Bloomington’s ‘Free Skool’ to provide atypical courses
The new Bloomington Free Skool is open to people of all ages in the Bloomington area. It is a free, non-discriminatory school that offers a diverse variety of classes.
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The new Bloomington Free Skool is open to people of all ages in the Bloomington area. It is a free, non-discriminatory school that offers a diverse variety of classes.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Juniors Jon Bradford and Matt Brown have created a delicious way for parents to show their college-age students they care.Their business, MyCampusCakes.com, was launched online Tuesday. It allows parents, friends and other family members to send decorative cakes and other goodies to college students.Devin Newman, a friend of Bradford’s since freshman year, said Bradford has always been the type of person who enjoys coming up with all sorts of business ideas and ways to make services available to people on college campuses.Newman said Bradford wants to work for himself and start his companies using his own creative ideas.“He never wants to have a résumé,” Newman said.The concept came about when Bradford’s parents started sending him cakes on his birthday each year, but he said the cakes were not packaged correctly. Not only were they costly and a hassle to deliver, but they also showed up smashed to pieces.Bradford said Wake Forest University offers a similar service, but it is extremely expensive. All the cakes from MyCampusCakes.com are ordered from Kroger with same-day delivery to ensure the product is fresh and on time.“Kroger has a big staff and is well-known by kids on campus,” Bradford said. Cakes are made 30 minutes prior to pick-up. The orders are called in the night before, and Bradford and Brown hand deliver each one to the desired location.Napkins, plates and forks can also be delivered with the cake.“You can even have them sing ‘Happy Birthday’ and embarrass your friends,” Newman said.MyCampusCakes.com offers four different flavors of cake — yellow, white, chocolate or marble — and a choice of whipped or butter cream icing. Online, you can also choose accent colors for messages, flowers and other decorations. The cake prices range from $15 to $35, and Bradford and Brown said they might add a larger cake option of $50 for big groups such as sororities or fraternities.Brown said the University has care packages for students, but they come in cardboard boxes and are not as personalized. This service, on the other hand, offers personalized messages and allows customers to be specific about what they want to order.The website offers more than just cakes, as well. Other options are soup from Soup’s On, study baskets for exam time, cupcakes and a Valentine’s Day package, which can include a cake, candy, bear and/or rose.“There is also an e-mail option where you can customize your order, and we’ll give you a quote for what you want,” Brown said.Bradford and Brown said they plan on staying during the summer to help promote their website by advertising to parents at freshman orientation and compiling a mailing list with their e-mail addresses and students’ birthdays so that ordering is easy.“It makes it so much easier to have a cake delivered to your door,” said Newman. “And it’s fast too.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students and faculty gathered in the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Saturday to make traditional Native American bracelets and practice bead work as part of the First Nations Educational and Cultural Center’s month-long celebration.Mary Connors, the program assistant coordinator for the FNECC, said she was excited to help organize the workshop as part of November’s recognition of National American Indian Heritage Month. Connors said American Indians have a “rich culture and a dynamic legacy.” At the workshop, participants were taught to make bracelets using traditional Native American bead work techniques. “It is a great way to share and experience the culture firsthand, not just looking at art in a museum,” Connors said. Brian Gilley, director of FNECC and an associate professor of anthropology, said the workshop is “a way to engage the community as a bridge-building exercise trying to show the Native American people’s traditions that are interesting.”Connors said Marilyn Cleveland, the leader of the workshop, is considered an “elder.” Cleveland’s grandmother was an Oklahoma Cherokee, and her father was a White Mountain Apache. Cleveland has worked with the community in different ways and said she enjoys helping IU support Native American people.Cleveland learned to bead when she was 3 years old. “You learn when you can hold a needle in your hand,” Cleveland said. Her whole family lived together when she was younger, and they had a quilting frame that they all worked on. The younger children would pull up the needles as they came up and “anyone that was adapt at pulling up needles learned to bead,” Cleveland said. Cleveland’s grandmother taught her that each bead carries a prayer. Everything is meaningful in the bead work. “The design means something, the colors have meaning,” Cleveland said. For this reason, she does not sell her jewelry, as it would be similar to selling a part of her religion. She does, however, give her work away as gifts to others and encourage people to learn about her culture by creating their own artwork. Darlene McDermott, a first time beader and office coordinator of the African American Arts Institute, said the beading workshop was difficult at first. “Once you get to the third or fourth row, a pattern falls into place,” McDermott said. “It will surely teach you patience,” Cleveland said as she walked around the room and checked on everybody’s work. McDermott suggested watching somebody do the bead work first, asking questions and making sure that it is being done right.The workshop was a way for people to learn about Native Americans creatively through arts and crafts, Gilley said.“It is not about a culture being portrayed as victims or part of a dystopia,” he said. “It is a spectacular way for people from different cultures in the community to be together.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This year’s annual flu shot clinic, sponsored by University Human Resources Services and the IU Health Center begins today and will continue through Friday.The clinic will also take place from Nov. 1 through Nov. 5.The flu shot includes both the seasonal vaccine and H1N1 vaccine.Laura Dolby, assistant director of nursing for the health center, said there will be plenty of flu shots available to students and faculty this year. Last year, she said, the center manufactured the vaccine and had to make more for the H1N1 virus — one strand of influenza. Flu vaccines are given to students for $17.25 at the health center and can be charged to the Bursar.For employees covered under an IU-sponsored medical plan, the shot is free. Employees must bring their valid medical plan ID card. If no card is present, the shot will cost $21.25.Employees not covered under an IU-sponsored medical plan and former employees with IU retiree status also pay $21.25.Those not eligible for the shot are spouses and partners who are not IU employees, former employees without IU retiree status and dependent children of employees.Appointments must be scheduled, either online at https://osh.iuhc.iub.edu/scheduling/type.aspx or by calling 812-855-7688.Dolby said students can stay healthy on campus by covering their coughs, not sharing drinks and washing their hands often. She also said students who become sick with the flu should visit the health center but recommends stopping in and getting a flu shot as a precaution.There is a small risk related to getting the flu shot, including soreness or redness at the injection site, red or itchy eyes, a cough and slight fever or aches, according to the Department of Health and Human Services of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/flu.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The name “runcible spoon” comes from a short poem by Edward Lear, “The Owl and the Pussycat,” in which the two animals are lovers and are not supposed to be together. The owl and the cat are the mascots of the Bloomington restaurant, the Runcible Spoon, and are featured on its sign outside. The term “runcible spoon,” a utensil that is a fork, knife and spoon all combined in one, was created by Lear for the poem. The Runcible Spoon opened for business in 1976 as one of the first coffee shops in town that roasted its own organic coffee beans. In 2001, previous owner Jeff Danielson decided to sell his business to a local couple — Matt and Reagan O’Neill.Originally a cafe that only served breakfast, the restaurant has now vastly expanded its menu to include lunch and dinner, but it still carries its most popular dishes that were famous back in the day, such as eggs Benedict, their huge pancakes and home fries. “The restaurant is meant to have a homey feel,” said Regan, co-owner of the Runciple Spoon, said. Regan said they updated certain aspects along the way such as expanding the menu, renovating floors and adding various artwork.“There is an ambient, comfortable quality to the restaurant,” said Wix Black, a waitress at the Runcible Spoon. “It has a charm to it that makes it unique.”She said Matt and Regan spend more time at the restaurant than they do at their own house. Even the books on the bookshelves are from Matt and Regan’s home. “There is a wide scale of clientele,” Black said. “It is an all-around friendly atmosphere.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The School of Informatics and Computing began admitting students in fall 2000. The school is celebrating the anniversary 10 years later and the progress that has been made in the department. Dennis Groth, the associate dean for undergraduate studies, said the school has experienced tremendous growth in students, faculty, space and services throughout the past 10 years.But this year, career prospects for students in the school have reached the highest levels of interest in its history.“Technology job opportunities dominate the lists of hot prospects, and the majority of our students have jobs lined up before they graduate,” Groth said.With majors and minors ranging from computers science, informatics, security and the newest minor, human centered computing, the school seeks to prepare students to solve problems by means of technology.“Information technology has become an integral part of our society and contributes to advances in science, business, health care, entertainment and arts,” Groth said.Brad Becker, a senior majoring in informatics, was initially a business major. Becker switched to informatics after learning more about the programs and what the school had to offer.“A technical degree made sense for trying to find a job right out of college,” Becker said.Becker has already had multiple job interviews and said he hopes to have a career in information technology consulting or as a business systems analyst working in the Indianapolis or Chicago area. He has always had an interest in computers and said he found his niche in using technology. “The informatics school did a really good job of helping to find jobs as compared to my friends with other majors. I’ve already heard back from a lot of people,” Becker said.Groth said the average salary for undergraduates last year was $53,000, the median salary was $55,000 for informatics majors and $58,000 for computer science majors.Careers in this field are “dynamic, exciting, engaging and importantly, will make real differences in our lives,” Groth said.Groth encourages all students at IU-Bloomington to think of adding information technology to their set of skills, as it is a growing industry with technology rapidly becoming a more popular medium.“Our first 10 years has been amazing, but just wait for the next 10,” Goth said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As owner of One World Enterprises, Jeff Mease shows a strong interest in sustainability. Mease has run local restaurants Pizza X, Lennie’s and the Bloomington Brewing Company for the past 29 years and his interest in local sustainability has led him to think of ways to start recycling and reusing within his own companies. For example, Pizza X gives out reusable cups with delivery, and they have a battery-recycling program where drivers collect old batteries from customers, and they are properly recycled instead of thrown away.Five years ago Mease purchased a farm west of Bloomington. Mease contacted friends around town from other local establishments and began to find ways for his company to reduce how much money he spends on farm operations. This in turn also allows companies to get rid of their waste without it winding up in a landfill. “It was a great opportunity to build soil and redirect waste,” Mease said.Once a week, Mease takes leftovers, waste and other plate scrapings to his farm and puts it in a compost pile that returns nutrients to the soil. Mease said about 500 pounds of waste are redirected in a week. All of the separating and collecting costs time and energy, but the end product is a valuable thing, Mease said.Mease obtains some of his feed from Bloomington Bagel, which gives him some of their surplus bagels at the end of the day, since bagels can only be sold the same day they are made. Mease said he also gets feed from The Tudor Room at the Indiana Memorial Union and Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority where the food is refrigerated for him until the end of the day.Dawn Keough, the chief operating officer of Bloomington Bagel Company and the Bloomington Catering Company, said she also supports local sustainability. Bloomington Bagel donates to the Shalom Center every morning and gives its leftovers to Mease at the end of the day.“We have a nice cycle going on,” Keough said. “It’s a great way not to have waste; it was a no brainer.”Keough said she believes by participating in local sustainability, what companies give as donations will come back around and help the whole community.“The beauty of local businesses is that you can thank them by giving back,” said Sue Aquila, owner and president of Bloomington Bagel Company.One of Bloomington Bagel’s corporate themes is “locally owned and boiled.” Aquila said Indiana is her home, where her family and friends live. She has family involved in the Shalom Center and Mease is a personal friend, both whom they make donations to on a daily basis.“I am going to live and die in Bloomington, Indiana,” Aquila said. “I want to contribute to the community as it has made my life so much better.”Mease has a vision for agro-tourism, something that incorporates a blend of agriculture and tourism. This would entail allowing people to come to his farm so that it is not just a factory for food. He eventually wants to build a brewery at the farm and have a working organic farm for people that are interested in farming and agriculture, as Mease has a strong interest in sustainability and his community.“It is a beautiful, virtuous cycle,” Mease said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Where there’s a college town, there are college parties. Where there are college parties, there is alcohol. And someone needs to supply it.“Big Red Liquors accounts for a little less than one-third of the liquor sales in Bloomington,” said Wade Shanower, president of Big Red Liquors. Shanower said while most people think Big Red has control of the alcohol supply in Bloomington, there are a lot of other outlets for carry out service, such as Kroger, Marsh, CVS, Village Pantry and other convenience stores. Shanower added that there are also six to eight county bars in Bloomington that have carry out licenses and compete with Big Red.Senior Melissa Slavin said she primarily shops at Big Red not only because it is within walking distance from her home, but also because it is less expensive than buying from other liquor carry out services. “I can get a handle of Captain for $20 at Big Red and over at Kroger it’s $30,” Slavin said.Big Red Liquors, which began in 1972, is rounding its 38th year in business. Although there are 20 stores located throughout Bloomington, Terre Haute, Martinsville, Bedford and French Lick, Shanower said it is not a franchise since there is no franchising allowed in the liquor business in Indiana.A liquor store can only be opened inside city limits in Indiana and licenses within cities are based on allocation. Shanower said there is about one license for every 8,000 people in a city, and all state licenses are currently in use. Currently, the only way to open a new liquor store would be to buy an already existing one.“It is very difficult to open a liquor store of any size,” Shanower said. Shanower said liquor licenses with existing stores range in price depending on the size of the city. In Bloomington, for example, he said it would be about $150,000 for a license, while Carmel or Noblesville would have more expensive licenses, ranging from $300,000 to $400,000. After obtaining the license, a store still needs a building, shelves, equipment, refrigerators and inventory. All together, Shanower estimates that opening a liquor store would cost about $750,000 to $1,000,000.There are about 20 Big Red Liquors with about $175,000 worth of inventory in each store, Shanower said. Smaller stores can range from $50,000 to $75,000, and larger stores that have the highest inventory run from $750,000 to $800,000 worth.“There are aisles and aisles of liquor, beer and wine,” Slavin said.Big Red also carries sodas and shot glasses, which makes it a one-stop shop for party needs.Tommy Mosier has been the manager of Big Red Liquors at Second and Walnut Street for three years. He notes the wide variety of customers in the many college students who shop there, along with an older crowd as well.Shanower said Big Red competes with anyone who sells liquor. However, he said he thinks Big Red has become and remained so popular among consumers because it offers competitive pricing, has wide selections of liquor, wine and beer and has trained personnel who run nice, clean stores.“At Big Red you have everything you need for a fun time,” Slavin said.