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(08/20/09 8:17pm)
With his new book “Play,” Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play, has thrust playtime back into the national spotlight. but why is it so important? To find out, we sought out IU experts to talk about the benefits of a playful life at every age.
(02/18/09 4:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When Nicholas Hipskind sees a promising potential student who just doesn’t look good on paper, IU gives the retired professor what he calls “a gift.”If an applicant to the University gets denied, Hipskind can step in as a faculty sponsor to vouch for the student’s character and help grant him or her special admission. With the right student, the right sponsor and the right situation, a second chance is all an applicant needs.“What I’ve learned is the kid who really wants to make it,” said Hipskind, who has sponsored about 10 students, “with your help, can make it.”Once a process that granted about 40 to 50 exceptions a year, the sponsorship program has increased more than 150 percent in four years. Now, some administrators and faculty members are looking to review the system.MORE COMPETITION, MORE SPONSORSHIPS The jump in exceptions comes as more students than ever are applying to IU, making the admissions process increasingly competitive. Between 2004 and 2008, the average SAT score for an incoming freshman increased by more than 5 percent – from 1112 to 1174 out of 1600. IU also received 10,000 more applications in 2008 than it did four years ago, jumping from 21,132 in 2004 to 31,177 in 2008.With those increases has come a surge in the number of students seeking and receiving exceptions to the standards. In 2005, the University admitted 45 students on faculty sponsorships, according to numbers provided by Roger Thompson, vice provost for enrollment management. In 2006, the number was 59. The next year, the number of sponsorships more than doubled to 137. This year, 129 students who were originally denied admission were admitted through the sponsorship program.While administrators always like to see the number of applicants and average SAT score increase, a high number of faculty sponsorships does not always look good, said Ken Gros Louis, University chancellor. “If the number gets too big, in some way it could hurt IU’s reputation,” he said.And because the University expects the freshman class profile to keep improving, he said the trend of increased faculty sponsorships could continue unless someone takes a good look at the system. A SECOND LOOKThe faculty sponsorship policy in use today has changed little since it was passed by the board of trustees in 1960, when Herman B Wells was president of the University.“So much has changed that I don’t think that we’re doing our job well if we don’t go back and review it a little bit,” Thompson said.Thompson and Bloomington Faculty Council President Herb Terry said they both plan to try to start a dialogue about having the process reviewed this semester. Thompson is uncertain about how it would be reviewed, who would review it and whether any changes would come, but he said he would want to involve faculty, students and staff.Last year, Provost Karen Hanson assembled a committee of faculty members and admissions professionals to examine the causes and effects of the increase. The committee recommended two minor changes to the process. First, they started to require sponsors to receive the students’ midterm grades. Second, they placed limits on who could sponsor a student. In the past, some people who were not tenure-track faculty members were allowed to sponsor students. This is still allowed, but exceptions must be approved by the committee.Hanson said her team will re-evaluate the process again this year.“The idea was to kind of keep an eye on this, and that’s where we stand right now,” Hanson said.HOW IT WORKSTo receive a sponsorship, students must sign a statement describing their relationship with the faculty member and commit to taking 12 credit hours per semester. Final approval comes from one of three faculty committees: one set aside for music students, another for athletes and a third for all remaining students. Hipskind, who is retired from the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, continues to sponsor students since he is still involved as a student advocate and a residential fellow, a program that connects faculty members with campus residence halls. He said the amount of involvement a sponsor has with the student is up to the faculty member, but he said he believes an uninvolved sponsor isn’t doing a student any favors.Furthermore, his experience tells him that sponsoring a student he doesn’t really know – such as a friend of a friend of a friend – is often a path to failure.“We meet, and I know you very secondarily, but yet to my good friend I say, ‘OK, I’ll sponsor her. You will succeed,’” Hipskind said as an example.“Sometimes you do. Sometimes you don’t. And that’s where I’ve been the least successful.”One possibility, which might serve to the advantage of the student, could be to require a sponsor to meet with the student throughout his or her college career, Gros Louis said. This would give the student a mentor and possibly cut down on frivolous sponsorships.PROMOTING SPECIAL TALENTS Faculty sponsorships can help build a diverse campus by bringing students who contribute to IU in unusual ways, Terry said. For example, he sees the value in making exceptions for some music students who might not have top grades but demonstrate exceptional artistic abilities. Likewise, Terry said having a unique admissions process for athletes – with limits – also makes sense. But he’s worried that the system may be getting out of hand. “What I’m more concerned about is the increase in faculty sponsorships who are not athletics and music,” Terry said.Thompson said he believes athletes and musicians at one time made up the majority of sponsorships. Now, those groups represent fewer than half of the special admissions exceptions, he said, as sponsorships have increased in other areas. Though athletes and musicians are reviewed by special committees, overall it is the same process.This year, 32 athletes were admitted through faculty sponsorship, representing about one-fourth of all students who received exceptions, said Bruce Jaffee, faculty athletic representative. The sport with the most sponsorships is football. Jaffee said the number of sponsored athletes has stayed consistent lately, but coaches are becoming less likely to seek a sponsorship for a student who has a questionable academic record. “In addition to having tougher admissions standards, I think IU is getting academically tougher to do well,” Jaffee said. “I think both the general population, but also coaches, say, ‘If I get a marginally academic kid out of high school, that person would not make it out of IU or generally would struggle through IU.’”WHAT’S BEST FOR IUWhile admission through faculty sponsorship might seem unfair to students who don’t get one, Thompson said the well-being of the sponsored student is still something to keep in mind.As the freshman class gets smarter, it could be more difficult to keep up in classes, he said.“If that’s what the profile looks like, my question would be, ‘Are we doing a disservice to a student who comes in on an exception who might not be able to compete academically?’” Thompson asked.Thompson and Terry do not advocate eliminating faculty sponsorships altogether. Gros Louis said every school has some sort of special admissions system.“You have to have something like this in order to achieve the kind of diverse student body you want,” Terry said.But it’s important to keep the exceptions in check, Thompson said, and not just because they sometimes bring down average SAT scores and high school GPAs. It’s an issue of fairness and IU’s reputation. “I’m not quite sure what purpose this special admissions system serves,” Terry said, “other than potentially undercutting our admissions system.”
(02/03/09 5:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU’s exclusive contract with Coca-Cola expires June 30, and University officials are debating whether renewing it is the most ethical option. If IU renews the contract, Coca-Cola products will continue to be sold exclusively on campus. If not, IU could choose to enter into an exclusive contract with a different soft drink provider or open it up to non-exclusive contracts with multiple vendors.Student activists have long protested the agreement, pointing to allegations that Coca-Cola drained groundwater in India and violently conspired against union leaders in Colombia.“There have been on other campuses, and our campus also, questions raised about Coca-Cola practices overseas,” said Dean of Students Dick McKaig, chair of the Anti-Sweatshop Advisory Committee. “Coca-Cola has responded with information as to their understanding of the situation and efforts they have taken.”In response to the Colombia allegations, Coca-Cola issued a statement in 2006 saying that the employees of the corporation’s bottlers enjoy a union-friendly environment. It said that only 4 percent of workers in Colombia are unionized, but 31 percent of bottler employees of Coca-Cola in the country are members of unions.“Over the past several decades, Colombia has experienced much internal conflict, which affects trade union leaders and other people from all walks of life,” the statement said. “Despite the volatile environment, The Coca-Cola Company and its bottlers have maintained operations and have worked to provide safe, stable economic opportunities for the people of Colombia.”The company also issued a statement saying that its practices in India are environmentally friendly and legal.Several universities canceled their contracts with Coca-Cola after the allegations became public, including two Big Ten universities: the University of Illinois and the University of Michigan.Some students, such as senior Cole Wehrle, a member of an on-campus group dedicated to advancing labor rights issues called No Sweat!, pressured IU’s administration to cancel its contract through petitions and protests.Now that the contract is almost up, Wehrle, who is also a member of the Anti-Sweatshop Advisory Committee, has shifted his attention toward either convincing Coca-Cola to change what he says are unethical labor practices or convincing administrators not to renew the contract.“I think the best solution would be to have Coke reform its overseas practices and not have to lose the contract,” Wehrle said.Wehrle has hope that things will change – he said that every time the company has lost a contract over the allegations, it has made a step toward ethical compliance. After the University of Michigan canceled its contract in 2006, Coca-Cola agreed to a third-party investigation by the International Labour Organization.Wehrle has worked to solicit student opinion about the issue in the past, collecting signatures for petitions. While some students are concerned about the accusations and others don’t care, the contract itself is often more of an issue than the question of labor practices.“It seemed more appalling that we had an exclusive contract than the contract with Coke,” Wehrle said.McKaig said the committee has been researching Coca-Cola’s labor practices by studying outside sources, such as written documents from the International Labour Organization and presentations from concerned students, and is planning to have a representative from the company attend one of its meetings this month to answer questions.The 12-person Anti-Sweatshop Advisory Committee was originally formed to make sure companies who wanted to use IU’s logo followed ethical labor practices. McKaig said the committee first started studying the Coca-Cola issue a few years ago, which is unique because it deals with purchasing instead of licensing.McKaig said he expects the committee to have a recommendation to pass on to IU President Michael McRobbie within 60 days.The administration should decide whether to continue with the contract within the next few months, said Terry Clapacs, IU vice president and chief administrative officer. He said University officials need to continue to research and wait for a proposal from Coca-Cola and evaluate it.“A lot has been said about Coca-Cola over the last couple years,” Clapacs said, “and it’s our responsibility to find out what’s fact and what’s not.”
(01/21/09 5:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>WASHINGTON – Anna Strand had seen Barack Obama speak before, but since then, something changed.“He incorporated his message of hope into an application of what he’s going to do as president,” the senior, who is president of IU College Democrats, said. “He was not saying ‘if I’m going to be president,’ just saying, ‘I am your president now.’”Strand, who traveled to Washington with other members of IU College Democrats, was one of many IU students watching the inauguration in person Tuesday who said they know they were watching what will be remembered as a historic event.Sophomore Claudia Torres, who traveled with a group from Foster International Living-Learning Center, said she thought Obama alluded to acts of bravery from different groups, such as firemen and soldiers, to make everyone feel connected to the speech.She said the address was more solemn than she expected – a change from the fast-paced shouts of “Yes we can!” that she’d been used to hearing.“He wants to make everyone realize that we are facing a lot of challenges, and it will take time,” Torres said. “But if we work together, we can make it all happen.”Obama’s message was about putting differences aside and working together, said freshman Jordan Runkel, who also traveled with the Foster group.Runkel said she voted Republican, but she said she appreciates the historic significance of what she witnessed in person.“I didn’t think that our nation would ever elect a black man as president,” Runkel said. “They proved me wrong.”Obama’s speech often alluded to the hard work needed to accomplish what needs to be done, something Strand said that, as the first black president, he is living proof of.“This is a moment in history,” Strand said. “He was sworn in on the same Bible that Lincoln was sworn in on. This is an absolute landmark moment.”
(01/21/09 4:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Barack Obama raised a hand to history as he recited the oath of office as the nation’s 44th president, declaring Americans have “chosen hope over fear” and promising to rebuild the country in difficult times.About 2 million people poured into the National Mall to watch the country’s first black president address the crowd from the Capitol building. The chanting throngs of spectators began to turn out before dawn in sub-freezing temperatures and spanned from the Capitol building past the Washington Monument. After an invocation from Rick Warren, an evangelical pastor from Orange County’s Saddleback Church whose views against same-sex marriage triggered protests after his selection to speak at the event, Aretha Franklin performed “America the Beautiful.” Joe Biden was sworn in, and at 12:05 p.m., Obama took the oath of office. In his 20-minute speech, Obama said the country faces challenges in the economy, health care, war, education and energy use, but he said it will overcome them with the virtues on which America was founded: “honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism.” “Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious, and they are many,” Obama said. “They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.”He called America’s current state a “crisis” and said Americans are losing confidence and beginning to anticipate the country’s decline. He also said he has plans to “restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”“Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America,” he said.He went on to promise improvements in the economy, infrastructure, health care, technology, education and fuel options.“Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans,” Obama said. “Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage.“What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.”Obama only briefly touched on the significance of his election as the first black president, saying that liberty is the reason “a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.”He made one other reference to segregation in American’s history, in reference to religious diversity in the country:“And because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself, and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.”Speaking about foreign policy, Obama promised to “begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan.” He spoke against terrorism, saying that America’s spirit is stronger than those who use such tactics. That spirit, he said, will always defeat terrorism.“For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness,” he said.Obama called for a new relationship with the Muslim world “based on mutual interest and mutual respect.” He warned leaders who “seek to sow conflict or blame their society’s ills on the West” that they will be judged “on what you can build, not what you destroy.” He added that leaders who use corruption and deceit are “on the wrong side of history” but that America would help them if they changed their ways.He promised to help feed and develop nations that are not as prosperous and called for nations that are to do the same.“And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect,” he said. “For the world has changed, and we must change with it.”Obama told the crowd and television viewers that it was time for “a new era of responsibility,” adding that recognizing one’s duties to the country is “the price and the promise of citizenship.”He asked Americans to contribute to the greater good of the country throughout his address, using deployed troops as an ideal example of the collaborative spirit for which they should strive.“And yet, at this moment, a moment that will define a generation,” Obama said, “it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.”
(01/20/09 5:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>WASHINGTON – Visitors had been trickling into junior Christen Gallagher’s new hometown for about a week.But Saturday morning, the streets filled up with charter buses, and that’s when she knew the inauguration had hit.Several of the charter buses that Gallagher – who is spending the semester interning with the economic think tank The Council on Competitiveness – saw carried IU students and faculty members, some with tickets to the ceremony and many without them.IU President Michael McRobbie is in Washington for the event, said IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre. He plans to attend today’s swearing-in ceremony and was scheduled to be at the Indiana Society of Washington, D.C. Inaugural Ball on Monday night.IU’s Singing Hoosiers performed at the ball for about an hour and a half.Many students made the 600-mile trip to the capital without tickets to the swearing-in ceremony. They planned to find a place to sit or stand on the National Mall and watch the ceremony on giant TVs.Susan Johnson, who earned a doctorate from IU in 2007, traveled to the city with the graduate chapter of IU’s Zeta Phi Beta. She said some of the people she traveled with – community members, members of a local church and people affiliated with the sorority – had passes, but she did not mind having to watch from the Mall.“Just to be a part of a moment of history, just to say that you were there – that’s good enough for me,” Johnson said.Sophomore Claudia Torres, who traveled with a group from Foster International Living-Learning Center, also does not have tickets and will watch from the National Mall this morning. Though junior Nolan Meyer started planning the group’s trip in May, Torres said she decided to go “on a whim.”The group brought 10 Foster residents, who were selected through an essay contest. They tried to get tickets through a Congressman but had to go without them.Torres isn’t worried about not having a ticket, and she said so far the trip has not disappointed her.“Pretty much you knew it was going to live up to the expectations,” Torres said. “No question about it.”Freshman Margaret Bishop, who traveled with the Foster group, said she’s already picked up on an excited atmosphere from traveling the city this weekend and attending Sunday’s inauguration concert.To get a better view of the show. Bishop saw concert-goers sitting on top of portable toilets that were caving in.“People are politically active again,” she said. “As Barack Obama was just bopping his head to the music, you could tell people were just loving it.”Sophomore Suzanne Diebold, Gallagher’s roommate who is interning at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, happened to be at the train station when Obama arrived from Pennsylvania on Saturday. She did not realize he was going to be there, and what she found were throngs of people hoping to catch a glimpse of the soon-to-be president.“It was really crowded,” Diebold said. “Like, Obama everything – sweatshirts, scarves, hats, pins.”Gallagher said that as the inauguration has approached, the event has even permeated into everyday merchandise and menu items. She has not tried an Obama burger or InaugurAle, but she hopes to pick up an Obama cupcake from Georgetown.Most of the travelers will get up much earlier than is acceptable for many college students to either ride a likely-packed Metro or walk to the Mall to find their seats in time to watch the ceremony at 11:30 a.m. If it’s anything like the concert the Foster travelers went to, personal space will be at a premium.“You look up toward the Washington Monument and it’s just a blanket of people,” Bishop said. “You can’t even see the individuals.”
(01/16/09 5:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s a good thing sophomore Natalie MacRae doesn’t have much of a problem with nerves.The elementary education major is preparing to perform at an event with an intimidating list of invitees – Gov. Mitch Daniels, several members of Congress and the hundreds of others invited to Monday night’s Indiana Society of Washington, D.C. Inaugural Ball.IU’s Singing Hoosiers will perform at the ball in the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington the night before President-elect Barack Obama is sworn into office.“We kind of get to show them what we’re made of and what kids our age can do,” said McRae, an alto in the group.The group received an invitation to perform and will sing for about an hour and a half, said Director Michael Schwartzkopf. He said the Singing Hoosiers have performed at inaugural balls before, but 15 to 20 years have passed since the last.Sophomore Andrew Basile, tenor, said Obama is expected to make an appearance at the ball, but not until after the Singing Hoosiers have left.The group took one of its last opportunities to perfect its routine Wednesday afternoon in the Music Annex. The vocalists belted out celebratory tunes (Steve Allen’s “This Could Be the Start of Something”), songs about the Hoosier state (Ballard MacDonald’s and James F. Hanley’s “Back Home Again in Indiana”) and politically themed pieces (Cy Coleman’s “Hooray for our Favorite Son!”).Sophomore Leslie Clarke, soprano, said this will be one of her largest audiences and most prestigious performances ever.“I feel really lucky because I was chosen to go,” Clarke said. “It’s really nice because I work my butt off, and it’s nice seeing our work being appreciated.”The students will go to the National Mall on Tuesday to watch the inauguration. Clarke said the group received 20 tickets to go into the ceremony. The rest of the students will watch from the Mall.Although McRae said she has never been interested in politics, she said the inauguration is something she won’t forget.“That’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me,” McRae said. “It’s amazing, and you’re seeing history in the making. To be there for the first African-American makes it even more special.”Basile has performed in a presidential setting before. When he was in fourth grade, his choir sang for President Bill Clinton at the White House.This will be different, he said, because the invitation to an upscale, prestigious event is a sign of the Singing Hoosiers’ national reputation. “It just shows how important this choir is and how important the Jacobs School of Music is to the state,” Basile said. “It doesn’t actually hit you until you get invited to something like this.”
(08/26/08 1:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>If you’re navigating your way from Fee Lane to 10th Street for the first time or trying to determine the difference between the B bus and the C bus – they’re very different, trust me – we want to help.But before we help you find your way through the city, the campus and the next four years, it might be helpful if we told you how to find your way through the Indiana Daily Student.The oldest and most pervasive aspect of our product is the printed newspaper, which we deliver to more than 300 locations around the campus and the city every weekday during the fall and spring semesters and twice a week during the summer. You can look to that 141-year old product for daily stories, calendars, photos and columns about IU and Bloomington news, sports and events.If you want your news faster or simply want something more interactive, log on to www.idsnews.com for breaking news and multimedia content. When news happens, we update the Web site right away and add the stories for the print edition later. Also, we’re breaking into blogs, video, polls, photo slideshows and podcasts – elements that couldn’t possibly go in a print edition.Every Thursday, you’ll notice your IDS gets a little heavier. That’s because it contains WEEKEND, a weekly insert about the community’s culture and entertainment scene. Looking for something to do for fun? That’s the place to go.Our newest member of the family is INside magazine, now in its third year. It prints twice a semester and contains some of our most in-depth, insightful journalism.This semester, we’ll also publish four special sections. They’ll be your guides to fall sports, Homecoming week, the basketball season and the elections. If you’re not new and you already know the Bloomington geography forward and backward, we hope you’re reading this because you remember us as a useful guide and trusted IU news source. So when you picked up the IDS today, you might have noticed it looks slightly different.Our designers spent more than a week tweaking and cleaning up the paper. Their goal was to make it look cleaner, more readable and user-friendly. We’d love to hear your feedback on our new look, so whether you love it or hate it, let us know what you think by e-mailing me at editor@idsnews.com or calling the newsroom at 855-0760.That doesn’t just apply to the redesign, of course. E-mail or call me anytime you have something to say about any aspect of the paper, or simply to tell us what you would like to see in any of our publications.I hope to hear from you soon, and good luck finding 10th Street.
(07/16/08 7:06pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A couple Friday nights ago, I went out with some of my friends to a bar in our new, temporary hometown – Washington, D.C. We wandered to the patio, taking in the social scene – loud music, people everywhere, alcohol. It was just a lot like Bloomington.But when I got outside, something glaringly unusual was staring me in the face – I had a perfect view of the Capitol building, right from outside the bar.That’s what’s unusual about the culture of D.C. entertainment. There’s this constant juxtaposition of fun against super-serious, official business. People still do the same things on the weekends. The restaurants are just restaurants, the bars are just bars, but when you go to them you’re surrounded by some of the most important places, and presumably people, in the world.I went on a date last week, and we stopped and looked at the White House for a minute on the way back. You get a great view of the Capitol building from our baseball stadium, Nationals Park. I went running my first week here and passed a row of cars with “DIPLOMAT” license plates. If you dare drive a car here, you might end up lost around the Pentagon (I know someone who did). Even if you tried to live a “normal” life as if you were in any other city, you wouldn’t be able to escape the constant reminders that there are powerful government officials within mere miles of where you are watching a movie, meeting a friend for lunch or going shopping.Some of the businesses embrace it, I assume for the tourists. A few days a week, the Greek restaurant down the street changes its happy-hour drink specials from $3 sangrias to election-themed cocktails. For $5, you can “cast your vote” and have either the Obama Rama (something banana-flavored) or a Sugar McCain (this had something to do with lemons).Sometimes, it reminds me of living in a theme park, with all the constant, cheesy reminders that this is Washington, D.C., home of the White House. Take, for example, our beloved baseball team, the Washington Nationals. The name of the team itself is a play on the whole “nation’s capital” theme. The team’s colors are red, white and blue. The mascot is an eagle named “Screech.” Among the many concession-stand choices are “Pentagon Pizza” and “Senator Sausages.”But the most corny, hit-you-in-the-face D.C.-theme reminder at Nationals games is the traditional fourth-inning Presidents Race. At every game, four people dress in full-foam mascot attire as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt and race across the field. Teddy never wins.And of course, every shopping area has a few shops with cardboard cutouts of Barack Obama and John McCain (and sometimes Hillary Clinton, still) wearing sweatshirts that are sold in the store.Before coming here for the summer, I often thought of Washington as a place for official business. Other cities were for fun and relaxation – cities like Miami, Los Angeles and New York. But D.C. has its share of both government and fun, as long as you don’t mind a little government-themed fun. Senators need to go out and have a good time sometimes, too.Otherwise, there wouldn’t be bars by the Capitol.
(01/24/08 6:34pm)
Thirty-eight years ago, the building that houses the IU Bookstore’s second location didn’t exist.\nIn that time, a check-cashing store out of the third floor of the bookstore’s Indiana Memorial Union location came and went. None of the IU memorabilia the store sold made any mention of the men’s basketball team’s 1976, 1981 and 1987 national championships – they were nothing but wishful thoughts. Barnes and Noble had nothing to do with the store – it was solely operated by IU.\nBut there was always Paul Hazel.\n“I love coming to work – almost – every day,” said Hazel, the director of the IMU Bookstore. “Nobody loves coming to work every day.”\nAfter working in the bookstore since the summer of 1969, the IU workdays Hazel looks forward to are numbered. He will work his last day as a bookstore employee on Feb. 15, after 38 years with the store, 43 years working with books and a lifetime in Bloomington.\nWith about 2,300 instructors placing orders, more than 5,000 titles circulating the shelves and more than 35,000 students roaming the store, every semester brings new people into the store and new challenges to deal with. Hazel said he loves going out onto the floor to help students find the textbooks they need.\n“Helping find books, getting books, answering questions,” he said, “that relationship with students, with customers, with faculty – that’s my favorite part of this job I’ve had all these years.”\nJack Spencer, executive director of administration for auxiliary services at IU, said throughout the last 38 years, Hazel has shown a dedication to his job and the bookstore. Spencer has known Hazel for about 30 years and was around when Hazel became director of the bookstore.\n“Paul’s just a fantastic guy,” Spencer said. “He loves people, he loves students and he loves his job.”\nHazel said he used to assure students every year that even though prices were rising, the cost of textbooks would increase less than all the other costs of school. That stopped about eight years ago, he said.\nAmong other factors, Hazel blames technology and the increased use of color photos, clickers and CDs for the increase. But faculty and publishers need to keep students’ budgets in mind, too, he said.\n“The thing that has always been a mystery to me is how they can put out a new edition of ancient history,” he said. “I honestly never got a straight answer to that.”\nHazel said his favorite time of year is graduation day, because everybody in the store and on campus is happy and excited. He also said he enjoys working during Alumni Weekend, where he’s had former students tell him stories of he they met their husbands and wives in the bookstore or used to meet with them there between classes.\nMen’s basketball national championships are some of Hazel’s favorite IU memories. Hazel said since the bookstore begins selling national championship memorabilia the day after the game, the printers make national championship shirts for both teams in the tournament, and then disposes of the shirts for whoever ends up losing the game. The shirts for the winning team are in the store the next morning.\nFor the 1981 championship, the t-shirt printer gave Hazel and his wife IU national championship t-shirts before they left for the game in Philadelphia. They wore the shirts under their sweatshirts, and once the team won, they took off the sweatshirts and were the some of the first people to sport the shirts. He said all the fans kept asking where they got the shirts, and the bookstore was a mad house the next morning.\nHazel’s friends said some of their favorite memories of working with Hazel included staff golf outings. Jack Hudson, who works on retirement plans for IU, has known Hazel for 20 years. Though their work-related interaction was always limited to the staff golf trips before now, Hudson is now working with him at IU to develop Hazel’s retirement plan.\n“I accidentally hit his favorite golf ball into the water, and he is still mad about it,” Hudson joked. “It was a Titleist, and he found it.”\nOne of the biggest changes for the bookstore since Hazel started was the construction of the bookstore in Eigenmann, which has been around for about five years. They added the store because students said they wanted it – and because they wanted a place with free parking and longer hours. The store eventually ended up being “too successful,” he said, because they did not predict the large number of textbooks students would demand in the store.\n“It was a phenomenal success. We were scared to death to spend that kind of money,” Hazel said. “That’s one of the things that I’ve been invested in that I’m very proud of.”\nHazel’s 38 years in the bookstore have been a challenging experience, and a lot has changed, he said, but he’s loved – almost – every day of it.\n“I love students,” he said. “I love the challenge of finding square pegs for round holes.”
(03/30/07 4:00am)
A woman who told police Monday she had been abducted and raped twice by two unknown men recanted her report Thursday, IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said.\nThe woman, a 19-year-old IU student, first told police the men abducted her while she was on the corner of 10th Street and Sunrise Avenue at about 10:30 p.m. Feb. 22. She said the men grabbed her by the arms as she was walking home from work and put her in the backseat of a car, drove her to a parking lot and assaulted her before leaving her at the original location.\nOn Thursday, when she went in for a follow-up interview with Detective Sgt. Leslie Slone, she said she had not actually been sexually assaulted or abducted, Minger said.\n“She had had consensual sex with a subject she met on the Internet at a Motel 6,” Minger said.\nMinger said the case is still being investigated and that police are waiting to confirm the identity of the male subject and interview him.\nIUPD has submitted for consideration an affidavit for charges of false informing to the Monroe County prosecutor’s office, Minger said.
(12/05/06 5:25am)
An IU wrestler was in the intensive care unit of Bloomington Hospital on Monday evening after he jumped from the third floor of the Walnut Center parking garage early Sunday morning, police said.\nFreshman Eric Cameron, 18, fell onto power boxes and flipped, landing on the ground on his back after a three-story fall from the parking garage on the corner of Seventh and Walnut streets, Bloomington Police Department Detective Sgt. David Drake said, reading from a police report. As of Monday, Cameron was on a ventilator in the intensive-care unit at Bloomington Hospital, bleeding from his brain, Drake said.\nCameron, who lives in McNutt Quad, jumped from the parking garage after a friend he was with got into a fight with a 25-year-old man and four women at about 3 a.m. Sunday near Kilroy's Sports Bar, Drake said, reading from the report.\nThe 25-year-old man and the women were leaving Kilroy's Sports Bar when Cameron's friend began "hitting on" the women. Cameron and his friend, accompanied by a third friend, followed the women to the parking garage, Drake said.\nThe 25-year-old man told Cameron's friend to stop bothering the women, and one of the women told the man to go away, Drake said, reading from the report. The friend then punched the woman, a 22-year-old IU student, in the eye. She sustained a contusion on her right cheek, one loose tooth and two chipped teeth, Drake said.\nAccording to the report, the 25-year-old man then punched Cameron's friend, knocking him to the ground.\nWhen the 25-year-old man and the four women got in to their SUV, Cameron began punching the rear driver's side window of the vehicle, Drake said, reading from the report.\nWhen Bloomington Police Department officers arrived, Cameron "took off running and jumped over the wall" of the parking garage, Drake said. According to the report, Cameron smelled of alcohol when officers found him. Officers did not perform a Breathalyzer test.\nDrake said the two men Cameron was with disappeared sometime during the incident, and police have not yet found or identified them.\nSheila Ankney, Cameron's mother, said he has been improving since Sunday. He is still unconscious in the intensive-care unit, but he tried to open his eyes Monday, she said. \nA police officer called Ankney early Sunday with news about her son, she said. She, her husband and Cameron's father arrived in Bloomington at about 7 a.m. Sunday morning, after driving from Cincinnati.\n"When you have a child in the hospital, a 2 1/2 hour drive can seem like two weeks," she said.\nThough doctors are awaiting the results of a third CT scan to determine how well Cameron will recover, Ankney said she is still thankful for some things.\n"There are no broken bones; there's no paralysis," she said. "It's a miracle."\nThe past 36 hours have been like a bad dream, but Ankney has received tremendous support from the hospital, IU and Cameron's friends, she said. IU wrestling coach Duane Goldman visited Cameron in the hospital Sunday night, she said. \n"The wrestling team -- they've been wonderful," she said. "There are some wonderful students out there."\nAnkney said she believes Cameron was just trying to help his friend in the parking garage, and when police arrived, he ran
(11/30/06 3:03am)
A 100-pound American bulldog is safely back in the hands of its owner after police cracked a case of dog-napping Wednesday.\nThe dog's owner, Brady Gillihan, 31, called police Wednesday morning and said he was inside the Pizza Hut at 110 E. Winslow Rd. on Tuesday night picking up a carry-out order. When he returned to his car, Gillihan found that his dog, which he had left in the car for a few minutes, was missing, said Bloomington Police Department Detective Sgt. David Drake, reading from a police report.\nGillihan received a call Wednesday morning from a man who said he had the dog and would be willing to return it for a monetary reward, Drake said. The two men arranged to meet later that morning in front of Kleindorfer's Hardware & Variety Store, 1401 W. Kirkwood Ave. Gillihan contacted police about the situation, and they accompanied Gillihan to the meeting.\nDrake said officers witnessed Lloyd R. Turpin, 34, 5010 S.Stanford Road, arriving at the meeting place with the dog. They arrested Turpin on preliminary charges of theft.\nDrake said Turpin was out on bond for other theft charges and has another pending case involving theft and forgery charges.
(11/16/06 3:42am)
Police are investigating a series of events from late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning in which a woman was raped, a man was murdered and another man sustained gunshot wounds in a city an hour southwest of Bloomington.\nIndiana State Police suspect Roger Nicholson, 39, of Loogootee, Ind., drove to Red Wing Mobile Home Park in Lowell, Ind., Tuesday night, picked up a woman, drove her to a rural area on County Road 1300 East in Daviess County and raped her, according to an ISP news release. Police say Nicholson then drove her back to the trailer park and dropped her off.\nThe relationship between Nicholson and the victim will not be released because of the investigation, ISP Sgt. Todd Ringle said in the release.\nEarly Wednesday morning, police responded to the same trailer park after receiving a 911 call saying shots had been fired in the area. When police arrived, they found that Ronald Blackmon, 41, had been shot. He was transported to Daviess Community Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.\nPolice believe Blackmon, who also lives in the trailer park, was visiting the rape victim's family in a nearby trailer when Nicholson arrived, confronted Blackmon and shot him twice with a .410-gauge shotgun. When police reached the scene, the rape victim was not at the trailer, but her two children were.\nPolice received a tip that Nicholson was using the telephone at Casey's General Store in Dugger, Ind. When an officer arrived, Nicholson had already left. A Sullivan County sheriff's deputy saw Nicholson's vehicle on County Road 700 East. The officer tried to stop the vehicle, and Nicholson allegedly ran off the road and into a ditch. \nIndiana State Police said in its news release officers don't know "at this time" whether Nicholson shot himself or whether police shot him.\nNicholson was being treated Wednesday at Sullivan County Community Hospital.
(11/08/06 5:43am)
The Indiana State Police responded to allegations that a Democratic Monroe County employee was found illegally holding overseas absentee ballots Tuesday.\nInitial reports from The Associated Press stated that the FBI was conducting an investigation into the matter. County clerk Jim Fielder and Jack Schmit, a Republican Monroe County Election Board member, both said the FBI began an investigation, but Indiana State Police First Sgt. Dave Bursten said the FBI was never involved.\nWendy Osbourne, spokeswoman for the Indianapolis office of the FBI, said she could not confirm or deny whether any investigations were being conducted. The FBI has jurisdiction over voter fraud allegations, she said.\n"We can't confirm anything until it becomes public record and any arrests are made," Osbourne said.\nSchmit, who is also an IU faculty member, said the Election Board determined the employee had a duplicate key, which she was not authorized to have, to a room in the Curry Building where the ballots were kept. Schmit said the FBI came and asked questions about the situation.\nSchmit said the employee had about 19 or 20 ballots in her possession and the Election Board will consider them provisional ballots and will review them within the next 10 days.\nSchmit said a team of Republicans and Democrats were working together Tuesday night to review the situation. He said the county had signed affidavits in their possession to verify the ballots that needed counted.\n"The FBI and the state police confirmed that the \nadministrative process was in place," Schmit said.\nBursten said that the state police only made a preliminary inquiry into the situation, which they do "quite regularly."\n"At this point, it's been agreed with the Republicans and the Democrats that they will more closely review the ballots that they feel may be an issue sometime tomorrow," Bursten said.\nAfter conceding to Democratic challenger Baron Hill, 9th District Congressional incumbent Mike Sodrel commented on the situation, saying he did not believe the votes in question were enough to make a difference in the final outcome of the race, but that he believed it was important to "preserve democracy for the future of the nation." He added that "stuffing the ballot box" was not the way to do that.\nFranklin Andrew, chairman of the Monroe County Republican Party, said the FBI contacted him Tuesday and told him about the situation.\n"I think she should be ashamed of herself," Andrew said. "But we'll leave all that to the prosecutors, the FBI and the police."\nGlenn Murphy, chairman of the Republican party in Clark County, where Sodrel's campaign waited for the results, said Clark County experienced similar problems Tuesday.\n"That's what we've been finding in Clark County," Murphy said. "That's what we've been trying to protect against."\nSchmit said the woman, who is a temporary employee, was reassigned to another job in the Curry Building after being found with the ballots.\n--Staff writers Michael Reschke, Michael Sanserino and Brian Spegele contributed to this report from Bloomington. Staff writer Paige Ingram contributed from Jeffersonville, Ind.
(11/08/06 2:35am)
The Indiana State Police responded to allegations that a Democratic Monroe County employee was found holding absentee ballots from overseas Tuesday.\nInitial reports from The Associated Press stated that the FBI was conducting an investigation into the matter. County clerk Jim Fielder and Jack Schmit, a Republican Monroe County Election Board member, both said the FBI began an investigation, but Indiana State Police First Sgt. Dave Bursten said the FBI was never involved.\nWendy Osbourne, spokeswoman for the Indianapolis office of the FBI, said she could not confirm or deny whether any investigations were being conducted. The FBI does have jurisdiction over voter fraud allegations, she said.\n"We can't confirm anything until it becomes public record and any arrests are made," Osbourne said.\nSchmit, who is also an IU faculty member, said the Election Board determined the employee had a duplicate key, which she was not authorized to have, to a room in the Curry Building where the ballots were kept. Schmit said the FBI did come and ask questions about the situation.\nSchmit said the employee had about 19 or 20 ballots in her possession and that right now, the Election Board is considering them provisional ballots and will review them within the next 10 days.\nSchmit said a dual team of Republicans and Democrats were working together Tuesday night to review the situation. He said the county had signed affadavits in their possession to verify the ballots that needed counted.\n"The FBI and the state police confirmed that the administrative process was in place," Schmit said.\nBursten said that the state police only made a preliminary inquiry into the situation, which they do "quite regularly."\n"At this point, it's been agreed with the Republicans and the Democrats that they will more closely review the ballots that they feel may be an issue sometime tomorrow," Bursten said.\nFranklin Andrew, chairman of the Monroe County Republican Party, said the FBI contacted him Tuesday and told him about the situation.\n"I think she should be ashamed of herself," Andrew said. "But we'll leave all that to the prosecutors, the FBI and the police."\nGlenn Murphy, chairman of the Republican party in Clark County, where Republican Congressional candidate Mike Sodrel's campaign was waiting for the results, said Clark County experienced similar problems Tuesday.\n"That's what we've been finding in Clark County," Murphy said. "That's what we've been trying to protect against."\nSchmit said the woman, who is a temporary employee, was not given access to the voting process later in the day and was given other work to do in the Curry Building.\nMichael Reschke, Brian Spegele and Michael Sanserino contributed reporting from Bloomington. Paige Ingram contributed reporting from Jeffersonville.
(11/07/06 4:20am)
Bloomington police arrested a woman early Saturday morning for driving at high speeds the wrong way down State Road 37, said Bloomington Police Department Detective Sgt. David Drake.\nAt about 3 a.m. Saturday, the BPD received a call reporting that a vehicle was driving south in the north-bound lane of State Road 37 in the area of Oliver Winery, Drake said, reading from a police report. According to the report, the person who called estimated the car was moving at about 80 miles per hour.\nOfficer Tracy Headley arrived at the scene and witnessed the vehicle traveling the wrong way, Drake said. Headley turned on the police lights on her squad car and drove out to the middle of the street so her car would block both lanes in an attempt to stop the driver. According to the report, the driver did slow down but drove off the roadway to avoid the car.\nDrake said police would not normally use these methods just to initiate a traffic stop, but this situation called for more "extreme measures."\nAnother squad car pulled in front of the vehicle, forcing the driver, Brooke Brown, 23, to stop. According to the report, when Brown exited the car, she had to hold herself up against the vehicle to remain standing. \nBrown's blood alcohol content level tested at 0.20, according to the report. The legal blood alcohol content level in Indiana is .08.\nBrown told officers she started drinking at Kilroy's Bar & Grill on Kirkwood Avenue at about 9:30 p.m., Drake said. Then, at about 12:30 a.m., she decided to go to Indianapolis to drink with her ex-boyfriend but changed her mind and decided to go back to Bloomington.\nDrake said she told police she did not realize she was driving the wrong way.\nPolice also arrested IU student Camille L. Navarro, 24, early Friday morning under similar circumstances. Drake said Navarro was traveling south on Walnut Street, a one-way northbound street, toward a squad car. The officer activated his lights and stopped, but Navarro continued driving toward him, and he had to veer to the right to avoid Navarro, according to the report.\nNavarro's blood alcohol content level tested at 0.17, according to the report.
(11/01/06 4:46am)
An undergraduate science degree is an unusual educational background for an aspiring politician, but state treasurer Republican candidate Richard Mourdock said it's been helpful.\nMourdock said if he is elected, he hopes to work to provide incentives for technology entrepreneurs. For example, he said entrepreneurs researching ethanol could receive help from the state with paying back interest on loans.\nMourdock, who graduated from Ball State with a master's degree in geology, is self-employed as a private consultant in the environmental and energy business.\n"Very simply, new jobs, new wealth, new economy is generated with new technology," Mourdock said. "It's the itty bitty savings that make the difference between technology and deployment."\nIf elected, another of Mourdock's main goals is to implement a statewide reverse-911 system, he said. The idea is that once 911 dispatchers are alerted about a danger in a certain area, people who live in that vicinity would receive a call warning them. \nMourdock points to an incident last November, when 11 people were killed by a tornado at 1 a.m. in Vanderburgh County, where Mourdock lives and twice served as a county commissioner. He said he believes some of these people could possibly have been saved had a reverse-911 system existed at the time.\n"The technology is out there," Mourdock said. "We simply need to find a way to make it happen in various communities."\nAnother one of Mourdock's priorities has to do with Major Moves, the controversial lease of the I-69 toll road. Mourdock said he believes any money made from the project needs to be used for transportation. He wants to make sure politicians from either parties don't use the money for other purposes.\n"It's happened before," Mourdock said. "Our (legislature) has a history of taking people's money, and we can't let that happen."\nMourdock is also supportive of a statewide investment plan that would allow parents to save for their children's college educations tax-free, according to his Web site.\nMourdock said he believes Indiana is on the right track -- thousands of jobs have been created, and the budget is balanced for the first time in eight years -- and promised to keep it moving in that direction.\n"I'm not a bureaucrat. I'm not a patient person," he said. "I'm a guy that wants to see Indiana government keep going the way it has"
(11/01/06 4:39am)
As an IU alumnus, Democratic state treasurer candidate Michael Griffin said he knows what students need.\nOne of Griffin's seven main plans for the office of treasurer involves an option in which future college students, or parents of future college students, could begin a pre-pay plan when the prospective students are young that would go toward funding an education at any state university. Those who participate in the program would then lock in the tuition rates and protect themselves from rising costs.\n"That's becoming an increasing barrier," Griffin said. "As a practical matter, I would have to be honest and say that we have world-class publicly supported universities. \n"I'd even say it about Purdue," he joked.\nGriffin finished his undergraduate work at IU in 1981 with a degree in political science and religious studies. He later went back to IU-Northwest in Gary for his master's of public administration from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He currently works as an adjunct lecturer at IU-Northwest.\nOne of the other main ideas Griffin touts is what he calls "the Griffin Plan," a plan to re-invest money made from Gov. Mitch Daniels' Major Moves toll road project to nearly triple the amount of money Indiana receives.\n"My plan would provide for three times the buying power and five times the investment reduction," Griffin explained.\nGriffin's career in public service began in 1992 when he was first elected clerk-treasurer of Highland, Ind. He has been elected to four consecutive terms and still holds the position. Griffin said the experience is applicable because the duties he performs every day for Highland are similar to the job description of a state treasurer, but on a smaller scale. "I really love that job," Griffin said. "One of the things that has been important to me, one of the ways I've consoled myself, is that I've (realized) I wouldn't be serving the people of Highland any less. I'd actually be serving them differently."\nGriffin said he is one of only seven certified public finance administrators in the state, which means he passed a review of public finance education and experience requirements. Griffin said he believes that if the state of Indiana hired for the job rather than elected for it, they would choose him after a comparison of resumes.\n"I think I'm uniquely equipped to be a servant in that office from day one," he said. "I do have a servant's heart"
(10/31/06 5:31am)
Bloomington police arrested an IU student after he fired a gun at a party early Saturday morning, Bloomington Police Department Capt. Joe Qualters said. \nBobby D. Davis, 21, faces preliminary charges of intimidation with a deadly weapon, a class C felony; criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, a class D felony; and criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.\nBloomington Police Department officers were dispatched to a house in the 100 block of North Roosevelt Street at about 3:30 a.m. Saturday after receiving a report of shots being fired, Qualters said, reading from a police report. When they arrived, people already in the house directed them to Davis, who had no weapon on his person when they searched him.\nDavis told the officers that one of his friends got into a fight in which several people "took him to the ground," so he took a .45-caliber pistol from the waistband of his jeans and fired two rounds into the ceiling, Qualters said. Davis said other people in the house pushed him into the kitchen and took the gun from his hands.\nSeveral witnesses confirmed this story, according to the report.\nQualters said the rounds went through the floor of a second-story bedroom where someone was sleeping on a mattress on the floor. The occupant was unharmed, Qualters said, but told police the rounds hit the floor very near the place where he was \nsleeping.