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(12/05/13 2:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Hannibal Buress, an accomplished stand-up comedian, will perform this Thursday to Saturday at the Comedy Attic.Tickets cost between $12 and $17, with each night having two shows at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. This will be the third time Hannibal Buress performs at the Comedy Attic. His previous stand-up shows took place in May and July 2012.Buress has been featured in multiple comedy specials on television such as “the Eric Andre Show,” “the Awkward Comedy Show,” “Live at Gotham” and “John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show.”He also performed on several late-night talk shows, such as “The Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” “Lopez Tonight,” “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” “Late Show with David Letterman,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and “Conan.”Buress has had some involvement in the acting field, starring in minor roles in shows such as “30 Rock” and “Louie.”His most recent hour-long special, “Animal Furnace,” dealt with topics such as life absurdities, airport shootouts and late nights with women. It was aired as a special on Comedy Central in 2012.Besides being an accomplished comic, Buress is also a writer who wrote for “Saturday Night Live” from 2009-2010.He also wrote for the fifth season of “30 Rock.”Buress’ work has been lauded by many publications, such as Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly and Esquire.In July 2010, Buress made Variety magazine’s “Ten Comics to Watch in 2010” list. A New York Times article called Buress a “widely known writer and performer for having an ‘irresistible’ comedic presence that lands squarely between cerebral and swagger.”Buress is host to a weekly stand-up comedy show on Sunday evenings in Brooklyn, N.Y., at his current residence at the Knitting Factory. — Anthony Broderick
(12/03/13 4:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In the wake of the holiday festivities and the joys of the traditional holiday season this year, By Hand Gallery has just put on a holiday exhibit that features more than 50 different local Bloomington artists and companies.By Hand Gallery is a cooperative gallery at Fountain Square Mall in downtown Bloomington. “Every winter we like to feature an array of sorted individual local artists to showcase a specific message of the beauty of arts and crafts,” By Hand Gallery employee Toba Allen said. “These projects make great decorative assortments and holiday gift ideas for the holiday season.”Artists and companies sell diverse art mediums at the gallery, including blown glass, hand-shaped wood, recyclables and wool sewn sculptures. Many of the pieces featured in the gallery were made of rounded blown glass, including specially made objects such as vases, cups, pots, ornaments and candy canes. Wholesale art glass company Glass Eye Studio displayed some of their hand-blown glass paperweights and egg weight ornaments. They were shaped to form Christmas-themed glass figurines such as angels and figures from the bible. Handcrafted ceramic artist Marcy Neiditz had a featured gallery of different colored ceramic pots with a layer of custom-made glass encrusted by ceramic pigments of texture.There were also specially designed sculptures by Moe’s Ache Studio called “Psychlables,” which were pieces of artwork made from recycled kitchen materials used to create slightly psychotic personalities. A common form of artwork shown throughout the exhibit was handcrafted wood sculptures. The Kentucky by Dick Art School featured their gallery of wooden crosses and snowflakes.The school also featured their collection of handmade wooden frames, clocks and mirrors with a combination of glass mediums and plastic. Besides the usual carved pieces, ornaments and glass statues, there were also handmade wool dolls and stuffed animals made by artist and Indiana resident Janet Helber Parker.Customer Isla Grey said she thought the artwork featured in the gallery captured some of the essence of the holiday spirit. “I think the accumulation of artwork that By Hand Gallery decided to feature this year not only captures artistic merit and talent but also the fun spirited joy that the holidays should bring us all,” Grey said.
(11/21/13 3:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Angles Cafe & Gift Shop at the IU Art Museum had its fifth Meet the Designer event Wednesday afternoon with Mousumi Shaw, the founder and creative director of jewelry company Sikara.Setting up her collection of jeweled necklaces, bracelets, rings and earrings in front of the cafe, Shaw displayed her work for visitors and passersby.The prices for the jewelry on sale ranged from $50 to $200.Shaw’s selection contained pieces that represented her interpretation of the cultural traditions and natural beauty of countries she had visited, such as India, Mexico, Italy, Egypt, Spain, Brazil and the United Kingdom.One of the jewelry pieces, a colorful green and blue bracelet, was inspired by a peacock she encountered in India.“Each of the constructs of jewelry I made are inspired by the exclusive visuals and beauty that I have witnessed in many different countries I have traveled to throughout the years,” Shaw said. “I like to take all the great memories I get from each of these countries and turn it into something that resembles my own cognitive imagination.” Shaw has had a lifetime of experience creating jewelry as she helped her mother, an immigrant from India, launch her own jewelry company in the United States when she was a teenager. After she graduated from high school, Shaw took a break from jewelry-making and attended the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School.Fourteen years after helping her mother, Shaw launched her own company, which incorporates her passions for art, jewelry and other cultures.Today, she works with a team of inspirational designers that help create her collections, which she sells internationally.“When going through these international collections, I feel I am able to take customers on a voyage, sharing the culture and history of each country,” Shaw said. “The Sikara company is considered modern fusion jewelry that stands as a reflection of my life as a first generation Indian-American.”
(11/18/13 3:18am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A local artist combines techniques to create stained-glass artwork, on display at the Venue Fine Art & Gifts this month.The Venue was host to an opening reception for artist Glenn Kirsch Friday. His works will be on sale until the event ends Nov. 28.Kirsch is a Bloomington native first introduced to stained glass as a student at Bloomington North High School. Creating stained glass was a hobby until he incorporated it into his work with M.T. Kirsch Construction. After he began creating the glass, the demand for his creations grew, and Kirsch began designing for worship centers.“Stained glass is glass that has been colored by adding metallic salts during its manufacture,” Kirsch said. “The colored glass is crafted into stained glass windows, in which small pieces of glass are arranged to form patterns or pictures, which are all held together by strips of lead and supported by a rigid frame.” At the reception, Kirsch explained to guests the traditional process used to make these pieces.He uses medieval techniques with layered metal oxide paints fired into glass. He also uses modern, temperature-controlled glass kilns and expansive colored pigment selections.The pieces displayed were mostly stained glass windows with various images and designs. Stained glass projects such as “Red,” “Dragonfly” and “Framed Fleur de lis” contained pictures of angels, crosses and dragonflies.Kirsch said his inspiration comes without much thought.“Some of the ideal symbolisms that are seen in these pieces just come to me occasionally when I am either driving or watching television,” Kirsch said.Attendee Julie DelGuidice said she was in great marvel of each piece. “With all the new century technology out today, you would think no one would resort to such a difficult process,” DelGuidice said. “It is unbelievable that people are still keeping the ancient tradition of making this glass that we grew up to witness in church alive.”
(11/12/13 3:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>November is National American Indian Heritage Month, and IU will offer a two-day course on Native American art and culture at Mathers Museum of World Cultures starting Tuesday. Classes will be today and Nov. 19, from 7 to 9 p.m. This course will make use of the Mathers Museum collections, which are not normally on public display. Jason Baird Jackson, associate professor of folklore and Mathers Museum director, will teach the course.Jackson recently had a book published by Oklahoma Press titled “Yuchi Indianan Histories Before the Removal Era.” The book focuses on the civilization and ethnology of the Yuchi Indian tribal communities. When he was a graduate student in the 1990s, Jackson studied the exploration of Native American arts and cultures by working with different Native American Indian communities in Oklahoma.Jackson said this continuing education class is aimed toward an adult audience and some undergraduate students who are interested in the topic. “This time of month is a good time to convey what Native Americans arrange their culture, traditions, music, customs, crafts, dance, morals and ways and concepts of life,” Jackson said. “Native American communities have and always will be a part of modern America.“They lived in the same country as everyone else for decades before everyone else and continue to do so.”The course will explain and introduce the endemic lifestyle of Native Americans and the historical preservation of their tribes in the present-day United States. Jackson said he wants this course to help end stereotypes of Native Americans, whether portrayed in media from around the world or on campus. He said he wants students to gain insight on the cultures’ traditions and heritage they may not know about.“These kinds of courses offered at IU focus on helpless heritages and bringing understanding and peace to their nation,” Jackson said. “This course helps bring down the stereotypes and misunderstandings, which is misinterpreted and extremely disrespectful toward Indian culture.”
(11/07/13 4:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For one night, IU students were able to experience a lively and powerful presentation on Jesus’ relevance today. The IU Auditorium presented AFTERDARK on Wednesday night, a one-night event designated to spread religious messages to college students on campuses from coast to coast.The event featured a concert performance by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, along with an enthralling presentation by world-renowned motivational speaker Joe White.The evening focused on the spiritual topic “is Jesus still relevant today and does he matter?” The introduction focused on the truth of Jesus and his gospel. Alternative singer and songwriter Holcomb and his wife Ellie Holcomb opened the event, performing their songs “Anywhere But Here” and “I Like To Be With Me When I’m With You.”Then White took the audience on a visual adventure of the biblical tale of Jesus sacrificing himself on the cross for all mankind. White actually portrayed himself as a Roman cross builder on stage by chopping and nailing two large cylinders of wood together to form the holy cross.“The followers of Jesus are still growing today, with over 22,000 followers getting baptized all over the world ever single day joining his alliance,” White said. “I hope by sparking conversation about Jesus today, this will allow people to find the honest search for truth of Christ.”His presentation showed a concern for Jesus’ death, comparing it to deaths of fathers all over, even comparing it to his family history. IU student Katie Pittman attended an AFTERDARK event at Ohio State, and she said she thinks students will obtain a powerful message from the event.“AFTERDARK is an opportunity to tell the biblical story of Jesus’s death and resurrection in a more authentic way for students of non-Christian backgrounds to understand,” Pittman said. “This assembly provided a captivating, reassuring and unforgettable message that people will be talking and thinking about for weeks after hearing it.”A student who said she is faithful to her Christian religion, sophomore Bridget Dotson said AFTERDARK was a great way to get the word out about Jesus so other students could build a strong relationship with God like she did.“Events like this don’t happen all the time at a secular University like IU, so I feel like so many hearts are going to be touched tonight and that God is seriously going to do something big with this campus,” Dotson said. “The students tonight have obtained a mighty opportunity, and this allows them to meet Jesus and truly encounter his presence and love.”
(11/05/13 3:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In order to promote a healthy society, one must look through both an environmental and social lens, a former National Park Service official said.Mickey Fearn, former National Park Service Deputy Director for Communications and Community, gave a speech Monday exploring outdoor recreation participation among African-American students at IU.The lecture took place as part of Race in Place, a week of inaugural events exploring complex issues related to outdoor recreation participation among African-American students at IU.Fearn served as the keynote speaker. During his 46-year career in public service, Fearn has been connecting populations to national and urban parks. Fearn said society’s racial and ethnic history has shaped how individuals view and use natural treasures and state parks.“Diversity is the most unique characteristic that the U.S. has over any other country,” Fearn said. “It is a word that I hope everyone can stop using.”He discussed how people can judge the quality of a civilization through the condition of the children, the elderly, the environment and society’s use of free time.Fearn said many lessons can still be learned by looking back on the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. He said he wants others to recognize the continued importance of diverse programs and services.“The problem with modern-day society and race and diversity is that we don’t look at it fully like most other things,” Fearn said. One of the students who helped organize Fearn’s talk, IU junior Maryellen Schmalzried, helped promote Race in Place.“This week-long event is meant to advocate outdoor recreation amongst Black and African American students at IU,” Schmalzried said. The team of students and staff will offer half-day outings this week for student groups that involve hiking, rock climbing and an overnight camp at Bradford Woods Nov. 16-17. Race in Place is sponsored by the IU School of Public Health, the Department of Recreation and IU Outdoor Adventures. Additional sponsorship was provided by the Indiana Memorial Union, the Office of Diversity Education, the Diversity Leadership Conference, the Eppley Institute and Bradford Woods.Dustin Smucker, the IMU’s Leisure Program Coordinator and one of the members in charge of Race in Place, said he hopes this event will help guide students to get more involved and connected with the environment. “Our hope is that an IU campus group that engages in diverse students will select and participate in outgoings that inspire diverse students to appreciate the qualities and benefits of recreation in the natural world and help develop a cohort of diverse students engage with the natural world,” Smucker said.
(11/04/13 2:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington’s Cardinal Stage Company premiered its production of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play “August: Osage County” Nov. 2 at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium.The play is part of Cardinal’s 2013-14 season, titled “The Ties that Bind,” and will run until Nov. 17.“August: Osage County” is a black comedy theater piece written by acclaimed screenwriter Tracy Letts. It centers around three daughters and their overbearing mother reuniting as a dysfunctional family. Cardinal’s production was directed by Randy White and starred Diane Dorsey and Constance Macy as the lead roles of Violet Weston and Barbara Fordham, respectively.White said helping create this play took serious work, including coordinating the set and the cast.“This is a very famous play in this day and age that everyone knows and expects highly of, so accuracy was purely efficient,” White said. “Making it was innovative in every way imaginable, and it is something that will leave audience members on the edge of their seats for the duration of the play.” Cardinal’s sales and marketing manager Heidi Harmon said ticket sales for the opening weekend dates of the show were peaking to the point of being sold out, with the Saturday night show selling out.The cast received a standing ovation at the end of the Saturday night show. One of the attendees, Vivien Lancaster, said she has been a fan of the play ever since reading the script and seeing it on Broadway in New York City. She said her expectations were exceeded by Cardinal’s production.“It is as if the script came alive in a triumphant matter before our eyes,” Lancaster said. “It was as if the actors had lost themselves in their roles and just became a slave to the luminous storyline.”
(11/01/13 2:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Grammy-nominated jazz artist, arranger, educator and composer Wayne Wallace debuted his Latin Jazz Octet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Bear’s Place.Wallace is best known as a famous trombonist who composes Latin jazz music from San Francisco. Last year Wallace joined the IU Jacobs School of Music faculty as one of the professors of practice in jazz.“I came to Bloomington because I wanted to be a part of such a divine and wonderful community,” he said. “We decided to perform tonight since it seemed like a great time and place for people to understand and appreciate the beautiful melodies that Latin jazz music offers.”Wallace is also known for having his own record label, Patois Records, which supports and records improvisational and jazz-themed music for overlooked artists. The label helps educators with teaching improvisation in jazz and increases the knowledge of listeners through its music.Wallace’s band consists of four trombones and an Afro-Cuban rhythm section with a drum set, congas, a piano and an electric bass. Members include IU jazz studies students Mitch Shiner on drums, Jamal Baptiste on piano and Sam Weber, Michael Nearpass and Brennan Johns on trombone.Some of the group members in Wallace’s band work as jazz professors for IU, such as percussionist Michael Spiro and bass player Jeremy Allen. “This is the first performance as a group, so I can’t say that we’re really noted for anything just yet,” Allen said. “Our goal for our performance is just to expose people to this discrete form of music, and also to enjoy ourselves when doing so.”At the concert, the Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Octet promoted its two albums, “Latin Jazz — Jazz Latin” and “To Hear from There.” Each song the band played ranged from soft to up-tempo jazz beats that many people at the bar grooved to.Most of Bear Place’s entertainment room was taken up by viewers of many ages.The audience members swayed to the beats and harmonies the band played. One of the members at the concert, music major Veronica Allen, said she was generally pleased with Wallace’s performance.“The Latin Jazz played tonight has cast such a hold on me that I really cannot explain,” Veronica said. “The rhythms I jammed to were culturally influenced and dynamic, creating a form of music that I have never listened to before.”
(10/30/13 2:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Marc Tschida has been fascinated by puzzles since he was young.As the founder of Press Puzzles, Tschida specializes in making specialized Bloomington-themed wooden jigsaw puzzles. They are based around the Bloomington’s performing arts, visual arts and iconic views.Each puzzle is made primarily with recycled and salvaged wood from old Cardinal Stage Company sets and is hand-cut with a scroll saw. While the puzzles appear refined and alluring, Tschida said the process to make these puzzles is relatively straightforward. “I glue an image onto a thin piece of wood, seal the image, cut the pieces using a scroll saw, hand-sand each piece, reseal the front of the puzzle and then wax and polish the back of the puzzle,” Tschida said. “I spend almost all my spare time constructing, just constructing them. I try to wake up early and spend an hour or so to make these puzzles in my garage.”According to Press Puzzles’ website, presspuzzles.crevado.com, each puzzle is cut one at a time. The number of puzzle pieces can vary from 24 to 220 pieces, and it takes between three to seven days to cut a puzzle.The cuts on each puzzle range from the traditional interlocking symmetrical cuts that are seen in modern jigsaw puzzles to irregular cuts, where the sides and indents of each puzzle piece are not evenly cut.“I grew up in a house that had a tradition of doing the occasional jigsaw puzzle,” Tschida said. “There were many nights sitting with my mom working on puzzles. As I grew older, I found doing puzzles a very calming influence on me, making me feel very zen.”After coming to Bloomington, he began his study of the arts community, which lasted for 15 years. It wasn’t until 2006, when he began observing the sights and areas around Bloomington, that Tschida decided to take the hobby he loved and start making his own puzzles that relate to the city’s arts.With this inspiration, he began to casually explore different ways of making and manufacturing puzzles. In the spring of 2013, he began experimenting with turning images of architecture and areas around Bloomington into puzzles.Currently, Tschida has multiple puzzles on display at the box office of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater and the Venue Fine Arts and Gifts. In the next few months, the public will have a chance to see the puzzles at Fountain Square Mall during the holiday season from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Community members will also be able to view a large selection of puzzles Nov. 30 at the City’s Holiday Art Mart. Puzzle-making has always been an acclaimed hobby of Tschida. To him, it is something that gives him the ability to express a different form of beauty to Bloomington residents.“I think that these puzzles are a great way to celebrate the imagery and culture of Bloomington,” Tschida said. “This is a town and community of which I am proud to say that I am very fond of.”
(10/25/13 2:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU Art Museum will present an exhibition that features work from early 20th-century Indiana artists from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Friday.Each semester, the museum sponsors a “One-Hour Exhibition” for the school semester.“Each ‘One-Hour Exhibition’ highlights a different aspect of the museum’s permanent collection, demonstrating the breadth of time periods, styles, cultures and artists,” Katherine Paschal, IU’s manager of communications and public relations, said.The gallery will display artwork by the Hoosier Group, Brown County Art Colony and the Richmond School. Print works and drawings by classical artists, such as Gustave Baumann, L.O. Griffith and William Forsyth, will be featured. These pieces come in an array of different paint mediums including watercolor, palette knife, oil and acrylic, and the themes of their work center around real-life subjects like nature, humanity and wildlife. Thoes planning to attend the exhibition will meet in the museum’s third floor office before the opening.Even though registration for the event is not required, space is limited, and admission is on a first-come, first-serve basis.“This one-hour exhibition is a curated drop-in print room viewing designed to showcase works of art that cannot be seen at anywhere else,” IU Art Museum Curator Nanette Brewer said. At the exhibition, Brewer will be giving a lecture about why she picked out the specific works of each artist and how the museum was able to acquire these particular works. She will also give a brief overview of all the artists featured and current art movements in Indiana.“I originated these monthly programs a few years ago in order to give the public access to these behind-the-scenes treasures,” Brewer said. “I also wanted to raise awareness of the ways visitors can make appointments to see such iconic material on their own.”
(10/22/13 3:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Every year, IU cuts electric power and water waste for its annual Energy Challenge.Competing IU buildings try to use the least amount of electricity and water, according to the Energy Challenge’s official website. The 2013 Fall Energy Challenge began Oct. 7 and will run until Nov. 4.According to the website, the Office of Sustainability created this four-week challenge to establish conservation habits for all participants at IU. This challenge rewards sustainable behaviors that substantially decrease IU’s carbon footprint.“Last year’s challenge didn’t go as well as I wanted it to go,” said Jessica Stavole, an intern for IU’s Office of Sustainability. “This year I wanted to be more efficient, so I brought in a weatherization model to help figure out the types of energy that is used all over campus.”This weatherization model is a tool that looks at a building’s energy levels without occupants and then puts the buildings on an even scale. Stavole said this will help identify and keep track of the combination of water and electric utility used. “Weekly, our utilities team records both the water and electricity usage of each building,” Stavole said. “These recordings are compared to the buildings’ baselines. The buildings that reduce their water and electricity usage by the highest percentage are crowned as winners of the Energy Challenge.”Many campus buildings are taking part in the contest, including 14 greek houses, five administrative buildings and 17 residential halls.“Our academic buildings are doing very well with cutting the high usage of electrical power,” Office of Sustainability representative Emily Rhecks said. “However, the residential centers can be doing a lot better since their management of utility usage is drastically increasing each passing day.”The residential centers are trying to get the word out to students by having their community managers advertise this challenge through their Facebook and Twitter social media pages. Whichever residential center wins the challenge with the lowest percentage of utility usage will have a water bottle refill station installed within its hall.“I have always done my best to preserve my electronic usage, but it was never really a No. 1 priority to me,” Teter resident Aimee Breske said.“Now that IU has instilled their energy act, I have dedicated my time to making sure our environment stays preserved.”
(10/14/13 12:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bloomington Creative Glass Center came to Downtown Bloomington for their fourth annual Great Glass Pumpkin Patch sale. On Oct. 12, Monroe County Courthouse presented the 2013 Creative Glass Center Community Arts Commission at its courtyard to present over 250 blown glass pumpkins. The Bloomington Creative Glass Center is a nonprofit organization that supplies Indiana residents with education about glass blowing. All proceeds from the pumpkin sales will go toward the Bloomington Creative Glass Center. At the pumpkin patch sale, the center sold their renowned hand blown glass pumpkin sculptures. The event was well received by the Bloomington community, with a majority of the sculptures displayed being sold out in the first hour of opening.“So far we have sold 384 pumpkins, and we’re hoping to sell more,” Artistic Director Abby Gitlitz said. “We are hoping to make enough profit to build another center in Bloomington, so more students and townspeople can attend.” Gitlitz said.The center offers people a free educational course where they can learn to produce artistic mediums in glass, such as fused glass, stained glass and mosaic glass. It also offers private and group classes at its glass guild that can go toward educational degrees.All other earnings and proceeds made at the center’s fundraiser will go toward obtaining the right tools and materials so they can provide a free education for volunteers willing to join.“We are trying to recruit more people to publicize, price, pack, haul, sell and advertise our Pumpkin Patch program,” volunteer Thomas Rayne said. “The more people we get, the better, since each pumpkin takes at least two to four people to make.”The stained glass pumpkins displayed came in a wide variety of vibrant colors. “These pumpkins are extremely festive to put out as great décor for the fall season,” customer Patricia Roberts said. “They are so gorgeous that I might consider keeping them out for both the winter and the summer.”With the exhibit of the sculptures, the Glass Center also revealed the step-by-step process of what it takes to make one of the pumpkins.“The process to make these pumpkins is fascinating,” said Rayne. “We use glass frit and crushed-up colored glass that we torch to create that beautiful, sparkling effect.”Follow reporter Anthony Broderick on Twitter @brodakirck.
(10/11/13 3:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Moving images are more easily perceived by the eye than static images, according to a recent IU study. The study showed motion-generated images help improve image identification for people with low vision, researcher Jing Samantha Pan said.Researchers determined individuals had a 25 percent better chance of identifying what was happening in an image if the image was moving in a video, rather than if it was static. Pan and Geoffrey Bingham, Ph.D candidates in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, conducted their study on the optic flow in order to assess the contributions of static images and optic flow to identifying events in the environment. “Our experiment found that perceiving daily events uses two sources of information: static image-based information called image structure, and dynamic motion-generated information called optic flow,” Pan said in an email. The team filmed short black-and-white videos of everyday activities, which were then blurred to emulate images seen by someone with low vision, according to their report. Each video was then split into 20 frames.Volunteers with normal vision viewed the blurred, static images and were unable to identify what was going on in each image 30 percent of the time. “This means that our image-based and motion-generated information is very influential in navigating the surroundings of all motion-generated information,” Pan said.As the experiment progressed, the image structures began to produce blurry images that played in a movie-like sequence. Once the motion stopped, observers could correctly identify the events through the blurry static frames.In another test, observers identified only about 25 percent of events with blurry images with no motion. When the same blurry images were played again in a motioned sequence, the rate of positive identification increased to 90 percent.When the motion stops, blurry images may continue to inform low vision observers about the surrounding objects and their layout. Pan and Bingham were able to demonstrate the effect of putting images in motion despite the blur making the static image unrecognizable. “Image-based and motion-generated information are both important and they compensate each other to give us the most effective perception,” Pan said.
(10/01/13 3:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>GO-Express Travel, one of Bloomington’s primary bus shuttles, has created a Chicagoland Express route for students heading home to Illinois.The service began around 2011, and it has been taking IU students who live in the Chicago region back home for the weekends. Even though the Chicagoland Express has been around for two years, the company is just now starting to push for new riders on the route. “This deal has been going on for years, but we are still preparing to advertise it,” GO-Express employee Martin McCormack said. “Any customer who rides our shuttle service will receive a 15 percent discount at one of Chicago’s most prestigious hotels, the Intercontinental Hotel.”According to the GO-Express Travel schedule, the route starts at McNutt Quad and also stops in Merrillville, Ind., in Lake County.From there the bus takes passengers to downtown Chicago via the Metra Rail system.This service not only helps Chicago residents wanting to go home, but also gives other students the opportunity to visit the Windy City and discover the sights and attractions the city offers.On the Chicagoland Express, one-way tickets cost $46 and round trips $89.Previous IU students from Illinois said they have had a positive experience when they used GO-Express Travel in the past.“This Chicagoland bus company was simply a revelation with anyone who is condemned to driving to and from school,” IU alumna Nikki Liddy said. “This saved my family and me a great deal of stress and money. The reoccurring scenarios of driving five hours back and forth in my vehicle were getting extremely degrading.”The service also offers charter vehicles that can serve as few a couple of people or groups of hundreds and can be booked to take students anywhere in the continental United States for any length of time.Other students have taken interest upon hearing about this opportunity and have looked into purchasing tickets. “I was all worried about how I will get home for the holidays, but this seems like a great alternative,” freshman Ellen Weaver said. “I was longing on making a visit to see my family for Halloween this year, and it seems this service will help make my wish come true.”
(09/17/13 4:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Using saddles and riding boots, volunteers with People and Animal Learning Services are working to rehabilitate disabled individuals in the community.According to PALStherapy.org, PALS is a nonprofit organization in Bloomington offering individuals with disabilities the chance to develop their functional skills and outlook on life.PALS accomplishes this by providing lessons on horseback riding and educational programs.Volunteers for PALS have devoted their time to helping disabled children and adults since 2000. These patients come to PALS with impairments including ADHD, amputations and muscular dystrophy.Anyone who volunteers with PALS has the duty of leading horses and side-walking riders. Volunteers also groom, saddle, train and generally care for horses, as well as help with barn chores. PALS organizes various educational programs and camp opportunities designed to improve the lives of seniors, adults and children ages four and older. Executive Director Fern Bonchek has been there since the beginning. Growing up, Bonchek’s family dedicated their lives to providing riding lessons for individuals with disabilities within the community. She was exposed to a community of recreational programs that were made specifically for disabled people.After training for years with the Shea Center — a therapeutic riding program in Orange County, Calif., — Bonchek decided to bring her talents to Bloomington, where she provided a sense of hope for at-risk children and the disabled.“Getting the opportunity to see the lives of children being recuperated with our facility is truly an enlightening experience,” Bonchek said. “We get about 150 volunteers that come in each week. These people volunteer at PALS because they want to learn new skills, build relationships, gain class credit and receive the opportunity to give back.”This project encompasses a collaborative partnership with other charities such as Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central Indiana, Project LEAD and Equine Experiential Education Program. The partnerships were formed to provide participants with skills essential for becoming productive community citizens, as well as to enhance the relationship they develop with their mentors.PALS has also been instrumental in providing equine-assisted activities and therapies for clients from 11 counties across the state.“We have provided over 17,600 therapeutic horseback riding lessons these last couple years,” said Cindy Lisenbardt, a PALS volunteer and current riding instructor. “Through this service, I have met and helped so many people of different ages. It is self-comforting to know that I made a difference in someone’s life.”