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(02/28/08 3:45am)
More than ever in recent memory, IU needs a student government that really cares about its job. \nAs a member of the Student Body Supreme Court for three of my four years at IU, I have witnessed annual iterations of IUSA from a unique vantage point. Unfortunately, the view is not always pretty.\nThe past two years have seen a clear decline in engagement in student government at IU. In 2006-07, arguably the biggest accomplishment of IUSA Congress and executives was their installation of Ruckus, a music downloading service whose contribution to student life here has been tenuous at best. Then, in spring 2007, just one ticket ventured for office – leading the IUSA Elections Commission to cancel executive elections altogether. \nThus, the current IUSA administration was installed without popular vote. This situation arrived on the heels of Bloomington undergraduates’ exclusion from the search for a new IU president last year (although the outcome was, quite fortunately given the circumstances, a student-friendly one).\nThroughout 2007-2008, IUSA Congress has rarely made quorum. And this spring, the Court has already been called upon to help maintain the integrity and openness of the IUSA elections process. \nIUSA, like the U.S. government, is comprised of three separate branches, each of which places checks and balances on the others. The Supreme Court is the judicial branch of IUSA. The Court re-hears judicial board cases that have been appealed, acting as student representatives. We hold conferences with campus judicial boards and interact regularly with the rest of IUSA. Court members also serve on student-advisory boards all over campus. \nWe operate on the principle that those who are interested in effecting positive change on our campus should have every reasonable opportunity to do so – and we seek to provide one of many venues for such change. That philosophy is why, without veering into judicial activism, we encourage IUSA as a whole to operate in the best interest of the student body they represent. In a similar vein, our role in hearing appeals is to ensure representation of students. If we find a student responsible for charges brought against him or her by the University, we assign sanctions for the purpose of education, not punishment.\nThe Court, like the other branches, has the potential to impact the entire campus community – if we are motivated enough. The Court is currently accepting applications from all majors for associate justice positions for the 2008-09 school year. Applications are available in the IUSA office (Indiana Memorial Union 387), or at www.indiana.edu/~court. Applications are due at 5 p.m., March 7 in the IUSA office or via e-mail to court@indiana.edu.\nI urge you to demonstrate concern for campus issues and our student government. If you want your student fees spent differently, if you wish you could give the administration a piece of your mind, if you think better representation is not an unrealistic goal, do something about it. Getting involved in a branch of IUSA (or, at the very least, voting) has great potential for impact. And it is no one’s task but our own.
(03/03/06 4:36am)
According to the most recent State of the Union Address, one of President Bush's main goals for his second term is to break the dependency on foreign -- especially Middle Eastern -- oil.\nWhile Bush re-emphasized this week that the nation's security, environment and economy would benefit from accomplishing that goal, IU professors stressed that reducing the flow of oil from the Middle East would be just one of many steps necessary to solve the nation's energy crisis. \nThe country depends on imports for approximately 60 percent of the oil it uses, said Evan Ringquist, a professor for the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. However, he said, the United States is by no means dependent upon oil imported from the Middle East. The top five oil suppliers to the United States today are Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria. \n"Most Americans have a mistaken impression of where we get our foreign oil," he said. "Reducing our dependence on Middle Eastern oil would be easy. Reducing dependence on all foreign oil -- now, that's hard to do." \nThe president's recent comments allude to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Ringquist said. The legislation, passed last August, allocated $4.8 billion for the development of clean-coal technology, as well as more than $2 billion over five fiscal years for researching hydrogen power. \nUnder Bush's new strategy, the administration is asking Congress for a "down payment" -- $250 million for the next fiscal year -- to jump-start the decade-long research program into commercial recycling of nuclear fuel, according to the Associated Press. Bush's proposal champions selling reactors and nuclear fuel to developing nations, who would then be required to return used fuel for recycling. \nRemarks this week echo statements Bush made in his State of the Union address, when he promoted the Advanced Energy Initiative -- a plan to "dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past." Specifically, he said he aimed to replace 75 percent of U.S. oil imports from the Middle East over the next 19 years by stepping up research spending. \nHowever, Ringquist said, while Bush's emphasis on developing clean coal and renewing interest in nuclear technology hold promise for more efficient ways to generate electricity, those two initiatives are largely unrelated to foreign oil dependency. \n"You have to follow the money, not the rhetoric," he said. "Both of these methods generate electricity, and we use oil for transportation. We don't burn any Middle Eastern oil to generate electricity." \nPolitical science professor William Thompson said he doubted the administration's plans would affect oil use, at least in the short run. \n"Is the Bush initiative serious? I don't think so," he said. "To really promote development of alternative sources of energy, we would have to encourage a shift from gas by doing something about the price of gasoline, taxing it like the Europeans do. I don't think we'll be doing that anytime soon." \nRingquist said he believes the greatest potential to reduce oil dependency lies in some of Bush's "less flashy" proposals. Increased production of biofuels such as ethanol, he said, would meet that goal and could be implemented without drastic changes to current infrastructure or vehicles. He also mentioned the Energy Policy Act's call to drill for oil on the outer continental shelf, which he said has been off-limits since the 1980s for fear of oil spills. \nThe danger of major environmental damage because of drilling is very low, Ringquist said, because of the improved technology and track record of off-shore rigs today. "And naturally, if we're producing more oil at home, we will be less dependent on its import," he said. \nBoth Thompson and Ringquist added that as worldwide supply of nonrenewable fossil fuels diminishes -- especially with increased demand from burgeoning economies such as China and India -- reducing U.S. demand for oil will become progressively more important. \n"If I were the president's press secretary, I would say, 'Well, yes, Dr. Ringquist, you're right -- we're not importing lots of oil from the Middle East right now,'" Ringquist said. "But in 15 or 20 years, the top sources of imported oil will look a lot different ... If our demand for oil remains high, in 20 years the percentage of oil we're importing from the Middle East will almost certainly be higher than it is now -- because that's where the oil is"
(02/24/06 5:36am)
IU faculty members plan to travel to Afghanistan within the next couple months as part of a $38 million project to help rebuild the educational system in the impoverished country.\nA consortium composed of representatives of IU, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Washington, D.C.-based Academy for Educational Development received a grant in late January from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The endowment, which allocates $4 million to IU specifically, will fund the consortium's Afghanistan Higher Education Project. \n"This project is not so much about bricks and mortar as it is about developing capacity," said Terry Mason, director of IU's Center for Social Studies and International Education and associate professor in the School of Education. "By helping the Afghanis themselves rebuild their educational system, we will be restoring a key part of civil society."\nMason said IU faculty developed the initiative after USAID made a public request for proposals to facilitate the restoration of Afghanistan's infrastructure. \nThe political and social turmoil of the past few decades, he said, brought about the virtual collapse of Afghanistan's educational system. Schools shut down and teachers were dismissed for advocating ideas not aligned with the teachings of the Taliban.\n"Because of a quarter-century of conflict and the succession of regimes -- Soviets, Mujahideen and Taliban -- there are very few university educators left in the country with master's or doctoral degrees," said Mitzi Lewison, an associate professor in the School of Education's Department of Language Education. "This project has the potential to begin to change this situation."\nM. Nazif Shahrani, chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, who served as a former assistant to Afghanistan's Minister of Higher Education, said an estimated 120,000 Afghan teachers will need to be trained. \n"Four million students attend tens of thousands of schools that have opened in the last four years (since the end of the Taliban's rule)," he said. "These schools, however, exist basically in name."\nFaculty from the U.S. consortium -- experts in an array of educational fields -- will focus on improving teaching methods among Afghan educators at the secondary and university levels, Mason said. Today, he said, just 16 Afghan institutions of higher education train aspiring teachers. The USAID project will seek to work with these institutions to map out priorities for their organization and development, he said.\nIn addition to the U.S. educators who will travel to Afghanistan, at least 24 Afghans will also come to IU to pursue master's degrees in education, Lewison said. \nLewison said her main role in Afghanistan will be to work with the teachers there to improve methods of teaching English in the universities and secondary schools.\nLewison emphasized the need for cultural awareness among project participants. \n"At this point, teachers have few up-to-date materials, and most have little knowledge of modern teaching methods that could greatly help with instruction," she said. "At the same time, we need to be culturally sensitive, making sure that Afghan educators work with us as partners to change, adapt and create materials that will work in Afghanistan."\nShe identified low salaries as a major factor in how difficult it has been to attract quality teachers to the profession there. \n"Until salaries increase," she said, "the outcome of enhancing educational opportunities is still in question."\nThe Afghanistan Higher Education Project continues work that began last spring when IU's School of Education paired with Kabul Education University, Lewison said. Four faculty members from the Afghan university's English department traveled to Bloomington to work with IU School of Education professors to modernize their curricula. The project was funded by a grant from the Fulbright Educational Partnership Program, she said.\n"(It) has been an extremely rewarding program, but small in scope," she said. "The USAID project provides the resources to build on what we started with the Fulbright project."\nLewison is representing IU and the Afghanistan Higher Education Project at USAID meetings in Washington, D.C. this week to determine logistics and a more specific time frame for the project, Mason said.\n"The concrete things are still being ironed out with USAID," he said. "Sending people to a place like Afghanistan just doesn't happen without overcoming some obstacles first."\nAs of now, the consortium expects participating faculty to depart for Afghanistan in the next couple months, Mason said, adding that plans for the event are still in the very beginning stages.
(02/20/06 4:30am)
Instead of partying and sleeping in, 27 students chose to discuss pressing international issues last Friday night and Saturday morning.\nGathered at round tables, the students had forsaken their friends and their beds to take part in a conference co-sponsored by the Hutton Honors College and the Wells Scholars Program called, "The View from Abroad: An Undergraduate Workshop on the Role and Image of the United States in the World."\nFreshman Rebecca Burns, who served on the student-faculty committee that organized the event, said the main purpose of the workshop was to encourage discussion on global issues and to challenge participants to examine the roles of the United States and other major international actors in forming policy.\nThe workshop centered on two key issues -- the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan and the challenge of nuclear proliferation in Iran.\n"I didn't come here to argue or debate," said sophomore Sarah Clauser. "My goal was to learn, and I think I've really benefited from it. Just hearing what everyone has to say has left me feeling so much more informed."\nFreshman Lisa Dunk said she wanted to find out more about what's going on in the world and she was willing to sacrifice one Friday night to do that. \n"I definitely learned a lot more than I would have by sitting in my dorm room watching a movie," she said.\nThe seven-and-a-half-hour workshop took place in two sessions.\nThe goal of the first session, Friday night, was to discuss international perceptions of U.S. influence, said sophomore Katie Rosenberger, a member of the Hutton Honors College program planning committee. \nThe next morning, the students participated in a simulated press conference, where they acted as representatives of the U.S., E.U., China, the international business community and the news media. The simulation took place after the students had read selected articles on Iran, Sudan and their connections to various international actors.\n"(The simulation) was a valuable exercise to help students learn that international problems are multidimensional," said Robert Affe, senior lecturer for Telecommunications and International Studies and a former television executive. Affe was one of five experts in an array of fields who joined the workshop to facilitate discussion. \n"There are elements of politics, economics, culture and language involved," he added. "Even countries with similar goals often find themselves in conflict as to the best way to affect peace and security in the world."\nRoberto Garcia, clinical professor of international business in the Kelley School of Business Department of Management, said the simulation demonstrated how the success of policy often depends on how the public perceives it.\n"Effective policy depends on effective communication," he said. "Governments have to present it forcefully and in a certain way in order for people to buy into it."\nThe changing dynamic among China, the U.S. and the E.U. emerged as a major topic of discussion during the simulation.\n"It is quite likely that China is going to be an economic and military superpower, and sooner rather than later," said political science professor Jean Robinson. "We're going to have to consider what it means to be sharing power ... particularly with a country that sees the world and international relations in a very different way."\nThe conference opened Friday with a survey, a map quiz and a discussion to identify nations seen as the "most reliable allies" and "most dangerous enemies" of the U.S. Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Canada, Israel, Poland and Denmark topped the list of friends, while common choices for enemies included North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Syria and Venezuela.\nStudents also discussed perceptions of Americans in the rest of the world.\n"I think Europeans may tend to see us as being culturally shallow," sophomore Abbey Stemler said. "Their traditions are thousands of years old. Maybe our continual drive to create something new ... somehow takes away from the tradition that was once there."\nVisiting professor Joachim Krause, director of the Institute for Security Policy at the University of Kiel and professor of international relations at the Christian-Albrechts-University in Germany, offered a different take on the subject.\n"This drive for 'newness' is typical not only of the U.S. but of modernity and capitalism as a whole," he said. "However, the U.S. is often the one in the spotlight."\nIn fact, he said, the U.S. appears most often in the foreign media in news stories about crime, the Bush administration and obesity -- often associated with fast food.\nIn discussing other countries' perceptions of the U.S., students found themselves trying to figure out if they should focus on the opinions of governments or of citizens.\n"I think a lot of anti-American sentiment in the world today is more indicative of animosity toward the current administration of the U.S. than anything else," said freshman David Pavkovich.\nKrause agreed.
(02/10/06 5:50am)
If approved by Congress, a new Bush administration proposal could eliminate a type of loan held by more than 3,000 IU students and more than 600,000 students nationwide.\nThe plan could be "catastrophic" for IU's neediest students, said Bill Ehrich, associate director of the Office of Student Financial Assistance.\nThe president's budget plan for fiscal year 2007, released Monday, would abolish the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, commonly known as the Perkins loan program. The program provides need-based financial aid to help students attain higher education.\nJust more than 3,000 IU students receive funding from Perkins loans, Ehrich said. Per-student loan totals range from approximately $1,500 to $3,000 per academic year, he said.\n"The law says that when you give out Perkins loan money, you start with the people who are the poorest and continue backward," Ehrich said. "It's not much money, but it does go to our neediest students. They would be left hanging without it."\nThe proposal marks the second year in a row that Bush has recommended the Perkins program be eliminated. Last year Congress voted the proposal down.\n"I'll be very surprised if (President Bush's recommendation) is successful," Ehrich said. "This is an election year. Do you think anyone, Republican or Democrat, is going to want to stand up and tell his electorate ... 'We got rid of a program for poor kids'? I don't think so."\nEmma Cullen, president of the IU College Democrats, expressed concern for the implications of cutting the Perkins loan program.\n"I think that being fiscally responsible is important, but I also think compromising the ability for thousands of students to go to college is shortsighted," she said. \nOn the other hand, proponents of the proposal said it would increase the flexibility of high school-level educators to fund vocational programs.\nNearly $1.3 billion in federal funds this year went to the Perkins loan program. The budget proposal for next year, if passed, would redirect nearly $1.5 billion to a new initiative that would extend the reach of the No Child Left Behind Act in high schools. \nIU College Republicans Political Director David White voiced support for the proposal.\n"Bush's proposal modernizes the (Perkins loan program), using the same funds to create a secondary and technical education program," he said in an e-mail. "The new requirements will be that recipient schools offer four years of English, three years of math and three years of social sciences. Indiana University will not be affected in any way whatsoever."\nHowever, student debt has become ever more burdensome in recent decades, which raises concerns for many.\n"The situation has gotten worse and worse over the past 25 years," Ehrich said.\nRising costs of higher education result in large part from increased expectations of technology and services, he said.\nBrendon Liner, campaign leader for the Indiana Public Interest Research Group's task force on higher education and student debt, agreed.\n"Any cut to student financial aid hurts the higher-education system as a whole," he said. "Currently, the average student debt of a graduating senior is between $17,000 and $19,000. Twenty years ago, 80 percent of federal financial aid came in the form of grants and 20 percent in the form of loans. Now, the situation is reversed."\nAccording to the proposal, the new budget would also slash a total of $12.7 billion in federal student aid over the next five years.\nHowever, Ehrich expressed doubt that the plan will actually take effect.\n"President Bush is not the first to have made this recommendation," he said. "Reagan tried to get rid of it, and he was 10 times more popular than Bush. This program has its friends in Congress, and whenever someone tries to get rid of it, powerful people lobby to keep it"
(12/08/05 2:11am)
Participants in this year's IU-Purdue Blood Donor Challenge set an all-time record, with donors from both universities giving a total of 7,669 pints of blood.\nThe total amount beat last year's record of 5,164 units.\nThis year's competition marked the ninth annual challenge between the two universities, said IU Alumni Association Senior Vice President and Chief Operation Officer John Hobson. \nWinning by a margin of 1,473 units of blood, IU prevailed for the first time in three years. IU donated 4,571 pints of blood, while Purdue gave 3,098. Purdue leads the annual competition six to three, Hobson said. \nAnnouncers declared IU the victor of the blood drive between the two rivals at the Old Oaken Bucket football game Nov. 19. While Purdue walked away with the traditional Oaken Bucket as the winner of the football game, IU fans took comfort in capturing the "Blood Bucket," which was awarded at halftime.\n"Yes, there's a winner, and we like to win," Hobson said. "But it's just great that our numbers keep growing. The real winners are the hospital patients in Indiana who receive the donations."\nThe competition brings \ntogether fans and alumni of IU and Purdue to donate blood in the name of either university each year, Cornelius Wright, Hobson's administrative assistant, said. Participants donated at Indiana Blood Center, American Red Cross and South Bend Medical Foundation locations across the state from Oct. 3 to Nov. 11, Hobson said.\nStudents gave blood at locations in residence halls and the Indiana Memorial Union, said Don Creek, donor recruitment chair for the American Red Cross of Monroe County. Between 2,000 and 2,500 of the units tagged as IU donations came from students, he said.\nDonations benefit patients in hospitals throughout Indiana and the 70-county Ohio River Valley Region, Creek said.\nTo maintain a safe blood supply -- enough blood to last for three days -- regional Red Cross blood centers need about 650 usable donations each weekday and about 200 each weekend, he said. Local locations had been operating at lower levels because of blizzards, flooding and a harsh flu season last year, he said, until Hurricane Katrina brought an abundance of donors. \nThe Evansville tornado also motivated people to donate, with more than 400 units of blood donated the day after it hit, Creek said.
(09/29/05 5:22am)
A Texas-based company that had been selling mp3 recordings of course lectures to students at two universities dropped its $5-per-lecture charge last week.\nThe pilot service, being tested in four large lecture classes at Texas A&M and University of Texas at Austin, now allows students to download those same audio recordings online for free at the Web site [www.Pick-A-Prof.com], said Karen Bragg, director of university relations at Pick-A-Prof. \n"The pilot is still going on and the students are responding well," Bragg said.\nThe $5 fee had been in place to cover the expense of iPods used and server time needed to post the lectures online, she said. Of that fee, 40 percent went to the professors involved and 60 percent went to cover costs incurred by Pick-A-Prof.\nThe bill was dropped based on student feedback, Bragg said.\n"Due to the high response from the students, we decided we would like to make the service available for free," she said. "Since none of the professors had a problem with it being available free of charge, we were able to do so."\nIrene Vlachos-Weber, a lecturer of psychology at IU, who said she has about 250 students in each of her classes, expressed concern about the consequences of such a system.\n"I think we've gotten a little spoiled by technology," she said. "You're paying (tuition) to come to class and receive the lecture. It's not a home entertainment system ... You can't just go to work whenever it's convenient for you ... and you shouldn't be able to just go to class whenever you think it's convenient for you, either."\nThe issue of intellectual property is particularly important to many professors, she added.\n"When lectures are available online and can be distributed to anyone, it's a piece of yourself that's out there and can even be taken out of context," she said. "You're kind of relinquishing control."\nVlachos-Weber provides lecture outlines as a study tool for students but has never provided detailed notes or recordings of her lectures, she said.\n"By taking away incentive to go to class, you make college a much more solitary experience," she said. "A lecture, by definition, is a group experience. And as far as discussions go -- the fewer students who are present, the less discussion occurs, and in the end everybody loses."\nBragg voiced support for the Pick-A-Prof service whether it was free or not.\n"I feel the same about the system whether there is a minimal fee or if it is free," she said. "Having the lectures available online is a great academic resource to students. Coursecasts enable students to retain more information from a lecture and better prepare for the course in general and before exams. It's a great student aid."\nA few professors among the IU campuses have begun distributing their lectures, mostly for distance learning. Between 40 and 50 classes, mostly at IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis, make audio or video recordings available to students, said James McGookey, senior digital media analyst for University Information Technology Services' Digital Media Network Services. Students enrolled in those classes can access lecture recordings at www.indiana.edu/~istream.
(09/26/05 4:31am)
Leading scholars from across North America and Europe congregated at IU this weekend for a three-day symposium on Muslims and Arabs in Western politics, the nation's first-ever gathering of its kind.\n"This is a new area of research, and this is the first conference in the United States to address how Western Muslims interact with the institutions of their states," said Abdulkader Sinno, associate professor of political science and Middle Eastern studies and coordinator of the conference.\nParticipants spoke on political participation and mobilization of Muslim and Arab minorities, debated the media's influence on public perception of these groups and discussed the protection of civil liberties in a post-9/11 world.\nThe conference grew from a discussion Sinno had a year ago with professor Robert Rohrschneider, then-director of the Center on West European Studies, Sinno said. \nThe symposium, which ended Saturday afternoon, aimed to shed light on how Western liberal democracies adapt to growing Muslim populations, especially in the wake of recent turmoil in the Middle East, Sinno said.\n"This is important because the success of this process will affect both the welfare of Muslim Westerners and the future of Western democracy," he said.\nErik Nisbet, a doctoral student in communications at Cornell University, presented Saturday the findings of a November 2004 study by the Cornell Survey Research Institute that examined the influence of the media on public perceptions of Arabs and Muslims in the United States. \nThe study suggested two factors play a significant role in shaping American attitudes toward Arabs and Muslims as well as toward civil liberties: level of television news viewership and degree of religiosity as measured by church attendance and Biblical literalism. \nHigher levels of each of these variables correlated with a greater fear of terrorist attacks and more favorable views of imposing restrictions on civil liberties, Nisbet said. \n"We've been bombarded with this (negative) imagery (of the Middle East) for years now," he said. "We can't help but be influenced by it."\nEven though TV news viewership in general corresponded with negative views of Muslims and Arabs, the study found that some channels' viewers held more extreme opinions than others. CNN's viewers, for example, saw civil liberties in a manner consistent with personal ideology, regardless of what that ideology was, while FOX News viewers across the political spectrum were more likely to express approval of the same restrictions on civil liberties.\n"The Bush Administration has cited Al Jazeera and the pan-Arab media as a source of anti-American sentiments in the Middle East," Nisbet said. "(Our study asked), are there parallel processes in the U.S.? Does the media drive the wedge to create this sort of perception gap?"\nMuslim and Arab minorities have fared differently in various areas of the West, Sinno said.\n"American society and courts quickly backed away from most discriminatory practices against American Muslims that were implemented after 9/11," he said. "On the other hand, Muslims in Europe and Canada are much better represented in politics than (they are) in the U.S."\nParticipants emphasized the importance of having a variety of disciplines represented at the conference.\n"We have legal scholars here, we have survey sociologists, we have a range of scholars who can look at this problem from different areas and in different ways, both qualitatively and quantitatively," Nisbet said. "It promotes research to understand the processes of inclusion and exclusion that are going on in Western society."\nSinno agreed, adding he believes diversity produces innovation and develops perspectives.\nJames Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute and keynote speaker at the symposium, said the battles for civil liberties is ongoing, but Arab Americans are making positive progress.\n"The story is still being written," he said. "The trajectory is still going upward. So far (Arab-Americans) have done better on the civil liberties front than we've done on the Middle East peace front -- but we're in it. The victories are yet to come"
(09/20/05 4:29am)
Professors of large lecture courses at two Texas universities are trying out a system that would allow them to collect money from students who want the option of missing class without worry.\nLike some Purdue students this semester and some distance-learning students at IU, students at Texas A&M and the University of Texas at Austin are testing out a service in four classes that allows them to download audio recordings of large lecture courses as MP3s, according to a Sept. 14 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. \nUnlike programs at Purdue and IU, however, this service commands a $5 per-lecture payment -- split between the professor and Pick-A-Prof, the Texas-based company spearheading the new venture.\nThe service is meant as a study aid, Karen Bragg, director of university relations for Pick-A-Prof, said in the Chronicle article.\nIU, which currently offers audio files of select courses free of charge, mainly to distance-learning students, has no plans as of yet to install a similar system, said James McGookey, senior digital media analyst for UITS Digital Media Network Services.\n"We are always evaluating new technologies and how those technologies may be used to enhance the learning environment at IU," McGookey said. "While I cannot say that such a pay-for-lecture service would never be considered, my feeling is that we will always search for an appropriate technology that would provide equal access to each student in a particular class."\nStudents expressed reservations with the ethics involved in paying professors a fee, no matter how small, in exchange for the convenience of missing class.\n"I wouldn't pay for it," sophomore Katie Mastny said. "You already pay to go to class. Why pay more -- and to professors individually?"\nOthers questioned the logic of selling audio files of lectures to students in the first place.\n"If the recordings are just in MP3 format, don't you think students would just copy it and sell it to other students for their own use?" said sophomore Jamie Potash.\nSales of recorded lectures to students hearkens back to a similar endeavor by the Kelley School of Business two decades ago, said Mikel Tiller, associate professor of accounting.\nThe project resulted in students skipping class, he said.\n"In the mid-80s we did a series of videotapes, which were made available to students for free in the library and on local cable TV," Tiller said. "The tapes were very successful -- they were distributed throughout the country and were even translated into other languages and distributed throughout the world. But one day we had a visitor from Arthur Anderson come to see the lecture hall named after that company ... and it was not full. It was kind of embarrassing. Students were just not coming."\nWith that experience behind him, Tiller looked unfavorably upon the idea of hawking MP3 files of lectures to students.\n"In class, professors can engage their students on some level," he said. "Students look them in the eye and they can look back into theirs. (With the sale of MP3s), courses would almost become online education. There's a place for that in this world. But at a campus like Bloomington, where you have the opportunity to step out into the world and meet new people and really connect -- this isn't the place for that"
(09/01/05 4:40am)
Kelly Clarkson's latest single now has to split time with economics lectures on some Purdue University students' iPods.\nPurdue students can now access BoilerCast -- an online service debuting this semester which offers regularly updated audio recording of so me lectures.\nThe program meshes audio recording equipment already available in most large lecture halls with the new technique of "podcasting."\nStudents use the service by streaming the lectures through media players programs such as iTunes or by manually downloading individual files from the BoilerCast Web site, said Michael Gay, manager of broadcast networks and services for information technology at Purdue. \n"We wanted to make it available to as many people as possible, so we deployed it as kind of an all-in-one system to make it as ubiquitous as we could," Gay said. \nAudio recordings are available online 10 to 15 minutes after a given lecture ends, he said.\nBoilerCast experienced approximately 1,000 downloads of 35 courses online in the University's first week of classes, he said. As of yesterday, those numbers had increased to 2,000 downloads with 50 courses registered for the service.\nPurdue is not alone in offering online recordings of some lectures, however.\nProfessors teaching between 40 and 50 classes at various campuses in the IU system use either video conference technology or audio-only mp3 files to record their lectures -- mostly for distance learning, said James McGookey of University Information Technology Services. Most of the digitally recorded classes are taught at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis because fewer students live on campus, McGookey said. \nThree professors at IU-PUI participated in a pilot project this spring using iPods with microphone adapters to record their lectures, he said. \n"However, (the project) was designed in an open enough fashion that it's not necessary to use an iPod to record," McGookey said. "Any type of mp3 player, voice recorder or PC with the right setup could be used just as easily."\nMcGookey designed an interface allowing professors to download .wav or .mp3 files onto a central system, said Kurt Guinn, manager of digital media and network services for UITS.\n"IU-PUI was the first target," he said. "But some professors at the Bloomington campus have expressed interest in the technology as well."\nRooms in the lecture hall building at IUPUI have had the capability to record audio as mp3 files for several years now, McGookey said. \n"We've had the iStream system since 2001," he said. "We've had automated streaming capability since that time."\nProfessors who record their lectures can make such files accessible to students at www.indiana.edu/~istream, McGookey said. Students then copy and paste a course-specific URL into the settings of an audio player such as iTunes, he said.\nSome professors may also record their lectures independently of the University's iStream system, McGookey said. "If we set it up for them, though, all they have to do is make sure their microphone is turned on," he added.\nThe central location of the captured files is similar to one utilized by a new service debuting this semester at Purdue, McGookey said.\nUpgrading to the digital age and "podcasting" technology reflects newer, more innovative approaches to presenting information.\n"BoilerCast is really just an upgrade of what was previously a cassette-based audio recording system," Gay said. "It was a terrible inconvenience for students to have to go to the undergraduate library with blank cassettes to copy recordings of their large lecture courses."\nGay added that in one particularly competitive course, students were even known to erase the tapes in order to get an edge on their classmates.\n"Fortunately we weren't keeping the original recordings in the library and were able to salvage them," he said. "But with digital recordings and streaming capability, we don't have to handle any media at all."\nDespite the convenience of services such as iStream and BoilerCast, though, some students and professors expressed concern for possible negative effects.\n"I think the ability to replay lectures could greatly help students by giving them another way to study instead of just note-taking," Purdue sophomore Chris Kanitra said. "However, I can see students using the new technology as a way to avoid going to class."\nGay said he believes otherwise.\n"Any student who thinks this is a viable surrogate for actual class attendance is really fooling himself," he said. "Students who would skip as a result of this service are probably the same students who would be skipping class anyway"
(08/30/05 5:09am)
IU Guides stationed at high-traffic areas of campus were met with a startling question from new students on their way to class yesterday.\n"Where is this building, 'TBA'?"\nEven as classes began, students and professors alike faced an unexpected source of frustration as OneStart continued to list the location of some courses as "TBA."\nThe Office of the Registrar has been working with schools and departments since February to negotiate class times and locations, said Roland Coté, registrar and interim vice chancellor for enrollment services in an e-mail. As of Aug. 18, though, the registrar still had not yet assigned classrooms to between 50 and 60 of approximately 6,000 course sections.\nSeveral IU Guides commented on the volume of students asking for information on the location of such courses, said Melanie Payne, associate director of the Office of Orientation Programs.\n"Some of these students may have simply printed their schedules off a week ago," Payne said. "(In that case), we help direct them to a computer to print off an updated version of their schedule. Otherwise, though, we direct them to the registrar's office."\nDifficulties with classroom assignments have escalated in recent years. A growing student population demands a larger number of course sections and, in turn, more available classrooms Coté said.\n"You have to think of the room assignment process as you would think of completing a jigsaw puzzle," Coté said. "All the pieces must tessellate in order for the final product to come to fruition ... Today, we have almost 50 percent more pieces (than 20 years ago), and the shapes and sizes of those pieces vary so widely that it's very difficult to make them all tessellate."\nWhile the number of available classrooms has hovered steadily at about 260 for the past 20 years, Coté said, the number of classes per semester has grown from 4,200 to 6,000 in the same period of time. In the absence of added classroom space, scheduling can result in chaos for students and professors.\nWhile Coté said all classes scheduled for Monday "had a room assigned for the meeting," some students and professors thought the notice came too late.\n"For my L101: Intro to Latino Studies class, they sent an e-mail around 10 a.m. today telling us the location of our 1 p.m. class," sophomore Lindsay Clark said Monday. "This was after they'd sent out an e-mail around 8 a.m. saying the time of the class had changed, even though it hadn't. Basically, the registrar was trying to correct the problem but just kept messing it up."\nDespite the confusion, though, almost everyone in the class found his or her way to the right place, Clark said.\nMaurice Garnier, professor of sociology, also suffered scheduling complications. He was assigned to teach a section of S100, an introductory sociology course, just two hours before it was scheduled to begin, he said.\nHe also experienced difficulty when a 300-level course he was slated to teach lacked a location until Wednesday.\nWhen the class finally was assigned a room, Garnier found it was "inappropriate" for the purposes of that class because it lacked an Internet connection.\n"In over 30 years at IU, I had never faced such a situation," Garnier said.\nThe late classroom assignment also prevents instructors from familiarizing themselves with the classrooms they will be using, he added. \n"These last-minute arrangements must be even more troubling to less experienced faculty," Garnier said.\nCoté expressed his sympathies.\n"The lateness of room assignments does have a cascading effect," he said.\nSome instructors like to visit their classrooms before their classes begin so they can feel out seating arrangements and the technology setup, among other things, Coté said.\n"This problem reached crisis proportions last fall," Coté said. "We found ourselves in a situation very similar to where we are today. However, we were also coping with other radical changes in registration procedures and other processes brought about by the implementation of our new Student Information System."\nDespite Coté's efforts, frustration ultimately lingered for many professors and students.\n"I received many e-mails from students who naturally wanted to know where the class was to meet," Garnier said. "How do I feel about that? Not at all pleased"
(06/02/05 12:54am)
On Dec. 7, 1941, a paralyzed United States suffered national shock after Japan's attack on the American naval fleet based at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. \nThe local newspaper, the "Bloomington Daily Telephone," reported municipal officials and heads of community organizations met "to perfect the local civilian defense setup." \nEditor B.W. Bradfute wrote, "It is a safe assertion that never before have the American people gone to war in such a united manner."\nBloomington experienced a political transformation of sorts after World War II. Once the quintessence of small-town America and a bastion of support for the military, the city became a magnet for fresh ideas and cultures, said James Madison, an IU professor specializing in Indiana history.\n"Bloomington in the early 1940s was a small town, still very similar to other small towns in the Midwest," Madison said. "Today it is far more cosmopolitan, reflected, for example, in the variety of restaurants (here today) compared to the meat-and-potatoes restaurants of the 1940s."\nThis renovation of Bloomington's character stemmed from a surge in demand for education following the war, he added.\n"After the war, people poured into Bloomington from all over the world," he said. "The community became more global, urged in this direction by President (Herman B) Wells."\nWorld War II-era Bloomington, however, is a different story. \nWith the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor came steadfast support for American involvement in the war, Madison said. From then until after Japan's surrender in 1945, partisan politics took a backseat to support of the war effort.\n"There were always a few individuals who weren't keen on the war, particularly before Pearl Harbor," Madison said. "There may have been some scattered conscientious objectors -- perhaps a Quaker or two in a place like Bloomington. And many IU students, like students at most universities and especially before Pearl Harbor, were very opposed to entering World War II. They felt the U.S. had been taken advantage of in World War I: 'We don't want to have any part of European wars.'"\nBut the tragedy at Pearl Harbor reversed this popular isolationist view, Madison said.\n"Pearl Harbor changed that," he said matter-of-factly. "It changed that overnight, and it changed it entirely. And so the very same students who had been so opposed to it were soon marching off to war."\nRichard Stuart, a World War II veteran born and raised in Bloomington, agreed.\n"We knew we were going to get involved eventually," he said. "But I'd say the bombing of Pearl Harbor set the tone more than anything, so people were more 'for' the war."\n"Everyone was very supportive of it," he said. "We were all pulling together for the same effort, to eliminate the threat of Germany and Japan."\nStuart and his wife, Becky, grew up in Bloomington in the 1930s and 1940s. Drafted into the Army after he graduated from high school at 18, he served in the military from 1943 until February 1946. He was stationed in Europe for nine months and fought in the Battle of the Bulge and in the Rhineland.\n"You went into service and were made to obey whatever you were asked to do, without question," Stuart said. "Most of us didn't know what was going on 50 yards away from us."\nLocal sentiments on foreign policy during World War II lie in stark contrast to popular opinion of the same issues today, Madison said.\n"There was near-unanimous agreement that World War II was a necessary and just war," he said. "Today there is nothing of the sort. The war in Iraq is to many residents today a very different kind of war … with unclear origins and goals. "\nBecky Stuart, who found work at Wright Military Field in Dayton, Ohio, during the war but came home frequently to visit her family's farm in Bloomington, said the community came together for drives for materials such as paper, metal, rubber and gasoline and rallies to buy war bonds.\n"I'm pretty sure they discontinued big activities (sponsored by the government) like massive parades until after the war," Richard added. "The patriotic hullabaloo was selling of war bonds, saving materials, posters everywhere."\nThese posters, said Madison, came originally from the various agencies of the federal government. Early in the war, civil defense operations volunteers planned and enforced blackout programs.\n"I suspect that in small communities (such as Bloomington), it was easier to organize such things than in a big city like Chicago because of face-to-face interaction there," Madison said.\nAfter Japan announced its surrender in August of 1945, the Bloomington Star-Courier reported: "This city will reap dividends because it has not been a 'war boom town.' The future is bright if we develop civic leadership that will live up to the prospects."\nDespite changes that came later, World War II left lasting effects on the political climate of Bloomington and of the nation as a whole, Madison said.\n"Patriotism (became) the default," he said. "In a funny kind of way, it wasn't very important to wave the American flag at that time. People would have asked, 'Why should we vote for you because you support the war? So does your opponent, and so does everyone else.' Patriotism is … above politics. It transcends politics; it transcends parties. There's really nothing else like that"
(04/29/05 5:07am)
Far from windmills and wooden shoes, roughly a dozen students will be on campus this summer immersing themselves in Dutch language and culture through the Summer Dutch Institute.\nThe program, an intensive introduction to society of the Netherlands, consists of two sequential language courses and a culture course, said Fritz Breithaupt, West European Studies director. All of the classes are taught during Summer Session I, from May 10 to June 16 on the Bloomington campus.\nThe culture class, titled "Anne Frank in Perspective," examines the young Holocaust victim and her writings through the lenses of history, culture and literature, said SDI Director and Professor Esther Ham, a native Dutch speaker.\n"You learn much more than, 'How do you say this?'" Ham said. "SDI is an ideal way to learn a language quickly. It's a shower in Dutch in six weeks."\nLearning the language is necessary for understanding the culture, she added.\nSDI returns to IU this summer after bouncing from school to school in recent years. The Department of Germanic Studies and West European Studies will co-host the program. SDI was first held at IU in 2000, said John Lary, graduate student and SDI assistant to the director.\n"(SDI) is a collaborative project among universities in the Midwest," Lary said. "Presently (its location) is alternating between IU and the University of Minnesota."\nThe two schools are revamping the program this year, Breithaupt said.\n"Each year it's been organized a little bit differently," he said. "We're trying to figure out a new model that really works so that it can be done over and over again."\nSDI keeps afloat because it receives federal Title VI grant funds via West European Studies.\n"Incidentally, the mission of Title VI is to support less commonly taught language instruction such as Dutch in American universities," Lary said.\nAll SDI students pay in-state tuition for the program because of the funding from Title VI, he said.\nMost students who enroll in SDI are undergraduates from IU or Minnesota, Ham said, but both undergraduate and graduate students from all over the United States are free to take advantage of the program.\n"Everybody could benefit from it," she said with a grin.\nOn average, only about 10 to 15 students enroll in SDI each year, Ham said. \nHowever, this size works toward the advantage of the students involved, Breithaupt said.\n"The best way to learn any subject matter is in an intense, small group where many people will have good reason to study it and will be really devoted to it," he said.\nWhile no undergraduate Dutch major exists at IU, students can minor in the subject, Ham said. \nLearning Dutch can add value to a degree in any of a wide array of subjects, she said.\nBreithaupt agreed.\n"If you have specialized knowledge of one country, that will help in any field," he said. "We have professors here who study the Netherlands in different disciplines. Sociology, journalism, art, history -- you can make Holland a major topic of your work, no matter what (your) field."\nThe Dutch language can be a special asset in business, Breithaupt added.\n"It's a real skill in the business world," he said. "Many Dutch companies do business with America, and the language (provides) real training that will set you apart." \nUndergraduates may study Dutch for other reasons as well, Lary said, but the end result is just as beneficial.\n"Amsterdam is a very popular city known for its tolerance, sub-cultures and overall vibrancy, and Antwerp is a very beautiful city as well," he said. "Even learning a small amount of Dutch makes your experience of such places much more meaningful."\nPlanners of this year's SDI don't conceal their excitement for the program.\n"This is learning at its best," Breithaupt said. "How learning should always be: focusing on one subject matter at a time."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Kate FitzGerald at kafitzge@indiana.edu.
(11/08/04 4:04am)
Michael Robinson knows a thing or two about the hazards of using a chalkboard as he lectures.\n"I always get dirty ... and I should never wear black or dark blue," he said. \nRobinson, a professor in the East Asian Languages and Cultures department, went on to explain he actually prefers traditional blackboard lectures over high-tech media presentations, in spite of the danger chalk dust poses to his wardrobe. But in recent years, growing criticism of chalkboards and the expanding scope of technology have spurred a revolution in note-taking -- and learning -- for college students across the nation. \nA proposal designed and implemented by University Information Technology Services has essentially mapped out the progress of this revolution at IU. Known as the Teaching and Learning Information Technologies Strategic Plan, its two main goals are to increase the technological capacity of classrooms on campus and then to sustain that capacity. The five-year plan was set in motion four years ago and continues to make progress.\n"Originally, we focused technological installations in areas where renovation was taking place, mainly in larger classrooms. But many faculty members were finding themselves disenfranchised because they were teaching smaller or medium-sized classes in classrooms that lacked permanently installed technology," said Beth Van Gordon, UITS director of learning operations. \nGarland Elmore, associate vice president for teaching and information technology, agrees. \n"I think we're leading in the commitment we've made to general inventory classrooms," he said. \nThe technology found in these lecture halls and large classrooms usually consists of an LCD panel, a computer with laptop interface and VCR/DVD capabilities. Professors teaching small classes can request mobile technology units to meet their needs in classrooms where such equipment hasn't yet been permanently installed. The next step of the strategic plan is to install similar technology in small classrooms.\nIf all goes according to plan, four out of every five general purpose classrooms on the Bloomington campus will house permanently-installed equipment by the year 2010. \nMaintenance and sustainability of the equipment will be important factors as UITS continues to increase the technological capacity of classrooms across campus. Action 21 of the Strategic Plan provides for annual funding to replace older equipment. The life cycle of computers is assumed to be three years. \n"One of our guiding principles was to make sure that we had annual funding for life-cycle replacement ... Funding varies a bit from year to year, primarily because we have enjoyed a decrease in pricing," Van Gordon said.\nThe proliferation of high-tech equipment in classrooms at IU appears to reflect a nationwide trend. \nBut some argue a teacher's choice of medium has become such an issue that the most important focus -- the content of the information being taught -- has been unjustly taken away.\nDiana G. Oblinger is a vice president of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit organization that aims to promote the use of information technology in higher education.\n"The first thing to focus on is not the technology ... The important thing for a faculty member is, 'What do I want the students to learn?'" she said.\nFolklore and ethnomusicology professor Sue Tuohy agrees. \n"People learn through various channels ... You have to get everyone in terms of learning style, so you have to have a combination of oral, visual and written," she said.\nOne of the most common software titles used to aid lecture has been PowerPoint. While the use of this program and others in the classroom continues to grow, it has not been without a fight. In the pursuit of the perfect lecture -- when all students are engaged in the subject matter -- there has been a backlash against PowerPoint by some professors.\n"I prefer the chalkboard and have not really considered shifting to PowerPoint. The board helps me move around as I lecture," Robinson said. "I think PowerPoint kills spontaneity, and also reduces more complex thoughts to brief bullet points ... I find that I get the students more engaged on the board. They don't know what will come out as I write."\nEven with technology installed in every classroom, the likelihood of chalkboards solely becoming a relic of the past is small.\n"There are some disciplines that really prefer chalkboards -- for example, math," Van Gordon said. "Our intent is to design more functional and serviceable classrooms to meet the needs of today's educational environment."\n-- Contact staff writer Kate FitzGerald at kafitzge@indiana.edu.
(09/30/04 4:53am)
Making business connections may not be a top priority in the minds of a majority of college students, but for members of IU's Women in Business club, networking and gaining practical experience for the corporate world are major objectives.\n"We have two purposes -- to develop women both professionally and personally," said senior and WIB President Stephanie Krause.\nThe club also provides an opportunity for women to take on leadership roles in a field traditionally dominated by males.\n"The main goal is just to increase everyone's awareness, because in the business school, women are a minority," WIB Vice President and junior Jenna Gettelfinger said. "This is a good way to get to know each other outside of classes. It's also good for networking and getting people involved, because leadership is something that businesses really look for." \nThe club held its first mass meeting Sept. 9. \n"We're still waiting for some applications to come in," Gettelfinger said.\nShe said that while about 120 people attended the first meeting because of a boost in publicity, the club usually ends up with about 40 active members by the end of the school year. \nMembership is open to all interested students, regardless of major. While the majority of the club's members are business majors, others are working toward minors in business or Liberal Arts and Management Program certificates.\nKrause said although membership is open to men, WIB currently has no active male participants.\nTo remain active, WIB members are required to participate in eight club activities each semester. These must include at least one each of monthly mass meetings, community service projects, social events and working at the bagel stand at the Kelley School of Business to raise funds. \nMass meetings of WIB often involve panels of graduate students or guest speakers who have been successful in business. \n"It's not just a club that meets to say 'hi.' They make sure it's worthwhile, so they give us presentations that are noteworthy and useful for our future," new member and freshman Angie Meruani said\nAt the organization's first meeting this year, BP employees spoke to the group. \n"It seems like a pretty frequent thing for them to have outsiders come in," Meruani said.\nWIB events draw entrepreneurs, executives and other businesspeople who motivate club members and can even act as a basis for the formation of business connections. \n"My roommate got her internship through networking at a Women in Business event," Krause said.\nWIB also plans to sponsor a business etiquette dinner for its members in November. \n"(The dinner) spans lots of things, but it's mainly about how to act in a professional setting with kind of a social twist, as well," Krause said.\nGettelfinger said the club's goal for the etiquette dinner is to relieve pressure often felt in business situations. \n"When you go into an interview-type setting, you don't have to worry about which fork to use. This way, you can just focus on the interview," Gettelfinger said.\nSocial events organized by WIB include attending plays, sporting events and even a proposed self-defense class put on by the Bloomington Police Department, Gettelfinger said. The club also regularly holds community service projects such as canned food and clothing drives, retirement home visits and outreaches in partnership with Girls Inc., a nonprofit youth organization. Club members also participated together in Hoosiers Outrun Cancer, a 5K run/walk held Sept. 18.\nIn addition to providing a social and professional springboard for its members, WIB also awards two annual $500 scholarships to members, Krause said.\nWIB was started at IU about 25 years ago but soon disappeared from campus. Concerned faculty members decided to re-establish the club and nurse it back to health about a decade ago, Gettelfinger said.\n"For me, it has been my favorite part of (attending) IU," Krause said. "I think it's a small enough organization that you can really get to know the people involved and form some good connections."\nFor more information about WIB, log on to www.indiana.edu/~wib. The group has yet to schedule the next meeting.\n-- Contact staff writer Kate FitzGerald at kafitzge@indiana.edu .