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(05/26/05 3:37am)
The Tibetan Cultural Center is scheduled to be sold on the auction block after a judge foreclosed on its mortgage. Monroe County Circuit Court Judge E. Michael Hoff ruled March 14 that the cultural center owed the mortgage holder, Mooring Capital Fund, Inc, more than $1.75 million in payments, according to court documents.\nOn May 6, Mooring Financial requested that the center be sold at the Monroe County Sheriff's sale. According to a Web site for SRI Incorporated, an Indianapolis-based company which handles Monroe County Sheriff's sales, the property is slated to be put up for sale on June 17 at 10 a.m. in the main lobby of the Justice Building.\n"If (the Tibetan Culture Center) is closed, it would be a big loss to the local Tibetan people and the people in Indiana," said Tendar, the press secretary for the Office of Tibet in New York City.\nHe said though the Tibetan population in Bloomington is comparatively small, the center also serves many Americans who are interested in Tibetan culture and Buddhism.\nThe Tibetan Culture Center was founded by Thubten J. Norbu, the brother of the Dalai Lama. Thubten was also a professor of Central Eurasian Studies at IU. In 2003, the Dalai Lama, the holiest man in Buddhism, consecrated the Chamtse Ling Temple on the grounds of the center.\nNo one from the Tibetan Culture Center could be reached for comment and no one appeared to be at the grounds of the center itself.\nBloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan did not have a comment on the Center's sale by press time.\nJohn Graub, who represented Mooring Financial in its case against the center did not return phone calls Wednesday.
(05/26/05 3:37am)
A judge threw out a criminal case against an IU student who threw his pet guinea pig out of an eighth story window. \nSophomore David Feldsott dropped the pet from Briscoe Shoemaker with a makeshift parachute and previously paid a $500 animal cruelty ticket. He had faced misdemeanor animal cruelty charges before Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Marc Kellams dismissed them Tuesday.\nThe guinea pig, later named Noel, survived the fall. \nFeldsott's attorney, Fred Turner, said the judge dismissed the charges because of a "motion to dismiss" which Turner filed. The motion argued that Feldsott had already paid a fine for the infraction and further prosecution would "violate the double jeopardy clauses of the Indiana and United States Constitutions." Double jeopardy is charging a person more than one time for the same crime.\nIU Police Department gave the case to Dean of Students Richard McKaig when it occurred. Though McKaig could not comment on the specifics of the case, he said students can "rest assured that appropriate action will be taken in alignment with the code of ethics," according to a January article in the Indiana Daily Student.\nIn an interview Wednesday, McKaig said several clauses of the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Conduct, including those regarding damage or destruction of University property, violation of Indiana or federal criminal law, or disorderly conduct could be used to prosecute an animal abuse case on campus.\nIUPD officers were called to Briscoe Quad to retrieve the guinea pig Dec. 16 as it was stuck in a tree. They noticed that an eighth floor window above the tree was missing its screen. When they questioned Feldsott, the resident of the dorm room, he admitted to outfitting his guinea pig with a duct tape, dental floss and garbage bag parachute and dropping it from his window. He also said he accepted full responsibility for the incident and knew what he did was wrong, according the same IDS story.\nFeldsott refused to comment on the case when contacted by phone.
(05/12/05 6:03pm)
The Reverend Al Sharpton told a waiting crowd in Woodburn Hall Thursday evening that the section of the Benton mural in room 100 featuring Ku Klux Klan members was offensive to the black community at IU and should be taken down. The painting should be in museum, not in the classroom where it can be "nakedly offensive," he said as the crowd cheered and clapped at his decision.\n"It's in a place where it is something that can be nakedly offensive to a lot of us that were, in fact, raped," Sharpton, who is a prominent civil rights activist. "That was not art. That was fact."\nHe paid a visit to the mural after junior Derren Chapman stepped up amid hundreds of audience members during a question and answer session at Sharpton's speech in the IU Auditorium earlier in the evening. Chapman asked for Sharpton's help in getting the mural removed. \n"If we all came together on this campus, we could have done something about the mural," Chapman said. "That's why I asked Rev. Sharpton, because people won't come together if they won't talk about it and I still feel like it's an issue."\nSharpton said he would do everything he could to get the mural taken down, adding he would wait for Chapman to contact him.\nThe Indiana Memorial Union Board brought Sharpton, a candidate for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, to IU to deliver a speech as a part of his tour "Al on America."\nHe told an applauding crowd in the Auditorium that young people must become politically and socially active.\n"Every generation of students has made a social or political statement in their world," Sharpton said. "This must not be the first generation of students that make no statement."\nHe said the civil rights leaders of the 1950s and 1960s spread their message with little of the technology young people have today.\n"Here you have cell phones, e-mails, Blackberrys, online, offline but you're talking about nothing," Sharpton said. "How can you have 100 forms of communication and no message?"\nBeyond his charge to young people, Sharpton also addressed the 2000 election. He called the election of President George W. Bush a "political shell game." Bush won because his chief election coordinator, Karl Rove, made the election about gay marriage and abortion rights, neither of which are presidential issues, he said.\nSharpton said that debate let Bush off the hook for the war in Iraq. \nThough much of audience applauded loudly in agreement with points, not everyone in attendance agreed with his position.\nIU College Republicans Internal Vice Chair and sophomore Matt Lettelleir asked Sharpton about his involvement in the 1991 Crown Heights riots and the 1995 fire at Freddy's Fashion Mart, which killed seven people. Sharpton has been accused of inciting violence in both instances. Sharpton refuted both charges.\nNevertheless, even many of the College Republicans appreciated Sharpton's call to action for the younger generation.\n"I believe it's important if you have view you feel passionate about, you should try to make a difference," said IU College Republicans Political Director and senior David White. "As far as the difference that Al Sharpton wants you to make, I have to wholeheartedly disagree."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(05/12/05 2:04am)
The controversial panel of the Thomas H. Benton Mural in Woodburn Hall should stay where it is because it helps to make sure the tragedies of racism will not be forgotten, said IU President Adam Herbert in an interview earlier this month. This is the first time Herbert has publicly taken a position on the Benton Mural as the president of IU.\n"As a black man who lived through the segregated realities of the South, I think it is important that there be a reminder of what we had to live through -- the pain, the suffering, the fear," Herbert said of the painting, a portion of which depicts Ku Klux Klan members and a burning cross.\nThe mural came under scrutiny again when the Rev. Al Sharpton, a 2004 candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, said the mural should be moved from the classroom, where it currently hangs, to a museum after he viewed it following his April 21 speech at IU. Junior Derren Chapman prompted Sharpton's comments when he asked for the civil rights leader's help in removing the mural during the question-and-answer section of Sharpton's speech. After looking at the panel for approximately five minutes in Woodburn Hall room 100, Sharpton announced to a waiting crowd that the painting was "offensive" and said he would do whatever he could get it moved.\nChapman could not be reached for comment by press time.\nHerbert said he "definitely differed" with Sharpton's comments that the painting should be moved to a museum. He likened the need to keep the mural to the Jewish community's desire to open holocaust museums following the massacre of millions by Nazi Germany.\n"I don't want you to grow up not understanding that black people were lynched in the country," he said. "I don't want you to grow up not being aware of the torture that young black children and adults suffered at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan."\nSharpton's criticism of the panel -- one of two in Woodburn Hall room 100 -- is only the most recent controversy surrounding the painting. In 2002, members of the Black Student Union protested the mural's place in the Woodburn classroom. That protest prompted then-IU-Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm to announce a number of changes to promote understanding of the painting and diversity around campus. Brehm earmarked $800,000 for hiring minority and female faculty. She also mandated that all incoming freshmen and all students who have a class in Woodburn 100 would view an informational video explaining the mural.\nThough the depiction of Klansmen has gotten more attention in recent years than the rest of the mural combined, the controversial section is only a small part of the 12-foot-tall panel. According to the plaque placed next to the mural, the section is meant to portray the economic and social advancement and progression of Indiana. The most prominent aspect of the panel is the depiction of the Indiana's transition from a farm-based to an industrial economy.
(05/06/05 6:17am)
To the members of the class of 2005, commencement is the culmination of four years of academic labors into 90 minutes of pomp and ceremony. But conferring degrees to nearly 7,000 students in only two 90 minute ceremonies means that the event must run like clockwork and be planned to a T. \n"The glue that holds the whole ceremony together is that it's all scripted," said Bill Elliott, the director of University ceremonies. "That is one of the reasons that it works so well." \nElliott said that in the six ceremonies he has helped organize on the Bloomington campus, there have been no disasters or breakdowns to speak of. \nIn order to keep graduation from running too long and packing too many students, faculty and spectators into Assembly Hall, commencement is broken into two nearly identical ceremonies -- one at 10 a.m. and one at 3 p.m. Roughly the same number of students graduate in the morning as in the afternoon, Elliott said.\nStudents will begin lining up in the Gladstein Fieldhouse about an hour-and-a-half before the ceremony begins. They will assemble with other students from their school so that each school will have students sitting in one designed section for commencement. After the students are in line, they will begin their march into Assembly Hall. This should start about 45 minutes before the ceremony begins, Elliott said.\n"Watching the students process in, like a sporting event, you see the place fill up and the anticipation level climbs," he said.\nThe faculty, dressed in their multicolored academic regalia, file into their seats when the last student sits down. \nThe final procession is that of the platform party, made up of the top University administrators and the board of trustees. Leading these men and women is the grand marshal, Edwin Marshall, wearing white robes and bearing the jewel-encrusted IU Mace.\nMarshall said amid all of the ceremony, his favorite part is seeing the anticipation in the eyes of students and family members sitting in the audience as he leads the administrators to their place in the commencement.\n"To watch the colorful processional of faculty and students and the pride that exists within all of those involved is amazing," he said.\nWhile all of the parties are parading to their seats, the commencement band, led by Stephen Pratt, the director of bands, will play a rotation of music. \n"For the processional we try to find music that is dignified and music that would represent good walking music," said Pratt.\nIncluded in the 57 member band's repertoire is Edward Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance."\n"Most people are only familiar with 'Pomp and Circumstance' number one," he said. "We'll be playing all four movements."\nRoughly 25 minutes into the ceremony, Herbert will give his commencement speech and charge to the class of 2005, Elliott said. Herbert's speech should last 10 to 12 minutes.\nFollowing Herbert's speech, the deans of each school will present the students for the conferral of degrees. Only doctoral students in each school will actually get to walk across the stage. All other students will simply stand with the rest of the students in their school to be recognized for a degree. \nWhen each dean has presented the degree candidates for conferral, Herbert will return to the stage to officially confer the degrees to the students.\n"The president will ask the students to turn the tassels on their caps," Elliott said. "That indicates that the students are officially graduates."\nAfter the degrees are made official, all attendees will remain seated for the singing of the alma mater. \nOnce the platform party and the faculty recess out of Assembly Hall, commencement is over, Elliott said. \n"One of the things that we would ask of both students and parents is that they respect the ceremony itself and that they respect the meaning and symbolism of the ceremony," he said.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(05/06/05 6:17am)
IU President Adam Herbert, this year's commencement speaker, doesn't remember who spoke at either his undergraduate or his graduate commencement, much less what they said. \n"To be honest, my memory doesn't go back to 1966, so I can't really remember," he said.\nHerbert said one of the things he's learned during his long career in academics is that his audience might recall two or three ideas from his address Saturday, but the day is primarily one of celebration.\n"I will try to say something that I think is reasonably profound but I don't expect that folks are going to recall what I said 40 years from now," Herbert said. "Although I'll sure try."\nAt least his message to IU graduates will be unique and intimate. \nIU Alumni Association President Ken Beckley suggested that Herbert deliver this year's commencement speech, bypassing the conventional speaker search process. Beckley said he thought Herbert could offer graduates a message and attention that no other speaker could.\n"I made the recommendation that I thought we could not have a better speaker for the commencement than the president himself because he is such a gifted speaker," Beckley said. \nHerbert, who has served on the staffs of four U.S. cabinet officers and as chancellor of the State University System of Florida, believes that the time he has spent working in higher education and public policy gave him insights which will be informative to students.\n"I think that those experiences will be useful in terms of enhancing my ability in making a few observations that might have meaning," he said.\nHerbert said he will begin his speech with a discussion of the intellectual experience which IU offers,\nbut he will spend most of his time talking about how the world is flat. The implication is not that it is physically flat, explains Rudy Professor of Economics George von Furstenberg, but that because of globalization and technological advancements, American college graduates are now competing with the rest of the world for many jobs. Herbert drew the concept from a new book by Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, titled "The World is Flat: a Brief History of the Twenty-First Century." \n"And so I built my comments around that proposition and tried to focus on the significance of living in a flat world," Herbert said. "And I will talk about how we tried to prepare (IU graduates) for the life in that kind of environment."\nHe said the increasingly global community presents a new set of challenges and opportunities which graduates must be prepared to meet. \nHerbert will end his speech with a charge to the class of 2005 which he hopes they will be able to use throughout the course of their lives.\nAnd though the world is a different place than it was when he graduated, that charge, which is based on the core values of IU, still has a great deal of meaning, even in a flat world. \n"I think that the core values are fundamental and they're lasting," Herbert said. "And that's why I will end by talking about core values."\n-- Contact staff writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(04/29/05 5:18pm)
The IU Auditorium will play host to the dynamic and controversial words of an American civil rights icon tonight. The Indiana Memorial Union Board is bringing the Rev. Al Sharpton to campus today at 7:30 p.m. \nSharpton is coming to IU as part of his "Al on America" tour, an act more like a comedy routine than a sermon, said Eric Eisenberg, the assistant director of marketing for the Union Board.\n"This is more of a lighthearted thing," he said. "This is 'Al on America.' It's got comedic value; it's not a hard-edged lecture." \nEmma Cullen, the political vice president for the IU College Democrats, said although a lot of his speech will be devoted to humor, Sharpton is an important speaker on campus.\n"He was a presidential candidate, and he proved that yes, a black person can run for president for this country," she said. "And though he wasn't taken very seriously, he still helped open the doors for minority politicians."\nEisenberg said the Union Board chose Sharpton because he brings a different perspective to campus.\n"One of Union Board's main goals is to bring diverse opinions to the students," he said.\nSharpton is most recently famous for his bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, where he dropped out of the running days before the first primaries opened their polls. Nonetheless, he was the second major black presidential candidate of the 21st century. \nSharpton initially rose to fame with his civil rights campaigns, including the 1986 protests he helped organize after a black man was run over by a car in New York City while fleeing a white mob, according to Wikipedia. \nBut Sharpton's reputation is far from pristine. He has been called an agitator who uses racial tension to his own personal gain by his critics. \nBut Eisenberg said the Union Board embraces Sharpton's potentially divisive positions on issues.\n"We're not afraid to have controversial viewpoints," he said. "We just want people to come out and listen and start an open dialogue."\nDavid White, political vice president for the IU College Republicans, said even though most conservatives disagree with Sharpton on many issues, he will be attending the speech.\n"I'm going with a group of College Republicans because we support political discourse on campus no matter what side it's on," he said. "And I get a real kick out of Sharpton."Eisenberg said he encourages any students who disagree with Sharpton or the Union Board's decision to bring Sharpton to campus to join the Union Board.\nBut he said the disagreement is good.\n"If anything, it will get people out, and it will get them talk," he said.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(04/26/05 4:46am)
When Alan Kostelecky presented his latest paper at the April meeting of the American Physical Society, Albert Einstein might have rolled over in his grave.\nKostelecky, a theoretical physics professor at IU, conjectures that light is a result of small violations in the theory of relativity. This hypothesis is just the latest work for the physicist, who has devoted the past 20 years to searching for minuscule flaws in Einstein's century-old theory of special relativity.\nKostelecky isn't alone in this endeavor. He is just one of many physicists across the world who now believe special relativity -- the backbone of many scientists' theoretical framework of the universe -- could have some holes in it. These physicists have been trying for years to find empirical proof of their suspicions, but so far all research in that area has failed to find conclusive violations in relativity. The experimentation Kostelecky suggests in his paper, however, could be just the tool physicists need to punch a hole in the theory of relativity.\nWhen Einstein's paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" was published in 1905, it established a theory regarding the interactions of time, distance, mass and energy in the absence of gravity -- in other words, inside a vacuum -- for motion up to the speed of light. The concept, called the "special theory of relativity," was the precursor to the "theory of general relativity," which added a description of gravity.\nBoth theories are essential parts of physicists' attempts to mathematically explain all forces in the universe -- a concept called the "theory of everything." This theory is the Holy Grail for theoretical physicists, but it does have problems. Using current methods, it would take far more energy than humanity is capable of producing to test the theory of everything. In fact, it would require an atom smasher 18 times more powerful than the largest available today, Kostelecky said.\n"It's a billion, billion times larger an energy scale than has been achieved in the biggest machines," he said.\nBecause of this handicap, Kostelecky said he realized there was no tangible, experimental basis for the sorts of theoretical pursuits physicists were working on.\n"Virtually all theories that have been created have been based on clues on physics first," he said. "It's very hard to try to come up with a theory that is so far beyond the ken of physics at the moment."\nSo Kostelecky began looking at ways to conduct experiments that would bring physicists closer to understanding a theory of everything and uncovering violations of special relativity. \nAlmost more importantly, he also developed the "Standard Model Extension," a theoretical framework that combined existing theories, including general relativity, while taking into consideration violations of relativity.\nFor the last 15 years, this new model has consumed Kostelecky's time.\nUnfortunately, all experimental research examining the Standard Model Extension has yet to yield any proof of violations in relativity. \nBut this new bit of theory stating that light is derived from violations in relativity shows promise because light can be measured so precisely under current methods. \nThe base of this proposal is that light violates Lorentz symmetry, an idea that requires the laws of physics to be the same for all observers. \n"Special relativity is basically a statement that the world has Lorentz symmetry," Kostelecky said. \nHe explained that special relativity is like being stranded in a raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with no landmarks around -- it is impossible to tell which direction anything is. With his theory, Kostelecky said it's like giving the stranded person a compass.\n"In Einstein's relativity, if it's exact, if you look in a direction, you can't tell what direction it is," he said. "That's true in space, but it's true in space time as well."\nThis phenomenon stems from the symmetry of relativity, said Robert Bluhm, a professor of theoretical physics as Colby College, who co-authored the paper with Kostelecky.\n"There is a symmetry in relativity that says the laws of physics are the same for everyone," Bluhm said. \nAlthough nothing has been proven yet, if scientists do find this theory to be correct, it would represent a major discovery, said Michael Snow, a professor of experimental physics at IU.\n"If that experiment is correct and is verified by other people and by independent means, it would be a revolution in physics," he said. \nBut to Kostelecky, proving that relativity is not symmetric just makes sense.\n"Many people argue that Einstein's special relativity is so beautiful because it's symmetric," he said. "To me, things that are beautiful are things that aren't quite symmetric. It's something close to perfect symmetry."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(04/25/05 5:18am)
The infamous section of the Thomas H. Benton mural hanging in Woodburn Hall room 100 that features members of the Ku Klux Klan and a burning cross is in the spotlight again after former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination Rev. Al Sharpton said the mural is offensive and should be removed after his speech in the IU Auditorium Thursday evening.\nSharpton viewed the mural after junior Derren Chapman asked the civil rights activist for his help in getting the painting taken down during the question and answer segment of Sharpton's speech.\nBut it is unclear whether this new development will result in the removal of the mural panel.\nSharpton said the painting belonged in a museum, not in a public space, and would do everything he could to help Chapman see it moved.\nChapman vowed to work to get the painting taken down.\n"I wouldn't like to see the mural removed at all, I would love to see the mural removed," he said.\nHe said the proper place for anything representing Klansmen is in a museum.\n"For it to be in a classroom where pretty much anybody can see it -- it hurts people, it's very offensive to some people," said Chapman, who has had a class in Woodburn 100.\nHe plans to work with any group willing to help his cause, and thought Sharpton could really aid in getting the mural removed.\n"I would love for Mr. Sharpton to get this in the news nationally to see what other black political leaders think about it," Chapman said.\nDavid White, political director of the IU College Republicans, was in the crowd that gathered outside Woodburn 100 Thursday as Sharpton examined the mural. He said he agreed with Sharpton's message, though he didn't agree with Sharpton's word choice.\n"To move it to another venue wouldn't be all that unreasonable," he said. "As the political director of the College Republicans, if there was a movement to move the mural, I would support that movement."\nBut Courtney Williams, the newly elected president of the Black Student Union said she feels that BSU's resources are better used addressing other issues, such as why there are so few black students at IU.\nWilliams, who has had a class in Woodburn 100, said the inclusion of Klansmen in the mural is acceptable because it is part of Indiana's history, albeit an unattractive one.\n"(The Benton mural) is one of the things that has an easy explanation," she said.\nThough many upperclassmen might feel strongly about the mural, the measures which the University has taken to educate the public are a step in the right direction, Williams said. Currently, every class in Woodburn 100 begins the semester with a video explaining the historical connotations of the painting.\nThere isn't necessarily a consensus in the BSU about whether the mural should be moved, either, said Williams. \n"In the BSU there is no universal feeling about the mural," she said. \nWilliams said she understands students' concerns about the mural, but she said the University's current efforts do help explain the imagery.\nIU Spokesman Larry MacIntyre said IU administrators were aware of Sharpton's comments on the mural but he was not aware of any discussion on moving the painting as of Sunday.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(04/21/05 6:14am)
Many universities across the nation try to send their graduates off with a speech from a big name speaker. \nThe University of Pennsylvania has Kofi Annan, the secretary-general of the United Nations. Stanford University has Steve Jobs, the chief executive officer of Apple Computers. Miami University of Ohio gets William Safire, the Pulitzer Prize-winning former New York Times columnist. \nIU is taking a different route. Seeking to keep the commencement message intimate and specific to IU, President Adam Herbert will deliver the commencement speech to send off IU-Bloomington's nearly 7,000 graduates of the class of 2005. The president will be able to give a speech aimed specifically at motivating, inspiring and challenging this year's class, said President of the IU Alumni Association Ken Beckley. Beckley bypassed the traditional committees for selecting a commencement speaker and suggested that the president give the remarks this year.\n"I made the recommendation that I thought we could not have a better speaker for the commencement than the president himself because he is such a gifted speaker," he said.\nLarry MacIntyre, the IU spokesman, said normally both the commencement committee and the commencement speaker committee, both chaired by Beckley, would make recommendations to the President's Office for commencement speakers. Instead, Beckley recommended directly to the President's Office that Herbert speak at commencement. \nIn addition to giving more succinct and specific remarks to graduates, making the president the commencement speaker also will shorten the ceremony, MacIntyre said. \n"A lot of students and parents would appreciate a shorter commencement because we're graduating so many people," he said.\nBut some graduating seniors would have liked to have a more well-known speaker come to IU to deliver their commencement speech. \n"I think [Herbert] is a great president, but it might have been exciting to have someone exciting from outside the University speak," senior Audrey Anderson said.\nRecent IU commencement speakers have included Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, sportscaster and IU alumnus Dick Engberg and singer John Mellencamp. Judy O'Bannon, widow of the late Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon, spoke to the class of 2004.\nMacIntyre said bringing big-name speakers to IU is difficult because the University has a policy of not paying commencement speakers. He also said Herbert's message will be more meaningful than the message outsiders deliver. \n"God bless Senator Lugar, but when he spoke a few years ago, he gave a foreign policy briefing," MacIntyre said. \nBut both MacIntyre and Beckley said there are no plans to make Herbert's speech at commencement an annual tradition like it is at Purdue University, where President Martin Jischke sends the class off each year.\nMacIntyre said Beckley and Herbert and others in the administration will speak with many families and students after the speech to get their feelings on whether they liked the president delivering the speech.\nMacIntyre said Herbert's speech will work to celebrate the achievements of the graduating students. He said although the president has a speech writer, Herbert is going to have an active hand in the message.\n"The president is very involved in the processes," he said. "He doesn't let others do his speech for him. So the words you hear you can be sure are his words and his thoughts."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(04/06/05 5:55am)
Former U.S. Representative for Indiana and 9-11 Commission Vice Chair Lee Hamilton said Congress has ceded too much power to the presidency and needs to reassert some of its fundamental authority in a speech Tuesday in the Moot Court Room of the IU School of Law. \n"They don't need a new constitutional convention; they don't need to pass a new law," he said. "All the Congress needs to do is not be so timid and to exercise its power of the purse and to engage their president on matters of war."\nHamilton's speech was part of a four-day visit to Bloomington. The former representative will address the United States' role in the world with a focus on relations with Islamic nations at noon today. This speech, also in the Moot Court Room, is titled "How to Use American Power." \n"I'll be talking about the kind of world which we live in and how the United States should respond and the type of public policy they should enact," he said.\nHamilton, the director of IU's Center on Congress, spoke Tuesday to promote his new book, "How Congress Works and Why You Should Care," published by the IU Press. He said he wrote the book, which is aimed at the general public, because he was concerned that Americans did not understand the functions and responsibilities of Congress.\n"I have had thousands of public meetings in southern Indiana," Hamilton said. "I often found myself explaining to people the role of Congress."\nBut he said most college students do have a good understanding of the U.S. Legislature.\n"The ordinary college student today is really very well informed, and they're interested," Hamilton said. "And they grasp the importance of the role of the Congress in representative democracy."\nThe book will help to inform the electorate, something that is important to democracy in the United States, said Marilyn Breiter, the marketing manager for IU Press.\n"We're very pleased to be able to help in that mission of getting out Mr. Hamilton's book and the importance of Congress," she said.\nThough he stressed the importance of public understanding of the Legislature, Hamilton, who served as the U.S. representative in Indiana's 9th District for 34 years, also criticized it for giving up too much power.\n"Congress is not a co-equal, separate branch of the U.S. government anymore," he said.\nHamilton said legislators have given up most of their primary authority -- the power of the purse. Under the current system, the president gives Congress a proposed budget, which spans thousands of pages. Hamilton said these bills, called omnibus bills, restrict deliberation in Congress because they are too large and cannot be amended.\n"The omnibus spending bill is an abomination," he said.\nHamilton also said Congress has ceded its power to declare war. He said in every conflict after World War II the Legislature has deferred to the president.\n"I do not think Congress is fulfilling its responsibility as well as it should in exercising oversight of the president," he said.\nLaw student Luseni Pieh said he had never seen Hamilton speak before but came because he wanted to learn more about the dynamics of Congress.\n"I was really impressed with how he addressed the status of Congress really candidly," he said.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(03/31/05 5:00am)
Moby's newest album didn't change my life. Moby likely didn't change his life recording the two-disc release either. It doesn't deliver mind-altering riffs or weighty lyrics nor redefine Moby as an artist or break any molds. The record does have plenty of Moby's familiar beats and melodies. All of the tracks flow together well and all are pleasing to the ear, and yet none of the songs are terribly innovative and most have an unremarkable feel. This isn't a CD I would listen to if I was looking to find myself through music. Hotel would be great background music for a low-key, intimate party where no one is paying too much attention to the stereo. \nThe first CD, which is the crux of the album release and the only one available on the popular music Web store, iTunes, is part ambient, melodic tracks like "Homeward Angel" and part easy, slow love songs. The disc begins with "Hotel Intro," a typical Moby instrumental piece with a flowing melody reminiscent of driving through a cold, autumn rain. "Raining Again" awakens the listener drowsed from the intro's lulling sound with a comparatively driving snare and piano line. \nThe next 11 tracks plod along with no particularly original beats, melodies or lyrics. Moby shows his sensual side with the lyrics and timing of these tracks. The most exemplary of the lot is "I Like It," which features the feminine voice of Laura Dawn trading off with Moby's, both repeating "I liked it/I liked it a lot," while a pseudo-orgasmic sound wails from a beatbox in the background.\nTypical trance-like ambient tracks fill the second CD, which is labeled "Hotel Ambient." Fans of the radio show "Hearts of Space" will likely adore the way the tracks seamlessly flow together, none of which are particularly unique or noteworthy. I enjoyed playing the CD on "repeat" and catching up on my reading. Like most music in the ambient genre, it's not terribly fulfilling as a stand-alone disc, but the soothing flow of sounds make it attractive background noise. \nAnd that's what Hotel -- both discs -- is largely good for: background. The CD will get a lot of play when I'm doing other things and need something non-offensive playing beneath everything else, but it's neither terribly compelling music nor an outstanding CD for Moby. If you enjoy Moby, this is a good album to pick up. If you're new to him, go with an older release like 1999's Play.
(03/30/05 4:52am)
Moby's newest album didn't change my life. Moby likely didn't change his life recording the two-disc release either. It doesn't deliver mind-altering riffs or weighty lyrics nor redefine Moby as an artist or break any molds. The record does have plenty of Moby's familiar beats and melodies. All of the tracks flow together well and all are pleasing to the ear, and yet none of the songs are terribly innovative and most have an unremarkable feel. This isn't a CD I would listen to if I was looking to find myself through music. Hotel would be great background music for a low-key, intimate party where no one is paying too much attention to the stereo. \nThe first CD, which is the crux of the album release and the only one available on the popular music Web store, iTunes, is part ambient, melodic tracks like "Homeward Angel" and part easy, slow love songs. The disc begins with "Hotel Intro," a typical Moby instrumental piece with a flowing melody reminiscent of driving through a cold, autumn rain. "Raining Again" awakens the listener drowsed from the intro's lulling sound with a comparatively driving snare and piano line. \nThe next 11 tracks plod along with no particularly original beats, melodies or lyrics. Moby shows his sensual side with the lyrics and timing of these tracks. The most exemplary of the lot is "I Like It," which features the feminine voice of Laura Dawn trading off with Moby's, both repeating "I liked it/I liked it a lot," while a pseudo-orgasmic sound wails from a beatbox in the background.\nTypical trance-like ambient tracks fill the second CD, which is labeled "Hotel Ambient." Fans of the radio show "Hearts of Space" will likely adore the way the tracks seamlessly flow together, none of which are particularly unique or noteworthy. I enjoyed playing the CD on "repeat" and catching up on my reading. Like most music in the ambient genre, it's not terribly fulfilling as a stand-alone disc, but the soothing flow of sounds make it attractive background noise. \nAnd that's what Hotel -- both discs -- is largely good for: background. The CD will get a lot of play when I'm doing other things and need something non-offensive playing beneath everything else, but it's neither terribly compelling music nor an outstanding CD for Moby. If you enjoy Moby, this is a good album to pick up. If you're new to him, go with an older release like 1999's Play.
(03/29/05 5:17am)
Students living in the dorms might be able to spend their meal points at the Indiana Memorial Union as early as the 2006-2007 academic year. \nUnder a new plan proposed by Residential Programs and Services, a student buying a $1,000 meal plan would pay $600 for overhead and get $400 worth of meal points. To compensate, RPS plans to lower food costs accordingly, so $1 soda under the current plan would now cost $0.40 under the proposed plan.\nStudents would pay a 60 percent fee for all meal plans that would cover the overhead and operating costs of RPS Dining Services. The remaining 40 percent would be counted toward actual dining dollars, though the price of a meal in the food courts would be reduced by 60 percent.\nCurrently, 100 percent of the money students pay to RPS for meal plan go towards dining dollars. Ideally, the plan wouldn't cost students any more money, or give them less value for their dollar.\n"If you spend $2 on a hamburger, part of that $2 goes to cover overhead allocations, goes to cover money put into capital reserves for the future improvements to the dining operation," said RPS Executive Director Pat Connor. "It goes not just into the cost of the food but into the paper, the paper wrapper. It goes into all the staff, not just of the salaries not just of the staff who is serving it, but into the central administration."\nHe said about 60 percent of all money spent on food in an RPS food court covers overhead, while 40 percent covers the cost of the actual food.\nConnor said a 21 ounce soda in the food courts, which currently costs $1.19, would only cost 50 cents in meal points under the new plan.\nThe primary advantage of the plan is that it could allow students to spend their meal points at the IMU, and possibly eventually at locations off campus -- like campus access points.\n"Then it comes to making a discussion whether they want to get good value for the dollar, in the purchase or whether they want to have ultimate flexibility," Connor said. "We can allow the students to go back and use meal plan dollars in the union, for example."\nCurrently the IMU has its own meal plan called UnionPlus, which students can use only at IMU dining locations and the Main Library cafe. The IMU previously accepted RPS meal points, but the plan was dropped after one year.\n"The primary reason was that the overhead costs for running the dining halls was included in the meal points," said Bruce Jacobs, vice chancellor for auxiliary services and programs. "A percentage of the points pay for the staff that work in the dining halls."\nConnor said he would consult the meal plan committee of the Residence Halls Association -- the student government body for students living in dormitories -- before implementing the plan.\nBut, the plan has already been rejected by the meal plan committee, said Owen Sutkowski, president-elect of RHA.\n"Once we had a full discussion of it, it was voted down as a committee," he said.\nThe committee, made up of both RHA members and RPS staff, has no binding power on the final decision, but Connor said their findings would weigh heavily on his decision.\nSutkowski, who also sat on the meal plan committee this year as president of Collins Living-Learning Center, said he and his colleagues opted instead of adopting a new meal point system, to try to make changes to the existing meal point system.\n"It's more appropriate to make changes to the plan as it exists now," he said. "You can make smaller changes over a period of time, and those changes will be beneficial to students."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Michael \nZennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(03/29/05 5:09am)
The chair of the department of computer science will likely have a new boss for the fall. Professor Andrew Hanson will soon report to Michael Dunn, dean of the School of Informatics, rather than to Kumble Subbaswamy at the College of Arts and Sciences. Administrators decided that students and faculty would be better served if the computer science department was part of the School of Informatics, rather than the College of Arts and Sciences, where it currently resides. So, the two schools and the department agreed to move computer science to informatics.\nHanson said the shift makes sense.\n"On campus there are two groups of faculty who have essentially computer science backgrounds, the emphasis of these faculty are different, but their training and their ways of looking at the world is essentially the same," Hanson said.\nIdeally, the transition should be seamless, said Susan Quinn, assistant dean of the School of Informatics. \n"Think of it as a modular kind of thing," she said. "They're unplugging from the College of Arts and Sciences and plugging into the School of Informatics."\nShe said students and faculty should see little difference in the shift, at least for the time being. There are no plans to change the degree requirements for either computer science undergraduates or graduate students.\n"Our goal is for students not to feel any hiccup when the changeover happens," Quinn said\nComputer science will maintain its offices and most of its classes in Lindley Hall. All faculty and staff in both institutions will maintain their salaries and position, Informatics is not planning on letting any employees go. In fact, the school will likely hire on more faculty, Quinn said.\n"We anticipate continued growth in the in the School of Informatics," she said.\nQuinn said the concentrations in School of Informatics are broken down into three parts. Human-centered informatics focuses on the way people interact with technology. Domain-centered informatics facilitates research and practice of fields such as medicine and biology. The final focus area is technology-centered informatics. The technical expertise that the computer science department brings will greatly benefit research, development and practice in this third field. It will also increase cooperation between students and faculty with a more technical computer science focus and human or domain-centered focus.\n"The reason that's good is that within the School of Informatics, you have more opportunities to collaborate, now," said Quinn. \nHanson said the shift will also give the two programs more recognition.\n"This creates a critical mass of faculty and skills that will allow us to be competitive with almost any place," he said.\nAdministrators had been looking at combining the computer science department with the School of Informatics since its creation in 1999, however most of the final work in reaching the agreement took place within the past month, Hanson said.\nThe change will add 31 computer science faculty to the 40 faculty in the School of Informatics. Currently, informatics has 465 undergraduates and 77 graduate students. The computer science department has 248 undergraduates and 155 graduate students.\nThe plan to move computer science, while settled between Informatics and COAS, must be presented before Bloomington Faculty Council committees before it can be finalized. If there are no objections to the plan by the BFC, it will be sent to IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis for approval before it becomes official.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(03/24/05 5:00am)
Nicole Howard smiles coyly and rests her hand on the long sword that hangs at her side. Tonight she finds her fortress surrounded by tens of thousands of enemy troops. Even her six traveling companions and her skills as a rouge will help her little in the coming battle. \n"When you awake the next morning and realize that where the enemy's encampment was, 20 miles away from you, it has moved right outside your fortifications," a commanding voice sets the scene. "You look out and see 80,000 men. You are summoned immediately to Gen. Judith's tent…"\nHoward, 19, is one of seven people gathered around a table littered with dice, pencils and papers bearing statistics like "hit points" and "armor class." She and her friends are engaging in a game of the classic paper-and-pencil role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Everything about this gathering is a far cry from the stereotype of the pimple-faced nerds with thick glasses and pocket protectors sitting in a dimly lit basement, whiling away their afternoons rolling dice and cracking inside jokes about their "magic missiles."\nHoward and dozens of other young people from the Bloomington and IU communities gather nearly every Friday evening to play fantasy games at Avalon, a Bloomington fantasy, science fiction, horror and anime store. While most of their peers are out killing brain cells and forgetting their week with copious amounts of alcohol, the Avalon regulars roll dice to slay dragons, play cards to vanquish enemies and commit armies of miniature warriors to war on tabletop battlefields.\nKeith Pendly, one of the store's owners, is entirely unsurprised that teenagers and twenty-something's are drawn to his store, even on Friday nights.\n"It's a vacation for the mind," he said. "It takes all your thoughts that you have pent up and allows you to use them."\nHe said fantasy games like Dungeons and Dragons make players use their minds to work out situations. Players have to work in teams and work themselves out of the situations that they are placed in. Pendly maintains this builds friendship, camaraderie and critical thinking. Partying on the weekends doesn't give nearly the fulfillment of a fantasy game.\n"Instead of going out and partying on the weekend and blowing $80 and getting home and being disappointed," he said, "you're sitting here with a group of friends and having fun in a good, clean environment."\nPendly said that the stigma surrounding games like Dungeons and Dragons is unwarranted. The game's reputation for being satanic has no merit, he said.\n"If one Satan worshiper happens to play D&D, then they say, 'Oh, it's a satanic game,'" he said. "But you never hear about the thousands of Christians that play."\nHe also called its image of being "too nerdy to play" ridiculous. He said once someone watches a game of Dungeons and Dragons, the person usually realizes that its "pretty cool." \n"It's all about ego," Pendly said. "And once people get past the ego part of it, they have the best time of their lives."\nPendly and his friend Chris Mappin opened Avalon just six months ago after they moved to Bloomington and realized that it only really had one gaming store -- the Game Preserve. \n"We'd always talked about opening a store and what it might have," he said. "Once we came to Bloomington, we realized that it had such a large population of gamers that this was a perfect place to open one."\nAvalon's layout is a bit unusual. The front half of the store is stocked with guide books to playing role-playing games, miniatures, fantasy trading cards and science fiction movies. But, divided by a wall laden with replicas of swords from "The Lord of the Rings" movies and other medieval weapons, is the back half of the store. This side is devoted entirely to playing games. Card and miniature players gather at the rows of plastic tables and chairs set up in what likely used to be the stock room. Adjacent to the primary rooms, are two secondary rooms for role-players. It is in one of these rooms that Howard and her adventuring companions gathered to play out their quest. \nSophomore Michael Tam, a delegate for Wizards of the Coast, the company which produces many of the games played at Avalon, said the store's floor plan makes it unique and a more fun place to play.\n"I like this store in particular because this is one of the first gaming stores I've been to which really has a space open for gamers," he said. "They have a lot of different services than a conventional gaming store would offer."\nBoth Mappin and Pendly got their start in the fantasy gaming world with Dungeons and Dragons, though they have since branched out their interests. Avalon hosts fantasy games of many different sorts. But the biggest are Dungeons and Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, a collectible card game and HeroClix, a strategy game played with miniature figures which Pendly describes as, "like chess on crack." \nAvalon also has a room devoted to the "Halo 2" video game which features wireless controllers and two large projectors and 110-inch screens. \nPendly said the video game room often brings in a different sort of customer than the typical fantasy gamer. He said some of the video gamers view the fantasy gamers as nerdy, but more often than not, "Halo 2" players are won over.\n"We've converted quite a few," he said. "They saw these people role-playing and thought it was really cool, so they joined in."\nThe store doesn't just draw young gamers, either. Dean Roberts, who runs the HeroClix games at Avalon, is 44 years old. He comes to Avalon because he's met a lot of friendly people, he said.\n"I've been to other places in town and this, by far, is the friendliest place and the most fun to go to," Roberts, said. \nHe also said playing games at Avalon is cheaper than a movie. Playing HeroClix costs $5, but the store gives out packages of miniatures as prizes. Magic: The Gathering tournaments cost $5 as well and winners also receive prizes. Playing "Halo 2" costs $5 per person per hour or $10 for four hours and two sodas. Playing Dungeons and Dragons at the store is free.\nThe store has a regular gaming schedule. Tuesday through Friday players gather to play Dungeons and Dragons. Though Pendley said people come to play every single night of the week. Avalon hosts "Halo 2" on Monday evenings, and Magic: The Gathering tournaments on Tuesdays and Fridays. For a complete schedule visit the store's Web site, www.avalonkingdom.com. \nThough some people frown on fantasy games like Dungeons and Dragons as being nerdy, Pendly said these games are a great hobby.\n"This is a hobby and not only that, it's a chance to meet new people," he said. "If you want a challenge for the mind, and you want to talk to a bunch of other creative, intelligent people, this is where people come"
(03/23/05 4:57am)
Nicole Howard smiles coyly and rests her hand on the long sword that hangs at her side. Tonight she finds her fortress surrounded by tens of thousands of enemy troops. Even her six traveling companions and her skills as a rouge will help her little in the coming battle. \n"When you awake the next morning and realize that where the enemy's encampment was, 20 miles away from you, it has moved right outside your fortifications," a commanding voice sets the scene. "You look out and see 80,000 men. You are summoned immediately to Gen. Judith's tent…"\nHoward, 19, is one of seven people gathered around a table littered with dice, pencils and papers bearing statistics like "hit points" and "armor class." She and her friends are engaging in a game of the classic paper-and-pencil role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Everything about this gathering is a far cry from the stereotype of the pimple-faced nerds with thick glasses and pocket protectors sitting in a dimly lit basement, whiling away their afternoons rolling dice and cracking inside jokes about their "magic missiles."\nHoward and dozens of other young people from the Bloomington and IU communities gather nearly every Friday evening to play fantasy games at Avalon, a Bloomington fantasy, science fiction, horror and anime store. While most of their peers are out killing brain cells and forgetting their week with copious amounts of alcohol, the Avalon regulars roll dice to slay dragons, play cards to vanquish enemies and commit armies of miniature warriors to war on tabletop battlefields.\nKeith Pendly, one of the store's owners, is entirely unsurprised that teenagers and twenty-something's are drawn to his store, even on Friday nights.\n"It's a vacation for the mind," he said. "It takes all your thoughts that you have pent up and allows you to use them."\nHe said fantasy games like Dungeons and Dragons make players use their minds to work out situations. Players have to work in teams and work themselves out of the situations that they are placed in. Pendly maintains this builds friendship, camaraderie and critical thinking. Partying on the weekends doesn't give nearly the fulfillment of a fantasy game.\n"Instead of going out and partying on the weekend and blowing $80 and getting home and being disappointed," he said, "you're sitting here with a group of friends and having fun in a good, clean environment."\nPendly said that the stigma surrounding games like Dungeons and Dragons is unwarranted. The game's reputation for being satanic has no merit, he said.\n"If one Satan worshiper happens to play D&D, then they say, 'Oh, it's a satanic game,'" he said. "But you never hear about the thousands of Christians that play."\nHe also called its image of being "too nerdy to play" ridiculous. He said once someone watches a game of Dungeons and Dragons, the person usually realizes that its "pretty cool." \n"It's all about ego," Pendly said. "And once people get past the ego part of it, they have the best time of their lives."\nPendly and his friend Chris Mappin opened Avalon just six months ago after they moved to Bloomington and realized that it only really had one gaming store -- the Game Preserve. \n"We'd always talked about opening a store and what it might have," he said. "Once we came to Bloomington, we realized that it had such a large population of gamers that this was a perfect place to open one."\nAvalon's layout is a bit unusual. The front half of the store is stocked with guide books to playing role-playing games, miniatures, fantasy trading cards and science fiction movies. But, divided by a wall laden with replicas of swords from "The Lord of the Rings" movies and other medieval weapons, is the back half of the store. This side is devoted entirely to playing games. Card and miniature players gather at the rows of plastic tables and chairs set up in what likely used to be the stock room. Adjacent to the primary rooms, are two secondary rooms for role-players. It is in one of these rooms that Howard and her adventuring companions gathered to play out their quest. \nSophomore Michael Tam, a delegate for Wizards of the Coast, the company which produces many of the games played at Avalon, said the store's floor plan makes it unique and a more fun place to play.\n"I like this store in particular because this is one of the first gaming stores I've been to which really has a space open for gamers," he said. "They have a lot of different services than a conventional gaming store would offer."\nBoth Mappin and Pendly got their start in the fantasy gaming world with Dungeons and Dragons, though they have since branched out their interests. Avalon hosts fantasy games of many different sorts. But the biggest are Dungeons and Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, a collectible card game and HeroClix, a strategy game played with miniature figures which Pendly describes as, "like chess on crack." \nAvalon also has a room devoted to the "Halo 2" video game which features wireless controllers and two large projectors and 110-inch screens. \nPendly said the video game room often brings in a different sort of customer than the typical fantasy gamer. He said some of the video gamers view the fantasy gamers as nerdy, but more often than not, "Halo 2" players are won over.\n"We've converted quite a few," he said. "They saw these people role-playing and thought it was really cool, so they joined in."\nThe store doesn't just draw young gamers, either. Dean Roberts, who runs the HeroClix games at Avalon, is 44 years old. He comes to Avalon because he's met a lot of friendly people, he said.\n"I've been to other places in town and this, by far, is the friendliest place and the most fun to go to," Roberts, said. \nHe also said playing games at Avalon is cheaper than a movie. Playing HeroClix costs $5, but the store gives out packages of miniatures as prizes. Magic: The Gathering tournaments cost $5 as well and winners also receive prizes. Playing "Halo 2" costs $5 per person per hour or $10 for four hours and two sodas. Playing Dungeons and Dragons at the store is free.\nThe store has a regular gaming schedule. Tuesday through Friday players gather to play Dungeons and Dragons. Though Pendley said people come to play every single night of the week. Avalon hosts "Halo 2" on Monday evenings, and Magic: The Gathering tournaments on Tuesdays and Fridays. For a complete schedule visit the store's Web site, www.avalonkingdom.com. \nThough some people frown on fantasy games like Dungeons and Dragons as being nerdy, Pendly said these games are a great hobby.\n"This is a hobby and not only that, it's a chance to meet new people," he said. "If you want a challenge for the mind, and you want to talk to a bunch of other creative, intelligent people, this is where people come"
(03/13/05 7:10am)
Professor James Glazier is a physicist who stumbled into biology. \n"In ninth-grade biology, I didn't want to cut up a frog so they sent me to 11th-grade physics," he said.\nBut Glazier was reintroduced to biology when he studied soap bubbles and determined that their interactions were similar to those of cell interactions.\nNow, as the head of the Biocomplexity Institute at IU, he does experiments on animals but manages to combine his work with his love for physics. The 2-year-old Biocomplexity Institute is one of the peripheral extensions of IU's drive to improve its work in the life sciences. Its existence and Glazier's decision to come to IU are impacts of the administration devoting more resources and efforts to promote all aspects of life science research.\nGlazier's curriculum vitae reads like a tour de force of some of the most well-known academic institutions in the country: a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard and a master's and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He has been a professor or visiting professor at universities in Australia, Ireland, France and Japan. He has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in research grants and fellowships. Glazier could be a researcher at an Ivy League university. Instead, he chose to teach and conduct his research here in Bloomington. \n"(Kumble Subbaswamy, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences,) promised me a substantial number of faculty hires and he gave me a budget that allowed me to forward my own research and research in biocomplexity through the campus," he said.\nTo some degree, Glazier and his researchers have already begun getting national recognition for IU. Biocomplexity professor John Beggs made national news in February when Beggs and senior Clayton Haldeman published a paper stating that avalanches in the brain, which can be explained using mathematical models, may be responsible for memory storage. Beggs said the field of biocomplexity allowed him to look at the functions of neurons as a group rather than individual neurons.\n"You can't nail a memory down to any one brain cell," he said.\nThe creation of the Biocomplexity Institute is also an attempt to help further IU's standing in the life sciences. This is particularly important because IU has a handicap when it comes to getting research funding.\n"If you write a grant for IU, it has to be better than a grant from Harvard because IU does not have the visibility nationally," Glazier said. "We're getting there, and one of the things biocomplexity is going to do is give us recognition nationally."\nAlso as part of its endeavors to make IU a more prominent name in research, the Biocomplexity Institute hosts workshops that bring the top biocomplexity researchers in the country to Bloomington to discuss the field and their research.\n"And I think it's the first time many of them have been in Indiana, let alone at Indiana University," he said. "And I think they go home and say, 'Wow, Indiana is a serious place for research.'"\nThe Institute has also grown by leaps and bounds since its inception. When Glazier came to IU two years ago, there were no researchers doing work specifically oriented to biocomplexity. Because of redirection and new hiring, there are now seven biocomplexity researchers and as many as seven more doing biocomplexity-related research.\nBiocomplexity is an interdisciplinary science that falls outside of the traditional fields associated with life science research, such as biology, medicine and biochemistry, but it has implications that affect many fields. Combining physics with biology, chemistry, health science, informatics and psychology, biocomplexity researchers try to explain organic processes and interactions within an organism or among groups of organisms using mathematical models.\n"It brings people with a more mathematical, formal background together with people with a more experimental, bench-type life sciences background," said Rob de Ruyter van Steveninck, a professor of physics and neural science who does research related to biocomplexity. "And hopefully in that interaction you find new ground, you find new problems and you find new solutions to old problems."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Michael \nZennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(03/11/05 6:07am)
Bloomington's Middle Way House has $2,500 more to support youth programs thanks to the mobile phone giant Verizon Wireless. Verizon pledged the money to the Bloomington organization formed more than 30 years ago to combat domestic violence and protect women and children who are its victims. The donation marks the 10-year anniversary of Verizon's HopeLine program.\n"Domestic violence awareness and prevention is our top priority when it comes to community relations," said Michelle Gilbert, a spokeswoman for Verizon.\nShe said the company chose domestic violence prevention as its primary charitable cause because it affects many of Verizon's customers and employees.\nThe donation is both sorely needed and will be well used, said Toby Strout, the executive director of the Middle Way House.\n"We're actually entering 2005 with a $240,000 shortfall out of a $2.1 million budget," she said.\nMiddle Way will spend the grant money on youth enrichment programs such as homework help and tutoring, holiday excursions, weekend camping trips and teen support groups, Strout said.\nShe said the national average for battered women who return to abusive homes is between 55 and 70 percent. Only between eight and 20 percent of victims return to abusive relationships after coming to Middle Way House, Strout said.\n"We're on a very, very short list of model programs used by the U.S. Department of Justice," she said. \nIn 2000, the charity sheltered 152 women and 148 children and provided nearly 5,500 hours of shelter to battered woman and children.\nGilbert said the recent cash donation is only the most recent development in the Verizon's ongoing efforts to help prevent domestic violence. With HopeLine, its flagship program, the company collects and refurbishes unwanted mobile phones. They donate the phones, as well as free air time and voice mailboxes to charities. Gilbert said the phones help give victims an added degree of protection.\n"Domestic violence survivors really benefit from that added safety and security and that's why we donate phones and airtime," she said.\nThe Middle Way House offers many services to help protect women and children from domestic violence like legal helping in filing protective orders, said junior Chelsea York, who volunteers at the charity. The organization also monitors court cases and notes who the perpetual offenders are.\n"Are domestic violence cases being prosecuted, are they being dismissed?" she said. "Someone needs to make sure something is being done about domestic violence."\nAll three women agreed that the work Middle Way does is extremely important, and that's why the charity deserves the money. \n"The Middle Way House is actually one of these services that can make the difference between life and death for abused women and children," Strout said.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Michael Zennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.
(03/10/05 5:52am)
IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis had some advice for his successor. \nHe told a group of students in front of the fireplace in the South Lounge of the Indiana Memorial Union Wednesday that the next chancellor must first understand the climate and traditions of the Bloomington campus to be an effective administrator.\n"(Former IU President Myles Brand) was not a successful president because did not take the time to understand the culture of the University," he said. \nIn the first of a series of "fireside chats" sponsored by the Union Board, Gros Louis regaled a group of about 20 students with tales from his more than 40 years of experience at IU. He addressed issues like student apathy and the University's academic future as he fielded questions from the participants.\nGros Louis said if the state continues to cap tuition while not increasing the University's funding, the government will tie IU's hands behind its back.\n"IU will not be able to thrive in research and academics if the state does not continue to give it monetary support," he said. \nHe said the University deserves support from the state because IU adds a great deal to Indiana's image. Gros Louis told a story about a student from Columbus, Ind., who came to IU as a freshman on scholarship. After spending a summer in Bloomington, Gros Louis said, the student developed a whole new understanding of what the state could offer.\n"His dream as he was growing up was to leave Indiana," Gros Louis said. "(At IU), he wrote his brother and said, 'I'm not in Indiana anymore.'"\nThat realization is thanks in large part to the vision of former IU President Herman B Wells, Gros Louis said, who turned the University into a major cultural center of the state. \nThat vision also has allowed the University to grow into what it is today, Gros Louis said. When he first came to IU, he said fewer than half of the buildings now standing on campus had been built. But he said the biggest change has been they way business on the campus is conducted.\n"At many of the meetings I go to," he said, "I feel like I'm working for a major corporation and not a university."\nThe chancellor also spoke about the changes in students' political leanings. He discussed the history of protest at IU and compared Vietnam-era protests with protests today. He said the reason might be that students have a better understanding of the complex issues affecting them today.\nGros Louis also said one of the biggest issues confronting students today is the decreasing number of college students coming from the lowest echelons of society. He said although it might not be the soundest advice he has given, a possible solution would be for students to march on Gros Louis' office and demand more money for scholarships for low-income applicants.\nAllen Andreas, the director of debates and issues for the Union Board and the organizer of the event, said he was happy with the 20-student turnout.\n"Each session is intended to be an intimate discussion," he said.\nIUSA President Tyson Chastain, who attended the talk, said it was a great forum for the chancellor.\n"It's nice for students to be able to ask an administrator how things at IU work," Chastain said. \n— Contact Staff Write Michael \nZennie at mzennie@indiana.edu.