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(02/24/10 4:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Don’t talk and drive.Driving and using a cell phone simultaneously results in driving performance similar to that of drunk driving, according to a driving simulator study.A study released by the IU Public Policy Institute found that simply banning cell phone usage is not effective in increasing traffic safety. The study says better law enforcement combined with media campaigns will effectively cut down on distracted driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that nearly 11 percent of all drivers are using a cell phone at any given time during the day. Another study conducted by The National Occupant Protection Use Survey found that this phone use was highest among drivers 16 to 24 years old. The Indiana legislature passed a law in July 2009 effectively banning cell phone usage while driving for individuals under 18. The law aims to help cut down on distracted driving, thereby helping to better traffic safety. The problem with the law is that it is difficult to enforce. The law, which targets younger drivers, is only effective against individuals under the age of 18 that received their licenses before July 1, 2009. So, as Indiana State Police first sergeant Dave Bursten explained, it’s difficult for police to enforce the law because they cannot easily determine if drivers are underage or when their license was issued without pulling them over first.“It would take a police officer working in very small community that knows the majority of the people in the community and factually knows ‘there’s Susie Thompson, I know she’s 17, and she’s talking on her cell phone and she drove by me,’” Bursten said.As a result, there are very few infractions logged. Bursten said ISP has not issued any citations. The only times officers are likely to catch offenders is when there is a crash and the person is accused of using their cell phone or if the individual is pulled over for another traffic violation and is observed using their phone, Bursten said.North Carolina implemented a law similar to Indiana’s in 2006 and according to a study only 39 percent of parents and 64 percent of teens knew about the ban.That’s why Matthew Nagle, author of the new study, argues that a media awareness campaign is needed. The campaign, in combination with stricter enforcement of the law, is likely to be more successful, he says. “I think that the campaign will kill two birds with one stone by highlighting both that the law is this, but also showing the dangers of that particular driving behavior,” Nagle said.This was seen in Washington, D.C., where all cell phone use while driving was banned. The combination of campaigns and law enforcement over a sustained period of time drastically decreased the crashes due to cell phone usage. “So yeah this has got a lot of attention, but it’s really only one form of distracted driving. I also hope that this can put the issue in a broader context, you know there’s this issue of people not paying attention and not being aware of the risks that they’re presenting to themselves and other drivers by taking these actions,” Nagle said.
(02/23/10 5:08am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With its lecture series currently underway, the India Studies program is hoping to draw in crowds with an outside perspective. Tithi Bhattacharya, an associate professor of history at Purdue University, gave a speech about the concept of modernity in India on Monday.“Being Tibetan, from a third-world country, I just wanted to know how she deals with modernity from a non-Eurocentric point of view,” first-year graduate student Tenzin Tsepak said. Tsepak was one of about 30 people who attended the lecture, which focused on the developing nation of India in the late 19th century. Bhattacharya, author of two books on the topic of her speech, introduced the idea of modernity as an ongoing political project rather than a model set by Europeans and emulated throughout their colonies. She argued that not only is modernity different in the East than it has been considered to be in the West, specifically Europe, but that the two forms are alternatives to each other.Bhattacharya posited that although India modeled itself after its colonial mother in the emphasis it placed on scientific research and education, the modernization it achieved could not be called “European” because it was an entirely different type of modernization.Bhattacharya led the audience through this speech by analyzing the writings of the 19th century Indian scholar Swarnakumari Debi. Bhattacharya said she chose Swarnakumari because of the cultural abnormality that she represented. In the 19th century in India women generally spent their time at home with their role centered around their children and families. Debi was atypical because she was a published scholar that focused her writings on subjects other than her home life and took a strong interest in and advocated for the importance of scientific education and social reform.“Modern values are adopted not to become like Europe but to become truly Indian,” Bhattacharya said.Debi even went so far as to claim that many of the scientific discoveries made by Europeans, such as the solar system’s heliocentric nature, were preceded by similar discoveries by ancient Indians.“What Europe claimed to be its achievement was already in the possession of Ancient India,” Debi wrote. Bhattacharya ended her discussion with the idea that although the monopoly on the moment might now belong to Europe, “the momentum is for anyone to seize.” Although the lecture seemed to be targeted towards a very specific and interested audience, the other lectures scheduled for the future are likely to have a broader appeal.IU junior Ellyn Church, who is majoring in Religious Studies and India Studies, has been to several lectures before and said they tend to be more globally centered.“They’re typically pretty good,” she said.Church, who plans to shoot a documentary about agriculture in India this summer, said she felt she got more out of the discussion that followed the lecture than the lecture itself. “There’s a lot to be learned and to be done,” she said.
(02/04/10 3:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>China had 384 million Internet users in 2009 – more than the entire U.S. population.However, Google might withdraw from China, and all its possible revenue, due to recent attacks on its servers.Google is concerned with hackers attempting to gain access to several Gmail accounts, many of which belonged to individuals around the world who are active in the human rights debate surrounding Chinese policies.What’s interesting to Fred Cate, director of IU’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, is that Google has linked these cyber attacks with the decision to change its policies in China.He said these types of attacks, often targeting American businesses and government computers, are not uncommon and have been increasing in intensity in the last few years. “Google’s not the only company to experience these attacks, but Google, for whatever reason, drew a line in the sand and connected two things that really have nothing to do with each other. We’re tired of these attacks, and on the other hand we’re tired of complying with Chinese government regulations that Internet suppliers in China have to comply with,” Cate said.Because no other companies have come forward with evidence suggesting that these attacks have caused significant harm, Cate said he thinks this move by Google is more about the censorship restrictions than about security.“It feels a little bit like they’re trying to use the attacks as strategic leverage to try to get from under the other types of restrictions,” Cate said.Google, which operates as Google.cn in China, launched in 2006 while conforming to China’s censorship laws. This decision was greeted with much criticism from people around the world, claiming that Google’s “do no harm” motto was violated by its decision to censor search results. However, at the time, Google posted on its blog that it saw the greater evil was to deny Chinese people access to the information it could provide.Scott Kennedy, director of IU’s Research Center for Chinese Politics & Business, explained that Google could have more to lose by staying in China under current restrictions than by pulling out entirely.“The potential damage to the rest of the business globally is higher than the potential damage of their business in China by doing this. And that, in fact, their business in China will eventually be much better even if they have to temporarily suffer a pretty severe setback,” Kennedy said.What is surprising, he said, was that Google decided to make its problems with the Chinese government public. Sophomore Sherry Lu said although she uses Google when she travels back to China, she doesn’t think that it would be greatly missed by most Chinese Internet users because it’s not the most popular search engine.However, most of the content that’s blocked is American-based sites, such as YouTube and Facebook, Lu said. Because most Chinese have their own comparable social networking and content-sharing sites, they don’t really miss those that are censored.“I’m sure a lot of the Chinese are angry about the censorship, even if they’re not outwardly doing anything about it. If they knew what you can access in America, they’d probably be a little frustrated,” Lu said.
(01/28/10 4:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Walking into the Student Recreational Sports Center, a line stretches as far back as the turnstiles. It looks similar to the entrance to a club than a campus gym. Participants, nearly all women, are waiting patiently in line for their chance to get into the studio. Some have arrived nearly an hour in advance to secure a spot. Gretchen Schrader, a sophomore, is near the front of the line. She said she has been waiting for the doors to open for 45 minutes.A new exercise craze has gripped IU. Every Tuesday and Thursday, participants line up to get into the increasingly popular Zumba classes, offered for the first time this spring by Campus Recreational Sports at the SRSC. Created in Cali, Colombia by Beto Perez in the mid-1990s, Zumba uses traditional Latin style dance steps and music to create an aerobic fitness program. Perez, who brought Zumba to the U.S. in the early 2000s, has since expanded the company and created a global phenomenon that has many people pumped about getting back to the gym.“It makes you sweat. It’s dancing and a workout all at once,” Schrader said.Christin Everson, a graduate student, is one of two group exercise leaders recently certified to teach Zumba. She starts each class with a 10-minute warm-up, and then follows by teaching a dance routine.Every couple weeks she chooses several songs to choreograph, and then uses Merengue, Salsa and Cumbia dance steps to create a routine that she then teaches to the students. The routine remains the same for a couple weeks to give participants a chance to learn it before they move onto another number. Music used in classes is almost always Latin or internationally flavored.“Zumba is just a real comfortable setting where you can just let loose and have fun without really thinking about the fact that you’re exercising,” Everson said. “You can come with your friends and have a good time.”The class fills the 110 available spots every session, said Joellan Muyskens-Chang, assistant director of fitness and wellness for Campus Recreational Sports. Campus Recreational Sports is already working on getting additional leaders certified so they can offer more classes in summer and fall.The SRSC even has another group exercise leader stand guard at the entrance to the studio to make sure the class doesn’t exceed capacity.“Unfortunately, with how popular this session has been, we haven’t been able to accommodate everyone who has shown up each evening,” Muyskens-Chang said. “We’ve had to turn away between 40-50 participants per night and re-direct them to other sessions.” Many participants said they are so happy with their experience that they return.Sophomore Tiffany Martin, another group exercise leader at the SRSC, has attended most of the Zumba classes that have been offered so far. Martin said Zumba is similar to other dance classes offered by the SRSC but is more of a cardio workout due to the fast-paced, infectious music.“Between each song, like between cues, everyone is dancing around by themselves because the music just gets you moving,” Martin said.
(01/26/10 5:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A recent study published by two School of Public and Environmental Affairs professors found the way land is used in a specific area might affect the rate of criminal activity within the area.Thomas Stucky and John Ottensmann, professors at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, published a study looking at the correlation between urban land usage and violent crime activity, which they defined as rape, homicide, aggravated assault and robbery. The two professors published their work in the November issue of Criminology.Although it isn’t the first study to look at the relationship between land usage and criminal activity, it is unique due to the 30 diverse categories of land usage and the smaller unit size analyzed. What they found was somewhat surprising. Apart from socioeconomic factors, land use affects crime counts, Stucky said. “An interesting find was that levels of crime were higher in areas of more dense residential land use,” Ottensmann said.Other findings included higher crime rates in areas with large amounts of commercial land use and highly traveled streets. Lower crime rates could be found around high income residential living and industrial areas, as well as parks and schools. What Ottensmann said surprised him the most was that although there was not an elevated crime rate around schools, there was a larger number of disturbances. “The key finding is that to fully understand crime in an area, you have to understand both socioeconomic factors and land usage,” Stucky said.Stucky and Ottensmann said they don’t expect that their findings will produce new policy, but they do hope to help law enforcement officers as well as scholars think differently about what factors affect crime. “This data provides for people in law enforcement some context in terms of where relative risks are greater,” Ottensmann said. “It offers another piece of the puzzle in helping understand the context in which they’re operating.” The study began after a lunch conversation where Ottensmann explained to Stucky his current work. Ottensmann made an urban simulation model of Marion County and was mapping the different types of land usage in Indianapolis. “It all started in a brown bag lunch session,” Stucky said. He was intrigued by Ottensmann’s work and attended a seminar where he was speaking. Following the seminar, Stucky suggested the two professors collaborate, combining their two interests, urban planning and criminal activity, and come up with some new interesting data. “Some of the uniqueness of the study is indeed in the collaboration between me and Thomas,” Ottensmann said.Stucky and Ottensmann then started to combine their data. The data used in this study was obtained through the IU Public Policy Institute, of which both Stucky and Ottensmann are members. “We get access to large data sets to work with and so we’re able to work on nifty questions,” Ottensmann said.First, the authors mapped all the different kinds of land usage throughout Indianapolis. They then added information to the map about violent criminal activity between 2000 and 2004. The two then decided to break the city into 1,000-square-foot grid cells for easier analysis. They considered the type of land usage in each area and the incidence of violent crime. They also took into consideration socioeconomic factors such as population, income, ethnicity and poverty. David Good, a School of Public and Environmental Affairs professor at IU, said the information in the study is reasonable and the findings are believable. For example, higher crime rates are found in more highly dense residential areas.“The more densely packed a neighborhood is, the more stress it causes ... so financial distress, that’s a hard thing to live with, you’re on the edge,” Good said. “There’s conflict. That’s not an unexpected thing.”However, Good said he agrees with the authors that though the information is useful, it won’t be able to directly affect urban planning policy.“I guess there are some things that are outcomes here that really seem to be explainable. How it translates into policy, that’s a much harder thing,” he said.
(09/21/09 4:33am)
Local magazine marks 25 years of avant-garde films.
(09/01/09 3:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Jacki Frey, local painter and IU graduate, has returned to Bloomington after several years away to nurture local painting talent with a one-woman paint-in.At the paint-in, she will demonstrate watercolor painting from the front porch of The Venue Fine Art & Gifts at 5:30 p.m. today.Frey, a member of the Watercolor Society of Indiana, Hoosier Salon and the South Side Art League of Indianapolis, teaches watercolor painting at the Waldron Arts Center. She said she gives lessons because she likes to give back to the community.“People come in and they’re really appreciative,” Frey said. “I like to put interest out there in watercolor. It’s a medium that’s good with instruction.”The Venue sponsors demonstrations almost every week, mostly by their exhibited artists. Dave Colman, assistant curator of the Venue, explained that people usually enjoy seeing an artist work.“We host these events so people can see what the creative process looks like,” Colman said.The demonstrations, which are always free, usually occur three to four Tuesdays a month, Colman said. Refreshments will be provided for Frey’s demonstration and the gallery’s collection of fine arts and gifts will also be on display and for sale.Frey has her art on display in the Venue’s gallery and will be demonstrating how to paint scenery at the paint-in.“I’ll sort of begin with the basics and then just paint the picture,” Frey said.
(02/19/09 5:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A year ago this month, sophomore Rachel DiPietro-James was anxiously awaiting her return to Argentina to study abroad for the semester when she was killed in an car accident several months before her trip. Now, her friends at IU have decided to host a benefit concert to raise money for a memorial tree and a scholarship in her name.Junior Krista Lepore and her friend, Bloomington resident Cecily Dibble, both of whom attended high school with DiPietro-James, teamed up to organize a concert called “Rock on Rach” from 7 to 11 p.m. today at Rachael’s Cafe. Donations for a tree, plaque and scholarship in DiPietro-James’ honor will be accepted at the door. There will be live music at the event in addition to available food and beverages. “We wanted to have something that would entertain people and bring people together so we can celebrate her life,” Lepore said.Several bands and artists who knew DiPietro-James have agreed to play at the concert, including Elephant Quiz, The Lower Cascades, Mermaid on a Mountaintop, Alex Arnold and Michael McGinnis.“They all went to high school with Rachel, they were friends of hers,” Dibble said.Of the money raised, the initial $500 will be used to buy a plaque and a tree to plant somewhere on campus. “A tree was a good idea because Rachel really appreciated the natural, beautiful things,” Dibble said. “There are a lot of people on campus who knew her and miss her, and it would bring smiles to a lot of faces.”The additional money raised will go toward a scholarship in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese in DiPietro-James’ name. The scholarship is currently funded by the Council on International Educational Exchange study abroad program, supporting a program in Buenos Aires. In addition to this benefit concert, DiPietro-James’ older brothers have organized marathons in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Seattle for their sister. The proceeds will also go toward the DiPietro-James scholarship.“The department would like to try and raise enough money so that the scholarship will continue in perpetuity,” said Catherine Larson, Department of Spanish and Portuguese chairwoman. “The scholarship is for any student accepted to the CIEE program in Argentina.”