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(06/29/06 6:43pm)
Junior Christine Wampler, 21, died of natural causes in April while attending a formal hosted by the Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity, also known as the Skulls, according to a Louisville, Ky., coroner's office report. Her official cause of death was myocarditis, presumed to be of a viral etiology, said Louisville Deputy Coroner Robert Fraction, reading from the report. \nMyocarditis is a condition in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and weakened, causing symptoms of heart failure that may resemble a heart attack, according to MedlinePlus, an online medical encyclopedia. The condition can be caused by viral, bacterial and parasitic infections, including influenza and rubella. It is defined as uncommon, and can also be caused by exposure to chemicals and allergic reactions to medications, according to MedlinePlus. \nWampler and her date attended the fraternity formal April 8 in Louisville and were staying overnight at the Seelbach Hotel in the city. Wampler's date found her unresponsive in the bathroom early the next morning and called an ambulance. She was pronounced dead at 9:30 a.m. April 9 at the University of Louisville Hospital, according to an April 11 Indiana Daily Student article. Louisville Metro Police Officer Dwight Mitchell, who originally investigated the death, told the IDS he suspected alcohol was involved, according to the article, but the autopsy reports have proved otherwise.\nWampler's friends said knowing her cause of death will help them find peace. Senior Adam Carr, Wampler's close friend and co-worker, said he was relieved that alcohol did not cause her death.\n"When I had talked to (her date), he said, '(her death) wasn't drinking related, you have to trust me,'" Carr said. "I believed him, but a lot of people didn't. It makes me happy for (him) because people didn't believe him ... I'm glad that it wasn't anything that she could have prevented, but she's still gone."\nTrent Weldy, a graduate student who was a friend and co-worker of both Wampler and Carr, said he was relieved to finally have an explanation for her sudden death.\n"I was glad to have an answer and know what happened," he said. "It's just something that couldn't be avoided. It's a little better because it's not like an accident, it's just something that happened."\nThough the coroner suspects Wampler's case of myocarditis was caused by a virus, Carr and Weldy were uncertain that Wampler had felt ill. Carr said he vaguely remembered her complaining of a cold a week or two prior to attending the formal and Weldy said he didn't remember her being sick at all. In the April 11 IDS article, Mitchell made reference to Wampler not feeling well, but no one could confirm an illness by press time. Also, it is common for victims of myocarditis not to experience symptoms at all, according to MedlinePlus. \nWampler's was the second sudden death caused by a heart problem within that April week. Junior Nichole Birky , also 21, was found dead the morning of April 5 at Delta Zeta sorority. Birky's death was caused by cardiac arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat or rhythm.\nThough the friends of both girls said knowing the cause of their deaths will help them cope and bring them closure, Carr said the pain of losing his friend is far from gone. \n"Nothing that's said is going to bring her back," he said. "Nothing about that is going to make me feel better, other than the fact that she's in a better place and that I got to spend time with her"
(06/05/06 2:21am)
A recent controversy at Yale is illustrative of the lack of influence among IU's graduate student organizations -- although, in this case, we're glad that our local groups aren't taking on similar causes.\nYale recently divested itself of all of its holdings in the Corrections Corporation of America -- a private company that manages prisons all over the United States, and which has been accused of abusing inmates. Yale claims that the decision was strictly financial, but the Graduate Employees and Students Organization had been waging a campaign demanding divestiture. They felt that the university shouldn't appear to support a company accused of prisoner abuse.\nCampaigns for divestiture are not new. A global campaign against companies that invested or worked in apartheid-era South Africa is often credited with putting pressure on the South African regime. Today students across the U.S. are pushing for divestiture of stocks of companies that do business in Sudan, in protest of the killing in Darfur. \nWe have no problem with divestiture campaigns, per se; the anti-apartheid campaign showed they can be a tool for positive change. However, it seems inappropriate that an organization whose primary purpose is representing graduate students as employees would take up such an issue. Yale's GESO is most famous for waging a long-running, acrimonious labor dispute over the unionization of graduate students, their pay and stipends -- including six strikes since 1990. \nWe don't think that a labor union should stray so far beyond representing the interests of its members -- so far, perhaps, as to take a political stance that some of its members may not agree with. We know that labor unions are famously political -- giving staunch support to Democrats, even if not all of their members vote Democratic. But it's a shame that a graduate student organization would politicize itself in the same way. If students wanted to force Yale to divest they should have formed an organization dedicated to this goal -- as IU students did, for example, with No Sweat!'s campaign to force the administration to stop using sweatshop workers in the manufacture of IU athletic apparel.\nBut, while we may not agree with the stance taken by the Yale graduate student organization, it does highlight the weak hand of graduate student groups here at IU. Although we may not want the IU Graduate and Professional Students Organization to push for divestiture, it's hard to imagine them succeeding if they chose \nto do so. \nThirty members of the Graduate Employees Organization held a demonstration at the Sample Gates more than two months ago -- not that most graduate students, let alone undergrads, knew it was taking place or what it was protesting. If our graduate groups can't mobilize people regarding important issues like dental care for graduate students, it's hard to see them successfully pressuring the administration about peripheral issues.\nSo while we might not support the action taken by the Yale Graduate Employees and Students Organization, we salute the fact that they could successfully take it.
(06/01/06 2:20am)
Recent IU graduate Lucy Berger had her career path planned out when she came to IU in 2001. She wanted to go into forensic anthropology.\nYet, a part-time job changed that path.\nBerger took out loans and worked part-time jobs to pay for tuition and living expenses throughout college. As she entered her junior year in the summer of 2003, she decided she needed a second job. She saw an ad for a concession stand worker for Girls Incorporated of Monroe County, a non profit organization dedicated to developing strong, smart and bold young women.\n"I really didn't think I'd like working with kids," she said. "It's a change of pace."\nThe position wasn't available, but Lee Ann Jourdan, Girls Inc. director of program services, offered her a job as a program specialist. Berger took it, eager to try out something different as she began as a camp counselor. \n"I wasn't sure about working with kids. My first day was really interesting," she said. "It was hot and there were a bunch of kids and staff I didn't know. That many kids in one spot can be intimidating."\nStill, Berger stuck with it and refused to quit after only working one day. She had participated in a 4-H club in her hometown of Muncie, frequently leading the younger kids.\n"I was indifferent towards working with them," she said. "Some days I could do it, some days I couldn't."\nWorking at Girls Inc. surprised her, however. Her duties included facilitating programs and helping others who planned programs for the girls. She continued her work into the school year and took on a planning role for the organization's programs. In late fall of 2004, Berger accepted a promotion as the center-based program specialist. In that role she supervises other employees and creates programs for Girls Inc. participants.\nBerger has also trained in three national Girls Inc. identity programs -- Media Literacy, Sporting Chance and Project Bold -- which work to strengthen girls' self-esteem and identity.\nExecutive Director Dorothy Granger has enjoyed having Berger on staff.\n"She just flourished," Granger said. "She is great with the girls."\nBerger graduated from IU with her bachelor's degree in anthropology approximately a month ago, but her experience with Girls Inc. has caused her to change her mind about immediately pursuing her forensic anthropology career.\n"It's a long-term goal now," she said. "It requires a lot more schooling and I feel like this is a perfect opportunity to make a difference in other people's lives."\nShe never imagined she would include working with kids on her list of career goals. She has even tailored her class schedule towards studies that are applicable to children and life lessons. Through anthropology, she was able to study growth and development. Through chemistry and biology classes, she has a range of knowledge that she can share with the girls involved in the programs. \n"Any class I take can apply to my job," Berger said. "Why does soda bubble? I can answer that because of my background in chemistry."\nYet despite her dedication to Girls Inc. and working with children through a non profit, Berger intends to continue her education for forensic anthropology someday.\n"I feel like when you work at a non profit, you need someone who can give you good, innovative ideas," she said. "When the way I do things no longer works, I feel someone else needs to step up."\nJourdan is proud of what Berger has added to the Girls Inc. staff.\n"Lucy is a great example of a dedicated leader," she said. "She's an intelligent role model and a wonderful mentor."\nBerger said she encourages anyone, whether a student or not, to try different job opportunities and keep an open mind. She feels every job has real world experience and will add to long-term career goals. But for now, she's happy to make a difference in children's lives.\n"I have a lot of things I'd like to accomplish in my life and someday I will have to move on," she said. "But that's not in the near future"
(05/25/06 1:27am)
The IU community has recently voiced various levels of concern as President Bush announced last week a set of comprehensive immigration reform proposals that would include an expanded but restricted guest worker program while also adding extra security to the U.S. and Mexican border. \nThe proposals are currently being debated throughout the government and address the fundamental issue of whether to punish or welcome those who enter the United States illegally.\n"We would not be as a country if it was not for this workforce who is willing to work long hours with little pay and no vacation," said La Casa Director Lillian Casillas. "These are hardworking, loyal folks." \nLa Casa, IU's Latino Culture Center, works to increase cultural awareness and education of the Latino community. It also helps recruit Latino students to come to IU.\nThe guest worker plan allows for undocumented workers to be able to live in the United States as long as they can prove that they are working. Additionally under the proposals, citizenship would be attainable for most illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants would be permitted to stay in the United States, but at a cost. In his speech earlier this week, Bush called for undocumented workers to pay their back-taxes, learn English and work a job over a length of time in order to stay. \nThe past few months have been marked by protests and boycotting all over the United States. A few months ago, The House of Representatives passed a tough bill that would impose fines on employers of illegal immigrants, called for tighter border control and would make becoming a citizen an arduous task. The recent announcement by Bush to send 6,000 National Guard troops to the border has exacerbated tensions in the past weeks. \nRegions and cities with large populations of working, undocumented immigrants are most affected by the reform. While activism is alive within the Latino community of Bloomington, the legislation does not pose a major threat to most people who live in Bloomington or attend IU. \n"In Bloomington, we have Latinos, but they are kind of scattered," Casillas said. "They are not the big numbers that I think the (reform) will have a major impact on. The students I work with are all documented or U.S. citizens. We don't have the sort of worker population here that is in other places."\nDespite the fact that immigration reform does not directly impact Bloomington as much as other places, some students have still felt the ramifications of this bill for people they know. Many students, professors and members within or outside of the Latino community have reacted to the bill.\n"Some students did go protest this because they know families affected by it or are against (the reform)," said Casillas. "Also, I have seen a lot concern at La Casa from non-Latino students."\nAldo Huitzil, a recent IU graduate and involved member of IU's Latino community and La Casa, participated in a protest in Indianapolis recently. \n"We wanted to protest that immigrants help this country grow," he said. "This country has always had a reliance on immigrants. They have been important for so long."\nThere are many reasons why the reform has sparked controversy.\n"Many Latinos think that (it) is wrong-headed because border enforcement has greatly increased since 1994, (but) undocumented immigration has increased as well," said Jorge Chapa, the director of Latino studies at IU.\nHe said America, a country founded on immigrants, has allowed over 80 million people to enter the United States in the past. Jorge proposes that if the United States needs the workers, the government should support the same type of immigration policy that has worked successfully in the past -- such as increasing the legal immigration of permanent residents. \nOther adversaries of the reform argue that illegal immigrants play an important role in the economic scheme of the United States, one that, frankly, no one else wants to fulfil. \nHuitzi said that people are wiling to risk their lives to cross the border for work and that even though they are making low wages and don't get benefits, it is more than they are making in their home countries. \nThe flip side of the bill is that if immigrants do get the guest-worker permits, they would enjoy more protection and benefits of living in the U.S. \n"I am happy to see that they are doing more than saying that they are doing more than building walls," Casillas said. "It's important to know who's here and at the same time that they have certain rights. We can't deny benefit from them."\nOpposition for this aspect of the bill argues that undocumented workers are going unpunished, even rewarded for illegally entering the country. \nHuitzil believes that the best way to reform immigration is to tackle the source of the problem.\n"It's going to get worse before it gets better," he said. "One thing the government can try to do is focus on employers. They need to develop technology that certifies who is legal and who is not so employers have no excuses for hiring illegal immigrants." \nIf this technology were developed, Huitzil theorizes that people in other countries will get the message that there is no work in the U.S., deterring them from attempting illegal entry. \n"The reality is that we are benefiting from them," said Casillas. "The reform is kind of a hypocrisy. But, illegal immigrants should have to do something in order to earn the right to stay here"
(05/18/06 12:31am)
As Chinese industry grows to a dominating presence in the world today, not even the leading economic minds know how to label its force.\nThe Kelley School of Business will hold the "Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics" conference in order to discuss this question and will cover contextualizing China's political economy, regulatory Chinese politics and Chinese industrial trade policies. \n"Despite the ruling party's name, China is no longer a communist country," said conference organizer and IU professor Scott Kennedy in a statement. "As China moves toward the market, there is no consensus about whether capitalism is a better label, and, if so, what type of capitalist system China is evolving toward." \nKennedy, a speaker at the conference, has published several articles in the World Policy Journal, Political Science Quarterly, Financial Times and the Asian Wall Street Journal, among other publications. An expert on the subject of Chinese economy, Kennedy recently released a book, "The Business of Lobbying in China", which discusses how to effectively lobby with regards to China's stable political system and changing economic system. \nOther conference participants will include Hu Shuli, founder and editor of Caijing (Business and Finance Review); Arthur R. Kroeber, co-editor of China Economic Quarterly and managing director of the Dragonomics Research & Advisory firm and Jason Kindopp, the China analyst at Eurasia Group. \nA reporter for 16 years at Workers Daily and China Business Times, Shuli started the privately-financed Caijing in 1998. Shuli has been called "the most dangerous woman in China" for her penetrating editorials and the magazine's groundbreaking stories on China's financial markets and corruption.\nA graduate of Harvard, Kroeber worked as a financial journalist in Asia beginning in 1987, writing articles on China and India for publications including The Economist, the Far Eastern Economic Review and Wired. Kroeber specializes in Chinese economic effects on the global market at his research firm. \nPrior to joining the Eurasia Group, Kindopp was a resident scholar at the National Committee on United States-China Relations. Kindopp is a specialist in state-society relations and political stability in China, and his doctoral work focused on threats to social stability in China. \nThe conference will also include many other political, economic and business experts from the University of California-Berkeley, Northwestern University, National Taiwan University and other national and global institutions. \nThe conference will last from 8:45 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and 9:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. This event is not open to the public, and more information about attendance and basic content of the conference can be found online at www.polsci.indiana.edu/china/default.htm.
(05/10/06 11:55pm)
"Hospital Week," a national salute to health care workers and volunteers, is taking a special look at the rapidly aging population and the effects it will have on society this week.\nIn 2007, someone will turn 50 years old every seven seconds, according to a press release from Bloomington Hospital. Additionally, 13 percent of the population will be over the age of 65.\nThese factors contribute to the increasing need for people to work in health care as professionals, administrators and volunteers. Many current health care workers are aging and reaching retirement age. According to a statement by Bloomington Hospital, this leaves a great deal of positions open for new health care workers "to fill the gap."\nBloomington Hospital is using this week to thank and recognize all of the health care workers and volunteers. National Nurses Week, which runs May 6-12, overlaps with this event. The hospital is participating in both in hopes of bringing recognition to everyone involved in health care fields. Bloomington Hospital has had events all week for its employees and will have employee picnics on Friday.\nThe hosptial is also using this week to educate the community about its efforts to recruit health care professionals from regional educational institutions.\nOne of the hospital's recruits is Misty Lowder, an Owen Valley High School and University of Southern Indiana graduate. Lowder is a respiratory therapist intern and said she is proud to work in the health care industry.\n"I have a great future as a respiratory therapist," she said. \nLowder did an internship in high school, hoping to work in the special care nursery. When no positions were available, she chose respiratory therapy, though she knew nothing about it at first.\n"I really liked it a lot," she said. "I got a scholarship as a graduating senior to work at Bloomington Hospital after graduation (from college)."\nLowder wanted to help people and have a hands-on job. She plans to stay in the respiratory therapy field and says there is no other career she would like to have.\nBloomington Hospital Media and Community Relations Coordinator Jonna Risher said the statistics about the aging population make the demand for skilled health care workers higher than ever.\nThe U.S. Census Bureau predicts that nurses will have the largest job growth of any occupation from 2002 to 2012, adding 623,000 to health care organizations.\n"An aging population will require increasing amounts of human and medical resources in the years to come," she said. "This will be costly for our country in terms of providing care."\nLowder encourages anyone to look into careers in health care, especially if they have a heart to help people.\n"If they want to be something where they can be hands-on and (they) like technology, it's a good field to go into," she said. "There are so many people that need help. It makes sense that they are the top careers"
(05/01/06 4:48am)
Well, Johnny Lechner, the infamous 12-year undergrad at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is graduating this year, and sadly so am I.\nI'm not going to lie -- writing this is turning out to be an incredibly bittersweet experience. Honestly, despite being less than a week away, the word "graduation" has not yet entered my lexicon.\nSo now, without having yet come to terms with it, I'm faced with the task of saying goodbye to these last four years of my life in 500 words or less, and that, dear reader, is not easy.\nBeing the hard worker I am, I'm not going to. Instead, let me offer you that which I have learned in my four wonderful years. If I could suggest one piece of serious advice to those of you who will be staying on next year, it is this: think as much in class as you do when you are going to the bathroom.\nWhat never ceases to surprise me is the depth of the graffiti on the bathroom stalls, compared with the silence in the classroom when a professor asks an existential crisis.\nAny of you women who have utilized, for example, the first-floor women's bathroom, second stall on the left-hand side know what I'm talking about. \nNo matter how often the hard-working janitorial staff tries, the dialogue continues. It's amazing what people think about while they are emptying their bladders -- the existence or non-existence of God, the morality or immorality of abortion, the relevance of classic literature, etc.\nYet ironically, when many of my professors ask basic questions about the previous night's reading, oftentimes the class responds largely with blank stares. And these are -- let me emphasize -- basic questions.\nSo it struck me while I was emptying my bladder in this particular stall, for what could very well be my last time as an undergraduate, that we would all learn substantially more if classroom discussions were as animated as those that take place within the bathroom.\nGiven the monumental nature of the milestone that Saturday will mark in our lives, I wish I had something more substantial to contribute, but just about everything else has already been said (and, I must note, much more eloquently). \nReally, the most important thing to do while you're here is to simply take advantage of the time and resources you have here. If the real world is hell, college is a sort of happy limbo. Unfortunately, too many people (myself probably included) won't make that realization until it's too late.\nAfter all, it's easy to look at IU as one big logistical nightmare, especially in the first couple years. But, as time passes, without your ever noticing, it becomes so much more than that. IU will always be my first real intellectual home, and I want to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful professors who have given me guidance and encouragement, as well as my friends who have made the worst moments tolerable. \nGoodbye fellow students, faculty, and members of the Bloomington community. It's been real.
(04/25/06 3:53am)
Graduation is little more than a week away, and for many IU seniors, it's time to find a job. \nIn January, Fortune magazine released its "100 best companies to work for" based on employee ratings. Several IU alumni have found their way to a company on the magazine's list and offered some tips on finding a fun and rewarding career after college. \nIU alumnus Kara Scrougham is a 1993 telecommunications graduate who now works for No.1-ranked Genentech, a biotechnology company that manufactures pharmaceuticals. She said she believes the cost of recruiting and relocating quality employees encourages companies to keep their workers happy.\n"In order to truly flourish, you have to be comfortable and happy where you're working," she said. "Feeling satisfied and appreciated is going to make you that much better of a performer."\nScrougham said she made a point to do her homework on Genentech before she made the move from Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Company, where she had worked for eight years. She said job hunters can often find industry blogs where professionals share opinions of their respective companies and advise each other on career moves. She found insight from other pharmaceutical marketing professionals at www.cafepharma.com.\nAlong with job descriptions, blogs are also an excellent way to prepare for an interview, Scrougham said.\n"The more you know about the company and your own capabilities, the better," she said. "Be able to take your strengths and sell them toward a job that you know inward and outward. An interview is not just the company interviewing you, you are interviewing the company. It's got to be a good fit for both of you."\nIU alumnus Steve Barnard, who earned his MBA in marketing and design from the Kelley School of Business in 2002, now works as a market segment manager for 97th-ranked Intel. He tracks down new business for the company's new healthcare information technology division. The products he sells "streamline processes and integrate digital information to improve patient safety, reduce operational costs and increase efficiency," according to Intel's Web site.\nBarnard advises graduates to take a "multi-channel approach" toward their job search. He suggests they use a combination of personal networking and online job searches on Web sites like Monster.com. And of course, be persistent.\n"Number one, focus your search," he said. "Treat your job like a marketing or business plan. Look at your market, look at your core assets and focus your search on what you really think you can achieve and be of value to a company. Don't just blindly send out your resumes."\nBarnard cautions job hunters not to become enticed by a company's big name or high salary. He said location, company culture and flexibility in the job description are all aspects he enjoys in his work.\nAs for finding the perfect company, he said new grads should get the inside scoop from the people who already work there.\n"You just have to talk to people," he said. "And don't talk to just one person. Talk to as many people as you can to learn about the company you're looking at. If it's a big enough company, you can seek out new grads that are just recently hired. Talk to them about how they got in, how they like it."\nFor some, autonomy and challenge characterize the perfect job. Alumnus Greg Baker spent 11 years working on the IU physical plant's information systems before becoming one of 13th-ranked Quicken Loans' 2,951 U.S. employees.\n"It's probably one of the most challenging jobs I've ever had, which is exactly why I like it," Baker said. "It's very, very fast-paced, and the environment and the culture are very good. We have a great culture there for IT people to work in. It's very flat -- there's not a lot of hierarchy. Everybody is expected to be empowered to get jobs done. Also, our leaders in the company are strong, active and developed individuals that provide a lot of motivation. Plus, they provide popcorn and slushees and coffee in the break room."\nTo have a shot at landing a job at a place like Quicken, Baker said applicants should prove they are looking for more than just a 9-to-5. His company looks for people willing to work hard for a hefty \ncompensation.\n"Come in and say, 'This is my plan for the future, and this is why I think I'm going to fit there,'" he said. "They want to see driven, motivated people."\nHe also recommends checking out a company's Web site and talking to career fair representatives to gain a better understanding of its company culture. Job hunters can also call the human relations department and ask what kind of qualities and experience a company looks for in its applicants.\nOf course, if students want a professional opinion, they can always ask their major's career services center. Mark Brostoff with the Kelley School of Business Undergraduate Career Services office also urged students to look at "the whole package" -- not just salary -- when investigating career \nopportunities. \n"You have to do your company research," he said. "Understand what's motivating the company to seek out IU students. You have to review the history of the company and look at the trend of the \nindustry."\nBrostoff recommended students look to a company's vision statement to see if its "core values are in alignment with their values." He said students should examine company culture, corporate responsibility and the strength of an industry before sending out their resumes.\n"Find a company that's going to be able to use their skills and their accomplishments in the most effective manner," he said. "Look at the company's job description and make sure the skill set matches what the applicant has to offer."\nIf students use Web sites like Hot Jobs or Monster.com, Brostoff said they should make sure they stand out from the hundreds or thousands of resumes that companies might receive.\n"Be sure to differentiate yourself not only on the resume, but in the interview so the employer really understands what sets you apart," he said. \nAs daunting as the uncertainty of unemployment can be, graduates should avoid jumping at the first job they're offered, Scrougham said.\n"It's an exciting time, but don't rush," she said. "Know what you want and go for that. I don't think you should ever settle"
(03/08/06 4:45am)
Dec. 15, 1936, is the date heading a letter addressed to IU-Bloomington from one very famous landscape design company, the Olmsted brothers, outlining plans to beautify IU's campus.\nThe brothers, John Charles and Frederick Law Jr., inherited the nation's premier landscape architecture company from their late and legendary father, Frederick Law Olmsted, in 1903.\nTheir letter was a list. Page after page details the renovations the company was planning to undertake upon the University.\nThree luscious Pink Flowering Dogwoods. Three grappling Glossy Winter Creepers. Twelve yellow, radiant Showy Border Forsythias. One smooth European Beech. Two lustrous green Japanese Yews. These were just a few among the many to be planted at the Indiana Memorial Union.\nOne aromatic tulip tree. Twenty-four inhibiting Regel Privets. Two grasping Engelmann Creepers. Fourteen rose-like Spreading Cotoneasters. These were only a select few to be planted at the University's main library.\nOther buildings included in the Olmsted Brothers' plan were the music building, Myers Hall and the Medical Building. These 20th-century renovations by a famous architectural company helped propel IU to become what Thomas A. Gaines, in his book "The Campus as a Work of Art," considers one of the five most beautiful campuses in the nation.\nCreating and then sustaining the designs that qualify the Bloomington campus as a work of art is a vigorous and time-consuming project. The landscaping process is intricate and requires a tremendous amount of help. IU's 2,000-acre campus is divided into four sections, with a supervisor responsible for each. Forty-four full-time staff members and 30 part-time students are employed and divided among the four divisions.\n"It's such a big operation that it's hard to give a lot of detail," says Michael Crowe, director of facilities.\nFor example, the staff members are further divided into different niches. Some are responsible for concrete and masonry while others operate heavy machinery. The University also staffs equipment mechanics, grounds keepers, gardeners, arborists, truck drivers, the nursery crew and the landscape \narchitects.\nThe process being with one solitary seedling, which will flourish into a flower bed surrounding some of IU's most beautiful landmarks. The pressure is on to consistently recreate some of the most picturesque places on campus, like the Sample Gates.\nEach year, the process happens without a single blueprint. Rather, what makes the seed grow is an informal conversation between three very important individuals.\nOn an annual basis, Crowe meets with Mia Williams, director of landscape architecture, and Marshall Goss, former IU track coach and current manager of the nursery. They discuss the option of purchasing new varieties of plants to be introduced that year, reusing old plants that worked well in the past and discarding plants that didn't work. In the end, a list is compiled of what flowers will be grown, how many there are and in which of the 400 flowerbeds they will be planted. This year, 97 different varieties were used.\nGoss is primarily responsible for selecting flower content. His cluttered cubicle at the nursery contains a green file cabinet overstuffed with a myriad of magazines depicting thousands of varieties of flowers.\n"Here's a good one," he says as he pulled out EuroAmerica from one of the drawers of the filing cabinet. \nEuphorbia Diamond Frost is a flower featured in one magazine. Hundreds of different colored varieties of chrysanthemums fill the pages of another. Coleus, an ivy known for its radiantly colored leaves, is yet another. Molten Lava coleus. Oompah coleus ... the list goes on.\nNext year, onlookers can expect such oddities as red and yellow hot peppers.\n"As long as no one eats them," Goss says.\nMarshall says he likes peppers because they are so different from the typical flower one would see on campus. \n"I don't care what's popular," he says. "I care if I like them and if they grow well." \nGoss looks for plants he personally finds attractive. He says he thinks to himself, "Which one do I like best?"\nOther factors come into play. For instance, he says he often orders based on color.\n"This particular one right here is red," Goss points out as he flipped through the Yoder magazine. "That would look pretty good with the colors of the school."\nCrow's office never creates a tangible blueprint. It eyeballs it -- if a plant didn't spread well, it's gone. If it didn't bloom, bye-bye. Plants are replaced according to factors such as color, height, spread and the type of the plant (whether it is a flower, a bush or a type of grass).\n"We pretty much know just in our heads," Williams says. "So we'll say, 'We need to get more height in the center of the beds at Sample Gates because it really didn't work last year.' Then we'll come up with whatever plant material we want to fill."\nEvery single plant has its own unique quality. IU's signature flower, the blood red Dragon Wing Begonia, has been present on campus since 1972. Not until 2001, however, did the plant become widely planted.\n"It's interesting how some (plants) stay dormant, and then someone tries them a certain way and they grow," Goss says.\nWith selection done, the growing process can begin. At the side of an old country road north of the bypass, hidden among trees and old houses, sits the University nursery. Goss' office is nothing more than a two-room building attached to a garage.\nAcross the gravel driveway sit five greenhouses. Four of them are divided into pairs and attached at the hips. The last one sits alone, separated from the others. It is the first greenhouse IU ever had. It is smaller than the others, but Goss says he loves this one most.\nEach greenhouse holds a certain type of plant, depending on the ideal temperature the plant requires to grow properly, the amount of light needed and the time of year the flower is planted. All five greenhouses are never in use at the same time. Goss says it's simply too much work.\nIn February, 3,000 pansies arrive in four-inch pots. Some have deep purple petals with a jet-black starburst at their core. Others are yellow with a vibrant orange center. As the flowers grow, they will be transferred twice into bigger pots before being transported to campus to be planted in a bed.\nApril and May are the most colorful months at the greenhouses, Goss says. Roughly 6,000 annuals -- plants that grow for a single season and must be replanted anew the following year -- arrive. Pots overrun the greenhouses, clutter the tops of tables and dangle from metal bars above.\nSeptember rolls around and 8,000 chrysanthemums arrive. Orange. Red. White. Pink. Purple. \nTrees are raised at the nursery as well. Approximately 125 of the 500 trees planted on campus every year are raised in a field behind the nursery, Goss says. Clusters of miniature orange berries engulf the crab apple trees growing in the field. Flaming red maples are scattered throughout. The brilliant yellow leaves of the ginkgo tree sway in the breeze.\nThe remaining three-fourths of the trees are purchased from suppliers. The University would raise all of the trees planted yearly on campus but they are routinely thwarted by deer. \n"They simply destroy us out here," Goss says. \nThe damage done by animals is apparent. The bark of several trees has been rubbed bare by antlers, leaving the raw, pale skin of the interiors revealed.\nThe University recently purchased vacant lots in town to grow additional trees. By doing this, it hopes to decrease the number of damaged trees.\nMajor planting revolves around IU's most important citizens -- its students -- and occurs during two pivotal points of the year -- in May, around graduation, and in September, when the students have returned.\nOfficially, planting commences May 1 of each year. Assembly Hall is the first to receive its new colors. The flagpole and sundial in front are enveloped by cream-and-crimson-colored chrysanthemums.\nThe IMU is next. Electric green ivy tumbles out of hanging pots. Red and white mums litter the flower beds. Purple, yellow, red, orange and white mums encircle the newly installed electronic billboard in front. Thick strands of maroon-colored potato vines tumble over the limestone wall of the flowerbed.\nThe Sample Gates and Showalter Fountain follow. \nAfter initial planting by the landscape employees is finished, upkeep of the flowerbeds is taken over by other campus workers. But the process for the landscaping crew continues.\nGoss says his favorite part of the job is "seeing that what you've grown pleases other people." \nThe impact of IU's landscape on the people in the community is overwhelming. Curt Simic, president of the IU Foundation, says the landscape at the University is always, without fail, one of the top three things alumni remember about the campus.\n"The landscape is what people see first when entering the campus and see last when leaving," Goss says. "The impact of flowers is one of the greatest the University has"
(03/07/06 6:27am)
Senior Tyler Helmond will be graduating in May with a degree from IU Bloomington's Division of Labor Studies, and he could be the last person to do so. The very department where Helmond has been an undergraduate teaching assistant for the past two years faces potential closure on all of IU's six campuses - including Bloomington. \nHelmond said he e-mailed President Adam Herbert last week opposing the school's closing. He added that it seems illogical to close a program that was founded at IU in the 1940s and continues to serve a vital interest. \n"I would suggest that the faculty in the Kinsey Institute begin to polish their resumes if this is how we keep things 'red hot' at IU," Helmond said in an e-mail. \nIf the DLS has not found a new home for itself by June 30, all tenure-track faculty will receive notification of termination that will take affect June 2007, said DLS assistant professor Steven Ashby. In May 2005, six DLS employees, two of whom were tenure-track faculty members, received notices of non-reappointment, according to a letter from Ruth Needleman, DLS professor at IU Northwest.\nHerbert e-mailed Helmond a response to his letter on Monday, saying IU is doing all it can to give the faculty additional time to "consider \norganizational options." \n"No final decisions have been made, but plans are being considered and this fact of open discussion and deliberation may lead to speculation and rumor," he said in the e-mail. "As of now, however, no actions have been taken regarding the future of organization of the Division. If it is fiscally feasible, we will also rescind some or all of the notices of non-reappointment as budget information permits." \nIn response to the DLS' uncertain future, students in the department have started to take notice and respond with action. Nearly 150 students and local union members gathered at IU Northwest in Gary Feb. 21, asking the campus to give the division a home. Like Helmond, students have also started to write letters. \n"By closing the Division, the University is eliminating an important program that contributes to the rich diversity of offerings and viewpoints championed by Dr. (Herman B) Wells," Helmond said. "That legacy will be put in peril if the Division is ultimately closed."
(03/06/06 6:30am)
A substantial increase in health insurance costs could mean changes for many graduate student health plans, even as the University offers to cover a majority of the rate hike. \nHealth insurance premiums could increase $584 -- 58 percent -- from the current $1,007 per year, which is wholly covered by IU. Under the new plan, University administrators plan to cover $1,409.80, leaving $181.20 to be paid by students, said Neil Theobald, IU's vice chancellor of budget and administration. \n"There's nothing that's good about it," said Adrianne Wadewitz, a graduate student studying English. "Right now we're only talking about a decrease in benefits and an increase in costs to graduate students."\nStudents and administrators are working through the Student Academic Appointee Health Benefits Committee to lower the potential costs graduate students pay. Some are suggesting students move to a modified plan with lower premiums. Options include raising co-pay prices or decreasing benefits, among others.\nDeciding how to pay for the nearly $200 the University doesn't cover is the subject of confusion and debate from the graduate community. Most affected by the plan are student academic appointees, or SAAs, a group of student-workers -- including graduate students who are associate instructors and student fellows -- who are not considered employees by the University. \nMembers of the Graduate and Professional Student Organization, which represents graduate students, spouted off questions and potential options to help deal with costs at an assembly meeting held Friday afternoon.\nSome suggested the University recognize graduate appointees as official employees -- which administrators said is impossible -- while others recommended the University look for an entirely new health insurance provider.\n"Has the University looked at shopping this bid around?" said Paul Threatt, a law school Doctor of Jurisprudence student, during Friday's meeting.\nDan Rives, associate vice president of human resources, said Friday that any potential insurer would be looking at the same data as IU's current health insurance administrator -- Chickering, a subsidiary of the Aetna network -- meaning major differences in bid prices would be unlikely, and added that the University always negotiates such contracts.\nStill other options include implementing a one-time price fee for graduate students, raising the co-pay amount students pay during medical visits or for prescriptions, cutting the number of services provided or decreasing the maximum amount paid for catastrophic illness or injury, said Julie Swando, who represents graduate students on the SAA Health Benefits Committee. That group, chaired by Theobald, will decide in late April what options to recommend to Interim Provost Michael McRobbie. The plan will then be forwarded to IU President Adam Herbert and, ultimately, the board of trustees. \n"Our goal is to cut things so the most amount of people see the least amount of cuts," Swando said.\nCurrently, the administration subsidizes the entire plan for its 3,505 student academic appointees in Bloomington and 637 appointees at IUPUI. But Theobald said budget constraints, including a $4.5 million cut in state appropriations for the 2005 to 2006 school year, and an additional $2 million cut for the 2006 to 2007 year, make it difficult for the University to cover all of the increases. \n"We have a relatively small pot of money this year," he said. "The whole idea is we do not want to balance the budget on the backs of graduate students -- graduate students are critical to this place." \nTheobald said the money the University is providing to pay for its share of the increases, which amounts to $1.3 million in total, comes out of each campus school or department's budget for filling future faculty positions.\n"The whole emphasis (on planning the budget) was how do we do that without hurting the students?" he said. "To come up with $1.3 million in this budget environment -- that was a major statement on how important graduate students are to this University." \nIncreasing the cost of the insurance while maintaining the amount of coverage comes as graduate students have recently lobbied for dental coverage and increased benefits. IU is the only Big Ten school without dental insurance for its SAAs, according to GPSO documents.\nJohn Scott, chairman of the GPSO's benefits committee, said the importance of dental insurance has not decreased.\n"We want to make sure that if we're here for five to seven years that we have teeth when we leave," he said. \nOthers in the GPSO meeting noted the challenges faced by graduate students who already have small incomes -- ranging from $9,000 to $12,000 or more, depending on department or fellowship money. \n"We're losing instead of gaining anything," said Wadewitz, who is a co-coordinator of the Graduate Employee Organization. The group is separate from the GPSO, which is fighting for unionization of graduates as a way to address many of these issues.\nShe said she is particularly concerned with insurance for dependents -- spouses and children -- because those premiums are paid entirely by the graduate students, with no subsidy from the University.\n"These numbers are already very high," she said. "For it to go up is already disastrous."\nThreatt said dependent insurance is a major issue for graduate students, especially those with a spouse or child.\n"Graduate students have more family concerns than typical undergraduates, and first among those is health insurance," he said. "The University views graduate students as individuals even when they have a family."\nThe increase in price, he said, could force some students to take their spouses or children off the current insurance plan. About 200 dependents are currently on the SAA plan, according to data provided by the GPSO. \nMore than 2,000 international students also share the SAA plan, but pay 100 percent of the insurance premiums. Federal law mandates that international students have insurance while in the United States. \nThey would absorb the entire 58 percent increase, Theobald said. \nIU administrators must balance the international students' desire to keep costs low with graduate students' desire to maintain adequate coverage.
(02/14/06 5:22am)
MUNCIE - Student loan provider Sallie Mae plans to open a center in the Muncie that would create an estimated 700 jobs over three years, officials said Monday.\n"Today's job announcement is the largest here in 20 years and means that our high school and college graduates can choose a career with a Fortune 500 company right here in Muncie," Muncie Mayor Dan Canan said.\nCanan and Sallie Mae CEO Tim Fitzpatrick on Monday signed a letter of intent allowing the company to lease a 54,000-square-foot building at the Muncie Airpark for 10 years and then buy it, according to a news release from the office of Gov. Mitch Daniels.\nMuncie workers would focus on student loan default prevention, which is performed by subsidiaries in the company's debt management division.\nHiring will begin as early as August, the news release said.\nUp to 300 jobs would be available within the first year, and the company plans to fill 200 jobs in each of the next two years, bringing the total to 700 by 2008.\n"I've been talking to Sallie Mae and am delighted they chose Muncie as a place for this great new investment," Daniels said in a statement. "We showed them several options, and Muncie really stepped up."\nSallie Mae is one of the nation's top student loan providers. The new jobs will bring the company's employment in Indiana to more than 3,000. One of the company's four loan-serving centers is based in Fishers, north of Indianapolis.\nPotential workers would need at least a high school education and communication and analytical skills, the company said.\nSallie Mae primarily provides federal and private student loans, including consolidation loans, for undergraduate and graduate students and their parents. It owns or manages student loans for 8 million borrowers and employs 10,000 at offices nationwide, according to the company's Web site.\nSallie Mae was originally created in 1972 as a government-sponsored entity. The company began privatizing its operations in 1997, a process it completed at the end of 2004, and is listed on both the Fortune 500 and the Forbes 500.
(02/02/06 6:00am)
I'll grant Christina (Galoozis', "Open your mind," Wednesday) that there are closed-minded people in the world today, but I think it's only fair that people who accuse others of being closed-minded should be the ones looked at closest. With that in mind, I'd like to ask what magic wand did you think taps people the summer between high school and college that makes them stop teasing people? I don't know about you, but my freshman year I was pretty much the same sarcastic guy I was in high school.
(01/27/06 4:57am)
As a columnist I always need to be on the lookout for the next social injustice to espouse in my hopelessly ineffectual 500 words. This week's en vogue topics include Supreme Court nominations, Fourth Amendment violations and coal mine collapsations, but all that had to take a back seat to another more pressing matter.\nI've hired a paramilitary unit to assassinate the dangerously unstable (and quite possibly unionized) leadership of campus advocacy group No Sweat!\nI understand there may be some readers who feel my actions were impetuous and my opinions not entirely thought through, but if the great Pepsi Challenge called life has taught me anything it's that Coca-Cola is worth killing for.\nThe beverage nazis over at No Sweat! and similar groups across the nation would have you believe that the Atlanta based Coca-Cola company is behind the killings of union leaders at bottling factories in Columbia, and for that reason university administrators should cancel the contract IU has with Coke. This isn't the first time the issue has come up; eight colleges including New York University and the University of Michigan have discontinued their dealings with Coca-Cola. Fortunately enough for Coke, none of the allegations have been satisfactorily substantiated. According to Tuesday's Indiana Daily Student two separate judicial rulings have found no evidence supporting a connection between factory managers and union leaders.\nAll that aside, Coca-Cola is an American institution and singularly responsible for Christmas, or at least for Santa Claus' red and white color scheme. Unlike Pepsi, parading around in red, white and blue just like you know who ... the French. Now I try to avoid stereotypes, but those cheese-eating surrender monkeys at Pepsi don't have the balls to exploit their workers and murder union leaders. At IU, we need to make sure we're ingesting the kind of carbonated courage that only Coca-Cola can provide. Drinking Coke will ensure that the next generation of Kelley graduates is prepared to take over the difficult task of systematically subjugating the developing world, and in the end, isn't turning a profit what it's all about? \nFor the sake of argument, let's pretend that all the rumors coming out of Columbia can be proven. It doesn't really change anything. As a capitalist society in a global market place, the consumer is responsible for finding the best value. It's the reason Wal-Mart is so popular. More to the point, it's why IU basketball wears Adidas shoes instead of Doc Martens; never mind the fact that they were stitched together by six-year-olds in some non-air-conditioned basement in central Thailand. \nIt just seems excessive to cancel a contract that brings in $1.7 million a year because of a call to arms against multi-national corporations by misguided leftists who listen to System of a Down and attend World Trade Organization protests via CNN. Besides, even if everything were true — the kidnappings, the torture, the murders — the only mistake Coke made was not killing enough people (people who talk about things they shouldn't be).
(12/08/05 3:25am)
On a stormy Tuesday night with tornado warnings and sirens blaring, about two dozen people attended Mass at St. Paul's Church. But this was no ordinary Catholic Mass -- it was completely in Spanish. \nMost in attendance were part of the rapidly growing Hispanic community in the Bloomington area. According to the U.S. Census Data for Hispanics/Latinos, Monroe County has seen a 63.5 percent increase in Hispanic residents between 1990 and 2000, while Bloomington has seen a 73.4 percent increase. Of these Hispanic residents in Monroe County, there has been a 162.3 percent increase in those that were born in a Latin American country. \nThe vast majority of these immigrants are Mexican, and they are searching for employment in the United States. Yet numerous cultural barriers have hindered this pursuit of employment. \nLillian Maria Casillas, director of the La Casa Latino Cultural Center at IU, helps many of these immigrants adjust to American culture. Casillas explained that many immigrant families are on the poverty level or just a little above. \n"There is a lot of labor abuse," Casillas said. "Many are paid under the table, below minimum wage with no health insurance."\nCasillas described one man whose apartment caught on fire and was forced to jump from the third story to save himself. The man, who worked in construction, broke both of his arms and was not only without health insurance to pay his medical costs but was also out of a job. \n"I never wish to come to America but had a lot of opportunity to come," said Isaac Salazar, who moved to Bloomington in November of 2002. "It was hard. I don't speak that well English and had no license to drive, so it was hard to move." \nSalazar, a legal immigrant to the United States, now plays music in piano bars, disc jockeys and teaches piano and guitar for others in the Latino community. He explained that it is easy for those with papers to receive $8 to $10 per hour, but those without papers will almost always receive below minimum wage. \nRicardo Castillo, also an immigrant, came to Bloomington last fall from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Castillo said upon coming to America he was afraid of the language and would avoid conversations. The paperwork process to be approved for work can progress very slowly, and Castillo had to wait nine months until he could be employed.\n"At my first job, I didn't get paid for as many hours as I worked," said Castillo through a translator. "I also didn't have health insurance, but thank God I never got sick."\nCastillo is still searching for full-time employment as he continues to go between different short-term jobs, such as his current three-week construction job. He said he has learned a lot in the short time he has lived here but has struggled with racism and people who don't understand him or his culture. \n"Many immigrants have to compete with IU students for jobs, and many work as dish washers in kitchens," said Tim Gonzalez, director of Latino Ministry at St. Paul's Catholic Center.\nGonzalez said that although an employer may give workers 40 hours a week, most of these hours are during weekdays when restaurants have less business; therefore, many are sent home early, cutting their hours down to as low as 30. \nBloomington has acknowledged problems the growing Latino community faces by setting up the Monroe County Latino Needs Task Force. Their goal is 'to provide further information towards constructing a fully integrated and effective service provision for the Latino population in Monroe County.'\nAccording to the Task Force, "Most workers do not know their rights or, if they do, are fearful of demanding them."\nThe report also stated, "Most information on availability of jobs is mostly communicated by word of mouth, which often limits the sphere of possibility for those with limited English capabilities."\nMany immigrants will jump at the opportunity of any job offer in their struggle to provide for their families and children. Their children are not without their struggles, too. \nStudents without legal documentation who have graduated from high school cannot go to a public university and receive in-state tuition rates. And in the public school system, some students are unable to handle the language barrier.\n"Teachers will call about the students getting into fights," said Casillas, referring to the children who are just beginning to learn English. "Usually if they fight it's because they felt stupid. They would rather be accused of being bad than being stupid." \nEven everyday tasks, such as grocery shopping, driving and doctor's visits can be a huge adjustment for immigrants. \n"Montezuma's revenge," the illness some Americans receive after drinking water in Mexico, is also experienced by Mexicans in America. Their bodies are unaccustomed to U.S. processed foods and water, and they can become very ill.\nLatinos will often seek medical care at hospital emergency rooms when mildly ill with the flu, cold or similar non-life threatening problems. And since most have no health insurance, they also have no idea of the excessive costs these visits entail. \n"In Mexico, clinics are part of a social health system and are free to everyone," Casillas said. "They think American hospitals are like these clinics." \nOther health issues may affect the men of the household, who usually come first to America to find employment before bringing their families. Casillas explained that while making the transition, some will turn to drinking and consequently face issues with alcoholism and depression. There are no Spanish-speaking Alcoholics Anonymous groups in Bloomington and most immigrants do not seek, or can't afford psychological help.\nCasillas, who is also a member of the Latino Needs Task Force, displays a button in her office that says "viva la huelga." This is in support of the Latino community's annual strike -- huelga -- protesting racism against the Latino community.\nBut despite strikes like these, new immigrants will continue to face the same struggle to stay afloat day after day while enduring racism and abuse from employers.
(11/10/05 5:00am)
Along with having a social life, studying and sleeping rank high on collegiate "to do" lists. The University population has spoken, and the library and the Indiana Memorial Union have been ranked as the Best in Bloomington for studying and sleeping on campus, respectively.\nSitting in the lobby of the Herman B Wells Library, sophomore Katrina Babin simultaneously listens to her iPod and translates her Arabic homework as she waits for her professor.\n"I didn't come to the library at all before this semester," Babin says, "but now I come almost daily."\nShe says she attributes her change of heart to the fact that the library funnels out studying distractions such as the TV and AOL Instant Messenger, but not necessarily talking to friends.\n"I think people come here partially for the social aspect," she said, "knowing other people have the same goal of getting their work done. But sometimes I don't see a lot of studying going on."\nFreshman Devon Springer comes to the library with fellow Foster resident Hilary Shafer, but says both come with the intention of studying.\n"It's just a good place to get away and not be interrupted," Springer says.\nReference assistant Melissa Van Vuuren says the library is such a popular study spot because it offers so many options for students, such as the possibility of group work in the Information Commons and the availability of quiet solo study space up in the stacks and in the Reference Room.\nVan Vuuren, who has worked at the Wells library for three semesters, says there is a definite trend in student study habits; the library is the most crowded during midterms and finals.\n"The beginning of the semester is really pretty slow," she said, "because the reality of classes haven't set in yet."\nBut by mid-November, the reality of classes have set in for freshman Tanetta Ranson, who normally studies on the fourth floor of the West Tower, but studies her X100 textbook in the lobby as she waits for a fellow classmate to meet up with her to go over key terms for her test Monday.\nVan Vuuren said one of the library's best-kept secrets is the classrooms on the fourth floor, which are not available to students while classes are in session, but are free for students to use any other time.\nBut long hours at the library can lead to study breaks which include naps. While Babin, Springer and Ranson all said they never sleep while hitting the books, there are many who do.\n"Sometimes I look out (from behind the reference desk) and see students stretched out over a couple of chairs and I think, 'Hmm, I wonder if I should wake them up.'"\nAccording to The National Sleep Foundation Web site www.sleepfoundation.org, 53 percent of young adults admit to sleeping less to get more done. However, the Web site also says that short naps, while they don't make up for inadequate sleep, can improve student's dispositions.\nWhile many students choose to catch a few z's at the library and others stretch out in the halls of Ballantine, the Best of Bloomington "Best place to take a nap on campus" is the Indiana Memorial Union.\nWhen IMU custodial worker Ben Nix, begins his shift at 1:30 p.m. he said it is a daily sight to see students snoozing on the Union couches and chairs.\n"It's an everyday thing," Nix said.\nIt's such a popular place to catnap, alumni return to sleep at the union.\nJustin Franklin graduated in May, but he was snoozing at the IMU last week.\n"The couches are pretty comfy," he said, "but they're limited in quantity."\nWhile a student, Franklin said he was prone to taking the occasional nap on campus, and tested locations such as the library and Dunn Meadow on nice days, but decided his favorite location was the IMU.\nSome more self-conscious students might be uncomfortable with the idea of napping in public, but Franklin said that never stopped him.\n"I usually nap when I've stayed up too late the night before," he said, "and if I'm tired, it's usually in everybody's best interest if I get a nap"
(11/10/05 2:38am)
Along with having a social life, studying and sleeping rank high on collegiate "to do" lists. The University population has spoken, and the library and the Indiana Memorial Union have been ranked as the Best in Bloomington for studying and sleeping on campus, respectively.\nSitting in the lobby of the Herman B Wells Library, sophomore Katrina Babin simultaneously listens to her iPod and translates her Arabic homework as she waits for her professor.\n"I didn't come to the library at all before this semester," Babin says, "but now I come almost daily."\nShe says she attributes her change of heart to the fact that the library funnels out studying distractions such as the TV and AOL Instant Messenger, but not necessarily talking to friends.\n"I think people come here partially for the social aspect," she said, "knowing other people have the same goal of getting their work done. But sometimes I don't see a lot of studying going on."\nFreshman Devon Springer comes to the library with fellow Foster resident Hilary Shafer, but says both come with the intention of studying.\n"It's just a good place to get away and not be interrupted," Springer says.\nReference assistant Melissa Van Vuuren says the library is such a popular study spot because it offers so many options for students, such as the possibility of group work in the Information Commons and the availability of quiet solo study space up in the stacks and in the Reference Room.\nVan Vuuren, who has worked at the Wells library for three semesters, says there is a definite trend in student study habits; the library is the most crowded during midterms and finals.\n"The beginning of the semester is really pretty slow," she said, "because the reality of classes haven't set in yet."\nBut by mid-November, the reality of classes have set in for freshman Tanetta Ranson, who normally studies on the fourth floor of the West Tower, but studies her X100 textbook in the lobby as she waits for a fellow classmate to meet up with her to go over key terms for her test Monday.\nVan Vuuren said one of the library's best-kept secrets is the classrooms on the fourth floor, which are not available to students while classes are in session, but are free for students to use any other time.\nBut long hours at the library can lead to study breaks which include naps. While Babin, Springer and Ranson all said they never sleep while hitting the books, there are many who do.\n"Sometimes I look out (from behind the reference desk) and see students stretched out over a couple of chairs and I think, 'Hmm, I wonder if I should wake them up.'"\nAccording to The National Sleep Foundation Web site www.sleepfoundation.org, 53 percent of young adults admit to sleeping less to get more done. However, the Web site also says that short naps, while they don't make up for inadequate sleep, can improve student's dispositions.\nWhile many students choose to catch a few z's at the library and others stretch out in the halls of Ballantine, the Best of Bloomington "Best place to take a nap on campus" is the Indiana Memorial Union.\nWhen IMU custodial worker Ben Nix, begins his shift at 1:30 p.m. he said it is a daily sight to see students snoozing on the Union couches and chairs.\n"It's an everyday thing," Nix said.\nIt's such a popular place to catnap, alumni return to sleep at the union.\nJustin Franklin graduated in May, but he was snoozing at the IMU last week.\n"The couches are pretty comfy," he said, "but they're limited in quantity."\nWhile a student, Franklin said he was prone to taking the occasional nap on campus, and tested locations such as the library and Dunn Meadow on nice days, but decided his favorite location was the IMU.\nSome more self-conscious students might be uncomfortable with the idea of napping in public, but Franklin said that never stopped him.\n"I usually nap when I've stayed up too late the night before," he said, "and if I'm tired, it's usually in everybody's best interest if I get a nap"
(11/03/05 3:33am)
When my brother and I were growing up, we always knew whom to turn to for curing bruises, scrapes and broken bones: my mother. Because she is a doctor, Mom was more than usually capable of handling anything that might come her way. Although not everybody is closely related to a doctor, we can all look back to our childhood when mom and dad were there to take care of us.\nAs college students, that is starting to change as we begin to amass (more slowly for some than others) the responsibilities of adulthood. Among these is the responsibility to take care of our health. \nThis becomes more difficult, however, with the fragmented nature of our country's health care system.\nThis thought was brought back to my consciousness after a friend of mine became sick a few weeks ago. He had no choice but to go the hospital, where he spent several days being tested and retested with inconclusive results. At the end of all this, he was presented with a bill for several hundred dollars and nothing to show for it.\nLuckily for my friend, his bill was a mistake. Like many students, he is still covered under his parents' health insurance, and his file had merely been misprocessed.\nYet what if he hadn't been covered by his parents? Should he have to pay hospital fees that did not solve his problem just because he can't afford health insurance? And even if he had been cured, would it be fair for him to pay then? \nThese are very real concerns for people our age. I know several students who are married or otherwise emancipated from their parents. These students have already had to make choices about whether or not to purchase health care or put off medical and dental appointments. For the rest, such concerns will begin immediately after graduation, where health care becomes a major part of getting a job.\nWork-sponsored health care, incidentally, is also a timely issue, in part due to the bankruptcy of Delphi Automotive Systems -- coincidentally the place where my father works. Delphi, along with its main partner, General Motors -- are financially strained because of high health insurance benefit costs negotiated by their union employees. For a long time, these benefits were the responsibility of individual employers. Now, for a variety of factors, this system is failing, which will have repercussions for future workers, i.e. current college students.\nThere are myriad possible solutions to the problems facing our health care system, and while a 500-word column is not enough space to analyze them all, the act of discussion itself helps to bring the issue to the forefront. \nCollege students often tend to focus too much on the immediate concerns of growing up -- doing well in classes, making friends, finding a mate, holding a part-time job. These things can often be overwhelming, forcing us to lose sight of broader albeit equally serious concerns. Health care is one of them.
(10/13/05 3:23am)
I applaud Alex Shortle for striving to be open to the concerns of his constituents and to advocate on their behalf, as expressed in his guest column, "IU Student Association speaks out to students," Oct. 6. However, I would like to point out that IUSA is not, as Shortle claims, "the representative body of the students of IU." Rather, it should be considered the representative body of the undergraduate students of IU-Bloomington. The Graduate and Professional Student Organization is the representative body of the graduate and professional students on this campus has been since 2002, when the graduate and professional student body ratified a constitution endorsing that claim and the chancellor of the Bloomington campus recognized the organization as such. It is high time that other campus entities, including IUSA, realized that we have two student governments on this campus.
(09/27/05 5:20am)
Members of the IU worker's union are questioning the Office of Environmental Health and Safety Management's ability to respond quickly and effectively to hazards at IU, such as a recent incident which exposed workers to mercury vapors. \nOn July 19, two plumbers were exposed to vaporized mercury after cutting a drainpipe with a rotary grinder in Kirkwood Hall 212. The mercury had likely been sitting in the pipe since the 1950s, when the building was used as a science lab, according to the OEHSM, which spearheaded the cleanup. Members of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees were upset after the plumbers showed elevated levels of mercury. They said OEHSM should have been more proactive in locating such hidden dangers and informing workers about them ahead of time. \n"It think it was a fairly bumbling response to a fairly serious problem," said Randy Pardue, a member of the executive board for the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, Local 832.\nMercury can affect the central nervous system when dangerous amounts are inhaled, ingested or contact the skin, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.\nAccording to the ATSDR's Web site, "Exposure to high levels of metallic, inorganic or organic mercury can permanently damage the brain, kidneys and developing fetus."\nAfter two months and medical treatment, one of the workers is still affected by the poisoning, said Dallas Murphy, local president of AFSME. \n"One's doing alright, the other's not doing really well," Murphy said. "He's having trouble with memory and still gets the shakes a lot." \nMurphy said the worker has also been missing some work. \nThe day of the incident, the plumbers were sent home wearing the clothes they had worn when exposed to mercury vapors. \nMike Jenson, associate director of OEHSM, said his office was not aware of the severity of exposure until after the workers had been sent home. \n"Our response team sent the workers in for medical surveillance as a precaution, but there was no visible contamination on them," he said. "It was not until their test results came in several days later that it became apparent that they had a significant exposure."\nOn Aug. 16, a month later, members of the Office of Development and Alumni Programs in Kirkwood Hall were advised not to come to work that day. The office, which is directly across the hall from the initial spill, was undergoing a cleanup by the OEHSM after more mercury had been discovered. \nJenson said his office responded to reports that plumbing work had been performed above the ceiling of the Office of Development and Alumni Programs. \n"We investigated and found a small amount of mercury on the carpet and a few beads on some furniture," he said.\nJenson said the decision to send home office staff was just a precaution, and no dangerous level of mercury was detected in the air. He said his team did not generate any reports documenting the Aug. 15 to 16 cleanup. \nFurniture was moved out of the office, and the carpet was removed, according to witnesses in the office. Before the cleanup, the custodial staff had vacuumed the carpet, unaware it contained mercury. \n"I was told by members of the custodial staff that they vacuumed the carpet of the office where mercury was found," Jenson said. "A short time after the carpet removal, we checked the bags on a number of vacuum cleaners and found one with some mercury vapor in it. OEHSM has the vacuum itself and we are still in the process of testing it, so we have not made a decision on whether it is necessary to dispose of it or not -- if it does need to be disposed of our office will make the necessary arrangements."\nJody Smith, one of the building managers for Kirkwood Hall, said she didn't recall OEHSM offering an official announcement that the building was safe, and no one in her workspace, located below the initial spill, had been offered to be tested. \nSince no one had told her otherwise, Smith said she assumed everything was OK.\nJenson met with members of the Kirkwood Hall staff from the College of Arts and Sciences Office and the Office of Development and Alumni Programs, at which point they were offered the option of testing. The people who worked with Smith in the Graduate Studies Office were somehow out of the loop, Smith said.\n"I feel that oftentimes, all the departments don't communicate to each other, like who's doing what," Smith said.\nJenson said OEHSM did not find the mercury levels to be a threat, so he found no reason to offer mercury testing to each individual in the building. \n"The results of our testing indicate that the office did not contain dangerous levels of mercury vapor at any time. When it became apparent in September that some members of the staff were uncomfortable with the situation, we offered testing to them in order to set their minds at ease."\nA lack of communication is one of the issues which contributed to the initial spill, Murphy said. He suggested OEHSM build a database that lists all the potential hazards of each building, going back into its entire history so workers could be more prepared.\nMurphy said since the incident, communication has improved between OEHSM and the workers. But he's concerned OEHSM faces some barriers when it tries to actively inform people about hazards on campus. \n"I feel that they are being held back from being proactive. A lot of times they're told to turn their head the other way. I strongly feel that that's what's going on out there," Murphy said.
