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(02/01/01 5:44am)
A 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck El Salvador Jan. 13, killing more than 700 and leaving about one million homeless in the country of about six million people.\nHistory professor Jeff Gould was there.\nGould, director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, has been in El Salvador researching a 1932 massacre of 10,000 Native Americans and peasants. He will turn the results into a documentary film and a book. \nIn his five trips to El Salvador during the last three years, he has talked to people from the countryside, which he said is an important part of his research.\nJan. 13, he was talking to an elderly man in Santa Anna, the country's second largest city, when the walls of the man's house began to shake. What followed, Gould said, was the longest 45 seconds of his life.\n"The house started to shake, and we all knew immediately this was at least a small tremor," he said.\nGould and the man cut off their discussion and ran outside.\n"It literally seemed like the walls were coming down, then they would straighten back up," he said.\nHe said the scariest part of his experience was driving back to San Salvador, the capital, where he was staying. The trip normally takes an hour. This time, it took six, he said.\n"The roads were covered with rocks and dirt from landslides," he said.\nOne road became blocked an hour after Gould drove over it, he said. It would take a week for workers to clear one lane.\nGould returned home to Bloomington Saturday. He said the quake dealt a serious blow to the country's people and economy.\n"Before the earthquake, these people were barely surviving," he said. "Now, with the earthquake, it becomes an impossible situation."
(01/19/01 5:53pm)
This is a historic week for the United States. The 10th anniversary of the Gulf War was recently commemorated. This was the war that sent Iraq out of Kuwait and former president George Bush's approval rating to its highest. \nThough the United Nations imposed the sanctions against Iraq after the war, the United States -- Bush, in particular -- supported them.\n Ten years later, problems still persist in the troubled region. \n For most Iraqis, the war is largely a chapter in history, but a far more pressing issue are the consequences of the sanctions.\nMillions of children have died, many of them too young to have been around during the war. The United Nation's oil-for-food program, which Saddam Hussein grudgingly accepted five years ago, has helped provide Iraq's 23 million people with basic food and has put more medicine in hospitals and pharmacies. Iraq's economy, while still weak, is more stable than at any time in the past decade.\nBut Iraq complains the program is inadequate. Iraq has sold $40 billion worth of oil under the program, but has received only $10 billion worth of goods, according to U.N. figures.\nThe remaining $30 billion has gone to pay war reparations, assist the Kurds in northern Iraq and pay for the U.N. operation. And, Iraq has ordered billions of dollars worth of goods that have been either slow in arriving or have been delayed by the U.N. sanctions committee, which must approve all Iraqi purchases.\nOn Kuwait's side, the country has yet to learn the fate of more than 600 people the government calls prisoners of war. Although Iraq denies the charge, Kuwait insists they are being held as hostages. \nKuwaiti doctors noted a dramatic rise in lung cancers and respiratory diseases they blame on a toxic fog that lasted six months, until the oil fires were put out. Psychological trauma still marks many survivors of the invasion. \nKuwait's 750,000 citizens depended heavily on a work force of 450,000 Palestinians, mostly skilled workers and managers, and even more imported short-term Asian laborers. \nThe emir dissolved Parliament in 1986 to rule by decree. Kuwaitis who resisted the occupation hoped to be rewarded after the war with a more democratic, better governed country. \nParliament was reinstated in 1992, but now many Kuwaitis call that a mixed blessing. Eight years after the war, when the emir proposed a law to give women the vote, Parliament blocked it. \nTo cope with 15,000 university graduates a year, officials maintain full employment by creating pointless state jobs. About 94 percent of Kuwaitis work for the government, and salaries absorb half the budget. \nEconomists insist something must change soon. With population increases, the government can no longer pay benefits and subsidies that Kuwaitis claim as their oil-given birthright. \nKuwait University charges no tuition, and even builds shelters where students' drivers can escape the fierce heat while waiting for class to end. \nDespite some advancements since the war, life in both countries has been difficult.\nTomorrow, another Bush will take office. In the era of compassionate conservatism, will he end the sanctions that his father helped impose?
(12/11/00 8:01am)
Many of the workers in sweatshops and factories in Central America are young women who are struggling to live.\nThe wages are low and the working conditions are terrible. \n"It's almost impossible to survive. The factories are extremely hot, there's no air conditioning, no ventilation system," said Jocelyn Viterna, a graduate student in sociology and Latin America studies.\nViterna cited a recent study conducted by Maria Elena Cuadra Women's Movement, which interviewed 2,562 women in the Nicaragua free trade zone. She said the study found that 85 percent of the respondents were below the age of 26, and 70 percent were single mothers. Sixty-three percent said their pay was docked when they had to go to the doctor, and 57 percent said they were not provided with masks to protect them from airborne fluff, which often leads to health problems, Viterna said.\n"These places are almost like prisons," said junior Nancy Steffan, who is a member of No Sweat!, an IU anti-sweatshop activist group.\nCrisis in Nicaragua\nHundreds of workers have been fired by four clothing factories in Nicaragua's Las Mercedes free trade zone. The goal was to eliminate unions that have been organizing and attempting to negotiate a salary increase. At the Mil Colores factory, more than 200 workers were fired, some of which are facing criminal charges.\n"The workers tried to get a very small wage increase, in a wage that doesn't really cover the cost of living," said Hannah Frisch, coordinator of STITCH, an organization dedicated to helping women in Central America and the United States organize for economic justice.\nThe workers struggle to find a way to feed their families. International pressure is being put on the factory owners, the free trade zone management, the Nicaraguan government, the U.S. embassy in Nicaragua, and Kohl's and Target, two companies that manufacture products at these factories.\nU.S. companies seek cheap labor\nAs the world becomes increasingly global, many U.S. companies seek to cut costs by manufacturing their products in factories such as the maquila factories in Central America. \n"The point is to keep the labor costs low. Free-trade zones are a way of encouraging these businesses come over," Nancy said.\nBut the results are detrimental.\n"Basically the workers have no rights," Steffan said.\nBecause many U.S companies are believed to be involved with such factories, some people say the United States is at fault.\n"The U.S. companies have an extreme amount of power. They could very easily set standards for minimum wage. But they're making huge profits," Viterna said.\nA national effort\nSTITCH trains women in the United States and Central America to deal with issues such as how to start and maintain a union, how to be effective in increasing wages and improving working conditions.\n"We've built a core of women activists in the U.S. who support women in Central America," said Jennifer Hill, steering committee member and one of the co-founders of STITCH.\nThe group is involved in an effort to help the workers in Nicaragua win back their jobs. Hill has been to Nicaragua recently for a training session with women workers who were fired.\n"They want to win their jobs back and they want to build a union. They are in a horrible position. They've just seen several hundred people fired. How do you maintain your union when you've just been fired?" Hill said.\nCoordinator Hannah Frisch said the goal is to get the factories to rehire all the workers, to drop all the criminal charges, negotiate a raise in salary and eventually to pay a living wage.\n"These women are trying to do all this and they have to worry about the fact that the water is no good. They have to organize a union and their members don't even have phones," Hill said.\nThe college campaign\nIU students are joining in the campaign to help Nicaraguan workers get their jobs back. Earlier this semester, No Sweat! members protested outside a career fair recruiters from Kohl's attended.\n"We're trying to encourage people to not shop at Kohl's until they treat they're workers fairly," Steffan said.\n"We exposing different corporations that use sweatshop labor and make them know that their not welcome on campus," she said.\nLast year, No Sweat! convinced the administration that the University should join the Worker's Rights Consortium. Now anything with the IU logo on it has to be made in approved factories. And No Sweat! is supporting other college campuses in their fight to join the WRC, leaving Hill impressed with the results. She said she believes that the anti-sweatshop campaign at college campuses across the nation has turned into a real movement.\n"It's just made a tremendous change in the ability for Central American workers to win campaigns and sustain their unions," Hill said.
(12/06/00 5:10am)
A former student visited Bloomington a few weekends ago. But\nneither he nor his wife paid hotel costs. They enjoyed the \nhospitality of an old friend -- Bloomington Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis.\nGros Louis, who has served IU for 21 years as Bloomington chancellor, develops close relationships with students, many of whom he keeps in touch with after graduation. He attends their weddings. He invites them into his home. He has been invited into their homes. He knows their children, their brothers and their sisters. \nAnd when they visit, he refuses to be treated to a meal until the former student makes more money than he does.\nFor Gros Louis, the students define his satisfaction with his job.\n"I think this is a wonderful profession to grow old in," he said, the lines on his face hinting at his long career. "As I get older, I continue to interact with young people, and it keeps me younger. Reveling in changing values and attitudes of young people has been a pleasure."\nGros Louis' tenure as chancellor will end June 2001 when he retires and allows someone else to fill his size nine and a half shoes.\nDuring the past 36 years, Gros Louis' dedication to IU students has been unwavering. After undergraduate studies at Columbia University and graduate work at University of Wisconsin at Madison, Gros Louis came to Bloomington in 1964 as an assistant professor of English and comparative literature. He became an associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 1970 and dean of the College in 1978. Since 1980, he has been chancellor and vice president of academic affairs. \nDuring his time at IU, Gros Louis has garnered a long list of accomplishments. He invites the leaders of about 25 student groups to his house several times throughout the year to learn about the happenings on campus. He developed three residence hall programs: Briscoe Fellows, Forest Friends and the Faculty Adopt-a-Floor. He originated the idea for the Wells Scholars program. \nCollins Living-Learning Center, floundering when Gros Louis took office, now flourishes with Gros Louis' guidance to improve the program. He strongly supported opening an office for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender community.\nOne of his duties as chancellor, Gros Louis has appointed every dean of every school headquarterd on the Bloomington campus with the exception of one.\n"It's the deans who are the key figures in making the reputation of a university," he said. "I'm most proud of (these appointments). But there are little things too, like finding out a student's difficulty with his classes resulted from a learning disability that no one had checked for. These are small, but very important things I have done for faculty or students. \n"(They won't) be recorded in the annals of history, but I'm very happy with them," he said.\nScott Sanders, English professor and director of the Wells Scholars program, has known Gros Louis since coming to IU in 1971. Sanders considers the creation of the Arboretum, the land of the former football stadium many wanted to convert into a parking lot, a big accomplishment and a stroke of Gros Louis' characteristic vision. In 30 years as a co-worker and friend, Sanders has come to think Gros Louis' success has set high standards for his successor to follow.\n"He brings to the position of chancellor a real rich sense of the University history," Sanders said. "He has an extraordinary memory for people and events. There's no way that knowledge of history can be quickly replaced."\nGros Louis' younger daughter, Julie Gros Louis, 30, said she greatly respects her father's compassionate nature. Although she said it was initially difficult to say what she admired, she listed nine other characteristics she regards highly. Making the list were his open-mindedness, fairness, nonjudgmental demeanor and sense of humor.\n"It's hard to say what you admire most about someone when you admire so much about them," she said. \nBut Julie cannot immediately recall a specific funny memory that's a fair representation of her father.\n"I can't think of one single incident because everything is speckled with humor," she said of her father's personality. "In general, it's there all the time." \nOlder daughter Amy Gros Louis, 32, doesn't have a problem thinking of something specific. Amy said that in the mid-1980s, one of her father's student leader parties got slightly out of hand -- both the students and the chancellor jumped into the backyard hot tub with all their clothes on at 1:30 in the morning. A neighbor, who was the former mayor of Bloomington, called the police to complain of noise, and the fun ended when her mother had to tell everyone to quiet down.\n The hot tub incident is a perfect example of the enjoyment her dad gets from being with young people, she explained.\n "From the relationships he has developed with students, he has found some of his best friends," Amy said. "He really cares about people, and he will send me cards that say as long as you take care of others, you'll be taken care of as well."\n Senior Meredith Suffron, IU Student Association president, said she thought Gros Louis possesses a quiet but powerful disposition but later realized he was personable and full of laughter.\n"I will remember him most for his laughter," she said. "I'll never forget when we went to the opening football game of the season and he was quite the host. He really showed all of us students around and made us feel incredibly special."\nAmy and Julie said the remarkable character of their father is an asset to IU, and the University is an asset to her father, a man who loves to always be busy and productive. Julie predicts her father will enjoy himself once he retires but will go through a withdrawal.\n"Everything that keeps him busy -- essentially he'll be freed from that," she said. "He'll be more calm and mellow, for his own sake, but he'll be in shock with not being busy."\nBut Gros Louis is well aware that retirement will bring about a drastic change in lifestyle.\n"I have no hobbies," Gros Louis said in a half-joking, half-serious tone. "I work seven days a week, and my wife worries what I'm going to do because I have no hobbies. But I'll still have an office in Wylie Hall, and I've told Myles Brand that if there's anything he wants me to do, I'd be happy to do it."\nAmy also wonders what her father will do without the constant pressure of his demanding job. She can picture him reading spy novels in the backyard, a sharp contrast to his regimented schedule. His secretary outlines his schedule for six weeks in advance, but Gros Louis will pencil in an additional six to 10 weeks of plans to be even more organized. \nNancy Brooks, administrative assistant and special events coordinator, has worked with the chancellor for a decade. She describes his behavior as obsessive-compulsive, but she nonetheless loves working for Gros Louis.\n"I was devastated and shocked when he told me he would retire a year early," she said. "To find candidates who are as knowledgeable and versatile as (Gros Louis) will be a difficult task for the search committee."\nGros Louis admits to his compulsive nature. He always carries with him a calendar outlining his plans for the next 14 weeks, a habit that has turned time management into a science. \n"When people come to see me, and after business is done, I have time to ask how things are going with their families or their jobs because I'm well-prepared," he said. "I think a lot of what people see is that I enjoy getting to know people in terms of depth, not just a business relationship. One of the many things I've learned from (Herman B) Wells is that every person in the University is important: students, faculty, custodians, secretaries. The more you can learn about them, the better the atmosphere will be on campus"
(12/04/00 6:20am)
The heralded "New Economy" -- supposedly cured from traditional booms and busts of the past -- appears to be facing a speed bump. Economic indicators are pointing more toward a hard landing, meaning a recession. A recession occurs when the real Gross Domestic Product (subtracting inflation) is negative for two consecutive quarters, which hasn't happened in the United States since 1990-91.\nThe markets are down, higher interest rates are slowing spending, inflation is edging up, GDP growth is slowing and unemployment is increasing -- harbingers of a possible recession.\nThe Nasdaq Composite, a tech-laden tracker of stock performance, was down nearly 50 percent as of Friday. The broader stock indices are also suffering, as the S&P 500 and Russell 2000 are off 15 and 25 percent from their highs, respectively. A bear market occurs when markets go down by 20 percent or more, said James Stack, president of Stack Financial Management.\nThe Federal Reserve has raised interest rates six times in the past 18 months. This has caused many companies to slow spending on big ticket items such as computers, Internet infrastructure, software and new industrial equipment. These large items are attributed with keeping productivity humming along. \nGrowth in spending on these big-ticket items is expected to slow to less than 8 percent next year -- its lowest level since 1992, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.\nProductivity allows companies to increase wages without worrying about sparking inflation because their workers are able to produce more goods, thus making up for being paid more. This has helped keep low unemployment and increasing incomes without igniting inflation, according to The New York Times. Couple smaller productivity gains with higher energy costs, and the possibility of inflation becomes much more realistic.\nThe good news about inflation is that while it has crept up a bit, the Federal Reserve doesn't consider it a concern. "Cost pressures and price inflation had remained subdued for an extended period despite low rates of unemployment," according to the minutes of the Fed's Nov. 16 meeting.\nThe minutes went on to report that the slowing of demand should also ease inflation tensions and indicated that the Fed might drop its inflationary warning. Both companies and consumers are spending less.\nThe U.S. GDP expanded by a paltry 2.4 percent, the slowest figure in four years and less than the 2.7 percent expected. As growth slows, unemployment can be expected to increase.\nThe most notable softening in employment is coming from the manufacturing sector. A growing number of economists expect the current 3.9 percent unemployment rate to increase to 4.5 percent in 2001, according to The Wall Street Journal. \nBut there's good news. According to a recent Michigan State study, researchers found the labor market for college graduates should grow by 6 to 10 percent next year, with especially strong demand for liberal arts majors.\nThe "New Economy" is facing its first major challenge since being born with the advent of the Internet. The question remains: Will it run ashore like many dotcoms or weather the storm?
(11/16/00 4:57pm)
Women's soccer assistant coach and former IU standout, Wendy Dillinger, is about to receive a rebirth in the sport she loves. Dillinger was one of 200 nationwide invitees to try out for the Women's United Soccer Association in December.\nThe WUSA is the first U.S. women's pro soccer league and will begin play next year with eight teams -- six in the East and two in the West. Each team has already selected three players from the U.S. women's national team. Two slots on each team went to foreign players. \nThe remaining slots will be filled after a five-day tryout Dec. 5-9 in Florida where the 200 players invited will practice and then be selected in a 12-15 round draft Dec. 10-11.\nDillinger played for IU during the 1993-95 and '97 seasons, missing the '96 season because of appendicitis. During her tenure at IU, Dillinger set school records for career goals (37), assists (24) and points (98).\nAfter graduating in 1998, Dillinger had a brief stint with Fredricksburg in Denmark of the European soccer league and continues to play semi-pro soccer for the Indiana Blaze in the summer.\nAlong with playing in semi-pro leagues Dillinger continuously practices with the women's team and plays in the men's league at the Sportsplex. She receives help from strength and conditioning coach Geoff Eliason.\n"I work out with Geoff three days a week to help me stay fit," Dillinger said. "It also helps playing in the men's league because they are quicker and faster. They play the game at a high pace and that really helps my game."\nHead coach Joe Kelley, who coached Dillinger, said she has what it takes to compete against the players in the new league.\n"There's not a lot of players like Wendy," Kelley said. "Wendy is a lightning rod player from the point that when she's on the field, everybody knows it. She does exceptional things with the ball. She can hit the ball as hard as any guy."\nKelley said her speed, ball handling and passing skills are just as exceptional.\n"She's a real hard worker," Kelley said. "She's somebody that when she's on the field, she makes the team go. She really generates the level of play of everyone around her and the team herself."\nFreshman midfielder Emily Hotz said the qualities Dillinger displays as a player have helped her in her role of assistant coach.\n"Wendy is a great player as well as a coach. She has an amazing understanding of the game," Hotz said. \nHotz, who was named second team all-Big Ten this year, said Dillinger's understanding and leadership set a great example for the Hoosiers to follow.\n"In practice, she helps us become better players when she plays with us, because she is such a strong and solid player," Hotz said.\nDillinger said the team and staff have had an effect on her.\n"Everyone has been real supportive," Dillinger said. "My teammates, the staff has all said to 'just relax' and 'don't worry about the tryouts.' I have to just play how I usually do. I'm very nervous, but I have made a lot of progress."\nBecause Dillinger received a tryout invitation doesn't mean she is going to be drafted to a team. But Kelley said he feels she has a great chance to play in this league and even somewhere better.\n"I think she can play even at a higher level," Kelley said. "She's a little hardheaded but that's a character trait that all good competitive athletes have. I wish we had her on our team again"
(11/15/00 5:03am)
Marc Haggerty was the untold story of this year's Eighth District Congressional race.\nThe scraggly-haired songwriter ran as a write-in candidate for the Green Party.\nCampaigning only in Monroe County and shunning media attention, he kept a low profile.\n"I only campaigned for the last month because I had to work, and I couldn't afford to take time off," he said. "I need to support myself just like everyone else."\nRefusing to even have his picture taken for the local newspapers, Haggerty relied mostly on word of mouth. To build up support, he made the rounds at activist meetings and rallies.\n"I attended any meeting with a Green Party angle, like I-69 or sweatshops," he said. "We reached hundreds of people."\nWhen all the ballots were counted, he had 269 votes.\nBut, hoping to mount a more visible campaign, the Green Party already has its sights set on 2002. Local activist Jeff Melton has declared his candidacy -- two years before the election.\nGenerally, Congressional candidates give it six months before they even start fund-raising.\n"I am announcing my candidacy to the public now to dramatize the lengths to which a third-party candidate must go to run a serious campaign in Indiana," he said. "This state has among the most restrictive ballot access laws in the nation."\nMany local Green Party activists are still bitter about a failed petition drive to get their presidential candidate, Ralph Nader, on the state ballot. By a mid-July deadline, they needed 31,000 signatures and came up a few thousand short.\n"When John Anderson came along in 1980, states have made it harder for independent third-party candidates to get on the ballot," said graduate student Peter Drake, the Monroe County coordinator of the Nader campaign. "In some states, you simply had to have $25. But we needed 31,000 signatures."\nDespite the obstacles, Melton hopes to launch a full-fledged campaign. He intends to stump "as much as possible" throughout the entire district, which stretches to the Kentucky border. While he said he knows he has no shot of winning, he hopes to bring his set of issues to the fore.\n"When I moved to Bloomington, we were represented by Frank McCloskey who took meritorious stands on many issues," he said. "Then we got John Hostettler in 1994. He's earned close to a zero rating from environmental groups, opposes the minimum wage and never met a giveaway to the rich that he didn't like."\nThough Nader was not on the ballot, he had a strong showing in Monroe County -- receiving 2,885 votes, or 7.1 percent of the presidential votes. Nader only won three percent nationwide.\n Melton believes many Eighth District voters are fed up with "the lack of choice" between the two major parties. He cited Hostettler's fallen Democratic challenger, Paul Perry, who towed the conservative line on issues like gun control and abortion.\n "He mirrored his Republican opponent on so many stands," Melton said. "I am tired of people having to choose between two candidates who don't really represent their needs or interests. So was his Democratic base, apparently."\nPerry lost in 11 of the district's 13 counties, including Vanderburgh -- the most populous and reliably Democratic county. While Hostettler's margin of victory was a slim 21 votes, most observers agree that a Democrat has to carry Vanderburgh going away to win in the Eighth District. \nIf elected, Melton pledges to protect the environment, fight for worker's rights and social justice, and work to abolish the death penalty. A North Carolina native, the part-time college lecturer has been immersed in progressive activism since he first protested nuclear weapons as a college student.
(11/07/00 11:52pm)
Are you wondering why Myles Brand is still president of IU when the University continues to fall apart?\nWhen Brand was due for his five-year review last year, his Board of Trustees hired one person, an outside consultant named Robert Atwell, to do it, the IDS reported.\nAtwell worked to work with Fred Steingraber, who was on the IU Foundation Board with Brand, according to the IDS.\nWilliam Baker, vice president of the University of California, was named to work with Atwell only after complaints.\nFaculty members at IU were outraged, the IDS reported. Normally a special committee is appointed to do the reviews. Now it was coming down to two people, one of whom worked with Brand's buddy. \nAs one faculty member told the IDS, "Having an outside evaluater who was reasonably removed from IU … and the amount of time -- were insufficient to allow students and faculty an opportunity to express their opinions." \nAtwell held only one open meeting for students and faculty to voice their concerns, on April 1. \nAnd what did Atwell find? He produced a 14-page report discussing Brand's administration in a favorable light. Go figure.\n"It is our considered and enthusiastic judgment that (IU) has been well-served by Brand and is most fortunate to be blessed with his leadership," the report stated. \nDuring an Oct. 6 Policy Committee meeting, Brand was asked about the measly 1 percent annual raise the faculty receives. Brand just emphasized faculty salaries are higher than state averages, according to the meeting minutes, available at www.indiana.edu/~coasinfo/coascommittee.shtml.\nHe is scheduled to get another 6 percent raise next year, no matter how poorly IU continues to do. Brand is making more than the U.S. president. \nAnd Brand's track record is anything but clean. \nLast year he signed an agreement to protect human rights by saying IU products would not be made using sweatshop labor. \nIn an Apr. 4, 1999 IDS article, Brand said: "We want Hoosier fans everywhere (to) wear their IU colors with pride … (knowing) that the workers who made those garments were treated fairly." \nHe then allowed Nike to sponsor our athletic programs, even though sources such as the Christian Science Monitor note Nike's sweatshop labor practices. \nChristopher Simpson, vice president for public affairs and government relations, is always talking about what a powerful package IU is. Simpson told the IDS, "IU is a tremendous value in terms of the very moderate cost." Then why did IU not rank as a "Best Value" for a Midwest college when 124 others did rank in U.S. News and World Report?\nThe flood gates have been opened. IU has an 86 percent acceptance rate according to Barron's. One 1972 IU graduate said, "(IU) used to be a top notch school and very difficult to get in." \nNot anymore. \nWe should be trying to raise the class-rank figures.\nBut even Brand seems to be confused. On IU's Sept. 15 Web page, he said, "I am pleased that (IU) continues to attract more and more well-qualified students." He told the IDS, "I believe the rising enrollments reflect the strong reputation of our academic programs."\nBut in an Oct. 6 Policy Committee meeting, Brand said that since enrollments have gone back up, it should be possible to concentrate more on the quality of the students we enroll. \nWhen questioned about IU's decline, Brand mentions the Schools of Music, Education and Business -- all in the top 10 in the country. He acts like he helped make them successful. \nIn actuality, it was the work of other IU presidents -- such as Herman B Wells -- who helped set the stage. \nBrand charges faculty who have raised questions about the decline of IU should do their homework. It appears they have. Brand's just reading a different book. It's titled My Perfect World.\nOne professor asked me, "What would happen to the manager or CEO of a business who didn't produce?" They'd be fired.\nBrand's trustees supported his efforts and re-appointed him. \nNow it's time for action. Brand and the administration must go.
(11/06/00 6:16pm)
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.
(11/06/00 3:49am)
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"
(11/03/00 9:50am)
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.
(11/02/00 4:00am)
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"
(10/31/00 3:42am)
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/.
(10/30/00 6:23am)
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.
(10/26/00 9:29am)
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"
(10/26/00 7:44am)
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.
(10/26/00 7:13am)
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.
(10/26/00 4:00am)
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.
(10/26/00 4:00am)
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.
(10/26/00 4:00am)
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"