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(03/08/04 5:54am)
The Connect ticket swept the Residence Halls Association elections Tuesday -- and again Friday. \nDespite the initial decision being postponed because of Eigenmann Hall's ballot box opening three hours late, the winners remained the same. \nThe polls were open in Eigenmann Hall for three hours Friday to make up for Tuesday's lost time. \nThe four Connect candidates beat their respective Amplify opponents, each by more than 80 votes, with the Connect presidential candidate, junior John Palmer, beating senior Jon Greene by more than 140 votes, said Elections Commissioner Eric Hafner. \nHafner said of the 10,000 residents of the dorms eligible to vote, less than 1,200 turned out election day.\nPalmer attributed Connect's victory to good campaigning and a strong platform.\n"We worked really hard to make sure that our issues were solid," Palmer said. "And we made every effort to talk to as many students as possible."\nSophomore Joe Reid, who won the election for vice president of internal affairs, said the party plans to fulfill its campaign promises now that it has been elected.\n"We will serve the residents and stick to our platform," he said.\nJunior Randall Sundt, the vice president of student affairs-elect, said he is relieved the elections are finally over. \n"I think the weight of all the elections stuff has been off my shoulders," Sundt said. "I feel much less stressed out." \nHe said the new administration plans to establish a new board of programmers, which is responsible for planning all of the RHA events, as one of its first initiatives. Sundt also said one of his big priorities will be to attend as many individual residence center board of governor's meetings as possible in an effort to better understand the needs of the students.\nSophomore Victor Grossi, who won the position of vice president of programming, said he hopes to get as much student involvement in RHA programs as possible. \n"Because students pay an activity fee, I want to make sure that they get the most of it," he said. "It wouldn't be fair if they didn't." \nHe said he wants to foster more communication between programmers both on the center-level and the RHA level.\nThough his party filed a number of complaints against Connect, Greene said all of the candidates for both tickets were excellent leaders and would work hard to make RHA better for the students. He offered some parting advice to Connect and its members.\n"Do everything that you can to get out there and to listen to every resident you can."\n-- Contact staff writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(03/08/04 5:36am)
The 2004 Residence Halls Association elections were fraught with scandal and accusations of improper campaign behavior. \nBefore the dust settled, the Amplify ticket filed six charges of campaign impropriety against the election winner, the Connect ticket. As a result, Joe Reid, who won the position of vice president of internal affairs for Connect, was disqualified. \nCo-elections Commissioners Eric Hafner and Kara Kosowski disqualified Reid for sending an e-mail to the members of the McNutt Student Government, an organization of which Reid is currently president.\nRHA President-Elect John Palmer said he now has to appoint a student to fill Reid's position. But Palmer said he has decided to appoint Reid to the position from which he was disqualified. And Hafner said Palmer's decision is acceptable within the RHA Constitution, but the loophole will be evaluated later this year. \n"I am planning on appointing Joe Reid," Palmer said. "He's worked really hard to get where he is."\nReid apologized for his actions, saying he made a poor decision by sending the e-mail.\nAmplify Presidential Candidate Jon Greene said his party filed six complaints against Connect, though three of them were rejected by the elections commissioners. The three charges the commissioners upheld, Greene said, were chalking at Wright and Teter Quads and posting fliers without approval in Ashton Center. Greene said all of these actions are in violation of the election rules.\n"We would like to see something done because we would like to be in the (RHA) office," he said. "There was a question of whether or not there were votes obtained by Connect because of these infractions."\nPalmer confirmed the charges against the party. \n"The charges have already been filed and the sanctions handed down," Palmer said. \nHe said under the sanctions, each member of Connect will have to write a letter of apology to each of the three residence centers in question and are required to perform two hours of community service in each center. \n"The problem with RHA elections is that there is no universal policy," he said. \nPalmer said though the party made an effort to be informed about the policies of each center, they were not able to get a detailed list of all rules from each center. \nPalmer said his party appealed the decisions to the RHA Judicial Board, though the board ruled in favor of the elections commissioners' decision.\nPalmer said an Amplify supporter filed a harassment charge against a member of Connect, though it was later withdrawn.\nDespite all of the scandal, there is no love lost between the members of the opposing parties, Greene said.\n"We have straightened out everything," said Greene. "And we realize that there was a lot of a miscommunication during the campaigns."\nGreene said he thinks tensions between the parties were high because candidates on all sides had a passion for RHA.\n"Everybody involved cares so much for (RHA) and wanted to be involved in the organization next year," said Greene.\nGreene said he feels RHA will benefit under Connect's leadership.\n"RHA will continue on, and I am proud to say I have been part of this organization for three years, and I know that Connect will do an excellent job while in office."\n-- Contact staff writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(03/02/04 4:07am)
Calming Oriental music played in the background as senior Jackie Nykiel moved past the large golden Buddha statues and through the ancient Buddhist temple. Suddenly, Nykiel leapt high into the air, towering above the temple and the lake surrounding it. \nThis is not a distorted "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" reality. For Nykiel and senior Lisa Reinwald, this is virtual reality. \nThe two studio arts majors designed a replica of an ancient Japanese temple and were viewing it in IU's high-tech Cave Automated Virtual Environment inside Lindley Hall.\nDimitrij Hmeljak, an analyst and programmer with the Advanced Visualization Laboratory, said the CAVE serves both teaching and research purposes. He said it is used by many groups at IU.\n"Computer science uses the CAVE for visualizing astronomic data and many other research topics that can be visualized in a 3-D environment," he said. \nBut he said the CAVE also has applications for the students who major in business, medicine, chemistry, interior design, theater and drama. \nThe CAVE is a three-dimensional environment made from three projector screens and a reflective floor, according to the University of Illinois at Chicago's Electronic Visualization Laboratory Web site, www.evl.uic.edu. Images, which are projected on each of the screens by separate projectors, are combined on the four surfaces to create a fully-immersive environment resembling a cave. Movement in the CAVE is controlled by a "wand," which acts like a three-dimensional mouse.\nHmeljak said the CAVE has a tracking system that rotates the perspective of the images based on the movement of the wand and the user's 3-D goggles. \nAs a result, when the user turns his or her head or body, the image on the screen rotates to give the illusion of "walking around" in the environment. \nMargaret Dolinsky, assistant professor and research scientist in the School of Fine Arts, teaches a computer visual arts class that uses the CAVE. She said the CAVE allows her students to view their art in a fully-immersive 3-D environment, which is preferred over the PC screens on which the displays are designed.\nDolinsky believes classes such as hers have great importance in today's computer-driven world.\n"It is important for artists to get ahold of high technology because the arts and humanities are going to become increasingly important." \nComputer Science Professor Andrew Hanson, who works with the CAVE, said he uses it for work in "virtual astronomy." \nHe said the CAVE is invaluable to his work.\n"What the CAVE provides is an immersive environment and gives us an opportunity to fully view things in 3-D and also to alter the scale of space and even time," he said. \nHanson said the computing power as well as the top-notch three-dimensional display power in the CAVE allow Hanson to convert information about the cosmos, which normally is broken down into numerical data, into highly accurate three-dimensional graphics. \nHanson maintains the CAVE is an important tool for the University.\n"The CAVE allows for understanding the overall picture of a scientific body of knowledge."\n-- Contact staff writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(03/01/04 5:15am)
With the elections forthcoming, most experts agree that the presidential race is a foregone conclusion, with the incumbent winning a second term by a majority of 80 percent or more. \nThis is the political climate surrounding the March 14 Russian elections. \nThe Russian and East European Institute and the Political Science department held a conference discussing this year's Russian elections Saturday and Sunday in the Oak Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.\nThe event, titled "Kremlin Power and the 2003-2004 Russian Elections," was sponsored by the REEI, the Department of Political Science, the Office of International Programs, the College Arts and Humanities Institute and the Dean of the Faculties Multidisciplinary Ventures Fund.\nTwelve experts on Russian politics from around the world sat on the panel and presented their research on Russian elections. The topics of discussion ranged from Russian political parties, campaigns and voting to the political power of Russia's provinces and how democracy would fare under Russian President Vladimir Putin's second term.\nHenry Hale, assistant professor of political science, was the primary organizer of the event. He said the idea for the conference grew out of his "fascination with the transition of nations from authoritarianism to democracy." He said IU has a long tradition with Russian studies and the Political Science department has a reputation for being particularly strong in the study of democracy. Hale said it was for these reasons he thought it would be good for the University to hold an event such as this. \nDenise Gardiner, the assistant director of the REEI, said she thought the event was a great success.\n"We had almost 100 people sign up to attend it, which is more than for most other events like this," she said. \nHale said he, too, was impressed with the turnout, which he attributed to a "big interest in post-communist Russian politics at IU."\n"There are few similarities on the whole between Russian and American politics," Hale said. "Their political system is very different than ours."\nThis was underscored by a number of the panelists' presentations. Julie Corwin of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, pointed to an example of a local political race where a candidate simply could not damage the credibility of an opponent, so he got a friendly court to disqualify the opponent for giving out t-shirts at rallies under the pretext that he was giving bribes for votes. \n"A notable quality of local campaigns in Russia is that they are very competitive and very dirty," Corwin said.\nHale pointed out another stark difference, saying Russian media is "shamelessly biased" on the side of the president. \nBut, he said despite these differences, it is important to study Russian politics because "U.S.-Russian relations are very important." He also said the democratic state of Russia has a great impact on those relations. \n-- Contact staff writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(02/24/04 6:04am)
The Informatics Building was full of students wearing 3-D glasses Monday afternoon. But those in attendance weren't watching a cheap horror movie. Instead, they were viewing the latest three-dimensional images of Mars as part of i-Mars, an educational event held by the School of Informatics, the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Department of Geological Science, the Department of Astronomy and the Advanced Visualization Lab. \nPeople filed in and out of the small lobby of the school's building for all three of the hours the event was in progress.\nJohn Huffman, an adjunct professor in the School of Informatics and the organizer of the event, said turnout was far greater than he expected.\n"I don't know how many people we've had so far, but we bought enough food for 250 people and it was all gone in 45 minutes," he said. "This event has drawn an interesting mix of people, from the campus, as well as from the community because everybody is interested in what's going on with the Mars rover." \nPacked into the relatively small lobby of the Informatics Building were several booths, each highlighting a different project of the three participating departments as they related to space exploration and Mars.\nThe geological sciences department had several exhibits at i-Mars, including one by professor Lisa Pratt. That exhibit highlighted Pratt's own on-going research, studying the rock formations of salt plateaus in Oregon which she says are analogous to Martian rock.\nBut Huffman said the centerpiece of the event was IU's John-e-Box, a portable three-dimensional viewer developed by his son, John Huffman Jr., for the University.\n"The technology isn't novel," he said. "The idea is so effective that IU has begun selling them."\nEric Wernert, manager and senior scientist for Advanced Visual Lab, said IU currently has five John-e-Boxes in Bloomington, three at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis and one at IU-Northwest. \nThe device, which looks much like a big screen TV, cycled through images beamed back to Earth by the Spirit Rover. Viewers watched the images through cardboard 3-D glasses -- the kind often found in movie theaters, to see simulated 3-D effects. \n"The John-e-Box has allowed us to do something like this because it's portable and we can use cheap 3-D glasses," Huffman said. "Before, we only had 3-D viewers in classrooms and the glasses cost $500 each."\nBut, the overarching mission of i-Mars was to help promote the sciences in the community, as well as on campus.\n"It is important to remind students -- that is, all students -- graduate, undergraduate, high school and junior high, how important and exciting sciences are," Pratt said.\nRichard Durisen, chair of the astronomy department, said his department used the event to help publicize other work they were doing.\n"Mars is the occasion, but we came here to show off astronomy's NASA-funded work on gaseous planets," he said. \nHuffman said each of the three involved fields contribute in unique ways to the Mars mission and the study of Mars. For this reason, it was important for IU to host events like this, he said. \n"The problem with the mission to Mars is that there is actually too much data coming back to us," said Jim Sizemore, the undergraduate advisor for the School of Informatics. \nHe said the school works to sift through all of the information and organize it so it is usable to each respective field. He said informatics supplements every field from geological science and astronomy -- as in this case -- to business and social sciences.\nIn addition to the various exhibits, four professors from informatics, geological sciences and astronomy gave 15-minute talks to subjects related to Mars exploration. \nJeff Cummings, a graduate student in astronomy and attendee of the event, said he thought the event was a success. \n"It is important to introduce people to this topic and what scientists are doing."\n-- Contact staff writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(02/20/04 5:47am)
Sophomore Laura Mellman mistakenly downloaded two viruses from her Webmail this semester, wreaking havoc on her personal computer. \nWith the recent onslaught of Webmail viruses and unauthorized access to the campus emergency Web site, students are nervously questioning the security of IU's network.\n"I don't feel that network security is good," Mellman saids "since I've already gotten two viruses."\nMark Bruhn, the chief of security for Information Technologies at IU, said he is confident the network is secure. His department is constantly working to keep worms and viruses from damaging it.\nBruhn said there are between 55,000 and 60,000 devices connected to the IU network. These include printers, servers, departmental networks, University-owned computers and student personal computers. Bruhn said it is these computers, the ones owned by students, that pose the greatest security risk to the network, as IU has no control over their security. \n"All programs have many security flaws when they are published," he said. "As the flaws are discovered, patches are released for these programs." \nBruhn said if the flaws are not patched, the system becomes vulnerable to worms -- programs written to exploit flaws in software. \nHe said the patches are very easy to install. \n"Students need to run auto-update for Windows," Bruhn said. "Windows can be set to automatically check for, download and install security patches as soon as they become available."\nThe other major security threat to the network is viruses. Bruhn said many students don't run and update their antivirus software, exacerbating the problem. \n"We spend a lot of money to provide tools like Symantec Antivirus to students so that they can keep their systems secure," Bruhn said. He added that antivirus software can also be set to automatically scan for updates and analyze the system. Doing this, he said, will ensure any viruses received in e-mails will be contained and eliminated before they cause damage and spread to other machines.\nBut another security problem is the openness of IU's network to the entire Internet, Bruhn said. He said there are pockets of systems and applications protected from the Internet but much of IU's network is accessible to the entire World Wide Web. \nBut he said IU is going through the process of installing a firewall on the network, a security measure that works like a filter. Bruhn explained the firewall would work by blocking certain files as well as making it more difficult for unauthorized users to gain access to the network. \n"The security threat from the outside is rapidly increasing," Bruhn said. "And while (the firewall) would not prevent all security breaches, it would significantly reduce them." \nHe said the undertaking is likely to cost an estimated $1.5 million, all told. \n"If a major worm even costs the University roughly $300,000, it doesn't take very many to make a firewall worth the cost," Bruhn said.\nAs far as the numbers are concerned, Bruhn said IU experiences thousands of viruses and several thousand worms each year. But hackers have only rarely succeeded in cracking the IU system.\nDespite this, Bruhn said the network security is good overall. The budget for the Office of Security and Policy for IT is $1.5 million, though Bruhn said IU likely spends between $2.5 and $3 million on network security. Bruhn emphasized these figures are rough estimates.\n"We at IU pay more attention to security than almost any other university of our size," Bruhn said. "Generally, students should be confident that their information is secure. But nothing is 100 percent." \n-- Contact staff writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(02/16/04 4:24am)
A new Web site created by the IU-based National Center for Accessibility aims to help the parents of children with disabilities find a suitable camp this summer. The Discover Camp Web site, ncaonline.org/discover/, was devised by the NCA to expand upon a booklet published with much the same information a year ago by the group, said Jennifer Skulski, director of marketing for the NCA.\n"We realize that many parents of children with disabilities have used the Internet to do lots of research on their children's disabilities," she said. "We hope to tap into this savvy with this Web site."\nThe project was funded by the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The center received a grant from the Division of Human Development and Disability at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.\nThe site itself was made by Instructional Consulting Technology Services in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.\nSkulski said NCA worked with the staff of Bradford Woods Outdoor Center, a camp operated by IU for children with disabilities, in developing Discover Camp. It helps parents ensure that the camp they are sending their children to has adequate accessibility as well as "readily accessible medical care."\nMartha Jacques, the director of Disability Services for Students at IU, said the new Web site is important for parents.\n"For many parents, sending a child to camp is a scary proposition," she said, "but when their child has a disability, it becomes much more complicated."\nSkulski said camp is valuable for children with disabilities because they live in a world where so much emphasis is placed on medical care that recreation becomes less important. Skulski said recreation is just as important for them as it is for other children. \nThe NCA, which just celebrated its 12th anniversary, is a program run by the Department of Recreation and Park administration within the HPER. It was developed by the U.S. Park Service and IU to help promote the recreation of people with disabilities.\nJacques said NCA and the camp at Bradford Woods are helpful because they fill a niche and there are few other organizations doing the sorts of programs they sponsor.\n-- Contact staff writer Michael Zennie at mmzennie@indiana.edu.
(02/04/04 5:13am)
One of campus' newest student organizations is the Council for Advancing Student Leadership, which furthers its cause by supplementing other student organizations.\nJunior Andrew Remak, president of CASL, said the group's purpose is to help students get involved and to enhance the skills of those in leadership positions, extracurricular activities and organizations.\n"CASL fulfills the job of recognizing and facilitating student leaders," Remak said.\nJunior Chris Carter, CASL vice president, said the group's goal is to emphasize the importance of leadership in student organizations throughout campus. \n"We work to enhance the organizations," Carter said.\nFounded in 1998 by 12 students, the organization has grown to roughly 40 members who sit on 15 various committees. Carter said the primary way the organization promotes leadership is through 10 $500 scholarships, which the group awards to student leaders every year during Little 500. \nThe group also hosts an annual Cardboard Boat Regatta, which raises money for scholarships. In addition, it also awards certificates to captains of club sports, heads of Greek houses and \nleaders of other prominent organizations on campus. CASL also sends out a monthly leadership newsletter to the other student organizations on campus.\nCASL represents a unique idea in working to enhance student leadership, said CASL Faculty Advisor Rich Mull.\nMull said since its inception, a center for student leadership development has been created as a partner to CASL. The center coordinates the new School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation H100 class called, "Participant Leadership Development and Organizational Leadership Development." \nMull said these independent study classes give students credit for what they learn about leadership in their extracurricular activities. Last semester, the total enrollment for the class was over 230 students. \nRemak said CASL tries to encourage student leaders to enroll in these classes. \n"We are also involved in promoting the new HPER leadership minor," Remak said.\nThe group is also planning to post display boards around campus, urging students to get involved in extracurricular activities. Remak said the boards would be placed predominantly in residence halls to target freshmen and sophomores.\nCASL has also launched a new speaker series. The program will feature speakers who have experience and insight in collegiate leadership. Previous speakers have included IU Alumni Association CEO, Ken Beckley, IU Foundation President, Curt Simic, Dean of Students, Richard McKaig and Vice President for Student Development and Diversity, Charlie Nelms. An upcoming speaker is Craig Ross, who will speak from 7 to 8 p.m. Feb. 16 at the SRSC, about building resumes, networking, landing a job and prevailing in the workplace.\n-- Contact staff writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(01/29/04 5:42am)
A student claiming to have breached the security of the IU Emergency Web site early Monday morning said the security hole in the site has yet to be fully plugged.\nSophomore Ben Brodsky said when he logged on to the site, http://emergency.iub.edu, he found he could log into the server and change information at will using only his University username and password.\n"I didn't forcibly gain access to the site," Brodsky said. "I merely logged in with the information the University had already given me."\nBrodsky said the same security flaw which allowed him to log in Monday was still not fixed Wednesday. In a meeting with the IDS, Brodsky logged on to a different secure section of the emergency Web site again, using only his IU username and password.\nMark Bruhn, the chief of security for Information Technologies at IU said the system was misconfigured so anyone with an IU network ID would gain access to the server. Bruhn also said he was told the problem had been fixed by Wednesday. Bruhn refused comment about Brodsky's story.\nBrodsky, a business major, said he sent an e-mail to University Information Technology Services, alerting them to the security problem Monday morning. He said he then used the access which he gained to the Web site to change the emergency status to "IUB is Under an Emergency Alert" and recommended students "call up your congressman and suggest the educational process at Indiana University be suspended Monday, Jan. 26, 2004."\nThe next morning, Brodsky said VP and Chief Administrative Officer of the Service Building, Loretta Hutchison contacted him via e-mail about his unauthorized log-in.\nBrodsky said when asked if he had been in the server and changed information, he replied by e-mail, "Yes, it was me. I was able to log on with my IU information and decided to inform the students there was a national weather advisory for our area. The security on that site was extremely lacking, if I had the motivation, I could have posted anything on the site ... I would suggest improving security on that site immediately." \nHutchinson did not return phone calls Wednesday. \nBrodsky said he would have been fully willing to turn himself in, had UITS not contacted him first. He said he didn't change the Web site to anything malicious, such as cancelling classes, because he didn't want to cause problems for students. \nIU spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said the University had disciplinary processes and she said the student who gained unauthorized access to the emergency Web site would be applied to those processes.\nShe said the University was not reviewing any of its network security policies. \nJankowski declined comment on whether Brodsky was the perpetrator or whether his story was accurate.\nDean of Students, Richard McKaig, said the "hacker" would likely be given a hearing so he could defend himself. And though he was unsure as to the intended punishment of the student, McKaig said the hacker had broken Indiana state law and the case would have to be pursued in that regard. \nBrodsky said a hearing would ultimately resolve the issue.\n"I hope they do (punish me)," he said. "Because if they do, then it will become a bigger issue and all their lapses in security will become obvious"
(01/27/04 5:40am)
Five hours after this year's biggest snowstorm had stopped, IU was put under an emergency alert, thanks to a student hacker who manipulated the campus warning Web site. \nIU spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said the server of the emergency Web site did not have adequate security and that it had been breached from the outside by a student on the IU campus.\nStudents visiting the Web site, http://emergency.iub.edu, between 1:30 and 8 a.m. were greeted with the incorrect emergency alert and a plea to "call up your congressman and suggest the educational process at Indiana University be suspended on Monday." \nThe site also directed students to the National Weather Service and the Drudge Report Web sites "for details."\nJankowski said the incorrect information was fixed just after 8 a.m. Monday when University Information Technology Services staff showed up for work. She said since then, the hole in security has been fixed, and the site is no longer vulnerable to such unauthorized access. \nJankowski said the student hacker has been caught and referred to the dean of students for reprimand. Forcibly gaining unauthorized access to a Web site is not only against IU policy, but also against Indiana state law. Jankowski declined to give the name of the student in question.\nSenior Matt Haas saw the site with the incorrect information and thought it was suspicious.\n"It seemed most odd that it had a link to DrudgeReport.com," he said. "However, it was also very strange that this official IU Web page directed students to call their congressman to cancel school."\nIU's emergency automated hotline kept the correct information throughout the night, IU was under normal conditions. In the event of an emergency, IU President Adam Herbert has the final say in class cancelations, and congressmen have no input in the process.\nThe University uses the Web site, which is maintained by the Office of Risk Management, to alert IU students, faculty and staff to terrorist threats, weather-related closings and other emergencies, said Larry Stephens, director of the Office of Risk Management.\nFreshman Arnav Patel also saw the compromised site and questioned the security of the IU network.\n "I thought it was unusual that someone was able to hack into what should be the most secure site on campus."\n-- Contact staff writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.