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Ted Kennedy
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Ted Kennedy
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Saving more than $55 million this fiscal year, IU isn’t taking any chances with its budget.To offset the difficult times, the University has responded in multiple ways, said Neil Theobald, IU’s vice president and chief financial officer.University officials will provide no salary increases or performance bonuses for faculty or staff in the upcoming year.However, many full-time employees making $30,000 or less will receive a one-time supplemental bonus of $500.Last year, the budget for University-funded travel was $9.4 million, Theobald said. In order to cut costs, the University trimmed the travel budget by half, down to $4.7 million this year.And if a non-faculty member leaves the University, the replacement’s salary will be cut by half, Theobald said. Despite these budget cuts, Theobald said the University has increased spending in two areas.In Bloomington, the University has increased undergraduate financial aid by about $15 million. Students who come from low-income families or performed well in high school will benefit most from this increase.“I know of no other campus or university as Bloomington that has made college this affordable,” Theobald said.He said the University will also increase spending by covering the expected increased cost for health care for faculty and staff. He said no matter what the cost is to cover employee health care, the University will “find the money.”SHOW US THE MONEYIU has two sources of revenue for its operating budget: state funding and tuition.The Indiana General Assembly passed the state budget on June 30, cutting funding for all eight IU campuses by 4.5 percent for the 2010 fiscal year and 1.5 percent for the 2011 fiscal year. A one-time allocation from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act makes up the difference from the state budget cuts, so total IU funding from the state will remain consistent at about $600 million, representing about 22 percent of IU’s overall $2.7 billion budget. In response to less money from the state, the IU board of trustees approved a tuition increase July 16.For the 2009-10 academic year, in-state tuition and fees will increase by $381.78, or 4.6 percent, and out-of-state tuition by $1,391.18, or 5.6 percent. For the 2010-2011 academic year, the board approved increases of $414.38, or 4.8 percent, for in-state undergraduates and $1,528.38, or 5.8 percent, for out-of-state students.AUXILARY UNITSUniversity administrators aren’t the only ones who have to deal with tighter budgets.IU has several auxiliary units that generate their own funding. Organizations such as IU Athletics, the Indiana Memorial Union and the IU Foundation have to work within their own operating budgets with no University funding.Eugene Tempel, IU Foundation president, said there’s a strong correlation between the performance of the economy and philanthropy. He said gifts to the University tend to decrease when the economy is performing poorly, and the IU Foundation is down about 8.2 percent in number of donors this year. The Foundation’s goal was to keep that number less than 10 percent.Tempel said that, like the University, the Foundation has instituted a salary freeze.“We’re not replacing the person if someone leaves, but asking others to assume some of those duties, asking people to double up,” he said.Tempel said the Foundation has also begun to examine its travel budget. He said most of the traveling in the next year will be to visit donors.Bruce Jacobs, executive director of the Indiana Memorial Union, said the Union’s main revenue comes from its hotel, parking lot fees and food services. He said because of the recession, hotel occupancy is down 7 percent and the use of the parking lot dropped off when gas prices spiked during the summer of 2008.Like the Foundation, Jacobs said if a staff member resigns, the Union won’t replace them but instead spread their duties out among other workers.He said budget restrictions are keeping the Union from renovating a few bathrooms, but construction will go ahead on a new computer lab. Jacobs said the goal for the IU auxiliary units is always to manage their operations so that they are providing support to the academic mission of the campus. “The ultimate goal in this is to keep the costs down for the students and faculty and staff that use the building,” he said. “That’s important to us.” STUDENT GROUPSThe Asian Culture Center has always operated on a shoestring budget, said Director Melanie Castillo-Cullather.“The recession just makes it more difficult for us because the academic departments and other offices we normally rely on for help to support our programs are also experiencing a budget crunch,” she wrote in an e-mail.The ACC operates on a budget between $115,000 to $118,000 a year, including salaries and expenses. Castillo-Cullather said the ACC’s travel funds have now been combined with other centers on campus, which can only be accessed if a request is approved.The ACC also had to scale back an annual overnight retreat to Bradford Woods. Instead of going out for the retreat, the center conducted the retreat on campus. Peter SerVaas, IU Student Association president, said student groups on campus will not be receiving less money as a whole this academic year. Even though IUSA has the same operating budget, it has still cut spending by about 50 percent.“We were doing it in preparation that our fees would be cut,” he said. “But they were just necessary cuts we thought needed to be made.” WHAT'S NEXT?Theobald said because of the University-wide salary freeze, IU saved about $50 million.He said the salary freeze was the biggest University project they had to put on hold. But most of the construction projects on campus are funded through donors, he said, and those projects will continue moving forward.“It’s a very difficult time,” Theobald said. “The focus of the president and trustees are on students and faculty.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When I was in high school, we had a “homeroom” period. It was literally 15 minutes of morning introductions before the day got started. Toward the end of my senior year, I remember my homeroom teacher said to the class, “If you think high school went by fast, college will go by that much faster.”He was right.I remember four years ago when I was moving my essentials into Eigenmann Hall. I remember meeting my dormmates and wondering if I’d get along with my roommate. I remember these things like they were yesterday. But now I’m sitting at my desk on a Tuesday afternoon, remembering Monday as yesterday just as well as I remember freshman year as yesterday.When did time start moving so fast?On Aug. 6, I got up in the morning – fighting a viral infection – and walked to the tennis courts on Woodlawn Avenue. At that moment, I could barely hold my tennis racket up, and I thought it was a possibility I would not pass the tennis final. That’s all I needed to get my diploma – a one-credit HPER class.I made it through the final (I passed, too), and I walked away realizing that I would never take another class as an undergraduate student. Where did these last four years go?Freshman year was a blur to me because, as I’m sure you know, so many things happen at once. I was taking classes, deciding my major, meeting new people, trying not to gain the freshman 15 and trying to figure out my extracurricular activities.Most of my friends make fun of me because I can’t remember much about my sophomore year. Nothing happened to me. It wasn’t fun or interesting. At the very end of my sophomore year, I started working at the Indiana Daily Student – which has given me more than a resume.I met my mother(s) away from home at the IDS. I met my best friend at the IDS. I learned how to be more understanding by understanding others. I have met some of the most interesting people I have ever known by being a part of this student organization. Junior year was a bridge to me. It connected my first two years to my last year, and senior year wrapped up everything I had done the previous years.As my final day as editor-in-chief of the Indiana Daily Student winds down, and my last day at IU approaches, I just wanted to say thank you to Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Jeff Canada, former dean of students Dick McKaig, IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre, assistant dean of students Pam Freeman and IU-Bloomington Chancellor Ken Gros Louis – who all made my job easier. I wanted to say thank you to the IU employees I’ve gotten to know (especially Mary Frohliger – you have made every visit to the Union’s Market Place enjoyable for me). I wanted to say thank you to my heterosexual life partner(s), without whom I would have never made it through the summer.And thank you, IU, for the last four years. I hope you treat the incoming freshmen as well as you treated me.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>What I expected was a glorified marching band. What I got was so much more.I was in Bloomington last summer when the hordes of Drum Corps International members raided campus. When they arrived, I was interning in Bedford. And when they left, I was in that awkward transitional phase where I was moving and I didn’t have any time to relax.But I was given the opportunity to see the Drum Corps International World Championships on Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium.All I knew heading into the stadium was that there were going to be bands and instruments – that’s it. I went to the championships with a coworker who was already familiar with the type of event it was. He had seen drum corps before, and he was in marching band in high school. I turned to him before it started and asked him if drum corps was considered a sport.He denied that marching band was a sport, but he supported the notion that people involved in drum corps needed to be athletic to participate. I had to see it to believe it. But he was right.With about 175 members in each band, each group had about 15 minutes to perform a show based off a song. The first few performances didn’t do the trick for me. I didn’t really understand it.But then I really watched.It was the Troopers, a drum and bugle corps from Wyoming, that made me see it was so much more than 175 people holding instruments. The color guard members were dressed as Native Americans, and the band itself seemed to be some sort of military unit. The Troopers’ performance was titled “Western Side Story.”And I really saw it. At that moment, it wasn’t 175 people meandering aimlessly on synthetic turf – it was a carefully constructed story and it was beautiful. At the end of the 15-minute performance, I stood up and gave the drum corps a round of applause – something that every drum and bugle corps that performed that night deserved. By the end of the night, I still wasn’t sure if drum corps was a sport, but it was definitely more than what I thought it was.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Dean of Students Dick McKaig said as a first date, his wife asked him to a sorority formal. He said she asked because she knew he wouldn’t say yes.Maribeth McKaig remembers the story a little differently.“We were friends for six or seven months,” she said. “I asked him to fix me up with one of his fraternity brothers and he said, ‘Oh, I’ll go with you.’”And for the last 18 years, Maribeth McKaig has seen her husband attend student events to watching him reel from student deaths. When he retires Friday, she will miss the student contact the most – something Dick McKaig always made sure he had plenty of.“I’ll miss getting to know the finest students that we’ve known over the years,” she said.Throughout her husband’s 38-year tenure at IU, Maribeth McKaig said the one memory that sticks out in her mind was her husband’s long hours. She said because she was a school teacher, he was able to get their two daughters dressed and ready for school, while she could pick them up. She said her two girls were “late-nighters” from an early age and got a lot of chances to see their father at night.Maribeth McKaig said when their oldest daughter was in preschool, she went through a phase during which she didn’t call her father “daddy” – instead she called him Dick. She said she tried to break her daughter’s habit, but Dick McKaig insisted she let it be, saying their daughter would eventually grow out of it.“He went to pick her up from preschool and the kids were sitting in storytime,” she said. “And our daughter introduced him as ‘This is Dick. He lives with us.’ When I heard that story, I was like,‘They’re going to think we’re not even married.’”But even though his hours were long, she said they had their advantages.As her children got older, she was able to pick up more hobbies and she spent more time grading papers.“It probably made me a better teacher that he was so busy in the evenings,” she said.Throughout Dick McKaig’s time at IU, Maribeth McKaig said she attended as many student events as she wanted to, and she said she’s developed relationships with students who have been advised by the dean. But even after 18 years of student activities, Maribeth McKaig said her husband is still the same man he was when he started the job.“He’s just really good at troubleshooting,” she said. “He seems to look at the big picture. He always has good advice for dealing with bad situations. It all just seems to roll off his back like water on a duck.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Everything changes.New administrators and staff are hired, and the old retire. Residence and lecture halls are built or torn down. But for the past 38 years, Dean of Students Dick McKaig has been a fixture at IU.On an idle Wednesday, I walked into McKaig’s office with a recorder, notepad and pen. As he ushered me in, I said, “Your office looks different. Have you always been here?”“No,” he said, laughing. “I was in Bryan Hall but then moved here.”My eyes wandered along his endless collection of mugs, Arbutus yearbooks and assortment of random gifts. I spotted a plastic crown sitting out of place among his collections.“Is that a Burger King crown?” I asked.“That was a different kind of gift,” he said.I sat down with McKaig to ask questions the Indiana Daily Student had probably never asked him before. I wanted to see the side of McKaig that most students don’t get to see.Ids What was your first impression of IU?McKaig How pretty it was. I was interviewing down here, although I think I was on this campus in high school because I went to Boys State. That was kind of one of those distant memories, and I never even put those two together. So when I was on campus interviewing, I was walking in the area behind Woodburn, the bridges and the stream there, the mighty Jordan. I was just struck with how pretty it was. IDS What are you always going to remember about IU?McKaig The students that I’ve worked with. Certainly, there are a lot of events that will come to mind, but they almost always circulate around students.IDS How many different awards have you won?McKaig I don’t know. People have been very kind. I say it’s a tribute to being old. When you get old, people give you things.IDS What’s your favorite place in town to eat pizza?McKaig Probably Pizza Express. The Heavy Veggie.IDS Vanilla or chocolate ice cream?McKaig Strawberry.IDS Do you like The Beatles? If you could be a Beatle, which Beatle would you be?McKaig I do. Oh jeez, I don’t know, Paul did pretty well for himself. I suppose I should say Paul. Although I do like the drums too, so maybe I should be Ringo. Yeah, I think maybe I should be Ringo.IDS What’s your favorite movie?McKaig There’s just a bunch. I love “French Kiss.” Kevin Kline I think is just a delightful actor. I like most of his movies. I like “The Way We Were” with Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford.IDS Have you ever met Kevin Kline?McKaig No.IDS Favorite pastime?McKaig For 38 years, Indiana University has been my pastime. So I’d say probably now my anticipation is it’s travel and/or reading. But as my wife says, I’m pretty good at lazy. And that’s not a bad pastime either.IDS Facebook or Twitter?McKaig I don’t have a Twitter account. It’s an indication of I’m getting old. Without students to get me Twittering, I’ll end up being just a Facebook person.IDS Root beer or real beer?McKaig Really root beer. That doesn’t mean I don’t drink beer, because I do. But one of my favorite childhood memories is I had an aunt and uncle that owned an A&W root beer stand. And because they owned it, you could go there, you could go behind the scenes. And you could get your own root beer and root beer floats. Beer is an acquired taste. Bourbon is better.IDS Cats or dogs?McKaig Dogs. Beagles.IDS What’s your favorite dorm on campus?McKaig I’ve stayed in all of them, I think. I don’t know that I have my favorite. They all have their different kinds of personalities. Collins is a wonderful and unique community, and yet there’s a craziness about McNutt that makes it kind of attractive. Wright Quad is where one of my daughters lived. I’ve done lots of programs over in Wright Quad. ... I had another daughter who stayed in Ashton. So I guess it has a charm. I wouldn’t put it high on my charm list. Among those would be my favorite.IDS What was your wedding song?McKaig Tony Bennett. “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” It was a song we danced to on our first date, and so it has always been.IDS How did you meet your wife, and how did you propose?McKaig I met her because we worked together in the residence hall. She, as I pointed out, had the lofty position of soup dipper. I was merely a bus boy and dishwasher, and occasionally as a bus boy had the ability to carry soup to the soup dipper. So she and I became acquainted. She actually asked me to a dance, a sorority pledge dance, which she claims was done mostly as a joke because she knew I’d say no. But I said yes. The business about proposal because she would say I never really did or I proposed on the second date, and it was a year or two later when we decided to get married. That’s probably a debatable question. It was certainly nothing elaborate.IDS Favorite season?McKaig Probably the spring – the blooming plants and trees in this area. I’m colorblind, so the fall colors, which rely on a lot of reds and oranges, those colors tend not to show up on my spectrum.IDS Yoga or Pilates?McKaig The living room couch.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>From the beginning, the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign said it knew it was going to win the fight against the Bloomington Public Transportation Corporation. After two months, the campaign was given the OK to run the ad “You Can Be Good Without God.” “We’re all elated we won, of course,” said Charlie Sitzes, spokesman for the bus campaign. “We knew we were going to win the lawsuit.”The decision comes just a week before the lawsuit was supposed to hit federal court in Indianapolis, Sitzes said. On May 9, the Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign filed a federal lawsuit against the Bloomington Public Transportation Corporation because it rejected the campaign’s advertisement proposal. The ad was rejected by Bloomington Public Transportation Corp. because, as its policy reads, “Statements of position in support of or in opposition to controversial public issues shall not be accepted.”The Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign approached Bloomington lawyer Paul Newman to represent them in the case – something he did for free because of his strong personal beliefs in the First Amendment, he said.“I felt (Bloomington Transit) had a weak case,” he said. “I couldn’t even imagine why they were fighting it.”A phone call to Lewis May, the general manager of Bloomington Public Transportation Corp., was not returned Wednesday. Newman said he did not expect the lawsuit to last as long as it did.“Once the mayor distanced himself from this ... I assumed it would end in a week,” he said. After the news leaked that the advertisements were being rejected, the bus campaign began to gain support and momentum. The Center for Inquiry of Indiana donated $2,000 to the campaign. At the time, the bus campaign signed a contract with South Bend’s public transportation system TRANSPO to display its advertisements. The Indiana Atheist Bus Campaign also had advertisements on Chicago buses that stated, “In the beginning, man created God.”Sitzes said he feels the decision to run the ads is already having an impact. He said he had received a call from a student at Harvard on Wednesday who was planning on starting a campaign in Boston. Sitzes said the area will soon have bus signs and billboards.Newman said this was a case about freedom of speech and whether the bus company’s policy was appropriate. He said, in a May 13 Indiana Daily Student article, that “controversial” has no particular meaning and that it’s subjective.“There are millions of cars around the state of Indiana that have ‘In God We Trust’ on the back, and it’s appropriate that people are allowed to express their beliefs,” he said. “It shouldn’t be that one group should be shut out and we’ll allow speech on one side but not the other.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU professor Eric Rasmusen’s daughter’s visitation and funeral will be Thursday and Friday, respectively.Rasmusen’s daughter, Elizabeth, 9, was pronounced dead July 13 after an Amtrak train struck the vehicle she was in. Her grandparents, Benjamin Rasmusen, 82, and Marilyn Rasmusen, 81, also died in the accident. Two other children, 10 and 7, were injured in the crash.The visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Deremiah Frye Funeral Home. The funeral will be 10 a.m. Friday at Sherwood Oaks Church. “We are blessed,” Eric Rasmusen said in a statement. “We have four wonderful children, and we had Lizzie for nine years. My parents lived their threescore and 10 and more, and died quickly, and I was able to share 50 happy years with them. ... Lizzie was so sweet, helpful and affectionate that we worried about how people would hurt her when she grew up. She loved God better than any of us, and He has saved her from care. So many are so blessed to have known her, and we got to know her best.”Elizabeth was a student at Lighthouse Christian Academy.In an e-mail to the Indiana Daily Student, Rasmusen wrote Elizabeth loved visiting him in the Kelley School.“Just in the past couple of weeks, she attended the Business Economics Brown Bag Lunch to hear me talk about the Chrysler bankruptcy,” he wrote. “Well, she read a “Mandy” book most of the time, but she liked being there.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>There’s nothing more relaxing than enjoying the summer by sitting in Dunn Meadow with your friend’s overweight dachshund and a good mix CD (or playlist, if the iPod is how you roll).Although I haven’t actually had the chance to hang out in Dunn Meadow yet, I have compiled a mix of top summer songs. Here are the top five songs you need to hear before the fall semester kicks off.5. “Fireflies” by Owl CityI downloaded this song – the featured song of the week – for free from iTunes. You might need to take a double-listen because front man (only man, really) Adam Young sounds exactly like Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie/The Postal Service. With Super Mario-like electronic sounds, “Fireflies” is cute, uplifting and relaxing – a perfect song to listen to while sipping lemonade. 4. “Waking Up In Vegas” by Katy PerryI won’t lie. By the time summer started, I was pretty sick of “I Kissed A Girl” and “Hot N Cold.” Although I had heard this song during winter break, it made its way back into my life. As Katy Perry said, “(It’s) basically a song about getting into trouble with your best friend or your boyfriend or your girlfriend – or whomever you’re with – and not having any ‘I’m sorry for what I did.’” So go out, have fun with your friends and stop caring about life. 3. “Real World ’09” by Rob ThomasThis song is dedicated to all those recent grads who have absolutely no freaking idea what to do with their lives. It’s a feel-good song about how life is hard, never what we expect, but we have to keep going. Because, hey, what else are we going to do? 2. “Weightless” by All Time LowEver need a pick-me-up? I bet you do. Ever need a song to help you? This song will do it. “If I could just find the time / Then I would never let another day go by / I’m over getting old / Maybe it’s not my weekend, but it’s gonna be my year.” This song will make you jump, smile and leave you optimistic that there’s much more out there than ghost college towns during the summer. 1. “Good Girls Go Bad” by Cobra Starship featuring Leighton MeesterWhat’s better than listening to an upbeat, poppy dance song about bad girls featuring the baddest girl of them all? Nothing. Although repetitive, listeners cannot deny that this pop tune is catchy. Adding flavor is Leighton Meester or Blair Waldorf from the monster TV show “Gossip Girl.”If this isn’t the song of the summer, then I don’t know what is.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Won-Joon Yoon Scholarship was created in 1999 to honor the memory of Won-Joon Yoon, an IU graduate student from South Korea who was shot and killed by a former IU student. The scholarship provides financial support for IU students who exemplify tolerance and understanding across racial and religious lines through service, personal commitment, academic achievement and potential.There are five recipients for the 2009-10 year (two scholarships for $2,500 and three for $500):Natsuki AtagiJulie FryeJessie GutgsellMatthew LevittJae-SeokyangThoughts from scholarship recipients“I feel honored to have been awarded the Won-Joon Yoon Scholarship. Growing up in an interfaith, multicultural family, the importance of diversity and understanding was always stressed. Indiana University has given me a wonderful opportunity to experience the many cultures, faiths and races of the world. Diversity and tolerance will continue to be important to me as I continue into my professional life, and the skills I learned at Indiana University will only enhance my ability to bring about understanding. I am extremely grateful for being recognized for my work on diversity education.”Matthew Levitt“Just like Won-Joon Yoon, I have seen the effects of religious intolerance and extremist violence during my volunteer work in Kaduna, Nigeria. I went to Africa after I saw photographs of a library that once housed thousands of books that was then burned to the ground with nothing remaining, except a few concrete blocks that were covered in ashes and soot. Traveling alone, partnering with people from different tribes to re-establish the library that was destroyed by angry men and being enveloped in the hospitality of Muslims and Christians alike confirmed my personal commitment to embrace diversity. After that, I was just like Mahalia Jackson’s rendition of an old spiritual. I just ‘Couldn’t Keep it to Myself.’ You see, when I returned to the United States, I began funneling my energy into talking with my colleagues and students about important concepts of diversity and respect. My knowledge about the interconnectedness of humans and our real desire for unity and peace has been so life-altering that I am confident I’ll never be able to ‘keep it to myself.’ And I think that’s exactly how Won-Joon Yoon would have wanted it.”Julie Frye
It wasn’t something anyone thought could happen in Bloomington.
Pastor Gi-Chae Lee of the Korean United Methodist Church places a flower on a memorial for IU graduate student Won-Joon Yoon on Saturday. Yoon was killed 10 years ago after a white supremacist shot him outside of the church.
Pastor Gi-Chae Lee of the Korean United Methodist Church places a flower on a memorial for IU graduate student Won-Joon Yoon on Saturday. Yoon was killed 10 years ago after a white supremacist shot him outside of the church.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Ten years ago, the Fourth of July was supposed to be like any other Independence Day in Bloomington.But instead, former IU student Benjamin Nathaniel Smith capped off a string of racially motivated shootings that left IU graduate student Won-Joon Yoon dead.It was July 4, 1999, and Yoon was walking to Sunday service at the Korean United Methodist Church when Smith opened fired, hitting Yoon twice in the back.Smith’s shooting spree began July 2, 1999, in West Rogers Park, Ill., where he wounded six Orthodox Jews on their way home from services. From there, he drove to Skokie, Ill., where he shot and killed former Northwestern University basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong, an African American, as he walked with his two children. Smith wounded three others in Illinois before driving down to Bloomington.After opening firing on Yoon, Smith fled toward Illinois, where he hijacked a van in Ina, Ill., and was pursued by police in Salem, Ill. Smith fired shots at himself and died later at a hospital. And 10 years later, Pam Freeman, associate dean of students, said she still remembers how that Sunday morning felt. Freeman, who is also the director of the Student Ethics and Anti-Harassment programs at IU, said there was a lot of grief, sorrow and disbelief. But she said going through the motions, she didn’t know if there was anything else that the University could have done differently.“It turns out quite a few people had tried to talk to him in his time,” Freeman said about Smith. “He believed what he believed. I think if anything it just strengthened our resolve to not become complacent.”In honor of Yoon, there will be a service at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Korean United Methodist Church, 1920 E. Third St.For complete coverage of the 10 year anniversary of the shooting spree, check out Monday’s IDS.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>WASHINGTON – It just recently dawned on me how soon I’ll pack my bags and leave Bloomington to start the rest of my life. I’m currently taking my last credit as a college student, and I’m amazed at how fast it all flew by. Maybe I’m being reminded of this because of all the new students walking on campus. Maybe it’s because only two years ago, I started working at the Indiana Daily Student, giving my path of becoming a journalist a meaning. Either way, life goes by fast. Although I have friends now, and I’m content, I feel as if I forgot the people I met along the way.When I was a freshman, a couple of my dorm-mates went out to some fraternity. It was the first time in college I went out to a party. It didn’t really go over well for me. As the night went on, I found myself sitting in the bathroom. My resident assistant at the time, Ada Silapiruti, sat next to me most of the night. The next morning I woke up in my bed with a garbage can next to me. It was Ada’s. She said she left it just in case I needed it. I never thanked her for that. It was such a simple act of kindness. After my freshman year, I never ran into Ada again. It was spring 2008 when I received a Facebook invitation for a group titled “Ada for President.” I checked out the page and read that Ada had gotten into a car accident and was injured. A year and a half later, Ada is relearning to walk and talk again. Her mother and friends post on a blog (dearada.blogspot.com), updating frequently about her progress. I log in once or twice a week just to read and to pray for a speedy recovery. Reading her blog reminds me how I never got to say thanks. Not only for that unfortunate night, but for all the other ways she helped me get acclimated to the University I fell in love with. Freshman year isn’t easy, especially when you’re far away from home. And we need to remember that even the smallest acts of kindness, such as a trash can next to your bed, deserve the most thanks. And even the people who end up walking through your life can make the most difference. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that sometimes missing the big picture is for the best and holding onto the small things is what makes it worthwhile.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Dear new students,I hope you’re enjoying orientation at IU. Orientation is a rite of passage. I know because four years ago I was in the same spot you’re in now.I don’t want to scare you, but orientation did not set the tone for me. My orientation tale was, I’m sure, something similar to a lot of people’s experience at IU for the first time.I was really excited. I had confirmed my orientation dates online, and my father booked the flights for us. Unfortunately, he found out he had to work that weekend, and I ended up flying to Indiana with my mother. You don’t know my mother, but she hates airplanes and she hates driving. After this trip, I’m pretty sure she hated me.There aren’t Boeing 747 flights to Indianapolis from New Jersey. So the airplane we boarded had one seat on one side and two on the other. When those babies take off, they shake in the wind. It’s scary. Imagine having your mother sitting next to you, holding onto your fragile arm clinging for her life.We touched down in Indianapolis, safely might I add, and rented a car. Driving in New Jersey is different. You have to drive 85 mph to keep up with traffic. In Indiana, you don’t. It worked out because my mother doesn’t know what a gas pedal is.I checked into Wright Quad to sleep for the night and then made my merry way to all of the activities. It was pouring rain that entire weekend and I was ill-equipped. I was having fun, but then my mother disappeared.Instead of staying in the dorms for parents, she checked into the Indiana Memorial Union. She had a spacious one-bed hotel room while I was in a dorm room that looked like a jail cell.The rain kept pouring, and I was getting aggravated because I didn’t have an umbrella, my mother was MIA and I just wanted to register for classes and leave.The last night I stayed in Wright, I ran across the quad into the main building to use the Internet, and somehow I managed to drop my cell phone. It was raining, my mother was MIA and now I had no cell phone. I had to ask a complete stranger to borrow their phone so I could find mine.I found it 30 minutes later under a pile of wet leaves. It did not work.So once again, my phone was destroyed, my mother was MIA and I was angry. I went into the bathroom and used the electric dryer to dry my phone out. It worked enough to dial out to my mother, but I couldn’t see the screen. She told me she’d come get me first thing in the morning.The next morning she told me she wanted Burger King and knew where it was. Well, I didn’t know where it was, and when we went to look for it, she couldn’t find it.“Well, Sara,” she said, “this is your school, you should know where it is.” Mom, are you serious?We flew back that day. I was disappointed I had such a miserable time. But after four years, I realize orientation isn’t supposed to sum up your college career.Take orientation for what it is – a starting point to find yourself and getting acclimated to your home for the next four or five years. You’re going to love IU, so hold on tight to your cell phones and relax because the best has yet to come. (College will also make you cliche.)Sincerely,Sara AmatoP.S. My mom and I never ate Burger King that day, but I can tell her where it is now in a heartbeat.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Indiana Daily Student summer staff is heading into its second month behind the wheel. I can’t say it’s been easy, because quite frankly, it hasn’t. Just as I predicted at the beginning of the summer, the news is slow.So what is the IDS missing?I know we’re not getting all the stories out there. My last plea for story ideas was successful, so I know ideas are there. If you have story ideas, please feel free to e-mail me at editor@idsnews.com.I’m also willing to accept likes and dislikes. Whatever it is you want to send me, I’m all ears. New blogBen Bizenuh is a character. If you don’t know who he is, he does stand-up around Bloomington during the school year and is just a funny dude in general. Oh, and he works here. I was introduced to Bizenuh one day at the IDS while he was sitting in our multimedia studio editing a video. I sat down next to him and he started rolling the clip. It was him performing as his alter ego Nigel Finch, a British reporter in America. If you haven’t seen his videos, you should at www.idsnews.com/multimedia.Bizenuh has started his own blog at the IDS titled “Just kidding ... but seriously.” It’s just Bizenuh being Bizenuh. I hope you enjoy it. If not, I’m sure he’ll find a way for you to laugh. You can find it at www.idsnews.com/blogs/justkidding.Oops!On May 28, the IDS ran a “Campus Quiz” in the campus section. Yeah, we forgot to tell you where and what it was. If you can’t remember, it was a photo of a stained glass window. It’s a window in Beck Chapel. Sorry about that. For the music loversI hope you’re enjoying WEEKEND magazine this summer. It’s really come into its own since we merged it to a section within the IDS. I like to get a lot of my music tips from WEEKEND’s reviews section, but I haven’t found anything I’ve liked, and my iPod is getting a little stale.I need a mix of about two hours for the gym (I’m usually at the HPER – just wave hello to me). Lately I’ve been listening to The Beatles (gearing up for “The Beatles: Rock Band” – Sept. 9, baby!), Billy Joel, Eric Clapton and a variety of other artists. But I need suggestions.Write them in to me. I hope someone does, because if not, I’m going to be that girl on the bike machine at the HPER sleeping.Have a good weekend.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Indiana Daily Student has something to be proud of.Right now the IDS has about 10 employees taking classes, interning and experiencing life in London. These students are abroad through the IU School of Journalism’s Summer in London program.On Sunday, IDS reporter Sarah Brubeck informed me that she had a little brief about a protest in London because of the civil war in Sri Lanka. She had been out at the protest with IDS photographer Alex Farris, who snapped a few pictures. I was impressed – not because these students work for us, but because of their love for the news and eye for it. They’re in London, but they are still thinking about the news for the IDS. I have to give them credit.We placed the story in the Nation & World section. In return, we got international news with local bylines.On that same page, we ran our first “Writers Abroad” column. Students from all majors studying overseas were given the opportunity to apply as columnists for the IDS to share what they’re seeing abroad. The program gives a voice to students outside the journalism school, and I’m looking forward to reading what each of those students writes.I’m unsure whether the IDS has ever had local bylines in the Nation & World section before, but it’s definitely something I hope sticks.Thursday’s paper features a column from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hometown and a British Parliament story by IDS reporter Elvia Malagon. She asked locals in London about their thoughts on House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin’s resignation. In other news, we had an IDS photographer up at the University of Notre Dame for the Sunday commencement. Even though Ryan Dorgan didn’t get photos of President Obama speaking, he sent in enough photos for a slide show of the protests. We could have easily pulled photos from the Associated Press wire, but we didn’t. And because of that, we got great local content in our Monday paper.Remembering those we lostMonday is Memorial Day, and the IDS will not print again until next Thursday. On Sunday, the IDS will be sending three staff members to the Indianapolis 500. Because we don’t publish on Monday, we want to know how you, the readers, want us to cover “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” We’ll have updates – pending Internet connection in Indianapolis – and we’ll have stories and photos online throughout the week. Is anyone going up to the race? If you are, send us your photos and your stories from the race. Feel free to e-mail us at editor@idsnews.com.It’s your paperI won’t ever get sick of saying this: the IDS is your paper.Got gripes? E-mail us. Got story ideas? E-mail us. Just want to talk? E-mail us.I want to make time for you, and I’m willing to talk to you.Hope to hear from you soon.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>If you’re still in Bloomington, you’re going to notice something much different about this place: There’s no one here.Things are much different during the summer in Bloomington. At the Indiana Daily Student, we feel it, too.News is slower and you’ll notice the IDS only prints twice a week. But we can’t let it get in the way of what’s important: you.We’re a student-run newspaper – for the students, by the students – and I want you to know us. We’re average students just like you are. I’m actually your average college student.I like ice cream and I have seen every episode of Golden Girls and Friends more than once (maybe that’s not so average). If I could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, it would be with John Lennon. I love The Beatles. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich is my favorite meal. There is no real difference to me between Chipotle and Qdoba. The best place in town to get a hamburger is Nick’s English Hut, but the best place to sit, eat and hang out with friends is Mother Bear’s.One of the most asked questions the IDS staff receives is, “How do I get news coverage?” or “Can we talk to you about our event?” The answer is simple: Just contact us. We’re always looking for story ideas, and we really want to reach out to the community and hear about the concerns you have.We’re trying to mix things up this summer. We understand that news is slow, but thankfully we realize this, and we’re planning to run feature stories. We’re hoping to keep www.idsnews.com updated constantly. We’re also changing the Nation & World section in our paper. Soon we’ll have students spread out across the globe sending us photos and columns about their experiences abroad. And what this all boils down to is that we’re interested in you. We want to make this paper something that all students are a part of. I’m easily accessible and I want to talk to you. Feel free to e-mail me at editor@idsnews.com with any questions or concerns. If you have a news idea, just send it on over. Just remember, this is a paper for the students, by the students. I hope to hear from you soon.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>There have always been signs throughout my life indicating that I should have been born as an 80-year-old woman. Several of these signs include (but are not limited to) my resistance to eat spicy foods because of persistent heartburn, the constant aches and pains in my joints and my inability to relate to anyone other than the four characters on “The Golden Girls.”Since I was a wee tot, I have always been drawn to those four women. It was the sarcasm, the raunchiness and the general relatablility to each of their characters. I never felt like I had to be over-the-hill to appreciate what they were going through.And the entertainment world just lost one of the best, if not the best, comedic actresses – Bea Arthur, who played the sarcastic, witty, divorced substitute school teacher Dorothy Zbornak on “The Golden Girls.” Arthur was 86. She died peacefully, according to her publicist, but she had been suffering from cancer. Arthur was known long before “The Golden Girls.” She was successful on Broadway, winning a Tony Award for her work as Vera Charles, a character in the play “Mame.” She played the sarcastic liberal Maude Findlay in the show “Maude,” a spin-off from the 1970s TV sitcom “All In The Family.”Throughout her work on “Maude” and “The Golden Girls,” Arthur was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards and won twice, in 1977 and again in 1988.The news of her death was more difficult to deal with considering that Estelle Getty, who played Arthur’s old, forgetful, cantankerous mother Sophia Petrillo on “The Golden Girls,” died in July 2008 after a long battle with Lewy Body dementia.Getty and Arthur were, at least to me, the best comedic duo on TV. From the very first episode of the “The Golden Girls,” Getty and Arthur played off each other so well that it was kind of hard not to laugh. I was in elementary school when I was first introduced to the show. At that time, I’m sure I laughed along with the audience, as I was far too young to even comprehend the jokes.As I got older, I continued to watch. I used to go home every night and wait until 1 a.m. just to watch reruns on Lifetime. All this love for a show that dealt with aging, sex, friendship and life in general made me purchase five out of the seven seasons within a three-week time span.It was easy to appreciate a show so culturally and politically advanced for its time, but when a comedic force dies, you learn to grow a much greater appreciation for what’s in front of you.The show is riddled with laughter and heart-filling moments.Even as a 21-year-old college student, I don’t need to be older to feel the burden of my parents, oversexed friends or those people who are just too dumb to live.For a show that ended more than 15 years ago, the effects of Arthur’s character still linger and will continue to do so for a very long time. I couldn’t have imagined growing up with someone funnier. Thank you for being a friend, Bea.