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Selecting the perfect beach read is especially relevant for me because I will have to drown out the sounds of my family members, whom I love dearly, after spending 120 hours with them with no outside contact.
Hillary Jordan’s debut novel “Mudbound” (published by Algonquin Books) took me two days to finish. I literally couldn’t put it down. I stuffed it into my purse so I could read it on my lunch break, when I was early to meetings, and at stoplights.
While waiting for David Sedaris to sign my copy of “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim” in Louisville, Ky., my boyfriend and I sat outside in the grass and read the essays aloud to one another. I would read two stories, then he would do the same.
After more than three decades working for IU's library system, Dean of University Libraries Patricia Steele will be leaving Bloomington for the same position at University of Maryland, Provost Karen Hanson announced Monday.
If President Michael McRobbie has his way, in-state students at IU-Bloomington can expect a 4.6 percent increase in tuition this year and a 4.8 percent increase in tuition the next.
After a change in direction, a change of name was also in order to reflect the expansion of study at the IU School of Informatics, which has been re-named the School of Informatics and Computing.
Ants swarm Kilanga. Camouflaging with palm trees, mambas coil waiting for a kill. Disease gnaws at the children too weak to escape it. Beyond the jungle, a war for independence rages between diamond-hungry Belgium and America.
The IU Kelley School of Business is receiving a $15 million donation from an IU alumnus to benefit minority scholarships. It is one of the largest donations ever given to the school, and with interest and IU’s match program, it will be the single largest gift.
The IU Kelley School of Business is receiving a $15 million donation from an IU alumnus to benefit minority scholarships. It is one of the largest donations ever given to the school, and with interest and IU’s match program, it the single largest contribution.
After an early Saturday morning attack on three students, the IU Police Department is searching for the suspect and interviewing witnesses and victims. The suspect gave an 18-year-old male a four-inch cut to the neck and two females superficial cuts on their faces that did not require medical attention.
Hudson-Holland Scholars try to sit down and stand back up in a seated circle Wednesday in Dunn Meadow. The students also played ‘Never have I ever,’ came up with dances and performed them for each other.
Hudson-Holland Scholars try to sit down and stand back up in a seated circle Wednesday in Dunn Meadow. The students also played 'Never have I ever,' came up with dances and performed them for each other.
Two IU juniors divulge their first night out in London and how it reminded them of home.
Ever feel lost in your own kitchen? Sit back, grab some Tupperware and a Brillo pad, and take advice from the experts.
When IU sophomore Kelly Spicer went in for volunteer training at the Middle Way House at the beginning of her freshman year, she had no idea she would be fielding crisis calls from women planning to or exploring the option of leaving their abusive spouses.\nMiddle Way, a non-profit organization that supports women and children fleeing from abusive relationships, will train people like Spicer for the 24-hour crisis line, basic legal advice, health management, grant writing, fundraising and some “on-scene advocacy” in January. \nMiddle Way House will hold open training sessions for new volunteers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 21 and Jan. 26 at First United Methodist Church, 219 E. Fourth St. \nElizabeth Hannibal, the crisis intervention services coordinator, said Middle Way is looking for volunteers who are planning to stay for a period of time to build a relationship with the clientele.\n“It’s wonderful to have volunteers who stick around because our clients really get to know them,” Hannibal said.\nSpicer has done just that, working on the crisis line for more than a year.\nSpicer said her training experience was “very informational” but also “very emotional” because of the subject matter.\n“Domestic violence is kind of brushed under the rug,” Spicer said. “People don’t realize how prevalent it is in society.”\nAccording to the Middle Way Web site, domestic violence is actually “the most repeated, least reported crime in the nation,” and a woman is beaten every 15 seconds.\nHannibal said the seriousness of the issue is why Middle Way looks for volunteers willing to stay and create lasting relationships. \nShe also said volunteers save the organization money. About 300 volunteers who trained last year took the place of 10 full-time \nstaff positions.\n“They provide great, loving role models for our children and support for our women,” Hannibal said. “We honestly really couldn’t function without our volunteers.”\nSpicer agrees knowledge and statistics are important. But, she said in her time volunteering at Middle Way, making connections with the women on the other end of the phone line has been the most crucial part of her job.\n“Especially as a woman, just being there for other women in different situations is rewarding – just being there,” Spicer said. “It’s a thing a lot of these women don’t have – someone just being there at \nthat moment.”
Three Bloomington women are all missing the same man.\nA week ago today, Pvt. Bret Hawkins, 20, left for final training as an artillery gunner for the National Guard until he is deployed to Iraq at the end of February.\nAside from his two summers away at training since his enlistment, Bret Hawkins lived at home until he was deployed Jan. 2. When he reaches his destination in Iraq, he will be stationed about 200 miles north of Baghdad and more than 7000 miles from Bloomington, a place his grandmother, mother and girlfriend call home.\n“My guess was that if things didn’t change very shortly that yes, he would be deployed,” said Rita Rogers, Bret Hawkins’ grandmother.\nAlthough Bret Hawkins expected to be deployed, he was still “shocked” when he got the official news. But he wasn’t the only one who hadn’t prepared himself emotionally.\n“When he got the word that he was going, I was kind of upset, obviously,” said Laura Hawkins, his mother. “But more so than I thought because I thought I prepared myself for it, but I guess I didn’t.”\nCollege\nCollege students and academia have surrounded Bret Hawkins for most of his life.\nLaura Hawkins worked for IU as a departmental secretary for about 11 years and Rogers has worked at the Herman B Wells Library for almost 30 years. \n“I think that in a college town, possibly, there are people all around you – the environment of high expectation,” Rogers said.\nAfter leaving his job stocking the back room at Target, Bret Hawkins enlisted in the National Guard March 16, 2005 to benefit from the G.I. Bill, which offers a grant to pay for a soldier’s higher education, and for the experience.\n“I really think that he just thought he wouldn’t be able to get enough grants or student loans … to pay for college,” Laura Hawkins said.\nBret Hawkins’ girlfriend of two and a half years, Maria Baker, is also a private in the National Guard. She said a soldier is also awarded $20,000 after they complete training.\nHowever, after his first semester at Ivy Tech-Bloomington last spring, he and his mother learned he had received enough financial aid to cover most of his expenses without the G.I. Bill. \nBut he had already made his commitment.\nRogers said she gave him her best advice regarding his decision.\n“I would say to answer to his responsibility, which he’s very good at,” she said. “And to take along a sense of humor. A sense of humor can help you through it.”\nThe War\nBret Hawkins has never been outside of the United States, so he isn’t sure what to look forward to in his time abroad.\nRogers said initially the family was worried for him because they knew he hadn’t been “well-traveled.”\nMedia portrayals of Iraq “just make it seem real bad,” Bret Hawkins said, which, coupled with leaving behind the three women in his life, doesn’t help his or his family’s anxiety.\nLaura Hawkins said she doesn’t “agree with all of the decisions that the president has made” about the war, but political views don’t diminish her support for her son or any of the other soldiers in Iraq.\n“They’re just doing their job,” she said. “At the same time I’m really proud of him and he’s going to have lifelong memories to tell his grandchildren and meet lifelong friends.”\nHis girlfriend, Baker, also planned on joining some branch of the military since she was a child, but Bret Hawkins persuaded her to enlist in the National Guard. \n“I want to go over there,” Baker said. “It kind of annoys me when people talk about the war and say we should be over there or we shouldn’t be over there for this or that … I’m going to go over there for myself and have an educated opinion about it.” \nShe said almost all her friends and their boyfriends were in some military branch, so the deployment was less of a strain on their relationship.\n“It doesn’t bother me to the point where I’ll be worried about our relationship. It bothers me to the point where I miss him,” Baker said. “That’s the only thing that bothers me about him going overseas except the fact he might be shot. But we don’t think about that.”\nAll opinions aside, Rogers hopes her grandson will “do some good.”\n“Well, I have no doubt he will come back a different person, especially because this is the time of anyone’s life when they grow up drastically,” Rogers said. “I would like to think that he will add to his interest in being a good person and helping others.” \nBret Hawkins was Rogers’ first grandchild and he visited her at least once a week growing up, so she had a hard time with his deployment. But, she said, she dealt with most of the emotions when he left for training the first time. \n“I didn’t like to hear it, of course — I’m Grandma,” Rogers said. “But I think that I knew it was coming, and I hated to see him go.”\nHomecoming\nWhen Bret Hawkins comes home next year, Baker told him to watch out because she will attack him with a full-force hug. \nAnd she won’t be the only one. Rogers said she’s also waiting for a hard-earned hug from her grandson. But she said she will try not to ask for anything in return.\n“I understand that when people are away it takes them a while to get acclimated to people getting home again,” Rogers said. “So I want to be patient with him and not expect too much.”\nLaura Hawkins acknowledged that a move from relatively quiet Bloomington to a war zone in the Middle East will change her son, but is unsure of what that change will be.\n“As scary as it is, it’s going to change his entire life — maybe some for the worse, maybe some for the better,” Hawkins said. “But hopefully mostly for the better.”
While December usually finds IU students and faculty pushing through crowds to get to their seats at basketball games, this year, several organizations are pushing crowds to take action against genocide in Darfur.\nMembers of Students Taking Action Now: Darfur are fasting today for the second annual DarfurFast and are giving up luxury items in order to raise money and awareness to fight the genocide in Sudan’s western region. A fast-breaking dinner will be held at 6 p.m. today in Woodburn Hall Room 111 and will be followed by a screening of the documentary film, “Darfur Diaries.” \nThe idea behind this fast is that the money people would have spent on food or luxury items, such as coffee or snacks, will go to the Genocide Intervention Network’s civilian protection program,” STAND President Katie Wolt said.\nThe Genocide Intervention Network is a nonprofit organization that believes governments must protect their own citizens from genocide and other human-rights violations.\nIndiana has become a center for refugees fleeing Darfur, where United Nations reports have placed the dead at more than 400,000 with millions more displaced from the region.\nJoe Johns, director of missional living at the Fellowship Missionary Church in Fort Wayne, said many of the refugees in Indiana struggle to make new lives for themselves.\n“When Sudanese moved here, they usually have had some kind of formal education and are more capable of integrating into American culture,” Johns said. “For Darfuris, the transition is much more difficult.”\nJohns said while refugees with some education can receive a livable working wage in a manufacturing factory, many barely have enough English skills to hold a job.\n“In a family of six or seven, a wage of $6 or $7 doesn’t go very far,” he said.\nAs Americans, Johns said people can still never provide enough of what a refugee needs once displaced from his or her home country.\nLocally, however, the Bloomington Faculty Council is trying to improve conditions for Darfuris by lobbying for IU to divest its funds from Sudan.\n“I don’t know if the University will follow this resolution (or) not follow this resolution, but what I do know is the faculty has made its intentions very clear, and I hope the University will respond,” said Steve Weitzman, professor of religious studies and Jewish studies.\nThe resolution, B10-2008, calls for IU to pull its investments from any business that supports the Sudanese government. Weitzman said the idea for the bill came with the state’s approval of a similar bill.\n“If the state felt so important about this and did something about it, certainly IU should do something about it,” Weitzman said.\nBut, he said, this is not only a bureaucratic issue. Universities around the country, such as Brown University and Harvard University, are joining the movement of divestment to financially hinder the progression of genocide in Darfur.\n“This is the first time in history that a genocide has been recognized when it was still happening,” Weitzman said. “This is the first opportunity people have had to make a difference and hopefully stop it.”\nRight now, the money affected would be the trustees’ retirement fund and operational monies, but Weitzman said it’s a tricky matter because many businesses are not invested directly in Darfur, but still have hidden interests.\nFor example, several faculty members have their retirement funds entrusted in Fidelity Investments, which this summer claimed to have no U.S. monies invested in Darfur, Weitzman said. While this is technically true, he said, the company does depend largely on Chinese oil companies that supply the Sudanese government with about 60 percent of its military needs.\nWeitzman said IU President Michael McRobbie’s visit to China further complicates the issue. \n“I think the University really needs to grapple with the moral responsibility that relationship entails,” Weitzman said. “It’s not just an economic relationship, but there are moral implications as well.”\nWolt agreed, saying although STAND encourages partnerships between nations, there is no reason for McRobbie to take such an economic initiative to establish stronger ties with China. \n“There are ways of having an ethical bond with China. If we do divest our funds, China will not look kindly upon this,” Wolt said. “But we have a moral obligation of while we’re doing that to say that ‘We want to work with you, but we also want to let you know that we don’t support this investment in Sudan.’”\nSome members of STAND e-mailed McRobbie to discourage him from tightening economic bonds with China in what they view as an unethical fashion, Wolt said. \nAs fuel is added to the fiery debate at IU, Johns said people continue to suffer in Darfur.\n“Getting to know refugees means you’re just one degree away from making a difference in world crises,” Johns said. “Refugees are people who come from some of the worst places in the world, especially from violence and social injustice.”\nEven though groups around the state are making efforts to ease tension in Darfur, only about 50 students are expected to attend DarfurFast.\n“Now we really want students to stand up to make their voices clear,” Wolt said. “Write to the newspaper and administration. ... If faculty hasn’t made too much of an effect, maybe students can. We want people to really push this hard and see that this is the most practical and effective way to get involved with a huge complex problem.”
When Menahem Pressler bowed his first notes on a violin as a child in Germany, he had no idea that nearly 80 years later he would be awarded with his own day in Bloomington. \nHe’s now a distinguished professor of piano at the IU Jacobs School of Music and Bloomington will honor Pressler by declaring Dec. 5, 2007 Menahem Pressler Day at 7:30 p.m. today at City Hall.\n“To have people like Menahem Pressler in our midst all the time is a great reminder of how special Bloomington is,” said Miah Michaelsen, Bloomington’s assistant economic development director for the arts. “Clearly he’s a person that gets great joy out of teaching and mentoring students, as well as performing.”\nBut, if it weren’t for his brother and a stroke of luck, Pressler may never have even begun to take piano lessons. \nPressler originally played the violin. His brother always said he was too tired to go to piano lessons, so Pressler said he started going in his place. To keep up with his school work, his parents made him choose between the violin and piano. \n“So, I selected the piano,” Pressler said. “And I’m not sorry.”\nA founding member of the more than 50-year-old Beaux Arts Trio, Pressler has been nominated for six Grammys and continues to tour the world to the awe of critics and fans alike. In October, Indiana presented Pressler with a Governor’s Arts Award.\n“It’s time for the city to recognize what he’s done for the music world,” Michaelsen said. “Obviously he’s a treasure that we have in our own community … but also nationally and internationally as well.”\nMichaelsen said “such a giving spirit and such a gifted and engaged instructor” merited the award. And although Pressler appreciates the gift, he said its major importance is that it is from the Bloomington community.\n“I love to be honored, of course, like everybody loves to be honored,” Pressler said. “But especially because it’s here, because it’s here where I live.” \nPressler moved to Blooming-ton to teach for only one semester, but 52 years later, the world traveler admits he fell in love with the “finest music school this side of heaven,” the campus and the town’s atmosphere. \n“(The award is) a recognition that my being here is not just noticed but appreciated,” he said. “And it’s not that I needed it because I loved every minute in this little town, which seems like an island of peace in a world of turmoil.”\nPressler said he considers his position as distinguished professor a privilege, and he hopes he has taught each student professionalism and technical skill. But he said he most hopes to infuse each student with a love of music that is “not just important, but the mainstay of our culture.” \nThough Pressler said he owes Bloomington much, he is in an even greater debt to music.\n“What music did to me? It not only refined me, sensitized me,” Pressler said. “(Music) is partner to air, partner to sun, partner to food, partner to family and something very much my own.”
Visions of Pacman and yellow rocking ponies filled the dining hall of Alpha Tau Omega on Tuesday night when the fraternity hosted a holiday celebration for the kids of Bloomington’s Boys and Girls Club. \nThe event consisted of a dinner followed by gift-giving.\n“It’s a good idea to help out as much as we can in the community,” said sophomore Sean Naughtrip.\nMyrah, 6, ran around with a fraternity member’s digital camera, encouraging ATO brothers to make bunny ears in front of wreathes and garland-covered doors. \nMyrah is a first-grader at University Elementary School. She said she was excited to attend the event because of the presents.\n“And I never been to a party before,” she added. \nMyrah shrugged as she peeled every last piece of wrapping paper and tape off her gifts: pajamas and a helmet and kneepad set.\n“You know what that’s for?” asked junior Jeff Wang.\n“A bike,” Myrah said. “But I don’t have a bike.”\nWang and his roommates were assigned to get Myrah a gift and were given a list of needs and wants. Wang said Myrah’s list involved a lot of Barbie toys and a bike.\n“We put two and two together and – Barbie bike,” Wang said.\nAs squealing children ran around with smiles and skateboards, Wang wheeled out the pink and purple bike to a perplexed Myrah.\nMyrah donned her helmet and giggled as fraternity brothers wrapped her in elbow and knee pads before she got on her bike and wound down the hall.\n“These kids are really cool,” said Andrew Hubbarth, vice president of ATO.\nWang agreed, though he said Myrah might have been “overwhelmed” by the crowd. But he said it was still a success to see her happy.\n“(This event) let’s these kids know school is a good environment for them,” he said.\nAnd the kids thought the fraternity brothers were pretty cool too.\n“I don’t know their names,” said first-grader Hunter. “I just like them.”
The city has lost about a quarter of its green space over the last 14 years, according to the latest research of the Bloomington Environmental Commission.\nMick Renneisen, director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, said the report might be more shocking than expected because of what the Environmental Commission defined as green space. The report does not include areas that are within 10 feet of a building or pavement, including hiking trails in parks or areas less than one square acre of contiguous green space.\nAccording to the Parks and Recreation Department, the city’s parks own 2,242 acres of “green” property, because they did include the areas that were near buildings and trails in the parks.\nIn Renneisen’s 26 years at the department, he said the administrations of current Mayor Mark Kruzan and former Mayor John Fernandez have made the environment a “high priority.” \n“I would like to think that if you are enjoying the natural environment you might be a little be more attuned to the peacefulness and benefits that environment provides and a little less focused on ... hustle and bustle and stress,” Renneisen said.\nHeather Reynolds, the Environmental Commission chair, said those benefits included lowering global climate change.\nAccording to the report, IU has lost 4.8 percent of its green space over the last 14 years.\nBut Reynolds said the report can be misleading because much of the green land IU owns is outside of the city limits, such as the IU Research and Teaching Preserve.\n“I believe IU does (have a responsibility),” Reynolds said. “And they’ve demonstrated that commitment and that responsibility they feel.”\nAgreeing with Reynolds, Renneisen said compared to other college towns of comparable size, such as Boulder, Colo., Bloomington usually ranks in the top one or two cities in preserving green space.\n“I think (IU has) a big responsibility,” he said. “They’re a major owner of property in our community. ... They’re a key player of green space in our community.”\nAccording to the report, the city will be entirely without green space in 27 years if its keeps losing it at the same rate. Renneisen said that fact was an illogical conclusion the report drew because “green space loss is (not) on a linear plane.”\nReynolds said the information the report yielded showed the loss was not due to business but instead residential development. In fact, she said, only 11 percent of the green space lost was designated for commercial purposes.\n“So we’re developing green space for homes essentially,” she said.\nReynolds said possible solutions to this are smaller yards in residential neighborhoods that would allow for greater green space. She also said the community needs “to reconsider this land-greedy pattern of residential development.”\nRenneisen said contrary to popular belief, green space and industry go “hand in hand.”\nBecause of the “tranquil” environment green space promotes, Renneisen said businesses and their employees are attracted to more scenic areas. \n“The challenge I think is always balance,” Renneisen said. “You’ve got to protect green space, but at the same time development is going to occur ... and I think our community understands that.”\nHe said many residents constantly seek new green space. While this effort is noble, Renneisen said balance is needed to keep the city attractive \nand productive.\nEven though the community has “limited resources,” Renneisen stressed the importance of natural beauty and tranquility.\n“Imagine Hawaii if it were all developed,” Renneisen said. “It wouldn’t be a tourist attraction anymore would it?”
