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(10/05/10 3:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Attempt number three at creating a Sustainability Fund will require 10,000 student signatures in one semester.This year, through a partnership with IU Student Association, members of the Student Sustainability Council hope to collect enough signatures to place a voluntary donation for the fund on IU’s class registration website.Previously known as the Green Initiative Fund, the Student Sustainability Council represents “green” student interests to the Office of Sustainability and promotes communication between student groups. Members of the council are students who represent a variety of campus groups.All proceeds would benefit Student Sustainability Council initiatives, said Jacob Bower-Bir, graduate student and Student Sustainability Council co-chairman. Bower-Bir said donations would allow the sustainability council to expand and pursue projects such a solar panels and bike rack installation on campus.“The student population in general is contributing to what is probably the single most important problem of our generation, and of course future generations, given the nature of the problem,” he said.Bower-Bir said the council also hopes to give students an opportunity to express dissent for the fund through forums and in other public venues.Freshman Anne McDougall said she hadn’t yet heard of the Sustainability Fund campaign.“I’m not sure how effective the check box might be, since in general opting out gets more people than opting in,” McDougall said. However, McDougall said she thought sustainability was an important campus issue.Bower-Bir said he hopes that making the Sustainability Fund an IUSA platform issue will help launch the initiative in a more effective way. The two groups have encountered problems in the past, Bower-Bir said, because the B-town administration chose to pursue the issue without Student Sustainability Council support.However, Bower-Bir said current IUSA President and senior Michael Coleman has done a “tremendous job” of rectifying the situation and respecting the council.“The new IUSA administration is certainly more amenable to this issue than in the past,” he said.IUSA Chief of Sustainability and junior Ian Kaelble said the signature campaign and fund will allow students to show support for campus sustainability projects.“It shows that the student body cares about making IU a more sustainable place,” Kaelble said.Kaelble said volunteers will be collecting signatures Mondays and Thursdays outside Ballantine Hall, as well as visiting residence halls and greek houses.Kaelble said a new electronic signature collection system — currently awaiting approval by the registrar — could also help the project succeed.If accepted, a portion of the signatures would still have to be physically collected by volunteers, Kaelble said.“The key to getting signatures is just the fact that people know what’s going on,” Kaelble said.
(09/17/10 1:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>During the March IU Student Association election, the winning iUnity ticket ran on a platform of five initiatives.Senior and IUSA Vice President for Administration Peter SerVaas said the initiatives often take time to complete and should be seen as goals the administration will work diligently to finish throughout the semester.“Initiatives are initiatives. They aren’t promises, and they aren’t things that are going to be done tomorrow,” SerVaas said.He also said the administration will work as hard as possible to ensure progress is made. Junior and Chief of Staff Neil Kelty said the administration has seen success largely due to a restructuring of IUSA’s administration. The organization’s staff has nearly doubled since iUnity took office, and he is demanding more work from that larger staff.“Better accountability helps keep other people in check,” Kelty said.Here’s an update on IUSA’s initiative progress. FALL BREAKThis initiative has been an issue of contention for at least three IUSA election cycles. However, this administration has made strides in developing a proposal that went before the Calendar Committee and was endorsed by IUSA Congress at its meeting Sept. 7. The proposal calls for a school year that begins one week earlier. Students would get one Friday off in October for fall break. Additionally, there would be no classes on Labor Day and Thanksgiving break would be extended to nine days. The proposal will be heard by the Bloomington Faculty Council Tuesday.BIKE RENTALThe initiative has been on IUSA’s platform since SerVaas’ Btown administration took office in 2009. SerVaas said the bike program is still in the works. Recent developments include a structured cost-model and plans to partner with campus groups to build components of the project. If it is put into place, the bike program will be billable to students’ bursar accounts. It would also allow checkout with a student ID. SUSTAINABILITYiUnity’s campaign platform contained a “signature campaign” to add the Sustainability & Green Initiative Fund to the list of add-on donations available during course registration. That addition will require 10,000 student signatures on a petition. Kelty said the iUnity administration is in the midst of developing a program that will allow signatures to be collected online, something he said would make their goal more achievable. Kelty said he hopes to have the fund in place by the end of the fall semester. CAMPUS SAFETYIn the wake of traffic-related accidents, iUnity pledged to improve pedestrian safety. IUSA contributed to the report submitted by the Campus Traffic Safety Task Force. The task force was created by Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson on Sept. 18, 2009, and it added a crosswalk on 10th Street between the Herman B Wells Library and School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Kelty said they want to remain flexible in their plans as they move forward but will look toward improving pedestrian safety on North Jordan Avenue.“Something needs to be done up on that area of campus,” Kelty said. TRANSPORTATIONiUnity, Kelty said, has deemed their transportation initiative a success. The launch of an IUmobile feature allows students to track en route campus buses in real time and meets one of iUnity platform goals. The next phase of the plan involves installing the application on large screens displayed in heavily-trafficked student areas. Sophomore Victoire Iradukunda uses the application on her iPhone and said she thinks the application is useful and only wishes it would have been available last year as well. “Since I was a freshman, it would have been a great help,” she said.
(09/14/10 1:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>What is IUSA?IU Student Association is your student government. According to the organization’s 2002 constitution, “The Indiana University Student Association will work to protect student rights, enrich student life and improve Indiana University.”IUSA consists of three branches. The legislative branch consists of a 62 seat congress of students representing academic and residential areas. The judicial branch consists of eleven justices, appointed by the president and approved by congress. The executive branch is comprised of four positions: president, vice president for administration, vice president for congress and treasurer.The IUSA office is located in the Indiana Memorial Union student activities tower, room 387. Elections take place in March. Executives and congressional representatives run as part of a ticket, similar to a political party, on a platform of issues. Current executives were members of iUnity. Their platform consisted of plans to implement a GPS bus-tracking system, bring a bike rental program to campus, lobby for a fall break, put into place the Green Initiative Fund and increase pedestrian safety. All of these initiatives have seen progress but remain in the works, except for the bus-tracking system which has already seen success in the implementation of the DoubleMap Bus Tracker.Who’s Who in IUSA?President: Senior Michael ColemanColeman is a previous Residence Halls Association vice president of internal affairs and member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Coleman is chief executive officer of IUSA and represents the student body to outside groups. He has the power to reach binding agreements with other organizations, provided the agreement is approved by a two-thirds vote from Congress. Vice President for Administration: Senior Peter SerVaas SerVaas is a student in the Kelley Scholars Program and has been involved in the Investment Banking Workshop. He is a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. SerVaas was IUSA president of the Btown administration during the 2009-2010 term. SerVaas’s duties as vice president include assisting the president and coordinating administrative activities within the executive branch.Vice President for Congress: Senior Jen PetersonPeterson is also a student in the Kelley School of Business and a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. She previously served as a representative in the IUSA congress. Peterson’s duties include running congressional meetings and casting the deciding vote during a tie. She also delivers congressional decisions to the president. Treasurer: Junior Sierra HsiehAlso a student in the Kelley School of Business, Hsieh was previously involved in IUSA as a freshman consul and director of textbook policy for the Btown administration. Hsieh’s duties as treasurer include keeping accounts up to date, paying bills incurred by IUSA and managing revenue.
(09/13/10 4:07am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When J Thomas Forbes, or J.T., reflects on his time as an IU student, a variety of leadership positions pepper his description of the usual classes and clubs.In fact, it’s hard to imagine Forbes leading in a bigger way.As student body president from 1988 to 1989 and student trustee from 1993 to 1995, Forbes represented his fellow Hoosiers to the community and administration. Now, he brings that experience to the position of executive director of the IU Alumni Association. The announcement was made in May, and J.T. assumed his role June 1.“I really come into this role with a deep commitment to the understanding of the power of student leadership,” Forbes said.While balancing roles as a student and leader, Forbes earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1990 and a master’s degree in public affairs and nonprofit management in 1996. Prior to his return to IU, Forbes worked for Cummins Inc. of Columbus, Ind. solving problems related to human capital development and bilateral trade issues.Forbes said his experience as student body president was formative, and he hopes to advance and support a similar experience for current students. “Indiana University is unique in the degree with which it treats student leaders as peers and colleagues,” Forbes said.As president, Forbes was involved in negotiating the deal that brought the Student Recreational Sports Center to IU. He said other facts of student life that are often taken for granted — the fact that a student serves on the board of trustees, for example — are the result of student leadership working to advance student interests.“A lot of the things that student government works on today take years to develop,” Forbes said.Now, he said, he is working to strengthen the bonds between the University and its alumni.Current IUSA President and senior Michael Coleman said he’s still experiencing the learning curve associated with taking on the presidency. He said there is more he’d like to accomplish while in office to leave a positive legacy.“I have a chance to make sure that change can happen,” Coleman said.Luke Fields, student body president from 2008 to 2009, said he understands why student leadership would inspire and prepare Forbes to return to his alma mater.“The biggest thing that happened having been president was, at least with this institution, you come to learn how a really large organization works,” Fields said. At the same time, Fields said, understanding comes with a huge commitment. “It was closer to a full-time job than a part-time job,” he said.Fields said his time at IU left a lasting impression and a responsibility he wants to live up to.“It’s an institution that gets under your skin, and it becomes much more difficult to forget about or to want to forget about,” he said. Fields said for him, the biggest lesson was one of responsibility to the people and the place that gave him so much. He said it’s a responsibility he’s happy to carry.“You kind of incur a debt to the institution,” Forbes said. “Because people invested in you, you have to give back.”
(09/13/10 3:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On Friday evening in Dunn Meadow, homegrown melon and jalapeno hobnobbed with hand-dyed indigo scarves as students learned to create green cleaning solutions.The College of Arts and Sciences Themester, titled “sustain.ability: Thriving on a Small Planet,” kicked off Friday with food, music and local sustainability-focused groups. “The Themester is a semester-long initiative through the College of Arts and Sciences to raise awareness on themes each year,” said School of Public and Environmental Affairs graduate student Hana Ros, the Themester’s graduate intern.Ros said this year’s theme was chosen in response to the growing number of student groups focused on sustainability. She pointed to the recent development of the IU Student Sustainability Council as an example of the call for greater acknowledgment of the issue.In addition to listening to music from local groups The Pharos, Eric Radoux and The Delicious, students and community members were invited to visit booths encouraging sustainable living.Representatives from Bloomington Parks & Recreation showed students the dangers of invasive plant species explored through a partnership with Monroe County Identify and Reduce Invasive Species. At another table, the group passed out recipes for “green” cleaners created with ingredients found in most cabinets.“Everybody picks up the fastest thing,” said Elizabeth Tompkins, natural resources coordinator for Bloomington Parks and Recreation. “The easiest thing that might be full of chemicals that you don’t know about or might not be interested in using.”Student groups were equally present at the event. At a booth run by Students Producing Organics Under the Sun, commonly known as SPROUTS, students displayed fresh produce grown right around the corner, at the club’s garden on Eighth Street and North Fess Avenue.“There’s little things that you can incorporate into your everyday lives that are very minor, but they make a big change in the long run,” said junior Blake Stano, president of the club.The Fine Arts Textile Student Organization also gave students the chance to dye their own scarves using natural indigo leaves. During the school year, the organization brings community members and students together to see visiting artists and go on field trips, said senior Candace Pederson, the club’s president.The textile group also made and sold recycled totes, created from the drop cloths used in their print labs.“My textiles professor mentioned it in class, and we’re kind of into the whole sustainability stuff,” senior Lorry Plasterer said.In total, 18 student and community groups set up educational booths at the fair. Local organic restaurants The Green Bean and Feast Catering and Restaurant also served food. Tamales made of local cheese and meat wrapped in corn husks supported local growers while reducing waste from paper plates, Feast Supervisor Jacob Goodman said.The Green Bean, a coffee and antique shop, offered veggie wraps, vegan and gluten-free muffins as well as locally made organic tofu. Co-owner Caroline Clay said the event, and Themester overall, was important for students.“I think everybody needs to heighten their awareness about what they can do to minimize their impact on the environment and take care of the environment,” she said.
(09/03/10 4:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Too many costs, not enough cash. Money is tight, and the expenses are piling up.It’s an age-old problem made new by tight financial times. On campus, it’s one faced not only by individuals but also by student organizations. That is where the IU Student Association Funding Board and Funding Department come in to help. Both are mandated to distribute student money from the Student Organization fund — provided each year through mandatory student fees — to student groups for help with expenses.“We fund a wide variety of initiatives, from bigger things like IU Dance Marathon. ...to Eastern European conferences on campus,” senior and Funding Department Director Kristina Anderson said.Any student organization listed with the Student Activities Office can apply, but applicants will notice a change from previous years when applications were processed through IUSA AID or Funding Board alone. Now, the Funding Department oversees the daily operations of the Funding Board.The difference is a result of the changes instituted this summer in an effort to protect the Funding Board from outside influence. “This model will allow for less confusion among students while maintaining a barrier between the administration and allocation functions to remove any potential bias,” IUSA Chief of Staff Neil Kelty wrote in an e-mail.Anderson’s role is separate from that of the 11 members of the Funding Board. Along with fellow senior and Funding Board Director Alex Swider, Anderson guides organizations through the application process and serves as a point of contact. After Anderson and Swider have dealt with the initial application process, the Funding Board reviews applications and presentations to determine how they’ll allocate funds. If they’re approved, the Funding Board will provide between 35 and 75 percent of the funds for an organization’s project, Anderson said. In terms of staying separate from IUSA Executive Branch influence, Anderson said she thinks the Funding Board stays true to its goal. “IUSA Funding Board is supposed to be unbiased, and I honestly think they are,” she said.While the changes might sound confusing, board member and senior Nathaniel Kenninger said they won’t be too noticeable. “The changes are really more at a higher level and won’t really affect students,” said Kenninger, who is a previous Funding Board co-director and a previous member of IUSA AID. Anderson said any lingering confusion about the application process can be cleared up with a visit to the Funding Board Office in the Indiana Memorial Union. The office is open from 4 and 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
(05/07/10 3:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As graduates prepare for commencement, officials at the Office of University Ceremonies continue to plan a program that will observe tradition as well as change. “It’s very colorful, it’s meaningful, and I think we’re especially lucky this year to have these fabulous speakers,” said Robin Roy Gress, secretary of the board of trustees and director of University Ceremonies. TimingThis year, for the first time, IU will hold three commencement ceremonies.The Graduate Commencement Ceremony will take place from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Friday in Assembly Hall, and two 90-minute undergraduate ceremonies will take place tomorrow, the first at 10 a.m. featuring seven schools and the second at 3 p.m. featuring five schools. Assembly Hall’s doors will open two hours before each ceremony. Graduates will line up in Gladstein Fieldhouse, located adjacent to Assembly Hall, an hour and a half before the ceremony. The procession of graduates will begin 45 minutes later. The ProcessionIn all ceremonies, Gress said Indiana University follows a traditional collegiate protocol.“One of the primary aspects of that is the academic procession,” she said.To begin the procession, the Grand Marshal will lead graduating students to their seats. A designated student from each school will carry a red banner representing the school from which he or she is graduating. As students are seated, the banners will be placed near the stage. The Grand Marshal will remain at the head of the stage until the end of the student procession. He will then return to the north end of Assembly Hall. Herald trumpeters will play a fanfare, and the orchestra will begin processional music. The Grand Marshal will lead the platform party procession, followed by heraldic banners representing each school. These banners are similar to those found hanging in the Indiana Memorial Union and those built into the stained glass in the Tudor Room, Gress said.After the heraldic banners, the platform party of administrators, trustees and deans will proceed to the stage. SeatingStudents will be seated on the floor of Assembly Hall by school, Gress said. “The preponderance of students is on the floor,” she said, “and they also go up either side into the stands.”The platform in front of the graduates will seat IU President Michael McRobbie, IU Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson, as well as the IU trustees, vice presidents, and the deans of those schools participating in the given ceremony. Guests are seated in the stands.The heraldic banners of each school will be placed on stage during the ceremony. After the platform party is seated, the Grand Marshal will begin commencement. SpeakersNobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom will deliver the commencement address at the graduate ceremony, and music legend Quincy Jones will deliver the address at both undergraduate ceremonies.Along with the guest speakers, each of the undergraduate ceremonies will feature a student speaker. “For the undergraduate ceremony on Saturday we have student speakers, which we haven’t had for many years,” said Karen Garinger, senior writer and editor for University Ceremonies.Senior Jack McCarthy is scheduled to speak at the morning undergraduate ceremony, and senior Natsuki Atagi will speak in the afternoon.Additionally, the ceremony includes remarks by President Michael McRobbie, Gress said. SymbolsA multitude of symbols and customs surround the graduation ceremonies every year.“There’s lots of tradition and pomp and circumstance as part of the ceremony,” Gress said. As a custom, the University Grand Marshal will carry the Indiana University Mace. The Mace is embossed with the seals of the state of Indiana and of the University. The seal of the University is also embossed on the President’s podium.McRobbie will also wear the jewel of IU. The jewel’s design and chain are inspired by the flower of the University, the Arbutus. Twelve precious stones sit within the jewel. Three of the stones represent reading, writing and arithmetic, while three others represent the arts, the sciences and the humanities. For undergraduates and graduate students who did not complete undergraduate degrees at IU, the ceremony will include an alumni induction ceremony.The ceremony will conclude with the traditional turning of the tassels.
(05/03/10 12:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As students leave Bloomington for the summer, a few IU Student Association executives will remain on campus. President and junior Michael Coleman said he will spend the summer working for IUSA and continuing to meet and build relationships with administrators. The Btown administration had similar meetings last summer, and Coleman said he believes this helped the group make progress on the fall break initiative during its one-year term. Coleman said he hopes building relationships with administrators of the Bloomington Faculty Council will help seal the deal. Coleman said he also plans to meet with student organizations this summer. He said leaders of the Residence Halls Association and Union Board have reached out and expressed interest in meeting. Coleman said he also hopes to develop plans with the Student Sustainability Council to tackle projects next year. Finally, Coleman said he hopes to begin to facilitate talks between Dean of Students Pete Goldsmith and the Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Association and National Pan-Hellenic Council. Coleman said these organizations have expressed an interest in having a forum with the dean. Coleman said despite the fact that this isn’t technically IUSA’s responsibility, he is “just trying to make sure we are the liaison between them and the dean and all the administrators.”Vice president for congress and junior Jen Peterson said she will spend her summer in Bloomington, improving technology in congress, filling open congressional seats and updating the congressional handbook. Peterson said she is working with IUSA’s director of technology to implement a clicker system that would be used for representatives to vote and take attendance. She said this technology already exists at IU but has never been successfully implemented between legislative terms. Another summer hurdle for Peterson will be filling congressional seats left open after the elections.Students who ran as University Division or residence hall representatives will no longer be representing their constituency once they are accepted into a specific school or move off campus. To that end, Peterson said she will be talking to freshmen and sifting through write-in candidates to determine if they are truly interested in serving in Congress.Chief of staff and sophomore Neil Kelty will also spend part of the summer in Bloomington. Kelty said he and the other executives recently wrapped up interviews for the majority of staff positions.“There were tons of good applicants; we just wanted to leave some room to grow next year to get some really involved freshmen so they could be involved for all four years.”Vice president for administration and junior Peter SerVaas said the fact that Coleman, Peterson and Kelty will remain in Bloomington for the summer will be essential to their success as an administration. “That’s something I think is either going to make or break a year for IUSA,” SerVaas said.
(04/29/10 1:07am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Kelley School of Business plans to open a new global business institute thanks to a $4.8 million private gift coordinated by the GEO Global Foundation.The Institute for Global Organizational Effectiveness will help send MBA and Ph.D students to selected Latin American countries for fellowships, consulting projects and research.The private gift that will fund the institute is the largest single donation made to Kelley by a non-alumnus.“The future of higher education demands engagement and collaboration in efforts to foster innovation throughout the world,” said IU Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson in a press release. “The Institute for Global Organizational Effectiveness will be at the forefront of such efforts.”The institute will provide up to eight fellowships for new MBA students annually, complete with two-year $25,000 annual stipends. Similarly, Ph.D students will receive a $25,000 annual stipend and a full tuition waiver during the five-year program. Eight of these doctoral fellowships will be awarded by 2019.Herman Aguinis, dean’s research professor in Kelley’s Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, will direct the institute.Aguinis said MBA students will participate in consulting projects that might lead to job opportunities. Ph.D students will collect research for publication and presentation and the companies the students work for will benefit from actionable knowledge developed during the project. Aguinis said the institute’s program will also lead to continued donations to Kelley. However, the program will not function as a strict quid-pro-quo system or commit graduate students to full-time consulting positions. Instead, the institute will determine the projects students become involved in.“It is kind of a practicum for students,” Aguinis said. Dan Smith, dean of the Kelley School of Business, explained why Latin America was chosen as the hub for the institute. “Latin America is an extremely important part of the world for business and commerce these days, and the Kelley School has been in need of greater connections with that part of the world,” Smith said. Smith also said the large financial gift will help Kelley “develop its presence in that region.” Although the program will be open to any student with an interest in Latin America, special consideration will be given to students who are originally from Latin America or who have direct connections to the region. “We are particularly happy that this gift will enable us to enroll more students from Latin America or of Hispanic origin,” Smith said. Aguinis explained that although the institute will be based in Latin America, the strands of interconnected commerce will make the program truly global. Aguinis said there “is no way to avoid the connection” of other countries, even as students study in Latin America.“The emphasis is Latin America, but the emphasis overall in the long term is global,” Aguinis said.
(04/27/10 4:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU Bookstore announced Monday it will lower all new textbook prices and offer a textbook rental option to students on all IU campuses beginning next fall.An updated agreement with Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, which manages the 10 campus bookstores operated by IU, will allow students to rent the most popular text book titles at 53 percent below the new textbook price, IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said.“The hope is that our students will save more than $4 million next year,” MacIntyre said. The new agreement also states the IU Bookstore will move toward greater use of e-books and online materials and will make $2.2 million in capital improvements to its Bloomington locations by fall 2011.“Renting a textbook as opposed to buying one has many advantages, particularly for texts that are in their last year of circulation or are brand new, making them impossible to find on the used market,” Abbey Stemler, the IU student trustee, said in an IU press release. Other student leaders are tackling the issue of textbook costs from other angles.Previous IU Student Association administrations have focused on textbook cost as part of their platform initiatives. The 2009-2010 Btown administration included “Books” as one of the “Five B’s” on their election platform. The “Books” initiative focused on creating a tax-free textbook holiday for students. However, it eventually became clear that IUSA would not receive state support for this initiative, and this idea was essentially abandoned.iUnity administration president and junior Michael Coleman said he wants to work to find other alternatives to help students combat textbook costs. Coleman explained that he supports the new textbook rental program and overall lowered costs, but wants to do more.“It’s progress, but it’s not the finished solution to the program,” Coleman said.Coleman said the iUnity administration is exploring the idea of bursar billing for textbooks.Students at all levels face problems when ordering textbooks, Coleman said. He offered a few common problems as examples. Graduate students may receive stipends after they are required to purchase textbooks, Coleman said, and undergraduates may be required to purchase books during the first week of classes. Coleman said a bursar billing option would offer a solution to both problems. “We think that would really help out all students,” Coleman said.
(04/22/10 3:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A new ride-sharing program will help IU students, faculty and staff create eco-friendly carpools.Zimride is an online ride-sharing program created by an outside company that combines Google Maps, Facebook, Twitter and customer reviews to link drivers with potential riders. Zimride’s IU partnership is funded by the IU Student Association.After creating an account through the University Central Authentication Service login, users can link their profiles to Facebook and post or look for upcoming trips. Users can personalize their profiles to display details like desired compensation, smoking, departure and return time and trip frequency.A Google Maps interface shows the exact route planned by the driver seeking a rider to split costs or the desired route for a rider seeking a driver. Once users have finished sharing a ride they can rate their riding partners, a feature IUSA Chief Transportation Officer and senior Ilya Rekhter said enhances the program’s credibility.“The main problem with creating carpools or using a ride board in the past has been ‘I don’t who you are, you don’t know who I am.’ It’s just a Post-It note, and really there’s no credibility,” Rekhter said. Rekhter said the program costs IUSA $7,500 per year. That money is taken from IUSA’s special projects fund, which was built into IUSA’s budget after IUSA chose not to rehire an executive secretary and eliminated multiple unused phone lines from its office. The use of IUSA funds was approved by Congress.Rekhter said he supports the use of student funds for Zimride because he thinks it will ultimately save students money.“It’s turning the secretary’s salary, which we didn’t need, into something that’s going to help every single student and faculty member, if they’re willing to be part of it,” Rekhter said. “And it inadvertently helps the environment.” In fact, each user’s Zimride profile displays the amount of carbon emissions reduced by sharing a ride through Zimride. IU’s Executive Director of Transportation Services Kent McDaniel said the system has been talked about for some time but did not become a reality until IUSA offered to provide the funds. McDaniel said contracting IUSA, rather than the University, into the program would eliminate some liability concerns. “Our role in transportation services is merely one of assistance and support at this time,” McDaniel said. McDaniel explained that it was difficult to obtain licensing for IU’s trademark symbol because of liability concerns. Advertisements bear the words “at Indiana University Bloomington,” and a small IU symbol is placed under the CAS login. McDaniel explained that IU wants to be restrictive by using the CAS login.“There’s no guarantee that just because somebody’s affiliated with IU that means they’re going to be a good person to ride with, but it does screen out members of the general public and a lot of other people, so there’s a little bit of a sense of security there,” McDaniel said. McDaniel said Facebook links and the customer feedback mechanism also provide security.For vice president for Administration and former Btown president, junior Peter SerVaas, Zimride is one of three transportation-focused initiatives handled during his time in office.A GPS bus tracking program, an initiative on both the Btown and new iUnity administrations’ platforms, is still in development. The Zipcar program already provides students with alternative transportation in the form of rental cars located around campus. Zimride and Zipcar are run by different outside companies, but have partnered to promote one another on Zimride’s website.SerVaas described Zimride as a way of showing “the transition to our generation and applying the technology available to find a new solution.”
(04/19/10 3:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>iUnity executives said they are ready to hit the ground running after Thursday’s inauguration. IU Student Association’s 2010-11 administration officially began its term Friday after months of campaigning and a close election. Filling staff positions, tackling projects large and small and building campus relationships topped the administration’s list of new term activities.Chief of Staff and sophomore Neil Kelty said his first priority will be sorting through the more than 107 staff applications iUnity has received since they became available to students. Selected applicants will be invited to interview for positions on staff.And then there’s Little 500 week.Kelty said he and other executives will continue to work through the notorious party week but will not be conducting staff interviews until after the IU Student Foundation event has finished. Kelty said iUnity did not want to detract from IUSF or stress potential staff members.“We didn’t want to make people interview, that’s kind of too much stress,” Kelty said.Kelty said moving forward with initiatives will be the next step after creating a staff.“The top five or six people will continue to go hard and make sure we have things in place for next year,” Kelty said. This will include giving staff members more room to work on “special projects.”The Btown administration allocated money to a “special projects fund” after the elimination of multiple unused office phones and the removal of an executive assistant for its IMU office.The special projects fund provided the financial basis for the IUSA sponsored case competition, as well as several smaller projects. iUnity would like to expand that idea, Kelty said. Because platform initiatives like a fall break, the GPS bus tracking system and the cross-campus bike rental system have already seen progress by the previous administration, Kelty said iUnity would like to give more resources to students who discover worthy projects. “We should see a majority of our work continued and kind of completed by the end of the year,” Kelty said. Kelty went on to say iUnity wanted to leave room in its budget for smaller, simpler projects.Some executives will be working through the summer to make sure they are prepared for the coming year, Kelty said. New vice president for Administration and junior Peter SerVaas will only be moving his desk from one side of IUSA’s IMU office to the other. SerVaas was president of the Btown administration. “I’d say the first thing I intend to tackle are continuing or creating the relationships with the IU administration as well as student organizations across campus,” SerVaas said in an e-mail interview. New president and junior Michael Coleman said his immediate plans include “eliminating the factor of iUnity and Kirkwood.”Coleman said he hopes to include members of the two competing tickets in his administration in order to build a strong staff.Coleman said he also recognized that a fall break is one issue weighing heavily on students’ minds. After the Bloomington Faculty Council votes on a proposed 2011-12 plan that would include a fall break in October, iUnity will assess what it means for its administration.As with many of iUnity’s platform issues, a fall break will constitute another initiative carried by both iUnity and Btown. Coleman said a denial of the proposed plan would cause iUnity to look for alternative options.
(04/16/10 5:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU Student Association’s new executive administration was officially inaugurated Thursday night at a ceremony in the Indiana Memorial Union University Club’s President’s Room. Outgoing Btown administration president and junior Peter SerVaas passed the presidential gavel on to incoming iUnity president and junior Michael Coleman as administrators and supporters looked on. Chancellor Ken Gros Louis welcomed iUnity into office and commended members of the outgoing Btown administration. Gros Louis highlighted the work of Btown executives and task force directors as an example of justification for the existence of student government. Gros Louis also provided Coleman with a few words of advice.“In the coming year, if you feel that Pete (SerVaas) is looking over your shoulder, he probably is,” Louis said. “But don’t worry, he will only interfere if he thinks it’s necessary.”While SerVaas is no longer serving as IUSA president, he’ll take on a new role within the iUnity administration. SerVaas was elected to the position of vice president for administration.Along with Coleman and SerVaas, junior Jen Peterson and sophomore Sierra Hsieh were sworn into the positions of vice president for congress and treasurer, respectively. Student Body Supreme Court chief justice Tara Maloney offered advice as she administered the oath.“You have a big task in front of you,” Maloney said. Assistant Dean of Students Steve Veldkamp also commended the Btown administration’s commitment. “The outgoing administration has faced these challenges straight on and with an altruistic mission to better our campus,” he said.Veldkamp said he has spoken at IUSA inaugurations for the past seven years. He said Btown’s greatest accomplishment is in the success of their projects.“They’ve really worked hard all the way through. They didn’t let off,” Veldkamp said. The iUnity administration will have the advantage of continuity in the form of SerVaas, Veldkamp said. The current IUSA president will be given a second chance to work on unfinished projects.Janice Wiggins, who has worked with Coleman as director of IU’s Groups program, said his election reflects well on the program. “Michael just exemplifies what many of the student body, what it should be,” Wiggins said. In his inaugural speech, Coleman thanked SerVaas for his role in helping Coleman gain such a “humbling experience.” Coleman also referenced the work of Thomas Atkins, IUSA’s first African-American president. “We are the student organization that will be the student voice and do great things,” Coleman said.
(04/15/10 4:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As the Bloomington Faculty Council’s Calendar and Schedule Committee prepares to debate a possible fall break, IU Student Association executives know exactly where they stand.“I am a big proponent of the proposal that was given to the BFC,” IUSA Vice President for Administration and senior Jack McCarthy said.The proposal currently before the committee consists of a planned two-day break in October and a guaranteed Labor Day holiday. That plan would also necessitate an earlier, Wednesday start to classes and a shortened summer session.Fall break has been a major platform issue for at least the last two election cycles. Since the plan would be accepted after IUSA’s inauguration Thursday, a fall break would be implemented under the iUnity administration.While finishing fall break was one of iUnity’s platform initiatives during the recent campaign, most of the progress made on the initiative is due to the Btown administration.As early as last summer, McCarthy said that he and president and junior Peter SerVaas met with administrators specifically to discuss the topic of a fall break and in the fall pushed for a meeting of the Calendar and Schedule Committee.They then passed the project on to Chief of Fall Break Initiative and senior Abby Kaericher. Kaericher met with the Calendar and Schedule Committee and began to develop the current fall break plan.McCarthy said until now, that’s as far as IUSA has ever gotten when discussing a fall break with the committee.The BFC committee is traditionally resistant to calendar adjustments, SerVaas said.Because any change would require a restructuring of syllabi and courses and would affect countless departmental and registrar schedules, some faculty have expressed opposition to the proposal.However, McCarthy said these concerns can either be addressed within the proposal or do not affect enough of the university to justifying shooting it down.McCarthy said he supports the proposal for several reasons.First, he said, it would give students a much needed rest at a crucial time in the semester. McCarthy said some opponents argue that a fall break is not granted to most of working America, and the distinction must be made between the work environment and that of a campus.“Not everybody in America gets a fall break, but working is very different than learning or teaching,” McCarthy said. “It takes up a lot of your mental horsepower.” McCarthy also said a break in early October would benefit students psychologically. Finally, he said he supports the proposal because it would “help curb the party culture of IU.” McCarthy said some students elect to pay a fee and move into the dorms as soon as they open on the Sunday before traditional Wednesday move in. McCarthy said this practice leaves those students with as many as eight responsibility-free days to get into mischief.By starting classes on a Wednesday, the proposed calendar would cut down the number of free days during Welcome Week because students would move in on the weekend before Wednesday class.If the proposal isn’t passed, IUSA’s new administration plans to head back to the drawing board.President-elect and junior Michael Coleman said he supports the current proposal because of the psychological and academic benefits it would provide students.Since a fall break was one of iUnity’s platform initiatives, Coleman said a complete denial by the Calendar and Schedule Committee would necessitate an overhaul of the current plan.“If it was turned down, we would look at different proposals that we could come up with that would be beneficial to the current faculty.”
(04/08/10 4:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The trees are in bloom, baseball is back and the campaign is finally over. It’s been nearly a month since the Kirkwood ticket was defeated by iUnity in the IU Student Association election. After reflecting on their experiences in the intense and often personal campaign, members of the defeated ticket considered the possibility of finding their way back to IUSA by another road.For sophomore Chris Bailey, working with his opponents, President-Elect and junior Michael Coleman and Vice President-Elect and junior Peter SerVaas, in the executive branch simply wasn’t an option.“Working directly with SerVaas and Coleman is something I don’t think I could do,” Bailey said.He served as chief of staff on the Kirkwood ticket and worked for the defeated Red-Hot ticket during the 2009 campaign. Although Bailey is not interested in working with IUSA’s new executive administration, he said he’d be open to the possibility of working in Congress.Bailey said he spent this election cycle dealing with political “drama” as a result of interactions with the iUnity ticket, as well as controlling public relations and marketing for his own ticket.Sophomore Kadi Mancuso also worked on Kirkwood’s campaign, as an events coordinator. Although the ticket didn’t win, Mancuso was elected to a congressional position as a School of Public and Environmental Affairs representative.Mancuso said it might be difficult to work with iUnity representatives in Congress, but that the campaign taught her how to work with opponents and “form a professional relationship.”Yet Bailey said he happily accepted the challenge of dealing with less professional “drama” because he believed it was his responsibility. That way, Bailey said, executives could devote more of their time to external campaigning.“They were the happy pretty faces of Kirkwood, and I was the one who was stressed out,” Bailey said. Sophomore Justin Kingsolver was one of those faces.Kingsolver was Kirkwood’s candidate for president. He said he estimates he spent more than 600 hours campaigning, gave more than 100 speeches and had days where he attended as many as 13 or 14 meetings or events. “It was a completely consuming process from basically November, December to the campaign,” Kingsolver said.After pouring such an effort into something, Kingsolver said, the loss was inherently disappointing. Now, he’s focusing on opportunities outside of the executive branch. Kingsolver is currently a member of the IUSA Congress representing the College of Arts and Sciences. Because he ran for an executive position, he was not reelected to his congressional seat. However, Kingsolver said he’s been made Vice President for Congress-Elect Jen Peterson, aware that he’d be willing to fill an open position in Congress if one becomes available. Kingsolver said he appreciates that Congress is more accessible to its student constituents than most executive positions. Kingsolver also said he’s not interested in working as a member of iUnity’s executive administration, except to help develop projects he promoted during his campaign or to work in an advisory capacity.“I don’t think that it’s my place to serve in the administration of the person who beat me,” Kingsolver said.Despite the loss, Kingsolver said he learned valuable lessons about team building, public speaking, fundraising, leadership and motivation, skills he hopes to use in a future career involving politics. He’s the current chairman of the IU College Republicans and he said he hopes to find other ways to be involved in politics and government on campus.In the next two years, Kingsolver said the question of whether he will run another campaign for student body president will be a hard one to answer.“It would be really hard, now that I’ve seen the blood, toil, tears and sweat that it takes,” Kingsolver said. “It would be really hard.”
(04/06/10 1:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Changes to the IU Student Association’s bylaws to be voted on by Congress today would mandate a more frequently and accurately updated IUSA Web site.The new bylaws were created by Congressman and junior Daniel Herman and other members of the Student Rights Committee. The new bylaws, which also include revised definitions of leadership positions, are an update of the most recent version written in 2006, Herman said. Herman said IUSA will aim for greater transparency by regulating the flow of information on its Web site. He added that frequent updates would be required, but information would be run through the Student Rights and Rules Committees to ensure that nothing is made public prematurely.IUSA’s Media and Technology department would be responsible for maintaining the Web site and checking its accuracy. Herman said by making this explicit in the bylaws, writers hope to make information more accessible to students. “It’s not really serving the student body well to have an incomplete Web site,” Herman said.Another major change involved revising appendices from the 2006 version. Herman said one important change was revising an appendix outlining Congress’s summer charter. The older version required members to meet during the summer months, but Herman said this rule has not been followed for some time. Finance committee members could represent any constituency, a change from the previous bylaws which stipulated that only student senators, who represent residence halls, could staff the Finance Committee, Herman said. Changes were also made to the titles of director positions and definition of Congressional parliamentarian and grammarian. Historian was added as a mandatory position as well, Herman said. Current IUSA Historian and junior John Gillard said in an e-mail that he was responsible for pointing out the outdated nature of the current bylaws and identifying key problems in the previous documents. Gillard and Herman have also been involved with looking at the function of IUSA’s Funding Board. Herman said the appendix related to the Funding Board will not be solidified until board issues are solved. Vice President for Congress and senior Shobha Pai said revisions to rules regarding Congress’s internal structure are extremely important, especially to members of Congress. Pai said it’s also important for students outside of congress to understand congressional procedure in order to know how to reach out to their representatives. “Especially from term to term, it really helps people to have a good grasp of what to expect in Congress,” Pai said.
(04/02/10 3:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU Student Association historian John Gillard withdrew a petition Wednesday for injunctive relief submitted to the Student Body Supreme Court alleging that Funding Board’s constitution violated IUSA bylaws.The petition initially alleged that a recent restructuring of Funding Board would leave the organization with too little elected oversight. The new constitution allows for a composition of less elected members and a director who can be appointed internally, said IUSA vice president for administration and senior Jack McCarthy.McCarthy said this move away from stronger elected representation caused some members of the executive branch to feel that Funding Board was taking on too much independence from IUSA as a whole.“I really felt this is a bigger issue of University policy being broken,” Gillard said.Funding Board Director and senior Anna Williams said the petition was met with surprise by members of the Funding Board.“Given our working relationship with IUSA and the fact that we do operate within the same office, we were a little surprised to receive that e-mail on Monday morning,” Williams said. Williams said recent structural changes have allowed Funding Board to deal with a large number of funding requests received this year. Gillard said because documents regarding the changes made to Funding Board during 2005 and 2006 could not be found, and because he was unable to prove the board of trustees approved IUSA to distribute Student Organization fund money, his initial case was broken.This led him to withdraw the petition. Without those documents, he could not prove that Funding Board violated the most recent set of established bylaws.Funding Board functions under the umbrella of IUSA but independently determines the allocation of Student Organization fund money to student groups. This year, Funding Board operated with a budget of more than $350,000, Williams said. That money is collected from student fees.McCarthy said the allocation of student funds used to be determined by Congress. Because this process was both time consuming and intimidating for students, Funding Board was streamlined and given more individual authority.Eleven members serve on the Funding Board. In the past, five were appointed by the IUSA president, four were elected in the IUSA elections, and two more were appointed by the Funding Board director, McCarthy said.The new constitution would give the Funding Board the power to internally remove elected members, Gillard said. It also removes the appeals process, which previously allowed student groups to appeal Funding Board decisions on the allocation of money.McCarthy said it’s important for students to be represented on the Funding Board either by IUSA congressmen or by members appointed by the elected president.“We feel like they should be accountable to some constituency,” McCarthy said.“We’re just hoping for student checks and balances, rather than needing administrators to be checks and balances.”After the petition was withdrawn, a meeting was scheduled with members of IUSA, Funding Board, Dean of Students Pete Goldsmith and Assistant Dean of Students Steve Veldkamp, McCarthy said. McCarthy, Gillard and Williams all said they viewed this meeting as the best way to solve the dispute over Funding Board’s structure.McCarthy said the meeting would ultimately be more effective than a Supreme Court hearing.“At the end of the day, the Supreme Court can decide something, but if the administrators didn’t back it up, it isn’t guaranteed.”
(03/31/10 4:04am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A new Web site endorsed by the IU Student Association will give students more detailed planning options as summer and fall course registration approaches.CourseRank, launched in November by CourseRank Inc. and IUSA, provides students with features comparable to that of OneStart’s Student Center. It also gives students the opportunity to rate courses, create a potential schedule and view course descriptions and grade distributions.Students cannot “rate” individual professors but can see a list of professors who have taught each class.IUSA Executive Director of Technology and sophomore Neil Kelty said CourseRank Inc. approached IUSA about endorsing the CourseRank Web site for IU. Kelty said the Web site was up and running within a week of receiving IUSA’s endorsement. “It’s available to just use CourseRank for classes, rather than the kind of archaic system the University has,” Kelty said. Class registration cannot be completed through CourseRank, but students can construct a class schedule and look at course descriptions. Registration is still only available through the OneStart Student Center. Freshman Jowi Estava described her scheduling experiences with OneStart.“I feel like it could probably have been better, but it’s pretty straightforward,” Estava said.Although Estava said she was satisfied with the University’s scheduling service, she described a frustrating situation that resulted from a confusing class description. Estava said she signed up for a course at the beginning of the spring semester with the mistaken belief that it was a history course. On her first day, Estava discovered the course was about “science and logic.”“I dropped it because it was not a correct description,” Estava said.According to CourseRank’s Web site, this is precisely the type of confusion the company aims to help students avoid by “streamlining the process of choosing the right courses for each student.”CourseRank, Inc. established similar Web sites for 29 other universities across the country. After entering their school e-mail and a password, students are asked to submit a rating for three classes they have taken on their campus. After this initial submission, the site’s full features are available to students at no cost. In fact, the site doesn’t cost IUSA anything either.Kelty said CourseRank might eventually provide students with a “premium” option for which they would be charged. However, Kelty said the basic CourseRank Web site will remain free to students.IUSA’s Executive Director of Public Relations and junior Liz Billman said IUSA agreed to support CourseRank even though it is not officially endorsed by the University. “They came to us, and it was something I know I can use,” Billman said. Billman said she likes the fact that the site combines elements of OneStart, such as schedule building and course descriptions, with student reviews and grade distributions. “I would encourage every student to at least check their courses out through CourseRank,” Kelty said.
(03/26/10 2:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Many residence halls and some schools were left without official congressional representation for the 2010-11 school year after the recent IU Student Association election.Briscoe Quad, Collins Center, Forest Quad, McNutt Quad, Wright Quad, Eigenmann Hall, Family Student Housing and the Jacobs School of Music had only write-in candidates. Those candidates had at most two votes and were not certified as elected representatives.“For those seats, no one was represented in the ballot,” election coordinator and senior Andrew Dahlen said.In IUSA’s Congress, each residence hall and undergraduate and graduate school is represented by a student.Vice president-elect of congress and junior Jen Peterson said she hopes to fill the open positions before iUnity’s inauguration on April 15.Peterson said a majority of those spots will be filled by write-in candidates. She said several of those write-in candidates actually campaigned for election after they did not fill out an official candidacy form in time.Peterson said residence hall spots are extremely important. They’re also the most difficult to fill. “I’m working to try to fill definitely those residential seats because those are super important to have a fair congress,” Peterson said.Because a student must represent the residence hall in which he or she lives, residence hall candidates must be certain of their living situation for the next school year before campaigning. Peterson said this makes it difficult to find students willing to campaign.A similar rule exists for undergraduate school and graduate school seats. A student must be accepted into the school that he or she represents.This presents a problem for students who were elected as University Division representatives. Peterson said because most students do not stay in University Division after their sophomore year, so those representatives will have to be transferred to other positions.Peterson said she hopes to find incoming freshmen at freshman orientation to fill University Division seats that will be left vacant after current representatives are accepted into other schools.In contrast to the 2010 election, current vice president of congress and senior Shobha Pai said almost every residence hall was represented during the 2009 election. As a result, Pai said she believes almost every seat is filled in the current congress.“There have been plenty of people going for the same member positions,” Pai said.However, Pai said some seats were filled by a process of recommendation, interviewing and appointment, rather than election.Appointed members were initiated into Congress by congressional resolution.Peterson said she is still seeking individuals interested in representing their residence halls, especially if they are involved as a resident assistant or residence hall committee member. Peterson said these individuals tend to be more in touch with the opinions of an entire residence hall.“That’s the point of the congress, not for that one person’s opinion, for the opinion of their entire constituency,” Peterson said.
(03/23/10 1:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>College-age women are four times more likely to be sexually assaulted than women of other age groups, according to statistics released by the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.To help fight sexual assault on campus and in the Bloomington community, IU Student Association’s Department of Women’s Affairs is encouraging students to donate to the Rape Crisis Fund during registration for fall classes.The $3 donation will be billed to a student’s bursar account, and the proceeds will be split between Middle Way House in Bloomington and the IU Health Center’s Sexual Assault Crisis Services.Middle Way House’s Rape Crisis Center provides 24-hour support to victims of sexual assault, as well as other advocacy programs and training for professionals who aid victims.Sexual Assault Crisis Services is available to students through the IU Health Center and provides support services to victims.Director of the IUSA Department of Women’s Affairs and sophomore Mikaela Shaw said the Rape Crisis Fund has at times accrued as much as $71,000 in donations. However, the fund has seen a decline in recent years, Shaw said.Toby Strout, executive director of Middle Way House, said the partnership between IUSA and Middle Way House began in 1988 when the organizations circulated a petition requesting that the Rape Crisis Fund be an optional donation during registration.Strout said Middle Way House received as much as $26,000 in donations during peak years. However, in 2007 IUSA decided to cut Middle Way House’s allocation to 25 percent of donations, Strout said.Strout said she believes there has been an overall decline in donations to the Rape Crisis Fund.“I don’t think anybody took ownership for it on campus,” Strout said.The Department of Women’s Affairs hopes to reverse this trend. In addition to a larger advertising campaign, a new feature on the bursar add-on site now allows students to see a description of the Rape Crisis Fund before donating.Shaw said she thinks this feature is important because some students do not understand the prevalence of sexual assault on campus.“It’s something that people don’t want to talk about because it is a touchy subject,” Shaw said.In fact, the likelihood that individuals will experience a sexual assault increases as soon as they set foot on campus, Shaw said.“If it’s not them, it’s going to be a friend or classmate or someone that they know,” Shaw said.Junior Sarah Robinson, also a director of IUSA’s Department of Women’s Affairs, said IUSA is trying to bring the Rape Crisis Fund back to the front of student’s minds. Robinson said campus bus advertisements will run closer to registration to remind students to donate to the fund.A Facebook group to stop rape on campus is open to students interested in learning about the fund.Robinson said she hopes these measures will help students understand the relevance of donating to the Rape Crisis Fund.“It’s a very easy way for students to take a stand on this issue,” Robinson said.
