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(05/21/07 1:45pm)
Sophomore Ty Giddens and juniors Francis Bearsch and Brad Acree all have one thing in common: their passion for kayaking. This time they’re doing it to raise money for the March of Dimes. \nMarch of Dimes is a not-for-profit organization that strives to improve the health of babies by preventing premature births, birth defects and infant mortality.\nGiddens, Bearsch and Acree are planning on kayaking from Huntington, Ind., to the Ohio River, a trip that will take them about three weeks. \n“At first it was funny,” Acree said. “We were doing it to say we could. But we became serious about it.”\nAcree added that if they were really going to do it, they might as well do it for a reason. He explained that he has a nephew who was born three months premature. \n“Not many people (donate to the) March of Dimes,” Giddens said. “We want all charities to have an equal amount of awareness.”\nGiddens explained that they have been training for a little more than two weeks. They began training early in the summer because they plan on leaving for their trip at the beginning of August.\nTheir training includes going to Lake Griffy for a few laps every morning, rain or shine. Bearsch added that they plan on going out to Lake Monroe in a few weeks. \n“We’re really positive that it’ll be a good trip,” Giddens said. \nAcree said they haven’t really looked into how to raise money for March of Dimes, but their main goal is to just spread awareness. One of the options they are considering is making bracelets similar to the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s “Livestrong” bracelets, but they would say “March of Dimes” on them. \nGiddens has been rafting for a little more than five years, while Bearsch has been kayaking since he was a sophomore in high school. \n“I’ve been kayaking on and off,” Bearsch said. “My dad kayaks a lot; that’s how I got into it.”\nAcree is the least experienced kayaker in the group, having started earlier in the summer. He began kayaking to go on this trip but has found it very enjoyable. \nGiddens and Acree both said that, as a group, they are planning on bringing a water purifier, protein bars, freeze-dried food and a little bit of money with them. They plan on sleeping on islands and sandbars, which they mapped out on Google Earth. \nAcree added that the trip is approximately 411 miles. Giddens said they plan on kayaking six to eight hours, or about 20 miles, a day. \nKimberly Jewell, the division director of the South Central Division of the Indiana chapter of the March of Dimes, said the charity group just raised $65,000 from their WalkAmerica event in Bloomington on May 6.\nRegarding the kayaking trip, Jewell said the best way for the kayakers to raise money is through supporters’ donations. \n“I’m very excited and proud of them,” Jewell said. “They seem to have a personal identification with March of Dimes.”
(05/17/07 1:33pm)
The American Red Cross of Bloomington, 1600 W. Third St., will be holding a blood drive Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at College Mall, 2894 E. Third St. \nThe blood drive was originally supposed to be held at the Army Reserve Center, 520 S. Woodscrest Dr. on May 19. Tammy Myers, a representative at the Army Reserve Center, said they are trying to schedule another blood drive for their center. \n“A mission came up and all our people are going to be gone,” Myers said in regard to the cancellation. \nDon Creek, donor representative at the American Red Cross in Bloomington, said the mall would not let them set up inside, but there will be a table inside hoping to direct pedestrian traffic to the drive.\n“(I’m) working on making this a successful blood drive,” Creek said \nAccording to www.givebloodnow.org, the American Red Cross in the River Valley Region has an overall blood supply of 1.56 days, which is considered low. The blood types that are critically low are O positive, O negative, B negative and A negative. The “give blood now” Web site is updated daily with overall blood supply. \nCreek said the American Red Cross needs 650 to 700 units of blood every working day. Throughout the weekend, they need 200 to 250 units of blood. \nCreek added that last year about one-third of students on campus donated blood. There were more than 50 blood drives on campus alone last school year, said Creek.\n“I’m trying to get this program started up to get (student participation) up to half or better,” Creek said. \nCreek’s program hopes to work with the education program to teach the community about the necessity of donating blood. \n“The demand for blood is increasing, and only 5 percent of the population is donating,” Creek said. \nCreek said he wants to get students involved in one- to two-day blood drives. \n“I would like to have the biggest blood drive in Indiana on IU’s campus,” Creek said.\nHe hopes the blood drive will be part of an IU versus Purdue challenge and hopes that, with the drive, IU will never lose to Purdue again. Creek also hopes he can set up a competition between all of the Big 10 schools.\nAccording to Red Cross’s Web site, there are three basic requirements for donating blood, which include being at least 17 years old, weighing at least 110 pounds and being generally healthy. To donate blood to the American Red Cross in Bloomington, contact them at (812) 331-1300.
(05/17/07 1:28pm)
At 12:24 a.m, a Papa John’s pizza delivery driver was robbed on the 3500 block of East John Hinkle Place. \nThe incident was originally reported as a fight. BPD Lt. Jimmy Ratcliff was the first to arrive at the scene and quickly learned that it was not a fight. \nThe victim was delivering a pizza on the block. When he turned to go back to his car, he was confronted by a male, 5’11” with a mask and muscular build, BPD Detective Sgt. Jeff Canada said, reading from a police report. \nThe subject pulled a gun and told the driver to give him all of his money. After the driver gave him all of his money, the suspect told him to run away. The driver ran to a nearby apartment and called the police.
(05/17/07 1:28pm)
A woman, 28, was domestically abused Tuesday morning at around 9:25 a.m. by her boyfriend, Adonis M. Adviento, 504 N. Lincoln St., said BPD Det. Sergeant Jeff Canada, reading from a police report. \nAdviento’s girlfriend was cleaning the apartment they lived in when Adviento, 41, came home after being out all night, Canada said, reading from a police report. When Adviento walked into the house, he immediately slapped her on the face and threw his hat \nat her. \nShe attempted to leave the apartment when he tried to get her to stay. He then picked up a recliner and threw it at her. She was not harmed beyond the pain to her face where she was slapped. \nBPD Officer Chris Ryan found Adviento on a bike near the intersection of 6th Avenue and Lincoln Street. Adviento would not speak with the officers. He was transported to jail for the misdemeanor.
(05/17/07 1:27pm)
A man reported to the BPD he was scammed on eBay.com. The man found a 2005 Toyota Tacoma for $9,000 on the eBay Web site, BPD Det. Sergeant Jeff Canada said, reading from a police report.\nThe man tried to buy the car on eBay and was told to contact the seller directly. The seller told him to send the money to his name to an address in Portugal. The man sent the money to the seller and still has yet to receive his truck, Canada said.
(05/17/07 1:26pm)
On May 13 at around 2:15 a.m., officers were dispatched to the Speedway gas station, 3939 W. Third St., in response to a disturbance call. \nBPD Officer Matt Gilmore arrived at the scene where he located a black truck and a white vehicle, BPD Sgt. Mick Williams said, reading from a police report.\nWhen he arrived, a female was holding back a male. According to the police reports, the two vehicles pulled into the gas station and there were words exchanged. A racial epithet was used that upset one of the males. An altercation occurred, but neither of the males wanted to pursue charges against the other. \nTerrell Tatum, 20, of 906 N. Lindbergh Drive, and Kayla Campbell, 19, of 6623 W. Megans Way, were both cited for illegal consumption.
(05/17/07 1:25pm)
Antwaun L. Hopkins, 21, of 1019 N. Summit St., was arrested May 13 on charges of criminal recklessness, a Class-D felony, said Sgt. Mick Williams of the Bloomington Police Department, reading from a police report. \nWilliams was conducting a routine traffic stop on the 2000 block of North Walnut when he heard several loud pops that sounded like gunfire. \nA man came running toward Williams and began to say, “They’re shooting up there, they’re shooting up there,” while pointing north. \nWilliams called for more cars and went to the Citgo Gas Station on North Walnut. When the officers arrived at the gas station, they found several shell casings from handguns in the lot and an abandoned bronze Chevy Monte Carlo. \nOfficers searched the area and located the subjects who were potentially involved. The victims, the man who ran up to the police car and another man, were relocated.\nWilliams said there seemed to be prior history between the subjects and the two victims. The subjects arrived in a car as the victims exited the gas station. They were confronted by Hopkins, and he then knocked the victim to the ground with his body.\nSeveral witnesses said all of the subjects pulled out handguns and started firing rounds at the victims. Victims identified Hopkins as a subject who was firing rounds.\nHopkins was the only one arrested, but other charges may still be pending. The case is still being investigated.
(05/14/07 1:41am)
While most high school students are content to relax over the summer, others decide to continue their learning experience through summer camps. \nThe School of Informatics is hosting a summer camp from June 10 to June 15 for high school students. \nJoe Stuteville, the Coordinator of Media Relations at the School of Informatics, explained that the camp will have an active schedule that includes hands-on learning. Stuteville added that Dennis Groth, an assistant professor at the School of Informatics, will be directing the camp. \n“He is the driving force behind the camp,” Stuteville said. \nDuring their first year, the camp enrolled 10 students, which increased to 16 students the next year. Their third year was their strongest, with an enrollment of 32 students. Groth hopes to have around 30 students this summer.\nDespite its implication of learning informatics, Groth insists that it’s still a laidback camp. \n“(Its) purpose is to show how informatics is used in all types of disciplines,” Groth said. “There is bowling and swimming, though.” \nThroughout the week, Groth brings in different faculty members and graduate students from the School of Informatics to help teach the different activities. Some of the activities included in the camp are basic computing technology, computer graphics, bioinformatics and computer system design.\n“(We) would hope (they would) go on to college and (we’d) like them to choose informatics,” Groth said. “(But we) show them that they can combine their passion with techniques from informatics.” \nGroth said that the students are mostly from the Indiana area, but in the past they’ve had students from other states such as North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Hawaii. \nDuring their stay here on campus, the students stay in a campus dorm, but the dorm for this year has yet to be decided. \nGroth said that the cost for the entire week of camp is $300. Financial aid, partial and full, is available for students who need it. Half of the students who attend the summer camp usually receive aid, Groth said. \nAlthough the deadline for applications is coming up soon, Groth said that they will continue accepting them through the end of the month. \n“(The camp is) welcome to anyone interested in information technology,” Groth said.
(05/11/07 6:14pm)
Bloomington Transit and Rural Transit mass transportation services will soon see a funding increase of approximately 20 percent after the approval of a state sales tax initiative.\nThe Indiana Transportation Association passed an increase in state funding for public transit operators on April 29.\nKent McDaniel, the executive director of the Indiana Transportation Association, said the increase will affect Bloomington Transit and Rural Transit, but not the IU Campus Bus Service. \n“The IU Campus Bus Service gets no federal, state or local funding,” McDaniel said. \nMcDaniel said he hopes the extra funding will go toward a number of things such as later and more frequent bus service. McDaniel added that the funding might go towards excessive fuel cost and health care for employees.\n“We’re not sure exactly what the extra funding will go to,” McDaniel said. \nAccording to McDaniel, the increase in funding comes from sales tax revenue that goes to the Public Mass Transportation Fund. The sales tax revenue increased from 0.635 percent to 0.76 percent. \nCompetition for funds between transit systems is based on performance indicators such as number of passengers, total vehicle miles and locally derived income. \nJewel Echelbarger, an executive director of Rural Transit, explained that the increase in funding does not mean Rural Transit gets the money directly. \n“The money goes towards expenses,” Echelbarger said. “We need it but we can hardly argue with that.” \nEchelbarger said Rural Transit links public transportation between Lawrence, Owen and Monroe counties. \n“The goal is to maximize transportation for people,” Echelbarger said. “It helps people to go out, get what they need and go back home.” \nLew May, Bloomington Transit general manager, said the increase in percentage of sales tax revenue that goes towards the Public Mass Transit Fund will be effective January 1, 2008.\nMay added that, since the cost of gasoline has increased, the dependency of public transportation has increased. He hopes the extra funding will further enhance their transit service.\n“Hopefully it will generate thousands of extra dollars for Bloomington Transit,” May said. “We can use that to improve (our) transit service.” \nMcDaniel said the increase in funding is an important step, because the Indiana Transportation Association has been trying for years to get more numbers in public transportation. \n“We’ve had enormous growth (in usage) in rural areas around the state,” McDaniel said.
(05/10/07 12:15am)
While most students go home for the summer, others opt to stay in Bloomington. As summer sessions start up and allergy season kicks in, the IU Health Center stays active.\nDr. Hugh Jessop, executive director and chief financial officer at the IU Health Center, said that even though spring semester is over, the health center still gets a lot of student traffic. \n“During the summer we’re at 35 percent of the norm,” Jessop said. “If we’re seeing 350 patients during the semester, we’re seeing 120 to 125 during the summer.” \nThe counseling service at the IU Health Center sees about half of what it sees during the semester. Jessop said that’s because it doesn’t have the same capacity as the medical clinic. \nDuring the summer, the IU Health Center reduces its staff by at least 60 people. \n“We don’t give (the staff) vacations during semesters except for breaks,” Jessop said. \nJessop explained that the staff members need to take their vacations between graduation and the beginning of fall semester. Jessop said that a full staff is essential to operating the IU Health Center. \n“We can’t operate the place without everybody here,” Jessop said. “It’s nice that it works out that way.” \nJayne Dillman, a nurse’s assistant at the IU Health Center, said working in the summer is more relaxed than in the fall and spring semesters. \n“We get our cleaning jobs done,” Dillman said. “It’s not as crazy.” \nJessop added that when students register for summer classes, they are charged a health fee. The health fee is only assessed if the student is registered for more than six credits. Any student who is registered for fewer than six credits will not have to pay the initial fee, but will have to pay more for each individual health service he or she uses. \n“There are problems for others who don’t realize the cost is less when the fee is assessed,” Jessop said. \nThe IU Health Center’s Health and Wellness department provides a massaging service to students during both fall and spring semesters, as well as during the summer. \n“It’s all part of our stress program,” Jessop said. “We recognize that not every student gets ill, so if there’s a service we can provide for less money, let’s do it.” \nJessop said that the Health and Wellness Education program has been giving massages for the last 12 years, but the “cat just recently was let out of the bag.” \nAshley Breedlove, an employee at the Health and Wellness Education program at the Health Center, explained that they serve not only Health Center patients and students, but also members of the community. \nIn the past, Health and Wellness Education employees have gone to classes and dorms to talk about safe sex, fitness and nutrition and tobacco-related issues. \n“I would definitely recommend coming in for fitness and nutrition guidance,” Breedlove said. \nIndiana has one of the highest percentages of obese people in the nation, she said.\nJessop said the IU Health Center uses a team-based approach toward its patients because of the various services it offers. \n“The critical piece is that everything here is all integrated,” Jessop said.
(05/04/07 4:00am)
As the spring semester comes to a close and summer approaches, local pizza shops in Bloomington will have to face staff downsizing and slower sales.\nPizza Express, which opened in 1982, has four locations throughout Bloomington and is only a carry-out and delivery service.\nJohn Ruedy, a manager of Pizza Express, 1791 E. 10th St., said that when the summer begins they will have to start cutting staff and drivers.\n“All employees are aware that when they get hired that in the summer there won’t be shifts available,” Ruedy said. \nSara Sheikh, the communications manager for Pizza Express, said the sales in the summer are 75 to 80 percent less than what they are during the school year.\n“It’s all relative,” Sheikh said. “Ordering (supplies) drops by how much our sales drop.”\nDuring the summer, Sheikh said it would be great if the 10th Street campus location breaks even, but it usually loses money.\nThroughout the school year, Pizza Express sells an average of 2500 to 2800 pizzas a week. Last summer, Sheikh said, the campus location sold about 700-800 pizzas a week.\nSheikh said that in the summer, the campus location is looking to expand their delivery area since the residential locations all close earlier. Sheikh hopes if the delivery area is increased by a couple of miles in each direction, sales can increase.\nMother Bear’s Pizza, 1428 E. 3rd St., another locally owned restaurant, experiences the same summer sales trend as Pizza Express.\nMark Hajduk, manager at Mother Bear’s, said that during the summer they usually need to cut shifts because it is not as busy.\nHajduk said Mother Bear’s is more of a walk-in restaurant than a carry-out or delivery restaurant and their busiest month is April.\n“I can speak for the staff when I say they’re happy that they can finally take a break,” Hajduk said.\nRay McConn, owner of Mother Bear’s, said during the first summer session last year sales dropped 50 percent from what they were over the school year. During the second summer session, sales were only down 30 to 35 percent.\n“It’s all directly proportional,” McConn said. “The slower sales, the less hours we have for staff and the less supplies we have to order.”\nMcConn said that over the years factors such as IU tourism and people coming to Bloomington for conventions have been attracting customers to Mother Bear’s over the summer.\n“We’re profiting all year,” McConn said.
(05/04/07 4:00am)
On April 25, senior Drew Evans went about his day as he normally would. He woke up, brushed his teeth and washed his face. He grabbed his backpack and made his way to the stadium white lot to catch a bus. The only difference was that this time he was met by Dean of Students Dick McKaig, Kent McDaniel, executive director of transportation services for IU and Perry Maull, operations manager of the IU Campus Bus service, and received $100 on his CampusAccess card for being the campus bus service’s 3 millionth rider. \n“I don’t (normally) ride the bus at that time,” Evans said. “The class I have before that was finished and I had a meeting around that time.” \nEvans said that at first he thought the event was for candid camera and was surprised by it. Evans ended up spending the $100 on food for himself and his roommates. \nMcKaig said that, since students pay a transportation fee every year for the bus service, he wanted to send a message to show how important the service is. \n“It’s important so we’re aware of how many people rely on the bus system daily,” McKaig said. \nMcKaig explained that he knew a couple of weeks prior that they were coming up on the 3 million rider mark. McKaig then made a note of it with McDaniel and they calculated where the rider would be and when. McKaig also handed out chocolate no-bake cookies from the Indiana Memorial Union snack shop Sugar and Spice to other students getting on the bus. \n“We suggested to recognize that person,” McKaig said. “And give something to everyone.” \nMcDaniel said that reaching 3 million riders was no more important than 2,999,999, but instead it was a landmark for the bus systems. \n“People don’t realize the quality of the bus service,” McDaniel said. \nMcDaniel explained that, during the fall and spring semesters, campus bus gets about 300,000 passengers a month, but the ridership levels begin to drop in May. By June, there are only 30,000 passengers monthly. \nThe campus bus service plans on adding more routes in the future. McDaniel said they have a proposal for the U-Route, which will run straight from the stadium white lot across 10th Street to the Jordan extension. \nMcDaniel hopes the U-Route will open up more driving positions so more drivers will move into appointed position with benefits. \n“It’s hard to keep good people without benefits,” McDaniel said.
(05/04/07 4:00am)
Senior Maxwell Roberts plans on graduating in December 2007. From now until then, he plans on dedicating his time to downloading as many economic articles as possible that are available to him through the University. \n“Professors have all these scholarly journals on their shelves,” Roberts said. “I’ll have them, but on a USB drive instead of a shelf.” \nRoberts is majoring in economics and plans to download articles that pertain to his major. \nHe said that the articles he is taking are the only thing he can legally take from IU because he feels that IU doesn’t have anything else to offer him. \n“I have about seven authors’ worth of articles,” Roberts said. “I plan on having 20 to 25.” \nThe articles are available through a Web site named JSTOR, an online archive of scholarly journals that are available to print or download. \nAfter a student graduates from the University, they still have access to their computing accounts here on campus. \nAfter two consecutive terms in which they are not enrolled, their IU accounts are disabled, according to the UITS Web site. \nMoira Smith, a librarian at the Herman B Wells library, said that while JSTOR is free to IU students, staff and faculty, it is not free to IU, as the University pays a fee. \nSmith said that technically JSTOR can be accessed by anyone who purchases a guest account with the library. \nOnce the guest account is bought, they have full access to any of the library’s resources, she said. \nSmith also added that the JSTOR vendors have the University sign a license agreement to guarantee authorized IU users to access it. \nArlington Williams, an economics professor, explained that libraries are going through tremendous online revolutions. \nWilliams also explained that if you’re going into the business world and journal access is important, then the employer should provide access to those journals but most jobs in the business world would likely not require access to academic journals. \n“It’s a bit of a mystery why an undergraduate would want all of those journals without knowing a specific objective,” Williams said in regards to Roberts’ plans. \nRoberts said that he might need the articles in the future and it’s just nice to have the articles in a more convenient form. \n“I’ll use about one percent of them,” Roberts said. “If you’re a senior and you’re leaving there’s no reason not to do it. It’s 20 minutes of work but 100 hours of materials.”
(04/30/07 4:00am)
On Saturday night, junior Jon Coombs kneeled in front of a table that had more than 57 rubber bands> on it. He stretched his arms out before he got ready to place them on his head.\n“Time starts when I pick up the first rubber band,” Coombs said as the crowd chanted his name.\nDaft Punk’s> techno song ”One More Time”> began to play as Coombs picked up the first rubber band. Within seconds, he had multiple rubber bands placed over his hair.\nAs time ran out, the crowd got louder and began to stand up. When time ran out it was official: Coombs beat the previous world record for most rubber bands wrapped around someone’s head in one minute. He broke the previous record of 44 with a shattering new record of 57.\nAfter being congratulated by friends, Coombs pulled all 57 rubber bands, which left indents across his forehead, out of his hair. \n“It felt like hell,” Coombs said. “It hurts so bad. I was absolutely miserable.”\nCoombs said he was really nervous and thought the constant crowed cheering was going to make him even more nervous. As his adrenaline rushed in, he began to feel good, and the crowd cheering actually calmed him down, he said.\nAaron Waltke, a friend and coach of Coombs, broke the record for most T-shirts worn at once last year. Waltke was right beside Coombs throughout the entire minute.\nBoth record-breaking events were hosted by the sketch comedy group ”All Sorts of Trouble for the Boy in the Bubble”> in the State Room East of the Indiana Memorial Union.\nCoombs began practicing two weeks ago. Coombs attempted to beat the record twice before he unofficially beat the world record in practice. Saturday’s performance should become an official record after the Guinness World Records reviews the video tape.\nAllie Korosi, a co-worker with Coombs at the WIUX radio station, said she first heard of the event through Facebook. She said she initially thought it was a joke.\n“More people need to break records more often,” Korosi said as she laughed. “It’s fun to watch.”\nCoombs said he has no plans of breaking another world record. But it is something he has given a lot of thought to, and he hopes he will in the future, he said.\nCoombs and Waltke both said the best advice they could give to anyone attempting to break a record is to not be afraid to aim low and aim weird and to find a record that fits them physically.\n“Go for one that already exists,” Waltke said. “Anyone can make one up and be a record holder. To break one that already exists is to be part of a legacy.”
(04/27/07 4:00am)
Sophomore Ashley Seeger decided she was staying in Bloomington for the summer but realized she needed a place to stay. She was all set when plans fell through with the person she was planning on living with. \n“It got really complicated and difficult,” Seeger said. \nSeeger searched elsewhere until she found an apartment to sublease. During the summer months, subleasing can be difficult, but with fliers around campus, OneStart provides a tool for students who are looking to sublease. With more than 1,000 entries in regards to housing, finding a place to live can seem less stressful. \nSome students might even find an ad on the door of the stall in the bathroom reading “NEEDED: Someone to sublease!”\nVaughn Mitchell, leasing manager at the Varsity Villas, said not many students walk in to ask about leases. And if they do, he tells them to put ads up around campus. \n“People sublet quite frequently,” Mitchell said. “When someone is subletting, they have to come in and sign a sublet lease. It’s in case of any damages, and so they can park in our lot.”\nStephanie Mansker, the property manager at Dunnhill Apartments, said she gets a lot of students who come in to sublease an apartment. \n“Students are constantly coming in to sublease, and it’s because of our location,” Mansker said regarding Dunnhill’s placement by the stadium. “But they have to completely sign over the lease and go through approval just like everyone else.” \nFor Dunnhill policies, Mansker explained that it’s better to have the person who is subletting their apartment sign over the lease to the new person who will be living there. Mankser said only 10 to 15 percent of the 183 units are subleased over the summer. \nJane Lyons, business manager at Brownstone Terrace said they sell out of apartments after only three months of leasing, and rarely get anyone who wants to sublet. \nLyons said 10 percent of 121 units are subleased. \n“We do get some, but not a lot,” Lyons said. “But they have to come in and sign a contract. We legally have to know who is in our building.” \nFor students looking for an apartment to sublease this summer, contact the apartment complexes or browse the OneStart ads. And if you still have no luck, check the flyers around campus.
(04/26/07 4:00am)
It’s dead week. It’s 70 degrees outside and you’re stuck in Woodburn Hall. A classmate sitting next to you, wipes the sweat from his brow, turns to you and says: “What are you doing this summer?” \nYou turn your head toward him and casually say: “You know, staying in Bloomington.” His mouth drops open: “Why?”\nThe better question is: why not?\nFrom working a job to pay the bills or taking summer classes and relaxing, Bloomington has enough to provide a decent summer, students say.\nSophomore Amanda Caldari plans to stay over the summer because she has a year-long lease on her apartment. Caldari said she also plans on relaxing.\n“I’m looking forward to spending time here when it’s not crowded,” Caldari said. \nShe also said she feels like Bloomington is the only concrete home she has right now. Her mother recently moved from Long Island, N.Y., to Houston, and her father moved from Indiana to Florida. \nOther students have specific plans for the summer. \nSophomore Ashley Seeger plans on staying in Bloomington this summer to work and take summer classes. Seeger is also a member of the nonprofit organization, Students in Free Enterprise. \n“SIFE is an organization where students can extend their knowledge outside the classroom and have the opportunity to work one-on-one with the community,” Seeger said. \nSeeger and a fellow member came up with an idea called Smart Cookie Banking, which teaches personal finance to young students. Their idea won the regional competition and the members of SIFE on campus will be traveling to Dallas on May 6 through \nMay 8 for the SIFE National Exposition.\nOthers don’t have such ambitious goals for their summers.\nSophomore Kristin Casey said she just plans on working at Buffalo Wild Wings this summer. Casey explained that she wants the summer to be a glorified version of Little 500, minus the bike races.\n“I’m going to work so I can make a lot of money and then buy a lot of alcohol,” Casey said jokingly.
(04/25/07 4:00am)
Imagine spending five years studying families that don’t fit the stereotype, knowing there is only a one in 10 chance of getting the research published in a scholarly journal. Brian Powell did just that.\nPowell, a sociology professor, recently had an article titled “Under and beyond constraints: Resource allocation to young children from biracial families” published in the American Journal of Sociology. Powell co-wrote the article with Simon Cheng, a former graduate student of Powell’s who is now a professor at the University of Connecticut.\n“This study is part of a broader project looking at different types of families and what some people might refer to as the atypical form,” Powell said. “So my research has looked at what people view as a little less typical families.”\nPowell later explained that biracial parents are more likely to spend more time and money on their children as opposed to mono-racial parents.\n“The question we ask is how do children from biracial families fair compare to mono-racial families,” Powell said.\nSophomore Anthony Adams was born into a biracial family, in which his mother was white and his father was black. Despite being biracial, Adams said he never really had any hardships with it.\n“Where I come from, there weren’t many black people, so I was just considered black,” Adams said.\nAdams went on to explain that as a child he was spoiled, but he feels that it wasn’t because he was biracial.\nEricka Butler, a sophomore at the University of Tennessee, grew up a little differently than Adams. Butler is half Mexican and half black. She said she faced many hardships while growing up.\n“I was raised by my mother’s parents, and I went to a Catholic school as a child, so I was hardly ever around any black people,” Butler said. “When I finally was around a lot of black people, they thought I didn’t act black.”\nButler explained that for most of her childhood she was nicknamed “white girl” and even told multiple times to “stop acting white” despite the fact that her skin complexion was much darker than caucasian.\n“I think it’s harder being biracial, and it was hard for me at times to fit in,” Butler said.\nBoth Butler and Adams concluded that despite being raised in a biracial family, it was not necessary to be treated differently based on their race.\n“I had to experience a lot while growing up because I didn’t act black or hang out with black girls,” Butler said. “It’s a bunch of bull.”\nPowell still studies the sociology of the family, sociology of education and social psychology. He is currently the Allen D. and Polly S. Grimshaw Professor and Co-Director of the Preparing Future Faculty program at the Department of Sociology.
(04/10/07 4:00am)
Joshua Riggins, Yun Zeng and Tom Morse entered the Teter Formal Lounge with three different Scrabble boxes, closely resembling a Scrabble team version of “Charlie’s Angels.”\nBut their mission? Just to \nplay Scrabble.\n“This club started so we had an excuse to play Scrabble,” Morse said in the beginning of the call-out meeting Thursday evening for the newly formed IU Scrabble Club. \nMorse, a senior majoring in East Asian studies and anthropology, said he started playing the board game with his grandma when he \nwas younger. \n“Over the summer when I was abroad in China with (Yun) Zeng, we would play Scrabble two or three times a day,” Morse said. \nZeng, the club’s president, came to the meeting prepared with an outline of major points she wanted to discuss during the meeting. \n“We are serious about the club,” Zeng said, “but at the same time it’s just for fun, and anyone can join.”\nAmy Yonts, a junior majoring in history, was one of two students who showed up for the call-out meeting. Yonts found out about the meeting through Facebook and said she was thrilled to hear about it.\n“It’s pretty cool. It’s fun. Not anything serious,” Yonts said. “Hang out, listen to music and play Scrabble.”\nThe call-out meeting will be the only meeting of the IU Scrabble Club this semester. By next semester, Riggins and Zeng plan on charging each member $5 for a year or $3 for the semester to participate in the club. “The dues will be to pay for boards and to pay the dues for the National Scrabble Association,” Zeng said.\nThe National Scrabble Association allows any Scrabble club to participate in competitions for $20 a year. By the fall semester, Riggins and Zeng plan to bring regional Scrabble competitors to speak to the club as well as to get the community involved. \n“The club is open to the Bloomington community as long as 51 percent of the club are IU students,” Zeng said.\nMorse mentioned the club was looking to get local businesses involved. They hope the local shops will donate prizes to the club member who has the highest score during the game. \nBy the end of next year, Zeng said she hopes the club will be competing in tournaments against other schools such as Ohio State University. \n“If we can get a team to play Ohio State, and we win,” Zeng said, “that would be awesome.”\n“We’ll be the envy of every Scrabble team,” Riggins said as he laughed and packed up the Scrabble boards at the end of the meeting.