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(04/13/14 11:55pm)
Roberta Stafford warms up with jazzercise, a dance-based workout Sunday afternoon before participating in the 12th Annual Homeward Bound 5K Walk. The event kicked off with performances by various artists and ended with music, food and team recognitions after the walk was over.
(04/10/14 3:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>All 55 audience chairs were full and some attendees were standing around the fringes of the Federal Room in the Indiana Memorial Union Wednesday to hear the College Democrat and Republican Debate.Four representatives, each from the Indiana College Democrats and the College Republicans at IU, participated in the debate. Each of the representatives spoke about one of four issues during the course of the more than two- hour discussion.Immigration, education, the minimum wage and the Affordable Care Act were the four topics chosen for the discourse. Questions were taken from the audience throughout the course of the debate.“I think that people were moderately respectful of one another,” said Margie Hershey, a professor of political science at IU and the moderator of the debate. College Democrats representative Hillary Anderson said she felt her side won the debate.“We saw our side being incredibly aggressive and honest in what we were saying about our positions and our policy,” Anderson said. Republican representative Matt Shute said he felt the debate went well, but that the Republican arguments were more credible.“I think our side was more based on fact,” Shute said. “Overall it was a good and amicable debate, and I was really impressed with the attendance.”Representatives from the College Democrats and the College Republicans agreed on the issue of immigration. Of the four topics discussed, immigration was the only issue upon which the two groups agreed.“On the issue of immigration, they came to our side,” Anderson said. “Problem solved. That’s the Democratic position and I’m glad to see that the Republicans want to come and join us on that.” Shaw and Republican representative Riley Parr each made closing statements after completing a debate on the minimum wage.Shaw reviewed each of the four topics discussed and suggested the Republicans offer a solution to Obamacare.“Instead of voting to repeal the health care system we have now, instead of voting to strip the seven million-plus that just signed up for health care, propose something that’s different,” Shaw said in his closing statements. “In response, Parr argued that citizens ought to be given a choice in their health care.“It’s about allowing you to pick the health care plan that you want based on your reasons, not some government bureaucrat,” Parr said.Parr finished the debate by saying the principle of the Republican Party was to promote individual choice and give opportunities to all Americans.Shute said this event was a buildup to a larger debate before midterms next semester.Hershey offered closing comments to finish off the event.“Let me say in conclusion that we have a lot more in common than we have that separates us.”An earlier version of this story identified Riley Parr as a Democratic representative.
(04/10/14 3:22am)
Riley Parr responds to an audience member's questions Wednesday at the Indiana Memorial Union. Parr, a Republican representative, was discussing the issue of minimum wage.
(04/09/14 3:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Teacher evaluations from a new statewide system of educator ratings were released Monday, but the data collected by the Indiana Department of Education has raised questions of viability.New teacher evaluations link educators’ performance to test scores. More than 87 percent of teachers were graded as being highly effective or effective, while 1 percent of teachers were graded as ineffective. Implemented in the 2012-13 school year, these scores are collected from local school corporations and distributed by the Indiana Department of Education.“I am encouraged by these numbers,” Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz said in an IDOE press release. “For the most part, they confirm what we already knew, that public schools throughout Indiana are filled with effective and highly effective teachers.”Many have criticized the evaluation process because the numbers of ineffective teachers seemed impossibly low. Only 0.39 percent of teachers were given an “ineffective” rating. Ten percent of educators were listed as “not applicable / not evaluated.”Teresa Meredith, president of the Indiana State Teacher’s Association, said this was probably because truly ineffective teachers were being let go or asked to resign. “If a teacher’s counted as ineffective, do you want them to stay in the classroom all year long?” Meredith said. “They’re just not evaluated.” Meredith said she did not think it was worthwhile to include these people in the evaluations. The 2012-13 school year was the first time the new evaluation model was in effect. Teachers were placed into one of four categories: highly effective, effective, improvement necessary and ineffective. Administrators and all certified school employees were also included in the evaluations.Legislation enacted by the 2011 General Assembly required school districts to adapt their methods of evaluation. A press release from the Indiana State Teacher’s Association said administrators were being required to spend more time evaluating each individual teacher on an annual basis rather than leading educational programming.Meredith said the scores are based on individual teacher evaluations conducted on the local level. Before the law was passed, there was not a requirement to conduct annual evaluations.“Before, schools might not have done an actual, physical evaluation in the classroom, but now they have to,” Meredith said.ISTEP test scores also contributed to the rating teachers received. Overall test scores of teachers’ pupils could affect the grade the educator is given.Meredith pointed out issues with this process, particularly that teachers could be working in a low-performing school but could still be performing to the best of their ability.“You could be a really good teacher, but if the school has a lot of challenges you could be harmed by that,” Meredith said. “If you’re in an impoverished community, your score might be harmed, but you could be doing an outstanding job.”The teacher evaluations are not strictly for data collection purposes. The data could be used to deny teachers pay raises, Meredith said. If teachers do not meet a certain standard, they are ineligible for a pay raise, regardless of whether or not funds are available.“They’re prohibited by law to get a pay increase if they’re not graded as effective or highly effective,” Meredith said. “It can affect a teacher’s compensation.”Meredith also said for teachers who are employed in higher-performing areas, the evaluations may not be representative of their performance. If there is less room to grow, Meredith said, then the evaluations may not reflect a teacher’s improvement.“I’m just not sure it’s a smart thing,” Meredith said. “So much hinges on the person who’s evaluating you.”The evaluation program is flexible at the local level. School corporations are given the choice of who will conduct individual teacher evaluations. Some corporations opted to bring in private evaluators who then sent the data to the IDOE. Evaluations were all-inclusive. They covered administrators, school counselors and any other certified employees. However, only 51 school corporations’ “central office” data was displayed on the spreadsheet distributed by the IDOE. About 80 percent of school corporations displayed “less than 10 educators reported” for their administrative office section.Meredith said this was a precaution to protect educators’ privacy. If too few employees are working in a corporation’s central office, the IDOE will not list the data in order to prevent poor scores from becoming obviously linked to a single person.“They’re really trying to protect identities,” Meredith said. “This isn’t a witch hunt.”The same was true for individual schools. If there were fewer than 10 educators for a specific school, the IDOE did not release the data. Data was therefore not accessible for 328 out of the 1,756 schools listed in Indiana. Some school corporations did not report to the IDOE at all. The Monroe County Community School Corporation was one of six school corporations that did not have any reports for any teachers.Meredith said if the school corporation’s contracts already had included an evaluation instrument, those teachers would not be required to undergo evaluations under the law until new contracts were drawn.Beverly Smith, director of school and community services for MCCSC, confirmed that this was the case for MCCSC. Meredith said she felt that establishing a program such as this on the state level was a good step toward keeping Indiana teachers from becoming complacent, despite issues in the first year with implementation.“I think an evaluation instrument is important, and I think it’s important that it’s flexible locally,” Meredith said. “I think teachers by and large want feedback to know how we’re doing.”
(04/07/14 2:52am)
Tommy Knight and Phillip Wailes perform on drums and bass, respectively, Sunday evening at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium. Knight and Wailes are members of the Bloomington High School South Combo.
(04/03/14 3:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bloomington City Council considered an amendment to an existing ordinance during a meeting Wednesday night that would allow professional sharpshooting at the Griffy Lake Nature Preserve.The amendment to the current ordinance, proposed by council member Dave Rollo, would allow only professional sharpshooters contracted by the city to hunt within the Griffy Lake Nature Preserve.Costs to the city for this expense were estimated to be about $30,000 annually.Municipal code does not allow any use of a firearm within city limits unless it is discharged by a law enforcement officer or used in self-defense.Rollo said that if the council does not take action to curb deer overabundance now, the effects could be irreversible.“Damage is acute now,” Rollo said. “And it’s getting worse.”The meeting began with the council voting by a margin of 5 to 3, with one abstention, not to limit the amount of time allowed for council deliberation and public comment.Council member Stephen Volan presented a motion to limit the debate to three hours in order to regulate the amount of time Wednesday night’s meeting would take.“There’s no reason why this has to be decided at second reading on April 9,” Volan said, implying that the ordinance could go to a third reading.Several council members objected, saying that the motion was unprecedented and would limit the input of the public.“We’ve never done this before,” council member Andy Ruff said.Each public comment was limited to five minutes, however.Ramsay Harik, a community member, asked the council to take immediate action, putting priority on the science available to them “no matter how squeamish it makes the rest of us feel.”David Parkhurst, who worked for the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs until 2005, said allowing this amendment would help preserve the existing environment at Griffy Lake.“I don’t understand what’s so precious about deer that makes them so much more important than birds and other wildlife,” Parkhurst said.A Griffy Lake Master Plan compiled in 2008 recognized the problem of deer overpopulation and called for an examination of potential solutions to the problem.Sharpshooting was determined to be the most viable option. Contraception and sterilization were both discussed at Wednesday night’s council meeting as alternatives, but were generally agreed upon to not be cost-effective.“Contraception has ever proven ineffective in a free-ranging environment,” said Josh Griffin, a regional supervisor with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.Michael Ellenwood said he had been hunting deer his entire life and feels the council is not considering unintended consequences.Ellenwood is from upstate New York, an area that also struggles with deer overabundance.He said he feels that shooting the deer will only cause them to disperse.“As soon as you start shooting them, they’ll move,” Ellenwood said.Richard Darling, a Bloomington resident, said his neighborhood was serving as a “highway” for deer traveling to Griffy Lake. “‘Bambi’ is a very interesting movie. It’s fun to watch and kids love it,” Darling said. “I don’t want a herd of deer and skunks ravaging my front yard.”
(03/26/14 2:45am)
"Snakehead Ed," aided by an adult helper from the audience, holds up one of his snakes for the audience to view Tuesday afternoon at Wonderlab. At the end of the show, kids were allowed to touch one of Ed Ferrer's snakes.
(03/26/14 2:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Ed Ferrer, also known as “Snakehead Ed,” showed a variety of critters at the “Snakes of Planet Earth: A Live Animal Show” one-day program on Tuesday at WonderLab Museum of Science, Health and Technology.One girl exclaimed at the top of her voice when Ferrer pulled a corn snake out of a cotton bag. “You guys are easy,” Ferrer said to the group of delighted children when he showed the first and smallest reptile.Ferrer taught middle school science for 32 years and has been coming to WonderLab as a presenter for some time since his retirement.“I love going back to school,” Ferrer said. “I don’t care whether it’s kinder-care, elementary, middle school or college classes.”The last and largest of the snakes Ferrer showed, an albino Burmese python, weighed 100 pounds and required four people to hold it.Most of the chairs were full, with kids sitting on mats around the front of the audience of roughly 80 people. It was a typical turnout for a live animal show at the museum, said Karen Jepson-Innes, associate director of WonderLab.But this time of year is especially busy for the science museum. Last week was the busiest WonderLab has ever seen.“We’ve had record attendance,” Jepson-Innes said. “We have families coming in all over the state and the region throughout pretty much the entire second half of March and the beginning of April.”Each snake was kept in a breathable cotton bag with a rubber band tied around the top, or in the case of the two biggest reptiles, large coolers with duct tape securing the lid. Snakes prefer the dark, Ferrer said.Indiana is home to four venomous snakes, Ferrer said. Two live in the area: copperheads, which Ferrer said are fairly common, and timber brown snakes, which are endangered.Most venoms from snakes in the area can be treated easily with a trip to the hospital, Ferrer said.The museum makes an effort to bring in a diversity of presenters. It invites “Snakehead Ed” every one or two years. The snakes are particularly popular, Jepson-Innes said.“Live animals are a really popular way for people to engage with science and biology,” Jepson-Innes said.
(03/25/14 9:57pm)
"Snakehead Ed," aided by an adult helper from the audience, holds up one of his snakes for the audience to view Tuesday afternoon at Wonderlab. At the end of the show, kids were allowed to touch one of Ed Ferrer's snakes.
(03/25/14 2:25am)
David Chen asks a student to repeat a phrase in Chinese during his class on December 9. Chen rewarded every student with a piece of candy after they had pronounced the phrase correctly.
(03/25/14 1:57am)
David Chen asks a student to repeat a phrase in Chinese during his class on December 9. Chen rewarded every student with a piece of candy after they had pronounced the phrase correctly.
(03/25/14 1:56am)
David Chen asks one of his students to answer a question in Chinese during his class on December 9.
(03/25/14 1:56am)
Addy Kao, one of David Chen's students, practices her calligraphy during class on December 9.
(03/10/14 3:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Not long before the bridal fashion show began Friday, every salon chair in Royale Hair Parlor was empty. But behind a black screen in a usually unseen part of the salon, the back room was abuzz with activity. Women and girls of all ages slid into wedding dresses ranging in color from standout orange to pure white. Final hairpins were being secured and bouquets were handed out 15 minutes before the show began.When 7 p.m. came, the main salon was full. Spectators ‘ooh’ed and ‘ah’ed for each model as they walked the length of the parlor. The Bridal Art Fashion Show staged at Royale featured styles from two local businesses, A to Z Vintage and Lily Ball Designs. Local artists also created the cake, food and photography.“That was the emphasis,” said Lisa Morrison, owner of an event planning and design services company called I Do Events. “Local hair, local fashion, local floral, local food.” Erin Gammon, the managing stylist with Royale Hair Parlor, said this is Royale’s first bridal show. The stylings for each model were a wide range from modern to vintage.Gammon said there was an effort to choose models of different sizes and ages.Some of the models were garnered through Facebook and other bridal shows, Gammon said. Others, like Abby Bush, were asked to model.Bush, a 17-year-old high school student who plans to enroll at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, said she was approached by one of the stylists at a tailgate.“This is my first time doing anything like this,” Bush said.Alex Martin, a self-described “wedding fanatic,” said he had come to the event to watch his partner model a dress and to try to better understand wedding culture.Martin’s partner was one of 10 models in the show and prepared the cake, along with a bride and groom cake topper, for the event. Martin said the two of them had “slaved away all night and all morning” preparing the dessert for Royale’s show.The variety of styles featured in the bridal show was meant to appeal to any bride-to-be, Gammon said.“A lot of the bridal stuff is over the top and super fancy, and that doesn’t suit a lot of people,” Gammon said. “We have a lot of clients who are a little bit more down to Earth, and they want something that suits them and still feels like them.”Royale typically has bridal parties almost every Saturday during wedding season, Gammon added. Royale is one of the few parlors in Bloomington that takes wedding parties.
(02/20/14 3:42am)
The Jordan River overflowed and flooded small sections of campus after a downpour Sept. 19, 2013.
(02/18/14 6:19am)
State government reporter Michael Auslen breaks down the most important need-to-know aspects of Indiana's proposed same-sex marriage ban.
(02/14/14 5:07am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In the last year, the City of Bloomington Animal Care and Control shelter has seen decreased numbers of animals coming into the shelter and greater numbers of adoptions.Laurie Ringquist, Director of Animal Care and Control in Bloomington, said in a press release this is the first time the shelter’s annual intake has been less than 4,000 animals, according to data dating as far back as 1978.Shelter Manager Virgil Sauder said last year, the shelter held a three-month long ASPCA challenge in order to push animal adoptions. The program was successful, and there were 2,393 total adoptions in 2012, representing a 22 percent increase from 2011.“It was a lot of work and a lot of effort getting those out of the door,” Sauder said in regards to the ASPCA challenge. “Last year we didn’t do that, but we saw our numbers of adoptions being the same, pretty much.” There were 2,216 total adoptions in 2013, 117 less than 2012. There were also 106 fewer animals taken in by the shelter in 2013 than in 2012.“In our normal operating procedures, we were able to re-create those three months of complete, intense, push,” Sauder said.In 2013, 1,992 cats were taken into the shelter and slightly more than the 1,732 dogs.About 1,080 cats and 966 dogs were adopted, less than the 2012 adoption rate but considerably greater than 778 cats and 1,063 dogs adopted in 2011. Sauder has been working at the shelter since the fall of 2005, making this his ninth year as manager. Improvements in adoption, euthanasia and intake rates have happened throughout the years, Sauder said.“It’s been a change that’s happened over time,” he said.This is due to a variety of efforts throughout the years, Sauder said, including providing easy and affordable spaying and neutering services.When the number of litters decreases, the intake numbers for the shelter also decreases.The same is true for a city-supported effort to spay and neuter the feral cat population.Sauder said when he started, there were litters of eight to 10 puppies coming in multiple times a day.“When you go from starting the day with three kennels, to having easily 15 dogs walking in the door, there’s just only so much you can do because you get yourself backed up,” Sauder said. He noted this problem has persisted somewhat with kittens, but that intake overall has decreased.Sauder said the decreased numbers of animals in the shelter also improves the experience of people walking in the door.“Having less animals packed in makes for the adoptions to happen quicker because it’s not as overwhelming,” Sauder said.Funded by the city, the animal shelter also handles animal control. The shelter has contracted with the county, meaning county animal control brings in the strays from everywhere in Monroe County.“Everyone who’s a resident in Monroe County through their tax dollars are already paying for our services,” Sauder said. The shelter depends on the support of volunteers. Their services include sheltering stray animals, reuniting lost pets and their families, facilitating adoptions, enforcing county ordinances, and investigating cruelty and neglect cases, according to the shelter’s website.Sauder reiterated the past year has represented less work from volunteers but an overall improvement in numbers for the shelter.“We can do the same amount of saving lives and getting them out the door with less stress,” Sauder said. Follow reporter Mary Katherine Wildeman on Twitter @marykwild.
(02/14/14 5:03am)
A cat pokes its paw through the bars of a kennel at the Bloomington Animal Shelter.
(02/14/14 4:14am)
One of the dogs up for adoption at the Bloomington Animal Shelter whines, wanting out of his kennel.
(02/14/14 4:12am)
Four year-old Emma Kelley visits the Bloomington Animal Shelter to pick out a pet to bring home.