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(04/07/14 3:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>March Madness brought about a surge of bracket-making. But instead of predicting basketball wins, human rights were the subject of students’ brackets this weekend.Events surrounding the International Day of Sport were coordinated by the IU chapter of the United Nations Association of the USA which presented a “Human Rights Bracket” Saturday in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. This concept is based on the United Nations’ International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, which took place Sunday. “The International Day of Sport for Development and Peace contributes to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals,” said Kelsey Cooper, founder of IU’s UNA-USA chapter. “Sports bring people together as a community, and the UN believes that sports can help people in areas of conflict come together and create peaceful opportunities for younger generations.” Students were asked to choose which human rights issues are the most important to them, using a March Madness-style bracket. The idea behind the bracket-making was to bring IU students’ attention to human rights issues in an engaging way, Cooper said.The bracket was divided into four categories — civil liberties, global health, economic opportunity and freedom. After filling out their brackets, students’ entries were put in a raffle for prizes like UNA-USA merchandise and gift cards to Starbucks and Amazon. “Students can choose which one of the issues under each category is most important to them,” Cooper said. “And by the end, we will come up with the most important human rights issue to IU students.” William Nicholas, freshman political science student and member of Model United Nations, said he believes the bracket event taught important lessons to IU students.“IU students will go on to work in an increasingly globalized world,” he said. “An awareness of global and human rights issues is crucial to the modern student and employee.”The organization has been on campus for four months and often works in conjunction with IU’s Model United Nations team. “This organization works to promote United Nations missions on college campuses and raise awareness of human rights and international policy,” Cooper said. “The UNA is happy to work with the Model UN group on campus because we have very similar interests and work together.”As part of the International Day of Sport, IU’s UNA-USA chapter created a video featuring IU athletes.“The idea of the video is to get IU student athletes familiar with the declaration of human rights,” said Bradi Heaberlin, coordinator of the video project. “They then read it on camera to demonstrate the true universal nature of the declaration.”Cooper said she encourages students to get involved with the United Nations, with the UNA or on their own. “It is important for IU students to be aware of what is going on in the world around them,” she said. “I believe the UNA can help them recognize and take action on international issues.” Follow reporter Rashmika Nedungadi on Twitter @rashmika_n.
(12/13/13 5:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As winter weather makes its way to Bloomington, IU buildings are turning up the heat. Due to rising energy costs, researchers in the SPEA graduate program are looking for new ways to monitor and reduce energy consumption and costs on campus. Five SPEA graduate students in V600: Capstone in Public and Environmental Affairs, Behavioral Change and Energy Conservation, a course for master’s students, participated in research on IU’s energy consumption. The students will present their findings to the Physical Plant and general public at 9 a.m. Dec. 13 in the Kelley School of Business 1040. The students were initially contacted to evaluate and confirm findings made in the previous Integrated Energy Master Plan (IEMP), a report detailing energy consumption in several IU buildings, faculty adviser for the project Diane Henshel said. “(The research) comes out of a desire by the Physical Plant to decrease the amount of money spent on energy, which is a huge part of the annual budget,” Henshel said. “They basically want to know what’s the ‘biggest bang for your buck’ — you want to spend the least amount and get the biggest benefit.”As part of their research, the students were provided with a limited set of buildings where they knew energy meter data was accurate, Kristen Hackman, a graduate research participant, said. “We talked to all 26 or so building managers, had a tour of each building with them, spoke with representatives about energy consumption patterns and how the building was used, and analyzed the IEMP,” Hackman said. “We then monitored consumption in buildings compared to the master meter and did timing for peak analysis.”An important part of their analysis, Henshel said, dealt with peak energy usage. Peak usage detailed which hours of the day and which times of the month energy usage was highest on campus. Campus buildings’ usage was then compared to peak timing to see where peak energy costs could be offset. “Reducing peak value in every month contributes to energy savings,” Hackman said. “Hundreds of thousands are spent per month just during peak. Roughly every month, $20 is spent per kilowatt on peak time.”Some results of peak energy research were surprising to researchers.“Campus peaks are from 1 to 4 p.m. or noon to 5 p.m. in expanded view,” Henshel said. “Dorms start around 3 to 4 p.m. There has always been the assumption that dorms are driving the peak, which is not true. Classrooms seem to follow peak well, so that’s indicating that student use of classrooms is driving peak.” Researchers came to several conclusions based on their review of IU’s energy consumption. “We determined that the IEMP tended to overestimate energy use for the buildings,” Hackman said.Hackman and her team said overestimating energy use could have negative effects.“Overestimating decreases the ability for savings,” Henshel said.The students further concluded science buildings were most in line with peak timing. Hackman said he campus chilling system should be evaluated in the future, and a new classification system should be used for buildings.“(Before), the Auditorium was considered an academic building, just like Ballantine,” Henshel said. “Clearly the use of the Auditorium is different and the energy use is going to be different. This is the first time that the classification considers energy use from a more functional perspective.”From their research students were able to recommend a number of changes to IU’s Physical Plant to reduce energy usage and costs. These included review of the IEMP model for systematic errors — as researchers found a large majority of energy consumption was overestimated — and recommending the Physical Plant explore funding options that would allow departments to become more involved in their energy savings. Hackman said she believed the research findings are integral to all IU students. “Energy costs are rising, and this has prompted IU and other institutions that use a lot of energy to look more closely at their bills,” Hackman said. “The rising cost of energy and the amount of energy we use does increase tuition as it’s a large part of the budget.”The research group, including Hackman and Henshel, said they felt this research can aid in creating sustainable practices for the future. “This University’s goals are excellence in research and innovative academia,” Hackman said. “I think the innovative work done in this project encompasses the mission of this campus.”Follow reporter Rashmika Nedungadi on Twitter @rashmika_n.
(10/14/13 3:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Blog headlines from 2011 flashed on the screen.“Tunisia Domino? No, but a U.S. Democracy Dilemma” and “Why the Tunisian Revolution won’t spread,” they read. It is now evident that the Tunisian Revolution influenced and is still affecting the political and social climate in the Middle East, said John Owen, professor of political science at the University of Virginia. Owen spoke Friday in Wylie Hall.The title of his talk was “Springs and Their Offsprings: The International Consequences of Domestic Uprisings” and was sponsored by the Center on American and Global Security and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.A spring is a coordinated effort, successful in at least the short term, to liberate from oppressive rule, Owen said.Owen started the talk by recounting initial skepticism about an Arab Spring. “The skepticism is partly, I think, a function in part of the way political scientists divide up the intellectual terrain,” Owen said. “On the international relations side there are people who think of the Arab Spring as a comparative politics phenomenon.”Owen went on to describe how the Arab Spring occurred in terms of political study.“The simplest way to interpret what happened is that there was a contagion of some sort,” Owen said. Owen said history often repeats itself in these “springs.” He brought forth a number of examples of such movements throughout history, particularly the Scottish spring of 1560 and the Springtime of Nations in 1848, that mirrored the Arab Spring.“Both are clusters of events,” Owen said. “It is important to note that they cluster in time and space.”“When does a ‘spring’ create ‘offspring?’” was the talk’s central question, and Owen outlined how and why this occurs.“When a massacre takes place in one country, it polarizes people in other states as pro- or anti-regime,” Owen said. “Polarization of this sort puts pressure on a ruling regime, endangers its hold on power and gives them new incentives to save their power.”Owen said cheap communication, pre-existing group boundaries and transitional networks must exist for a spring to have a widespread reach.“There are a number of social boundaries in any given population — gender, race, religion, class,” Owen said. “In some cases, boundaries that have been dormant for a while can reactivate.”Owen said he would like to go deeper into why springs don’t occur.“For future research we have to ask why catalytic events don’t yield offspring,” Owen said. “The Iranian Green Movement of 2009, for example. The Arab world is in fact, linguistically and culturally, a unit.”Owen said he would also like to look at more current offshoots of the Arab Spring, such as the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi, former president of Egypt.“We want to see what happened with Morsi — see if it had those polarizing effects,” Owen said. SPEA professor Susan Siena attended the event and said she felt it was important to help students and others understand the subject. “For someone interested in going further in political science, these are very useful to get an understanding about where scholarship is moving in this subfield of political science,” Siena said. Follow reporter Rashmika Nedungadi on Twitter @rashmika_n.
(10/07/13 2:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The inside of the National Guard Armory was reminiscent of an elementary school carnival. There were bouncy houses, face-painting and middle school cheerleaders standing in pyramids and spelling out “Buddy Walk.”The 2013 Buddy Walk took place at the National Guard Armory on Sunday. The event was originally to be held in Bryan Park, but was relocated indoors because of rain. The walk, sponsored by the National Down Syndrome Society and Down Syndrome Family Connection, raised $12,922 , exceeding its fundraising goal of $10,000. The Buddy Walk is an international event with more than 250 walks across the globe. In Indiana alone, there are five Buddy Walk locations.This year marked the sixth annual Bloomington Buddy Walk. At the National Guard Armory, tents and activities were set up inside while brightly colored flags in the parking lot outside marked the walk path. “The Bloomington Community responded really well,” Buddy Walk coordinator Nola Bloemendaal said. “There were at least 1,000 participants last year, and it gets bigger every year. With social media, too, people are willing to share and talk about it in a way that’s never been talked about before.” For some, the walk represented a personal connection to Down syndrome. Grace and Allen MacNeil walked for their son. “When I was young, I didn’t know anything about Down syndrome,” Grace said. “I think you can build tolerance and acceptance with more education.”Bloomington resident Pam Feazell walked for her grandson. “It’s all about bringing awareness for people with children who have Down’s,” Feazell said. Bloemendaal said she had a personal connection to the walk as well.“I’m a parent of a child with Down syndrome,” Bloemendaal said. “Everybody on our board is — we’re all volunteers and parents who want to get the word out about Down syndrome.”The goal of the Buddy Walk, according to NDSS, is “to promote understanding and acceptance of people with Down syndrome,” a feeling which encapsulated the walk environment.In the building packed with smiling faces sporting Buddy Walk T-shirts, multi-colored balloons and carnival games, every person blended into the crowd. “It’s all about educating — people can see how they’re more like (people with Down syndrome),” Bloemendaal said. “It’s a social opportunity. Most people (who attend) don’t have Down syndrome. This is a good opportunity for everyone to be around families and see kids and adults interact in a fun setting.” Follow reporter Rashmika Nedungadi on Twitter @rashmika_n.
(10/04/13 2:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>There is a difference between what the NSA is doing and what is acceptable under American legal traditions, informatics professor and director of security informatics L. Jean Camp said.In an “Over a Cup of Tea” talk at the Asian Culture Center, Camp addressed a small group of students about the recent NSA scandal. Camp said she believes the topic is one of social importance that “has beenobfuscated by technical jargon.” A cornerstone of Camp’s talk was cryptography, and how the NSA has been using it to their advantage. Camp addressed a number of concerns surrounding the NSA’s information processing, including the sheer volume of information available to them. “If you look at the Boston bombings, the Boston FBI was alerted to the (Tsarnaev) brothers, but they were also alerted to 1,000 other possible dangerous people,” Camp said, “In the process it is producing so many red flags that the actual red flag is lost in the noise.” Camp said the volume of information could make it more difficult for the NSA to find relevant information. “If you’re looking for a needle in a haystack, the thing you do not want to do is massively expand the size of the haystack,” Camp said. Camp noted the lack of security in the overall system as an issue.“The other thing is they are not supervised,” Camp said. “Edward Snowden was able to take all of this information out. I think he is a patriot ... but you have to admit, they shouldn’t be able to do it. They were able to take almost the whole database.” Students attending the talk were mostly members of the Asian Culture Center. “I came to the event to meet other Asian students,” sophomore Nur Dinie Mohd Zamri said. “I wasn’t sure what the talk was about, but I’m anticipating (learning about it).” After the talk, students had a number of questions. Their interests focused on how privacy policies could be affecting their student lives. Camp gave students tips on self-monitoring of social media and communication settings. “In particular, I would be careful about Facebook settings,” Camp said. “If you allow friends of friends, you’ve got a much larger circle than you realize.” Camp also suggested a number of encryption tools that concerned students can use. “There are definitely encryption tools,” Camp said. “Silent Circle — you can get that ... for anybody who calls or texts, no one can listen into it. I know all of the guys doing the crypto and there is no back door there.”The event was originally scheduled for Sept. 26, but had to be moved when Camp was called to speak in front of the national security staff at the executive office of the president. She said she gave the staff information on security and privacy. In general, Camp said she encourages students to take action if they feel concerned about their privacy. “Their economic futures should not be undermined by the NSA. It’s our economy and our future,” Camp said. “Even if you feel it’s worth the cost, speak up and say that, too. You’re not going to get heard if you don’t say anything.” Follow reporter Rashmika Nedungadi on Twitter @rashmika_n
(09/16/13 1:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>There was a sea of purple in Bryan Park.Crowds sported the color from head-to-toe — purple hair, purple beads and even purple bandanas on their dogs. Children blew bubbles, colorful pinwheels moved in the wind and everyone cheered as the event kick-off was announced through speakers. They were walking to end Alzheimer’s.The Bloomington Walk to End Alzheimer’s, sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association, took place Saturday in Bryan Park. The Walk was part of a larger nationwide event, with nearly 650 walks taking place across the country.The Bloomington Walk is one of 13 in Indiana, joining walks in other areas such as Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lafayette, South Bend and Terre Haute.Although the Bloomington Walk generally draws a smaller crowd, it is one of the more successful walks financially, raising almost $56,000 last year, said Leah Shattuck, communications director for the Greater Indiana Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.The walks draw more than 9,000 people in Indiana annually. This year, the Bloomington Walk was estimated to draw 250 to 300 participants, and organizers of the event hoped to exceed previous fundraising figures.The goal of the Walk, according to the Association’s website, is to allow participants to “learn more about Alzheimer’s disease, advocacy opportunities, clinical trial enrollment and support programs and services.”Proceeds from each walk go towards care, support and research of individuals affected by Alzheimer’s.The purpose of these walks is to draw attention to a growing national issue, Shattuck said.“Alzheimer’s is now the sixth leading cause of death in the United States,” Shattuck said. “Someone develops Alzheimer’s every 68 seconds. The more we can get people involved, the better we can find a cure.”Statistics gathered by the Association show in Indiana Alzheimer’s caused 1,940 deaths in 2010. Nationally, there are more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer’s, and it’s estimated that number will grow to 16 million by 2050.The Bloomington Walk showed no signs of the debilitating disease, however. The Walk showcased an outpouring of a community ready to fight for a cure.“We personally know two people with Alzheimer’s,” said Megan Davis, participant in the Walk. “It’s good to see that people know about it and want to talk about it.”Each participant held a pinwheel-flower, called a “Promise Flower,” representing his or her connection to Alzheimer’s — a blue flower for those with Alzheimer’s, a yellow flower for those supporting or caring for someone with Alzheimer’s, a purple flower for those who had lost someone to Alzheimer’s, and an orange flower for those supporting the cause and a vision of a world without Alzheimer’s.Behind the promise garden booth hung a sign reading, “Together, our flowers create a garden of hope.”Cherly Wilcoxon, a Bloomington resident, held a purple flower as she walked through Bryan Park.“My grandma had it and died from it,” Wilcoxon said, tearing up. “She was the angel of my life.”For many in attendance, the Walk represented the loss of a loved one.“I am walking because of my mamaw, who passed away from Alzheimer’s,” Jennifer Flynn, a Bloomington resident, said. “When she got it, she turned into a different person.”The Walk also offered a number of resources to those supporting someone with Alzheimer’s. Businesses from the community — including Home Instead Senior Care, Meadowood Retirement Community and Garden Villa Health — were present to provide care information to attendees.“The first two or three times I did the Walk I came with my dad, who was full-blown into the disease,” said Angie Davis, a participant in the Walk. “As time goes on, it’s nice to know what to do when you’re going to have to look into (medical options).”Despite the emotional nature of the event, there was an air of optimism. Informational booths supplied bubbles, beanbag toss and purple hair spray, and the Super Oldies station played bright music in the background.“The goal is to unify the community and rally together,” Shattuck said. “So many times you think the problem is so big you can’t do anything. But if you start smaller, you can still feel like you’re making a difference in the world.”