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(09/17/09 2:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>More than 100 students from high schools throughout Indiana will sign a replica of the U.S. Constitution as part of an interactive learning program sponsored by the Indiana Supreme Court and U.S. District Court.Now in its fourth year, this Indiana tradition is part of Public Law 108-477 that states any school that receives federal funds for a fiscal year must hold an educational program about the Constitution on Sept. 17 to commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787.The high schools are selected based on who responds to a mass e-mail about the event, said Dr. Elizabeth Osborn, assistant to the chief justice for court history and public education.“We have a list server with about 1,000 teachers on it,” Osborn said. “We send out an e-mail and it’s essentially first come, first serve.”The students consist mainly of juniors and seniors who begin the lesson by reading the preamble, Osborn said.“We try to limit it to juniors and seniors because they’re in U.S. government classes,” Osborn said. Each year, the Indiana Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court bring in guest speakers to talk about how the Constitution affects each of them in both their business and personal life.This year, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller and Federal Magistrate Tim Baker will speak to the Indiana students.The students also do a Constitution treasure hunt activity where the students break up into small groups with the guest speakers and compare the U.S. Constitution to the Indiana Constitution, Osborn said.“They’re divided into small groups and they’ll get a small pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution and the Indiana Constitution,” Osborn said. “Then we’ll give them a topic like education and they have to compare what the U.S. Constitution says compared to the Indiana Constitution.”The treasure hunt activity is streamed live on the Indiana Supreme Courts Web site along with the materials for teacher use, Osborn said.Ultimately, the treasure hunt activity and the signing of the U.S. Constitution are ways to help students realize that the Constitution has a significant impact on everyone’s life, Osborn said.“Speakers talk about why they should know about the Constitution because it impacts you every day of your life whether you realize it or not,” Osborn said.
(09/10/09 3:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Dr. Tony Bennett, superintendent for public instruction, proposed a reform to the educator licensing process, and it advanced Sept. 3 when the Indiana Professional Standards Board voted 15-4 in favor of the proposal. In his podcast on Aug. 5, Dr. Bennett said he expected more from Indiana teachers and that it’s time to change the way teaching is evaluated in Indiana.“We are not doing enough to make sure that the best teachers make their way to the classroom,” Bennett said.Bennett’s proposal includes shifting the focus away from how a subject is taught to what is being taught by the teacher.This requirement ensures that teachers will have a deep understanding of the subject matter that is being taught, said Cam Savage, director of media for the Indiana Department of Education.“The proposal requires teachers have more content-level courses in college than we currently require,” Savage said. “If you were to teach high school math, you’d have to have a degree in math.”This only applies to those who teach middle school and high school, Savage said.Another part of the proposal allows for more flexibility in hiring superintendents and principals.Currently, in order to become a superintendent in Indiana, the applicant must have an educational doctorate degree and go through a specialized program intended specifically for superintendents, Savage said.“U.S. Secretary in the Department of Education Arne Duncan couldn’t be a superintendent in the state of Indiana because he does not meet our requirements,” Savage said.Bennett’s proposal would make it possible for a superintendent to be hired based on the needs of the district he or she would represent, Savage said.“So if a school needed someone with extensive knowledge in law for some reason, a person would need to be able to provide evidence that he can make up for that deficiency,” Savage said.Despite the vote, board members and citizens have concerns with Bennett’s proposal, Savage said.“Most criticism has come from schools of education,” Savage said. “They don’t believe that some teachers need more content knowledge and would prefer people take classes in the school of education as opposed to the math department.”
(09/09/09 4:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The whoops and cheers of students echoed in Wakefield High School gymnasium when senior class president Timothy Spicer took the stage and encouraged students to get involved with the copious opportunities their school had to offer. But all was silent when President Barack Obama took the stage at noon.The president spoke Tuesday at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va. to discuss the necessity of a solid academic career for students K-12.Obama spoke for 20 minutes and stressed that academic success ultimately is achieved through student action alone.“We can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents and the best schools in the world,” Obama said, “and none of it will matter unless you fulfill your responsibilities.”However, not everyone tuned into Obama’s speech.Certain school districts in Indiana were worried that the president’s speech would be peppered with political undertone that many parents did not want their children exposed to.Two districts in Hendricks County refused to show the speech to elementary school children and screened it before allowing older students to view it. Hendricks County superintendent Dr. Dennis E. Ward was unavailable for comment.Some school administrators said they thought parents and teachers did not want students viewing the speech live because it would be a tangent from the current lesson plan, said Bev Smith, assistant director of Human Resources for Monroe County Schools. “It didn’t have as much to do with the speech itself but the idea that it would thwart lesson plans,” Smith said. “Others felt like it would be a little too politicized.”As a way to assure parents and teachers that the president’s speech would focus on education, the White House Web site, www.whitehouse.gov, posted the script of the speech Monday for public viewing. However, other counties in Indiana, including Monroe County, let the schools’ principals and teachers decide how to relay the president’s message to students, Smith said.“It’s a practice we would have with any new media information,” Smith said. “It would be a normal process that the department head would have the opportunity to review the information and decide how to best use it.”However, some parents still chose to opt their children out of viewing the speech, said Don Alkire, principal of Martinsville High School.“They wanted to be able to talk to their children with regard to these things before they were – I guess I’ll use the term – forced to listen to something they didn’t want to,” Alkire said.Out of the 1,700 students who attend Martinsville High School, only 10 opted out of viewing President Obama’s speech, Alkire said.“They were relocated to the auditorium for 18 minutes, then sent back to class,” Alkire said.This is not the first time a president has made a national address concerning the importance of educating the students of America.In 1988, former President Ronald Reagan addressed a handful of students in the White House on the importance of education and staying away from drugs. In 1991, former President George H. W. Bush spoke to a classroom at Alice Deal Junior High School in Washington about revolutionizing American Education.This was, however, the first time a president has spoken to a nation of students, saying that there is no excuse not to strive for excellence.“You can’t drop out of school and drop into a good job,” Obama said. “You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it ... There’s no excuse for not trying.”The speech was ultimately an encouraging, positive and healthy message, Smith said.Principal Alkire said he believes President Obama’s speech was proactive and a step in the right direction in the field of education.“This is the first time in the 32 years that I’ve been involved in education that we’ve had anything like this,” Alkire said.
(09/07/09 2:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Indiana Department of Education has created a podcast as a way to keep Indiana residents up-to-date with happenings in the field of education.Podcasting became popular in 2004 and is used by individuals to pre-record audio programs that are then posted to a Web site and made available to download to other computers or mobile devices, according to www.entrepreneur.com.The appeal of a podcast for the Indiana Department of Education is that it allows the superintendent, Dr. Tony Bennett, to talk directly to Indiana residents, said Cam Savage, director of media for the Indiana Department of Education.“In January when he took office, Tony decided he wanted an aggressive strategy with connecting to teachers and students,” Savage said. “You have to make an attempt to reach people through the communication tools we use.”Although podcasts get their name from Apple’s iPod, any mp3 player can download podcasts, and they can be subscribed to from other online music download programs, according to www.entrepreneur.com.The Indiana Department of Education averages a new podcast episode about once a month and uses them to discuss what is going on throughout the department, Savage said.Along with the podcast, the Department of Education will also set up links on their Web site that lead to the videos and also provide superintendents and principals with valuable information.“Most link to it through our Web page,” Savage said. “But every Friday we send an e-mail to superintendents and principals and pass on other information that would be pertinent to know.”According to Savage, the department has two new episodes that are set to come out soon that deal with issues that are pertinent in Indiana.“We have an upcoming one on dropouts and give people more information on those programs,” Savage said. “We’re also planning one to talk about the state’s Race To The Top submission.”
(09/02/09 3:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Indiana is set to distribute more than $765 million in education stimulus funds Thursday that will be filtered down to K-12 schools throughout the state as part of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. The fund involves a one-time appropriation of $53.6 billion, that will be used throughout America as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as a way to stimulate the economy and create jobs, according to www.education.gov.The U.S. Department of Education has awarded state governors about $48.6 billion through the fund to help ensure that Local Education Agencies and Institutions of Higher Education have the necessary resources to retain teachers and professors.The principles of the fund are to spend money quickly to save and create jobs while improving student achievement through school improvement and reform, according to www.education.gov. The Web site also states that on May 18, Indiana received more than $765 million in stabilization funds due to Indiana’s completion of the first part of the State Stabilization Application. Money from the stabilization fund goes to K-12 public schools across the state that would generally have been paid with state funds but could not be due to revenue shortages, said Lance Rhodes, chief financial officer of the Indiana Department of Education.The funds are disbursed to various schools throughout Indiana based on an intricate school funding formula put out by the legislature, which includes a count of students among other factors. The money awarded to Indiana goes directly to the schools’ own budgets, Rhodes said. “They can spend it on anything they normally would pass straight through to the schools so they can use it for their operating expenses,” Rhodes said.However, in order to receive the money, each school has to report to the Indiana Department of Education. “They have to say how they’ll spend the money, a letter of assurance saying they will spend the money appropriately,” Rhodes said.Indiana is required through the U.S. Department of Education to submit a report stating the number of jobs that have been saved through Recovery Act funding, the amount of state and local tax increases averted and specifically how the funds are used, according to Education.gov.The preliminary report is to be sent in Oct. 10, Rhodes said.“Schools send us information on how many jobs have been created and how have been saved,” Rhodes said.
(08/31/09 2:08am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Indiana’s average SAT score dropped this year, following a trend seen nationwide in part due to a widening pool of SAT test-takers.Although the reading composite score remained unchanged, Indiana’s mathematics and writing score dropped from 508 to 507 and from 481 to 480 out of 800 points, respectively. This drop comes after former Indiana Department of Education Superintendent Dr. Suellen Reed said in a Sept. 4, 2008, press release that the Department of Education would cover the cost of PSAT exams in the hopes that more students would take the exam to adequately prepare for the SAT.“By removing preparatory exam fees from the equation, Indiana has eliminated another obstacle to preparing Hoosier students for college success,” Reed said.Indiana is not the only state that has experienced a drop in SAT scores. The national average scores for reading and writing in 2008 dropped from 502 to 501 and 494 to 493, respectively. The math score remained stagnant at 515, according to the College Board’s annual profile reports.Educators attribute this drop to the widening pool of SAT test takers. In 2008, 1,518,859 students took the SAT; this number increased by more than 10,000 in 2009, according to the College Board. In a press release issued by the College Board, surveys showed that the 2009 class had the most college-bound students taking the SAT in the history of the exam.The SAT is issued to more than 1.5 million students in 6,000 test centers and in more than 170 countries, according to the College Board.Despite the drop in average SAT scores, some high schools scored higher than both the state and national average.Bloomington High School North had mean scores of 557, 558 and 543 in reading, mathematics and writing, respectively, according to the College Board’s summary of individual high school SAT scores.Bloomington High School South also scored above Indiana’s mean SAT score with averages of 539, 545 and 517 in reading, math and writing, respectively.Carmel High School in Carmel, Ind., had mean scores of 550, 576 and 546 in reading, mathematics and writing, respectively.Stephanie Payne, a counselor at Carmel High School attributed this to a rigorous academic curriculum that is expected of Carmel students.“We are a community of higher education,” Payne said. “We expect higher education from our students as well.”About 70 percent of Carmel students take the SAT; many of them also take SAT prep courses offered by Carmel to better prepare for the SAT, Payne said.There are fall and spring prep courses that meet twice a week for three hours at a time. One night discusses the math portion of the SAT, while the other focuses on the reading portion, Payne said.“The prep course helps make kids familiar with what each section asks for,” Payne said. “You don’t have to waste time reading the directions.”
(08/25/09 1:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Indiana Department of Education appointed 13 new members on Aug. 4 to the Indiana School Safety Advisory Group, established by the General Assembly, to make safety recommendations that could be used to train school safety specialists at the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy. Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Tony Bennett, appointed the members to the Advisory Group to meet twice a year and recommend standards and curriculums on school safety.Suggestions are reported to the Indiana General Assembly who then pass the safety recommendations from the committee to the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy, said Stephanie Sample, press secretary for the Indiana Department of Education.“They would submit recommendations to the Indiana Department of Education who then reports to the Academy who would then develop a curriculum that the school safety specialists would learn in training,” Sample said.Every school corporation is required to designate an individual as the school safety specialist, according to Indiana Code 5-2-10.1-9.These individuals are required to complete basic training at the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy before they can be a certified school safety specialist. Basic training includes three days of onsite training and two days completing an online course, according to a memorandum sent out by Program Coordinator David Woodward.Also during training, academy members will bring in specialists to deal with both natural and man-made disasters, said Director of Student Services Gary Green.During an Advisory Group meeting last spring, representatives from Columbus, Ind. did a seminar on what to do during a major flooding situation, said Dr. Kathy Steele, Superintendent of Crawfordsville Community School Corporation. “There were situations where their gym had three feet of water and fish in it,” Steele said. “So how do you handle a situation like that? A knowledgeable man from Columbus talked about what they did in this exact situation.” Basic training also involves lectures from keynote speakers discussing various situations a safety specialist may encounter. “In the academy we bring in experts in the field for how to handle specific situations concerning safety,” Green said. “We have the author of the book ‘Columbine’ coming in and doing a debrief on his research and what the development of that book has shown.”The Advisory Group must include various experts on safety from throughout the state of Indiana including members from Indiana Family & Social Services Administration, the Department of Health, Fire Chiefs Association and a representative from the U.S. Attorney’s Office Law Enforcement Coordinator, according to the policy on the Indiana School Safety Specialist Advisory Group.Having representatives from counties throughout Indiana helps the group come up with development ideas that other members may not have considered, Steele said.“We have representatives from places throughout the state because there are different issues throughout the state,” Steele said. “They bring up concerns we wouldn’t have thought of.”Because of the H1N1 epidemic, commonly known as “swine flu,” the new members of the Advisory Group plan on doing a session on how to distribute medicine if the illness becomes an issue in Indiana.“If you’re distributing medicine, you better have someone around who knows things,” Steele said.Steele’s hope is that the different ideas from the various group members will prove useful to future safety specialists.“It’s an interesting committee,” Steele said. “We sit and discuss what our needs are and what kind of training we need to provide.”
(08/24/09 4:49pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Indiana Department of Education appointed 13 new members to the Indiana School Safety Advisory Group, established by the General Assembly, to make safety recommendations that could be used to train school safety specialists at the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy. Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Tony Bennett, appointed the members to the Advisory Group to meet twice a year and recommend standards and curriculums on school safety.These suggestions are reported to the Indiana General Assembly who then pass the safety recommendations from the committee on to the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy, said Stephanie Sample, Press Secretary for the Indiana Department of Education.“They would submit recommendations to the Indiana Department of Education who then reports to the Academy who would then develop a curriculum that the school safety specialists would learn in training,” Sample said.Every school corporation is required to designate an individual as the school safety specialist, according to Indiana Code 5-2-10.1-9.These individuals are required to complete basic training at the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy before they can be a certified school safety specialist. Basic training includes three days of on site training and two days completing an online course, according to a memorandum sent out by Program Coordinator David Woodward.For the full story please see Tuesday’s edition of the IDS.
(04/27/09 2:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After two years of trials and appeals, Bloomington residents whose property was destroyed by sewer damage still have another trial awaiting them.The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled on April 15 that the City of Bloomington Utilities could be held liable for the damages caused by a backup of city sewer lines, resulting in 300 gallons of sewage flooding into a residential home on Hillside Drive. At about 8 a.m. Nov. 15, 2005, residents Misty Day and Micky Walter noticed their bedroom rug was wet. The two called the property owners, Leslie and Hernan Cadavid, who called the City of Bloomington Utilities immediately, according to the Court of Appeals’ decision.The damage was caused by a blockage in an 8-inch sewer line that led to the renters’ home.The Cadavids’ insurance company denied their claim because the blockage occurred within a portion of the sewage system that was within the city’s jurisdiction.The Cadavids filed a lawsuit against Bloomington Utilities on the basis that the utilities department “negligently maintained and controlled the sewer lines by failing to clear severe root invasion from the sewer pipes,” according to the Court of Appeals.The City of Bloomington Utilities attested they were not given proper notice to prevent the damages done to the Cadavids’ property, said Attorney Andrew Wirick, lawyer for Bloomington Utilities.To file a lawsuit against the city, the Cadavids had to file a tort claim that gives the city 180 days notice to file suit and provides them with the opportunity to deny the Cadavids’ claim, said Attorney Michael Scarton, a lawyer for the Cadavids, Day and Walter.“The Tort Act gives the government some immunities,” Scarton said. “Immunities mean that even if the City of Bloomington Utilities were to blame, they’re not liable for the damages.”The judge of the trial court ruled that Bloomington Utilities was not protected by immunities in this case, Scarton said.Bloomington Utilities decided to appeal the case and took the trial to the Court of Appeals.During the Court of Appeals trial, the City of Bloomington Utilities claimed that it was immune to responsibility under the Tort claim, Wirick said.“Even if everything the plaintiffs are saying is true, they would still lose because the (City of Bloomington Utilities) gets immunity under the Tort claim,” Wirick said.Because city divisions have many policy-making decisions, they are granted certain immunities in case of something that might be overlooked. “We get immunity because there are a lot of factors that go into what we’re going to have to clean and how often we’re going to have to clean,” Wirick said.Despite the City of Bloomington Utilities’ appeal, the court agreed again with the plaintiffs, saying the defendants failed to show that these facts negate essential claims of the plaintiffs, according to the Court of Appeals.The City of Bloomington Utilities appealed the case and has 30 days to decide if it wants to take the case to the Indiana Supreme Court.Scarton said all he and his clients want is compensation for the damage and are ready to proceed with the next step in the trial.“All we want is justice to be served,” Scarton said.
(04/23/09 3:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In a state where manufacturing jobs are dying out, Tipton County was quick to offer bonds to help build the Chrysler plant that would have created 1,200 new jobs. Now, almost two years later, Tipton County has an unfinished factory, might lose millions of dollars invested in the bonds and wants Chrysler to pay the county back.In May 2007, the county, about one hour north of Indianapolis, agreed to the construction of a new transmission plant on US-31, a joint venture between Chrysler and German-owned automotive company Getrag.The plant’s total cost was $530 million, which Chrysler and Getrag agreed to pay. But the companies wanted Tipton County to help. They sold the county $11 million in bonds that they planned to pay back with revenue from the plant. The county offered $3.1 million in bonds and $1.4 million out-of-pocket funds to help pay for the plant, which totaled $4.5 million in costs for the county.Tipton County Commissioner Jane Harper said that Chrysler agreed to pay the extra costs in June 2007 but has since said it is not responsible.Construction of the plant was put on hold after Chrysler decided it wouldn’t need as many transmissions as previously thought, and the deal fell through. The company failed to supply Getrag with the adequate funding needed to complete the project.An investigation by Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita led him to file a claim against Chrysler demanding restitution for the residents of Tipton County.Harper said Chrysler gave no indication that the project was in trouble, and the county issued the bonds on Sept. 16, 2008. But the next day, Chrysler filed papers against Getrag and pulled out of the deal.“I don’t believe you can tell the county it is going fine and then pull out the next day,” Harper said. “I think they knew the project was in severe jeopardy.”Harper said Chrysler employees dealing with the county might not have been aware of the situation, but she said she believes that those above them might have known.As late as Aug. 15, 2008, Chrysler urged the county to speed up the project and even told them to rent a $500,000 temporary water filtering system for the plant, which was never used and later returned. The county did not receive any money back for the system.The administrative complaint was filed April 17 after evidence collected by the Indiana Securities Division suggested a violation of the Securities Act, said Secretary of State Communications Director Jim Gavin.Maurer School of Law professor J. William Hicks said private companies are required to notify counties if an agreement cannot be reached. According to securities law, it is illegal to withhold facts and information about a company, Hicks said.“This is not a peculiar situation given the current circumstances Chrysler is facing,” Hicks said.Remedies under the Securities Act include restitution, recession, fines or disgorgement, Gavin said.“In the case of this complaint filed against Chrysler, LLC,” Gavin said, “Chrysler has 15 days to respond and is ordered to appear at a hearing on June 24.”David Elshoff, a spokesman for Chrysler, issued a statement from the company stating that in the past, Chrysler has paid for about $14.5 million in infrastructure improvements around the Getrag Transmission Manufacturing project in Tipton.Harper said $9 million of the $14.5 million investment went to the construction of an electrical substation for the Indiana Municipal Power Agency, which will not benefit the county. Chrysler’s statement also said that Chrysler received bonds of $5.5 million from Tipton County as a way of financing infrastructure improvements.According to Chrysler’s statement, an offer was made to Tipton County to transfer $5.5 million in bonds to the county at no cost as part of the company’s “good faith efforts to minimize the impact on Tipton County,” but the county is seeking reimbursement for the extra out-of-pocket expenses that it has paid.Since the matter is currently in litigation, Chrysler spokesmen declined further comment.The county’s 8,500 taxpayers will have to pay off the debt if Chrysler does not return the more than $4.5 million in bonds that were issued to the company, Harper said. The Tipton County economy has taken a severe blow because of the plant’s failure, Tipton Mayor Dan Delph said.“The economy is in the pits,” Delph said. “Even if we had those jobs, Chrysler would have to be able to sell the product, and we would still be in the same situation.”The county is currently facing a 15 percent unemployment rate, higher than the statewide average of 9.9 percent, according to the Indiana Department of Labor.Tipton County Commissioner Mike Cline said nothing can be done with the building until all claims against Getrag are settled. The unfinished building has also left more than 140 contractors with unpaid debts, many of them local companies that now cannot get bonded for other projects because of their debts from the plant, Cline said.Cline said he hopes Chrysler will repay the money.“Our hope is that Chrysler will make it right with the Tipton County,” Cline said.Harper said that she hopes any potential bailout money given to Chrysler will go toward the taxpayers of the county.“Why should we bail them out if they don’t repay us?” Harper said.
(04/15/09 3:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students gathered Monday night in Woodburn Hall to discuss ideas and opinions about a new late-night bus service.The Hoosier Safe Driver Program, the Campus Bus Services and the Bloomington Transit have created a proposal for the Hooiser Night Owl, a safe mode of transportation for students until 4 a.m Thursday through Saturday.Senior Jonathan Rollins, the chief correspondent of Hoosier Safe Drivers, said the Hoosier Night Owl would provide safe transportation on the campus routes A, B and E and Bloomington routes 6 and 9. Bus routes would include stops along Kirkwood and Walnut avenues.The Night Owl Bus is set to begin operating at the beginning of the fall semester, but the logistics are still being worked out.Rollins asked attendees where they believe appropriate stops for the Night Owl would be and how both the Campus Bus Services and the Hoosier Safe Drivers could get the word out about the Night Owl.Suggestions for stops included popular bars, restaurants and apartments, such as Yogi’s Grill and Bar, Brownstone Terrace and Smallwood Plaza.A major concern is that the Night Owl Bus should not be known as the “Drunk Bus,” Rollins said.“We want you guys to have a safe ride home,” Rollins said. “The main thing is we definitely don’t want it to switch to what (the Midnight Special) is now.”Sophomore Sam Meyer, president of Hoosier Safe Drivers, said attendees came up with the idea in the classroom and decided to present it to the IU Campus Bus Service.“We went there and told them our idea and they said, ‘Great! We’re way ahead of you!’” Meyer said.The two organizations came together to form the current plans for the Night Owl Bus.Rollins said the Midnight Special, nicknamed the “Drunk Bus,” has erratic routes and is usually overcrowded.“The ‘Drunk Bus’ has no actual routes,” said Rollins. “We want to set up designated stops and set times for the Night Owl Bus.”Freshman Savannah Smidt said the Midnight Special is often crowded and unpredictable.“I’ve had to run for it in the past,” Smidt said. “Sometimes when it’s crowded, the driver will only let girls on.”Currently, there are four buses for three routes on the Midnight Special, according to a press release. The Night Owl Bus would have a full-sized transit bus on each of the five routes and would provide transportation to off-campus housing as well as the residence halls.The Midnight Special is run by Bloomington Shuttle Service and costs $95 an hour to run, said Perry Maull, the operations manager for IU Campus Bus Service.“With Bloomington Transit we would pay $46 an hour along with Campus Bus Service’s $36 an hour,” Maull said.Unlike the Midnight Special, which is offered only to IU students, the Hoosier Night Owl would be able to be used by everyone, Maull said.“For the Bloomington Transit routes, students would show their ID or pay the fare,” Maull said, “the same as during the day.”The current contract with Bloomington Shuttle expired Dec. 31, 2008, and was extended one semester to provide students with a safe mode of transportation home, Maull said.“We have the operating, schedules and the bus aspects down,” Maull said. “But we’ll be working into the summer.”
(04/10/09 4:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Monroe County Council Web site’s main page has links directing people to open jobs within the county system. But there is now a brightly highlighted notice, informing interested applicants that “all open positions currently being advertised are on hold until further notice.”On Tuesday, the Monroe County Council imposed a hiring freeze on nine council positions indefinitely. The purpose of the hiring freeze is to help compensate for the $2 million shortfall for this year’s council budget.Vic Kelson, president of the Monroe County Council, said if there is another way to get these jobs done, it would help the county financially.“County council is facing a shortfall of revenue this year – around 2 million,” Kelson said. “If we’re going to rein all of that in this year, we all need to be prudent.”County Director of Human Resources Rhonda Foster said alternative ways to get the jobs done include cutting down the work week to four days or implementing pay cuts.The Monroe County Council appropriates all funds for county use and is responsible for adopting a suitable budget, according to the county council’s Web site.The budget adopted by the county council is used for all county employees, supplies, equipment and contractual services, said Geoff McKim, an at-large member of the Monroe County Council.The $2 million deficit is due in part to a state property tax cap. Before the tax cap, the state brought in more revenue. But general public school funds adopted by the state have had a large impact on Monroe County, Kelson said.“The county would collect interest on various investment vehicles for schools for several months,” said Kelson. “We don’t get the interest anymore.”The absence of the school funds has had a significant impact on the county budget, McKim said.“In 2007, we had $3 million in interest income,” McKim said. “This year we’ll be lucky if we clear $700,000.”In March, Kelson named McKim as one of the three members of a working group to begin looking at revenue projections for the 2009 fiscal year. To tackle the budget problem, the three looked at past budgets and how county councils have dealt with budget cuts.Last Tuesday, the council chose nine vacant positions to freeze as opposed to having to fire anyone, Foster said.The positions included six full-time and three hourly positions, and the freeze will affect departments including the auditor’s office, the probation department and the sheriff’s department.But the freeze is only a temporary fix while the county council works to get ahead of its financial problem, McKim said.The freeze is projected to save the county about $189,000 this year, Foster said.To find out how to get the rest of the money, the county departments have divided up into two teams: departments related to criminal justice and everyone else, McKim said.“The departments meet to come up with ways to cut budgets within their departments,” McKim said. “How it cuts will be dependent on what the departments are able to come up with.”If a department believes a position that was frozen needs to be filled, they are required to submit a written request to Foster, after which the county will deliberate the department’s argument, Foster said.Department heads have until Monday to submit requests, and they have already started coming in, Foster said.“I already have four, and they have until Monday,” Foster said, “so I assume I’ll have several more soon.”
(04/10/09 4:07am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Out of hundreds of teams that sent in audition tapes, two were chosen to perform during Black Entertainment Television’s Revamped competition. One was from IU.The IU Essence hip hop dance team placed second at BET’s Spring Bling Revamped competition March 28 in Riviera Beach, Fla. The Spring Bling special began airing on BET on Thursday and will continue through Saturday.Arbara Rogers, an IU alumna attending graduate school in Indianapolis, came down during the week before the competition to critique the team. Rogers said better preparedness and critiques helped IU Essence advance as far as they did.“This year, we knew what they were looking for,” Rogers said.This was the second year IU Essence has auditioned for Revamped. Last year the team made it to the second round of auditions.According to BET.com, Revamped is considered one of the most popular shows at Spring Bling and consists of two competing dance groups, adding their own twist to one of the most popular current music videos.Two rounds of competition will air for Revamped. The first aired Thursday and the second will air at 4:30 p.m. Saturday on BET. This year, the first round of the competition required dance teams to mimic Beyonce’s music video “Single Ladies.” But because IU Essence has a co-ed group of dancers, they were given the opportunity to choose a song to which to dance. The team chose the song “Freeze” by Chris Brown and T-Pain.For the next round, the dance teams had less than 24 hours to prepare a routine to D.J. Unk’s song “Show Out.” Celebrity judges who critiqued the dances included former Destiny’s Child member, LaToya Luckett and female rapper, Trina.IU Essence was founded in 1995 by Taprena Augustine and was the only African-American hip-hop dance crew on the IU-Bloomington campus, according to the IU Essence Dance Web site, www.indiana.edu/~essence/.The team has tryouts once a semester and, in the past, has taken as many as 30 people. Those who audition are given two hours to learn a dance, after which they perform in front of current Essence members, Rogers said.Last year, eight members of Essence were chosen to perform at Spring Bling. This year, six of the 14 members were selected. The team had tryouts and chose three men and three women to perform.After they were selected to perform, the dance team set to work finding ways to earn money for their trip to Florida. The team went to various businesses, campus organizations and family members asking for donations.“We had basically a week to collect money,” Rogers said. “There was some money left over from old donations, and we had one grant from last year.”Back stage, the IU Essence team got to hang out with celebrities who performed during Spring Bling, including Busta Rhymes, Mims, Yung Joc, Rick Ross and Pretty Ricky, Rogers said.“Everybody liked Pretty Ricky,” Rogers said. “He was so nice.”But Rogers’s favorite moment wasn’t meeting celebrities.“My favorite moment was watching them perform,” Rogers said. “Last year we were in the crowd, but this year we were backstage watching our team.”A mistake made during the audition had the team worried, but when the judges announced IU had made it to the top two, the room filled with cheers from the dance team, Rogers said.“When they said that IU made it to the top two, we were all screaming and crying,” she said. “It was amazing.”
(04/10/09 3:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The mood was light and the smiles were genuine as members of IU’s Virtu Project shook hands with associates of the Timmy Foundation on Thursday in the Maple Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.Despite the floundering state of the economy, the Virtu Project donated $7,710 to the Timmy Foundation this year. The Virtu Project is a mock investment portfolio managed by students in IU’s Liberal Arts and Management Program, and investors donate the returns earned on their pretend investment. The Timmy Foundation is a nonprofit organization that funds hospitals and student trips to nine medically under-served countries, including Ecuador, Colombia and Nigeria.The Virtu Project is in its third year, and this is the first year they were able to donate to the Timmy Foundation. Each year, the Timmy Foundation sponsors an internship for a student in the Liberal Arts and Management Program. Last year, junior Krista Bergman was chosen for the internship. Because Timmy is such a dynamic foundation, Bergman said she had an opportunity to have a real impact on the organization.“I had my own project of patient-tracking in Ecuador,” Bergman said. “It’s one of the best things I’ve done at IU.”The money raised by Virtu Project was made through a mock financial portfolio put together by the Virtu members, Bergman said.For the mock portfolio, Virtu Project members found donors and asked them to pledge a phantom sum of money that members would put in their portfolio and invest in the stock market at different levels, Bergman said.Junior Brock Jones, future president of the Virtu Project, said three teams made up the project: investment, funds development and accountability. As part of the investment team, Jones’ job was to research potential donors and decide how to invest the pledged money.Since the investment team could not actually invest, members closely followed the stock market to determine how much they were earning or losing, Jones said.If the Virtu program makes money, donors make a pledge to give the program members whatever profit they would have made in the stock market, Bergman said.“If someone pledges $10,000 to our portfolio, we manage the money like it’s real,” Bergman said. “We would work with it for a year, and, say we’re ahead by 10 percent, they would owe us $100.”Most of the investors included IU faculty and staff members, Bergman said.“The administration for IU had been very supportive and supplied a large amount of donations,” she said.During the luncheon, Matt Leroue, international programs coordinator for the Timmy Foundation, said the students made possible all the nonprofit work the foundation does.“Without seeing the poverty of these nations, the Virtu organization decided to help,” Leroue said. “That helped us move beyond just the IU chapter of our foundation.”Sophomore Patrick Onkka, future vice president of the Virtu Project, said the project was the first of its kind.“It combines giving you the education you need to approach something like the stock market with business skills that you can use outside of the classroom,” Onkka said.
(04/03/09 4:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington has once again made substantial efforts to go “green.”Last week, the Bloomington City Council passed the city’s first green building ordinance, requiring 15 government buildings to meet stringent energy efficiency standards.Council Member Isabel Piedmont-Smith said in a press release that because Bloomington was not planning on any major developments, the city implemented U.S. Green Building Council standards on existing buildings.“We continue to strive to be better environmental stewards, and identifying energy efficiencies is critical since, in the long run, they reduce our operating costs and decrease our carbon footprint,” Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan said in a press release.Last year, the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns named Bloomington the Indiana Green Community of the Year for its approach to energy efficiency in various developments, notably the development of EverGreen Village, the city’s first “all-green” neighborhood.The building changes come as the city begins to participate in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system. That system helps to provide efficient renovation processes while aiming to maximize energy efficiency, according the U.S. Green Building Council’s Web site.The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards for existing buildings focus on addressing whole-building maintenance issues, including chemical use, recycling programs, exterior maintenance programs and systems upgrades.The standards for Bloomington require that all buildings be brought to a Silver Standard.To win that classification, a building must earn a specific number of points on criteria including water efficiency, energy, atmosphere, materials and resources, according to the government publication Government Technology. The Silver Standard is one of four rating standards.Adam Wason, Bloomington’s assistant director of economic development for small businesses and sustainable development, said the 15 buildings were mainly based on number of employees and year-round use.“We wanted to select buildings that employment was taking place at,” Wason said. “We wanted buildings that were non-seasonal.”The facilities include City Hall, Department of Public Works buildings, Parks and Recreation buildings and the Utility Service.The application of the Silver Standard rating assumes that the construction costs will be offset within a 10-year period, according to a press release.Officials said renovation costs are tentative and specific numbers were not available.The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards are meant to not only be energy-efficient, but to pay for themselves over time, Wason said.The ordinance was designed to specifically offset the cost of improvements or upgrades with the savings from more energy-efficient and conservation-oriented appliances, Wason said.“If we’re going to do some type of renovation for this ordinance, it’s going to take time to pay itself off,” Wason said.In this case, there is a 10-year payback period in which taxpayers are projected to save money by applying energy-efficient methods to appliances pertaining primarily to heating, cooling and saving water, Wason said.“We’re trying to be fiscally responsible with taxpayers’ money,” Wason said. “We’re doing this for wanting to be energy-efficient and to save taxpayers money in the long run.”
(03/31/09 4:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Gov. Mitch Daniels’ plan for a substitute gas plant is projected to provide billions in savings for energy customers and provide more than 1,000 jobs for Hoosiers.But some worry the plan, which would turn coal into a natural gas substitute, will end up costing Indiana residents more in the long run.The General Assembly set Daniels’ bill in motion last week, entering the state into negotiations for 30-year contracts for the purchase and sale of substitute natural gas to Indiana customers. In the following weeks, the state will have an auction for the plant’s development contract open to private developers. The facility, to be located in Rockport, Ind., would turn coal into substitute natural gas.In October 2006, Daniels proposed building a substitute natural gas plant in southern Indiana.After some taxpayers voiced concern, the bill was modified to ensure no state dollars would be used to construct the plant.When presented to the General Assembly, the bill received overwhelming support in both the Senate (48-0) and House of Representatives (90-8).The plant would refine coal to produce substitute natural gas, which is essentially the same as the natural gas currently used to heat the homes of Indiana residents. Use of substitute natural gas from Indiana – as opposed to other states – is projected to save Hoosiers billions of dollars in the long run.A single substitute natural gas plant could meet as much as 20 percent of Indiana’s residential gas consumption, according to statistics put out by Daniels’ office.During the bill signing, Daniels said its approval would make Indiana a leader in the clean-coal era.“I cannot thank enough the people who helped us take this important step,” Daniels said. “This has been a great bipartisan effort. It’s how we always make the best progress in Indiana.”Substitute natural gas is produced with 99 percent fewer emissions than a traditional coal plant, according to statistics put out by Daniels’ office.Daniels said coal is one of the most abundant resources in America and it would be foolish to not use it.“We have more energy in coal in this country than there is oil in the entire world in terms of its energy output,” Daniels said. “The notion that we can somehow abandon the use of coal is a prescription for poverty in this state, and it must be contested vigorously.”But, those opposed to the bill claim that the 30-year contract could hurt Indiana’s economy in the long run because the market price of substitute natural gas could fluctuate and fall below the contract price. Although taxpayers would not pay for the construction of the plant, using substitute natural gas could be more expensive than the natural gas that Indiana currently uses.Opponents also say it’s not possible to differentiate between those who pay utilities and those who pay taxes. The Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana’s program director Kerwin Olson said the separation Daniels makes between taxpayers and rate payers, who pay utilities, is not valid because everyone has to pay utility bills.“He puts taxpayers on a pedestal and promises them protection while he throws rate payers to the wolves,” Olson said. “He acts as if people have two separate checkbooks, and it’s the same person.”Olson said the 30-year lock-in on the bill will create more poverty for southern Indiana than what already exists.“(Substitute natural gas) is down on the market,” Olson said. “The cost of gas from the (substitute natural gas) plant would be double for what it is on the market.”The idea that substitute natural gas will help the Indiana economy is also a myth, Olson said.“If coal were such a beacon of prosperity, why is southern Indiana so impoverished?” Olson said.Ideally, the Citizens Action Coalition believes alternate sources of energy would be the alternative to both natural gas and substitute natural gas, Olson said.“We don’t need to build an expensive coal plant that would turn it into (substitute natural gas),” Olson said. “We’re 90 percent reliant on coal, and to rely on it for natural gas is ludicrous.”
(03/02/09 3:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Congress recently approved a bill that will force representatives to forego a scheduled pay raise for 2010. The move saves taxpayers a projected $2.5 million, according to a statement from Rep. Baron Hill’s office.Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., originally introduced the Stop the Congressional Pay Raise Act in 2007. This year, he received more than 100 co-sponsors, including Hill of Indiana’s 9th District and Rep. Dan Burton from Indiana’s 5th District. The bill will block any automatic pay raises for members in the Legislative Branch of Congress for the fiscal year of 2010, according to Mitchell’s Web site.Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi spoke to the House of Representatives on Feb. 11, saying that the cost-of-living adjustment would not continue due to the “condition of our economy and the crisis our country is in.”The blocking of the cost-of-living adjustment was attached to an Omnibus Bill, which Congress approved Wednesday. The bill provides federal funding for the government through the rest of the fiscal year.In 1989, Congress created the cost-of-living adjustment that would give members of Congress an automatic pay raise at the end of every fiscal year if members of the House didn’t block the bill, according to gopetition.com’s “Stop the Congressional Pay Raise” petition.Mitchell’s first two attempts to petition the annual pay raise were unsuccessful, with only 29 co-sponsors in 2007 and 34 in 2008. This year, however, Mitchell’s petition had 109 co-sponsors when Pelosi spoke to the House. Mitchell’s Stop the Congressional Pay Raise Act was the first of its kind to generate broad bipartisan sponsorship. At the beginning of his petition he had almost equal co-sponsorship, with 61 Democrats and 45 other Republicans, according to gopetition.com.During the bill’s introduction, Mitchell said that Congress should not be able to accept a pay raise if Americans could not get one.“The American people did not get a pay raise this year,” Mitchell said to Congress. “I do not know how in good conscience we, as their representatives, cannot only accept one, but insist on another one for next year.”In a Feb. 17 statement, Hill said he was pleased with Congress’ decision to block the annual pay raise.“Our constituents are largely not getting pay raises, so neither should we,” Hill said.Burton issued a statement after Pelosi addressed the House saying that blocking the bill showed that Congress put the citizens first.“The Democrat leaders in the House finally agreed to make members of Congress tighten their own belts,” Burton said. But some members of Congress and other federal employees are opposed to blocking the cost-of-living adjustment because the adjustment is an essential part of income for their families, said John Donnelly, spokesman for Burton.“Some members sleep in their office so they can have a home in Washington,” Donnelly said. “Some have kids who are at the college age who they are trying to put through higher education.”The money that was originally meant for the cost-of-living adjustment will stay in the treasury, Donnelly said.“We don’t have this money anyway, so it would just be seen as not increasing our debt,” Donnelly said.
(02/26/09 1:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Fern Bonchek, instructor and executive director of People & Animal Learning Services, sits in her office, which is within a stable, surrounded by various coats and mud-covered boots. Pictures are peppered throughout the room. Some are paintings of fox hunts and some are of members posing with their horses. The clip-clop of hooves keeps beat with Bonchek’s explanation of her program. “My mother had her riding program in Bloomington,” Bonchek said. “This wasn’t a foreign idea.”People & Animal Learning Services, founded in July 2000, is a non-profit equine-assisted program designed to help individuals with mental and physical disabilities as well as at-risk youth. The program started with one woman and her desire to bring equine-assisted therapy to Bloomington.After high school, Bonchek moved to California and enrolled in training at the Fran Joswick Therapeutic Riding Center, one of the oldest equine-assisted therapy programs in the United States, Bonchek said. She stayed for four years after training and went on to become a registered instructor through the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association. She decided to take her new title as a certified therapeutic instructor back to Bloomington.“I grew up around horses,” Bonchek said, “and I always wanted to help people, so PALS was a way to put my two passions together.”Bonchek also teaches R250: Intro to Equine-Assisted Activities in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation during the fall semester.“The class consists of actual class time and then lab time, which is at the barn,” Bonchek said.In 2008, People & Animal Learning Services was able to provide more than 1,800 lessons to people with mental and physical disabilities. Steve McGovern, a 43-year-old with Fragile-X Syndrome, the most common cause of autism, has been riding with People & Animal Learning Services for five years. He is currently training for the Special Olympics Equestrian Games, which will take place Sept. 12 in Danville, Ind. He has been riding Brynja, a Norwegian Fjord.“He’s working on a dressage test,” said Diana McGovern, Steve’s mother. “He and Brynja make a nice pair.”The dressage test includes forming various circular patterns and diagonals with the horse. Prior to joining People & Animal Learning Services, Diana and Steve knew Bonchek’s mother, Barb Bonchek. Steve McGovern rode competitively in the past, including the American Royal Horse Show in Kansas City. Long bars enclose the indoor arena where Steve McGovern and Brynja practice. Letters are strategically posted on bars, directions for where the rider should turn the horse. Dust kicks up throughout the vast stadium as Steve McGovern moves Brynja into a trot.“He comes here right from work, and he has been signed up in all three sessions,” Diana McGovern said. “He never misses a lesson.”Jennifer Lung is the head riding instructor for the organization. She stands in the middle of the arena observing Steve McGovern and Brynja’s patterns and directing the dressage.“Very nice!” Lung said. “Now you have to bring her from Spot C to Spot H.”Lung said her love for horses began when she was 10 years old. She and her horse, Goodbar, would compete in 4-H Club shows and costume classes. Like Bonchek, People & Animal Learning Services fuses two of Lung’s favorite activities.“I had worked with people with disabilities before, and I had been riding since I was 10,” Lung said. “So when I heard about PALS I thought ‘Oh cool! It’s both!’”The bond a rider has with his horse is one that is not easily replicated, partly because of the sheer size of the animal, Bonchek said.“If you put a little 4-year-old on a horse, and they can control this large animal, it is very significant,” Bonchek said.Horses are also attuned to the personalities and attitudes of humans, she said.“They can tell if you’re having a bad day, if you’re calm, scared, tired,” Bonchek said, leaning slightly forward and smiling. “Other therapy clinics don’t have the same mechanics as a horse.”
(02/04/09 4:57am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The unemployment rate in the nation was 7.2 percent in December. Indiana’s was a full percent higher.More than 260,000 Hoosiers were unemployed in December, bringing the unemployment rate in Indiana to 8.2 percent.Indiana Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Teresa Voors said in a Jan. 27 statement that this leap is a combination of construction, retail and manufacturing. The Department of Workforce Development has already begun assisting Indiana citizens by helping Hoosiers file for unemployment.Marc Lotter, spokesman for the Department of Workforce Development, attributed this unemployment rise mostly to the decline in manufacturing.While retail has suffered throughout the nation and construction habitually slows in the winter months, the decline in Indiana’s manufacturing industry has severely affected the state, Lotter said.“Indiana has the highest manufacturing of any state,” Lotter said. “No state in the nation has the same concentration as northern Indiana, and it’s had a devastating impact.”Elkhart County is located in northern Indiana, where recreational vehicle manufacturing is a dominant economic player. Last December the county reported a 15.3 percent unemployment rate – the highest in Indiana – according to numbers the U.S. Department of Labor released in January. The department has teamed up with various organizations in order to help Hoosiers with the unemployment process.The Department of Workforce Development started a partnership with the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and the Indiana State Library to provide computers and training to groups interested in helping Indiana residents file for unemployment.After filing for unemployment, residents are eligible for a certain amount of benefits. The amount of benefits received is based on various factors including the amount of money earned while at the person’s former job, length of service and ability to continue looking for another job, Lotter said. “The most anyone could qualify for is 59 weeks of unemployment with a maximum of $390 a week,” Lotter said.Senior Philip Snodgrass said he believes the current unemployment policy is sufficient during these struggling economic times.“Congress shouldn’t make it easier to collect checks while we are in a recession,” Snodgrass said. “It defeats the purpose.”
(01/23/09 6:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Monroe County residents might see their food become a little more expensive soon.The Monroe County Council took steps toward expanding the Monroe County Convention Center by introducing a bill last week that could increase the tax on food and beverages in restaurants within Monroe County by 1 percent.But the change has brought up mixed feelings among local restaurant owners. Most like the idea of promoting county tourism, but some question where the money will go.Gregg Rago, owner and general manager of Nick’s English Hut, said it’s not the increase that worries most owners, but how the additional tax revenue will be spent.Rago said one of the main reasons for the bill is to attract tourists and various businesses to the area.“Monroe County is the third-largest tourist county in the state,” Rago said. “It’s natural to hold conventions here.”The renovations on the center include expanding the current space from 20,000 to 60,000 square feet and creating an adjacent parking lot. Currently, the center does not have the capacity to hold certain conventions that could be a major source of income for Monroe County.Revenue from the tax will “only be used to finance, refinance, construct and operate or maintain a convention center, a conference center or economic development projects,” according to the bill.Monroe County Councilman Vic Kelson said he’s interested to see where all the money will go as well.Kelson said that deciding the money’s endpoint is going to be challenging, but the council will plan projects related to the county’s tourism. “The council will put up its project ideas,” Kelson said. “But I’m open for suggestions as well.”With its intention to increase area tourism, some restaurant owners say the bill could benefit them in the long run. “I’m never in favor of taxes,” said John Bailey, a managing partner at Malibu Grill. “But if we’re going to get a tax increase, and it’s specifically designed to expand the convention center and promote tourism within the county, that would benefit everybody.”Scott Morris, a managing partner at Cheeseburger in Paradise, echoed the possibility for a win-win.“Bloomington definitely benefits from the things that happen in town,” Morris said. “It’s a smaller town, and the most revenue we get is from tourism.”But Morris also said the bill should be more specific about how the money will be spent.“It’s a low-hanging fruit,” Bailey said. “If you’re going to get taxed, you might as well do it for the good of the economy.”The biggest concern for most restaurant owners is that the revenue from the bill will not actually go toward developing the convention center.“If the bill says it’s going to develop a convention center, that’s what needs to happen,” Rago said. “They should not be able to change where that money goes.”Kelson said he shares the residents’ concern.“I understand their concerns, and I honor their concerns,” Kelson said. “These are hard economic times.” Another major worry for restaurants is that the tax increase may deter customers from dining out. But sophomore Lauren Stern’s opinion differs.“The increase is very minimal,” Stern said. “(It) won’t affect how often I go out to eat.”