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(02/24/12 4:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Israeli scholar Mier Litvak discussed the evolution of Arab perceptions of the Holocaust in his lecture titled “Iranian Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial” on Thursday. Litvak specializes in the study of the history of anti-Semitism with a focus on the Middle East. He is well-known for his award-winning book “From Empathy to Denial: Arab Responses to the Holocaust,” for which he collaborated with co-author Ester Webman. IU’s Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism sponsored the lecture.Litvak focused the discussion on Iranian anti-Semitism, with a particular emphasis on the roots of contemporary anti-Semitic discourse in the Middle East.“Historically, Iran has been the most intolerant state toward the Jews,” he said, pointing to the 1960s as a crucial turning point in anti-Semitism in Iran.Litvak followed this point by discussing the 1979 Iranian Revolution, noting that “anti-Semitism became an integral component of Iranian policy.”This policy was particularly influenced by the literature and rhetoric of former Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini, who wrote, “Since its inception, the Islamic government has been afflicted by the Jews.”Khomeini gave several public lectures beginning in 1969 about what an Islamic government should look like and included consistent anti-Semitic themes in his depiction.With this history established, Litvak delved into contemporary anti-Semitic discourse, noting that “the past and present are undeniably intertwined.”Throughout the past several decades, Iranian government and policies have evolved to become increasingly anti-Semitic, resulting in a nation where “senior members of the government actively practice Holocaust denial and disseminate anti-Semitic propaganda,” Litvak said.In attempting to legitimize this denial, Iranian institutions and media have made an effort to endow the movement with what Litvak calls “scholarly respectability.” In 2006, Iranian officials convened a “Review of the Holocaust” as an opportunity for scholars to discuss the subject without the pressures of Western influence and ideology. Following the conference, an Iranian newspaper sponsored a Holocaust cartoon contest, and scholars in the area began publishing articles and books perpetuating the denial of the Holocaust and offering various alternative explanations, including such ideas as a Nazi-Zionist collaboration or conspiracy.Finally, Litvak pointed to current Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a contemporary leader of anti-Semitic movements and Holocaust denial in the Middle East. Ahmadinejad is known worldwide for his denial of the Holocaust, in particular for his comments during 2010 at a meeting of the United Nations in New York City, Litvak said.“Practically all radical Islamic regimes today believe in a Jewish conspiracy and a perceived threat to Islam,” Litvak said. “The Iranian public is not being exposed to Western history and perspectives on the Holocaust.”
(02/22/12 4:18am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>More than 1 million cases of chlamydial infection were reported in the United States in 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.However, lack of awareness and testing suggests significant under-reporting of chlamydia, leading experts to estimate the numbers are much higher. The CDC estimates that 2.8 million cases of chlamydial infection occur annually in the U.S.Chlamydia is the most commonly reported infectious disease in the country, and IU microbiologist David Nelson is concerned.Nelson and his team of students in Jordan Hall have been studying chlamydia for the past five years, making advances in the development of tools for understanding the genetics of chlamydia.Because of their past successes and proposed projects for the future, Nelson and his team were recently awarded a $2.5 million grant by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to continue work in genetic analysis of mechanisms of chlamydial immune evasion.Thanks to the grant, Nelson and his team will continue working to analyze various strains of chlamydia through a variety of techniques, including studies with mice and mutated forms of the bacteria.The bacterium that causes this disease, Chlamydia trachomatis, exists in many different strains, each carrying a slightly different version of the genome. Thus, patients with chlamydia display a wide variety of symptoms and diseases ranging from mild, flu-like infections to pneumonia and even blindness, depending on the particular strain and means of infection.The vast variation of diseases that arises from seemingly identical strains of bacterium is what first attracted Nelson to this research topic.“I’m interested in how pathogens get around immune systems and cause disease, ultimately allowing us to discover new ways of developing vaccines,” he said.Currently, no vaccine is available for chlamydia.Third-year biochemistry Ph.D. student Jasmine Newman works in Nelson’s lab.“I think it’s very interesting because of the medical applications of our research,” Newman said. “It’s also a lot of fun to work in this lab.”Within the larger project, Newman is investigating mutants to learn more about a specific region of the genome.Another Ph.D. student in the lab, Amanda Roehl, is working on a project that involves an innovative molecular biology technique that allows her to identify mutations in chlamydia genes. Once mutations are identified, they can be studied to understand specific gene functions.Newman was quick to point to his lab graduate students as making this research possible, including Newman, Roehl and Krithika Rajaram.“Science on this scale is really a team effort,” Newman said. “These students work very hard. Ultimately, a grant like this one will put five graduate students through their entire program. I think of it as training the next generation of scientists.”
(07/07/11 12:14am)
Recent IU graduate Madelyn Kissel distributes the third volume of "The World is Our Home" to students at the Kabwende Primary School on June 22 in Kinigi, Rwanda.
(07/07/11 12:14am)
TEAM Schools student Kiara Pettiway distributes copies of "The World is Our Home" to students at Kabwende Primary School in Kinigi, Rwanda. The books were created for the students by the Books and Beyond Project.
(07/07/11 12:14am)
Students at the the Kabwende Primary School in Kinigi, Rwanda, hold up copies of "The World is Our Home." The books were created through the Books and Beyond Porject by students from IU and TEAM Charter Schools in Newark, N.J.
(06/14/11 2:20pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In most cases, it’s the number one concern for parents of incoming students: Will my student be safe on campus? At Indiana University, there are a number of measures that have been put into place to ensure the answer to this question is yes. Residence halls are equipped with a key card entry system and locks on individual dormitory doors. To enter most residence halls, students must swipe their IU ID card and use their personal key to get into the room. ID cards only work for the residence hall where the student lives. Additionally, residents are urged not to allow others in who do not have a key card. If a student is without his or her ID or can’t get into the dorm, he or she will need to contact an RPS staff member at the center desk of their residence center.There are also cameras in and around the residence halls to monitor who is entering and exiting the halls. Similarly, students can expect to see Residence Assistants and police officers on rounds regularly within the halls, circulating the dormitories to ensure that residents are safe at all hours.While rounds are not intended to “get students into trouble,” students should be aware there are consequences for students found participating in illicit activities in the residence halls.Outside the dormitories, the campus infrastructure is designed to keep students safe en route to classes, campus buildings and the dorms. Campus sidewalks and parking lots are well lit and equipped with emergency stations. These stations flash a blue light when a button is pressed and alert IUPD there is an emergency in the area. For students who do not feel safe walking at night, the IU Safety Escort Service provides safe rides to and from campus buildings and student housing, both on and off campus. The service is free. Students who wish to utilize the service should call 812-855-SAFE and a safety escort van will meet them. They must then show their student ID before boarding.Finally, the campus is equipped with the IU-Notify Messaging System, which serves to notify students and faculty of emergencies. Students can sign up to receive text messages and emails from the system, and the notifications are also posted online and on campus and cable television. Warning sirens are posted outdoors as well to notify residents in the event of an emergency.Ultimately, individual safety depends on the students themselves to make smart decisions and keep themselves out of unsafe situations. However, parents may be assured that Indiana University staff work hard on campus and in the community to ensure students are safe throughout their time at IU.
(06/13/11 2:41pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Indiana University was once named the “No. 1 Party School” in the nation by the Princeton Review, based on student reporting of alcohol and drug use, number of hours spent studying outside of class and the presence of sororities and fraternities on campus. Five years later, in 2010, IU ranked 15th on the list. Despite the lower ranking, parents might still worry that exposure to partying, alcohol and drugs is a part of many students’ college experience. At IU, however, it doesn’t have to be that way. “This school is diverse in many ways, and the character of its students is one of them,” senior Danny Alexander said. “There are plenty of students who do not engage in drinking and partying while still having fun.”Alexander pointed to the variety of clubs, sports and activities available on campus as evidence that there are students out there with other interests. He suggested new students look for ways to get involved on campus as a means of meeting new people and finding alternatives to drinking. “There are many things to do on campus and around Bloomington that don’t involve drinking,” he said. “Join a club or become a part of a community floor in a residence hall. I personally like to go to Rachael’s Café on Third Street and enjoy free music.”Sophomore Lauren Knueven said she also believes IU has a lot to offer to students who aren’t interested in drinking or partying. She noted the sheer number of students enrolled at IU.“There are over 30,000 students that attend IU,” she said. “Whether or not a student gets involved in partying and drinking is largely dependent on the individual student and whom they become friends with. You can party if you want to, but you don’t have to.”Like Alexander, Knueven advised new students to take advantage of the variety of other events going on both on campus and in Bloomington. “There are free movies at the Union,” she said. “And sometimes IU sponsors cultural events on weekend nights.”Both students emphasized the importance of finding good friends at the beginning of the year, since this is when the majority of new students establish the habits and relationships that will last through their first year.Sophomore Bryn Schweda said she agreed.“No matter what school you go to, there will always be a few students who drink and do drugs, but I think it’s a lot smaller number than people think,” Knueven said. “Most of my friends that I have met at IU don’t do any of these things, and I’ve never felt pressured to do so here.”
(06/02/11 5:56pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Between the time freshmen attend orientation and the time they begin classes in the fall, is there anything that incoming students can do to prepare for college academics and the courses that await them?INTENSIVE FRESHMAN SEMINARSIntensive Freshman Seminars (IFS) are a three-week program that takes place in August on campus. Through this program, students have the opportunity to take a college course and become acquainted with the campus before thousands of other new students move to Bloomington during Welcome Week. “Anything students can do to start setting boundaries before the semester will be helpful for maintaining some discipline and a reasonable lifestyle when on campus,” Dr. Lisa Thomassen, who teaches an IFS course, said.OTHER RESOURCESStudents may go to their resident assistant (RA), professors and advisers for help with the transition to college academics. “To be successful academically, people need to be in charge of what they are doing and know how to do it,” University Division adviser Joyce Miller said. “Don’t be afraid to ask questions. When you’re new, it’s important to ask enough questions to figure out what it is that you need to do.”JUST RELAX“Frankly, I don’t think there is any way for incoming students to prepare for the remarkable adventure that awaits them at Indiana University,” telecommunications professor Michael McGregor said. “My recommendations would be something like work hard, have fun, spend as much time with your friends in high school as you can.”
(05/31/11 4:36pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Campus bookstores maintain an important role at universities across the nation. Although there are a variety of alternatives, for some students, buying books the traditional way is the way to go.“I generally buy my books from the IU Bookstore,” junior Eric Burns said. “I like being able to give them my schedule and they can tell me everything I need. It’s a little more expensive, but I like the convenience.”However, students now have the option to rent books, buy them online from other companies or purchase them in the form of e-books. Should I rent?Renting textbooks is a fairly recent trend among university students as a cheap alternative to purchasing books. Both the IU Bookstore and T.I.S. offer this option, in addition to local retailer TXT Book Rental and websites like www.Chegg.com. Pros: Renting a textbook is cheaper than purchasing one, and you don’t have to keep a book that you don’t want. According to T.I.S., renting textbooks usually saves you 60 percent off the list price of the book.Cons: Rental books have to be kept in good condition, so you can’t write in them as much, if at all.Students say: “I usually rent my books,” senior Jon Tienhaara said. “It’s a little cheaper. The only downside is that you don’t get money from selling them back at the end of the semester.”Should I buy online?Purchasing, renting or viewing textbooks online can also save money, especially with popular websites like www.Amazon.com. They advertise big discounts on new and used textbooks and databases like Google books, even offering some for free.Pros: Accessing your textbooks online is convenient. You can do it from the comfort of your own living room and if you find your’s for free, you’ve saved a lot of money.Cons: Finding free books online often only works for novels or classics. Also, if you order your books online, you have to wait for them to arrive, which could take anywhere from one to 14 days depending on the service you use.Students say: “Most of the books I need are novels, so if I can find them online for free using the Gutenberg Project or something, then I don’t buy them,” junior Betsy Stout said. “If I can’t, then I buy them in person at T.I.S. or a regular bookstore so that I can have them in my hand right away.”Should I get e-books?Once you’ve decided whether you want to buy or rent, you can also choose whether you’d like traditional books or e-books, which can be read on a portable device, like a Kindle or a NOOK. However, most of them are formatted to be read on a computer screen. Pros: Having an eTextbook on your computer saves some space and weight in your backpack — one less thing you have to carry around campus. Cons: Looking at a computer all the time can be a bad habit, especially for your eyes.Students say: “I always use eTextbooks,” second year graduate student Dhairya Gala said. “I download the PDF and I can take it anywhere with me. The only con that I see is that sometimes when you want to refer to another section in the book, you have to scroll up and down instead of flipping the pages, which can be irritating.”
(02/22/11 5:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Ph.D. students can no longer serve as principal investigators of their own work.In January, the Office of Research Administration at Indiana University released a change in policy regarding principal investigators on studies involving human subjects. According to this new policy, the PI of a student’s work must be one of the individuals listed on the Human Subject Office’s website as an academic appointee eligible for this title. Among those eligible are faculty members such as professors or assistant professors, librarians, deans, chancellors and research staff. Students, lecturers, teachers and research associates are no longer allowed to hold the title of principal investigator on research approved by the University.Dr. Peter Finn, chairman of the Institutional Review Board, helped to make the final decision regarding the policy. The rationale behind this change is that students are only “temporarily affiliated with the University,” thus it is more suitable for a tenured faculty member to oversee information.“Faculty members are much more accountable to the University than students. Technically, in the past, the faculty member advising the project should have been responsible, but they weren’t always ... this change in policy puts more of the responsibility on them,” Finn said.This policy does not change the way graduate students conduct research, but leads to questions regarding responsibility versus ownership of research. Marda Rose, a Ph.D. candidate in Hispanic linguistics, said she is concerned. “By writing the professor’s name as the principal investigator on the project, the student no longer has a written document that clearly states that the research he or she is conducting is his or her own,” she said. “What is at stake is who is getting credit for the research.”Other graduate students have expressed their concern regarding awareness of the new policy. Traci Nagle, another Ph.D. candidate at IU, said “I found out about (the policy change) only when a friend called it to my attention ... I was not notified of this policy decision by the Human Subject’s office. Had my friend not told me about it, I probably would not have found out about it until I had to submit a Continuing Review in October.”Existing studies will not be modified to reflect the new policy until the next “amendment.” Finn said an e-mail announcement was sent out regarding the new policy. “The key issue here is that the person who is the principal investigator on the IRB (form) is not the same as the person who is the principal investigator doing the research,” Finn said. “The students remain the principal investigator on their own study, but under their faculty member.”Finn said there are a variety of avenues for students to pursue through the University and the Human Subjects Office if they are concerned about who would be accredited with being the primary author on their study. “Being the principal investigator on the IRB (form) does not confer authorship or ownership of the data,” Finn said.
(09/10/10 3:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In the spirit of welcoming new students to campus and the community, the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center will open its doors Friday for the Black Student Orientation. The event will begin at 6 p.m. in the center’s Grand Hall and is open to the public.In its fourth year, the event at the Center continues to offer innovative ways of orienting students to IU and Bloomington. This year, the event will begin with a series of speakers simulating the environment of a late-night talk show. The “show” will be led by guest speaker Virginia Githiri, a graduate student in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.“It’s set up to be like a David Letterman-type show, where students can learn about professors and IU in a different context,” said Muhammad Saahir, a graduate assistant at the Center. “Professor Toyah Miller will also be speaking, and she’ll give students the ‘inside scoop’ on what a professor expects in the classroom.”In addition to Githiri and Miller, the event will also feature speaker Elizabeth Mitchell, a Bloomington historian who will share her knowledge of local history and links to the black community.Following the speakers, there will be several booths with local businesses, student organizations and faith-based groups providing information about their services and how students can get involved. “This event really helps to acclimate new students to IU,” Saahir said. “It takes more than moving in to get settled. That’s only the beginning. There are cultural things you need to know, and this event will provide a lot of those resources.”— Caitlin Ryan
(08/31/10 4:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It has been 30 minutes. The activist at the Sample Gates won’t go away. The rain begins to pour. And still no bus.Because of a collaborative effort between IU Student Association, University Information Technology Services, the Informatics Department and Campus Bus Service, this situation can now be avoided. Students can view the location of campus buses in real time through the Campus Bus Service website and DoubleMap Bus Tracker. Additionally, students with iPhones can access the live view via the IUMobile application.The idea for the project began with IUSA, who worked with Campus Bus Service to make it happen. “We’ve had this type of system, the Automatic Vehicle Locator, for years,” said Perry Maull, operations manager for Campus Bus Service. “But we’ve only used it internally until now. It was never designed for the public.” Maull said Campus Bus gave IUSA access to the buses to install their system, making it accessible to the public. The old Automatic Vehicle Locator system was based off tracking via radio waves, Maull said. The new system uses GPS systems, making the program more accurate.“Now, there’s a cell phone in every bus with GPS capability, so the system tracks 27 cell phones, one in each of the buses,” Maull said.The testing process for this system began in the spring, and this fall is the first time that the system is available for public use. Campus Bus and IUSA will continue to improve the system based on feedback from students. “We’re really looking forward to it, because you never know how traffic and weather will influence the buses,” Maull said. “If you’re standing behind the Kelley School, you can’t see around the corner, but you can check your iPhone and see that there’s a bus on its way.”Many students who were unaware of the new system have expressed interest in the idea, although the downside is that it is only readily accessible to people with iPhones. Nicholas Matthews, a first year Ph.D. student in telecommunications, agreed that the system offers limited accessibility.“I don’t have a smartphone, but for people that do, I think this system would be valuable. I can’t really see anyone pulling out their laptop at the bus stop.”Maull said work to build similar applications for Blackberries and Droids to alleviate this accessibility issue is in progress.Thus far, reception for the project has been positive. The free IUMobile iPhone application can be found on iTunes by searching IU Mobile. To view the tracker, visit http://iub.doublemap.com/map/. If you have problems with the service, contact Ilya@doublemap.com.“I normally don’t know what’s going on at all with the buses,” said sophomore Stephanie Smekens. “I think this sounds really useful.”
(08/11/10 10:55pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Billions of times brighter than the sun, supernovae have captivated scientists for centuries.One scientist at IU is working on a project that might further illuminate the nature of supernovae and the environments in which they are created.As a part of a collaboration involving contributors from the University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Penn State and Northern Kentucky University, particle astrophysicist James Musser of the Department of Physics has been working on the Cosmic Ray Electron Synchrotron Telescope Project for the past eight years in hopes of learning more about the particles emitted by supernovae.A supernova is a very high-energy exploding star. Exploring the existence of such phenomena and their proximity to the Earth, the CREST project proposes to take a high-energy electron detector to the top of the Earth’s atmosphere using a stratospheric balloon.This balloon will carry the instrument at the stratospheric level for about three weeks, collecting data on the particles it receives at such heights.“The basic idea for CREST has been around for some time, but it was only ... recently that some of the technical capabilities that would enable the experiment came into being,” Musser said.The instrument itself is very complex, and thus Musser works mainly with technicians and engineers at IU to build the device, in contrast to other labs at IU that employ primarily graduate or undergraduate students. Held in the bays of Swain West, this device is made up of 1024 X-ray detectors and weighs approximately 6,000 pounds.Musser noted the importance of precision in the preparation for the flight phase of the experiment.“Typically, with these balloon experiments, they fly for a very small number of times, for a number of reasons,” he said. “The possibility of recovering a detector after a flight is not always assured. ... You want to make sure you have everything right.”When the building of the device is complete and the team is certain they are ready for flight, it will be taken to Fort McMurdo in Antarctica. There, NASA staff members will launch the detector attached to a large helium balloon for its voyage around the South Pole.This location is ideal for the experiment, as it lacks many of the obstacles posed by a balloon flight around major metropolitan areas of the United States.Although the team working on CREST has completed a series of test flights and engineering flights over the past eight years, the flight around Antarctica will be its first data-collecting mission. This flight is scheduled to take place in winter 2011 — summer in Antarctica.Musser expressed his excitement about the experiment as he explained what drew him to the project.“Balloon experiments are a very fun activity, including the process of putting the large detectors together and figuring out how you’re going to recover it once the experiment is done,” he said. “You’re presented with a sort of unique set of challenges. ... We almost lost a detector in the Grand Canyon a few years ago.”
(08/08/10 10:08pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Based in Simon Hall, the Li Group led by Dr. Liang-Shi Li is currently working on a project to develop an efficient, low-cost solar cell using a carbon-based molecule, or organic molecule.Solar cells convert the sun’s energy into electricity — and the lab’s work might hold the key to their future.Current methods of generating solar cells include the use of silicon, ruthenium or cadmium telluride as a base. Each of these solutions is effective, but all have their disadvantages.Silicon is very popular and effective, but it is expensive, making solar cells economically inaccessible to large populations. Using ruthenium as a base for a processed solution is much cheaper but less efficient than silicon, and ruthenium is a relatively rare element.Finally, cadmium telluride offers an alternative solution, but cadmium is toxic and tellurite is rare. Thus, while these ideas might be useful now, in the development of solar cells, they do not stand as viable options for long-term solutions.With this in mind, the Li lab set out in 2006 to develop a solar cell material that is cheaper and better for the long term so as to promote more widespread use of renewable resources. The material? Graphene, a single layer of graphite that is found in most pencils.More specifically, graphene is as a single atomic layer of benzene rings, hexagonal rings of bonded carbon atoms in a crystal lattice formation.“Graphene is very interesting because if you change the number of benzene rings bound together in the layer, you see different physical properties,” Li said. For example, a solution of just one benzene is colorless, but two benzene rings bound together are yellow in solution. Put a bunch of them together into a five-by-five square, and you’ve got a black substance, which can absorb all colors of light.Exploiting this property allows the group to develop cells that can absorb different colors of light depending on the size of their graphene sheets.Graduate students in the lab are working on learning more about the unique properties of graphene in its different forms. One graduate student, Xiao Cui, has been with the lab since its beginning and is working on organic synthesis of graphene molecules. Organic synthesis is a branch of chemical synthesis that is concerned with the construction of organic compounds via organic reactions.Irma Hamilton, a second-year graduate student in the lab, works on characterizing the molecules synthesized by her colleagues.“It’s very interesting, because you expect one thing, and then it will behave completely differently,” Irma said of her work.The group has already succeeded in making a solar cell using their materials in the lab with about 2 percent efficiency. Now, they are working on ways to make that cell more efficient while also trying to find better ways of making the carbon soluble.“We think that eventually this will go to application, but it will take time,” Li said. “A solar cell is a very complicated thing. There are so many components that have to work together.”
(08/08/10 9:00pm)
Graduate Student Xiao Cui finishes the process of purifying his synthesized samples Wednesday in the Chemistry Building's Li Lab. These samples, different variations of graphene structure, will be investigated by other members in the lab.
(08/08/10 9:00pm)
Graduate student Irma Hamilton works on characterizing samples of various graphenes Wednesday in the Chemistry Building's Li Lab. By learning about the properties of the different forms of graphene, the group can learn about the potential applications for these compounds.
(08/01/10 11:38pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Eleven years ago, microbiologist Patricia Foster came to IU hoping to be involved in an undergraduate educational setting and an environment of diverse research efforts.Since then, it seems she has found exactly what she was looking for, and perhaps more, as her research continues to result in publication and recognition.In 2008, Foster was honored as a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, which recognized her for her work on mutagenesis of Escherichia coli (E. coli).Today, Foster continues to examine stress-induced mutagenesis in her lab in Simon Hall, now with three graduate students, one research associate and one undergraduate student working on different sides of the investigation. The students play an integral role in executing the research — especially because Foster is spending the summer and fall in Cambridge, England, on sabbatical. “We keep in touch with Pat via e-mail and weekly Skype meetings,” said Kyle Hetrick, a graduate student in the Foster Lab. “She oversees all of the work that we do.”The general focus of the lab is the complex relationships among stress responses that organisms encounter in their environment. In this case, the model organism is E. coli, but the larger-scale implications of the research indicate that it could further a general understanding of how various stresses affect prokaryotic mutagenesis, leading to a better understanding of microbial genetics overall. This is important for medical applications because a number of human pathogens are bacterial.The primary research topic is attacked from a variety of angles, with different projects occurring simultaneously in the lab.“As a graduate student, I study a facet of the larger picture,” Hetrick said. “I look at nutritional stress and its effects on a specialized DNA polymerase in E. coli.”More specifically, Hetrick studies E. coli cultivated in phosphate-deficient environments and examines how the nutritional stress affects DNA Polymerase IV activity.While DNA Polymerases I, II and III are known to replicate DNA with a high level of accuracy, DNA Polymerases IV and V tend to work with higher rates of inaccuracy, leading to changes in the DNA. Because Foster and her colleagues are interested in mutation rates in E. coli, DNA Polymerase IV serves as a good focal point for such studies.“I have been mostly interested in a class of enzymes that copy the genetic material, DNA, but do it badly,” Foster said in an e-mail. “They make mistakes, which result in mutations. We have been generating evidence that the mutagenic activities of these enzymes get turned on and off, and I would like to understand the molecular basis of this regulation.”As the lab continues to work on these different projects, the team collectively faces successes and failures on a daily basis.“Failure is a very common part of groundbreaking research,” Hetrick said. “You never know what’s going to happen in the lab.” Thanks to a lot of hard work, however, the Foster lab has recently experienced great success.On June 16, the Department of Defense announced its intent to award an estimated $227 million in grants to research institutions as a part of its Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative. IU was among the 32 universities honored with this award for a collaborative effort led by Foster.The proposed five-year grant will fund a completely new project, involving the collaboration of the Foster Lab with Mike Lynch, a professor of biology associated with the School of Informatics; Haixu Tang, director of bioinformatics at the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics at IU; and Steven Finkel, a colleague of Foster’s at the University of Southern California.“The general idea (of this research) will be to take a genome-wide view of what’s happening with mutagenesis, starting with E. coli,” Hetrick said while describing the excitement surrounding the award in the lab. This is important because the current understanding of these principles is limited to knowledge of what happens in small, specific regions of the genome. With the inter-departmental collaboration effort that this grant will provide for, the concepts can be studied on a much larger scale.The Foster Lab will cultivate the strains of E. coli to be studied, the Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics will sequence the DNA of the organisms using Illumina technology and the bioinformatics groups will work to sort and interpret the data, pointing out areas of potential interest for further research.“The practical application of this research, as far as the Department of Defense is concerned, is forensic,” Foster said in the e-mail. “They are interested in defining mutational signatures (that) may help to identify the source of a bacterium, be it a naturally occurring disease organism or a bioterrorism agent.”
(08/01/10 9:37pm)
Graduate student Kyle Hetrick plates Escherichia coli cultures Tuesday in Patricia Foster's lab in Simon Hall. Hetrick is studying the effects of nutritional stress on the activity of a specialized DNA polymerase.
(07/15/10 12:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>By combining the creative energy of award-winning writer Alyce Miller with the innovative improvisational sounds of musicians Philip Anderson, Joe Stone and Marty Belcher, The Venue Fine Art & Gifts played host to a event Tuesday called “The Spoken Word, With Music.”The performance featured IU professor Miller reading several of her poems while accompanied by the three musicians: Anderson handling electronics and vocals, Stone playing the drums and Belcher playing the soprano saxophone.Unlike a traditional spoken-word performance, however, Miller noted that this collaboration involved the combination of her poems, which she did not originally write for such a performance, with the sounds of Anderson, Stone and Belcher.“I would describe (the event) as a kind of experiment,” Miller said.Belcher echoed that sentiment.“What we’re doing tonight is a duet between music and words,” he said.As the performance began on the front porch of The Venue, the sounds of the musicians overpowered the ambient noise of early-evening Bloomington.Oddly high notes on the saxophone were fused with subtle clashes of the cymbal, taps on the side of the snare drum and haunting electronic accompaniment.“I have mainly a jazz background, while Joe has more of a rock background,” Belcher said. Throughout the readings, which took place in three parts, the musicians employed their various instruments in unconventional ways, producing sounds and rhythms that seemed to consistently push boundaries while also sounding completely appropriate.Belcher’s saxophone sounds seemed, at times, to have the air of a perfectly calculated accident, while Stone’s percussive techniques varied as often as they repeated.Meanwhile, Anderson’s eerie vocal complements and electronic sounds added to the vibe, giving the musical component of the performance an interesting that seemed to reverberate with Miller’s words. The culminating effect seemed to mesmerize those in attendance, the trance broken only by the silence between acts.During a brief gap in the performance, Stone interjected, “It’s different out here.”The other performers nodded their heads in agreement, as it seemed that what was transpiring was something indeed unique.Miller’s poetry represented a variety of her repertoire, including a sonnet and an elegy. One poem, “Sisters to the Bone,” discussed a twin inside the speaker, while another, “The Empress Josephine Takes a Bath,” referenced letters from Napoleon to his wife. As each poem began and ended, the sounds of the musicians carefully augmented the reading, sometimes adding emphasis, other times letting the words stand alone in silence.“(Tonight) my words are playing a different kind of role,” Miller said.
(07/14/10 10:07pm)
Marty Belcher plays the soprano saxophone during ‘Spoken Words, with Music’ event hosted by The Venue Fine Arts & Gifts gallery on Tuesday. Belcher along with musicans Philip Anderson and Joe Stone provided background music for IU Professor and award-winning author Alyce Miller’s spoken word performance of three poems.