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(01/16/03 3:30pm)
Up to 50 students from the Bloomington campus will be given the opportunity to kayak past crocodiles, monkeys and toucans in the rainforests of Costa Rica, swim by ocean fish while scuba-diving in the Great Barrier Reef or watch baby tortoise hatch from their shells. \nThe International Student Travel program allows students to travel to either Costa Rica, Australia, New Zealand, the Dominican Republic or the northwestern Pacific coast of the United States, to participate in four-week long service learning and outdoors adventures while being immersed in the culture of that area.\n"You are not just going to see a country, you get to be a part of the country," Coordinator Jennifer Arnott said. "Students become immersed with the culture and because of that, they come back with this precious keepsake because of these rich experiences."\nThe first two weeks of the trip involve bettering the community of the location either environmentally or socially. \nIn order to improve the environment, students have replanted trees in the rainforest, headed conservation projects, worked with endangered species such as the Kiwi and the Sloth and rehabilitated damaged coastlines. \nIU participant Molly Beckman was given the opportunity to relocate nests of turtles to a hatchery so poachers wouldn't capture the premature eggs. \n"It opened my eyes a lot more," Beckman said. "Any new place you go gives you a whole new perspective."\nStudents can also choose to work on social projects, which include building a home for the homeless in Costa Rica, helping children learn how to understand English, medical projects, feeding the poor and setting up recreational activities. \nBeckman said the trip educated her on the social conditions of other countries and taught her to be thankful for what she has. \n"The living conditions people have here in the United States compared to how people in other countries live in is eye opening," Beckman said. "I mean, there you are lucky to have running water. You sleep under mosquito nets. You have to go outside to use the bathroom. You wake up to the sounds of monkeys. It is completely different."\nThe community benefits greatly as well, Arnott said. \n"The children we work with are absolutely gorgeous," Arnott said. "In the village, you are like the 'Pied Piper.' After meeting with the children, they follow you around the town in a huge conga line because they are fascinated with your culture."\nThe next two weeks of the trip involve adventures in the outdoors. Such activities include windsurfing, kayaking, rapelling down the cliffs of the Blue Mountains in Australia and spelunking in the largest cave in the Caribbean. \nBeckman said she spent plenty of time hiking through the rainforest, whitewater rafting and going on a horseback ride around the edge of the volcanic Monte Verde. \nThese adventure trips teach these students life lessons as well, Arnott said. \n"I gained a better understanding of 'testing my limits' and loved every minute of it," IUPUI student Carrie Schmitt said. \nStudents can also gain course credits for the trip. Arnott said their tactic of teaching students is by allowing them to experience the culture rather than reading about it. \n"I came to Costa Rica not speaking a bit of Spanish and came back being able to survive on my own there," Beckman said. \nAnyone interested in being a part of the program can come to an informational meeting tomorrow in the Persimmon Room of the Memorial Union. The meetings are 45 minutes long and are being held on the hour from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. Or check out their Web site at www.istravelonline.com.
(01/16/03 3:29pm)
Martin Kramer, an internationally recognized expert on Islam and Arabic politics, delivered a speech entitled, "Middle Eastern Studies in America and 9/11: What Went Wrong," to a crowd of more than 100 Tuesday night.\nKramer, editor of the Middle East Quarterly, is the author of several books including his most recent, Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure of Middle Eastern Studies in America, which has achieved international acclaim. \nKemal Silay, chair professor of Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies, hailed Ivory Towers in his introduction to Kramer's speech as "one of the most courageous works on the subject of Middle Eastern affairs."\n"(Kramer) is one of the strongest voices in contemporary Middle Eastern studies, and I truly believe that his work will make a difference," Silay said.\nKramer began his lecture by professing his gratitude for being invited to discuss the state of Middle Eastern affairs in America on a college campus.\n"There is still a fear on some campuses of an open discussion of (Middle Eastern studies)," Kramer said. "But the place where I would like to see this subject debated is here, on the campus, because if discussions and debates are blocked from the campus, they will be conducted by rules and conventions that are not academic. And that would be a pity."\nKramer then dove into the heart of his theory by presenting views that he feels suggest the occurrence of Sept. 11 came at the failure of Middle Eastern studies in America, saying the Middle East experts ignored signs that should have warned them about terrorist threats.\n"Nothing you would have read from Middle Eastern scholars would have given you the least inkling that 9-11 was possible," Kramer said. "It was (in America) that one found the denial of terrorism, and it was here that one held contempt for the few journalists who said mega-terrorism from the Middle East was possible."\nKramer attributed the scholars' failure in foreseeing Sept. 11 to oversympathizing by experts in identifying with the people and societies they study.\n"(Middle Eastern scholars) study out of a sympathy for Middle Easterners," Kramer said, "and they want to believe and persuade you and I that the Middle East is not some black monster, but rather that it's inhabited by people like us with whom we share a fundamental humanity. The scholars were incapable of identifying the unique features of the Middle East and the dangers that they possess."\nDanusha Goska, a Ph.D. student at IU, said Kramer's honest and critical approach towards Middle Eastern studies was a refreshing change from the media's handling of the subject. \n"I was outraged with the way in which the media dealt with foreign policy after 9-11," Goska said. "And then I found (Kramer), and he's a voice who says 'let's be critical, let's start thinking for ourselves.' He tells you exactly what he thinks without pulling any punches."\nKramer's speech was followed by an extensive and, at times, heated Q and A session in which he answered and argued with audience members over issues concerning his critical views in his books and the present situation in the Middle East. \nNonetheless, Kramer seemed to enjoy the debate with the audience. Each time Silay would announce that the question session was over, Kramer would prolong the debate for audience members who still wished to voice their opinions.\nSilay said he wasn't at all surprised by the animated interaction between Kramer and the audience.\n"One of the reasons I wanted (Kramer) to speak on campus was because I realized that not everybody agrees with his ideas," Silay said. "There is nothing wrong with discussing things openly; everyone should have a voice."\nKramer concluded his lecture with a specific message to the students in the audience; he professed the importance of the revival of contemporary Middle Eastern studies.\n"Now is the most exciting time in Middle Eastern studies in 20 years," Kramer said. "This is not the time to make professions of allegiance or embattle with professors. It is a time to read, and to think and to make your own judgments. The World Trade Center is gone, but something else will rise. The space is there"
(01/16/03 3:29pm)
As the first half begins, the fans aren't answering Wilma Dugan's cheers or getting their fingers in the air during IU free throws.\nMany are staring and snickering. Bewildered.\nThe fans of Section LL in the East Balcony of Assembly Hall haven't caught on yet.\nBut that doesn't silence the 76-year-old usher and cheerleader. \n"Fuddy-duddies!" she mutters.\nShe knows they'll come around.\nWhile some consider the Assembly Hall balcony view subpar, Dugan, who has worked there for 20 of her 23 years as an usher, swears there is no better seat in the house.\nFor students lucky enough to land in her section, that's not far from the truth.\nDugan, whose primary job is to help ticket-holders to their seats, views her job as much more. She gets her section fired-up with chants, cheers and color commentary. And with what Shirley Garvin, a fellow usher, calls "grandmotherly spark."\nThe reaction of fans, as they warm up to her routine, is priceless.\nDugan greets each fan and, when necessary, gives them the friendly run-around. She draws close as she talks to a few fans worried their seat is too close to the edge of the balcony.\n"Are you scared?" she teases, before leading them to an open seat closer to the aisle.\nDuring the game, Dugan paces her 7-foot-wide aisle like a coach on the sidelines. Her feet never stop tapping, even on the rare occasion she sits on the edge of a seat to rest.\nShe rides the refs worse than The General, but the players also bear the brunt of her wrath.\n"Put him on the bench," she screams after Jeff Newton misses a free throw. Later, after A.J. Moye commits an offensive foul, she scolds, "A.J., you know better than that."\nAs a friend of former coach Bob Knight, Dugan was expected to keep her section especially well-behaved. So once, when students began a profane chant, Knight gestured at her to quiet them down.\nInstead, she led them in a deafening "applesauce" cheer. It's been a tradition ever since.\nAnother tradition is Dugan's repertoire of chants and cheers she begins when the band catches a breath.\nIn one of those rare moments of silence late in the second half, Dugan waves her arms to summon the Section LL fans for a cheer. Then she screams:\nTwo bits -- Four bits -- Six bits -- A dollar.\nWhole rows of fans turn around, smiling.\nAll for IU, stand up and hollar!\nAnd this time, they do.
(01/16/03 3:08pm)
IU officials are bracing for a legislative showdown, one day after Gov. Frank O'Bannon's bleak admission that Indiana can't increase support for its universities.\nWith no new funding in sight for basic initiatives like building maintenance, Information Technology and the School of Informatics, IU is struggling to preserve what it has. \n"Everyone is rolling up their sleeves," IU spokesman Bill Stephan said. "Everyone knows it's going to be tough."\nDuring last year's legislative session, IU was able to stave off budget cuts by tapping into one-time technology fees. Although O'Bannon didn't announce any new cuts this time around, IU will still feel the effects of last year's $100 million cut. \n"Things don't look good," Don Weaver, IU director of state relations, said. "They allowed us to use one time funds to fill in the gap of the cut. We will not have those tech funds next year."\nStephan said IU will lobby hard to try and prevent hitting students with their third tuition increase in three years. Over the last two years, IU has seen tuition increases of 6.5 and 9 percent.\n"There will be great sensitivity to trying to manage tuition increases," he said. "That's one of the reasons we will be working aggressively this session."\nIU started with three funding goals for the 2003 General Assembly -- restoring the base funding and the repair and rehabilitation funds and completing the School of Informatics. \nNone of those goals will likely be met. \n"The Governor's budget presentation is disappointing," Weaver said. "It obviously didn't give us any one of those three (goals)."\nTo help push its cause, IU hopes to rely on its powerful connection with business leaders in the Alliance for Indiana's Future. Last year the group sponsored one of the legislative session's few successes, House Bill 1001, which restructured the state's tax system. \n"We have a network of supporters and friends who believe in education," Stephan said. "There is an emerging consensus that you cannot sacrifice your investments in higher education if you want to grow."\nIU President Gerald Bepko said the Alliance will announce its 2003 goals shortly and will likely add more members. \nAlthough IU and education as a whole have suffered most as a result of the state's economic crunch, IU officials are confident that they are getting their message across to legislators. IU is the engine of the state's economy, Weaver said.\n"The bigger issue in higher education is it's the best economic tool in the state," he said. "It's important that this state have a well educated and trained work force in order to go into the 21st century."\nWhen the economy shores up and the state gets dollars, then it will provide the fuel, Weaver said. \n"We are the answer to revitalizing our economy," he said. "Most of the legislators understand that. It's just that when you don't have money, you don't have money."\nO'Bannon plugged his Energize Indiana plan Tuesday, a stimulus package he announced in December that includes $162 million for university buildings and technology. \nBepko said it was the bright spot of the address. \n"I think that plan represents very good thinking," Bepko said. "It certainly is friendly to the public research universities."\nBepko has said securing funding from the state is among his top priorities as president. \n"We're hopeful, and we hope economic conditions continue to improve," Bepko said.
(01/10/03 6:41pm)
IU is the center of another film about sex. \nBut this time administrators won't be up in arms about the film's release. Actor Liam Neeson will portray sexual pioneer and biologist Dr. Alfred Kinsey in a feature film about the IU sex researcher's life.\nNeeson, the Irish-born star of such films as "Schindler's List," "Michael Collins," and "Star Wars: Episode I," will star in the new bio-flick written and directed by academy-award winner Bill Condon.\n"I hope it's one of those movies that speaks about things," Neeson said in an interview published by E! online. "It does feel like it's time to remind people of Kinsey's ideas, which I think are liberating. I hope there's an exhilarating feeling you get when you come out of the theater." \nKinsey, who came to IU to teach zoology in 1920, is famous for the revolutionary sexual experiments and studies he conducted during the 1940s and 50s. He gained national recognition for his books "The Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" and "The Sexual Behavior in the Human Female."\nHe is best known for founding the Kinsey Institute, a center for sexual studies at IU Bloomington. \nCondon said George Clooney passed on the role of Kinsey. Ralph Fiennes, Jeff Bridges and Michael Douglas were all considered for the part. The film will be produced by director Francis Ford Coppola and is also expected to star Laura Linney as Kinsey's wife, Chris O'Donnell as fellow scientist Wardell Pomeroy and Ian McKellen as the film's narrator. Filming is scheduled to begin next March in Toronto.\nJennifer Bass, head of Information Services of the Kinsey Institute, said the fact that Kinsey was able to accomplish all he did with limited resources should be something Condon takes into consideration for the movie.\n"I think the fact that he was able to work in a setting of a state supported university and do all he was able to accomplish deserves some attention," Bass said.\nIn order to prepare for his role as the legendary sexual researcher, Neeson has contacted the Kinsey Institute to ask for suggested readings. \n"I know that Mr. Neeson is doing research on Kinsey and reading some of the biographies on Kinsey," said Kinsey Institute User Services Coordinator Shawn C. Wilson. "His office has contacted us for research, so I think Mr. Neeson is off to a good start."\nIt has not yet been determined if the institute will have any other input in the making of the motion picture. \n"The only contact has been with Neeson's office so far," Wilson said. "We do not know yet how much input if any the studio will ask of us."\nHow the doctor is portrayed on the silver screen could be a concern for the institute given the controversy surrounding Kinsey. In the 1980s, Dr. Judith Reisman accused Kinsey of pedophilia because his book scientifically detailed orgasms in adolescent males. Questions arose as to how Kinsey collected such research, but Dr. John Bancroft, director of the Kinsey Institute, said Kinsey never did sexual experiments on children and compiled his information from discussions with sex offenders, among other sources. \nNevertheless, Reisman, who has written two books on her objections to Kinsey, has expressed her outrage to Neeson in a letter. \nBass said this controversy is nothing new and said there is plenty of good to say about Kinsey.\n"Sex always has been very difficult to discuss in an academic setting," Bass said. "The opposition will always be there, and we will respect their right to be there, but I think the majority of people are in favor of a scientific discussion on sexual studies."\nBass also said she realizes the film may be commercialized, but Condon's appreciation for Kinsey's work should show in the film.\n"Kinsey is an incredibly complex character," Condon said in a Variety article. "A scientist who spent 20 years as a biologist and had one brilliant but simple idea which is still radical today -- that no one person's sexuality is the same as another's and that we are all tortured by what is sexually normal." \nDespite fears that Kinsey may be painted in an unfavorable light, Bass said she is looking forward to the movie. \n"I think Liam Neeson is a wonderful actor," Bass said. "I don't know what treatment Bill Condon is using, but I am sure it will be a fine film"
(01/10/03 6:40pm)
Charlie Nelms says he knew Jimmy Ross as long as anybody. From 1998 when Nelms became IU's Vice Chancellor for Academic Support and Diversity to seven months ago when Ross passed away, the two chatted daily. When Nelms visited IU for the first time in the 1970s as a student, Ross set up Nelms' first tour of campus. \nBut their friendship goes all the way back to the days when Nelms still milked Holstein cows at a historically black college in Arkansas. \n"It was a hot, humid June day," he said. "Jimmy Ross greeted me with a smile, and I instantly felt comfortable, felt like I belonged."\nRoss had that magical effect on people, friends said. \nBob Magee, director of IU admissions from 1979 to 1997, said the only word for Jimmy is saint. Friend Bill Buher said you always felt better after talking to him. \nOn Wednesday friends from IU and the community gathered to honor the IU trailblazer at a lunch at Colorado Steakhouse. The Northside Bloomington Exchange Club, of which Ross was a long-time member, presented IU with a check for $1,800. \nThe money will be used for the Jimmy L. Ross Endowment Fund for Diversity Initiatives, a seven-figure endowment used to support K-12 outreach, sustain a diverse climate at IU and provide scholarships for needy students. \nRoss led IU's Office of Scholarship and Financial Aid from 1973 to 1988 and helped create the modern national student loan program. He was the first African-American to lead a major administrative area at IU. \nA degenerative spinal condition forced Ross into early retirement in 1988, and he died in May 2002. \nDavid Hummons, a member of the Exchange Club, said the idea for the endowment materialized just hours after Ross's May 23rd death. He said it symbolizes Ross's philosophy of positively impacting others.\nThe club raised the money at their annual fish fry in August. Next year, the event will be renamed in Ross' honor.\nNelms said Ross was a devoted, caring friend to all students. \n"He was an optimist if you ever met one," Nelms said. "He had a passion for excellence and equity. He never met a stranger."\nHis life companion, Nancy, said IU was Ross's heart and soul. \n"He would have had his head held high today with a big smile on his face, thinking that wonderful people are carrying on something precious to him," she said.
(01/10/03 6:40pm)
The Sigma Phi Epsilon house sits on North Jordan Avenue with its windows boarded and its headstone defaced.\nThe fraternity members were forced to search for somewhere to live over holiday break after the fraternity's national headquarters closed the Indiana Beta chapter of Sig Ep on Dec. 21, according to a press release. But Sig Ep members were forced to move out during finals week, which prompted some of the members to vandalize the house inside and out.\n"They had a right to be mad, but I'm not going to say they had the right to vandalize things," said chapter president Patrick Foley. "It kind of visually represents what happened inside." \nAt the beginning of the fall semester, Sig Ep, located at 815 N. Jordan Ave., was placed under new rules and restrictions by the fraternity's alumni board because of past problems nationals had with the chapter. The new restrictions forced many of its members to live out of the house last semester, resulting in only 35 members living in a 90-man house.\nWith only 35 members living in, the financial condition of the fraternity had "deteriorated to the point that the chapter could no longer assure suitable housing conditions for the spring term," the fraternity's nationals said. \nFoley said the chapter's nationals chose not to pay some of the fraternity's debts and to close the IU chapter to cut their losses.\nDuring the fall semester, the house's cable television was cut for about two months along with their food budget, which made some members wonder about the future of the house. Foley also said nationals was unavailable to help the fraternity during Rush.\n"We needed help with Rush even though we were doing fine, we could've used some help," he said.\nThe chapter's closure brought about some anger from its members.\n"I think the national organization probably had a good reason to shut down the chapter, but their timing was very poor," said Interfraternity Council President Evan Waldman. "It's just a shame that it had to happen this way."\nSome of the members broke furniture, overturned lamps, threw items out the windows and spraypainted R.I.P. on the chapter's headstone. IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger said there was close to $5,000 damage to the house.\nEach member paid a $600 security deposit to live in the house, which Foley said has not been repaid to any of the members.\nIn December, Old National Bank foreclosed on the Sig Ep house and was awarded immediate possession of the North Jordan Avenue building after the chapter failed to pay on the 1999 loan.\nThe closing of Sig Ep comes during the departure of another IU fraternity, Delta Chi, which lost its charter late last semester.\nThe IU chapter of Sig Ep was founded in 1931 and has almost 2,000 alumni. The chapter won Sig Ep's Buchanan Cup from 1975 to 1985, which recognizes excellence in all areas of the fraternity's operations.\n"Unfortunately, I think the driving force behind their organization is finances," Foley said. He said some of the parents are upset with the fraternity's nationals and plan to file lawsuits against them.\n"It's sad what happened and I don't think it's over yet," he said.
(01/10/03 6:24pm)
IU and former men's basketball coach Bob Knight are now in the discovery process of the continuing lawsuit concerning the University and the former coach after IU replied to Knight's complaint in the Monroe Circuit Court Dec. 23.\nThe University's reply to Knight's complaint states that it did not violate his contract when they chose to fire Knight after he violated IU's zero-tolerance policy.\nThe reply argues that Knight accepted his firing by the University when he received his remaining salary from his contract that expired last summer.\nThe discovery process, which is the first step in any litigation, involves requesting documents with regard to the history of the case. It is a standard process in any litigation, and the time it involves varies from case to case. \nKnight and his lawyers, Russell Yates of Denver and Jim Voyles of Indianapolis, filed a lawsuit against IU in November. The lawsuit alleges that the University violated his employment agreement when he was fired. It also argues that Knight was fired without a proper meeting of the IU board of trustees and without a chance to defend himself.\nKnight said he lost in excess of $2 million in media and shoe contracts, camps and endorsements.\nThe University could have chosen to avoid paying the remainder of Knight's salary if it had fired him with cause, but it chose not to do so.\nIndianapolis attorney David Mattingly wrote that Knight's close association with IU was "a source of both pride and, regretfully at times, embarrassment." Knight was fired in September 2000 for violating a zero tolerance policy.\nBoth sides are now making requests for information that will be used in parts of the case.\n"We're going to continue to aggressively defend our position that Mr. Knight is not entitled to any additional compensation," said IU spokeswoman Jane Jankowski.\nKnight was hired as men's basketball coach at Texas Tech six months after being fired from IU. \nThe University's legal counsel was required to follow an answer to Knight's complaint. There will be no hearings concerning the lawsuit until the discovery process is complete.
(01/10/03 1:48pm)
On Wednesday, Interim President Gerald Bepko arrived in Bryan Hall, eager to begin work and to settle in the office left vacant by former president Myles Brand.\n"I've been coming to this office for meetings for the last 16 years, so it's pretty familiar to me," Bepko said. "I haven't had time to settle in yet, but it sure is a comfortable place to work."\nBepko will not have much time to become accustomed to his new surroundings, given that the Indiana General Assembly opened up its 2003 session on Tuesday.\nBepko said state funding is necessary to the daily operations of any public university, making the 2003 state budget so important to IU. Funds allocated by the state make up 30 percent of IU's overall budget, which is why supporters of IU are very concerned given the state's poor economic situation, IU's Chief Financial Officer Judith Palmer said.\n"The state of Indiana is in a very difficult financial position," Palmer said. "There is an $800 million deficit which has serious implications for the ability to fund higher education."\nIn recent years, funding for public higher education has decreased in Indiana. In 1975-76, Hoosier higher education received 18.4 percent of the state's general funds. That share has dwindled to 14.1 percent for the current year. \nIU and Purdue rank last among public Big Ten institutions in per-student state allocation and fees, Bepko said.\nBepko said the state's economic woes aren't improving. As a result, IU has been hammered with nearly $110 million in withheld appropriations and cuts. The majority of those cuts have been made in the administrative areas to preserve the academic funding as much as possible.\n"Generally, we scraped together funds which could be used for purchase of equipment and technology or renovation," Bepko said.\nDue to these cuts, Bepko said repairs and renovations are places "where we had a major reduction."\n"We are not doing the major repair of the buildings they way we did before," Bepko said. "We are only doing emergency things now."\nIn order to fix such problems, Bepko outlined the following goals for the General Assembly in an e-mail to all of IU's student groups and organizations:\n1) To have operating funds restored to the level of the 2001-02 academic year.\n2) To receive funding for the School of Informatics.\n3) To secure capital appropriations to build much-needed research space and to maintain and repair existing buildings.\nIn order to achieve these goals, Bepko and associates at the Indiana Commission for Higher Education will push lobbying efforts such as speaking to the General Assembly, making public statements and meeting personally with representatives.\n"It is a process that goes on 365 days a year," Bepko said. "We have to get all of our friends and alumni and supporters to give the members of the General Assembly the confidence that higher education is the key to the future."\nBepko will also present his suggestions to the House Ways and Means Committee. After that the state will allocate funds to each public university campus.\nWilliam Plater, who filled in for Bepko as Interim Chancellor of IU-Purdue University-Indianapolis, said he believes Bepko can secure IU's financial future.\n"His ability to use scarce resources wisely is reflected in the fact that about 50 new degree programs were begun at IUPUI and the state provided new funding for only two of these," Plater said. "Also, he has successfully led the IUPUI Campaign, which has exceeded its goal with 18 months still to go." \nIUPUI Vice-Chancellor Trudy Banta said Bepko not only fundraises well, but he knows how to manage the funds, too.\n"Gerry tries to have a good grasp of everything," Banta said. "He has also participated directly in all of the major decisions in all the ways the budget would be managed at IUPUI."\nOne way Bepko plans to lobby is by emphasizing how higher education fits into Governor Frank O'Bannon's Energize Indiana plan to invest in improving Indiana's economy.\n"There are two ways in which IU will help Indiana's economy," IUB Chancellor Sharon Brehm said. "First, research universities are important to a science-based economy. The other way it ensures our economic future is in preparing people to enter into the jobs that are available."\nBepko said college graduates generally earn more income.\n"It has become increasingly clear that the regions with the best economic activities are those places that produce lots of high quality college graduates," Bepko said. "If we could increase the number of college graduates who stay in Indiana, we'll do a lot to help Indiana's economy."\nBepko also stressed the role of research universities in building a strong economy.\n"In all of the hot spots, places people are going to live, you'll find research universities," Bepko said. "They are like magnets to attract people and ideas. They help to develop new products and services which will play a major role in the new economies of the future." \nAlthough Palmer said it is too early to speculate on IU's options if necessary funds weren't provided, she said, "In the past, tuition has been increased."\nBepko said he hopes IU doesn't need to consider other options, saying "all of the alternatives are bad for the university and for the state of Indiana."\nWhether hopeful or not, most IU officials agree that any decision will not be immediate. \n"I don't think any decisions will be made for a while," Bepko said. "We'll really not find out until April -- and that is if there isn't a special session called"
(12/16/02 5:17pm)
WASHINGTON -- Former vice president Al Gore, who came agonizingly close to winning the presidency two years ago, said Sunday he will not run in 2004, and probably will not have another opportunity to seek the White House.\n"I don't think it's the right thing for me to do," Gore said. He said that a rematch with President Bush "would inevitably involve a focus on the past that would in some measure distract from the focus on the future that I think all campaigns have to be about."\nGore won the popular vote by half a million votes in 2000 but conceded to Republican Bush after a tumultuous 36-day recount in Florida and a 5-4 Supreme Court vote against him. Gore's concession came Dec. 13, 2000, just over two years ago.\nWhile saying he still had the energy and drive to run again, Gore told CBS' "60 Minutes" that "there are a lot of people within the Democratic Party who felt exhausted (by the 2000 race) ... who felt like, OK, 'I don't want to go through that again.' And I'm frankly sensitive to that feeling."\nGore said he thought he could beat Bush in a rematch, but then added it was unrealistic to say what would happen two years from now.\nGore said he expected his former running mate, Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, will run now that he has taken himself out of the race. Lieberman aide Adam Kovacevich said the senator was consulting with his family and would respond Monday to Gore's decision.\nAmong other Democrats, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean already is running, and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry has taken a first step by forming an exploratory committee.\nAlso considering the race are Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. Those close to Gephardt have said he was "very, very likely to run" no matter what Gore decided.\nGore said he thought the economy would be the primary issue in the 2004 race, noting that Bush's father had a soaring approval rating in the polls but then stumbled and lost in 1992 because of the sour economy. "I felt then that the economy was bad and it could turn back toward Democrats. It ultimately did ... I feel the same way now," Gore said.\nGore said he was making his decision "in the full awareness that it probably means that I will never have another opportunity to run for president."\nHe likely would have been the party's early front-runner and his sudden withdrawal clears the field for other Democrats hoping to unseat a popular president.\nBush, whose approval rates are in the 60s, had almost a 20-point lead over Gore in polls that pose a 2004 rematch, with an even bigger lead over other Democrats. Gore and Bush were running even before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.\nParty activists were critical of Gore for losing despite a booming economy and eight years of a Democratic administration. Gore even lost his home state of Tennessee; a victory there would have given him the White House.\nKerry, who was seen as a leading rival if Gore had run, said in a statement: "We all owe Al enormous gratitude for years of dedicated and exemplary public service and for his significant contributions to our party and country."\nDean, who was in New Hampshire, called the announcement: "sort of a bittersweet day."\n"I think that Al Gore must have faced a very difficult decision and he exhibited some real courage in making the decision he did," Dean said. "There is a certain amount of sadness for me because he worked hard in the 2000 election and was poorly served by the process."\nEdwards said: "Gore was instrumental in helping to create the longest period of economic growth in our nation's history, creating millions of new jobs, and turning record deficits into surpluses. He has served as a leader on environmental issues and in international affairs, working with passion and conviction to tackle the toughest challenges we face."\nAfter gradually re-entering politics over the past year, Gore campaigned for selected candidates this year, made trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, then spent the last month promoting a book on his family that he wrote with wife Tipper.\nThe 54-year-old Gore also has been making an extensive round of media appearances, including on "Saturday Night Live" over the weekend.\nA year ago, Gore accepted the job of vice chairman of Metropolitan West Financial, a Los Angeles-based financial services holding company. The former vice president is helping the firm find investments overseas as well as private-equity investments in biotechnology and information technology.\nHe has been juggling that job with his duties as college professor, guest speaker and author.\nGore ran for president unsuccessfully in 1988 and then, while a Tennessee senator, was surprised to be picked as Bill Clinton's running mate in 1992. Though Gore often was criticized as overly controlled and cautious, he was praised for the work he did as an influential vice president.\nHe used his expertise in science and technology to be the White House point man on telecommunications reform and the information superhighway. He was in charge of "reinventing government" by conducting an agency-by-agency review to reduce waste and promote efficiency.\nFormer president Clinton said Sunday night: "Al Gore was the best vice president America ever had. He would have been a fine president had history taken a different course two years ago."\nGore disappeared from public view for almost a year after the 2000 election, saying Bush deserved a chance to begin his presidency without continued criticism from his election opponent. Just as Gore was beginning to re-emerge politically, the Sept. 11 attacks altered the political climate.
(12/16/02 4:47pm)
YAKIMA, Wash. -- Hospitals across the country are desperate for nurses like Tracey Rasmussen, a 34-year-old mom with a warm, down-to-earth bedside manner and a 3.9 grade point average.\nThere's a nationwide shortage of nurses, as anyone who's spent time in a hospital lately knows. And by 2020 that shortage is expected to grow to more than 800,000 nurses nationwide, according to projections by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.\nBut the problem isn't finding people who want to be nurses; it's getting them into nursing schools.\nRasmussen was rejected twice from nursing school -- one of thousands of qualified people turned away from the profession each year because nursing colleges lack space, faculty and funding.\n"It was so frustrating," said Rasmussen, who was finally accepted into Washington State University's Yakima nursing program. She has a job waiting for her in a hospital maternity ward when she graduates in May.\nU.S. nursing schools turned away nearly 6,000 qualified applicants last year, according to a survey by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.\n"Some of them will reapply. Some of them go to other schools, community colleges and private schools. A significant pool will be lost to nursing," said Washington State University College of Nursing Dean Dorothy Detlor, whose program rejects two-thirds of its qualified applicants each year. "It's a serious problem across the country."\nA new federal law, the Nursing Reinvestment Act, expands scholarships for student nurses, offers grants for nursing schools and includes loan forgiveness programs for nurses who earn advanced degrees and become teachers.\nNursing educators applaud the law, but are waiting to see if Congress puts money behind it. The House Appropriations Committee will determine funding next year.\nTimes have changed. Today, even in a struggling economy, college graduates get multiple job offers with starting salaries of up to $60,000 in some areas.\n"We've gotten the message out there that nursing is an exciting career," said Kathleen Ann Long, Dean of the College of Nursing at the University of Florida and president of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. "That's the good news."\nThe bad news is there's not enough faculty to teach them.\nNurses are in such high demand that they invariably must take a pay cut to teach. A 2001 survey found that nurses with master's degrees earn an average of $24,000 more in practice than they do teaching.\n"The universities are just not able to compete," said Johnie Mozingo, associate dean of Academic Affairs at the University of Tennessee College of Nursing, which rejected half its nursing applicants this year.
(12/16/02 4:46pm)
WEST LAFAYETTE -- Undergraduate students living in Purdue University residences will pay an average of 5.7 percent more during the next academic year.\nThe rate increase was approved Saturday by the school's board of trustees.\nThe new room and board schedule gives undergraduate students living in university housing a variety of options, with the average cost being $6,024 per year for a double room and 15 meals per week.\nMarvis J. Boscher, executive director of university residences, said a 2 percent increase for major projects, such as the Cary Quadrangle renovation and the installation of sprinklers in all residence halls, was included in the rate hike.\nAbout 12,000 undergraduate students live in 13 traditional housing units and two apartment complexes at the university.
(12/16/02 4:45pm)
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Young adults often sing the praises of attending college away from home, and Margate, Fla., resident Jeanly Louis just returned from 100 days of studying about as far from home as he could get.\n"We spent time in Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Saigon, Malaysia, India, Kenya, South Africa, Brazil and Havana," said Louis, 21, who sailed into Port Everglades last week after a whirlwind cruise around the globe aboard the SS Universe Explorer. "I've seen so much in the past 100 days, there's no way I'll ever be the person I was when I left."\nLouis, an economics major at the University of Pittsburgh ended his journey along with 600 other college students from around the country who participated in the 38-year-old Semester at Sea program.\nThe world-weary students, hauling heaps of luggage and massive souvenirs such as drums and carved wooden animals, fell into the welcoming arms of family and friends from around the country.\n"We're glad he's back home again," said Jean Louis, Jeanly's father. "This was an incredible growth experience for him."\nThree times a year, the Universe Explorer plies the oceans of the world, allowing students a chance to study their normal classes on board while also participating in a comparative global studies program in which they learn about culture and language first hand. \nThis can include anything from overnight stays with families in Bombay to nights in the African bush with Masai tribesmen. Semester at Sea students also undertake community service projects in their ports of call.\n"The world today is much smaller than it used to be," said John Tymitz, the CEO of the Institute of Shipboard Education, which organizes the program for the University of Pittsburgh. "We want them to use this experience to compare the cultures of the world from a variety of perspectives."\nDepending on accommodations students pay between $14,675-$15,275 per semester. Students who receive financial aid from their regular college or university can usually apply it to the Semester at Sea program, which also offers need-based assistance. \nThe 600 undergraduates are joined each session by about 30 senior citizen students and 65 faculty and staff. Students can choose from 75 undergraduate classes on the ship. Guest lecturers have included the Archbishop Desmond Tutu and author Arthur C. Clarke.\nHallandale Beach, Fla., retiree Martin Zafman has been on seven Semester at Sea cruises.\n"The college kids get homesick and lonely. Sometimes they're thinking about a boyfriend or girlfriend they left behind, so we try to form little families so everyone has someone to talk to," Zafman said. "But usually we're all having too much fun to worry."\nThe 23,500-ton cruise ship was retrofitted in 1996 to include classrooms, a closed-circuit television network, library, movie theater, student union and dining rooms. The floating university also includes a fitness center, swimming pool and a basketball and volleyball court.\nIn their 3- to 7-day ports of call, students can arrange group tours, travel on their own, stay with local families and see the sights at will, as long as they fulfill requirements for their cultural classes.\nSometimes the intrigue of foreign politics comes a little too close to home. The ship sailed from Mombasa, Kenya, just two days before terrorist attacks killed 16 in the African port city on Nov. 28.\n"It's difficult to explain a lot of the disparities you see between industrialized and developing countries," said the just-returned Louis. "It really changes your perspective"
(12/16/02 4:43pm)
IU's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation has established the first ergonomics masters degree program in the nation. The department of kineseology adopted this program to offer expertise in a profession that is increasing in importance.\nAccording to the International Ergonomics Association Web site, ergonomics is a "systems-oriented discipline which now extends across all aspects of human activity."\n"Basically the goal is to adjust the workplace to better match the task to the worker," said John Shea, chair of the kinesiology department in the HPER. \nThough it may sound vague, a degree in ergonomics can demand an impressive salary- beginning from $45,000 to $65,000 per year. \n"Insurance companies, worker unions and government agencies all employ ergonomics professionals," Shea said. "It's a growing field so jobs are plentiful at this time, but I also think they're going to increase because it's something that's gaining importance."\nErgonomics has traditionally been offered in engineering schools, and the profession has gained popularity in recent decades. But the lack of an engineering school at IU meant that there was no such program. The kinesiology department seemed to be the department most suited to offering the major since it dealt with worker productivity on a cognitive level.\n"We deal with things that other departments in the HPER don't, such as performance psychology, work physiology and biomechanics," Shea said. "We're just uniquely suited to offer this degree."\nThe program consists of a non-thesis masters degree of coursework, which is completed over a period of nine months (including the summer), plus an internship.\nThe profession certainly seems to have hit home with many students, particularly those that study at the HPER.\n"I'd consider doing it. If anything it'd give me a new perspective on things," said freshman Pamella Martins, who is a sports marketing major. "I'm glad that they're offering this type of degree because it helps me keep my options open."\nMoreover, students are beginning to understand the significance of ergonomics.\n"There's always the chance that you could increase your output," said Tom Hughes, a freshman majoring in sports management. "Your competitor could be doing it and increasing productivity while you're just looking for ways to cut costs or save money, when what you should be doing is looking for ways of increasing output."\nErgonomics is treated as a form of "preventative medicine," Shea said.\n"If you can prevent an injury it's more effective than treating an injury," Shea said. "If you look at a worker claiming compensation for a lower back injury, for example, costs for such a thing could come up to $35,000, which can now be avoided"
(12/16/02 4:42pm)
Serving as the largest of 220 organizations involved in the annual Monroe County United Way campaign, IU provides over 40 percent of all community donations. \n"If you take away that 40 percent, I can't imagine what would go unfunded in this community," IU UW liaison Matthew Pontius said. \nThis year, for the first time in three years, IU is $31,000 short of making its $600,000 goal.\nCapitalizing on strong leadership from co-chair Dan Dalton, dean of the Kelley School of Business, and the Lilly Endowment's procedure of matching funds, IU's campaign has proven to be particularly successful this year. \nThe Lilly Endowment agreed to match money donated by every new vanguard giver, a person who donates $1,000 or more. It will also match money donated by a prior vanguard giver who increases his donation by 25 percent. \n"Dean Dalton almost single-handedly contacted potential vanguards in the middle of running the business school," Pontius said. "He has put in a lot of effort."\nUW works to combat the continuing crisis of community neglect by coordinating efforts with 24 member agencies. UW campaign coordinator Heather Allen demonstrates the importance of distributing resources according to community need through a unique problem solving drill.\nShe takes 30 sheets of paper, with a different community concern written on each, and spreads them across a table. Allen then asks everyone in the room to put a sticker on the most important issues. The result of her little exercise is that many important problems remain abandoned. \n"So many issues have a need," Pontius said. "When people focus on one issue or another, so many agencies are underfunded. Focusing on one agency leaves some out in the dark." \nIn addition to supporting a network of services, UW offers payroll deductions. The payroll deduction program takes a pre-determined amount of money out of donors paychecks. \n"We're one of the only companies that allow payroll deductions," Allen said. "It may be easier than writing a $50 check."\n"A dollar may not seem like a lot, but spread it across a campus," Pontius said.\nUnited Way capitalizes upon Pontius' dollar philosophy in its informational pamphlets by explaining the various gifts $1 per week can provide, from four nights of shelter to six hours of home repair for an elderly person. \nBloomington is in one of its worst economic states in decades, Pontius said. \n"Unemployment and giving community-wide is down and the need for services is very high," he said.\nIn order to combat this problem, the IU campaign led a rigorous fight against community poverty. The IU campaign was divided into 16 teams, which were subdivided into units. \n"Another big thing they (the IU campaign coordinators) did was really try to engage the student population," Allen said. "Student contribution to charities has grown astronomically, but to UW it has decreased."\nBut senior Erin Ransford, one of five captains for the sole student team on campus, voiced her concern in student involvement. Ransford, president of the National Residence Hall Honorary, led a residence hall-wide Penny War which only raised $54.\n"It is frustrating as a Student Campaign Co-Chair to be the only one of the five co-chairs that has ever been to a meeting, especially because the student organization which I represent is relatively small," she said.\nPontius said it's not too late for student organizations to have a Lilly match for philanthropic events scheduled before Jan. 1. \nPontius was drawn to an ad he saw on campus seeking a graduate student interested in working for a non-for-profit campaign. Now entangled in a nest of volunteers and a wealth of community support for UW, he cannot stop thanking donors for their generosity. He also points out to anyone who is interested in donating that it's not too late. \n"With tax time drawing near, a lot of people are looking for deductions," Pontius said. "And any money given to UW is tax deductible"
(12/16/02 4:41pm)
Freshman Amber Watson walks across the Wright Food Court cafeteria, carrying a sub, soda, chips and a bag of Kellogg's Pop-Tarts toaster pastries.\nShe paid $1.49 for the Pop-Tarts.\nOnly about 100 yards west, 10th Street Market, a small Asian market, sells Pop-Tarts for 73 cents a bag including tax. But Watson said she'd rather buy it at the food court to use her meal points.\nLike Watson, meal-point holders keep buying at the IU-run cafeterias and convenience stores, though most items are 10 to 200 percent more expensive than outside the university. This phenomenon is partly due to meal points, which IU Residential Programs and Services requires students to buy to live in dorms. Meal points have no monetary value outside the university and are nearly non-refundable under the meal-plan contract and cannot be rolled over from one academic year into another.\n"We have no choice," said freshman Elizabeth Jones. "We have to use them. Otherwise, we'll lose money."\nThis semester, about 10,000 people, mostly dorm residents, have bought meal points worth $23.1 million, according to data provided by Sandra Fowler, RPS dining service director. About 95 to 97 percent of the revenues cover costs, and RPS programs spend the rest, she said. Any funds left go to the university. \nRPS officials, who track students' buying habits mostly by statistics, translate steady sales as students' willingness to trade current prices for convenience, said Graham Shepfer, RPS special services and food services coordinator.\n"The majority seems to say, 'OK, well, I don't like this price but want that item. And I don't really want to go out to town to get it, so I'll get it right here,'" Shepfer said.\nFreshman Mateo Huerta said the convenience is important but still overvalued. He holds a 24-ounce bottle of Dasani mineral water he bought at the Wright food court for $1.39, 30 percent higher than $1.05 including tax at Mr. D's, where he said he often visits.\nDevon Novotney, a freshman living in the Eigenmann dorm, said the dorm's convenience store, or C-store, is worth the high prices, as he doesn't have to trek through the winter cold to the Village Pantry, a two-minute walk away. But he calls the current prices "ridiculous."\nIn late 2001, the IU Student Association discovered that a group of 30 items in C-stores cost $108.40, up 41 percent than $63.95 at retailers like Kroger and Marsh.\nBut the methodology is unfair, Fowler said.\n"Our customer base is much less than major grocery chains, so our purchasing power is not that of a Kroger or Village Pantry," she said. \nAli Akhras, who owns and manages the 10th Street Market, a non-chain store that mainly targets the Asian population, disagrees. \nRPS can work harder to cut costs to offer lower prices, said Akhras, who drives to Chicago every Wednesday looking for wholesalers with the best deals.\nBut the current prices are the best RPS can offer because of unusually high costs of running the food courts and C-stores inside expensive campus buildings, said Brian Barker, RPS C-store coordinator with 10 years of retail and wholesale experience. Diversifying brand products is expensive, and the RPS's hurried launch of its C-stores between 1998 and 2000 has proved costly. To respond to what students said they needed, the organization set up those stores without much financial assessment or business deals.\n"The students didn't want a traditional dining setting," Barker said. "And that promoted all this." \nThe C-stores' prices will gradually drop to near Village Pantry's in a few years, Barker said. For three years, he has called manufacturers like Kellogg's Co. to advertise IU's buying power. Today, they and RPS are designing contracts, which will bring lower prices. Also, RPS has just changed its wholesaler and is computerizing its operation to cut costs.\n"Will it get better? Yes," Barker said. "It's just starting to get there. And that's what I want students here to know."\nThe RPS grants refunds under rare conditions, such as medical and dietary problems, family emergencies and military or academic events, Shepfer said. \n"I've got quite a few requests, 'I'm not using my plan, and can I have reduction?' The answer in almost all these cases is, 'No,' Shepfer said. "RPS normally rejects financial hardship as a reason for refund."\nStudents can have half of their meal points refunded if they graduate in December, Shepfer said. \nStudents' buying peaks around the end of the academic year when RPS nullifies their remaining meal points, said senior James Hooten, who spent his sophomore year working part-time at the Willkie C-store. Tired of food sold at RPS services, students rush to buy boxes of soup or shampoo.\n"They don't want to lose their points for nothing," Hooten said.\nBut the buying rush is due to students' unsound money management, Winstead said. If they spread their meal points over an academic year, it takes around 13 points a day to consume all of them, he said.\nRPS officials have been discussing whether to let students roll over points from a year to another, "but it can't just happen within a year," Winstead said. "You have to look at financial impact it may have"
(12/11/02 5:31am)
Oversized hoodies and velour suits are part of the basis for fashion inside downtown Bloomington's latest boutique. Urban Stylz is the name of Bloomington's first and only urban wear shop. \nThe store, located at 113 7th St., greets customers with a bright yellow and red graffiti style sign. Upon entering the store, patrons are surrounded by posters of urban culture and the latest hip-hop music flowing in the background. It is a unique addition to the downtown area, providing an outlet for those with an urban sense of style. \nPresident Derrick Cross, a graduate student, grew up wearing lounge wear like sweats suit, but he was inspired by stores in cities like New York and Chicago, he said.\n"Basically I have been to a lot of different places," he said. "I moved to Fort Wayne and saw the stores there, and I wanted to do it."\nCross wanted to make it a specialty store geared specifically towards urban wear, he said.\n"When I met (Vice President Aurora Marín) she was also ready to do it. It was easy to open," he said. \nWhile Marín did research, Cross asked around and got the idea that other people wanted the store aside from himself.\nMarín, also a graduate student, said there is a market in Bloomington for urban wear.\n"Even though it is a small town, hip-hop and rap are popular here," she said. "Since the clothes are so closely associated with the music I knew there was a market here." \nIt is more convenient for people who want to wear this type of clothing to have a store right downtown, Marín said. \n"Before, people had to go to Indianapolis or Chicago to find Phat Farm and Sean John, but now they can come here and get it," she said.\nUrban wear is one of the top-five fastest-growing industries in the fashion world, Marín said.\n"To us it's designer clothing and the store is for people that like this type of style," Marín said \nThe high-priced designer clothing is not unreasonable because there is always a sale going on, Marín said. Prices are negotiable, and they offer student specials.\nAlthough, the store is not big yet, Cross said he would like people to take advantage of the clothing they do have. The boutique started off with seven mainstream urban wear clothing lines and has since added many more. \n"I like Roc A Wear, but we try to get a little bit of everybody," Cross said.\nUrban Stylz has everything from hot pink Baby Phat Velour suits to big fur hooded Roc A Wear coats. They carry labels like Snoop Dogg, Triple Five Soul, Phat Farm Akademiks and Sean John. They even support local designers like Shannon Hogan's Sxcels line, and welcome any one to come in if they need help jump starting their careers. \n"If people are trying to start up careers and want to sell something here we invite it," Cross said. \nThe duo says the store has been doing well since it opened its doors Sept. 14, and they said they get all kinds of customers. \n"We get a lot of white customers because it is a predominately white town," Marín said. "For every black guy that comes in we get six or seven white guys because those are the demographics."\nShe also attributes the large white customer base to record sales. Eighty percent of hip-hop heads are white so the clothes most rap stars wear are going to be popular among whites, she said. \n"We get kids coming in here saying they want white skull caps like what Eminem wore in "8 Mile," or saying I want that outfit because so and so had it on in his video," said Marín. \nJ Lo. and Baby Phat lines are popular among white girls, Cross said. J Lo. outfits were so popular they sold out. \nThe store is frequented by people of all ethnic backgrounds and is not geared specifically toward blacks like most people might think, Marín said. It is centered around urban culture. \n"Urban Culture is a sub culture of every culture," Marín said. "It is a city style, not just white or black. The store is for kids who are from the east coast and cities like Chicago so they don't have to go all the way home to get the clothes they like"
(12/11/02 5:31am)
As the United Nations reviews the findings of the weapons inspection team in Iraq and the document the Iraqi government submitted in accordance with the Nov. 13 U.N. Security Council resolution, organizing against a preemptive strike on Iraq continues apace. Results of the new data on Iraq, as reported by The New York Times, could be available at the end of the week. \nMeanwhile, on Tuesday, groups and citizens held another round of national demonstrations against a new war, calling for a peaceful denouement of the current standoff while severely criticizing the Bush administration's actions and rhetoric.\nLocally, nearly 150 students and residents listened to speakers on the courthouse lawn as a steady sleet rained down after a brief march from Dunn Meadow. The Bloomington Progressive Faculty Coalition organized the event, with support from student groups like Amnesty International, the Coalition to Oppose the War in Iraq, No Sweat! and others. A number of religious and local community groups also mobilized for the rally. \nThough concern about war and its consequences brought people out to rallies, International Human Rights Day provided a backdrop for Tuesday's rallies. International Human Rights day is designed to celebrate the 54th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of the charter documents of the United Nations. The Declaration articulates a number of inalienable rights for the world's citizens. \n"The Declaration is a timeless and powerful document that captures the profound aspirations of humankind to live in dignity, equality and security," said Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, on the commission's Web site. "It provides minimum standards and has helped turn moral issues into a legally binding framework."\nMegan Hise, a senior majoring in economics, spoke at the rally on behalf of IU's Amnesty International chapter.\n"During this current crisis, Amnesty International is calling for accountability to the UN charter and international law," Hise said. "Human rights must not be misappropriated as an instrument in the rhetoric of war."\nBob Ivie, a professor in IU's Department of Communication and Culture, said he had three primary issues with the current policy and process of the United States in regard to a war against Iraq.\n"First, President Bush seems determined to dismiss any findings by the U.N. inspectors that fails to show evidence of weapons of mass destruction," Ivie said. "There's also the issue of the administration's motive. Is it aggression? Why invade now? Why can't (Saddam) continue to be contained?"\nFinally, Ivie said he was concerned with the ultimate costs of war.\n"How many casualties will there be?" Ivie asked. "What if Saddam in a desperate last resort uses weapons of mass destruction on U.S. soldiers or Israel, which could retaliate with weapons of its own?" \nOther speakers added that the domestic consequences of a new invasion of Iraq also must be considered. Lauren Taylor, a member of the Coalition to Oppose the War in Iraq, said the costs of war would affect already marginalized groups in the United States the most.\n"The war on terror affects people in America," Taylor said. "Unemployment and poverty rates are climbing. The poor, women, African-Americans, Latinos would suffer from social service cuts to pay for the war." \nTaylor also said demonstrations in Indiana were taking place in Goshen, Ft. Wayne, Lafayette, Richmond and South Bend. These and other cities across the country witnessed large protests in late October. In Washington, D.C., for example, over 100,000 marched against a preemptive attack, one of the largest anti-war demonstrations since the massive protests of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s. San Fransisco saw a similar number in October.\nAlthough attendance at Tuesday's actions were smaller than two months ago -- The Associated Press reported 300 demonstrators in Washington -- the anti-war movement is planning more protests for the new year.\nClutching a Bible on the steps of the courthouse as the crowd gathered together, retired religious studies professor Jim Hart said the United States does not have a justified reason to invade Iraq. The Bush administration, Hart said, is following a pattern of concealment. He questioned whether Bush could be believed.\n"I have no confidence in the Bush government. I'm a pacifist. I think war is an evil. I respect just war theory but this doesn't approach a just war," Hart said. "This is a major assault on the American people"
(12/11/02 5:31am)
To sit the bench, you've got to be able to stand your ground. It's the strength of mind required to judge a could-be-expelled student in their last chance at appeal or to settle an election contest between two dueling parties, each wanting their role in the university. Someone's college career could be on the line, and there's no room for indecisiveness. \nEleven student justices ready to make decisions that matter serve on the IU Student Supreme Court every year. These dynamic individuals serve as student representatives in judicial appeals, interpreters of the IU Student Association Constitution and Bylaws and arbitrators in study body election disputes.\n"It's really important that the campus knows that the court exists," said Associate Justice Samara Mindel, a senior. "A lot of people really don't know that they can appeal judicial board decisions or have us there for that extra step."\nOnce a student has been tried by a University j-board and been found responsible for violating the Code of Student Rights, Respon-sibilities and Conduct, the student can choose to appeal the decision.\nThe Hearing Commis-sion, the first to hear the appeal, is composed of one justice, along with an administrative and faculty member.\nMendel said hearing the j-board appeals can be the most challenging and rewarding aspect of serving on the court. \nThe commission does not have any previous information about the case. If guilt is determined, then the previous sanction or punishment can be upheld, or the commission can give a new one.\n"We try to help the student," Mindel says. "We try not to suspend or expel if we don't have to."\nSometimes serious sanctions can't be avoided.\nAssociate Justice Claire Carter, a senior, described the experience as "heart wrenching" for her, and Chief Justice Brian Clifford admitted it's hard to tell a student they will be expelled or suspended if the court determines guilt.\n"It's just tough to see people in unfortunate situations," Clifford, a senior, said. "You understand because you are a student, too … but we have a responsibility to protect other students on campus and do the best we can to enforce the rules fairly."\nIf a student requests an appeal of the hearing commission decision, his or her case will be sent to a campus review board, composed of the Chief Justice and an administrative and faculty member. \nAt the campus review board level, the student must prove his or her case was unfairly heard or treated by the judicial system.\nHearing student judicial appeals is just one function of the court. The court also has final say on any changes or interpretations of IUSA's Constitution and Bylaws. The Supreme Court also settles election disputes for IUSA student body elections.\n"Whatever decision is made, there's going to be people who love you for it and people who hate you for it," Clifford said. "Even if people disagree, they can't say we didn't try."\nTo take a crack at those tough cases, you've got to score one of the limited spots on the court. Justices go through a selective application process, and the IUSA president makes their appointment official. Justices are eligible to hold their position until they leave the University.\n"It's really hard to say what makes a good justice," Clifford said. "So many well-qualified people apply; it makes for a dynamic group."\nStudents are required to be in good academic standing, but all students, from freshmen to Ph.D students, can apply. The selection committee also looks for students who are involved on campus. \nThe ability to express your ideas clearly -- whether speaking or writing -- is also important, Clifford said.\n"We're not looking for the greatest legal minds in the world," he said. "It takes an entirely different type of skill to hear sensitive cases."\nAfter being selected and approved by the court, justices are trained in procedures as well as confidentiality and fairness. Another member of the court usually mentors the new justice so he or she can also learn from experience. Once on the court, justices have to be ready to speak their mind and speak it loudly, Carter said.\n"We are team in that we all work together, but we are all very unique leaders," she said. "You get all these really strong leaders in one room and everyone is expressing their opinions, so you've got to be able to stand up for yourself. You need to be able to jump in."\nClifford agreed and said he enjoys the exchange of ideas that take place during proceedings, as well as at the court's weekly meetings. He said he likes members who aren't afraid to argue with him and appreciates their willingness to put themselves on the line.\n"I'm glad when a justice dissents," he said. "It takes courage to go against the group. Without those opinions, you can totally ignore a point of view that you never took into account."\nThe other side of the argument is also important, Mindel said. She wrote the dissenting opinion during the controversial Steel v. Kirkwood election dispute last year.\n"I think it's really important that you have a very strongly held belief, you should speak," she said of her decisions within the court. "Even if you don't get what you want, it's still important that those opinions are out there."\nCarter pointed out it's a unique aspect of the University that lets students' opinions be heard in the first place.\n"I think it is essential that students are involved in judiciary decisions on campus. IU is very progressive in that sense," Carter says. "It's important for us to uphold that for students"
(12/10/02 5:16am)
Bioinorganic models, polymers to be \ndiscussed\nThe Department of Chemistry will have an Inorganic Chemistry Seminar called "Sterically Hindered Platforms for Bioinorganic Models and Conducting Polymers: Site Isolation and Election Trafficking" at 4 p.m. today in the Chemistry building 033. The speech will be presented by Dr. Dongwhan Lee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. For more information, contact the Department of Chemistry at 855-9043. \nFun with Gynecology Day\nThe Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance is sponsoring Fun with Gynecology Day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today in the Indiana Memorial Union Frangipani Room. The event will include food, activities, speakers, and information about visiting your gynecologist. The event is free. For more information, e-mail or go to . \nStudent film festival forms due this week\nPre-registration forms for the Union Board Student Film Festival are due Friday. The forms should be turned in to the Union Board office located on the second floor of the towers at the IMU.\nFor more information, go to or e-mail .\nHoliday CD sale scheduled for Wednesday\nWIUS 1570 AM, IU's student radio station, will be holding a holiday CD sale from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the IMU Georgian Room. No CD will be priced over $3. Part of the proceeds will go to the Middle Way House, a local not-for-profit women's shelter. Middle Way House will have a booth at the sale. For more information, contact WIUS Public Relations Director Neal Taflinger at 333-5261 or Nilmini Hecox of Middle Way House at 333-7404, ext. 200.