67 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(11/06/07 6:12am)
"The atmosphere was contagious. It was a well-conceived program that I would definitely attend again," said senior Chris Gobles of the second annual Fitness Against Violence.\nGobles was one of the many people who attended and enjoyed Friday's event, hosted by the Student Recreational Sports Center and Middle Way House women's shelter.\nFitness Against Violence was established to honor the memories of missing IU student Jill Behrman and deceased student Jennifer Meece -- a tradition that Carol Kennedy, program director of fitness and wellness at the SRSC, hopes will continue. She thinks it is important to keep awareness of domestic violence and assault on the community's forefront so people can handle it better when they encounter it.\nSgt. Leslie Slone of the IU Police Department said she also believes in the significance of being knowledgeable on the subjects. She gave helpful tips and pointers on how to handle an attack in a one-hour demonstration on Rape Aggression Defense. \n"Teaching self-defense to women is important because I believe it is better to know a thing and not need it than to need it and not know it," Slone said.\nThe IUPD offers another seminar that goes more in-depth with the options women have available in an attack. Slone places special emphasis on the importance of options -- the more options women have, the more confident they are. She said she believes this sense of empowerment successfully carries over into their lives and careers. \nJill Nielsen, Middle Way's funding coordinator, encourages people to explore their options by getting involved. She suggests using local resources to find out about programs and shelters where students can help out, then participate or volunteer. \nKathy Bayless, director of Recreational Sports, thinks it's necessary for everyone to become involved because "…we're not just standing against violence, but we're also standing for civility, human dignity, and outreach to others."\nCivility is particularly crucial right now because everyone is trying to figure out how to deal with violence on a more national level, Bayless said.\n"How we feel about domestic violence is how everyone is feeling about the World Trade Center," she said. \nBayless is certain that positive things do come out of tragedies that occur because of some sort of violence. She summed up her thoughts on Fitness Against Violence with a quote from Helen Keller.\n"The struggle of life is one of our greatest blessings. It makes us patient, sensitive, and God-like. It teaches us that although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it."
(04/30/03 7:23pm)
Fifteen students stare glumly ahead at people who already have dibs on a work station in the fifth-floor computer lab of the Main Library. Some tap their feet or shift their weight, while others talk on their cell phones to maintain some semblance of a social life as they begin to glare at the people who constantly move but never leave. \nThe elevator behind them dings as five more bodies emerge with the hope of getting a computer, only to find themselves at the back of a line that is not going to move because there is no time limit on group computer labs.\nWith 11 days to finish an 80- to 150-page executive summary on BioChem4000 blood monitors, I-Core groups have been camped out in computer labs across campus for six to 16 hours a day doing qualitative and quantitative analyses. While some call Integrated-Core the "rite of passage" into the Kelley School of Business, others call it hell. On the way out of a consulting session with one of the four I-Core professors, a male student described it as "running backwards through a cornfield with no pants."\nAll undergraduate business students are required to take I-Core, a 12-credit hour package that includes classes in marketing, finance, strategic management and operations management. At the end of the semester, students are required to produce a case study worth 25 percent of their grade that integrates all four aspects of the classes they took.\n"They're literally eating, drinking and sleeping I-Core 24 hours a day," said Daniel Greiner, finance professor and I-Core coordinator. "Of course they're going to be a little bit ragged around the edges."\nTo ease the pain, many students comfort themselves with caffeine and snacks. The computer lab of the Main Library is littered with cellophane wrappers, Nalgene water bottles, packs of gum, 20 oz. soda bottles and styrofoam coffee cups that sit precariously close to group members' paperwork and laptops. \nWith sunflower seeds as sustenance, senior Johanna Miller has already been working with her group several hours before they decide to take a break at 5:30 p.m. \n"I'm never home," Miller said. "My roommates have hardly seen me. When I go home for dinner, they'll come downstairs to watch me eat."\nSchedules have remained hectic since April 21, as business students try to get the final and most challenging hurdle of I-Core done by Thursday: the case study.
(02/26/03 6:56am)
Seventeen college students stand in a weight room of the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, looking on as a powerlifter demonstrates the proper way to do a squat. Instructor Greg Simmons points out the lifter's taut, perfect form and thighs' alignment with the ground, then tells the lifter to release the bar.\n"Any questions for Michelle?" Simmons asks.\nMichelle Amsden, a graduate student studying kinesiology, is the nation's No. 1 powerlifter in the 123-pound weight class. She is visiting Simmons' intermediate weight training class to do demonstrations for his students.\nAmsden isn't the only one breaking gender barriers -- five of the 17 members of the class are women.\nMore and more IU students are slowly enrolling in classes and declaring majors dominated by members of the opposite sex, faculty say. \nWhile the proportions of undergraduate men and women in computer science and elementary education have remained stagnant since 1993, the proportions in biology, business, journalism and psychology have shifted roughly 6 to 15 percentage points over the last decade.\nMore substantial increases were seen in biology and marketing. For example, 49.5 percent of biology majors were women in the fall of 1993, but 56.1 percent of the majors are currently women, a 13.3 percent change. Among marketing majors, the percentage of women increased from 38.2 percent in the fall of 1993 to 52.6 percent this spring, a 37.7 percent change.\nIn general, women dominate in the humanities and social sciences, and are underrepresented in sciences and math, according to the Office for Women's Affairs.\nOut of the current 25 most popular majors among undergraduates, men most significantly outnumber women in finance, business, management, informatics, computer information systems and social studies. Women, on the other hand, outnumber men in elementary education, journalism, psychology, exercise science, fine arts and apparel merchandising. \nIn a class or major where one gender dominates, students said they are both educating and being educated on topics and perspectives previously discussed only in limited capacities. \nLifting stereotypes\nAt 5-foot-1 with a blond pixie haircut and perfect makeup, Amsden looks like a weightlifting Tinkerbell -- a Tinkerbell that can bench press 225 pounds and squat 380.\nAmsden said myths about the female body cause some women to be more hesitant about weightlifting than men.\n"I think women underestimate themselves when they start out," Amsden said. "They start lower than they're capable because of misconceptions about getting big."\nIn Simmons' five years as a weightlifting instructor at IU and as a personal fitness trainer, he said he has noticed more women getting involved in the previously male-dominated world of weightlifting -- 17 of his 30 clients during the last few years have been women.\nWhile most women in the HPER weight room are sticking to an aerobic workout on the ellipticals, roommates and seniors Allison Allie and Eileen Coleman spot each other during their bench pressing and bicep curls in the weight training class. They said they took the class because they wanted to learn about weightlifting. \n"It's hard to do on my own because I'm unfamiliar with the maneuvers and everyone else is busy doing their own thing," Coleman said.\nAllie said being in a class primarily composed of men didn't intimidate her. She would rather be exercising instead of sitting in one of her business classes.\nJunior Eduardo Abud-Sturbaum said he was just as comfortable having women in the class as they were to be there. \n"I'm fine with it," he said. "I don't feel pressured or intimidated -- I just do my own thing."\nOutside-the-box step Freshman Nay Naing links a hand with his dance partner's. He observes his feet shuffling below him in an effort to match the beat of Madonna's "Cherish."\n"I've never danced before," Naing said. "I've never understood the concept of dancing."\nOut of the 105 students in senior Sara Dalton's two ballroom and social dance classes, 23 are men. In this particular session, there are seven men and 48 women.\n"There seems to be a hesitancy on guys' part to sign up because (ballroom dance) seems 'girly,'" Dalton said.\nAlthough male enrollment has increased over the past few years, Dalton said most of the men have no background in ballroom dance. What men might lack in coordination they usually make up for in effort, she said. And they tend to have no problem asking questions.\nSophomore Douglas Munsey said he enrolled in ballroom dancing because it was something different -- a practical skill he will need when he's older and out in the business world. He said the female-to-male ratio was just an extra incentive -- he only has to learn the "guy's part" of the dance.\nWhile some men might have ulterior motives for joining female-dominated classes, sophomore Ueline Newmon said he didn't think a guy would involve himself with something he didn't want to do.\n"I don't see a guy doing (an activity) for two hours if he didn't really want to be there," said Newman, who has attended hip-hop dance sessions at the Student Recreational Sports Center. "He might stop in the door and watch, but he wouldn't participate."\nMind over subject matter\nEnrollment differences are not reserved to HPER courses; they can also be seen in the academic spectrum.\nJournalism professor Radhika Parameswaran said about 20 percent of students in her last few Race, Gender and the Media classes have been men interested in learning about diversity.\n"Women seem to take the class because they want to understand why they do what they do," Parameswaran said. "It's a personal journey for them."\nThe title "gender" implies a biased topic about women, she said, so more women gravitate toward the class. If the stereotype was eliminated, men would probably be more inclined to take gender classes. Three of the current 34 undergraduate gender studies majors are men.\n"Most men are more comfortable exploring racial issues, not because they understand women but because they feel race is a more interesting and important issue," Parameswaran said.\nShe hasn't noticed any animosity between men and women in the class and, if anything, women enjoy learning a different perspective on situations.\n"I don't think men have hesitated to speak up," Parameswaran said. "Women seem to support them -- not pick on them."\nPhysics professor Catherine Olmer said in order for students to become more comfortable taking classes in which they are outnumbered by the opposite gender, support needs to come from faculty and other students.\n"There's no single remedy for (gender disparity in enrollment); it's a much more complex problem," Olmer said. "A lot of things have to change on many levels."\nOlmer noted any discrimination experienced by women in male-dominated majors -- or vice versa -- is not as overt as it used to be. If faculty members discourage students based on gender, it's now on a more subconscious level coming out of the faculty members' own experiences with members of their gender and their expectations of their colleagues.\nContinuous and subtle discouragement can make people feel they don't belong in a class, Olmer added.\n"Students need to be more stubborn," Olmer said. "If someone likes a particular topic, why can't they do it? If men like gender studies, grab it. It's hard enough to find something you would like to do for the rest of your life, so do it"
(10/31/02 6:40am)
About 2,000 people attended Tuesday's second annual Big Man on Campus; a pageant for IU men that followed the routine of most pageants, but not the norm.\nTwenty-two contestants from fraternities and an IU Panhellenic Council group came to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research and to parade their talents, or lack thereof, for the audience. Although cheering sections for each house were prevalent, not everyone who came was a member of the greek system.\nFreshman Paul Bryant isn't affiliated with any of the fraternities but came to support the cause. He paid $8 to charity to attend an event he didn't know much about. \n"I think it's going to be fun no matter what because it's going to be entertaining on some level, and you don't really know what to expect," Bryant said.\nEven those who had attended BMOC before probably couldn't have predicted the antics that occurred.\nTo kick off the "All-American Man" themed event, the contestants dressed up as their favorite American heroes, including Spiderman, G.I. Joe, Jim Morrison, Rocky Balboa, Express Man, Mr. T and Captain America, then filed on stage and did a choreographed dance number to Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" and John Mellencamp's "Rockin' in the USA."\nThe following talent competition made the event seem like it should be named Big Man with an Instrument. \nEight of the contestants played guitar, three of them Dave Matthews Band songs. One man played saxophone, and another only got a two notes into playing Billy Joel's "Piano Man" before the females in the audience issued a collective "aww!"\nSeveral did dance and/or lip sync numbers to songs like Justin Timberlake's "Like I Love You," B.J. Thomas' "Hooked on a Feeling," Jimmy Fallon's "Idiot Boyfriend" and Michael Jackson's "Black or White."\nMost notable of the evening was when two of the heavier-set contestants shed their shirts and showcased their jiggling flab in imitation of Saturday Night Live's Chippendales face-off between Patrick Swazy and Chris Farley. \nThe humor was not lost on parents Andy and Jana Garman, who came to support their son Jon of Sigma Chi.\n"The kids are so talented and they're having fun with it," Mrs. Garmon said. "Everyone's supporting a good cause and it's great to see all these kids. We're here to support the kids."\nNineteen judges determined points for the opening number, banners, talent competition and Q&A, which included questions like: "If you could be invisible for a day, where is the first place you would go" (Answer: Zetas) and "If you could make a beer with a super power, what would it be?" (Answer: The power to eliminate beer goggles).\nFifty percent of points were already accounted for by the amount each house had raised before the pageant, which included selling tickets, t-shirts and taking donations. \nAfter votes were tallied and right before winners were announced, Zeta's philanthropy chairs senior Lindsay Williams and junior Manasa Reddy -- who had worked since last spring to pull the event together -- announced they raised roughly $31,000 from BMOC and the majority will go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. \nTau Kappa Epsilon's senior Justin Miller, one of the two aforementioned Farley's, raised $2,500 and won the overall competition.\n"It was a great competition and all the guys did awesome," Miller. "The whole thing came together really nicely." \nNow that he'd been given the title of 2002's Big Man on Campus, next up on his agenda was to go home and call his mom and dad.\nAlpha Tau Omega's sophomore Andy Leigh was named Mr. Congeniality, Zeta Beta Tau's sophomore Scott Pincus Banner, Pi Kappa Phi's senior Joe Keehnast won the talent competition with his "Black or White" dance. \nPhi Sigma Kappa contestant junior Mark Thon said even though he didn't place in any category, he was just glad it was for a good cause. \n"I had no idea they raised so much money, so no matter who won or lost, ultimately the winners are for breast cancer research," Thon said.
(10/29/02 5:52am)
On Sept. 20 a tornado hit Indiana and left 150 miles of destruction in its wake between Ellettsville and Indianapolis.\nOver a month later, the damage is still visible.\nWhat can't be seen is the whirlwind of paperwork left for victims and the slow process some are facing to receive insurance payments.\nThe drive through Martinsville alone exhibits crumpled structures on either side of State Road 37.\nFully grown trees have snapped like twigs, bowed over in a grotesque homage to nature. Building parts are scattered like lightweight trash, and roofs have been sucked off from the force of winds that ranged from 150 to 200 miles per hour. Sheds and playgrounds have buckled or been smashed. People can be seen in work boots, surveying their property and trying to figure out where to start on the task of rebuilding their lives.\nThe tornado damaged more than 200 properties -- including the destruction of 73 homes and 13 businesses -- one of which belonged to Anne and Randy Hamilton, who owned a plant center in Martinsville until it was leveled.\nThey said they are one of only a handful of people they know who have gotten any substantial amount of money back from their insurance company. The Hamilton's got $15,000.\nThe Hamiltons pointed out this amount isn't as much as it sounds because they have to use it to repair not just their home that has a caving foundation and approximately two-and-a-half walls, but also to rebuild their business and replace tools and equipment.\nWhile trying to buy their life back and battle with their insurance company, they've taken up temporary residence in the Comfort Inn at a discounted rate while others have been staying with friends and family.\n"You go and talk to anyone on Duo Drive and they'll tell you," Randy said. "That place got hit bad and I think only one of them has gotten a dime from their insurance company so far."\nSome Indiana residents' financial troubles have been somewhat alleviated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency that has been assisting Indiana residents affected by the disaster.\nFEMA offers crisis counseling, disaster unemployment assistance, legal services, grants and loans.\nAccording to figures released on Oct. 11 by FEMA and the Indiana State Emergency Management Agency, more than $1.5 million in disaster assistance grants and low-interest loans has been approved for applicants in the 32 Indiana counties eligible for individual assistance.\nFederal, state, local and voluntary agencies have also been assisting in recovery efforts, as well as the Small Business Administration which, as of mid-October, has approved $910,100 in low-interest home loans and issued a total of 1,170 loan applications.\nThe Hamiltons said while they're happy FEMA has been helping out, they don't think it should be necessary for the agency to give out money when people have an insurance company.\n"I think this whole thing is just crap," Randy said. "This is just the worst setup I've ever seen. You shouldn't have to go to the government for money after paying for insurance."\nEllettsville resident John Bybee, who sustained minor damages to his property, said he hasn't encountered any trouble with his insurance.\n"They seem to be doing just exactly what they said they'd do," Bybee said. "But I'm just one person. There are a lot of other people that may or may not be having problems."\nIndependent insurance claim adjuster Ron Hoffman said there are a myriad of reasons why insurance companies could be behind on this process.\nWhile normal insurance claims can take two days to two weeks to process and make payment, Hoffman said it's not unusual for three or more weeks to go by after a catastrophe.\n"I can't speak for each individual company," Hoffman said. "But most are very good at making timely payments. There can be a delay in making payments after a catastrophe. It has been my experience that most companies try their best."\nHoffman said companies are committed to getting claims processed as quickly and fairly as possible, but whether or not that could be accomplished might be inhibited by such a large workload.\nEllettsville had noticeably less damage than Martinsville, and the length of time it takes to receive insurance money can be affected by the number of claims filed, Hoffman said.\nThe process involves the policy holder filing a claim about their loss with his/her insurance agent, who turns it over to the agency, which gives it to the claims department to review and contact the policy holder. The agency then assigns an in-staff or independent adjuster, who determines the amount they will pay to compensate the policy holder's loss. \nSome policy holders can eliminate the middle man by calling direct to the claims department.\nThe Hamiltons said policy holders better have a big piggy bank to wait out the delays.\n"You better have a lot of money saved up or else you're going to be broke by the time the insurance company pays you back," Randy said.\nAnne nodded in agreement, advising that people would better off investing money in a reliable bank account than an insurance company. She said that way they could guarantee they'd get the full amount back when they needed it, sans paperwork and delays.\n"You wouldn't have to go through all the headaches," Anne said. "You think the insurance companies are there for you and they're not.."\nAlthough almost all policy holders are honest with their claims, Hoffman said there is a small portion that has made adjusters more cynical.\n"There are always two sides to every story," Hoffman said.\nHoffman advised policy holders to be patient, because they will get their answers and payment as long as they're willing to wait.\n"They'll catch more flies with honey," Hoffman said. "You should be persistent but polite. It's easier to get the results needed if you're patient and friendly"
(10/29/02 5:05am)
The second annual Big Man on Campus pageant will be held tonight at 8 p.m. at the IU Auditorium, when 22 men will compete in an event hosted by Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, with majority of proceeds going to breast cancer awareness and research.\nThis year's Big Man will be decided during a pageant where contestants are judged on talent, formal questions, creativity and fundraising.\nForty-one Greek chapters and an IUPHC group are involved with BMOC, as well as the Volunteer Student Bureau. \nThis year's theme is All-American Man, which will give each contestant a chance to dress up as their favorite American hero.\n"We thought it was an appropriate theme that everyone would enjoy, allowing people to celebrate our patriotism while working for this worthy cause," said Lindsay Williams, ZTA philanthropy chair.\nLast year's Harley Davidson-themed BMOC raised $23,000, more than any other Zeta chapter has collected during a single event.\nWilliams estimated about 400 people packed the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre for last year's show, so this year BMOC has been moved to the Auditorium.\nZeta has already sold about 1,500 tickets at $8 apiece. Williams predicted after additional \ntickets are sold at the door that 2,000 people will attend, easily exceeding this year's goal of $30,000.\nThey use some of the proceeds to support the Race for the Cure and "Think Pink" program, but the majority goes to breast cancer-related activities -- particularly the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. \nAccording to their Web site, the Foundation was started in 1982 and has since raised more than $250 million for breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment. \nZetas assist in the education aspect by distributing breast cancer informative materials like shower hangers, which demonstrate the proper technique for administering breast self-examinations.\nWilliams said the work is well worth it when she thinks about her grandmother and family friend who are currently battling the disease. \n"I love working hard when I'm able to see that all my work goes to a very important goal: breast cancer awareness and research," Williams said. "I love knowing that my work may actually save lives, help someone to grieve or encourage our community to get involved."\nTwo contestants have lost family members to breast cancer, one of whom is sophomore Sekou Kante of Delta Chi.\nKante competed last year and is back for a second round to help raise money to battle the disease which took away both his grandmother and best friend's mother.\n"I see kids getting packages from their grandparents all the time, or talking about going to visit them for Thanksgiving, and I don't have that," Kante said. "I don't think anyone should have to forego the wonderful experiences of having a grandmother in their lives."\nKante said he is more nervous about competing this year because he has "really bad stage fright and no talent," but that he is willing to "embarrass the heck" out of himself once a year for charity.\n"(Breast cancer) is a horrible killer, and if I have to fight it by looking like an idiot on stage then so be it," Kante said. "I encourage everyone to get a ticket, because it will definitely be a hilarious show, filled with a lot of hot dudes with amazing talent -- barring myself, of course." \nHaving a sense of humor about one's performance is something last year's BMOC winner, senior Brian Bohnenkamp, certainly advocates in his advice to this year's contestants.\n"Try to relax, if something goes wrong on stage just keep going and don't worry about it," Bohnen said. "Just remember that it's all about having fun and having a good time"
(10/23/02 5:07am)
Freshman Brittany Davis calmly chews on a Tootsie Roll, carefully crumpling the wrapper and adding it to the pile she's accumulated on the damp, carpeted bench she's sitting on. \n"I have to go to the bathroom," she says quietly.\nEasier said than done.\nDavis is quarantined in the Pizza Express van and decked out in the Express Man suit -- a red Lycra unitard, black Speedo, cape and pleather boots. She tugs at one of her bright yellow cuffs while waiting for her halftime debut at the Ellettsville High School football game.\n Davis' original plan for the evening was to answer phones at the campus Pizza Express, but she escaped her "monotonous" fate by volunteering to fill-in for Express Man without full knowledge of what it entailed.\n"I don't know what I got myself into, but I think it will be fun," Davis said. "It's certainly a change of events."\nPizza Express also didn't know what they were getting themselves into when, on a "whim and a prayer," they spent $14,000 to convert the company van into a "party van" and had a graduate student in theater design create a costume for Express Man.\nThey sent the dynamic duo out into the world in 1991 to maintain Pizza Express' hold on an increasingly saturated market. \nThe Express Man marketing "event" now happens almost every weekend once school starts, heading to schools, fundraisers and other local events. From 9 p.m. to midnight, it makes like a townie and cruises around with excessive bass and flashy lights.\nSenior Meghann Boone, marketing intern for One World Enterprises, gives Davis a quick overview of her duties as honorary Express Man: once the van pulls up in front of the crowd, she will get out, throw tootsie rolls, T-shirts and pass out a few pizzas.\n"Don't worry -- you'll feel like a rock star," Boone assures her.\nThe outside of the van looks like a rock star's … or Cheech and Chong's. \nMusky-smelling, milky-white smoke seeps from a fog machine inside, swirling out the windows and sunroof. The quick flickering of a strobe light temporarily illuminates the interior and the whole van is rattling uncontrollably from the four speakers blasting on the rooftop. \nUpon recognizing the Express Van, a group of boys stop playing football and swarm around it, begging for candy before the Official Distribution at halftime.\nTiny hands streak down the window as the boys peer into the tinted windows and beg for the Tootsie Rolls they know Boone is hiding inside.\n"They have candy in there and they're not sharing!" a boy howls. \nTo appease the tikes, Boone and Davis toss them a few pieces as the driver, senior Brian Sheikh, begins rolling onto the track. \nAlmost on 'E' as they make their way around the track to the packed cheering section, they pray the van won't run out of gas.\nOnce they pull up to the crowd, Davis hops out to distribute the gifts. Each one is greeted with more enthusiasm and less politeness.\nCradling an economy-size bag of Tootsie Rolls, she tosses handfuls of them at the crowd until they're all gone. Then she chucks t-shirts, which children all hop and push for. \nOnce they spot the boxes of pizza stashed in the van, Sheikh only has time to hand Davis one box before the kids in front literally climb over Davis into the driver's side window. \nAs she disappears under the sea of grasping fingers, Sheikh has no choice but to forfeit the pizzas being ripped out of his hands.\nFrom her vantage point on the ground, Davis said she witnessed a boy confiscate a box from another boy, then toss himself on top of it to make sure no one took it away; all while Edwin Starr's "War" played as an accompaniment.\nThe only item Davis fails to distribute to the G-rated audience is the most famous of Pizza Express' marketing ploys -- Lifestyle condoms.\nExpress Man gives roughly 500 assorted-color condoms, encased in a tiny envelope that has "Express yourself, but don't expose yourself" written on the front, and contact information for Planned Parenthood, the Monroe County Health Department and Public Health Nursing on back.\nFreshman Erin Marshall, who takes over for Davis at 10 p.m., has the honor of prophylactic distribution.\nShe's greeted like the adult version of the ice cream man -- with smiles and hesitant curiosity.\n"I'm getting paid to throw condoms at people; I can't complain," Marshall said.\nAlthough some struggled to make the connection between pizza and condoms, non-resident Jessica Andrews told Express "Man" it was great they were promoting safe sex.\n"(Pizza Express) already knows everyone does it, so they're acknowledging the problem and doing something to prevent STD's and all that stuff," Andrews said.\nThe brain behind this mobile marketing operation is Jeff Hamlin, chief operations officer of One World Enterprises, which owns Pizza Express, Lennie's, Bloomington Brewery Company and Pizza Mambo.\nCompetition doubled in two years with the arrival of Papa John's, Domino's and Noble Romans.\n"We could no longer stand on the merits of being a reasonably priced local business," Hamlin said. "The impact of national competition meant that businesses turned to discounting, and we filed right in tow. How in the world could we compete if we didn't?"\nThe company soon realized discounts would lower the quality of their product, so they decided to try something different. Equipped with a substantial marketing budget, Hamlin developed a strategy to reach customers personally instead of mass marketing to them.\nThe gimmick was originally targeted at IU undergraduates, but Pizza Express found it was an easy way to reach people of all ages.\n"Of all our marketing, Express Man has been absolutely the most effective," Hamlin said. "It's the most unique way to get out and literally touch our customers."\nMBA students did a study in 1997, which found 98 percent of students were likely to identify Express Man with the Pizza Express.\nDespite additional competition from Doughshack and Donatos, Pizza Express -- with its lycra-clad mascot and Big 10 deal -- still has the largest slice of the market.\nThe campus location alone sells 450 to 550 pizzas on weekends and 150 to 200 on weekdays.\n"In the face of these new challenges and competitors, we've decided to do the unthinkable and buy a few ads and have an anniversary special," Hamlin said. "We're going to get out in our 20th year and bang our drum and let people know that we're there"
(10/10/02 6:19pm)
Saved by the Bell, creators saw it coming.\nIn a sitcom that was the embodiment of fashion for the early 90's -- complete with stonewash jeans, bad perms, leggings, banana clips and Zubaz pants -- there was one accessory ahead of its time: the cell phone. The creators even predicted its unnecessary use and disruption in school.\nOn several occasions, Zach Morris' cell phone not only went off in the middle of class, but he picked it up much to the calculated ire of Mr. Belding, who slid over to the yuppie-in-training and confiscated it.\nCell phone use in school has become almost identical, with a few minor tweaks.\nFirst, few students would be brave enough to actually answer their phone in class. Most hunch down and quickly rummage through their bag to turn it off before their professor or classmates get angry.\nSecond, the average handheld cell phone is no longer the size of a small animal. It's lost considerable weight -- dropping from two pounds to six ounces since its first circulation in 1979.\nThird, the odds of only one student having a phone in class today are virtually nonexistent. In 1994, there were 16 million cellular service subscriptions in the United States. Today, there are 115 million.\nAnd fourth, cell phones are no longer a symbol of social status. They have become commonplace in society. Cellular service subscriptions now exceed the birthrate, with 40,000 people subscribing a day.\nPrivate lives become public knowledge whenever and wherever people feel like conducting their conversations, be it in the classroom, church, theater or private and mass transportation.\nThe conveniences and problems cell phones create have become an immediate matter of contention among legislators, safety commissions and society.\nHow about on campus?\nSome used to regard Walkmans as a tool to tune out the rest of the world. Now they've been accepted as just another device to keep us entertained on our way to class. \nThe acceptance of cell phones, on the other hand, might take a little longer because they are vocal and can be considered invasive and irritating to surrounding non-users. \nVerizon commercials are a dead-on depiction of people walking around trying to get good reception. Erratic signals can result in people plugging a finger over their ear and half-hollering "Can you hear me now?" Even if the person on the other end of the conversation can't, everyone else can. \nJunior Shannan Peterson said while cell phones are great for emergencies, she can't stand their excessive use around campus.\n"No college student has anything so important to say that it can't wait until they get back to their dorm," Peterson said.\nAnd cell phones are no longer just for public use. A big trend with college students is to forego a home line in favor of a cell phone, that way they don't have to pay an extra phone bill or squabble over whom made what call. \nAccording to wire.com, cell phone usage is expected to surpass home phone ownership in 2005, possibly rendering land lines unnecessary. \n"Cell phones are more convenient," senior Brian Sheikh said. "You don't have to worry about being at home when someone calls. You don't have to plan your schedule around it, so you can still get other stuff done."\nHow about in the car?\nSixty percent of people who get phones for their children cite security and emergency calls as the reason for their purchase, The Yankee Group research firm estimated . However, this "safety measure" can be fatally counteractive when used in a moving vehicle.\nA 1997 study in the New England Journal of Medicine said the chance of an accident is four times greater when drivers use a handheld cell phone and that the use could be as debilitating as driving drunk.\nSenior Travis Durnal said the only time using a cell phone in his car has created a problem for him is when he's dialing, but even that has become obsolete since he got a voice-activated dial-up service.\nDurnal said he isn't opposed to legislation against cell phones in cars, so long as speaker phones or headsets could still be used.\nBut accidents are not usually caused by having one hand tied up with the phone or because drivers couldn't perform an emergency maneuver. Most accidents are caused by inattention during routine driving conditions, according to the Fatal Analysis Reporting System. \nIt's difficult to keep track of how many accidents are caused by cell phones because only 20 states have police forms that include cell phone use as the cause of distraction.\nThe Harvard Center for Risk Analysis did a crash-risk factor study in 1999, estimating that in 2000 there would be between 300,000 to 650,000 crashes due to cell phones.\nHow about in court?\nCell phones have created issues that demand legislation. Proposals and rulings have been made that are being debated on the basis of a user's right to privacy versus personal safety and common courtesy.\nThe penalty in Singapore for using a cell phone while driving is immediate confiscation of the phone, a $1,000 fine or six months in jail (or both), and getting 12 demerit points or having your license revoked.\nThe penalty in the United States is considerably less severe -- a fine.\nIn New York, it's $100 for a first violation, $200 for a second and $500 for any subsequent violations.\nAccording to an article in Newsday, $50 fines could also be given for using cell phones during a movie or theater performance, if the Manhattan City Council has their way. \nA council report noted cell phone use has become so common and disruptive that actors, like Laurence Fishburne and Stanley Tucci, have stopped their performances.\nThe quiet convenience of vibrate is typically a person's best alternative to a ring, but it can be difficult to remember to turn it on.\nAnd soon, for a $1 to $5 fee, people will be able to download a ring tone off the internet or even create their own. This will make it possible to distinguish one's phone ring from someone else's and to have the Mickey Mouse Club theme or "Thong Song" go off in the middle of class.\nProfessor Robin King said she has seen many untimely incidents of cell phones ringing in the non-college environment. One went off in a funeral service she attended several weeks ago, and she has seen it happen during business presentations.\n"From a real world perspective, it happens all the time," King said. "In the business world, it's equally as distracting and frowned upon -- unless someone gives advance notice of a call. If anything, it gets worse later on in life"
(10/07/02 6:03am)
A revised version of Spiderman is on the move. \nIU physician Brent Nielsen is negotiating the 40-foot climbing tower at Bradford Woods Outdoor Center during the second annual IU Outdoor Day 2002 held on Saturday.\nThe free event was sponsored by Bradford Woods Outdoor Center, IU Outdoor Adventures, Outdoor Recreation and Resource Management Option and the Cline Foundation. Its purpose was not to raise money for the programs but to educate the community about their existence.\nNielsen, already an outdoor enthusiast, had come out with his wife, Elisa, looking for a challenge. \nHis sports watch glints in the sunlight and his harness strains against his thighs as he lifts himself up to the next foothold. With his arms splayed against the wall and fingers curled around the resin handholds, he peers up the last 20 feet to get an idea of where his boots will move next.\nThis move would be considerably easier to make if the wall wasn't tilting backwards. Out of the towers' four walls -- the 60, 80, 90 degree and the "overhang" -- Nielsen is now working on the overhang, which angles back midway up the wall.\nAfter considerable protest from his forearms, Nielsen repels down from the physical and mental challenge of the wall with the intent to try it again later. \n"For recreational purposes, you just climb," said Jufer Villanueva, a professional field instructor. "For challenge and therapeutic purposes, we make the wall a metaphor for seeing and reaching your goals. It just gives you a different perspective."\nAlthough not all activities were as challenging as the climbing tower, IU Outdoor Day provided many outdoor activities that appealed to almost everyone: hiking, canoeing, fishing, eagle watching, hay rides, kayaking, compass skills, crafts and wild edibles.\n"Bradford Woods isn't open to the public, so we wanted to get the community involved and help them understand what it is that we do here," staff member James Rogers said. \nWhile the weather couldn't have been more beautiful for IU Outdoor Day, the date selected could've been better. The event vied for attention with the Hilly Hundred and Jill Behrman's Run for the Endzone. \nJohn Deckard, manager of sales and marketing, said one of Bradford Woods' goals is to get more IU students involved with the program, which is designed to educate people about the environment, adventure, recreation and leadership programs\n"IU students are a huge community and we look to serve them," Deckard said. "Athletes, advocacy groups, Greek organizations, departments all come here and we're looking to extend that."\nBoth students and families turned out for Outdoor Day, looking for fun.\nChristine Milne said she drove 40 minutes from Greenwood, Ind., to attend the event with her husband, daughter and her daughter's friend.\nFirst and foremost on their agenda was the universal ropes course, a series of suspended rope activities like the "wobbly bridge" and "cable crossing" that is supervised by staff members.\nThe four said the ropes were a little scary but mostly fun, although Milne laughed about how she chickened-out on the cable crossing. \n"We're just here to have a good time," Milne said. "We don't get to do stuff like this together very often so we jumped at the opportunity"
(10/03/02 6:54am)
Most college students have lived roughly a fifth-of-a-century, and a fraction of them still can't or won't do their laundry. Depending on their proximity to home, some students will horde dirty clothing until it's time to go back, thus creating piles of epic proportion.\nDavid Hill, owner of Campus Laundry, said students who do their laundry at his store frequently try to overload the machines in a comical effort to get the most for their quarters. The scheme ends up being counterproductive and costly when their clothes are neither washed nor dried thoroughly enough the first time around. \n"We try to help them out," Hill said. "We'll say 'Look, we know you're trying to save a buck, but there's a cheaper, better way to do laundry.'" \nCrosstown Laundry Owner Marty Stephens said men are typically the ones in need of the most assistance.\n"They're always trying to ask for some of the female customers to guide them through their first washing experience -- and they're serious," Stephens said.\nStephens said two bewildered-looking parents came in last year with an inordinate amount of laundry. They had come to IU and found out that instead of doing laundry, their son had just kept buying new clothes and underwear during the first month of school. \nMales are not the only ones who can be laundry incompetent, Stephens said. He once had to intervene when a woman tossed her clothes and detergent in the dryer in an effort to "wash" her clothes.\nThe most common mistake he's seen is people not separating white and colored clothing, which results in an interesting blend of secondary colors.\nGraduate student Dave Miller had a unique approach to separating clothes, until his girlfriend witnessed his method when they went to a laundromat to do 12 loads of his laundry.\n"He started pulling his stuff out of the laundry bag and putting colored stuff together in different washers," senior Grace Overmyer said. "I asked him what on earth he was doing, and he said he was separating his clothes into 'socks, underwear, shirts, pants…'" \nHill said having a successfully stain and shrink-free trip to the laundromat requires only a basic knowledge of how to do laundry and the ability to read cleaning instructions.\nSome bypass this tedious and time-consuming process by taking advantage of the drop-off service offered by most laundromats.\nFor around 85-cents a pound, students can have everything done for them. They get their clothes sorted, washed, dried, pressed and folded.\nSophomore Jacob Eben said the service is well worth it, even though he has to cough up $30 to $40 on his biweekly trips to the laundromat.\n"I'm just too lazy," Eben said. "And it's also a matter of time. Last year I always did my laundry, but this year I didn't want to have sit and wait two to three hours for it to finish."\nSophomore Andrew Schlachter said he knew how to do his laundry but was too "nervous" about messing up and ruining his clothes.\nThe stereotype of all guys not being able to do their laundry was described as "semi-accurate" by sophomore Christine Liguzinski, who said it's not that most guys can't do their laundry, it's that they're just not motivated enough.\nGraduate student Guy McBride said he learned to manage this simple task when he was 12 years old and that it is a necessary skill to have in college. \n"I think it's sad that there are some people from regions of Indiana that don't know how to do their laundry by now," McBride said.
(10/02/02 5:19am)
Freedom on wheels rolled through IU's campus Tuesday when IU alumnus Harry Wunsch from Sacramento, Calf., stopped by to show off a 1977 Chrysler New Yorker that he and his son, Tyler, had transformed into "America's Car." \nFrom July 24 to Aug. 12, the duo drove cross country from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Atlantic Coast. The purpose: to visit the World Trade Centers, Pentagon and Flight 93 site.\nThey decided to take the trip Sept. 12, 2001, and since Wunsch is an independent entrepreneur, he had the time and finances to make it happen. \nHis cropped white hair pokes out the side of his Port Authority cap, and his light green eyes occasionally morph to hazel when he tears up when recounting stories from their trip. His tan is set off by a navy blue 7 Engine FDNY shirt, and his left arm is significantly darker from driving with it propped on the window ledge. \nThe Chrysler has more than enough space for comfort and decoration. It's almost 20 feet long, six feet wide and weights 6,200 pounds. It gets a "fuel-efficient" 11 miles to the gallon, 12 if they were fortunate enough to be going downhill.\nWhile Wunsch already seems to have the world's largest car, he said his goal is to take that title a step further and have it be America's largest car flag.\nOn the hood is a flag drawn in permanent marker, which Wunsch intends to preserve with a clear coat of lacquer and eventually give to a museum. The blue represents the police department and the red represents both the fire department and those affected by Sept. 11, and both sections are signed by corresponding groups. \nProfessionally-made "Let's Roll America" lettering runs across the rear. A USA decal is stuck to the hood ornament, and photos of the New York City skyline are pasted to the flip headlights.\nInside is a box of blue and red Sharpies for signing, and two Sept. 11 and Notre Dame Fire Department hats rest on the dashboard.\nFather Theodore Hesburgh, retired president of Notre Dame, gave the two a blessing when they passed through the University. He blessed their car, its drivers, passengers and the sand, dirt and water they were carrying in jugs and a plastic fruit juice container. The materials were collected from both coasts and the three disaster sites. \nThe blessing was indeed successful because save for one small accident, the trip was disaster-free and the two gained access to almost anywhere they wanted to go, Wunsch said. \nThey were even on 65 television programs, some of them international.\nWunsch is also garnering local attention from passersbys who kept craning their necks to get a better view.\nIU employee Mike McAnally is one of the uninhibited few who walk right up to it, dropping his sunglasses a notch to peer at the decorations strategically placed around the car.\n"The car's great," McAnally said. "It's a nice, non-violent act that supports the victims of Sept. 11. It isn't putting anyone down or offending anyone … except the ones who did this, of course."\nTyler, a freshman at Chico University, is already back in school and recouping from the trip, but Harry is taking his sweet, publicity-filled time making his way home.\nA map of Bloomington is spread across his passenger seat with giant, $2 spectacles lying across the top so Wunsch can read and navigate better "in his old, 50-something age." \nBut he could probably do fine in Bloomington without the map or glasses, since he graduated from IU in 1974.\nWunsch said he would probably head down to Kirkwood Avenue and get a stromboli from Nick's English Hut, and that he's not too concerned about finding a legal place to park because he parks wherever he pleases.\n"Officers have never given me a ticket," Wunsch said. "I mean, they signed the car -- what are they gonna do? Kick me out? Yell at me?"\nWunsch has designs to park creatively and drive across the country again next year, only this time with his 23-year-old son, Ryan, who missed the 2002 Tour for Freedom because he had to work two jobs.\nWunsch said the trip is by far one of the most emotional experiences he's had, and he would recommend it to anyone because it helped him develop a comprehension and new perspective on Sept. 11 and its effect on the country.\n"There's nothing like going on the road and touching and feeling people's hearts -- to get to the heart of America"
(09/11/02 4:13am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- It's 6:02 in the morning and already the gentle hum of commerce slowly eases its way through the early hour at the Indianapolis airport. \nSome travelers partake in freshly brewed coffee, pushing themselves over the cusp of wakefulness and killing time before their flight. Many have extra time to work with because airlines recommend passengers to show up at least two hours in advance to ensure they make their flight. \nLines are already wound around blue ribbon aisles in front of the ticket desks and the skycaps are attending to the lines of people checking luggage at the curb.\nPassengers used to be asked whether they had been asked by anyone to carry something on the flight and if there was a time when their luggage wasn't in their possession. \nSkycap Steve Marsh said while it used to be required for employees to ask that of the passenger, no one had ever responded with a yes.\n"If someone was trying to pull something, I can't imagine they would say, 'Yeah, you caught me,'" Marsh said.\nSo since the honor system clearly wasn't working, airlines did away with the questions and now rely on their several checkpoints to observe passengers' person, luggage and carry-on.\nA new installation is the CTX, an explosive detector that is now commonplace in all major airports. The conveyor belt yanks luggage through the machine, producing regular and x-ray images which are observed by an Invision technician, who has gone through three weeks of training and received certification to operate the machine.\nThe technician most frequently encountered is one who mans the security checkpoints set up at the concourse entrances.\nDue to privacy and safety issues, non-personnel are not allowed to see the images. \nAn employee thumps out the trinket bin as people ditch their watches, keys, lap tops, cell phones and other metallic objects. \nThe technician stares intently at the computer monitor. He swallows hard, forcing his Adam's Apple to roll up and down his throat while he squints to make sense of the x-ray images in front of him. What he's looking for is anything that could be considered a weapon.\nUnited Airlines Service Director Terry Obenauf said that to his knowledge, the definition of what can be construed as a weapon hasn't expanded since Sept. 11. \n"We won't let anyone go down there with a bat or anything, but I think in most cases it's just the common sense things that you wouldn't expect to go through," Obenauf said.\nBut ultimately, it's the National Transportation Safety Board that has the final say on what can and cannot go on the plane.\nThe NTSB is currently conducting surveys to determine what kind of additional security will be needed at the airport. They poll passengers on their destination, number of passengers traveling with them and how many bags were checked.\nThe surveys are part of Boeing-Siemans $1.37 billion contract to enhance security at their 438 airports.\nWhen asked whether all these new time-consuming safety measures were unwarranted or irritating, Brownsburg resident Janet McDaniel immediately responded with a dismissive "not at all," and that personal security was more important than being inconvenienced.\nThe measures are also increasing airline employees' sense of security, said U.S. Expressways Captain Brett Scally. \nScally said while the majority of pilots have mixed feelings about having a gun for self-defense, he does appreciate the new steel bar they've installed on the cockpit door.\n"I feel perfectly safe flying," Scally said. "The airport has been getting better and better about security, and every little bit helps"
(09/10/02 11:08pm)
NEW YORK -- Primitive pounding pulsates through Central Park, vibrating through the ground and up through the chest until it feels like your lungs have become drums. People from around the park drift to the source of the infectious beat, which turns out to be the weekly Djembe -- a jam session with African instruments.\nAs the music troupe plays at an exhausting pace, New Yorkers are stripping off extraneous clothing to dance to the music, taking time out to focus on sensations other than honking horns and neon lights.\nThaemus Maharriyamee, a spiritual healer, who looked like a cross between Daddy Warbucks and Yul Brenner, spent hours stepping in time to the music and said Sept. 11 sparked a spirit and unity in our country that had dissipated over past years.\n"This is a chance to get natural and get in touch with the spiritual," said drummer 'Jungle Boy.' "This is America, and people need to relax and heal. It's an opportunity to take the stress off."\nDjembe is not an elite party by any means -- it's a blur of work suits, Jamaican headbands, shell necklaces, married couples, braless women, comb-overs, sweat stains, dreds, tie die, rolled-up pants and both professional and rhythmically-challenged dancers.\n"I know how to shake, but it takes more than rhythm to do what they're doing," said 9-year-old Jazz Hooks, Jr., displaying the only shimmy in his repertoire.\nEven bystanders are at least tapping their feet in time and beaming at the dancers' flailing limbs and carefree abandonment.\nRonald Derisca expelled cigarette smoke into the dusk air as he said in his Haitian accent "I think it's great. I watch them from time to time every year -- it's happy people."\nSome of Djembe's regulars say they've been waiting all year for the temperature to get warm again so they could come out and dance their worries away.\nJazz Allen Hooks describes it as a multicultural "mecca" where people of every age, race and culture come together.\n"Music is universal -- it's a form of therapy," Hooks said. "You don't care about anything. You're here to have fun and communicate through movements. Communication can bring about understanding and trust, and everything else doesn't even matter."\nMaharriyamee said using this type of meditation can help people to see beyond the tragedy.\n"I think through a resurrection of the spirits, we learned to take the positive from it and not the negative," Maharriyamee said. "It was a great purification for our country. It taught us humility and compassion, and if we're wise, we'll learn from it"
(09/10/02 10:27pm)
"You're goin,'" says firefighter Sal Aragono.\n Co-worker Vincent Geloso shakes his head no. \n"Yes, you awre," he repeats, this time more firmly.\n"No, I'm gonna be good tonight," Geloso declares. "I'm gonna be good -- I'm not drinking. I'm going to stay home and go to bed early."\nAragono's dark brown eyes glitter as he washes down a bite of his grilled chicken sandwich with a can of soda pop and grins at Geloso's bold-but-mistaken declaration that he would behave. \n"Look at Pinnochio's nose growin' over der," he laughs.\nAragano then drops the conversation with the comforting knowledge that his prediction will probably come true -- that Geloso will turn out for tonight's annual "Fire Under the Bridge" party at the Brooklyn Bridge.\nFirefighters say the party is sure to be "ass-kickin,'" which might have something to do with the fact that seemingly every 20-something woman in the city migrates to the riverside in festive and binding attire. All men are charged a $20 entrance fee, while women get in free but have the option of donating money to a Sept. 11 fund.\nNationwide, everything firefighters have been doing lately seems to in some way revolve around supporting other firefighters who were affected by Sept. 11 -- firefighters they might not even know. \nWhen people refer to the firefighting profession as a "brotherhood," it's not an exaggeration. Living, cooking, eating, cleaning and working in such close proximity with one another leads them to go beyond the acquaintance, friend and coworker stages -- they become family. \n10 House lost five family members.\nTheir station is roughly 50 feet away from Ground Zero and has been out of commission since Sept. 11. If you peer through the dusty windows on the large, red garage doors that mark the station, you'll see that almost all of the firefighter's personal belongings have been cleared out. They've been temporary relocated to the 7 Engine Station several blocks away.\nOnce a week, 10 House comes out to sell T-shirts for $20 apiece -- with proceeds going to the deceased firefighters' families and the station -- which is what they're doing when they roll up onto a curb amidst the Ground Zero merchandise mayhem. \nEveryone within a half block's radius is standing on their tiptoes to get a better view of what's going on, members of the 10 House fire station hop out of their engine, set up a makeshift souvenir stand and begin selling shirts out of cardboard boxes. \nWhile the firefighters' surprise visit is a delight for tourists and their NYPD buddies, who work in the area, the nearest street vendors take it as their cue to leave. \nPeople simultaneously abandon vendors in favor of 10 House. They are no longer looking for a bargain, but for heroes and a good cause. Even in the pressing heat and humidity of the day, they swarm around the truck, waiting to buy T-shirts and get pictures taken with them.\nFirefighter Garfield Boston is one of the designated photo opportunities for the day -- a prime candidate due to the plastic action figure he has tucked into his helmet.\nBoston says his niece gave the doll to him as a charm to keep him safe, and he keeps it with him whenever he makes a run to judge if it's getting too hot in a building.\n"If (the action figure) starts to melt, I'm in too deep and know I need to get out," Garfield says.\nNYPD Officer John Doyle says New York law enforcement officials are probably in more photo albums than celebrities.\nBoston good-naturedly mutters from the corner of his plastered-on grin that his face is, in fact, hurting very badly from all the smiling he is doing for the hundreds of pictures being taken.\nLt. John Burkello squints into the sun and crosses his tight forearms as he observes the phenomena that occurs every time their engine pulls up.\n"We deal with the public a lot, lately -- no one really noticed us before this," Burkello says.\nThey're getting attention now, though, and not just because of their profession. It's also because of their prophetic emblem, which has been around for 18 years.\nIt's on the side of their truck and on top of their lunch table -- an image of a fireman wielding a fire hose and straddling the top of World Trade Centers, which have a fire licking up their sides.\nThe NYPD also assisted in the city's recovery, which hasn't gone unnoticed by the public.\nDoyle says the NYPD has been feeling the love, too, like from the woman who had just walked up to him, crying and giving him a hug. \n"People used to hate us until this happened," Doyle says. "It's a much different job now." \nDoyle says officials try to be as helpful to the public as possible because they've been so good to them.\n"I thought (the kindness) would've died down by now, but it hasn't," Doyle says. "It's in everyone's heart. It could have happened to anyone, at anytime."\nEither this "unexpected death" notion still hasn't sunk into some firefighters' heads, or they're just choosing to disregard it and continue doing their job.\nFirefighter class enrollment has more than doubled in size since Sept. 11, with a little over 300 recruits going through the 10-week training.\n"We're young and stupid, so we're not scared," Garfield says. "If we were smarter, we'd be terrified."\nBrains or no, being a firefighter is not without its rewards -- particularly for those who work in New York and are worshiped by everyone in city.\nTheir high-spirits and stubborn attitudes are what can catapult them into a burning building or a blazing party.\nAs Doyle begins to sidle away from Boston and back into the crowd, Boston tells him their station is planning on throwing "the most insane party" when they get back together. Doyle nods and says "That's good -- you guys deserve it."\nGeloso says even though he has enjoyed some of their time-killing antics, this past year has been draining and despite everything that has happened with Sept. 11, his family wants to get back their station.\nThe department is burnt out on ceremonies," Geloso says. "Every time we're (at 10 House), we can't believe it's gone. We're just waiting for it to open so we can all get back to work"
(09/10/02 10:23pm)
NEW YORK -- While "collateral damage" typically refers to additional, physical destruction, the definition has to be expanded to include the major thorn jabbing into New Yorkers' psyche -- street vendors who have set up a cramped camp along the outskirts of Ground Zero.\n"(Sept. 11) definitely still affects a lot of people in a lot of ways," said Linda Neu, a resident of Woodstock, N.Y. "I feel sad for the people that were there -- people that could even now be in ashes under the stones."\nWith this in mind, it's difficult to round the corner after leaving Ground Zero and be confronted with an onslaught of Sept. 11 merchandise.\nThe tragedy is being marketed in much the same way as the Final Four, except there are infinitely more vendors jammed onto the street. The athletics department had more tact.\n"Buy 1, Get One Free" T-shirts, photos, brochures, booklets, hats and posters -- a foam finger's only missing. \nOne photo album depicts the WTC demise in an accurate but grotesque chronological, flip-book type sequence.\n"I think it's terrible, making money off the misery of others," NYPD officer Steven Donnelly said. "It's terrible, and they shouldn't be allowed over here. Things have been done about it. If they don't have proper licenses, if they're not in a proper space, they aren't allowed to be over here."\nSeveral Sept. 11 vendors defended their jobs by pointing to the inside jacket of brochures, which said some of the proceeds went to the Learn About America Fund.\nIU alumnus Joon Park, who recently moved into an apartment building across the street from Ground Zero, said he sees the circus de' tourists surrounding the site every day.\n"The World Trade Centers have historically been a tourist attraction -- so is any place of great tragedy," Park said. "It's no surprise that vendors are selling their products there already. It's not a matter of if it will become socially acceptable, but a matter of how soon." \nJohn Pahla, manager of the Grand Slam gift shop in Times Square, said FDNY and NYPD souvenirs came in stock a week after Sept. 11 and were in incredibly high demand. \nNow over half their merchandise has law enforcement symbols on it and is still selling like hotcakes. Pahla predicted the high sales would continue like this for a long time.\nMissouri resident Samantha Brown, who was poking around at Grand Slam's child-size FDNY T-shirts, provided an explanation as to why the ever-popular "I love New York" shirts were being discarded in favor of law enforcement apparel. \n"I think it's because I respect them more, now, for their courage and their bravery and for giving their lives," Brown said. "When it happened, it didn't really sink in because it didn't really affect me, but now that I've come here and been to Ground Zero and seen it, it's finally hit home"
(09/10/02 10:16pm)
NEW YORK -- "If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane, I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again."\nThese words are engraved on a gray slab of rock, along with the initials "ASD" scratched into the bottom right-hand corner. It's propped up against a memorial aptly named the "Wall of Tears," located in Battery Park.\nThe wall is hard to miss because it's marked by a police department, fire department and U.S. flag, which are all secured to a tall pole that sways in the breeze but is weighed down by giant, cream-colored concrete blocks with law enforcement emblems painted on the sides.\nBeneath the flags and awning lie gifts to the deceased.\nPatches of the paramedic, fire, police and port authority departments that came from all over the world to help, plaques, helmets, baby shoes, caps, T-shirts, stuffed animals, posters, mugs, rosaries, flowers, candles, badges, jackets, notes, happy birthday cards, and water and beer bottles line the base and are posted on the wall.\nHandsome men and women smile out from posed and impromptu photos -- crinkle lines still gracing their timeless faces and life still dancing in their eternally twinkling eyes.\nBut the memorial that jars the fresh attention of new visitors has now become part of a daily routine and life for New Yorkers.\nTheir emotions appear to be worn down as they walk, jog and rollerblade by the memorial, giving it a cursory glance at best.\nBusinessmen and women nearby dine on tables fashioned out of the same gray and pink flecked marble material that makes up the wall set up not 40 feet away. \nEmployees of the neighboring Merrill-Lynch and Mercantile Exchange buildings sit on stylish metal patio chairs and enjoy the scenery of an area of town that used to be closed off as a crime scene. \nPark enforcement official John Kaiser says at first the wall was a shrine for families and friends, but is now primarily visited by tourists.\nKaiser, who inquires about the status of Bob Knight, has endearing gaps in his teeth, gray sideburns and dark stubble as rough as his voice.\nHe wears a green shirt, hiking boots, black shorts weighed down by 20 pounds worth of equipment and FILA shades that disguise his eyes. His authoritative front is belied by a patient willingness to answer visitors' questions repeatedly and on a daily basis.\nEnforcement officials alternate shifts supervising the memorial, although they aren't too concerned about someone damaging the memorial because no one has ever vandalized it.\nBrendan Touhey, who works in the Mercantile Exchange, says he has to pass a memorial everyday. In his building is a memorial dedicated to 12 people from his office who died when they attended an annual meeting in the World Trade Center.\nNew York resident Paul Higgins, who was standing near the wall when the World Trade Center collapsed, says New Yorkers don't bypass memorials out of apathy, but out of fear. \n"It's difficult for people to talk about and even more difficult for them to come here," Higgins says. "It scares me to relive what happened. It's still unpleasant for me to think about"
(09/10/02 10:15pm)
Ground Zero takes up two city blocks.\nThis statement lacks meaning until you understand the term "concrete jungle" is the most accurate description of New York City you will ever have.\nIn a city where trees are a rare commodity, space is nonexistent and you're more likely to look up and see a skyscraper than the sky, it's a punch in the gut to round the corner to see -- emptiness.\nIt feels more like a magic trick than reality. You half expect David Copperfield to slide up from behind you, tell you it's an illusion and that after you cut the deck, he can make it reappear.\nBut on Sept. 11, terrorists made it permanently disappear, and the country was left to clean up the nightmare left behind.\nGround Zero no longer looks like the mountain of hellish debris we watched on CNN. Once you shuffle through the line that winds half way around the block and make your way up to the viewing dock, you peer over the ledge to see a scene that looks like it's from a James Bond movie.\nFrom a semi-aerial view, you can see cement trucks, vans and cranes, all kicking up what appears to be miniscule tufts of dust and you wonder what, specifically, they're up to.\nWhat was once the foundation of the World Trade Center has now been reduced to dirt and is, for the most part, completely smooth.\nThe walls of the seven-story quarry have been torn out, revealing layers of structural cake that was once a parking garage. One can count stories by tallying the horizontal red beams remaining at each level.\nMassive metal spotlights tower over the workstation, shedding light on the unpleasant subject matter below so construction can continue around the clock.\nWorkers running around at the bottom look like tiny ants. One has to wonder if that many "ants" could fit into the gaping hole, how many more of them could fit into, and flee from, the two World Trade Centers. How many of them were reduced to their most base, animalistic instincts as they scrambled to escape with their lives?\nMiles of tarps were set up on surrounding buildings from where windows had been blown out and plane parts had slammed into it and, again, one has to wonder what was it like for the tiny but significant person standing near the windows as sheer force and metal blasted through their glass wall and their lives?\nThoughts that never occurred to me before rushed in all at once, making me mentally strangled and eager to leave.\nWhile winding my way out of the viewing area, I passed a woman standing mid-stream in the human traffic flow. People parted around her as she admonished her mother to stop taking pictures of the site.\n"You realize those pictures aren't going to capture anything near what it is, don't you?" the woman said, as she escorted her mom away.\nWhich is absolutely true -- the only things people will probably see in their photographs are blurry fence lines and a construction site.\nEven though I saw Ground Zero in person, I felt cheated out of the full comprehension of what happened -- no matter how horrific that comprehension may have been.\nI was hoping to have some sort of reality hit home that I couldn't get in Indiana, but the emotions didn't spring from the "improved" Ground Zero.\nThey came from the memorials set up on its outskirts. From pictures pinned to fences. From the miles of tarp streaming down surrounding buildings, masking the scars where windows were blown in. From the street vendors who were profiting from death. From survivors who recounted their experiences in such vivid detail you would think it happened yesterday. From visitors who had come in from all over the world to mourn the loss.\nFrom New Yorkers, who have -- through perseverance and Rubbermaid attitudes -- recovered their lives and now serve as a beacon to friends and middle finger to foes who would make futile attempts to destroy the freedom we cherish.
(09/02/02 6:35am)
An old-fashioned, candy-cane swirl barber pole marks the entrance to the Ritz Barber Salon, tucked between Greetings and the White Mountain Ice Creamery at 105 N. Dunn St. \nOwner Larry Perry, 59, is in the front of his narrow shop, spinning customer David Beecham around in his chair to get a close trim along the sides of his hair. \nA faint but pervasive medicinal smell seeps through the shop from a glass bottle of the mysterious blue comb-cleaning liquid, officially known as "germicidal disinfectant."\nBeecham's well-polished dress shoes poke out the bottom of the maroon, oversized bib that's catching the dark gray and silver hairs drifting to the floor and his neckline. Perry grabs his large, wood-handled hair duster and relieves Beecham's neckline of stray clippings.\nPerry is well-practiced at the art of mane management -- he has been a barber for 35 years and is a member of what he claims to be a dying profession. \nHe said his decision to become a barber was primarily influenced by his cousin, Harold Perry, who told him there would be a position available at his shop if Perry went through barber school after high school. \nAfter becoming certified, Perry worked as both a barber and manager for Harold and bought the company from him five years ago. \nHe has a picture hanging by his work station mirror, displaying a sketch of the barber shop when it was located in the Von Lee theatre for 40 years before the business moved in 1983.\nHis work station is supplied with only the barest essentials and is considerably less cluttered than beauty salons. Everything about the shop is based on practicality instead of aesthetic appeal, and it is clearly the work of a minimalist.\nPerry's uniform consists of a faded aqua polo, khakis and light brown leather shoes. His only accessories are a gold watch band and large, square glasses and his hair and nails are both impeccably trimmed.\nRegardless of the decorating scheme or dress code, whatever Perry is doing with his store and for his customers seems to be working.\n"I come back because Larry's the best in Bloomington," Beecham said. "I've come here for eight years, and I also have several friends who come here and nowhere else. Larry's the man."\nBeecham's 10-year-old son, Michael, has also been going to Perry for the past eight years, ever since he needed a booster seat to prop him up in the chair. \nChildren are dwarfed by the massive leather barber chairs, which were originally designed to cater to barbers' double-purpose as hair stylist and surgeon in the 1500's.\nMichael doesn't know if he'll carry on the tradition of going to Larry -- the non-surgeon breed of barber -- but said his biggest incentives for going are the reading materials and getting to watch whatever's on television -- which is typically sports. \nHe also likes tapping into Perry's not-so-secret stash of suckers after his visit. After fishing around in his right pocket, he reveals the catch of the day to be watermelon and cherry Charms pops.\nPerry said he has customers of all ages and keeps current with trends by keeping an eye on what's going on in popular culture.\n"(Customers) usually come in and say what they want," Perry said. "They'll explain it, show me a picture, or say 'do you know so-and-so on TV?'"\nPerry is also current with the latest shop gossip, which he said can frequently be heard floating about. \n"Most guys come in every three to four weeks, so you really get to know each one of them," Perry said. "You hear just about everything. I've been known to give a little advice -- most times they'll even ask me for it."\nWhen asked whether he ever spills the beans, he flushed and laughed.\n"I've been known to pass (gossip) on," Perry said. "It'd be a lie if I told you differently."\nEven if Perry sometimes has a case of loose lips, his customers and employees are his biggest fans.\n"He's the nicest guy I ever worked for," said Gene Sepiol, Perry's newest employee. "He's the easiest-going guy I know. Whatever makes us happy makes him happy."\nWhat also makes Perry happy is gardening and watching sports on his days off. Perry said all employees get Sunday off as a break, to go to church and because it used to be a state law that barber shops couldn't be open.\nEven though his business and customers are well-established, Perry is always looking for ways to improve. He is currently trying to fill the void left by recently-removed tanning beds with a possible masseuse or manicurist station. \nAccording to barberpole.com, many barber shops have turned to this blending of salon luxuries with old-fashioned barber shop services to entice not only customers, but workers as well.\nStylists have abandoned the male-dominated and -oriented profession of the barber in favor of unisex salons where pay is higher due to more expensive styling requests.\nWhile barberpole.com said many men prefer barber shops, Perry has seen a change in clients' attitudes towards salons.\n"There may have been a stigma on salons a while ago, but I think it's more accepted now," Perry said. "Especially with the younger, college-aged kids who grew up in a unisex, salon atmosphere -- they think differently than older guys do."\n"Barber shops are going to be a thing of the past soon. It's out. Twenty years ago, there were probably double the number of barber shops than there are now."\nHe said his business is currently flourishing -- particularly with the influx of students -- but they're short-handed and struggling to find barbers, because there have been very few people going to barber school. \nEven though he's making up for the disappearance of barbers, Perry said he still loves his job. \n"I get kind of burnt out on (cutting hair) sometimes," Perry said. "But I enjoy talking to all the different people that come in. You get to meet people from all over the campus, country and world"
(09/02/02 5:14am)
Due to overcrowded residence halls and a lack of housing cancellations, 38 students have been designated to live in lounges -- all of them male. \nBecky Kehrberg, who works assignments for Residential Programs Services, said males, statistically, are usually the latest applicants and therefore receive last priority for housing.\nTwo such statistics are sophomore David Anderson and junior Jordan Bisch, whose current quarters are a lounge on the 8th floor of Forrest B. They're spoiled with space and air conditioning, but lack in other "amenities," like a proper lock and phone line.\nFor visual entertainment, their options are limited to looking out the windows, framed by offensively non-threatening pastel hotel curtains, or watch static snow on their television.\nThey have no place for a computer and phone, which they said puts a severe dent on their social life.\n"We can't get in touch with anyone because we don't have a phone line here," Bisch said. "My friend had to track me down and get escorted up to my room."\nAnderson's brother, Daniel, who was in town visiting for the weekend, slouched on one of the four light purple couches and talked about the lack of things to do.\n"You can't do anything -- you can't watch TV or listen to the radio because your roommate might not like what you listen to," he said. \nKehrberg said RPS is doing everything it can to get lounge students relocated and accomodate their housing requests, but that space is limited and earlier applicants get top priority.\n"As we get down into assigning dorm rooms, later applicants don't always get their top preferences, either," Kehrberg said. "So it's not just the lounge people."\nOnce a room becomes available, Kehrberg said students have to come in, sign paperwork and take the assignment. Eighteen students have already been moved.\nWhile Anderson and Bisch said they are eager to be relocated to their permanent rooms and understand they have last priority, they don't want their main requests discounted.\nBisch said he wanted to remain in or near Forrest so he could be close to the music school instead of being sent all the way to McNutt.\nAnderson said he would feel "cheated" if they didn't comply with giving him a single room.\n"I can't handle a roommate," Anderson said. "I don't want to do the roommate thing. I mean, living with someone is cool for right now because I have no control over the situation. But if they try to stick me with a roommate, there will be issues."\nAnderson had unexpected extra roommates the day a group of students came in to put the lounge to use.\nThe three male students gained entry because their room keys gave them access to what's supposed to be the floor's community space. Since all three tenants were gone, the "visitors" ate breakfast and threw some stuff around until one of the tenants came in. \nThe men then said, "Sorry, man, we didn't know this was your room," and left.\nIf one can ignore the pile of unpacked suitcases on the floor, two sets of bunk beds and towels drying on their racks, there wouldn't be a way to know the lounge was someone's temporary quarters because there's no sign on the door and the lock hasn't been changed.\nStudents had visited their room before that, as well. Roommates are still held in the lounges. Anderson expelled a resigned sigh when he found out there would be yet another one this past Sunday. \nNext door neighbor freshman Mitchell Rhodes, who was already settled into his room and fiddling with his computer, said meetings aside, he has not been inspired to go into the lounge and would be irritated if he had to live there.\n"(The lounge situation) doesn't really bother me because I don't want to use it," Rhodes said. "But if they accept you at a school, they should have a place for you -- they should plan ahead"
(08/29/02 7:18am)
The road to freedom was clogged Wednesday as incoming freshmen funneled down into one lane on Highway 37 -- a closure which turned out to be an effective filtration system into IU.\n"Traffic just stopped for 15 minutes," said freshman parent, Rick Matillo. "It took us 45 minutes to really get moving but once we cleared Martinsville, it was a cakewalk."\nOnce families made it onto campus, the IU Police Department directed their cars, and the residence staff directed their sanity.\nElizabeth Smiltneck, graduate student supervisor for Collins Living-Learning Center, said the orientation and Residential Programs staffs were there mainly for reference and move-in assistance.\nJunior Bobby Kline, orientation staff member, said he worked last year's move-in and has noticed a definite improvement.\n"It seems like it's a lot more organized and less chaotic," Kline said. "There were enormous lines last year and it seems much more calm this year." \nFreshman parent Harold Lebwohl, who had already moved his daughter in, sat on the wall outside Foster-Harper Quad and surveyed the most recent arrivals. \nLebwohl -- an East-coaster -- commented on the tendency of Midwesterners to overreact to a move-in situation that isn't half as bad as moving into a city college.\n"I'm just hysterical watching parents and students freak out about moving in," Lebwohl said. "I never thought I'd see the day when a father would carry a fridge on his back all by himself -- it's a great scene." \nOther more frequently-occurring scenes around campus included fathers in khaki shorts and socks and sandals, women in denim, families keeping tabs on each other with cell phones, dumpsters piled twice as high as a person, makeshift wedges propping open dorm entrances, push carts with the tinny whining of an un-greased wheel, more minivans than a soccer tournament and SUV's that were finally put to use -- thumping over curbs and dipping into the wealth of potholes. \nThere were also many parents who spent quality time on the curbs and sidewalks, babysitting their children's belongings while they checked in and got their room key.\nFire lanes were used as loading zones, where families were instructed to unload their cars expeditiously then go to a parking lot farther from the dorms. \nFor the first and potentially last time, people commented that Parking Operations needed to be stricter on parking violators.\nFreshman parent Grace Worley said there should be a "parking Gestapo" in charge of removing empty vehicles taking up valuable space in front of the dorms.\nBecause it's futile to regulate parking during move-in, the Residential Program Services and "Gestapo" are both more lenient with "resourceful" parking decisions.\nFreshman Zac Elsts got to pass all the parking problems as he walked to Teter Quad. Elsts said he already had everything in his dorm after taking his buddy's advice to pay $16 for early move-in.\n"(Early move-in) was great," Elsts said. "I'm still as excited about being here today as yesterday, but I'm kinda' bored. I'm just waiting for people to show up."\nAnother advocate for early move-in was Movin U' -- a private company based in Chicago, Ill. that is hired to move and unload student belongings. \nAdam Comitor, an employee with the company, said additional chaos could be avoided if the University would allow them in a day early so their 8-by-14 foot moving trucks wouldn't block everyone else.\nRegardless of hold-ups and a draining move-in process, some students said they were still excited to finally be at IU.\n"I'm very excited," freshman Laura Korbecki said. "I'm not nervous yet. I already met my roommate and she seems pretty normal, so that's always good."\nFreshman parent David Greenbaum said he was just as excited about moving his only child, Julie, to college as she was about coming. \n"I'm sad, but I'm really happy she's starting a new phase of her life," Greenbaum said. "My wife and I don't look at it as losing a child, but as a new adventure for her"