Safe sisters gains interest
A new group is working to address sexual assault in the greek community.
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A new group is working to address sexual assault in the greek community.
Wednesday will mark the 10th-annual national Constitution Day.
Three fraternity brothers are looking to change the way greeks get around.
After 55 years , Pi Lambda Phi will return to campus this semester.
Formal fraternity recruitment continued this week with philanthropic and social rush events early this week along with new changes brought about by the Interfraternity Council.
Reproductive rights, wage gaps, slut shaming and street harassment were all among answers yelled out in reply to the big question, “Why are you a feminist?,” at the Feminist Student Association call-out meeting.
Fraternity rush was restructured this semester to give potential recruits a fuller picture of brotherhood.
Puppies, performances, playlists and more will be happening today in Dunn Meadow.
For as many as 12 greek chapters , weekly bible study is as routine as tailgates and pair parties.
The 33 unhoused greek chapter houses may soon find new homes thanks to IU’s forward thinking back in 2009.
The cobblestone streets of University Courts will soon be shaking due to the upcoming construction resulting from the Phi Gamma Delta housing switch.
Living Learning Communities welcomed unexpected guests this semester as some students were placed on LLC floors as a result of housing consolidation.
Bahá'í Faith members Sarah Enslow, Ruth Enslow and IU Alum Natalie Bantz represent the Bahá'í Faith of Bloomington center at Faith Fest. The Bahá'í Faith of Bloomington center offers weekly devotion to community members every Sunday at 10:30am.
Wedged between two large religious studies books sat a pamphlet on the Bahá’í Faith. This small, beat-up, spineless pamphlet in a high school library was a turning point for recent IU graduate Natalie Bantz.
By Lindsay Moore
Students in military service may be eligible for a tuition break next fall as a result of the Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability and Transparency Act. President Obama’s signature earlier this month means veteran students will enjoy in-state tuition at public universities, according to the act.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>New wings. That’s the message inscribed on the gates of Middle Way House. That’s what the clients of the shelter for domestic and sexual violence victims strive for. Middle Way House offers 24-hour crisis intervention, emergency shelter, personal advocacy, legal advocacy, support groups, preventive programs and affordable housing — all free to clients.It is this accessibility and prolonged care that make Middle Way House one of six nationally recognized programs for domestic violence. But its service comes at a price.The recession hit nonprofit organizations hard financially. Nationally, 41 percent of nonprofits said their number-one issue was achieving long-term financial sustainability, according to the 2013 Nonprofit Finance Fund survey. Statewide, 34 percent of Indiana’s domestic violence programs experienced a decrease in government funding, according to the National Network to End Domestic Violence’s 2013 report. Middle Way is no exception.“We are experiencing decreases pretty much across the board,” said Toby Strout, executive director of Middle Way House.These financial cut backs have resulted in a reduction of staff for Middle Way, Strout said. Due to unfunded mandates instated by state government, Middle Way had to remove its overnight volunteer staff despite having paid staff back up and approval from their insurance company. These state unfunded mandates regulate this, as well as personnel policies, insurance levels, what programs Middle Way offers and how they are run. However, they do not provide funds to pay full-time employees to fulfill these requirements. As a result, Middle Way relies heavily on their volunteers.“Funds are short everywhere when you’re looking at nonprofits,” said Debra Morrow, Middle Way House community service coordinator. “There is no way that Middle Way House could do the work without the volunteers.”According to the Middle Way 2012 annual report, the organization trained 370 volunteers who donated 27,676 hours of their time to make the shelter’s programs successful. These volunteers produce not only notable results but also a large financial break for Middle Way. In 2012, $277,000 was saved in salaries. Roughly 60 to 70 percent of Middle Way volunteers are IU students through the University’s Service-Learning Program.“I think that as young leaders, we can go in with an optimistic attitude and change the perception of domestic violence and make a difference,” said Blair Heidenreich, a Middle Way volunteer and junior social services student.Despite the volunteer and community support, it’s difficult for domestic violence programs to balance the increasing demand for services and decreasing government funds.In 2007, the National Network to End Domestic Violence reported that, nationally, 61 percent of nonprofits’ income came from government grants. In the 2011-12 annual report, government grants only covered 34 percent of nonprofits’ income.The Middle Way 2012 financial report shows that 33 percent of its income is supported by grants from the federal, state and local government. This leaves a difference of more than $1 million dollars for Middle Way to make up through private foundations, fundraising events and donor solicitation.This decline in funding coincides with a rise in need. Coast-to-coast, the Nonprofit Finance Fund found that 80 percent of nonprofits noticed an increase in demand for services in 2013. Fifty six percent of these nonprofits also reported that they were unable to meet this increased demand. Middle Way is no different. Its 2012 annual report shows that of the 55 women who requested emergency shelter, 24 were denied because of lack of availability. “We’re still at capacity in the majority of our programs statewide,” said Laura Berry, executive director of Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “We’re still struggling to meet the needs of the requests of our population.”In 2013, the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence found that 601 requests for shelter statewide were not met because of capacity limits.In just one day, 298 requests for services could not be met in Indiana because of a lack of resources.The economic recession plays a role in both of these issues. Fiscal cutbacks resulted in less money coming into nonprofits from both the government and the community.This financial strain created extra stress at home, which caused increased assault rates, Berry said. “During those economic downturns a couple years ago we were seeing some of our highest numbers,” Berry said.The threat of unemployment or homelessness also resulted in victims staying longer in shelters. From 2009 to 2011, the length of shelter stays increased by 18,419 days statewide, according to the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence.The federal government only funds the first 30 days for victims in emergency shelters, according to the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence said.The longest stay in the Middle Way emergency shelter has been eight months. Unlike most programs, Middle Way doesn’t have a time limit on how long clients can stay, they said. Middle Way doesn’t believe in limiting its clients, it believes in empowering them, according to its mission statement. “It’s the woman who needs to understand what she needs,” said Dorothy Granger, head of Middle Way marketing and communications. “We don’t tell the women what to do. We will help them do what they know they need to do.”In 2012, Middle Way’s rate of domestic violence victims returning to their violent relationships was 13 percent. This is compared to the national return rate of 55 to 70 percent, Granger said.“In the perfect world we would work ourselves out of jobs,” Morrow said. “We wouldn’t be needed anymore and that would be wonderful, but that’s a bigger societal issue.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Sean Hayes plays in the background as two brides share their first dance. Their gowns glide behind them. For the first time, Cate Taylor and Amy Gonzales celebrate as a married couple.“The wedding itself was really special,” said Gonzales, assistant telecommunications professor at IU. “It was this turning point in how a lot of our close family felt about us as a gay couple.”The chaos of wedding planning was often amplified with confusion, disapproval and occasionally even hostility, they said.“You’re both getting married? On the same day?” bridal shop owners asked Taylor and Gonzales — seemingly oblivious to their relationship.After four years of dating, even the brides’ families still had their reservations about the wedding.“(The wedding) totally legitimated our relationship,” said Taylor, assistant sociology and gender studies professor. “I don’t think there’s any way my family would have accepted us the way they accept us now without having done that wedding.”Married in New York. Single in Philadelphia. With every change in landscape, their legal status fluctuated.Taylor and Gonzales wed in summer 2009, in the midst of California’s gay rights battle.In fall 2008, California’s Proposition 8 passed. It added an amendment to the state constitution that defined marriage between one man and one woman, but was overturned in summer 2010.Legislative changes, state-to-state and even year-to-year, are ongoing factors in Taylor and Gonzales’ lives. After legally being married in Massachusetts, the couple bounced around the east coast for their post-doctoral research, they said. “It’s a regular occurrence in our life that we’re trying to figure out how to navigate this maze of what it means to married, not married and now half-married,” Taylor said.After two years on the east coast, they began looking for teaching positions. This commitment lent itself to other long-term planning, including family planning.There are only 16 states that allow joint gay adoptions in which both partner is considered the legal parent of the child. This legality also affects decisions such as finding gay-friendly doctors.“Anyone that’s dealing with you professionally but also in a very intimate way, you want to feel like they’re comfortable,” Gonzales said. “You just want to feel like you’re validated as a person when they’re helping you get through one of the most intimate parts of your life.”In August 2012, both Gonzalez and Taylor accepted teaching positions at IU. They packed up and made their way to Indiana. Although their adoption is legal here, their marriage isn’t. It’s not recognized by the state of Indiana as a marriage, by definition.This makes events like Tax Day that much more stressful, they said.Federally, Taylor and Gonzales are considered legally wed and receive tax returns as a couple. On a state level, each must file their taxes as single. This has translated to Taylor and Gonzales spending thousands of dollars on lawyers and accountants to decipher the gray area.“Even with all that money we spend we still don’t have the same legal protection as a married couple,” Taylor said. “People think that we can somehow approximate legal marriage and actually, you can’t do that. There’s certain privileges that the government gives heterosexual married couples, that there’s just no way to get them for same-sex couples.”Indiana’s changing legislation is a constant source of stress for Taylor and Gonzales, they said.The recent HJR-3 proposal could have drastically altered the couple’s family planning. If the second sentence had remained, banning any unions equivalent to marriage, it is possible it would also extend to adoption rights.“You go somewhere because you know this right is available to you there but then you don’t know if that right is going to stay available to you,” Taylor said. “That uncertainty will not go away until we have marriage everywhere for all people.”This uncertainty comes from the United States’ rapid change in legislation for gay rights. In less than 10 years, gay marriage has gone from being legal in only one state to 17 states. The rest of the country varies from acknowledging marriages performed elsewhere to constitutional bans on same-sex marriage.Indiana is no exception to this inconsistency. Last week, a federal judge granted a lesbian couple from Evansville an emergency request for immediate recognition of marriage. The request was in response to one partner’s terminally ill status and is valid for 28 days. This case is one of five legal challenges filed in Indiana last month. Since DOMA was repealed last year, more than 60 federal lawsuits have been filed nationwide.This puts gay rights issues at center stage, a position that feels both exciting and overwhelming for couples like Taylor and Gonzales, they said.“You can feel more empowered walking down the street holding hands but then you also feel like, oh someone’s also pissed off about DOMA,” Gonzales said. “Walking down the street holding hands shouldn’t feel like sticking my neck out, but suddenly it does. In both good and bad ways.”Public approval of gay marriage has changed from 40 percent in 2009 to 54 percent in 2012, according to Gallup polls. Despite this change in public opinion, feeling that their relationship isn’t respected is still a constant anxiety for gay couples such as Taylor and Gonzales.This lack of legal respect often transforms into a socially inhospitable climate, they said. Most LGBT hate crimes are aimed at gays who defy the gender normative — masculine females or feminine males. Taylor and Gonzales are white, educated, employed, feminine lesbians but they said this does not exempt them from hostility.“It’s not always clear why it’s happening,” Gonzales said. “Maybe that person’s having a busy day or maybe it’s because I just referred to my wife. That’s the stress, the uncertainty around having to constantly navigate around other people’s potential prejudices.”Although Taylor and Gonzales have said they found both the Bloomington and IU community to be overall welcoming and accepting, they still run into their fair share of pursed lips and disapproving stares.“I think it’s kind of sad to be honest,” Taylor said. “This is the most important relationship of my life. I’m totally in love with Amy and I think we have a great relationship and we’re really happy. It’s just kind of sad to me that our relationship is not respected in the legal system.”