Local volunteers remember 9/11
It took Red Cross volunteer Susan Berwick 10 years to be able to talk about what she saw at Ground Zero.
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It took Red Cross volunteer Susan Berwick 10 years to be able to talk about what she saw at Ground Zero.
Retailer and supermarket chain Meijer announced today in a release that the chain will be adding 1,800 jobs to Indiana stores.
Of the 39,848 calls for service made to Indiana Adult Protective Services in 2013, 10,000 cases were opened.
Bloomington Transit opened its passenger transfer center in downtown Bloomington Monday.
Bloomington’s Monroe Hospital filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in an U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis on Aug. 12.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____> University officials announced yesterday that IU has been selected to receive a $5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to support student career placement in Indiana. IU is one of 39 colleges and universities in the state to receive funding as part of the Endowment’s Initiative to Promote Opportunities Through Educational Collaborations, according to a press release. The endowment’s goal is to increase support for students’ post-graduation career search, as well as increase focus on keeping graduates in Indiana after graduation, according to the release. The ultimate goal is to have these students support the state’s economy.The University matched the amount received with a pledge of $3.7 million toward initiatives supported by the Endowment.This $5 million installment is the third in a series of installments received by the University. The first installment came in 2003, in the amount of $5.5 million, and the second installment of $2.75 million was received in 2008.Among those initiatives are allocating funding to the IU Online office, providing IU system-wide career development programs and organizing an annual convention with state employers and higher education institutions. Judith Halstead, director of IU Online, said the office will receive $2 million of the $5 million awarded to the University, the first time an IU online education program will benefit from the grant.Halstead said the amount will remain separate from the $8 million awarded to the office at the time of President Michael McRobbie’s charge for online education more than a year ago.“The IU Online charge that President McRobbie put out over a year ago was to increase and develop online programs to meet the needs of our students,” she said. “What the Lilly grant does is it focuses on a specific group of those students.”She said the funding from the Lilly Endowment will be used to design online courses and promote curriculum development.Halstead added the office’s goal is to increase outreach to students pursuing degrees online that had either started their degree through IU in the past or are looking to further their education. This means the office will work to foster career-building and employment opportunities for graduating students. She said the office will focus on programs that include, but are not limited to, information technology and health and life sciences. Ryan Piurek, director of news and media at IU Communications, said in an email he thought one of the most interesting initiatives planned is the establishment of a “Discovery Team.” The initiative would place scientists with research faculty to aid them in turning their projects into reality. “It will work with our IU Research and Technology Corporation’s Spin Up program, which allows faculty to concentrate his or her efforts on science and discovery while it concentrates its efforts on the business side,” he said.Piurek said the program will also be beneficial to students university-wide through the development of a Career EDGE program across the IU campuses. He said the focus of the program will be to prepare students for internships and employment by providing access to mentorship and career preparation. The Lilly Endowment grant will benefit both the state and the students at its flagship university, Halstead said. “This gives them the opportunity to seek employment and stay within the state of Indiana, which is ultimately what we’re trying to do with this grant,” Halstead said.Follow reporter Holly Hays on Twitter @hv_hays.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Stacks of the day’s New York Times and USA Today sit in stands in residence halls, classroom buildings and the Indiana Memorial Union every day, waiting to be picked up by news-hungry students. The papers, provided by the IU Student Association Readership Program, will remain in place until a distributor picks up unused copies, only to replace them with the latest in national news.Every year since 2005, the University has budgeted $100,000 to pay for the Readership Program, an IUSA initiative offering daily copies of the New York Times and USA Today to students. However, the program spends significantly less than its budget. Of the more than $70,000 in the IU Student Association Readership account, about $30,000 was carried over as surplus from last year’s program. That amount has been budgeted by the University specifically for use by IUSA. However, it is not specified when the surplus funds will be used, only that they will remain in the account until needed. This means students who paid into the fund last year through their mandatory student fees have yet to reap the full benefits of their contribution. IUSA representatives said there is minimal oversight on the fund and budgeting from IUSA, and the fund is watched by a single fiscal officer at the University level.This leaves no one responsible for overseeing the program and its $100,000 budget on a daily basis. * * *The Readership Program receives $1.27 from each student out of $94.94 in mandatory student fees each semester, adding up to about $100,000 reserved for the program every year. A $73,963 cash balance from those fees currently sits unused in the program’s fund, said Melissa Ritter, an RC Fiscal Officer with the Dean of Students Office. The program’s estimated cost for the 2013-14 academic year is $86,436, according to a contract obtained from IUSA. This is a difference of more than $13,000 from the amount budgeted by the University. Even with the surplus, IUSA is paying less than the regular stand price for both newspapers, including a free online subscription to the New York Times. The total expense IUSA pays for the program fluctuates, said Lori Rohde, regional sales manager for Gannett Publishing Services, because the price depends on the number of papers returned to the distributor each day. IUSA is not charged a fee for returned newspapers.Ritter said the funding, though it has been budgeted for the Readership Program, can be used by IUSA for other ventures if the program ends. “When this separate fee was created it was labeled as IUSA special projects fund,” she said. “The Readership Program was the first such special project IUSA deemed worthy of spending the funds. “However, should IUSA decide to forgo the readership program, they would be allowed to use those funds to support another special project.” * * *IUSA President Jose Mitjavila said the Readership Program is a separate entity and IUSA is not directly involved in its operation. When approached with questions about the large surplus, Mitjavila leaned back in his chair with wide eyes.“That’s a great question,” he said. “That’s news to me.” The program is now operated by the Committee for Fee Review, led by the presidents of IUSA and the Graduate and Professional Student Organization. Every two years, the CFR evaluates the use and distribution of the mandatory student fees, which fund various student groups on campus.Associate Dean of Students Carol McCord oversees the biannual CFR sessions. She said though the Readership Program has been granted funding in recent sessions, four years ago the program was funded only on the condition that it begin to analyze its intake and output.“If you’re not using these fees to the absolute best possible outcome, we can’t in good conscience require that students pay these,” she said.McCord said the committee suggested the readership budget be put in a separate special projects fund to keep that amount separate from the IUSA General Fund.“We don’t want to have IUSA receiving funds that we are earmarking for a particular purpose that they are then spending for something different,” she said. McCord said she was unaware of the more than $30,000 surplus. Until recently, IUSA leadership was unable to provide information regarding who was responsible for the special projects fund itself, something Ritter attributed to her own distance from the organization. Ritter manages and oversees the fund, which was not created until April 2011 for the fiscal year 2012. Prior to that, funding was managed internally by the IUSA treasurer. Her involvement, she said, adds another step in the long process of moving funds from the account. Fund requests from IUSA Treasurer Casey Baker must be approved by Student Life and Learning and Assistant Dean of Students Steve Veldkamp before Ritter transfers the money. Baker attributed the disconnect between IUSA and the University regarding the fund to the gap between CFR sessions. “Since this process occurs every two years where a group of 12 students makes decisions regarding student fee amounts and allocation, there is nothing that can be done with the money, surplus or not, this year,” she said in an email. “In the meantime, all that can be done is the collection of data to inform future financial decisions and current allocation decisions.”Baker said the $30,000 surplus was created in fiscal year 2011, and $400 was used from the reserves to cover program fees in 2012. Baker did not specify in the email what the $400 covered. A new IUSA administration will be in place by the next CFR session.“Our administration will be briefing the next administration during the transition period since the new administration will be making the presentation,” she said. Vice President of Administration Chris Kauffman said IUSA did not seek distribution numbers until earlier in the semester when they were asked for the information and could not provide it.“From what I’m understanding, we’ve never actually requested data on a daily level,” he said. “In the past, we have never demanded those numbers.”He said to his knowledge, no IUSA administration has requested this information since the program began running in 2005.Kauffman attributed this to the fact that IUSA, though its name is on the program, does not oversee the program and there is no specific person within the IUSA administration that oversees the program.“Really, on a day-to-day basis, there isn’t one person who sits in charge of the operations,” he said. * * *Once IUSA executives received numbers on the program, Kauffman said the results were surprising. Based on the first round of data provided to IUSA by the New York Times, residence halls saw the lowest pick-up rates for the week ending Oct. 18. Read and Eigenmann residence halls saw the highest number of returns, or unused papers returned to the distributor. At Eigenmann, 54 percent of papers distributed were returned that week. Kauffman said IUSA’s next step is to aggregate and analyze weekly data for trends so they can relocate the papers to a spot on campus where demand for the newspapers is higher. Mitjavila expressed discontent with the current situation and said he hopes the administration can increase its input and control of the program. “There’s not a lot of oversight from IUSA,” Mitjavila said. “What we’d like to do, is to start doing that again.”Although the fund is separate, McCord said that does not mean IUSA should not have oversight of the program.“How in the world would they make a good decision about how the money should be redirected if they don’t even know how much money is there?” McCord asked.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU Student Association Congress voted to support the University’s stance against Indiana’s proposed House Joint Resolution 6 in its Wednesday meeting. The resolution was brought to the floor before 31 IUSA Congress representatives. After some debate, it was passed with a vote of 26 in favor and five against. IU President Michael McRobbie announced in late October that the University would join Freedom Indiana, a coalition of businesses and organizations fighting against the proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and domestic partnerships in the state. The resolution supports the University’s decision to join Freedom Indiana. IUSA’s support follows the IU Graduate and Professional Student Organization decision Nov. 1 to also stand with the University against HJR 6. IUSA Congressional Press Secretary Connor Shaw said he viewed the resolution as a way to represent student opinion regarding the University’s decision. He wrote the initial draft of the resolution and said it was approved by the Student Relations Committee before being brought to the floor. “That’s just kind of the point of a student government is to speak for the students and try to give them a voice,” he said. “We feel like if there was any place to get a unified voice of the students, it would be the IUSA Congress.” Representatives and sophomores Michael Su and Matt Shute voiced disapproval of IUSA’s newest resolution prior to the assembly. Shute, a representative of the Forest Quad, expressed dissatisfaction with McRobbie’s decision to stand against HJR 6 without first consulting student government.“It shows that McRobbie does not really, truly, care about what the student government thinks about his decision, because if he did, he would come to us for our approval before he made that decision,” he said.Shute said students with more conservative or religious backgrounds may disagree with IU’s stance on the amendment and may now feel uncomfortable at the University. “For a University that prides itself in accepting many views, there are countless Christians and other religious students on campus that oppose gay marriage,” Shute said. “It’s completely against what I thought this University stood for academically.”Shute added that he does not believe the claims made by Freedom Indiana arguing the state’s economy will suffer if the amendment is permanently written into the state constitution. “Indiana has had a marriage ban for I don’t know how long, but it has had no ramifications on the economy,” Shute said. Su, a representative from the Jacobs School of Music, echoed those sentiments and said his stance against the IUSA resolution does not mean he dislikes gay people.“It’s not to say that because we don’t support gay marriage, we’re not here to say gay people should be immediately condemned, and we hate them,” Su said. “We’re just trying to say, look, here are our beliefs, and we’re just trying to get those represented.”Su was not in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting. When the resolution was brought to the floor to debate, Shute rose and expressed his dissent.“I am under the authority of God, and all of us will be under the authority of God one day,” he said. IUSA Congress members representing different areas of campus voted on the resolution. Shaw said he does not think IUSA is overstepping its boundaries by making this decision on behalf of the student body.“That is our role, and that’s why we were elected, so I do think this is a fair application of what we were supposed to be doing,” he said. Follow reporter Holly Hays on Twitter @hv_hays.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In February 1918, Flora Ruth and five other female students joined the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.She would be the only one not to return.Ruth was born July 30, 1893 in Indianapolis. She earned her bachelor’s degree at IU in 1915 and a nursing degree in 1918.Ruth is one of 29 women who will be added to IU’s Golden Book today as part of the University’s efforts to commemorate Veterans Day.The names will be read at a ceremony that begins at 11:30 a.m., outside the Memorial Room in the Indiana Memorial Union.IU’s Golden Book has been housed in the IMU Memorial Room since 1961. It lists the names of more than 14,435 students who served in wars from 1812 to the end of World War II.John Summerlot, a doctoral candidate in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program, discovered the 29 names while working on a research project.He said he realized that when the book was dedicated in the early 1930s, former University President William Lowe Bryan said the book was for the “sons and daughters” of IU.However, there were not any women listed in the book at the time of the dedication.In his research, Summerlot realized that the names, which include Flora Ruth and her classmates, were never added due to an administrative oversight.“To have overlooked her and the other women just really seemed far out,” Summerlot said. “It seemed really strange to me. William Lowe Bryan’s statements clearly indicate that they thought they were going to be in here.”Director of Veteran Support Services Margaret Baechtold said it was important to include the names to correct a wrong in the University’s long history of military support and involvement.“There was an intention to record their names, but it never got done,” she said. “Based on his research, this is a group we call the Lost Daughters.”Before women were officially allowed to work as part of the armed forces, the different branches would contract them so they would be “with the army” rather than “in the army,” Summerlot said. Because of this, the women were unable to receive full veterans’ benefits, Summerlot said.In 1978, Congress retroactively granted the women of World War I their benefits and declared their status as veterans. Ruth, who died of appendicitis while working at Camp Pike in Arkansas in 1918, is the only one of the Lost Daughters to be added to the Gold Star section, which provides a small biography for all those who gave their lives in service.Baechtold said Ruth and the 28 others will not formally be added to the book until later, but the office wanted to compile a list to honor the women during the Veterans Day ceremony. IU was a leader in early military science electives and was a pioneer of inclusion of women in its programs, Baechtold said. It was one of the first schools in the nation other than a military academy to offer a military science elective, beginning in 1840.“The early involvement of women is pretty fascinating,” he said. “We had women involved in military science in the 1920s.”Baechtold pointed to the inscription on the seal on the floor of the Memorial Room that reads, “In memory of the sons and daughters of Indiana University who have served in the wars of the Republic.” Construction on the IMU, the home of the Golden Book, began in 1931. The building was formally dedicated at commencement on June 13, 1932, to the men and women who had served in the armed forces. “Interesting that all of these memorials were clearly designed to include both men and women,” Baechtold said. “We know that there was a definite intent to be inclusive.” Starting today, the Office of Veterans Support Services will begin accepting names of former or current students that have served in the armed forces since 1945. A form will be available via the office’s website that will allow for those interested to enter their information and submit it to the office for inclusion. Adding the names to the Golden Book will further strengthen the University’s military history, Summerlot said.“I think it honors a piece of the University history that so few people know about, but when they hear about it, they’re fascinated by it,” Summerlot said. “I think it helps cement in people’s minds that IU really is this great, historic institution with all these great pieces to it, and at the same time there’s a great story that’s there behind it.”Follow reporter Holly Hays on Twitter @hv_hays.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students involved in the IU Student Association Freshman Internship Program have spent the semester working with executive and senior members of IUSA to learn the nuances of student government.Program Coordinator Mohammad Issa said he and his co-coordinator Kristie Hsu received more than 100 applications for internship positions. From those applications, 20 students were selected.“They were all top of the line,” he said. Freshman Samantha Strong is working as an intern for IUSA President Jose Mitjavila. She said the experience thus far has not only introduced her to student government but also aided in her transition to college. “(Jose) is also a neuroscience major and has helped me decipher the pre-med and neuroscience requirements,” she said. “IUSA has provided me with a great support system of mentors who share in my accomplishments and provide advice with my stumbles.” Strong’s responsibilities include working with Mitjavila on IUSA initiatives and attending committee meetings. Strong said time management has become a must. Despite her busy schedule, she said she has enjoyed her work as an intern and plans to continue working with IUSA.Recently, the interns began the second phase of their internship, which is an eight-week class focusing on the history of student governmen and the importance of leadership skills. In a month they will begin to collaborate on group projects to develop and present an initiative they would like to see enacted on the IU campus. Co-Director of outreach Aparna Srinath said the project is aimed at giving students an idea of how IUSA develops and implements its initiatives. “It gives them a better sense of how they could go about implementing an initiative on a campus-wide level,” she said. Srinath said the students with the strongest initiative will have the opportunity to work with executive and senior members to bring that project to fruition.Issa said the interns will also have the opportunity to participate in a resume workshop and to volunteer within the community at Hoosier Hills Food Bank before Thanksgiving.Issa added that he has been impressed by this year’s interns and their enthusiasm about getting involved.“I think it’s been going really well,” he said. “If these guys keep going ... IU campus is in good hands.”Follow reporter Holly Hays on Twitter @hv_hays.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students in the IU Sociology club and the School of Public Health have been working to eliminate mental illness stigma. Volunteers handed out about 400 tank tops on campus Sunday and Monday. They also posted hundreds of yellow flyers in the shape of yield signs that read “IU is a Stigma-Free Zone.”The effort coincides with a visit by actress and advocate Glenn Close, who will visit classrooms and deliver a lecture at 3 p.m. today at the Whittenberger Auditorium. Close co-founded the Bring Change 2 Mind campaign, which works to eliminate misconceptions regarding mental illness. Bernice Pescosolido, a Distinguished Professor of Sociology, said it is important to have this conversation about stigma in order to change the negative perception of people who suffer from mental illness. The flyers and tanks were distributed to raise awareness of the negative stigma that is associated with mental illness and to facilitate a conversation that could bring about change, Pescosolido said. “If we talk about it, we see people as humans first, and we understand them in terms of the things they can contribute,” she said.Senior Deborah Backman serves as president of the IU Sociology club and said she hopes that people learn the facts about mental illness and provide a welcoming and understanding environment for people with mental illnesses to discuss their issues.“I hope people will be more sensitive toward the whole issue and people who have mental illness,” Backman said. “Just create an environment where people who have mental illnesses are more comfortable seeking treatment and are more comfortable talking to people about it.”She said students sometimes gain a negative perspective from the media regarding mental illness and hopes to change that misconception.“The things they see in the media about mental illness can really affect that and can prevent people from seeking help,” she said. Senior Jack Whittle has also been working as part of the campaign through the Sociology club and said he hopes students will be more considerate of the language they use to describe mental illness.“Language has power over how we think; abstaining from using words like psycho to describe a person with a mental illness is a good start,” he said. “Telling others that they should do the same is great.”Follow reporter Holly Hays on Twitter @hv_hays.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Brady Harman is a third year graduate student from Elkhart, Ind., working toward a dual law degree and masters of public administration through the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He also serves as the president of the Graduate and Professional Student Organization, which is the representative student government for graduate students on campus. GPSO currently serves around 10,000 graduate and professional students at IU.GPSO’s role The GPSO is the graduate equivalent of the IU Student Association, the undergraduate student government, and provides administrators with student perspectives. “Whenever they want student input, they usually invite IUSA to appoint people to that committee and GPSO to appoint people to that committee,” Harman said.Current initiativesIn recent weeks, Harman and his fellow GPSO members have focused on the formation of the new Media School as well as the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. He said many graduate students are affected by new health care due to their experience working for the University as class instructors and receiving benefits from the University.Harman said his administration is working on expanding the number of initiatives passed this year, as administrations of the past have been less active in passing bills. On the whole, Harman said the administration has four main goals: professional development, diversity of experience, inter-campus relationship building and internal reorganization.Professional development: The group aims to focus on professional development and soft skills such as grant writing and pedagogical training.Diversity efforts: GPSO encourages diversity efforts, making sure that the programs and services on campus are inclusive, Harman said. “Many of our grad students are international students. Are their needs being met?” Inter-campus relationship building: “The next big thing that’s probably going to happen is higher education reform,” Harman said. “We’re looking at getting together in some fashion, the Big Ten universities and other grad student governments, not only to learn about their best practices and what they do as a student government but also to prepare any advocacy efforts.” The effort to increase relationships within other student governments is something that Harman said has never been done before. “That’s never happened on a grad level,” he said. Internal reorganization: “We’ve had a weird history,” he said. “We split from IUSA in the ‘80s or the ‘70s or something. We’re looking at really sort of stabilizing that.”Problems facing grad studentsHarman said the main problem facing graduate students on the IUB campus is the dual role as both student and employee. “How do we meet our degree requirements, and how are we doing this work, and how are we being compensated?” Harman said. “We constantly have to look at that and reassess. Are we being treated fairly, or are we just the manual labor? Yes, the faculty is great, and they’re doing great things. This campus runs on the backs of grad students.” Goals for the yearHarman said his personal goal is to complete the four main action items GPSO has outlined, but he also wants to increase campus-wide awareness of GPSO and its role on campus. He said he wants “to build our awareness for students, so making sure people are aware of our organization and what it does on the student level, and then on the administrative level, consider us equally as the undergrads.” Follow reporter Holly Hays on Twitter @hv_hays.
Senior Rahaf Safi has been selected to serve as President Michael McRobbie’s fifth presidential intern, serving in the Office of the President for the rest of the academic year.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Hidden among the offices and hallways snaking through IU’s Chemistry Building, Don Garvin sat at his bench twirling a glass rod through a flame, the golden reflection dancing across his eyeglasses. In a matter of minutes, he had turned a hollow glass rod into a swan. Garvin is the only scientific glassblower serving IU and its satellite campuses. He has spent the last 27 years working with graduate students and researchers in the chemistry, biology, geology and psychology departments. Garvin’s job is to collaborate with students to create the glassware researchers need to complete their experiments. Students walk in with drawings and discuss their ideas with him, and Garvin creates the finished product. He estimated he completes between 350 and 500 projects a year. After almost 30 years on the job, he now sees pieces he once created come into the shop to be updated. “It’s generational,” Garvin said. “There will be projects that students started back in the ’80s and new students will come in modifying the glassware that we designed. Someone has come up with a better way to make the mousetrap.” * * *When he began working for the University in August 1981, Garvin was a stock room assistant in the chemistry store room. Later, he worked as a shipping and receiving clerk. All of that changed when he met his predecessor, Don Fowler, who approached Garvin and asked him if he would be interested in working as his apprentice. “I had no idea what that was or anything about it,” Garvin said. “I said ‘Sure, but I don’t know anything about glass,’ and he said ‘That’s a perfect place to be.’”Garvin spent four years completing his apprenticeship under Fowler, who retired in 1997 after 37 years at IU.Fowler passed away in July 2012 but left his mark on Garvin.“Being able to communicate is probably the greatest thing that he taught me and I’d say one of the most important,” Garvin said. “And to have confidence in yourself and yet treat all of the students with the same amount of respect.”One thing Garvin said he enjoys about the job is that every day presents a different challenge. “It’s not production work where you’re making the same thing over and over and over,” he said. “It’s different every day, and that’s what I like about it.”Throughout the years, those daily challenges have changed, Garvin said. Due to higher costs of chemicals, the reactions researchers produce are now getting smaller and so are the chambers. “The glassware and the designs are smaller,” he said. “Sometimes you’re running out of space to put things in.”However, his salary and the cost of the glassware is subsidized heavily by the chemistry department, Garvin said, which keeps costs low for students completing research — his lab fee is a mere $5 an hour.Garvin walked to his desk and picked up a worn copy of a glass catalog, which listed the commercial price of a vacuum manifold, a device that allows a scientist to add or remove gas in a reaction. The catalog price of the manifold is substantially higher than what it would cost him to manufacture the system, Garvin said. “It would cost about $1,500 to $2,000 to set up a complete vacuum system if they were going to do it commercially, and we could do it for $400 to $500 tops,” he said. * * *Though each piece is different, it all starts with an idea. Depending on the complexity of the piece, Garvin said he can complete a project in a matter of hours or weeks.Some of Garvin’s pieces were patented. One piece, a spray chamber designed by a student in the 1990s, came to his workshop scrawled on a napkin from a local eatery. “It goes from the idea to the piece of paper, in this case, which was a napkin,” Garvin said. From there, he collaborated with the student to turn this idea into a reality. For Garvin, the opportunity to interact with students in their endeavors has been one highlight of his career.“You see things evolve, and you see maybe their fourth or fifth year here that they’ve grown, and you’ve grown with them,” he said. Erick Pasciak, a graduate student studying analytical chemistry, is just one of the many students who has worked with Garvin on glassware projects. Standing in his lab, Pasciack pointed out dozens of things Garvin had created for his team throughout the years.“You can’t really look too far without seeing something that Don has made for us,” he said. Altogether, Pasciak estimated Garvin had created more than 100 pieces of glassware his team uses frequently during its experiments.Pasciak said he’s friends with Garvin. They chat about everything from Garvin’s family to how he spends his free time. He credits this to Garvin’s relaxed and outgoing personality.“I know nothing about fishing, but that man knows so much about it,” Pasciak said. “I love to watch him work.” Garvin has worked with a wide spectrum of people, from students to researchers at Riley Hospital for Children. Several years ago he formed a partnership with Dr. Mark Rodefeld, who works at Riley in pediatric cardio-thoracic surgery, operating on the hearts of premature infants.Garvin worked to design and create a heart pump that would show blood flow and aid in these surgeries.“These babies are born, and their hearts are so weak,” Garvin said. “Anytime we do anything for Riley, we take a little pride in something like that because we feel that that’s something that’s really going to touch someone’s life.”Garvin said the unpredictable nature of the material adds to the challenge.“Everything is a challenge in a different way because you never know what the glass is going to do,” he said. “It’s like a surfer trying to stay on the crest of a wave.”* * *In his workshop, hidden deep in what he calls “the bowels of the Chemistry Building,” Garvin waxes poetic about his work and harvesting the potential of glass as a material.“It’s one of those materials that is really, really great in the world of science because you can see a reaction going on,” he said. “In glass you can see something happening.” His fascination for his work carries over to his home life, where he has a bench and workshop of his own and has made Christmas presents or keepsakes for friends and family. However, there comes a time for every artist to take his final bow. Garvin said he would like to train an apprentice of his own to take his place in the shop in the near future.“In five years, I would see myself perhaps training an apprentice to fill in for my retirement,” he said. “And then I would be at home lifting a glass of iced tea.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>About 300 people knelt to the east in prayer Tuesday morning to honor the Muslim holiday Eid-al-Adha, or the “feast of the sacrifice.” For IU students and faculty who practice Islam, Eid-al-Adha is a day to reflect and celebrate. Participants gathered at 8 a.m. at the Draper Earles Auditorium at the Monroe County Fairgrounds for the prayer service. The holiday commemorates the day in which the prophet Ibrahim was asked by Allah to sacrifice his only son in a demonstration of his faith. Before the blade could strike his son’s neck, he was pardoned, and Allah commended him for his faith.Children are often excused from school to spend the day celebrating with their families, attending prayer service and sharing a large meal, sophomore Hadi Yousef said. Yousef, whose parents came to the United States from Syria about 20 years ago, said because the holiday was in the middle of the week, he was unable to celebrate with his family.“My entire life, I’ve celebrated with my family, but since this year it falls on a Tuesday, my family will be celebrating in Evansville, and I will be celebrating in the Bloomington community,” Yousef said.Sophomore Dina Dajani, whose parents are Palestinian immigrants, said the holiday is typically celebrated by a community prayer service in the morning followed by large family dinners at night.At the service, individuals come together to partake in Takbirat, or religious chanting and worship, before prayer and a sermon.Dajani said the service reflects the camaraderie and fellowship within the community.“It’s just to bring forth a sense of family and connection with each other,” she said. “Not a lot of people have relatives here, or some people are students that don’t have family members that live with them.”After the service, families spend time together and prepare a large meal for the evening, Dajani said. In her family, the meal is attended by visiting family members and friends as well as other members of her local Muslim community. “My mom cooks the biggest meal,” she said. “It’s the biggest meal of the year. She goes all out.”Dajani and Yousef said the celebration of Eid-al-Adha could be comparable to the Western celebration of Christmas, as children often receive gifts and bags of candy.“It’s a really exciting time for the kids,” Yousef said. For IU’s Near Eastern Language and Culture department, several classes were cancelled in honor of the holiday. Department Chair Asma Afsaruddin said about half of the 15 core NELC faculty members are Muslim and made the individual decision to cancel classes.“Since the prayer services are in the morning, typically morning classes may be cancelled and afternoon classes may proceed as usual,” she said. She said she also cancelled her class about the Golden Age of Islamic Civilization. Sophomore Haseeb Mohideen said he appreciated the decision to cancel his Tuesday morning Arabic 200 class. It meant he would only have to miss one class on Tuesday in order to attend the prayer service. “Would you want to go to class on Christmas?” Mohideen said. “That’s kind of how it feels.” By canceling class, the department not only catered to its Muslim faculty and students, Mohideen said, but honoring the holiday also helped the department’s non-Muslim students better understand the Arab culture and Islam, he said.“The majority of people with some interaction with the Arab world would want that day off,” he said. Unlike some students, Dajani said she would not get the day off because of an afternoon midterm. Three or four years ago, Dajani said she began to invite non-Muslim friends from school to her family’s dinner in an effort to educate them about the religion. “Once they found out I was Arab and I was Muslim, they were really interested,” she said. Dajani and Yousef were both in attendance at Tuesday morning’s prayer service. Kneeling on the ground, Yousef prayed with the rest of the Muslim community. After the ceremony, Yousef said the high energy in the room contributed to his sentiment about the holiday.“Everyone’s in a very good mood,” he said. “Overall, it’s a great feeling.”For Dajani, the morning’s sermon was the most meaningful part of the celebration. “There’s always that one day where you need that extra boost,” she said. “Every time there’s a lecture or a sermon, my belief in God is greater and greater.“Allah will stand by you.” Follow reporter Holly Hays on Twitter @hv_hays.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When sophomore Aryn Morrison wakes up every morning, she gets ready for ROTC physical training. She must balance her class schedule with mandatory ROTC activities like physical training and Ranger Challenges.Morrison said she has experienced difficulty in arranging her schedule to accommodate her ROTC activates. “As an underclassman, the prerequisite classes do go pretty quickly,” Morrison said. “Every semester I’ve had a really late class because that’s the only place I could fit it ... so you’re getting home late and starting homework late, and it just adds extra stress for you.”On Oct. 2, IUSA Congress members voted unanimously in favor of a resolution urging the University to allow priority registration for students that participate in Army ROTC.Price said in an email he hopes the resolution will be implemented by the University and that ROTC numbers will increase as a result. “Included in the resolution is our hope that allowing ROTC students to have priority registration will increase the number of students enrolled in the program,” he said.“Some students may not be able to be involved with ROTC because of other conflicts, and hopefully this will fix that issue.”Mark McConahay, Associate Vice Provost and Registrar, said in an email the proposal was received by the Office of Enrollment Management on Oct. 7. “Registration is an academic process, and in the purview of Bloomington Faculty Council who would, in all probability, assign the proposal to the Educational Policies Committee for review,” he said. McConahay added at this time it has not been determined when and if the proposal will go into effect. If approved by the BFC, the proposal would be reviewed by staff in the Office of the Registrar and other campus and system-wide officers. At that point, the process would be defined and technical specifications would be developed.Ben Krebs , a senior and the cadet battalion commander for the IU Army ROTC battalion, said in an email he spends an average of 20 hours a week on ROTC activities and often, those activities make scheduling for academic classes difficult. “Some things, like our two-hour Thursday labs, are always at the same time every semester,” he said.“So if you have a class you have to take, and there are multiple sections but you can’t get into the one that fits your ROTC obligations, then you can’t take it that semester.”Priority registration could benefit ROTC members in several ways, Krebs said, including allowing them flexibility while scheduling as well as a possible increase in grade point average and PT scores.“If they have more time get work done and more wiggle room to manage all of their activities, then they should be able to perform better as scholars, athletes and leaders,” he said. Price said he felt passionate about the resolution because he is grateful for the work that ROTC students and all men and women in the service do.“We are grateful for what the men and women in the armed forces sacrifice on a daily basis for all of us, and we were just happy to be able to contribute something to help them,” he said.Morrison said the proposal, regardless of whether it’s implemented by the University, is an appreciated gesture. “It’s nice to see that somebody’s thinking of us putting in all that time,” she said. Follow reporter Holly Hays on Twitter @hv_hays.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Music producer Amir Windom will visit IU as part of a fall Diversity Lecture Series titled “Going from Success to SIGNIFICANCE.” The newly created Diversity Inclusion and Advocacy Office of the IU Student Association is organizing Windom’s visit.Windom has worked with record labels such as Atlantic Records, Def Jam Records and Bad Boy Records.On Wednesday, Windom will visit the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center’s Midday House Party to chat with students about his experiences in the music industry and give tips on how to be successful.At 8 p.m. Wednesday, Windom will judge a musical talent show at Willkie Auditorium. The winners will receive a recording session with Windom.A lecture and question and answer session will take place at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Whittenberger Auditorium at the Indiana Memorial Union. Senior Leighton Johnson, director of the IUSA Diversity Inclusion and Advocacy Office, has formed partnerships with multiple organizations on campus including the Black Student Union, Union Board and Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs with the African American Arts Institute. Senior Emma Campbell, president of the Black Student Union, said the collaboration with IUSA began in May, when it was decided that the series would take place. She said Windom was an easy choice to invite as a lecturer. Johnson said he hopes to reach all types of students interested in achieving success in business careers. “This speaker would resonate with non-white students and white students alike as an African-American male who has reached that success,” he said. He said the lecture is also about opening the minds of students to different cultures.“We want people to come from the series thinking about how they benefit from being inclusive and being around people of different cultures and different ethnicities,” Johnson said. Follow reporter Holly Hays on Twitter @hv_hays.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Make the call.That’s the message members of the IU Student Association are working to promote Tuesday, Oct. 1. A series of events are set to take place to spread awareness of the Hoosier PACT and the Lifeline Law. Culture of Care members will be stationed at different locations across campus to provide students with information regarding campus and state efforts to protect students who call for medical assistance for a friend, IUSA Chief of Staff Katy Flanigan said. The events will culminate with a visit from Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Ind., who authored the Lifeline bill before it was passed in 2012, as well as Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller. Dawn and Norm Finbloom, who lost their son Brett to alcohol-related issues, will also be speaking at the event. The event will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Alumni Hall in the Indiana Memorial Union. A question and answer session and informal reception will be held from 8:30 to 10 p.m. following comments from the featured speakers. Flanigan said the event is a collaborative effort involving several groups on campus to spread awareness of benefits of calling for help. “We had a lot of people reaching out to us, wanting to be involved,” she said. “We really just wanted to bring everyone’s effort under one roof.” The IU Center for Counseling and Psychological Services will also be working with IUSA to complete drink-pouring demonstrations, informing students of the size of a standard drink to promote understanding of alcohol intake, Flanigan said. The Office of Alternative Screening and Intervention Services will also be in attendance to provide additional information regarding alcohol awareness on campus. IUSA has also formed a partnership with the Union Board Body and Mind committee for the event. Jackie Gauthier, director of Body and Mind, said in an email that she hopes the event clears up any confusion students may have about the law. “I think there is some confusion of campus of what exactly the Lifeline Law covers and the steps one needs to take to qualify for legal protection,” she said. “We hope that this event clears up some of that confusion and that students can be confident that they know their rights as well as how to protect themselves.” Gauthier added that prior to the event, students can find posters in several dining halls across campus with details regarding the law and the opportunity to sign a pledge to “make the call.” Flanigan said though the capacity for the event is 300, she hopes the message will reach the entire student population. “Three hundred is a lot of people, but it’s not anywhere close to who we want to reach with this,” she said. “I hope that students will make the call, not only when they’re in dangerous situations, but to help spread the word to all of their friends on campus.” Follow reporter Holly Hays on Twitter @hv_hays.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The finalized IU Student Association budget for the 2013-14 year contains a decrease in marketing expenditures and food provided for staff members. Compared to the 2012-13 budget, cuts for this year include an almost $4,000 reduction in spending for IUSA marketing and advertising, decreased expenditure for office supplies, renovations and travel, and the complete removal of food expenses from the budget. Last year’s 2012-13 budget allocated $10,000 to marketing and advertising, compared to the $6,142 budgeted for the 2013-14 year. According to IUSA Treasurer Casey Baker, these cuts represent a desire of the current administration to eliminate needless spending and focus on students’ needs.“We are really just trying to make it initiative-based and not spend it on frivolous stuff,” she said. After amendments proposed by the Congressional Oversight and Reform Committee, the amount allotted for marketing was cut from $7,142 to $6,142. Funds were also removed from the budget for flyers for the Freshman Internship program in the amount of $550 and $2,000 from the budget for the spring Culture of Care speaker. Funds removed, including the $1,000 removed from the marketing and advertising budget, were reallocated to the new campus recycling initiative as well as the $3,000 reserved for the funding of initiatives passed by IUSA Congress, a new feature in the budget.Baker said the majority of the marketing budget is spent on promotional materials for initiatives as well as Facebook advertising and IUSA shirts.She said this is done to ensure students across campus are familiar with IUSA’s activities. Some of the decreases in the marketing budget were situational, Baker added, including the cut of last year’s expenditures in gift cards in the amount of $2,181.75. The gift cards were given as prizes to incentivize students to participate in the VOICE surveys last year, Baker said. Baker also said the current administration has not advertised via Facebook, and she does not think they plan to do so. Jalen Walker, co-chair of the IUSA marketing department, said in an email the department could benefit from receiving additional funding. “No matter how much time we put into enacting new policies, they become ineffective if students do not hear about them,” he said. “I truly believe in the value of the marketing department.”Walker said the marketing budget remains open because of partnerships with other campus groups such as Union Board and the Residence Halls Association.“This year the executive board has been really pushing for partnerships with other student organizations, which has given us much more flexibility with our budget,” he said. Follow reporter Holly Hays on Twitter @hv_hays.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Don’t haze me, bro.That’s the message Culture of Care members are promoting to commemorate National Hazing Prevention Week.Since Monday, Culture of Care members have been standing at high-traffic spots on campus to chat with students about the effects of hazing and to hand out tank tops that read “Don’t haze me, bro!” At each table, students are able to participate in a conversation about hazing with Culture of Care representatives, or take part in an activity such as signing a pledge against hazing. Upon completion, some students will receive a free shirt.Culture of Care Co-Director Rachel Martinez said the tables will be set up from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday near the Woodburn clock tower, the intersection of East 10th Street and Fee Lane and, on Thursday, near the statue of Hoagy Carmichael alongside the IU Auditorium. A list of resources, including IU Counseling and Psychological Services, the Incident Team and the Office of Student Ethics, will also be available for students at each table. Martinez said students will be invited to chat with Culture of Care members regarding the effects of hazing and make a pledge to stand up against hazing on campus. “We want the conversation to be out there and also for people to know resources that they can turn to if this was ever a situation that they had to face themselves or that they saw others facing,” she said. Culture of Care Co-Director Andy Braden said the effort is to correct preconceived notions that hazing does not occur within most of the groups on campus.“A lot of students generally just assume hazing is only in the greek system,” he said. “It’s also very prevalent throughout all of IU. A lot of students might be experiencing hazing, but they don’t realize it.” Braden said though hazing at the college level commonly takes the form of alcohol consumption or sleep deprivation challenges, hazing is a broad term and can manifest itself in a variety of ways. “There are things that are a lot more humiliating, more intense,” he said, adding that hazing “fundamentally affects your lifestyle, and it humiliates you.”Braden said the effort’s goal is not simply to provide students with a free shirt but to serve as a liaison between students and campus resources.“Tanks themselves aren’t going to change people’s behavior,” Braden said. “So if you’re just hanging out for a free tank, that’s not going to do anything.” He said the ultimate goal is to increase knowledge of hazing at IU and to spark a campus-wide change. “We very much want students to try to have an open mind about analyzing the way things are done at IU because we feel that the culture at IU can improve,” he said. “In order for a cultural change to happen, it starts on a personal level.” Follow IUSA reporter Holly Hays on Twitter @hv_hays.