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(11/12/02 4:21am)
Being a sex researcher can be a lonely task, said IU professor William Yarber.\n"Friends and neighbors don't know quite how to react that someone is a sexual scientist," he said. "They don't understand the nature of the field … I don't think they quite understand the rigors and difficulties of doing the research."\nOn Saturday, Yarber was praised for his work, when he received the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. The award is for "outstanding contributions to the field of sexology in the areas of research, education, or therapy," according to the SSSS Web site. \nYarber is a professor of applied health science and senior director of the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention -- a joint project of IU, Purdue University and Texas A&M University. \n"This place (IU) has been the beacon for academic freedom in sex research," Yarber said.\nYarber, who received his doctorate from IU in 1973, became interested in the study of sexual behavior when he was a high school health and sex education teacher. Eight years ago at IU, he helped to start the RCAP. \n"We'd go to these meetings and everyone is talking about these urban areas," Yarber said. "But we needed attention in the rural communities."\nThe RCAP is the only center in the country that focuses on HIV and STD incidence and prevention in rural areas. The center sponsors international meetings and provides educational materials and monthly fact sheets, the most recent titled "AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in the Rural South."\nYarber's colleagues say he deserves the honor.\n"He has a significant body of work," said James G. Anderson, a professor of sociology at Purdue University and a co-director of the RCAP. "He's been involved in the development of texts, films, and software. He's done research and been published in scientific journals. He has been a real pioneer in the area of STD and HIV prevention."\nOne of Yarber's bigger achievements was developing the first AIDS curriculum in 1987. It was endorsed by the federal government and became a model curriculum for schools across the country. \n"It was a very intense, exciting time," Yarber said. "We sold 200,000 copies in the U.S. and Canada. We could hardly print it fast enough."\nAt the RCAP, Yarber and his colleagues have been focusing on AIDS and STD prevention in adolescent and rural populations.\n"As co-directors, we have done research in the area of public opinion and condom use, and developing knowledge and attitude tests with regard to STDs and HIV/AIDS," said Mohammad Torabi, chair of the Department of Applied Health Science and another co-director of the RCAP. "We've done studies about need assessments for rural communities and HIV/STD programs."\nAnderson worries that AIDS will continue to spread because people have become complacent with the availability of retroviral therapies. \n"It doesn't cure it," Anderson said. "The only thing we have is prevention. This (the RCAP) is a very important effort. Rural areas have not had the attention urban areas have. It's spreading rapidly among rural areas."\nYarber credits the SSSS with providing a sense of belonging for sex researchers. He's also very grateful to Herman B Wells for standing up for Alfred Kinsey's work.\n"I am blessed to be at Indiana University, an academic center that has a long and rich history of conducting important and cutting-edge sex research," he said. "Ever since Alfred Kinsey did his landmark work and then-President Herman B Wells supported it against severe criticism, IU has been a supportive and nourishing home for many sex researchers."\nIU has more recipients of the award -- five -- than any other university. In addition to Yarber, the other recipients were original Kinsey researcher Wardell Pomery, Past Kinsey Institute director Paul Gebhard, current Kinsey Institute director John Bancroft, and Martin Weinberg of the Sociology department.
(07/29/02 3:36am)
IU is home to one of the largest supercomputers in the U.S. In June, it was listed No. 78 on the list of the top 500 supercomputers in the world. \nThe IBM SP, unveiled in October of 2001, can perform up to a trillion mathematical calculations per second. \n"The list is one measure that signals to potential users of IU's system that IU's IBM SP is in the top segment of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, a fact made more notable by the fact that this computer is also the nation's largest university-owned supercomputer," said Jan Holloway, who works in the Communications and Planning Office for University Information and Technology Services. "These facts continue to put IU on the map as a super-computing powerhouse."\nThe list looks at the number of systems installed, the computers' locations and how they are used. This information is compiled via questionnaires given to high-performance computer experts, manufacturers, computational scientists and the Internet community, Holloway said.\nEvery six months the top 500 list is recompiled. The IBM SP slipped slightly from its position of No. 50 in November. \n"Institutions are continually making changes to and upgrading their technology resources … the rankings on the list naturally shuffle," Holloway said. "The fact that IU is in the same general rankings neighborhood suggests our Research SP is holding fairly steady in the rankings game."\nThe IBM SP comprises two separate research systems, which together are called the Research SP. The Aries complex is located on the Bloomington campus; it's the machine that received the ranking on the top 500 list. The Orion complex is located at IU-Purdue University in Indianapolis. Even though the computers are in two different places, they both can be accessed at any IU campus.\nThe powerful computer allows for researchers to calculate in weeks what might have taken years on a personal computer. The supercomputer is used for research in biology, chemistry, earth sciences and archaeology, to name a few. It is also key to the Indiana Genomics Initiative, or INGEN, which combines the IU School of Medicine, biology and chemistry programs and high-performance computing to study the human genome.\nSteven Gottlieb, a physics professor and elementary particle theorist, uses the IBM SP to calculate how quarks bind together. \n"I am particularly interested now in states that contain a heavy quark called a 'b,' or 'bottom quark,'" Gottlieb said. "I have been using the SP to understand how these states decay."\nGottlieb said while the IBM SP is not the most powerful computer he has ever used in his research, he has been able to get a lot of work done on it because it gives him more freedom to decide what he wants to calculate.\n"At the national computer centers we propose a year in advance what we will calculate. Right now, I am running some small test jobs on the SP that were not proposed last year," Gottlieb said. "I am very glad that I was just able to start these jobs and run them for a couple of weeks to see how interesting the results are."\nIU and Purdue University are currently working together to link their supercomputers to form the Indiana Virtual Machine Room. The computers will be linked over I-Light, a high-performance, optical fiber network, and will allow the computers to perform over a trillion operations per second.\n"To combine the facilities of both universities really puts the state at the forefront of advanced information technology development," said Craig Stewart, director of research and academic computing at IU. "This will be tremendously important for research in the state and that, in turn, should lead to important economic development"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The athletics department is slowly working its way through a three-part plan to revamp the school's colors and logo, create a new icon and introduce a new mascot.\nThe purpose of this plan is to create a department-wide brand identity for athletics, Jeff Fanter, director of Media Relations for the athletics department, said. \nAfter deciding last fall that the athletic department needed a more uniform look, the proposal was unveiled in January. The first change was to start using crimson and cream as the standard school colors, replacing the various shades of red and white used by the varsity teams. This part of the plan also involved the redesign of the block IU logo. A San Francisco-based company, Michael Osborne Designs, was hired to help with this project.\nThe crimson and cream and new logo appeared on the athletics department Web site in February. The changes to the logo were subtle, to the point that some are wondering what was changed, and if it was worth the $69,000 spent on the project so far. \nThe current budget for the entire project is $136,000.\n"I can't think of anyone of good conscience charging for that work," said Mark Schaaf, an IU alum. "I can't imagine that very many people even care (about the new logo), so to put a price tag on something like that, it just tells me that (the athletics department is) floating in money."\nFanter was quick to point out that the $69,000 is a misleading number for the changes seen at this point.\n"There's a lot more to come than just the logo ... The money has paid for things the public hasn't seen yet."\nFanter also said the money was used to pay for focus group research.\nThere has also been some question as to why the athletics department contracted with a California company for this project instead of looking to local designers. \n"When I was in school, it seemed to me that we had an art department," Schaaf said. "Isn't there anything to do with marketing in the School of Business? It seems to me that a beginner in one of those areas could have done as good."\nThe choice to use Michael Osborne Designs was made in part because the athletics department wanted someone who could work with the whole concept of brand identity for IU.\n"There's a ton of talented people on campus," Fanter said. "But when you're trying to look at the bigger picture of brand identity, there's a lot more to it than just a mark."\nAnd for people concerned about the expense of the project, Fanter assures that the money came out of athletics' marketing budget, which in turn comes from revenues produced by the athletics department and not from tuition money.\nThe new icon should be unveiled sometime this summer, and any mascot that is chosen should be debuted at the start of the football season. There is also hope that varsity teams will be sporting the new official colors and new logo on their uniforms by next year as well. \nThe reaction to these changes has been mixed. While the athletics department involved students, faculty and the community in its focus groups, an ESPN.com fan poll showed that 62.7 percent of 8,439 online voters were against using crimson and cream instead of red and white. For some, the change won't make any difference at all.\n"I think IU's known for being red and white," said Trisha Marie Roberts, a senior majoring in Physical Education. "I don't think crimson and cream are going to matter any"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Hundreds of IU alumni came to campus this weekend to participate in the Cream and Crimson Alumni Weekend. \nThe weekend is about "… all the alumni enjoying themselves and coming back to campus," said Lori Pearson, director of special events for the Alumni Association. \nPearson said there were basically five different groups of alumni on campus for the weekend: the Executive Council, made up of alumni volunteer leaders; leaders from alumni clubs across the country; DASA recipients; the Emeritus Club, made up of alumni who have reached their 50th class reunion; and members of the class of 1952, celebrating their 50th reunion.\nThe alumni gathered at the DeVault Alumni Center for a barbecue Saturday afternoon. \nSaturday evening, the class of 1952 attended a reunion banquet in the Indiana Memorial Union. IU President Myles Brand spoke briefly, as did Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon, who is a member of the class of 1952. Attendees watched a slide show presented by members of their class, and were also entertained by the Al Cobine Combo Quintet.\nA luncheon was held in honor of the DASA recipients Sunday. This award is the highest honor that IU reserves exclusively for alumni. It was first awarded in 1953, and usually five people a year receive the award, said Max Skirvin, special assistant to the president of the Alumni Association.\n"I think that President Wells at that time, and I'm not sure who else was involved, wanted to honor alumni in some manner," Skirvin said. "So the award is the only award that is strictly for an alumnus."\nThis year, the recipients, nominated by fellow alumni, are: Rebecca Taylor Bingham of Louisville, Ky.; Patricia Peterson Danielson of New Castle, Ind.; Jack M. Gill of Houston, Texas; Edgar F. Kettler of Fort Wayne, Ind.; and George F. Rapp of Indianapolis. \nSince its inception, there have been almost 260 recipients of this award. Skirvin estimated that only about 110 are still alive. He also said that they work to give back to the University by awarding scholarships, giving away nearly $700,000 to date. \nBesides the DASA, other awards were bestowed over the weekend. The Gertrude Rich Award, which goes to a female alumnus who has significantly contributed to the University, was given to Roselyn Cole, and the Orwig Medal, which goes to non-alumni who have contributed to IU, was awarded to Dr. Jeff Huber, the current IU swimming and diving coach. Finally, receiving a proclamation was Jerry Tardy, former president and CEO of the Alumni Association, who died in September.\nAlumni Fred and Barbara Faulkner, members of the classes of 1952 and 1951, respectively, said they enjoyed the weekend's events.\n"I enjoyed the tour yesterday," said Faulkner, who with his wife, graduated from the Kelley School of Business.\n"We went to the music building and we heard the organ; very beautiful," he said.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Even during summer sessions, students can participate in intramural sports sponsored by the Division of Recreational Sports. \nRegistration for two of these sports, tennis and whiffleball, takes place Tuesday and Wednesday. Participants can register at the SRSC in room 115, or at the HPER Wildermuth.\nWhiffleball teams will begin playing July 1.\n"There will be pool play; it's broken down into three weeks of pool play, and then it goes into bracket play," said Brad Logar, a graduate assistant for Intramurals. "Every team makes the playoffs."\nAssistant Director for Intramurals, Josh Downing said students have enjoyed this sport in the past.\n"This is the first time we've offered whiffleball in the summer in about five or six years," Downing said. "We're going to try it again … people have a lot of fun with it."\nDowning said he expects about 15 to 20 teams to sign up for whiffleball. The cost per team is $15.\nTennis intramurals will occur as a two-day tournament July 9 and 10 at the HPER Woodlawn courts.\n"We got a lot of responses that people want stuff that is quick, quick tournaments," Downing said. "We're going to have a two-day tournament and see how it turns out."\nThe tournament is for both singles and doubles, and the cost is $5 per person. \nDowning said both tournaments are low-key, since they are self-officiating. For tennis, participants are usually people who enjoy playing tennis once in a while or who used to play in high school. \nDonna Dvorak, who has played tennis informally since she was 10, said intramural tennis was a chance to play with new people last year.\n"I play with my husband; (I) wanted a variety of competition," Dvorak said. "I liked it because I got to play, I got to meet new people and try out different partners."\nFor more information on registering for tennis or whiffleball, students can call 855-2371 or send an e-mail to recsport@indiana.edu.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Two IU biologists were recently awarded high honors by scientific societies.\nDistinguished Professor Emeritus Charles Heiser was named as the 2002 recipient of the Raven Award by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists. \n"The Peter Raven Award is given by the American Society of Plant Taxonomists to a plant systematist who has made exceptional efforts at outreach to non-scientists," said Richard Jensen, chair of the ASPT Awards and Honors Committee. "(The award) was initiated as a means for the Society to acknowledge Peter Raven's unflagging efforts to promote the role of plant taxonomists or systematists and make their work accessible to the public."\nHeiser, who discovered an interest in botany when he was in college, said the award honors his attempts to share botany with the general public.\n"I think it's more for my trying to present botany and plants to the average person, to the non-technical botanist by using bare language so they can appreciate and understand plants," Heiser said. "I've written five books intended for the general public and another one is on its way."\nHeiser's most recent book, "Weeds in My Garden: Observations on Some Misunderstood Plants," will be available next spring.\nDistinguished Professor Thomas Kaufman received the Marcus Singer Award for his work in developmental biology. The award, announced at the Midwest Developmental Biology Meeting earlier this month, recognizes researchers who have made lasting contributions to the fields of developmental biology or cellular regeneration.\nKaufman has spent several years studying fruit fly developmental genetics. One of his biggest discoveries was of a cluster of mutations in the fruit fly "Drosophila melanogaster" in 1980. This mutation, called the Antennapedia Complex, causes legs to grow where the antenna should be, and can also cause legs to replace the mouthparts. Kaufman's discovery is considered a step towards understanding of body plan development in animals.\nKaufman, who is currently in Europe, was unavailable for comment about the Marcus Singer Award.\n"It makes me awfully proud of these two individuals and our department," IU Biology Department Chair, Jeffrey Palmer, said. "They have made nothing less than groundbreaking contributions on topics ranging from the domestication of plants to the role of genes in animal development"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Eighteen years ago, IU students who wanted to bring the sport of rowing to campus formed the IU Rowing Club. This club sport has slowly gained recognition while facing the challenges of funding a team. The members of IU Crew work to turn rowing into a competitive program that honors the dreams of the club's founding members.\n"As soon as school starts, we start up practice, (which) starts at 5:30 in the morning," senior club president Steve Taylor said. "We row until probably eight, depending on if people have early classes, then we do individual gym time during the day."\nThis training schedule runs every day of the week. During the fall, the team competes on weekends in October and spends the rest of the winter training indoors. The spring season starts after Spring Break and goes to the end of the school year. The October races are distance races, anywhere from 5,000 to 6,000 meters -- about three miles. The spring races are sprints covering 2,000 meters.\nThe boats used in rowing hold either four or eight rowers. There is also a coxswain, whose duties include steering the boat and motivating the rowers. The team is split between novices, or first-years, and varsity. \n"Most people don't have rowing experience," novice coach Tim Humphrey said. "Their first year is considered their novice year, so that's a lot of time spent on technical training, building the skills they need. It's not as conditioning-oriented as the varsity team."\nOne of the biggest issues facing IU Crew is funding. As a club sport, they must raise money for its own equipment, travel and coaches. This past season they purchased a new boat, which cost nearly $20,000. The club raises the money through dues, donations and fundraisers such as Rent-a-Rower and Erg-a-Thon.\nRent-a-Rower involves hiring out rowers to do odd jobs in the community, such as painting, house cleaning and yard work. This past year the team focused on Rent-a-Rower and made quite a bit of money, Taylor said. \nFor Erg-a-Thon, rowers take pledges for every 500 meters rowed on an indoor rowing machine. \n"Erg-a-Thon is something we do that coincides with Spirit of Sport," junior fundraising chair Jonathan Harris said. "We have a set number of meters we need to earn; this year was 25,000 meters. The money goes to the Special Olympics and us."\nHumphrey outlined several goals for the upcoming season, including increasing the size of the team and raising its standing at club nationals.\n"We had a fairly small team this past year, but we had some really big guys who are going to contribute; I expect to see varsity move up in their performance, but also increase the size of the program," Humphrey said. "We also went to Philly for club nationals, ended up placing 16th out of 60. I'd like to see our position improve with next year's."\nTaylor echoed these goals. \n"I think we pretty much want to build on the success we've had in the last year," Taylor said. "We did place in a couple of our meets, both fall and spring, and we'd like to build more recognition in our team."\nFor more information on IU Crew, visit their Web site at http://www.indiana.edu/~iucrew/.
(06/24/02 1:48am)
Friday, 415 students attended commencement ceremonies at the Indiana Memorial Union. But these people were not IU students receiving degrees. They were participants in the 31st annual Mini University, a program in which alumni and non-alumni attend classes taught by IU professors.\nMini University started as an attempt by the University to promote lifelong learning.\n"Originally, it was for people to come back to campus, have a few professors teach some courses," said Jeanne Madison, assistant director of Lifelong Learning and Mini University Bloomington Division of Continuing Studies. "It has now evolved into only 50 percent alums, 50 percent of other people committed to lifelong learning and 96 faculty participating."\nDuring the week, people could take up to 15 classes in the categories of business and technology, domestic and international issues, humanities, science, art, music and human growth and development. Madison said that this year a large number of people attended science and health classes. \nMini University students are not assigned homework during the week, but do walk away with lists of suggested readings to keep them occupied once the program has ended.\n"Many of the people tell us they spend the interval between one Mini and the next reading the books that were recommended," Madison said. \nParticipants stayed in the Indiana Memorial Union hotel and in town, a change from previous years when they could stay in the dorms. Madison attributed this change to dorms no longer having food service and busing issues.\n"I miss that, because when you stay in a dorm, you walk across campus and see a lot of the campus," said Diana Kuntz, whose mother is an alumnus. "It was a good experience staying at the IMU too, but I would have much preferred to be back at one of the dorms."\nOn Friday morning Mini University participants gathered in the Georgian Room of the IMU for coffee and snacks before attending the commencement ceremony. During the ceremony, IU history professor Irving Katz spoke to the crowd about the importance of learning, and for helping those who might not be able to afford an education. \nThe highlight of the ceremony was the awarding of the green beanie, which goes to first timers at Mini University, Madison said.\n"Participants … watch for a first timer who is particularly enjoying the week and making full attempts to get connected with ideas and people," Madison said. The winner's nametag remains permanently on the hat.\nParticipants in Mini University come not only for the courses, but also to see favorite professors.\n"Now that I'm starting to recognize the names of the professors, a lot of them are repeat professors, so I chose these classes not because of the titles that they were talking about, but because of the professors," said Kuntz. She and her mother are in their third year of Mini University.\nA wide age range of people attend Mini University, Madison said. She added that last year's participants were anywhere from 30 to 82 years of age. Wayne Mitter, 80 and a resident of Meadowwood Retirement Community, has attended for two years and feels that the course material is outstanding. \n"I think it's probably the peak week of mental stimulation that our age group gets," said Mitter, who is an alumnus of Iowa University.
(10/16/00 4:06am)
Saturday, while many students were anticipating the start of the IU-Michigan football game or enjoying the unseasonably sunny weather, about 35 students spent almost two hours in different sections of campus picking up trash and debris from the Jordan River and recording the condition of the riverbanks. \nLed by Penney Waggoner, coordinator of the Council for Environmental Stewardship, the group focused on returning the natural beauty of the Jordan River to a state of ecological health and balance. The group stressed the importance of the river as an animal habitat.\n"Something I'm sure a lot of people aren't aware of is that there are actually a lot of fish in here," freshman Melissa Kennedy said.\nThe University has agreed to increased levels of street vacuuming in the vicinity. Also, two new storm water filters have been purchased that absorb oil from the water.\n"We want to see how effective they are, and then try and purchase more," Waggoner said.\nShe also said an emphasis on erosion control is an important consideration. \nIn coordinating future projects to meet this larger set of goals, Waggoner said she wants to look into enlisting the support of student groups to keep the river clean and adopt stretches of the river and make a commitment to cleaning it on a weekly basis.\n"We need as many students as we can get to help form groups to clean up campus," Waggoner said.\nCharlie Matson, council member and physical plant engineer, said the council should encourage everyone on campus to work together on environmental projects.\n"I want to see us help encourage different departments to find or assist in projects where students can help in work that makes campus more environmentally friendly," he said.
(10/13/00 3:22am)
For many participating in Saturday's Hoosiers Outrun Cancer, the event offers a chance to get together with friends and family to celebrate the life of a former IU student who lost his battle with cancer in April. \nCraig Sowder had been at IU for two years before he died of angiosarcoma six months ago. During his time in Bloomington he made a lasting impact on those he met.\nSophomore Greg McQuade is one of those people Sowder touched.\n"He was a tremendous person, one of the best I've ever met," McQuade said. "He loved everything and everybody."\nMcQuade, along with Jill Sowder, Craig's mother, have organized a group to walk in the 5K portion of Hoosiers Outrun Cancer in memory of Sowder. \nSowder became a member of Alpha Sigma Phi and McQuade expects several of his brothers to participate, as well as Sowder's family and friends from home. \nCraig's Story\nCraig Sowder came to IU in the fall of 1998 from Carmel, Ind. He joined Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and became known as "Donut" because of a stone he wore on a hemp necklace -- a stone that was perfectly round with a hole in the center. \nIn March of 1999, Sowder noticed a pressure in his chest, and that he was sometimes short of breath. One day he was rushed to the hospital after passing out, and doctors drained three liters of fluid from his pericardium, the heart's protective covering. He went to St. Vincent's Hospital in Indianapolis, where open-heart surgery revealed the dark nature of Sowder's illness -- cancer.\nThe doctors found a tumor on his right atrium, and he was diagnosed with cardiac angiosarcoma -- cancer in his heart that had spread to his lungs. It is a rare and highly aggressive form of cancer, affecting only .001 percent of the population.\nThe hospital in Indianapolis couldn't properly treat Sowder's cancer, so he went to Houston's MD Anderson Cancer Center for chemotherapy. After six months of treatment the cancer appeared to be gone, Sowder returned to Carmel to rest and prepare for classes at IU. He was looking forward to getting into a routine that didn't center on his cancer or hospitals.\nBut Sowder's new routine did not last long. In December of 1999 he began coughing up blood; a trip to Houston for a check-up in January revealed that the cancer was back, and Sowder didn't have much time left. He returned to Indiana to be near family and friends, knowing his time was short. April 10, four months after the new diagnosis, Sowder died.\nRemembering Donut\nIt has been six months since Sowder died, and his mother admits she misses him every day.\n"He passed on six months ago yesterday," Jill Sowder said Wednesday. "His brother and I took the day off, and went to have lunch in Craig's favorite restaurant." \nJill Sowder said she hopes to see all of her son's friends Saturday.\n"We should have a big sign that says 'Team4Sowder' so we can all gather and walk together," she said. \nSowder's mother remembers him as the kind of person who, if the situation had been reversed, would have been very vocal in organizing this kind of reunion for a friend who had passed on. \n"If this was different and Craig was still here, he would be very vocal and diligent in the cause, he would be so adamant about everyone coming out as a group to help out," she said. "He believed in helping others, and would have been so frustrated by people who didn't take the time to help."\nMcQuade said he would like people to remember Sowder by his nickname, Donut.\n"Someone with a name like that is just very approachable and gives himself to everyone. It's a happy name to have," McQuade said. "He was a happy, admirable person. A lot of people could look up to him."\nMcQuade hopes as the race ends people come away feeling very emotional. \n"I hope they remember what happened to Craig, and how he affected their lives," he said. "I hope that everyone feels great about participating in something like this."\nFellow Alpha Sig Jason Boumstein, a senior, echoed McQuade's sentiments. "I hope everyone just remembers Craig and what a great guy he was," Boumstein said. "We should never let him leave our minds."\nWhen asked how she would want her son remembered, Jill Sowder was silent for a moment, and then said quietly, "definitely as a good friend, very loyal and fun-loving. He just didn't know how wonderful he was."\n"Craig would want us to do this with him if he were still here," McQuade said. \nThe events Saturday begin with registration at 8:30 a.m. and opening ceremonies at 10:15. Those who want to participate with Sowder's group should look for the "Team4Sowder" sign.
(09/20/00 1:44am)
Taking a summer, semester or year to study abroad can be an incredible, life-changing experience. But many students never bother to check out the various exchange programs IU offers. Excuses include fear of not graduating on time, not knowing another language and not having money to pay for it. \nStudents who choose to go abroad can select from 60 programs in 30 countries and get course credit in the process. Not all the countries have language requirements, and not all are expensive. \n"Most people don't realize that it's probably cheaper to study abroad for a year than to stay in Bloomington and then take a vacation to another country," said Libby DeVoe, associate administrative director for the Office of Overseas Study. Taking a whole semester or academic year gives, according to DeVoe, "a chance to become more than just a tourist." \nThe Office of Overseas Study houses a student information center and aids students throughout the application process. Before any forms are filled out, the staff meets with the student to find out what he or she wants in a program, and if study abroad is right for that person. The application is available both in the office and online. It consists of a form for personal information, and the student must provide two letters of recommendation and a few short essays. \nAcceptance rates to the program are high, partly because the eligibility requirements are made very clear. For example, only students classified as juniors and seniors can study abroad for a semester or a year. Freshmen and sophomores can only go on the summer programs.\n"Students should be confident that they are likely to be accepted," DeVoe said. \nOne of the more underrated programs, said DeVoe, is the summer in Dublin, Ireland, which has a very young, high-tech population, as well as a rich culture. If a student can't find a program through IU that fits his or her needs, the staff will evaluate other programs of study.