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(12/07/00 3:36am)
Sometimes, a dumb law is passed. Sometimes, no one can fathom why it was passed, and what its intention was, but a law is a law. Unless it is changed through the proper legislative channels, it can't be ignored because of its idiotic nature -- a lesson the student government leaders at Eigenmann Hall desperately need to learn.\nOn Nov. 28, a referendum was offered to the students living in the residence halls asking if the Eigenmann Residents Association should join the Residence Halls Association. Only 40 Eigenmann residents voted, and only 15 of those approved the merger. \nBut a quirk in Eigenmann's constitution means the resolution still passed. Under Article VIII, Section 1 of the ERA constitution: "Upon approval of 20 percent of the residents voting, the amendment shall become part of this Constitution." \nIt's not a provision particularly rooted in common sense. Why on Earth would anyone want a bill to pass if 80 percent of the voters went against it? Under that logic, Ross Perot would have been elected to the U.S. presidency in 1992, succeeding President Michael Dukakis. \nWhat Eigenmann's RHA leaders said after the vote, of course, is the wording was wrong. ERA President Dietrich Willke, a senior, said "common sense" dictated the constitution was in error.\n"The sentence doesn't really make sense, if you're looking at a democratic way of voting," Willke said.\nOf course it doesn't make sense. But it's still the law. \nIt doesn't seem there's a remarkable amount of support for this change to RHA. A whopping 40 people out of 1,000 cast a ballot (a remarkable 4 percent turnout). Many residents said ERA did not publicize the vote. In a Feb. 21, 2000 IDS article, Willke himself said the support wasn't there. It doesn't seem anyone at Eigenmann was too eager to jump into the bigger RHA pool.\nBut it doesn't matter. The constitution says what it says, and now they're stuck with it.\nSo it's an error. So it made it into the constitution by some miraculous accident. So no one bothered to simply proofread the constitution before putting up to a vote. \nTough luck.\nNo one in their right mind would let a bill become law if only 20 percent of any voting body approved it. It doesn't make sense. But it's still the law in Eigenmann, and now they have to live with their own mistake.
(11/06/00 6:45am)
More than a year after its creation, Bloomington United took a look at its past and planned for the future yesterday during a town hall meeting.\nBesides reports from three of Bloomington United's standing committees, the meeting, held at Monroe County Public Library, 303 E. Kirkwood Ave, included a presentation from Sandra Leek, the executive director of the Indiana Civil Rights Commission. She talked about the state's efforts to combat hate crimes. Roundtable discussions with the audience were included to brainstorm new directions for the group's future.\nBloomington United member Beverly Calender-Anderson said Bloomington United's origin came from the spread of hate literature by World Church of the Creator member Benjamin "August" Smith during Spring 1998. The mayor's Safe and Civil City task force met with community leaders to devise a response. A rally, which attracted more than a thousand people, was held to express Bloomington's diversity and inclusiveness, and from that point on, Bloomington United was created.\nSince then, it has worked to increase awareness of diversity issues and promote positive values to counter the spread of hate groups locally. But after its first rally, no one had any idea their next major event would come that summer after Smith's shooting rampage.\n"One of our best-known events is one we tried the hardest to avoid," Calender-Anderson said. "After (the killing of graduate student Won-Joon Yoon), we tried to heal and unite the community."\nBloomington United held a rally just days after the shooting to start that healing process. U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno attended, and it included a candlelight march and vigil and audience response. \nSince then, Bloomington United has formed several committees to further discussions about diversity and inclusiveness. One program, which Calender-Anderson is chairwoman of, is Study Circles. \n"They are small, deliberate circles ... to talk about issues affecting the community and ways to work together," she said.\nThe program, which has attracted more than 400 people in the past year, is designed to show what a small group can do to combat hate on a personal level, Calender-Anderson said. \nAnother committee is the museum committee, which is forming a traveling exhibit to demonstrate the causes and repercussions of violence on community members. Graduate student Christina Burke, chairwoman of the committee, said the exhibit's unveiling will be at next year's Martin Luther King Jr. Day festivities. It will consist mainly of video testimonies on how hate crimes "tear at the very fabric of our community," she said.\nLeek, who has headed the Indiana Civil Rights Commission for eight years, said the work of Bloomington United and other similar groups is vital in the fight against hate crimes.\n"I personally do what I can to battle hate crimes, but you are on the front line of what is happening," she said. "You are the heartbeats of your community." \nLeek's presentation included a detailed breakdown of hate crimes across the state, but until the Indiana General Assembly passed legislation requiring all police agencies to report hate crimes to the state, accurate data was not always gathered, she said. Bloomington was one of the few cities with a similar city ordinance, resulting in better data about hate crimes in the city.\nLeek said the road to a better understanding between people can often be a long, hard one.\n"If it's not messy, if you're not struggling, you're doing something wrong," she said. "This is not a dash. If anything, it's a marathon"
(11/01/00 12:07am)
The three candidates for Indiana's 8th congressional district faced off Sunday night in Evansville for the next-to-last debate of the election season. Republican incumbent John Hostettler, Democrat Dr. Paul Perry and Libertarian Thomas Tindle met at the WNIN studio and spent an hour wrestling issues including a prescription drug benefit for senior citizens, the extension of Interstate 69 and campaigning. \nPerry, a hand surgeon, used patients' rights and prescription drugs as his core issue during the debate. During his opening statement, he reiterated the need for a prescription plan to ensure senior citizens have access to needed medicines.\n"Big government is not the answer, but if a prescription drug plan comes before Congress, I would vote for it because insurance companies are not the answer either," he said. \nBoth Hostettler and Tindle blasted Perry for his stance. Hostettler said 63 percent of seniors currently have access to medicine through private companies. He also cited a Congressional Budget Office report that stated three out of four seniors would be forced off their current programs if a federal plan was enacted. Tindle said prescription companies could moderate themselves to keep prices down if expansive federal regulatory legislation was dialed down. \nHostettler and Perry also squared off regarding the congressman's television campaign ads on the issue. Perry said the facts Hostettler quotes in his article, including 2 million people losing their health insurance if a patients' bill of rights is enacted, are false and misleading. Hostettler said studies by both the General Accounting Office and the Congressional Budget Office prove this fact. \nAnother hotly-debated issue was the potential expansion of I-69 from Indianapolis to Evansville. Two plans currently exist: the creation of a new road directly linking the two cities, or improvement of the already-existing roads on U.S. 41, which links Evansville to Terre Haute. Hostettler said while improved infrastructure was vital to Southwestern Indiana's economic prosperity, the ultimate outcome of the I-69 debate still rests in the state's hands.\n"As we continue to grow ... we will need more arteries for traffic," he said. "(But) the law says it's ultimately up to the governor and the Indiana Department of Transportation to get the correct routes and build the highway."\nPerry said he believed the creation of I-69 in the area was necessary for economic growth, but said he would continue to keep an open mind and would like to wait for environmental studies to be complete. \nTindle also expressed concern over the highway, mostly about the possible impact a new road could have on the communities it would intersect.\n"I'm not strictly opposed to it, but we need to be careful about taking lands, splitting farms and cutting through the Hoosier National Forest," he said.\nA question about eliminating the "marriage penalty" tax led to a discussion regarding the national debt. Hostettler said the Republicans' six years of fiscal control has led to a reduction of the national debt, but Tindle blasted the government for trying to fix its own problems with more government intervention. Perry said reducing the debt now would greatly benefit the next generation of taxpayers.\n"We ought to make a commitment to pay down the federal debt ... to pass down a tax cut for our children," he said. \nThe debate can be viewed in its entirety at www.decision2000.evansville.net.The final congressional debate will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 25 at the University of Evansville.
(10/26/00 2:31am)
While running for his fourth term as the 8th District Congressional Representative, John Hostettler is relying on his voting record to distinguish him from novice Democratic challenger, Dr. Paul Perry. But in a district with the nationally recognized moniker, "The Bloody Eighth," he also knows resting on one's laurels isn't always enough to ensure victory.\nHostettler said he'll continue to do what the primary focus of his last six years has been -- talking to voters and representing the interests of southwestern Indiana in Congress.\nHostettler, 39, was first elected during the 1994 "Republican Revolution," when the GOP gained control of the House of Representatives and the Senate for the first time in decades. In the six years since his ascent to public office, Hostettler has witnessed votes pass the House floor on issues ranging from the federal budget -- twice resulting in a government shutdown -- to gun control and veterans' benefits.\nHis record of leadership is his main campaigning point in this race. Perry, who has been using health care as his predominant issue, has never held public office.\nAnd that's what Hostettler said he is banking on to bring him another victory.\n"There's more than one issue when you get to Congress," he said. "Paul Perry believes there is (only) one issue. He has said what he believes personally, but I have every reason to believe he will compromise those positions so he can push his own agenda on health care."\nHostettler has not been a strict party-line voter in his tenure. He most recently bucked the party majority on the Violence Against Women Act, which attracted only three "no" votes in the entire House. He told the Bloomington Herald-Times his vote was not against women, but against the federal government increasing its role in crime prevention. \n"It's a slippery slope that, arguably, we continue down, but one I think is not in the best interest of solving the problem," he said. "Nor is it consistent with hundreds of years of criminal jurisdiction in this country."\nJunior Anne Scuffham, the president of the IU College Republicans, said Republican politics often come into conflict with Hostettler's own views on federalism.\n"I think IU students tend to look at some of his votes as too conservative," she said. "The thing to understand is he's a strict constitutionalist. He really takes the issues that are before him and dissects them very locally. He's voted against the party line a lot of the time if he thinks there's something we don't need."\nAnother area in which Hostettler stands apart from his peers is in campaign finance. He is one of only 28 representatives in the House who refuses campaign donations from Political Action Groups. PACs are regular political contributors, and an oft-heard criticism of their financial support is the alleged influence they have over Congressional votes. But Hostettler said his stance allows him to be the fairest legislator possible.\n"It allows me to concentrate on the substance of issues and does not allow a potential opponent to talk about (possible) financial incentives," he said.\nHostettler also said funding from special-interest groups has led to the end of several congressional careers since the Republicans took control of Congress.\n"What has happened over the past six years is we have seen tremendous turnovers in the House, and it happened as a result of the voting booth," he said. "Representatives are supposed to represent (voters) on issues that directly affect their lives, not (PAC) issues."\nHostettler said his greatest sense of accomplishment comes from the balancing of the federal budget while cutting taxes. He said he has great pride in the Republican Party's overall "fiscal responsibility" in budgetary matters.\n"For the first time since 1960, we'll (balance the federal budget) without spending a penny of the Social Security surplus," he said.\nThis fiscal policy is what Hostettler said will give future generations the stability they need to live productive lives.\n"I think the main issue students are most concerned about is, after they get a great education, are there going to be economic opportunities … to capitalize on their education," he said. "It can't happen if we decide to put more of our trust in government solutions in Washington"
(10/26/00 2:30am)
While the Democrats and Republicans battle each other for control of Congress, third-party candidates across the nation are running scaled-down campaigns to increase their profile in what some call an exclusionary two-party system.\nIndiana's 8th district is no exception, as Libertarian and Green Party candidates vie for a piece of the electoral pie in Southwestern Indiana. Libertarian Thomas Tindle and Green write-in candidate Marc Haggerty are running campaigns based largely on the hope of voter frustration with the traditional political parties. \n"I guarantee we'll get more votes per dollar than the other candidates," Tindle said. "We don't have the same financial base, we can't rely on signs and a lot of TV ads. We're doing a lot of candidate's nights, answering surveys and so on. We're really relying on the free press."\nAccording to Federal Election Commission reports for the third fiscal quarter, Tindle has raised $230 and spent exactly half that. Even the Libertarian candidate for president, Harry Browne, has spent only $1.5 million in his national campaign.\nLike all Libertarians, Tindle is running on an anti-big government platform. He is against the expansion of Interstate 69 from Evansville to Indianapolis because it would divert Indiana dollars to Washington. He defends the Second Amendment and is against any federal gun legislation, calling current laws "useless." He is also against a Patient's Bill of Rights and a Medicare prescription drug plan because it increases federal interaction with the private health care industry. \nTindle also said he will work not to ignore Bloomington and the rest of the Bloody Eighth's northern border as he said many other candidates have done.\n"I did attend IU briefly, and I feel a connection to the (Bloomington) community," he said. "I do intend to listen to voters around Bloomington and address their concerns." \nIf Tindle is running an intentionally low-key campaign, Haggerty is making his push for Congress a purely grassroots, word-of-mouth effort. Because he is not on the ballot, Haggerty is not required by law to file campaign finance disclosures with the FEC. But he said his campaign strategy has been simple: talk as much as possible to as many people as possible. \n"I've been speaking in dorms, any dorm that will have me," he said. "I've attended any meeting with a Green Party angle, like I-69 or sweatshops. We've reached hundreds of people so far."\nHaggerty's platform includes many environmental issues, including ceasing logging in the Hoosier National Forest, limiting dependence on internal combustion engines and PCB contamination. He also said the Lake Monroe water quality is of paramount concern to local residents.\n"How many outboard motors are we going to allow in our drinking water?" he said. "What about septic tanks?"\nHaggerty has been more openly critical of the race than his third-party counterpart. He was denied entry to the congressional debates because he is not on the ballot and said his fellow candidates are "acting like little kids" in the election. He even declined to have a picture taken for this article because he said he didn't want the campaign to elevate him into "celebrity" status. \n"I'm only campaigning for the last month because I work, and I can't afford to take time off," he said. "I need to support myself just like everyone else"
(10/26/00 1:39am)
If a Democratic challenger runs against an incumbent Republican congressman in a historically right-leaning district, the one thing he can't do is stay quiet.\nDr. Paul Perry, who is seeking to unseat Republican John Hostettler from his House position, is sticking to that strategy in hopes of bringing the Democratic Party back to the 8th District.\nPerry's main campaign issue, by his own admission, is health care. In nearly all his ads and public appearances, he has stressed his medical background and the need for comprehensive prescription drug coverage and a patient's bill of rights. But he insists he's not a one-issue candidate and says he's prepared for the House of Representatives.\n"I don't think being a candidate for Congress is much different than being a physician," he said. "Being a congressman should be about listening to concerns of people and their problems, and that's what I do in my office."\nBut on health care issues, he said what Washington needs is someone with medical experience to write the laws.\n"I think when you decide you're going to run for Congress, it's important to know why you're the best person for this job," he said. "I got into (the race) because of health care issues. So many decisions are made in Washington, but not many (Congressional) members have any kind of medical experience. I have a specialized experience that's important to the job."\nJohn Hamilton, son of longtime representative Lee Hamilton and Perry's opponent in the Democratic primary, said Perry's expertise would be vital in drafting meaningful health care legislation.\n"This election is about health care, and in this race there is a clear choice for the voters between electing an out-of-touch D.C. politician or a doctor who cares about the issues," he said in a press release. "This race is not only important to Indiana but to the entire nation."\nIndeed, Perry said he sees many issues facing the 8th District through a doctor's lens.\n"You can talk about many issues where health care weaves through the issue," he said. "I see (the environment) through the lens of being a doctor. The reason people are sick has a lot to do with pollution.\n"That, in turn, impacts education -- fundamentally, when children need to be learning, we need to get them from birth to kindergarten healthily including medical insurance, providing children with medications and immunizations. (They are) integral to being ready and able to learn."\nThe 2000 election marks Perry's first foray into the political field, something he said has been a new kind of challenge.\n"It's been an incredible learning experience, one I've enjoyed immensely," he said. "I've met lots of new people that otherwise I wouldn't have met, and I've been intellectually challenged every step of the way."\nOne aspect of political life leaving Perry less than thrilled has been his opponent's campaign ads. Hostettler has released several TV ads that have attacked Perry's commitment to the district, as well as attacking his stances on health care.\n"I think it's a sad fact that Congressman Hostettler has been (in Washington) for six years, and instead of running on his accomplishments or achievements, he has decided to lash out and attack me in ways that are completely false," he said. "The voters of this district are smarter than that."\nFrank McCloskey, chairman of the Monroe County Democratic Party, said Perry is a good representation of the district's voters.\n"I'd say he's much more representative of the district than Hostettler," he said. "Hostettler is so far out of the mainstream. He's compiling a quite bizarre record. He voted to the right of Newt Gingrich to keep the government shut down a few years ago, against the then-Speaker's express wishes. He's on the extreme fringes."\nPerry said part of his motivation to run for Congress rests in his need to give back to the country.\n"As you might imagine, the process of becoming a physician involves a lot of higher education," he said. "I owe a debt to the country because I got government-guaranteed student loans. If I could do one thing to repay the debt to my country ... I would give families a tax break for college students. We need to invest in higher education (funding)."\nNow, in the final days of what could be his only political campaign, Perry is sticking to the basics and trying to reach as many people as possible.\nWe're still very much working on getting the message to voters," he said. "A lot of people are just starting to pay attention. We're encouraging everyone to get out and vote. And bring a friend."\nPaul Perry\n• Age: 36\n• Education: B.A., Miami University (OH), 1984: M.D. from Wright State, 1988\n• Professional Experience: \nphysician, Tri-State Orthopedic Surgeons.\n• Family: wife, Cindy, and five children
(10/23/00 3:24pm)
The last debate between candidates for Indiana's 8th congressional district, which was to be held Wednesday at the University of Evansville, was postponed by incumbent Congressman John Hostettler R-8th, because of a congressional session expected to last well into this week. \nThe candidates will meet again at 10 a.m. Oct. 31 at Signature School in Evansville for another debate. High school students will ask questions, but the debate will not be open to the public. \nRobert Krieg, spokesman for the Hostettler campaign, said the possibility always existed that Hostettler would not be able to attend the debate.\n"He has to fulfill his (congressional) duties before he campaigns for re-election. They were given notice beforehand that he might not be able to attend," Krieg said. \nHostettler's campaign notified the University of Evansville Student Government Association via fax that the congressman would not be able to attend "due to his official congressional schedule." According to the SGA release, Dr. Paul Perry's campaign "would not agree to participate in the original format without Hostettler." \nJordan Matyas, press secretary for Perry's campaign, said the Hostettler campaign did tell them early last week that Hostettler might not be able to attend, but no reason was given at that point. After Hostettler indicated he could not attend, Matyas said Hostettler's campaign asked if they wanted to reschedule the University of Evansville debate. But before Perry's campaign could respond, they received notice the debate was called off. \n"In this late in the game, it's disappointing when any debate is canceled," he said. "When you're 17 or 18 days out of election day, the time frame isn't important. We would like to go forward, but we're sorry we couldn't reschedule it."\nThe Libertarian candidate for the 8th district, Thomas Tindle, said he received notice from the SGA on Friday about the cancellation, but he was not aware of or invited to the Oct. 31 event at Signature School.\n"It wasn't a total shock," he said. "I know the situation with the budget, and I know he had been going back to Washington. (But I'm) disappointed, yes."\nTindle also said he had not been given the option to reschedule the debate. \n"It was pretty much just called off, but I'm willing to debate any time, any place," he said.\nThe U.S. House of Representatives is still in session this week but is past its target adjournment of Oct. 6. Congress has yet to act on four of the 13 regular spending bills needed to keep the government operating. The current extension of the legislative term is not the longest -- usually Congress finishes in October, but has gone as late as Dec. 1 in the last decade. Congress must approve the spending bills before adjourning for the season.
(10/19/00 3:33am)
If the measure of a performer's longevity is the age range of the audience, then Bonnie Raitt is still rocking well into her third decade of performing.\nLast night's concert at the IU Auditorium had its fair share of "classic" fans who have admired Raitt since her 1971 debut album, but these fans were more than balanced with college students and teens who have discovered her rockin' guitar playing and soulful lyrics.\nFor the first hour of her show, Raitt entertained the crowd with esoteric hits from her early days, as well as covers of a diverse mix of songs. Her rendition of early reggae band Toots & the Maytals' "Love Gonna' Walk Out On Me" brought the crowd to a frenzy, and softer ballads from Mary Chapin Carpenter soothed them like a cherished old blanket.\nTo the casual fan, her choice of songs might seem random -- after all, her most prominent hits have come later in her career and are responsible for her catapult to superstardom. But Raitt's lifeblood is her performances, and she takes great pride in keeping her shows unpredictable and fresh. In fact, she told the crowd her band had no practice for their Toots cover. Not that anyone could tell, as they brought their jazzy syncopation to the classic reggae.\nAs the second hour progressed, Raitt hit her most established songs which brought her widespread popularity in the 1990s. Raitt gave the crowd "Thing Called Love," "Something to Talk About" and "Love Sneakin' Up on You" as a three-pack tour de force, using her signature Fender Stratocaster guitar as part of her body. Her one-legged playing, expansive riffs and styled grooving showed how much of her heart and soul Raitt puts into her show.\nAfter she and her band left the stage, thunderous applause brought them back for a three-song encore starting with her most soulful love song, "I Can't Make You Love Me." The audience was in tears as couples held hands and platonic friends wished, if only for one song, they were dating.\nThroughout the show, Raitt kept her audience engaged in the performance. The Auditorium isn't considered a large venue by most standards, but it's not exactly built for intimate performances. But Raitt drew the crowd in and made it feel like she was strumming a guitar around her fireplace, with a living room built for thousands. She chatted about politics, her career (proclaiming it "bitchin"), her sex life (especially when her male stagehands wired her guitar) and Bloomington's foliage. My favorite anecdote was about the Indiana rest stops populating Interstate 65 between Indianapolis and Chicago.\n"Ah know yur a music star, but ah cayn't remember which one!" she shouted, doing a dead-on impersonation of Central Indiana residents.\nThe only drawback to the performance wasn't Raitt, but the fans. Some of her songs are sit-down and-reminisce songs, but most are stand-up-and-shake-your-butt songs that deserve a crowd on its feet. Two girls sitting about five rows in front of me, neither one could possibly be old enough to drive, were having the most fun: they rocked, they shimmied, they got their groove on.\nUntil someone complained and security sat them down. \nWe should have followed their example and given Raitt the response she deserved.\nBut it didn't matter much -- for 50, she's cooler than a hundred Britney Spears put together. And we felt cooler just being in the room with her.
(10/17/00 6:54am)
With just over a month until Election Day, the first in a long series of public forums for candidates kicked off last night at Monroe County Public Library.\nEight of the 10 candidates for the Monroe County Community School Corporation gathered last night at the library, 303 E. Kirkwood Ave., to answer the public's questions and state their opinions on issues facing Monroe County schools. The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce.\nOne of the central issues discussed during the forum was increasing funding for schools. Recently social workers were hired for MCCSC despite the failure of last fall's referendum, which would have provided funds for those staff members. MCCSC teachers are now negotiating a pay raise, and it is widely feared they will receive only a 1 percent increase instead of the usual 3.5 to 5 percent as a result. \nJoan Hart, the incumbent candidate for District 5, said the pay raise is still being discussed, and she said she doubts it will be lower than usual. She also said providing social workers in Monroe County schools was an issue on the minds of many educators.\n"Every school I visit, I'm always asked about social workers," she said. \nSue Wanzer, candidate for District 2 also said her goal was to ease the burden on teachers paying for classroom supplies out of their own pocket. She said, according to a national study, teachers spend more than $400 annually of their own money to supplement their classroom tools, and those inequities must be corrected. \n"The role of the school board ... is to get obstacles out of the way so teachers can do their jobs," she said. \nLindsay Boyd, District 6 candidate, said he would pursue community outreach as a solution to the MCCSC's social worker problems. He also said it is vital to get the community involved in all aspects of its schools.\n"In my experience, I've found if you open your doors to the community, they'll open their doors to you," he said.\nKeith Klein, candidate for District 5, suggested using IU and local businesses as resources in the classroom. \n"Have an IU artist in residence. Have a loaned business executive teach or co-teach a class. We need to tell the community there's a place for them (in our schools)," he said.\nThe failed educational referendum, which would have raised property tax rates by 8 to 12 percent, garnered only 32 percent of the vote last fall. While not all of the candidates said they had supported the tax hike, all said they would proceed differently should another referendum be offered. \nLynn Coyne, candidate for District 4 and IU assistant vice president for administration, said misinformation was a big problem in last November's vote.\n"The choice shouldn't be for or against education, the choice should be on how that money will be used," he said.\nMike Gentile, candidate for District 6, said he did not support the referendum.\n"I saw the need for the money, but I didn't see (the referendum) as the only way to get it," he said. \nMonroe County's low graduation rates were also a hot topic. About 82 percent of students in the county make it to graduation, and all the candidates acknowledged that improvement is necessary. \n"It's important that every student make it to graduation," said Gretchen Elkins Weidner, candidate for District 2. \n"We need to evaluate test scores and how the students are performing (on the way to graduation)," said William Campbell, District 4 candidate.\nCandidates William Scott, District 2, and Peter Uthrppuru, District 6, did not participate in the forum. Scott is also a professor emeritus of personnel and organizational behavior at the Kelley School of Business.\nThe forum was broadcast live on Community Access Television, channel 12. It will be repeated at 1 p.m. today and 9 p.m. Thursday.
(10/17/00 4:33am)
Bonnie Raitt, one of the music world's most enduring performers, brings her silky syncopations to the IU Auditorium tonight on her most recent concert tour. Raitt, who has been touring in support of her most recent album for more than two years, has been reaching out to new music lovers at smaller venues such as the Auditorium, as well as playing bigger halls to satisfy her most diehard fans.\nJunior Andy Proctor, assistant concerts director for Union Board, said Raitt's performance would reach out to a wide market of concertgoers.\n"We're trying to broaden the markets we appeal to," he said. "She's been a Grammy award winner, and I think her legendary status reflects well upon the University." \nRaitt has been a force in the music world for nearly 30 years. At 21, she released her self-titled debut album in 1971. She went on to release seven albums and contribute to 15 more in her first decade of performing alone. She first received broader notice with 1977's remake of Del Shannon's "Runaway" off her album Sweet Forgiveness, which landed her on the music charts for the first time. \nWidespread acclaim would have to wait until 1990, when she won four Grammy awards -- including album of the year -- for her work on Nick of Time, which many critics considered to be her breakthrough record. \n"It was like winning the lottery," she said on her Web site. "It catapulted the record to No. 1 and soon I was off on a whole new tour, this time playing to up to 20,000 a night."\nSince then, Raitt has won five more Grammys and has continued to straddle the musical spectrum with country, blues, rock and pop in her most recent albums. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year alongside Earth, Wind and Fire, Eric Clapton and James Taylor. \nHer latest album, Fundamental, combined her signature guitar stylings with a new group of musicians to get back to her roots of early 1970s blues and folk syncopation to kick off her third decade of performing. \n"In a musical world where 'everything's carefully prearranged,' Raitt has thrown a Birkenstock in the works, and the clatter sounds like life itself," said Rolling Stone writer Robert Christgau in his review of Fundamental. "After 27 years, 15 albums and nine Grammys, we should all be impressed -- and grateful -- that she felt the need."\nRaitt is the daughter of legendary Broadway star John Raitt. She was born Nov. 8, 1949 in Los Angeles, where she was raised. She has participated in many social causes in her lifetime including protesting the Vietnam War, supporting the Sierra Club and advocating nuclear disarmament. \nBonnie Raitt will perform at 7:30 p.m. today at the IU Auditorium. Tickets are available at the box office for $40, $32.50 or a $25 student price. For more information, go to www.iuauditorium.com or call 855-1103.
(10/16/00 4:01am)
The gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community wrapped up a week of celebration and education Saturday as the annual Gay Pride Week drew to a close. The week mainly focused on Wednesday's National Coming Out Day, but all the activities were aimed to bring a greater awareness of GLBT issues to the IU community.\nWednesday was National Coming Out of the Closet Day, which occurs in commemoration of the 1987 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Participants and friends of the GLBT community were encouraged to wear red in support of the GLBT community.\nWhile Pride Week always falls during the time of National Coming Out Day, OUT Treasurer Amanda Thompson, a junior, said increasing awareness of the GLBT community is just as important.\n"We really center our programs around other groups on campus to increase awareness (of) GLBT issues," she said. "That's the reason we did 'OUT on Fraternity Row,' to open homosexuality to the greek community. It's a celebration along with creating awareness."\nThompson, a member of Alpha Delta Pi, said she especially appreciated a workshop Wednesday night about homosexuality in the greek community.\n"As a member of greek community, I enjoyed that one especially. Homosexuality isn't addressed in greek community nearly enough," she said.\nSenior Jason Jones, OUT president, said the week's activities did a good job of increasing awareness of GLBT issues on campus.\n"A lot of people were wearing red or at least knew it was red day (on Wednesday). That's what we're trying to do -- just get the word around," he said.\nJones said the OUT executive board has been planning for Pride Week since last spring, when they started working on Lesbopalooza, a concert held Saturday in celebration of women. But some of the activities were planned on shorter notice, like the Safe Zone party Friday night, and many activities happened spontaneously throughout the week.\nOne activity that didn't come to fruition was a forum on homosexuality and religion. Thompson said they tried to get local churches and religious organizations involved, but the short notice proved hard to overcome. She said the forum would be a priority either next semester or for next year's Pride Week.\nDoug Bauder, the coordinator of the GLBT Student Support Services, said Pride Week can impact people's lives in many different ways.\n"There are different messages for different people," he said. "For folks who are closeted, National Coming Out Day has been good to say this is a time in your life to examine yourself more deeply, use the resources on campus and make the next step. \n"Another message is to help people recognize there (are) very personal, political and cultural aspects to being gay. That causes the larger community to look at what the ramifications are of coming out. It doesn't just impact one community," he said.
(10/13/00 5:02am)
Amid Middle East violence and the bombing of Navy destroyer USS Cole, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted almost 400 points yesterday in the fifth-biggest point drop in history. Analysts pointed to turmoil abroad as the cause, but Thursday's stock activity continued a month-long slide in stock prices.\nHome Depot was the Dow's biggest loser, falling $14.06 or 29 percent, to a new year-low of $35.13. Thursday, the company announced in a report it would not be making its third-quarter earnings estimates of 5 to 7 percent from the same time last year. Earnings per share were $0.28, or approximately a 4 percent increase.\nHome Depot spokesperson Jerry Shields said the company's losses today were hard to definitively attribute.\n"The reaction is not a surprise," he said. "To what degree it is a compound of (the events in the Mideast) and our announcement, no one knows."\nIn its press release issued early Thursday morning, Home Depot pointed to a deflation in lumber and building materials retail pricing for their slowed sales trends, but President and Chief Executive Officer Arthur M. Blank remained optimistic.\n"The company's rates of profitability and return on capital are continuing at very strong levels," he said. "The outlook for growth in the home improvement industry remains strong, despite the deflationary lumber and building material environment." \n"We're considering this a temporary setback," Shields said. "We expect by early next year to be back on a 22 to 25 percent earnings growth rate."\nOther blue chip stocks followed Home Depot's tumble -- Wal-Mart, Lowe's and Staples each fell several percentage points. Overall, the Dow Jones fell 3.6 percent, putting it outside the top percentage drops in history. \nOil prices shot skyward amidst the Dow Jones' downward spiral. Prices jumped to $37 a barrel -- just 80 cents shy of its 10-year high. They closed at $36.06, up $2.81.\n"What we saw here is fear, pure and simple," said Phil Flynn, vice president and senior energy analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. "The market just realized how dangerous the situation in the Middle East is."\nAssociate professor of finance Craig Holden said Thursday's drop was not necessarily caused by the violence overseas.\n"Stock markets move without significant events," he said. "One study was done of the largest drops and increases in the 20th century, and in 80 percent you couldn't identify a major event as a cause."\nBut some market watchers said today's activities could be a direct result of the Mideast tumult.\n"In an already nervous market -- this is all we didn't need," said Al Goldman, an analyst with A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in St. Louis. \n"A terrorist attack, increased hostilities in the Middle East and a spike in oil prices -- shake it all up and you get blind dumping of stocks." \nThe Associated Press contributed to this story.
(10/11/00 5:31am)
When Congress passed the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, politicians on both sides of the ideological divide praised its changes to the decades-old federal system. They said it gave them the chance to help people get off welfare rolls and back to work.\nNow, four years later, statistics show welfare rolls are down, more jobs are available and the most economically-depressed areas of the country are starting to rebound. But some think it's too early to call anything a success quite yet.\nRenowned scholar William Julius Wilson, made that point last night in his lecture "Welfare, Children and Families: The Impact of Welfare Reform in the New Economy." \nWilson is one of only 17 Harvard professors now holding a university professorship. He is also the director of the Joblessness and Urban Poverty Research Program at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He was an adviser for ex-presidential candidate Bill Bradley and sits on the President's Commission on White House Fellowships. \nThe talk, held last night in the Indiana Memorial Union's Whittenberger Auditorium, was part of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs' Charles F. Bonser Distinguished Lecture in Public Policy. \nWilson's main points centered around what he identifies as the ever-growing gap between the classes in the United States. American economic policy favors the working and middle classes, he said, completely ignoring those most in need: the poor. For example, he said, plans to help potential homebuyers are not viable for poor Americans who get relegated to urban ghettos.\n"Housing for poor is limited to public projects far from employment opportunities and informal job opportunity networks," he said. \nSuch problems relate back to a lack of what Wilson calls "social rights" in America. In other Western democratic nations, Wilson said rights to health care and housing get more prominence and are part of the social fabric. \n"Compared with Canada and Western Europe, social rights (in America) are less developed and intertwined with human and political rights," he said. "Overall economic equality is up in all other Western developed nations. There, scholarly explanations (for poverty) focus on changes in the broader society rather than individual differences and behavior."\nThe American backlash against welfare recipients began during the late 1970s when the U.S. economy was slumping. Wilson said political pundits used the slump to point the finger at welfare recipients as the cause of the poor economy, which led to a "drastic" decline in state support for Aid for Dependent Families and Children. \nNow, in the wake of the 1996 welfare reform, Wilson freely admitted the feared collapse of America's poor classes was not realized. But the new laws could still cause calamities in the future.\n"Many of these positive outcomes could not have occurred without our current economic boom," he said. "The timing (of the welfare reform) could not have been better. But we don't know what will happen when the economy slows down."\nAstrid E. Merget, dean of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, said Wilson's studies of the U.S. welfare system have been groundbreaking.\n"He has worked on the paradoxes of our society and forced us, as a society, to face them," she said.\nAfter the lecture, graduate student Antwuan Wallace asked Wilson about his role as a researcher and advocate for the plight of the poor.\n"I'm an advocate based on informed research," Wilson said. "I'm happy about my combined role"
(10/06/00 3:43am)
A clogged pipe caused a flood through three stories of Eigenmann Hall Thursday afternoon, including three lobbies and two elevator shafts.\nActing Residence Manager Bridget Stenger said the flood started at approximately 1:15 p.m. when a drain pipe overflowed on the second floor. Maintenance crews were draining water from the air conditioning system in preparation for the winter season when the blockage occurred. Water soaked the elevator lobby on that floor and ran downstairs to the first floor lobby, where it was mostly contained. \nMaintenance crews quickly started cleaning up the water, using mattress pads to soak up the initial effects of the flood and then mopping up the rest. No damage was found to any of the floors or walls affected, and no student rooms were flooded. \n"We'll just have a lot of laundry," Stenger laughed.\nBesides the water, which covered the entire elevator lobby area on both floors, two of the four elevators in the residence hall were shut down. Stenger said the elevator repair crew suggested shutting down the shaft as a precautionary measure, but no damage was evident at the time. All four elevators were expected to be active by this morning. \nDespite the several inches of rain Bloomington endured Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Area Manager for Environmental Operation Michele Hacker said the flood was unrelated to the weather.
(09/22/00 4:55am)
In recent years, being gay has become a popular character trait in movies and television.\nEllen DeGeneres' coming out episode in 1997 drew more than 36 million viewers and won an Emmy award for writing. "Will & Grace," a show featuring a gay character, crushed the competition at this year's Emmys. And Hilary Swank won an Academy Award for her portrayal of a woman living as a man in "Boys Don't Cry."\nBut most people aren't familiar with the first homosexual liberation film, "Different From Others." Made in Germany in 1919, it championed gay rights long before it became one of Hollywood's favorite causes. In fact, many of today's fights for gay rights can trace their origins to the early 20th century. \nFacts like these are what Anne Chamberlin spends her life talking about. Wednesday night she brought her knowledge to IU for her lecture "A Queerstory of Cinema in the Twentieth Century." It was sponsored by Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered student support services, the department of Communication and Culture, OUT and the Commission on Multicultural Understanding.\nSince getting her degree in history with a film studies certificate from IU in 1987, Chamberlin has spent most of her life producing short films about gays and lesbians, and teaching in an area struggling for respect in the academic community -- queer studies. Chamberlin is a professor at City College of San Francisco in Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Studies, the only department of its kind in the nation. \nIn recent years, queer theory has come under fire from the gay community for being overly intellectual. But Chamberlin said she tried to translate elaborate theories stretching back centuries into applicable, real-life explanations about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. \nIn her lecture, Chamberlin said an inherent issue in society is its binary nature. People are either one thing or another -- male or female, republican or democrat, IU or Purdue -- with no room for the in-between.\n"Queer theory looks at the way we construct language. You're either 'he' or 'she.' There is no way to denote 'other' besides 'it,' and then you're nothing," she said. \nChamberlin said society's binary system has affected all aspects of life, and the film industry is no exception. \n"The (film) system is limiting, and it's hierarchical," she said. "In most Hollywood cinema, you don't get a character walking into a scene and saying 'Hi, I'm a lesbian.' We read things in terms of a guy with a limp wrist. But what we're starting to see is 'straight queers' who break out of traditional notions of gender roles." \nInitially, Chamberlin said queer cinema started out strong with films like "Different From Others," about a gay man's struggle to survive. Often, those early films were political statements against laws banning homosexuality in Germany and other countries. But with the rise of censorship in the early 1930s, homosexual storylines were scrapped and films were forced to "clean up" their acts. \nGay story lines resurfaced again in the 1970s, but then it was mostly blatant anti-gay propaganda. \n"It was always a slasher who's some sort of faggy guy," Chamberlin said. \nShe cited the 1977 film "Looking for Mr. Goodbar," about a sexually-liberated woman who is murdered by a gay character, and 1991's "Silence of the Lambs," in which the killer is a homosexual.\n"In ('Lambs'), queerness completely led to villainy. After 'Mr. Goodbar,' … women went to their cars and felt their greatest threat was from gay men. We fear queers and go home to lock our doors," she said. \nDue to Hollywood's stereotypes and movie studios' reluctance to risk money on smaller films, Chamberlin said truly independent cinema is the answer to these messages in films.\n"We still see a lot of reinforcing of those patterns (today.) They're just redirected and rearranged," she said.\nChamberlin's own film work has made inroads toward portraying gays and lesbians in more positive lights. One film, "Condomnation," showed the trouble lesbians had getting information about AIDS during the early years of the outbreak. Another film featured Chamberlin's friends from across the nation in an attempt to show the true face of lesbians.\nDespite her college's work in GLBT studies, Chamberlin said the department always fights for its funding. And other schools' efforts have been thwarted as well.\n"I'd have lots of teachers calling about courses (in GLBT studies) they wanted to teach, but the administrations vetoed them," she said. "It's been a real struggle to get courses taught in colleges. Mostly, universities say there isn't enough interest in queer studies for a course." \nKarin Heemstra, a friend of Chamberlin's, said the best way to increase awareness and popularity of queer studies was to get even one class started at a university, such as the class offered at Michigan State University, her alma mater.\n"Just start with any kind of queer class. A lot of people took Michigan State's class, so the interest's definitely out there."\nAnne Chamberlin will present a filmmaking workshop "Camera-less Filmmaking" from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St. Cost is $25 for members, $35 for non-members. For more information or to register, call the Waldron Center at 334-3100.