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(12/10/02 5:10am)
Sociology professor Gary Stokley recalls when meeting the parents of his students at Louisiana Tech University was limited to a few handshakes at graduation.\nNow, to the dismay of Stokley and other academics, angry parents are introducing themselves much sooner to professors and departments heads as they complain about their children's grades.\nFaculty members also say moms and dads sometimes pressure officials to register students in mandatory courses that are filled to capacity and question the intent of classroom assignments.\n"They don't realize that sometimes they just have to let little Johnny stumble and make his own mistakes and learn from them," said Teresa Sherwood, assistant chair of the mathematics department at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash.\n"They just have a hard time letting go."\nCase in point: A parent last month asked a Western Washington instructor if her son could reschedule an exam because it conflicted with a planned family vacation, Sherwood said. The request was denied.\nStokley wants parents to feel comfortable contacting him, but said he drew the line recently when a mother wanted to tape record a discussion about her son.\nFormer high school science teacher Luann Wright said she wouldn't think of complaining to officials at the University of California at San Diego about her son's grades.\nBut when his writing course placed what she believed was undue emphasis on racial issues, Wright created a Web site that invites parents and students to report instances of political bias in the classroom.\n"I don't have a problem with controversial topics and I'm not coming at this from a religious or political viewpoint," she said. "I'm just saying if you're going to do this, do it from a balanced view."\nThe existence of the Web site, though, illustrates the expanding role of parents in higher education.\nFive years ago, parents rarely contacted Stokley. Today, he said, he hears from an average of four or five parents every term.\nAcademics have several theories on what's caused the spike in complaints.\nStokley calls it the logical progression for parents accustomed to directing their children's lives. Parents' attitude is "I've been involved with my kid in high school and I want to be involved with my kid in college," Stokley said.\nSusan Magun-Jackson, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Memphis, said that, from a clinical standpoint, the intervention is about control.\n"If, for example, they are authoritarian parents, they rule the roost and they want things to be the way they want them to be," she said. "So they bypass their kids."\nAli Zohoori said there's a link to rising college costs -- especially at private schools like Bradley University, where he serves as chair of the communications department.\nParents that pay Bradley nearly $22,000 per year in tuition, room, board and other fees, feel increasingly "entitled to be involved in the academic affairs of their children," Zohoori said.\nWright agreed. \n"I think parents are spending $30,000 or $40,000 a year and wondering if they're getting their money's worth," she said.\nWhat parents are not entitled to, they soon learn, is disclosure of a child's grade from a professor. Throughout higher education, privacy rules prohibit the faculty from discussing a specific grade with anyone but a student, even if that means withholding information from the people footing the bill.\n"I basically tell them I am not at liberty to discuss it with them," Magun-Jackson said. "It makes them angry and they hang up on me. But there is not a whole lot else I can do about it."\nStokley noted that privacy codes do not prevent professors from outlining what led to a sub-par grade. Parents tend to back down once they hear of laggard attendance and low test scores, he said.
(12/09/02 4:26am)
Smiling children and the sounds of carefree laughter filled the Bloomington's Boys and Girls club at the Alpha Kappa Alpha's annual "Carnival for Charity" Saturday. \nUpbeat R&B music set the tone, while volunteers taught people how to salsa dance to Latin rhythms. The carnival was filled with children from the Bloomington community stuffing their faces with cotton candy and debating what to buy with their "Carnival cash." The event was a treat for all those in attendance including the parents. \nSojourner Manns, a Bloomington parent, said she had trouble pulling her children away from the games.\n"I had to force them to leave, and everything was pretty much free," she said.\nThe event included free games and food for the children, something that differed from past carnivals. Many of the AKA members said the free carnival benefitted the children more. \n"Last year, the kids had to pay, and they didn't get to do everything they wanted. This year it's better because the kids can play as many games as they want and eat for free too," AKA member Vanessa Byron said. \nSenior Mandy Kellman, an AKA member, said she felt the children enjoyed themselves. \nThe games included a "pop-a-shot" basket ball game, a bean toss game, twister, a go to jail game and many other games. There was free candy, hot dogs, drinks, popcorn, face painting and prizes. \nAKA member Patrice Turner painted the children's faces. She said face painting was popular among sorority members and the older children.\nTwelve-year-old Ashley Manns, a Templeton student, knew exactly what she wanted, she said. \n"I am going to get a shooting star painted on my face," Manns said.\nSome of the prizes were goldfish, free coupons to fast food restaurants and $10 gift certificates to various stores. Many of the children took advantage and racked up on "Carnival cash."\nAshley Manns was one of the evening's "high rollers."\n"I played games and got $53 dollars in "carnival money," she said. "I also got a gift card for $10 at Wal-Mart." \nThe children could exchange the Carnival cash for prizes. Rishan Brown, a ten-year-old Broadview student bought a goldfish for $25 dollars in carnival money. \nEight-year-old Lorrell Manns, a Templeton student, said he spent most of his time working on his basketball skills. \n"I liked basketball the most, and I won carnival cash and bought candy," he said.\nThe sorority started planning for the event in August and worked to make the carnival fun for the youngsters. To help cover the cost they sold sponsors for $1 each and were co-sponsored by two other sororities, Alpha Chi Omega and Zeta Tau Alpha. Alpha Chi Omega even pitched in and helped at the carnival.\nAKA also received help from Alpha Phi Alpha, who showed their support by playing games at the carnival. The Alpha Kappa Alpha members said they were proud about how successful they were at raising money. \nKellman said the sorority received $500 in sponsorships. The money will be used to buy Christmas gifts for children at Middleway House, a shelter for women and children. \n"I saw some toys yesterday, and I can't wait to go out and buy them," AKA member Candace Ewing, a junior, said. \nThe sorority changed the venue from IU's campus to the Boy's and Girl's Club to attract more children, and even advertised at area schools such as Harmony, Templeton, Broadview and Fairview. The advertisement worked because this year they had more kids than ever before. \n"This is the biggest turnout of kids we've had," Ewing said.\nByron said the change in venue helped this year's increased attendance. \n"When it was on campus we had more adults playing the games than kids," Byron said. "This year we had more than 50 kids come." \nThey also advertised at places like Middleway House and The Rise and Banneker Center, dedicated to helping underprivileged children. \nThe sorority wanted to gear it toward underprivileged children as well, Byron said.\nSenior Brandon Williams said the sorority's service was a positive thing, and the carnival was a good idea. \n"I think it's nice," he said. "They have done an outstanding job showing service and giving back to their community." \nAt the end of the day, many of the children did not want to leave and said they had a lot of fun. \n"I am going to be here forever," Lorrell Manns said.\nHis sister Ashley asked if they were going to do it again next year. \nKellman, summed up the success of the event: "Free food, free games, what more could you ask for"
(12/05/02 5:31am)
BERKELEY, Calif. -- A University of California-Berkeley law school professor who knew about a sexual assault allegation months before it forced the resignation of the dean said Tuesday that she anguished over what she should do if the woman failed to file a formal complaint.\nLinda Hamilton Krieger, a professor who specializes in employment discrimination, said she found little guidance in university policy.\nThe victim delayed filing the complaint nearly two years because she was concerned about retaliation and received few answers from a university sexual harassment officer she contacted shortly after the alleged assault by John Dwyer, Krieger said.\nThe incident has raised questions about the university's sexual harassment policies and its handling of the allegation.\nKrieger, one of three female professors the victim confided in, gave the student emotional support and encouraged her to file a complaint with a Title IX officer, who is in charge of sexual harassment.\nWhen the woman failed to file a complaint quickly, Krieger researched district guidelines and sought legal counsel on what she should do. She said she had just decided to go to the UC Berkeley chancellor when the woman filed a formal complaint.\n"The faculty at this law school do take sexual harassment seriously and are willing to take steps to protect our students," Krieger said.\nDwyer, 50, announced last week he would resign Jan. 1 as dean of Boalt Hall School of Law. He could not be reached for comment but in a statement last week he described the single encounter as consensual but inappropriate.\nThe victim's attorney, Berkeley lawyer Laura Stevens, said her client has not yet gone to police because media coverage of the accusation will be more effective in preventing Dwyer from obtaining future jobs than the court system would be.\nStevens said she is still considering whether to advise her client to go to police.\n"We haven't considered that in a thorough way," she said. "It's not something that has to be decided this week."\nThe alleged assault took place in December 2000 after Dwyer drove the woman to her apartment from a bar where he had been socializing with students, Stevens said. She said the woman passed out and woke up to find Dwyer with his head on her chest and his hand in her vagina.
(12/05/02 5:28am)
NORFOLK, Va. -- Race discussions and history lessons about a time when blacks weren't allowed to be students at the University of Virginia could soon become a part of the institution's curriculum.\nA Halloween party thrown by white fraternities at which some guests came dressed in blackface has increased concerns about racial insensitivity at the school.\nAdministrators will begin meeting in a few weeks to develop plans for education that many have said must occur at the university, which didn't accept blacks until 1950. \nOne option includes requiring students to attend training sessions on multiculturalism or diversity. Another proposal involves race discussions among incoming freshmen.\n"Race instances occur in society in general," said Patricia M. Lampkin, the university's vice president for student affairs. "The benefit here is we are able to take them and really help people think through them. In regular society, you might ignore them and move on, and that doesn't help."\nAt the Halloween party, at least one white fraternity member came dressed as a black Uncle Sam with full, pink lips, sunglasses, an afro wig and a red, white and blue suit. Two other men dressed as black tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams with ponytail wigs. Photos of the party were circulated on the Internet. \nThe university's Inter-Fraternity Council Judiciary Committee held trials for the fraternities and found them not guilty Monday of disorderly conduct. The committee found them guilty of consumption of alcohol by minors.\nThe fraternities, Kappa Alpha and Zeta Psi, were also strongly urged by the committee to participate in diversity education and training on appropriate community conduct. The university's Office of Equal Opportunity Programs could provide such training.\nUniversity officials say it's time for incoming students to learn about U.Va.'s segregated past and how to be sensitive to students of all backgrounds. The university has a long history of racial episodes that occur often, several officials and students said.\n"Sad to say, this is not an utterly isolated incident," President John T. Casteen III wrote in a letter distributed about 10 days ago in an e-mail to students and faculty and at a football game.\n"Efforts to make this university an authentic cross-section of what we are as a country and progress made toward this goal are too important to be cast aside by the careless acts of a few," Casteen wrote.\nAbout 7.5 percent, or 1,440, of the University of Virginia's nearly 19,200 students are black. About 67 percent are white.\nOn average, about 41 percent of students said they were satisfied with how minorities were treated on campus on an undergraduate education survey conducted in 1999. About 27 percent of the students who answered the question on the survey said they were dissatisfied.\nM. Rick Turner, dean of the university's Office of African-American Affairs, said the Halloween incident was hurtful and painful. A lot of work has been done to open the university's doors to all students, he said.\nTurner's office was flooded with e-mails and phone calls from parents questioning whether the university is a safe and welcoming environment for their children.\n"It's bad whenever it occurs," Turner said. "But being a Southern university and being born in segregation, it brings a little more controversy to the institution."
(12/04/02 5:25am)
INPIRG to hold rally at gas station\nThe Indiana Public Interest Research Group will hold a rally at the BP-Amoco gas station located on the northwest corner Third Street and Indiana Avenue at 1 p.m. today. Student and community activists will celebrate BP-Amoco's decision to stop lobbying with Arctic Power, the main group which wants to gain access to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling. For more information, call 856-4128.\nOncourse seminar given by Information Technology\nAs part of the IT Seminar Series, they will present "Oncourse and the Open Knowledge Initiative." The seminar will focus on Oncourse, Indiana University's Course, Management System, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Open Knowledge Initiative. The session will be in the Indiana Memorial Union, State Room East from 10:30 a.m. to noon. For more information, e-mail itiu@indiana.edu.\nWant a job? Try RecSports\nThe Division of Recreational Sports will hold a job opportunities session at 8 p.m. tonight in the SRSC Auditorium. Positions available within RecSports will be announced. For more information, go to http://www.recsports.indiana.edu/division/employment.php4.\nChemistry lecture given by graduate student\nDuane Rogers, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry, will present "Recent Developments in Electron Holography" in the Chemistry building, C033 at 4 p.m. today.
(12/03/02 5:46am)
There was a somber glow about Indiana Avenue and Dunn Meadow last night as members of Student Global AIDS Campaign and Outreach Kenya Development Volunteers lit luminaries to commemorate those who have died as a result of AIDS.\nThe event was one of several that have been planned for this week, which began with a memorial service Sunday (World AIDS day).\nAn estimated 15,000 people in the U.S. died as a result of AIDS in 2001, according to UNAIDS' Web site . Statistics in less developed areas of the world, however, are worse. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the life expectancy is currently 47 years; without AIDS it would be 62 years.\nThe IU chapter of SGAC was founded last year and began the tradition of lighting luminaries in honor of those dead as a result of AIDS. OKDV, founded three years ago, focuses on increasing AIDS education and awareness in Kenya. Volunteers are sent to Kenya each summer to take part in teach-ins and to help with developmental projects, which are aimed at making the country more self-sufficient. \nLuminaries, traditionally candles lit for commemoration, were placed in white paper bags and placed along Indiana Avenue and around Dunn Meadow at dusk Monday. Red ribbons or facts about AIDS were printed on the bags making the scene even more symbolic. \n"We put the candles in the bag so that we could have the red ribbons on the front," said co-founder of SGAC Manika Bhateja, a junior. "We did that to give the effect of the ribbons glowing."\nMembers of the Bloomington community also participated in the event. Those who knew people who died from AIDS placed their candles in yellow bags. Each yellow bag was labeled with either the name of one of the AIDS victims or a factual statement about the epidemic.\n"The idea behind the yellow bags was so that people could dedicate luminaries to their loved ones," said junior Dan O'Neill, co-founder of SGAC.\nSenior Kunal Desai, current co-director of OKDV, said the event helped educate others about the disease. \n"The whole point was to raise awareness about AIDS," he said. "I think it went well because people were asking us questions (about the display)"
(12/03/02 5:03am)
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. -- The Wabash College student senate said it canceled funding for a conservative student newspaper after the publication insulted a professor's wife.\nThe Commentary, a 10-year-old, bimonthly publication, must now support itself if it wants to continue publishing.\nThe senate's decision has fueled a debate on the all-male campus about free speech and the private college's revered Gentlemen's Rule, which says that a student shall conduct himself at all times as a gentleman and responsible citizen.\n"We have one rule here at Wabash, and it's the Gentlemen's Rule," said senate President Brian Lawlor, a senior. "In the last issue, they called a professor's wife 'fat and ugly.' We just don't want to be associated with that anymore. This was the straw that broke the camel's back."\nThe publication has long rankled some students and faculty members at the all-male school, located about 45 miles northwest of Indianapolis.\nSean Salai, editor of The Commentary, said the paper often criticizes what it considers to be liberal faculty and that the senate just wants to silence the paper's "independent voice."\n"This represents a strike against what we feel is our freedom of speech and press at Wabash," Salai told The Indianapolis Star for Monday's paper.\nLawlor said that the paper can still print anything it wants, just without the $1,250-per-semester in college funds.\nEditors of the publication also can ask senate to reverse the decision, he said.\nThe paper, which gets alumni donations and a $4,100 annual grant from a national group that supports alternative papers, will continue to publish.\nBut editors say they can afford only four issues a year, instead of six, unless they get more funding.\nProfessor Humberto Barreto -- whose wife was mentioned in the parody that also made light of him -- said the senate has the right to take money from publications of which it does not approve.\nThe dispute boils down to a clash of viewpoints rather than a free-speech issue, because the First Amendment does not apply at a private college, said Kenneth Falk, legal director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union.\n The parody was inappropriate and stupid, but the ICLU does not believe ideas should be suppressed, Falk said.\nThat also is the stance of Wabash's student newspaper, The Bachelor.\nThe senate's decision sets a bad precedent, said editor Jacob Pactor.\nPactor said he objects to the paper's focus on attacking people and exaggerating Wabash's flaws, but he also said students are not too concerned about the dispute. \n"Our football team has won 18 straight games in a row -- that's what people are talking about," he said.
(12/03/02 5:01am)
Night Walk will observe lighting safety issues on campus\nThe Office for Women's Affairs is sponsoring a Commission of Personal Safety Fall Night Walk. The annual walk around campus serves as a way to observe whether or not there is adequate lighting on campus for the safety of students, faculty and staff. Anyone interested should meet in the lower level of Jordan Avenue garage at 7 p.m. tonight. For more information, contact the Office for Women's Affairs at . \nChemistry lecture \non metals will be given today\nDr. Roman Boulatov of the Stanford University Department of Chemistry will give a lecture entitled "When Two Metals are Better Than One: Biomimetic Studies of Oxygen Reduction at the Bimetallic Site of Cytochrome Oxidase" at 4 p.m. today in the Chemistry building, C033.\nBiology seminars to be presented today\nPaul Katz of Georgia State University will give a Medical Sciences Seminar called "Serotonin and Second-Messenger Signaling in Swimmins Seaslugs" at 4 p.m. today in Jordan Hall 009. Rebecca Randell will present "The Genetics of Adaptation and Evolution of Development of Helianthus" in Myers Hall 130. \nYale professor will give speech on \ngeological sciences\nThere will be a Geological Sciences Colloquium at 4 p.m. today in the Geological Sciences building 143. Denis Cohen of Yale University will be presenting "Understanding how glaciers slide: Measurements beneath 700 ft. of ice." There will be refreshments in the lobby at 3:30 p.m.
(12/02/02 3:52am)
WASHINGTON -- Researchers say increased cell phone use has led to more crashes caused by drivers on the phone, but the value people place on being able to call from the road roughly equals the accidents' cost.\nOpponents of banning cell phone usage by drivers have cited studies that showed the benefit of car calls outweighed the toll from such accidents -- medical bills and property damage, for example.\nHarvard researchers, drawing on previous research involving cell phones and government figures for auto accidents, says in a study there is a growing public health risk from the reliance on cell phones in cars. The number of cell phone subscribers has grown from 94 million in 2000 to more than 128 million.\nThe figure was reached using current cell phone usage estimates to update a 1997 study. That study looked at phone records of Canadian drivers involved in crashes to see if they were making calls at the time.\n"It's sort of assumptions built on assumptions," said Kimberly Kuo, spokeswoman for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association. \nThe Harvard researchers also updated previous studies on the economic costs associated with accidents caused by cell phones, such as medical bills and loss of life. The costs added up to $43 billion -- about the same as the researchers arrived at for the value that cell phone owners put on their phones.\nCell phone owners cited benefits such as security and peace of mind for instant communication, increased productivity, privacy and quicker crime and accident reporting.\nThe Harvard study found that a cell phone user has about a 13 chances in 1 million of being killed in an accident while making a call; that compares with 49 in 1 million for someone driving without a seat belt.\nOther drivers and pedestrians have about four chances in 1 million of dying in an accident caused by a cell phone user, according to the study. Their chance of being killed by a drunken driver is more than four times as high -- 18 in a million.\nFor more information visit www.hcra.harvard.edu.
(11/26/02 4:32am)
Technology lecture to be given today\nElsa Gunter from the New Jersey Institute of Technology will present "Live and Free," a speech on "Bringing Testing and Verification Closer Together." The presentation will be in Lindley Hall, Room 101 from 3 to 4 p.m. today. For more information, contact the Computer Science department at 855-6862. IU Health Center hours changing for Thanksgiving \nThe IU Health Center will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday. The center will be closed Thursday and Friday. Regular hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.\nConversation club set for tonight\nThe French Rendez-Vous Conversation Club will run from 8:15 to 9:30 p.m. tonight at the Office of International Services. For more information, e-mail intlcent@indiana.edu.
(11/26/02 4:12am)
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Police reviewed video footage Monday to try to identify more people who overturned and burned cars and pelted officers with bottles and rocks after Ohio State's football victory over Michigan.\nFans set more than 100 street fires while celebrating after a 14-9 win Saturday, police said. The victory completed an unbeaten regular season for the Buckeyes and clinched a spot in the national championship game.\nThe Ohio State-Michigan showdown was among several games Saturday that sparked violence.\nThere was fan trouble at Cal-Stanford in Berkeley, Calif.; Clemson-South Carolina in Clemson, S.C.; and North Carolina State-Florida State in Raleigh, N.C. Also, players from both teams fought after Hawaii's 20-19 win over Cincinnati.\nIn Columbus, starting about 1 a.m. Sunday, police in riot gear escorted firefighters through clouds of tear gas to the fires as crowds off campus tossed bottles and rocks at them.\nAbout 20 cars were damaged by fire or overturning, and at one time a pile of nine cars was burning, police said. The fires were so intense a section of one street buckled. No serious injuries were reported.\nThe damage amount had not been estimated, police spokeswoman Sherry Mercurio said Monday. Police arrested 49 people, mainly on charges of having open alcoholic beverage containers or drinking underage, she said.\nAuthorities earlier said more charges would be filed as people were identified on video. The university determined seven of those arrested attended Ohio State.
(11/26/02 4:11am)
Inhaling and exhaling with their stomachs pulled tightly into their spine, 27 students were hard at work at the SRSC's Monday night Pilates class. Doing a series of exercises founded in the 1920s by Joseph H. Pilates, these IU students have joined this revolutionary workout and realized it is much more than a contemporary trend. \nColleen McMahon, program director for fitness and wellness, coordinates mind-body programs, including Pilates, Yoga, Tai Chi and Kung Fu at IU. \n"We just began the Pilates sessions at IU a year ago. All of our instructors are certified to teach Pilates," McMahon said. \nMisty Schneider, Group Exercise Coordinator for Fitness Activities, said Pilates classes have been full this year. \n"Both waitlists were filled and people were waiting outside to sign up at 8 a.m.," she said. \nPilates classes through the SRSC require an additional fee of $25 for seven weeks or $40 for the entire semester. This fee allows students to participate in all mind-body programs. \n"Pilates offers a balance of both back and abdominal strengthening exercises," said Camilla Saulsbury, a Pilates instructor at the SRSC. \nThere are several pilates exercises that lengthen the hamstrings, which aids in releasing the lower back, she said. \n"One of the most basic exercises is to work on the neutral pelvis," Saulsbury said.\nThe neutral pelvis focuses on keeping the natural curves of the spine throughout the exercises. Participants support this placement by keeping their navel to the spine, a phrase you hear throughout all Pilates classes. This means pulling the stomach in and breathing while keeping the stomach flat and letting the ribs rise and fall. Scooping the abdominal muscles deeper to the spine allows for more efficient use of all layers of the muscles and protects the lower back.\nEmily Bogard, IU professor of Structural Anatomy and owner of the pilates studio Pilates Annex, offers a variety of levels of classes Monday through Thursday mornings and evenings. There is also a class offered Saturday morning. \n"Awareness of self-use, inhibition of poor postural habits and strengthening the abdominal and spinal muscles are vital to maintaining a healthy body. Learning to move intelligently is a conscious process facilitated by most mind-body disciplines," Bogard said.\nKnown benefits of this work include a firmer, sleeker body; increased muscle flexibility and joint mobility; improved coordination, posture, balance and alignment; decreased fatigue and pain. \nSenior Courtney Sutter is a student at the Pilates Annex. \n"Pilates helps me feel more balanced. It does so physically, but it also clears my mind when I finish," she said. "When I don't go, my body craves that time. Even doing it on my own time makes me feel revived"
(11/25/02 4:37am)
Live from Bloomington 2003 CD Art contest begins\nThe Union Board is now accepting applicants for the "Live from Bloomington" CD Art contest.\nAll designs are due Jan. 17, 2003. Designs should be turned into the Indiana Memorial Union Board Office, Room 270 of the IMU. Designs must include the artist's name, e-mail address, phone number, and paper copy of the design. The winner of the contest will receive a $25 gift certificate to the IU Bookstore, two free copies of the CD and recognition on the inside of the CD as the designer. The CD cover design will also be displayed on the Ground Floor of IMU. For more information and rules of the project, e-mail lfb@indiana.edu or call 855-4682, or go to www.ub.indiana.edu.\nKorean Tea Time planned\nThere will be a Korean Tea Time from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. tonight in the International Center Lounge. This is a jjong party -- Korean snacks and teas will be provided. For more information, call 855-7133 or e-mail intlcent@indiana.edu. \nChemistry seminar to be presented\nProfessor Samuel H. Gellman of the Department of Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will give an Organic Chemistry Seminar on "Foldamers: Structure and Function" at 4 p.m. today in the Chemistry building, Room C033.
(11/15/02 5:14am)
Independent filmmaker to give presentation tonight\n"The Black Beyond," a science fiction movie by S. Torriano Berry, will be shown today, along with a presentation by Berry. The event will be in Jordan Hall, rm. A100 at 6:45 p.m. For more information, contact the Black Graduate Student Association at 336-4355 or go to ella.slis.indiana.edu/~lbroaddu/blackbeyond6.ppt. \n'XXX' free tonight at IMU\nUnion Board Films will present "XXX," starring Vin Diesel, at 8 and 11 p.m. tonight at the Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union. The movie is free with a student ID. Non-students are $2. For more information, e-mail ubfilms@indiana.edu.
(11/14/02 5:14am)
A 20-year-old male student was reportedly robbed and attacked at knife point near Morrison Hall Monday night. The IU Police Department reported the incident occurred around 8:30 p.m. \nThe victim reported he was walking to a class in Morrison Hall from the southside when he was pushed from behind. The unnamed victim said he turned to find two men wearing ski masks demanding money from him. \nOne of the suspects reportedly slashed at the victim, making a superficial cut on the victim's left arm. The victim said both males then struck him in the abdomen and the face six to 12 times and then left the scene.\nThe victim then drove himself to the hospital and was treated and released that night.\nThe victim also was able to provide a brief description of the two men:\n•Suspect 1: Male, possibly white, 5-feet 10-inches, average weight, blue jeans\n•Suspect 2: Male, possibly white, 5-10, average weight, blue jeans, dark warm up jacket\nThe incident is still under investigation by the IUPD. Sgt. Tim Lewis declined to confirm the identity of the victim, but did say there were two suspects involved. \nShould anyone believe that they were a witness to this incident or have any information regarding the robbery, they are asked to contact the Investigation Section of the IU Police Department 855-4111.
(11/07/02 6:08am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Democrats claimed victory and continued control of the Indiana House on Wednesday after preliminary results showed them winning two close races, one by 37 votes and another by 64 votes. But Republicans said they may seek recounts in those contests and possibly two others.\nDemocrats said the tallies gave them a 51-49 majority and power to select the next speaker, an internal fight they planned to resume in earnest on Thursday.\nBut after a day of disputed results and political maneuvering between the parties, Democrats acknowledged that the election battle probably was not settled.\n"Right now we're ahead, but who knows -- it's not over yet," Rep. Paul Robertson, D-Depauw, said of likely recounts.\nIf Republicans do request recounts, the races could take days, possibly weeks, to settle.\nDemocrats went into Tuesday's election with a 53-47 advantage. But unofficial vote tallies by The Associated Press indicated that voters were on the verge of sending 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats to the chamber.\nThat would mean that Republicans, who won the secretary of state race, would assume control under a tie-breaking law enacted in 1995.\nBut the results in an Indianapolis-area district were disputed Wednesday, and vote totals in a Fort Wayne district were extremely close.\nAfter Marion County election workers spent the day canvassing votes in one race, they announced an unofficial tally that showed Democrat David Orentlicher with 9,904 votes and Republican Rep. Jim Atterholt with 9,867 votes -- a difference of 37 votes.\nRepublicans went into Wednesday thinking they had won that race in House District 86, which covers parts of Marion and Hamilton counties, by 28 votes. That would have given the GOP a 50th seat.\nIn the House District 81 race in Fort Wayne, unofficial results showed Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne, with 4,718 votes to 4,654 votes for Republican Matthew Kelty, a margin of 64 votes. Because it was so close, Republicans were eyeing a possible recount in that contest.\nHouse Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said the GOP also was concerned about possible irregularities involving absentee ballots in the House District 45 race.\nPreliminary results showed Democrat Alan Chowning of Sullivan with 9,627 votes to 9,337 votes for Republican Bruce Borders of Jasonville, a difference of 290 votes. The seat was vacated by outgoing Speaker John Gregg, D-Sandborn.\nRepublicans also were reviewing results that showed Democratic Rep. Scott Reske of Pendleton defeating Republican Rob Steele of Lapel by 410 votes in House District 37.\nBosma called the turn of events disappointing.\n"If these election results hold strong, we will continue to move forward with a lack of leadership at the legislative level with a group of legislators that don't have a plan and do not have a vision, and that's what this election was about," Bosma said.\nIf Republicans gain control, they likely would elevate Bosma to be speaker.\nIf recount requests are filed within 10 days, Republican Secretary of State Sue Anne Gilroy would send them to a recount commission that includes herself, another Republican and one Democrat. The group would have until Dec. 19 to complete and present its findings to the full House.\nBut the House and Senate have legal authority to seat their own members, so the House would not be bound by the recount. The last general election recount in the House was in 1996, and representatives did accept a commission tally that gave Democrats a 50th seat and control of the chamber.\nIn 1994, however, the recount commission determined that Democratic Sen. Frank Mrvan of Hammond had won a narrow victory over Sandra Dempsey. Republicans who ruled the chamber opted for their own review and seated Dempsey instead.\nRep. Ed Mahern of Indianapolis, who led the caucus campaign effort for House Democrats, said they would proceed as if they had 51 members and a majority.\nTheir first task was to nominate the next speaker during a private meeting on Thursday. The leading contenders going into Tuesday's election were House Ways and Means Committee Chairman B. Patrick Bauer of South Bend, Speaker Pro Tem Chet Dobis of Merrillville, and Moses, the Rules Committee Chairman from Fort Wayne.\nHowever, Moses said he was dropping his bid because of his narrow margin of victory for re-election. And Mahern and some others have indicated a possible run.
(11/07/02 5:46am)
American-Israeli relations discussed\nIU Hillel will be sponsoring Dr. Jonathan Adelman on November 6-7 to give a lecture on Israeli-American relations. Adelman is a full professor in the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver and a specialist on International and Israeli Affairs.\nLocation: Jordan Hall, Room A100. Time: 4 p.m. Contact: hillel@indiana.edu. \nSuicide bombing lecture tonight\nDr. Kevin Jaques, IU Department of Religious Studies, will present a lecture entitled "Muslim Legal Justification for Suicide Bombing and Possible Ramifications for Muslim-Hindu Violence."\nLocation: Wylie Hall, Room 005. Time: 7:30 p.m. \nContact: IU Department of Religious Studies, 855-2048. \nHenna tattoo fundraiser at Collins\nHave your hands, feet, arms legs, around your belly button, or even behind your neck decorated with henna designs. The dye is a safe, painless and non-permanent form of body ornamentation that lasts up to two weeks on the skin and is common throughout India.\nLocation: Collins Coffeehouse. Time: 7 to 9 p.m. Cost: $5 per tatoo. Contact: isa@indiana.edu. \nPolish conversational coffee hour tonight\nAll students interested in Poland are warmly invited to attend a information lecture and coffee hour. No knowledge of Polish is necessary. The coffee hour coincides with the meeting of the Polish Cultural Association. \nLocation: Polish Studies Center, 1217 E. Atwater Ave.. Time: 7 to 8:30 p.m.Contact: Polish Studies Center.\nE-mail: hkates@indiana.edu.
(11/07/02 5:43am)
MUNSTER, Ind. -- Alyce Weidner was calm as her son's departure to Purdue loomed. She bought sheets, a compact refrigerator and a microwave for Matthew's dorm room. She organized a mini-convoy to West Lafayette and helped her 18-year-old unpack.\nThen the mother of two kissed her firstborn goodbye and burst into tears. Her husband Ralph, 45, and daughter Annie, 14, were wet-eyed, too. But Weidner cried that night and the next day. She's still lonesome -- and baffled -- weeks later.\n"I shopped for this. I prepared for this. I guess I didn't think it would be so final," said the Hammond florist, 43. "You've been a mom for 18 years. You've done a job. He's gone. Now what?"\nThe boomer's question is one echoing in thousands of homes nationwide. A few giddy parents crack champagne when the kids leave, but others are blindsided by a sense of loss at this first step to an empty nest.\nThe good news: Mental meltdowns are normal. The bad news is they can be triggered by anything -- even a box of cornflakes.\n"You're not crazy if you find yourself sobbing in a moment. It comes out of nowhere," said Jennifer Wyatt, author of "The Launching Years," a self-help guide for parents of teens. "Maybe you're standing in front of the child's favorite cereal in a grocery."\nShe and co-author Laura Kastner, a psychologist, have listened to scores of tales "about people who were surprised by something out of the blue. Like their rooms…you go in there and you don't even want to pick up the dirty clothes they left behind because it's like they're still there."\nCollege officials are besieged by laments, too -- the reason many universities now offer coping tips on Web sites. And parents-only seminars are cropping up during orientations.\nAt Ball State University, parents attend a "Challenge to Change" workshop while freshmen meet with academic advisers. The grown-ups are briefed on ways to foster independence.\nA 20-minute break follows "because a lot of the moms get very emotional," director of orientation Lisa Horst said. "They have to go to the restroom because they're bawling their eyes out."\nDads are more stoic, though an equal number of men and women skip the workshop. "We say, 'We have a separate session for you' and they say, 'I want to be with Johnny,' or whoever," Horst said. "There's not a lot of them, but it happens on a daily basis."\nPrevious generations dispatched their kids into the world at age 18. Yet 77 million graying boomers have a heightened sensitivity to this major life transition.\nMany have come to define themselves as moms and pops, said Robert Billingham, an associate professor of human development and family studies at Indiana University. Educated middle-class couples delayed parenthood, then lavished attention on the few children they had.\nIn contrast, early pioneers barely mentioned their young in diaries. They stayed aloof to cope with the high infant mortality rate.\n"The emotional attachment boomers have to their children is historical," said Billingham, a father of two college students and two youngsters at home. "When the child's gone, it's almost like cutting off an arm or a leg."\nAlso troubling boomers is their awareness of the perils of casual sex and substance abuse. Then there's the aging issue. When a college freshman skips out the front door, middle age rings the bell.\nFor happy individuals and marriages, these mixed emotions are unsettling. But single parents and couples with long-buried issues face earthquakes on the domestic landscape. All need to reconnect with their own interests and relationships while their children blaze their own trails.\n"You may have been busy driving car pools to soccer games," said Wyatt. "But then your children leave and you have to deal with everything you may not have had time to deal with before. Whatever little cloud has been over your life, that you've been able to push aside, it's going to be right over you."\nLike Weidner found, separation pangs are unpredictable. Yet parents do learn to savor their newfound liberty.\nFirst comes the grieving process, which lasts minutes to months depending on the individual. Then comes a feeling of ambiguity, where one wavers between sadness ("If only Adam were here to open this jar for me") and gladness ("Skip the Ragu. Let's go out to dinner.")\nLauren Schaffer and Sandy Fleischl Wasserman have been there. The authors of "133 Ways to Avoid Going Cuckoo When the Kids Fly the Nest" have sent four children between them to college. The pair liken the transition to being fired from a job they never wanted to quit. They survived and are thriving.\nThe flip side of missing a child is relishing your freedom, Wasserman said. "I just started a book club and started playing the mandolin. Both are therapeutic and have brought me a different joy. It's given me a different identity. I'm not just a mom. You launch into a new stage of life because you have time to do it."\nFor many couples, an empty nest is a chance to grow even closer. Corinne and Rick Powell of Schererville were wistful when their daughter and son went off to Purdue. So the couple, married 28 years, took up hiking. They have since explored trails from Starved Rock to Yellowstone and love their new independence.\nThey felt guilty the first time they visited Disney World "solo" but got over it. "We had so much fun," said Corinne, 51. "Disney World's not just for kids."\nWhen Andrea, 24, and Doug, 22, are home from school, where they study veterinary medicine and chemical engineering, the atmosphere is electric, with phones ringing, friends visiting and cars pulling into the driveway. Then they leave and the Powells contentedly resume the second half of their marriage.\nThey also rest easy, confident they did a good job raising their children. That's a reward unto itself.
(11/07/02 5:43am)
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Yale University will no longer require students who are accepted through its early decision program to attend the Ivy League school.\nYale officials said Wednesday they hope that by ending the binding early decision program, the university will slow down the college admissions process, which has become a speeding treadmill for high school students.\nBinding early decision applications will end with next year's freshman class. Yale's program will now be similar to Harvard's.\nYale President Richard Levin floated the idea of ending binding early decision last winter. He spent the year talking with other college officials, students, parents and teachers.\n"Early decision programs help colleges more than applicants," Levin said. "It is our hope to take pressure off students in the early cycle and restore a measure of reasoned choice to college admissions."\nEarly decision started at most elite colleges in the late 1990s as a way for top students to win admission to their first choice of college without having to go through the longer admissions process.\nYale started a binding early decision system with students who enrolled in the fall of 1996\nOther schools, such as Stanford, Brown and Princeton, followed suit a few years later.\nBrown, which started offering early decision last year, is considering whether to alter its policy, university admissions officials have said.\nPrinceton President Shirley Tilghman has said the school will not consider changing its policy until a new dean of admissions is appointed next year.\nTilghman also has said that Yale's decision will have no bearing on Princeton.\nSome schools have re-examined early decision programs because many more students applied early than were expected. Students said they believed they had a better shot of getting into their favorite school if they applied early, although admissions officers denied this was true. In addition, the early acceptance relieves months of uncertainty.\nLevin and some other college officials said that binding early decision put too much pressure on students at too young an age to make up their minds about what college was right for them.\n"We adopted early decision for the sake of the rare student who knows exactly where he or she wants to go by mid-fall of the senior year of high school. We never meant the early cycle to become the normal cycle," Yale undergraduate Dean Richard Brodhead said.\nYale said Wednesday that any student who applies for early decision can apply at other schools during the regular admissions period.\nA committee of faculty and administrators who are responsible for admissions and financial aid policy approved the change. The undergraduate student government also endorsed it.
(11/05/02 5:08am)
WEST LAFAYETTE -- Purdue University librarians are marking the 500th anniversary of the printing of a Latin love poetry book that is the oldest in the school's collection.\nPurdue unintentionally acquired the book in 1965 when it paid $28,000 for a collection of economics books, pamphlets and periodicals from a London museum.\n"The book has nothing to do with economics," said Judith Nixon, Purdue's management and economics librarian. "This just happened to be a treasure we found."\nThe university now estimates that collection is valued at $150,000.\nThe untitled poetry book was printed in 1502 by Aldus Manutius of Venice, Italy, who Nixon said showed that books could reach the most people by being produced in convenient sizes and at reasonable prices.\n"He is the publisher associated with the production of small, pocket-sized books -- the equivalent of the modern paperback book," she said. "It's not a fancy book."\nThe book is bound in Moroccan leather and tooled in gold and is embossed in gold on the front and back covers. To preserve the book, and others in the special collection, a room on Krannert Building's second floor is maintained at 58 degrees and 55 percent humidity.