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Joseph Lieberman loves the public life. His 2000 book "In Praise of Public Life," tells readers about his love for politics and his concern with what he perceives to be an increasing number of Americans reluctant to participate in their government.
Following many other Fortune 500 companies, Cummins Engine Co. of Columbus, Ind., announced that it would implement domestic partner benefits for all its employees worldwide.\nTim Solso, CEO of Cummins, will speak at 7:30 p.m. today in Whittenberger Auditorium concerning domestic partner benefits.\nSolso said his company would be offering health and life insurance to not only employees and their spouses, but also domestic partners. Cummins is one of seven Indiana-based businesses that provide such benefits.\nDomestic partner benefits are getting a great deal of attention right now in the business world, which is why Kelley School of Business invited Solso to talk about the decision, said Steve Sanders, assistant to Bloomington Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis. Sanders also helped to coordinate the event.\n"Cummins is a very important company in Indiana," Sanders said. "This is an excellent opportunity for students and faculty to learn about a cutting-edge business and social issue." \nMore than 20 percent of the Fortune 500 companies offer domestic partner benefits, according to www.hrc.org, the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that works for lesbian and gay equal rights, Web site. Providing this type of incentive not only helps to recruit more employees, but also makes a more diverse workforce, according to the Web site.\n"Cummins is committed to ensuring that we provide a workplace that is inclusive for all of our employees," said Marya Rose, a spokeswoman for Cummins. "We believe that by doing that, there is a broader benefit to the community."\nThe number of companies that offer domestic partner benefits has grown rapidly in the past few years, with more than 700 just in the past year, according to the Human Rights Campaign Web site.\n"More and more companies are recognizing that they will lose good employees over this issue," Sanders said. "Offering partner benefits is a way they can be more competitive, attracting and retaining the best workers."\nDoug Bauder, office coordinator for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Student Support Services, agreed.\n"A lot of students, who when they graduate, are looking for entities of some kind that are going to consider their needs as a couple," he said. "Whether it is going on to graduate school or finding a job in corporate America, it is an issue at many levels."\nSome companies have found that criticism has followed the announcement of providing domestic partner benefits, Sanders said. During the lecture, Solso will also be covering how his company handled such criticism, he said.\n"Most of the criticism that we received, we received here locally," said Fiona Devan, director of corporate diversity for Cummins. "There are two phases, announcement and implementation and only during the announcement did we get criticism."\nLocally, Bloomington has offered domestic partner benefits to its employees since 1997, according to the Human Rights Web site. Although it is the only locally based company that offers these benefits, SBC, the parent company of Ameritech, which has employment opportunities around the state, also offers benefits to its employees.\nFive of the Big Ten universities also offer partner benefits, but IU does not. Sanders said any decision on such a policy would be up to the board of trustees.\nMany companies have started offering domestic partner benefits not only to recruit good employees, but also because they are good for business, which Solso will also be emphasizing.\n"Cummins has a long history of being in the forefront on some social issues," Rose said. "But the reason why we do them is we think they make good business sense."\nGLBT Student Support Services will be co-sponsoring the event because of interest expressed by its members on the issue.\n"We're very much interested in the issue of equal benefits for gay and lesbian couples," Bauder said. "It is an issue that is becoming more and more acceptable in the corporate world"
Lynne Cheney and Hadassah Lieberman, wives of vice presidential candidates Dick Cheney and Joseph Lieberman, don't relegate themselves to the role of a smiling, silent sidekick while their husbands fight for the second highest office in the nation. For years both have been known in Washington as fierce politicos in their own right. \nCheney, born Lynne Vincent in 1941 in Casper, Wyo., developed an early interest in writing and philosophy. After graduating from high school -- where she both met her husband and was crowned homecoming queen -- in 1958, Cheney went on to get her B.A. from Colorado College. She then got an M.A. in English from University of Colorado. She married high school sweetheart Dick and began an active, public career as a writer, ethicist and supporter of the humanities.\nLieberman's background couldn't be more different, although she too has spent most of her life in public service. Lieberman's parents were Holocaust survivors who decided to seek a better life in the United States. In 1949, when Hadassah was 1 year old, the family moved to Massachusetts. \nSome would say politics and theater go hand in hand, and Lieberman found the two to be a perfect match. In 1970, long before her career in the public light began, Lieberman graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in government and dramatics. The following year she earned a master's degree in international relations and American government. The young scholar from Prague was ready to take on a wide audience. \nAfter completing their education, Cheney found her calling in education reform and Lieberman found hers in health care reform. \nFrom 1986-93, Cheney was chairwoman for the National Endowment for the Humanities and since 1993 has been a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, according to www.georgewbush.com. She is a member of Gov. George W. Bush's education team and has spoken often in favor of higher education standards in public schools. Cheney has also voiced support for mandatory testing of students to evaluate the effectiveness of their instruction.\nSupporters say her work at the NEH helped Cheney develop a critical understanding of education reform. This understanding, they say, can be a valuable asset to Bush should he become president. \nLieberman has organized women's national and international health conferences and is on the board of directors of a national youth development program for adolescent girls. In addition, she has worked on programs to support children and adults with disabilities and is on the board of directors of the Auschwitz Jewish Center foundation.\nLieberman was introduced to her husband in 1983, after a failed marriage to Rabbi Gordon Tucker. They married a year after meeting, and in 1988 her husband became Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Lieberman has a son, Ethan, from her first marriage, and a daughter with the vice presidential nominee. \nThe Cheneys have two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, and three granddaughters. Cheney came under criticism after the Republican National Convention for denying that Mary had publicly declared that she was gay. Mary has worked as gay and lesbian corporate relations manager for Coors Brewing Co., and her co-workers there said they have often seen Mary with her "life partner," but Cheney told ABC-TV journalist Cokie Roberts that she does not discuss her daughters' personal lives and that Mary had never admitted "such a thing," according to www.salon.com.\nCheney has long advocated the "compassionate conservatism" her husband and Bush promise to give to Americans. In her 1995 book "Telling the Truth," Cheney criticized the hype of political correctness and suggested a return to a strong moral code that emphasizes honesty and integrity.\nLieberman, though looking at the issue from a Democratic angle, also embraces the same values. She empathizes with the difficult life her parents had before coming to America. Speaking today to multicultural audiences, Lieberman still identifies with her Eastern European roots. Soon after her husband was chosen as Gore's running mate, Lieberman spoke to a group of journalists about the experience.\n"I'm overwhelmed by this incredible moment in time, in history, in the history of my family and the history of many immigrants who are sharing this feeling with us," Lieberman said. \nThough not often as visible on TV or in newspapers as their husbands, Cheney and Lieberman continue to take an activist role in the presidential campaign. Their message of reform and return to core values has been received well by voters, who look to them not merely as a second lady hopefuls, but important leaders for the country in the next century.
He had been passed over twice before.\nPassed over twice and arguably cheated on the last occasion. \nBut the moment of truth again loomed, casting its daunting shadow. His stomach was tied in knots. \nHe just had to get out of the office, away from his colleagues, their expectant looks and good-natured well-wishing. He had finished his work for the day, a cartoon depicting two college students passing a horde of sweatshop protesters. \n"My econ prof says exploiting labor is what made America great," reads the captioned dialogue.\nSo he headed off to the local health club and went for a swim. He didn't need the stress. He took a few laps. He tried to relax, but he just couldn't get it off his mind. \nSo he dried himself off with a towel and went to the lobby, looking for a pay phone.\nAs soon as the other line picked up, he knew.\nHe knew.\nHis eyes welled up. He was afraid he would burst out in tears.\nThe cheering and champagne-fueled merriment nearly drowned out the voice on the other side.\nBloomington native Joel Pett had earned journalism's highest honor.\nA Pulitzer Prize. In Pett's case, for editorial cartooning. \nFinally. After all the near misses. The crown of glory. The loftiest form of recognition from one's peers. The proverbial first line of the obituary. The hope that lurks in the back of the mind of any bright-eyed and bushy-tailed student who's ever set foot in the J-School. But Pett didn't take that route. It just wasn't for him.\nAlthough his father was a professor at IU, he dropped out of school soon after he enrolled.\n"It was too much work," he said. "And I could never decide on a major."\nStill, Pett always had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do with his life.\nWhen he was in grade school, his father took the family to Nigeria to head up a fledgling education program. But they soon returned to Bloomington, to the cozy confines of academia. His parents wouldn't subscribe to the Indianapolis Star, deeming it too conservative. So they turned to The Courier-Journal (Louisville).\nOn many a lazy Sunday afternoon, Pett would leaf through it. And that's how he first became acquainted with Hugh Haynie, the Courier-Journal's cantankerous editorial cartoonist circa the 1960s. \n"That's when I fell in love," he said. "I thought it was so cool how he mocked Nixon, how he dogged on the Vietnam war."\nAnd so, Pett started out doodling in notebooks, trying to imitate Haynie.\n"It didn't take me long to realize I couldn't do that," he said. "Haynie had a lot of talent, and I just didn't. But then I saw the cartoons in The New Yorker. They always had something to say, some point to make. But the drawing was scribbly chickenscratch.\n"I saw that and I knew I could teach myself to do much worse."\nJoking aside, Pett doesn't put much stock in fine draftsmanship.\n"It's all about the visual gimmicks," he said. "With Nixon you just needed the unibrow and the jowls. With Reagan it was just the hair. You could put that hair on a garden-variety vegetable -- and voila, you've got a president."\nAfter he graduated from the University High School in 1971, Pett tried to find a forum for his artistic leanings in the IDS. But no such luck.\n"They run that place too much like a real newspaper," he said, excitedly spitting out a few expletives. "They had a guy doing it five days a week. That's not how it should be run. It should be open to anyone who wants to submit."\nBut after he dropped out, he had more time on his hands. He took to free-lancing, and got pieces regularly published in The Herald-Telephone, the predecessor of the Herald Times. \nBut most of the time he slacked off, playing golf and loafing about on campus.\n"I wanted to keep from having a real job for as long as possible."\nIt wasn't until 1984 that he got his break.\nHe applied for a position at the Lexington Herald-Leader, where he's been working ever since.\n"I was lucky enough to get it," he said. "A buddy helped me out. The only other applicant withdrew. That was Bill Watterson (of Calvin and Hobbes fame). He didn't yet know what he wanted to do with his life, and now he's obviously incredibly wealthy."\nKentucky hasn't always been receptive to Pett's views, which tend to the liberal side. Hate mail he's inspired regularly fills the op-ed page.\n"I spent much of my childhood in Nigeria," he said. "You tend to sympathize with the underdog when you've lived in a Third World country. People will write in all the time, calling me a communist-sympathzin', baby-killin', Second Amendment-hatin', unilateral disarmament-favorin', big government-lovin'... Guilty as charged, you know."\nPett said he plans on voting for Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush, the governor of Texas. And he encourages others to as well.\n"I've finally come to understand Reagan," he said. "I always voted for the good of the public interest. But now I've come to understand Reagan's 'me too' philosophy, though he was still a crummy president. So I'm voting for Bush -- it's in my self-interest. I can draw him better."\nWhile Pett likes to make a wry crack, he takes his very work seriously. Listen to him for a few minutes, and one would think cartoons on the op-ed page stand as the last bastion of democracy.\n"I offend people," he said. "I'm not paid to express opinions you agree with. I'm paid to express my own opinions. Nowadays, people are afraid of expressing their opinions. Everything is run through focus groups. It's like one long Thanksgiving dinner, where the relatives are asked not to bring up religion or politics. \n"That's not what democracy is supposed to be about -- it's supposed to be about vigorous debate."\nIn one cartoon from his Pulitzer portfolio, a CEO revels in the fact that "our foreign workers get poverty wages and endure subhuman conditions."\n"That's what makes our company great," the CEO explains. "Diversity."\nAnother cartoon just stemmed from all the articles he had seen about youth obesity. A hoggishly fat kid sets in on a meal at the kitchen table. With a look of disapproval, his mother tells him that he's got to go on a diet, so he'll be "a smaller target at school."\nThe moral outrage of occasional wittiness of Pett's work has carried him far. He's syndicated in 33 papers nationwide, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Boston Globe.\n"(Pett's cartoons) aren't very funny, especially compared to the work of his contemporaries," read a February Brill's Content article on the state of editorial cartooning. "They don't make you laugh out loud. If anything, they make you think. If editorial cartooning has a conscience, it's Pett."\nIn 1989, Pett was first nominated as a Pulitzer finalist in the editorial cartooning category. Ten years later, he came within a hair's breadth of winning it. \nPaul Conrad of The Los Angeles Times and the late Jeff MacNelly of the Chicago Tribune were the other finalists. Both already had three Pulitzers. The cartooning committee recommended Pett, but the board disregarded it and selected Steve Breen of the Asbury (N.J.) Park Press.\nIt came completely out of nowhere. And Breen hadn't even really established himself yet.\n"I was disappointed," Pett said. "But I wasn't bitter. Being a finalist is just as great an honor."\nWhile he's now basking in the limelight, Pett admits to being troubled by the state of the industry.\n"All these people write infotainment," he said. "Whatever happens to be in the news, whether the Subway Series or who wore what to the Academy Awards. That's just hack-work, insipid.\n"It shouldn't just be an entertainment vehicle, something that's funny."\nBut Pett's not above the occasional flight of whimsy, however much he rails against it.\n"I did this cartoon, on the presidential candidates always saying they won't go negative," he said. "So I had them saying double negatives. I later ripped off my own idea and did one where they're saying triple negatives. It's a good pun and it's funny. But it didn't have a point.\n"And you know what? It ended up in the Sunday New York Times. Even The New York Times. That's what they want now. Go figure."\nBut Pett just shrugs it all off and turns out his five cartoons a week.\n"Some people will say that coming up with an idea a day would be impossible," he said. "A single idea. I really worry about them. I mean, come on -- going an entire day without a thought. But the other half of the population thinks I've got the easiest job in the world"
The Socialist Party strongly believes human needs take precedence over corporate profit. Here are our positions on some of the issues that we face throughout the course of our lives.\nHealth Care\nThe Socialist Party stands for socialized medicine -- a health care system based on universal coverage, salaried doctors and health care workers, and revenues derived from a graduated income tax.\nWe support a single-payer National Health Program with full standard and alternative medical and dental coverage for all, publicly funded through progressive taxation and controlled by democratically elected local boards.\nWe call for a health care system that emphasizes preventive care, respects patients' privacy, gives special attention to the needs of people with physical and mental disabilities and conducts treatment and research unimpaired by sexism, racism or homophobia.\nWe call for full funding for AIDS research.\nHousing\nThe Socialist Party recognizes the right of all people to high quality, low cost housing.\nWe call for large-scale public investment in the construction of low cost, scattered-site, community-based, high-quality housing.\nWe call for rent control for all rental units, and the right of tenants to organize.\nWe support the formation of housing cooperatives and nonprofit land trusts, the adoption of advanced and cost-cutting technology in building and the rehabilitation and weatherization of existing housing.\nEducation\nThe Socialist Party recognizes the right of students of all ages to a free, quality education in a safe and supportive environment, and of all school employees to good wages, benefits and working conditions.\nWe call for full and equal funding of public education, for free tuition at the post-secondary level and for an end to all public funding and subsidizing of private schools.\nWe support public child care starting from infancy and public education starting at age 3, with care givers and teachers of young children receiving the same training, wages and benefits as teachers at every other level of the educational system.\nWe oppose tying teachers' pay to student performance, forcing schools within a system to compete against each other, selling on-campus advertising to raise funds and the increasing dependence of post-secondary institutions on corporate funding.\nWe call for fewer students per teacher.\nWe call for vigorous affirmative action programs so each public institution of higher education reflects the community at large in terms of race/ethnicity, gender and economic background.\nWe support multicultural, multilingual, experimental education at all levels.\nWe call for an egalitarian educational system with teaching methods that accommodate the wide range of teaching and learning styles, and provides students with the means to obtain the post-secondary education they desire.\nWe support student input in curriculum formation and the hiring and dismissal procedures of school personnel. We call for student representation on school boards.\nWe call for opportunities for lifelong self-education, with re-training programs and transitional financial support for workers displaced by technological advances.\nWe call for free and open access to information, including the public ownership of all large databases, so access cannot be restricted to those able to pay transaction fees.\nTransportation\nThe Socialist Party calls for extensive publicly owned mass transit systems in both urban and rural areas at no or minimal cost to users.\nWe call for government subsidized programs to expand safe routes for foot and bicycle paths.\nWe call for the creation of fully funded high-speed rail transportation systems between cities, with fares set low enough to be a viable alternative to the use of the automobile.\nWe call for pedestrian "ways" that exclude vehicles from the downtown area of cities and towns, accessible only by mass transit.\nWe call for an end to the expansion of the interstate highway system in conjunction with the reduction of combustion engine or automobile based transport.\nWe support federally funded automobile insurance.\nBill of Rights\nThe Socialist Party is committed to the rights of free speech, free press, free assembly, freedom of religious choice through the separation of church and state, the freedom of personal privacy and the right to a safe, healthy environment. \nWe call for the abolition of the covert operations of the CIA and of the political activities of the FBI. We oppose so-called anti-terrorist measures and criminal code reforms that restrict legitimate dissent.\nWe call for an unconditional amnesty program for undocumented people who should be accorded the same civil rights other members of society possess. \nWe defend the rights of immigrants to housing, education, health care, jobs and civil, legal and political rights.\nWe call for the abolition of the death penalty.\nFor more information, e-mail SocPartyIN@aol.com or visit www.bloomington.in.us/~debs2000/.
The team filed out of the statehouse parking lot and loaded a charter bus Friday afternoon as managers checked the drink cooler and got ready to call roll. Gov. Frank O'Bannon -- here, Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan -- here, the Johnson team -- here … \nThe Democratic candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, superintendent and senator made the first three of 30 stops on the O'Bannon Victory Express leading up to Nov. 7.\nThe team included two Harvard graduates, an alumnus of IU's law school and others who never took the LSAT. But they had a common goal of getting their party elected.\n"We need a Democratic sweep from the White House to the courthouse in Brownstown," said Gerald McCullum, the Democratic nominee for state superintendent of public instruction.\nWireless phones pressed to passengers' ears, and red, white and blue signs taped to bus windows made the trip a cross between a corporate flight and a high school road game.\nThe candidates sat with their staffs and families. Karen Freeman-Wilson put her arm around her 6-year-old daughter, Jordan, on the way to Seymour. Other candidates re-thought their remarks, talked about the Democratic tilt of Southern Indiana's towns and reviewed the routine of introductions with campaign managers. \nAbout 150 people greeted them in Seymour to cheer on O'Bannon and the Democratic Party. Seymour resident John Martindale said he planned to vote for O'Bannon because "he's just one of those good ole' boys."\nThe candidates were out of Seymour in 20 minutes and headed to Columbus with a gift basket from Seymour Democrats. \nBack on the bus, McCullum and his wife talked about how sad it was that one of their old friends in Seymour had to have his legs amputated. Communications director Doug Davidoff told O'Bannon about all of the media who would want to talk with him in Columbus. \nWhen they arrived in Columbus, David Johnson, the Democratic nominee for senator, looked at the crowd and said it was different than in 1988, when Gov. Evan Bayh became the first Democratic governor in Indiana in more than 25 years.\nAlong with about 150 Columbus residents, former Senator Birch Bayh met the Democratic candidates and gave them his support. \n"In one day, Dave Johnson did more for farmers than Dick Lugar has in 24 years," he said.\nKernan gave the crowd a "McUpdate," referring to Congressman David McIntosh, O'Bannon's main competition for governor. Kernan attacked McIntosh's missed votes and negative comments in his campaign for governor. \nAt 6:30 p.m., the team filed back on the bus and headed for Bloomington.\nThe bus stopped at the Barnes and Nobles bookstore on Third Street to pick up Dr. Paul Perry, who is running for congressman in the 8th District against Republican incumbent John Hostettler.\nHe told about 200 students, professors, union workers and other Bloomington residents outside the Plumbers and Steam Fitters Union Hall, 1650 W. Bloomfield Rd., that he would work for a patients' bill of rights and cheaper prescription drugs as part of his healthcare plan.\n"Let's put a doctor in the house!" Perry said.\nIndiana first lady Judy O'Bannon reminded the audience that no one had voted yet and warned them not to be apathetic.\n"All of you are the ones who are really, from now on, going to determine the outcome of this election," she said. \nGov. O'Bannon closed out the night. He told those in attendance he enjoyed the last four years and wanted another four to work on issues like education. On the way home, he talked about the improvement Indiana has seen over the past five years and keeping high standards.\n"I end up being a cheerleader for the state," he said. "But it's about honest facts and figures."\nLater, he went around to others on the bus who were talking casually about the campaign and the positive changes they thought should be made for healthcare and education.\n"As you can tell, this is the fun part of campaigning because we've got a family with us," O'Bannon said.\nThe team returned to the statehouse at 9:30 p.m. The candidates told each other they enjoyed the trip and then headed to their homes and hotels to get ready to go again at 8:30 a.m.\n"When you travel around the state, you better like the people on the bus," said Robin Winston, chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party.
It's really hard for a journalist to objectively view a fictional TV show about journalism. Which is why it is extremely difficult to form an untainted opinion about "Deadline." Although the general viewing public might be able to ignore gross factual errors such as Oliver Platt's Wallace Benton being allowed to interrogate an accused murderer, it's really hard to swallow for anyone remotely connected to the media.\nAt the same time, it's also really hard to fault a show with such a great cast, including BeBe Neuwirth and Lili Taylor. Platt's portrayal of mercenary-esque Benton is nicely cynical and sarcastic, particularly when he's paired with Hope Davis as his co-worker and ex-wife. Luckily, the writers have also decided to do us all a favor and send the annoyingly ignorant students in Benton's graduate seminar straight to the back burner. Hopefully "Deadline" will clean up the errors in its act and become as great as series creator Dick Wolf's other show, "Law and Order"
Life is full of choices, but where many Americans feel they lack choices is the political spectrum. Often it's a choice between the lesser of two evils, a choice between two candidates whose platform doesn't match up to a voter's preference.\nWhat many Americans don't realize is that there is a third choice, a candidate running independently or with a "third party." \nIn 1992 a big-eared Texan named Ross Perot made history by earning a staggering 19 percent of the popular vote, showing that about a fifth of the voting population is fed up with the current two-party system.\nThis election year, two campus groups are looking to inform students of other options when they go to the voting booth Nov. 7. The IU Libertarians and IU Greens are both just getting off the ground and trying to pull together in time for the election.\nLibertarians\nHow many Libertarians does it take to screw in a light bulb?\nThis is the question that graduate student Erin Hollinden, chair for the Monroe County Libertarians, proposed to a group of about 25 people at an IU Libertarians meeting Oct. 9.\nSo what's the answer?\nNone. \n"Let the free market take care of it," Hollinden says.\nThat statement sums up, in a nutshell, the ideals of the Libertarian party. As a whole, each liberal believes in the same basic principles.\nHollinden says the Libertarian philosophy can be summed up in two words: less government. That means fewer taxes, less social programs and less foreign aid.\nLibertarian ideals can be split into two basic areas, personal and economic.\nThe personal freedoms Libertarians are pushing for include the elimination of the draft, no censorship whatsoever, no sex laws (also commonly referred to as "blue laws"), no drug laws and open borders with other nations.\n"Self-ownership," Hollinden says. "The government shouldn't be able to use us as cannon fodder … should not be able to tell us was to do sexually…should not be able to tell us what to put into our bodies."\nThe economic freedoms include no subsidizing, free trade, no minimum wage, no user fees (i.e. no taxes) and no foreign aid.\n"I think people that know what (libertarianism) is either embrace it or find it impractical and sometimes find it crazy," Hollinden says. \nFree to live her life\nWhen freshman Leanne Dodge came to campus she searched for a Libertarian presence. What she found was contact information for Hollinden, who happened to be the former head of the IU Libertarians. Dodge has since assumed the position of organizer for the group.\nDodge first began to identify herself with the Libertarian party during the latter part of high school. She says the principles of the party parallel her own views and values -- that each individual ought to be free to control his or her own life. She says the primary role of government is to protect individual rights.\n"Sitting in classes and walking around campus, I see people who ought to be free to live their lives without a government taking their money and telling them how to live," Dodge says.\nAt the Oct. 9 meeting, the group tossed around several ideas ranging from speakers to a car smash. On Nov. 1 the IU Libertarians will participate in mock presidential debates. \nDodge is also looking beyond this year's election to get libertarianism out around campus. She says she thinks a lot of people don't know what libertarianism is.\n"Grassroots libertarianism begins at the community level, where word is spread about the party idea."\nDodge says there is a wide concept that libertarianism is for the elimination of government, but she says that is not the case.\nThe Green Party\n"We are significant," says Nate Wolf, representative for the IUB Campus Greens. "We are deciding this election."\nThe "we" Wolf is referring to is today's youth, the college-aged student that has a chance to make a serious impact in this year's election. Senior Rob Larson, another Green Party supporter, says the Green party has always had an appeal to younger people. \nThe Green Party is built upon "The Ten Key Values." These provide a base for which every Green candidate can run.\nThe IUB Greens are trying to get the word out about the Green Party in general and its presidential candidate, Ralph Nader. The party's primary vehicle for doing this is tabling at the Union every Tuesday and Thursday. \nWolf says the response so far has been fantastic. He says 90 percent of the students they have interacted with have given them a positive response\n"They are really glad to see our presence on campus," Wolf says.\nUp until this semester, the Greens had no presence on campus. Wolf and some other students started the IUB Campus Greens and have only been active for a few weeks.\nBut being such a young group has caused some problems, especially with fundraising. Since the Greens fight for rights of the consumer, corporate donations are nil.\nBut things are starting to look up. The group raised $502 in its first day of canvassing with eight people in four hours. The volunteers went door-to-door and worked on Kirkwood Avenue.\nThis first money is going toward a billboard for Nader on Third Street and College Avenue.\nOther activities the group is involved in are Green Party trips. The group went to Chicago for a Nader "Super-Rally," Oct. 10, and Oct. 17 the group drove to St. Louis to protest Nader's exclusion from the third and final presidential debate.\n"It's really important that you're here," Wolf said to a group of about 25 people at an organizational meeting Oct. 8. "It's really important that you stick with it."\nRunning into politics\nWolf remembers his first encounter with Ralph Nader.\nOver the summer, Wolf worked on Nader's campaign at the Greens' national headquarters in Washington, D.C. His duties included organizing events, developing programs and helping to author an organizing manual. \nIt had been a terribly hot and long week, Wolf remembers.\n"Every week is during a campaign in Washington, D.C.," he says.\nWhile running a delivery to FedEx, the skies opened up and Wolf got soaked. Upon return, Wolf celebrated a hard week's work by splitting a six-pack with a few co-workers.\nBut after grabbing a beer, he ran upstairs and almost ran right into Nader.\n"There I was, sugging (sic) down a beer, running around the campaign office absolutely soaking wet when I first meet Ralph Nader, my presidential candidate," Wolf says.\nWolf became involved in the Green Party over the natural evolution of his political maturation. After his summer campaign experience, he wanted to stay active and help the campaign.\n"I would say my life is influenced by these values," says Wolf. He says that all of the 10 values are important and focus on improving the quality of life for all people.\nThe main goal for the election is education, Wolf says. He wants to overcome common third-party stereotypes and emphasize that voting for Nader is not throwing a vote away.\n"Just changing peoples mindsets and preconceptions and misperceptions is a big task," Wolf says.\nWolf believes that many of his views are being ignored by the current two-party system. That is why he felt it was important to get involved with the group. He says he thinks the reasons so many people don't get involved or don't vote is because they don't feel properly represented, which leads to apathy.\nThe primary election that the Monroe County Libertarians are concentrating on is Stephen W. Dillon for Judge of the Monroe Circuit Court. Dillon is a 50-year-old attorney and graduate of the IU School of Law, Indianapolis. Local Libertarian candidates include Thomas Tindle for House of Representatives and Paul Hager for Senate. On the national level, Harry Browne is running for president on the Libertarian ticket.
The mother's motions are delicate and graceful as she picks up a can of carrots from an aisle in Kroger. Her curly brown hair twirls and springs off her shoulders encompassing her small round face with big brown eyes that mesmerize every passerby. The daughter wears a flowing ankle-length blue flowered skirt with a white T-shirt and short blonde hair. Her eyes sink into her face, and her thin crimson lips rarely speak. \nOr maybe the mother has long straight black hair, is 5-foot-4 with a pear-shaped body. Her eyes melt with all other features to give her a perfectly indistinguishable oval face. She is at a McDonald's drive-thru ordering a Quarter Pounder with cheese meal. Diet Coke. The daughter's stringy brown hair is loosely held away from her face by a blue elastic band. She has Umbro black shorts on with white trim and a gray IU T-shirt. She orders fries and a Sprite.\nBoth women could be anyone, anywhere. They are neighbors, friends, mothers, classmates, daughters, co-workers and wives. They are the people that you might interact with daily or that you might simply murmur a hello in passing. They participate in after-school sports, eat dinner together and go to the movies.\nBut there's one thing that you don't know and cannot see from the outside, and that's why they chose to be anonymous. And although no one is carrying a broom or wearing a black pointy hat, these women have been defined by society as witches. Witches whose unique religion would make Oct. 31 their most important holiday.\nEmily and Jessica are followers of Wicca, a neo-pagan religion that marks the beginning of the new year on Halloween.\n"The holiday is Samhain, and it is when the veil is most thin between our world and the spirit world," says 15-year-old Jessica.\n"It represents new life and death, allowing us to remember our ancestors that have passed before us," says Emily, a mother of two, who has practiced neo-paganism since she was a small girl. "It is easier for us to commune with the spirits on this day."\nAlthough Halloween is a holiday commercialized by costumes and treats, its tradition stems from an old English practice in which children went door to door begging for 'soul cakes' to feed the wandering spirits.\n"I'll go get candy with my friends," Jessica says. "I'll wear jeans and a T-shirt to go trick or treating just because I don't feel like dressing up this year, but I like celebrating it as 'Halloween' with my friends too (not Samhain)."\nJessica and Emily will celebrate their New Year, but it will not be visible to many.\n"Their beliefs are tied to an alternate states of consciousness," says Marty Laubach, a graduate student in sociology, who is studying neo-paganism. "They believe in a God but not in the Christian God or Jesus. They break their god down so that there are many different faces and aspects of their main god. They also have a goddess of equal status. Their religion celebrates eight Sabbats, the most important being the celtic holiday of Samhain because it represents the dead and the living, a cycle."\nLaubach says on Samhain wiccans believe that the souls of the dead are free to roam among the living. Most practitioners want to honor the dead on Halloween. A typical Halloween event for some wiccans might be having dinner with an extra plate and seat at the table for the spirits. The meal would be followed by a personalized ritual. \nEmily and Jessica are unsure of what they will do this year, but they do have a temple that honors their god and goddess where their rituals are usually held.\n"I was in Tawain once and saw this little oriental doll in a shop. There were many of them but this one spoke to me. What was unusual was that her head was broken," Emily says. "The goddess has many different faces. So now the doll is on the altar in the temple with her head next to her representing many different aspects of the goddess."\nTemples and sites of rituals are personal and connections vary from one wiccan's preference to another's.\n"I like the fact that I can feel it whenever I want to. I don't have to go to an organized place," Jessica says. "It comes to me in nature, I can feel the spirits all around me sometimes. It's a gust of wind, the smell of flowers. It's anything directly related to the universe."\nWiccans believe that all systems on the planet are interconnected, all is one. When one imbalance is caused in one area, the whole system is thrown out of balance. Acts of evil cause imbalances, and the work of witchcraft is toward balance and harmony.\n"The worst aspect of the religion is that the term has been greatly misused in the past," Laubach says. "Wiccans want to reclaim the term and honor the death of the witches burned during the inquisition because they were not evil people. To many wiccans the Burning Times, where many were persecuted because of their religion, is viewed by them as the Holocaust is to the Jewish people."\n"I want to stress that we are not Satan and do not practice satanic rituals," Jessica says.\nLaura Humpf, a senior majoring in psychology and a practicing wiccan, agrees.\n"The biggest misconception is black magic and Satan," Humpf says. "We don't not believe in Satan. We believe that life is great and creation and destruction are part of the natural cycles. It's a witches creed 'if it harm none do what you will.' Another thing people overlook is that if someone is practicing black magic we believe that whatever you do returns to you threefold. So if you were to curse someone you would get cursed three times."\nEven though Humpf has not been discriminated against on campus because of her beliefs, she does think a lot of people are still apprehensive. \n"We look like everyone else on campus. I mean, we have a life and do normal things so no one has ever really come up to me out of the blue and said something malicious," Humpf says. "But there are those people that automatically connect you with witches and evil."\nOn the other hand, Jessica only tells people she trusts about her beliefs. \n"I think my generation is more understanding, but I did have a boyfriend in sixth grade who came over to the house and saw my altar in my room with the pentagram," Jessica says. "He told me I was going to hell and then told my whole class that I was worshipping the devil."\nSince then Emily has been protective of her children, telling them to be very careful who they tell and asking them to cover their altars in their room when friends come over. \n"I don't want myself or my daughter to be identified because I work in a straight environment and people get very very paranoid," Emily says. "There is that fear in people that we are doing something dark and inappropriate. It's actually ignorance and it makes it unsafe. It's sad but when people can't accept us and are ignorant. I can't take a chance with my family."\nEmily and Jessica's names were changed to protect identity.
The mother's motions are delicate and graceful as she picks up a can of carrots from an aisle in Kroger. Her curly brown hair twirls and springs off her shoulders encompassing her small round face with big brown eyes that mesmerize every passerby. The daughter wears a flowing ankle-length blue flowered skirt with a white T-shirt and short blonde hair. Her eyes sink into her face, and her thin crimson lips rarely speak. \nOr maybe the mother has long straight black hair, is 5-foot-4 with a pear-shaped body. Her eyes melt with all other features to give her a perfectly indistinguishable oval face. She is at a McDonald's drive-thru ordering a Quarter Pounder with cheese meal. Diet Coke. The daughter's stringy brown hair is loosely held away from her face by a blue elastic band. She has Umbro black shorts on with white trim and a gray IU T-shirt. She orders fries and a Sprite.\nBoth women could be anyone, anywhere. They are neighbors, friends, mothers, classmates, daughters, co-workers and wives. They are the people that you might interact with daily or that you might simply murmur a hello in passing. They participate in after-school sports, eat dinner together and go to the movies.\nBut there's one thing that you don't know and cannot see from the outside, and that's why they chose to be anonymous. And although no one is carrying a broom or wearing a black pointy hat, these women have been defined by society as witches. Witches whose unique religion would make Oct. 31 their most important holiday.\nEmily and Jessica are followers of Wicca, a neo-pagan religion that marks the beginning of the new year on Halloween.\n"The holiday is Samhain, and it is when the veil is most thin between our world and the spirit world," says 15-year-old Jessica.\n"It represents new life and death, allowing us to remember our ancestors that have passed before us," says Emily, a mother of two, who has practiced neo-paganism since she was a small girl. "It is easier for us to commune with the spirits on this day."\nAlthough Halloween is a holiday commercialized by costumes and treats, its tradition stems from an old English practice in which children went door to door begging for 'soul cakes' to feed the wandering spirits.\n"I'll go get candy with my friends," Jessica says. "I'll wear jeans and a T-shirt to go trick or treating just because I don't feel like dressing up this year, but I like celebrating it as 'Halloween' with my friends too (not Samhain)."\nJessica and Emily will celebrate their New Year, but it will not be visible to many.\n"Their beliefs are tied to an alternate states of consciousness," says Marty Laubach, a graduate student in sociology, who is studying neo-paganism. "They believe in a God but not in the Christian God or Jesus. They break their god down so that there are many different faces and aspects of their main god. They also have a goddess of equal status. Their religion celebrates eight Sabbats, the most important being the celtic holiday of Samhain because it represents the dead and the living, a cycle."\nLaubach says on Samhain wiccans believe that the souls of the dead are free to roam among the living. Most practitioners want to honor the dead on Halloween. A typical Halloween event for some wiccans might be having dinner with an extra plate and seat at the table for the spirits. The meal would be followed by a personalized ritual. \nEmily and Jessica are unsure of what they will do this year, but they do have a temple that honors their god and goddess where their rituals are usually held.\n"I was in Tawain once and saw this little oriental doll in a shop. There were many of them but this one spoke to me. What was unusual was that her head was broken," Emily says. "The goddess has many different faces. So now the doll is on the altar in the temple with her head next to her representing many different aspects of the goddess."\nTemples and sites of rituals are personal and connections vary from one wiccan's preference to another's.\n"I like the fact that I can feel it whenever I want to. I don't have to go to an organized place," Jessica says. "It comes to me in nature, I can feel the spirits all around me sometimes. It's a gust of wind, the smell of flowers. It's anything directly related to the universe."\nWiccans believe that all systems on the planet are interconnected, all is one. When one imbalance is caused in one area, the whole system is thrown out of balance. Acts of evil cause imbalances, and the work of witchcraft is toward balance and harmony.\n"The worst aspect of the religion is that the term has been greatly misused in the past," Laubach says. "Wiccans want to reclaim the term and honor the death of the witches burned during the inquisition because they were not evil people. To many wiccans the Burning Times, where many were persecuted because of their religion, is viewed by them as the Holocaust is to the Jewish people."\n"I want to stress that we are not Satan and do not practice satanic rituals," Jessica says.\nLaura Humpf, a senior majoring in psychology and a practicing wiccan, agrees.\n"The biggest misconception is black magic and Satan," Humpf says. "We don't not believe in Satan. We believe that life is great and creation and destruction are part of the natural cycles. It's a witches creed 'if it harm none do what you will.' Another thing people overlook is that if someone is practicing black magic we believe that whatever you do returns to you threefold. So if you were to curse someone you would get cursed three times."\nEven though Humpf has not been discriminated against on campus because of her beliefs, she does think a lot of people are still apprehensive. \n"We look like everyone else on campus. I mean, we have a life and do normal things so no one has ever really come up to me out of the blue and said something malicious," Humpf says. "But there are those people that automatically connect you with witches and evil."\nOn the other hand, Jessica only tells people she trusts about her beliefs. \n"I think my generation is more understanding, but I did have a boyfriend in sixth grade who came over to the house and saw my altar in my room with the pentagram," Jessica says. "He told me I was going to hell and then told my whole class that I was worshipping the devil."\nSince then Emily has been protective of her children, telling them to be very careful who they tell and asking them to cover their altars in their room when friends come over. \n"I don't want myself or my daughter to be identified because I work in a straight environment and people get very very paranoid," Emily says. "There is that fear in people that we are doing something dark and inappropriate. It's actually ignorance and it makes it unsafe. It's sad but when people can't accept us and are ignorant. I can't take a chance with my family."\nEmily and Jessica's names were changed to protect identity.
Life is full of choices, but where many Americans feel they lack choices is the political spectrum. Often it's a choice between the lesser of two evils, a choice between two candidates whose platform doesn't match up to a voter's preference.\nWhat many Americans don't realize is that there is a third choice, a candidate running independently or with a "third party." \nIn 1992 a big-eared Texan named Ross Perot made history by earning a staggering 19 percent of the popular vote, showing that about a fifth of the voting population is fed up with the current two-party system.\nThis election year, two campus groups are looking to inform students of other options when they go to the voting booth Nov. 7. The IU Libertarians and IU Greens are both just getting off the ground and trying to pull together in time for the election.\nLibertarians\nHow many Libertarians does it take to screw in a light bulb?\nThis is the question that graduate student Erin Hollinden, chair for the Monroe County Libertarians, proposed to a group of about 25 people at an IU Libertarians meeting Oct. 9.\nSo what's the answer?\nNone. \n"Let the free market take care of it," Hollinden says.\nThat statement sums up, in a nutshell, the ideals of the Libertarian party. As a whole, each liberal believes in the same basic principles.\nHollinden says the Libertarian philosophy can be summed up in two words: less government. That means fewer taxes, less social programs and less foreign aid.\nLibertarian ideals can be split into two basic areas, personal and economic.\nThe personal freedoms Libertarians are pushing for include the elimination of the draft, no censorship whatsoever, no sex laws (also commonly referred to as "blue laws"), no drug laws and open borders with other nations.\n"Self-ownership," Hollinden says. "The government shouldn't be able to use us as cannon fodder … should not be able to tell us was to do sexually…should not be able to tell us what to put into our bodies."\nThe economic freedoms include no subsidizing, free trade, no minimum wage, no user fees (i.e. no taxes) and no foreign aid.\n"I think people that know what (libertarianism) is either embrace it or find it impractical and sometimes find it crazy," Hollinden says. \nFree to live her life\nWhen freshman Leanne Dodge came to campus she searched for a Libertarian presence. What she found was contact information for Hollinden, who happened to be the former head of the IU Libertarians. Dodge has since assumed the position of organizer for the group.\nDodge first began to identify herself with the Libertarian party during the latter part of high school. She says the principles of the party parallel her own views and values -- that each individual ought to be free to control his or her own life. She says the primary role of government is to protect individual rights.\n"Sitting in classes and walking around campus, I see people who ought to be free to live their lives without a government taking their money and telling them how to live," Dodge says.\nAt the Oct. 9 meeting, the group tossed around several ideas ranging from speakers to a car smash. On Nov. 1 the IU Libertarians will participate in mock presidential debates. \nDodge is also looking beyond this year's election to get libertarianism out around campus. She says she thinks a lot of people don't know what libertarianism is.\n"Grassroots libertarianism begins at the community level, where word is spread about the party idea."\nDodge says there is a wide concept that libertarianism is for the elimination of government, but she says that is not the case.\nThe Green Party\n"We are significant," says Nate Wolf, representative for the IUB Campus Greens. "We are deciding this election."\nThe "we" Wolf is referring to is today's youth, the college-aged student that has a chance to make a serious impact in this year's election. Senior Rob Larson, another Green Party supporter, says the Green party has always had an appeal to younger people. \nThe Green Party is built upon "The Ten Key Values." These provide a base for which every Green candidate can run.\nThe IUB Greens are trying to get the word out about the Green Party in general and its presidential candidate, Ralph Nader. The party's primary vehicle for doing this is tabling at the Union every Tuesday and Thursday. \nWolf says the response so far has been fantastic. He says 90 percent of the students they have interacted with have given them a positive response\n"They are really glad to see our presence on campus," Wolf says.\nUp until this semester, the Greens had no presence on campus. Wolf and some other students started the IUB Campus Greens and have only been active for a few weeks.\nBut being such a young group has caused some problems, especially with fundraising. Since the Greens fight for rights of the consumer, corporate donations are nil.\nBut things are starting to look up. The group raised $502 in its first day of canvassing with eight people in four hours. The volunteers went door-to-door and worked on Kirkwood Avenue.\nThis first money is going toward a billboard for Nader on Third Street and College Avenue.\nOther activities the group is involved in are Green Party trips. The group went to Chicago for a Nader "Super-Rally," Oct. 10, and Oct. 17 the group drove to St. Louis to protest Nader's exclusion from the third and final presidential debate.\n"It's really important that you're here," Wolf said to a group of about 25 people at an organizational meeting Oct. 8. "It's really important that you stick with it."\nRunning into politics\nWolf remembers his first encounter with Ralph Nader.\nOver the summer, Wolf worked on Nader's campaign at the Greens' national headquarters in Washington, D.C. His duties included organizing events, developing programs and helping to author an organizing manual. \nIt had been a terribly hot and long week, Wolf remembers.\n"Every week is during a campaign in Washington, D.C.," he says.\nWhile running a delivery to FedEx, the skies opened up and Wolf got soaked. Upon return, Wolf celebrated a hard week's work by splitting a six-pack with a few co-workers.\nBut after grabbing a beer, he ran upstairs and almost ran right into Nader.\n"There I was, sugging (sic) down a beer, running around the campaign office absolutely soaking wet when I first meet Ralph Nader, my presidential candidate," Wolf says.\nWolf became involved in the Green Party over the natural evolution of his political maturation. After his summer campaign experience, he wanted to stay active and help the campaign.\n"I would say my life is influenced by these values," says Wolf. He says that all of the 10 values are important and focus on improving the quality of life for all people.\nThe main goal for the election is education, Wolf says. He wants to overcome common third-party stereotypes and emphasize that voting for Nader is not throwing a vote away.\n"Just changing peoples mindsets and preconceptions and misperceptions is a big task," Wolf says.\nWolf believes that many of his views are being ignored by the current two-party system. That is why he felt it was important to get involved with the group. He says he thinks the reasons so many people don't get involved or don't vote is because they don't feel properly represented, which leads to apathy.\nThe primary election that the Monroe County Libertarians are concentrating on is Stephen W. Dillon for Judge of the Monroe Circuit Court. Dillon is a 50-year-old attorney and graduate of the IU School of Law, Indianapolis. Local Libertarian candidates include Thomas Tindle for House of Representatives and Paul Hager for Senate. On the national level, Harry Browne is running for president on the Libertarian ticket.
It's really hard for a journalist to objectively view a fictional TV show about journalism. Which is why it is extremely difficult to form an untainted opinion about "Deadline." Although the general viewing public might be able to ignore gross factual errors such as Oliver Platt's Wallace Benton being allowed to interrogate an accused murderer, it's really hard to swallow for anyone remotely connected to the media.\nAt the same time, it's also really hard to fault a show with such a great cast, including BeBe Neuwirth and Lili Taylor. Platt's portrayal of mercenary-esque Benton is nicely cynical and sarcastic, particularly when he's paired with Hope Davis as his co-worker and ex-wife. Luckily, the writers have also decided to do us all a favor and send the annoyingly ignorant students in Benton's graduate seminar straight to the back burner. Hopefully "Deadline" will clean up the errors in its act and become as great as series creator Dick Wolf's other show, "Law and Order"
The absurdity of life and the human perception of idealism are at the core of the modern tragicomedy in the theater. One cannot help but laugh at some moments, while at others marvel in horror at the truth that is the human condition.\nT300's theater season opener, "Life During Wartime," written by Chicago-based playwright and actor Keith Reddin, portrays a world consumed by the absurd.\nWith scenes in which character John Calvin professing his philosophy, juxtaposed with very sexual and sensual moments between other characters, Reddin created a world known known to many modern Americans.\nThe play's language and form is very reminiscent of playwrights like David Mamet and Sam Shepard, with a human backbone provided by Reddin, whose real-life experiences are clearly an influence on the show.\nThe plot has Tommy (junior Arian Moayed), a new recruit for an agency that sells home security, learning from seasoned co-workers Heinrich (graduate student Ira Amyx) and Sally (junior Molly Thomas) the trade of selling and making people trust him.\nOn his first sale, Tommy meets Gale Hunter (junior Carol Enoch), who not only buys Tommy's product but also begins a love affair with him while her 16-year-old son Howard (graduate student Tony Garcia) can only wonder why.\nInterspersed with soliloquies from John Calvin (junior Peter Gerharz) the play examines the very relevant theme of living life for the moment rather than for the future, among many others.\nAmyx delivered a very natural performance that made his very unlikable character quite charming at times. He was a man plagued by his own hubris but knew it and used it as an advantage. Amyx made the voice of Heinrich very believable, while also utilizing the full extent of his body.\nMoayed's Tommy progressed nicely from a green, naive kid to a man hardened by the shocking realities and trials of life. His humor and ability to read the situations aided in making Tommy a very likeable character.\nThomas and Enoch, as the show's two women, were also noteworthy for their ability to transcend their ages and show a mature side with ease and even grace.\nFinally, Gerharz and Garcia added much humor, absurdity and backbone to a show that had a firm root planted from the first light cue.\nTechnically, the show was also interesting. The quaint set by graduate student Jason Lambdin created an intimate atmosphere using bland colors to represent the blandness of existence.\nCostumes by senior Beth Laske-Miller were appropriate to the early 1990s setting, yet they also revealed slight nuances about the characters -- for instance, Tommy's suits helped him to look ambitious but not too well dressed. With the exception of John Calvin's costume, which didn't convey the timelessness of his character, all of the costumes served nicely.\nGraduate student Becky Hardy's lighting also created contrasts for the different scenes and helped establish the stark moods in certain scenes and a very warm, inviting atmosphere in others.\nThe T300 space was used well to create a very natural show and showcase a cast of immense talent. Though tickets are hard to come by, "Life During Wartime" is a great evening of theatre.
With just over a month until Election Day, the first in a long series of public forums for candidates kicked off last night at Monroe County Public Library.\nEight of the 10 candidates for the Monroe County Community School Corporation gathered last night at the library, 303 E. Kirkwood Ave., to answer the public's questions and state their opinions on issues facing Monroe County schools. The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce.\nOne of the central issues discussed during the forum was increasing funding for schools. Recently social workers were hired for MCCSC despite the failure of last fall's referendum, which would have provided funds for those staff members. MCCSC teachers are now negotiating a pay raise, and it is widely feared they will receive only a 1 percent increase instead of the usual 3.5 to 5 percent as a result. \nJoan Hart, the incumbent candidate for District 5, said the pay raise is still being discussed, and she said she doubts it will be lower than usual. She also said providing social workers in Monroe County schools was an issue on the minds of many educators.\n"Every school I visit, I'm always asked about social workers," she said. \nSue Wanzer, candidate for District 2 also said her goal was to ease the burden on teachers paying for classroom supplies out of their own pocket. She said, according to a national study, teachers spend more than $400 annually of their own money to supplement their classroom tools, and those inequities must be corrected. \n"The role of the school board ... is to get obstacles out of the way so teachers can do their jobs," she said. \nLindsay Boyd, District 6 candidate, said he would pursue community outreach as a solution to the MCCSC's social worker problems. He also said it is vital to get the community involved in all aspects of its schools.\n"In my experience, I've found if you open your doors to the community, they'll open their doors to you," he said.\nKeith Klein, candidate for District 5, suggested using IU and local businesses as resources in the classroom. \n"Have an IU artist in residence. Have a loaned business executive teach or co-teach a class. We need to tell the community there's a place for them (in our schools)," he said.\nThe failed educational referendum, which would have raised property tax rates by 8 to 12 percent, garnered only 32 percent of the vote last fall. While not all of the candidates said they had supported the tax hike, all said they would proceed differently should another referendum be offered. \nLynn Coyne, candidate for District 4 and IU assistant vice president for administration, said misinformation was a big problem in last November's vote.\n"The choice shouldn't be for or against education, the choice should be on how that money will be used," he said.\nMike Gentile, candidate for District 6, said he did not support the referendum.\n"I saw the need for the money, but I didn't see (the referendum) as the only way to get it," he said. \nMonroe County's low graduation rates were also a hot topic. About 82 percent of students in the county make it to graduation, and all the candidates acknowledged that improvement is necessary. \n"It's important that every student make it to graduation," said Gretchen Elkins Weidner, candidate for District 2. \n"We need to evaluate test scores and how the students are performing (on the way to graduation)," said William Campbell, District 4 candidate.\nCandidates William Scott, District 2, and Peter Uthrppuru, District 6, did not participate in the forum. Scott is also a professor emeritus of personnel and organizational behavior at the Kelley School of Business.\nThe forum was broadcast live on Community Access Television, channel 12. It will be repeated at 1 p.m. today and 9 p.m. Thursday.
America's priorities can be determined by how we decide to spend our collective resources. This year's election highlights the key distinctions between how Democrats and Republicans spend our money. Democrats support targeted tax cuts focused on our national priorities, such as education and health care, just to name two.\nRight here in Southern Indiana, the candidates running to represent you in Congress have vastly different priorities. Dr. Paul Perry, the Democratic contender, has made health-care reform his central issue throughout the campaign, pledging to keep HMOs and insurance companies from making decisions regarding your health care. \nRecognizing the tremendous burden the costs of prescription drugs can put on working families, he will fight for prescription drug coverage to reduce that burden, so no family will have to decide between life-saving drugs and paying other bills.\nOn the national scene, Vice President Al Gore proposes a college tax credit and a 3 percent increase in national school spending, with increases in teacher salaries and more resources for pre-school programs. Across the country, school districts are in such dire need of teachers and principals they often have to hire college graduates without any teacher education. Teachers are an important part of our future economic viability, and to entice quality college students into a career in education, we must be willing to pay teachers a decent wage.\n"Al Gore is proposing a comprehensive tax plan with more than $500 billion in targeted tax relief for working families. The Gore tax cut will promote economic growth and encourage savings, and will fit within a responsible budget framework, one which ensures America is debt-free by 2012, saves Social Security and strengthens Medicare," according to a Gore-Lieberman press release.\n"Throughout his career, Al Gore has fought for targeted tax relief to help working families. He has fought to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, helped deliver a $500 child tax credit and worked for passage of Hope Scholarships to make the first years of college universally available. The result: the lowest federal tax burden in more than two decades for a typical middle-income family," the release said.\nFor college students and their families, Gore has proposed a $10,000 per person tax credit to help everyone who wants to attend college. The vice president recognizes the global economy in which we now live requires a well-educated and well-trained work force ready to compete one-on-one with any other country.\nImprove Education and Training\n• Tax credits, School Modernization Bonds and Qualified Zone Academy Bonds during two years to modernize as many as 6,000 schools\n• The College Opportunity Tax Cut that allows families to take a $10,000 per student tax credit or tax deduction for tuition\n• Save money for education with Tuition Savings Accounts\n• Create 401(j) Life-Long Learning Accounts that can be withdrawn and used tax-free if they are used for education or qualified life-long learning\n• Assist workers, up to $6,000, in obtaining training courses or certification programs that improve information technology skills\nHelp Families Afford Health Care\n• Making health insurance more affordable and more accessible for small businesses through a 25 percent tax credit for premium costs for each small-business employee that decides to join a purchasing coalition\n• Assuring tax equity through a new tax credit for individual health insurance\n"I am proposing," Gore said, "an economic policy that's tried and tested, and built on our values -- fiscal discipline as the foundation and a new generation of investments to empower our people and unleash their potential. No runaway spending, no paybacks for the powerful interests and no budget-busting tax proposals."\nWe need to decide if we put our focus on health care and education or tax cuts for the wealthy. \nEducation and health care, together with targeted tax cuts for working, low- and middle-income families, are the Democratic plan for a more prosperous economy.
This spring, the sociology department will offer a new course covering issues related to one of the largest, but least studied minority groups in America -- people with disabilities. The course -- S101: Social Aspects of Disability -- will meet at 1 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays next semester. \n"I think this course has a lot to offer to anyone who has a friend or relative with a disability, to anyone planning a career working with the disabled, and to people with disabilities themselves," said instructor Sandi Nenga, a doctoral student. \nShe said future teachers, social workers, managers and medical professionals would benefit from the information to be covered in the course. Students will discuss all types of disabilities.\n"This is a topic that I think should appeal to a very broad range of students on this campus from a broad range of disciplines," said Brian Powell, director of graduate studies. "This would be a wonderful opportunity really to explore what are the obstacles and the barriers people with disabilities face."\nThe class will be valuable, said undergraduate adviser MaryLou Hosek, because chances are everyone will encounter a person with a disability in the workplace at some point.\n"You can't always identify someone with a disability. It's not always visual," she said. "You need to know how to ask the right questions."\nThe group will assess the accessibility of campus buildings to people with disabilities and discuss what kind of accommodations could be made. Other topics will include technology to assist people with disabilities, the pros and cons of mainstreaming students with disabilities at school, telethons and fundraisers and the controversy surrounding cochlear implants, a device to assist those with hearing impairments.\n"We will look at discrimination and struggle, but we will also discuss the triumphs and humor of disabled people," Nenga said.\nSimilar courses have been offered through the School of Education, the American Studies department and the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation. But Nenga said this course will show a different perspective.\n"I don't know of any course on this campus which allows students to explore the social context of physical, learning, sensory and developmental disabilities," she said.\nNenga brings a personal knowledge of disability to the course. She has an orthopedic disability that causes chronic pain.\n"My personal experience ... led me to see that disability is a topic which affects everyone," she said.\nBut the information isn't as important to Nenga as the attitude of inclusion she hopes students develop.\n"I would like students to leave the course with a greater awareness of disability issues and an understanding of disabled peoples' perspectives," she said.
It's Sunday, and I'm home from the Association of Internet Researchers Conference at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan. Right off the bat I have to tell you that Kansas isn't Kansas, Dorothy.\nA smart little city on the Kansas River, Lawrence flaunts a college town atmosphere with a sophisticated shopping street -- one that outdid our streetscaped Kirkwood in character and variety. \nKansas City, 30-odd miles east, is a surprisingly earthy and robust city, with barbecue that roiled my stomach, and the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, one of the best museums I've been to in my culture vulture existence.\nMy trip to Lawrence was predicated by the conference, justified by my interest in Internet issues and much anticipated if for no other reason than novelty alone. I stayed at the Hampton Inn, drove around in a rented Elantra (my letter to Hyundai would start -- Dear Hyundai: Congratulations on updating the Yugo), and tried to sample the best the University of Kansas had to offer. \nThe conference itself was a broad affair, chock full of social scientists sniffing each other's credentials with the moxie of breeding stock. I was put off by the fact that nobody wanted to sniff mine. \nI never brought up the topic of HIV, but it found me a few times. I listened to a baby-faced doctoral candidate in communications talk about examining HIV support chats on the Internet and noticed a presentation on such a group was to be given Sunday (alas, my Priceline.com ticket had me leaving too early Sunday to attend).\nI went to a session on Internet research ethics, which gave me the most profound pause. I learned some researchers monitor support chats, sift their archives and extract their discourse in the name of advancing research and understanding the social networks we humans undertake. Ethics?\nI left that session with the worst taste in my mouth, one that reminded me of the sensation I had when I realized some people lie, cheat and steal for the hell of it. I admit to great naivete in some arenas of the human experience, though I sometimes consider myself jaded. I simply never realized anyone would sift these communications, sit in a support chat under false pretenses and report on the proceedings. \nI didn't realize people would advance their careers on the suffering of others, that they would blandly use these utterances, whether from protected identities or not, to fuel their maniacal quest for the ultimate lab rats -- the true cry of human distress. \nI wondered, too, what possible gain they could receive from the HIV support chats that I've encountered -- ones full of tales from the modern Arabian Nights, reworked Camelots and solipsistic Supermen. Ones where the boast of competence, sexual exploits and social masking were the modalities of success -- "I'm positive, and I'm doing grrr-eat!" -- full of the emoticons of people too bothered by typing to posit a truly revealing moment. \nWhen I left the conference that afternoon, I drove to Topeka, Kan., and walked around the Capitol. But I couldn't shake the depressed mood that discussion had left in my head. While not all researchers would do research in this fashion, it angered and troubled me that people in the full bloom of intellect, credentials gathered around them like the folds of graduation gowns, would ever consider such activity ethical, that their ends justified their means.\nEvery day of our lives, we walk on ground made of such good intentions. Highways filled with the bones of Native Americans, fields picked by migrant workers, we are served fast food meals from the hands of people who do work we consider beneath ourselves. They are the sociological phenomena of a careless society, a culture where the items on the list of throw-aways include other people's lives. \nBack in Lawrence, I locked myself away in the Hampton Inn, in my nonsmoking room. An oversight in my booking process, I couldn't escape my ashtray-less existence. I paced my cigarettes to commercial breaks, running out to the parking lot every once in a while when the nicotine level in my bloodstream threatened to dip below normal. \nI went out the last time at 11 p.m., just before bedtime. It was a beautiful night, a fact I had successfully ignored during my prior trips. \nThere was a dog in the parking lot, not a terribly strange occurrence with housing around the hotel. It was a friendly, gray and mottled mutt, with the sharp features of a greyhound and the tail of a golden retriever. \nShe wanted to play, and I didn't want to oblige. She ran in wider and wider circles around the lot, nipping at my calves in passing, leading me out further into the lot. \nThen I noticed another dog sitting under a light post. It sat unnaturally still, oddly crooked. I approached it carefully, not knowing whether these dogs were truly friendly or not, not knowing if the silent dog was injured and likely to snap.\nThis is how I met Spike and Velvet: Spike, the old schnauzer with bad hips; Velvet the hyper girl with the fox-like face. After an obligatory slow introduction, we warmed up to each other like long-lost pals. I read their tags and found a phone number. The front desk called and found the dogs were being sought all night, the owners panicked at their absence.\nFor a half hour of my life, Spike leaned against my legs, enjoying an ear scratching, while Velvet ran crazy eights pausing to nip at Spike or me, hoping to incite some play. Until the parents showed up, under a bright harvest moon, in the parking lot of a cookie cutter hotel, in Lawrence, Kan.\nI wouldn't have guessed this would be the highlight of my trip, a gift I had no idea how to ask for, no idea that I needed. I understood when one of the parents showed up in a Hoosier softball league T-shirt what I needed to know -- that all was well where it needed to be well, in my heart, on that most beautiful night in Lawrence, Kan.
It can be played by young and old with equal skill, but it's not golf.\nIt's often played while drunk, but it's not bowling. \nIt's usually played in a bar, but it's not billiards.\nIt's Sink the Bismark, a tradition at Nick's English Hut since, well, for a while.\nIn any event, the peculiar game of pitchers, pails and pilsner never would have been conceived if it wasn't for Dick Barnes. \nBarnes bought Nick's in 1957, five years after graduating from IU. Then, about 15 years later, he began the Nick's Bucket Brigade.\nMembers of the Bucket Brigade, of which there would eventually be about 250, are members of a select group of Nick's patrons. To be served from one of the dented, banged-up 56 ounce, sheet-metal buckets which hang over the bar, one had to own one. \nTo own a bucket, it must be willed down by a previous member of the Brigade. Of course, Buckets aren't easy to come by and, over the years, many of them have been closely kept by families, fraternities and groups of friends.\nTwo small ledgers contain the names of everyone who's ever owned a bucket. Some of the more prominent local figures on the list include Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis, Tim Knight, basketball commentator John Laskowski, Upstairs Pub owner Steve Engel, former administrative assistant Ron Felling and former IU track star Steve Heidelberg, who, in 1975, held the IU record for the indoor and outdoor mile.\nIn 1983, basketball trainer Tim Garl came to IU and was given a bucket by football strength coach Bill Montgomery.\n"At that time, I didn't realize what it was," Garl says. "I didn't know how unique it was.\n"I had one for a while and then, one time when I was down there and a bunch of guys had come up and sat down with us and I left the bucket on the table when I left. Then a mutual acquaintance said 'Those guys took your bucket.' I thought he was just kidding, but, when he returned, I realized he wasn't. I talked to Dick (Barnes) and he made arrangements for me to get a new one."\nAs time passed, a new tradition was born: Sink the Bismark. This is where the details get murky. The problem with tracing the history of a drinking game is that the people who invented it probably remember the least about how it started. \nRex Barnes says no one knows exactly how the game got started, but it started some time in the '80s and was invented at Nick's. From there, folklore abounds. \nAt least one old-timer at Nick's says Sink the Bis' got started when another drinking game, quarters, was banned at Nick's in the '80s. Needing another game to play, customers began to play Sink the Bismark. \nOthers say Sink the Bis' dated back to the '70s and, an alumnus said Saturday, he'd never seen it played at Nick's (as it was being played at three tables upstairs). Finally, Rick McClund, a Nick's employee since 1981, gives the most verifiable account of the game's origins.\n"It was in 1985 or '86," McClund says. "I was working the bar. People were just foolin' around. They put the dipper in the bucket. Then they started making up rules."\nWhen Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis came to the IU faculty, he was given a bucket. While he doesn't remember exactly who gave it to him, Chancellor Gros Louis said he goes to Nick's about six times per year and that he's "very good" at Sink the Bismark. He sometimes takes the Board of Eons, a student group, to Nick's for a few rounds of Sink the Bis'.\n"Whenever I went with students, we'd always identify the designated driver in advance," he says. "We also make sure we're getting food." \nTime passed, buckets changed hands and, eventually, so did Nick's. In 1996, Dick Barnes's son, Rex, became manager of the bar. That same year, he made buckets of beer usable by the general public for $7.95. While no ordinary customer can purchase "ownership" of a bucket, it does allow temporary use for Sink the Bismark, and it also keeps people from lying about owning a bucket in order to use it.\nBloomington resident Charlie Webb III ended up owning three of them. He inherited his first bucket before he was old enough to go to Nick's. Then, one of his co-workers willed him one before she moved away and, finally, one of his Beta Theta Pi brothers gave him one. \n"They were used quite heavily in college," Webb says. "My fraternity brothers would know that I had the buckets, as well as (manager) Rex Barnes. When there was a long line, they'd go to the front of the line and say 'Would you tell Rex that Charlie Webb is out here.' Then they'd go to the bar and say, 'can we have Charlie Webb's bucket? He's sitting in the corner over here.'"\nToday the Bucket Brigade marches on. While two of Webb's buckets and many others will soon be retired and sold at a charity auction for lack of recent use, Sink the Bismark is still one of the most popular attractions at Nick's. In fact, it's the only drinking game openly promoted at any Bloomington bar. \nAnd, on a late Friday or Saturday night, crowds of students, alumni and locals alike can be seen gathering around their buckets, trying to keep a steady hand for another round of Sink the Bismark.
It can be played by young and old with equal skill, but it's not golf.\nIt's often played while drunk, but it's not bowling. \nIt's usually played in a bar, but it's not billiards.\nIt's Sink the Bismark, a tradition at Nick's English Hut since, well, for a while.\nIn any event, the peculiar game of pitchers, pails and pilsner never would have been conceived if it wasn't for Dick Barnes. \nBarnes bought Nick's in 1957, five years after graduating from IU. Then, about 15 years later, he began the Nick's Bucket Brigade.\nMembers of the Bucket Brigade, of which there would eventually be about 250, are members of a select group of Nick's patrons. To be served from one of the dented, banged-up 56 ounce, sheet-metal buckets which hang over the bar, one had to own one. \nTo own a bucket, it must be willed down by a previous member of the Brigade. Of course, Buckets aren't easy to come by and, over the years, many of them have been closely kept by families, fraternities and groups of friends.\nTwo small ledgers contain the names of everyone who's ever owned a bucket. Some of the more prominent local figures on the list include Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis, Tim Knight, basketball commentator John Laskowski, Upstairs Pub owner Steve Engel, former administrative assistant Ron Felling and former IU track star Steve Heidelberg, who, in 1975, held the IU record for the indoor and outdoor mile.\nIn 1983, basketball trainer Tim Garl came to IU and was given a bucket by football strength coach Bill Montgomery.\n"At that time, I didn't realize what it was," Garl says. "I didn't know how unique it was.\n"I had one for a while and then, one time when I was down there and a bunch of guys had come up and sat down with us and I left the bucket on the table when I left. Then a mutual acquaintance said 'Those guys took your bucket.' I thought he was just kidding, but, when he returned, I realized he wasn't. I talked to Dick (Barnes) and he made arrangements for me to get a new one."\nAs time passed, a new tradition was born: Sink the Bismark. This is where the details get murky. The problem with tracing the history of a drinking game is that the people who invented it probably remember the least about how it started. \nRex Barnes says no one knows exactly how the game got started, but it started some time in the '80s and was invented at Nick's. From there, folklore abounds. \nAt least one old-timer at Nick's says Sink the Bis' got started when another drinking game, quarters, was banned at Nick's in the '80s. Needing another game to play, customers began to play Sink the Bismark. \nOthers say Sink the Bis' dated back to the '70s and, an alumnus said Saturday, he'd never seen it played at Nick's (as it was being played at three tables upstairs). Finally, Rick McClund, a Nick's employee since 1981, gives the most verifiable account of the game's origins.\n"It was in 1985 or '86," McClund says. "I was working the bar. People were just foolin' around. They put the dipper in the bucket. Then they started making up rules."\nWhen Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis came to the IU faculty, he was given a bucket. While he doesn't remember exactly who gave it to him, Chancellor Gros Louis said he goes to Nick's about six times per year and that he's "very good" at Sink the Bismark. He sometimes takes the Board of Eons, a student group, to Nick's for a few rounds of Sink the Bis'.\n"Whenever I went with students, we'd always identify the designated driver in advance," he says. "We also make sure we're getting food." \nTime passed, buckets changed hands and, eventually, so did Nick's. In 1996, Dick Barnes's son, Rex, became manager of the bar. That same year, he made buckets of beer usable by the general public for $7.95. While no ordinary customer can purchase "ownership" of a bucket, it does allow temporary use for Sink the Bismark, and it also keeps people from lying about owning a bucket in order to use it.\nBloomington resident Charlie Webb III ended up owning three of them. He inherited his first bucket before he was old enough to go to Nick's. Then, one of his co-workers willed him one before she moved away and, finally, one of his Beta Theta Pi brothers gave him one. \n"They were used quite heavily in college," Webb says. "My fraternity brothers would know that I had the buckets, as well as (manager) Rex Barnes. When there was a long line, they'd go to the front of the line and say 'Would you tell Rex that Charlie Webb is out here.' Then they'd go to the bar and say, 'can we have Charlie Webb's bucket? He's sitting in the corner over here.'"\nToday the Bucket Brigade marches on. While two of Webb's buckets and many others will soon be retired and sold at a charity auction for lack of recent use, Sink the Bismark is still one of the most popular attractions at Nick's. In fact, it's the only drinking game openly promoted at any Bloomington bar. \nAnd, on a late Friday or Saturday night, crowds of students, alumni and locals alike can be seen gathering around their buckets, trying to keep a steady hand for another round of Sink the Bismark.
Whether they're studying along the Jordan River, enjoying a picnic at Dunn Meadow, laying on a blanket near the Arboretum pond or admiring the colorful flower beds as they drive by, thousands of people enjoy IU's beautiful campus.\nThe campus was recognized as one of the five most beautiful campuses nationwide in Thomas A. Gaines' "The Campus as a Work of Art."\nFor many students, the picturesque campus is the selling point of IU. Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis said he has heard from the admissions office that two out of three students who visit the campus later decide to attend.\n"I've seen all the Big Ten campuses. This is by far the most beautiful," Gros Louis said.\nPreserving the Beauty\nThe campus is the result of years of vision, preservation and pride. It's also the result of continued improvement and day-to-day maintenance.\nThat responsibility falls to a staff of 45 employees and five supervisors. The campus division of the Department of the Physical Plant is responsible for grounds maintenance, nursery operation and outdoor construction. They maintain flower beds and mow and trim grass all over campus. Installation of landscape materials for construction projects and operation of the campus nursery also fall under their duties. They are also responsible for seasonal chores, such as leaf and snow removal and cleaning up fallen limbs or trees. \nTo make the size of the campus more manageable, the campus is divided into five sections, each of which is assigned a crew, which becomes basically self-sufficient.\nBut it is not an easy job. \n"Look at it as a city of 40,000 people," David Hurst, manager of the campus division, said. "We're trying to take care of that 2,000 acre city, just like any other town of that size … fortunately, mine's only the outdoor part."\nThe very mission of the campus division is also one of the greatest perks of their job. \n"We can see what we do," Hurst said. "That's probably what my employees like the most."\nHurst said he even keeps a file of thank you letters from people who comment on the picturesque campus. \nThe Student Environmental Action Coalition, a group dedicated to environmental issues both national and local, also supports the mission of keeping the campus beautiful. \n"The campus gives us a constant reminder of the natural environment around us, that we might forget about as we walk from class to class," said junior Ryan Amtmann, SEAC recycling coordinator.\n"The beauty of it is that it reminds us of what we're trying to protect. To us, it's what we work for."\nNot just landscaping\nIn addition to day-to-day maintenance and seasonal chores, the campus division takes on some outdoor construction projects. They built Jacob's Plaza near the School of Music. They also participated in the construction of the Arboretum next to the Main Library, on the site of what used to be the old football stadium. They also preserve Dunn Woods by only intervening with it when fallen trees block paths or threaten buildings. \nThese days, they're working on two major projects. They are renovating the grounds on the west side of the Indiana Memorial Union by installing brick paths around the hill and meadow. A memorial is also being created for the late University Chancellor, Herman B Wells between Maxwell and Wylie halls in the old academic quad, southwest of the IMU.\nWhen dedicated at this year's Homecoming, Herman B Wells Plaza will be a tribute to the University figure, who was a great leader in shaping IU's history and supporting the preservation and expansion of the campus' natural beauty.\nWells, in a 1962 address to alumni, explained why preservation was important. \n"I hope our alumni will always insist upon retention of our precious islands of green and serenity ' our most important physical asset, transcending even classrooms, libraries and laboratories in their ability to inspire students to dream long dreams of future usefulness and achievement ' dreams that are an important part of undergraduate college experience," he said.\nPlanting Cycle\nEvery year, 60,000 annual plants are grown in the University's greenhouses. More than 300 flower beds are maintained and changed twice a year. \nLater this month, the flowers will be changed for the last time before winter. Annual flowers will be removed and replaced by mums, which have been growing in the nursery since May. The mums will remain until after the first frost-weather permitting until after Homecoming-then taken out.\nAround Thanksgiving, tulip bulbs will be planted. The bulbs will be genetically set to appear at varying times, so they remain until graduation (the first weekend in May). Young annual flowers will be planted around the stadium the week of commencement. It will take three or four weeks to plant the rest of the campus with next year's new annuals.\nWhen the new annuals are planted, the soil is tilled, so the tulip bulbs can be reused. The free tulip bulbs have become quite popular with staff members and the community. \n"Many people will bring a bucket to work and pick up tulip bulbs," Hurst said. \nThe campus division gets calls every spring from people who want to know when the flower beds will be tilled.\nBut the campus division grows more than flowers; they plant hundreds of trees every year, many of them dedicated in memory of someone. \n"We actually plant more trees than we take down," Hurst said.\nWhile the division takes great pride in their work, it also comes with great responsibility. \n"People who know how pretty the University usually is, call us when they see otherwise," Hurst said.\nBut workers at the campus division find they are often their own worst critics. \n"Every weekend, when I'm not on the clock, I try to drive through part of campus, and appreciate it for what it is ' a beautiful college campus ' and not be so critical of what still needs to be done," Hurst said.
