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(12/01/04 4:54am)
TERRE HAUTE, Nov. 20 -- The soldiers are at ease ... for now.\nThey do not march; they stroll. With eyes that practically drool, the soldiers gaze at tables cluttered with price-tagged weapons. They clutch Bowie knives with purpose, aim shotguns at imaginary targets or test the comfort of Army helmets. Some of the soldiers arrive unarmed; others come prepared for the frontlines. They enter the room with long blades hidden in sheaths or rifles slung over shoulders or pistols gripped in palms.\nTheir arms are silent ... for now.\nHandcuffs deaden the thousands of triggers of every gun in the room. These locked firearms lack ammunition, but bullets are available for purchase -- bags and bags of bullets rich in luster, pointed in shape and fresh with the potential of bang and blood.\nThis room of soldiers at ease with silent arms is a flea market of legal weapons, an armory of constitutionally approved assault.\n*****\nThis room is the floor of a gun show.\nBy the end of 2004, about 100 gun shows will have been held all over Indiana. Some gun shows, like the annual Indy 1500 Gun and Knife Show, bring in hundreds of dealers and thousands of collectors. However, most shows cater to small crowds of citizens who represent the tens of millions registered to bear the hundreds of millions of guns in America. \nOne of these smaller gun shows was held at the National Guard Armory in Terre Haute this November. Like most shows, it took place over a weekend during which dealers rented table space, which cost anywhere from $10 to $75. \nWhen the doors of the Terre Haute gun show opened, customers walked into a basketball court stocked with guns of all types: handguns, shotguns, rifles, war antiques, used guns, new guns, guns of steel, guns of wood, blowguns, cap guns and rubber band guns. Mixed in with the firearms were blades: pocket knives, Bowie knives, machetes, bayonets, swords, daggers, ulus and knives that commemorated everyone from Dale Earnhardt to Princess Diana. Then there were the dealers who specialized in selling military surplus items: boots, helmets, ponchos, mess kits, holsters, patches and one corned beef hash MRE (Meal-Ready-to-Eat).\nEverything a soldier could ever need was there.\nThe items at the gun show all had price tags, but that didn't dissuade bargaining and bartering because many brought their own weapons to sell or trade. Signs on the entrance practically yelled to visitors: "Absolutely No Loaded Weapons Allowed." Before people could buy tickets, any ammunition had to be removed, and a FlexCuff (a plastic manacle) was fastened around every trigger. Anyone who wanted to buy a gun at the show had to pass a background check first.\n*****\nThis room is an America far away from IU.\nIn IU's America, you'll see a girl with a North Face jacket and a Louis Vuitton handbag at Cold Stone Creamery looking for low-fat ice cream. In a gun show's America, you'll see a woman dressed in Carhartts and a Harley Davidson jacket looking for a high-power rifle. \nHunters, target shooters, union workers, veterans and Civil War re-enactors go to gun shows. So do lawyers, doctors and businessmen. You can go ahead and call them rednecks -- they'll be likely to call you a snob if you do -- but don't call them extremists. They hate that. \n"A lot of the way people see us is because of the media," says Dennis Weir, a military surplus dealer from Crawfordsville. "They make us look bad because they think we contribute to crime just because we love guns. That's crazy. This stuff here is not what crime is about."\nWeir, like many who belong to a gun show's America, is certain that guns don't cause crime; people cause crime. If you don't believe him, he'll tell you to look at the at the statistics.\nFor instance, look at what's happened in Washington, D.C. since 1976, when lawmakers imposed a ban on all handguns. In the first 15 years of the ban, the homicide rate rose 200 percent. And don't forget about when Florida adopted a right-to-carry law in 1987-- in the first 10 years of the law, the state homicide rate dropped 36 percent.\nThe facts don't lie, Weir will say; guns don't cause crime, guns keep America safe.\nIn IU's America, you'll meet students who are angry about the lift on the assault weapons ban. In a gun show's America, you'll meet people who believe the Second Amendment is the most important freedom in the Constitution.\nJim Morrison, a collector from Rockville, Ind., who was at the Terre Haute show, is perceptive at spotting those who do not belong in a gun show's America. When he sees a reporter taking notes, he knows the reporter isn't comparing shotgun prices. \nYou're in college aren't you? (He was correct.) I bet there are a lot of liberals where you go to school, aren't there? (Again, he was correct.)\nLiberals couldn't be more out of touch with our country. Just look at the election. They were absolutely stunned when they lost. Absolutely stunned. They have no idea how many they're up against. They call us extremists, but they don't know anything about us. (How does that make you feel to think that people don't take you seriously?) I don't understand it. It's like the media has this stigma against us because they think we're dangerous criminals. It's not like just anyone here can come in and get a gun. This place is as safe as any other. \nThere's a movement to disarm our country. Look, any weapon can be an assault weapon if you want it to be. It doesn't matter if it's automatic or not. Any gun can kill a person. Just because you have a gun, that doesn't mean you're a threat. Nobody realizes that we're all sportsmen here, and too many people don't understand how important the Second Amendment is and how much we value it. (Do you have an automatic weapon?) I have an Uzi, and it's a better investment than anything on the stock market. I bought it for $3,000 and it's already worth $6,500. But that's not the real issue. What matters is that it's my right to own that weapon. When I fire that Uzi, there's a feeling of freedom I get because I know that I have the right to protect against evil and terrorists.\n*****\nThis room is friendship.\nLarry Milner and Harold Bowden have known each other since they checked into the same hospital in 1975 -- Milner went in with a broken neck, Bowden with back problems. Today, both are confined to motorized wheelchairs, and they attend gun shows whenever they can.\n"We're not gun-crazy," Milner says, "we're just crazy about guns."\nAt the Terre Haute show both Milner and Bowden scooted around the room with rifles tucked between their legs. On the back of Bowden's wheelchair was a sign that read: "For sale: 22 rifle -- like new. Fine Bowie knife with sheath." By mid-afternoon he had had several offers, but so far none were good enough. \nEvery now and then, Milner and Bowden take a break from coasting past the tables of silent arms to chat by the concession stand where it smells like onions and chili. The two friends come to gun shows for the same reasons many others do: They love guns and cherish the Second Amendment. But they also come because they enjoy the good company.\n"We've been doing this a long time," Milner said. "He's probably regretted being friends with me ever since we met."\n*****\nThis room is white.\nIn the hours he spent at the gun show, the reporter saw more than 100 people, but only two were black: a man in his 30s and his son, who could not have been older than three.\nThe father often carried his son as he browsed the tables, and eventually he found the gun he liked. As he filled out the paperwork, the man made sure to keep his son close to his side. It was as if he was trying to protect his son from danger.\nLess than 20 minutes later, after his background check had cleared, a dealer gave the man the pistol in a box and sold it for $180. With the boxed gun under his right arm, the man picked up his son and started for the exit sign. As the man headed toward the door, his son looked back at the room filled with soldiers at ease with silent arms.\n*****\nThis room is "due."\nWhen he was a teenager, Jim Morrison listened to an old man on the street because no one else would.\nWe're due, the old man on the street told Morrison ... Due for history to repeat itself ... America is so young compared to other countries ... we've only had one civil war, one revolution ... we're due for a repeat. Now, decades later and with a full head of gray hair, Morrison is beginning to see some wisdom in his history lesson from the old man on the street.\n"The founding fathers gave us the Second Amendment to keep the government in check," Morrison said. "The country is so divided now. I'm afraid of where we're leading to. We're due, and the Second Amendment is the best defense we have."\n*****\nThis room won't go away without a fight.\nWith his rifle still clutched between his legs, Harold Bowden looks out at the tables loaded with thousands of silent arms, and he is bothered that so many people want to strip Americans of their "most important" constitutional right. But Bowden said he knows that the soldiers at this gun show comprise only a small battalion of a much greater army.\n"Multiply this show by the thousands and you'll begin to realize how difficult it would be to take guns away from Americans," Bowden said, adding that people will always find ways to obtain firearms. "In 30 seconds I could build a gun that could kill a man."\n-- Contact staff writer Colin \nKearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.
(11/09/04 6:13am)
The Baron did not want a funeral, so before he died, he gave his body away.\n*****\nAfter the living exit the room and close the door secured with a keypad lock, the eight operating tables start to resemble eight coffins. Metal lids are placed on top of each table and remain closed during the living's absence from the room. The lids mask the sights of what lies below, but a hint of the smell always survives. The stink oozes through the cracks and sours the air just enough to remind the living of their place every time they open the door from the other side. \nWhen the living return, the lids are removed and the contents that leak the smell come to life. The eight coffins transform back into eight operating tables, supporting the bodies that are about to go under the knife. The bodies wait motionlessly with hearts that don't thump, lungs that don't gasp and stomachs that don't growl.\nBy definition, these eight bodies are cadavers -- corpses used for dissection. But to the living who work and study inside the gross anatomy lab in Jordan Hall, these bodies are donors, people who graciously gave themselves to science for advancements in teaching and research. These donors are the first patients of the future physicians in their first year of medical school at IU.\n*****\nSoon after death, decay arrives. A mortician replaced The Baron's blood with embalming fluid, and then he was immersed inside a preservation tank for three months before he was transported to Bloomington from the School of Medicine at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis.\n*****\nThis class must stand out from the other courses on the schedules of first-year medical students: GROSS HUMAN ANATOMY (A550-551). For the 30 students enrolled, this class is part of their initiation into the medical world. It marks the transition from plastic models and diagrams in thick textbooks to three-dimensional views of real human anatomy. This is the class where some students will struggle not to gag from that first whiff of decay. This is the class where students will slice incisions into flesh, tear tissue and break bones for an understanding of the splendor of spoiling organs, nerves and pathologies.\nBut before they reach for the scalpel, these future physicians must first get to know their patients.\nOn the first day of class, Tony Neff, a professor of gross anatomy, lectures the students and emphasizes the respect he and the other instructors demand the students have during the labs. He makes sure the students understand not with what, but with whom, they will be working. They are not working with cadavers, stiffs or corpses. They are working with donors.\n"They were once humans," Neff says, "and should be treated with the same respect and dignity of a living patient."\nAfter the lecture, the students move to the lab room where the donors wait in body bags. The students are divided into groups of either three or four and are then assigned to the donor they will dissect for the next nine months. The groups gather around an operating table and open the bag. Because the zipper travels from head to toe, the face is the first thing they see.\nAs they wash and shave the donors to prepare them for dissection, there is no escaping the face that first day. The students look at the ears and the mouth and the closed eyes and cannot help to see a real person who, in one week, they will have to cut open.\n"That first look is a little unnerving," says IUPUI medical student Adam Morgan. "The face and the smell all come at you at once."\nEven the strong-stomached teachers can empathize with the students' initial fears.\n"There's something about the face," says Valerie O'Loughlin, also a professor of gross anatomy. "Even in death, the face is so full of expression."\nStudents can forget about the face for a while after that first class. Since the head and neck dissections will not begin until the spring semester, the heads are wrapped and covered with black plastic bags for preservation. But before the students put the faces totally out of mind, one last assignment is requested of each group: The donors must be given respectful names.\nGenerally, not too much time is devoted to the name selection. Some groups brainstorm several names before voting on a favorite; others pick the first name that comes to mind. This year's patients go by Karl, Emmeline, Lucy, Daisy, Ruby, Tad, Betty and The Baron.\n*****\nThe Baron will undergo four major dissections: abdomen and thorax, pelvis, head and neck, and limbs. Anything removed from his body will be kept and saved in a bucket underneath his operating table. At the end of the school year, his body and his bucket will be transported back to Indianapolis for cremation.\n*****\nAt table number six, The Baron's doctors -- Jason Clark, Adam Danielson, Adam Morgan and Matt Crosby -- have found what they call a "mystery lump." \nWhenever pathologies or discoveries like mystery lumps are found, the students gather around for a peek at what makes that donor unique from the others. In The Baron's case, though, a mystery lump isn't his only unique feature. Most in the class believe he smells the worst.\nInside the lab on a dissection day, the room is loud and busy like an emergency room. Two instructors, two assistant instructors and almost all of the 30 students, each dressed in scrubs and tennis shoes, stride from table to table. A constant exchange of anatomic glossary terms fires back and forth in the room, while group-exclusive chatter is muffled through operating masks. \nThere's joking and laughing from time to time, as well, which, given the nature of the room, seems necessary. When dissecting the dead for at least four hours every week, humor can sometimes be the best medicine.\n"I hope it's not a lymph node," Clark says of The Baron's mystery lump. "A third kidney would be much cooler."\nAnd then there's the smell -- that unmistakable stench that erupts as soon as the lids come off. Walking into the room for the first time is like opening a broken refrigerator stocked full of expired dairy products. The smell sinks into skin and clings to clothes. It's a smell that can unexpectedly hit you three days later just as you're about to eat lunch. It's enough to take away your appetite.\nAlready two months into the course, the smell becomes less noticeable for the students each lab day, but not for a visitor in the room, who, from time to time, pulls a sliver of an orange peel from his pocket and holds it to his nose for a breath of fresh air.\nThe sights are everywhere. In the front of the room beside a biohazard garbage pail full of blue latex gloves filthy with human residue, a pile of saws wait for the moment when the students will hack through the donors' vertebrae. In the back of the room, a head floats inside a jar of green liquid that resembles pickle brine. And in the middle of the room are the eight donors.\nThey rest on operating tables with their chests and abdominal cavities completely exposed and with peelings of dry muscle and wrinkled skin hanging off to their sides. The heads, arms and legs of each are wrapped in black plastic, and the hearts, lungs and rib cages have all been removed, leaving a wide-open space where Jill Taylor, a professor of kinesiology and an assistant in the gross lab, sees beauty.\nTaylor can smile at a heavy pile of intestines that are thick like snakes, pinkish-brown like earthworms and covered in gelatin-like bits of yellow fat that squish and slip when handled. She can admire the rich green shade of bile on one of the donor's gall bladders. She can marvel at the exposed nervous system -- the part that gives you a rush of adrenaline.\n"Let's make this clear," she says, "we're here because gross anatomy is gorgeous. It's fun. It's beautiful." \nBut then there are the encouraging sights that can be easy to overlook between the gorgeous and the rotten. The encouraging sights are those of a class of future physicians who, at the moment, are simply students in the most basic and pure manner.\nSome of them will mend broken arms and legs, but for now the students watch with impressed eyes as their teachers effortlessly glide scalpels around lumps, bumps and nodes. The students are slow with their tools now, but in time, precision is what will make them experts.\nSome of them will become accomplished surgeons, but for now the students can take a few minutes to be young and chat with the assistant instructors about parties and second-year class schedules.\nSome of them will cure diseases, but for now the students flood their teachers with questions, asking over and over to repeat the names and locations of anatomic structures. For now the students have a deluge of information before them, but in time, it will all be clear.\nFor now these students only have impressionable thoughts about what type of doctors they want to become, just as freshmen only have ideas about their majors. For now, these students -- these future physicians -- only know that they want to help.\n*****\nPosted throughout the lab are signs that list the following information about each donor: table number, donor number, sex, age and cause of death. The Baron was 87 when he died, and dementia and hypertension were among his causes of death. Beside only some of the names are asterisks that indicate which families of the donors have requested to receive the ashes after cremation.\n*****\nDuring the final minutes of the lab session, the groups start to clean. Anything dissected from the donor is placed inside the bucket kept beside each table. Next is the less glamorous job of dabbing fat globs that liquefied inside the abdominal cavity. Wads of soaked and yellow-stained paper towels breed into piles in the trash cans. The up-close sight of fat-caked intestines has inspired Clark to exercise more.\n"It all just makes me want to go to the (School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation) and work out," he says.\nWith the inside clean, a wetting solution is poured into the body, and then Crosby looks at The Baron and says to his partners, "It's time to put him back together."\nThe rib cage is put back first, then layers follow: the muscle, then the skin, then a sheet of cloth and finally a plastic bag. After everything is in place, the lid is closed.\nOne by one, eight operating tables transform into eight coffins.\n*****\nCremation is the last step for some donors, but not for The Baron. His family has requested to receive his ashes.\n-- Contact staff writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.
(10/28/04 4:00am)
Editor's Note: The following is a true account of the writer's visit to a local psychic. The words and descriptions are his own, but the predictions of his future are that of the two psychics he visited on a Saturday afternoon. As such, the following is not a traditional story, but rather a first-person experience, retold on these pages for the reader to draw his or her own conclusions.\nNine days before Halloween, the weather almost seemed too good to be true. An oceanic sky cradled clumps of perfect clouds, the wind flowed subtly but carried enough strength to refresh walkers and cyclists and the sun gave a warm glow that reminded the student of early spring. He was dressed in jeans and a light jacket on a day when he could have been comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt. He rolled down the windows in his car and drove faster than he should have so a breeze would swish in and ebb the sweat that had already arrived.\nThe student was nervous about his appointment with a psychic who promised she would reveal his future.\nAs he traveled down streets lined with real businesses and real homes, the student imagined the fake world that belonged to the psychic. He imagined a woman adorned in elaborate scarves who would lead him through a doorway of beaded strings that would rattle like castanets when they entered a dark room filled with eastern music, silk pillows and a crystal ball that would glow whenever a question was asked. The psychic would speak with an Egyptian accent when she contacted spirits or when she told the student that he would live a long and happy life.\nThe student couldn't think of the psychic without thinking of a crook. Someone who would digest his real thoughts, concerns and dreams only to spew a mouthful of fake, idealistic "fortunes" as quickly as possible. The sooner she could get her hands on his money, the better. \nStill, no one was forcing him to make this visit. It was his idea. He was just curious. Besides, what if the psychic made sense … What if she told him things that were completely on point with his life … What if her "fake" visions tied perfectly into his "real" life … What if he believed her even if she wasn't telling him the truth … What if he believed her simply because she told him things that he desperately wanted to be true …\n*****\nA stoop with chipped paint led to the front door of the house where the psychic looked into the future. The student raised his hand to knock on the door, but a young woman who spoke with a firm voice interrupted the sound of his knuckles against the doorframe.\n"What can I do for you?" she asked. \nThe student told her he had an appointment for a psychic reading.\n"She's not home yet, but I can give you a reading if you want." \nThe student agreed.\n"Come with me."\nHe walked into a home of a psychic and was surprised by how normal it was. It was a real home with white walls and clean carpet. Instead of beaded curtains, wooden doors divided one room from the next. The faint smell of smoke hung in the air, but it came from cigarettes rather than incense. The student followed the young psychic into a small room -- probably intended to be used as a closet -- where she asked him to sit down on a black futon instead of silk pillows. In front of him was a small table -- minus the crystal ball -- and a chair for the psychic. She sat perched in the chair with her legs folded like a child listening to a story.\nThe psychic wore a white shirt and a long, khaki skirt instead of elaborate carves. The blonde highlights of her short hair, which was pulled back into a small ponytail, complimented the attractive tone of her tan skin. She gazed at the student for just a second before she broke the silence with her raspy voice. She did have an accent.\nShe asked the student his name and his birthday. When he answered the questions, the psychic felt his body energy awaken, and a fury of visions jetted from her lips.\n"What I am seeing with your energy and the aura around you, I am seeing a lot of confusion because I see two women. There is confusion and jealousy. One of them will not interest you, but the other will interest you soon. She is a good woman. She is trustworthy, faithful and understanding. This woman will be your soulmate. Do you follow me? You will find your soulmate."\n"Do you follow me?" she kept asking the student. He kept saying yes, nodding his head that he did follow her, but truthfully, he had trouble making sense of it all. Where did these visions come from … What did she mean by his body energy … How could she know all of this … Was he starting to believe her …\n"I am seeing that you are doing well in school; do you follow me? You have a job coming your way. I do see some friends who are concerning you. Who are these friends?"\nThe student didn't know who these friends were, either. Before she said that, none of his friends was a concern to him, but now he felt pressure from the psychic to find an answer to her question. He didn't want to seem surprised by the things she told him. He didn't want to accept the possibility that she knew aspects about his life of which he was unaware. He didn't want her to have that kind of control over him.\nHis mind raced for an answer but found nothing, and when he told the psychic none of his friends concerned him, she brought the subject back to his soulmate, followed by a fresh and fast list of visions: I do see … I don't see … I do see … I don't see …\n"But you do have concerns about this woman. You probably don't understand that she is your soulmate, but you will in time. I do see school getting better, and I do see you working. I do see you living a long and healthy life. I don't see you staying apart from your soulmate for very long. I do see some concern with family. What are your concerns with your family?"\nTo this, the student mentioned a brother struggling with pressure and stress, but the psychic assured him not to worry. He is fine, she told him. The student took some offense to the curt manner with which she dismissed these thoughts, but the psychic went on, and the student tried to follow. \n"I see you being a man of traveling; do you follow me? I do not see you staying here. I see you in more of the South. You are a man of traveling, trying to find his destination. I see you traveling for work. I see you going on a trip now in six months. I do see that everything is going well for you." \n*****\nAs the young psychic explores the young man's future, the older psychic enters the small room and sits down. She, too, has short hair, but she likes to dye hers the color of raspberries. She listens for a moment and then asks the young man to lean back, look into her eyes and relax. The accent in her voice is softer than that of young woman. There is comfort in her voice.\nThe older psychic looks deep into the young man and sees that he has been experiencing fear in his life and asks him to understand that while he is young in age, he is a full-grown man nonetheless. She notices that his energy is strong and says she does not see any death around him. Marriage stems strongly in his future but not for at least five more years. \n"You are not yet ready for marriage," she says softly. With his wife -- his soulmate -- he will have two children, a boy and a girl, both of whom will be very healthy.\nShe tells the young man more about his soulmate and confesses that there is another man with her at the moment. This surprises the young man, but she assures him that he must not worry. She sees that this other man is not a lover. "Her desire is not there for him as it is for you," she says. \nThe older psychic sees the paths of the young man and his soulmate bonding strongly together in the future. His work will draw him apart from this woman from time to time, but she sees that their faith will always bring them back together. \n"Realize you have a soulmate," she tells him. "That is a good thing."\nThe older psychic sees success for the young man. Success in different forms. She sees that he will be recognized by many for the work he will do, and with that recognition, money will follow. \n"I see you being a teacher above everybody else."\nThen she quietly exits, leaving the young man and the young psychic alone.\n*****\n"Be yourself. You have a lot of good coming your way. Peace. Happiness. Success. Love."\nThe session ended after those words from the young psychic.\nThe student stood up and gave the younger psychic cash for the reading. He opened the door he once imagined would be a beaded curtain and walked through a modest room in the real home of a real woman who, moments before, was the older psychic in the small room where she told him he had a soulmate. Outside, in a world that seemed more real before the student met the psychics, he got into his car and thought about the words spoken to him in the last 20 minutes. Like the weather, the words almost seemed too good to be true.\nHe drove home with some regret of his visit. More than anything, the student wanted to believe the psychics.
(10/28/04 3:11am)
Editor's Note: The following is a true account of the writer's visit to a local psychic. The words and descriptions are his own, but the predictions of his future are that of the two psychics he visited on a Saturday afternoon. As such, the following is not a traditional story, but rather a first-person experience, retold on these pages for the reader to draw his or her own conclusions.\nNine days before Halloween, the weather almost seemed too good to be true. An oceanic sky cradled clumps of perfect clouds, the wind flowed subtly but carried enough strength to refresh walkers and cyclists and the sun gave a warm glow that reminded the student of early spring. He was dressed in jeans and a light jacket on a day when he could have been comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt. He rolled down the windows in his car and drove faster than he should have so a breeze would swish in and ebb the sweat that had already arrived.\nThe student was nervous about his appointment with a psychic who promised she would reveal his future.\nAs he traveled down streets lined with real businesses and real homes, the student imagined the fake world that belonged to the psychic. He imagined a woman adorned in elaborate scarves who would lead him through a doorway of beaded strings that would rattle like castanets when they entered a dark room filled with eastern music, silk pillows and a crystal ball that would glow whenever a question was asked. The psychic would speak with an Egyptian accent when she contacted spirits or when she told the student that he would live a long and happy life.\nThe student couldn't think of the psychic without thinking of a crook. Someone who would digest his real thoughts, concerns and dreams only to spew a mouthful of fake, idealistic "fortunes" as quickly as possible. The sooner she could get her hands on his money, the better. \nStill, no one was forcing him to make this visit. It was his idea. He was just curious. Besides, what if the psychic made sense … What if she told him things that were completely on point with his life … What if her "fake" visions tied perfectly into his "real" life … What if he believed her even if she wasn't telling him the truth … What if he believed her simply because she told him things that he desperately wanted to be true …\n*****\nA stoop with chipped paint led to the front door of the house where the psychic looked into the future. The student raised his hand to knock on the door, but a young woman who spoke with a firm voice interrupted the sound of his knuckles against the doorframe.\n"What can I do for you?" she asked. \nThe student told her he had an appointment for a psychic reading.\n"She's not home yet, but I can give you a reading if you want." \nThe student agreed.\n"Come with me."\nHe walked into a home of a psychic and was surprised by how normal it was. It was a real home with white walls and clean carpet. Instead of beaded curtains, wooden doors divided one room from the next. The faint smell of smoke hung in the air, but it came from cigarettes rather than incense. The student followed the young psychic into a small room -- probably intended to be used as a closet -- where she asked him to sit down on a black futon instead of silk pillows. In front of him was a small table -- minus the crystal ball -- and a chair for the psychic. She sat perched in the chair with her legs folded like a child listening to a story.\nThe psychic wore a white shirt and a long, khaki skirt instead of elaborate carves. The blonde highlights of her short hair, which was pulled back into a small ponytail, complimented the attractive tone of her tan skin. She gazed at the student for just a second before she broke the silence with her raspy voice. She did have an accent.\nShe asked the student his name and his birthday. When he answered the questions, the psychic felt his body energy awaken, and a fury of visions jetted from her lips.\n"What I am seeing with your energy and the aura around you, I am seeing a lot of confusion because I see two women. There is confusion and jealousy. One of them will not interest you, but the other will interest you soon. She is a good woman. She is trustworthy, faithful and understanding. This woman will be your soulmate. Do you follow me? You will find your soulmate."\n"Do you follow me?" she kept asking the student. He kept saying yes, nodding his head that he did follow her, but truthfully, he had trouble making sense of it all. Where did these visions come from … What did she mean by his body energy … How could she know all of this … Was he starting to believe her …\n"I am seeing that you are doing well in school; do you follow me? You have a job coming your way. I do see some friends who are concerning you. Who are these friends?"\nThe student didn't know who these friends were, either. Before she said that, none of his friends was a concern to him, but now he felt pressure from the psychic to find an answer to her question. He didn't want to seem surprised by the things she told him. He didn't want to accept the possibility that she knew aspects about his life of which he was unaware. He didn't want her to have that kind of control over him.\nHis mind raced for an answer but found nothing, and when he told the psychic none of his friends concerned him, she brought the subject back to his soulmate, followed by a fresh and fast list of visions: I do see … I don't see … I do see … I don't see …\n"But you do have concerns about this woman. You probably don't understand that she is your soulmate, but you will in time. I do see school getting better, and I do see you working. I do see you living a long and healthy life. I don't see you staying apart from your soulmate for very long. I do see some concern with family. What are your concerns with your family?"\nTo this, the student mentioned a brother struggling with pressure and stress, but the psychic assured him not to worry. He is fine, she told him. The student took some offense to the curt manner with which she dismissed these thoughts, but the psychic went on, and the student tried to follow. \n"I see you being a man of traveling; do you follow me? I do not see you staying here. I see you in more of the South. You are a man of traveling, trying to find his destination. I see you traveling for work. I see you going on a trip now in six months. I do see that everything is going well for you." \n*****\nAs the young psychic explores the young man's future, the older psychic enters the small room and sits down. She, too, has short hair, but she likes to dye hers the color of raspberries. She listens for a moment and then asks the young man to lean back, look into her eyes and relax. The accent in her voice is softer than that of young woman. There is comfort in her voice.\nThe older psychic looks deep into the young man and sees that he has been experiencing fear in his life and asks him to understand that while he is young in age, he is a full-grown man nonetheless. She notices that his energy is strong and says she does not see any death around him. Marriage stems strongly in his future but not for at least five more years. \n"You are not yet ready for marriage," she says softly. With his wife -- his soulmate -- he will have two children, a boy and a girl, both of whom will be very healthy.\nShe tells the young man more about his soulmate and confesses that there is another man with her at the moment. This surprises the young man, but she assures him that he must not worry. She sees that this other man is not a lover. "Her desire is not there for him as it is for you," she says. \nThe older psychic sees the paths of the young man and his soulmate bonding strongly together in the future. His work will draw him apart from this woman from time to time, but she sees that their faith will always bring them back together. \n"Realize you have a soulmate," she tells him. "That is a good thing."\nThe older psychic sees success for the young man. Success in different forms. She sees that he will be recognized by many for the work he will do, and with that recognition, money will follow. \n"I see you being a teacher above everybody else."\nThen she quietly exits, leaving the young man and the young psychic alone.\n*****\n"Be yourself. You have a lot of good coming your way. Peace. Happiness. Success. Love."\nThe session ended after those words from the young psychic.\nThe student stood up and gave the younger psychic cash for the reading. He opened the door he once imagined would be a beaded curtain and walked through a modest room in the real home of a real woman who, moments before, was the older psychic in the small room where she told him he had a soulmate. Outside, in a world that seemed more real before the student met the psychics, he got into his car and thought about the words spoken to him in the last 20 minutes. Like the weather, the words almost seemed too good to be true.\nHe drove home with some regret of his visit. More than anything, the student wanted to believe the psychics.
(09/22/04 4:34am)
You might as well be broke. Well okay, so it's not that bad, but it could be better. A lot better. You checked your bank account last week and quickly wished you hadn't opened that tab at Nick's the night before.\nBut there might be a way for you to cut your losses. It's a bit of a gamble, but what else are you going to do -- find a job? Not likely. First place wins some restaurant gifts certificates and $500. You can take or leave the dinner stuff, but you can make those five bills last a while ... at least until the end of the semester.\nStill, as much as you hate to admit it, the chance of you outlasting almost 200 card sharks probably isn't much stronger than a low pair against a royal flush. And the last thing you want is to come home empty-handed, so you ask your boss -- even though it sounds too good to be true -- if you can write about your shot at the stakes. What it's like to sit at a table with 9 other guys who have at least two things in common: the same number of chips to start and the same lust for that wad of cash given to the last man standing.\nSounds good, the editor says. Go for it.\nIf only you could bluff as well as you can pitch a story.
(01/21/04 5:33am)
In the 1980s, Pillsbury tried to reach a different audience when it featured a commercial in which a 'ghettoed out' Doughboy wore dark glasses and rhymed about pie crust.\n"It's a pie thing," rapped the high-pitched pastry icon.\nThe audience didn't buy it, and the Doughboy dropped the rapping gig and went back to his trademark giggle. This style of ineffective, hip-hop-influenced commercials reappeared a decade later when M.C. Hammer pointed to a Pepsi and sang, "U Can't Touch This."\nBut despite these early failures, hip-hop's popularity soared as groups like Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys reached gold-figure sales in the rap industry. And as the music's crossover appeal became more apparent, corporations continued to blend hip-hop culture into advertisements.\nMurray Forman, author of "The 'Hood Comes First: Race, Space, and Place in Rap and Hip-Hop," said the turning point when hip-hop culture became a major force in society occurred in the 90s when two separate genres of hip-hop artists emerged -- "gangsta rap" and "mainstream middle rap." Since then, hip-hop's influence has extended into all facets of American culture -- from music and film to clothing lines and alcohol.\n"Once people saw how popular this music was and how diverse the audience was, they couldn't ignore its commercial potential," Forman said.\nThe distinct hip-hop genres gave consumers the choice of gangsta artists like N.W.A. and Public Enemy, who blended violent and sexual verses in their music, or mainstream artists like Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer, who mostly performed dance beats. Today, because of the success of artists like Eminem, hip-hop's popularity has soared in white suburbia.\nAccording to the Recording Industry Association of America, hip-hop has grown to the second most preferred style of music, constituting almost 14 percent of the market share in 2002. In 2001, 75 percent of hip-hop record buyers were white.\nFernando Orejuela, a lecturer in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology who teaches a class on hip-hop culture, said the purchasing increase from a white audience has been a major factor in hip-hop's influence.\n"(Today's youth) is a generation of former rock 'n' roll kids, and rock 'n' roll is not rebellious enough for this generation. Hip-hop is," Orejuela said. "It's the new music of rebellion for the middle class and the mainstream radio listener."\nIn addition to an increase in a white audience base, Orejuela said that historically black music has consistently attracted the most attention.\n"African-American music in the U.S. has been the popular music in America, starting with jazz and rock 'n' roll and now hip-hop," he said. "It's growing toward a trend of American music being African Ameri-can music."
(11/21/03 5:55am)
By the time the news spread, everything stopped.\nProfessors canceled classes. IU and Purdue University postponed the weekend's Old Oaken Bucket match. For the rest of the day, radios and televisions buzzed all over the quiet campus as students with pale faces and trembling nerves gathered and waited to hear any developments in the tragedy.\nJames Madison, a history professor at IU, remembers walking out of a music class during his sophomore year at Gettysburg College, when a student delivered the news in the simplest manner possible.\n"Someone shouted, 'The president's been shot!'" Madison said.\nMadison returned to his room and looked out the window where he could see an American flag waving in the middle of campus. Someone stood at the base of the flagpole and lowered the flag to half staff.\n"It was just such a shock and it was utterly beyond belief," Madison said. "Like many Americans at the time, I was so enamored with President Kennedy; all that he stood for and all the hope we had for him."
(11/19/03 6:13am)
On a fall morning in 1903, the Purdue football team boarded a train for Indianapolis. Sounds of goodbyes and best wishes from family and friends sent the young men on their way. They were supposed to play IU in the biggest football game of the year.\nThe archrivals scheduled an afternoon game at Washington Park to decide the state championship. Neither team boasted a great record, but previous games were irrelevant, nothing more than warm-ups for the big showdown. Tickets went fast and both universities reserved their student sections -- Purdue students would occupy the leftfield bleachers, while Hoosier fans would cheer from the north grandstand. Both squads made train arrangements with early departures, allowing plenty of time to prepare for the 2 p.m. kickoff.\nThe game garnered attention from all over the state and many found themselves divided on a predicted outcome. Newspapers considered the contest to be the most important and evenly-matched game in recent years. Coaches were confident, students memorized their school cheers and players couldn't wait to play.\nOne hundred years ago, everyone seemed ready for the biggest game of the year.\nBut there would be no touchdowns. Voices would sob instead of cheer. Players would die instead of play. The biggest game of the year would never take place.
(11/04/03 5:46am)
IU President Adam Herbert will hold a meeting with the Bloomington Faculty Council today concerning the search for an interim chancellor who will temporarily fill in for resigning IU-Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm. \nBrehm announced her resignation Thursday in order to provide Herbert with more flexibility in his plans for restructuring the University's administration. \nToday's meeting marks the official beginning of Herbert's "consultative process" in his search for the interim position. \nBFC President David Daleke said Herbert asked for assistance in developing a "mechanism" for the interim chancellor search. Based on Herbert's comments about the search process thus far, Daleke said he expects the BFC to have a fairly significant role.\n"The president has indicated that he wants to follow our procedures, and that he will work and consult with us during the search," Daleke said.\nDaleke added that Herbert has not mentioned the names of any possible candidates up to this point, but he said he would not be surprised if they discussed the matter during the meeting.\nHerbert's first step in the search process occurred over the weekend when the president said he would sketch out the critical needs the University has in regards to the appointment of a chancellor. \nWith those needs in mind, Herbert said he will begin to discuss with University government and faculty groups, like the BFC and the University Faculty Council, possible candidates on the Bloomington campus who could serve in the interim role. \nAt a board of trustees meeting Friday at IU-East in Richmond, board President Fred Eichhorn said the interim selection could likely be a high-ranking administrator on the Bloomington campus.\nHerbert said the interim selection process should take about two to three weeks. The interim chancellor will come into the position Jan. 1, and is expected to hold office for 12 to 18 months until a permanent replacement is chosen next fall.\n-- Contact senior writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.
(11/03/03 5:50am)
RICHMOND, Ind. -- IU-Bloomington administrators could be in line to step in as the interim chancellor at the beginning of spring semester after Chancellor Sharon Brehm announced her resignation Thursday.\nIU board of trustees President Fred Eichhorn said the selection would most likely be an administrator at the Bloomington campus.\nAmong the administrators who Eichhorn said could potentially be interim replacements is Chancellor-Emeritus and former IUB Chancellor Ken Gros Louis.\nOther potential candidates are Vice President for Student Development and Diversity Charlie Nelms, Dean of Students Richard McKaig and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculties Moya Andrews.\nGros Louis said Sunday he would be interested in taking the interim position if a good fit existed between his qualifications and IU President Adam Herbert's expectations. He said he would like to be more involved with the development of the other IU campuses.\n"I would want to be more involved with insuring that our University with several campuses remains just that, a University with several campuses," Gros Louis said. "It's important that the University does not become fragmented."\nHerbert said he will select an interim candidate in the next two to three weeks. He will then announce his selection to the IU board of trustees, which has the final vote in the interim decision.\nAt the trustees meeting Friday on the IU-East campus, Herbert applauded Brehm for her consideration in stepping down for the sake of the University. He also expressed pleasure in Brehm's decision to continue serving IU by accepting a position as a senior presidential adviser.\nBrehm gave her resignation to Herbert Wednesday. It will be effective Dec. 31, after which Brehm will conduct studies on women in higher education and teach psychology.\nBrehm's resignation came after Herbert discussed restructuring plans within the University, which includes re-evaluating the positions of chancellor and vice president of academic affairs -- two roles held by Brehm. In a conference call last week, Brehm said she resigned in order to provide Herbert with the necessary flexibility in the restructuring process.\nHerbert said he wants to focus specifically on restructuring the academic missions of each IU campus.\n"I want to do all we can to strengthen our capacity to respond to the most specific responsibility that we have, and that is to offer the highest quality academic programs possible," Herbert said. \nHerbert said the current structure does not place enough emphasis on the academic agenda of the University, but he stressed that his plans for restructure are not personal.\n"This is not about any one person," he said. "This is about taking a very hard look at where we are and where we ought to be going."\nWhen asked whether or not he expects to receive similarly-motivated resignations from other IU chancellors or vice presidents, Herbert said he could not speak for other administrators.\nEichhorn said he has not been given any indications that would lead him to expect additional resignations. Brehm declined to comment Friday.\n-- Contact senior writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.
(10/31/03 6:06am)
IU President Adam Herbert said he expects to appoint an interim chancellor for the Bloomington campus in the next two to three weeks to replace resigning IU-Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm.\nThe interim chancellor will take office Jan. 1 and will likely hold the position for about 18 months while a committee searches for a permanent replacement, said IU spokesman Bill Stephan.\nAt a news conference Thursday, Herbert said he will begin a consultation process before making his selection. Over the weekend, he said he plans to outline the University's most critical and immediate needs. Based on those needs, he will begin considering possible candidates. \nOnce Herbert has a candidate in mind, he will present his recommendation to the IU board of trustees, which has the final vote in the selection process.\nHerbert said he has made no decisions yet.\n"The bottom line is there is a need for a chief operating office on (the Bloomington) campus," Herbert said. "The challenge is to figure out how to make all of this work well."\nStephan said while there is a likelihood the interim chancellor will come from IU-B, he said he would not rule out the possibility of selecting someone outside of Bloomington.\n"There are definite advantages in selecting someone from the Bloomington campus because of their closer relationship in the community," Stephan said. "But the most important thing is that we find the best person for the job."\nVice Chancellor and Dean of Students Richard McKaig said whenever a change in office occurs, a brief period of uncertainty usually follows.\n"We'll go through a reflection on what it was like to work with her and what she had done for our campus," McKaig said. "Then we'll get excited about how the search process is going and who is going to come in. So in a sense, it's the same kind of emotions you have when there is change in any organization."\nMoya Andrews, vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of the faculties, said she would like to see former IU-Bloomington Chancellor Ken Gros Louis take the interim position. Gros Louis currently holds the position of chancellor emeritus.\nAndrews said Gros Louis' experience as chancellor would allow him to walk into the position and keep the University progressing.\n"Everyone on the campus trusts and respects (Gros Louis)," Andrews said. "It would be wonderful for this office because we have worked with him before."\nGros Louis could not be reached for comment Thursday.\nThe search process for the permanent chancellor position is not expected to begin until the spring semester. Then, Herbert will begin a process where he and other administrators will discuss the direction they would like the search process to take.\nHerbert said he and the administration will focus their attention on the structure of the position.\n"What we really should do is look at this as a structural and process issue and not have it focus on the individual," Herbert said. "We'll look at the relationship between the chancellor and the president, between the Bloomington chancellor and the other vice presidents. So there are a number of matters that have to be addressed."\nOnce the search begins, Herbert said Brehm will be a valuable consultant under her new role as a senior adviser to the president.\n-- Contact senior writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.
(10/27/03 5:56am)
Sounds of witches laughing and victims screaming blared from a stereo, and smoke machines spit white clouds into the night's chilly breeze, as a swarm of scary story enthusiasts huddled on the sidewalk outside the Folklore and Ethnomusicology building. \nBut the chattering crowd quickly fell silent when Death walked out the door.\nA man dressed in a black-hooded cloak, hiding behind a skeleton mask and carrying a plastic scythe approached the crowd. Two witches and an Egyptian pharaoh followed him. As they made their way down the walkway outlined with glowing candles, the man in black held out his scythe and stopped to address the crowd.\n"I vant to velcom you to the third annual Ghost Walk," he said. "If you don't recognize me, my name is Death."\nWhen he's not busy haunting Bloomington or collecting souls, Death goes by the name John Johnson, an IU folklore professor.\nAt Friday's Ghost Walk, Johnson, along with other faculty members and graduate students in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, guided more than 150 people on a tour of some of IU's most haunted spots. The two-hour-long walk began outside the Folklore and Ethnomusicology building, 504 N. Fess St., and ended at the statue of Herman B Wells.
(10/21/03 5:29am)
The Monroe County election board said Monday it has no choice but to approve the remaining applications for mail-in absentee ballots, despite questions about more than 200 requests filled out at IU greek houses.\nAt a meeting Monday night, the election board addressed the controversy over requests from members of five IU fraternity and sorority houses for mail-in absentee ballots. Each student who submitted a ballot request claimed he or she could not attend the polls on election day due to work-related conflicts.\nAlthough board members expressed some doubt as to whether the students' reasons for requesting absentee ballots were honest, they said there is nothing they can do but grant their requests.\n"I have no choice," said Monroe County Clerk and election board member Jim Fielder. "There is no way of enforcing what you put on the ballots as being the truth. We have to leave that up to your conscience."\nLast week, Fielder, a Republican, told the IDS that he planned on calling students to ask them if they intended to work for 12 hours on election day, which would have prevented them from attending the polls. But last night Fielder said that is not an option because election laws require absentee ballot requests to be granted within a specific time frame.\nElection board member Jack Davis, a Democrat, said he believes it is possible the students were misled into submitting the application for the absentee ballots. He said some students might be under the impression that it makes no difference where a voter casts his or her vote. He requested that a letter of clarification be mailed along with the absentee ballot.\n"(Including a letter) will allow any student who has mistakenly requested a mail-in absentee ballot to correct their mistake before it's too late," Davis said.\nHowever, election laws prohibit any such letter from being mailed. Since the letter would only be sent to students and not other voters who have already received an absentee ballot, the letter would discriminate against student voters.\nBut even if some applicants were not honest in their excuse for an absentee ballot request, Fielder said they could not be found guilty of perjury. As stated at the bottom of an absentee ballot application, a registered voter can only be held accountable for perjury if he or she gives false information about meeting the residency requirements, claiming to be a registered and qualified voter and residing at the address he or she lists on the application.\nDemocratic Party chairman Dan Combs said he was not surprised by the board's decision, but he said the issue of the validity of the ballots is still questionable.\n"All that was decided was that the county is required by law to mail the absentee ballots to those who applied," Combs said. "They didn't say anything along the lines of whether or not the votes will count, and that's the main issue here."\nDespite the decision to grant the remaining absentee ballot requests, Fielder said the possibility of a challenge remains a viable threat. In order to avoid a challenge, Fielder said anyone who has requested an absentee ballot under a false excuse, should report to the city clerk's office and vote in person. He said several students, including many from the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, have already come forward to vote in person.\n"I know (after election day) we're not going to put this one to bed for a while," Fielder said. "Anyone who has signed up (for an absentee ballot and lied) come on in and vote, so you can get rid of all this muddy water."\n-- Contact senior writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.
(10/20/03 5:15am)
Local politicians continue to argue over the controversy surrounding more than 200 absentee ballot requests of IU students.\nMatt Stevenson, Republican City Clerk candidate and an IU junior, held a news conference Friday and criticized Democrats for their intimidation tactics against IU student voters.\n"The right of every eligible citizen to vote in our country is one of our most important rights," Stevenson said. "If any attempt is made to harass or intimidate voters, it puts the very foundations of our society in jeopardy."\nStevenson said the Republican Party received reports at the end of last week suggesting an organized attempt was made to threaten student voters. Although Stevenson acknowledged not having evidence to prove the Democrats have been harassing students, he said the Democrats are creating a hostile environment for student voters. \n"The Democrats have focused their hostility toward just one segment of the student population," he said. "Politics can be dirty and I'm all for a nice competition, but (harassing voters) is definitely crossing the line."\nAt Friday's news conference, the only instance of a harassing phone call the Republicans cited was an interview request by an IDS reporter made to Acacia vice president Tyson Chastain.\nDemocratic Party chairman Dan Combs said the lack of evidence Republicans have brought forward has led him to believe manipulation is involved.\n"They have given no proof to back up their accusations," Combs said. "Students are being taken advantage of by very unscrupulous Republican operatives."\nIU College Republicans Chairman, Angel Rivera said he has heard of several reports in which students received "harassing phone calls," but he said he is unsure of exact nature of the conversations.\n"There have definitely been calls made to more than one of the greek houses (where absentee ballots were requested)," Rivera said. "I'm not sure exactly how many, but even one is unacceptable." \nStevenson's accusations at Friday's conference occurred one day after Republican Party chairman Marty Stephens called a news conference where he also spoke out against Democrats -- specifically Stevenson's Democratic competitor Regina Moore -- claiming the party is trying to disenfranchise student voters.\nThe issue of conflict centers around 250 requests for mail-in ballots IU students applied for due to work-related conflicts, which would keep then from the polls on election day. But suspicions about the legitimacy of the ballot requests arose last week when Democrats said the applications appeared to have been submitted by the same person or a politically motivated group.\nCombs said the accusations of the Democrats harassing student voters are attempts by the Republicans to deflect attention from the fact they cheated.\n"(The Republicans) got caught cheating and now they're trying to hide it," he said. "No one is harassing students. No one wants students to stay away from the polls. But we don't want hundreds of ballots mailed out in false pretenses."\nThe decision as to whether the remaining requests for absentee ballots will be sent out to students will be made at a hearing tonight at the Justice Building. A three-person panel consisting of County Clerk Jim Fielder and a representative from the Democratic and Republican parties will decide on the matter.\nRegardless of the judgment made during tonight's hearing, Combs said the possibility of challenging the mail-in votes could still be an option. If ineligible ballots are cast, and those votes swing the decision in the election, Combs said the Democrats would have reason to challenge the election. A challenge could potentially nullify the election. \n-- Contact senior writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.
(10/17/03 5:53am)
Monroe County Republican Chairman Martin Stephens denounced local Democrats for their attempts to "intimidate and disenfranchise" student voters at a press conference Thursday at City Hall.\nStephens called the press conference in response to questions of legitimacy Democratic City Clerk candidate Regina Moore made concerning 216 student requests for absentee ballots.\nRecently, members of Acacia, Phi Gamma Delta, Alpha Chi Omega, Chi Phi and Delta Gamma requested absentee ballots to vote in the upcoming election, claiming they are scheduled to work from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. on election day, therefore preventing them from voting. \nHowever, Moore and other Democrats raised concerns when they became aware that all 216 absentee ballot applications were submitted due to reasons of work-related conflicts. Because the ballot requests were all made for the same reason and came from the same houses on campus, Democrats said they plan to challenge the students' absentee ballots, which could delay the election results.\nBut Stephens said Moore's opposition to the absentee ballots violates the voters' constitutional right to request absentee ballots and argued their motives should not be questioned.\n"In all my years of involvement in the election process, I have never heard of anyone questioning the motives of a legally registered voter in his or her request for an absentee ballot," Stephens said. \nDan O'Neill, IU College Democrats vice president, said he has serious doubts about the process in which the absentee ballots were filed and believes election laws have been broken. O'Neill said it appears as if one group connived students into thinking they could vote without having to show up on election day. \n"The claim that all 216 students have to work 12 hours on election day is simply a lie," O'Neill said. "That's purgatory. The proper laws need to be enforced."\nStephens, on the other hand, expressed strong concern in what he believes is an attack on student voters by Democrats. Stephens said he believes the reason Moore is singling out student voters is because she is afraid the students will cast their votes for her competitor: Matt Stevenson, a Republican and IU junior.\n"I am deeply troubled by the organized, partisan attack on student voters that is being perpetrated by the Democratic Party," Stephens said. "It is a desperate attempt to protect Regina Moore by disenfranchising voters."\nSenior Angel Rivera, president of the IU Republicans, said the Democrats' lack of concern for college students over the years has led college students to become more involved politically and stand up to the Democrats. Rivera said the students who requested absentee ballots have done nothing illegal.\n"(The Democrats) have had political control of the city for many years, and they have done nothing for students but hamper our lives," Rivera said.\nMoore said her threats of challenging the absentee ballots were not an attempt to steer students away from voting.\nBut despite that not all students will be able to vote due to conflicts, O'Neill said that is no reason to start bending the rules.\n"Election laws are there to protect us," he said. "If we let this slide, where does it end? We can't let people cheat and get away with it."\n-- Contact senior writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.
(10/07/03 5:34am)
One month after a University task force approved a new, on-campus smoking policy, students are still lighting up.\nBut while the cigarette butts on the sidewalks haven't left, some say the number of smokers outside the entrances to campus buildings has decreased since the policy was issued.\nIU Student Association President Casey Cox, a member of the task force, said he has already noticed a drop in the number of people who smoke near campus buildings. Cox added that the one-month grace period has allowed students a chance to get more accustomed to the new policy.\n"In time I think the new policy will become as normal as the 'no smoking' signs inside the buildings on campus," Cox said. "People will grow used to the idea that they are not allowed to smoke right outside the doorways."\nLast month IU-Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm agreed to amend the 1993 policy by prohibiting smoking within 30 feet of all campus buildings. Previously, smoking was only banned inside University-owned buildings and vehicles. \nSophomore Matt Martin said while he is still not quite used to the new policy, he tries to pay attention to where he smokes. He said he's also been more alert to the number of students who continue to smoke near campus buildings.\n"I've noticed an improvement from last year," Martin said. "There are definitely fewer people smoking right outside the buildings."\nHowever, not everyone has noticed much of an improvement.\nFreshman Kevin Friedrich said he has noticed an increasing problem with littering since the new policy was implemented. Because most of the ashtrays previously located outside the entrances to buildings have been removed, he said smokers are flicking their cigarette butts onto the ground.\nFriedrich also said the new policy has only tried to make smoking more of an inconvenience by forcing smokers to go out of their way to have a cigarette. He added that he hasn't seen many students give the new policy any attention.\n"Everyday I see people standing right outside (Ballantine Hall) with cigarettes lit," Friedrich said. "I don't know what they plan to do, but if they want people to start following the new rules, they need to do something. Maybe they should give out tickets."\nConcerning any future plans for enforcing the smoking policy, Brehm said she hopes smokers will comply with the new rules voluntarily. \nHowever, she said the task force might be forced to step back and consider other alternatives for enforcement. \nMartin suggested that more students might become more aware of the smoking policy if the task force placed more warnings around campus in addition to the stickers on building entrances. \nBut in the long run, he said that he just hopes the University can find a resolution without issuing tickets.\n"Larger signs in different places might help get the point across," he said. "I just hope they don't start handing out tickets."\n-- Contact Senior writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu
(09/30/03 5:33am)
Freshman Aobo Zou hates when his friends gamble while he studies. He starts thinking about the game -- the strategy, the intensity, the money.\nHe wants in.\nFor Zou, just the thought of the game is reason enough for him to put his homework to the side for a little gambling.\n"The game, just the idea of the game, is intense," Zou said. "You just get hooked by the game. It's so much fun."\nEach week, Zou and his friends enjoy a few nights of poker. Usually playing in a group of five or six, Zou said they each put in $20 and then go from there.\nHe says the stakes never get too high. The most anyone ever loses is $40, but there have been games when the pot reached $600. One night, Zou said he was down $80 at one point and finished $10 ahead.\n"Sometimes when I get down the first $20, I'll put down another $20 until I get my money back," he said. "Once you're down, all you care about is getting your money back."\nWhat might start as an innocent deal in poker can sometimes develop into a life-destroying habit that leaves a person depressed, alone and begging for an extra buck.\nConsidered a process addiction, experts have found that compulsive gambling can cause the same social, physical and psychological problems that are often associated with alcoholics and drug addicts. Studies have even shown that gambling is becoming an increasingly popular vice for younger people, including college students. \nAccording to statistics from the National Council on Problematic Gambling, Inc., the involvement in gambling among adolescents in the United States now exceeds the expected onset for their use of cigarettes, hard liquor and marijuana.\nKnowing exactly what causes compulsive gambling is debated. Judy Malschick, a professor in the School of Social Work, said the genetic theory is one of the most popular concerning the cause for a person's addictive behavior. She said it is highly possible that a person's gambling habits stem from the behavior of their family members.\n"If people grew up around gambling when they were younger, it's likely that they'll gamble as they get older," she said.\nMalschick also suggested that environment can influence a person's behavior. She said college students might be more vulnerable to gambling due to the financial freedom and the accessibility of gambling. Along with the year-round gambling outlet that college athletics provide, online gambling has become increasingly available over the past several years. According to the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, college students are one of the highest-risk groups for online gambling.\nZou said he has never gambled online, but he'd like to give it a try to see what it's like.\n"I tried to do it once," Zou said. "But I guess the IU Credit Union doesn't approve of gambling because my debit card wouldn't work." \nWhile experts might be unsure as to the exact causes of a gambling addiction, Malschick said the consequences are always identifiable. One way to tell if someone is addicted is by observing the negative consequences, she said. Eventually, compulsive gamblers begin to devote less time to their friends and family in favor of gambling, until they can't stop playing.\n"Oftentimes a person's problem can lead them to bankruptcy," she said. "And that can make matters even worse because the person might resort to embezzlement, stealing, selling drugs or prostituting themselves in order to get their hands on some money."\nDee Owens, director of the IU Alcohol and Drug Information Center, said one of the major problems concerning compulsive gambling is the lack of knowledge people have. While most people recognize the potential dangers related to drugs and alcohol, she said many students underestimate the harmful consequences of gambling. \n"The more they play, the more you think they're going to win," Owens said. "They begin to think their odds get better as they lose, which isn't the case at all. Eventually it becomes all they think about."\nBut there are alternatives for gambling addicts. Whether it's in the form of private clinical treatment or a group therapy like Gamblers Anonymous, Owens and Malschick said there are plenty of people willing to help. But the victim has to make the first step.\n"Before anything, a person has to be internally motivated to get help," Malschick said. "Then they have to say to themselves, 'Hey, this gambling problem has really screwed up my life.' If they can get to that point, there's tons of help for them out there."\nSeth Stager, a freshman and one of Zou's poker buddies, said no one in the group really takes gambling too seriously, even when they lose.\n"You regret playing every time you lose money, but it's not like we're betting a lot of money," Stager said. "It really just gives us something to do when we're bored."\n-- Contact senior writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.
(09/29/03 6:28am)
IU President Adam Herbert loves sports. \nHe held season tickets for the Miami Heat and the Jacksonville Jaguars when he lived in Florida, and he's even made trips to the Super Bowl and Final Four.\nBut for Herbert, academics still come first at the University level.\nAlthough he might not be as outspoken as former IU President Myles Brand, Herbert said he is on the same page with Brand concerning the role of intercollegiate athletics. He said IU must continue to make sure athletics remain in the proper context of the University.\n"With athletics, the challenge is to ensure that the tail does not wag the dog," Herbert said. "Academics must always come first."\nIn his first months in office, Herbert has already shown his interest in the IU athletic teams. He has talked with all the coaches as a group to discuss the expectations and rules of IU athletics, and now he has plans to speak with each coach individually in order to discuss the role of the particular sport in more detail. \nAnd from a fan's perspective, he has attended several sporting events so far.\nAlong with his time spent as a spectator, Herbert has extensive experience with the administrative aspect of college athletics. Before arriving at IU, Herbert served as member on the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, as well as chairman of the NCAA Division II President's Council. \nIn light of recent college athletic scandals, like the suspension of Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett and the murder charges surrounding the men's basketball team at Baylor University, Herbert said he believes institutional control is especially important in maintaining the ethical and moral standards of athletics. \n"We need to be consistent with the core values of the institution," he said. "We comply fully with NCAA regulations."\nIn order to make sure the IU athletic department stays clean, Herbert said he and Athletic Director Terry Clapacs plan on working closely with one another. \nClapacs said a close relationship between the president and athletic director is necessary in order to ensure the University follows NCAA regulations. He also said it's necessary for the athletes and coaches to see that the president supports the athletic director and will back him up if certain changes need to be made along the way.\nMurray Sperber, an IU professor of English and American Studies, recently released the book "Beer & Circus: How Big-Time College Sports is Crippling Undergraduate Education."\nOver the past 15 years, Sperber said the NCAA has urged presidents to take more control over athletics. But despite the NCAA's attempts, Sperber said many presidents still do not assume a large role.\n"(Presidents) may not know much about sports, but they recognize that this is a highly irrational area and if you mess with it, it's at your peril," Sperber said.\nAlthough Herbert and Clapacs said they want to maintain a close relationship, Sperber said if they come too close, problems could arise. He said he believes the relationship between the two could be more effective if a system of checks and balances was imposed.\nBut in order for Herbert to be successful, Sperber said he should stick to the basics.\n"It seems what (Herbert) should do is what his predecessors did: Don't cheat, make sure the coaches run a clean program and that there are no scandals," he said.\nWhen it comes to sports, it won't be all work and no play for Herbert. He said he plans to continue attending events throughout the year -- both at home and on the road -- and his support won't favor the teams that generate the most money. Herbert said he intends to divide his time between the men and women's teams at each level.\nAlong with providing entertainment, Herbert said sports allow students to put things into perspective and provide them with lessons in leadership and teamwork.\n"You can't win everything," he said. "So how you handle victory as well as defeat is equally important."\nAnd while Herbert said he misses watching Jacksonville's team, he's willing to compromise now that IU is his home.\n"I guess now I have two favorite teams -- the Jaguars and the Colts," he said.\n-- Contact senior writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.
(09/22/03 6:30am)
IU President Adam Herbert has eight visions for IU -- one for each campus in the state.\nHerbert said he plans to specialize the regional campuses to focus on unique strengths within the University system.\nHis interest in multicampus institutions began when he served as chancellor at the State University System of Florida, the second largest system in the country with 10 state campuses. There, Herbert coined the phrase "mission differentiation" to illustrate his idea that campuses within a statewide system should assume an individual mission based on the assets they each contribute to their surrounding region.\nNow that he is at IU, Herbert said he sees the opportunities to do the same. \n"It's essential that we celebrate the differences and do what we can to assist each campus to develop a broader context of the values and traditions of IU," Herbert said.\nFred Eichhorn, president of the IU board of trustees, said the search committee noted Herbert's philosophy of specialized campuses as an interesting concept that could potentially benefit IU. However, Eichhorn said the University must proceed carefully in order to ensure that mission differentiation will be as successful at IU as it was in Florida.\n"The potential to benefit is definitely there," Eichhorn said. "This type of plan might be the key in making some (campuses) go from good to great without trying to be everything to all people."\nHerbert said mission differentiation establishes a more realistic identity for a campus by allowing the administration to focus on more realistic goals for each particular campus. \nFor instance, he said it is doubtful that any other campus besides IU-Bloomington will focus on improving its reputation as a top research institution. Consequently, he said the smaller campuses should not devote portions of their resources and funding to offer multiple doctoral programs. \nAlso, since IUB has the largest enrollment, he said its mission would place a greater focus on traditional students, as opposed to IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, where a large number of the students are enrolled part-time.\nIUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz echoed Herbert's ideas, saying the IU campuses will never offer the same services or resources, so there is no point in trying to make them identical to one another. \nBantz said focusing on individual strengths has advantages as long as they serve the state.\n"We have to respond to who we are, where we will go and how we can help the state and the economy," Bantz said.\nAt IUPUI, Bantz said the mission should focus on the campus's development as an urban research university by continuing its dual obligation to education in a metropolitan area as well as conducting research in life sciences and engineering. Bantz said the IUPUI must focus its attention on the academic programs that will keep students in Indiana who can stimulate the economy.\nIU-Kokomo Chancellor Ruth Person said, over the past few years, the Kokomo campus has started to see some changes due to a large increase in traditional students. Although Person said education remains the primary focus of its mission, she said she is open to the concept of mission differentiation in order to deal with the changing issues on campus.\nAt this point in his presidency, Herbert said he does not yet have specific missions in mind for each campus. Specializing campuses, he said, requires years of strategic planning before the benefits start to surface. \nAs his first order of business, Herbert said he needs to take a close look at each campus in order to see how each responds to the challenge of serving the state. Ten years down the road, Herbert said some campuses might evolve as comprehensive institutions, while others might develop into campuses that focus exclusively on the liberal arts.\nMission differentiation could also play a significant role in Herbert's determination to receive additional federal and state government funding. He said legislators become more likely to provide additional resources when they can see a strong return in their initial investments in higher education.\n"We have an obligation to share with the public our strengths and contributions in order to make IU a better place to live and work," he said. "Ultimately, I think that we will generate broader public and local support."\nHowever, one of the challenges that comes with specializing campuses is deciding whether or not there should be any distinction in the admissions policy between campuses. Herbert said the University's credit could suffer if standards drop too low. \nDespite the challenge, Herbert said he remains confident that he and the administration can make it work.\n"When you've been around universities as long as I have, you begin to understand the structure of institutions and can better prepare for the problems you'll encounter," he said. "We can make this work."\n-- Contact senior writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.
(09/17/03 6:58am)
Almost one week after his death, friends and faculty members of the Department of Anthropology remember the impact William R. Adams, professor of anthropology, made in his 50 years of teaching at IU.\nDella Cook, a professor in the Department of Anthropology, said Adams was one of the warmest and most outgoing persons she has ever worked with. She said she will always admire Adams for the countless hours he committed to his work and his talent in working with students.\n"It didn't matter what you were interested in," Cook said, "He could reach and interest anyone. We'll miss him very much."\nAdams died in his home in Ellettsville last Friday. He was 80 years old and is survived by his wife, Connie, six children and nine grandchildren.\nBorn in Bloomington in 1923, Adams earned an undergraduate degree from IU in zoology in 1944. As an undergraduate, Adams and his father, William, who shared his son's interest in science, worked as a team as they scoured southern Indiana for prehistoric artifacts. Adams' studies in Indiana led to his first publication, "An Archaeological Survey of Monroe County, Indiana," which he co-wrote with his father.\nIn the 1940s, Adams applied his experience in science to assisting police departments as a forensic anthropologist by instructing classes on forensic identifications at the Indiana Conservation Officers Enforcement Training School.\nIn 1949, Adams earned an advanced degree from the anthropology department, and from 1955 to 2002, worked as a professor of anthropology and zooarchaeology, the study of non-human organisms.\nAdams' work in zooarchaeology required countless hours of work and thousands of skeletal specimens. His collection, which is kept inside the William R. Adams Laboratory of Zooarchaeology, has become one of the largest collections of its kind in the world.\nBut in order to keep up with his research, Adams was always searching for student volunteers. Anthropology professor Paul Jamieson said the fact that Adams could find students willing to de-flesh animal carcasses without pay is testament to how valuable his work was.\n"Explaining the worth of research so students could get past the bad smell of dead animals probably wasn't the easiest job," Jamieson said. "But he had a talent for seeking out people who shared his interests."\nOnce while driving through Texas, Jamieson even found himself helping Adams when he stopped on the road to pick up a dead armadillo for Adams' research collection. \n"I stopped the car, tied the carcass to the roof rack of the car and brought it back to Bloomington," he said. "When he saw it, he was thrilled." \nPatrick Munson, a professor in the Department of Anthropology, said each time he passes the Adams Laboratory he will remember the tireless devotion Adams had for his work and his students.\n"He was a tremendous service to the department and the University," he said. "Many of his students went on to pursue careers in his field because of the influence he had on them."\nIn her 30 years of friendship with Adams, Cook said she will never forget the parties Adams and his wife used to throw for the students and professors in the department.\n"We always had a great time," she said. "They had a way of building a strong feeling of comradery within the department. It will never be the same without him."\n-- Contact senior writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.
