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(10/21/04 6:21am)
The magnificent seven Monroe County Community School Corporation school board candidates lined up for face time with about 40 campus community members Wednesday night in the Fellowship Hall at the Unitarian-Universalist Church, to discuss his or her personality, preferences and platform. \nThe forum, titled "Decision 2004: What's at stake in the upcoming elections?" was sponsored by Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. The session was preceded by a brief discussion of current gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered issues recognized as significant topics of legislative debate. The topic of same-sex marriage seemed especially troublesome to the speaker, an advocate from Indiana Equality, who described the topic as a "wedge issue."\nPFLAG co-director Lee Formwalt said campus community members wanted to address some of the GLBT issues with their soon-to-be chosen public school spokespeople. \n"I was delighted to see the MCCSC school board candidates here," Formwalt said. "We know how national politicians feel about certain GLBT issues such as same-sex marriages. We wanted to know how people stood on the local level."\nEach MCCSC school board candidate was given time to reach out to prospective voters through any dialogue or direction of conversation she or he desired. All the candidates highlighted their civic and social philanthropy efforts, in addition to personal biographies and "wish lists" if elected. \nThe only school board candidate not present was Lindsay Boyd, who is scheduled to meet face-to-face with a judge today in a court hearing to determine his candidate eligibility. Boyd claims two legal residences in two separate districts -- state law requires candidates to reside in the district they currently live.\nDistrict 6 candidate Lois Sabo-Skelton, an IU graduate and former professional violinist, said her priority is the children and that every child counts.\n"Please vote for me in district 6, where I live," Sabo-Skelton said.\nFormwalt said anti-discrimination is the "big thing" PFLAG is interested in, especially public policies aimed at curbing anti-gay bullying and harassment for public school children in public schools.\n"It would be good to have teachers and administrators trained in how to deal with harassment due to sexual orientation," Formwalt said. "One of the things PFLAG is about is people coming to terms with their sexuality. The 'Q' on the end of GLBT nowadays recognizes students who are questioning their sexuality. We want to provide an environment for people to feel comfortable questioning their sexuality."\nSue Wanzer, incumbent MCCSC school board president who is running against Michael Allen Brewington in District 2, said her hope, if reelected, is to bring families and students together in front of the board.\n"I would like to see GLBT students and families discuss their concerns with the board and the community, even those who disagree, in the hope of dispelling the myths," Wanzer said. "Everything about MCCSC (anti-discrimination) policy is implicit. I know we practice it; I want to see it in writing."\nCurrently, MCCSC does not have a student bill of rights or explicit written language addressing student, faculty and administration discrimination and harassment because of sexual orientation, martial status or sexual preference.\nCampus community member questions to the candidates ranged from platform issues to budgetary priorities, from the fractured nature of recent board meetings to current MCCSC policy.\nWanzer said she feels she has an advantage in her district because she does not have any children in the MCCSC. \n"Since I don't have any kids, I feel like I can have a broader view," Wanzer said. "I can take into account all aspects of education. Students must remember that learning is a part of their responsibility not just in the classroom -- outside the classroom as well."\nFormwalt said sensitivity training is needed amongst the young people today in reference to GLBT issues and policies. \n"Even when young kids say that something is gay, they don't mean it in a positive way," Formwalt said. "Teachers need to address these prejudiced feelings instead of just ignoring them. How many young people grow up worrying about whether or not crossing their legs is masculine? I think a good teacher knows what's going on in their classroom even though it isn't happening right in front of their eyes." \n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/21/04 5:55am)
The barrier to peace in the Middle East is separated by more than a wall-like fence. That's what Dennis Ross, former U.S. envoy to the Middle East and author of "The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace," lectured to the campus community Wednesday night in the Willkie Auditorium. \nAbout 100 Bloomington residents, faculty, students and guests participated in Ross's recount of numerous breakdowns and feasible solutions in the Middle East peace processes. \nSteve Weitzman, director of the Robert A. and Sandra S. Borns Jewish Studies Program, introduced Ross to the campus community by highlighting his service as chief Middle East peace negotiator for former President George H. W. Bush and former President Clinton. Ross aided the 1994 Jordan-Israeli peace agreement, and he has earned the Presidential Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service.\n"It's hard to be optimistic about the Palestine-Israel conflict these days," Weitzman said to the crowd before Ross's lecture. Bloomington is one stop for Ross on a 45-city book tour.\nRoss said he wrote the book for two reasons: he has worked on a lot of international issues and he wants to expose each idea so people could understand the roots of the conflict.\n"The Middle East is completely consumed with mythology," Ross said. "Mythology is an untruth, the absence of reality. If interpretations of untruths are heard again and again, it becomes unquestioned fact which bears no relationship to reality. You cannot reconcile myths; you expose mythology and debunk myths."\nRoss structured his lecture around three myths and four lessons he said were of particular importance. He said campus community members could read the rest in his book.\n"Israelis have only experienced war with Palestinians since 2001," Ross said. "Peace processes involve words; negotiating requires mutual adjustment."\nRoss said the first myth regards the Palestinians as having never made any concessions on major issues; the second myth involves the right of return for Palestinians to Israel -- a one state solution; and the third myth concerns no concrete solutions being offered by the West -- only vague ideas not on paper.\n"The Palestinian Authority is separate from (Palestinian Authority leader Yasser) Arafat these days," Ross said. "You have to make judgments about what is happening and why. Arafat is measured more by what he doesn't want than what he wants. He can live with the process, but not the conclusion."\nWeitzman said conflict in the Middle East is important to all campus community members, especially Jewish students who were probably 13 or 14 when the war started. \n"Although the Israel-Palestine conflict doesn't seem solvable at this point, it's important to stay engaged and learn about it," Weitzman said. "This issue is central to the Middle East, and we will have to solve the conflict sometime. They're fighting for the same thing -- a right for national self-determination. Unfortunately, each vision is supposed to unfold on the same piece of land. The irony: the visions themselves are very much similar. It is literally a matter of life and death since al Qaeda has taken this issue up."\nZaineb Istrabadi, the associate director of Middle East and Islamic Studies Program, said the Arab-Israeli conflict is not a religious conflict, and the war is about land.\n"In my opinion, the only solution is to cut off money; somebody, or something, is benefiting from the mayhem," Istrabadi said. "Certainly, every human life is sacred. The loss of one life unjustly is a terrible thing. What more can be said when one turns on the television except to watch in horrified silence."\nRoss said Arab leaders are going to have to legitimize the idea of compromise, condemn terror and terrorist acts in concrete language with concrete penalties through public forums and develop an Arab umbrella of support for peace. Ross said Israel has to adjust to the idea of an independent Palestine, give up control of Palestinians and their daily lives and disengage from settlement activities. Ross said Israel's current withdraw from the Gaza strip is a "revolutionary move," and he said Arafat was a "master maneuverer" born with all maneuver genes. \n"(Prime Minister of Israel Ariel) Sharon is not a master of subtlety," Ross said. "What could be an opening, will only be an explosion if we stand where we are. (During the Clinton Administration) we didn't make peace, but we prevented a war. We were talking to each other. Since the war began, 1,000 Israeli's are dead, and 6,000 more have been maimed and wounded. Thirty-five hundred Palestinians are dead, and 25,000 have been maimed and wounded. The measure of diplomacy is not always what you achieve."\nBloomington resident Madi Hirschland, who attended the lecture, said she thought Ross was "great" because he's calling for America to get back into the game -- get back to the negotiating table.\n"Striving for a negotiated solution is crucial to stop the violence," Hirschland said. "A negotiated solution is the only way to end terrorism. You can stun terror with a security barrier and (military) sieges, but the only hope is with a negotiated solution."\nHirschland, a volunteer for Brit Tzedek v'Shalom -- The Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, attended Ross's speech, amongst other reasons, to promote the 2004 speaking tour of Naomi Chazan, a member of the Israeli Knesset -- similar to the U.S. House of Representatives, from 1992-2003. Chazan will speak to the prospects of peace in Israeli at 7 p.m., Nov. 7, at the Congregation Beth Shalom, 3750 E. Third St. \nRoss said people often surround themselves with other people who validate their opinions; otherwise, you have to justify yourself all the time to everybody -- think about why you feel the way you do and what those feelings mean.\n"We have to delegitimize terror as an instrument," Ross said. "Every time we were making progress, terrorism undercut us. The terror will always undercut the peace. If being the victim is used not as a condition, but as a strategy, you are entitled to something and not held responsible. When you are a victim as a strategy, it means you are never accountable."\nRoss concluded his lecture with a question and answer session, designed to stimulate further discussion of the Israel-Palestine conflict. \n"If you like (the withdrawal) in Gaza, wait until you see it in the West Bank," Ross said. "Europeans want (Americans) involved; they have proved they can't (assist in the peace process) for a variety of reasons. This is not going to be determined by politics, but by the mindset of the people involved." \n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/20/04 6:17am)
Throughout the neighborhoods surrounding IU's campus community, pairs of tennis shoes dangle alone or in groups from telephone and electrical wires in collections of one pair to a dozen.\nSimilar to any urban legend, campus community members offered speculative suggestions to the primary cause of shoe-hanging. Popular myths of why an individual, or group of people, consciously choose to toss their tennis shoes over telephone or electrical wires include the availability of narcotics nearby, the loss of an individual's virginity, vicious pranks aimed at family or friends, a post-graduation festivity, a symbol of wedding or honeymoon love, the silliness felt from liquor in bloodstreams and the traditional teenager excuse of, "It seemed like a good idea at the time." \nFolklore Professor John McDowell said campus community members are creating a relatively new ritual that is part of the college student culture.\n"I think this ritual of placing shoes on telephone wires is a relatively new custom, maybe the last 10 years or so," he said. "It's always possible, since I am speculating; maybe people have been doing it for a hundred years. Like a snake shedding its skin, students shed their tennis shoes. I see it as a way of saying goodbye to a certain phase of their lives."\nMcDowell said humans often seek to personalize old customs by introducing new twists into the mix, instead of just following some old ritual handed down from parents and grandparents.\n"A pair of shoes on a telephone wire takes us to the bedrock of human nature," he said. "This ritual ties into almost any culture you could study. Basic needs are universal; we have to have some way of doing things. The same is true of marking territory. All cultures mark significant transitions in human life: birth, child no longer a baby, first haircut, birthdays, graduation, weddings (and) funerals." \nWith a patch of suspended tennis shoes visible from his front porch, graduate student Ryan Gonter said he doesn't know who threw the footwear onto the telephone wires, since the dozen or so pairs were hanging in their current place when he moved into the neighborhood in August. \n"I have no idea why people do it," Gonter said. "I've only heard rumors like the loss of someone's virginity. I saw a few of my neighbors trying to toss them up there, but the shoes hanging from the telephone wires (don't) bother me."\nJunior Eric Nygren, who resides underneath a wire decorated with six pairs of tennis shoes, said he does not believe the rumor of drug dealing reported to him by a friend. Instead he said he has witnessed several neighbors in the act of tossing their shoes.\n"It's pretty simple," Nygren said. "It's a stupid college thing people do. Somebody probably got drunk and thought it would be fun." \nMcDowell said campus community members probably toss their shoes onto telephone or electrical wires when they are finished with their degree.\n"You certainly see it a lot more at the end of each semester," McDowell said. "In that sense, they have outgrown their stay in Bloomington. That somehow seems appropriate to me, setting aside one pair of shoes and putting on another. Shoes are interesting equipment that takes us places." \nIn order to effectively navigate friends and family to his house, Sophomore Joe Hebda said he uses the multiple pairs of shoes dangling from a telephone wire in front of his house as a directional marker. \n"The shoes show where we live," Hebda said. "I just tell people, 'If you are coming from Atwater, it's the house with all the shoes above it on the right."\nNot all campus community members appreciate the aesthetic properties of dangling shoes. IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger said he doesn't recall the IUPD having to deal with any tennis shoe tossing incidents within the campus community. \n"I imagine (shoe tossing) is some kind of folklore," Minger said. "The thing that calls an officer out is any manner of illegal, unusual or suspicious activity. If someone took the time to call the police, we would respond to it, of course. (Shoe tossing) doesn't sound very smart on several different levels. I know, as a parent, if I had a child doing that, I wouldn't be very proud of them."\nJunior Zech Ashba, a Shoe Carnival employee, said he contemplated throwing his tennis shoes over telephone wires when he was younger because he thought it would be cool. He said he encourages campus community members to explore shoe tossing when retiring an old pair of sneakers.\n"Do it; go for it," Ashba said. "Make sure you get some cheap shoes; you should buy your shoes at the Shoe Carnival. The shoes would probably say, 'Please don't throw me over a telephone wire.'" \nSimilar to pouring out the first drink of a 40-ounce beer, senior Patrick McDaniel said he heard the rumor growing up that shoes hanging on telephone wires symbolized the death of a gang member after a gang war. Presently, he said he is mystified as to the motivation behind shoe tossing activities.\n"Whenever I see shoes on wires, I imagine some 13-year-old kid throwing his little brother's shoes up there," McDaniel said. "If I had an old pair of tennis shoes, I would give them to Goodwill or some other charity. There is no sense in wasting good shoes. What the hell are you doing?"\nMcDowell said tennis shoe tossing and hanging is similar to the territorial behaviors of most human cultures and animal communities. \n"If we feel we have a connection to a place, I think it is only natural to want to leave your mark on a place," McDowell said. "In order to symbolize the connection, we do different kinds of things to change the appearance of our environment. Animals leave their scent; humans have carved their names into trees and rocks for a long time. In this sense, shoes on a telephone wire are related to human beings in the universal sense." \n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/19/04 6:16am)
Election Day is everyday in the Clerk's Office at the Monroe County Justice Building, 301 N. College Ave., Room 202, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday, now until the last day of local and national elections Nov. 2.\nAll registered campus community members can submit their votes early until Nov. 2. Voting is important to America's democratic institutions and eligible voters should make every effort to vote up to and on Election Day, said Paul Purdom, a volunteer for the Monroe County Democratic Party Headquarters.\n"Basically, you go to the Justice Building, room 202, and you fill out an application for absentee ballot," Purdom said. "They will check to see you have provided the correct information. If so, they will give you a card with a bunch of ovals on it. You go to a voting booth, fill-in the ovals of the candidates you chose and bring the card to one of the deputies. You have to sign the card in the deputy's presence."\nThe opportunity to vote early is available for any registered campus community member for any reason if the application is filled out in-person. Douglas McClellan, a bi-partisan volunteer for the Absentee Voting Office of Monroe County said registered voters wishing to vote by mail, however, are required to provide a reason for not being able to make the voting booth on Election Day.\n"One of the biggest reasons for absentee ballots is because people are going to be out of the county on Election Day," McClellan said. "Also, Election Day poll workers or other people working the election should submit an absentee ballot if they are not going to be able to make to their home precinct to vote."\nPurdom said campus community members have incentive to vote before the nationally recognized Election Day.\n"If you vote early, you make absolutely sure you get around to voting," Purdom said. "It is my impression that about one person out of twenty has some intention of voting but has to face an emergency of some kind on Election Day." \nMcClellan said most campus community members do not foresee Election Day complications in getting to the voting booth; therefore, they do not even think of submitting an absentee ballot. He said a few registered voters will not be able to vote on Election Day, however, due to sickness, work or other pressing commitments.\n"One advantage for the absentee ballot, although maybe minimal, is to avoid the long lines on Election Day," McClellan said. "Your boss may not let you off of work, which he or she does not have to do, or maybe you will be in another county. For some people, voting may be more convenient if you come to the Clerk's Office."\nAccording to the application for an absentee ballot, government Form ABS-1, campus community members electing to vote by mail must indicate their reasons for being absent on Election day from a list that includes voter disabilities, the age of 65 or older, official election duties, work schedules during the entire 12-hour voting window, and confinement due to illness or injury.\nMcClellan said all campus community members, especially those individuals caring for otherwise confined people due to illness or injury, should also consider voting early.\n"The more people who vote make a more direct democracy," McClellan said. "In turn, a more direct democracy makes democracy more effective in representing all people." \n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/19/04 6:16am)
For every dollar a man earns working in Indiana, the average Hoosier woman earns 68 cents with the same degree of skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions, according to the 2003 American Community Survey conducted by three IU faculty members. \nThis puzzle piece of data will be combined with other significant gender research findings to outline for Indiana legislators a picture of wage equity gaps between men and women, and between minorities and non-minorities, according to a statement.\nLynn Duggan, associate professor of labor studies; Michael Nicholson, visiting associate professor of labor studies; and Carol Rogers, associate director of the Indiana Business Research Center, will testify before the state's Commission on State Tax and Financing Policy at 10 a.m. today in room 404 of the Indiana State House in Indianapolis. Duggan and Nicholson will testify on behalf of the Coalition for Wage Equity in Indiana, formed in 2001 by labor and women's rights advocates in Bloomington, according to a statement.\nIU spokesman George Vlahakis said the University has no comment on this issue at this time.\nDuggan said the time is ripe for change in the state of Indiana in terms of equal pay for equal work, since federal law provides clear guidelines on how employers should pay minorities in the work force to prevent gaps in equal pay.\n"We know something has to be done," she said. "Indiana ranks as one of the worst four states in the country in terms of pay equity between men and women. This is really about the state legislature. The state hasn't done, and isn't doing, anything about the pay gap."\nCompared with every dollar a white Hoosier male earns for equal work, the 2000 census data demonstrated Native-American women earned 55 cents, Hispanic women earned 58 cents, Asian women earned 63 cents and African-American women earned 66 cents.\nThe Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits unequal pay for equal work by federal law. Also, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, specifically Title VII, prohibits wage discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion and national origin. However, current federal law does not address lack of pay for women in female-dominated occupations in which pay is "systematically less," according to a statement.\nIn 1999, Rep. Linda Lawson (D-Hammond) introduced legislation to disclose hiring practices aimed at closing the gender pay discrepancies, but the bill died on the floor.\nDuggan said the gender pay gap is just one issue women face while working in careers favored, dominated and administered by men.\n"A gender pay gap is going to exist when women are regulated to certain kinds of jobs like clerical work, teaching and health services," she said. "Some economists say: 'women choose this work.' Maybe women crowd into certain professions because they don't like to work in a male dominated culture? Women get harassed because of their gender, and often face crude behavior from men. Women faced the constrained choice of working around other women."\nCurrently, women consist of about 47 percent of Indiana's workforce. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, the median annual income of single mothers in Indiana is $22,765, according to a statement.\nThe Coalition for Wage Equity will request the legislature to appoint an Equal Pay Commission, who reports to the Governor through a third-party state agency such as the Indiana Civil Rights Commission, to study the causes, consequences, extent, and remedies -- actions that need to be taken, of gender pay gaps and disparities throughout Indiana. \nDuggan said the ideal commission will advocate for women and minorities, since it will represent the interests of labor, business, researchers and non-profit organizations.\nThe coalition was formed by concerned campus community individuals and organizations that wanted to build enough support to force the state legislature to listen to issues of gender and racial inequities. In terms of equal pay for equal work, Duggan said employees have the right to know what factors govern their paychecks.\n"Why does a male carpenter make three times what a certified nursing assistant does?" Duggan asked. "We don't live in a megalopolis like Chicago or New York City, but do women have to become professionals to become equally paid for the same work? A woman's work isn't valued as much as a man's because a woman is doing it."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/19/04 5:25am)
IU is home to more than a campus community of Hoosiers; squirrels inhabit the University landscape and use many of the same campus resources humans do.\nAround the University ecosystem, hundreds of gray and red squirrels live, work and frolic amongst the busy foot shuffle of human travel and machine screams of structure renovation. Professor Emilia Martins, director of the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior, said campus community members can understand squirrels better by observing their behavior as opposed to trying to interact with them.\n"If we weren't here or if the city wasn't here, you wouldn't have the squirrel population we do," Martins said. "Some animal species do much better with human disturbance. Other species don't do well at all with human changes to their environment." \nIn particular, squirrel experts say urban squirrels often work within the confines of territories ranging from one acre to several acres, which they mark by urinating and sweating on trees. Unlike tree squirrels or flying squirrels, ground squirrels spend the majority of their time hopping around, scrounging for various natural treats, such as nuts, fruit, seeds and certain bugs to consume.\nAssociate Professor of Biology Heather Reynolds said the squirrel position in the web of life is as an omnivore; squirrels will eat both plant and animal food, although unsalted and non-roasted hazelnuts, sunflower seeds and oak nuts are particularly sought after in squirrel communities. Also, squirrels enjoy unsalted peanuts in the shell. \n"Humans like to plant trees; squirrels like nuts and insects," Reynolds said. "Squirrels are incredibly important in their position. They are the Johnny Appleseed of hickory and oak forests. It is important they help plant the next generation of trees. In general, the advice is usually not to feed animals because it can set up a dependence potential. Squirrels do not need humans to feed them because they have plenty of food around campus."\nFor shelter purposes, the current generation of squirrels contributes to future tree life, which enables future squirrel generations to utilize all tree growth as housing. Squirrel experts say squirrels build twig, fur and leave nests on upper tree branches called "dreys," or they camp out in hollow tree cavities called "dens," depending on the climate. \nReynolds said college campuses have great potential for fostering biodiversity, since universities have a significant amount of "recognized green space."\n"By reducing the amount of lawn, we could have more areas like Dunn woods and cultivate more natural gardens, which would promote birds, butterflies, soil organisms and other life," Reynolds said. "No one thinks a campus could be a nature preserve, for example, a wildlife refuge. That level of human activity isn't conducive to most animal life; however, you can still foster what is called 'green landscaping.'" \nAs is the case when industrialized human life mixes with natural ecosystems, abundant squirrel populations can damage, destroy and wreak havoc on the convenience of human campus community life.\nRob North, senior communication specialist for Cinergy PSI, an electric company based in Cincinnati, said one squirrel can cause an unexpected "extraordinary" amount of damage to a campus community almost any day of the year. \n"Squirrels running along a (telephone or electric) line is not a problem; the problem comes when a squirrel touches two wires at the same time," North said. "First of all, it's usually not good for the squirrel when this happens. Secondly, circuits break and fuses blow."\nFor a recent example of the damage squirrels can cause to a city's electrical grid, North said an unidentified squirrel crawled into a power substation in West Lafayette a few weeks ago and fried himself to death.\n"More than 7,500 PSI customers did not have electricity for a few hours," North said. "The explosive damage caused metal fragments to destroy other machinery."\nBesides suicide and the pancake effect of being run over by an automobile, squirrels face the shotgun barrels of many rural community members, as squirrel hunting is illegal in most urban centers. \nOne of the largest squirrel hunts in the country was conducted at 2 p.m. on Aug. 31, 1822 in Franklin County, Ohio. At the end of the two- to three-day "Grand Squirrel Hunt," 19,660 squirrel scalps was the official headcount recorded by the no longer in publication Columbus Gazette newspaper.\nIn addition, squirrels are often perceived as pests by many campus community renters and homeowners. Krista Birdwell, a RT Certified Technician for Arab Termite and Pest Control, a Bloomington varmint reduction company, said every order of rodent and rodent situation is different. She said most animals are looking for a comfortable place to live with food, water, harborage and climate -- whether warm or cold.\n"Identification is the key," Birdwell said. "Try to figure out what you are dealing with and where the holes are. A person usually calls us when they have had enough. The common problem is scratching sounds coming from attics and walls. Squirrels are not the only animal that gets into the insulation and tears things apart." \nReynolds said many campus community groups are already attempting to provide safe harborage, plenty of food resources and various housing options for the University's thriving squirrel population, among other life forms. \n"Humans rely fundamentally on all processes occurring within the ecosystem," Reynolds said. "Squirrels contribute to the processes that generate the air we breathe, purify the water we drink and build the soil we grow crops in, all of which are fundamental life support services we humans could not do without. Squirrels enrich my sense of the value of life, the web of life in particular."\nLocally, she said the IU Council for Environmental Stewardship and the IU Green Landscaping Group are working to provide campus community members with "green space." Nationally, the Natural Wildlife Federation continues to support the School of Public and Environmental Affairs with native prairie plantings on recognized campus green land.\nWhile the quest for more green space occupies the minds of University biologists, Birdwell said campus community members can often learn to cope with bothersome squirrels invading their home space and occupying the buildings and trees on their land.\n"It's amazing what people will live with depending on their threshold of tolerance. Most people don't realize they help cause the problem by feeding them," Birdwell said. "The longer I do this job, the more I realize we live in their world. We are more of a problem to squirrels than they are to us."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/18/04 4:57am)
IU sorority women have reason to smile by simply looking at their reflection in the mirror.\nLos Angeles resident Juliet Funt, a motivational speaker for eight years, lectured sorority women on the issues of body image and self-esteem in a presentation titled "Buff Up Your Insides" Thursday evening at Assembly Hall. Funt's speech framed the self-esteem of women, or the lack thereof, as an urgent issue with lifetime consequences society must recognize.\n"No one judges you the way you judge yourself," she said to more than a thousand Greek women. "You are more valuable than you think you are."\nJunior Sarah King, president of the Panhellenic Association, said Funt's presentation is one event among several her organization sponsors each semester. \n"We host a couple of speakers each semester, since part of our mission is to provide programs for the women in our community," she said. "It's important to address issues like self-esteem; there is something special about everyone."\nFunt began her lecture with a brief discussion of the "uber-fit" body image policing the West coast social conscious. Funt said cultural pressures such as advertising and marketing contribute to many misunderstandings about natural human beauty. \n"Los Angeles is a funny place to live if you talk about inner and outer beauty," she said. "Maybe I'd be pissed if I'd gone that long without a sandwich. Americans are famous around the world for how obsessed we are with atheistic beauty norms." \nFunt referenced current cultural beauty practices she deemed especially problematic, such as the use of the poison Botox to cure wrinkling skin, to signify the importance of reflecting on self-esteem for women.\n"Botox is injected into the muscles in the face; the poison temporarily kills the muscles; the muscles become relaxed; no more wrinkles," she said. "The only side-effects include an inability to make facial expressions and the possibility of a permanent witch-like fixed stare. I ask myself why these otherwise normal women would want poison injected so close to their brain?"\nNancy Stockton, director of Counseling and Psychological Services at the IU Health Center said some insecurity is universal to humans. However, she said most insecurities can be handled by learning to think and feel differently. \n"To be human is to be insecure; insecurity is very much a part of the human condition, Stockton said. "Self-esteem is often tied to self-defeating behaviors. Insecure women can seem so competitive and caddy (talking) behind others backs. Truly secure people work-out insecurity complexes. They question their automatic assumptions about things."\nKing said a woman's low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence often reflects, unfortunately, in poor decision making by many sorority women when liquor is mixed with low self-esteemed fraternity men. She said she would like to see all sorority women "doing the right thing" in following University alcohol policies. \n"Standing up to men is something that can be challenging to women. I think a lot of women struggle with self-doubt, body image and self-perception," King said. "Also, alcohol at fraternity parties in fraternity houses is big problem on campus. It's hard to tell the group 'No I won't come over; we won't go to a party there.'" \nFunt said sorority women should caution themselves when acting on insecurities, since all American women have been conditioned and indoctrinated to feel a certain way about themselves and their place as a sex symbol in Western culture.\n"Knowing what you like is a muscle you have to build," she said. "We have random lives; we don't know what we like. Sometimes there are random human beings in our lives; sometimes we end with random men. Randomness is the enemy of feeling good."\nStockton said talking and listening to friends coping with difficult self-image issues is important. In such a situation, Stockton recommended making the following suggestion to a friend: 'I know it seems this way to you; to me, things seem this way.'\n"All of us are capable of change, capable of growth and broadening our perspective," she said. "Spend less time looking at yourself in the mirror. If you must look at yourself, look at your healthiness. Appreciate how well your body works."\nFunt asked all audience participants to unpack the media mania creating a crazy culture of manipulated "robo-people." She said current fashion industry practices, such as digital imaging, are presenting models of beauty unobtainable by real people since the computer manipulated images are not a real reflection of real human face and body characteristics. \n"Somewhere along the line from birth to the current moment, a cultural norm has become a social rule," she said. "Outsiders determine our worth. Their message: you better be rich, hot and thin. If not, you are not as fabulous or worthy. 'You better be hot; you better be rich; you better be thin,' we hear again and again. After a while, you kind of don't notice anymore."\nThroughout her lecture, Fun said people have a magnificent influence on other people; as a result, the subtle intrinsic joys of watching yourself picking others up often results in high self-esteem.\n"Who am I and what makes me feel good?" she asked. "Listen to your own style and your own personal taste. Decide what you like, translate it into excitement and go for the maximal joy in things. Joy floods the human system with feeling good. Self-esteem is the by-product of doing 'esteemable' things. Be a champion of something."\nStockton said campus community members should be patient in deciphering the barrage of social and media messages designed to deflate self-esteems.\n"Do not take so seriously other things people do and say," she said. "If you are being treated poorly by someone else, they are speaking about their own insecurities more than your individual characteristics. Tell yourself: it's up to me not to take things so personally."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/15/04 6:19am)
IU President Adam Herbert requested more than a billion dollars in operating appropriations for IU's eight campuses from the Indiana State Budget Committee in Indianapolis Wednesday. In addition, the president asked for $250 million in capital funds for building maintenance, upkeep and improvement in the University's bi-annual budget period that begins July 1, 2005. \nIU Director of Media Relations Larry MacIntrye said Herbert proposed a budgetary plan that includes all the University financial needs to protect current academic programs. \n"The request presented today represents 8 percent more money for the coming school year when compared to the current school year in terms of state support; 5 percent for year two of the plan. It's not that big of a jump," he said. "Herbert heard several lawmakers explain Indiana's financial situation is very tight; the state may not fully fund the request. The president's budget request is not loaded with candy; it's a real request. Herbert provided a plan and a starting point for the University and legislature to begin negotiations." \nFred Eichhorn, president of the IU board of trustees, said the University is in a constant struggle to finance the public institution. Eichhorn acknowledged the significant budget problems the state of Indiana faces, such as increasing financial responsibilities in Medicare and prison costs. He said the University does everything possible to help ease IU's burden on the state.\n"I give the state great credit for doing the best they can during times of financial difficulty," he said. "We try to conserve on our end. Unfortunately, when we get through the process and state funds are not adequate, we are faced with tuition issues. We look at our public support and the bare-bone needs of the University. We try to find out what we need to squeeze by. It's hard to make-up the difference in lost financial support. The last thing we want to do is raise tuition."\nMacIntrye said the University's billion-dollar request was not unusual or excessive, considering IU's current financial needs and legislative appropriations to the University in the last budget session. \n"This is the first step in keeping IU affordable and accessible to all students. In the next step, the state budgetary agency and the governor produce a budget -- probably after the election," MacIntrye said. "The committee on higher education also makes its recommendations, and a final budget is sent to the state legislature. We will not know until the final days of the legislative session in April, when the budget has to be passed."\nIn addition, MacIntrye said general routine campus maintenance costs the University about $20 million a year. However, he said the state has only allocated about $3 million in the past four years for this purpose; as a result, many maintenance projects have been postponed and building upkeep continues to fall behind.\n"So far IU has been lucky," MacIntrye said. "The University has made cuts in spending and tightened the belts without interfering with the excellence of our programs. IU has done a lot of things to reduce expenditures. Our major goal is to protect the quality of IU's academic programs. We are fortunate to have a lot of benefactors and contributors through the IU Foundation who have donated money to the University for buildings and equipment." \nEichhorn said the University and the legislature will contact each other continually as questions arise in the following months, since funding a public University is a state responsibility.\n"We understand the shortfalls in state revenues, although we would like to see the state fully fund our request," Eichhorn said. "Our request is tailored and tempered with regard to the fiscal realities of Indiana. IU is a very conservative in the money we spend. IU is dead last in the Big-Ten in per-pupil expenditures -- Purdue is next to last. Years ago, 60 percent of the state budget was given to Indiana's seven public universities. Currently, the state reserves about 30 percent of its budget to the universities." \nMacIntrye said Herbert and the University are concerned about preserving and protecting the quality of academic programs.\n"We do not want to increase tuition higher than inflation," he said. "We want to hold tuition down for a few years to give students and parents a breather. It is essential to the state of Indiana that we do that. In the last decade or two, state support has dropped for IU and the other 7 state universities. These cuts have been painful."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/14/04 10:41pm)
American citizens across the country have been asking themselves many questions of who, what, why, when, where and how of terrorism since commercial aircrafts were piloted as missiles in the early morning of Sept. 11, 2001. \nThe Honorable Lee Hamilton, who is the vice chair of the National Commission of Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, which closed Aug. 21, reported a synopsis of the circumstances involved in the 9-11 attacks to hundreds of campus community members Wednesday in the Whittenberger Auditorium of the Indiana Memorial Union. \nIn front of television cameras and flood lights, Hamilton said the 9-11 attacks and the war on terrorism is a terribly complicated story with many dangling questions.\n"Al Qaeda is completely committed to killing Americans. They hate us more than they love life," he said. "We failed to understand the gravity of the threat. Al Qaeda publicly declared war on us in the early 1990's."\nHamilton's lecture was jointly sponsored by the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Neal-Marshall Alumni Club, as part of the 15th annual Neal-Marshall lecture series. SPEA Director of Marketing Cassandra Howard said campus community members were lucky to hear Hamilton speak, because the 9-11 commission's report is such a timely subject.\n"When you're in a large campus like this, you have many opportunities to do all kinds of things," she said. "Even though not a part of a formal education, these kinds of events do help broaden your world." \nHamilton, who served as an Indiana congressman from 1965 to 1999, also highlighted several key solutions the bipartisan 9-11 commission recommended to combat the war on terrorism in the 21st century. He stressed the importance of committing time and energy to the four "I's:" identification of threats, intelligence collection -- "everybody's favorite solution," international support and the integration of American power tools. \n"Who is the enemy? The enemy is not terrorism. Eliminating terrorism as a tactic is a goal that can not be achieved," Hamilton said. "We need to dismantle and destroy (terrorist) networks, prevail over (radical Islamic) ideology and protect ourselves against (future) attacks."\nBloomington resident George Brooks said he believes U.S. foreign policy is the primary cause of global terrorism because of American corporate profits generated from the public misery of less fortunate nations.\n"The U.S. stands for good ideals; we don't always follow them in practice. I think we are causing more terrorism," Brooks said. "People are not born terrorists; people are made terrorists. Terrorists are taught evil; they are not born evil."\nHamilton, who currently serves on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security advisory council, said 1,500 people were interviewed throughout the committee's investigation. In addition, 2.5 million pages of documents were analyzed, interpreted and reflected upon. Hamilton said it is impossible to say whether the U.S. government could have prevented the 9-11 attack. \n"The real tragic story of 9-11 is the intelligence community did not coordinate, share, analyze or act on bits of information we had around the government. People did not have clear direction," he said. "People asked: who is in charge? Too often, the answer was: no one. No one connected the dots."\nHamilton, who currently serves as president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said the mission of U.S. foreign policy should be aimed at changing the hearts and minds of the 1.2 billion people living in the Islamic world. Hamilton said the faith of Islam does not preach terror.\n"American people today are worried about their personal safety. We need to explain the threat, but not be paralyzed by it," he said. "We ought to know local capabilities to deal with terrorist attacks in the community. The first line of defense is the American citizen, who has to be alert. We must be informed of the danger, not panicked or fearful of it."\nHamilton said no silver bullet exists to defeat the war on terrorism, although the government recognizes the complicated political environments terrorists are often indoctrinated within. Brooks said he recognizes the effort government officials are putting forth to combat terror within the American landscape, although he said he worries the energy is to little to late.\n"I'm not justifying terrorists like Bin Laden or terrorism acts. Children are being raised to believe the U.S. is the whole world's problem," Brooks said. "When people are subjected to hopelessness and terror, and they can point to something in the world as the cause, those are the ingredients of terrorism."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/13/04 5:36am)
On election day in November, campus community members voting in Bloomington will help determine the fate of the Monroe County Community School Corporation by casting votes for four open school board positions. With candidates mimicking the partisan mud-slinging of a national political campaign, voters must wash the perception of special-interest candidate "slates," illegitimate home ownership and preconceived candidate schemes off their minds to ensure no child is left behind in Bloomington classrooms.\nFor instance, candidate Lindsay Boyd, who is running against Lois Sabo-Skelton in District 6, received word Tuesday he is being sued by Bloomington resident Tom Shafer, a former District 6 board member, for the alleged misrepresentation of his local address. Currently, Boyd claims two legal residences in separate districts. \nMCCSC Superintendent John Maloy said schools are a reflection of the community that supports them. He said the federal government No Child Left Behind Act mandates rules and regulations for student achievement without appropriating the necessary money to accomplish our tasks.\n"The No Child Left Behind Act sets a tone of failure for schools, and more importantly for school children. We are all for accountability and continuous improvement, but we need to make it fair for all schools and students," Maloy said. "It does not account for where kids start when they enter our education system, especially those of high risk and those living in high poverty. In this case, even progress doesn't matter."\nThe MCCSC enrolls over 10,000 students, including about 1,700 in special education, employs over 1,500 community members and is operated by a general fund of over $60 million. The school board is responsible for policy-making, curriculum development and the hiring and evaluation of school corporation superintendents.\nMaloy said potential school board candidates should observe the code of ethics set forth by the state if elected.\n"Effective school board members need to represent all students at all times," he said. "The school board must maintain a broad vision and a set of core values that govern the decision-making process."\nThree-term board member Joan Hart, who is not seeking reelection in District 5, said the future school board must be willing to roll-up its sleeves, address the issues, collaborate with the superintendent, develop a vision of where to go, allocate resources where they are really needed and put serious thought into troubled programs.\n"Wherever an issue is identified, (the school board) cannot bury its head in the sand," she said. "They need to work hard for children. A school board's main job is to work together as a group. They should work to build community consensus on goals for community success."\nIncumbent board president Sue Wanzer, who is running against candidate Michael Allan Brewington in District 2, said public education is the foundation of democracy and the foundation of any community. \n"I know this election is not on a lot of radar screens. The school board can affect the quality of life for all community residents. If people have a chance to take a look at our school corporation, I think they need to take a good look because I think we are becoming a model for the entire state. I would like to see a school culture of education more reflective of a college campus. Don't forget to vote, and go all the way to the bottom of the ballot."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/13/04 5:04am)
While communities across the country celebrate Columbus' arrival in the New World this week, many indigenous peoples of Latin America continue to protest the consequences of being conquered. In fact, Native American peoples of most Latin American countries have suffered political, economic and social disparities inflicted from 500 years of non-indigenous influences.\nIU Center of Latin American and Caribbean Studies Director Jeff Gould said most Latin American countries celebrated Columbus Day until the five-century anniversary in 1992. Before, during and since, indigenous peoples and their organizations have questioned the validity of the day that initiated profound negative effects on their culture and way of life, he said.\n"In a nutshell, there is an extremely skewed distribution of income resources and social services in most Latin American countries that is detrimental to the indigenous people," Gould said. "A personal identity is a fluid concept. However, there are certain countries in Latin America where the presence of the indigenous population is unmistakable." \nThroughout Latin America, no one typical indigenous person exists; rather, indigenous people are represented by varying cultures with varying languages. For instance, dozens of native dialects differ depending on the Latin American region in question. Most non-indigenous peoples of Latin America speak Spanish.\nGraduate student and indigenous born Francisco Tandioy, an instructor in Quechuan language and culture from Colombia, said up to 97 percent of the indigenous population died in the first 10 years after Columbus arrived in the New World. Disease was the primary cause of most deaths, although slave labor in mineral mines and plantation work often contributed to the indigenous death totals, he said.\n"After Columbus came to Colombia, we have had many land, culture and language problems. Out of the whole population of 47 million in Colombia, we are now over 1 million people," Tandioy said. "The Spanish were especially interested in gold and silver. They used Indians as a workforce under the control of Catholic church land-owners. Entire civilizations were destroyed, such as the highly developed Incas and Mayas."\nDoctoral student Mariella Arredondo said non-indigenous peoples living in Latin America often don't understand the social, economic and spiritual beliefs guiding indigenous societies. For instance, the big issue for many non-indigenous people in Peru is confusion interpreting indigenous views of natural harmony associated with the earth.\n"I don't know if words can give it justice; their world is everything," she said. "When you have big corporations starting to drill, it not only hurts the ability of indigenous people to hunt and grow crops. It hurts the earth, and the earth is a part of their family."\nIn addition, Arredondo said many indigenous peoples refer to themselves as regional peoples instead of native peoples. They call themselves "pueblos originarios," translated as "the original community of people," she said.\n"I think it's important for people to know indigenous peoples are dealing with similar issues minorities deal with here in America. For example, Latinos face lack of bilingual education in schools," she said. "A lot of knowledge is lost in both places because students are not learning in their native languages."\nFor the spring semester, Tandioy plans on adding an intermediate Quechuan language and culture class to beginning instruction to further students' interest in Latin American history, political environments and current affairs. \nGould said recent indigenous political activism has shifted government policies in many Latin American countries in favor of respecting the basic rights of native peoples. A shift in the international climate and perceptions revolved around the 500-year anniversary of Columbus's arrival in America and subsequent colonization of the continents, he said. \n"Since the early 1990s, there has been a growing recognition of human rights in cooperation with growing recognition of indigenous rights," he said. "It is important to realize that despite the achievements, the overwhelming majority of indigenous people represent the poorest sector of the Latin American population."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/12/04 6:00am)
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning syndicated-columnist Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune addressed more than 200 campus community members Monday evening at the Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union in a lecture entitled "Media Ethics is not an Oxymoron." \nPage was invited to speak in the role of a Howard Lecturer by the Scripps Howard Foundation and the School of Journalism as the finale of the Roy W. Howard National Reporting Competition day of celebrations.\nBefore rehearsing the list of Page's major accomplishments and awards, School of Journalism Dean Trevor Brown introduced Page by framing the issue of ethical journalism as an urgent topic of discussion.\n"We could not function as a democracy without journalism. Ethics is an issue on the minds of journalists," Brown said. "We face increasing tolerance for ethical softness." \nThroughout the lecture, Page seemed to focus his message towards current trends dominating modern media, such as the influence of the Internet on independent fact verification and the political polarization of certain media outlets like talk radio and cable television. His talk concentrated on the practical circumstances involved in honest subjective interpretation rather than a journalist's quest for unobtainable objective reality. \n"There is no such thing as journalist ethics. Ethics are ethics. We call it different things in our profession -- plagiarism and fiction," he said. "In the real world, it's called lying and stealing. If you make up stuff and present it to the public as fact, that's lying. Journalists should always adhere to the highest ideal of storytelling."\nPage referred to recent national journalism scandals as evidence of professional journalist reform. He called Jayson Blair's New York Times scandal a mad rampage and called on all journalists to be more pure than Caesar's wife.\n"Bad apples do make more news than good apples, so to speak. You must separate opinion from fact," he said. "You can tell in a journalist \nreport if he or she is biased if you perceive a bias. The journalist must appear fair. Objectivity is a marketing term from the turn-of-the-century."\nFormer Indiana Daily Student staffer and sophomore Sean Abbott said he thought Page's lecture was a great use of time since there were a lot of things he could have been doing on a Monday night.\n"After a year and a half at the J-school, I expect journalists to be thorough in their reporting. They must turn over every rock to figure out the fullest possible amount of information to share," Abbott said. "I would consider myself a conservative thinker, so one of the biggest ideas I'm taking from (Page's) talk is the amount of grey area in journalist ethics. I have always thought in terms of right and wrong, hero versus evil-doer. I guess I never applied grey areas to journalism before."\nPage concluded his lecture with a lengthy audience question and answer session. After a third of the attendees filed out, he addressed his love for newspapers and his purpose for remaining in journalism for more than twenty years.\n"There will always be a newspaper as long as there is paper. The only people keeping paper alive are people from my generation. We are married to it," he said. "I have accomplished what I wanted to do: be an eyewitness to history, see the world and do something to make a positive change."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/11/04 5:17am)
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and Chicago Tribune editorial board member Clarence Page is scheduled to speak about the current ethical condition of the national media 8 p.m. tonight in the Indiana Memorial Union Whittenberger Auditorium. Page's lecture, entitled "Media Ethics is not an Oxymoron," caps off the 2004 Roy W. Howard National Reporting Competition day of celebration.\nThe Roy W. Howard National Reporting Competition is sponsored by the Scripps Howard Foundation in conjunction with the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism. Eight competition winners, undergraduate journalism students from across the country, begin the day of activities with a private noon luncheon in the IMU Tudor Room. \nAfter meeting face-to-face with the three competition judges, each winning student will receive his or her Roy W. Howard National Reporting award during a dinner reception in the IMU Federal Room. The competition theme of each student story focused on campus and community coverage of events, issues, trends or personalities, according to the Howard Lecture program.\nSchool of Journalism Dean Trevor Brown said many campus community members welcome Page's arrival, since recent national journalists such as former New York Times reporter Jayson Blair and USA Today reporter Jack Kelley have inflicted scars onto the projected objective face of journalism because of make-believe, inaccurate and deceitful styles of reporting. \n"We think the topic is very timely. We are very concerned about more embarrassing scandals that have occurred in journalism," Brown said. "It is good to have a Clarence Page come and say, 'We really are an ethical profession.'" Brown said the discouraging, disparaging and embarrassing effects of unethical journalists employing unethical tactics to obtain unethical means in fictional storytelling does not entirely undermine the fact-finding mission at the heart of professional journalism.\n"There are two main purposes for this. The first is to pay tribute to the career and accomplishments of Roy W. Howard. The second is to connect the speaker to the annual journalism competition. This is an opportunity to hear some of the same things we talk about in the classroom," he said. "(Journalist) ethical practices are conducted in the open. As the joke often goes, we publish mistakes while doctors bury theirs. Our mistakes are very open to public perception."\nIU alumni Derek Talkington said he believes journalists are especially susceptible to biased opinions and preconceived agendas. As a result, journalists often use unethical plot organizations and loaded words as subjective tactics of persuading an audience toward a particular agenda, he said.\n"Journalists are more connected to world events; a lot of that is political. Instead of creating a story, journalists should only be reporting stories: who, what, why, when, where and how. Creating implies a journalist has added his or her own views of interpretation," he said. "For example, many stories begin and end with loaded journalist commentary. A little contrasting opinion is thrown in the middle to pretend as if the story is balanced."\nBrown said he hopes Page addresses the public misperception of the journalist as a used-car salesman or politician.\n"I think a lot of folks like to joke about journalism as an unethical profession. Most journalists take their ethics very seriously," he said. "Do journalists make mistakes? Yes, just like anybody in any profession."\nIn addition, Brown said campus community members receiving media messages are responsible for interpreting the information transmitted to them from journalists. \n"If you are going to take your responsibility as a citizen seriously, you can't rely on one source of media. No one medium can supply you with everything you need to know," Brown said. "The glory of democracy is found in the range of media and in the range of available publications." \nRegardless of the outcome of Page's message to the campus community tonight, Talkington said he can't help but perceive the absurdity in the ethical practices of national media outlets, television and print journalism. \n"Ideally, philosophy majors emphasizing in logic should be doing all the reporting," Talkington said. "I don't think you can get a real idea of how to interpret events without logic. Logic also helps structure a story."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/07/04 6:22am)
IU President Adam Herbert provided testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, D.C., Wednesday in a congressional hearing on international student visas. \nIn the name of national security, the U.S. State Department and the Office of Homeland Security have implemented several perceived problematic changes in the visa application process for foreign-born students and international researchers since the Sept. 11 attacks. \nAt the request of Committee Chairman and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Herbert joined Purdue University President Martin Jishcke and University of Maryland President C.D. Mote, Jr. as witnesses to the disastrous impact the new visa policy has had on foreign student enrollment and spending. \nAll three universities rank in the Top 20 across the country in international student attendance, Sen. Lugar said in a statement.\nCurrently, foreign scholars hoping to study in the United States face a labyrinth of paperwork hurdles, document verifications and security clearance roadblocks. As a result, the U.S. is facing a dramatic increase in foreign competition for international scholars and researchers from other English speaking countries which readily approve student visas to qualified individuals. \nTo study in the United States, international students and researchers must apply and be accepted by an American university, fill-out the proper paperwork and provide proper documentation for a list of qualifications, prove no immigration is intended and meet face-to-face with an American embassy consular in their home country. This process can take several weeks to several months depending on the country, the number of embassy staff and international student applications needing to be processed. \nOffice of International Services Senior Associate Director Lynn Schoch said the real student visa situation is whether current U.S. government policy is reducing the number of scholars studying in the states.\n"It is becoming harder and harder for international students to study in America. The purpose of Herbert's meeting with the Foreign Relations Committee is to determine what might be done to resolve this situation," Schoch said. "The attitude that everyone is a potential terrorist is not an efficient way to protect ourselves. Security checks need to be made more time efficient and concern focused."\nInternational student applications, for instance, have decreased 20 percent and enrollment has decreased more than 4 percent at IU's eight campuses for the last year, according to an IU press release. \nHerbert engaged the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in talk of urgent action to prevent further decreases in international scholar enrollment across the US.\n"Many academic institutions are seeing a significant drop in applications from prospective foreign students," Herbert told the committee, according to a statement. "This trend could have a harmful effect on higher education in American if it is not reversed."\nOf the 12.8 million students enrolled in universities and colleges across the nation, about 5 percent are international students; also, the nearly 600,000 foreign scholars -- about 13,500 in Indiana -- contributed about $12.9 billion dollars to the U.S. economy, which accounts for more than $330 million in Indiana alone, Sen. Lugar said in a statement. \nDirector of IU Media Relations Larry MacIntyre, who was present at the hearing, said Herbert's message to the committee stressed the importance that international students, scholars and visiting researchers are important to the University in many ways.\n"Part of IU's excellence is based on the knowledge these people bring to the University. For example, 30 percent of the IU School of Medicine non-tenured staff is foreign academics," MacIntyre said. "International scholars, instructors, researchers and assistants make such a big contribution year after year. We know the current system is not doing what it is suppose to do -- enable qualified foreign visitors easy access to the United States." \nSen. Lugar requested all three university presidents offer future input to separate the congressional, U.S. State Department and Office of Homeland Security policies considered especially problematic by American universities, MacIntyre said.\nFederal law mandates a $100 charge to each international scholar who applies for a U.S. student visa to maintain his or her personal information, background checks and other security data already entered into the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, known by the legislature and universities as SEVIS. The system monitors and verifies international student residence and academic status.\nDoctoral student Sung Jin Park, who hails from South Korea, said the time consumption often experienced by many international scholars applying for student visas might dissuade travel to the United States in favor of better-perceived Western countries. \n"To find a school for education is a difficult decision for any student. For the new student, choosing the right school matters much, much more," Park said. "Why not go to the United Kingdom, Australia or other English-speaking countries? Student visas are much easier to obtain, in a shorter time, with less documentation. Applying for a U.S. student visa is laborious -- it takes a lot of time and money."\nHerbert and the other university presidents acknowledged common concerns often voiced by the administrations of most higher-education institutions, MacIntyre said.\n"We've got to have International scholars. We've got to find the best minds around the world. We've got to continue the IU tradition of excellence," he said. "If an international scholar is accepted, cleared and allowed into the United States, he or she should be able to visit home and not have to go through repeated screening processes. We all recognize the need for additional security; the University presidents need to determine what rule changes we need." \n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu .
(10/06/04 5:47am)
IU President Adam Herbert spoke to the Rotary Club of Indianapolis Tuesday about the University's role in stopping the college graduate brain drain from the state of Indiana. About 200 business, education and civic leaders from across the greater metropolitan area shared in Herbert's vision of IU as a primary resource to the development of Indiana's economic future.\nThe Rotary Club members dined on a buffet lunch before Herbert's talk and greeted the president with a warm ovation of cheers. After a few friendly IU-Purdue jokes shared with Rotary Club of Indianapolis President Pat Garten, Herbert focused his attention on the importance of IU in shaping the backbone of the crossroads of America.\n"It is very important for us to believe significant change is possible. I challenge each of you to work for conditions to tip the economy and culture in the state of Indiana," he said. "There is no place like home and being a Hoosier. IU is proud to be your partner in advancing Indiana forward."\nHerbert also discussed the continuing contributions IU provides the state economy, especially the IU School of Medicine, which employs 47,000 Hoosiers in Indianapolis and is the second largest medical school in the country.\nThough the president was optimistic about Indiana's future, he addressed his concerns with University funding.\n"The practical reality: IU receives two sources of income, three if you count gifts and research grants. One is legislature appropriation and the other is tuition," he said. "A partnership must exist between the state and higher education. Small investments are reaping incredible rewards." \nThe president issued claims of University personnel change and cost-cutting measures as proof of IU's willingness to work with state budgetary concerns. Herbert said urgent circumstances warrant increases in state funding for the University.\n"You can cut anything. We don't want to cut the faculty; they are the heart and soul of the University. The state needs the University," he said. "On the one hand, IU is pressured to keep tuition at an artificial level. On the other hand, IU does not receive adequate funds from the state. The answer is not to cut farther to the bone -- we've tried."\nIn numerous moments throughout the sharing session, Herbert spoke to the idea of cooperation and co-participation between IU and the state as the foundation for economic growth and future prosperity. As a result, the president articulated IU's ideal responsibilities in fulfilling its obligations in the IU-Indiana relationship.\n"There is no question this state values higher education. The challenge: assure to all we can provide a high level of return to the investment you have made in the university," he said. "IU's goal is to become the most distinguished research university in the nation and increase research funding to $800 million." \nDirector of Constituent Relationship for the Christian Church Susan Street-Beavers, who attended the event, said she feels IU must offer more than just research opportunities to benefit the state economy in the future. She agreed with Herbert's overall mission, although she said more must be done in the way of community support and relationship building. \n"I would like to see universities across the state reaching out to all persons, especially opening their doors to people of color," said Street-Beavers. "Authentic relationship-building is important, relationships that are real. You have to start some place, and Herbert's information indicates he knows where the University is heading."\nHerbert said two out of three new jobs in the state of Indiana have been generated from entrepreneurship. He also said IU is responding to meet state and graduate demands in the fields of life science, informatics, medical research and information technology. \n"What are your aspirations as a state? As we look to the future, we must focus attention toward the development, nurturing and growth of intellectual capital," he said. "Ultimately, we would also like to keep more of our graduates in the state. The future of Indiana is very bright."\nHerbert received an enthusiastic standing ovation before he addressed audience questions and concerns. Garten said he was inspired by Herbert's speech and impressed with the president's stage presence.\n"I thought it was wonderful, (Herbert) is a great communicator. He is obviously a man of great vision," Garten said. "Even a Purdue University person like me can see the amazing scope of things IU is doing. IU is a great institution, something we can all be proud of."\n-- Contact David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/05/04 6:03am)
IU President Adam Herbert will address the Rotary Club of Indianapolis today at the Murat Shrine Arabian Room, 520 N. New Jersey St., in Indianapolis. The Rotary Club of Indianapolis includes more than 500 business, education and civic leaders from the greater metropolitan area. \nHerbert's sharing session will consist of IU's current economic developments, the progress his administration has made during his first year as president and an outline of future University goals during the noon luncheon. Recent Rotary Club speakers have included Astronaut David Wolf and Jim Morris, former president of the IU Board of Trustees and the current director of the U.N. World Food Program.\nThe community members in the Rotary Club of Indianapolis meet every Tuesday for lunch to affirm member relationships, network with new business prospects and discuss new club business such as the status of its world war on polio. The Indianapolis club is one of the largest chapters in the international organization of 1.2 million Rotarians.\nRotary Club of Indianapolis Executive Director Susie Harmless said the Rotarians are excited about Herbert's visit.\n"We have been trying to schedule an engagement with Dr. Herbert since he was sworn in as president of IU," she said. "We have fantastic speakers week after week. For many, this is the only opportunity to hear speakers from all walks of life."\nIU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis said he believes the president must be seen and heard by large groups since the University receives state and private money. The Rotary Club of Indianapolis is expecting more than just face-to-face time with the president.\n"The president's concern is to answer the question: What can IU do to help the state economy?" Louis said. "He might touch on ways IU provides the state industry with graduates. An intelligent workforce is attracted to cultural events the same way students and faculty are attracted to cultural events in Bloomington."\nIU Director of Media Relations Larry MacIntyre indicated Herbert is likely to focus his message toward an IU economic development progress report. Specifically, the president is going to discuss different campus community projects bearing fruit.\n"(Herbert) is making a difference moving Indiana forward. He will discuss what progress the University will make in the future," MacIntyre said. "IU has always enjoyed strong support from community business leaders. The president would like to maintain community support and show people what we are doing."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/05/04 5:43am)
Empathetic sharing was orchestrated within the campus community Monday as about a dozen IU students convened at the La Casa Latino Cultural Center to explore the difficult assimilation process of Puerto Rican migrants into mainstream American culture.\nThe brothers of Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity held a night of education and comedy about common Puerto Rican interpretations of their arrival in New York City, capped off with free pizza during the viewing of the film "La Guagua aérea" -- A Flight of Hope.\nLa Casa is conducting several Latino cultural events throughout National Hispanic Heritage Month, scheduled to conclude Oct. 15. However, most non-Latino campus community members do not attempt to seek out Latino experiences, organizers say.\nAmong a student body of 38,589 student body, 816 students identify themselves as Hispanic, according to the IU Factbook for 2003-2004. \nLa Casa community member and sophomore Eduardo Cardenas said he believes diversity is the focus of all Latino events.\n"Different organizations under La Casa do different things to recognize Latino cultural awareness. We try to do something everyday of the week at least. There aren't many Latinos on campus." he said. "If students take a chance on different cultural experiences they will find out it's better than what they thought. La Casa is full of culture; everybody brings something different to the group."\nCampus community members attending the night's event squeezed together next to one another, four people deep, on three couches in the La Casa basement in front of a large screen television. Attendees were treated to free drinks, free food and warm friendship. Although the film's dialogue was in Spanish with no English subtitles, non-Spanish-speaking campus community members like senior Jennifer O'Neal enjoyed the camaraderie created in the room. \n"I thought tonight was nice, a homey type of setting," she said. "I could pick out certain words and I tried to put it all together. Students should come to the Latino cultural center; it might be something they like."\nLambda Upsilon Lambda brother and sophomore Jeremiah Ashe called the night a success, considering the mission of their social fraternity is to unite the general IU campus community with the Latino IU campus community.\n"Students can feel comfortable coming to our events, either at La Casa or elsewhere on campus," he said. "Students will be able to interact with different kinds of people, get to know different kinds of people, and increase their friendship base with different peoples."\nLambda Upsilon Lambda brother and senior Johan Gamboa reiterated the fraternity's purpose in hosting the event, since he believes students are often repelled by the combination of the words "greek" and "minority."\n"We are a community of people who want to help each other help others. If you want to help others while participating in a social organization, our group is for you," he said. "We are a diverse collection of students working with other diverse groups. We are just trying to help people, period."\nCurrently, Lambda Upsilon Lambda is represented by six students, but the fraternity is always seeking diverse minded individuals to join in their philanthropic events such as rake-a-thons, couch-a-thons, domino tournaments, poetry slams and safe Halloween activities. All proceeds are given to Riley's Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.\nIn addition, Gamboa and his fraternity brothers are planning to collect holiday gifts from the campus community during the winter to be distributed to hospitalized children, when the brothers are not reading to young people at the Monroe County public library.\n"Some groups stay in their own community all the time. We want to get our message out to the student body, faculty and administration," he said. "We have events so people can meet people, create friendships and make up for the areas we are lacking. We all must be a part of the whole community." \n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu .
(10/05/04 5:33am)
Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan announced plans for a certified technical park to benefit both campus and resident community members in the downtown area. \nThe city's economic development community convened at IU Research Park Monday afternoon to hear how the technical park seeks to create economic incentives and cultural amenities for small business start-up, development and expansion with the support of a cohesive small business community.\nThe proposal does not entail wooden benches, swing-sets and charcoal grills; rather, the certified technical park will use already-zoned downtown commercial space for high-end technology and life science businesses soon to be created by recent and future IU research projects. The preferred downtown small business aesthetic outlined in the plan is ample office space, convenient parking, affordable dining and the pleasures of walking around town. \nJoining Kruzan in discussing his vision of future downtown growth and prosperity were City Council President Mike Diekhoff, IU Assistant Vice President for Real Estate and Economic Development Lynn Coyne, Ivy Tech-Bloomington Chancellor John Whikehart and CEO of Information in Place, Inc., Sonny Kirkley. The proposed certified technical park has to be approved by the state before the city can break ground on the project.\nKruzan is optimistic about the fate of Bloomington's certified technical park while the city's plan is in the hands of state economic committees.\n"I made a promise of economic development when I campaigned. Who knew I'd win?" Kruzan joked to the audience of about 25 community members. "A successful application meets at least one criteria. Well, we have met all three. We hope to virtually blanket downtown with business incentives so small business owners will relocate here."\nKruzan also thanked the city staff for helping his office look professional. In particular, he acknowledged the heroic contributions of his economic development staff of one, Bloomington Economic Director Ron Walker. \nWalker's job description involves following through on all of the mayor's economic campaign promises.\n"We are fortunate to have IU as a partner, and we look forward to expanding partnerships with Ivy Tech State College," Walker said. "We think we have a high growth potential. We are working to attract business growth downtown with commercial resources and amenities. The certified technical park will focus on small business and entrepreneurial services."\nIndiana Small Business Development Center Regional Director Brian Kleber believes the certified technical park will help ensure the future stability of the downtown economy.\n"Manufacturing, in the traditional sense, has gone by the wayside. The new park will be one more tool in the city's toolbox," Kleber said. "The downtown area was chosen due to the cultural amenities of the city and IU. It will be some time before we see true fruition of the plan."\nKirkley, an IU alumnus, is pleased with the economic progress of the city despite the perceived brain drain of IU graduates from the state.\n"Three-fourths of the battle is not technology. The battle is determining how best to use the technology effectively," Kirkley said. "There are hundreds of small businesses in town being run out of a bedroom or a garage. There is no opportunity for these people to collaborate with each other. We have a cluster of organizations that need a city infrastructure to support their growth."\nOnce the certified technical park is approved and construction is under way, the city hopes to keep building business growth while redeveloping and enhancing the downtown architecture already existing. Kirkley hopes students will think twice before migrating to the coast after graduation.\n"We know about the brain drain, but what about a brain gain? Why not work for two or three years out-of-state after graduation, and then come back home to Indiana," he said. "Every student has a choice to make about what to do after school. Bloomington is a great community to live in and Indiana is a great state to be a part of."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/04/04 5:15am)
The Indiana Memorial Union's limestone walls pulsated Friday with hundreds of campus community members as the heart of campus presented "Openin' Up the House." In a full-day of games and activities organized by the IMU, Back Alley, Student Activities Office, IU Outdoor Adventure and the Union Board, campus community members explored various recreational opportunities the University offers.\nUnion Board marketing director and senior Sarah O'Brien believes "Openin' Up the House" was an attempt to introduce and familiarize campus community members with the recreational opportunities and activity possibilities available at the IMU. \n"I don't think students understand it's not so big and so hard to get through. We wanted to show them what this facility holds, what they can do in it and what it can do for them," she said. "It's a home away from home; you can get your hair-cut, eat, sleep. Also, your student organizations are here. There is nothing you can't do in this building."\nBeginning at noon, attendees tested their upper-body strength on an inflatable climbing wall in Dunn Meadow or listened to live bluegrass in the IMU Market. By mid-afternoon some campus community members were rolling balls in a bowling tournament, while others looked forward to the billiards tournament or the free skiing adventure film shown in the Whittenberger Auditorium. Before the midnight snack in the Market, the IMU played host to sports inflatables, a poker tournament, a poetry slam and the Comedy Caravan.\n"Openin' Up the House" hoped to attract and cater to campus community members like junior Scott McDonald, who believe the IMU resembles a mysterious labyrinth of winding corridors. \n"I usually enter (the IMU) through the rotating door by the circle drive, and walk up the stairs. I then walk down the hallway by the food places. I never know where to go or what to do" he said. "The IMU is useful. You can study and eat there, hang-out there. If you don't want to go home you can walk around there."\nSeveral student and community groups co-sponsoring the event took advantage of the increased student foot-traffic throughout the day. Sigma Lambda Beta brother and senior Omar Casillas used IMU's "Openin' Up the House" to promote his multicultural service fraternity.\n"The Student Activity Office allows student groups to co-sponsor certain events this way. Thankfully, they help us get our name out since we are the largest Latino fraternity in the nation and we were the first Latino fraternity in the state of Indiana," Casillas said. "We are here to help the IMU spread the word of union to students. The IMU is fun place to go for cheap thrills: cheap bowling, cheap pool, cheap food and movies for free with a student ID."\nOf all the activities and events sponsored by the IMU throughout the day, Union Board member and junior Mary Hansell believed the open-mic poetry slam in the IMUG was the most rewarding personally for the campus community members involved.\n"People should feel comfortable standing on the stage, it's such a positive experience. Everyone in the audience feels that way, and has felt that way," she said. "Some people feel more comfortable with the spoken word, song or dance. This is just one of our glorious programs giving students the opportunity to express themselves."\nIn addition to open-poetry events, the Union Board publishes the literary magazine Canvas once a semester, holds a student film festival each year and produces theatrical plays such as "Man of LaMancha," playing Nov. 19 and 20 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.\nAnd the IMU maze need not terrify campus community members unable to attend the event. O'Brien wanted IMU patrons to know assistance is usually found around every corner.\n"Get inside and talk to somebody in a red coat who works there. People are willing to help you navigate the building," she said. "Students should do something different while there are here in college. Throughout the year, we offer activities, food and tournaments for all kinds of people."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(10/04/04 4:48am)
International educational reformers and community leaders convened in Bloomington to celebrate a new facility donated by the Hope Foundation to various community youth organizations Saturday. The building is a warehouse located on the west side next to the General Electric plant and will be used by the Boys & Girls Club, Girls Inc., and the Bloomington Playwrights Project.\nIndiana State Senator Vi Simpson, IU Vice President of institutional development and student affairs Charlie Nelms, IU School of Education University Dean Gerardo Gonzalez and Monroe Bank President Mark Bradford welcomed and renewed relationships with invited guests at the open house ceremony.\nHope Foundation President Alan M. Blankstein led the ribbon cutting ceremony and presented keys for the city to community members for all three community organizations. Blankstein said he believes the Hope Foundation's mission involves developing and supporting educational leaders over time to create school cultures that sustain all students' achievement.\n"We are here to inaugurate our new space and open it the community, literally," Blankstein said to the key holders. "You have the support of the whole community behind you."\nThe Hope Foundation was founded in 1989 with the purpose of bridging the information gap between modern educational thinkers across the world and the real-life classroom. The foundation motto "Failure Is Not an Option" is the educational cornerstone and primary ideology of all the research, summits and institutes, long-term school improvement plans, keynote educational experts and consultants, professional development videos, print resources and leadership academies conducted throughout the nation to ensure no child is left behind in the classroom.\nThe highlight of the open house was an address by Kamele "Oupa" Seane, U.S. liaison to the Hope Foundation's Honorary Chair Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Seane shared various political points-of-view of world peace processes and discussed Tutu's spiritual and philosophical approaches to leadership and conflict resolution.\n"In a true democracy, you treat others how you want to be treated -- you subject others to the same treatment as you want from them," Seane said. "We should not give up on democracy because others are breaking the law. We are a sophisticated nation; we cannot act the terrorists. Everything has to be done with respect for law."\nSeane works as the Director of Intercultural Center for PEACE at the University of North Florida. His message compared the current U.S. political and educational environments with his professional experiences in South Africa. \n"In a true democracy, sometimes your ears and eyes are subjected to things you disagree with. You have to be opened minded to ideas different from our own, listen to what others have to say," Seane said. "The U.N. called our war on Iraq illegal. We need to fulfill our responsibility of making our world a better place to live. We need a new type of sober leadership."\nBlankstein believes the Hope Foundation can benefit the local community in addition to the international primary and secondary educational communities. The open house concluded with several theatrical performances by previous BPP mini-play contest winners. All actors, directors and stagehands were middle and high school students.\nBPP education director Breshaun Joyner appreciates the work space donated by the Hope Foundation, and she looks forward to the community partnership created between the two organizations.\n"We'd like to use the (warehouse) space for kindergarten through second grade theatre summer camps. We already have camps for third through tenth grades," Joyner said. "We want to teach the really young ones basic theatre: mask making, improvisation, character development, movement. The BPP is the place to go for new and original works of theater."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
