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(03/23/05 5:18am)
Mary Sturgeon was just 17 when she got married to her then-19-year-old fiancé.\nShe wasn't rebelling or pregnant.\nShe was in love. She still is.\n"If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing," said Sturgeon, now 25 and expecting baby No. 2 with husband Jason. "(Jason and I) grew up together and formed together."\nWhen they got married, neither Mary nor Jason Sturgeon sought to defy convention. The 1980s and early to mid-1990s saw an increase in age of first marriage among both men and women. Analysts at the National Marriage Project, a nonprofit research group based at Rutgers University, credit this increase to a desire to wait to be established, to settle into a career before settling one's love life, according to the organization's Web site. In 1995, the average marriage age was 25 for women and 27 for men, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report. But more and more young people decide against holding off until their late 20s in favor of marrying young, like the Sturgeons. By 2001, the average marriage age dropped to 21 for women and 24 for men, according to a Census Bureau report.\nFor the Sturgeons, statistics didn't matter. When he proposed, Jason was a freshman at IU. And the 200-plus miles from Portage, Ind., where both Mary and Jason grew up, to Bloomington meant occasional visits and countless hours on the phone. The distance, which has caused many a breakup, only cemented their desire to be together, Mary said. In the end, Jason decided to hold off on school after a year, and the two got married in Mary's mother's living room.\n"We knew we wanted to be together," Mary said. "We were going to get married in December, but during the summer, the stress of just planning a wedding was too much. I had never had my heart set on a huge, big-deal ceremony."\nMarried life agrees with Mary, she said. The couple's first child, daughter Cadence, was born two years ago. Though Mary is a stay-at-home mom now, she hopes she'll continue her education someday. Jason has gone back to school and works full-time as well.\nFor Mary, marriage is first and foremost a partnership, she said. And being young just means she can look forward to a longer life with her partner.\n"If you go until you're 30 years old, you have all these ways of looking at the world and you're set in your ways," she said. "When you get married, it probably makes it more difficult to make (the marriage) something like a partnership."
(01/24/05 4:37am)
Taryn Firkser doesn't get discouraged easily. And even the major setback of a planned speaker being unable to make it to Bloomington at the last minute doesn't get her spirits down.\nWhen Firkser found out that the Tibetan nun who was scheduled to speak at Saturday's IU Students for a Free Tibet event was stuck in Washington, D.C., Firkser bet the activist spirit among the IU and Bloomington communities would save the event. She was right.\nTogether with IUSFT President Mary-Kate Oreovicz, Firkser, a graduate student and IUSFT's vice president, watched as more than 50 people filed into the Jordan Hall atrium.\n"It's amazing that no one seems to be leaving when they hear the bad news (that the speaker would not be able to make it)," Firkser said. "When I first learned about the Tibetan cause, my reaction was 'What can I do?' I hope that's how people feel after today."\nThe nun, Ngawang Sangdrol, was supposed to speak about her experience in the Drapchi prison, where she was sentenced to 21 years for organizing a protest against the Chinese rule of Tibet. She is a member of the Drapchi 14, a group of Tibetan nuns who, while still in prison, recorded several songs calling for Tibetan independence. Under international pressure, she and 12 other nuns have been released. One died in prison.\n"Ngawang Sangdrol and the 13 other women represent a victory for grassroots organizations such as ours. We raised awareness and took action through non-violent means," said Oreovicz, a graduate student. "She is proof to us that each petition you sign, each postcard you send and each letter you mail does have an impact in the larger picture."\nBut even without the speaker, Firkser and Oreovicz said the evening was a successful fund-raising campaign for their group. Amid Tibetan prayer flags and information stands, Firkser, Oreovicz and other IUSFT activists sold "Free Tibet" stickers and buttons for $1, and T-shirts for $5. \n But the event had the most success in enticing the stomachs first and the wallets second. The spicy smell of momo -- Tibetan dumplings -- wafted in the air, attracting the majority of the evening's attendees into the buffet line. For a $5 donation, ethnic food fans received a plate of either beef or vegetable momo and noodles and punch or green tea. All donations from the event will go to Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet, an India-based Tibetan ex-political prisoners association, which helps former prisoners with monetary support, clothing, shelter and job training.\nAs Central Eurasian Studies graduate student Domonic Potorti stood in line to try the food donated by Snow Lion and Anyetsang's Little Tibet restaurants, he said his was more than a purely academic interest.\n"I believe very strongly in the cause (of Tibetan freedom)," he said, "and I'm here because one of my friends helped organize this and worked very hard."\nAfter Firkser saw that most attendees had their fill of food, she shepherded about 35 people into an empty classroom. There, viewers were treated to the 2003 documentary "Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion." The film depicts the history of Tibet as well as the present conflict with China and the rest of the world's reaction to it. Oreovicz echoed the filmmakers' take on the current conflict: "Tibet must be free."\n"I feel that as an American who is lucky to live in a comparably less-oppressive society I must use my voice to speak for those Tibetans inside Tibet who are, in a sense, voiceless," Oreovicz said. "I think that it is important to realize that although we may disagree with our government, we have the right to say so, even to protest, and we are lucky to have the basic rights that we enjoy on a daily basis."\n-- Contact Copy Chief Jane \nCharney at echarney@indiana.edu.
(01/21/05 5:47am)
Professor Ilinca Zarifopol-Johnston loved life. Through her five-year battle with ovarian cancer, she fought it with courage, her colleagues say. But she succumbed to the illness Tuesday. She was 52.\n"She tried to fight (the cancer)," said Eileen Julian, professor of comparative literature, African American and African diaspora studies, French and Italian. "She had great determination. She just continued to do things she'd always done."\nJulian and Johnston, who taught in the Department of Comparative Literature, had taught a graduate course together -- "Exile or Prison? Writers Under Repression in Eastern Europe and Africa." Johnston, who was born in Romania and immigrated to the United States in 1977, "always asked probing, pertinent, critical questions," Julian said. And her love for IU and the department was evident in her devotion to her work, Julian said.\nDuring the past five years, Johnston returned to teach for several semesters, despite her illness, said Comparative Literature Acting Chairman Gilbert Chaitin. She also continued working on a biography of Romanian expatriate philosopher Emile Cioran and a book of memoirs, "The Escape Artist: Memoirs of a Communist Girl," according to the departmental Web site. \nJohnston was instrumental in creating one of the first freshman topics courses, "Beauty and the Beast: The Classics in Modern Adaptation." The course, which continues to be offered through the comparative literature department, explores the way classical and romantic literature has either been adapted into film and cartoons or has influenced cinema, Chaitin said.\nAs an associate professor of comparative literature, Johnston specialized in 19th and 20th century European literature and literary theory. Her academic endeavors had garnered her numerous awards, including the Esther L. Kinsley Outstanding Dissertation Award for her 1990 work titled "To Kill a Text: The Dialogic Fiction of Hugo, Dickens and Zola." She also received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship.\n"She was a wonderful colleague, full of energy, full of life," said Johnson's dissertation adviser Matei Calinescu, professor emeritus of comparative literature, English and West European studies. "She was also a very serious scholar."\nAmong her friends, Johnston was also known for her hospitable personality.\n"She was a fantastic cook and loved entertaining," Julian said. "She was also an excellent judge of character and very generous. It's a tremendous loss for many of us. To think she's not here, it's devastating."\nA funeral mass and burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Dormition of the Mother of God Romanian Orthodox Monastery in Rives Junction, Mich. Instead of flowers, donations may be made to All Saints Orthodox Churchin Bloomington or to the IU Department of Comparative Literature.\n-- Contact Copy Chief Jane Charney at echarney@indiana.edu.
(01/19/05 5:15am)
Svetlana Kolesnik has some questions for the Russian government. Those questions concern the organization of the media and the controls the Russian government exerts over the press. \nAs director of the Foundation for Information Policy Development, Kolesnik's primary concern is the burgeoning system of Russian regional media, which she believes should take a more active role in presenting the news the people in the regions need rather than the news the government wants them to know. Kolesnik's foundation is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to contribute to the introduction of contemporary democratic principles in the formation of information policy. The organization focuses on the regions of the Russian Federation and tries to attract the media to actively participate in this process, according to the foundation's Web site, www.frip.ru.\nAs part of her two-day visit to Bloomington, Kolesnik spoke with the Indiana Daily Student about her work and the current media environment in Russia.\nToday's Russian journalists find themselves in a whirlpool of well-defined roles tightly controlled by the government, Kolesnik said in Russian. Because most media outlets do not have the expertise to acquire funds through advertising, they depend largely on government subsidies, she said. Kolesnik said she sees a compromise between the private and public interests, but the Russian government has been reluctant to let go of its control of the media. Kolesnik would rather see a system where the government would give grants to media outlets, but an intermediary -- an executive board, for example -- would take care of distributing that money, she said. Russia boasts more than 35,000 regional newspapers, which are almost entirely under governmental control.\n"To what extent do these newspapers serve the interests of their audience?" Kolesnik said. "At this moment, they are still instruments with whose aid the regional government controls the flow of information to the citizens."\nKolesnik also noted the Western perception that all news throughout Russia concentrates on events in Moscow, which is also a common view among Moscow-based journalists. It is rash to think so, Kolesnik said, especially because she believes everything happens in the regions. Regional news influences the policy-makers in the capital, she said.\nRussian television is also state-owned and managed either directly or through subsidiaries, Kolesnik said. Because Russia occupies 13 different time zones, it is nearly impossible for Moscow newspapers to reach their regional audiences the same day. In some of the more remote areas, mail might arrive every three or four days for a week's worth of newspapers, and print media subscriptions are pricey. Because of this, television provides both local and national news throughout the country, Kolesnik said. But she hopes television, just as print media, will find itself outside the government's sphere of control through legislation and private efforts.\n"One of the main problems with Russian media today is a lack of definite expectations," Kolesnik said. "The government must first formulate its priorities and goals when it comes to the media and their audiences."\nKolesnik was in the United States as a guest of the Department of Media Studies at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. and discussed presidential elections and the media from a global perspective at a seminar. Kolesnik is also director of the School of Journalism and Media Management at the National Press Institute of Russia and a faculty member at Moscow State University's journalism school. She was instrumental in helping conduct a study for Russian and American journalists published in 1992 by IU School of Journalism professors Owen Johnson and David Weaver, Johnson said. Kolesnik is currently writing a chapter for Weaver's upcoming book on journalism research in Russia today.\n-- Contact Copy Chief Jane Charney at echarney@indiana.edu.
(01/18/05 5:39pm)
As a first-generation college student, Vanita Powell had no idea about greek life when she first came to IU. She was all business. An accounting and legal studies major, fifth-year senior Powell focused on classes and volunteering in the community both to enhance her resume and to achieve a sense of personal contentment, she said.\nDuring her effort to find her place among the myriad opportunities at IU, Powell recognized a facet of campus life about which she knew nothing, and joining a sorority seemed like a good opportunity to get to know people. Powell methodically researched all black sororities, visited their events and settled on Delta Sigma Theta.\n"Delta seemed to be based on the same ideals and initiatives that I had set for myself," Powell said. "It matched my goals, and I felt most comfortable interacting with people in Delta."\nNow in her second term as the Gamma Nu chapter president, Powell heads a group of 11 women, 10 of whom are newly inducted members. All of the women with whom Powell began her Delta life graduated either in May or December 2004. Powell's mission now is to pass on the ideals of a Delta woman.\nSome might say her efforts to make new members "jump in the saddle and get riding" right away are nontraditional, but they demonstrate how the recruitment process works among members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council. Because the chapters are so small, every member is expected to do her part, Powell said. This semester some of the sorority's newest members will plan spring week, a series of chapter-sponsored events. \nPowell's dynamic personality has prompted others to follow her, said senior Jeremy Morris, NPHC president.\n"She's a goal-setter and a goal-maker," Morris said. "It was her passion to bring the chapter to the point where it is. She never lost sight of what she was doing."\nPowell's involvement with Delta has helped her fine-tune her organization and communication skills. Most importantly, however, she has learned the life-long value of working with different people in different types of situations, she said. Her list of Delta accomplishments reads like a well thought-out resume: She has delegated responsibilities, planned events and provided assistance when her sisters needed it. But her sisters especially value her ability to mediate disputes and to be fair.\nIndeed, when it came time to select the chapter's president, Powell stood out as a just leader. Since then, she has been a guide and a mentor to others in the sorority.\n"She has shown me so much through her ability to multi-task and handle problems with a sense of wisdom," said sophomore Samillia Woods, who is among the newest Delta members. "Vanita has been a role model to me. She exemplifies the essence of a Delta woman."\n-- Contact Copy Chief Jane Charney at echarney@indiana.edu.
(01/18/05 5:39pm)
When Terrell Cooper was applying for college, he knew he couldn't stay in his native Muncie. He yearned to experience life as others knew it. But most of all, he sought to discover himself. \n"I wanted to see what life can present," the senior telecommunications student said. "I wanted to expose myself to different people, different traditions."\nAs a young boy, Cooper believed that athletics was the only path to a better life. And despite his mother's admonitions to the contrary, it wasn't until he came to IU that he realized creativity also could provide a valuable asset in life. Through his telecommunications classes and involvement with Kappa Alpha Psi, Cooper, who is also a marketing staffer for the Indiana Daily Student, found out he has a talent for putting things together -- from fliers to press releases to advertising. \nKappa has been both a point of inspiration and a learning experience for Cooper. When he began the membership intake process in the fall of 2001, he had a personal introduction to the fraternity because he had already had family in Kappa's Alpha chapter at IU. By the time the membership intake process began in fall 2001, he counted the senior Kappa members among his friends. Today, the nine Kappa members enjoy a sense of community among themselves that has been fostered as a testament to the respect all current members bear for the original five men who founded Kappa at IU. In 1911, Kappa became the first black greek organization at IU and paved the way for other black greeks to establish themselves on campus, Cooper said. \n"It touches you inside to think that these men had it in them at that time on a predominantly white campus," Cooper said. "And it's been going strong for almost 100 years."\nAs the fraternity's polemarch, or president, Cooper is also the keeper of the fraternity's history. Among his chief responsibilities is passing down the knowledge just as it was taught to him. \nBut Cooper did not get to be polemarch because he knows the chapter's history. When he first joined, he produced flyers for Kappa events and manned the publicity chair. He then became vice polemarch and spent two years in that position assisting with event planning.\nHe is the kind of leader who is hands-on without being overbearing and approachable without being a push-over, his brothers said.\n"In a fraternity, there are a lot of different attitudes, a broad range of people under your leadership, but we all have one common goal," said Jeremy Morris, Cooper's Kappa brother and current president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council. "It's important to have the ability to not close yourself in a box, allow yourself to be an approachable, friendly person. And that's how (Cooper) is." \nWhen the time came to select the new polemarch, Cooper's knowledge and insight into the Kappa way of life was a perfect fit for his brothers' ideas of what they wanted in a leader. And Cooper made a promise to them that he would lead in the way he was led, in the way it's been done for 94 years before him, he said.\nIU Director of Diversity Education Eric Love, a Kappa alumnus and IU graduate student, first met Cooper at a Kappa program. Then, even before Cooper's role as polemarch, Love was struck by his vision for the fraternity.\n"He doesn't just talk about (what he wants to do). He's a high achiever," Love said. "He's very open and honest and very real. If something is wrong, he'll talk about it and not pull punches. He doesn't sugar coat it either."\nBut the essence of Cooper is even more responsible -- he knows his process of self-discovery would be impossible without guidance from others, like his mother and his Kappa brothers. \n"One major factor in where I am and where I'm trying to be is people who have made me the person I am," Cooper said. "Everyone's been in my life for a reason -- good or bad, but it's a lesson learned, never forgotten."\n-- Contact Copy Chief Jane Charney at echarney@indiana.edu.
(09/01/04 5:06pm)
Pat Siddons began and ended his journalistic career at the Indiana Daily Student, where he went from cub reporter to publisher. At Ernie Pyle Hall, his legacy remains that of a friendly, grandfatherly mentor to an entire generation of IDSers from the 1980s, said Kevin Corcoran, an IU alum and former IDS reporter.\n"He never meddled in the students' stories," Corcoran said. "But when all hell broke loose, he stood behind us."\nSiddons died early Tuesday morning at an Ellettsville nursing home after a long illness. He was 80. \nAs publisher, Siddons gently cajoled the students in his charge toward setting higher goals and meeting them. In his coaching, Siddons drew on his experiences as reporter and head of the Bloomington bureau of the Louisville Courier-Journal. And the IDS publisher's chair presented Siddons with a perfect opportunity to pass on his skills and educate a new generation of journalists. \n"During his tenure as IDS publisher, Pat was constantly urging the student editors to put out the best newspaper possible," said Don Cross, former IDS business manager. \nHis love for the IDS was all-encompassing: During his time at the IDS, Siddons' licence plate read "IDS," and when he retired in 1989, he changed it to read "EX-IDS." \nFormer IDS staff members remember Siddons as a man who would grab a bag of fresh popcorn and walk around the newsroom getting to know the students. His door was always open to anyone, and many took advantage of that availability to talk to him about stories, reporting and career choices, said Mark Skertic, who was IDS editor in chief in 1986. Just like Corcoran, Skertic recognized Siddons' ability to walk the fine line between teaching and preaching. \n"His input would come once the paper came out," Skertic said in an e-mail interview. "In a few words scrawled across the columns of copy, he would celebrate great reporting and writing and highlight sloppy work by reporters, designers and editors. The criticism was constructive; it wasn't always easy to take, but it made many of us strive to write the story that Pat would praise in his markup."\nIn the years since both Corcoran and Skertic graduated, Siddons' legacy has remained with them. \n"He was the first big-city newspaperman I ever met, so the things he said about the business carried weight," Skertic said. \nFor Corcoran, Siddons was not only an IDS mentor, but a professional one as well. Corcoran drew on Siddons' experiences as a statehouse reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal to solidify his own choice of careers.\n"He was someone I looked up to and respected for his professional achievements," said Corcoran, who is the statehouse reporter for The Indianapolis Star. "He took an interest in me and everyone else who worked at the IDS in the mid-1980s. "\nBorn in Ellettsville July 31, 1924, Siddons was a Hoosier at heart and remained in Indiana for most of his life. After a stint in the army as a signal corpsman with an anti-aircraft artillery unit during World War II, he tried Purdue. But engineering didn't agree with him, and a friend suggested IU's journalism program. After graduating in 1950, Siddons worked for the Crawfordsville Journal-Review and the Michigan City News-Dispatch. Before working for the Louisville Courier-Journal, he picked up a public relations job with the Indiana Republican Party. \nSiddons' last years were spent in an Ellettsville nursing home, where he kept up his great sense of humor, Cross said.\n"He enjoyed a good laugh," Cross said. "Even when he was in the nursing home, he was always cracking jokes and trying to divert attention from himself."\nAmong other awards, Siddons was named a Sagamore of the Wabash, Indiana's highest honor.\nCalling hours will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Allen Funeral Home, 300 E. Third St., in Bloomington. The funeral will take place at 1:30 Thursday at Allen Funeral Home. Memorial contributions may be made to the G. Patrick Siddons IDS Scholarship at the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism. \n-- Contact editor in chief Jane Charney at echarney@indiana.edu.
(03/11/04 4:58am)
Whitney Blake's vision of peace is simple. It's a world of quiet, flowers, friendship and love. And throughout March, Bloomington residents and IU students will see Blake's work on a billboard at the corner of Fourth Street and College Avenue. Along with three other local middle-schoolers, 12-year-old Blake won a Youth Art Month student art contest sponsored by Your Art Here.\nBlake's answer to the artistic question "What would you like to tell your community?" invites the community dialogue about peace in her work, titled "What Would It Be Like?"\n"I thought about the different visions that came into my mind when I thought about peace," Blake said. "I don't like war, don't like the war in Iraq. We need more peace." \nWhen she learned of the contest in late January, Blake was working on a peace museum at the Harmony School. She slept and dreamt peace, her mother Stephanie Blake said. For Whitney Blake, the choice to do a piece about peace wasn't hard.\nSponsored by the Council for Art Education, Inc., March has been designated as National Youth Art Month. It is a nationwide celebration of young people and the art they produce. Bloomington has celebrated Youth Art Month with an exhibit of student work for the past 30 years.\nAnd Your Art Here wanted to contribute to the celebration. Throughout January and February, YAH campaigned for submissions to its two-city contest -- students in grades one to six and seven to 12 from both Indianapolis and Bloomington schools participated. \nWith its pastel tones, creative imagery and fantastic undertones, Whitney Blake's piece fits the criteria set up by Your Art Here. The work must render well to a large size -- each billboard is about 11-by-22 feet, said Shana Berger, who founded YAH along with Nathan Purath, Owen Mundy and Alyssa Hill in August 2002.\n"We wanted to make sure we have a variety of topics displayed on billboards," Mundy said. "Our criteria were about 50 percent visual and 50 percent content-based."\nAt its heart, YAH has the realization that not enough art finds itself into daily life. \nBy reclaiming billboards -- the spaces usually used for advertising purposes -- the founders of YAH hope to provide access to public places for artists where anyone can express their ideas or where anyone can "be the media," the motto they've adopted. Originally uttered by Jello Biafra, the former lead singer of the Dead Kennedys, this catch phrase emphasizes the four founders' desire to connect Bloomington residents with each other through art. Biafra originally coined the phrase to stir his fans to action and used it as inspiration for his triple-CD spoken word record, "Become the Media," released in 2000. In Biafra's understanding, the average American has been in the spectator's seat for far too long. He invites people to participate in the free exchange of information through any and all art forms available.\nAnd all four pieces that won the month-long competition answered Biafra's call with a passion, inspired by the artists' surroundings.
(02/19/04 4:36am)
What do first through 12th-graders and billboards have in common? For the entire month of March, they'll join to form one of the largest outdoor exhibitions of children's art in Bloomington and Indianapolis.\nCourtesy of "Your Art Here," a Bloomington-based, non-profit organization, art by students from Bloomington and Indianapolis schools will be on display on billboards at four Bloomington and four Indianapolis locations. \nRecent IU photography graduates Shana Berger, Alyssa Hill, Nathan Purath and Owen Mundy dreamed up the idea of putting art on Bloomington billboards in August 2002. The group formed "Your Art Here" because of the need to reclaim the often-disregarded exhibition space, Mundy said.\n"We wanted to take a hand in the most dominant form of visual communication," Berger said in an earlier interview. "Billboards aren't available for exhibit to most people, yet they are seen by large numbers of people everyday." \n"Your Art Here" seeks to put art everywhere -- not just on billboards. In the beginning, the group's goal was to see art on any public space available -- from billboards to clothing and business cards to building walls and even "java jackets," the cardboard rings that protect coffee drinkers' fingers from the searing beverage inside the cup.\nDuring the past year and a half, YAH programs have involved mostly billboards. And "Billboard Generation II" -- the group's second annual youth program -- is no different. Dedicated to the National Youth Art Month, the program invites participants to answer the artistic question, "What would you like to tell your community?" This theme challenges students to interact directly with their community and to consider the impact their art can have on others, Mundy said. \nThrough this competition, the founders hope to "instill in the students the desire, knowledge, and confidence that will allow them to engage their community and world throughout their lives," YAH founders said in a statement.\nLast year, the competition was only open to Monroe County Community School Corporation students. This year, YAH received submissions ranging from individual projects to collaborations among whole classes. To run the Youth Art Month campaign smoothly, YAH hooked up with Indianapolis-based Primary Colors, a fellowship of Indianapolis artists bringing the arts to underprivileged and under-represented youth. The two groups collaborated to publicize the contest throughout Indianapolis, Mundy said.\n"It's harder because Indianapolis has 10 times as many students, if not more," Mundy said. "So we're trying to be as organized as possible with this thing."\nThe contest ended Feb. 2, and YAH founders are currently deciding on the nine winners. Once the winners are selected, their art will be magnified to the range of about 11 by 22 feet and displayed throughout March. The billboards will go up next week both in Indianapolis and Bloomington. The group has worked out a deal with Hoosier Outdoor Advertising, a Bloomington-based company that owns most billboards in Monroe County and the surrounding area. It receives a 15 percent discount off renting local billboards as they become available. According to the agency's Web site, www.hoosieroutdoor.com, a billboard in Bloomington costs $800 per month for a one-month lease, $760 per month for a six-month lease and $720 per month for a year-long lease.\nLast year's contest's theme, "War and/or Peace," reflected the escalating conflict in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan. Student entries included everything from pencil drawings of guns, tanks, flowers and doves to a painting depicting people of different races reaching up to hold a brightly-lit torch with a dove flying overhead. This submission, titled "Peace, Worth Striving For," by a 16-year-old student, won first place in the high school category. An eight-year-old student won the elementary/middle school category with his vision of war and peace -- scorched woods and guns on one hand and bright green spaces on the other.\nWhatever their selections, YAH founders want the art to get attention from the community.\n"We're looking for stuff that would get a response," Hill said. "It's not just art on a wall -- we want a piece that the viewers could interact with"
(02/17/04 4:30am)
Despite its reputation as the sound of wanderers, gypsy music proved the music of unity Saturday night. By the time "Les Yeux Noirs" got to the second song in their two-and-a-half-hour set, more people -- children, college students and older adults -- were dancing in the pit of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater than sitting in the seats.\n"Les Yeux Noirs" are renown on world music stages for their colorful, high-energy performances -- and Saturday was no exception.\n"Les Yeux Noirs" draws their name from a popular Russian gypsy romance "The Black Eyes." Founded by classically-trained violinist brothers, Eric and Olivier Slabiak nearly 10 years ago, "Les Yeux Noirs" mixes Roma and Yiddish music following the European transplantation of the American klezmer revival. \nThe band's repertoire ranges from traditional fast-paced gypsy tunes to "Yiddishe Mame," a classic Yiddish song that makes the heart wring with desperation and happiness at the same time. But the "Les Yeux Noirs" version of "Yiddishe Mame" keeps its lyrical beginnings even in its modernized, electrified interpretation.\nThe band's music broaches the question, "What is the relationship between Jews and Gypsies?" But "Les Yeux Noirs" effortlessly answers the question through their graceful arrangements -- Both were persecuted by the Nazis in WWII and others before and after that. Both groups have interacted and exchanged cultures throughout their histories. \nThe group's sound fuses violin, cello, accordion, electric guitar, cymbalum and electronic samples to create a unique sound stirring even the least musical of audience members.\nIn addition, "Les Yeux Noirs" unites musical traditions from Romania, Hungary, Russia, Armenia and France. The sextet gives a nod to Manouche (French gypsy) jazz as well.\nBoth the Slabiak brothers play lead violins, at once competing and joining for patches of songs. One of the most electrifying moments of the concert found the two brothers competing for audience attention. Eric Slabiak's bow ended up unraveling because of the virtuoso break-neck pace of the song.\nAnd even if some audience members didn't know how to dance to gypsy music, it didn't matter. The music infused the theater with a feel for a distinctive culture -- and the audience felt it. "Les Yeux Noirs" came back onto the stage for three encores before the audience finally allowed them a break. \nAs people trickled out of the theater, they were humming the melodies and dancing to the rhythm still ringing in their ears. \nAnd the spirit of unity and harmony that permeated the music throughout the concert wafted in the air.
(09/18/03 6:01am)
A new dean of graduate studies has been named. \nJohn T. Slattery, associate dean for academic programs at the Graduate School of the University of Washington in Seattle, will succeed Dean George Walker, University officials announced Wednesday.\nA professor of pharmaceutics who gained his Ph.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo, Slattery has served as associate dean at Washington for the past five years. During that time, he gained the respect and admiration of many, said Augustine McCaffery, assistant to the dean and manager for academic programs.\n"Coming from a science background, he was able to bridge his knowledge with all aspects of the graduate school, which run the gamut from arts and humanities to social and physical sciences," McCaffery said. "His ability to collaborate with various faculty in different programs led to resolving any issues that might have arisen."\nIn his previous position, graduate program review was one of Slattery's primary responsibilities. He also worked with a graduate school council made up of faculty on Washington's Seattle campus. This responsibility required Slattery to build a working rapport with the university community.\n"His leaving here is a loss for us," McCaffery said. " ... And not only for the graduate school but for the broader university community as well."\nAs associate dean, Slattery also worked with faculty and students on two satellite campuses developing closer relationships with them, McCaffery said. \nAt IU, he will act as the administrative and academic leader of the graduate school, overseeing research and scholarship across eight IU campuses. IU has 19,300 graduate students among its 98,000 students on eight campuses. Slattery will report to IU Vice President for Research Michael McRobbie.\n"John Slattery is aware of and will bring to bear the nation's best practices in graduate education," McRobbie said in a statement. "He will represent the University's graduate programs to external audiences and funding sources in ways that bring benefit to students and programs."\nAt Washington, Slattery taught while also performing his administrative duties. In recent years, he primarily taught graduate level courses dealing with oncology, pathophysiology and drug metabolism. Slattery is also a member of the University of Washington Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.\n"John's an engaging, dynamic individual," said professor Ken Thummel, who had Slattery as a graduate student 25 years ago. "The new appointment is a very natural tribute and evaluation of his skills and expertise."\nSlattery, whose wife Judy is a math teacher, likes to be involved not only in the university's educational opportunities, but also those in the community.\n"He is passionate about research and education," Thummel said. "He spent a lot of time getting involved in science education in the local community."\nWith all of his diverse interests, Thummel said he doesn't think moving to Bloomington will be a hard adjustment for Slattery. \n"He's always engaged in some kind of activity," Thummel said. "This isn't a terrible transition. As long as he finds a lake and a sail boat, he'll enjoy it."\nAlthough Slattery's appointment is currently pending the approval by the IU board of trustees, there are no plans to discuss this matter at today's board meeting.\nSlattery could not be reached for comment Wednesday.\n-- Contact staff writer Jane Charney at echarney@indiana.edu.
(09/12/03 6:26am)
At the Amethyst House, even the 12-step program to recovery can be the theme of a dance performance. The audience at the fourth annual Dance Performance and Celebrity Art Auction will see exactly that: "Sanctuary" is an original dance production by the Indiana Dance Theatre that draws on the themes of the recovery program used by Amethyst House addiction technicians.\nAmethyst House, Inc. is a not-for-profit United Way agency that provides high-quality structured living environments, treatment and recovery services to individuals with addictive behaviors, said Jana Hocker, the organization's associate director. \nAccording to its Web site, Amethyst House operates three transitional houses in Bloomington: a men's halfway program serving 19 men, a men's 3/4-way program serving four men, and a women's halfway program serving 11 women and dependent children. Amethyst House also operates outpatient programs in both Bloomington and Evansville.\nAll proceeds from the benefit will go toward rebuilding the Men's House, which was destroyed by fire in February 2002. Although it partially reopened in April 2003, much still needs to be done for the house to fully cater to the needs of those recovering from addictions, Hocker said.\nLast year's proceeds also went toward rebuilding the Men's House. \nThe dance performance was choreographed by Indiana Dance Theatre founder and former Amethyst House board member Diana Buzzell, who came up with the idea of a benefit four years ago.\n"What Diane did is choreograph a theater dance that shows the joy and hope of recovery from addictions," Hocker said.\nThe performance, which features five Amethyst House alum, begins at 8 p.m. at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, 114 E. Kirkwood Ave.\nBidders at the silent auction will have a choice of pottery, watercolors, oil paintings, photography or jewelry. The auction begins at 7 p.m. with the closing bid taken at 9:30 p.m.\nBill and Mary Jo Benedict, owners of local paint-your-own-pottery studio "The Latest Glaze," donated 25 pieces of pottery for the auction.\nThe Benedicts have been helping out with the auction for the past four years. They donate the unglazed, unpainted pottery, while the Amethyst House invites local celebrities to paint the plates, mugs, pots and tiles. IU-Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm, Dean of Students Richard McKaig and professors are among the artists who donated their time for the event.\nMcKaig has participated in the auction for two years.\n"I do it because its fun and I do it because its a good cause," McKaig said. \n"Community involvement, specifically in recovery from addictions and helping other people dealing with addictions, is important in the community rather than just relying on the justice system or the police," said Brian Garvey, a senior graphic designer at the IU Art Museum who painted a pot for the auction. "A friend of mine is on the Amethyst House board and asked me to do this. I know a lot of people involved in the organization as well as some who are in recovery."\nGarvey's pot, a contemporary version of a Greek red-on-black clay pot, depicts three muses of the day: A rock 'n roll guitarist, a deity on roller skates and a man jogging with his dog. Although the pot does not have any specific connection to recovering from addiction, Garvey said he hopes it brings some money to the Amethyst House cause.\nThe staff also recruited local and regional artists to donate their artwork to the auction. In the past years, bids began at $50 and went up to $400, Hocker said. \n"Let's face it -- funding is hard to come by," Garvey said. "Anything we can do to help each other is great."\nFor more information, visit www.bloomington.in.us/~amethyst.\n-- Contact Arts editor Jane Charney at echarney@indiana.edu.
(09/10/03 5:05am)
IU graduate Hoo-Ryoung Hwang has been an apprentice at the Washington Opera for the past two years. But her big break came only recently. \nOn Sept. 6 -- the opening night for "Die Fledermaus" -- soprano Maki Mori, who normally sang the part of Adele in the opera, couldn't perform, said Jennifer Johnson, public relations associate for the Washington Opera. Hwang was asked to step in for the first three performances of the opera. Mori will return for the three closing performances.\n"It's pretty rare for this to happen," Johnson said in a telephone interview. "Hoo wasn't scheduled to sing in the opera. She was covering the role, but this shows that our young artists are so well prepared, and can step in like this and sing throughout the performances."\nHwang, a former student of IU voice professor Costanza Cuccaro, is one of the fellows in the Young Artist Program of the Americas. \n"After college, some students are still too young and not ready to start their careers right away," Cuccaro explained. "Apprenticeship programs like the one at the Washington Opera are an opportunity for a young artist to spend a few years fine-tuning language and voice skills."\nHwang, who received an Artist's Diploma from IU in 2001, serves as back up for several roles in Johann Strauss Jr.'s "Die Fledermaus" and was covering the role of Adele, the coquettish and mischievous maid to the opera's main heroine. \nHwang, 31, made her Washington Opera debut as a Cretan Girl in "Idomeneo" and covered Ilia in "Idomeneo" and Zerlina in "Don Giovanni." The Seoul, South Korea, native also sang the parts of Mimi in IU's production of "La Boheme," Susanna in IU's "The Marriage of Figaro" and performed the role of Ellen in "Lakme" this summer with the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C.\n"Giving the role to one of their apprentices really speaks well about the Washington Opera," Cuccaro said. "Hoo-Ryoung must have proved to them that the apprenticeship program is really working. The company must really put faith into its apprentices because they could have asked for a professional singer from New York."\nCuccaro said that during her time at IU, Hwang was a dedicated student who always strove to improve her voice. Hwang also returns to IU often for additional classes, constantly working on her voice.\n"She is an ideal student, one of the hardest working I've ever taught," Cuccaro said. \nAs an apprentice at the Washington Opera, Hwang studies under the direction of Placido Domingo and a host of other musical celebrities from around the world. \nAccording to the Washington Opera Web site, www.dc-opera.org, the program is designed for singers on the verge of international careers and includes workshops with world-renowned singers, directors and coaches who work with the Young Artists to guide them in their transition from singer to artist and help them build long-lasting, healthy careers. In a given year, more than 50 singers from around the world audition for this program. Hwang originally came to the Washington Opera as a summer intern and was later invited to stay as an apprentice, said Katherine Burgun, spokesperson for the IU School of Music.\n"Hoo-Ryoung is a high soprano, but her voice is very creamy," Cuccaro said. "She is a very good actress, very conscientious about technique."\n-- Contact Arts Editor Jane Charney at echarney@indiana.edu.
(09/03/03 5:06am)
An Islamic school in Bloomington is ahead of a former pop star's dream to open religious schools in American Muslim communities. \nCat Stevens, who converted to Islam in 1977 and now calls himself Yusuf Islam, urged Muslim communities Sunday to open religious-based schools. Stevens opened one of the first Islamic schools in London in 1983. \n"Once a Muslim school is established, it indicates the arrival of the community in that place," Stevens said at the Islamic Society of North America. \nMuslim Student Union president Nathan Ainslie has been a volunteer at the weekend Islamic school in Bloomington for the past two years. Students in grade school study Islamic history, religious rites and Arabic. The weekend school was started soon after the Islamic Center of Bloomington was built 10 years ago. \n"The school is about teaching self-respect and self-esteem," Ainslie said. "We teach about God and religion in a general sense, using universal values that will make the kids grow into good Muslim adults."\nThe school's activities include demonstrations and simulations of Muslim rites of passage such as the pilgrimage to Mecca every Muslim must make at least once during his or her life. The school also teaches its charges to uphold the five pillars of Islam: faith, prayer, Zakat (one's covenant with Allah), pilgrimage and the fast. \nThe school is part of a national network of more than 150 similar weekend Islamic schools, according to the Islamic Society of North America's Web site www.isna.net.\nThe weekend program has been steadily growing in the past six years. The school now counts a full set of textbooks grades K-12 as one of its most valuable resources. Community members donate time and money to the school to ensure Muslim children receive religious education in addition to the secular training they receive in public schools, Ainslie said. \nLike Stevens, some area Muslim parents believe the modern culture so prominent in public schools distract Muslims from their religion. Ainslie said many community members see the need for a full-time private Islamic school, giving their children the kind of education they received.\n"Since Muslims are a religious minority, it's important for these kids to feel like they are a part of the community from an early age," the senior computer science major said. "Most likely, they're the only Muslim kid in their classroom. If Islam is reinforced from a young age, you begin to identify with it. You can proudly say: 'I'm a Muslim. This is my identity.'"\nIndianapolis native Ainslie discovered Islam in his last year of high school. At the time, a girlfriend invited him to learn about Islam to understand her better. He read the English interpretation of the Quran and realized that he was reading what he already believed in. But strongly identifying with Islam did not mean instant lifestyle changes. Over the past four years, Ainslie gradually reached a better understanding of himself, but the last two years have been crucial in accepting his new lifestyle.\n"You learn more when you teach someone else rather than being taught," Ainslie said. "I never had a Muslim male role model growing up. It's very interesting to see the young kids being taught. For me it was different because I basically taught myself."\nAs someone who converted to Islam instead of being born into it, Ainslie hasn't experienced prejudice. In fact, Bloomington has been the perfect place to discover the real meaning of Islam, Ainslie said. His experiences here have been driven by the diversity of the community, which is constantly fueled by the arrival of new students and new families.\n"As a convert, the experience of teaching Muslim children has been eye-opening," Ainslie said. "It's interesting to see what it's like to grow up Muslim."\n-- The Associated Press contributed to this story. Contact Arts editor Jane Charney at echarney@indiana.edu.
(09/03/03 4:27am)
An Islamic school in Bloomington is ahead of a former pop star's dream to open religious schools in American Muslim communities. \nCat Stevens, who converted to Islam in 1977 and now calls himself Yusuf Islam, urged Muslim communities Sunday to open religious-based schools. Stevens opened one of the first Islamic schools in London in 1983. \n"Once a Muslim school is established, it indicates the arrival of the community in that place," Stevens said at the Islamic Society of North America. \nMuslim Student Union president Nathan Ainslie has been a volunteer at the weekend Islamic school in Bloomington for the past two years. Students in grade school study Islamic history, religious rites and Arabic. The weekend school was started soon after the Islamic Center of Bloomington was built 10 years ago. \n"The school is about teaching self-respect and self-esteem," Ainslie said. "We teach about God and religion in a general sense, using universal values that will make the kids grow into good Muslim adults."\nThe school's activities include demonstrations and simulations of Muslim rites of passage such as the pilgrimage to Mecca every Muslim must make at least once during his or her life. The school also teaches its charges to uphold the five pillars of Islam: faith, prayer, Zakat (one's covenant with Allah), pilgrimage and the fast. \nThe school is part of a national network of more than 150 similar weekend Islamic schools, according to the Islamic Society of North America's Web site www.isna.net.\nThe weekend program has been steadily growing in the past six years. The school now counts a full set of textbooks grades K-12 as one of its most valuable resources. Community members donate time and money to the school to ensure Muslim children receive religious education in addition to the secular training they receive in public schools, Ainslie said. \nLike Stevens, some area Muslim parents believe the modern culture so prominent in public schools distract Muslims from their religion. Ainslie said many community members see the need for a full-time private Islamic school, giving their children the kind of education they received.\n"Since Muslims are a religious minority, it's important for these kids to feel like they are a part of the community from an early age," the senior computer science major said. "Most likely, they're the only Muslim kid in their classroom. If Islam is reinforced from a young age, you begin to identify with it. You can proudly say: 'I'm a Muslim. This is my identity.'"\nIndianapolis native Ainslie discovered Islam in his last year of high school. At the time, a girlfriend invited him to learn about Islam to understand her better. He read the English interpretation of the Quran and realized that he was reading what he already believed in. But strongly identifying with Islam did not mean instant lifestyle changes. Over the past four years, Ainslie gradually reached a better understanding of himself, but the last two years have been crucial in accepting his new lifestyle.\n"You learn more when you teach someone else rather than being taught," Ainslie said. "I never had a Muslim male role model growing up. It's very interesting to see the young kids being taught. For me it was different because I basically taught myself."\nAs someone who converted to Islam instead of being born into it, Ainslie hasn't experienced prejudice. In fact, Bloomington has been the perfect place to discover the real meaning of Islam, Ainslie said. His experiences here have been driven by the diversity of the community, which is constantly fueled by the arrival of new students and new families.\n"As a convert, the experience of teaching Muslim children has been eye-opening," Ainslie said. "It's interesting to see what it's like to grow up Muslim."\n-- The Associated Press contributed to this story. Contact Arts editor Jane Charney at echarney@indiana.edu.
(09/01/03 5:00am)
Something clicked in Michael Mettler in 1987 when he visited the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. He came home and began painting -- landscapes mostly.\nAn easy smile settled on his face as he talked about his transformation Saturday. After nearly 13 years of painting, Mettler said he was "ambushed by the elements" in Fort Wayne's Swinney Park and took a series of photographs that turned his attention from painting to the art of capturing the moment in a flash. \n"Photography brings a rush of energy and exhilarating explosion of image," the Fort Wayne native said. "The advantage of photography is the multiplicity of creative output."\nThe tall, bespectacled Mettler was among more than 100 artists who brought their work to the Fourth Street Festival Saturday and Sunday.\nCreations in glass, wood, pewter, stone and wood attracted the attention of visitors at the showcase. Seasoned professionals and artists just starting out presented their wares as IU students and Bloomington residents roamed the festival's four blocks. \nThe festival was created in 1977 by area artists and craftspeople to display southern Indiana talent. Since then, the fair has grown to include artists from all over the country.\nFor Mettler, this festival is among four or five he usually attends during the year -- he works full time as a quality control manager for a small business.\nHe calls himself a "shaman photographer" because of the intertwining of emotions in his art.\n"Instead of analyzing or following an intellectual path to action, the individual surrenders to the soul," Mettler said.\nAnd it is his inner world that yearns to express itself through photography. He has mostly stopped painting and only photographs scenes that speak to his soul and eyes. Mettler, who mainly photographs natural landscapes, seeks intimacy with nature through his art, and he said the only way to do that is to be a student of one's consciousness.\n"The world of the spirit is amplified in my photographs," Mettler said. "Because I started out as a painter, I see everything around me through a painter's eyes." \nWorking with challenges\nConstance Hall thrives on challenges. When she saw glassblowers working in a studio, she decided it looked dangerous and hard enough for her to learn. Mostly, she learned by "making really awful stuff," she said. \nTwenty years and more than a thousand pieces later, Hall was on hand to present her vases, plates, spoonrests, glasses and glass flowers. \nShe said her most popular creation -- the wishing stars -- came about accidentally. A small manual on usage -- that Hall wrote in about two minutes -- accompanies the different colored shapes. One needs only to hold the star and make sure to regularly recharge with star light. Hall said some people believe in the power of the stars. Others simply buy them for their visual appeal. \n"I just started with a shape, and they evolved into what they are," Hall said. "You can start out with a definite shape, but before you know it, it's something completely different."\nHall said her life centers around her art. And because she works for herself, she benefits from setting her own hours and not having anyone tell her what to do.\n"When you work for yourself, you have to be self-motivated or you wouldn't survive," Hall said. "I don't take Sundays or holidays off. I have to make a living."\nGlass artists sees possibilities\nEric Nimberger has been an artist all his life, one way or another. Even while he worked in Chicago as an industrial designer, he tried to infuse his life with the themes present in classic art: the play of lights and darks, the use of color. \nHis artistic career began as a sculptor. He worked with diverse media, including clay, bronze, marble, and even working with semi-precious stones. But it was glass-blowing that he settled on after years of working with other materials.\nFor Nimberger, glass is nimble enough to shape. It's fragile and sturdy at the same time. His creations -- glass fish and other animals on curved metal rods -- evolved as a side project. He noticed that vases can easily break and paperweights get dirty quickly. Customers would return his creations if they broke, and he accumulated a houseful of glass shards. In the end, he began to put broken vases upside-down on rods in his garden. Then, he had an epiphany. He saw a possibility in his garden decorations.\n"I feel like I'm doing something that people are benefitting from more than in my days in Chicago," the Athens, Ohio, resident said. "With art, you have to exercise expertise and restraint at the same time. You have to know when you're producing quality items of beauty. Art isn't something haphazard."\nHis creations sell for as much as $1,500 for the bigger pieces or as little as $15 for the small, shapeless ornaments. Even the weekend's overcast skies couldn't dim the colorful light the pieces projected.\nWhen Nimberger talks about his work, his voice carries a twinge of regret -- up to four pieces get stolen from him during the year. He said it's because their size lends itself to being put in a purse or under a jacket.\nBut he doesn't despair. As an artist, he benefits from the challenges life has presented him.\n"An artist needs an inward drive to survive in this dog-eat-dog world," he said. "In Chicago, I felt as if I was in a giant frying pan, so I got out of it before it fried me."\n-- Contact arts editor Jane Charney at echarney@indiana.edu.
(08/29/03 5:11am)
Brent Wallarab was still in high school when he first heard a live jazz performance. He had been playing in the school's band, but jazz wasn't something the orchestra performed. His life-long love affair with jazz began with just one beat of that mesmerizing melody.\nIt is this love that brings Wallarab and fellow jazz musicians of the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra to the Buskirk-Chumley Theater tonight. As part of the Second Annual Hoagy Carmichael Festival, the BWJO will perform a suite in three movements which Wallarab composed specifically for the event.\nThe festival was created in 2002 to honor Bloomington's legendary son. \nThis year, the festival expands to focus on music made at Gennett Recording Studios in Richmond, Ind., where many Indiana jazz musicians got their start, including Carmichael. \n"If you have an annual festival devoted to just one person, you're going to run out of material pretty soon," Wallarab, who plays lead trombone in the orchestra, said. "Hoagy and Gennett have a very strong connection."\nThe BWJO seeks to explore this connection in its performances. Wallarab's new composition uses the music of Carmichael, Louis Armstrong, Bix Biederbeck and Jelly Roll Morton, drawing upon the themes of their early recordings at Gennett, which was the premier jazz recording studio in the first quarter of the 20th century.\nThe BWJO is a 17-piece Indianapolis-based non-profit jazz ensemble that regularly performs at the Jazz Kitchen. Today, the orchestra is in its third official performance season, said Ben Foley, the orchestra's board president. \n"As an ensemble, our vision of jazz is high art that's very approachable, but with a sense of elegance," said Mark Buselli, BWJO's co-director, who also received a master's degree in jazz studies from IU.\nBWJO was formed in 1994 in Bloomington, and the orchestra moved to Indianapolis after its founders graduated from IU. But Bloomington remains a vital part in its development -- several of BWJO's musicians are students and professors at IU. \nThe orchestra's philosophy centers on fusing traditional with the contemporary and finding new interpretations of classics.\n"Change is the key word for life today," Buselli, who plays lead trumpet, said. "I think people who improvise and learn how to improvise have a greater time in life because they know how to change and how to adapt to those changes."\nIn this way, they follow Carmichael's lead, who believed in creating new arrangements and never repeating himself in his compositions. In fact, his spirit led the orchestra to release a CD of Hoagy Carmichael's music, "Heart & Soul," in January, according to BWJO's Web site.\n"One of the orchestra's missions is to continue the long tradition of innovative creative jazz that has always come out of Indiana," Wallarab said. "We're taking classical Indiana jazz and giving it a new life through contemporary interpretation."\nHe said he believes Bloomington, more so than any other place in Indiana, has been a hotbed of forward-thinking musicianship throughout the 20th century. Indiana itself has been home to jazz greats including Pookie Johnson, Al Cobine, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Coe and Mary Moss. \n"It's great that Bloomington embraces contemporary interpretations, instead of dwelling on old-time classics," he said. \nThis determination to infuse old-time music with a touch of contemporary jazz has led the orchestra to create an educational partnership with the Indianapolis Public School System. The orchestra had already established itself as an educational entity after leading workshops and teaching summer camp, but this program comes on the heels of a national effort to revive music education in America's schools. \n"If you want to hear the old-time arrangement, just stay home and listen to the records," he said. "When I see students at live music events, they're excited. They're buzzing like bees because they've seen and heard something exciting, something they can't get on TV."\n-- Contact arts editor Jane Charney at echarney@indiana.edu.
(04/29/03 5:24am)
Friday, after more than six years of living in the United States, my parents and I, along with 55 others truly became American citizens. \nThe naturalization ceremony gave me the right to vote, which is the most significant privilege one receives as a U.S. citizen. The ceremony was brief -- the judge's speech, the oath of naturalization and the pledge of allegiance took at most 20 minutes. We spent much more on the process of checking in, handing in the documents we no longer needed -- green cards and re-entry permits. \nAccording to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration (formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Services), during the first 10 months of fiscal year 2002 the number of applications for naturalization increased by 58 percent, and 454,069 applicants took the oath of citizenship. \nAs the judge told us, the naturalization ceremony was the final step in our journey to U.S. citizenship. \nThe journey was a long one. \nSoon after Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet government, the borders opened to let more people leave. The first wave of a mass exodus took place. But not everyone had the economic opportunities to leave or the connections to make life in a new country easier. My father was one of these less fortunate. He kept applying for green cards year after year. My dad wanted his children to have a new life. And he didn't think it was possible even in "democratic" Russia.\nFinally, almost 10 years after he first applied, the American Embassy in Moscow invited my family for an interview on April 17, 1996. Eight months later, we arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio, green cards in hand and ready for a new life. \nIn actuality, we weren't ready. At 14, my life was torn apart -- my friends, my relatives and everything I had ever known were left behind. I was forced to speak this strange language in school, with bizarre spelling and sounds. But my family persevered. The United States is a country of immigrants, which makes it so attractive to people like us.\nWhen we had lived in the United States for five years, we applied for citizenship. At 12 pages, form N-400 has to be the longest application in the world. We sent in our applications in December 2001 when the government tightened the borders and paid closer attention to naturalization applicants than previously as one of the direct effects of Sept. 11. But we were hopeful -- no one in my family had committed a crime beyond "forgetting" about the speed limit. \nRequirements for naturalization include: a period of continuous residence and physical presence in the United States, an ability to read, write and speak English, knowledge and understanding of U.S. history and government, good moral character and attachment to the principles of the U.S. Constitution.\nAfter our applications were reviewed in Omaha, Neb., the bureau required us to submit fingerprints in August 2002. The prints are run through an FBI terrorist database to make sure that applicants aren't terrorists. In March 2003, we received invitations for interviews with an immigration officer. We had to pass a 10-question test on the history and law of the U.S. \nI haven't forgotten life in Russia. My parents had it much harder than my sister, my brother and I did. They experienced the hungry years, the deficits and being Jewish in an anti-semitic state. Still, Russia represents my past and my childhood, and I want to go visit. With an American passport, it's much easier -- the blue cover has America's powerful reputation behind it. \nBecoming a citizen wasn't emotional. Instead, it was empowering. Because I wasn't born here I can't become the first female president of the United States, but I can take an active part in the choices this country makes. And that's enough for me. For now.
(04/29/03 4:33am)
Winner of four 1996 Tony Awards, "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk" will play at 8 p.m. tonight and Wednesday at the IU Auditorium. \nThe show uses tap dance to illustrate and celebrate the history of African-Americans. It is a journey through the colonial era, the Civil War and the present using tap, poetry, lighting, song and percussion. \n"The show is timeless," said Savion Glover, the show's creator. "The show is a big chunk of history you can't get anywhere else."\nDirected by George C. Wolfe and choreographed by Glover, both of whom won Tony Awards for their work in the show, the musical started as a workshop during the summer of 1995 at the Public Theater in New York City. In April of 1996, the show transferred to Broadway where it was widely acclaimed by critics and audiences. On Broadway, the musical received nine Tony Award nominations. \n"I wanted to see how tap could not just tell stories, but how it could really convey really complicated emotion," Wolfe said in a 1996 interview in the "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk" Commemorative Journal. "With this show, I wanted to see how we could use tap to convey desires and drives -- how it could become a source of delight, intensity, rage or power."\nGlover did not participate in the first tour, but returned to the show in the lead role for the current tour, which began in August 2002 in Atlanta. Glover said the show not only fuels the dancers' creativity, but also inspires the audience. "Noise/Funk" is not only entertaining but also educational, providing an insight into the black experience in America and the history of tap as a dance form, he said.\n"We're allowing the audience to see what they haven't seen before -- the early birth of the artform," Glover said. "The show allows the audience to experience it in an educational way."\nAccording to the show's Web site, Glover won the 1996 Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for choreography, two Obie Awards and two Fred Astaire Awards for his performance, as well as the 1996 Dance Magazine Choreog-rapher of the Year Award. He made his Broadway debut at age 12 starring in "The Tap Dance Kid." Additional Broadway credits include "Black and Blue and Jelly's Last Jam," co-starring Gregory Hines. Glover made his film debut at age 13 in "Tap" with Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr.\nTickets for the show are available at the IU Auditorium box office or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets range from $17 to $37 for IU students with a valid ID and from $32 to $57 for the general public. For more information, call 855-1103.
(04/24/03 5:23am)
Dave Hurst has kept a file of thank you notes close to his desk for the past 11 years. But they aren't for scholarship recommendations, although he has written his share. The file makes for a remarkable history album of IU's development. The thank you notes are from faculty, staff, students and parents writing to thank Hurst and his colleagues for a beautiful campus.\nAs Campus Division Manager, Hurst is part of an on-going effort to keep the campus aesthetically pleasing to the eyes of visitors and residents. \nIn 1991, Thomas Gaines compiled a list of 100 campuses and evaluated them for urban space, the quality of architecture, landscaping and overall visual and physical appeal. IU was fifth on the list only after Stanford, Princeton, Wellesley and Colorado universities.\nBut keeping the campus beautiful is not the only task for the Campus Division.\n"We're in charge of all campus grounds except for the athletic facilities," Hurst said.\nWhatever happens on campus, the division knows. \nDIVIDE AND CONQUER\nThe IU campus spans more than 2,000 acres, with a crew of 35 to 50 groundskeepers concentrating on a central 300 acres that have become one of IU's many claims to fame. Hurst said the crews used to consist of around 60 to 65 people. But budget cuts and the 24-7 aspect of the job have diminished the number of crew members, leaving the remaining crews covering a large amount of acreage.\n"We could use more people, but we make do," Hurst said. "Every department on campus feels that way, I think."\nHurst and his colleagues have divided the campus into four quadrants. Each quadrant has its own crew to take care of planting, cleaning, mowing and repairs. In addition, a crew of certified arborists also calls Campus Division home. A construction crew to take care of all outdoor construction and a plant nursery crew to take care of the seedlings complete the roster. \nThe crews take care of trees: removing dry branches and fallen trees as well as planting new ones.\nEach grounds crew is equipped to deal with a diverse range of situations -- from planting flowers and setting up hanging baskets to cleaning up snow, fallen trees and ice. \n"We have the equipment a small town this size would have," Hurst said. "We can deal with everything that comes our way."\nThe crews also cooperate with other divisions of the department of the Physical Plant. If the Utilities Division needs to dig, the Campus Division has the equipment -- a large backhoe. Campus buildings managers also call on the Campus Division in time of need -- to help install window panes on top floors, build a new garden around the building or help clean up ice on the roofs. \nThe Division also helps preserve campus memory -- Hurst and his colleagues built a plaza honoring Herman B Wells between Owen and Maxwell Halls in 2000. \nFLOWERS AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE\nGroundskeepers began planting annual flowers Monday. First, the crews are concentrating on the upcoming commencement ceremonies -- planting flowers around Memorial Stadium, the Indiana Memorial Union and other prominent places on campus. Commencement begins a nearly six-week planting season that includes planting flowers that will last through early fall. \n"We want to make sure the campus looks as nice as possible for commencement," Hurst said. \nAround the campus, tulips and daffodils have been in full bloom, but they are dying out right now. The tulips have been in the ground since Thanksgiving. The bulbs are genetically altered so three varieties of tulips look exactly the same but grow differently. Early, middle and late-bloom tulips mix to create a constant growth of new flowers during most of April. \nThe flowers now at the nursery on the north side of campus are ready to be planted. It takes anywhere from four to six weeks to plant more than 30,000 annuals, including vinca, salvia, wave petunias, pansies and hanging baskets of geraniums. The color scheme changes, but the flowers have remained the same throughout the past several years, said nursery supervisor Carl Scott. This summer's color scheme includes a range of red and cream tones to go along with IU's recent change in school colors. The pansies add a touch of blue and yellow to the red tulips. \n"We like to stay with what everybody likes," Scott said. "These varieties work well for the conditions we have."\nIn the fall, the work isn't done. In fact, it's just beginning. Crews will have to till the tulip beds to prepare them for the Thanksgiving bulb planting. And mums that have been growing near the greenhouses will have to be planted. These will last through the early frost. \nWORKING FOR THE STUDENTS \nTwo weeks before the students come back, crews will be back on campus working hard to make it even more attractive to students and parents. \nAfter the summer, students will see some changes on campus. Hurst said crews are in the process of rebuilding the sunken garden on the southeastern side of the IMU, facing the Chemistry building. The garden will be ready for the fall with flowers adorning the corner of the Union. Hurst said groundskeepers will plant some wave petunias, which will wind onto the Union wall and maybe even survive the winter. \nWATER, AIR, SOIL … AND TRASH?\nAs Mark Twain once said, Indiana weather changes every 10 minutes. Campus Division must learn to cope with the diverse effects of weather -- whether dry and humid or cold and windy. The trained gardeners can identify problem areas. \nGetting rid of weeds and watering the plants in the summer are among the top priorities for the season. \n"We've created our own monster," Hurst said. "Water and fertilizer make weeds grow too."\nWeed whipping is the priority task in the summer. Hurst's division even hires some students who help with the task. Hurst said the summer employees like the work because it's outside. \nBecause the campus isn't as populated and busy in the summer, Campus Division employees have a better chance to take care of problematic areas as they appear. \nPlant and soil disease is another threat to the beauty of the campus. This year, the soil in the shipment of geraniums was suspected of having disease. Nursery workers quarantined the entire shipment for two weeks to make sure the soil was not contaminated. \nBut if you ask Hurst, the Campus Division manager, the biggest challenge to his job isn't the weeds, the inclement weather or budget cuts. He says his biggest challenge is the trails of trash that lead to the residence hall food courts. With students on the go, Hurst said he sees a tendency not to dispose of trash properly. \nOn the other hand, taking care of the campus has been a rewarding experience for Hurst and his colleagues. Despite the occasional middle-of-the-night phone call asking to remove a fallen branch or clean up snow, the thank you notes Hurst keeps remind him and his colleagues of the reason they work so hard.\n"It's very gratifying for me to know that our guys have kept this campus so beautiful," Hurst said. "I'm very proud of keeping the campus beautiful for all occasions"