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(10/30/06 4:07am)
Experts debated the benefits and disadvantages for societies where the practice of child labor is widespread at an IU-hosted conference Thursday and Friday. \nSponsored by the IU Department of Economics and the India Studies Program, economists from IU, other American universities and the World Bank the conference focused on the international and economic implications of how the issue affects India and other countries throughout the world. \nChild labor first was explored from many perspectives, including its history in the United States, the long-term effects and possible ways to decrease or eliminate it. \n"We don't know a lot about the implications of child labor," said Kathleen Beegle, senior economist at the Development and Research Group at the World Bank. "This conference pulled together a nice array of work in the area, but what I take away from it is that there is still a lot more to be done."\nOne of the main topics the presenters debated was what the result would be if all child labor were eliminated. \n"You have to think of the immediate loss if child labor was banned," said Christian Zimmerman, associate professor at the University of Connecticut. "If we ban it, is that something we really want?"\nThere are many possible ways to approach child labor, Zimmerman said. \nAmerica could end child labor in a given country by giving it money, but it comes down to the questions of how much money it would take and if the country would be willing to do it, said Gerhard Glomm, professor and chair of the Department of Economics. Child labor can also be confronted by tackling other issues such as hunger and disease, Glomm said.\nIf India's schools were subsidized, the number of children who would be able to afford an education so they don't have to resort to working at such a young age would increase, said Carolyn Moehling, an associate professor in the Department of Economics at Rutgers University.\nGlomm called America's reaction to child labor "cheap talk" and said more action is needed to address it. \nStressing the long-term consequences that could result from child labor, Zimmerman and the other presenters discussed how marriage, health and education are all affected by the situation. One of the key dangers children face is physical injury because of unsafe working conditions at such a young age, Moehling said. Specifically, she addressed how working in agriculture is extremely dangerous because animals and the use of heavy equipment can be hazardous. \nBecause of the families' need for their children to work in some cases, children cannot attend school, Moehling said. Sometimes, like in America's earlier years, children would not go to school because work was more appealing to them, she said.\nHowever, child labor is not all bad, Beegle said. While working young, children can learn more about a profession and build discipline, responsibility and other traits they can use later in life. \nDespite the many consequences of the issue, Zimmerman said wealthier countries need to pay more attention to child labor occurring in other countries. \n"Do we really care enough about child labor to make it disappear?" Zimmerman asked.
(10/25/06 3:41am)
The IU Department of Economics and the India Studies Program will sponsor a conference about child labor in India on Thursday and Friday in Wylie Hall.\nThe 2006 Child Labor Conference will include a variety of perspectives from selected speakers, said Gerhard Glomm, professor and chair of the economics department. Five speakers from IU, including Glomm, will present at the conference, along with five others from other universities and organizations that specialize in economics.\nThe goal of the conference is to understand child labor issues better and to figure out policies that can be put into place to combat it, Glomm said. \nIndia is the prime focus of the conference because two of the scholars in the economics department selected had written papers regarding the child labor crisis in India, Glomm said. The issue of child labor is crucial to understand because kids are going to work in other countries instead of getting an education, he said. By gathering various experts to discuss this, more light will be shed on the problem, and beneficial solutions may arise.\n"Child labor is one of the biggest policy problems around anywhere," Glomm said.\nGlomm said India is an appropriate focus since most of its citizens are farmers; they must depend on the weather for whatever profit they get. If there is a bad crop, children must work in factories instead of going to school in order to earn enough money for their families to survive, he said.\nThe conference runs from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday and will resume 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday. Topics to be discussed include "Buying Out Child Labor" and "The Ten Year Consequences of Child Labor"
(10/23/06 3:43am)
While a vast majority of faculty and students support the newly approved general education requirements, some opposition exists on how much student input should be allowed on the issue in the future.\nAt an Oct. 3 meeting, the Bloomington Faculty Council passed a proposal that established a core of general education classes and created the General Education Committee, which will make decisions regarding any future changes in general education requirements.\nAccording to the proposal, although students will be able to express their opinions and ideas to the committee, they will have no voting power, said Kelly Kish, BFC chief of staff in the Faculty Council Office.\nGraduate student Paul Rohwer, moderator of the IU Graduate and Professional Student Organization, said he believes students deserve more input on future decisions regarding general education requirements. Rohwer was one of two on the Bloomington Faculty Council to vote against the proposal.\nThe new general education requirements include a core of courses in areas like mathematics, English, foreign languages and world cultures that will, among other things, make it easier for students to transfer to different schools on IU's campus.\nLaw student Grant McFann was the other dissenting voter on the new course requirements. "If it's about general programs, it's dumb not to include (students)," McFann said. \nKish said the faculty on the committee value student input along with other nonaffiliated members. However, she said, voting is where the faculty and administration draw the line on what students can and cannot do.\nIt is the faculty's responsibility to define the degrees, said David Nordloh, associate dean of the faculties. Allowing students to determine their own general education requirements would be like having the people who park their cars on campus control the traffic regulations, Nordloh said.\nThe General Education Committee is comprised of 47 representatives from each school at IU, Kish said. She said there will probably be only one undergraduate and one graduate student. \nThe other reason Rowher said he voted against the new course requirements was because there was too much disagreement between the schools at the Bloomington Faculty Council meeting.\n"There was no way that should have been a unanimous vote," Rohwer said. \nHe said he thinks many faculty members approved the proposal despite having concerns. \nNordloh disagreed, saying each school represented understood there are still issues to be dealt with. He said that was a main reason for the creation of the General Education Committee.
(10/18/06 4:08am)
With so many students changing their major during their college careers, some are finding they must remain in college an extra year to fulfill additional degree requirements. In an effort to make transferring between schools on campus and from other universities a little easier, the Bloomington Faculty Council has passed a new set of general education requirements. \nThe new requirements, which will apply to next year's freshman class, will require that students take a set minimum of courses in subjects such as math, English and foreign language or world cultures. The University hopes the new standards will provide students with a common, solid background of skills, whatever their major. The different schools on campus will also implement a shared goals plan to help students gain familiarity in subjects outside their major, such as information fluency and intensive writing.\nOne of the main reasons for the changes are for transferability issues. Under the current system, students who switch their major might not have the courses they have already completed be compatible with the requirements of their new major, said David Nordloh, associate dean of faculties.\nThe general education program will make it easier for students to pursue a double major, said Garret Scharton, IU Student Association chief of external affairs. Scharton began his college career wanting to earn a degree from the music school but later on decided he wanted to add a degree in political science, which is based in the College of Arts and Sciences. He said as a result of having to fulfill both of the department's requirements he had to stay an extra year at IU.\nAside from being the associate dean of faculties, Nordloh also works on developing relationships between IU and other colleges. He said this transferability also applies to students transferring to or from IU. \nIt would be easier for students at colleges and community colleges like Ivy Tech Community College to transfer to IU because the classes given in both schools would be the same and they will not have to take different classes. This works the same for students transferring to and from IU, Nordloh said.\nThe General Education Program will force IU schools to adjust their degrees, Nordloh said. Every school felt this proposal was needed, even ones concerned with some difficulties, he said.\nFor example, current education majors do not have to take a foreign language, said Tim Niggle, director of student and information management services at the School of Education. With the new program, the education school will have to find a way to incorporate foreign language or world culture requirements in their degree.
(10/06/06 3:31am)
Bloomington residents and IU students celebrated the Asian Cultural Center's annual Moon Festival under a full moon Wednesday night at the Kirkwood Observatory.\nThe Moon Festival is a Chinese holiday that celebrates the end of the harvest and is a time for family to get together and give thanks, said Wendy Ho, IU graduate and student outreach coordinator at the culture center.\nThe center first began celebrating the Moon Festival at IU in 1999 after incoming Asian students asked if festivals they celebrated at home, such as the Moon Festival, were celebrated here, said Melanie Castillo-Cullather, director of the center.\n"Any chance we have to share (Asian students') culture is good," Castillo-Cullather said. \nMore than 100 attendees to the festival participated in several activities, including calligraphy, an M&M chopstick game and a workshop in which participants created decorative Chinese paper lanterns.\nThe observatory was also open for people to view the full moon through a telescope. There was a smaller telescope for moon viewing across the street if people did not want to go up into the observatory. Wednesday was the first time the Moon Festival was held at the Kirkwood Observatory. Collins Living-Learning Center has also hosted moon festivals in its courtyard, Castillo-Cullather said. \nThe observatory is open every Wednesday night to the public, so this worked out well for the ACC, said Ted Maxwell, IU graduate and volunteer at the Kirkwood Observatory.\nWhile participating in the activities, attendees ate traditional Chinese moon cakes and drank hot tea. The mooncakes are small, bite-size cakes that have a filling including green tea leaves, beans or lotus seeds. \nGurion Jaffe, a senior at Harmony High School in Bloomington, tried a lotus seed mooncake. \n"It was really odd, but it was good," Jaffe said.\nIU student groups, including the Hong Kong Student Association and Chinese Student and Scholar Association, will be celebrating their official Moon Festival 6:30 p.m. Friday at in the Willkie Auditorium. The Taiwanese Student Association will have its on Saturday night at McNutt Quad.
(09/28/06 3:54am)
IU senior Kenny Kendal loves the clatter the trains make when they roll past his 12th Street home.\n"It's a very peaceful sound," he said.\nChristina Fulton, the citizen services coordinator of Bloomington's Public Works Department, had a different experience. Fulton said when she lived beside the track in her former house on the east side of Bloomington, her dishes would sometimes rattle when trains rumbled past. However, Fulton got used to the sounds with time.\n"For the most part, people don't go after the railroad (with their complaints) because it's a part of American life," Fulton said.\nThese trains, owned by the Indiana Railroad Company, rumble through Bloomington every day transporting goods and materials, annoying some as others grow accustomed to the clamor. \nEigenmann Hall resident and senior Josh Goeringer said at first the trains were loud, but after three weeks of living at the residence hall, they do not bother him anymore. However, it's a different story for his friends.\n"(The trains) drive my friends crazy when they are over," Goeringer said.\nThe Indiana Railroad Company receives few complaints, said John Cummings, the Indiana Railroad manager for communications and signals. However, some people do complain.\nFulton said complaints she receives from Bloomington residents are usually about loud and disruptive trains or a railroad crossing that needs repair. A couple times people complained the engines left at the railroad by Ninth Street would be kept running until the next train arrived.\nSince railroads are the private property of railroad companies, they are exempt from local ordinances such as Bloomington's "Quiet Nights," which allows the police to arrest anyone creating disruptive noises after certain hours. \nBloomington residents who are annoyed by the passing trains can still call the Indiana Railroad Company and voice their complaints, though.\nThe Indianapolis-based company owns the trains and tracks that go through Bloomington. Trains running through Bloomington travel either to Indianapolis or Terre Haute and then to Illinois or Louisville, Ky. \nThese trains carry coal, cars and a large amount of various merchandise, Fulton said.\nThere is a section of track by Ninth Street where engines are disconnected from one train so they can be picked up by another going the opposite direction. Other than that, no trains stop in Bloomington to load or unload goods.\nTrains cross streets at three main locations within the IU campus. One is on the west side of the Fee Lane parking garage on North Walnut Grove Street, another is between the Student Recreational Sports Center and the 10th Street parking lot across from Teter Quad, and the last crosses between Campus View Apartments and Eigenmann. Cummings said Indiana Railroad has a contract with IU in these areas since railroads are private properties and said IU was not interested in putting signals at these crossings. The Campus View crossing does have warning lights, though.\nAs for future plans, the Indiana Railroad track will be around for quite a while, Cummings said. \n"We're carrying more business now than in history," Cummings said.