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(10/30/06 4:01am)
Libertarian candidate Mike Kole is hoping to take his party to the next level.\nAn Ohio native, Kole said the Libertarian Party was kept off the ballot in Ohio for years, but he worked to get it back on. \n"I decided I wanted to run to keep that position and to keep the Libertarian Party on the ballot and hopefully take it to the next level," Kole said. "We saw this year what a struggle it can be."\nLibertarian thinking, Kole said, takes the idea that you own yourself and applies it to all areas of one's life. Libertarians believe in limited government, "so long as you don't initiate force or fraud against another human being," he said.\nBefore coming to Indiana, Kole used a Libertarian perspective in commentaries at a community radio station in Cleveland, he said. \nHe became involved in Indiana Libertarian Andy Horning's campaign for Congress in 2002 and served as chair of Indiana's Hamilton County party from 2003 to 2005 and as state secretary of the Libertarian Party in Indiana from 2004 to 2005. \nKole said college students' liberties are slowly being taken away. He said, in reference to college students, if "you believe you have the right to make decisions that affect your life, the erosion of liberties has to frighten you."\nAs secretary of state, Kole said he will reverse what he calls a trend toward limiting civil liberties. \n"The Libertarian Party wants to bring things back toward greater individual liberty," he said. "It's manifested in so many little ways what you can or cannot do with your life, even though it's your life."\nWhile other candidates are content with the voting system, Kole said he believes voter-verified paper trails can ensure faith in the voting system. Nevada and North Carolina are using such ballots and are content with the results, he said. \n"To me, I think the secretary of state should be proactive and lobby the various county clerks who ultimately make the decision on these machines to get the (voter-verified) paper trails because we saw in Florida just how disastrous a recount situation can be if you cannot determine voter intent," he said.\nDistrict gerrymandering is another concern for Kole.\nBasing voting districts on geographic divisions, instead of artificial lines drawn to give a certain political party an advantage, is a fairer system, he said.\n"The practice of gerrymandering of districts rips off our people, and it creates a bad situation in a democratically elected government," he said.\nKole said he doesn't care who resolves his concerns, as long as it gets done.\n"If policy is going in my direction, then I have been an effective candidate, win or lose," he said.
(10/30/06 4:00am)
Democratic candidate Joe Pearson has long been in public service and hopes to become secretary of state after this fall's election. Encouraging younger voters and getting them to use their full potential is Pearson's focus, he said.\n"We've gotta focus on our young people and our people in college, and we've gotta talk with them, not to them," he said. "As secretary of state, I would come and say, 'What do we have to do? What are we not doing?'"\nPearson emphasized the need for this generation to increase its enthusiasm for civic responsibility and the democratic process.\n"We have the best democracy in the world," he said. "And for that democracy to work, you have to have participation (from) all citizens. And we have not engaged our young people into that process."\nAnother issue Pearson addressed is his opposition to the recent stricter voting laws.\nA law implemented this year in the primary elections requires all voters to have a photo ID at the polls, Pearson said.\n"We have some of the most strict voting laws in the nation," he said.\nPearson said he believes the law requiring a photo ID to vote at the polls has "unintended consequences" for those who might not be able to obtain such an ID.\nSenior citizens, veterans and low-income voters, who might not have access to an automobile, would be less likely to have a driver's license and photo ID, he said.\n"We disenfranchised some of our voters, and we've got to remedy that," Pearson said. "No eligible voter should be turned away, and we ought to make voting easier, not more difficult." \nPearson believes the secretary of state needs to be "very nonpartisan." \n"You have to have both people at the table so that each group has someone that's their advocate," he said. "This is not about politics; it's about people's rights to vote."\nPearson has served on the Blackford County School Board for 16 years. He also worked for the Indiana School Boards Association and National School Boards Association for the Midwest. \nBeginning in 1995, Pearson served as assistant commissioner of agriculture for Indiana under Governors Evan Bayh, Frank O'Bannon and Joe Kernan.
(10/30/06 3:59am)
Republican Secretary of State Todd Rokita describes his position as the intersection of law, business and government in Indiana. After serving as Indiana's secretary of state for four years, Rokita is hoping to be re-elected next week.\nThe nation's youngest secretary of state, Rokita, 36, serves as the chief election official in Indiana, making sure practices are "as fair, accurate and accessible as possible," he said in an e-mail.\n"What I like most about (my job) is you can really affect the world, or at least those lives that you touch, in a positive way and that the work from day to day is always different," he said.\nPrior to being elected the secretary of state in 2002, Rokita worked as the deputy secretary of state. Rokita currently serves as chief securities fraud investigator, discovering security law violators and fraud scams.\nActive in the National Association of Secretaries of State, Rokita is making plans to serve as the president of the organization in 2007, after finishing as treasurer, according to a biography on his Web site.\nImproving voter turnout is a big concern for Rokita, he said. Young people aren't pulling their weight at the polls, and a college poll worker program Rokita initiated will help "re-indoctrinate back into our culture the importance of voting," he said.\nReaching out to college students by creating programs that teach students how to budget and save money is another one of the ways Rokita has helped the college generation, he said. \nWith his opponent, Democratic candidate Joe Pearson, pushing for voter-verified paper ballots, Rokita said replacing the new and current electronic voting system would cost the state millions of dollars,\n"At this time, I see no evidence that suggests we need to pay tens of millions of dollars of taxpayers' money to quench or to stop a made-up fear," Rokita said. "Because you're talking about re-doing all the polling equipment we just paid $80 million for."\nStricter voting laws, which began this year in primary elections, now require voters to have a photo ID when voting.\nRokita's push for these laws now ensures that voters will be confident at the polls, he said.\n"I am for photo IDs at the polls as a common sense, no-cost way to increase voter confidence that the vote they cast will not be stolen and their identity won't be stolen by somebody who's trying to cheat," Rokita said. \nReforming the Indiana Election Commission and expanding vote centers are two of Rokita's goals, given that he is re-elected, he said.\nRokita said he believes the Indiana Election Division, as it stands now, is set up for failure. In 2007, he hopes to introduce legislation that will reform it. The new law would make the election division accountable to the secretary of state, giving the secretary of state the "tie-breaking vote" on the election commission's decisions, Rokita said in an e-mail.\nExpanding vote centers is another of Rokita's goals, he said. In 2008, Rokita hopes to implement legislation that would make vote centers more available in order to increase voter turnout.\nRokita said his public service job allows him to help people and solve problems. \n"My impression of being secretary of state for four years is that it's definitely a job, more than a job, that requires you to really like working with and solving problems for people, and I do"
(10/25/06 3:44am)
A bearded lady and sex toys will be the topics of two gender studies' lectures today in an effort to bring awareness to the IU Department of Gender Studies.\nGender studies professor Lynn Comella will be presenting a seminar called "Sex Talk, Sex Toys and Sexual Health," as the first installment of the Sexual Health Research Working Group Sexual Health Seminar, series according to an IU press release. \nComella will be lecturing on research she's done on feminist sex toy stores in the United States, she said. The event will be held from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the Sassafras Room of the Indiana Memorial Union. It is sponsored by The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction. \nAfter working as a researcher in a sex toy store called Babeland in New York City, Comella said she learned women-owned sex toy stores were about more than making money. \n"One of the things that interested me was these were more than just businesses that wanted to make money, but they were businesses that really wanted to help power people around their sexuality," Comella said. \nComella has presented her research at the University of Massachusetts, Columbia University and both the National and International Communication Associations, she said, but this is her first lecture on the topic at IU. \n"I think it's interesting to students because a number of students casually visit sex toy stores and use sex toys," she said. "They might find it interesting to think about questions of sexual education and sexual health in a setting that isn't school or that isn't a health center." \nThe gender studies department will also present a lecture by Jennifer Miller at 7 p.m. Wednesday night in the IU Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Centerat 275 N. Jordan Ave. \nThe free event will feature Miller, a lesbian who has decided to live her life with a beard, said Suzanna Walters, chair of the Department of Gender Studies, who worked to bring Miller to campus. \nMiller is the director of Circus Amok, a New York City-based circus theater, said Susan Seizer, associate professor of communication and culture, who helped bring Miller to IU.\nAfter showing her documentary "Juggling Gender," Miller will be answering questions and may perform part of her sideshow act, Seizer said, which includes juggling and stilt walking.\n"She has a lot to say about issues of social justice and re-imagining gender in our culture," Walters said. "She chose to see what would happen if she didn't do that. She sort of lives in the world in a way that's very different from many of us"
(10/24/06 6:22am)
Four members of the IU men's swimming and diving team were arrested early Sunday morning for vandalizing several cars on campus, according to an IU Police Department report.\nKeith J. Dawley, 19, Jensen V. Ried, 18, Andrew M. Bengtsen, 18, and Tyler John Nielsen, 18, were arrested, said IUPD Capt. Jerry Minger, reading from the report. All were arrested and transported to the Monroe County jail on charges of illegal consumption, criminal mischief and public intoxication, Minger said.\nAn officer arrived at 12:52 a.m. Sunday at the 1700 block of Seventh Street, near Ashton Center, after a caller reported cars were being vandalized in that area, Minger said. The officer was driving west on Seventh Street when he noticed four men next to a 1995 purple Chevy Cavalier, Minger said. \nThe men were huddled around the car, and the officer watched them pick up and slide the back end of the car, moving it into the road to block traffic, Minger said. All four walked away when the officer approached, but the officer "maintained visual contact" with Ried and Bengtsen as they continued walking north, Minger said. \nAnother officer arrived on the scene and encountered Ried and Bengtsen near Ashton-Mottier Hall as they were trying to get into the locked building, Minger said. Minger said Neilsen and Dawley were hiding behind a large tree by the road before they were apprehended.\nPolice noticed that seven vehicles had been vandalized on Seventh Street as they pursued the men, but only four of the vehicles can be attributed to the four men, Minger said. The damage to the three other cars has not yet been reported by their owners, Minger said.\n"It looks like all the vandalism was caused by those individuals, according a witness," said IUPD Sgt. Chad Bennett. The four men at first denied vandalizing the vehicles but eventually admitted to the offense. Side mirrors were broken off all the vehicles, and the Chevy Cavalier had a torn license plate with one screw in place, a pushed-in gas cap cover and a torn passenger mirror, Minger said.\nPhil Perry, assistant director of media relations for IU athletics, would not discuss any repercussions from the swim team for the men's actions.\n"We are aware of the matter," he said. "We're currently gathering the facts on the matter, and when that process is complete, we will address it accordingly"
(10/23/06 4:34am)
After a vast decline in student donations to the Rape Crisis Fund, the IU Student Association announced the formation of a task force Friday that could decide to pull the fund's money away from Middle Way House, the recipient of the donations for nearly 20 years.\nIUSA has given the funds to Middle Way House, a domestic violence and rape crisis center in Bloomington, since the late 1980s to support the salary of Crisis Intervention Services Coordinator Colleen Yeakle, whose duties include training rape victim advocates and answering the rape crisis hotline.\nA loss of Middle Way House funding would "hurt us terribly," Middle Way House Executive Director Toby Strout said.\n"It would be deeply distressing to me if IUSA, representing the student body, decided not to have the students contribute to the cost of those services, but it will not change our commitment to providing them," Strout said.\nStrout said if IUSA pulled the money, Middle Way House would continue the services provided by the Rape Crisis fund.\nShe also voiced concern because she said she's confused as to whether the task force will review the funding decline or Middle Way's efforts as an organization.\nDonations to the fund have declined from $27,500 in 2002 to less than $12,000 in 2005, according to a handout distributed at a meeting IUSA organized Friday. The fund receives money when students register for classes and place a checkmark in the box to donate to the fund. The donation is charged to their bursar account, and the money is put aside for IUSA to send to Middle Way House, said Lindsay Kerrigan, IUSA director of women's affairs. Despite advertising efforts and an "unprecedented" amount of money spent by IUSA to promote the fund, it has not seen a reverse in the trend, Kerrigan said.\n"We've decided to issue a review to pinpoint why so many students no longer feel compelled to donate," she said. "...We're reviewing every aspect of the fund."\nBy reviewing the fund and asking tough questions of student organizations and Middle Way House, the task force will look at how well the fund matches current social trends, IUSA Vice President Andrew Lauck said.\n"Obviously IUSA is committed to this cause, and obviously, we really do think that Middle Way House provides a lot of strong services," he said. "If we didn't ask those kinds of questions, we'd be doing a disservice to the cause."\nFriends of Middle Way House is another organization that has campaigned to promote donations with its Register Against Rape campaign, IUSA Chief of Internal Affairs Julie Aud said.\n"They've been doing a great job, which is why it's pretty disappointing to see the fund not meeting the level we'd like to see," she said.\nBecause of the decline in funds, the meeting was held Friday morning to discuss how a review of the fund will be implemented immediately, Kerrigan said. IUSA is looking for nominations of members to join a task force that will review the fund with thorough research and determine where the money is best given, Kerrigan said.\n"It's really important to IUSA that we have a balanced group and continue to look at the fund objectively," Kerrigan said.\nIUSA hopes to see other student organizations, agencies, professors and professionals in the field become a part of the task force to review the rape crisis fund, Aud said.\n"We (also) think it's really important to have members of the task force who aren't very aware of the issues who can kind of come up with an unbiased opinion and learn throughout the process," she said.\nThe fund rarely exceeds the support needed for the coordinator's salary, in which case the money is then applied to "materials for campus distribution," Strout said in a handout distributed at the meeting. Strout said she wonders why people don't want to fund salaries for those working in social services.\n"That's what social services are -- people helping people," Strout said. "You begin to wonder how would they like to contribute. ... How would these services be supplied if there wasn't a person to supply them?"\nKerrigan's main concern is making sure students know the fund is created to benefit students as much as possible, and she wants their input in making sure the money goes to the right place, she said.\n"Check the box," she said. "The most important thing they can do is check that box during registration and show the community that it is a pressing issue and is still an important issue to students"
(10/20/06 4:10am)
Sexual assault and rape are serious issues on a college campus, but Fawzia Mirza and Christian Murphy worked to get both out in the open through improvisational comedy skits that promoted conversation about the sensitive issues. \nDuo Mirza and Murphy of Catharsis Productions, based in Chicago, presented "Sex Signals" Thursday night at McNutt Quad, sponsored by the Residence Halls Association. The comedy group travels around the country educating college students about sexual assault and rape in an engaging and interactive way. \nThe fourth annual program aims to educate in a way students find amusing, said Meg Palm, vice president of programming for RHA. Understanding the idea of consent was the main theme of the program, she said. \n"If you're going to be a sexual initiator, you need to be responsible in knowing the other person's into it," said Murphy, co-creator and actor in the performance. \nA lot of sex signals are misinterpreted, Murphy said, which can make someone think what was really date rape was a date gone bad. Students are easily misguided by what they thought were the facts. \nMore often than not, students are impacted by sexual assault situations, whether it be through a friend or themselves, RHA advisor Sarah Nagy said. \n"I think college students continue to struggle with creating balance when choosing to use alcohol and letting it go too far and knowing the consequences," Nagy said. "In reality, bad things happen to good people." \nMurphy and Mirza jumped into a mix of common scenarios students experience on a college campus, like meeting someone at a bar or a party. \nThe duo acted out scenes from environments where alcohol was present, turning to the audience to determine when a situation became uncomfortable by having them hold up stop signs. \nAn off-campus party scene showed Murphy meeting Mirza at a party where Murphy encouraged Mirza to drink while being very touchy. Many audience members raised their hands when asked if they had seen something like this at a party before. \nThe couple addressed male and female stereotypes in a playful and fun manner, using humorous contributions from the audience for pickup lines in their improvisational scenes.\nThe pair asked for common false impressions about what each expected in their counterparts. At one point, Mirza said men sometimes acted like deer hunters stalking their prey and immediately jumped on top of the chairs yelling "Rawr!" \nThe low-key, interactive atmosphere made it easier for issues that are often ignored to be discussed, IU graduate Alia Shah said.\n"I don't think people talk about it enough," she said. \nPalm said she was disappointed with attendance because fewer than 10 people came. She was expecting about 100 since last year's two performances drew 50 people total.\nBut those who did attend the show didn't leave empty handed. Condoms and sex toys, including erotic silicone rings, were given in gift bags at the conclusion of the event. \n"The idea of this program isn't abstinence," Palm said. "It's about being responsible"
(10/18/06 4:48am)
Kirkwood Avenue has long been a Bloomington landmark, hosting local restaurants, bars, clothing shops and, of course, ice cream. But Jiffy Treet won't be part of Kirkwood's scene for much longer.\nJiffy Treet, which has been serving ice cream on Kirkwood for 19 years, is set to close its doors at the beginning of December, Jiffy Treet owner Hartzell Martel said. The shop's lease has ended, and renewing it is not an option, Martel said, because the building is going to be torn down by Tartan Realty Group of Chicago, who bought the building and land this year.\nMartel has been Kirkwood Jiffy Treet's owner for 14 years and prides his shop on "good customer service and good ice cream," he said. The pin-striped '50s style ice cream parlor has long been a part of Kirkwood's landscape and was previously a Baskin-Robbins, Martel said. Other Bloomington Jiffy Treets will remain open, and Martell hopes to relocate his store as soon as they find a new location somewhere downtown.\nTartan Realty Company refused to speak on the project or what type of building will be going up in Jiffy Treet's place. The company's Web site stated that the building will be made into a "multi-story mixed-use redevelopment."\nAlthough renewing the lease was an option, Martel said it wouldn't have been worth it because the building will be torn down. The shop could have stayed in the same place but would have been forced to a narrower, deeper space at a much higher price per square foot, he said. \nBuying the building is also not an option because it's not for sale.\n"They want to develop it and make more money for their money," Martel said. "Something's gotta go, I guess."\nIt didn't come as a surprise to senior Kristen Bein that a big company with money would push out a small, local place.\n"Unfortunately, it's just the way that the capital system works," she said. "Corporate America is taking over, and that's just the facts."\nFreshmen Jenna Sherman and Courtney Castino said they have made Jiffy Treet a daily tradition since coming to IU.\n"Until they move somewhere else, I don't know where we're gonna go," Sherman said.\nBut what Martel said he is most worried about is keeping his customers that he's developed through the years when his shop relocates. He hopes to relocate between Fourth and Sixth streets and stay there for many years.\n"When you're shut down for a long time, people start to forget about you," he said. "Hopefully that won't happen."\nParents who visited IU over the weekend commented on the upcoming loss of the classic Jiffy Treet many of them visited as former IU students, employee and IU junior Michael Love said.\n"Now when they come to visit their kids, it's not gonna be here anymore," he said. \nWith about nine employees, Kirkwood Jiffy Treet is often more like a family than a work group, Love said.\nMartel estimated about 3.5 million ice cream combinations exist at his Jiffy Treet, between the hard and soft serve ice cream, fat-free yogurt and all the toppings and flavors. His shop is the only one that has 24 soft-serve flavors, and it was mentioned in Bon Appètit magazine in 1999, he said.\nMartel also acquired the Jiffy Treet on Pete Ellis Drive, near the mall, within the last few weeks.\nMartel encourages customers to visit the other Jiffy Treets in Bloomington when his shop closes because they are supportive of one another.\nBloomington residents and students will miss the unique ice cream shop that has been a part of IU tradition for so long, he said.\n"It has character," he said. "It's not one of those things you would see anywhere else"
(10/16/06 2:33am)
People around the nation know him as Jared, the Subway guy, but people from Bloomington might know more about him, like that Jared actually lost his famous 245 pounds while attending IU.
(10/13/06 3:18am)
Facing a shortage of drivers, the Campus Bus Service shifted its employment strategy and is now directly recruiting students to operate the vehicles. The service is offering a salary of about $10 an hour, Campus Bus Service Operations Manager Perry Maull said. While students were allowed to drive buses in the past, he said the service has not recently tried to recruit students. \n"(Students) would tell us, 'Oh, we didn't think students could be bus drivers,'" Maull said. \nEligible student bus drivers must be at least 21 years old, have a good driving record and be able to pass a criminal background check and a drug and alcohol screening, Maull said. Potential drivers then must acquire their commercial driver's licence, for which IU will pay upon completion of the program. \nTwo students, including Ivy Tech Community College of Bloomington student Trent Fortner, currently drive buses for the service, Maull said. Fortner has driven campus buses for five years on and off and said he loves the flexibility and higher pay than most part-time jobs.\n"One thing that's nice about it is you're not stuck behind a desk or running a cash register all day," Fortner said. "You get to see a lot of different people. You don't have to deal with the same people every day."\nFortner admitted most students might be afraid to control such a large vehicle transporting so many of their peers with the responsibility of doing it safely.\nDespite being intimidated, Fortner said he learned quickly and has only been in one minor accident.\n"You think 'There's no way I can maneuver that through campus in traffic,'" he said. "I can drive the bus now as easily as I can drive my car. At first it was scary. Once you get used to it, it's a breeze."\nMany universities across the country are already primarily using students to operate their buses, Maull said.\nBecause Campus Bus operates seasonally, it has trouble gaining full-time employees, who typically want a more steady job with benefits, he said.\n"I think we do provide a competitive wage (for) students looking for part-time jobs," he said. "But I don't think we're competitive for those looking for full-time jobs with benefits."\nBus riders often gaze at Fortner with a look of surprise when they see him maneuvering a bus, he said. Most students would probably be excited if they knew they could easily get a job that pays $10 an hour, he said.\n"Usually they get a look of shock on their faces," he said. "I guess they don't really equate the two things together - that you can drive a bus and be a full-time college student."\nFor more information visit www.iubus.indiana.edu/campus_bus/index.html.
(10/11/06 4:26am)
The Martha Graham Dance Company didn't have to sell out the IU Auditorium to make its audience applause ring like it had done that very thing.\nThe New York-based dance company captivated about 1,500 attendees Tuesday night, showcasing a modern dance history that company dancer Blakeley White-McGuire said represents a part of American legacy.\nMartha Graham's choreography is well-known for its storytelling ability, along with the emotional expression of the dancers who play characters throughout their performances, said Anne Posluszny, company manager.\nAs the curtain rose on the opening piece, a male and female duet came to life -- "Errand into the Maze." Based on a Greek myth, Graham reversed the story to reflect the female's perspective, showing that women have power and control, IU Contemporary Dance Coordinator Liz Shea said.\nLight, innocent flutes and string music rapidly shifted to dark, deep music as the dancers transformed into characters remnant of a silent film.\nGraham's choreography allowed the performers to hold long, powerful positions in which one performer rested on the other with arms and legs extended into the air, all while maintaining perfect balance and stillness. A split second later, the couples' bodies would face off in a battle, but minutes later the woman was again back to her peaceful, smooth movements, sweeping her arms and legs about her. \n"Diversion of Angels," which company dancer David Zurak described at the start of the show as "love in a world without gravity," added several more dancers to the scene, including men in nude-colored tights unable to hide the strength in the muscles throughout their legs and back.\nThe piece swung from passionate love in which a pair sat close in an embrace with the woman's arms wrapped around the man to a flirtatious scene with couples leaping across the stage in synchronized, light movements. \nThree different couples represented a different type of love based on the color of their costumes. According to the program, the couple in white represented mature love, while red signified erotic love and yellow symbolized young love.\nThe audience remained nearly motionless, even as the second piece rounded out in time for an intermission. \n"You can just feel the excitement in the audience and feel the appreciation and the love coming from the audience," Shea said. "It's just amazing."\nGraham's technique is something a general dance background wouldn't prepare a student for, she said. \nAs Graham's work continues to be performed even after her 1991 death, dance history is at an exciting moment when it can relish Graham's work and find new meaning in it, said Selene Carter, an IU dance instructor. \n"The work does change through time," she said. "We have to reinvent it."\nGraham's dances are told in the woman's point of view -- something groundbreaking in Graham's time, White-McGuire said.\n"She took from life, so it grew with her," White-McGuire said. "And as she became a bigger presence, her company became a bigger presence."\nThe company performs nationally and internationally, with its most recent stop in Greece, Posluszny said.\nMost remarkable about the group is that it changes roles with each performance.\nDance major and sophomore Esther Widlanski said the dance company's use of modern dance allowed the performers to freely express themselves.\n"You can do anything you want with it," she said. "If (students) weren't here, they missed out."\nGraham's choreography has an ability to do more than just show movement but tell a story, White-McGuire said.\n"I think the beauty is that she's not telling you a specific story, but she's opening up the possibility to find a story -- your story," she said. "(She's) opening up the doorway for you to feel and experience it. That's great art"
(10/11/06 4:26am)
He has led an entire nation during one of its most trying times. He has helped bring peace to a country struck by civil war. He has been thrown in jail for his efforts. But what's even more remarkable about this former president of Liberia is that he also works at IU.\nAfter growing up in Liberia and receiving an American education, Amos Sawyer headed the transitional government of Liberia in the early 1990s during its civil war.\n"This was an extraordinary situation, not a normal constitution situation," he said. "What was meant to be a six-month exercise lasted for four years."\nBut Sawyer's history with the country extends far back before the time of the war. Sawyer was born in Liberia in 1945 but left the country to attend Northwestern, earning his Ph.D. in political science. He then returned to Liberia to become a professor of political science at the University of Liberia and eventually was hired as a dean in 1980. \nDuring that time, the military overthrew the government and Sawyer spoke against military leader Sgt. Samuel Doe, warning that Liberia's democratic process was being hijacked. These conflicts led to Sawyer's arrest in 1984. After being in jail for several months, he was put on house arrest, he said.\n"They don't tell you they are arresting you for things you say; they find other reasons," he said. "For about 10 months, my movements were restricted. I could not participate in public gatherings. Not many people could visit me. The press was not to publish anything I said. ... It was a military dictatorship."\nSawyer left the country again in 1986 and came to IU to give lectures and work for the University. But a few years later, he decided to go back to his conflict-ridden home to promote the issues that once sent him to jail.\n"When the war started in 1989, things had been bubbling and bubbling, and by 1989 the whole thing blew up," Sawyer said.\nAfter joining a group that advocated a return to constitutional rule, the Interim Government of National Unity was formed, and Sawyer was asked to head it. Sawyer took office in 1990.\n"Because it was going to take six months, I said 'Well, why not? Maybe this way I can help out,'" he said.\nSawyer worked to bring peace to the country by negotiating with warlords and working to disarm them, he said. But what was supposed to take six months ended up lasting several years. Reaching a peace agreement was the biggest challenge, he said.\n"People were running for their lives," Sawyer said of situation in the country, which had a population of 2.5 million during the war. "This was a state of war. The war engulfed the entire country. People were displaced from their homes. More than 70 percent of the people of the country were displaced. Every village was affected one way or the other in terms of infrastructure. It was a terrible tragedy."\nFrustrated with his failed attempts to bring peace, Sawyer resigned from his presidential post in 1994. Though Sawyer never saw peace during his own reign, the factions in the country finally ceased fighting in 2003. This year the country has accomplished something the United States has yet to achieve -- electing a female president. \n"(President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf) has put in place what I think is a rather competent government, and she brings a lot of strength of personal integrity to the position," Sawyer said.\nStill, when Sawyer reflects on his time as president, he realizes it taught him that a few people can make a big difference, he said.\n"Indeed, you need to have patience," he said. "In a situation where you want effective results, there's a high transaction cost, which means here you must be prepared to hold discussions -- wide-ranging -- and bring people on board."\nThough he plans to return permanently to Liberia at some point, Sawyer currently splits his time between his home country, where he is part of the governor's reform commission, and IU, where he is associate director and research scholar for the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis.\n"My work there enriches the work here, and the work here sort of supports and provides some ideas for the reform agenda," Sawyer said.\nSawyer works closely with Jacqui Bauer, assistant director for the workshop, and Bauer said it's challenging for Sawyer to balance his two lives.\n"But it's so important to him," she said. "The opportunities his country has at this point in its history, they're not going to come up again. I think he's willing to make a lot of personal sacrifices."\nAdjusting to civilian life after being the head of an African government has not been difficult, Sawyer said.\n"I never took my feet off the ground," he said. "My friends were always my friends. I saw the job as an assignment. It didn't change me in any way from what I would normally want to do"
(10/11/06 3:34am)
A resident of Ashton-Vos reported nearly $500 cash missing from his dorm room Monday night, according to the IU Police Department.\nThe resident said he left his room to use the bathroom and noticed a man in the hallway, IUPD Capt. Jerry Minger said, reading from the police report. The man came into the bathroom behind him but then left before the resident did, Minger said. The resident noted that the man was acting suspiciously, Minger said.\nThe resident told police he was only gone for a few minutes, but when he returned to his room, he realized the money was missing, Minger said.
(10/10/06 3:44am)
A member of Sigma Chi fraternity told police his car was stolen early Saturday morning, according to an IU Police Department report. \nAfter parking his 2002 Jeep Cherokee overnight at the fraternity house, the man told police he woke up in the morning to find his car missing, said IUPD Capt. Jerry Minger, reading from the police report. \nPolice then entered the report in Indiana Data and Communications System, which Minger said would generate a hit if any other checks or queries had come up with that vehicle's license plate number.\nThe system indicated a hit from 4:10 that morning in Martinsville when a Martinsville Police Department officer arrested Eric A. Troyer, 21, for drunk driving and public intoxication while he was driving the Sigma Chi member's missing vehicle, Minger said.\nWhen an IUPD officer questioned Troyer, who was being held in Morgan County Jail and who is listed as a Purdue student in the Purdue database, said he was borrowing the car, Minger said. \n"He wanted to go back to Purdue and stated that this subject, whom he couldn't or did not name to the officer, said that he would let Troyer borrow his car for $20 if he just returned it the following day," Minger said.\nPolice questioned the Sigma Chi member, who said he had never met Troyer and did not let him borrow the car, Minger said. The Sigma Chi member told police he had left the car unlocked when it was stolen, Minger said. Officers found a spare key in the center console of the car when they arrested Troyer, Minger said.
(10/06/06 4:09am)
Picture six modern dance professionals leaping and jumping high into the air with 45 light-reflecting dots covering their bodies. While they dance, cameras around them film their movements while transforming them into animated 3-D images. These images will be part of an abstract projection shown during the final performance. \nIf that's not enough to make the audience dizzy, the animated dancing image on the computer screen shifts angles in an infinite number of ways. This is only phase one.\nNew York-based choreographer Ben Munisteri of Ben Munisteri Dance Projects has brought six dancers from his company to IU for the creation of a revolutionary dance project using motion-capture technology, something that is a first for a mid-level dance company like his, Munisteri said.\nThe dancers, along with Munisteri, have worked every day for the past three weeks on the project using the same kind of technology seen in movies such as "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Polar Express", Munisteri said. \nThe dancers put about 45 infrared light-sensitive dots on their bodies while dancing, Munisteri said. The markers are automatically read by infrared cameras and translated onto a computer that fashions the animated figure represented by dots, he said. This projection will mirror the live performance, called "Terra Nova" which means "New World" in Latin. "Terra Nova" will premiere in April at the University of California, Santa Cruz. \n"This is really the first time anyone has done a project like this," dancer Hope Davis said. "It's exciting. It's kind of fun."\nThe most unique part of the project is that the video will allow audience members to see the images from a multitude of angles, Munisteri said.\n"I can rotate the dance at any speed in any direction and show it on a video projection," he said. "That just fits with the way I choreograph ... It's a different experience. It fits the way I make dances very well."\nMunisteri is still undecided on the relationship between the project on the screen and the live performance that will be going on. He does know the video projection will be abstract and the dancers will mirror what is going on behind them.\n"We're thinking of using the motion-capture data to put the dance inside moving organic forms like a lava flow," he said. "And it'll be perceptible, but it won't be literal."\nWith 12 cameras, infinite points of view are available, Munisteri said. The culmination of the company's three week residency is a preview of the group's work at an open house 2 p.m. Friday in HPER 161.\nAfter meeting IU Contemporary Dance Coordinator, Liz Shea, at the National Dance Education Organization where both Munisteri and Shea presented lectures on dance and technology, they decided to combine efforts using IU's technology and Munisteri's talents.\n"It's just very rare that a project on this scale comes together so quickly and so completely," Munisteri said. "I would definitely say motion-capture equipment is not commonplace."\nThe new Ergonomics Laboratory has a 3-D video motion analysis system that contains eight high-speed, digital cameras that can record ground reaction forces, according to a media release. \nThough the equipment has been used in the past to study injury and skill acquisition, this is the first time it's been used at IU for a dance project, Shea said. \nMunisteri tried to imagine the finished product onstage and mustered up what he hopes it will become.\n"If you can imagine like a dancer is a virtual paintbrush, so when she moves on stage and travels across the stage, she leaves behind in her wake a stroke of moving colors and images where the dance she just danced is embedded in the images," he said. "I hope it works out that way"
(10/06/06 3:22am)
A South Bend man visiting IU attempted to commit suicide by jumping out the third floor hallway window of Ashton Vos on Wednesday night, IU Police Department officers said. But his friends claim he was only joking and didn't mean to go through the window.\nThe 19-year-old man, who is not an IU student, was in stable condition at Bloomington Hospital on Thursday afternoon, IUPD Capt. Jerry Minger said.\nThe man told residents of the third floor of Vos that he was going to dive out the window, but no one took him seriously, Minger said, reading from a police report. The floor residents returned to what they were doing and then heard someone running down the hall, glass breaking and a scream, Minger said. They found the man lying on the concrete outside, the report said. \nIUPD officers arrived at about 8:20 p.m. to find the man lying on the west side of Ashton Vos with fragments of glass around him and the window screen beneath him, Minger said. The third floor window was broken but some glass in the frame remained intact.\nThe male was conscious and his breathing was shallow when police arrived. He also suffered a swollen left eye and laceration on his upper lip, Minger said.\nParamedics rushed the man to the hospital in critical condition, he said.\nAs of Thursday morning the man had undergone one surgery, Minger said.\n"We can only assume he meant to do some sort of harm to himself," Minger said. "(The floor residents) evidently didn't take him very seriously because they went back to what they were doing."\nFreshman Sasha Sindlinger said she and the man were like family and that the incident was not a suicide attempt.\n"I know for sure from the bottom of my heart," Sindlinger said. "If you knew (him), you'd know he was just goofy. That's (his) personality. He's hyper, he just likes to play around. ... I know that his soul just meant to stop, but for some reason his body kept going."\nSindlinger said the man is going to need a couple more surgeries because some of his facial bones were shattered and his teeth were damaged.\nThird floor resident Tasha Hart also said she believes it was not a suicide attempt, that the man was "just kidding around." He was running on the floor and couldn't stop, sending him through the window, she said.\nHart said the man often stayed with Sindlinger, who lives on the floor.\n"He's made a lot of friends on the floor, so we stayed up until 4 a.m. crying and praying," Hart said.\nThird floor resident and sophomore Sarah Bryan said she was in her room near the window when the man jumped and she heard glass break. She left her room and looked out the broken window to see the man on the ground. \n"At first I was like, 'Oh my God, he's dead,' but then I saw him moving his arms," Bryan said. "It was very chaotic. Nobody really knew what happened."\nFreshman Whitney R. Barnett, another resident of the floor, agreed with Hart that the man did not attempt to kill himself. \n"We all think the same thing," Barnett said. "We all think it was an accident." \nBecause the man told others on the floor he was going to jump out the window and then did so, Minger said they have no reason to believe it was not a suicide attempt. \n"Nothing at this point has caused us to sway from our original determination, and it's based on what he warned everyone he was going to do and for all indications he actually carried out," he said.
(10/06/06 12:44am)
A South Bend man visiting IU attempted to commit suicide by jumping out of the third floor hallway window of an Ashton Vos dorm Wednesday night, police said. \nThe man, who is not an IU student, was in critical condition at Bloomington Hospital Thursday morning, IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said.\nThe man told people in the dorm that he was going to dive out the window but no one took him seriously, Minger said, reading from the report. The floor residents returned to what they were doing and then heard someone running down the hall, glass breaking and a scream, Minger said. \nIUPD arrived to find a man lying on the west side of Ashton Vos with fragments of glass around him, Minger said. The window from Vos's third floor was broken, Minger said.\nThe man was conscious and had trouble breathing when police arrived and had a swollen left eye and lasceration on his upper lip, the report said. \n"We can only assume he meant to do some sort of harm to himself," Minger said. "(The floor residents) evidently didn't take him very seriously because they went back to what they were doing"
(10/05/06 4:26am)
With just six days left before the Oct. 10 voter registration deadline, the voting system that will be used on Election Day passed a public test Wednesday morning with flying colors, County Clerk Jim Fielder said. Still, members of local group Verify the Vote are not satisfied. \nThough all three machines passed tests, it does not mean they will be accurate on Election Day, Verify the Vote members said. \n"If they were going to do really thorough testing of our current voting system, it would take over 80 hours," Cynthia Hoffman, a Verify the Vote member, said.\nHoffman and other members of Verify the Vote are concerned that the nearly 20-year-old electronic voting machines are not reliable, citing a study by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. \nVerify the Vote member Jim Allison said he thinks the systems need to be audited on Election Day. \n"I'm not satisfied with the notion that I'm supposed to trust somebody," he said. "If there's a subtle problem, these tests won't reveal them." \nFielder, who is part of the county's three-member Board of Elections, said he has faith in the machines.\n"As far as testing them further, I think we could test them from now to eternity and there would be that group that will still allege that there's problems with electronic machines," he said. "I think they have an agenda that they're going to continue on. No, I do not believe that they really have a reason to mistrust the machines." \nVerify the Vote members are still pushing for the requests they voiced at a Sept. 13 meeting, Hoffman said.\nThe group has petitioned the Board of Elections and requested that the summary tapes be released from the voting machines on Election Day so the results can be double-checked. The group also wants to audit any paper ballots cast before Election Day, Hoffman said. \n"I think we're at a time where voters are concerned," Hoffman said. \nIn the future, the group hopes to implement an optical scan voting system that uses paper instead of electronics to record the data, a system Hoffman said will be cheaper than updating the current electronic system. \nThough Verify the Vote wants to check the election accuracy on Election Day by releasing the summary tapes, Election Supervisor Jessica White said the results will be locked up through the recount period, which is 48 hours. However, the group is welcome to check anything after that time period if it is curious, she said.\nThe Election Board will not hire workers to pull the summary tapes that night, Fielder said. \n"We don't do that for other groups, and we're not going to do that for Verify the Vote," he said.\nWednesday's public testing checked the reliability of MicroVote's Infinity machines as well as the older machines, the release said. The Infinity machines recently had their new software certified, Fielder said, which accommodates a straight-party vote, something it could not do before. \nResidents of Monroe County, including students, can register to vote in Room 202 of the Justice Building, 301 N. College Ave. Election Day is Nov. 7.
(10/05/06 3:59am)
Senior ballerina Lauren Fadeley didn't spend her time dancing at her high school prom. Instead, she dedicated her time to preparing for the stage of the New York City Ballet. Being in the NYC ballet became overwhelming and an unhealthy atmosphere, she said. So now Fadeley has traded a professional career for an education and is spending her hours being a student and dancer in IU's Ballet Theater productions, including this weekend's Fall Ballet. \nMore than 30 IU ballet students will combine their talents for the Jacobs School of Music Fall Ballet this weekend to produce a show ballet department chair Michael Vernon said has something for everyone.\nThe Fall Ballet will debut at 8 p.m. Oct. 6 and 7 with "From Balanchine to Baker: An International Evening of Dance," according to a press release. With Vernon as the newly appointed chair of the ballet program, this marks the first ballet at IU under his direction.\nFive pieces comprise the ballet which is choreographed by five artists from different countries, the release said. The Fall Ballet will also feature guest dancers Julie Kent of the American Ballet Theatre and Damian Woetzel of the New York City Ballet. The pair will perform a piece for the conclusion of the ballet, Vernon said. \n"They're world-renowned international ballet stars," he said. "They're just so experienced nothing is gonna throw them."
(10/04/06 4:42am)
Freshman tosses pet guinea pig out window. Student gets into police squad car thinking he hailed a cab. Juveniles make fake 911 call to try and catch police eating doughnuts on the job. \nAll of the above are some of the offbeat "crimes" the IU Police Department has dealt with in past years. That's because unlike other police departments, the IUPD serves the same demographic every year: college students, usually between the ages of about 18 and 22. \nWith a mission of "protecting life and property," Capt. Jerry Minger said IUPD is always encountering unusual and bizarre crimes. \n"You kind of roll your eyes at it, but you see people doing stupid things all the time," he said. "We see a lot of things other police departments never see. (We) expect the unexpected." \nAnd IU's campus of more than 30,000 students has brought plenty of unexpected cases to IUPD. Unusual crimes might bring a laugh to the officers, but it's not always funny to the people who are involved, Minger said.
