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(09/11/03 6:01am)
As the Indiana Supreme Court transferred power to the state's lieutenant governor Wednesday morning, doctors for Gov. Frank O'Bannon said he is showing small signs of improvement.\nPhysicians said the governor, 73, is no longer in a drug-induced coma, and although he is still on a ventilator, he doesn't need it to breathe. \nHis arms and legs are responding to pain and the right side of his body has shown some purposeful movements. \nBut they still can't say how much function, if any, the governor will recover. \n"It's way too early to tell," said Dr. Wesley Yapor, a physician treating O'Bannon.\nAs the governor lies in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan now assumes O'Bannon's duties.\nAlready, Kernan has met with state agency heads, coordinated his new staff and attended an economic conference at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, said Andrew Stoner, O'Bannon's spokesman. \nSpeaker of the House Patrick Bauer and Senate Pro Tempore Robert Garton submitted a letter to the Indiana Supreme Court Wednesday morning, requesting that Kernan be named the acting governor. The Indiana Constitution allows the leaders of the state legislature to authorize a transfer of power if the governor is unable to voluntarily hand over his duties.\nAfter deliberating for an hour, the court approved the decision. \nBauer and Garton spoke with the governor's wife, Judy, and the governor's medical team before they signed off on the transition.\n"We wanted to make sure, absolutely sure, that the family was in agreement," Bauer said. "(Judy) is a very strong woman, a very spiritual woman and she gave us strength."\nMrs. O'Bannon issued her own statement Wednesday endorsing the decision.\n"We are so appreciative that the leadership of both the legislative and judicial branches has included us in their deliberations," she said. "We understand and fully support the actions being taken today."\nGarton emphasized that although O'Bannon will not have any responsibilities during his recovery, he is still the governor. Kernan remains the lieutenant governor, even as he assumes O'Bannon's duties. \n"There is no vacancy in the lieutenant governor's office," Garton said. \nO'Bannon suffered a massive stroke early Monday morning while in his Chicago hotel room, sometime between 7 and 8:30 a.m. Aides found him lying unconscious on the floor of his closet after they forced open the door to his room. He was rushed to nearby Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he underwent three hours of emergency surgery. \nTuesday, doctors said the governor had suffered brain damage. They have not pinpointed what caused the stroke.\nYapor said O'Bannon will be in the hospital for at least a few more weeks.\n-- Contact senior writer Adam VanOsdol at avanosdo@indiana.edu.
(09/09/03 5:46am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon, 73, was in critical condition late Monday night after he suffered a massive brain hemorrhage while visiting Chicago. \nThe governor was found lying unconscious on his hotel room floor early Monday morning after he failed to appear for a planned economic conference. He was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he underwent three hours of emergency surgery.\nDoctors said the next 24-48 hours are crucial to his survival.\n"Hopefully he's going to be able to function," said Dr. Wesley Yapor from Northwestern. "How much, we don't know."\nDoctors drained blood from both sides of O'Bannon's brain during the surgery and found evidence of trauma, suggesting he may have fallen.\nIndiana Lt. Gov. Joseph Kernan, who was also in Chicago, assumed the role of acting governor Monday afternoon after returning to the Statehouse via helicopter. \nUnder the Indiana Constitution, the state Supreme Court now has 48 hours to determine whether O'Bannon is able to voluntarily hand over his power. If not, the speaker of the House and the Senate pro tempore may authorize Kernan to assume full responsibility of the Indiana executive.\n"We are all hoping Gov. O'Bannon will return to his duties," Kernan said. "But we need more information before anything else is done."\nO'Bannon was in Chicago to give opening remarks at Monday's U.S. Midwest-Japan conference. Sunday night at dinner, the Governor appeared to be feeling fine, showing friends pictures he took on his digital camera, Kernan said.\nAt 8 a.m. Monday morning, aides phoned O'Bannon's hotel room at the Palmer Hilton and got no response. They called again at 8:30, and still O'Bannon did not pick up.\nHotel security then forcibly opened O'Bannon's door, to find him unconscious on the floor, lying on his back.\nKernan, who rode in the ambulance, said the governor was breathing but unresponsive. Kernan stayed at the hospital until the governor's wife arrived by helicopter from Indianapolis.\nKernan was visibly shaken as he spoke to reporters Monday afternoon.\n"This is a day of great sorrow," he said. Referring to the governor he said, "I feel they don't come any better. There is no one who cares more about the people of Indiana."\nThe governor's trip was part of a hectic summer schedule that included a survey of the state's flooding and a visit by President George W. Bush.\nMembers of O'Bannon's staff said they never saw signs the governor was in poor health. \n"He's been in excellent health throughout his term," said press secretary Andrew Stoner. "There were no apparent problems at all that we'd seen."\nOfficials across the state expressed their concern regarding O'Bannon's condition.\n"Frank is a good man, and one of the most decent public servants I've ever had the honor of working with," Indiana Senator Evan Bayh said in a statement. "(My wife and I) have Frank, Judy and the entire O'Bannon family and staff in our thoughts and prayers right now."\nO'Bannon, a Democrat, is serving his second term as governor. He was Lt. Governor from 1989 to 1996 under Evan Bayh and served 18 years as a state senator from Corydon. \nHe graduated from IU in 1952 with a bachelor's degree in government. After a two-year tour with the Air Force, he returned to Bloomington to earn his law degree. He met his wife, Judy, on a blind date while at IU.\n-- Contact senior writer Adam VanOsdol at avanosdo@indiana.edu.
(09/05/03 6:20am)
As a freshman, Joshua Becker was sure he'd never join a fraternity. To him, being greek meant only obnoxious partying and smug elitism.\nWhen fraternity recruitment began, though, Becker agreed to give it a chance. He toured the houses, learned about the greek traditions and hung out with brothers.\nToday, Becker is the president of Alpha Tau Omega and a big advocate of the greek community. \n"When I started out, I was strongly against it," Becker said. "I didn't want to go greek, but I took the approach that I would just try it, and I went through the rush process. I'm not going to say everyone's going to like it, but it's one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever done." \nThis year's fraternity recruitment kicks off at 5 p.m. tonight in Dunn Meadow, and for hundreds of young men, it will be their first look at greek life at IU.\nAll 22 chapters will be present, and interested rushees are required to come and register.\nThe event lasts until 9 p.m. Saturday, attendance is also required at formal chapter presentations from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Ballantine Hall. Sunday, buses will take groups of guys out to visit the actual houses. \nThe recruitment process will be markedly different this weekend than in years past, in an effort to inject it with more fairness and accountability.\nThe biggest change is the site selection for the Saturday chapter presentations. In previous years, house tours lasted two days, and presentations tended to focus more than anything else on the house size. \nSigma Chi president Scott Boruff said the selection of Ballantine Hall for chapter presentations will force the fraternities to sell their genuine values and traditions instead of their real estate.\n"In the past, all you had to do was show off your house," Boruff said. "This forces the frats to take a more critical look at themselves and their ideals and let that sell itself."\nThe new process also includes a more active role for the recruitment counselors. Last year, only 45 percent of the young men who initially signed up for recruitment followed through and signed with a house. To boost that number, each counselor will more closely track their group this year than before.\n"It's the ultimate turnover we wanted to control a little better," said Phi Sigma Kappa President Michael Palm. \nThe changes were created at the initiative of Interfraternity Council recruitment chair Brian Moak, who spent last year seeking advice from Dean of Students Richard McKaig and studying how the process is conducted at other universities.\nMoak hopes the changes will lend a new atmosphere of seriousness to recruitment that will carry over into the year. \n"I'd seen that the process needed to be revamped," he said. "We're working on keeping a solid image. If we start off on the right foot, hopefully we'll be able to keep it going."\nThe young men who show up at tonight's kick-off probably won't notice the differences, said Becker. The things that attracted him to fraternity life four years ago remain the same. \n"I live with 80 guys I'm best friends with," he said. "It's something special to be a part of."\nPalm advises unsure rushees to choose the house that best fits their personality. \n"Find the guys you are most comfortable with, the ones you see yourself being friends with," he said. "Rush people like you, not people you want to be."\nHe said going greek has kept him an active member of the IU community. \n"Whether tailgating with alumni or cheering on your Little 500 team, going greek means staying involved all four years of college. It's about meeting the right guys and ensuring a mutual friendship," he said. "How we go about that has just changed a little bit this year."\n-- Contact senior writer Adam VanOsdol at avanosdo@indiana.edu.
(04/17/03 5:49am)
IU students who download music and movies from the Internet are increasingly being threatened in record numbers by the entertainment industry. Since the beginning of April, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Artists of America have sent 261 notices to IU complaining of possible copyright violations. \nWith the month only half over, IT Policy Officer Mark Bruhn said the surge in reports shows that the entertainment industry is determined to stop illegal filesharing through programs like Kazaa.\nOn April 15 alone, the University received 61 different complaints. \n"The entertainment industry is paying attention to what students are doing and are serious about this," Bruhn said.\nAgents from the MPAA and RIAA constantly patrol the Internet. When those agents observe that a copyrighted file has been traded by a user on IU's accounts, those agents notify Bruhn by e-mail, identifying the user by a number only. Bruhn matches that number to a name and then contacts the user personally by e-mail.\nThe user is told to prove they have a copyright for the file, or else they should delete it. If the user does not respond to the e-mail, his or her name is given to the Dean of Student's Office.\nIf IU receives a second notification about the same user, his or her name is automatically given to the Dean. That user will also have his or her network access suspended. \nDuring March, the policy office turned over the names of 25 students to the Dean of Student's Office. Those students are being punished through the normal judicial process for misuse of University technology accounts.\n"As it is, we give students identified as sharing illegal materials one opportunity to respond and tell us that they deleted all of the illegal files that they possess," Bruhn said. "If they do that quickly, then the case is closed. But, they don't get a second chance."\nFreshman Joie Meffert, who lives in Collins, received an e-mail from IU asking her to delete files. She thought it was junk mail and ignored it. A month later, without warning, the Internet access in her dorm room was cut off.\n"They said it was because I hadn't responded to their e-mail," Meffert said. "After that, I deleted all my files from Kazaa."\nMeffert also had to go through a judicial conference with the Office of Student Ethics. She was told that if she was caught sharing illegal files again, she could be suspended from the University.\n"I'm not sure how I stand on copyright issues, but for now I have to comply because it's the law," she said.\nTwo weeks ago, the RIAA actually sued two college students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for operating a file-sharing system like Napster at www.chewplastic.com. Similar suits were also filed against students at Princeton University and Michigan Technological University.\nThe suit asks for a whopping $150,000 in damages for each song. \nThe IT Policy Office has distributed fliers to all University housing residents warning of the legal risks of filesharing. The flier, titled "Are you legal?," gives students tips on avoiding copyright law infringement. They include:\n• disabling outbound filesharing\n• ensuring you have explicit permission from the copyright holder to share the files\n• learning about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the law which regulates how copyright violations are to be handled. \nIU does not monitor the downloading activity of its users, out of respect for privacy rights. However, when the entertainment industry notifies IU of a violation, the University is required under DMCA to investigate. Once notified, if IU knowingly allows a user to continue to trade files illegally, it can be sued.\n"We can't and won't let the actions of a small number of students increase the chances that Indiana University will be subject to penalty because they are using our network for their illegal activities," Bruhn said.\nHe said IU has no plans to shut off Kazaa or other peer-to-peer programs. \nMeffert, who had about 200 music files on her computer, said it's a good thing the University stands between her and the entertainment industry. \n"The good thing is the University is intervening in this," she said. "Otherwise I could be sued"
(04/04/03 5:36am)
A group of 200 students marched across campus Thursday at noon to protest the war in Iraq.\nShouting "This is what democracy looks like," and holding signs with anti-war slogans, students from the Citizens Opposed to the War in Iraq started from Dunn Meadow, wound past Ballantine Hall and the Union and ended at the Sample Gates.\nThe most important message from the march was that dissent is in fact patriotic, COWI member Daniel Mark said.\nHe said people who are anti-war are afraid to express it because they don't want to be seen as against U.S. soldiers. \n"The best way to support troops is to ask that they come home immediately and alive," he said.\nMark said he hopes the protest opened eyes to the peace movement. \n"The important thing is we let people know this movement is still alive," he said.\nSophomore Sam Lawrence, another member of COWI, said he wants people to know that anti-war does not equate with anti-American. \n"We want to let students know it's okay to be pro-peace," Lawrence said.\nA small group of students protesting the protest marched alongside, carrying pro-Bush signs.
(04/04/03 5:32am)
Anti-spam software installed at IU in March has decreased the amount of junk e-mail in the school's servers by 25 percent. \nThe decrease has already led to major improvements in the e-mail systems, Vice-President for Information Technology Brian Voss said.\nThe software, called Spamhaus, works by relying on a "black list" of notorious spammers. All e-mail now passes through Spamhaus' "black list," and recognized spammers are automatically blocked from the system. \nAccording to the Spamhaus Web site (www.spamhaus.org), spammers send junk mail in two different ways -- half of it directly and half of it through temporary accounts set up by third party service providers, like hotmail.com. Since Spamhaus uses a "black list," it can only block the direct spam. \nVoss said he expects IU will soon make available other ways for users to combat junk mail. Because of the concern for blocking legitimate mail and the First Amendment rights of spammers, Voss said IU has acted conservatively in selecting Spamhaus.\n"We decided to err on the side of caution," Voss said. "We are working on increasing the tools in our arsenal."\nThe list is updated every hour, based on information gathered from as far away as South Africa. It is a free service.\n"This certainly does not block all the spam out there," Voss said. "But it certainly made a dent in the amount of spam we are receiving."\nMost people agree Spamhaus is a big step forward.\nDuring the first three months of 2003, the volume of spam exploded. Of the over one billion e-mails sent and received each day, 60 percent of it was junk. \nThe spam overloaded campus servers, and in some cases delayed e-mail delivery for several days at a time.\nFor professors and students accustomed to e-mail communication, the delays forced homework and assignments to be rescheduled.\nMany anti-spam programs are now available for purchase. Business professor George Marakas installed the popular Spam Assassin on his computer, which eliminates spam by moving it out of the user's inbox and into a separate folder. \nHe said Spam Assassin is "low-maintenance" and moves very few legitimate e-mails. \nMarakas said more than half the e-mail he gets is junk. \nFor information about how to reduce junk mail, visit the IU knowledge base at \nwww.kb.indiana.edu
(04/04/03 5:13am)
The IU Police Department is investigating a possible hazing incident that occurred at Kappa Sigma fraternity on April 3.\nAn injured student's girlfriend told the IUPD that several members of Kappa Sigma duct taped her boyfriend to a ladder and threw eggs at him. She said the fraternity members assaulted him because he "lavaliered" her.\nIn traditional courtship ceremonies, a fraternity member lavaliers a girlfriend when he gives her a necklace with a pendant bearing the letters of his fraternity.\nBy some definitions, the gift is suppose to signify that the girlfriend is the most important thing in the boyfriend's life.\nIUPD learned about the incident from the Bloomington Police Department, which was notified by Bloomington Hospital.\nWhen an IUPD officer arrived at the fraternity house, located on North Jordan Avenue, he found the fraternity member incoherent as a result of his injuries, Minger said.\nThe student did not want to press charges.\nThe names of the students have not been released because the investigation is continuing. \nThe girlfriend, who is a member of Alpha Gamma Delta, told police the president of Kappa Sigma took her boyfriend to Bloomington Hospital. \nKappa Sigma president Alan Hazzard said the incident is being investigated by the local chapter, the University and the national chapter. He refused further comment. \nMinger said he is unsure whether the incident represents hazing, or assault and battery.\n"It's hard to say where the truth lies," Minger said.\nIU Dean of Students Richard McKaig said the campus is investigating the incident.
(04/01/03 4:56am)
Late at night on the seventh floor of Campus View apartments, I can hear sawing and hammering. I think someone is building something very large in the room above me.\nEvery time I leave the building, I see a fleet of white Residential Programs and Services pickup trucks parked along the curb. A single maintenance person always seems to be taking the trash out. \nI swear that guy takes out the trash 50 times a day. He's got to be a watcher, stationd outside the building to monitor who goes in and out of the building at all times.\nThe University recently announced that Campus View will be the next residence center to be remodeled. Out of all the housing facilities, why Campus View? I bet it's because at least half of my neighbors are international students. Is this "remodeling," or an excuse to install phone taps, miniature cameras and tracking devices on all Internet connections?\nFERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the legislation that protects student information from the public, does not apply to aliens. \nHani Hasan Hanjour, one of the terrorists who flew a plane into the Pentagon, entered the United States on a student visa. Hanjour, who applied to study English in Oakland, Calif., never attended a single class. The ringleader of the terrorist group, Mohammad Atta, attended flight school in Florida on a student visa. \nThe Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, formerly the Immigration and Naturalization Services, created a database called SEVIS, Student and Exchange Visitor Information Service, to track student visas. \nAll colleges in the United States are now required to use the database. Each student visa issued is tracked through the program, and if a student doesn't show up to college, the BCIS will now be able to find out. \nIf an international student drops a class, it is registered on SEVIS, and the student may be deported.\nNow, if terrorists do enter the United States on a student visa, they will have to go to class at the same time they are pursuing terror. A potential terrorist, on a student visa, might right now be going to class at IU during the day, while he or she plots death and destruction at night. \nThe FBI has increased its presence around Bloomington since Sept. 11. Agents are flying surveillance planes over the town and keeping an eye on midnight coffee shops where machines of communication like faxes and e-mail are located. \nThe other day when I got on an elevator in Campus View going down, I rode with a tall woman and her two screeching kids. The woman smiled at me and said, "I hope you don't mind that my kids are so noisy."\nBut she didn't fool me. I could tell she was an undercover FBI agent, cleverly using her innocent kids to disarm strangers. \nOn Monday, RPS director Bob Weith told an IDS reporter asking about FBI agents in the residence halls to call University Council. The council office said they would not comment about the agent's presence. And FBI agent Doug Garrison, who has handled all the publicity surrounding the agents, did not return a phone call from Indianapolis.\nOn Feb. 11, Robert S. Mueller, head of the FBI, publicly warned of terrorist attacks against colleges. The war in Iraq has caused the Department of Homeland Security's alert system to rise to orange, meaning a terrorist threat is high.\nThe administration needs to address the terrorist threat because students are growing paranoid. Some think the presence of FBI agents is more than routine monitoring. Many think their presence suggests the existence of a local threat.
(03/24/03 6:04am)
An IU student vacationing in Acapulco, Mexico, died over spring break from cardiac arrest and gastrointestinal complications. \nBrandon Rotstein, a junior from Northbrook, Ill., died in a small airplane as he was being transported to Chicago.\nA funeral is being held today at 10 a.m. in his hometown.\nRotstein was elected last year to the IU Student Association Senate as an off-campus representative. He was a School of Public and Environmental Affairs major and an entrepreneur who owned the Web site www.jerseys4you.com, an online company selling hockey jerseys from Europe and Russia. He was also IU's representative for College Boxes, a shipping and storage company.\nFriends remember Rotstein as a guy you could always rely on. \nFreshman Naomi Fox met Rotstein just two weeks ago when he gave her a ride to Chicago. He made an immediate impression on her.\n"He was the nicest guy with the biggest heart," Fox said.\nRotstein awoke on Tuesday morning complaining of stomach pains, his friend Brad Lipton said. An ambulance came to the hotel where Rotstein and his friends were staying and took him to the hospital where he stayed overnight. A doctor said Rotstein would be fine the next day. \nHis mother, who was in California at the time, came to the hospital. When he didn't improve, she decided to fly Rotstein home to Chicago. \nHe died during the flight.\n"He was a great person," Lipton said. "He was like everybody's best friend."\nLipton said his friend was very outgoing and loved college basketball. \nFreshman Jenny Ruchim, who went to the high school prom with Rotstein, said he had a enormous lust for living.\n"He was so friendly and nice," Ruchim said. "He was always smiling. He made everybody feel comfortable about themselves."\nRuchim said during the winter, Rotstein would call her to offer her rides to class, so she wouldn't have to walk in the cold. \n"He was a very nice kid," she said. "When you saw him, it made you happy."\nStudent body president Bill Gray, a pledge brother of Rotstein in Alpha Epsilon Pi, said Rotstein would do anything for anyone.\n"He was the type of guy who always knew somebody who could get a solution to your problem," Gray said.
(03/05/03 6:53am)
A complaint will be filed today against the Crimson ticket by the president of the Willkie Residence Center and Willkie residents, charging that members of the ticket were campaigning unescorted on Willkie floors during quiet hours. \nWillkie President Jackie Pirnat said she received phone calls at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday morning from residents who complained that Peter Kurinsky, a Crimson candidate running for Willkie Senator, was disturbing them while they were studying.\nPirnat said she approached the candidate and asked him if he was a Willkie resident. Pirnat said he replied that he was. Then she asked him if he had received permission from the Willkie residence manager to campaign. He said no.\n"That's when I said, you need to leave," Pirnat said.\nKurinsky said he was knocking on doors when he was asked to leave. He said he left shortly thereafter. \nTwo Crimson affiliates were also campaigning in the South Tower. Pirnat did not know their names. \n"After midnight, if you are not escorted in by a guest, you should not be in the building," Pirnat said. "They were disturbing residents, and that is not what we want them to be doing."\nKurinsky said he was accompanied by a Willkie resident and did not know he needed permission from the residence manager to campaign in the building.\n"I hadn't heard anything prior to being notified by the (Willkie) president that you need permission from a manager," he said. "I had no intention to bother people." \nCrimson presidential candidate Casey Cox said his party is trying its best to be sensitive to the residence halls.\n"We're doing the best we can to be considerate and not to bother any people," he said. "I know a lot of tickets are out at night."\nHe said his party has acted respectfully.\n"If we were asked to leave any place, we immediately left, as far as I know," he said. "We apologize to any residents we may have inconvenienced."\nAny violation of the residence hall policies is also a violation of the election code, Elections Coordinator Leah Silverthorn said. \nIf the elections commission finds the complaint to be true, Crimson will have to pay a $134 fine.\nThe fine is equal to five percent of Crimson's $2,680 campaign spending limit, which is based on the number of candidates on the party ticket. \nCrimson will have 24 hours to reply to the complaint.\nIf the complaint proceeds, it will be heard and voted on by the elections commission. The Crimson ticket may appeal that ruling to the IUSA Supreme Court. \nCopies of the complaint will also be submitted to the Supreme Court and Director of Student Activities Jim Gibson, according to IUSA guidelines.\nCrimson was also booted Tuesday from an area outside Ballantine Hall where party candidates was offering students root beer out of a keg.
(03/05/03 5:46am)
A team of IU students competing in the ninth Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl finished second in the nation over the weekend. Over 40 collegiate teams competed in the tournament in Charlotte, N.C.\nIU's team, sponsored by the Poynter Center for Ethics, won $1,000 for its second place finish. The U.S. Naval Academy took home first place honors.\nEach team was asked to settle a hypothetical ethics scenario in debate format, with topics ranging from how to treat patients who have accepted organ transplants from executed Chinese prisoners to the Indonesian military's human rights record.\n"We were thrilled," member Valerie Aquila said. "It was really exciting."\nAquila said the tournament tested her ability to weigh moral judgments on "some very complicated issues."\nIU's six-member team began preparing for the competition in January. The students received a package of 16 scenarios before the tournament that the judges would question them on. Aquila said she and her teammates spent close to six hours a week in preparation.\nThe tournament lasts six rounds, with two teams facing off during each round. The judges announce the topic, and then the first team gives a prepared ten minute presentation on how it would respond ethically to the dilemma. The presentation is followed by a five minute rebuttal from the opposing team. Then the first team is allowed a response. Last, a panel of judges asks the first team questions.\nThen the teams switch roles and are scored.\nIU's team went undefeated until the last round.\n"It was extremely exciting," Summer Johnson, a philosophy and bio-ethics major, said. "Everything seemed to be going our way." \nThis year is the third year in a row the team has competed.\n"They are a tremendously gifted group," coach Mark Wilson said. \nThe competition gives students experience with deep reflection on ethical issues and in the development of interpersonal relationships under tense conditions, he said. \nGlenda Murray, an adviser from the Poynter Center, said the competition places students in scenarios where they are forced to make hyper-rational, quick decisions.\n"We were very pleased for them to come in second," she said.\nThe majority of the teammates are philosophy and religious studies majors, Aquila said.
(03/04/03 6:11am)
The Recording Industry Artists of America and the Motion Picture Association of America are turning up the heat on colleges and universities nationwide, encouraging administrators to expel or arrest students who illegally download music and movies from the Internet. \nDean of Students Richard McKaig said IU will aggressively punish students who illegally use peer-to-peer programs like Kazaa. Some investigations into students are already underway, he said.\nIU does not police its servers for illegal file sharing out of respect for the privacy rights of its users, IU Policy Officer Mark Bruhn said. \nHowever, when the RIAA and MPAA notify IU of the illegal activity on its servers, IU responds according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. \nThe RIAA and MPAA enlist agents to roam the Internet to watch for illegal downloads. When those agents determine that someone using IU's servers has downloaded an illegal movie or music file, they contact the University Information Technology Services policy office.\nThe user who has downloaded the file is identified only by a discrete tracking code, not by name. \nThe policy office then contacts the user by e-mail, warning that the file must be deleted. The student must contact UITS and state the file has been removed.\nIf the student affirms the file has been deleted, the policy office considers the matter resolved.\nHowever, if IU receives a second notification stating the same user has again downloaded an illegal file, that user's access to IU's servers will immediately be terminated. The user's name will also be reported to the dean's office.\nBruhn said most students comply with the first warning. \n"Students who lose their connectivity understand quickly how inconvenient that is because they have to go to a residence hall lab or come to campus to do their computing," Bruhn said.\nBruhn said he supports expulsions and arrests for students who ignore the University warnings and still engage in illegal downloading. \n"Students really need to understand that IU has obligations under the law," he said. "Our goal is to educate as much as we can, but there is certainly a necessary discipline aspect of this."\nAccording to Cnet.com, half of all teens and 19 percent of all Americans over the age of 12 reported having downloaded music from file-swapping services in 2002. \nBruhn said disconnecting students' access to the residence halls servers prevents IU from being the target of a lawsuit from the RIAA and MPAA. The industries could sue IU under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act if IU did not halt the downloading once it was notified.\nAccording to a recent federal court ruling, the RIAA and MPAA can also force IU to release the names of the users who break the law. The industries have said they have no plans to go after individual students, however.\nWith the RIAA and MPAA pushing IU and other universities to take a tougher stance, Bruhn said IU is concerned about the privacy rights of its students. \nA national task force with representatives from both higher education and the movie and music industries has been formed to examine the privacy and legal issues from a university standpoint. Bruhn and IU Vice President for Information Technology Michael McRobbie are both members of the task force.\nMonday, the group met via Weblink to discuss their different goals.\n"We need to ensure legal use of the network, while not impeding other use or being overly intrusive at the same time," Bruhn said. "This is why we wanted to be involved in this task force, so we could attempt to learn and influence what happens in this area."\nIn February, UITS received close to 150 complaints from the music and movie industry about illegal sharing on IU's servers.\nIU is also trying to educate students about the new legal risks involved in file sharing. Later this month UITS will distribute a flier with a picture of a giant compact disc asking "Are you legal?" The flier includes tips on how to avoid copyright law infringement.
(02/18/03 5:14am)
IU's Scholarship of Teaching and Learning program), which encourages faculty members to investigate how students learn in the classroom, won a national award Monday from the American Council of Education.\nIUB Chancellor Sharon Brehm and biology professor Craig Nelson accepted the 2003 Theodore M. Hesburgh award and $30,000 on behalf of the campus at a luncheon in Washington, D.C., Monday morning. \nThe SOTL program was created in 1998 by Moya Andrews, then associate dean of faculties, as a way for faculty members to apply their research skills to student learning. Participating faculty members are encouraged to investigate the effectiveness of their own teaching practices and then report on the findings to their colleagues.\n"This is absolutely wonderful," Jeanne Sept, associate dean of faculty, said. "It's a great testimony to the creativity and energy of our faculty."\nSept said the energy and enthusiasm of IU's faculty have made the program stand out from others like it across the country. Faculty members respond well to the research opportunities, she said, because the program is led by other faculty and not by administrators.\n"This program is about faculty coming together, and there is a real sense of community that has developed as a result," Sept said.\nClose to 2,000 faculty members and graduate students have participated in the SOTL program since its inception.\n"SOTL fits so naturally into the teaching enterprise," Brehm said. "The faculty feel comfortable with it. It's a very empirical approach to teaching and allows for a lot of creativity." \nThe $30,000 prize will be invested back into the program, Brehm said.\nTwo years ago history professor Leah Sopkow began conducting a SOTL-sponsored research experiment in her medieval heroes class to determine the value of letting students rewrite papers. The data she collected seemed to show that students learn more if given the chance to do revisions. \n"I took a close look at one of my teaching practices to see if it actually worked," she said. "What I found was very reassuring. I definitely would not have done it without SOTL."\nEarlier this year, Sopkow presented her findings to other faculty members. \nJust two years ago, Time magazine heralded the success of IU's freshman retention programs by naming IU the 2001 College of the Year. \n"If you add this award to Time magazine, that's a pretty remarkable record in a short period of time," Brehm said.\nEach year, IU showcases the best research projects conducted in the SOTL program. The 2002-2003 series includes a scholarly look at how students respond to the events of Sept. 11, how students use textbooks and how faculty members make assessments of student performance.\nIn early March, professors Brian Powell and Janice McCabe will give a presentation of their findings on grade inflation. The session will be at noon Friday, March 7 in the IMU. \nThe Hesburgh award is named in honor of Theodore M. Hesburgh, long-time president of the University of Notre Dame. Hesburgh was also a dear friend of Herman B Wells and often said he modeled his own presidency after the IU legend. \n"What makes the award so interesting is that Hesburgh was a close personal friend of Herman Wells," said Perry Metz, assistant vice-president for external affairs. "It's kind of a nice emotional bond to get the award in his name."\nThe Hesburgh award is sponsored by the Teacher's Insurance Annuity Association and College Retirees Equity Fund, a multi-billion dollar financial services organization.
(02/14/03 5:29am)
Before Lionel Richie said "Hello," before Sade sang "Sweetest Taboo," and before Common saw "The Light," there was Emily Dickinson. \nLovers used to call on poets to express their true feelings. Now they call on pop.\nUsing their own collection and a CD burner, smitten romantics can take their most intimate songs and turn them into one perfect Valentine's Day mix CD. The mixes are cheap, easy and very personal.\nWith file-sharing programs like Kazaa, finding that perfect song to sum up your feelings is even easier. \n"(Mix CDs) can be a great way to show someone how you feel about them," Residence Hall Association President Ilia Smith said. \nIU rock and roll professor Glenn Gass, who created a mix CD to play during his wedding, said he can think of no better way for people to express themselves.\n"Music can speak for you in the best way," Gass said. "It's more than 'I like these songs.' It's 'here's what I'm feeling inside. Here's what I care about. Here's what I love.'"\nThe songs that each person chooses should reflect the type of relationship they are in, Gass said.\nAt his wedding in 1991, Gass and his wife agreed that the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" would play during the actual ceremony. \n"It's the ultimate ode to love," Gass said.\nFor Adriana Guerrero, treasurer of IU Latinos Unidos, the song "Dos Gardenias," by the Cuban group Buena Vista Social Club, best expresses her notions of romance. The song's lyrics, "Te quiero, te adoro, mi vida," translate to "I want you, I love you, my life." \n"Everybody wants to hear that line sometime in their life," Guerrero said. \nSome people choose songs that say what they are feeling. Others choose them for nostalgia.\nSmith said she selected Gigi D'Agostino's "L'Amour Toujours (I'll Fly With You)" because it always reminds her of "an amazing first date I had with a really awesome guy."\nFew people today would recognize a Dickinson verse. \n"Vanquished my soul will know, by but a simple arrow, sped by an archer's bow," she wrote helplessly.\nBut most know the Beatles or Marvin Gaye by heart. \n"People use to look to poets to express what they were feeling," Gass said. "Music has taken the place of that"
(02/14/03 5:04am)
"In My Life" -- Beatles"Baby I Love You" -- The Ronettes"God Only Knows" -- Beach Boys"This Must Be The Place" -- Talking Heads"Blossom" -- James Taylor"She's Got a New Spell" -- Billy Bragg"I Second That Emotion" -- Smokey Robinson & the Miracles"Chances Aren't" -- Johnny Mathis"Emperor of Wyoming" -- Neil Young"Love" -- John Lennon\nGlenn GassRock and roll professor\n"Sweet Melissa" -- Allman Brothers"Carrie" --- Europe"Roxanne" -- Sting"Amanda" -- Boston"Julie" --David Bowie"Michelle" -- The Beatles"Amy" -- Vince Gill"Caroline" -- The Beach Boys"Angie" -- The Rolling Stones"Layla" -- Eric Clapton\nCasey CoxUnity ticket presidential candidate\n"Your Body is a Wonderland" -- John Mayer"Crush" -- Dave Matthews Band"Let's Get It On" -- Marvin Gaye"In My Life" -- The Beatles"Please Forgive Me" -- David Gray"Minute" -- Pat McGee Band"Can't Take My Eyes Off You" -- Lauryn Hill"Dancing Angel" -- Myst"Thank You" -- Led Zeppelin"Wonderful Tonight" -- Eric Clapton\nLaura WaldaAction ticket presidential candidate\n"6 Underground" -- Sneaker Pimps"L'Amour Toujours (I'll Fly With You)" -- Gigi D'Agostino"I Got a Man" -- Postivie K"You Make My Dreams Come True" -- Hall and Oates"The Way you Make Me Feel" -- Michael Jackson"Run To You" -- Bryan Adams"Need You Tonight" -- INXS"Something About You" -- Level 42"Butterflies" -- Michael Jackson"At Last" -- Etta James\nIlia SmithPresident of Residence Halls Association\n"Let's Stay Together" -- Al Green"The Very Thought of You" -- Billie Holiday"Beautiful Woman" -- Toot and the Maytals"Hope" -- The Descendents"Dos Gardenias" -- Buena Vista Social Club"I Forgot To Be Your Lover" -- William Bell"Can't Get You Off My Mind" -- Lenny Kravitz"Omni" -- Five Deez"Like A Tattoo" -- Sade"To Catch A Thief" -- Lovage"As Time Goes By" -- Dooley Wilson\nAdriana GuerreroTreasurer of IU Latinos Unidos\n"My Funny Valentine" -- Frank Sinatra"Waiting On An Angel" -- Ben Harper"Cruising Together" -- Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis"The Luckiest" -- Ben Folds"Unforgettable" -- Nat King Cole"Where Are You Going?" -- Dave Matthews Band"This Years' Love" -- David Gray"Baby I'm Amazed" -- Paul McCartney"Mala Femmina" -- Jerry Vale"I Will Do Anything For Love" -- MeatLoaf\nAaron RadezCrimson ticket presidential candidate\n-- Compiled by Adam VanOsdol
(02/04/03 5:53am)
A construction crew digging at the parking garage on the corner of Sixth and Morton streets ruptured a natural gas line Monday afternoon, forcing the evacuation of area businesses and the Monroe County Justice building.\nThe Bloomington Fire Department said there was little danger posed by the rupture but closed off the surrounding city block while workers scrambled to shut off the pipe. \nThe leaking gas sailed north and drifted into open windows at the Monroe County Justice Building down the street, causing nausea and dizziness to those in the building. Except for the 227 inmates, everyone inside was evacuated and went home early. \nIn the end though, the wind actually did more to control the situation, Vectren Energy Company supervisor Mel Williams said. Monday's stiff breeze quickly dissipated the leaking gas, defusing the potentially explosive situation.\n"Oh, we're glad for the weather," Williams said. "The wind helped more than anything." \nAn hour after the accident, Vectren workers had successfully blocked the leakage. \nFire Department Captain Tim Richards said the city block between Sixth and Seventh streets and Walnut and Morton streets was shut down mainly to keep repair workers safe from traffic. \nThe rupture, which was in a low-pressure line, would have been more worrisome if it had been high pressure, Richards said. \n"It wasn't that bad," Richards said. "It was outdoors, and it was a low pressure line." \nThe rupture disrupted local business for an hour, but owners didn't seem too bothered.\nFirefighters who went around to area businesses to check for gas accumulation forced the employees of Little Zagreb's Pizza to evacuate.\nManager Mark Conlin said he couldn't do prep work as a result. \nAnd owner of the Yellow Cab Company John McNeeley said, "It was an honest mistake."\nAt the nearby law office of Kelley, Belcher and Brown, bookkeeper Deena Anderson was preparing billing statements when she smelled gas coming in from an open window. When firefighters arrived, they told her she didn't have to leave, but she did anyway.\n"They said we weren't in danger," Anderson said. "One of our bosses told us to go home."\nWilliams said he could not comment on the amount of gas that leaked, the cost or whether the pipe was marked.\nBloomington Fire Department Captain Roger Kerr said the pipe was unmarked.\nBy 4 p.m. the Justice Building was unusually silent. The only person who stuck around was security guard Don Bennitt, who kept busy by telling confused people that the building was closed for the day. \nMonroe County resident Charles Bomgardner knocked on the locked door at 4:15 p.m., expecting to pay a small claims fine. \nBennitt told him everyone had gone home.\n"I work the rest of the week," a frustrated Bomgardner said. "It's going to be very difficult for me to come back."\nRuptured gas lines have become a common incident for Bloomington's Fire Department. This is the third since the beginning of the year, Batallian Chief Terry Williams said. \n"Gas is a scary thing," he said.
(01/30/03 7:15pm)
Close to 200 IU students were told to delete movie and music files from their computers last month. University Information Technology Services received notifications from the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America saying users of IU's network were illegally distributing copyrighted material. \nIn response, IU sent e-mails to 177 users telling them they should delete the files. If the students refused to comply, they were told they would have their Internet access shut off and would be reported to a judicial board. \nRachel Ward, resident of McNutt Quad, received an e-mail and deleted all of her music files. She used the peer to peer program Limeware to download songs by Avril Lavigne, Tim McGraw and Billy Joel.\n"I was very, very scared. I thought I was going to jail," Ward said. "I erased everything I had and deleted the program."\nUnder the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Internet Service Providers like IU can force their users to stop trading copyrighted material. \n"This isn't something the University came up with," IT Policy Officer Mark Bruhn said. "This is copyright law in the United States."\nBruhn said he expects the RIAA and the MPAA to target individual students in even greater numbers. \n"One-hundred and seventy-seven (students) was pretty high compared to other months," Bruhn said. "But we expect at least that number per month from now on."\nThe RIAA claims to be losing millions of dollars each year as a result of peer to peer software programs like Kazaa and BearShare. Under federal law, copyright holders can now force ISPs like IU to provide the names of users who break the law. \nStudents who continue to download copyrighted material illegally may be open for fines of up to $300,000.\n"The RIAA is leaving open the possibility of doing that to students," IU counsel Beth Cate said. "The risk is certainly there."\nThe RIAA and MPAA have people constantly monitoring the Internet for copyright infringement, Cate said. When they observe someone trading copyrighted material on IU's servers, they notify IU of the violation. Violaters are identified by number, not by name. \nBruhn said most students complied with the e-mail notifications and deleted their files. Some students' access to the Internet was shut off, however.\n"If we don't do that, then the illegal material continues to be served from our network, and the University might incur some legal liability," Bruhn said. \nThree months ago the RIAA sent a letter to all college presidents urging them to clamp down on peer-to-peer trading. IU does not monitor for copyright infringement out of respect for privacy and academic freedom, Cate said.\n"We don't monitor our networks for this kind of stuff," she said. "We just react when people notify us."\nIn the e-mail IU sent out to the alleged copyright infringers, Incident Response Coordinator Tom Jagatic warned users that their identities can be obtained by RIAA and the MPAA under the No Electronic Theft Act of 1997. \nWard said she deleted all her files because she doesn't want to go to jail.\n"I realized it's breaking the law," she said. "Never again"
(01/16/03 3:08pm)
IU officials are bracing for a legislative showdown, one day after Gov. Frank O'Bannon's bleak admission that Indiana can't increase support for its universities.\nWith no new funding in sight for basic initiatives like building maintenance, Information Technology and the School of Informatics, IU is struggling to preserve what it has. \n"Everyone is rolling up their sleeves," IU spokesman Bill Stephan said. "Everyone knows it's going to be tough."\nDuring last year's legislative session, IU was able to stave off budget cuts by tapping into one-time technology fees. Although O'Bannon didn't announce any new cuts this time around, IU will still feel the effects of last year's $100 million cut. \n"Things don't look good," Don Weaver, IU director of state relations, said. "They allowed us to use one time funds to fill in the gap of the cut. We will not have those tech funds next year."\nStephan said IU will lobby hard to try and prevent hitting students with their third tuition increase in three years. Over the last two years, IU has seen tuition increases of 6.5 and 9 percent.\n"There will be great sensitivity to trying to manage tuition increases," he said. "That's one of the reasons we will be working aggressively this session."\nIU started with three funding goals for the 2003 General Assembly -- restoring the base funding and the repair and rehabilitation funds and completing the School of Informatics. \nNone of those goals will likely be met. \n"The Governor's budget presentation is disappointing," Weaver said. "It obviously didn't give us any one of those three (goals)."\nTo help push its cause, IU hopes to rely on its powerful connection with business leaders in the Alliance for Indiana's Future. Last year the group sponsored one of the legislative session's few successes, House Bill 1001, which restructured the state's tax system. \n"We have a network of supporters and friends who believe in education," Stephan said. "There is an emerging consensus that you cannot sacrifice your investments in higher education if you want to grow."\nIU President Gerald Bepko said the Alliance will announce its 2003 goals shortly and will likely add more members. \nAlthough IU and education as a whole have suffered most as a result of the state's economic crunch, IU officials are confident that they are getting their message across to legislators. IU is the engine of the state's economy, Weaver said.\n"The bigger issue in higher education is it's the best economic tool in the state," he said. "It's important that this state have a well educated and trained work force in order to go into the 21st century."\nWhen the economy shores up and the state gets dollars, then it will provide the fuel, Weaver said. \n"We are the answer to revitalizing our economy," he said. "Most of the legislators understand that. It's just that when you don't have money, you don't have money."\nO'Bannon plugged his Energize Indiana plan Tuesday, a stimulus package he announced in December that includes $162 million for university buildings and technology. \nBepko said it was the bright spot of the address. \n"I think that plan represents very good thinking," Bepko said. "It certainly is friendly to the public research universities."\nBepko has said securing funding from the state is among his top priorities as president. \n"We're hopeful, and we hope economic conditions continue to improve," Bepko said.
(01/15/03 5:35am)
IU School of Library and Information Sciences Dean Blaise Cronin announced in a statement Tuesday that he will resign after this semester to take a year-long sabbatical and return as a faculty member.\nDuring Cronin's 12 years as dean, he remade the SLIS into one of the nation's premier information science departments. Over the past few years the SLIS has set new records for enrollment. \n"I was saddened when I heard the news," said Javed Mostafa, associate professor of SLIS. "I think he has been an extremely hard-working dean and has done a significant amount of work for the school. He has placed us on the map as far as recognition."\nBloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm will appoint an interim dean until a permanent replacement is found.\nCronin is the author and editor of over 300 research articles in the areas of scholarly communication, citation analysis, scientific collaboration and cybermetrics. \nThe resignation of Cronin is the fourth administrative shakeup for IU in the last 12 months. IU is currently seeking a new president, athletic director and dean of the law school. \nDuring Cronin's reign, the SLIS began offering new master's and Ph.D. degrees and a number of modern joint/dual degree programs. \nJust this year, Cronin published the book "Pulp Friction."\nDebora Shaw, associate dean of SLIS said she is pleased Cronin will eventually return to IU.\n"Dean Cronin is an excellent and well-recognized scholar, and I'm pleased that he's going to stay on as a faculty member and be contributing to the field in that way."\nCronin is the esteemed editor of the Annual Review of Information Science and Technology. \nHe has traveled as a consultant to more than 30 countries, working for such agencies as the World Bank, UNESCO, European Commission, British Council, Her Majesty's Treasury and Hewlett-Packard.\nCronin is the Rudy Professor of Information Science as well as visiting professor of Information Science at the Manchester Metropolitan University, England and also visiting professor in the School of Computing at Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland. \nFrom 1985-1991 he held the Chair of Information Science at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, where he was head of the Department of Information Science in the Strathclyde Business School.\nCronin could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
(01/14/03 10:28pm)
An IU employee was rushed to the Bloomington hospital Monday afternoon after an apparent explosion occurred in the basement of the Theatre/Neal-Marshall Education Center. Physical Plant worker Brian Smith, 28, suffered second degree burns on his back after a utility pipe in the building burst.\nTwo other physical plant employees were working in the basement at the time but were not injured. \nThe explosion occurred when either a steam line or hot water line ruptured, said Sgt. Don Schmuhl, IU Police Department.\nThe accident happened around 4 p.m. The IU Office of Risk Management will conduct a full investigation into the exact cause.\nSchmuhl said when he arrived at the building, he noticed a boiler room located in the basement was flooded and thick with steam. \n"We couldn't get down in there," he said. "There was a lot of steam and water."\nMaintenance worker Doris Swearingen helped mop up the mess. \n"(The accident) drenched some supplies and messed up the floor, too," she said. \nA Bloomington Hospital official said Monday that Smith would stay overnight.
