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(04/13/10 1:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Film culture can oftentimes be lost, buried in the proverbial rubble as the years pass and the memory of the films deteriorate with every proceeding generation.The IU DEFA Project, which began in January, seeks to promote the rediscovery of films that have been forgotten, but especially to commemorate the tumultuous year from 1989 to 1990 and the end of the Cold War Era, said Brigitta Wagner, director of the project. The DEFA Project shows films from East Germany under the rule of the DDR Communist regime each Sunday at either the Buskirk-Chumley Theater or the Fine Arts building.It aims to immerse members of the community in both the varying interpretations of the film and the circumstances surrounding the creation of the film, Wagner said.The film attendees are offered guidance in a variety of ways, including bringing in directors of the films and film experts, as well as people from different departments to gain different views on the film.“We can gain new insight on East German culture and film culture because we can now recognize the varying elements in the films that movie attendees in the East and West might have dismissed during the time,” Wagner said.The showings are open to all, and the success of the project is dependent on uniting the very diverse community in Bloomington.“One of the more important elements of the project is bridging not only the generational gap but also the gap between academia and non academia, as well as the varying branches in academia,” Wagner said.The interest for public film showings coupled with enlightening discussion is there, said Olivia Landry, graduate student and publicity coordinator of the DEFA Project, but it just needs to be cultivated. The project receives help from students who introduce the films and tries to generate interest both on and off campus. Germanic studies major senior Courtney Cole and sophomore David Bolter agree that after being a part of the project and viewing the films they gained a more profound appreciation for East German filmmakers because the films were made with purpose and had real meaning.The films range anywhere from bank robbing action flicks, such as “Burning Life,” to more symbolic and intellectual films such as “The Land Beyond the Rainbow.” Perhaps the most exciting promotion for the IU DEFA Project is the international symposium and accompanying film festival, “Making History ReVisible,” Wagner said.The international symposium, which runs from April 22 to 25, will bring together numerous influential film directors, producers, screenwriters and experts, including award-wining producers and screenwriters Frank Löprich and Wolfgang Kohlhaas.
(07/01/09 11:47pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Farmers who need hunters to remove deer or other animals from their property are now able to contact hunters on a list started by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, said Gary Langell, private lands program coordinator for the Indiana DNR.Hunters must submit an online application between July 1 and Aug. 30 through the online Hunters Helping Farmers program, according to the DNR Web site, and then farmers peruse the list and can decide on which hunter to grant access to their land.The list of hunters will be made available to farmers and landowners through the DNR starting Sept. 14, according to the Web site. Applicants must be 13 years of age and all state DNR deer hunting regulations must be observed.There has been a gradual increase in deer populations in Indiana during the past 20 years, said Indiana Farmers Union President Jim Benham. There isn’t a problem with deer overpopulation. But the problem lies in the distribution of the deer, which have higher concentrations in different areas.Some farmers are having problems with the animals being on their land, while others are experiencing no problems at all.“Deer do not spread themselves out evenly across Indiana, so if a farmer is living in an area in which the population is very high, they may be interested in this program,” Langell said.It’s highly dependent on the area, Benham said.Benham said the situation is more of a balancing act. Hunters often need places to hunt, and farmers have problems with crop devastation. In the end, both benefit, he said. “Hunters are finding harder times finding places to hunt, so this is one way where hunters look to hunt,” Langell said.The program will not only help farmers and hunters with their respective needs, but it will also help farmers become more aware of the hunting pressure needed to maintain their land. “There are a lot of landowners who are not aware of the hunting pressure that should be applied on their property if they’re having damage programs,” Langell said.
(06/24/09 11:13pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>If you’ve been searching for a true international shopping experience, Bloomington might soon have the answer.Global Gifts, a store selling crafts and other handmade items from more than 35 countries around the world, is scheduled to open in August in the downtown area. Fair Trade Bloomington Inc. has partnered with Global Gifts, because the nonprofit organization has more than 20 years of experience in running a sustainable nonprofit retail store, according to a press release. Fair Trade Bloomington has been a student-based interest group in Bloomington for about four years, said Mary Embry, president of the organization. The mission of the fair-trade movement is ultimately to ensure that all parties involved in business transactions are being paid and treated fairly, said Sam Carpenter, the general manager of Global Gifts in Indianapolis. In order to establish the fair-trade store in Bloomington, Embry decided to enlist the help of the Global Gifts stores in Indianapolis because of their success there. “Mary has been a volunteer with Global Gifts in Indy,” Carpenter said. “She was extremely excited about opening a fair-trade store in Bloomington and really getting the students involved.” Embry said he believes the store will be a good addition to Bloomington, because it offers goods not only produced in fair-wage environments but also in an eco-friendly manner.Besides fair wages and treatment, another goal of the fair-trade movement is to help people in different countries who have trouble sustaining themselves and their families by providing them with not just aid, but a way to consistently make fair wages. Additionally, the store will endeavor to bring several different cultural identities to Bloomington. “There are ultimately a lot of very unique things in this store that are extremely representative of the country’s culture in which they came from,” Carpenter said. “It is a very fun environment.”The creation of the store in Bloomington will bring about a one-of-a-kind store that not only promotes ethically-made and obtained handmade products, but also educates about different cultures around the world, according to the Global Gifts Web site.A combination of things ranging from student excitement to the educational aspects of fair trade has caused anticipation about the store’s opening, Carpenter said. Not only will the Bloomington store be run locally and use local volunteers, but the profits of the store will also be redistributed locally, Embry said.
(05/31/09 11:43pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Many students have relied on campuses buses for transportation to and from classes, but only a select few have had the opportunity to drive one. Campus Bus Services offers employment opportunities to a variety of people, and even students have the chance to be bus drivers.All potential candidates must be at least 21 years old, not have a criminal record, have a driver’s license with no infractions and be responsible, punctual and serious about the employment, said Perry Maull, operations manager at IU Campus Bus Service. Senior Shannon Beatty said she has been with Campus Bus for about a year and works about 15 hours a week. She said her inspiration to become a campus bus driver came from the combination of advertisements on the side of a campus bus and displeasure with her employer at the time. But the allure of becoming a campus bus driver is rooted in more than just an ad on the side of a bus. Senior Daniel Leathers said two of his friends described it as a great opportunity for student employment, and he has now been a bus driver for a semester. Though there are some standard elements involved with being a bus driver, such as learning the routes, making sure the turn radius is appropriate on corners and dealing with traffic, there are also incidents that qualify as anything but mundane, Beatty said. She described one altercation in which a stubborn patron refused to move back and provide room for more people. “Students know how to handle students, and it’s a beautiful thing when you don’t have to become the enemy,” Beatty said. Leathers said he has seen some comical incidents, too.“There were some people one night, a large group of people, who sang happy birthday to a supposed stranger,” Leathers said. Beatty said one of the most interesting things that happened to her since starting at campus bus came during Little 500, when a student boarded the bus and gave her a hug as if they were longtime friends. “On my X route one evening, I was driving down Indiana Avenue, and people jumped out from behind trees with Super Soakers and ambushed the bus,” Leathers said.There are some other perks to the job than simply acquiring interesting stories. For example, Leathers said the driver’s seat is a little more comfortable than the regular passenger seats. Beatty said the work environment is also very enjoyable. “There are a lot of really cool and funny people that work there,” she said.
(05/17/09 10:29pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU has added itself to a new Web site that offers prospective college students the ability to explore a desired university without actually visiting it. YOUniversityTV is a Web site described as “an interactive, immersive virtual environment dedicated to colleges and all of those individuals wishing to discover more about them,” according to its Web site. The idea is to provide the prospective student the opportunity to look into the academic and social happenings of a particular college campus via the Internet. YOUniversityTV launched April 14. It is essentially a continuously evolving Web site, Kathleen Rojas of YOUniversityTV said.IU got involved with YOUniversityTV for a variety of reasons, said Larry Gonzalez, director of admissions at IU. Gonzalez said this could be a potential variable in the successful promotion of IU, as many students who might not have been initially able to visit can see some of the University’s highlights. “We were approached at a conference,” Gonzalez said. “We also realized the potential for some great free advertising. Other Big Ten universities were also participating in YOUniversityTV, so we decided to follow suit.”There are a plethora of elements in YOUniversityTV. It offers users the ability to create a personal profile, list of friends, messages and photos, a personal blog and continuous film updates in a section called the “YOUTORIUM.” The “YOUTORIUM” is a very active and popular place, both Rojas and Angelo Kotzamanis, co-founder of YOUniversityTV, said. “More than 1,700 videos were posted in the first month,” Kotzamanis said.The Web site is free to anyone, and there is also a networking section called “YOULIFE,” which allows participants to communicate with other college-bound students, current students and alumni, Rojas said. “The feedback has been incredibly positive,” Kotzamanis said, as several high school students have already contacted YOUniversityTV expressing how helpful it was in the college decision-making process. YOUniversityTV gives statistical data on more than 400 major universities across the country and analysis and observations from various professors, students and admission officer employees, thus giving participants a more complete understanding of the university, Kotzamanis said.“The idea for the creation of YOUniversityTV was drawn from the realization that there was a need for this sort of thing,” Kotzamanis said. “In Web 2.0, it’s all about Web sites and videos in the search process for potential college students. We essentially saw a void that needed filling.”
(02/19/09 5:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Graduate and undergraduate women in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics will have the opportunity March 6 to display research in their respective fields. “The idea for a campus-wide poster competition came about 12 years ago,” said Brooke Treadwell, coordinator of the Women in Science Program. Treadwell said the poster competition is a great way to display and highlight the research going unnoticed on campus.The event is also a great way to address the shortage of females in the varying fields of science and assist females in completing their goals, said Steve Chaplin, director of University Communications. Anyone who has done research, formal or informal, is encouraged to participate in this competition. Women who are interested have until Friday to register. The arrangement of the competition is similar to an academic conference, where individuals demonstrate their research and findings on a poster board, Treadwell said. Each individual will then proceed for five to seven minutes with a panel of three judges, who will provide substantial feedback. “This is a great environment for young women to gain valuable experience in presenting and interviewing,” Chaplin said. With registration, there will also be an event Monday in which winners from previous years will be describing their experience and what the poster-making process entails. “Most of the winning posters include some text, but also embrace the visual components such as graphs and photos, which accurately display the most important findings of the research,” Treadwell said. There are three categories for the competitors, including natural science, social science and mathematics, Treadwell said.“The most amazing part about this experience is the ability to examine other individuals’ work from their particular discipline,” said former participant and graduate student Dayna Fischtein.Each category will contain four winners, two undergraduate and two graduate students. Undergraduate and graduate students will not be competing against each other. “The first place winners will receive $100 and the second place winners will receive $75,” Treadwell said. The best way to experience success in this competition is to address the criteria as pre-determined and distributed by the judges, Fischtein said. Another advantage for the attendees includes an opportunity to interact with Ph.D students and partake in a more casual environment for the obtainment of feedback. “It truly is a warm, supportive environment, a place to present your work and get great feedback in order to prepare you for future endeavors,” Treadwell said. Anyone interested in participating in this event may contact wisp@indiana.edu to reserve a spot.
(02/12/09 4:57am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>An orange banner with a statuesque picture of Lincoln currently overlooks the Showalter Fountain. The image, displayed on the Lilly Library, invites passersby to visit the new Abraham Lincoln exhibit.The Lilly Library is celebrating the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birthday with the exhibit “Remembering Lincoln.” Most of the items in the collection were purchased by or given to the Lilly Library in the 1940s, said Becky Cape, head of reference and public services for the Lilly Library.The exhibit contains three general sections, Cape said. The first part gives an overview of Indiana during the time Lincoln was growing up. The second part involves the many ways in which Lincoln is remembered. The third part reflects on Lincoln’s distinguished and illustrious presidency.It might seem to be an obscure celebration for many Indiana residents, since Lincoln is often remembered as an Illinois lawyer and state legislator, Cape said. “Most people do not know that Lincoln actually spent a substantial portion of his childhood in Indiana, from around age 7 to age 21.” Cape said.Junior Sarah Mamandur said she liked the portraits best.“The portraits were eye-catching and seemed to really instill life in the exhibit,” she said.Another article that seemed shocking to her was a copy of the Declaration of Independence. “I had never been to the Lilly Library before, so I was just amazed that they had these sort of artifacts,” Mamandur said.The exhibit features items such as a sheet from a practice book Lincoln used for arithmetic. It is one of only three pages in existence, Cape said. A shawl worn by Mary Todd Lincoln, copies of the Indiana Gazette and a sizable collection of rare Lincoln photographs are also in the exhibit. Sophomore Ryan Fouch said the cabinet dedicated to Lincoln’s assassination was the most intriguing part of the collection. A group gathered around Fouch as he examined the seemingly popular exhibit. Fouch said it is interesting to look at all of the artifacts involving the assassination of Lincoln, an astounding component in the history of the country.His favorite artifact was a “wanted” poster for John Wilkes Booth and his accomplices that offered a considerable reward to anyone brave enough to revenge “our late beloved president.” The exhibition is incredibly important to gathering insight as to who Lincoln really was and the importance of remembering him, Cape said. Some of the ideals that Lincoln lived by and incorporated into his presidency were those that he learned as a child. “Indiana, during the time Lincoln was growing up, was very much a frontier society that promoted self-reliance, honesty, the fair treatment of others and hard work in general,” Cape said.
(10/07/08 12:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Shalom Community Center is capable of providing relief to Bloomington residents in need, but they rely on the work of much needed volunteers.Generating excitement about the Shalom Center among students is extremely important this time of year. “The number of volunteers plummets when students leave (for school), so organizations like the Shalom Center need to fill gaps by reaching out to students,” said Elizabeth Savich, director of the Bloomington Volunteer Network. “The climbing poverty rate is also a factor.” She added that volunteers are a critical ingredient to the success of the Shalom Center.Shalom Center provides a variety of aid to homeless or impoverished people, ranging from daily meals to telephone calls, to bus and gas vouchers, and to showers and restrooms.Volunteering at the Shalom Center can include anything from serving meals in the kitchen, helping in general hospitality, chatting with guests or working at the food pantry found at Templeton Elementary School, Volunteer Coordinator Pam Kinnaman said.The kitchen at the Shalom center assists in the provision and distribution of food to Shalom Center attendees in an assortment of ways, Kinnaman said.Most of the food made in the kitchen comes from donations from community members or the Hoosier Hills Food Bank said Ron Kerner, director of hunger relief at Shalom Community Center Kitchen.There is only one base worker at the Shalom Center kitchen, Kerner, and the rest are volunteers, which in 2007 included 450 different faces.“The best part about working at the Shalom Kitchen is being able to help others and contribute to the overall well-being of those in need of help,” Kerner said.The emergency grocery program is another service the Shalom Community Center offers to provide for families in need of food, according to their Web site. The food pantry at Templeton Elementary School is also run by the Shalom Center, and is a significant facet of food distribution in the Bloomington community, said Kinnaman.One of the most attractive elements of the house is the embracement of a “no questions asked” policy, Kinnaman said. A minimal number of questions are asked to the recipients of aid, which makes the distribution of help or aid in urgent situations easier.Perhaps the most important part of the Shalom Community Center is the pride it takes in the respect for all guests, and the genuine concern for all people’s well-being, Kinnaman said.
(09/23/08 2:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington has been named the first “Playful City” in Indiana by KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit entity that encourages the formation of strong and healthy communities nationwide.KaBOOM! facilitates community growth by providing assistance in areas of public policy configuration, resource provision and improved awareness for increased play opportunities nationwide, according to its Web site.The granting of the title “Playful City” is an extensive process, said Sarah Nix, program and facility coordinator for the City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department.Candidates desiring the honorary title of “Playful City” must first qualify for application by forming a play board, Nix said. A play board is comparable to an advocacy group that promotes playground and other recreational activities.About 20 percent of the recreation budget is spent in the play-oriented genre, Nix said.Finally, a proclamation is made by the play board, which entails various commitments the board is willing to make in order to fulfill the requirements of becoming a playful city as described by KaBOOM!. “This is a great honor for the city of Bloomington,” Nix said. “It really highlights all of the wonderful things we are doing, and attracts more attention to what were doing.”Bloomington being a “Playful City” will also increase activity in children and allow for opportunities in grant requisition, Nix said.This added attention and the possibility of more play space holds great potential in initiating a substantial increase in opportunities for more free play among students, said Jen Staab, the coordinator for healthy schools in Bloomington.“With more structural play like sports, or students simply not going outside to play, free play is often times lost.” she said.A play space must meet specific requirements to qualify as an official one, such as it cannot be fenced and locked. There are currently 28 designated play spaces in Bloomington ranging from parks to recreation centers.Being recognized as an area with a noticeable amount of play space is certainly an achievement worth applauding, as more play can decrease childhood obesity. To recognize this outstanding accomplishment, an official play day has been scheduled for Sept. 28. This will be in nine different parks, and will include physical activities and general play promotion, Nix said.This honorary title has great significance for the city of Bloomington, as it is an amazing town to raise kids, and it might make the beauty of the community more recognizable, Staab said.
(09/23/08 2:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County has committed more than $150,000 to jump start after-school programming for middle school students.“Students in middle school are at a difficult age because they want independence but aren’t necessarily prepared for that independence yet,” said Ken Miller, a Community Foundation board member.The community foundation recognizes community problems and allocates resources to them, according to its Web site. Members of the foundation believe after-school programs for middle school students have been neglected.The time between the end of school and when students’ parents get home is critical, as students usually have little to no supervision and are more inclined to give in to a variety of temptations, Miller said.By offering healthy and fun activities such as photography, filmmaking, listening to music and playwriting, students will be less likely to engage in otherwise dangerous activities, said Shari Woodbury, president and CEO of the Community Foundation.There will be a time for students to complete homework and enjoy physical activities such as a variety of sports.A survey was conducted to discover the specific problems plaguing each school, Woodbury said.The problems range from bullying to substance abuse and are addressed in a variety of ways. Most of the different activities focus on leadership skills, building self-esteem and the promotion of healthy and safe relations, Woodbury said.What is so unique about this program is that a substantial amount of responsibility is given to the students themselves, Woodbury said.Every nine weeks the students get two different options in activities. However, a youth council comprised of students often contributes to this decision.Various agencies funding the programs then review these proposals and put together guidelines, but the students ultimately choose the activities, Miller said.A lot of the money is spent on program coordinators, representatives from schools and site coordinators at each school, Woodbury said.One reason organizers expect the program to be successful is because it brings activities to the schools, rather than transporting children from place to place, Woodbury said.“It makes everything a lot more convenient for students and parents,” Woodbury said.The ultimate success of this program is complex and requires more than money. Successfully implementing youth councils, hiring staff members and generating excitement among students will help the program succeed, Woodbury said.“Another key to the success of this program is the community noticing the positive effects from the program,” Miller said.
(05/02/08 1:14am)
The inevitable influx of relatives and other attendees to graduation ceremonies can conceivably cause extra stress on local authorities and other establishments. \nHowever, this is not the case for police and some restaurants and bars in Bloomington. \nNick’s English Hut maintains normal functioning levels and adds no extra employees or other outstanding efforts to compensate a potential increased customer base, said bartender Carey Pittman.\n“Once we’re full, we’re full,” Pittman said in reference to maintaining the standard operating procedures.\nNick’s is expected to have its busiest time Saturday afternoon, following the conclusion of the graduation ceremonies. \nRay McConn, owner of Mother Bear’s Pizza, is also avoiding the employment of any special precautions that deal with compensating for the extra number of people coming into town this weekend. \nMcConn said the business is already functioning at such a high level that it just goes with the normal procedures, which are consistently successful. \nMcConn also mentioned that many of the parents and students coming in for graduation opt to go to more expensive restaurants, thus taking away some potential Mother Bear’s customers. \nDante Pensa, a bartender at Malibu Grill, said their establishment is expecting quite a turnout for graduation.\nThe planning for graduation at Malibu Grill was initiated about two months ago when ideas for the graduation menu began to take form. \nPreparation for the graduation crowd involved the ratification of the new menu made exclusively for the event, along with a more generalized prepping of the kitchen staff, not to mention an addition of several extra employees, Pensa said.\nIU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said the police handle graduation like they would any other special event happening at Assembly Hall. \nThe Bloomington traffic situation can often be a substantial source of stress for residents and graduation attendees from out of town alike. Despite this, Minger said there was no need to put in special traffic patterns. \nMost families or other attendees to the ceremony come early in order to get settled in their respective hotels and take part in all of the preceremony activities, Minger said. He added that these early arrivals ultimately leave traffic in the city relatively free-flowing.\nMinger described the event as something accompanied by additional stress, like the Barack Obama speech that took place Wednesday.
(04/22/08 2:13am)
Bloomington children had the opportunity to participate in several light-related activities Saturday, including guiding a laser through a mirror maze, shining a flashlight through water and observing the subsequent distortion and examining the effects of shining a light through a prism. \nThe WonderLab Museum of Health, Science and Technology’s current traveling display, “Through the Looking Glass: the Science of Light and Reflection,” demonstrated the various effects a light source has on a given medium. \nThe children received guidance in these activities from Wonderlab volunteers and employees. \nCelina Jaffe, a sophomore volunteer at WonderLab, wowed an audience of eager onlookers as she explained the different ways a concentrated light could be distorted when filtered by a given medium.\nGiving real-life examples is an appropriate way to make the topic understandable and approachable, Jaffe said. She said the distortion seen in the experiment was the same used by lighthouses. \nAt another station, sophomore Steve Salinas delved into the facets of light involving concavity, ultimately giving children a look at light and its many elements. \nThese different light activities generated excitement as children tested their luck at the laser maze and examined the extraordinary light effects through water and prisms. \nNine-year-old Nick Johnson visited with his grandmother and was particularly interested in the laser mirror maze, which he described as “really cool.”\nChildren and parents alike participated in the different events. \nBledi Doraci, who visited the museum with his daughter, praised the ability of the WonderLab to create an enriching experience for children by taking a more hands-on approach to scientific concepts that might be to difficult to understand from simply reading a book.\nWonderLab volunteers Harjot Singh and Brian Hatfield described the light activities as great catalysts in fostering a child’s natural creativity and imagination.\nAn immense amount of time and effort goes into the planning of these traveling displays, and many of the events correlate directly with pop culture, said Staci Radford-Vincent, program manager at WonderLab. \nThe more recent events have been focused at an older age group, Radford-Vincent said. In general, WonderLab usually draws pre-kindergarten and early elementary students.\n“Actually putting the programs into action, being out and seeing the enjoyment experienced” is the most rewarding aspect of her job, Radford-Vincent said.
(03/20/08 5:07am)
Carolina Castells, a Jacobs School of Music graduate student who is finishing her master’s with a concentration in voice specialization, competed in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition (1,500 participants) last month, weaving awe-inspiring compositions with her astounding vocals, to propel herself to the finals.\nThis competition is extraordinarily prestigious as Costanza Cuccaro-Penhorwood, who has been Castells’ voice professor for three years, described it as “one of the top competitions in the world and probably the best regarded and well known in the United States.”\nHer success may be attributed to her “superb vocal talent or her diligence in her studies, and also her unusual strength and stamina in performance,” Cuccaro-Penhorwood said.\nPreparing for these competitions seems quite a staggering task, as Castells said the employment of a variety of techniques is ultimately the key to understanding complex opera pieces and conveying those pieces appropriately. \nStrenuous rehearsals are simply one facet of understanding the piece to be performed; delicate and extensive research into the time period and composer are also ways to obtain a more thorough understanding of the piece, Castells said. \nAnother method that Castells said gave her success includes evoking various emotions derived from personal experiences and recollections.\nPracticing compositions is one element of a successful preparation Castells said that in these types of competitions, as more participants get eliminated, there is a vast increase in crowd size, which provides additional stress. \nCastells’ favorite composer to sing is Mozart, and her favorite genre is more contemporary American operas because they are considerably more theatrical than other traditional operas, she said. \nA native of Miami, Castells’ musical aspirations were ignited in middle school when she was placed in an after-school choir program. Her musical career began as an accident of sorts, Castells joked. \nAfter the realization and further development of this remarkable vocal ability, Castells chose the Jacobs School of Music “because of its prestige, along with ideal staff and its ability to develop students’ stage experience.”\nA fellow Jacobs school student, Jenny Kim, who worked with Castells as a chorus member in Verdi’s “Requiem,” performed on March 1 in Indianapolis, described Castells’ tone as “full and beautiful” and further praised her ability to put on such a phenomenal show with apparent ease. \nCastells said the Jacobs School of Music is a good place to prepare for a career in music because of the performance opportunities and the curriculum. She said that along with the normal classes that one might expect a music major to take, they are also required to take Italian, French and German in order to be comfortable enough with each language to properly articulate them.\nHer musical career will proceed from Jacobs, she hopes, as she expressed interest in teaching. However, she really wants to continue singing professionally, in a more performance-oriented forum rather then academic.\nCuccaro-Penhorwood said Castells’ career potential is outstanding, and she praised her theatrical ability.\n“Carolina is endowed with a world-class voice which is beautiful, lush, rich and warm,” Cuccaro-Penhorwood said.
(02/21/08 4:47am)
The field of sustainable development is now available as a concentration to current and prospective students in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.\nA committee proposed the introduction of the concentration several months ago. It was approved this month. \nElizabeth Blair, a second-year masters of public affairs student and member of the committee that developed the requirements for the concentration, described sustainable development as “a concept of approaching economic development while at the same time recognizing the limits of natural resources in our world.” \nThe institution of the sustainable development concentration was prompted by overwhelming demand from students, said John Mikesell, director of SPEA’s Master of Public Affairs program and chair of the committee of faculty and students that formed the proposal for the concentration.\nMikesell said the demand was ignited by the popularity of sustainability in general.\nThe popularity of sustainable development is nothing new – the term was actually fully defined and discussed in the Brundtland Report, a paper drafted by a committee at Oxford University in 1987 with the goal of defining the term, Blair said.\nThe popularity of the field is not exclusive to Bloomington either, as countries around the world and influential entities such as the United Nations are promoting reforms in resource consumption and other issues in the field, according to the U.S. State Department’s Web site.\n“Business non-profit and governmental agencies are all worried about sustainability – there are lots of different units involved in this field,” Mikesell said.\nThe requirements for the concentration were formed by a committee including faculty from seven disciplines from topics of sustainability and the inclusion of selected students.\n“The concentration focuses on the three legs of sustainability – ecological, economic and social. That’s the reason for the diversity of faculty and courses involved,” said Burnell Fischer, a clinical professor at SPEA and committee member for the formation of sustainable development concentration.\nStudents who choose to focus on sustainable development have the opportunity to work on sustainability in a number of forums ranging from governmental to international.\nThe originality of the program is profound in that it’s flexible enough for individual students to tailor something to their interests, Fischer said.\nThe committee used existing courses to build the base for the concentration. This allows students to easily transfer credits and mold and shape their concentration to fit their interests and career goals. \nFischer also speculated that although pre-existing courses were used for the base, it’s likely that new classes could stem from this concentration.
(02/13/08 5:07am)
Digital artist Margaret Dolinsky’s says her favorite part of her job is “exploring the creative uses of digital technology with students.”\nDolinsky a professor in the school of Fine Arts, was recently named the 2008 Outstanding Educator in Science, Engineering and Technology by the organization women and Hi Tech.\n“(She) marries technology with the world of art, and pushes it on both sides, and also shares that drive with her students,” said Rhonda Winter, current chief information officer at CIK enterprises. Winter nominated Dolinsky for the award.\nThe award is given to the educator who uses technology creatively and involves students, Winter said.\nHowever, her pioneering in the realm of digital painting might trump her aptitude for exquisite teaching, Winter said. \n“(Digital painting is) where the combination of the computer and the venue space provide the canvas and paint palette,” Dolinsky said in an e-mail.\nShe made the transition from computer science to art when she realized that computers were a visual medium that needed to be infused with creativity. Her most recent work, “Cabinet of Dreams,” is a 3-D work that utilizes an ancient cabinet from the Qing dynasty and a slew of other ancient artifacts ranging from soul urns to cooking vessels. Dolinsky said she produced this art piece by combining the actual cabinet with virtual dreams inspired by real objects. The actual work of art was displayed on a projection screen at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.\n“The computer graphic environments represent a structure of times past as well as a sense of virtual space,” Dolinsky said.\nThis sort of art demands outstanding inspiration. Dolinsky said most of her inspiration comes from how people interact with one another, as well as her students. \n“We confront people and we confront art,” Dolinsky said. “(My goal) is to make people aware of these confrontations. Interactive virtual environments are the optimal space for this to occur.” \nDolinksy’s artwork is not exclusive to ancient artifacts. Eric Wernert, senior manager for visualization and digital humanities within University Information Technology Services, has worked with Dolinsky since the summer of 1999. He praised her diversity when describing her art.\n“Her art can evoke feelings and emotions ranging anywhere from playful, or whimsical to haunting,” he said.\nHe also said various art pieces contained extraordinary visual richness, along with integration, interaction and multi-century types of exposure.