonderful conversations.\nMike has worked a number of suicides. The causes were always stuff like "I got a D," or "My girlfriend left me." The normal stuff all college kids sometimes think they can't handle -- and decide they don't want to be around to try and face it.\nAnd then they make a decision in the heat of the moment that isn't one you can reverse.\nThey take their own lives over stuff that won't even be remembered in 10 years. \nMost of the small stuff people do on a day-to-day basis isn't worth fretting over for more than 10 or 15 seconds. There's some stuff that seems pretty serious, but most likely it isn't something that's going to kill you. Unless you decide to let it, that is.\nMike taught me that when we die, we don't really, because your loved ones will always carry your legacy with them. Me killing myself isn't the legacy I want to leave behind. And I'm certain it wasn't the legacy the 22-year-old student now pondering his potentially life-ending plunge wanted, either.\nThe key is talking.\nAnd you do this by not being afraid to let people listen to you, by talking about your problems or things you think are unbearable, but are really pretty stupid to worry about.\nI'd like to think I'm writing this on behalf of my friends at IUPD -- Mike, George, Laury, Phil, Kevin and Tom -- so they don't ever again have to race to another call like this one, where all they can hope for is the ability to piece together the now broken pieces of human life like they saw yesterday.\nWe almost lost a member of the IU community yesterday. We lost another last semester. And we lost IU English Professor Tim Wiles last summer. Let's all reach out and try and talk with people and strive to ensure we don't lose another.
(04/19/04 5:01am)
Nathan Gilbert is an IU junior majoring in folklore who spent the fall semester in a study abroad program in Bulgaria.\nWith so many study abroad options available, Bulgaria is not a common choice, according to the IU Overseas Study Program, which refers to it as a "non-traditional destination."\nStill, IU Overseas Study Program Coordinator Paige Wetie said such off-beat locations offer worthwhile experiences. \n"Students who study in a non-traditional locations have a truly unique experience, one that most of their peers who study in developed Western nations will not be able to experience. Study abroad experiences in Bulgaria or Peru, or Thailand are truly unique," Wetie said. "Those students who study in developing nations experience life as the majority of the world population does, and they get a unique view into the struggle and joys of life in the developing world."\nGilbert traveled to Bulgaria three years ago for a few weeks and became fascinated with the many aspects of life there, including the people, culture, music and country, he said.\nWhen many Americans hear the name Bulgaria, they conjure up images of iron-fisted dictators, May Day parades and long lines at state-run grocery stores waiting for low-quality food. \nGilbert said when he talks about his studying in Bulgaria, the response always runs along the lines of, "That's in South America, isn't it?"\nBulgaria is a country of which most Americans have heard; they just don't know much about it, Gilbert said.\n"Bulgaria is actually a very beautiful country with incredible countryside, including a spectacular mountain range," he said. "I didn't know much about Bulgaria before I went, except that they have a very rich culture and history."\nThat rich history comes in many forms, including the influences of other nation-states like the Soviets and the once powerful Ottoman Empire and their cultures, Gilbert said.\nThe International Student Exchange Program is the world's largest organization working with post-secondary learning institutions to provide foreign learning opportunities for students. According to the Bulgaria country handbook on its Web site, notwithstanding the periodically rough economy, Bulgaria continually ranks among the highest in the world in science and math test scores.\nGilbert spent his semester studying music, Russian language, anthropology and the history of Bulgaria. He said he enjoyed the studying and noticed the typical observation of students from places outside the U.S.: that the students in Bulgaria took their education quite a bit more seriously than those in the U.S.\nNot only did Gilbert say he grew academically, but also did most of his learning outside of the classroom, absorbing the culture and lifestyle in a nation erratic water pressure and often day-late import of newspapers.\nGilbert said for him, a normal day in Bulgaria would probably consist of going to class, spending some time in the library, going out to a cafe for coffee and cognac and just sitting with friends and talking for hours. In the evening, he said he often went out for a nice dinner and a beer and spent some hours dancing in discotechs he described as "wonderful."\n"After living abroad, especially in a country like Bulgaria, I definitely feel like I've grown as a person," Gilbert said. "My mind is more open to foreign ideas. My friend once told me I have an 'international consciousness.' I like this idea. It is important for people to open up their views and appreciate other ways of life."\n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.
(04/01/04 6:17am)
IU's Office of Disability Services for Students will host a reception from 3 to 5 p.m. today in the Indiana Memorial Union's Frangipani Room to kick off April as Disabilities Awareness Month.\nThis is the department's first reception of its kind at IU, and Director Martha Jacques said she hopes it becomes an annual event designed to raise awareness of the needs of students with disabilities and the challenges in creating a level playing field for them.\nThe reception will have catered food and feature various opportunities for challenged students to showcase some of their achievements, such as various pieces of art made by the students including poetry, sketches, drawings and other types of literary work.\nDayna Hummel, who works for DSS, said the reception gives a university that prides itself for programs broadcasting the value in diversity a chance to "recognize another diverse population."\nDSS is located in Franklin Hall 096 and serves as a gateway for students with disabilities, whether they have physical, psychological or learning disabilities like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. \nJody Ferguson, DSS coordinator of learning disability services, said the program currently works with more than 600 hundred IU students in order to help them gain physical access to the campus, including a van service used to transport students with disabilities around campus. \nDSS also works as a mediator between disabled students and faculty members. DSS tries to help maintain standards of academic fairness while giving disabled students the help they need to demonstrate their knowledge in the same way as other students.\n"Whatever the general population gets, we have to ensure that equality exists for students with disabilities as well," Jacques said.\nBut that sounds easier than it really is.\nBuildings on campus like Kirkwood Hall have no access for students using wheelchairs. Paradoxically, the very office on campus providing help for these students isn't seemingly accessible. DSS is located on both the ground and third floors of Franklin Hall. The only way students with wheelchairs can get to the third floor is by one, closet-sized elevator. This one elevator oftentimes has difficulty holding the larger, battery-operated wheelchairs many students use on campus to get around. \nAnd dealing with faculty members sometimes doesn't fall to a happy medium of cooperation.\nFerguson said there are several of her 450 cases where faculty members do way too much and some of her students have to fight tooth and nail for any help they can get.\nDSS staff members all have high hopes for this reception, hoping it can get some word out about the pitfalls they run into when helping to ensure equality for another one of IU's minorities.\n"I think what we would like to accomplish is (to) have students and faculty come and be made aware about students with disabilities," Jacques said.\nA large concern advocates of students with disabilities have is the word choice used to speak about them.\nStacy Stiening, who also works for DSS, said putting people first is a good way to look at it. \nShe said labeling students with disabilities as "disabled students" is an example of how not to use sensitive language. "Students with disabilities" is the correct way to talk about people with disabilities -- keeping people first in mind, said Stiening. By saying they are "disabled students," the speaker puts the focus on their disability and not their humanity.
(02/02/04 4:07am)
The IU Office of Overseas Study announced Wednesday it received a $225,000 grant to help create three new summer programs for IU students who wish to study abroad.\nThe Edward L. Hutton Foundation has a history of granting generous sums of money to the University to fund study abroad scholarships to eligible students through the Honors College. Kathleen Sideli, director of the Office of Overseas Study and associate dean of International Programs, said the grant from the Hutton Foundation will allow Overseas Study to create and fund several new programs over the next three years.\n"Mr. Hutton's grant will make it possible for us to make our newest programs more affordable for IU students who might not have been able to study abroad otherwise," Sideli said in a statement. "Given the current economy, the shrinking value of the dollar abroad and the pressure on the campus budget, his generous gesture is greatly appreciated by those of us who know the impact study abroad will have on students' lives and careers."\nThe programs created include summer programs in Dakar, Senegal and in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in addition to a photography program in Paris, a theater program in London and an intersession program in Oaxaca, Mexico in December and January. \nSideli said the grant will allow IU students a 10 to 15 percent reduction in costs to those programs, which are still taking applications until Feb. 16.\nSideli said the money would be used to help reduce the costs of several programs the departmet administers, including one in Amsterdam to study criminal justice. \nAccording to the department's Web site, www.indiana.edu/~overseas, "Social Justice in the Netherlands" begins July 1 and ends July 31 at the University of Amsterdam. Students who participate can earn up to six IU credits toward their degree. And because of the Hutton Grant, the cost will be reduced to just over $3,500 from over $4,000. \nSideli said "niche" programming is a word bouncing around in her profession, which refers to creating programs that relate specifically to the curriculum of the students in a particular line of academic programming. An example of this is the Paris photography program funded by the grant, which is designed to benefit students in IU's department of fine arts.\nThis program, administered by IU, runs June 10 to July 23 and works closely with the Speos Paris Photographic Institute.\nHutton, currently chairman of Roto-Rooter, Inc. and Omnicare, grew up in Bedford, Ind., and earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees at IU. After completing his master's, he served in the U.S. Army in Germany during WWII. When the war ended, he worked in Berlin and negotiated several trade agreements, helping to rebuild the German economy. This early experience in Europe inspired him to fund opportunities for IU students to study abroad. \nIn addition to the new $225,000 grant given to Overseas Study, Hutton also created the Edward L. Hutton International Experiences Program in 2000. Administered by the Honors College, the program has helped finance study abroad experiences for over 400 IU students. His support for such opportunities stems from his strong belief that students should be exposed to other cultures, broadening their global perspective. \n"The Hutton grant allows the Office of Overseas Study to work more closely with academic departments to create programs emphasizing and enhancing a student's overall academic curriculum without passing the financial cost onto students," said Paige Weting, an Overseas Study academic advisor who deals with a large part of the department's administration.\n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.
(12/09/03 5:56am)
Almost a month ago, local Bloomington music legend Tom Donohue passed away, leaving a void in the emotional compositions of so many friends of both the man and his music.\nDonohue couldn't read music and he couldn't play it. Friends teased him for a brief stint many years ago as a drummer in a band called the "Retarded Gods." But his colleagues say his knowledge of music and artists was "encyclopedic."\nSince 1996, Donohue ran TD's CDs & LPs, and in its newest incarnation, the store sits at 322 E. Kirkwood Ave., in the same building as Laughing Planet and Soma. It's a place reflective of Donohue's personality. Disorganized. Eclectic. Stuff everywhere.\nThe store, which was closed for a brief period, opened again for business Nov. 22 -- the day that would have been Donohue's 54th birthday, said longtime friends and business partners Patrick Fiore and Marina Ballor, who shared store ownership with Donohue and took over the entire ownership after his death. Donohue passed away from liver cancer Nov. 12.\n"The reason we want to continue the store without him is because it catered to a number of young people who couldn't really find their music readily available anywhere else," Ballor said.\nDonohue was a one-time Catholic seminarian whose vocation changed from serving the Holy See in Rome to the music community in Bloomington, with the store created when Fiore and Ballor, owners of Le Petite Cafe, fronted the cash.\n"Not only did we keep a low profile, we kept no profile," Fiore said.\nThe first store opened in 1996, and the second location in 1998.\nBallor said the store never lost money. Fiore said the store always broke even and business was up and down.\nDonohue had "a willingness to unearth rare records and unheard-of bands" Fiore said. "He would go through his huge brains to come up with hunches."\nFiore and Ballor sense a fear among many of the store's patrons that the store will change a great deal with Donohue's passing. They say it's not so.\n"We're preserving the spirit, but we're changing the clutter," Fiore said.\nBallor said Donohue liked to keep boxes around for students when they had to pack up and for breaks. He had 5,000 boxes and the aisles were so crammed with records and CDs, two people couldn't get into the same aisle and reaching for stuff was seemingly impossible.\nStill, the store is popular both among Bloomington residents and students, who voted it as Best Record Store in the IDS Weekend "Best of Bloomington" poll in November.\nFor the time being, the store is open Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 7 p.m. Fiore said during the winter vacation they may alter the hours a little.\nTD's only employee and store manager, Jason Nickey, is worried even cleaning the place may be too much of a change. He said a lot of people just went to the store because of Donohue's personality, and he and Fiore both said it's too soon to tell what effect not having Donohue around could have on business.\nBut Nickey said Saturday was the best day the store had since the reopening.\nFriend and local musician Rex Miller said Donohue was a very good source of information, echoing Fiore's thoughts about Donohue being a walking encyclopedia.\n"He was really good at exposing people to new musical ideas," Miller said. "I think that was Tom's strong point."\n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.
(12/09/03 5:16am)
IU's Division of Recreational Sports will close Woodlawn Field again from Dec. 15 until March 22, 2004, officials announced Monday. \nRecSports said it is closing the field to perform routine maintenance and to prevent extensive damage to the field from usage during inclement weather.\nJimmy Finan, marketing and promotions assistant in RecSports, said the division wanted to let the field repair itself.\nFinan said in the cold weather with the ground freezing and then thawing, it gets muddy, and activity on the field creates mud and tears up the grass. Finan also said part of the routine maintenance includes planting new grass seed in the early spring.\nLast year, the fields were closed for approximately five months to complete extensive maintenance and repairs, which included removing rocks, reseeding, aerating the addition of top soil and repairing manhole safety covers. \nThat was the first time Woodlawn Field was closed in 20 years. \nThe closing and subsequent maintenance resulted in improved grass growth and safer playing fields, Finan said. RecSports then decided the fields should be closed each winter to perform routine maintenance and repairs to ensure better playing conditions during the hectic-use period from late March through November.\nClub sports team members expressed mixed reactions to the closing. \n"It definitely puts a damper on our practices, but once January comes around, we'll be able to practice inside the (Harry Gladstein) Fieldhouse," said junior Kelli Whall, a women's Ultimate Frisbee team officer. \nWhall said she understands the closing for safety reasons, but said it limits the team's options. She said once it gets cold out, the team will have to move practice indoors anyway.\nSenior Kelvin Chin, men's Ultimate Frisbee club president, said he doesn't think the maintenance is that crucial right now. Chin said in the long run the repairs would be beneficial for the field, but he doesn't think the field will be made that much worse by playing on it now.\nHe said even though the Ultimate Frisbee season doesn't start until spring, practicing now on a grass or a turf is really beneficial.\nNot every club sport will face the same level of hassle.\nJunior Andy Leigh is coordinator of the club men's soccer team. He said the field closing won't really affect the team all that much since it practices on a space near Foster Quad. \nHowever, he said one possible consequence of the field closing may be other teams who can no longer use the field try to occupy the space near Foster.\n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.
(11/24/03 5:43am)
An IU Police Department officer was struck on the back of the head with a beer bottle Saturday as he tried to break up a fight after the Old Oaken Bucket football game.\nIUPD officer Brian Oliger was trying to arrest one of the men involved in the fight when another unidentified man smashed a bottle against the base of his skull, leaving a one-inch gash.\nOliger was transported to Bloomington Hospital to receive treatment for his wound, which required staples.\nPolice said Oliger was released and worked his normal Saturday night shift. Police have not found the man witnesses say struck Oliger.\nThe conflict occurred soon after IU's 24-16 loss to Purdue in a parking lot south of Memorial Stadium. This was the only time this year that an IUPD officer was injured at a football game, police said.\nOliger, the department's bike patrol coordinator, was near 17th Street and Woodlawn Avenue when he saw a fight between two men, IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said. Oliger broke up the fight, wrestled one subject to the ground, and while about 100 tailgaters hovered around, one man rushed forward out of the crowd and hit him with the bottle then fled.\nWitnesses said all they saw was a yellow T-shirt and red hair, Minger said.\nMinger said he was about 100 yards away when he saw spectators crossing 17th Street point toward the fight. Minger came to Oliger's aid and grabbed a bike and began to use it to push the crowds back.\nMinger's call for help drew 67 police officers from all the involved agencies to the area.\n"The crowd was a little intoxicated and a little belligerent," Minger said. "It made a critical situation, with an injured officer worse."\nIUPD officer Dave Heckman and Lt. Greg Butler fired pepper spray canisters into the crowd, while several six-officer teams began breaking up the crowd, Minger said.\nWith the exception of the rare incident of violence Saturday, Minger said the alcohol problems police encountered were less than normal. IUPD officers wrote fewer than 10 citations for illegal consumption, he said.\nDean of Students Richard McKaig said he didn't have enough information to put the incident into context, but thinks it is negative for the campus.\n"It's an unfortunate incident and no officer should be subjected to that sort of treatment," he said. "I hope the police are successful in finding the man who did this, and certainly if it was a student, I think the University will take severe action."\n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.
(11/19/03 5:47am)
The Monroe County prosecutor has declined to press charges against IU football players involved in a phone fraud investigation, an IU Police Department spokesman said Tuesday.\nIUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said the department will leave the case open but "inactive," since the prosecutor said there aren't grounds to press criminal charges. Minger said the department had done all it could with the investigation.\nJennifer Brinegar, IU athletics compliance coordinator, said all players who lost their eligibility to play because of the infraction are no longer suspended because they reimbursed IU for the long distance calls.\nThe investigation focused on one football player who allegedly stole a long distance access code from an assistant football coach, then distributed the number to other players. In total, $480 worth of long distance calls were made using the access code, owned by the IU Athletics Department.\nAt IU, campus residents, faculty and staff members can only make long distance calls using the University phone service after they enter a seven-digit personal access code, or PAC, according to University Information Technology Services. The PAC acts as a billing number so UITS can bill the correct resident, staff or faculty member for long distance calls.\nIn the early stages of the investigation, one player confessed to police and three others told the IDS they were aware of players using the code without authorization, but they didn't know which players were involved.\nFour players were suspects, and at an Oct. 21 press conference, IU football coach Gerry DiNardo said the player involved "to the highest degree" was removed from the team over the summer before the current fall semester.\nOn Oct. 21, then-Athletics Department Director of Media Relations Jeff Fanter said sophomore Damien Jones was the only player removed from the team during that period.\nAccording to NCAA bylaws, it is not permissible to allow a student-athlete to use a telephone or credit card for personal reasons without charge or at a reduced cost. When the total is less than $100, players must pay the bill. For larger sums, the guidelines mandate suspensions.\nBrinegar, who ensures IU athletic programs are in compliance with NCAA rules, said the issue deals with players receiving extra benefits they wouldn't have normally been entitled to.\nShe said she had been in contact with IUPD Det. Greg McClure, who had requested a copy of her report so he could close the case. Brinegar said she expected to have it completed within the next few days.\nMonroe County prosecutor Carl Salzmann did not return phone messages.\n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.
(11/18/03 5:51am)
Wireless companies are expected to see a revenue increase following a Nov. 24 deadline to allow consumers to keep their number if they pick up a new service. Local Number Portability (LNP) is a concept the FCC mandated in 1996 and made to include wireless phone numbers in 1997.\nLNP allows wireless consumers to keep their same telephone number if they switch carriers, as well as allowing wireline (landline) customers to keep their number if they switch to wireless, said Travis Larson, an wireless expert for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) in Washington, D.C.\nLarson said LNP's transfer ownership will allow consumers to own their phone numbers instead of companies. The ability to transfer ownership will create competition between different providers for the millions of wireless consumers. \n"It's gonna create a mess," said Guzman and Co. analyst Patrick Comack, a wireless industry expert. \nComack said the industry will be shaken up heavily in the next two years battling each other for wireless consumers. Comack said he thinks the industry will grow at least seven percent because of LNP.\nComack rates Nextel as having the highest potential for growth, while he predicts Verizon will create the largest amount of industry advertising.\nThe Nov. 24 deadline to allow consumers to keep their number if they pick up a new service applies to the FCC's top 100 markets across the United States, including Indianapolis and Louisville. While these analysts all seem to agree that LNP will positively affect the wireless providers consumer base, no one seems entirely certain how many consumers will take advantage of the policy. Larson said the CTIA's studies show as many as nine million people will take advantage of LNP in the first week. During the first year, he said his information shows 18 million people will have taken advantage. \nThe disparity in the number switch between the one week and one year projections, "tells me they haven't got a clue," said Larson. \nAnother aspect Larson highlights is the amount of consumers in young age groups who will benefit from LNP if they decide to "cut the cord."\nLarson said cutting the cord means to go from wireline phones to completely wireless. Larson estimates 15-19 million Americans will choose to cut their cords. Noting a 71 percent presence of the 20-24 year old age group CTIA predicts strong competition between service providers to attract this demographic after the November deadline.\n"Cell phone companies will really screw you over," said sophomore Erin Farlow. "If you want a new plan it would be really frustrating to contact everyone and tell give them your new information. It would be cool," she said about consumers being able to take the number from company to company.\nBut Verizon Wireless' David Clevenger said his company views the number of potential customers who will decide to go from landline to completely wireless as a negligible influence on decisions the company will make in attracting new customers.\nClevenger said he doesn't think many people will want to make the leap and cut their cords, but he does think LNP will boost Verizon's overall business.\n"We think we will have an increase in customers because of LNP," Clevenger said.\nClevenger does not attribute Verizon's financial success and growth to the offering of low prices and special deals, but providing the most reliable network as compared with its competitors. Clevenger said Verizon's quarterly increase in customers is in the millions and the company is having a record-breaking year.
(11/14/03 3:42pm)
A local singing group called the Bloomington Feminist Singers will perform at 7 p.m. tonight at 928 S. Ballantine, the home of one of the group's members. \n"The arts are vital to the community, said Rebecca Keith, the group's director. "There are many classical choral and instrumental groups in town. The Bloomington Feminist Singers is an amateur, non-audition, feminist organization. It's a different niche than many other groups serve."\nThe BFS was founded about 15 years ago, Keith said. She also said the group's membership has ranged from as many as 40 chorus members to as few as six. Keith was involved as a singer herself for three years before becoming the director.\n"The mission of the group is to provide singing opportunities for feminist women in the Bloomington community," Keith said.\nCindy Moore is a new group member this year, and was sought after by Keith because of what Moore calls her "low alto voice."\nMoore said singing is a favorite pastime of hers because it serves as a release from a stressful day of work as an academic advisor.\nThe house concert tonight will showcase choral pieces Keith said the group has worked on since this September. But this isn't the only event the BFS has participated in this fall.\nEarlier this fall, the group sang at "Take Back the Night" with what group composer Emily Williams called "protest songs." Williams, a member of the group for five years, said she tried to write material for the group that related to the event where the group was performing.\nWilliams said the repertoire at this event included a song called "Take Back the Night," which included several verses dedicated to various issues Williams said were important to women. Williams said the issues included a living wage, rape and other themes related to personal safety.\nAt tonight's house concert, the first one Keith said she can remember ever happening during her involvement with the group, will feature about eight pieces the group has been rehearsing, including one called "Fall," also composed by Williams.\nWilliams said "Fall" talks about a tribute to the season through a fable of Greek mythology.\nKeith said tonight's show is the last performance of the year and the new season begins with rehearsals on Jan. 18 with a warm welcome for new members.\nFor information on joining the BFS, e-mail Rebecca Keith at rkeith@alumni.indiana.edu, or call 824-2670.\n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.
(11/13/03 4:19am)
School of Music students will form an honor guard on Jordan Avenue today to honor a former colleague as his funeral procession passes the school's buildings.\nLarry Stoute, 57, director of facilities at the school, succumbed Tuesday to cancer at Beverly Health Care Center in Bloomington.\n"He was just a superlative person who met the everyday challenges of daily life around the music school," doctoral candidate Sarah Read said. "Without his detail orientedness the school would have fallen apart."\nRead said Stoute was the type of man who worked behind the scenes and liked it. She said whenever she needed to get into a locked room, he was always there to let her in. \nRead said she didn't know Stoute was ill, but School of Music Dean Gwyn Richards sent out an e-mail to students, staff and faculty letting them know about Stoute's death Tuesday.\nIn his e-mail Richards expressed the sadness the music school will feel with the death of Stoute, who had been an IU employee since 1989, a sadness music school scheduling coordinator Dorothy Riggle said is universal at the school.\n"He leaves behind him a sense of really caring about the job," Riggle said.\nIt was last Christmas when Stoute first began having the stomach pains, she said. Doctors first thought it was ulcers, but they determined it was pancreatic cancer.\nRiggle said even though the school had a month to prepare for Stoute's passing, it's still rough and they were all praying for a miracle that didn't come.\nThe procession will leave Allen Funeral Home headed west on Third Street. At Jordan Avenue, the procession will turn right and pass by the music facilities.\n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.
(11/11/03 6:25am)
Muncie police are investigating a Ball State University police officer who shot and killed a Ball State student Saturday in a residential neighborhood near the university campus. \nSince Officer Robert Duplain was just in his seventh month of duty, police officials might look into the training the rookie officer received before he shot 21-year-old Michael Mckinney.\nPeople who knew Mckinney also are questioning the officer's actions. \nAccording to BSU Police Chief Gene Burton, at 3:26 a.m. Saturday a woman called police to 1325 W. North St. in Muncie for a "burglary in progress." \nBSU officers responded to the call. Within one minute, Duplain and three other officers arrived on the scene. \nAccording to the police report, Duplain searched the perimeter of the back of the house. There he found Mckinney pounding on the back door and window of the house. Duplain reportedly told Mckinney to stop and get down. \nAccording to police, Mckinney lunged at Duplain, causing him to shoot four times into Mckinney's torso. Officers who undergo firearms training according to Indiana Law Enforcement Academy standards are taught to stop a suspect if they use deadly force by firing two rounds -- called a double tap -- into the person's torso.\nThere were no other officers in the backyard with Duplain at the time of the shooting. \nMckinney's fraternity brother Phil Juskevice, whose house Mckinney was supposed to stay at the night of the shooting, said he finds it hard to believe someone could take his friend as a serious threat.\n"He looked like he was 12 years old. He was a short, pudgy kid, and I don't understand how he could look intimidating to a police officer unarmed," Juskevice said. \nJuskevice said he had been out at the bars with Mckinney earlier in the evening and was supposed to meet up with him later. He said Mckinney slept at his house many times and since Mckinney was drunk, he probably mistook the neighbor's home -- which closely resembles his -- for Juskevice's.\n"He always knew the front door was locked so he would always come around and bang on the back," Juskevice said. \nJuskevice said Mckinney was an easy-going guy and described a past run-in the pair had with police. \n"All the papers have been talking about (past) theft charges," Juskevice said. "That was actually from me and him trying to take a stop sign, and when the police showed up he just sat down an said 'Oh we're busted.' He didn't argue with him or anything ... it's just not like him to do something like this." \nJuskevice added all charges were eventually dropped. \nHe said he doesn't understand how the situation could escalate the way it did. \n"Are the policemen not trained enough to subdue somebody, especially someone small and obviously intoxicated?" Juskevice said. "It's university police, and they should be used to dealing with drunk students." \nDuring his training period, Duplain went through a 40-hour pre-basic course run by ILEA. Pre-basic includes eight hours of firearms training, eight hours of physical tactics and the remainder of the time is spent on classroom topics such as criminal law.\nBurton said Duplain also graduated from the department's 14-week Field Training Program, designed to put a rookie with a veteran who can school him in on-the-street law enforcement. Burton said he was very successful and didn't require any remedial training.\n"We are very aware of the officers' experience level," Burton said. "We want to train them as best we can and put them in the best position to serve the community."\nAside from physical tactics and his weapon, Duplain, who Burton said did not have his baton with him, was without any other tools to stop Mckinney. \nDuplain was not certified with pepper spray, Burton said. Since he wasn't certified, he wasn't allowed to carry it.\nBurton said there are officers on BSU's police force who carry pepper spray, but Duplain hadn't been certified since there are no instructors at BSU who could conduct the required training. The outside trainer BSU uses is hard to get because of cost and scheduling conflicts, Burton said.\nDuplain is currently on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of the investigation. \n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu. Managing editor Kristen Utrecht contributed to this report.
(11/06/03 5:34am)
An unidentified man exposed himself to two female Collins Living-Learning Center residents Tuesday night near the intersection of Woodlawn Avenue and 11th Street, IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger said.\nThe two IU students, whose names are being witheld because the investigation is still going on, were studying in Collins' Edmondson Formal Lounge Tuesday night when they decided to take a walk at 11:30 p.m.\nDuring their walk, the two students noticed a lone man following them as they proceeded north on Forrest Avenue.\nThe two women then turned onto 11th Street where they encountered the same man masturbating in front of them. Both of the students ran to the Collins Center Desk and reported the incident to the Residential Assistant on duty, who called IUPD.\nWhile exposures may be common on college campuses, Minger said the results are seldom more than shock effect.\n"Unfortunately indecent exposure is a crime where perpetrators who are not members of the campus community, but come onto the campus," Minger said. "Violators know the environment has very accessible victims with females walking around at all times of the day. I don't want anyone to have a false sense of security, but exhibitionists are usually after the shock effect and don't typically assault their victim. But that's not to say these exhibitionists aren't just testing the water and may escalate in their severity."\nOfficers Ryan Corbett and Scott Dunning began searching the area and took the report.\nThe two victims gave police enough information to draft a composite sketch of the man.\nPolice said the perpetrator is a black male, approximately 5'11" and in his thirtys. He has a large build and weighs between 190 and 200 pounds. At the time of the incident he was wearing baggy jeans, a baggy khaki long sleeve button down shirt with a matching khaki colored skull cap and a light colored knit cap. The subject appeared to be 'out of place' among the other students.\nPolice, saying all tip can be helpful, are encouraging anyone who thinks they have seen the man matching the description to come forward.\n"We're really hoping the perpetrator has been seen by other people who can maybe say 'Hey, I saw this guy hanging out in the Union, or hey, I've seen this guy in my dorm,'" Minger said. "Even if they think their information is very small, that piece of information is golden."\nThe IUPD Investigations Section can be contacted at 855-4111.\n-- Contact staff writer Brandon Morley at bmorley@indiana.edu.