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(01/30/04 6:04am)
The gravel parking lot directly south of Assembly Hall on the corner of 17th Street and Fee Lane will be given a much needed makeover this summer. \nIn a plan approved by the board of trustees Thursday, the Blue lot will be paved, new lighting fixtures will be installed and trees will be planted around the perimeter. The plan also calls for the realignment of the entrance drive near Walnut Grove Avenue and the closing of the drive near Forrest Avenue.\n"This reconstruction is a long overdue improvement," University Landscape Architect David Smith said. "I've been here more than two decades, and it's been gravel as long as I've been here."\nThe project is expected to cost more than $1.6 million, which will come from revenue the parking operations receives from selling permits and ticketing. Smith said he expects to begin the project this summer and have it completed by the time students return in the fall.\nBoard of trustees Vice President Stephen Ferguson supported the idea.\n"This is a priority," he said. "It is important because it represents improvement for two areas of the University. It serves the parking needs of both the campus and the athletic department."\nSmith said an aerial photograph taken at a football game showed the Blue lot currently holds approximately 975 cars and a few motor homes. By paving the lot, it should be equipped to handle approximately 1,274 vehicles.\nLater, Executive Director of Transportation Maggie Whitlow outlined two parking areas that need improvement in the next two to five years.\nNew construction eliminating the lot on the corner of 11th Street and Walnut Grove Avenue will create problems, she said. \nThe Indiana State Budget Committee approved the construction of a mulitdisciplinary science building in Sept. 2003 to be located off Tenth Street and between Woodlawn Avenue and Walnut Grove Avenue.\n"There's a 200 space lot going away, and 600 spaces are going to need to be there," Whitlow said.\nShe said new construction will also create the need for further parking in the southwest corner of the campus.\n"We've been surveying where people work compared to where they're parking," Whitlow said. "The southwest is a critical sight."\nCurrently, parking operations is working with Bloomington to provide student parking on the south side in Bryan Park.\nIn another effort to improve on-campus parking, those with A or C permits were offered free bus passes.\n"We sent those e-mails out at 5:30 on a Thursday," said Bruce Jacobs, assistant vice chancellor of residential programs and services. "By noon Friday, we had 1,200 requests. It's simple to use, and it reduces the number of cars on campus, which was the goal."\nWhitlow said an increase may be in store for A and C permits next year, and students and faculty should explore other ways of getting to campus.\n "The employee bus pass is a good way of getting people used to what the bus can do for them," she said. "As the campus need for parking grows, we have to experiment with alternate ways of getting here besides one person in one car." \n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(01/30/04 4:41am)
The Board of Trustees Finance and Audit Committee struck down an increase in housing costs Thursday for an enhanced freshman learning community at IU-Purdue University-Indianapolis but gave preliminary approval to raising rates to cope with higher living costs.\nIUPUI Vice Chancellor of Student Life and Diversity Karen Whitney proposed an 8 percent increase for students living in Ball Residence Hall next year, a dorm exclusive to freshmen, to pay for the "Living the Freshman Experience" initiative. The plan would have been part of an overall 4.25 percent housing increase for the campus.\n"It's not needed from a marketing standpoint," she said. "It's not needed to sell out Ball Hall. We just want to provide a reasonable living and learning experience for students who live there."\nThe hall itself is also scheduled for refurbishment in the near future, which will close it down for a year. There is also a possibility that it may close all together as a residence hall, Whitney said.\nIUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz said the increase was necessary to improve student retention rates at the campus.\nThe current learning community at Ball Hall has a higher retention rate, but it was still not acceptable, Whitney said.\nIU President Adam Herbert also endorsed the proposal.\n"I'm for the general proposal, but I think it's important we phase out increases over time," he said.\nWithout the added price of improving the learning community, housing costs at Ball Hall would only increase by 3.67 percent. Trustees wondered what the extra money would go towards.\n"It seems a little sketchy to me what this extra 4 percent is going to be," Trustee Patrick Shoulders said.\nOthers expressed worries that the increase would keep some students from living in Ball.\n"I understand the reasons behind it, but I think with the economy the way it is, students without the money would be very opposed to that large of an increase," Trustee Cora Breckenridge said.\nEventually, Whitney conceded that IUPUI could work with a smaller housing increase.\n"If the board believes, it should be along the lines of four percent, or 4.25 percent, we can work with that."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(01/29/04 4:47am)
The IU Board of Trustees is expected to discuss soccer, parking, and library sciences among other topics at this month's board meeting, scheduled for today and tomorrow in the Dogwood Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.\nFriday, the board will review IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis' recommendation for the School of Library and Information Sciences Dean position, former SLIS Dean Blaise Cronin. Debora Shaw is the current interim dean.\n"A university of our size has a constant turnover rate, so we rely on good recommendations from the chancellor," said trustee Patrick Shoulders, who also serves on the Academic Excellence Committee. \nCronin, whose 12-year tenure as dean saw the program rise to national prominence, announced in January 2003 he was taking a year-long sabbatical, but would stay on as a faculty member.\n"I don't think it's unusual for deans to take leave of absences," Shoulders said. "There are those that sometimes tire of administrative duties and go back to the classroom for awhile."\nCronin declined comment for this article.\nThe Academic Excellence Committee will also review a report on what IU is doing to attract promising high school seniors to the University, Shoulders said.\nThursday, the trustees will view a plan to improve the parking lot on the corner of 17th Street and Fee Lane.\nThe operation would not only call for the paving of the current gravel lot, but also the realignment of the entrance drive near Walnut Grove, and the closing of the drive near Forrest Avenue.\nBoard of Trustees President Fred Eichhorn said the new lot will be an improvement over the gravel. \n"It should improve foot traffic and get rid of some weather problems," he said. \nEichhorn said the paving was not due to any complaints from those attending football and basketball games -- or even students who park there during the week.\n"It's just one of those things you do when you have the time and money to make it more user friendly," he said.\nOn the athletic front, the board will also honor IU's national champion soccer team and retiring coach Jerry Yeagley, as well as hear a report on the athletic department's financial status.\nThe department reported a $1 million deficit to the trustees in Sept. 2002. \nThat figure is expected to have been reduced, Shoulders said.
(01/27/04 5:44am)
In 1998, when students needed microwaves, mini-fridges or new computers they could just go down to Circuit City and pick one out. \nBut just when consumers thought all their electronic needs were satisfied by Bloomington's Circuit City, Best Buy opened right across the intersection of Routes 45 and 46 in November 2003.\n"It's not an unusual situation," Circuit City corporate spokesman Steve Mullen said. "We have a number of stores across from or near Best Buys across the country."\nMullen believes customers will stay loyal despite Best Buy's opening.\n"We have our customers and they know who we are," he said. "They'll probably check out the new store, but we're confident they'll come back."\nIt is Best Buy's policy not to comment on its competitors, but corporate spokeswoman Erin McMillan pointed out several services unique to Best Buy.\n"We offer a broad and deep assortment of everything from complete solutions making it easy to enjoy a digital lifestyle with products such as software, CDs, DVDs, mobile phones, laptop/desktop computers, \nhigh-end flatscreen TVs and wireless home networking," she said. "Best Buy is a 'Smart Friend' to consumers and the stores offer an enjoyable and easy place to shop. We offer interactive displays where customers can try out and play with products before buying them to ensure the technology will complement their lifestyles and the technology they currently own."\nMullen said its customer service sets Circuit City apart.\n"I'd say our customer support makes us unique," he said. "We have the best trained staff around."\nStill, some IU students prefer shopping at Best Buy instead of Circuit City.\n"Best Buy just has more stuff than Circuit City," freshman Robert Zendejas said. "They have more TVs, video games, music and computer stuff. You go to Circuit City and they just don't have the same stuff."\nFreshman Blake Roebuck agrees with Zendejas.\n"There's mostly everything at Best Buy," Roebuck said. "There's a bigger selection of home entertainment stuff, plus computer furniture and things like that. You name it, they have it. Plus, if you find something cheaper you can take it back."\nBest Buy will take back many items without a receipt, but Zendejas prefers the Circuit City refund policy that allows an item purchased there to be returned for more than a full refund if it is found cheaper anywhere else within 30 days of purchase.\n"I love that you can return something at Circuit City if you find it cheaper somewhere and they'll give you 110 percent of the price back," Zendejas said. "You don't even need an excuse to return it."\nZendejas also confirmed Mullen's comment about Circuit City's staff.\n"Circuit City is friendlier," he said. "Their return policy seems quicker, even when there are crowds. Once my sister had a CD player that didn't work real well. We took it back, but they didn't have that model, so they upgraded it for one that was better."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(01/23/04 6:04am)
IU has come a long way in accepting its gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population, concluded the participants of yesterday's "Being Gay at IU" panel, held at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. \nAt the same time, there's still more work to be done.\nIt wasn't until May 2002 that University employees could sign their partners on their insurance. Since then, more than 75 employees on the eight IU campuses have signed up for such benefits, said Cindy Stone, a training coordinator at the physical plant.\n"Ten years ago, when my partner of 20 years died, our status wasn't recognized," Stone said. "There were no domestic partner benefits. I was only guaranteed two hours of funeral leave to attend the funeral of a friend. My supervisor had to break the rules to give me several months of leave. It was then that I vowed that no other staff member would have to deal with such red tape."\nDespite the progress, panelists felt IU made several mistakes last semester in dealing with Kelley School of Business Professor Eric Rasmusen's Web log. Rasmusen's log, which contained anti-homosexual remarks, was removed from IU servers but reposted one day later to protect his first amendment rights.\n"I wish the president had gone on record," said Terrill Cosgray, director of the MBA program at Kelley. "I'd like to know how the University level dealt with that issue. The public has a sense that it doesn't matter because the University didn't respond."\nThe incident was particularly upsetting for senior Kendra Clark, a first-year transfer student from Virginia.\n"The Rasmusen blog was my first impression of IU," Clark said. "I didn't know what to do. It was not only anti-homosexual, but anti-women and racist. It was just appalling to read. There was a lack from the administration of saying, 'We condemn what's going on.' It was implied, but never said."\nThe four-person panel was sponsored by the Bloomington Professional Counsel and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Committee as part of the week-long celebration of MLK Day.\nSome audience members thought it was unusual for the GLBT to participate in a holiday normally used to reflect on the struggle of blacks. \nPanelists pointed out that King fought against the oppression of all people and that coming out can be particularly difficult for minorities.\n"I'm bi-racial, and I think that's more complex," Clark said. "The people who are most out are usually Caucasian. I think it has something to do with the way we're raised -- church and all that. We're less apt to be out, and that's a shame."\nCosgray also relayed that gays currently share many of the struggles of the early Civil Rights movement.\n"The hateful things said about interracial marriage in the fifties are very similar to the things said about gay relationships today," he said. "I think gays are the last group of people that can be publicly derailed and people will support that view. It's unfair that we're not always viewed as a minority group by other minority groups."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(01/22/04 5:24am)
It's not even spring yet, and IU is already cleaning the house.\nThe resignation of the Kelley School of Business Dean Dan Dalton Tuesday has brought the total number of open academic and administrative leadership positions to seven.\nOther positions currently being filled are the director of faculties, director of the Kinsey Institute, dean of the School of Journalism and new leaders for the Indiana Memorial Union, IU Auditorium and Indiana University Press.\n"We have changes all the time," said IU Board of Trustees President Fred Eichhorn. "We just have to make sure that those who come in to replace those who leave are highly qualified and continue to positively influence the University."\nTrustees will soon approve another change. Interim School of Library and Information Sciences, Dean Debora Shaw, is slated to be replaced by former SLIS Dean Blaise Cronin, Eichhorn said.\nSome may think the open positions may be the result of President Adam Herbert's attempt to restructure the University, but Eichhorn said, for the most part, this is not the case. Herbert was named president in June of 2003, replacing Myles Brand, who left IU to become president of the NCAA in October of 2002.\n"The resignation of the chancellor (Sharon Brehm, and subsequent naming of Ken Gros Louis as interim chancellor) was brought about by the new president because he wanted a new form of organization," Eichhorn said. "But I don't think the new president's influence had anything to do with the other positions."\nThe search for a director of IU Press was stalled because of questions regarding the future role of the chancellor position, but has now resumed.\nMost other positions need to be filled because of retirement. \nDean of Faculties Moya Andrews, Journalism Dean Trevor Brown, Kinsey Institute director John Bancroft, and Executive Director of the IMU and Auditorium Winston Shindell are all retiring at the end of this semester.\n"To me there's a difference between a planned and an unusual retirement," said journalism professor Bonnie Brownlee who serves on the dean search committee at the journalism school. "Our dean has been planning to retire, and we've known that for some time, but it's different in different places. There's always excitement when things change, but also a fear of loss of institutional memory."\nDalton is not retiring, nor was he pressured by the administration to resign.\n"I had the second-best job in the business school -- and that's dean," he said. "Starting in the fall, I'll have the best job -- professor."\nDalton also believes the University will pass through all these changes without any trouble.\n"We need to remember that IU has a very long history," he said. "We've had many changes in deans and other high-ranking officials. IU has provided opportunities to untold men and women over the years, and I'd be surprised if we lost any step during all these transitions"
(01/16/04 5:33am)
While the media has focused on the controversy of easier access to birth control pills, not many have paid attention to the possible sexual side effects of this contraceptive, until now.\nIU's Kinsey Institute and the Regenstrief Institute for Health Care of Indianapolis are in the midst of a study investigating the correlation between oral contraceptives and sexual dysfunction in women.\n"We're looking at the effects of the pill on sexuality and well being and what relationship there is between changes in hormone level and changes in sexuality," said Cynthia Graham, a co-principal investigator of the study and IU professor of psychology. "We know the pill lowers testosterone levels, and we know women are more sensitive to that. It's been speculated for a long time that some women may be negatively influenced sexually by this, but this is actually the first study of its kind."\nTestosterone occurs naturally in both males and females but at much lower levels in females, Graham said. When starting on the pill, the level of testosterone drops even more, negatively affecting the sex drive of some women, Graham said.\nIt has been theorized that testosterone and estrogen are the driving forces of libido, Graham said.\nTeri Greco, the other co-principal investigator, said she believes drug companies have been "conveniently" ignoring sexual side effects over the years.\n"It has been known for years that oral contraceptives can cause a loss in libido," Greco said. "Information from drug companies has always listed it as a possible side effect. I'm not sure why it's not a priority. Maybe the drug companies are not comfortable with it as a side effect."\nThe idea for the study sprung from Graham and Greco's mutual interest in the subject of sexual dysfunction.\n"I was interested in female sexual dysfunction, and Cynthia was also interested in that and oral contraceptives. So we sat down and worked on a protocol idea, how to recruit, eligibility and other criteria," Greco said. \nAs part of the study, women are interviewed twice, before and after starting the pill, and given three free months of the contraceptive Ortho Tri-Cyclen or Ortho Tri-Cyclen LO.\nThe IU Health Center has been a major recruitment site for the study.\n"They've been very pleased with the response so far. They wanted 60 women for the study and so far they have 40 enrolled," University Physician Dr. Diana Ebling said. "It's an appealing study with benefits such as being paid and free pills."\nEbling also praised the goals of the study.\n"This is an area we need to know more about," she said. "The study is asking good questions."\nGraham hopes the study will be concluded by June.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(01/13/04 6:15am)
Someone, perhaps maliciously, perhaps not knowing the impact it would have, scrawled the words "Nazi's rule" on a residence hall wall last year.\nThe graffiti was reported to the Racial Incidents Team, which, along with the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Anti-Harassment Team, assists students who have been victims of discrimination based on race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or gender.\n"It may be intended as a joke, but nevertheless it's inappropriate," said Bill Shipton, co-chair of both teams. "If someone writes 'fag' on a board it might be done by a good friend. We just want them to know that it's still inappropriate. It's an offensive term, and other people are going to see it."\nResidence hall graffiti has been the most commonly reported problem for the teams since the Racial Incidents Team's inception in 1988 and the creation of the GLBT team in 1990. \nNeither group punishes offenders through the campus judicial system. Instead, their job is to bring peace of mind to the victims.\n"We work with the victim to find out what they would like to happen that would bring them closure," Shipton said. "We work on an informal level to support victims and bring about a resolution."\nJunior Ahmad Radi, a resident assistant at the Ashton Center, said if a Residential Advisor spots an offensive term, they are trained to take a picture of it and check if the target of the slur feels threatened. Next, the RA relays the event to the residence hall judicial system, which may or may not pass it on to one of the teams.\nMost graffiti is directed towards religious minorities, Radi said. Shipton also noted a rise in religious-based harassment and discrimination in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.\nWhile Shipton admits dry board graffiti is "fairly typical" of the reports received, that doesn't mean that is all with which the teams must deal. Over the years, both teams have received reports of severe harassment, beatings and even murder, in one case.\n"The worst thing that was ever reported was the murder of Won-Joon Yoon," Shipton said. "He was a Korean grad student murdered several years ago by a white supremacist."\nHowever, just because an incident isn't violent, doesn't mean it won't leave scars.\n"Emotional harm can be just as debilitating as physical harm for many people," Shipton said.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(01/12/04 5:23am)
The days of deadbeat parents gambling with their children's futures will soon be over if a new bill passes the state senate.\nSenate Bill 143, proposed by Sen. Richard Bray, R-Martinsville, would require casinos, betting parlors and racetracks to check the name of any person who wins more than $2,000 against a national database that keeps track of parents who owe child support.\nThe money the parent owes would be sent to child support agencies. Whatever is left over would belong to the parent.\n"It won't come up with a lot of money, but it will be a step in the right direction," Bray said.\nThe Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Bray, which is scheduled to hear the bill Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.\n"We're in favor of it," said Stephen DeMougin, director of the family and children division of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. "It's part of our job to capture funds and get them back to moms and kids anyway we can."\nHowever, the casino industry is resisting the idea, saying it would be too difficult to implement.\n"It's practically impossible," said Mike Smith, executive director of the Casino Association of Indiana. "Any database would have to be up to the moment 24 hours a day, seven days a week for anywhere between 7,000 to 10,000 people to have access to it."\nThe bill was modeled after a national system proposed by President Bush as part of a welfare reform bill. That bill is still going through the U.S. Senate.\nThe idea has taken hold around the nation. Missouri proposed a similar bill but abandoned it last year. Smith noted "eight or nine" other states that attempted to implement a similar system, but all were abandoned. \nDeMougin admits it would be difficult to check those who win big at the tables but doesn't believe the program as a whole would be hard to institute.\n"The fact of the matter is that with the cost of automating business today, I find it hard to believe we can't check this," DeMougin said. "Until a cost analysis is done, I wouldn't rule it out."\nAlready one group, the Hoosier Lottery, checks if winners of prizes over $600 owe back child support. That program has been in effect since the lottery's inception in 1989. Last year, it collected more than $94,000 said Director of Public Relations Andrew Reed.\nBut Smith points out that, unlike the lottery, casinos are not run by the state.\n"I'm not sure it's the responsibility of private industry to track down deadbeat parents," he said. "I believe it's the responsibility of parents to pay for their children, but it's not the responsibility of private businesses to enforce that."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu
(01/09/04 6:55am)
Morgan County and surrounding areas received a nasty New Year's Day guest that refused to leave -- flood.\nFour inches of rain have fallen on the county since the beginning of the year, leading to one death and stranding one motorist in his car overnight.\nAccording to Associated Press reports, Matthew Fitzgerald of Wheatland, Ind. was visiting his brother when his pickup truck stalled in the floodwaters of the White River Tuesday, forcing him to spend a freezing night in his car before he saw another motorist and was able to call police for help.\nHe was back home Wednesday after being treated for cold exposure and hypothermia at Daviess Community Hospital.\n"There is a highway, and I should have taken it," Fitzgerald said.\nMartinsville police also confirmed that flooding was responsible for the death of Kayla Waters, 16, of Paragon, Ind. The teenager died Sunday in a car accident after her car hydroplaned in floodwater.\nMaking matters worse, flood waters froze as they subsided, leaving many roads closed for days. Two roads, Blue Bluff Road and Paragon Road, remain closed but are expected to re-open Friday, said Myra Christie, spokeswoman for the Morgan County Highway Superintendent.\nMartinsville schools had to close for the second time this year because of flooding, and Eminence schools had a two-hour delay because floodwater made roads impassible. \n"Unless we get more snow, hopefully we won't have any problems for awhile," Morgan County Sheriff Robert Garner said.\nThe trouble began when about an inch of rain fell on New Year's Day and another two and-a-half to three inches fell Sunday.\n"With the ground already saturated from rain, it had nowhere else to go but the roads," Garner said.\nThere weren't any more calls than usual Garner said, attributing it to preparedness after Morgan County experienced two major floods in 2003. \nThe Red Cross also reported an average number of calls for help caused by the floods. The organization received only a few, said Red Cross spokeswoman Megan Matis.\n"I hope part of it is people were more prepared after two severe flooding episodes and tornadoes in 2003," Matis said. "There wasn't nearly as much flood water this time either."\nMore people were affected in Monroe County, mainly because people couldn't get to their homes because of flooding, not because water had invaded a house.\n"Monday, there were 26 homes affected, but only two reports of basement flooding," said Ed Vande Sande, director of disaster and volunteer services for the Monroe County chapter of Red Cross. "All the flooding was in places you'd normally expect. This county has for years done a good job with flood mitigation."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(01/09/04 6:08am)
IU and Ivy Tech State College-Bloomington officials signed an agreement last month that provides the first framework for the transfer of credits between the two institutions.\nThe agreement allows students earning an associate's degree in science in general studies at Ivy Tech to transfer their credits to IU's bachelor's degree program in general studies.\n"This actually came about from a discussion I had with the dean of academic affairs at Ivy Tech about giving students the opportunity to transfer to IU," said Ron White, IU's director of of the division of continuing studies. "It was obvious to link our bachelor's program with their general studies program."\nThe credit transfer agreement was initiated and welcomed by both institutions. White said both institutions wanted better links so those graduating from community and technical colleges have better opportunities to transfer to IU.\nThe general studies degree is designed for working adults, the predominant portion of students enrolled at Ivy Tech. White said this program offers more flexible opportunities for adults to earn a degree with many classes in the evening, which are easier for working adults to attend.\nHowever, some younger students see the credit transfer as just an easier way to get into IU.\n"My grades were so lackluster that I couldn't get in anywhere but Ivy Tech," Ivy Tech freshman Erick Valler said. "I'm just putting in time there until I can get to IU. The classes aren't quite as difficult there."\nValler was planning to transfer even before the agreement was announced. This just helped confirm his decision. \n"I've been planning to transfer all along, but this agreement makes it even better," he said.\nTransferrable credits between IU and Ivy Tech have raised controversy in the past. Some believe it is unfair that a student can study at Ivy Tech for a couple of years, transfer to IU and instantly be on the same level as a student that has spent all his time at IU.\nHowever, White said he doesn't believe the agreement will devalue an IU education.\n"That's not fair to say that," White said. "That would imply that Ivy Tech isn't up to snuff, and that's just not the case. And also, our faculty and their faculty are better coordinating their studies so students have the best chance of succeeding when they transfer here."\nInterim IU-Bloomington Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis agrees.\n"Since the students will be competing with currently enrolled Bloomington students in that degree program, they will need to do as well as the students who started here as freshmen," Gros Louis told the IDS in an e-mail. "Thus, I don't think the fact that they've taken courses at Ivy Tech will strengthen or weaken the degree. Rather, it provides an opportunity for a baccalaureate degree for those students capable of achieving it."\nAdministrators say there is a large possibility for more agreements between Ivy Tech and IU in the future.\n"This is a great opportunity for our students," said John Whikehart the Ivy Tech-Bloomington chancellor, in a statement. "It's also an excellent beginning for us to think about other opportunities to work together collaboratively."\nWhite said he also sees a bright future for agreements between the institutions.\n"The general studies agreement was the first, but I certainly wouldn't expect it to be the last."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(12/15/03 6:35am)
Senior Steve Weck was woken up by his roommate Sunday morning expecting to be whitewashed with newly fallen snow. Instead, it turned out to be something "really great" -- the capture of Saddam Hussein.\n"This has been a long time coming," Weck said. "We needed to go in there. Things were getting out of hand in the Middle East. There needed to be some sort of change."\nAfter nine months on the run, Saddam Hussein was found Saturday hiding in a spider hole near a farmhouse outside his hometown of Tikrit, in what coalition forces are calling "Operation Red Dawn."\nWhen the capture was announced by U.S. Civil Administrator Paul Bremer, Iraqi journalists leapt to their feet, shouting "Death to Saddam.\nIn Baghdad, the news was greeted with singing, dancing and celebratory gunfire, though the streets were strangely silent in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit. The news of Saddam's capture was also met enthusiastically at IU -- but without the gunfire.\nWeck said he believes President Bush has now gained much needed support at home and abroad.\n"I hate to be bold, but I think Bush might have just secured the election in 2004," he said. "He's just brought down a huge world leader that was causing us a lot of problems. Plus, it's kind of an 'I told you so' to France and Germany. Now they know they should have been here with us."\nSome students hope this will raise efforts to capture another international fugitive -- Osama bin Laden.\n"Hopefully this will open the door to catch Osama," freshman Steve Schmitt said. "Bush has done a pretty good job of handling 9/11, and now Iraq. I wake up in the morning and feel safe."\nSchmitt said he agrees with Weck this will give Bush a rush of momentum going into next year's election.\n"I don't see who can compete with Bush if he says, 'Hey, I caught Saddam.' No one can point the finger now and say he didn't," Schmitt said.\nEven those who didn't completely support the U.S.-led war in Iraq are giving Bush credit for the capture.\n"This kind of gives him a little brownie point from me," sophomore Lacy Kelly said. "He set out to do something and did it, even if he did it in kind of a roundabout way. I think it's a good thing Saddam got captured. It's going to be a good thing for Iraq."\nFreshman Rahul Reddy agrees the U.S. needs to finish what it started.\n"I really wasn't for the war, but once we went in there we might as well win it," Reddy said. "This hasn't really changed my view. I still don't really like that we're there, but it's good to see we actually achieved something."\nThough Saddam has been found, others still wonder about the location of weapons of mass destruction, the Bush administration's reason for waging war in Iraq.\n"I'm surprised we found him," freshman Arjun Mehta said. "We finally have some factual evidence, but we still haven't found any of the weapons. Overall though, I think this is going to help Iraqis gain confidence in the new government"
(12/12/03 5:54am)
The old Sigma Phi Epsilon house is about to get "Deke-ified."\nDelta Kappa Epsilon has announced a deal to lease the former Sigma Phi Epsilon house beginning Aug. 2004.\nThe house, located at 815 N. Jordan Ave., will be the home of Delta Kappa Epsilon until 2007.\n"This is one of the most outstanding things ever," Delta Kappa Epsilon President Cullen Harkness said. "We can rush now and establish ourselves on campus and really root ourselves in the Greek community at IU. Being one of the smaller fraternities on campus, this is a great opportunity for us."\nSigma Phi Epsilon was evicted from the house by the national chapter because of financial difficulties in Dec. 2002. The national chapter said the financial condition of the fraternity had "deteriorated to the point that the chapter could no longer assure housing conditions for the spring term," according to a January article in the Indiana Daily Student.\nDelta Kappa Epsilon's leasing of the house will alleviate the debt accumulated by Sigma Phi Epsilon.\n"By collaborating with their national chapter, we were able to set up a deal that's a good situation for both sides," Harkness said.\nDelta Kappa Epsilon actually raised the money to lease the house from alumni at DePauw University.\nThe DePauw chapter of the fraternity probably won't return to the campus for another decade or so, meaning plenty of alumni are willing to support the IU chapter, said Eric Freeman, DePauw Chairman of the Chapter Foundation.\nThe lease is the culmination of more than two years of correspondence between Freeman, Harkness and IU alumnus Nathan Hartman.\n"When they called me a few years ago, I was really impressed with them," Freeman said. "And since we were the only Deke chapter in Indiana for more than 100 years, we were glad to help."\nWhen Sigma Phi Epsilon left the house, the fraternity also left behind more than $5,000 in damage. That has since been repaired by the national chapter, but the new tenants are still planning on doing a little bit of remodeling.\n"We're going to be Deke-ifying the house to suit our style," Harkness said. "Of course we'll be putting our letters up; we may or may not have some sort of stone out front; and we have what we call our 'rampart lions,' these two standing stone lions, which we'll be putting by the front door."\nInterfraternity Council President Evan Waldman said he was pleased with the fraternity's acquisition.\n"Personally, I think it's always a positive sign to see fraternities moving into houses," Waldman said. "But it's important for them to keep in mind their core values and not let the fact that they're moving into a house skew their core values."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(12/11/03 6:09am)
Adjunct Chemistry Professor William Carroll has been elected president of the American Chemical Society. \nThe ACS, founded in 1876, is the world's largest scientific association, boasting more than 163,000 members.\nCarroll earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from IU in 1978, and is currently the vice president of Dallas-based Occidental Chemical Corp. His one-year term as president of the ACS will begin Jan. 1, 2005.\n"I'd like to re-introduce the public to the benefits of chemistry and its essential role in products from plastics to medicines," Carroll said in a press release Wednesday. "The science and the people who practice it make a huge contribution to modern life."\nDespite his new responsibilities as ACS president, Carroll will continue as adjunct professor at IU for at least another four years, visiting at least once annually to share his expertise in polymers.\nThe IU chemistry department was pleased with Carroll's election.\n"This is a big deal," department chairman David Clemmer said. "The ACS is by far the largest organization in chemistry. The chemists over here think it's just fantastic. We were all rooting for him."\nThe election was an especially pleasant surprise for professor Dennis Peters, under whom Carroll studied as a graduate student.\n"I don't think you ever really expect something like (being elected ACS president)," Peters said. "But he was always a bright, interesting guy."\nCarroll is especially concerned with chemistry education.\n"Sixty percent of high school students now take chemistry, but few will see a teacher with a background in the field," Carrol said in a press release. "We need to encourage more experienced chemists to consider teaching."\nCarroll may follow up this plan by recruiting retired chemists.\n"One thing he's definitely concerned about is that ACS should be playing a stronger role in chemistry education in high school," Peters said. "He had mentioned to me some time ago about maybe getting some retired chemists from industry involved in high school chemistry classes."\nClemmer is looking forward to how Carroll will improve chemistry's public image.\n"When you think about chemistry in the U.S. you realize it drives a very large part of the economy," Clemmer said. "This gives him the opportunity to influence the way chemistry is viewed at large as well as the path the organization takes. It's great for IU to be associated with someone in this position."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(12/10/03 5:39am)
U.S. Rep. Baron Hill, D-Ind., visited the School of Education Tuesday to discuss literacy and language education in primary and secondary schools with IU faculty and local educators.\nAt the forefront of the discussion was the controversial No Child Left Behind Act, which Hill voted for in 2001. Most in the audience attacked the act, which set standards for teacher accountability through standardized tests.\n"Where do we go after labels are placed on schools?" asked Pat Baily, English teacher at Bloomington South High School. "When you work with at-risk students they're not going to make the same progress as other students down the hall. Teachers are being forced to give students tests they know they won't pass. How are we supposed to stay positive through that?"\nHill explained that he supported the act at the time because legislation he introduced to support smaller schools was attached to the bill.\n"Learning is a human idiosyncrasy," Hill said. "It varies from one child to the next. We need tools to deal with that. It can't be a formula."\nOther educators complained about discipline problems in the classroom and the institution of zero tolerance policies.\n"In the wake of Columbine, we realized that we've got to keep schools safe and in the past 10 to 15 years there's been this move toward zero tolerance," said Russ Skiba, director of the Institute for Child Studies, referring to the school shootings in Littleton, Colorado. "But as we've been studying this, we've found it doesn't work. It's been correlated with lower achievement and increased drop-out rates."\nKate Seidl, an adjunct faculty member with the School of Education teaching special education classes, explained how standardized tests also take away from time that could be spent on discipline.\n"When teachers could be in staff meetings talking about how to support each other, that time is instead spent on tests," Seidl said. "The pressure of high stakes tests take away from many of these initiatives."\nHowever, Hill pointed out that it is the minority of students who are garnering all this negative attention.\n"Seventy-five percent of kids are doing well in the classroom," Hill said. "It's that 25 percent we're focusing all this attention on. When I go out in the real world to businesses I hear, 'Schools are not doing their jobs. You need to do something about it politically.' The political pressure is coming from the business types focusing on the 25 percent coming into their plants without the necessary skills. They're going after politicians, and this is how politicians are responding."\nBut it's not the idea of teacher accountability that the crowd opposed, so much as the ways it's being enforced.\n"We're not resisting accountability," assistant professor of language education Peter Cowan said. "But it's very frustrating because we feel there are many impediments. I think what we really need are some allies in government."\n-- Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(12/10/03 5:15am)
Nintendo GameCube-owning students who receive "Mario Kart: Double Dash!!" for the holidays will be able to play it online thanks to IU junior Chad Paulson.\nPaulson is the owner and founder of Warp Pipe, a project that allows LAN-enabled GameCube games to be played online.\n"Nintendo has always done a good job with multiplayer games," Paulson said. "Something like this was long overdue."\nThe GameCube currently has only one official online title, "Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II," compared to Sony's PlayStation2 or Microsoft's Xbox, which each feature dozens of online titles.\nWarp Pipe has made a dream come true for many longtime Nintendo fans.\n"So far I've only used PC games for online multiplayer, but being a die-hard Nintendo fan, I'd love to see them expand into such a market," sophomore Michael Donahoe said. "When you're playing against the AI on a program, you can expect it to do certain things after a time. But when you're playing against other people, there is that element of surprise that they'll pull a move or do something you've never seen before."\nPaulson, a former director of media for Warner Brothers, came up with the idea for Warp Pipe when the first GameCube games to support LAN play were announced last winter. However, the project did not officially begin until the first LAN-supporting game, "Kirby's Air Ride," was released in Japan in July.\nFrom there, it took less than two months for Paulson and the rest of his three-man team, located in Maine, New York and Canada, to play the first online game of Kirby.\nTo use Warp Pipe, gamers need only connect their GameCube to their PC using a broadband adapter and following the directions at warppipe.com. The one drawback is having to know the IP address of who you're playing against. But with more than 25,000 people who have downloaded the Warp Pipe program and unofficial chats and message boards to help locate fellow GameCubers looking to play online, that isn't too difficult.\n"Thousands of people have bought GameCubes and broadband adapters because of this," Paulson said.\nThough Warp Pipe has no region lock, meaning gamers in the United States can play against those in Japan or Europe, the further apart they are, the more games lag, though future updates will address that issue.\nStill, that hasn't stopped people from enjoying online GameCube gaming.\n"Although it is just a simple program to use, the game play is simple and easy to use with existing technology that Nintendo built into the actual game," sophomore Brandon Parker said. "Nintendo should thank the whole Warp Pipe crew for giving a chance to compete once again in the online gaming world."\nCurrently Warp Pipe only supports "Kirby's Air Ride" and "Mario Kart: Double Dash!!," but the next version will also support the recently released "1080 Avalanche."\n"They haven't announced anymore games beyond that, but there are rumors that the next Star Fox and Super Monkey Ball games and 'Metroid Prime 2' will support LAN," Paulson said. "We'll support whatever they release in the future."\nThe Warp Pipe team is also working on an update to be released early next year that will work similar to AOL Instant Messenger, telling gamers who's playing online and making finding a game much easier.\nPaulson said he also has visions of Warp Pipe influencing third-party game makers to include LAN support in future games.\n"We've been in contact with different developers and publishers lobbying for LAN support," Paulson said. "LAN play could be the difference between whether a game sells or not."\n-- Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(12/08/03 5:22am)
The ninth and 10th fire alarms of the semester at Read Center Sunday morning have led one student to send a letter about the plight of residents to the IU administration.\nAlthough the two alarms were due to actual smoke unlike six previous Read alarms, senior William Harvey sent an e-mail demanding action on the matter to IU President Adam Herbert and IU-Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm, among others. The e-mail circulated to Read residents, who were encouraged to send e-mails to the administration.\n"I feel it is incumbent to make sure people in a position to do something about this realize it is a serious problem," Harvey said. "The University is responsible for providing students with a safe dorm, but it seems the administration doesn't care about student safety, student welfare or student academic performance. The fire alarms have been affecting all three of those."\nIn the case of the first alarm, which went off at approximately 3:05 a.m. Sunday, a microwave reportedly "blew up," Residence Manager Doug Yeskie said.\nThe second alarm was set off at approximately 7:50 a.m. by a student who had burned food in the Read-Curry fourth floor kitchenette.\nThe first evacuation lasted more than 90 minutes, while the second only lasted about 20 minutes.\nThe length of the evacuations was decided by three graduate assistants on site, Yeskie said. He also said that while an e-mail warned last month that every single room in the building would be checked for remaining students, both evacuations were only spot checks.\nNo students were found in the building during either spot check.\n"We haven't found anybody in the building yet," Yeskie said. "Residents seem to be taking the alarms seriously and evacuating. That's great."\nResidents, however, do not see this many alarms as "great." Some have gone to extraordinary lengths to lessen the impact of alarms and are even planning to move out.\n"Last year I put plasticine over the alarm because it was so loud it was almost deafening," sophomore Sassan Yaghmai said. "I didn't do that this year because I thought they'd be organized, but the people in Read, they're just crazy. It's mostly freshman. They're not organized. They're not careful."\nYaghmai said he will talk to the Residence Halls Association about a move to Willkie Quad.\nHarvey also said he is concerned that students are taking the alarms less seriously.\n"People hear the alarms, and get out of bed slowly. They put their shoes and jackets on slowly." Harvey said. "If it were a real alarm they wouldn't do that. In case of a real fire, it could cause a very serious problem."\nYeskie reminds students that unlike most alarms this semester, at least Sunday's alarms were not false pulls.\n"These two were legitimate," Yeskie said. "That's not a great thing, but at least they weren't pulls. I get calls from parents thinking that every one is a pull, but so far four have been legitimate."\nHarvey points out that regardless of whether the alarms are legitimate, they can still have the same effect on students.\n"This time it happened on the weekend, but this can also happen the night before a big performance or a big exam," Harvey said. "It can be very detrimental the next day. For the University to not care about that, I find very upsetting."\n-- Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(12/05/03 5:52am)
Pajama-clad Read Center residents were roused from their rooms by a screeching siren to stand in the freezing cold Wednesday night.\nIt's an ordeal they're getting used to.\nThe eighth false fire alarm of the semester at Read led to the displacement of residents for more than 75 minutes late Wednesday and early Thursday as officials checked to make sure the building was fully evacuated.\nRead Center officials sent out an e-mail last month warning that any further false alarms would lead to room checks to ensure residents followed evacuation procedures.\nNo students were found in the building during the check, which lasted from when the alarm went off at 11:27 p.m. Wednesday until 12:45 a.m. Thursday.\n"Our primary concern is safety when evacuating the building," Assistant Residence Manager Angie Montelongo said. "With this many pulls, students may start to think that every alarm is a pull. We want them to realize that every one could be real, and it needs to be treated like a real fire."\nMany students considered this false alarm to be one of the least annoying of the semester.\n"This one wasn't as bad because it wasn't at 4 a.m. when you have to wake up for an 8 a.m. class," freshman Justin Meyer said. "We just went over to Willkie and watched the big screen TV. Altogether it's been a major problem, but last night was pretty minor."\nEight false alarms in a semester has led many residents to question why Read hasn't instituted video cameras or ink cartridges to monitor the pull stations.\n"When you talk about those things obviously there are budget and finance concerns," Montelongo said. "We've asked (IU Police Department) to make additional rounds in the buildings late night and early morning. That seems to be effective. This alarm was the first in weeks." \nMontelongo also said that they have been relying on plastic covers over the alarms to deter prospective false pullers, but those have been ineffective. The six alarms pulled this semester were all covered alarms. The other two alarms were the result of smoke detectors.\nResidents have their own theories why there have been so many false alarms.\n"All the alarms are pretty well located that you can pull them and get back to your room or house and get away with it," freshman Joe Sunderhaus said.\nTwo students are currently going through the University judicial system over false alarm pulls at Read, but so far there have been no leads about Wednesday night's false alarm, Montelongo said. Their names were withheld for privacy issues.\nConsequences for pulling a false fire alarm can range from a reprimand to expulsion from the University depending on the situation, said Residential Programs and Services Director Bob Weith.\n"Each case is judged on its own merits, but we consider falsely evacuating an entire building a major offense," Weith said.\nHowever, the IUPD currently has no leads in the most recent false alarm. \n"There's currently no active investigation because we have no leads to follow up on," IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said. "Unfortunately, in cases where a pull station is pulled, people don't do it when witnesses are around. The only thing we can do is rely on the people who live and work over there who may have seen anything."\nMontelongo also appealed for anyone with information to come forward.\n"This is a major safety concern," she said. "We really would would like to find more people responsible for this inconvenience. We're pulling the IUPD and fire department away from real emergencies."\n-- Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(12/01/03 5:21am)
Freshman Emily Hanover doesn't worry about the cost of an IU education that much. After all, she doesn't have to pay for her time here -- her parents take care of that.\nHowever, even she knows that it puts a little more of a burden on her family because they now have to pay an extra $1,000 fee every year she attends IU.\n"I really don't think about the fee that much since I don't actually foot the bills, but I'm sure my dad thinks about it," Hanover said.\nThe freshman fee, which raised tuition for students almost 25 percent, took effect at the beginning of the semester for all freshmen and transfer students. The fee goes toward the new Commitment to Excellence fund.\nThe fee is expected to generate $7.1 million for IU this year and $28 million over the next four years. \nUniversity leaders say the fee will give IU the resources to pursue new projects, but others question the necessity of new fees implemented at universities all over the state.\n"I think their plans are the methodology of justifying the ever-increasing prices they want to charge," said State Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, chairman of the Senate Education and Workforce Development Committee.\nKenley said even though the Indiana General Assembly added $53 million over two years to state financial aid, lawmakers still had to put caps on the amount available to students because the state could not keep pace with tuition hikes. He said he intends to introduce legislation that would create an inflation cap for tuition, guaranteeing rates would not rise much more than 2 percent during a student's four-year education.\nPurdue University instituted a similar fee last year, with Ball State University, Indiana State University and IU following up with their own fees this year. But university officials said the freshman fee at IU had been in the planning stages for some time.\n"It's my impression that the discussion about the fee for new students started some time ago," IU-Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm said. "Many schools have taken this approach. It was not based on Purdue's decision."\nThis first year, the fee is being used to develop seven projects that will hire 25 additional faculty members with expertise in Eastern studies, 21 faculty members for the biology department and four master's teachers to the music department, among other faculty additions and the creation of new undergraduate and master's degrees.\nHanover wonders why every new student is paying for things just a few will benefit from.\n"If it helps those fields it seems like they should just have everyone in those fields pay for them," she said.\nBrehm said helping just a few specific areas will help all graduates.\n"These funds will be used to create or strengthen academic programs that will enhance the reputation of Indiana University," Brehm said. "As IU's prestige increases, so does the value of each student's degree. Thus, this is an investment that will serve you well for the rest of your life."\nNot everyone feels IU's prestige is as important as Brehm makes it out, however.\n"Benchmark programs like business and music do lend to raising the overall perception of IU academics," said IU Student Association Vice President Grant McFann. "But, perception is not everything. We are concerned that funding generated by the Commitment to Excellence fee enhances only select, already thriving programs. It does not benefit all, or even a majority, of students -- only those in select programs."\nBrehm also said it is impossible to know in advance what programs would be selected and thus, not possible to charge a fee to only the students in them. \n"The programs that are funded are selected through a competitive process. Thus, we didn't know in advance which programs would be funded," Brehm said. "Moreover, as I noted, the value of your degree is enhanced. And this value depends on the reputation of the whole institution, not only the \nreputation of your particular degree program."\nBut McFann questions if extra funding for so few programs is really benefiting everyone.\n"The fee raised tuition almost 25 percent last year, making it difficult for many families to pay for education at a school they already subsidize through their taxes," McFann said. "Basically, a fee of such weight should benefit more students than it does, and the University administration should more closely consider the University mission and potential effects on the state when implementing any program, especially one of this stature. A pretty name does not necessarily equate to a worthwhile endeavor"
(11/21/03 5:55am)
It was a long and bloody battle, but in the end Purdue University pulled ahead to win the seventh annual Blood Donor Challenge.\nThis year marked a new record for the blood drive, with Purdue and IU rallying a total 5,021 donations, beating last year's total of 4,678.\n"When it comes to saving a life, the bottom-line is competition stirs people up for a good cause," said Kellie Cox, director of Alumni Clubs for Purdue.\nPurdue out-donated IU by only 21 donations in the challenge, which ran from Oct. 13 through Nov. 14.\n"It was neck-and-neck a lot of the way, but we pressed ahead by sending out e-mails to students and alumni reminding people that we were in the lead," Cox said. "I think that motivates people if you remind them and keep them involved. If you only tell them once they tend to forget."\nThe Blood Donor Challenge began seven years ago when Indianapolis IU Alumni Club challenged the Purdue Alumni Club to a blood drive. Since then it has expanded to include more than half the state.\nIU has only won the competition twice -- in its first year of existence and last year.\nThe traveling trophy for the school that donates the most blood will be presented to Purdue at Saturday's football game.\n"I don't know if Purdue did anything differently, but it was very close," said John Hobson, senior vice president of the IU Alumni Association. "We had more donors than ever, and we're pleased to have that much blood donated to save the lives of hospital patients throughout the state."\nThe record-setting donations are especially appreciated during a time of year that has been unusually slow.\n"This fall has not been the best," Donor Recruitment Representative Amber Richardson told the IDS at the beginning of the blood drive. "We are at a day supply. We need to be at a three-day supply."\nThough IU did not collect as much blood as Purdue, Hobson was just glad to see so much support from the community.\n"The IU Alumni Association appreciates all of the students, alumni and fans who took the time to donate blood to IU," he said.\nAnd already, there are plans for next year's blood drive.\n"Of course we want to do it again," Hobson said. "It's a beneficial community service project alumni and students enjoy participating in, and it helps people all over the state"
