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(04/02/07 4:00am)
When it comes to the never-ending battle of content versus decency in the media, the Indiana Daily Student takes more than its fair share of campus outrage. \nFrom student groups upset about how they’re being represented to angry local politicians with a chip on their shoulders, on any given day there is at least one angry person that attempts to set fire to Ernie Pyle Hall. The management has, on occasion, even been known to sleep in the newsroom for fear that they won’t make it to their cars, beaten brutally and left for dead. Fortunately the staff is protected from the ire of the outside world by an impregnable shield known as the First Amendment.\nJokes aside, the notion that all speech is sacred regardless of content is a truism that needs to be clearly reaffirmed in light of the controversy surrounding IU Student Television. The only independent student-run television broadcast in the nation produces the variety show “IU Live!,” the fake-news show “F’N Democracy” and an animated series so twisted that it defies description, “Destructo Box.” \nThe shows have recently come under fire from viewers who find the material crude and offensive. In response, IUSTV’s Programming Director Kyle McVey announced that the station is drafting a decency statement that “will bring a better balance between a creative content and keeping more viewers happy next year.”\nLike similar ones drafted by most (if not all) major media outlets, we anticipate that the decency statement being developed for IUSTV will set certain standards in terms of language, violence and subject matter. The decency statement is a voluntary policy of professionalism, unlike federally imposed laws regarding nudity and profanity. This is an important distinction to understand before finalizing any rules that may inadvertently restrict future IUSTV programming.\nIn specific, one episode of “IU Live!,” produced by senior Alana Salata, has been singled out as particularly disrespectful. The mock interview satirized the rivalry between the Kelly School of Business and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs by “hosting” caricatured students from each school. The business student’s elitism and soulless corporate idolatry were highlighted by an expensive suit and Adderall dependency; whereas the SPEA student’s marijuana-induced delirium only served to devalue an impressive range of abilities from drug hustling to public speaking: “SPEA on Wall Street nucka!” Needless to say, the sketch is hilarious (and on YouTube).\nThough most of the skit’s reviews are positive, there are students who have complained about how their schools – and by extension themselves – are portrayed. Of course it hurts being on the butt end of a bad joke, but these students are completely misunderstanding satire. The artist has to draw on commonly acknowledged cues for each character: the BlackBerry and the joint provided such a point of reference.\nAlso, we applaud IUSTV for understanding the medium of television. It has modeled its programs after some of the most popular ones on network television. The station’s ratings should only rise because of these productions.\nStill, literary, dramatic and business techniques are not the issue here. Though the unbridgeable rights to free speech and press guarantee a citizen’s or institution’s right to express even the most ignorant and bigoted opinions, it also fosters artistic creativity and journalistic objectivity.
(03/29/07 4:00am)
In your March 26 editorial “Note-able laziness,” IUNotes.com was criticized for creating a note-taking service that may open the “potential for abuse” if misused by slackers. IUNotes.com is a newly established note-taking service that offers inexpensive lecture notes and review packets to IU students. Our service was founded on the principles of academic endeavor and the progression of higher education. \nIUNotes.com has had an immense positive impact on IU that greatly outweighs its potential for misuse. Our notes are intended to be supplements to lectures that enhance students’ understanding of the subject material. While tutoring services can range from $20 to $70 per hour, our service offers an inexpensive learning alternative to college students on a tight budget. \nEveryone has experienced a professor who teaches too quickly or writes on the overhead too small, and our notes provide essential clarification to their lectures. Even high achievers find our products useful in offering alternative perspectives to course material. Esteemed accounting professor Mikel Tiller believes “you can get an awful lot out of class if you’re not distracted by taking notes. Especially if you want to be in the discussion. That’s pretty meaningful.” \nIUNotes.com now works in collaboration with the IU Division of Student Affairs and the Department of Disability Services for Students to bring free notes to students with learning disabilities. Our company can provide disadvantaged students with free access to the IUNotes.com note database. In the future, we hope to find additional creative ways to support the University.\nAs our business expands, we will continue to add more notes and review packets for students to utilize. At IUNotes.com, it is our duty to provide students with the resources they need to achieve the dream of academic success. Leo Tolstoy once said, “The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity,” and at IUNotes.com, we take this to heart.
(03/29/07 4:00am)
It was a courageous and appreciated decision the IU Foundation made to return alumni coaches to the pit on race day. And we cannot allow this opportunity for mutual cooperation to slip away. There has been an incredible level of passionate commentary from both sides, most of it unproductive and contrary to the spirit of this event. It characterized the passion the Little 500 instills in many of us. However, now it is everyone’s duty to move in a positive direction. The goal is for all involved to recognize, understand, appreciate and, most of all, respect the contributions of the IUF, the IU Student Foundation, the alumni, the riders and the IUSF membership. All are critical components, indispensable in maintaining the Little 500’s unparalleled record of successes.\nMany lessons can be learned here. The most important one is that along with authority comes responsibility. This is an imperative for alumni coaches. Their responsibility does not lie solely with their team; they have a fundamental responsibility to the Little 500 too. Their influence and actions have a profound impact on the image of the race, IUSF, IUF and IU. And this impact must be constructive. A bad coach undermines the positive efforts of the other coaches, and they must be willing to stand and police their group with the same dedication employed when directing their teams. This is the way the rider community functioned for many years and, in some aspects, does today. Peer pressure is a powerful force and can work wonders to ensure those who do not have the best interest of the Little 500 are directed back “on course.”\nI firmly believe this vision can be achieved. It will take a special group of people who are willing to listen to alternative viewpoints, separate themselves from individual loyalties and from personal agendas, to positively shape the future of the event; something I learned from Bill Armstrong many years ago that holds true today. The best way to move forward is to unify the Little 500 community and if realized, the future of the Little 500 will indeed be bright.
(03/29/07 4:00am)
In response to your editorial “Error: Education shutdown” (March 20):\nThere seems to be a question of responsibility. Who is responsible for the education of the student? The student, or the institution providing it? Clearly, college students should be able to make their own decisions that will affect their future careers, but at the same time, public education institutions like IU should be active in ensuring that the tuition paid is money well spent. Although undergraduates are adults, rules and structure are still put in place to better provide their education as well as to guide them to success through graduation and their career paths that follow.\nUnfortunately, undergraduates cannot be entirely relied upon to make decisions, such as not coming to class (both physically and mentally), that can have long-term consequences. With respect to laptops in the classroom, not only are they a distraction to the individual, they are a distraction to the other classmates. Here, it is the university’s responsibility to create an environment of learning for all who want it. Therefore, eliminating a distraction is a necessary action. Some students, and instructors, may legitimately find laptops beneficial for some courses. However, most students bring in laptops for the same reason they bring in newspapers – the course is not engaging. This once more emphasizes the responsibility of the university to provide an adequate education to the student. If students feel they can multi-task in the classroom, then the instructor is being inefficient.\nThis doesn’t imply that classes have to be like circuses or “Sesame Street” to hold attention spans of 4-year-olds. However, considering that most college courses meet two and half hours a week for 16 weeks, each class period should be so rich with information that the thought of bringing an outside distraction would be viewed as pointless. IU, as well as other public education institutions, should take more responsibility for their role in the education of their students. Students, on the other hand, should do a better job of prioritizing between education and MySpace.
(03/29/07 4:00am)
“Adding insult to injury.” That’s my reaction to Erich Reinhard’s March 19 cartoon about the apartment building scheduled for demolition to make way for an optometry school building. Yes, it’s true that the old structure has to go, for the greater good of the greater number, blah, blah, blah.\nBut there’s no need to make it look rundown and ready to be condemned; doing that shows ignorance of why anyone would care about saving it. Before the apartment-building boom downtown, there were only three architecturally interesting ones near campus – that one on Third Street, another at the corner of Second and Fess, and a third near the intersection of 10th and Indiana. The rest of them – for example, the ones immediately south of the optometry building – looked like the 20-unit motels you used to see all over the country off U.S. and state highways in the pre-interstate era. Boring! I understand that editorial cartoons are often caricatures, but a caricature, like the ones of President Bush’s ears, ought to exaggerate a feature that actually exists. So, if anyone thinks that apartment building looks anything like the cartoon, go take a second look. Then, if you still think it does, don’t wait till the new optometry building replaces it – you need your eyes examined right now!
(03/29/07 4:00am)
Thanks for Jonathan Rossing’s piece “Trust me, not God” (March 23). It set my brain working a little, trying to apply what I thought I’d learned once, to unravel for my personal use a good translation of that Latin phrase “E pluribus unum.”\nThere’s a problem in (world) philosophy called “the problem of the many and the one.” A search of the Web for the string “the many and the one philosophy” will point one (you) toward this (perhaps merely traditional) entanglement. Tout de suite one sees mentioned the origin of Western philosophy, the question of God’s existence and the role of physical science in the purifying of religion (i.e., in the critique of superstitions that remain in the many religions). Atheism would wash away superstitions, and that is praiseworthy work – the praise can come from believers, too, I hope.\nI’m sure that it can, I really am.\nOne other thing besides my thanks – or one other bit of thanks. It was good to be reminded of what I knew a long time ago and had forgotten. The “pluribus,” I suppose, once referred to the multiplicity of states in the Union, especially as our states were regarded previous to our U.S. Civil War (I hail from up North here – does anyone down South still refer to the war between the states?). In the Ken Burns documentary about that conflict, Shelby Foote remarked how the grammar of nationhood underwent a change: “These United States are ...” before the war became the phrase “the United States is ...” after the war. “E pluribus unum,” looked at in this light, is not a simple argument. It was ... etc., etc. ... bloody work. Civic unity, national unity, citizenship will always require heartfelt toil, I guess.
(03/29/07 4:00am)
When I read Brian Stewart’s column “No pity for me” in the IDS on Tuesday, March 27, it read like hate speech to me. I reacted to Brian’s call for perpetual war against “those who can only be called barbarians” and his denigration of his professor and classroom experiences by calling the IDS and stating to Assistant opinion editor Ayesha Awan that Brian’s rhetoric sounded like a speech Hitler had made. Ms. Awan explained to me that since Brian did not call for “total annihilation” his call to perpetual war was not akin to a speech by Hitler.\nHitler, of course, is quoted as saying, “Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not deserve to live.”\nWar is the ultimate political act. War has been used by the United States throughout our history. To enjoy the benefits of our status as superpower nation and decry war in all its forms is hypocritical. However, the point of “war” is to win your objective. (For example, we won the war against the regime of Saddam Hussein).\nEmpires fall when mired in an occupation that saps their power (money, prestige, army and so forth). \nIn the IU business school, I was taught to study the classic “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu. Also relevant is the Chinese proverb that states: “When the finger points at the moon, the idiot looks at the finger.”
(03/29/07 4:00am)
In response to “Kids these days,” March 23:\nChicago community organizer, president of the Harvard Law Review, civil-rights lawyer, teacher of constitutional law, eight very successful years in the Illinois state Senate, United States senator, husband and father. I hope Indira Dammu will forgive us College Democrats for seeing and believing in a new kind of candidate. \nI’ve heard the “Republican-lite” charge many times – and it always makes me laugh. Walk into a College Democrats meeting and you’ll find a group of people whose politics differ greatly, but who share the same foundation, who share the same values. A belief that government can do good, can be a positive force, that too much privatization can cause a profit-first, people-second mentality – a group that’s fundamentally pro-choice, yet determined to make it “safe, legal and rare,” and that still believes in public education, job training and the value of the American worker.\nCollege Democrats want change – we want to do more than talk. It’s not Republican of us to work with the other side – it’s called compromise and it’s how things get done. \nIt’s odd to me that Ms. Dammu would call us “Republican-lite” and then attack us for supporting Obama, who happens to stand to the left of Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden and my early favorite, Tom Vilsack. Obama spoke out against the war – before everyone else thought to do so. He’s brought the rhetoric of personal responsibility back to the Democratic Party. He’s a new voice, free from the restraints of the old guard. Free from so much that made politics so ugly. \nWe will continue our work to elect a Democratic president in 2008. We will make a difference. We know what we stand for. Do you?
(03/29/07 4:00am)
From claiming that there was no leak to insisting that the leak if any was justified, Edward Delp’s column (“Plame was asking for it,” March 21) was laughable even by Delp’s own pedestrian standards. The idea that a government agency should leak the name of a covert operative to settle scores is crazy and illegal.\nIf you so badly need a counter-opinion, just print something to the tune of “It ain’t so” and we’ll get the drift. Spare us Delp’s pompous opinions-marauding-as-facts style of faux journalism.
(03/29/07 4:00am)
Ah, spring is finally here! Now don’t get me wrong, I love this time of year – warm-weathered cookouts, Little 5 and the sprawled out couples in Dunn Meadow. But spring also brings out the inevitable rude yelling boys. (I say “boys” because I have yet to encounter this type of action from any real men or women.)\nWhy is it that so many over-grown boys think that they can just run their mouths when any person passes their way? How can these boys have no sense to even think that other people have feelings?\nBeing a modestly dressed woman on the IU campus, I shouldn’t cringe every time a group of guys walks by me or worry about what’s going to be yelled from the windows of the lettered oversized houses. Now you might suggest that girls walk in groups, be assisted by a male or just walk on the other side of the road. But I can walk alone. I don’t need a guy to protect me, and I won’t alter my path because of some remarks.\nSo those comments which appear to be “just fun and games” degrade and offend someone out there; no person is meant for the momentary comic relief of a stupid drunk guy. Maybe we should make every freshmen take How to Not Be an A-hole 100, or simply reapply kindergarten etiquette where they learn how to treat people.\nLadies (or gentleman), if you happen to come across some idiot who yells some vain statement your way, just know they lack the confidence to say something to your face. They are probably just trying to impress their brother – and need to by belittling someone else. Don’t respond, they have nothing better to do. They are lacking something – you decide where – but be smart enough not to humor them.
(03/29/07 4:00am)
In response to the statement about the validity of IU Dance Marathon made by Emily Hess (“IUDM rep betrays rules of contest”) on March 22, 2007 in the Jordan River Forum:\nOn March 17, 2007, the terms and conditions to the Grablife Givelife Competition were updated to say that an undergraduate student was allowed only one e-mail address, equating to one vote. After this change was posted, the IUDM team has taken quick action to advertise this message via e-mail, Facebook and word of mouth. We also contacted Adlego, the group that puts on the competition, yesterday apologizing and promising to adhere to its revised rules. However, the new rules were implemented the same day that IUDM was being interviewed for an article in the IDS, and unfortunately not everyone was completely aware of this change. We are making every effort to inform people that the use of two e-mails can not be done; we want to be as honorable as possible with this competition. As the IUDM contact person for the Grablife Givelife Competition, I recently received contact from an Adlego representative saying there were other groups using this dual e-mail method and that “they appreciate IUDM doing its best to make sure our voters have stopped using two addresses so that no one assumes there is an unfair advantage.”\nErin’s comment was out of excitement and passion for the IUDM cause; it could have been anyone of us involved in IUDM to make that same mistake. To claim that the reputation of IUDM is “marred by dishonesty” is completely untrue. We want and need every student’s help at winning this competition; $20,000 can really make an impact on multiple children’s lives at Riley Hospital. However, more than that, we want to win fair and square. IU Dance Marathon is the admirable philanthropy that Emily Hess mentions in her statement, and if it means that we fall behind because we lack the “dual e-mail method,” then so be it. Thank you for your concern and understanding. We hope that the students of IU will continue to support IUDM and its success in the Dodge Grablife Givelife Competition.
(03/28/07 4:00am)
Cell phones are a convenience that nearly every American relies on to streamline their lives and make instantaneous communication possible for both work and pleasure. \nYou can change the location of a class project meeting from the Herman B Wells Library to Soma in an instant. Your mom can ease her mind by checking on you 15 times while you’re navigating the freeways home for a weekend visit. Does the erratic Indiana weather drop a freak rainstorm on you right as you intend to stumble home from the bars? No problem, just call a cab. \nMany people, including much of the editorial board, decided that the practicality of exclusively having a cell phone is far more economical than maintaining a land line. For the state of Indiana, however, this common luxury could end up costing your life.\nWhen an emergency call comes from a land line, the current technology can trace the location of a call within seconds, saving vital rescue time. With cell-phone calls, however, it is significantly more complicated to pinpoint the location of the emergency. And though all cell phones produced after 2004 are implanted with a GPS tracking device, the majority of Indiana emergency response locations are not equipped with the technology to trace these GPS devices. Having to use guesswork to figure out the location of a victim costs vital time in the lifesaving process. To add insult to this injury, the loss of revenue for 911 service resulting from so many people canceling their land-line services, which come with a mandatory 911 fee, is also preventing emergency response teams to be able to update the technology in order to trace the location of 911 calls via GPS.\nThis simply won’t do. The switch from land lines to cell phones is the natural evolution of technology, and the government must adapt to continue to serve its taxpayers. It’s the responsibility of our state to ensure that the most vital of services, emergency response, is cared for and technologically cutting edge in order to save lives.\nIt’s a given that when a greater amount of the financial pie is allocated to one public service, other programs lose funding elsewhere. We feel, however, that in this situation, a financial loss to another sector would be worth it. Is there any service more important than emergency response? We certainly can’t think of any. \nThe state must allocate more funds to our emergency response teams. Updating the technology to track cell phones makes more sense than making people choose between a cell phone and a land line, because accidents often happen out of the way of land-line access. It would be absolutely unconscionable if a single person died because the government was too cheap to buy GPS emergency response tracking. The technology exists, and if the government has enough funds to track us via GPS for Homeland Security purposes, it can certainly afford it for emergency response to save our lives.
(03/27/07 4:00am)
Rolling out of bed in the morning. Getting dressed. Walking to class. The mornings of a typical college student are nothing if not demanding. And by the time you actually get to class, paying attention and taking notes is often just out of the question.\nThis is the golden rule of laziness off of which three enterprising IU sophomores hope to capitalize. IUNotes.com is a new note-taking service that sells the notes of “screened” student employees to their classmates, and the site says it offers clear and concise versions of the often confusing lectures some professors seem to delight in giving.\nThe service is useful to a point. Some students are poor auditory learners and cannot keep up with the class’s pace. Others need an extra boost of clarification that comes from being exposed to another student’s interpretation of the classroom materials.\nIn these special cases, a note-taking service is a beneficial supplementary tool. However, we are fairly sure the inventive minds that came up with IUNotes, while well-intentioned, realize their brainchild has a wide potential for abuse.\nAnd for the service’s founders, that’s where the real money is. Why would a student bother coming to class if he or she can see a copy of someone else’s interpretation of the social implications of Tolstoy’s political deconstruction in “War and Peace”? As long as students are paying the professors’ salaries, why should lecturers care if their students show up or pay attention? The fact that students can now buy sets of notes prepares them for post-graduation – the reality in the outside world is there are very few things that a few well-placed dollars can’t buy.\nAs far as the ethics of this situation go, this is not the first time students have used questionable means to avoid having to learn for themselves. Recall, if you will, the fifth-grade playground bully who would give the class brainiac a wedgie if he or she refused to do the bully’s homework.\nAcademic shortcuts are none too novel, but students are missing out if they misuse this service. The only way to understand a concept well is to make it your own. By relying on someone else’s understanding, you are staunching the development of this crucial skill. If you merely want to regurgitate them, and you have the money to spare, that’s your choice. But realize there will not always be someone available to break things down for you, and someday your laziness will likely catch up with you.\nIt goes without saying that the real winner in this situation is IUNotes. Regardless of how students choose to use it, the service’s founders have a surefire way to turn a profit, whether from well-intentioned scholars or from slackers who cringe at the thought of lifting a finger.\nProps to you, IUNotes, for knowing your student body: Motivated? Sometimes. Passionate about learning? Eh. Willing to drop a few bucks for an A? You bet!
(03/22/07 4:00am)
"You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you just might find you get what you need.” \nIt’s not often one can liken the work of the Graduate and Professional Student Organization to the lyrics of the Rolling Stones. So we hope you forgive our taking the opportunity.\nYou see, we’re pretty excited about a change that will not only make life easier for IU’s graduate students, but should also help the University recruit top-quality instructors in the future. And it’s always cool to see a student organization actually get something out of the administration (besides a committee to investigate the possible formation of future committees).\nAs reported Monday, the University is planning to open a new health clinic akin to the IU Health Center that will provide “medical and dental care for graduate students, employees and their families.”\nThis clinic has been a long time coming. The recent push for dental insurance began in 2005 with public demonstrations by the Graduate Employees Organization, an activist group that seeks to unionize grad students at IU, and was taken up soon after by the GPSO, grad students’ official representative body with the University. \nUntil the announcement of this clinic’s creation, IU remained the only Big Ten school not to provide its graduate employees with dental insurance.\nMeanwhile, pressure has been mounting to make graduates’ health insurance more affordable ever since last year when the Chickering Group, IU’s insurer, raised their premiums 58 percent. Negotiations between IU, the GPSO and Chickering yielded a compromise result whereby premiums for graduate academic appointees were covered by the University, but grad students faced reduced benefits and high costs for insuring spouses and children. As insuring a spouse, for example, would cost $3,270 out of a $9,000 to $12,000 stipend – and the alternative was turning to state welfare programs – many graduate employees were nonplussed by this result (to put it mildly). We don’t have any word yet on what this clinic will mean in terms of savings, but it’s a promising first step.\nMaking IU more competitive in the search for graduate-student candidates should benefit the entire University community. With 38,247 students (29,828 undergraduate and 7,481 graduate), 1,323 faculty members with terminal (doctorate or professional) degrees, and an alleged student-faculty ratio of 18 to 1, it’s not hard to see how important graduate students are in filling the ranks of instructors at IUB. If only terminal-degree faculty taught courses, the student-faculty ratio would be more like 29 to 1. Imagine what those 100-level courses would be like. Furthermore, president-elect Michael McRobbie has repeatedly noted that an estimated one-third of all research is done by graduate students and that IU will soon need to replace retiring baby-boomer faculty.\nKudos to President Adam Herbert, the GPSO, the GEO and everyone else involved in this substantial investment in IU’s future.
(03/22/07 4:00am)
Thank you for your coverage in the Health & Science section of the live global warming presentation in the Indiana Memorial Union (“Sweating the heat,” March 20). The event and your coverage are very timely, considering the growing interest of Congress and the public in tackling the challenge of climate change. \nHere in Bloomington, the public’s interest is higher than ever. Not only student groups, but community and city government groups are interested as well. The Bloomington Commission on Sustainability has offered to cosponsor Wednesday’s event and advertise it on their Web page. More than 93 churches and other faith groups contacted by Environmental Law Society also had a tremendously positive response, many saying they see global warming prevention as an opportunity to practice stewardship of the Earth. “God made it, and it’s holy, so we need to take care of it,” said the Rev. Lyle McKee, pastor at St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Bloomington. Jack Skiles, senior minister at Bloomington’s First United Church agreed, saying, “We are called by God to care about Creation.” It has been a real pleasure for us as students to work with so many members of the wider Bloomington community.
(03/22/07 4:00am)
A vote for Mark Kruzan or David Sabbagh is a vote for old ideas and to move the city backward. A vote for Jamie Lober is a vote for the future and positive change. Mayoral candidate Jamie Lober has an excellent vision for moving Bloomington forward, stressing economic growth, improved education and better quality of life. Lober has earned a reputation for her great personality, positive outlook and for speaking bluntly about the obstacles facing our city yet providing practical solutions that will benefit all people. As an IU grad, I knew Lober for four years and pledge that we recognize that Lober’s achievements have been lifelong and that she has given a lot to our city. May 8 is a day we can give back to her and help her get elected as Bloomington’s next mayor. We cannot settle with leadership of the past when Bloomington can do better: Jamie Lober.
(03/22/07 4:00am)
In response to “They cover Viagra,” March 20:\nFirst of all, I would like to applaud Ms. Hite for bringing our attention to this matter. It is shameful that our judicial system would adopt such an antiquated and sexist attitude toward contraception.\nHowever, I think it is more important for female students to know about the discrimination they will face if they subscribe to the insurance policy offered by Indiana University. Under my parents’ health insurance, I was able to obtain my birth-control prescription for about $10 a month. Now, under IU’s health-insurance plan, I pay $45 a month. And as the IDS reported Jan. 23, the same prescription would cost $40 at the IU Health Center.\nUnfortunately, The Chickering Group (the insurance provider) also discriminates against students who are responsible enough to get tested for STDs. After being tested at the health center, I submitted a claim to be reimbursed for some of my out-of-pocket expenses. My claim was denied, stating that the policy did not cover these services.\nIs it just me or does this company completely misunderstand the concept of preventative medicine? While I understand it is my choice to be sexually active, I do not think I deserve to be punished for being responsible about it. After all, the potential consequences of being irresponsible would be far more costly.\nI hope the administration is reading today’s edition of the Jordan River Forum. I am fortunate because I will no longer have to suffer under my current insurance policy after I start my full-time job in July. But thousands of students will continue to purchase this plan, not knowing the true cost until it is too late.
(03/22/07 4:00am)
I appreciate Rep. Hill’s efforts to keep his constituents informed about his activity. In a recent letter to the editor, he praised a $14 billion federal program that would result in $351 million in benefits for Indiana. H.R. 720 would fund the Water Quality Financing Act, providing taxpayer-subsidized loans to local communities – to construct wastewater treatment plants and water-pollution abatement projects.\nLet’s do the numbers on this. A $14 billion program costs $190 in taxes from the average family of four. Payouts of $351 million to Indiana would benefit the average family of four in Indiana by $220. The good news is that we’ll be receiving more than is being taken from us. The bad news is that this extra money is coming from taxpayers elsewhere in the country. For example, I don’t think people in Colorado will be happy to have money taken from them to pay for a wastewater treatment plant in Indiana. Is this an ethical use of government force?\nAnother question is why the federal government is involved in funding local projects. Practically, when we have a local problem, one solution is to send a bunch of money to Washington, they take a cut of it to pay for their bureaucracy, send some of it back to us with strings attached, and we address the local problem. Another solution would be to send the money to Indianapolis and maybe reduce the bureaucratic costs and strings.\nPerhaps the best solution would be to keep the money and the solutions at the local level.
(03/22/07 4:00am)
In your Feb. 28 article “Delta Zeta members at IU affected by DePauw situation,” Jennifer Hanley never mentioned that she served as the advisor for Delta Chapter until 2006 and therefore was intimately connected with all of the Delta sisters. I was surprised she felt these women were uncommitted, especially after being one of the opposing voices to the reform of Delta’s recruitment program planned by an active sister in 2005. \nHanley’s statement that she did not “make decisions when it comes to physical attractiveness” also interested me, since I sat with Hanley on the committee that invites freshmen to recruitment parties. Hanley and the Nationals consultant “tagged” freshmen walking in the door based on their appearance and sent committee members to either find “redeeming qualities” or make a cut. While I understand similar actions occur in some greek chapters, I was always proud that Delta ignored these suggestions, taking more than a woman’s appearance into consideration for membership.\nCindy Menges has publicly stated that she “looked these women in the eye” and asked about their commitment. However, some Deltas never even met Menges let alone spoke to her in an interview. Some spoke to only one interviewer for 10 minutes and were asked about their campus activities and DZ’s image, not recruitment. While I know that no women were dismissed because of race, clearly “commitment to recruitment,” as gleaned from these interviews, was not the criterion. \nI am sorry Epsilon has been treated poorly based on one Delta’s comment, and that the media have pounced on the issues of race and obesity. DZs are beautiful, talented and strong women, proud of their unique sisterhood. Delta was pressured by Nationals to save their chapter by closing, and given one day to vote, only to discover their chapter was financially viable and no vote was necessary. Now no representative will admit to ordering a vote.\nWhile Nationals denies any injustice, they are unwilling to offer a credible reason for dismissing some women over others. Deltas are only asking Nationals to admit that “commitment” was not the real factor behind the dismissal, and for all DZs to support our search for truth.
(03/22/07 4:00am)
I came across two articles in the Indiana Daily Student related to the common theme of activism and they left me with mixed feelings.\nThe first (“Evolution of revolution,” Feb. 21) talks of activism being more subdued now than in the 1960s. While true, and you don’t see marches every day, several campus groups like No-Sweat, Amnesty USA, Campus Climate Challenge, Students Taking Action Now: Darfur and Association for India’s Development are tackling grave issues which, interestingly, are international in nature. Student activists also have better access to the media and the Internet, which is important to spreading the message without hundreds assembling at Dunn Meadow.\nAnother interesting point was that Dow Chemical was a target of the protests 50 years back and also when the Kelley School’s conference saw Dow’s CEO speak on the environment despite their Bhopal legacy. However, Edward Delp’s column (“Defending Dow,” March 1) rants against activism without understanding the issues in Bhopal. His calling the activists “anti-capitalist” sounds like right-wing propaganda terming opponents of the Iraq war unpatriotic!\nThe present issue is not the 1989 settlement for those killed on the night of the disaster but the continued poisoning of 200,000 residents of Bhopal due to Carbide failing to clean the factory site. Dow cannot wish this liability away, as exemplified in a 2002 West Virginia trial that found Dow’s Carbide responsible for asbestos injuries to workers in 1972. Also, the same Indian supreme court that Delp invokes in Dow’s defense also reinstated criminal charges against it for manslaughter. Carbide is yet to appear for trial a decade later. Talk about double standards.\nThat Delp acts as a spokesperson for Dow and swallows their specious reasoning shows that IU has failed to educate their students in corporate ethics, social justice and logic. The difference between “whiny activists” and a cry of moral outrage is 200,000 lives at stake. But he probably wouldn’t understand morality and human rights if hit by a Mack truck!\nDespite the misguided column, it does serve to stimulate discussion on this issue. However, a balanced approach by the IDS in publishing a column with real facts would serve your readers better.