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(02/04/11 3:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>John Promfet, author of “Chinese Lessons” and foreign correspondent for the Washington Post, spoke Thursday about his experiences in China. Pomfret was introduced by Brad Hamm, dean of the IU School of Journalism, who gave advice to aspiring journalists about combining interests to help create a unique niche in journalism. A graduate of Stanford, which Pomfret referred to as the Indiana University of California, he started out with an interest in the sciences. “As I discovered how lousy I was at science, I took a Chinese Marxist class,” Pomfret said. Through the mentorship of the people of the Chinese department, he developed a passion for China.“I really got interested in it, and I wanted to go,” Pomfret said. Stanford offered a program which sent volunteers to Asia to teach English. Unfortunately for Pomfret, the program did not send anyone to China, but there was a program in the nearby country of Taiwan. Pomfret applied for the program and he said he was glad he did not get accepted because in September 1980, he went on a trip to Beijing. China in 1980 was much different from First World countries today, Pomfret said. “It was so incredibly poor,” Pomfret said, describing China as a “Fifth World” country. The Chinese government wanted to keep the foreign students away from the Chinese people. This only made Pomfret and his classmates more eager to get closer. Pomfret applied to Nanjing University because the dean there encouraged Western and Chinese students to live together. “I found myself on Feb. 3, 1981, in student dormitory number one and seven dudes looking back at me,” Pomfret said. “We ended up living together for a year in a 10-by-15 room.”Pomfret left China in 1982 and stumbled into journalism that year with an internship for a small newspaper. He then continued on to work for People Magazine and was hired by the Associated Press because of his proficiency in the Chinese language.“You need to combine our language with decent skills,” Pomfret said. His skill was journalism. Pomfret returned to China in 1989, where he found himself facing a completely new country. He was asked to leave China, and Pomfret talked about his emotional reaction to being kicked out of the country he had adopted. In 1997, the Washington Post had an opening in Beijing. However, Pomfret was denied entrance to China.He received a notice of a temporary visa to go back, and in 1998, he found himself in China, again facing what felt like another country to him.“As a reporter, I think it was more open. In many ways, we were more useful to the Chinese ministries,” Pomfret said.Pomfret said journalism is not an art but that you have to know the basics and get the skills, and then the serendipity will happen.“You have to make your own serendipity,” Pomfret said, answering a question about being a journalist. “You have to get the big things done.”
(02/03/11 3:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Iran sentenced seven leaders of the Baha’i community last August to 10 years for crimes against the state. The sentence was reduced from 20 years after an outcry from the international community and a statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The faith has seen persecution from the government since its inception in Iran more than 150 years ago. After the Islamic revolution, treatment of the Baha’i grew worse. Blair Johnson, a graduate student studying law and a Baha’i member, said the Iranian government is not allowing members of the Baha’i faith to receive an education. “The government has engaged in a lot of tactics to persecute Baha’is,” Johnson said. “Baha’is are denied access to education because they are required to fill out documents to deny their faith, and that’s the one thing that a Baha’i cannot do.” Johnson estimated that seven students at IU are part of the Baha’i community. Wherever there are at least nine Baha’i in an area, they establish a local spiritual assembly, Johnson said. There is a local one in Bloomington, which is responsible for overseeing administrative issues.The assembly finances contributions made to Baha’i funds which includes taking care of the center, making sure the bills are paid and taking care of basic center needs. “The Baha’i association at IU is pretty dormant because we don’t have many Baha’i students. Our primary purpose has been just to raise awareness to what the Baha’i faith is,” Johnson said.Iran does not have an assembly because they do not recognize the Baha’i faith. The seven sentenced leaders were part of an unofficial national-level advocacy group whose duties were to oversee and help in basic needs of their 300,000 community members. “They are seen as a good source of knowledge,” Johnson said. “They are involved in the maintenance and support of the existing Baha’i community.”The seven leaders oversee the Baha’i community in Iran, much the same way the local assembly oversees members in Bloomington, but they do so unofficially.“The Yarans, these seven members, over the course of the year were picked up and thrown into prison for a variety of charges,” Johnson said. “Corruption of the world, collusion with the state of Israel, essentially treason.”Sara Hatch, the public information officer at the Bloomington Baha’i Center, said the health conditions of the seven Baha’i leaders are bad and that they are forbidden from seeing their families.“Baha’i don’t speak out against the government and the only recourse is for the other Baha’i to speak out for them,” Hatch said. One of the fundamental requirements for the Baha’i faith is obedience to state laws. They are not allowed to engage in protests.“The basis of the faith is resolution of conflict through consultation not conflict,” Johnson said. “It is important that we are obedient to state laws. The government of Iran has asked that the Baha’is not teach their faith. And they don’t.”The seven leaders were detained for 20 months before they were tried by a Revolutionary Court in Iran. “They are leading members of the Iranian community. They have done so much to help everyone, not just the Baha’i, and just because they are Baha’i they are seen to be a threat to the government,” Hatch said.The National Spiritual Assembly, the headquarters of the Baha’i faith in the United States, has asked for its members to work with U.S. legislature to resolve the issue. “At the end of last year, the National Spiritual Assembly asked Baha’is in certain regions to speak to their congressmen, who are identified as being pro or in the middle of the stance,” Johnson said. “Essentially they are seeking to have a resolution passed sanctioning or reprimanding the Iranian government for the trail.”Meanwhile the Baha’i community in Bloomington is working on raising awareness of the situation in Iran. “We had an observance where we told their stories and we had some prayers, music and a candle lighting ceremony,” Hatch said. “We just want the people to know that we are a law-abiding faith, that we are a peaceful faith.”The Baha’i center is trying to raise awareness about the Iranian situation through local media and by addressing the public directly.“All we can do is just let the world know, and put pressure on the government to be just,” Hatch said.
(12/07/10 6:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As a cry of awareness for the national DREAM Act, three students of the DREAM IU advocacy organization have gone on a hunger strike, refusing food for two weeks. The act, an acronym for Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors, if passed will allow undocumented aliens the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency if they complete two years of military service or two years of college. Sophomore Omar Gama, who is one of three students participating in the strike, has been without food for about a week and said he was inspired by college students in Texas.“They started it because they wanted to talk to their representative because she was against the DREAM Act,” he said. “A lot of the states then started joining in to support Texas.” At IU, Omar Gama is joined by his brother, sophomore Erick Gama, and junior Minelle Amezquita, who have another week left in their two- week strike. “DREAM IU started last year in February,” Amezquita said. “We support the DREAM Act, education and the rights for undocumented students. Our goal so far is supporting the act and raising awareness.” The act, which has received support and opposition on both sides, has not passed at this point. The students of DREAM IU said they hope to raise awareness of the act with their strike, but they’re not only refusing food, they are also interviewing with several local media outlets as well as distributing pamphlets to get the word out. “We have an interview with WIUX,” Omar Gama said. “We are going to events and letting people know what we are doing. We are passing out pamphlets to let people know to call their representatives.” Several campuses across Indiana are also working to spread the word. Amezquita said IU-Purdue University Indianapolis students have interviewed on several radio stations. The three students in Bloomington have also been asked to go to Indianapolis to interview for Univision, a Spanish TV station that broadcasts nationally.“Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity found out about us. They support us nationwide,” Omar Gama said. “They told us to write a letter to the national historian so that they can distribute it to the other chapters nationally letting them know about us.” And while the group is small here at IU, the national support system is much larger. “We keep in touch with other campuses in Indiana. Friends in IUPUI, Ball State, Purdue, Notre Dame. It’s around 30 of us doing it in Indiana,” Amezquita said.The strike has been a challenge for the students at IU both mentally and physically. The students are only drinking tea, juice and water, and they are also taking vitamins. “I’m tired and drained. Everybody is feeling differently. I’ve been feeling nauseous,” Amezquita said. With finals week approaching and the weather getting colder, the Bloomington strikers will only continue for one more week. “We are stopping on Sunday the 12th at 5:30,” Omar Gama said. “Other people in Indianapolis are going past lame-duck season. It’s when the congressmen switch from the old to the new ones.” For Omar Gama, the cause is what’s important. “We want other people, the less fortunate, to be able to graduate and walk across the stage and fulfill their dreams.”
(11/03/10 2:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Frangipani Room in the Indiana Memorial Union overflowed with apparel merchandising students Tuesday. A lecture sponsored by the Retail Studies Organization brought world-renowned fashion trend forecaster David Wolfe to speak to students about the trends in fashion. Wolfe, introduced by Apparel Merchandising professor Rick Bomberger, is the creative director of The Doneger Group. According to Bomberger, Wolfe spent a lot of his time studying fashion trends in Europe. “I’m unofficially known as the trend guy,” Wolfe said, addressing the students about his work. Wolfe said he is one of the first people to establish the concept of trend forecasting. “Fashion is a reflection of the society that wears it,” he said to the students. Fashion, Wolfe said, has been lowered in terms of fascination among a society that requires fast-forward change. The first part of his presentation featured images of technological innovation. Wolfe humorously added that he didn’t know what the technology was but that he wanted it anyway. Technology, he said, is replacing fashion in fascinating the world. Wolfe urged the students to think about the way technology is changing the world’s view of fashion. “Fashion is not moving at the speed of the rest of our world. Why isn’t fashion design-driven and technology-driven?” he asked. Wolfe presented the innovation in textile technology in terms of texture, performance and weight. He then moved on to address the widening age gap, which affects the way fashion is marketed. He told the audience that soon the stars will be even more segmented in terms of age and licensing. He also mentioned that breaking the age barrier creates new market demographics. Freshman Alexa Hochstin, who attended the event, said she is interested in the fashion world and has worked at two retail stores.“My aunt owns a high fashion store in New York,” Hochstin said. “I can see myself working in fashion.”This was the last event the Retail Studies Organization sponsored this semester. The organization was able to bring in the famous forecaster because of his connection with a professor at IU. “One of the professors, professor Bomberger, worked with him for the past 30 years,” said Nicole Sloan, a senior member of RSO. “It’s a great thing because he agreed to do this because he wanted to."Freshman Brandi Zelinsky said she thinks Wolfe is interesting because he’s showing a lot of new ideas.“He’s telling us to make the changes in fashion,” Zelinsky said.Wolfe said the era of crazy consumption is ending. It was a bubble that lasted more than a month and that it’s being replaced by the new normal. Yet, he said he believes it’s not ending fast enough. “We’re really looking for the next breakthrough,” Wolfe said. “I think it’s going to be your generation.”
(05/16/10 10:14pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The lights of the Jordan Avenue parking garage cast an orange glow on the bikes that were lined in the corner of the lot. Students and Bloomington residents stopped to inspect the bikes with cards in hand. The IU Office of Parking Operations’ Spring Bike Auction on Saturday offered 140 bikes at the biannual event. The auction was held like a traditional auction; the price was yelled out by the auctioneer and attendees of the event raised their numbered cards to make a bid.“We usually have two (auctions), one in the beginning of the summer and one very early in the fall semester,” said parking manager Doug Porter. The auctioned bikes were abandoned by students on the Bloomington campus, Porter said. “Sometimes the bikes are just laying around not attached to anything,” he said. When the residence halls close, Porter said they assume the bikes have been left for good.“If they have a bike permit on them, we don’t take them,” he said. “We hold the bike for 30 days before sale.” The auction, open to the public, attracted many students and Bloomington residents alike. “I heard about it from some people in my major,” graduate student Erin Robinson said. “We were talking about bikes abandoned on campus, and someone mentioned the bike auction.”A lot of the bikes were in good condition, but some need fixing. The back wheel was falling off one of the bikes as Porter handed it to the auctioneer. “New bikes are too expensive for the quality you might get from used bikes,” Bloomington resident Ian Grant said. “It’s hard to find the kind of quality of the old bikes on the new ones, unless you spend $600 or $700.”Junior Allie Kellner was looking for a bike to ride in the Little 500 race next year as part of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority team. She purchased a Schwinn for $230 at the auction that seemed to be in good condition. “I’m going to be training for the Little 500 team,” she said, adding that new bikes “run up around $800, so this is a really good deal. I know a lot of people have gone to the event. I also heard from my house to come here if I wanted a Little 500 bike.” Kellner’s bike used to belong to the Briscoe Quad Little 5 Team. “They were framed up in Briscoe,” McNutt Quad Residence Manager John Summerlot said. “A couple of guys scrounged up the parts and fixed them up. We’re splitting the money between two nonprofits — Stepping Stones and Monroe County United Ministries.”Not everyone at the auction was looking for a bike for themselves. Paul Graf, an IU economics professor, bought his stepdaughter, sophomore Stephanie Graf, a Diamondback bike for $120. “I got a flier on campus,” he said. “She wanted it, so I bought it.” The money from the auction went into the Parking Operations budget to supply the bike racks around campus. “When someone buys a bike freshman year from Walmart for $100 and they ride it for four years ... when they leave, they see what a cheap bike it’s become and don’t want to drag it along in their U-haul, and they leave it behind,” Porter said. “If we don’t do anything with them, they accumulate. We let the crowd decide their cost — if they want to buy them for $5, we let them.”
(05/09/10 10:59pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The music of a 10-student orchestra greeted the families and friends of the graduates as they walked into Assembly Hall, where the Graduate Commencement Ceremony took place Friday afternoon. IU President Michael McRobbie welcomed the graduates and their guests as he announced the start of the graduation traditions. Everyone stood for the national anthem, led by Gwyn Richards, dean of the Jacobs School of Music. The anthem was followed by an invocation and a moment of silence led by the Rev. Linda C. Johnson, Episcopal chaplain to IU. Everyone took their seats as McRobbie introduced the commencement speaker, Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom. The students stood up in a wave as Ostrom took her post at the stand. She began her speech by congratulating the graduates for surviving their years at “good ol’ IU.” Her speech focused on the environment, particularly natural resources and sustainability. She warned the listeners what a threat humans are to the detriment of sustainability, and she urged the students to change that trend, mentioning cloudy lakes, weather changes and global warming.Although her speech was serious, Ostrom balanced the hard facts with humor, laughing several times during her speech. Her advice for the graduates was to “be skeptical of any panacea” and to challenge it if they heard of one. “Congratulations — go forth and think diversity,” Ostrom said to end her speech.The graduates were then inducted into the IU Alumni Association, which contains 530,000 living IU graduates, IUAA Chairwoman Donna Berry Spears said. “May each of you carry the best of what you know, the best of Indiana University, into the future,” McRobbie said at the end of his speech. Each graduate from the different schools stood as his or her degree was called to be conferred. The head of each school said, “Mr. President, these candidates, meeting all the requirements for the degrees indicated, are recommended by the faculty for the conferral of these degrees.” The ceremony ended with the traditional singing of the IU Alma Mater, “Hail to Old IU.” “It was very nice,” Ph.D. recipient Sangil Yoon said of Ostrom’s speech. “She appealed to all the students.” Ph.D. recipient Kristal Curry found the speech helpful. “It was very great,” she said. “(It’s) very helpful to think about these kind of things — it’s helpful for those of us going out into the world.”