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(02/01/10 1:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>While in Chicago, graduate student Courtney Valerious was reading posts for jobs in Bloomington on craigslist and came across one that sounded interesting: biking passengers around the city.Valerious said she called the man who owns both the business and the bikes.“I left a message being like, ‘I’m your woman, seriously!’” she said.But Valerious is just one of the students at IU with a somewhat crazy job.Valerious works through an independent contract so the bikers pay a flat rate for the bike and keep the remaining profits, Valerious said. Valerious typically takes Saturday night shifts from 12 to 4 a.m. As a student and assistant coach for the IU women’s rowing team, the late shifts are the only times she said she can fit a job in.“Bar shifts range from Wednesday through Sunday nights,” she said. “I usually take turns swapping back and forth Saturday night with the other guys.”Valerious said she is the only girl in the business and is often mistaken for a guy. However, the owner told her there was a benefit.“Chris told me right off the bat that for some reason women always make more,” she said. “People see me sweating, especially guys, and they offer to get out and push. They see you working hard like that and people really appreciate it.”The job is a challenge, Valerious said. The bike is built for comfort, not speed, she said, and weighs a couple hundred pounds just by itself. “It looks like a circus on wheels,” she said.But when Valerious has a good night, she said it’s exciting.“In one night I was given a can of Spam, a bag of M&M’s and a teddy bear as tips,” she said. “I feel like every night something hysterical happens.”After nights with IU football games, Valerious said she “turns into a shovel,” going back and forth from the tailgating fields to the bars, and people usually end up fighting over her.“It’s usually pretty heartbreaking because you can only fit two people in the back,” she said. “I’ve had groups offer to hang and take their friends two at a time. But the busy nights are busy until at least 3 or 3:30 a.m. If you can go that long and stay busy, it’s usually a good night.”But some students work suppling food before or after others start their night.When an older member of Acacia asked his brothers if anyone wanted to fill a position as a busboy for Alpha Phi sorority, sophomore Matt Ahlberg said he was glad to take the job.“I only work two days a week, basically about four hours,” he said. “I figured it’s free food and extra money on the side.” The sorority hires a staff of seven or eight guys, Ahlberg said.“Working with the sorority, you get to know those girls,” he said. “And you can eat there whenever you want, basically. Living in a fraternity, you don’t get the best food ever. If Acacia has questionable food, I can walk over to Alpha Phi.”Ahlberg said he is saving money by not paying for meals some days. Working at the sorority, he makes the right amount of money so as not to dip into money saved up from the summer. The job is very lenient, Ahlberg said.“For Halloween formal we all dressed up,” he said. “Otherwise it’s not the most exciting job. ... I’ve never spilled on a girl or anything.”Junior Audrey Stone said she works the late shift twice a week at Jimmy John’s on Kirkwood. She said she does not get to pick her shifts, but doesn’t have class on Fridays and would stay up until 4 or 5 a.m. anyway.“It can be fun,” she said. “Tonight this really obnoxious girl was in here. She kept trying to give me a bracelet for day old bread then laughed for 20 minutes.”During her shift, Stone said people pass out frequently in the restaurant. One night, she said two girls tried to carry a friend and she wiped out in front of the door, forgot her shoes and lost her wallet.“The job’s really easy,” Stone said. “I know what I’m doing, and it can be fun.”
(01/26/10 4:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Being healthy is about moderation for freshman Quincy Masur. Masur has never tried a specific diet, such as Weight Watchers or the Atkins diet.Instead, she said she relies on making healthy choices when deciding which foods to eat and cutting out fried foods, fats and sugars.“I feel like a lot of diets take it to the extremes,” Masur said. “I try healthy eating habits instead of something ridiculous like the cabbage diet. When people have to count calories or weigh food, it’s not realistic.”A new research report titled “When weight management lasts: Lower perceived rule complexity increases adherence” looked at food decision-making and the complexity of two particular dietary measures, said Jutta Mata, a post-doctoral researcher at Stanford University.Mata said she proposed the study as part of her dissertation.Peter Todd, informatics professor at IU, and Sonia Lippke, assistant professor in the Department of Health Psychology at Free University of Berlin, assisted Mata in the study.“No one had ever looked at that subject before,” Mata said. “In dieting, you have rules; very explicit decision rules about eating. If you don’t try to control your intake, you eat whatever’s in front of you.”She said the researchers hypothesized that if people perceive a diet’s rules as less complex, they are more likely to stay on the diet.The study compared the dieting behavior of women following two different plans, Weight Watchers and Brigitte, and found the hypothesis to be correct, Mata said.The researchers recruited women on different diets from online discussion groups, Todd said.“The long-term success of different weight management programs should be measured not just in terms of direct weight loss, but also, as here, in terms of how long people stick to their program,” the report said. “Designing weight management rules that can be adhered to for a long period or an entire lifetime – including by making rules that are not perceived as being too complex – could help limit the spread of overweight and obesity.”While willpower by dieters plays an important role in the research, Mata said complexity of the diet is the main factor in how long a person will stick with it.When choosing a new diet, Mata said people should first look at the rules and think about how complicated they are.“If they already think the rules are complex, they shouldn’t go on that diet,” she said.Todd said the important thing is not just getting the weight off, but keeping it off. If a dieter quits early, he said, he or she is less likely to keep off the weight.“The next step would be to actually design some diets that have different complexities,” he said. “Then get people to follow the diets and see if they stick to them.”
(01/20/10 3:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Instead of waiting in endless lines at T.I.S Bookstore at the beginning of each semester behind other last-minute shoppers, freshman Meredith Grubbs said she chooses to buy her textbooks online. “I Google the ISB number, then buy the cheapest book,” she said. “I can compare them on the computer instead of going to different stores.” If she knows someone looking to buy a book she no longer needs, Grubbs said she can get more money by selling to another student instead of selling back to a store.Textyard.com, a Web site created by two IU students two years ago, offers students an easier way to buy and sell textbooks directly to each other, said junior Ben Greenberg, co-founder of Textyard. The site, which allows students to search for textbooks by class number, has recently expanded outside of Indiana to universities in Illinois and other surrounding states, he said.“Our plan is to be in most states around the country by next fall,” Greenberg said. “Right now, we’re expanding to all schools with more than 20,000 people that attend them.”When students use the site to search for books, Greenberg said they can also see Amazon prices.“Students save money either way,” he said.Last semester, Greenberg said about 300 people at IU and IU-Purdue University Indianapolis used the Web site, and he estimates that twice as many students use it currently.While the site currently only offers books to buy, Greenberg said they might look into adding rentals in the future.Freshman Tasha Dykes said she used the IU Bookstore to purchase her textbooks this semester, but next semester will be different. After hearing a friend tell her about Chegg.com, she said she has decided to try renting her books. “I’m not going to keep the books,” she said. “I’m not going to read them later. I know if I sell them back to the bookstore, I don’t get much money back.”Jeff Cohen, CEO of campusbooks.com, said the company launched textbookrenter.com, a textbook rental price comparison Web site, in November 2009.The site brings five rental Web sites to one location, he said, and helps students understand the policy of each company.“We felt students needed a place to understand the options available,” he said. “You can compare prices and conditions and can see what other people say about the companies as well.”Renting textbooks allows students to take the discount up front, Cohen said. However, it is not for everyone. Students who write or highlight obsessively in their textbooks might prefer to buy them, he said, as well as students who need the books for a subsequent semester.“I think we help explain the rental market,” Cohen said. “We help students decide to rent or buy. A rental company is trying to sell you their book. We provide an objective view.”Though there are many options online to rent or buy textbooks, freshman Amal Akbik said she finds using the bookstore easier.“I look them up online first,” she said. “If I can actually see the book, I know I’m getting the right one.”
(01/19/10 1:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU’s public broadcasting stations WFIU and WTIU are looking for ways to reduce expenses after becoming the latest victims of the state’s newest round of budget cuts.Due to a $1.6 million reduction announced Jan. 7, Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations will not receive their third or fourth quarter distributions from the state, totaling $200,000 for the IU stations. WFIU, IU’s public radio station, will lose $30,000 and WTIU, IU’s public television station, will lose $170,000.Perry Metz, general manager for Radio and Television Services, said both broadcasting stations will first look at reducing professional travel, limiting part-time employment, postponing equipment purchases and curtailing local productions to offset the budget cuts.“The stations have a large number of academic partnerships with schools on campus,” he said. “The cut limits what we can do to produce programming in cooperation with those schools.”The stations employ 75 to 100 students a year, Phil Meyer, station manager for WTIU, said. Though the number of students who volunteer or participate in a work-study program will not change, he said some part-time hours will be reduced.“When cutting more than $200,000 after the year is half over and most of the budget is in salaries, it calls into question how much of that we can do,” Metz said.Sophomore Robert Rossman, who began a work-study program at WFIU in September 2008, said opportunities for creative production will be lessened due to the cut.“The ability to do new, cool things will be limited,” he said. “And I would assume there might be less internships.”Christina Kuzmych, station manager and program director at WFIU, said if the cuts force the stations to cut back on full-time personnel, students who intern will fail to benefit from their teachings.“It has always been our philosophy to preserve as much as possible of our full-time staff,” she said. “If we start cutting the staff, we’ll have to start cutting local programs soon and then you don’t have a local radio station.“Public broadcasting is very important to the state of Indiana,” said Kuzmych. “More and more education is through the media.”Station employees understand the state’s budget problems; however, Kuzmych said it appears public broadcasting has been singled out in the cuts.“It looks like they proposed a 10 percent cut to other state agencies,” she said. “But at the same time they’re cutting public broadcasting 50 percent.”State support makes up 3 percent of WFIU’s funds. Kuzmych said the funds chiefly pay for coverage of news initiatives such as coverage of the 2008 presidential election in Indiana.Meyer said state support is higher at WTIU.“It has more impact on the TV side,” he said.State funding for WTIU helps sponsor their children’s series and outreach for day care providers, Meyer said. The funding goes toward helping children learn to read and do other activities related to the television shows, he said.In a February 2009 budget proposal by Daniels, he suggested zeroing out state funding of public broadcasting. But both legislative houses agreed they wanted to keep public broadcasting in the budget with relatively stable funding, Metz said.“If they cut our entire budget, it would surely impact what the public gets out of public radio and unduly deprive Indiana listeners from information they need to get,” Kuzmych said.
(12/14/09 3:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will speak to IU graduates at winter commencement about what they can accomplish through hard work and perseverance.The University will also present Gates, who earned a master’s degree from IU, with an honorary doctoral degree during the ceremony.“At commencement, oftentimes we get to bring back people who serve as an example of what people can achieve with an IU degree,” IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said.The University Faculty Council established a policy used to govern who receives the degrees, said Erika Dowell, president of the Bloomington Faculty Council.According to the policy, “by awarding honorary degrees to women and men of such outstanding qualities, the University seeks to present to its several constituencies veritable models worthy of emulation and respect.” IU President Michael McRobbie likes for students to hear from the receiver of the honorary degree, MacIntyre said. He therefore invites the recipient of the degree to give the commencement address.“The council tends to nominate distinguished individuals, which would make them appropriate commencement speakers,” Dowell said.IU history professor David Ransel nominated Gates for the honorary degree.“The conferral of an honorary doctoral degree on Robert Gates would bring great credit and positive attention to Indiana University and its highly ranked programs in the Russian and East European Institute and the Department of History,” Ransel said in his nomination letter.Senior Miles Taylor worked in the Secretary of Defense office in the European/NATO section after his freshman year at IU.He said he saw Gates in meetings and events every few weeks.“It was very clear that Gates was a very deliberate man,” Taylor said. “He is a person who engages intimately with his job on both intelligent and emotional level.”Gates has served in his current office since Dec. 18, 2006, and is the first Secretary of Defense to retain his position for two presidential administrations.Gates, originally from Kansas, received a bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary, a master’s degree from IU and a doctorate from Georgetown University.While at IU, Gates was recruited by the CIA, where he worked for 27 years. He was on the National Security Council for nine years and served presidents from both political parties, according to a biography on the U.S. Department of Defense Web site. He served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1991 to 1993 and is the only career officer in the history of the CIA to rise from entry-level employee to director, according to the biography.In 1996, he published his memoir “From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War.”“I have known Robert Gates for decades,” said Lee Hamilton, an IU law school alumnus and former U.S. representative from Indiana. “He is highly competent, very professional, an excellent person to work with and quite willing to look at other views.”Hamilton said he thinks Gates has performed in a highly professional and competent way in every job he has had and believes his time at IU has significantly helped him as an individual.“I was immensely pleased when they chose him,” Hamilton said. “I am sure the University will welcome him in appropriate ways, and I hope the students do as well.”
(12/08/09 5:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU President Michael McRobbie announced Friday a new $10 million venture capital fund, called the Innovate Indiana Fund, which aims to help in the development of innovations and technologies generated at IU.“The fund is being established to translate technology, and really knowledge, into actual products and services,” said Steve Chaplin, assistant managing editor for the Office of University Communications. “Things like medical devices and testing tools for education.”The fund will empower researchers to move their work out of the lab and to the marketplace, Chaplin said.It will allow faculty members who have been talking about a product venture for years see it become a realization, Chaplin said.Anthony Armstrong, president and CEO of the IU Research and Technology Corporation, said he thinks the fund will allow the University to assist in producing or researching some of the technologies that have a difficult time finding funding. It will also help faculty members make their businesses more valuable, he said.“More likely these technologies will benefit people around the state and around the world,” he said.A board has been created to review applicants requesting money to support their ventures, Chaplin said. The six members of the board will review applications, rank and review them, then meet with the applicants to discuss what the money will be used for, he said.“The board decides which are best for the University and best for personal opportunity,” Chaplin said.The board will begin releasing the funds early next year, Chaplin said.Armstrong, who is serving as a member on the board, said they are already evaluating some of the opportunities that have been presented by faculty members. He said he expects to see a wide range of applicants with ventures ranging from life sciences to information technology. The board has already seen one applicant interested in developing a new type of medical device that evaluates kidney function, he said.Chaplin said the board is looking to invest the $10 million during the next five years and receive some returns out of it.Armstrong said he does not think there is any set amount per year or per quarter that the board will grant to applicants.“It depends on the quality of the deals and how much they’re asking for,” he said.The money gathered to initiate the fund came from a combination of donors and other funding generated through commercial efforts in the past, Armstrong said.“It tells faculty and researchers ‘we’re here to support you,’” Chaplin said.
(12/07/09 4:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels announced a 6 percent cut in higher education funding across the state on Friday.The call for the current decrease, which is about $150 million, came after state revenue for November fell $144 million short of a May forecast. So far this fiscal year, Indiana is $475 million below projections.Now the state is looking to the seven public universities to help offset some of that shortfall.The state’s Commission for Higher Education will decide during the next 30 days what the spending cuts will include at each school.It is not clear yet how the cut will affect IU, MacIntyre said.“Still, given what is going on, that’s a relatively small amount,” IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said.IU has already received a 4.5 percent cut in total state operating appropriations for fiscal year 2010 and another 1.5 percent for fiscal year 2011, a total of $29.3 million, according to the IU 2009-10 Budget Proposal to the Trustees of IU by President Michael McRobbie.The state’s efforts to reduce its spending, including a 10 percent cut to state agencies announced last month, are aimed to preserve the $1.3 billion surplus from the start of the fiscal year in July.This is not the first time recently IU has had to respond to a decrease in state funding.During the summer, IU received a 4.5 percent cut for this fiscal year and a 1.5 percent cut for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.IU responded by freezing salaries and increasing tuition by almost 5 percent for the current and next school years. Daniels also announced there will be a new revenue forecast on Dec. 15.Presidents and administrators at the seven public universities will be working with the state’s higher education commission in the coming days.“While many of these changes are being driven by current fiscal realities, our challenge is to achieve permanent cost savings, not simply short-term relief,” said Teresa Lubbers, commissioner on higher education funding, in a press release.McRobbie responded to news of the cuts Friday morning with a statement.“We have been asked by state officials to work closely with them in determining how these cuts will be allocated among the state’s public institutions of higher education, and we will certainly do so,” McRobbie said in the statement. MacIntyre said IU understands the difficult circumstances of the current economy and appreciates the governor’s hold on cutting higher education as long as he could.McRobbie stressed the vital role IU plays in the life of the state.“Our faculty, staff and students have made great strides in moving this institution forward in recent years, and it is vital to the state, as well as to Indiana University, that we are able to preserve and build on these gains,” he said.
(12/07/09 4:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The third H1N1 vaccination clinic will begin today and continue through Wednesday. In addition to already reserved spaces, 860 extra vaccines will be distributed on Tuesday and Wednesday, said Steve Chaplin, assistant managing editor for the Office of University Communications.“That’s not enough to open another day,” he said. “It’s easier to make those extra available in the scheduled time frame.”Hugh Jessop, director of the IU Health Center, said the center received 8,900 doses of the vaccine right before Thanksgiving and opened the second clinic on Wednesday last week. People who had reserved spaces for Wednesday of weeks one and two were told to come in to receive the shot.“The state realized how well we did with the first clinic, so they gave us more vaccines,” Jessop said. “They called us since then and asked us if we need more.”Jessop said when the organizers of the clinic saw how smoothly the distribution went, they decided to include more people on each day of the clinic, also opening up additional spots.“I think they’re doing twice as many per hour and still getting people out of there in 10 minutes or less,” Chaplin said.Today’s clinic will distribute the vaccinations to people who reserved spaces on Monday of weeks two and three, Jessop said. Tuesday the vaccinations will be distributed to those that signed up for Tuesday of weeks one and two, and those that signed up for Wednesday of week three, as well as the extra spaces that people can still reserve, will be given on Wednesday.Reported H1N1 cases have lessened, Jessop said, but the virus has not gone away completely. The health center has seen about 1,600 reported cases since the start of the semester, he said, but there is still a large pool of people that could get the virus.“By the time we get to March, it will be a full year that the virus has been around,” Jessop said. “Ninety-five percent of our students haven’t had the disease. In the past, we didn’t have the vaccine. Now, if you make an appointment for Tuesday, you know you’re getting it on Tuesday.”The vaccine is free to all eligible IU students, faculty and staff, and the entire process takes less than 10 minutes to get through, Jessop said.“Clearly there’s no problem getting in,” he said. “But you do have to have an appointment. People walk in with the reservation in their hands and the only time they sit down is to get the shot.”
(12/02/09 5:00am)
Upon walking into the East Lounge in the Indiana Memorial Union,
students are greeted with two gleaming Christmas trees and other
holiday decorations. Wreaths hang on nearly every door in the building,
and decorations hang from the ceiling in the Market.
(12/01/09 4:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Oscar-nominated screenwriter and producer Angelo Pizzo learned to make movies in a vicarious way, reading more than 1,000 scripts before writing his first.“After six years I realized I envy the people who are out doing it,” Pizzo said. “So I went out and wrote ‘Hoosiers.’”Pizzo, who also wrote the sports-underdog movie “Rudy,” spoke to students about his career Monday night at the Indiana Memorial Union.The Career Development Center and Arts and Sciences Career Services sponsored the event, which drew about 25 people. Pizzo spoke for about an hour, including questions from the audience.Pizzo grew up in Bloomington and graduated from IU with a degree in political science. Two years later he attended film school at the University of Southern California. He said his break came when he filled out a questionnaire on campus.“They asked me to be a contestant on a game show,” Pizzo said. “They paid $5 a show. After the show, I was asked to go to work writing questions for the game show.”Pizzo said he made connections through the show and landed an internship for the final season of the Mary Tyler Moore show. Wes Erwin, senior assistant director for employer relations at the center, said it put together a program called “Art Works,” which connects students with professionals in creative industries.“Basically, we invite speakers on our own,” he said. “I’m a big fan of Pizzo’s work. The point of the event is to hear career paths from industries that aren’t usually hit on in other networking nights.”From someone he met at the internship, Pizzo received an opportunity to become a producer’s assistant and dropped out of film school to pursue the career.Books about writing screenplays get in the way, Pizzo said. If people want to be writers or directors, they should just go do it.“If you’re trying to write three-dimensional characters, then the best kind of writing comes from the inside out,” he said.Pizzo said his writing process is all screwed up.“Usually, I’m tortured when I’m writing,” he said. “A friend once said, ‘How did my life turn into a perpetual term paper due?’”Pizzo said he is mostly hired now to write scripts. Pizzo said four of five of his closest friends edit them and then he sends them to the person who hired him.“My feeling’s the same after every script,” he said. “I’m terrified.”Junior Candace Tickle said she was impressed with his talk and did not expect Pizzo to advise students to go out and make movies.“That’s the best way to get it seen,” she said. “I used to write, and now I want to go home and start up again.”
(11/30/09 4:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Everyone has a story, said Steve Gilbert, a bus driver for Bloomington Transit.“I’ve gotten to know one of the beggars who works on a corner,” Gilbert said. “This guy is a Desert Storm vet. Marines taught him how to kill, and they also taught him how to drink. Once in a while I’ll do something nice. I want them to know I’m not going to ignore them.“Living with your eyes wide open and with integrity is something more people need to do.”Gilbert, known to his co-workers as “Steve-O,” said December will mark his one-year anniversary of working for Bloomington Transit. A semi-retired creative professional, Gilbert said he attended film school before majoring in graphic design and commercial art at the University of Cincinnati.“My professional history was about 28 years,” he said. “I’ve probably got 300 minutes of commercials on my reel. I’ve got boxes of awards that someday I’ll hang in my bathroom.”Gilbert said he likes to mix up his driving schedule so he does not get complacent.Tom Schroeder, a fellow bus driver, said he also likes variety. Drivers’ schedules change each semester, Schroeder said, and they get to choose what schedule they want based on seniority.Schroeder has been driving for Bloomington Transit for nearly eight years and said he has been with the company long enough that he cannot use the “I didn’t know” excuse anymore.Currently, Schroeder said he drives the Route 4 bus on Monday, the Route 7 on Wednesday and Thursday and the Route 1 on Friday.“It’s not the same street I look at every day,” he said. “Not all drivers like variety. If they have seniority, some drivers stay on the Route 3 forever.”Gene Reed, who has been driving for Bloomington Transit for more than five years, said he prefers to drive the Route 6 bus every day. Reed said the route deals with college students, which he enjoys.“I would rather have students on the bus than not anybody,” he said. “Once in a while, I leave Smallwood without anybody on the bus.”Arben Cherisha sticks with the same route for a different reason. Cherisha said he has been driving for almost three years and chooses the Night Owl shift every semester. He attends classes at Ivy Tech Community College, building his class schedule mainly on the first three days of the week.“It’s a big sacrifice, but I have to go through it,” he said.Cherisha said he already has a degree in mechanical engineering from a university in Albania, but it is not valid in the United States. He said he is now working toward a degree in public affairs.The Night Owl bus differs from other bus routes because drivers have to rely on different skills, Cherisha said. Driving at night requires more attention than driving during the day and also requires drivers to change sleeping patterns, he said.“Because the hours are different, people are performing different activities,” Cherisha said. “We have more people frequenting clubs, bars, restaurants, theaters – but most importantly, we have a lot of students studying late at night.”Cherisha said he handles different situations from tired drivers to individuals riding the bus that have been out “enjoying the evening.”“Actually, ‘Night Owl’ might not be the right title for the bus,” he said. “I might say the ‘Night Care’ for students because I have the greatest sympathy for students I see studying late nights or taking the bus at 3 a.m. and they’re still going to their first class in the morning. It’s amazing to see young boys and girls committed to their education.”Reed said he also noticed a distinct difference between passengers in the morning compared to those in the afternoon. Most of the early-morning riders are female, he said, and guys tend to come out and get on the bus around 10 or 11 a.m.Conversations with passengers are discouraged, Schroeder said, so drivers can focus on their job. However, Schroeder said he has had some interesting interactions with passengers. One man he spoke with was an archery expert in the military, he said.Schroeder said he has learned that if you try to be nice to people all the time, everything runs smoother. Drivers want people to use the bus, he said, so they want to create a favorable impression.“What really annoys me is when I make a mistake,” he said. “It gets to be where I don’t even hear the chime anymore. I say I’m sorry and pull over. What else can you do?”The bus can teach passengers how to keep their composure and move through their day in a graceful way, Gilbert said. It also teaches them how to appreciate a good breath of air when they get off the bus, he said.“There are a hundred stories in every little city,” he said. “People should ride the transit first and see the community through those links.”
(11/30/09 2:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With a stack of index cards, junior Ashley Thomas sat in her residence hall working on the storyboard for the all-student production, “Only Human.” On the front of each card, a pencil sketch depicts the camera angle of one particular shot in one scene of the film. The scene and shot numbers are written on the back.Thomas and two other storyboard artists each drew more than 300 storyboards in preparation for the film.“It’s a lot of framing and knowing what’s going to be in the scene,” she said. “You have to have that eye for it. It’s all got to be in your mind.”Though the three artists lack experience in storyboarding, Thomas said it helps to get a new perspective on filming.“Filming has a tendency to become redundant,” she said. “People not in film have a completely different set of ideas.”Majoring in photography, Thomas said she has never done storyboarding before but wanted to expand her skills outside of fine arts. She said she heard an announcement about getting involved in the Bloomington Artists Agency, a student-run production and management company, at a networking night she attended and became involved in the “Only Human” production from there.Each scene of the film is broken up into shots, Thomas said. The three storyboard artists were assigned several scenes based on how many shots the scene contained, she said.“One person did not get a great deal more,” Thomas said. “Everybody does a mix of all of them.”The storyboard artists for the film went to separate meetings with the production team to discuss each shot they were assigned, said fellow storyboard artist and junior Cristina Vanko, who is also an illustrator for the Indiana Daily Student.“They would argue over the scenes,” she said, “and listen to everybody’s thoughts.”Vanko added that the producer makes the final decision, and most of the drawings are simpler than what people might expect.“You don’t need as much detail as you think you need,” she said. “I just used pencil and cardboard, nothing fancy. If I did, I’d probably still be working on them.”Vanko said she received an e-mail from a fine arts adviser and attended the first call-out meeting for “Only Human.” Interested in comics, Vanko said she decided to get involved because storyboarding is the closest thing to comics offered on campus.Vanko said the main difference between storyboard drawing and drawing for a fine arts class is students do not get the chance to make things up while they are drawing in the classes.“You get to be a little more creative with storyboarding,” she said. “You’re not just drawing an apple in front of you.”Storyboard artist and junior Alysha Balog, who is studying graphic design and is interested in comic book drawing, said she received an e-mail from an academic adviser about the call-out meeting for the film. Before the film, Balog said her only storyboarding experience came from a three-minute project she did for a class.Storyboards help actors, directors and others involved in the film get on the same page, Balog said.“They focus the film a lot,” she said. “It makes it easier for actors to see what looks they’re going for.”The cards are similar to a miniature version of what the crew is going to be seeing, Thomas said. However, the shots might still change during the filming of the scenes, she said.“I didn’t realize how much it would help,” she said. “It’s not like just anyone can draw a scene – you have to include every detail in the background. It takes artistic ability to envision and recreate the scene.”
(11/19/09 6:58pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A line extended from the door of the Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union Wednesday as students waited to see the advance screening of “When in Rome,” a romantic comedy set to release on January 29.“I’ve never seen a movie here before,” said sophomore Abbie Oakley. “It looked like a good opportunity. You get to see the movie before everyone else.”In the movie, Kristen Bell plays Beth, a workaholic down on her luck in love. On a trip to Rome for her younger sister’s wedding, Beth steals five coins from an alleged fountain of love and is then pursued by the five guys who originally owned them.Josh Duhamel, Dax Shepard, Will Arnett, Jon Heder and Danny Devito play the parts of the five pursuers.Senior Audree Notoras, film director for the Union Board, said movie distributors contact the board two or three weeks before they would like to screen the film.“Our general philosophy is that some student is going to want to see it,” Notoras said. “And you can brag to friends that you got to see it before it hit theaters.”Most of the advance screenings fill the auditorium, Notoras said, however, less popular genres tend to leave the theater with empty seats.“Usually it’s at least half full,” she said. “But there are many times when we have to turn people away.”Notoras said she thought “When in Rome” was a great cheesy comedy.“I laughed throughout it,” she said. “I thought the sister’s wedding was really funny, the way the two main characters met. The rest was a little over the top, but good.”Junior Kristen Kolar, a campus employee for AMP Agency, handed out surveys asking students questions such as “who was your favorite character?” to get the initial idea of what people are thinking about the film.“We send them to Touchstone or Disney,” she said. “They take viewers comments to possibly change it.”Senior Rachel Elman said she thought the movie was cute. She said she heard about the advance screening through the Union Board and was interested in the film.“It’s always fun to see a sneak preview,” she said. “I loved all of the scenes from Rome.”
(11/19/09 5:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Health food based restaurant Kiva, located on the lobby level of the Indiana Memorial Union below Burger King, will close on Dec. 11 for finals week to begin renovations, said Steve Mangan, general manager of Dining Services at the IMU.Kiva will undergo interior renovation, update its menu and eventually add a patio. The restaurant normally closes during finals week because of a lack of business, Mangan said, and will reopen after the renovation is completed around the end of January.“We just think it’s tired,” he said. “It needs an update. We want to build a focus on fresh, local, sustainably produced products, and it’s time to do it.”Mangan said improvements to the restaurant will include changing the wall treatments, enhancing lighting and upgrading buffets, service equipment, tables and chairs. With the improvements, the flow of service will be smoother, he said. Employees will be able to prepare foods quicker and serve customers more efficiently, he said.Along with the reconstruction, Mangan said Kiva will also include new, healthy items. A goal of the renovations is to create a connection between Kiva and Sugar & Spice, which now offers more local and organic products, Mangan said.“We want to keep those salad bars stocked and healthy,” he said, “and focus on the vegetarian menu that we’ve had down there.”Construction on the patio will start in the spring, Mangan said. The current plan is to take out the row of bushes in front of the windows facing Dunn Meadow, he said, and put in a large concrete pad.“We’re trying to increase the traffic off the Woodlawn bus stop and bring students into Kiva, Burger King and Starbucks,” he said.Senior Danielle White said the changes are not going to affect her. White said she only eats at the restaurant once in a while because of high prices.“I think it will be positive,” she said. “If I eat here in the spring, I usually take it outside anyway. The patio will make it easier to study out there.”Though Kiva will not be accessible for a few weeks, Mangan said he thinks the improvements will make up for the weeks the restaurant is closed.“We’ve got some great foods available other places in the building,” he said. “I think the work will be well received when it’s done.”Junior Carrie Coon said she eats at Kiva almost every day and thinks the improvements will be good for the restaurant.“I don’t know how they can get much healthier,” she said. “I think in the long run it will improve business.”
(11/17/09 5:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It was the first and only day of the IU Health Center immunization clinic for the H1N1 virus, and IU alumna Samantha Gonzalez sat in a chair at Assembly Hall waiting for her reserved time to receive the vaccine.Gonzalez signed up for an 11 a.m. time slot on the first day of the first week of the clinic. Gonzalez said she works at the Campus Children’s Center and usually starts at noon. However, she was asked to come into work early that day.“I got here at 9:30 hoping they started the clinic at 9,” she said. “I felt like one of those silly women on the news, showing up so early.”The health center received 980 shots from the Indiana State Department of Health, enough to open up the first day of the clinic on Monday, said Steve Chaplin, assistant managing editor for the Office of University Communications.“We have no idea when or how many more we’ll get,” he said. “We want to distribute them when they’re available, as soon as they’re available.”By 10:45 a.m., more than 25 people had lined up waiting to receive the shot.Three stations were set up at the clinic in the front of the South Entrance at Assembly Hall: a ticket station, a consent form station and a vaccination station.IU students and staff members arriving at their registered time went through the first two stations before standing in a roped line to wait for an available nurse. Five tables were set up with a nurse at each one.Betsy Jones, a nurse at the clinic, said she used to work for the IU Health Center for years.“I give the shots,” she said. “And if they have any questions, I can answer them. I give the shots and comfort, for the nervous ones.”Jones said she expected as many people to show up to the clinic as shots available. Everybody has been waiting for the shots for so long, she said, that she imagined she would be busy all day.As the first group of people began to arrive, Jones set up her table, lining up the shots and opening the Band-Aids.“It’s just more efficient,” she said. “People have to get back to class, have to get back to their lives. They don’t have time to wait for me to open a Band-Aid.”Elisha Hardy, a first-year master’s student, said a professor sent an e-mail telling his class to sign up for the vaccine.“Being a master’s student, I have zero free time,” she said. “I can’t get sick.”Hardy said she was a little scared to get the shot.“Some people say it’s new so you shouldn’t get it,” Hardy said. “It’s a risk either way. I just decided it’s worth the risk.”Nurses began administering the shots about 10 minutes before 11 a.m. Gonzalez left the building a few minutes later.“It was fine,” Gonzalez said. “It was really hardly even a stick. I expected it to burn a little, but it was fine.”
(11/06/09 5:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Final exams, friend problems and stress about plans for the next school year upset Abby Borger as she walked, crying, down the overcast, polluted streets of Nanjing, China last year.On her way to unwind at an art museum, the overcast sky suddenly cleared and a flaky snow began to fall. Borger looked up and saw a Chinese monk walking toward her.Neither the monk nor Borger said a word, but when they passed, he handed her a gold-plated card. A little smaller than a playing card, it had a picture of Guanyin Pusa, the Buddha of compassion, on one side and a blessing written in Chinese on the other.“After that moment, I decided to convert to Buddhism,” Borger said. “Like, right there in the middle of the street.”The card now lies in a music shop in Tibet with the other belongings Borger left behind when she was asked to leave the country.Borger, a senior in the Individualized Major Program with a minor in Tibetan studies, asked that her name be changed for her own safety. She planned to study overseas at Tibet University in Lhasa this fall semester.Borger said she arrived in Lhasa about a year after she arrived in China and moved into the dorms at Tibet University on Aug. 28.Classes began on Sept. 16, a Wednesday. The next day, she went to renew her expired visa and was told that all foreign visitors were going to be asked to leave before Oct. 1, as the government expected outbreaks of violence during the 60th anniversary of Chairman Mao Zedong’s and the People’s Republic of China’s rise to power.“Oct. 1 is sort of like America’s Fourth of July,” said Gedun Rabsal, a Tibetan language lecturer at IU. “They want to celebrate peacefully and without interruptions. And if there are interruptions, they don’t want foreigners to see.”On Oct. 18, Borger finally arrived back in Bloomington, missing some personal items but, instead, possessing a story she feels others need to hear.“Basically, I’ve seen more than the Chinese government knows that I’ve seen,” she said.Borger witnessed beatings of monks and other natives on an almost daily basis in Lhasa.“It’s a good thing I got out of there alive and in one piece,” she said. “I didn’t want to see my friends dying.”***Five days after Borger heard of the ruling from the visa office, Tibet University informed her that classes would be canceled beginning the next day and students would need to find their own ways out of the country, she said.She obtained a temporary visa and caught a train to Lanzhou, China on Sept. 28, three days before the celebration was to occur.“In the three months before I got back to the states, I spent about a fifth of my time on trains, planes, buses and backs of trucks with loads of barley and sheep,” she said. “The only thing crazy enough to follow me around is my violin.”After traveling by two trains and a plane, Borger found herself in Thailand for two weeks, waiting to hear if the situation cleared up in Lhasa.She tried to contact her friends from Lhasa while in Thailand. Their phones would ring the first time she called, she said, but no one would answer. On subsequent attempts, it would say the line was disconnected.Borger said she is now on the Chinese government’s watch list. While in Thailand, she said she tried to send an e-mail about her experience to her family and friends. The e-mail bounced back three times, she said, and she could not access her school account for three weeks. After a friend in China eventually received her message, Borger said her friend’s phone was shut down for the rest of the day.“If people in Tibet are known to have contact with me, they might disappear,” she said.Two days after Oct. 1, Borger said the Chinese government reported at least 200 people had died in Urumqi, a city north of Tibet.“Basically what I know is this,” she said. “These four Tibetans were convicted this past week and publicly executed. Come Oct. 1, many people died when they came out to protest. It happens every year around this time.”The Chinese government cracked down on security in Tibet after demonstrations that took place on March 10 of last year, said Elliot Sperling, associate professor of Tibetan studies. The date marked the 49th anniversary of a mass protest in 1959, which eventually culminated in the capitol of Lhasa, where hundreds of thousands of people surrounded the Dalai Lama’s palace to protect him from danger. The demonstrations spread across the plateau and ultimately exploded into violence.The protests received worldwide coverage when journalists located in China to cover the Olympics spoke about the violence taking place, Sperling said.“March 10 has always been sensitive,” he said. “Tibet is under tremendously tight security this year. And if there is violence, they don’t want foreigners to see it.”In February of this year, Borger said she spent the Chinese New Year with the family of a doctor in Xiahe, China. The people of Tibet did not formally celebrate the holiday, she said, in order to honor those who were murdered during the 2008 demonstrations and those who died in an earthquake that occurred a few months previous to the celebration.Foreigners were not allowed in the city at the time, Borger said, and she was not permitted to leave the doctor’s house. Three days after New Year’s, Borger said she left the family so as not to bring them harm. She wore Tibetan clothing and a scarf shielded her entire face except her eyes, which she hid beneath brown contact lenses. Borger said she disguised herself in order to make it out of the city to a bus station unharmed.Borger arrived at the bus safely, but as it pulled out of the station, she said she saw three Tibetan men being tossed into the street from a police station. Afraid she was going to throw up the tea the family had given her, she watched as five policemen beat the men with sticks and broken bottles. By the time the bus left the station, blood covered the ground and the three men were not moving.“Do I want to be here for a full year?” Borger remembers asking herself. “I don’t know if I can handle this.”Looking back, Borger’s time in Tibet and China had many ups and downs. She found religion, she said, but she also saw acts of violence that will stay with her for the rest of her life.“For someone in my position, a 20-year-old white girl from Chicago, that’s tough for me to deal with. ... Tibet has cured me, and it has broken me.”
(11/06/09 5:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>An online program allowing students and employees to reserve a time slot to receive the free H1N1 vaccine will be accessible through OneStart beginning Friday, said Pete Grogg, associate director of the IU Health Center.Anyone affiliated with IU can reserve a day and time for Week 1 or 2 of the clinic, which will be at Assembly Hall, Grogg said. However, the exact date the clinic will start is undecided.“The vaccine is trickling in,” he said. “We have small amounts, but not enough to schedule a mass vaccination clinic.”Access to the program can be found through the IU Health Center Web site or through OneStart, Grogg said, but the easiest way to find it is through the IU- Bloomington homepage. An icon advertising the program will be located on the left side of the www.iub.edu site, he said.Once people click on the icon, the site will take them directly to the eligibility page of the program. If someone has a serious allergy to eggs, has had a serious reaction to another flu vaccine or has experienced Guillain-Barre Syndrome – an immune disorder that affects the nervous system – he or she will not be eligible for the vaccine.The health center requires anyone receiving the vaccine to fill out an H1N1 Influenza Vaccine Consent Form and bring it with them to the chosen time, Grogg said, along with a reservation ticket they will receive through e-mail immediately after signing up.People will be able to choose a 10-minute time slot. During each available time slot, four or five nurses will administer the shots, Grogg said. The clinic will dispense about 960 shots a day and 120 per hour, he said.“We anticipate around 3,000 people a week,” Grogg said. “But we can either expand or contract the clinic based on the supply we receive.”Once the administrators at the health center know when the vaccine will arrive, Grogg said everyone registered through the program will receive an e-mail reminding each individual of their time and to bring the consent form and the reservation ticket.“The most important part of the program is making sure everyone reads the screen and does not breeze through it,” he said. WHO IS ELIGIBLE?• Pregnant women• Households with children younger than six months of age• Students and employees through age 24• Health care and emergency medical services personnel• People 25 to 64 with a chronic medical condition that creates a higher risk for complications MORE INFO Sign up at OneStart or follow the link at www.iub.edu.
(11/03/09 5:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy had it’s own place in Lt. Dan Choi’s home. After telling his sister he was gay, she told Choi maybe he should wait to tell their parents. Maybe until they die.“I told my mom because she was so annoying,” Choi said. “Literally, she asked me every five minutes, ‘When you marry Korean girl?’ She would say, ‘What do you want for breakfast? When you marry Korean girl?’”When he finally told his mother, she took his hand in hers and said, “I love you, but gay is not real. I don’t know any gay people, especially no Korean gay people.”Choi spoke about his recent notice of discharge from the army because of his sexual orientation Monday in the Whittenberger Auditorium.Choi, a graduate from West Point Military Academy and Iraq War veteran, announced on national TV in March that he is gay. Choi served under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for 10 years before officially coming out. Now, he and other West Point graduates are spearheading a movement to end the controversial policy, which prohibits service members from being openly homosexual or bisexual.Choi began by reciting an Arabic poem before explaining what it was like to come out to his parents. During a question-and-answer session at the end, Choi said President Barack Obama should use his executive power to repeal the policy because voters elected him to be a leader, not to get re-elected. Hannah Kinkead, public relations committee director for Union Board, said members of the Asian Cultural Center brought Choi to the board’s attention. The center was interested in bringing Choi to IU, she said, not only to represent the Asian community but also the gay community in Bloomington.On June 28, Choi said he received notice that he was to be discharged.“The military is still in the closet about what they’re going to do with me,” he said. “I’m still waiting on what kind of discharge. It’s possible it could be anywhere from honorable to dishonorable discharge, but I’ve heard honorable.”Choi said he made the decision to come out when he fell in love for the first time after returning from Iraq.“I understood the world, and it made me a better person,” he said. “Why should I lie about that?”After being asked repeatedly by friends in his unit to meet his mysterious girlfriend, Choi said he decided to tell them the truth.“They said they never would have told, but they deserve to know,” he said. “At West Point, before you do a single push-up, you learn in the honor code that you never lie.”Freshman Kyle Thompson said he heard of Choi’s story before and that he gives a good presentation.“It’s something I’m passionate about,” he said. “I definitely think the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy should be repealed. America is supposed to be the land of the free. If we can’t allow people in the army based on sexual orientation, we’re not following through with that promise.”Choi said there is a call for action from university students and members of each community. During his talk, Choi asked every member of the audience to take out their cell phones and type in the number to Congressman Baron Hill’s office. A sweet, old lady will answer the phone, he said.“All you have to say is ‘Hi, my name is Dan, and I want you to repeal the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy,’” he said. “And that’s all you have to do. Call your senators every day and remind them we are their boss.”To make his point, Choi called Hill’s office, holding his phone up to the speaker. The secretary’s voice rang through the phone, asking the caller to leave a name and number.“I’m here at Indiana University,” Choi said into the phone, “and we all want you to repeal the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy.”Choi held out the phone to audience members, who erupted in cheers.
(10/27/09 4:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>President Barack Obama declared the H1N1 virus a national emergency Saturday. However, Hugh Jessop, director of the IU Health Center, said the announcement does not affect IU.“We’ve been doing all the necessary recommendations prior to it being made a national emergency,” he said. “The declaration by the president is simply noting the wide spread and the need to take the precautions seriously. I think the concern is the health center doesn’t have any vaccine.”Jessop said as of now, there have been a total of 995 reported cases of the virus at the health center since the start of school, with 310 cases reported last week. He said those numbers don’t include unreported cases.“I think one of the things we need to watch is it’s going up,” he said. “We went from 60 to 65 cases in the first weeks to over 300. But we’re hoping it’s leveling off.”Jessop said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted the H1N1 virus will peak in November.“Nationwide, visits to doctors for influenza-like-illness are increasing steeply and are now higher than what is seen at the peak of many regular flu seasons. In addition, flu-related hospitalizations and deaths continue to go up nationwide and are above what is expected for this time of year,” according to the CDC Web site. In a report on the CDC Web site that gives the status of vaccine shipment to each state, Indiana is listed as the 12th state with the most vaccines supplied with a total of 273,200. The most have been shipped to California for a total of 1,309,100 vaccines.Most vaccines are 80 to 85 percent effective, Jessop said. If people still contract the virus after getting the vaccine, he said the voracity will be less and the duration will be shorter.Jessop said the health center was told by the federal government earlier in the year that IU would receive the vaccine by the time the center’s online distribution program was set up. At this point, however, he said the center does not know when the vaccine will arrive.The online program through OneStart will allow students to register for a day and time to get the vaccine when it becomes available, Jessop said. “A student will sign up for Monday at 9 a.m. of week one,” he said. “Then when we get the vaccine, an e-mail will be sent out telling everyone who registered for week one to come to Assembly Hall. Students will have an appointment, so they won’t have to stand in line.”Once the first two weeks are 90 percent full, Jessop said the third week will be opened for appointments.The program is 97 percent complete, Jessop said, but still needs to be tested.“We’re working out the details for plugging this in,” he said. “I don’t think anyone else is trying this in the country.”Senior Dan Fer said he thinks this is the best possible system.“It’s how we do most of that kind of stuff on campus,” he said. “But once people no longer see the virus as a threat, they’ll no longer be proactive about it.”Sophomore Sarah Harshberger said she knows people who have had the virus and is nervous being around them without the vaccine. She said the online program will help prevent huge lines and chaos when the vaccine arrives.“I’m definitely going to get it when it gets here,” she said. “I think thousands of people are going to get it.”
(10/27/09 4:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Mountain-sized piles of clothing and toiletries covered the floors and counters of Middle Way House on Friday afternoon, blocking employees’ desks and flooding into the hallway. “When I talked to the people from Victoria’s Secret, I had no idea it would be like that,” Clara Wilson, house manager of Middle Way House, said. “We were pretty overwhelmed when they showed up with a truck that looked like a moving van. When they said they were bringing it in a truck, I thought they meant a pick-up truck.”All of the proceeds from the benefit concert put on by Victoria’s Secret on Thursday went to Middle Way House, a domestic violence and rape crisis center.Wilson said she was informed of the donation a week before the concert.“I had talked to a woman from corporate headquarters who told me what was happening,” she said. “At that point I had no idea how big it was really going to be.”Many of the items donated are perfect for the shelter, Wilson said. When women go to the shelter, they almost always come with nothing, she said, and are given a bag of toiletries.“We’ve got enough toiletries now to make bags from now ’til the next century,” Wilson said. “I spent 12 hours this weekend sorting through the stuff.”The monetary donation raised by the event will have to go through corporate headquarters at Victoria’s Secret, Wilson said. Middle Way House has not yet been informed of how much money the concert raised, she said. However, IU spokesperson Larry MacIntyre said the concert raised about $5,000.Junior Sara Lewis said she received a flyer for the concert at the beginning of the day Thursday.“It kind of shows we’re a really involved school,” she said. “It shows we get involved for all causes.”Though the concert and giveaways offered by Victoria Secret served as motivations for students to donate, freshman Ben Buddig said being able to have fun and give back at the same time was a nice part of the event.The donations reflect the IU community, Wilson said, because that is where the concert took place, and IU students are the ones who donated.“I’m not sure if there was an incentive for students to donate,” she said. “But Victoria’s Secret put a lot of money and a lot of effort into this whole thing. We were just doubly fortunate we were the charity selected for them to work toward. I had no idea it was going to be anything that huge.”