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(05/15/06 6:30am)
An IU student admitted to robbing a Bloomington bank the Friday before spring break, said Bloomington Police Department Sgt. David Drake, reading from a police report. Margaret Baurley, a junior at IU and a 2002 graduate of Bloomington High School North, was arrested and preliminarily charged with robbery, a Class C felony, March 11.\nBaurley appeared in court March 17 and pleaded not guilty, said Monroe County Judge Viola Taliaferro.\nDrake said Baurley told police she robbed the Regions Bank on South College Mall Road but had burned or thrown away much of the money. Baurley also told police that she left some of the money with a friend in Indianapolis, Drake said, but when officers went to that residence to retrieve it, the money was not there.\nAccording to the report, officers received a tip March 11 that the robber was someone named "Maggy" who lived in the 800 block of South Washington Street. Officers obtained a search warrant for the residence and found clothing matching the suspect's apparel at the time of the robbery and a money wrapper from the bank.\nOfficers located Baurley later that night at a house in the 1400 block of South Washington Street, where she admitted the crime, according to the report. \nBaurley was transported to Monroe County Jail that night and bonded out the next morning after posting a $5,000 surety bond and $500 cash.\nThe robbery occurred March 10 at Regions Bank, 965 S. College Mall Rd. According to the police report, a white female in her early 20s and wearing grey sweatpants, a red ballcap and a red windbreaker presented a note demanding money be placed in her purse. After the bank did so, the suspect ran out of the building toward the nearby Jackson Creek Kroger. No weapon was displayed and the suspect escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash, according to the report.\nDrake said it is uncommon for an IU student to be involved in a crime like this.\n"It would be rare that an IU student commits a bank robbery," he said. "Sometimes students get involved with drug robberies, but to rob a bank -- it's very unusual"
(04/26/06 3:33am)
High atop the Student Activities tower, the Fletchall Room pays tribute to one of the Indiana Memorial Union's greatest supporters. \nEugene Fletchall, who died Feb. 1, served on the Union Board as a student in the 1930s and returned to the University after his retirement in 1972, spending the next three decades working in support of his alma mater.\n"Most people have one 30 year career," said Indiana Memorial Union Associate Director Thom Simmons. "He had two of them."\nAccording to plaques on the walls of the room named in his honor, Fletchall became president of Union Board, Interfraternity Council and his fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta, as an undergraduate during the Great Depression. He also worked part-time at the Union hotel as a night auditor before enrolling at the IU School of Law. Fletchall received his diploma, but he never practiced law, instead taking a position with Swift & Company, a deli meats distributor. Fletchall worked all across the country for Swift, ultimately advancing to become its executive vice president. \nFletchall received the Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 1967, and the committee wrote of him then that "his quiet, unselfish service ... has spanned nearly 40 years and his great personal warmth and unexcelled strength of character have drawn to him a wide circle of firm friends."\nIn 1972, Fletchall retired to Bloomington where he immediately began volunteering. He spent the next 30 years donating his time to IU, the IMU and Union Board.\n"He was instrumental in raising endowments for scholarships for Union Board volunteers," Simmons said. "He realized that that was a way he could thank and support Union Board directors." \nFletchall was also the man behind the brick drive that sold named bricks in front of the Union's circle drive to raise funds for Union gardens, Simmons said. \nBut beyond that, Simmons said Fletchall, whom he met when Simmons came to IU in 1989, provided a link from the Union to other supporters.\n"He was the connection to the alumni," Simmons said. "He'd call them when they gave gifts or he'd write them letters and just say 'thanks.'"\nIn 2003, the room was dedicated in Fletchall's honor. Though he was in poor health and the room is one flight of stairs higher than the elevator goes, Fletchall attended the dedication. A year later, he had a second retirement, giving up volunteering 30 years after he began.\nToday, minus the decorations in Fletchall's honor, the room is much like it was when Fletchall used it in the 1930s. In that era, Fletchall and his fellow Union Board directors would meet in the room each week for their meetings. The original table and chairs they sat in more than 70 years ago remain today, flanked on all sides by artifacts including awards Fletchall received, his diploma, a petition endorsing his 1932 candidacy for Union Board president and a gold meat locker lock in a glass case to commemorate his professional career with Swift.\nOf all he gave back to the University and the IMU, though, Simmons said the most important thing was Fletchall's continual support of the students involved in Union Board.\n"He developed a special relationship with the Union Board presidents," Simmons said. "Through Gene, they appreciated the history and tradition of Union Board"
(04/25/06 3:56am)
For sophomore Danah Ford, golf is a real family affair. At an early age, Ford's father, a golf professional in Indianapolis, brought his daughter to the course. Now, as Ford prepares for her second season on the Women's Golf team, she hopes to take the interest her father instilled in her to a higher level.\nFord began playing competitively at eight years old at her father's golf course. She continued to play competitively on different tours, eventually culminating in a spot on the Masters tour while at Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis. But it was her father's influence that kept Ford dedicated to the sport growing up. \n"He's helped me a lot, just being a friend. He never really forced (golf) on me. He just said 'If you want to do this, fine, I'm there for you. And if you don't want to do it, that's fine, too."\nUpon graduation, Ford had to decide where to expand her skills in college.\n"I always said I was going to Michigan State. I don't know why, but I was just really attracted to it. But then I came here and there was no doubt, none. I loved it here and never wanted to leave."\nFurther enhancing Ford's decision to commit to IU was seven-time Big Ten Women's Coach of the Year Sam Carmichael.\n"Ever since I came here, coach has really worked with me and really taken my game to the next level. I still think there are more levels to go, but coach has really helped me."\nUnder Carmichael's tutelage, Ford has become one of the premiere golfers on the team. Last season, after red shirting her freshman year, Ford finished in the top-25 three times including a career-low round 74 at the Legends Invitational. She finished the year with a 79.0 stroke average.\n"Danah brings a lot of enthusiasm and confidence to the team. Part of her playing success is due to her confidence. She always has a positive attitude," sophomore Ambry Bishop said.\nA Sports Communication/Broadcast major, Ford is undecided if she'll pursue a career choice in that field, or turn pro as a golfer. \nWhen not on the golf course, Ford enjoys hanging out with teammates, being with family and working out. However, Ford admits that free time is hard to come by during the season. \n"I think that's the toughest part of being a college golfer. In all of September, October and then February, March, April and May, it's all golf every weekend. I see all my other friends going out on the weekend, while we put in a good 12 or 14 hours practicing."\nAs for the upcoming season, in addition to routine lengthy practice sessions, Ford won the Indiana Women's Amateur Match Play tournament and the 81st Women's Golf Association of Metropolitan Indianapolis City Amateur Championship. She also was a medalist at the 77th IWGA State Amateur Championship.\n"She's coming off an outstanding summer and has shown tremendous improvement in the last two years," Carmichael said. "She's coming back with the intent of having a solid year."\nSo is her summer play a sign of success for the season?\n"I hope so," Ford said.
(04/24/06 7:11am)
Robert Samels had made an important decision this semester. Samels, his friends and mentors say, had so many talents -- singing, acting, writing, composing and conducting, among others -- that it had come time for the Jacobs School of Music doctoral student to decide which would be his career focus. \nIn February, Samels chose voice, heading for a career as a singer and a performer. He had already lined up a residency with the famed Wolf Trap Opera Company in Vienna, Va., and was to have three roles in performances this summer. \nAndreas Poulimenos, a voice professor at IU, had known Samels since he was an undergraduate at Bowling Green State University. Poulimenos said Samels' decision was just another step toward a career already decorated with numerous, diverse achievements.\n"He's composed and written symphonies, won awards for those symphonies, written requiems, written songs, written oratorios," Poulimenos said. "He just wrote an opera that was performed last year that was reviewed very well. \n"It all just shows that there was a budding genius just walking around IU."\nSamels triple-majored in voice, bassoon and composition as an undergraduate at Bowling Green and took classes each year with Poulimenos, who was hired at IU in 2002. \nPoulimenos became acquainted with Samels' sense of humor early on. When Samels forgot to wear black pants for a part, he borrowed the stage manager's pair. The stage manager, though, was Poulimenos' daughter and Samels proudly told his professor the next day, "I got into your daughter's pants last night."\n"He definitely had a sense of humor," Poulimenos joked. "But that's Robert. He always was a wonderful kid."\nSamels chose IU over full scholarships from the University of Cincinnati and Michigan. He received a master of voice in 2004 and began the doctor of music program the same year, with choral conducting as his concentration.\nDespite his workload as a student, Samels found the time to garner numerous accomplishments. \nIn just the last year and a half, Samels had roles in IU productions of "A View From the Bridge," "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Our Town." He sang in performances throughout the state and country, including one at the Library of Congress as a soloist with the Aguavá New Music Studio.\nSamels also independently wrote and put on an opera in September 2005 called PILATVS, doing everything from securing the funds for the production to renting the Union's Alumni Hall himself.\nSamels spent time at WFIU as well, working as a producer, announcer and a host for "Cantabile," a show that featured new and historic choral and opera recordings. \nSamels also balanced his studies and other work with a job teaching music theory classes. \nJunior Alison Stewart was taking a class with Samels this semester and said he brought something special to the course. Samels knew everyone's names after the first day, Stewart said, and would always stop and chat if he saw his students passing through the school.\n"He made the class a pleasure to go to," she said. "He was really concerned with all of the students' progress and that we were passing and understanding things. And he was just a really good person."\nSamels also had interests beyond music. Poulimenos remembers seeing him pull aside some of the Korean students in his classes one day. It turned out Samels was trying to learn Korean, too. \n"He had endless energy," said Costanza Cuccaro, the voice professor Samels was studying with this semester. "And he did them all with ease. He never appeared rushed or like he had too much or too hectic a schedule. I don't know how he managed to slow time down, but he did."\nIncluded in that time management was making space in his schedule each week to meet with Poulimenos or sit in on one of his classes.\n"He would always come to the studio, and we would talk," Poulimenos said. "I wasn't his official teacher, but I was sort of like his mentor. We did talk about what I thought, what he was doing. He really blossomed at IU."\nCuccaro said that blossoming was thanks largely to Samels' constant drive to learn. Cuccaro met with Samels in a weekly hour-long class as part of the doctoral program.\n"It was a joy to teach him," she said. "He has a curiosity to learn that was amazing. He was very quick and caught on to every exercise immediately. He really had a hunger to learn vocal technique."\nDavid Sadlier, another doctoral student in the program, got to know Samels when they starred in "A View From A Bridge" together. After that, Sadlier said Samels became a fixture in his family's life and his 2-year-old daughter even called him "Uncle Robert."\n"It's rare to find somebody who is immensely intelligent and so amazingly personable and funny and original," Sadlier said. "He kind of represented all you'd want in a person. He was successful, he was creative, he was funny. And because he was so multifaceted, he had friends in every walk of life."\nSamels might have died at 24, but those that knew him said they are sure he would have had a successful career singing, acting, composing, conducting or exploring any of the talents he had developed or perhaps even those he'd yet to discover. \n"He was a genius," Poulimenos said. "He was 24 years old when he died, but he literally lived a full life in that 24 years"
(04/23/06 6:33pm)
Five IU music students are dead after the small airplane carrying them crashed just south of Monroe County Airport early Friday morning.\nRobert Samels, Zachary Novak, Garth Eppley, Georgina Joshi and Chris Carducci were killed after their six-seat Cessna crashed while attempting to make a landing late Thursday night.\nAll five victims were students in the Jacob School of Music and were returning home from a community choir rehearsal in Lafayette. Joshi, who is a licensed pilot, was flying the plane. \nThe students were on private business for the trip, said IU President Adam Herbert. The plane is owned by Yatish Air, LLC., and licensed out of South Bend.\nSeveral people who identified themselves as being affiliated with the Jacobs School of Music showed up at the Van Buren Township Fire Station, the command center for the crash investigation, early Friday morning. Jacobs School of Music Dean Gwyn Richards was unavailable for comment Friday because he was consoling the families of the lost students, Herbert said at a press conference Friday afternoon at the fire station.\nEmergency officials said the single-engine plane was traveling from Lafayette to Bloomington late Thursday night when it disappeared from the radar at about 11:40 p.m. That coincided with several calls to the Monroe County 911 dispatcher of a plane in distress near Monroe County Airport. Although the plane had activated the landing lights at the airport, it never made it to the runway.\nInitial attempts to locate the wreckage of the crash on foot were unsuccessful, but Civil Air Patrol search crews picked up an emergency transponder pulse emitted by the plane when they flew over the crash site. \nRescuers -- hampered by fog and wet conditions -- finally found the plane at about 4:15 Friday morning.\nAll five people on board died on impact from blunt force trauma, said Monroe County Deputy Coroner Nicole Meyer. \nAccording to emergency radio reports, the plane was a 1978 Cessna U206G. \nThe plane crashed in thick woods in one piece, Ed Malinowski of the National Transportation Safety Board said. There was no evidence of a fire on board the plane, Malinowski said.\nEight fire departments, three law enforcement agencies and the Civil Air Patrol responded to the incident, said Van Buren Deputy Fire Chief Mike Cornman.\nHelicopters were not immediately able to move into the area because of the inclement weather conditions, Cornman said.\nThe Indiana State police cordoned off the crash site and turned the investigation over to the Federal Aviation Administration and the NTSB. Both agencies were on the scene by Friday afternoon. \nJim Muroski, an FAA investigator, said officials hoped to remove the plane from its crash site by Friday night or Monday morning and store it for further evidence collection.\nMalinowski, an air safety investigator, said he would have a preliminary crash report published by next week and said the investigation should be completed in about six months. As of Friday night, Malinowski said he was looking at pilot error and the weather as two possible causes of the crash.\nIU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said the students were participating in the Bach Chorale group in Lafayette Thursday in preparation for a performance Saturday night.\nSeveral family members of the crash victims visited the wreckage of the plane Friday night with University officials and FAA and NTSB investigators.\n• Carducci, a graduate student mastering in music performance, was a protégée of Distinguished Professor of Music Timothy Noble, according to the IU school of music Web site. Carducci has performed at Carnegie Hall as a recitalist and with the IU Opera Theater throughout his career, earning awards in several acclaimed music competitions and festivals.\n• Samels has been a bass-baritone vocalist in the music school's graduate program, studying along side Distinguished Professor of Music Giorgio Tozzi, according to information published on the Jacobs School of Music Web site. Samels recently performed the part of Marco in the premiere of William Bolcom's "A View from the Bridge" at IU. Last year, he was also honored as a semi-finalist in the Oratorio Society of New York competition.\n• Eppley, a native resident of Wabash, Ind., was a tenor who has performed in many IU opera events, such as "Armor in the Magic Flute," "Peter Grimes" and "A View from the Bridge," according to information provided by the music school. Eppley frequently performed solo vocals and has studied under the Distinguished Professor of Music Tim Noble.\n• Joshi, an Indiana resident and music school graduate student, was the supposed pilot of the small private aircraft. She has been a student of Distinguished Professor of Music Alan Bennett, working toward her master's degree in vocal performance, according to the School of Music Web site. Joshi has participated in many local music events such as the Bloomington Early Music Festival.\n• Novak graduated from Anderson University in 2004. Among other venues, he performed with the Anderson Symphony Orchestra, Lafayette Bach Chorale, and the Carmel, Ca., Bach Festival. In Bloomington, Novak served as the Wesley Choir director, Children's Choir director and worship coordinator at First United Methodist Church. He was pursuing his Master of Music at the Jacobs School of Music, with a major in choral conducting and a minor in voice, where he studied with Brian Horne, according to IU media relations.
(04/17/06 1:26am)
In 1888, John Crafton buried his second child at Rose Hill Cemetery. A son, Woodard, had perished from brain fever before reaching his first birthday. \nSometime in the next decade -- newspaper reports are spotty on exact dates -- John Crafton would return to the grave, purchasing additional plots and a large monument. One day, he and his family would be entombed beneath it and their names would be engraved upon its smooth marble. One day, Crafton believed that he, his wife and his oldest son Harry would join Woodard here in their final resting place. \nIn 1937, his wife perished and was laid to rest at the Rose Hill site. Harry died a year later and was buried there as well. \nCrafton never made it back. \nIn 1912, after a two-month vacation in Europe, a homesick Crafton decided to return to Indiana. Eager to see his wife and son, Crafton actually traded his departure ticket for one aboard a brand new ship that was set to leave a week sooner.\nThe ticket cost him a little more than 28 British pounds. But the voyage cost him his life.\nOn April 10, 1912, Crafton boarded the RMS Titanic. He was not among the 706 survivors who were rescued from the water by the RMS Carpathia. Crafton's final hours will forever remain a mystery, but one thing is certain: When the Titanic hit an iceberg 94 years ago today, Crafton's tomb shifted from Bloomington to the icy waters of the Atlantic.\nCrafton's grave still stands in remarkable condition, one side featuring the Craftons' names and the other engraved with four words: "Lost on the Titanic."\n"In Rose Hill cemetery, a fine granite monument stands," a reporter wrote in a short piece that appeared inside the Bloomington Telephone in April 1912. "(It is) now a sentinel of the awful disaster that will forever prevent the body from reaching the resting place that had been so carefully marked for that purpose."\nCrafton and the Titanic\nFour days after the Titanic hit an iceberg, Crafton's family received word of his potential demise. \nWhite Star Line, the shipping company that owned the Titanic, sent a message to Crafton's wife. "John B. Crafton is among the lost of Titanic," is all it said, according to an April 19, 1912, article that appeared on the front page of the Bloomington Telephone.\nIn that same story, the reporter noted that the news only confirmed the family's worst suspicions and that it was doubtful Crafton's corpse could be recovered, but added that the "family will save no expense if it is possible to secure the body."\nThe Weekly Star, another Bloomington newspaper from that era, led its April 19, 1912, edition with the headline "VICTIM OF SEA HORROR." That story addressed Crafton's apparent death and included some biographical details, including that Crafton owned a farm and a stone quarry, but in the years before his death, he had become increasingly involved in the lumber business. It also noted that Crafton had worked for the Monon Railway in Bloomington about 25 years earlier. \nThe Monon Railroad recognizes Crafton even today and has posted his story on its trivia page at www.monon.org. Tom Kepshire, a retired firefighter and paramedic who is the Webmaster for the group, learned about Crafton and published some of the facts. \n"I thought it was interesting, and I wondered if people knew about it," he said. "I searched online just looking for anything Monon-related when I found out about him."\nA third Bloomington newspaper, The Weekly Courier, also wrote about Crafton in its April 19, 1912, edition. The reporter wrote that Crafton had "accumulated a small fortune of $50,000" and was once known as "the stone king" because he owned so much land in Bloomington quarries.\nAccording to the Encyclopedia Titanica, an online directory of information relating to the ship, Crafton sought treatment for his rheumatism in Europe but ended up wishing to leave early because he missed his family. He switched tickets from the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, which would have left on April 17, to buy one on the Titanic, according to the Web site.\nIn the week after the disaster, there was one "last ray of hope," according to The Weekly Courier story. A friend received a postcard Crafton sent from Italy that had been mailed several days before the Titanic set sail. In it, "he expressed intentions of visiting several points of interest before his return, (so Crafton's friend) hopes that he may not be among the missing passengers," according to the story.\nBut in the weeks following, Crafton's friends and family would learn that his fate had been sealed and his body lost forever.\nCrafton the Villain?\nIn "The Titanic Murders," a novel by Max Allan Collins, John Crafton is a blackmailer aboard the ship and a secondary villain. Collins, a critically acclaimed author whose work includes "Road to Perdition," chose names of real passengers from the Titanic for a fictional murder mystery set aboard the ship.\nIn an e-mail interview, Collins said he chose the names based on people he believed were "lost to history." Collins also explicitly defined the practice in the afterword to avoid confusion with the real passengers.\n"In my afterword, I spelled out that the character in the book had nothing to do with whoever the real gentleman had been -- that while I portrayed him as something of a villain he might well have been a vicar," Collins said. \nCollins said he received a complaint a few years ago from a relative of Crafton's, but that he intended no disrespect by using the name. And the reason he picked Crafton out of all the victims was solely because of the way his name sounded, Collins said. He said he has no regrets about using it.\n"At the time, my research indicated he was a forgotten man, and I went to elaborate lengths to explain in my afterword that the Crafton in the novel was a fictional character," Collins said. "... If I had turned up specific information on who Crafton was, I would not have used him. I was looking for a name, and one that had resonance for my mystery writer's purpose."\nRose Hill Cemetery\nAs sexton for Rose Hill Cemetery, Jay Davidson has kept up the grounds and met all sorts of visitors in the last 14 years. But in that time, despite an ongoing fascination with the Titanic and a film about it that set box office records, not too many inquire or visit Crafton's grave.\n"When the movie came out, one of the TV channels in Indy came here," he said. "I'm sure there are some visitors. But it's not like I post a vigil around it and count."\nIf he did, Davidson might have met Marty Jones. Jones is a safety coordinator for Touchstone Energy and his job takes him all across the state. Jones said he's developed a hobby of photographing the state's historic sites -- from its covered bridges to its famous headstones. His fascination took him to Crafton's monument in the late 1990s.\n"It's just one of those things you don't expect to see and all of a sudden, it's right there," he said. "You feel a real connection standing a few feet away from something like that. You kind of feel disconnected because some things happen on the other side of the world and suddenly you realize something is right in your back yard."\nVisitors wishing to see the Crafton plot can find it by entering Rose Hill's entrance on Fourth Street. At the first intersection, make a left and look for a large marble and granite monument on the right beside a tree about halfway down the road. \nOr just look for Davidson, who might tell you about Crafton as well as the other famous people buried at Rose Hill.\n"He is just another story for the cemetery," he said. "And there's so many stories -- we have University presidents, Hoagy Carmichael, Dr. Kinsey all here. It's a history lesson in the ground"
(04/11/06 9:04pm)
One year ago today Mary Beth Crouse made two phone calls that she will never forget.\nThe first occurred during the day after Mary Beth's home computer brought up an error in Microsoft Word. The second came after 11:30 p.m. when a sorority sister at Kappa Kappa Gamma -- her daughter Ashley's sorority -- called and gave Mary Beth a phone number at the hospital.\nSomething had happened to Ashley.\nMary Beth hung up and dialed immediately. You need to come now, they told her.\nMoments later, Mary Beth, her husband Kim and their two sons piled into the car. Seventy miles from Bloomington, the family departed from its Carmel home scared and in search of Ashley.\nSome time past midnight, the family members found themselves face-to-face with a physician inside Bloomington Hospital. Ashley had been thrown from the rear passenger seat of her boyfriend's car after another vehicle hit it just in front of her sorority house at IU. She had sustained severe injuries, the doctor told them. \nShe had not survived.\n"Your world just crumbles," Mary Beth said. "We were all absolutely devastated. We were crushed. She was our only daughter. It's their only sister. And she was gone."\nThe terrible news spread quickly among the many friends and supporters who crowded the emergency room that night. By the next afternoon -- after an exhausted Crouse family had returned home to Carmel -- more than a thousand students marched from the top of Jordan Avenue to Kappa Kappa Gamma on Third Street in remembrance of Ashley. Friends and strangers alike embraced each other, remembering the person who dedicated herself passionately to Dance Marathon, loved speaking Spanish, dutifully prepared for law school and lived each day fully believing and sharing Walt Disney's famed mantra, "If you can dream it, you can do it."\nAshley was gone. She would not be forgotten.\nAT HOME IN CARMELAshley's room in Carmel is mostly empty now. It's up the stairs and through a door just past the framed high school senior portrait of Ashley hung between those of her two brothers. Scattered cards from well-wishers overflow upon the carpet and beside those are a pair of albums filled with hundreds of letters from Ashley's friends. A collage of photos her Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters made stands against the wall. \nOn the shelf in the corner, there are a few of Ashley's possessions: a plaque she received at the 2004 Dance Marathon, a letter encased in an empty glass Orange Crush bottle, Kappa Kappa Gamma candles and a "Beauty and the Beast" music box her mother gave her. Mary Beth winds it and the soft melody quietly fills the room as the characters dance beneath its glass dome. \nEven before moving into this house a few years ago, the Crouse family lived just a few miles down the street. Ashley was born here, and this is the place she called home. \nAshley stayed busy growing up, developing an energy that would stick with her even through her IU years. She was involved in soccer, 4-H, ice skating, basketball, gymnastics, camping and cheerleading, among others. \nOne of Mary Beth's favorite stories came while Ashley was in high school. Ashley had given up cheerleading for soccer, her favorite. She was good, too, and by her junior year, Ashley made the varsity team in a school system replete with top talent. When she found out her two closest friends had been cut, though, Ashley met with the coach and decided to resign, leaving behind the accomplishment.\n"We were like, 'You made the soccer team -- here in Carmel -- and you're not going to play?'" Mary Beth said. "And she was like, 'No, I'm not going to play.'"\nMary Beth shuffles through the many cards on the floor and finds one from the mother of one of those soccer friends. It says that Ashley's decision warmed her heart as she showed that "friendship and being together is more important than competition and status."\nAnd maybe it was for the best. That gave Ashley more time for other endeavors in her busy schedule, like the Care to Share program where she adopted a needy family at Christmas and worked through the holiday season to raise money for presents. She also began running in the Indianapolis 500 mini-marathon in high school, a race she would finish five years in a row. Her senior year, she was named homecoming queen and chosen as student body president after a run-off election.\nThat put Ashley in office with Ashley Aletto, one of her best friends since middle school. Together, the two campaigned as "Ashley Squared" and were surprised and thrilled to find out they would lead the student government together. In addition to planning normal extracurricular activities, the two Ashleys organized philanthropies like the Care to Share program or a fundraiser for an ill classmate. After Sept. 11, they collected donations and created a reflection room for distressed students.\n"I don't remember a time she wasn't trying to help or do something for someone or make someone laugh. That's who she was," Aletto said. "It was probably a kind of high for her when she saw the faces of other people she was helping. I never knew her any other way."\nLEAVING FOR COLLEGEIt takes precisely seven minutes to get from Aletto's home to the Crouse residence. Aletto knows because the two made the trip so often that they eventually got the timing down.\nBut when it came time for college, the distance grew much greater. Aletto stayed close to home at Butler, but Ashley took off for Clemson University in South Carolina - she wanted to get away. Ashley had zero interest in going to IU, her mother said. \nWhen Aletto tearfully bid high school goodbye in an emotional graduation speech, it was Ashley who helped her through it, sitting behind her friend and offering support.\n"She would tell me everything will be fine, whatever happens," Aletto said. "She always was the adventurous one."\nBut by November of her freshman year, that adventurous spirit might have worn down just a little. Ashley called Mary Beth that month and told her she wanted to transfer to IU -- where her older brother Charlie was a junior, a Little 500 rider and a member of Phi Gamma Delta. \nAshley fit in immediately, Charlie said, and didn't even need his help as she adjusted. She had already begun the process of becoming a Kappa while at Clemson, so she joined IU's pledge class upon arrival.\n"She made lots of friends forever there," Mary Beth said. "She just loved the Kappa house. It's the girls, it's the friendships, the sisterhood and the bond you have with those girls."\nWith Ashley situated and happy in her new surroundings, Charlie no longer needed to be the big brother who looked out for his little sister. Instead, for the year-and-a-half they both went to IU, he and Ashley became friends.\n"I did get a lot closer with my sister at IU," he said. "I was fortunate that probably my closest years with my sister were her last when we were in Bloomington at the same time."\nAnd perhaps it was that closeness that helped introduce Ashley to what would become one of the biggest parts of her life: Dance Marathon. Charlie had been active in the 36-hour fundraiser that raises money for children at Riley Hospital in Indianapolis, and by the time he got his sister involved as a freshman, she was hooked.\n"She really excelled at making people feel good about themselves," Charlie said. "Dance Marathon was kind of a catalyst to take it to the next level. After she did her initial Dance Marathon, it became apparent immediately that it was going to be her main job in college."\nDANCE MARATHONThere is a tradition at the end of Dance Marathon that the song "Angels Among Us" by Alabama comes on the loud speaker. Every time -- even at regional marathons she would attend throughout the state and country -- Ashley was the first one to tear up.\n"We were all like 'Why are you crying?'" said senior Hilary Hodes, who first met Ashley when they worked on the event together as sophomores. "And she said, 'They're tears of joy.'"\nAshley became so involved so quickly that after her first marathon, she jumped directly to the position of vice president internal. That meant a huge role in planning, organizing and running the event. But Ashley embraced the challenge. \n"She just lived and breathed Dance Marathon," said Jenny Heimerl, one of Ashley's friends and former roommates at Kappa. "She had such a passion for it."\nIt also gave Ashley the opportunity to travel to other marathons, including lengthy road trips to places like Iowa and Penn State. Hodes remembers with fondness and laughter the late-night conversations that included tales of Ashley's childhood cat Miss Kitty, the time she mistook the moon for a giant peach or once when, out of the blue, she proudly declared, "My dad: love of my life."\nBut even though Ashley enjoyed the people she worked with, the road trips and the year-long planning and development of the event, everyone agrees the Riley children drove her. \n"No one is as selfless as Ashley," Hodes said. "And no one has such a passion for life. And she really got to put the two of those together in Dance Marathon."\nMarissa Lutz, a 2005 IU graduate, met Ashley when they served on the event's 2004 executive council. She remembers how Ashley had a special way of relating with the children.\n"She just looked at them as people and not kids with problems," Lutz said. "(In Dance Marathon,) you would see the things you stress about aren't important at all. These kids are undergoing brain surgery, heart surgery and all these horrible treatments. And they're still so positive; they love life. That's what Ashley shared with them."\nFALLING IN LOVEChris Carlson inherited his job as a waiter at Kappa Kappa Gamma when his graduating predecessor recognized Carlson's interest in a certain member of the house.\n"He was like -- and he knew I'd been talking to a Kappa -- 'Hey, you can take my job. It's a great job and even if things don't work out with her, there's a hundred other girls there,'" Carlson said.\nBut things did work out between Carlson and Ashley. The two met as freshmen and Sept. 25, 2003 -- Carlson knows the date like the back of his hand -- one of Ashley's roommates delivered a dance invitation in the form of an Orange Crush bottle to his room on her behalf. It wasn't long before they were boyfriend and girlfriend.\nWith Carlson a biology major and Ashley pre-law and both of them heavily involved in their greek houses as well as Dance Marathon, neither had much time to spare. But Carlson remembers carving out space each day for walks across campus, conversations in the Kappa cafeteria or study sessions in the Union. Sometimes, Carlson would stretch the sorority's midnight guest curfew just a little, but someone was always willing to look the other way. \nOn his first Christmas visit to the Crouse home in Carmel, Carlson stayed in the guest bedroom -- which coincidentally placed him right beside Ashley's parents' bedroom. When Ashley checked on him the first night, he admitted it was strange to be alone after growing up sharing a room and then always having roommates at IU. Ashley climbed in bed next to him, so a nervous Carlson got up, put on his jeans and a sweatshirt and returned to lie down atop the covers. \n"I ended up staying awake probably three or four hours while she fell asleep right here on me," Carlson said, pointing to the crux of his shoulder. "Every sound I heard I thought was her dad coming down the hallway. I was glad that she cared so much to do that, but I was terrified of what her family might have thought."\nAshley and Carlson grew closer as they went to formals, worked on Dance Marathon and contemplated a future together. Carlson gave the Orange Crush bottle back to Ashley with a note inside. It eventually ended up back in Carmel, displayed proudly atop the shelf in Ashley's room. \nCarlson became president of the 2005 marathon while Ashley ran unsuccessfully for IU Student Association treasurer on the Kirkwood ticket. But she stayed involved with the marathon too, working as the vice president of communication under Carlson's presidency. She would not, however, live to take part in the event itself.\nTo this day, Carlson has kept all of the notes, cards and letters Ashley sent him. He smiles thinking back on the daily text message he'd get from Ashley. Beside his bed, he keeps a bucket of seashells she once collected for him during spring break. And he still keeps his job at Kappa as a waiter. \n"It's always tough for like a split second when a short, blonde-haired girl is going through the food line," Carlson said. "That's just something I got to see for maybe two years. And for just maybe that split second, I almost forget and think it might be her."\nSAYING GOODBYEThe Dance Marathon meeting ended late at night April 11, 2005, and Carlson was going to give Ashley and another student a ride home. Typically, Carlson said he and Ashley kept their business and personal lives so separate that people they'd worked with for weeks would be surprised to learn they were dating. But that night, he and Ashley left the Union holding hands as they walked to his car.\nThe two planned to go to a friends' 21st birthday party and arrived at his car together. Carlson was going to drop Ashley off and was trying to convince her to be ready in 20 minutes as they drove through the Ballantine parking garage, past the stop sign by Jordan Hall and toward the intersection of Third and Hawthorne. \nHe was pulling through the blinking red lights when a car heading west on Third slammed into Carlson's. Ashley was not wearing a seatbelt and was ejected violently from the vehicle. As the only one in the car not to lose consciousness on impact, Carlson is charged with keeping a complete timeline of that horrific event forever trapped in his mind. When he thinks of that night -- and he often does -- he likes to remember how he and Ashley had been holding hands on what became their final walk through campus.\n"I try and think about that part of it," Carlson said. "And not the parts that are so loud and vivid in my mind."\nIn the hospital, Carlson had to be sedated when he found out Ashley had died. Then, he saw the Crouses.\n"They immediately came up and embraced me," Carlson said. "Her brothers did, her family, as inconsolable as they were, they still came to me. That's something I'll never be able to repay them for."\nJust a week after the accident, six days after the greek community marched down Jordan Avenue in Ashley's honor and four days after she was laid to rest beneath a head stone reading "An Angel Among Us," Carlson was at the next Dance Marathon meeting. It was what Ashley would have wanted, he said. \nAs the council members filed into their usual seats, Carlson began the meeting with one empty seat by his side. Everyone shed tears that night, but they also devised a plan to hold the next Dance Marathon in Ashley's honor.\n"That got me back to a functional level," Carlson said. "I felt like I was still working with her, for her. It made her a part of my everyday life, which I knew was going to be so hard not to have."\nThe Crouse family attended the Dance Marathon in October and saw a HPER building decorated equally with banners reading "For the Kids" and "ALC" for Ashley Louise Crouse. They saw the gym filled with dancers and volunteers, some of them shedding tears, others sharing stories and all of them working to honor Ashley.\n"Her legacies are incredible," Mary Beth said. "We had no idea the impact Ashley had on people. It's been humbling."\nWhen the amount raised was announced, the proceeds totaled $677,415.19. That was $200,000 more than 2004 and more than a quarter of a million greater than in 2003. \nSomewhere, somehow Ashley was smiling. Or maybe shedding more tears of joy when "Angels Among Us" came on one more time. \n"It was such an amazing marathon," Hodes said. "The only thing that would have made it better was sharing it with Ashley."\nLutz still hasn't taken Ashley's number out of her cell phone and doesn't know if she'll ever be able to. But she said she was comforted and amazed by the support from the community at Dance Marathon and everywhere. \n"It just goes to show how unbelievably amazing of an influence she was," she said. "Out of all the students at IU, to think that one person did that. One person ... She'll always be remembered during every year's marathon. You find solace in that."\nTHE FIRST PHONE CALLOne year ago today, Ashley was a junior at IU with dreams of going to law school in Indianapolis. Maybe Carlson would go to medical school at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis and work in her father's business, with him and her brother Charlie -- all of her favorite people in the world together beneath the same roof. Maybe she and Carlson would live together. Maybe one day they'd be married.\nA year ago today, Ashley knew she had a summer internship with the Riley Foundation -- the group she'd worked so hard to raise money for through Dance Marathon. Aletto remembers talking on the phone with Ashley days earlier and finding her friend ecstatic with the news.\nIt was a year ago today that Ashley's mother Mary Beth made two phone calls she will never forget. The second was a late-night call to the hospital that ultimately led her to learning her daughter's terrible fate. \nThe first might not have seemed like anything special at the time. After all, Mary Beth spoke with Ashley every day. The computer in the living room had stalled in Microsoft Word and Mary Beth needed some help. She dialed her daughter. \nMary Beth might not remember how long they talked or the exact details of everything said. But she does remember one thing.\n"(It was) the last thing she said to me -- and this was not atypical of our phone conversations -- but the last thing she said to me was 'I love you mom,'" Mary Beth said. "'I love you Ashley.' 'I love you too Mom."
(04/11/06 5:30am)
Bloomington Police arrested a second suspect for robbing the Regions Bank on College Mall Road just before spring break. After initially charging IU junior Maggy Baurley with robbery March 11, police continued the investigation and arrested Bloomington resident Damion P. Bridgewater, 21, Sunday. He was preliminarily charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.\nAccording to the probable cause affidavit, Bridgewater admitted writing the note used in the bank robbery and driving Baurley to and from the bank. He told police that he and Baurley got the idea for the robbery after watching "Set If Off," a 1996 film about women who rob banks, according to a BPD press release.\nAfter the March 10 robbery, Baurley and Bridgewater split up the money and Bridgewater said he was leaving for Florida, according to the report. \nWhen Baurley was arrested the next day, she told police she had worked with an accomplice who had taken at least half the money, said BPD Detective Sgt. David Drake. BPD detectives continued investigating and, Sunday, Officer Jarred Burns recognized Bridgewater at the Kroger on South Walnut Street. Burns followed him to his apartment, where he was taken into custody without incident.\nBaurley, a 2002 graduate of Bloomington High School North, admitted to police that she robbed the bank and was charged with robbery, a class C felony, according to the police report. She appeared in court March 17 and pleaded not guilty.\nThat arrest came after officers received a tip March 11 that the robber was someone named "Maggy" who lived in the 800 block of South Washington Street. Officers obtained a search warrant for the residence and found clothing matching the suspect's apparel at the time of the robbery and a money wrapper from the bank.\nOfficers located Baurley later that night at a house in the 1400 block of South Washington Street, where she admitted to the crime, according to the report.\nBridgewater had been in Key West, Fla., before returning to Bloomington, Drake said. He was also charged with receiving stolen property after police discovered a laptop computer in Baurley's vehicle that had been stolen in an October 2005 burglary.\nBridgewater was released on his own recognizance from Monroe County Jail Monday. A representative at the jail said this means Bridgewater will remain free because he promised that he will show up for his first court date.
(03/08/06 5:09am)
Between 17,000 and 18,000 copies of The Indiana Daily Student are printed each day and delivered to a multitude of locations in and around IU and Bloomington. While that might be how a large portion of our readers get our news, it's not the only way -- and it's not the whole picture of everything the newsroom produces.\nIdsnews.com, our Web site, features copies of all the stories and photographs that appear in the newspaper (as well as an archive that dates back to 2000) and additional online-only features and breaking news updates. \nEach night, members of the online production team come into the newsroom shortly before the midnight print deadline. Once here, the production team begins cutting and pasting the stories and photos from the print edition into the online interface.\nBut in addition to the print content, we've striven to continue an initiative editors have worked toward in the past few years to present a wide array of online-only options for our Web visitors. We've posted videos of IU Student Association debates and the Mike Davis press conference as well as extra photos of events like IU Sing, the Ann Coulter lecture and the men's swimming Big Ten championship. Our membership in The Associated Press has also allowed us to debut a weekly gallery of offbeat or interesting AP photographs (known as "stand alones") and to present a comprehensive guide to the Oscars through photos and AP stories (supplemented by reaction from our own IDS columnists). \nFurthermore, our Web site allows us to post relevant documents relating to stories we cover in the paper. For example, when IU President Adam Herbert announced major restructuring plans for the University, we posted PDFs of questions faculty members circulated.\nOur opinion desk also hired an online-only columnist for the first time this semester. Traditionally, applications for columnists far outnumber the available slots in the paper, so giving an online-only position to Adam Sedia only made sense. Sedia's column runs each week with a red label, differentiating it from the columns from the print edition. \nOur Web site also gives us an opportunity to interact with readers and allow them to submit content. When a fire burned the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house earlier this semester, we asked readers for photos or videos and received a number of contributions.\nBut we're definitely not satisfied yet. Our Web site is still very much a work in progress. From increased video footage to Podcasts to consistent, immediate updates for breaking news, we hope to include even more online-only options. \nWe cherish reader input, so please e-mail us at letters@indiana.edu if you have ideas for features you'd like to see online. And, if you thought the print edition was all we had to offer, log on to www.idsnews.com and peruse the many features already offered.
(03/02/06 5:59am)
When Indiana Memorial Union Associate Director Thom Simmons brings guests through the Metz Suite, he likes to tell them it's nothing out of the ordinary.\n"I do tours of the Union," Simmons said, "and I'll say 'This is just a typical suite on a college campus.'"\nBut the suite, which has eight rooms, takes up the entire top floor of the Union hotel, houses an extravagant collection of expensive artifacts and is open to VIPs only, is anything but typical. \nEven though it's only occupied about 30 nights of the year -- by guests ranging from Mikhail Gorbachev to Richard Nixon to Dick Enberg to the Dalai Lama -- those wishing to pay the $500-a-night price tag are usually referred to the trustees for approval.\nWhat began as a retirement home for an IU alumnus and successful Chicago surgeon has since turned into a plush lodging for guests of the University and an ongoing tribute to Dr. Arthur Metz.
(03/01/06 4:15am)
Regular readers of the Indiana Daily Student might have been surprised to see the front page of Friday's paper. Beneath the usual news stories, graphics and photos that took up the top three quarters of the page appeared a guest column written by Ozair M. Shariff, president of the IU Muslim Student Union. Shariff submitted an insightful piece regarding the recent controversy surrounding Danish cartoons that have offended many Muslims and led to protests and violence throughout the world. \nThe IDS routinely runs guest columns and letters to the editor on all sorts of different topics. But, as far back as recent memory extends, those opinions (as well as those of our own staff of columnists) have always been contained within the opinion section.\nSo why did we make an exception for this column? It began when IDS Opinion Editor Cordell Eddings pitched the piece for the front page at our daily budget meeting -- a session during which the editors convene to decide which stories make the front page and the order in which they appear.\nEddings pitched the story for inclusion on page one because he said he thought the column was important and needed the wider audience that the more prominent placement promised.\n"It was something that needed to be read because there were many people who feel like (Shariff) felt," Eddings said. "His analysis was well-researched and very personal."\nAfter the meeting, Editor in Chief Rick Newkirk and I each read the column and ultimately agreed with Eddings' stance. Shariff's piece went in-depth on an important issue, offered perspectives that had gone unreported both in the IDS and the national media, approached the controversy fairly and expressed opinions shared by a large portion of the student body. It also promoted a constructive dialogue on the issue, which seemed important given the amount of violence it has stirred around the world. \nOnce we decided to have the column on the front, we presented it in a manner that made it clear it was an opinion piece and not news. Given the rare appearance of columns on the front page, this was doubly important. In addition to adding a "tag" above it designating it as a guest column, we also ran the piece across the bottom of the page and with a bold line separating it from the rest of the copy. The headline was also italicized in order to further set it off from the rest of the page.\nWhile there are no immediate plans to run another column on page one, Shariff's piece demonstrates our front page can be a place for more than just hard news stories.
(02/15/06 5:05am)
Covering elections can be a difficult task for newspapers, and reporting on IU's student government is no exception. With the announcement last week of two parties vying to lead the IU Student Association, the Indiana Daily Student is preparing to objectively cover the two tickets both on our front page and on our editorial page. From now until the elections, IDS news editors will work to make sure our coverage stays balanced even as our opinion staff formulates its own views on the various candidates.\nIDS staffers listen to complaints each election year that our coverage is somehow slanted toward one candidate or another. Inevitably, the best compliment we receive is when every single party accuses us of bias toward the other. That, I believe, actually validates the objectivity of our work. \nBut a great deal of effort does go into keeping bias out of the newspaper. An IUSA beat reporter is appointed each year and that reporter follows the campaigns of all the parties running until a winner is decided -- whether that's a day after the ballots close or a month after a lengthy appeals process begins.\nDuring that time, editors scrutinize every facet of our coverage. From the wording of a headline to the placement of a story on the page to the order in which candidates are listed or reported on in a story, we strive to make sure each one gets equal treatment.\nFor example, if we run a story about underage drinking arrests one day (a sure-fire IUSA issue year in and year out) and a story about academic standards the next, we might reverse the order of the parties we talk about in each one. You won't pick up your newspaper and read about Party A first thing in every single story, while Party B is buried somewhere on page 11. \nIn our annual election preview edition, each party is given equal space to answer the same questions about why it should be elected. Editors work to make sure that same sense of equality shines through all of our coverage as best as possible.\nBut even if we do all of those things to perfection, the views of our Opinion staff still convince some people that our IUSA news coverage is biased toward a party. It's a perfectly understandable criticism: Why should the reader believe a front page news story to be fair if an editorial on page six extols the virtues of one party while bitterly criticizing another? \nWe will attempt to be transparent this semester in the way our process works to quell any fears about our objectivity. The opinion editorial board -- a group made up of the two opinion editors and the weekly and biweekly columnists -- might very well endorse a particular candidate (and it might choose not to). It will be entirely up to the board, without any input from the staffers on the news side who objectively report and edit on the campaigns. The editorial board will discuss IUSA in all facets and offer an informed opinion. Just like you, the news-side IDS staffers will read the views of the editorial board when they're printed in the paper.
(02/03/06 4:50am)
From stories about public intoxication and underage drinking to reports of robberies and busted drug deals, the Indiana Daily Student covers police news from a variety of angles. Each of those crime stories, however, appears in the IDS only after student journalists undergo a process through the different departments to find out exactly what happened. \nThe two primary police agencies we report on -- the IU Police Department and the Bloomington Police Department -- have slightly different methods for telling us what they've been up to. \nFor IUPD reports, IDS campus editors and the police beat reporters receive an e-mail each morning, called the daily log. This message contains a list of all the people arrested in the last 24 hours, as well as entries for all police responses, from accidents to thefts to drug arrests. IDS staffers peruse this message -- which on busy weekends can grow quite lengthy -- looking for newsworthy entries. The reporter then calls IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger, who looks up the police report and summarizes it over the phone. Minger will not let reporters look at the reports, but will answer questions with the information he is legally allowed to give. Sometimes for stories that break after hours, the reporter has to talk to a shift commander who, at times, will not comment at all. \nBPD works a little differently. The IDS police reporter has to show up at press time each day at police headquarters, 220 E. Third St., where he or she is allowed to look at a physical log of arrests. If the reporter wants to write a story about any of the entries, he or she must request to speak to a shift commander who will, like IUPD, read through and summarize the report while taking questions. Again, though, reporters are not allowed to actually look at the physical police report but must take notes on the shift commander's verbal summary. \nThis setup is not ideal for reporters and, at times, leads to confusion or omissions of information that turn out to be important to a story. For example, earlier this week, the IDS ran an article about an assault that occurred in a fraternity house. We initially reported precisely what was read to the reporter from the police report. As it turned out though, the house in question is actually home to two different fraternities, and we only named one in the story. We ultimately ran a clarification in Thursday's paper, making note that two fraternities are housed in the same building where the assault occurred. \nWhile we hope problems like this do not arise often, we do our best to avoid them, clarify them or, if necessary, correct them. Police reporting can be a complicated task, but IDS staff members work to make sure everything is both accurate and complete.
(01/30/06 9:38pm)
Contrary to what some people may think, the Indiana Daily Student was not raised in a barn and it does not spend an inordinate amount of time conversing with sailors. \nAnd yet, we do occasionally print vulgar or profane language in stories. Case in point, readers of the front page story "Reserve Kline helps team despite criticisms, boos on home court" in Monday's issue were greeted with a quote from IU senior forward Sean Kline that we knew would spur some questions, concerns or complaints:\n"I know my job -- what I'm supposed to do and what's asked of me," Kline said. "If I do that, then we're going to be a winning basketball team, and that's all that concerns me ...\n"I could give a fuck."\nA great deal of consideration went into whether that last word would be included. Any time a vulgarity is submitted in a story for publication in the newspaper, IDS editors follow our code of ethics, which stipulates that words (as well as pictures and graphics) commonly considered profane "not be used gratuitously or for shock value." It goes on to require that "the profanity be used in a justifiable, appropriate context and when alternatives have been considered."\nEditors followed those steps Sunday night. First, we determined that the quote was not used as a shock tactic -- rather it encapsulated Kline's frustration and added to the meaning of his statement. Go back and read the first paragraph of the quote one more time without the last line -- it loses the bite, the anger and the frustration that those last five words so effortlessly, albeit controversially, bring to it.\nTaking it out, we decided, would then have stripped an important sentiment from the quote. And if used, our code of ethics also requires that the full word be spelled out, so replacing certain letters with asterisks or other characters was not an option.\nUltimately, Editor in Chief Rick Newkirk, who has the final say on the matter, decided the context and meaning warranted the quote's inclusion and approved it for publication.\nSo far, reaction to the story has been encouraging. While we did hear from someone who thought we should not have used the word, we have also so far received three letters to the editor -- two from alumni and one from a student -- that chastised the fans for booing Kline in the first place (see Thursday's Jordan River Forum to read them). While that response can't be pegged solely on the inclusion of the F-word, it does suggest that Kline's choice of words resonated with some readers and offered a summation of his attitude that might have gone unreported otherwise.
(12/12/05 6:18am)
Bloomington Police arrested a man Saturday evening for setting a series of fires in his apartment.\nThe Bloomington Fire Department responded initially to an alarm at 5:56 p.m. at Arbor Glenn Apartments, 3100 S. Walnut Street Pike. According to the police report, firefighters went to a first-floor room that had smoke coming from under the door.\nWhen the firefighters knocked, Richard Mollett answered the door with the chain on and would not open it, the report said.\nFirefighters then forced their way into the apartment where they found several lit items on the middle of the floor. According to the report, as they went to extinguish them, Mollett lit pieces of paper and threw them on a table in the room.\nWhen police came, they tried to question Mollett, but he was uncooperative and was arrested.\nMan exposed self to woman\nA man exposed himself to a woman Saturday afternoon near Bryan Park.\nAccording to the police report, a woman reported seeing a heavyset white male with brown hair pull down his pants in front of her while she was walking near the intersection of South Ballantine Road and East Sheridan Road. The woman reported seeing the man drive by once already in a white vehicle before he returned a second time and exposed himself.
(12/08/05 3:26am)
Bloomington Police arrested a man Tuesday night after he allegedly fired a shotgun at a man he got into an argument with in the 2900 block of South Walnut Street. \nNo one was injured from the shots, but Bloomington resident Marlon Caulton, 46, was preliminarily charged with attempted aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and pointing a firearm. Bloomington resident Mark Derico, the man police believe Caulton was firing at, was arrested for public intoxication.\nWitnesses told police problems started when they heard Caulton and Derico arguing in the stairwell of a nearby apartment building. According to the police report, both men went outside and Caulton began firing a shotgun at Derico as he fled. Police recovered spent shotgun shells at the scene and believe four shots were fired.\nOfficers arrived at the scene at 7:45 p.m. and spoke with Derico, who told police a different story from any of the witnesses. According to the report, Derico said he did not know Caulton but intervened when he saw him shoving a woman. At that point, Derico said Caulton pulled a shotgun out and shot at him as he ran away.\nPolice arrested Caulton at a hotel on the 2600 block of South Walnut Street and recovered a shotgun from a dumpster in a nearby apartment complex.\nCaulton told police he did not know anything about the incident.
(12/06/05 5:20am)
An IU student is facing felony drug charges after police found 57 grams of marijuana in his room Saturday.\nAccording to the IU Police Department report, an officer went to freshman Corbin A. Elliott's room on the third floor of Collins Center after smelling burnt marijuana from outside. \nElliott said Monday he did have marijuana in the room and takes responsibility for what happened. But he said he will do what is necessary to stay out of trouble in the future. \n"(Going to jail) was very degrading," Elliott said. "They treated me like I was a piece of crap. But it's something I would not like to go through again. I'm working toward never having that happen again."\nOnce in his room Saturday night, the IUPD officer noticed a leafy substance in a bowl on a table and advised Elliott of his rights. \nElliott consented to a search of his room and police seized three plastic baggies, a brown pill bottle and a white plastic bowl, all of which contained the green, leafy substance, the report said. Tests on the substance came back positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.\nIn total, police found 57 grams of the drug in Elliott's room, which under Indiana law makes its possession a class D felony. \nElliott was taken to Monroe County Jail Saturday, and he bonded out the next day. He said he has a court date Friday. \nLoud party leads to 11 citations, 1 arrest\nAn IUPD officer cited 11 students and arrested a twelfth in a McNutt-Delgado dorm room after responding to a loud party there.\nThe officer, who lives in McNutt, was doing rounds with a resident assistant early Saturday morning when they smelled alcohol and heard a loud party, according to the report. \nAfter knocking on the dorm room door, the RA reported hearing someone say, "It's IUPD. Drink the alcohol, get rid of it." \nOnce in, police breathalyzed 12 underage individuals, all of whom tested positive for alcohol. Only one of the students, Erica Burns, denied drinking.\nAccording to the report, Burns did not cooperate with police and provided false identification. She was placed into custody for false informing and transported to Monroe County Jail. The other 11 students were issued citations.\nPlaque honoring airman missing\nA plaque that pays tribute to a U.S. Army Airborne Ranger who was a member of Sigma Nu while at IU was reported missing Saturday.\nThe brass plaque was donated in 1994 and honors Christopher A. Bowden, a member of the 151st Infantry who died Oct. 14, 1994, when his parachute failed while on a mission with his unit.\nThe plaque had been displayed beneath the flagpole at the house, 1015 N. Jordan Ave.\nSigma Nu members told IUPD they are currently in a feud with Kappa Sigma and think that house might be involved, the report said. Sigma Nu President Peter Mensch called the crime "disrespectful" but said he would not comment on who he thought took the plaque. \nThe plaque is valued between $1,500 and $2,000.\nBowden, who was active with Sigma Nu and rode in the Little 500, would have graduated in 1995.
(12/05/05 4:02pm)
Three men face charges related to an October arson and burglary at Rally's Hamburgers, 550 S. Walnut St., that caused more than $100,000 in damages. \nAn anonymous tip to Bloomington Police Department Detective Kevin Hill led the investigation to suspects Donald Ray Green, Lawrence Lee Krause and Robert Shawn Mobley. All three men were arrested, and each told police they were involved but denied they had set the fire. \nAccording to a BPD press release, firefighters at the restaurant discovered suspicious characteristics leading them to believe the Oct. 3 blaze had been set intentionally to cover up a burglary. Police later discovered a safe in the parking lot that had been removed from the building.\nGreen, 51, and Krause were each charged preliminarily with arson, a Class B felony, and burglary, a Class C felony. Mobley, 30, was preliminarily charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, a Class C felony.\nGreen and Mobley were being held at the Monroe County Jail for unrelated charges when the warrants were issued Thursday. Krause was arrested at his residence. \nAll three men are being held at the Monroe County Jail. Green's bond is set at $55,000 surety and $500 cash, Krause's is set at $50,000 surety only and Mobley's is set at $50,000 surety or $5,000 cash. \nMan arrested for drug possession after traffic stop\nBloomington police arrested a man early Saturday morning after finding drugs during a traffic stop at the intersection of Second Street and Patterson Drive.\nAccording to the police report, Officer Brandon Lopossa noticed the smell of marijuana while approaching a vehicle driven by James R. Gaskins, Jr. \nDuring a search of the vehicle, Lopossa found a plastic bag with a green, leafy substance and two plastic baggies of a white powdery one, according to the report. \nGaskins told police he did not have any knowledge of the drugs or to whom they belonged. He was charged with possession of cocaine.
(12/01/05 12:58am)
An armed man robbed the pharmacy at the Kroger on College Mall Road Monday night, escaping with a large quantity of pain medication drugs.\nBloomington Police Department Captain Joseph Qualters said he is hopeful the drugs will be recovered.\n"The concern is that out on the street, these drugs are sold and abused by addicts and can possibly contribute to deaths by overdose," Qualters said. "There are far too many in this community as it is."\nThough they aren't related to the Kroger robbery, Qualters said BPD responded to two drug overdose deaths in the past three days. \nAccording to the police report, a white male approached the counter at the pharmacy at the Kroger, located at 1175 College Mall Rd., displayed a semi-automatic handgun and told the pharmacist to get off of the phone. The man then demanded some specific types of pain medication drugs, including oxycontin, oxycodone, percocet and percodan. \nPolice did not release the exact amount of drugs taken, but Qualters said it was a "large quantity" that would have a very high street value. \nThe man placed the medications in a shopping basket and fled the store on foot, running northbound down the sidewalk. The suspect is described as a man in his late 20s with dark hair and a small goatee. During the robbery, he wore a red bandana on his face and a sweatshirt with the hood up. \nQualters said police will review surveillance video and also confer with other law enforcement agencies to find out if similar crimes occurred elsewhere.\n"It's somewhat atypical for someone to go into a busy grocery store, point a gun and commit that type of crime," Qualters said.
(11/15/05 4:03am)
A group of people riding in a green truck shouted offensive slurs late Saturday night outside Sigma Alpha Mu, according to an IU Police Department report.\nIUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said officers responded to a call of people driving a green truck with a loud muffler that passed by the fraternity, 1500 N. Jordan Ave., after 9:30 p.m. The people in the truck made Nazi hand signals and shouted "go back to the concentration camp" as they passed the house, according to the report Minger said incidents such as this are forwarded to the IU Racial Incidents Team, though he was not sure if this incident had been or not. \nPam Freeman, associate dean of students and director of student ethics, was not available for comment Monday.\nDead rat thrown at potential greek members\nSomeone threw a dead rat into a crowd of women outside Alpha Chi Omega during recruitment Saturday.\nAccording to the police report, the deceased rodent was flung from a group of four white males passing in a dark green Jeep Cherokee at about 4:45 p.m. The dead rat struck one of the women in the crowd on the leg before the vehicle left northbound on Jordan Avenue. \nThe vehicle had Illinois plates, but Minger said nobody decided to press charges in the incident.\nMan transported to hospital after fire\nOne man was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation after a cooking fire at his residence in IU's Banta Apartments, 990 N. Union St.\nFour officers responded in reference to the fire and heavy smoke in the apartment where Ibn Ahmed lives, according to the police report. \nAhmed told officers the fire started when he was cooking oil on a stove and it progressed, causing damage to the stove, stove hood, counters, adjoining walls and the ceiling area. The fire was already extinguished when officers arrived.\nAhmed was transported to the hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation.