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(04/16/12 2:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Jim Lehrer wanted “A Conversation with Jim Lehrer” to truly be a conversation — with only two conditions.“I’m not a pundit, so I don’t give my opinion,” the veteran PBS NewsHour anchor said. “I also don’t take criticism well.”Following the eruption of laughter, Lehrer launched into proving the latter statement with an anecdote.He spoke of the editing process for his most recent book, “Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, from Kennedy-Nixon to Obama-McCain,” a reflection about his decades of moderating presidential debates, and his fight with the editor about the book title.“I told him, ‘I called the book ‘Moderator,’ and that’s going to be the name of the book. Period,’” Lehrer said. “And then he asked me, ‘Jim, would you pick up a book called ‘Moderator’? and I said, ‘Hmph ... OK, I guess I’ll think about it.’”His talk differed from the one he gave at an invitation-only lunch held earlier in the day, as it was rife with political and cultural references spanning decades. This difference was likely because students, who made up the majority of attendees at the lunch, were hardly present at the afternoon talk. The age of the average audience member was not lost on attendees such as Bloomington resident Ann Schepper.“Many young people don’t even know who Jim Lehrer is,” she said. After her friend gave her a confirming nod, Schepper continued, “I just wish more young people would get their news from PBS.”Ryan Heeb, a political science student from DePauw University, who traveled to Bloomington for the event, said he chalks up the poor attendance by people his age to disinterest.“I think people aren’t as interested in politics and Lehrer as they have been,” Heeb said. “They don’t get the importance of presidential politics like they should.”Heeb also mentioned the influence of changes in news delivery.“We get our news in passing, like just getting snapshots,” Heeb said. In snapshots and on Comedy Central.During the lunch, Lehrer cited a poll that asked people who they believed to be the most credible source of news. Out of a list of veteran network and public broadcasting anchors, Lehrer and Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart tied for first.When asked by a student how he felt about the rise in popularity of “comedic news shows,” Lehrer responded, “I don’t have a problem with them. Do you?”He went on to say the only problem he does have is with the word “news.”“My problem is people see that as a real news program,” Lehrer said, “I think they’re terrific, ya know, as comedy shows.”Lehrer also addressed what he considers the increasingly large role of entertainment in primary debates, especially the style of the 2012 Republican primary debates.“I hope people realize how wildly important this is,” Lehrer said. “This isn’t a game show with the hissing and the booing.”He said he understands how the debate could become so tense.“Everybody is in a state of tension,” he said. “The stakes are so high.”At the end of the day, though, Lehrer said, the style and mere existence of primary debates have helped democratize the presidential nomination process.“Up until 2008, much of the decision-making about who would be nominated for the presidency was decided by a couple of folks in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina,” Lehrer said. “But now it’s been nationalized for forever.”That means the underlying friction that has always been present in debates will now be on a much bigger stage — which is why Heeb says people his age should start caring.“(Our generation) doesn’t get the importance of presidential politics like they should,” Heeb said. “It’s our generation that will take over soon and lead, and we need to be ready.”Lehrer said in order to be ready, it is critical to look at Mark Shields and David Brooks, columnists who discuss politics and deliver analysis, to see how the future of political news coverage should look.“They have set a standard and proved without a doubt that you can disagree and do it in a civilized way as long as you decide to do it that way,” Lehrer said.
(04/19/11 2:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On a Wednesday in spring, eight guys climbed out of multiple cars within minutes of each other, grabbing skateboards out of backseats and trunks at Upper Cascades Skate Park.Wearing blue and magenta bandanas to keep his hair back, Amused Clothing Manager Keddy McClain greeted the day with a big smile reflecting what he said was his happiness to be doing what he loved on such a nice day.“There’s actually not that many guys here,” McClain said. “I’m surprised since it’s such a nice day.”McClain and the other skateboarders coasted up to a turnstile. As they entered the fenced-in skate park, they greeted each other with yells and smiles and rolled off down the street-skating section.Each of the boarders went toward their favorite sections, full of rails, dips, curves and hubba ledges.Only a few minutes after their arrival, some began pulling off their T-shirts, throwing them over the fence or stuffing them through the diamond-shaped holes of the fence.As they each attempted tricks — 180s, ollies, backside 180s — they encouraged each other with shouts of “Whoops” followed by cheers. “It’s nice, ya know,” McClain said. “We’re not a bunch of jocks up here. We don’t shower together and stuff. I mean, we’re just supportive in our own way.”The success rate for the day’s tricks is less than 50 percent for just about everyone. Many explain it by saying that they’re feeling “off.”“Off” at the skate park, where tricks rule and protective gear doesn’t, can be a dangerous thing to be. McClain looks back to see fellow skater Alex Greemann landing on his back for the third time, attempting a trick up a concrete ramp.“Those are pretty hairy maneuvers,” McClain said about some of Greemann’s tricks. “I’m not messin’ with any of that.”For most of the boarders, the risk appeared to be part of the thrill. Their eyes lit up when talking about the Louisville Extreme Park, better known as “The Fracture Factory.” Nineteen-year-old Satish Brown said it is less about the risk and more about the possible payoff.“You know, it’s for yourself,” Brown said. “When we get older it won’t even be about impressing people or anything. We’ll just have more stuff we can do.”Brown and others acknowledged that if anyone was seeing a payoff that day, it was McClain, who the skaters all agreed was “ripping it.”Those feeling off received support when they were close on a hard trick and playful ridicule when they bailed on an easy one. After landing on his back so many times most had lost count, even Greemann decided to admit defeat.The difficulty of Greemann’s trick and how close he came to getting it quieted any potential laughter or snide remarks. For everyone else, though, pretty much everything was fair game.“It’s like he just got out of jail and his mom bought him new underwear,” McClain joked to the group about a fellow skater’s Snoopy boxers with hot pink lining.As each Bloomington school finished for the day, new skaters arrived in packs. Without the bravado of the experienced trick-switching skaters, 11-year-old Jake Wright silently rolled around the park slower than his more experienced counterparts.With his shoulder-length blonde hair blowing behind him, his skateboarding was more about coordination and balance than the risky tricks of the skaters eight years his senior.“I just started,” Jake explained in a voice barely above a whisper. “It’s only been one year.”His mother, Brooke Wright, who watched Jake from her van in the parking lot, elaborated on the skills Jake has gained in a year.“He’s doing pretty well,” Brooke Wright said. “I mean, he’s pretty coordinated, so that helped.”As for the expletive-slinging bunch skating circles around her son, Brooke Wright said she couldn’t understand how anyone could have a prejudice against skaters if they had actually met them.“They’re a peaceful bunch,” Brooke Wright said. “I love it here. I feel very safe bringing Jake here.”Brooke Wright said she and her family moved to Bloomington one year ago and that her experience with the skaters confirmed the rumors.“I’ve heard if you’re new to town, you should go find a skater,” Brooke Wright said. “Here, at least, that’s so true.”
(04/04/11 2:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After a week of clouds, cold and crystal precipitation, the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market spring opening Saturday welcomed a cool but sunny day.The usual staples of farmers’ markets across the country were there, including free-range eggs, fresh flower bouquets and lots of vegetables and fruit.A fall-themed tablecloth showcased Weber’s Sugar Camp maple syrup as three of the farm’s workers stood behind the table, chatting with customers. Bloomington resident John Byers said this year’s opening brought more customers than in past years.“I think people are understanding that local food is better,” Byers said. “You can look at the vendor in the eye. You can see the person you support.”In a four-minute span, three people came to purchase bottles of the pure maple syrup, which are available exclusively at the farmers’ market from April through November. Byers said collecting sap and creating syrup is more of an art than an exact science, but that nonetheless he believes this year they have enough syrup to actually make it through the farmers’ market season.“I mean, I think we’ll have enough for the season because of our increased capacity,” Byers said. “This year we were able to make 110 gallons of syrup during the season.”Down several booths and in the center, 14-year-old David Ray explained how the sap-collecting season fit into his school schedule.“We collected twice a day,” Ray said. “I got it before I went to school and after I got home from wrestling.”Ray is the de facto head of the maple syrup business. He said he’s taken over from his grandfather with the help of a long-time friend. Bloomington resident Isabel Vernaza purchased a bottle of Ray’s pure maple syrup.“I usually buy maple syrup here anyway,” Vernaza said. “But they were just really friendly.”Vernaza caught up with her friend Gracia Valliant, also a Bloomington resident. Valliant said opening day of the farmers’ market is a must for anyone, but Vernaza said every week is a must.“I’m addicted to the farmers’ market,” Vernaza said.IU junior Brooke Reliford said although she could also be considered a farmers’ market addict, she would consider herself one of few among students. She said this is part of the reason she enjoys the market.“The farmers’ market is a good place to get good food and fresh food and interact with nonstudents,” Reliford said.Reliford said she also enjoys that the market is filled with variety.“There’s fresh food,” Reliford said, “but people are also selling hot food and doing lots of different things.”Those different things included listening to the sounds of Bloomington-based band The Creek Dogs and registering to vote at different political tables. IU students with clipboards tried to round people up to their respective “Mark Kruzan for Mayor” or “John Hamilton for Mayor” tables. Others attempted carving limestone at the Indiana Limestone Symposium booth.Bloomington resident Dale Enochs at the ILS booth said they were there to make people aware of the symposium taking place this summer.“I’m doing great today,” Enochs said. “The sun has come out, people are friendly by and large and we’re just plunking around and teaching people how to plunk around.”Enochs said the farmers’ market showcases the connectivity of Bloomington. “The farmers’ market is a real community thing,” Enochs said. “It’s the community coming together, and Bloomington is a vibrant community.”
(03/29/11 3:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Wearing a red IU-Purdue University Indianapolis Jaguars hoodie with his leg propped up on top of his knee, 12-year-old Jacob Barnett — friends and family call him Jake — sat at a table at Jacob’s Place in Kirklin, Ind., a free center for autistic and other special needs children founded by his mother. “Usually (I’m) just hanging out, doing some homework, playing some Guitar Hero, et cetera,” Jake said, describing his typical Wednesday evening with a casual shrug of his shoulders. What Jake didn’t mention is that his homework is from his University Physics textbook for the Physics 152 class he takes at IUPUI.Jake, who was diagnosed as autistic when he was 2 years old, has taken classes at IUPUI since he first audited an IUPUI astronomy class in the third grade.“He was 8 years old, and people thought I was in the class,” his mother Kristine Barnett said with a laugh. “They just thought that he didn’t have a babysitter and then he’d do all the math and they’d be like ‘Oh my gosh!’”
(02/28/11 2:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The U.S. war in Afghanistan began Oct. 7, 2001, making it America’s longest war to date. Last Friday, a small audience gathered at the India Studies House to hear an opinion of the war from Larry Goodson, a professor of Middle East Studies at the U.S. Army War College and adviser to the Department of Defense on the war in Afghanistan. Specifically, Goodson’s talk focused on what U.S. policy in Afghanistan will and should be in the face of declining American public opinion. Knowing his opinions could be politically controversial, he began his talk with a speedy disclaimer.“Views expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect the position of the U.S. Army War College, Department of Defense or U.S. government,” Goodson said.He then proceeded to explain those opinions, including the belief that what government officials call progress in Afghanistan might not necessarily be supported by data.“I think if we were to really look at what they call progress, if you look at the data, I think you might find that the support for those statements isn’t really there,” Goodson said.Rita Lichtenberg, a program chairwoman for the Bloomington chapter of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, went a step further, calling the war unnecessary.“It’s disgraceful,” Lichtenberg said. “We have so much need here in our own country, and instead we’re spending money and sending kids over there.”In his lecture, Goodson indicated the $500 billion Department of Defense budget isn’t the main problem; it’s the strategy the money is going toward. He outlined the DoD’s COIN, or counterinsurgency strategy, which is part of the Obama administration’s larger goal to “disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al-Qaida and its safe havens in Pakistan and prevent their return to Pakistan or Afghanistan.”Goodson said he believes the more important country involved in U.S. policy in Afghanistan is Pakistan.“Pakistan: Far Harder and More Important than Afghanistan,” Goodson’s PowerPoint slide read. When asked where in Afghanistan members of Al-Qaida are located, Goodson replied, “They’re not there. They’re in Pakistan.”Lichtenberg said most Americans don’t know these facts because they’re “asleep in their chairs.” She said more public discussion of U.S. policy in Afghanistan is needed for Americans to “wake up.” However, Goodson said the public decision has already been made.“The bell has rung for a lot of people,” Goodson said. “They’re saying it’s time for this to end.”Goodson said the current war has many parallels to the previous defeats dealt to Soviet and British forces in Afghanistan.“In the war with the Soviets, it was the same thing,” Goodson said. “You had the Taliban fighting from their safe havens in Pakistan. We have the same thing now with Al-Qaida.”Goodson also said given America’s most recent history in the region, ending military occupancy in Afghanistan is harder than it sounds.“It’s going to be very hard for us to leave,” Goodson said. “Our reputation for staying power is very poor already.”
(02/25/11 4:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>David Williams, director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy at the Maurer School of Law, likes to take it slow when it comes to helping shape democracies. The wave of protests and revolts across the Middle East has been anything but slow, making it hard for Williams to determine how, or if, Egypt will successfully begin democratic rule.Williams said the uncertainty about Egypt’s future stems from the Egyptian people’s uncertainty about what they want.“If all you know is that vaguely you want democracy, you’ll never be able to articulate your demands in such a way that you’ll actually be able to get them,” Williams said.Sophomore and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures student Ali Fitzpatrick said she has some reservations about the Egyptian people being able to get the demands Williams discussed.“I know they’re trying to get a people-led government, and I hope they make it, but I think it’s going to be a really long time before they see any sort of stability at all,” Fitzpatrick said.Williams echoed this sentiment, saying that everything in Egypt has happened so quickly that no one really knows what is going to happen. He said three main factors could indicate whether Fitzpatrick and the Egyptian people’s hopes of Egypt successfully transitioning to democracy become a reality. The first factor, Williams said, is how many dictators have ruled the country. He explained that if a country used to have a democracy and then had one dictator, it would be much easier to transition back to democracy. The second factor is whether the new government is able to get the constitutional design right.“You can set up a constitutional framework that ... can distribute power in such a way that it contributes to political dynamics that are favorable for the re-emergence of dictatorship,” Williams said.The third factor is outside influence. According to the U.S. Department of State website, the United States provides $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt every year and has provided a total of $28 billion in economic and development assistance since 1975.Williams says that how the United States uses that leverage will affect Egypt’s future governance.“If America and other states in the region are playing a productive role, Egypt will more likely stay a stable democracy,” he said.He said America’s role in this situation is especially important because it will influence, and could change, how America is perceived.“What is really good about being the leading democracy in the world is when you’re actually leading democracy,” Williams said.Patience on the part of the Egyptian people and politicians will be key to achieving stability, he said.“In terms of amending the permanent constitution in Egypt, they should slow way down because they need to think this through,” Williams said. “If they make bad choices at this point, it could affect them for 50 years.”
(02/21/11 3:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>School of Public and Environmental Affairs assistant professor Ashlyn Nelson and six of her colleagues from New York University, Northwestern University and University of Connecticut were granted $800,000 by the MacArthur Foundation to assist their study of the impact of home foreclosures on academic performance.Nelson said the study matches the addresses of foreclosed homes with student addresses provided by the four districts with which her group is working. She said the magnified impact of the recession on these school districts made them perfect participants for this study.“The reason why we selected these sites is that they expected unprecedented foreclosures in the recent crisis,” Nelson said. “In particular in the Florida and California sites, they had more than double the national average of foreclosures.”Nelson said the underlying concept of this study is not new, but what they may be able to find from this particular set of data is.“There’s a big body of research saying mobility is bad for kids, but it’s really difficult to say why mobility is bad for kids because you don’t necessarily know why kids have to move,” Nelson said. “This gives us an opportunity to look at a specific reason for moving and see what the effects on kids are.”One of Nelson’s colleagues involved in this study is David Figlio, professor of education and economics at Northwestern University, who has studied education disparities for almost two decades. He said some of the variables that made it hard to determine causality before the crisis still exist in the study.“It’s not like foreclosures happen at random,” Figlio said. “Families that might be experiencing foreclosures, chances are good they’re facing other types of financial hardship. There could be other aspects of stress in their lives.”Nelson and Figlio’s K-12 study primarily focuses on third through eighth graders due to the consistent availability of standardized test scores, so it stands to reason that the impact of foreclosures on college students whose parents’ homes have been foreclosed is even less easily measured.However, Edward Hirt, IU professor of psychological and brain sciences, said the situation can still have an impact on a student even when he is not living in the home.“If you’re somebody who is actively involved in your family’s life, not being there when stressful things are happening is disconcerting,” he said.Hirt emphasized that academic performance depends greatly on stability and that the stress, as well as mobility associated with foreclosures, makes an impact on a student no matter his age or proximity to the home.“(Foreclosure) creates so many distractions,” Hirt said. “You just won’t be able to focus on your schoolwork by any stretch of the imagination in that situation.”
(02/10/11 3:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Kelley School of Business Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is consistently ranked among the country’s best business schools by BusinessWeek magazine, U.S. News & World Report and the Wall Street Journal, according to the school’s website.However, young entrepreneurs in Indiana are also learning entrepreneurship tactics outside the classroom, running successful businesses and competing with well-established companies using a combination of social media, technology and street smarts.Whittney Beechy, a 24-year-old interior and architectural designer, founded Mawr Design Inc. in September 2009. Beechy is a third-generation entrepreneur who grew up learning entrepreneurial tactics.“I think it’s a lot easier for people who have grown up around it as opposed to people who maybe come from families where everyone has always worked for a company or other people,” Beechy said. “You just don’t have the same support system.”Family support is partly why Beechy opted out of entrepreneurship classes that were offered while she was in college.“None of the professors were entrepreneurs,” Beechy said. “I didn’t want to pay to take classes from people who had never been through it.”Visiting assistant professor of entrepreneurship Brian Anderson said entrepreneurial ventures, especially those competing against well-established competitors, are successful when they provide powerful innovation.“It all comes down to the power of the idea,” Anderson said. “Has that entrepreneur figured out a better way to figure out an existing need? Did they figure out a need that didn’t quite exist before?”Alex Mitchell, a 20-year-old IU-Purdue University Indianapolis student, and Jordan Abidor, a 19-year-old Arizona State University student from Indiana, said they recognized this would be a much greater challenge in their industry when they merged Mitchell’s now defunct clothing line “Of Rome” with Abidor’s “Arkaik” in 2007. “As much as I’d like to say ‘Do something new and fresh,’ that’s become almost impossible in our business,” Mitchell said. “The T-shirt and apparel industry is saturated with new companies starting up every week. Whatever you can imagine — it’s likely on a T-shirt.” So instead of doing something “new and fresh,” Mitchell said he and Abidor tried to “do it better” by taking Arkaik to the streets — or rather the concert venue — selling their line at concert venues across the Southwest and at Warped Tour 2010. “While on Warped Tour and selling at shows across the country, I learned a plethora of marketing tactics and strategies that I have implemented and improved to grow Arkaik on the social network pages,” Abidor said.Beechy also talked about how essential social media has been to the development of her business.“You have all the resources at your fingertips,” Beechy said. “At the click of a button, your business is exposed to people that you’ve never had an opportunity to meet.”Anderson said that no one, not even professors, knows exactly how to measure the quality of social media influence, even though they recognize that social media is a great tool. However, Anderson agrees with Mitchell, Abidor and Beechy, who say entrepreneurship and social media are similar because in order to really understand them, you have to go out and do it.“Do not expect four semesters of business classes to really prepare you for what goes into running a small business,” Mitchell said. “I was fortunate enough to start at 15, and I’ve had the time and mistakes to get where I am today.”
(02/01/11 5:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU School of Informatics professors and students have created a smartphone virus that records and steals credit card and bank account information.But it’s just for practice.Soundminer is a Trojan Horse malware that records conversations and the sounds of a keypad on a Smartphone without the user knowing. It has the ability to steal the information as long as the application has access to the internet and has the potential to be used by credit card thieves. However, the students and professors said their goal is better security for smartphones, specifically smartphones running the Google Android operating system. “We’re in the business of building secure systems,” said Apu Kapadia, assistant professor of computer science and informatics. “We want to live in a more secure world, but part of that job is also trying to be one step ahead of the bad people.”Graduate students Xiaoyong Zhou and Kehuan Zhang, former graduate student Mehool Intwala and visiting doctoral candidate from City University in Hong Kong Roman Schlegel were assisted by Kapadia and associate professor XiaoFeng Wang in the development of Soundminer. Schlegel said the team was able to stay one step ahead of the people Kapadia calls “Malware Masters” by noticing trends in Smartphone usage and researching potential threats.“Android has increased enormously in the last year or so in market share,” Schlegel said. “If you can show that there’s some security flaws in Android and those can be fixed, that will actually benefit a large number of people.”Schlegel said the research has received much more publicity than they expected. It has led to the team being contacted by security systems companies as well as some “Malware Masters” wanting the code for Soundminer. Scott Wilson, awareness, training and outreach coordinator for the University Information Policy Offices, said the problems created by Soundminer are unfortunate, but should be expected due to the nature of smartphones.“At some point, we crossed the line between phones that had features and computers that had phones,” Wilson said. “(A smart phone) is a computer that has a phone. The same set of rules that apply to computers now apply to phones.”Wilson also said that because smart phones are essentially small computers, protecting yourself from malware is all about user awareness.“User awareness is huge,” Wilson said. “You have to know what you’re downloading. You have to know what your apps are using.”