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(09/23/08 3:08am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU-Northwest campus in Gary will remain closed for a second week as parts of the campus are still under water.All events and classes have been canceled through this week and campus is expected to reopen Sept. 29.Flooding occurred as a result of the remnants of Hurricane Ike, which hit the area Sept. 14 and backed up many of the campus storm sewers, said Chris Sheid, marketing communications specialist for IU-Northwest.“There was such a volume of water that the water was coming back up and onto campus,” Sheid said.The sewer water has been bubbling up on campus, especially in crawl spaces and mechanical rooms, Sheid said.IU President Michael McRobbie and other University officials traveled to Gary on Friday afternoon to see the campus.“President McRobbie decided it was important for him to personally see the damage firsthand,” said Michael Sample, vice president for public affairs and government relations, who accompanied McRobbie on the trip.As of Monday, some parking lots and buildings are still under water. Sheid said the theater in Tamarack Hall took on water, as did some of the academic offices and classrooms.Sample said damages are still being assessed, and officials will have to wait until the water has completely receded before knowing its full effect.The flooding continued to worsen last week as the Little Calumet River just north of campus overflowed, adding to the standing water, Sheid said.Sheid said the water has been receding slowly, and cleaning crews have been sanitizing areas after water has drained. He added that people are being told to stay off campus for their protection from bacteria in the river water.Sheid said some teachers have been in contact with their students over the break. The IU-Northwest Office of Academic Affairs is currently working on a plan to enable teachers to make up the two lost weeks, Sheid said. Options may include adding Friday classes or extending class length.“I have no reason at this point to believe that we will not meet this goal,” Sheid said in regards to reopening the campus on Sept. 29.
(09/22/08 2:18am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students endured a hot afternoon sun and then an evening rainstorm while attending the second annual Timmypalooza benefit concert Sunday.Seven bands took the stage at the fundraiser for the IU Chapter of the Timmy Foundation. This year, the chapter’s goal is to raise $20,000 to help build an intensive care unit and a postpartum ward for a hospital in Ecuador, said Timmypalooza organizer and senior Anna Remenschneider.Last year was the first Timmypalooza, and it took place at the Indiana Memorial Union. Organizer and sophomore Gaby Cheikh was glad to see the fundraiser move forward. SOUNDSLIDE: Timmypalooza“It’s just gotten bigger and better in every single way I can think of,” Cheikh said.This year, non-profit organizations set up booths while vendors such as Chipotle and Coca-Cola Co. donated food for the event.It began raining at about 5 p.m., and students had to take cover in one of the two tents provided. By the time the headlining band, Company of Thieves, took the stage at about 6 p.m., the rain had cleared and only a handful of the attendees remained.The Timmy Foundation was started by Dr. Chuck Dietzen and named after his younger brother, Tim. Its goal is to provide health care and education for children in under-privileged countries. IU was the foundation’s first college chapter.Last year, Remenschneider went to the Dominican Republic as a Spanish and Haitian Creole translator.“The best part is the human contact and the awareness you get from these trips,” Remenschneider said.This year, the IU chapter will take 18 students to Ecuador, where they will help set up medical clinics and educate people about steps they can take to prevent the spread of disease.Remenschneider said the foundation rotates representatives sent from each chapter.“They understand that the only real solution is creating a sustainable project, one that doesn’t just go, show people around and leave,” she said.The medical treatment aspect attracts many medical students looking to gain experience abroad.Senior Alana Gilman just recently got involved with the chapter as a bridge between two of her passions.“This kind of seemed like the perfect union between using my Spanish and being pre-med,” Gilman said. She said she has volunteered to help teach Spanish to the students who will go to the Dominican Republic.Cheikh said the program has grown immensely since it first began in 1997. Now the foundation has representatives in seven countries, relying on fundraising from events like Timmypalooza.“It was a really cool event,” said sophomore Stephanie Duncan. “It was for a good cause, so I don’t mind spending the money.”
(09/19/08 3:57am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU President Michael McRobbie announced Thursday that the University will spend an extra $1 million to help increase diversity on IU’s campuses.The funding is additional money meant to supplement current programs, said IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre.“President McRobbie wants to make an all-out effort to raise diversity so we can ensure we are serving all of Indiana,” MacIntyre said.During the 2007-2008 school year, just more than 10 percent of Bloomington students were racial minorities, compared to 9 percent a decade ago, according to the Office of Academic Support and Diversity Web site. In 2007-2008, 16 percent of faculty members were minorities, compared to 10 percent a decade ago, according to IU Factbook.The most racially diverse campus is IU Northwest in Gary, where more than 35 percent of students are minorities.MacIntyre said McRobbie recently reviewed proposals from each of IU’s eight campuses about what could be done to increase diversity among students, faculty and staff across IU in June 2007.“He concluded that there are some promising plans,” MacIntyre said. “He wanted to put some money to fund those proposals.”McRobbie found the proposals so promising that he decided to spend an extra $1 million to help fund them.Chancellors and provosts from each IU campus will give McRobbie new lists of what they believe to be the best uses for the money. McRobbie will then use the new money to fund additional programs he believes show the most potential to draw in minority students.The new fund is a part of the President’s University Diversity Initiative, and the deadline for the chancellors’ proposals is Nov. 3.
(09/19/08 3:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____> Vision. Pragmatism. Charisma. Consensus. Trust. Judgement. Luck.Historian Robert Dallek explained what he called the most important features for a president Thursday night at Rawles Hall.About 70 students, faculty and citizens attended the first lecture in the three-part Branigin Lecture Series. Dallek spoke about his experiences as a presidential historian and professor for 44 years, including qualities of successful presidents.“He plays no favorites,” said history professor John Bodnar, who introduced Dallek, a former professor at several universities, including Columbia, UCLA, Oxford, Dartmouth and Stanford.Dallek has written books about Presidents Nixon, Johnson, Clinton and Reagan. Through his research he has identified seven traits presidents needed to succeed.“They must be visionaries,” Dallek said. “They must have an idea of a larger design. Where are you going to take the country?”Pragmatism or realistic decisions. Charisma or the power of personality. The ability to build a consensus and bring Americans together. Trust and credibility.Graduate student Bobby Macedo said he appreciated Dallek’s simplicity.“He wasn’t speaking over anybody’s head,” Macedo said.While presidents make judgement in real time, historians use time to evaluate their decisions, Dallek said.“We historians have a large advantage because we know how things turned out,” he said. “We can look back on it with 20/20 eye sight.”A little luck doesn’t hurt either.“If you have good fortune, it can be so helpful...,” Dallek said. “But luck can only be carried so far.”Dallek said most Americans identify George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt as the best presidents in American history, followed by John Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.Turning to the present, Dallek said he wasn’t sure which presidential candidates had more of the qualities, but whoever assumed control would have difficult times ahead.“They’re going to have to deal with a crisis situation that will match what Franklin Roosevelt dealt with in 1933,” Dallek said, adding Americans need to rise above politics when voting.“We need to be above partisanship,” he said. “Whoever wins I wish them luck, more than luck, because we’re going to need a very effective president.”He said he was excited about this election, particularly the chance of increased voter turnout.Dallek said Americans needs a president to unite them, rather than a national disaster. “I hope it doesn’t take a Depression to bring us back together again,” he said.The next Branigin lecturer will be Charles Franklin, who will speak about polling data at 7 p.m. Sept. 30 at Woodburn Hall, Room 120.
(09/17/08 4:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>AT&T will add a cell phone tower to campus to combat poor wireless coverage, said IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre.IU and AT&T officials are still negotiating the terms of the deal, which would involve IU leasing land to AT&T for the tower. MacIntyre said a start date for construction on the tower is still unknown. Currently, the company does not have any towers on campus, said AT&T spokesman Chris Bauer.AT&T has been updating software and hardware across the campus this week. Bauer said the company is already seeing improvement in its coverage.Since the start of the semester, AT&T has seen an increase in demand for service in Bloomington.“We discovered that the current cell towers were not adequate for all the usage,” MacIntyre said. “AT&T was not prepared for the volume of traffic.”At IU’s request, AT&T submitted a proposal to the University this week that detailed short- and long-term solutions to the network problem.MacIntyre said IU submitted a Request for Proposal to AT&T on Sept. 9 asking for ways it can improve cell phone reception on campus. Bauer said the company had until Sept. 15 to submit the proposal.IU and AT&T currently have contracts to provide discounts to students, staff and faculty. Per the deal, AT&T is expected to provide service across the campus, MacIntyre said.The parties will continue to negotiate the deal this week and are yet to set any final plans.
(09/17/08 4:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As freshmen Molly Blazak and Stephanie Courtney sat smoking outside the steps at Wright Quad, students passed by eager to eat dinner.After only the second week since move-in, both agreed the freshmen were dealing well as the first incoming class to come to IU with the smoking ban in place.“I’ve never really heard it talked about,” Blazak said. “It just seems pretty accepted.”Both students said they first heard about the ban through word of mouth before coming to Bloomington, not through IU.In fact, Courtney learned about the ban from her mother and initially thought there weren’t smoking sections outside the dorms.“I understand why it’s here,” she said. “The majority of people don’t smoke, and some people are offended by it.”IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said the University is relying on peer pressure to help enforce the ban rather than officials patroling the campus.“We’re not sure such a thing would be feasible or appropriate at this time,” MacIntyre said.MacIntyre said visitors and an open campus would make enforcement difficult.Resident assistants could refer students to the dean of students but didn’t know if any had been referred, he said.Courtney said that some of her friends have been asked to move to designated smoking areas by RAs.“Some people were smoking hookah near the volleyball net and an RA asked, ‘Can you move that 15 feet that way and then you’ll be fine?’” Council said.While freshmen might not think much of the ban, older students see a big change in the enforcement from last semester, especially with RAs asking students to move.“They weren’t enforcing it,” said sophomore Nick Rypel. “There’s definitely less people walking and smoking.”The ban went into effect on all eight IU campuses at the beginning of this year, and sophomore Sean Raftery, who went to IU-Purdue University Indianapolis last year, said the enforcement there was a lot stricter last semester.“It can definitely be enforced more,” he said. “They could put up more signs. They had a lot of them at IUPUI.”Students feel the University can do a better job alerting students about the ban.“I didn’t even know there was a smoking ban. I’ve been here for two weeks,” said freshman Mark Rodriguez.Other students said they have seen posters and signs around campus, particularly dorms.Rypel said while not all students have stopped smoking, the situation has improved.“Some don’t, obviously, but you’ve always got that,” Rypel said. “It’s definitely a lot less.”
(09/17/08 3:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For National Public Radio U.S. Supreme Court reporter Nina Totenberg, the greatest issue this presidential election has nothing to do with oil, the economy or war.“The message to voters is clear,” she said. “This election could determine if the court swings sharply to the right or not.”Totenberg spoke at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the IU Auditorium as the second speaker in the fall School of Journalism Speaker Series. She spoke about the balance of the Supreme Court and the current state of journalism.Totenberg, who has been reporting on law and the Supreme Court for NPR since 1975, used her expertise to examine how the presidential election could affect the shape of the court for years.She explained the Supreme Court’s most liberal justices are also its oldest – all well into their 70s.A McCain presidency would solidify a conservative majority for years, she said. An Obama win would, at the most, keep the court divided.“President Bush has moved the court significantly in a conservative direction,” she said. “The next president will either reserve the balance or move it in a still more conservative direction.”Totenberg said today’s court was one of the most conservative in history and there hasn’t been a truly liberal court in almost 40 years.“Right now, the Supreme Court is light years more conservative than it was in the ’70s and ‘80s,” she said.Now the court is on an “ideological knife’s edge,” Totenberg said.She added the upcoming election will help to determine future rulings on issues such as abortion, privacy rights, affirmative action, property rights and environmental laws, among many others.The audience members included some of Totenberg’s followers like Kevin Dogan, 54, of Monroe County, who is a frequent NPR listener.“She was very good, and she usually is,” Dogan said, “especially concerning the court’s decision and help making sense of them.”Totenberg spoke for about 30 minutes, and afterward the conversation shifted to her thoughts about the national media.Many of the attendees, like sophomore Victoria Daley, were journalism students who attended for class or just personal interest.“She’d be a good role-model for students,” Daley said of Totenberg’s neutrality.High-school student Lauren Leason came all the way from Columbus, Ind., with her mom and dad to hear Totenberg speak. Leason’s mom, Kathleen, said she was glad to see Totenberg’s neutrality in her reporting.Totenberg talked about the need for journalists to be committed to fairness, not to one side of an issue. “I got into this business because I wanted to be a witness to history and explain complicated things to people,” she said. “If I wanted to be involved in the cause, I would be doing something different.”She said television personalities like Bill O’Reilly and Keith Olbermann were committed to specific sides of issues.“I’m not involved in the cause,” she said. “I think there are rules. You can’t be totally unbiased, but what you can be is fair.”
(09/16/08 3:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Monday night’s IU College Republican call-out meeting was more like a history class than a political meeting.Guest speakers, including Indiana State Treasurer Richard Murdoch and 9th Congressional District candidate Mike Sodrel, addressed a packed Maple Room at the Indiana Memorial Union.Sodrel spoke about issues such as drilling for oil, the economy and the need for smaller government. He also praised national efforts from Republican presidential nominee John McCain and vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin.Murdoch recalled a past visit to the group in 1992, where he met with six people. This time Murdoch was surprised to find more than 60 at the meeting.“I was thrilled to see this much enthusiasm,” Murdoch said. “This campus has a history of liberalism, and to see this many people here and fired up is great.”Murdoch cited a similar meeting at a bar in Boston in 1773, where a handful of people discussed a possible revolution.“That was the start of the American Revolution – a shot heard round the world,” Murdoch said.The rest, he said, was history. But Murdoch said students didn’t have to change the world.“All you have to do is change what’s happening on the IU campus,” he said.College Republicans chairwoman and junior Chelsea Kane was pleased with the turnout.“I couldn’t be happier,” Kane said.She said she has been working to increase membership and reaching out to different groups of people.“It’s been my vision to bring as many people into the fold as possible,” Kane said.Murdoch and Sodrel echoed a sense of history and said that students were in a position to make some of their own.Sodrel said that the Founding Fathers looked to history to examine other forms of government to see what worked.“History is kind of taking society apart, seeing how it works,” Sodrel said.
(09/15/08 3:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The remnants of Hurricane Ike stormed through Bloomington on Sunday, taking down power lines and trees along the way.The powerful storm that hit the Texas Gulf on Friday ripped through the Midwest over the weekend.According to Duke Energy’s Web site, 20,157 people were still without power in Monroe County and 173,458 in the state as of 10:55 p.m. Sunday.Senior Tara Garrett was eating at about noon Sunday at the Runcible Spoon when someone came in and asked if anyone owned a green Honda.“Before I looked I saw people covering their mouths,” Garrett said. “I was kind of afraid to look.”Garrett walked out to find a tree had fallen on her car, and her rearview mirror was on the street about 30 feet away from her car. The car was totalled, Garrett said.“I had literally just sat down,” Garrett said of leaving her car minutes earlier. “That was lucky.”John Hooker, Monroe County emergency management director, said most damage comes from trees and power lines falling.He said fire departments and city and county street departments were working to clear debris in the streets and respond to calls.Overall, he called it a routine storm and said all areas of Monroe County were affected.
(09/15/08 3:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>AT&T will submit a proposal to IU today about how to fix a “wireless network problem” that has been affecting cell phone coverage in Bloomington.IU officials asked for the proposal because there are problems with reception on campus, said IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre.AT&T spokesman Chris Bauer said AT&T has seen an increase in demand as students have returned to campus. He did not identify the source of the problem or when it began but said the company is negotiating with the University on how to fix the problem.MacIntyre said he does not know what the next step is after the proposal is submitted.Currently, IU and AT&T have several contracts together, including one that gives an 8 percent discount for students and a 12 percent discount for faculty and staff on cell phone services.The athletics department also began a three-year contract with AT&T in 2006 to make them its official telecommunications partner, according to the athletics department Web site.University Information Technology Services posted an announcement on its Web site on Aug. 24 titled, “Difficulties placing calls on AT&T network.”The announcement said AT&T users “may experience gaps in coverage or difficulty connecting while roaming domestically off AT&T’s wireless network. Technicians are working to restore service.”Bauer said the problem only affects wireless phone networks and is unique to Bloomington.Possible solutions to the problem include new cell phone towers and temporary cell sites on wheels, Bauer said.Bauer said AT&T has been on campus and has heard from students about the problem. AT&T released an official statement late Friday.“AT&T is working with the University on short and long term solutions to improve our wireless voice and data coverage for our customers in and around campus as quickly as possible,” the statement said.
(09/11/08 4:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Cameron Mattoon was sitting in math class at Tri North Middle School in Bloomington. Mark Hoff was sitting in homeroom at a high school in Elkhart, Ind.Madeline Girardi was in band practice in her Chicago middle school.Everybody remembers what they were doing seven years ago today when they heard, or saw, that terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.“Older people say they remember when JFK got assassinated,” said sophomore Jennifer Marinaro. “That’s now our thing. We’ll always remember where we were and what we were doing when that happened.”Most IU students were middle schoolers on Sept. 11 when more than 2,500 Americans were killed during terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa.Today, students better realize – like their parents did decades ago – how a national tragedy changed everything.Some, from national media to even a Facebook group, have called today’s young people the “9/11 Generation.”The Facebook group is a place where students talk about where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news.Mattoon, now a sophomore, remembers the moment clearly.“The passing period and the class before that, a lot of people were saying crazy rumors about New York and the White House,” Mattoon said. “I had no idea what was going on.”He also didn’t know his uncle had an office in the Pentagon or his step-father was flying that day. They were OK, his mother later told him. “She was very stressed out and freaked,” Mattoon said. “The news didn’t turn off the television for days.”Mattoon knows he’s not the only one who can remember the day in such vivid detail.“I’ve talked to people, and just about everybody remembers where they first were when they heard about it,” he said.Hoff, who is also now a sophomore, first heard the news broadcast from his school’s Public Address system.“Then they played it (on television) for everyone to know what was going on,” he said.He remembered his homeroom well.“It was the first time I can remember our homeroom was quiet in a long time,” he said.Hoff didn’t know anyone threatened by the attacks, and it took him years to fully understand its consequences.“People talk about it now like a historical event,” he said. “Back then it was like a recent tragedy. ... Now we’ve started to understand why the attacks happened and why President Bush did what he did.”Madeline Girardi, a sophomore, heard the news when her principal interrupted her band practice.“It was kind of chaotic,” she said. “The teachers didn’t really know how to explain it to us or what to say about it.”Like most students, Girardi didn’t comprehend it at the time.“At first I didn’t understand what was going on,” she said. “It kind of sunk in the week of. As I get older I understand it more. “How can someone do that to us?”Marinaro was at an intermediate school in Noblesville, Ind.“I was walking between classes, and one of the teachers turned on the TV,” she said.But they didn’t stay on. Soon the principal made the teachers turn off the TVs, and Marino didn’t hear about it again until she went home and watched the news with her mom.“It was very shocking,” Marino said. “I don’t think there’s really any other way to describe it.”Students will always remember the attacks – where they were and who they were with – but as they get older, they understand them differently.“I think that is our generation’s big moment that shakes everything up,” Mattoon said. “And the U.S. will never be the same.”
(09/11/08 2:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Three Monroe County Council democratic candidates addressed voters about environmental issues Wednesday night.Incumbent Warren Henegar, Geoff McKim and Julie Thomas talked for about 45 minutes about issues such as alternative transportation, Lake Monroe conservation and creating a green economy at Karst Farm Park.Candidates used the park as a way to highlight the need for environmental policies, which they called one of the most important issues to be addressed.Thomas said that it can also help people save money.“Environmental sustainability creates fiscal sustainability,” Thomas said. “Let’s save some money.”Alternative transportation dominated a lot of the talk. McKim said bike paths need to be constructed from the county to the city.“Anybody that wants to commute to work, they should be able to do.”Candidates connected alternative transportation to reducing people’s need for gas, which they said is both an environmental and financial issue.Light rail and rail roads were also mentioned as alternatives to be explored, although candidates admitted they would be built only in the long-term.Henegar talked about the need to add a conservation district for Monroe Lake.“We should be doing something to protect the lake,” Henegar said.He cited the need to protect the water supply and drinking water.“We need to get some control over our water system,” Henegar said. “The conservation district would at least give us some say-so.”Henegar also said the burden of paying for storm water damage should be shifted from taxpayers to groups that are responsible for the runoff.All three of the candidates are running for the three at-large positions on the Council. Currently the positions are held by Henegar, Michael Woods and Sophia Travis.
(09/11/08 2:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Politicians, firemen and police officers will be on hand for a morning
ceremony to commemorate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks today.
The ceremony is at 9 a.m. at the Showers Common at City Hall, and
organizers are encouraging the public to attend, said Daniel Lopez,
City of Bloomington communications director.
“It’s really a good time for us to thank our fire department and police
department for the services they provide,” Lopez said. “We don’t take
the time to thank them like we should, so this is an opportunity to do
that.”
Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan, State Sen. Vi Simpson, State Rep. Peggy
Welch, Bloomington Fire Chief Roger Kerr, Bloomington Police Chief Mike
Diekhoff and Professional Fire Union 586 President Jim Parrott are
scheduled to speak. Members of the Monroe County Veterans Honor Guard
will also be there.
The ceremony will include a prayer, bell-ringing ceremony, presentation
of the colors, rifle salute and playing of “Amazing Grace” on the
bagpipes.
(09/10/08 2:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Eric Schansberg, Libertarian candidate for Indiana’s 9th Congressional District seat, held a town hall meeting Tuesday night to address potential voters.About 15 members of the community attended the meeting at 6 p.m. at the Monroe County Public Library, including members of IU Students for Liberty.The talk centered around tax policies, the national debt and health care. Attendees appreciated how Schansberg, who is an economics professor at IU Southeast at New Albany, was able to make the ideas easy to understand.“The great thing about Schansberg’s spiel is it’s very tempered,” said Andrew Sharp, senior and IU Students for Liberty member. “He makes the Libertarian argument message seem very sensical.” Schansberg said his economics knowledge greatly affects his understanding of government.“If you’re an economist and you study public policy at the micro-level you see example after example where the government steps in and even with the best intentions causes all sorts of problems,” he said.At the meeting Schansberg talked about Libertarian principles such as limited government, lowering taxes and spending, weakening the national government and strengthening state and local powers.Schansberg is running for the second time in the hotly contested 9th District, which has switched between Republican Mike Sodrel and Rep. Baron Hill, D-9th District, for the past three elections. Still, Schansberg sees himself as “real change” to typical politicians.“I’m not just some third-party fringe candidate,” he said. “I’m an economist. I’m credible; I know what I’m talking about. And your choice is either to send what we’ve already seen or you can send someone who is going to make an issue of these things.”While he wants to win, Schansberg is not unrealistic about what he will accomplish.“As much as I would like to win, make a splash, get double digits,” Schansberg said, “the other part of this is the platform.”Schansberg said he is trying to change the national dialogue about politics and get more alternative opinions besides the two major parties.“People really want change,” he said. “They want third parties; they want independence. The question is can a third party get enough above the radar?”Brown County resident Barbara Gardner said people want more than two options.“It’s important to have third, fourth and fifth choices. We need as many voices as we can get,” she said, adding, “It’s crucial. If we don’t have it, we don’t really have democracy anymore.”
(09/08/08 3:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students awoke to text messages and e-mails early Saturday morning from IU’s emergency alert system warning them of stabbings that occurred on 17th Street just hours earlier.The message was the first emergency use of the IU-Notify system, and it came after it was first tested at noon on Friday. The test consisted of phone calls, text messages, e-mails and emergency sirens, while the Saturday alert was text messages and e-mails said Kirk White, coordinator of the IU Critical Incident Communications Team.White said while the tests went well and showed the capabilities of the system, the Saturday morning alert could have been better.“Gauging the use (Saturday), the system went well, but we did not get the Web site updated fast enough,” White said, adding that the text messages told people to go to a Web site that wasn’t updated yet.“We made a mistake, and we’re going to get it fixed,” White said. “If we’re going to point people to the Web site, we have to have information about the incident.”White called the system a work in progress that still needs to be refined.“Practice is the best way to make these systems work the way they’re supposed to work,” he said. “They’re multiple step processes with several moving pieces. You have to practice it to make it be the best.”As IU-Notify moves forward, the most important aspect is expanding the text messaging database, White said.Currently the system has 96,000 e-mail addresses, but only 6,700 students are signed up for text messages. “The goal is to reach as many student, faculty and staff as possible as quickly as possible,” White said. “And we realize information needs to be out in a matter of minutes in some cases. And that’s our goal, and one of the best ways to do that is to sign up for text messages.”Senior Erika Schlichter said she received a voicemail after the Friday test from IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger on her cell phone.“It’s important to have something like that,” Schlichter said. “In a case of a real emergency, it would be really important.”Schlicter does worry, though, about receiving unnecessary phone calls.“I’m not sure how you determine what’s a state of emergency,” she said.Senior Dave MacDonald echoed Schlicter’s concerns.“It just seems like you would be getting a lot of texts,” he said. “Where would you draw the line?”White said responses to the messages were mixed.“Some were positive; others said they wished not to be bothered,” White said. “I think most people understand we need to be vigilant.”
(09/08/08 3:57am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After an early Saturday morning attack on three students, the IU Police Department is searching for the suspect and interviewing witnesses and victims. The suspect gave an 18-year-old male a four-inch cut to the neck and two females superficial cuts on their faces that did not require medical attention.IUPD Capt. Jerry Minger said police have received several calls about the suspect, including one person who reported seeing someone running away from the general direction.Police said the three students were assaulted with a sharp-edged weapon at about 12:30 a.m. as they walked on 17th Street near Woodlawn Avenue toward their residence halls.The man whose neck was cut – and whose name is being withheld for his safety – told the Indiana Daily Student that he went to Bloomington Hospital and received 19 stitches before being released at about 4:15 a.m.He said he and four friends were walking by Briscoe Quad when they noticed a man coming from behind them waving at their faces and necks.“We just thought he was drunk,” the man said. “We had no idea he was cutting us until we saw the blood.”The man said the suspect was holding a blade between two of his fingers as he slapped them and then fled south toward Briscoe.The group flagged down a police officer, and the man whose neck was cut was taken by ambulance to Bloomington Hospital while the others were taken to the police station to be interviewed. The man said the injury could have been much worse.“I got very lucky,” he said. “The cop told me that a pound more of pressure would have cut my vitals.”IUPD and the Indiana State Police scoured the area for the suspect with no results. The victims and witnesses will be re-interviewed by IUPD to try and find more clues about the suspect. The names of the victims aren’t being released for safety reasons because the motive and attacker are unknown, Minger said.A cautionary e-mail and text message were sent to students at 5 a.m. Saturday warning students about the situation. IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said letting students know about the problem and telling them to be careful is one of the “most important” things the University can do at this time.“That and trying to help catch this person is about all we can do. We’ve certainly made everyone aware of the situation, and everyone should be careful,” he said.The suspect was described as an 18- to 20-year-old slim, white male suspect, between 5 feet 6 inches and 6 feet 2 inches tall. He was described as wearing jeans, a yellow T-shirt and a white hooded sweatshirt at the time of the incident.If anyone has information about the identity of the suspect or regarding this incident, IUPD asks that they call 855-4111 and ask to speak to an investigator.-Asst. Campus Editor Sarah Brubeck contributed to this report.
(09/05/08 4:43am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When Arizona Sen. John McCain asked them to stand up, leaders of the IU College Republicans rose to applaud the “straight talk” approach. A handful of IU College Republicans leaders met late Thursday night to watch McCain accept the Republican nomination for president. “It was extremely sincere,” said IU College Republicans President and junior Chelsea Kane. “It didn’t have a lot of flash or a lot of smoke and mirrors. It was straight and to the point.”During McCain’s speech the students identified with several key topics, including reforming education, reducing taxes and eliminating pork-barrel spending. But it was the emotional pull from the war veteran that left the deepest impressions.“John McCain just spoke the most sincere speech of my life,” junior Shawn Azman said. “That speech just gave me chills.”Leaders used the time to talk strategy as they moved forward, including their upcoming call-out meeting and debates with the IU College Democrats.Kane said their main priorities before Election Day are registering voters and educating students about Republican policies, which she said was tough in a Democratic stronghold like Bloomington.“It’s hard to overcome that minority status and speak as loudly as we can,” Kane said. “We can’t just sit idly by and let that happen in such a critical time.” Junior Pat Buschman said the organization needs to push students to listen to all views.“You’ve got to have both sides of the story to have a balanced view,” Buschman said.Leaders also spoke about the importance of registering voters and said every vote counts. “You have to look at everyone as the most important vote in the election and give them everything you can,” Kane said.
(09/05/08 1:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Two Bloomington women were arrested for robbery and theft Wednesday night after stealing two purses earlier that evening at knifepoint.Amanda Harrison, 19, and Alexis Rivera, 20, admitted to the robberies after being interviewed by police, Canada said, reading from a police report.Officers responded to a report of a robbery at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in the alley next to the Village Deli on Kirkwood Avenue. The victim reported she felt Harrison grabbing her purse and turned around to find the suspect demanding her purse while holding a silver knife.The suspect also demanded the victim’s cell phone before heading west in the alley toward the Monroe County Library, Canada said.A witness saw another woman hiding in bushes near the alley and later identified her as Rivera.Police found the contents of the victim’s purse inside Harrison’s purse plus another victim’s information who told them her purse had been stolen earlier that night.The second victim told police Rivera had distracted her while Harrison stole her purse. Harrison and Rivera were found together near the library by officers, although Harrison had changed her shirt, Canada said.The women said they did it for “blunts,” and Harrison was arrested for paraphernalia after officers found a smoking device in her purse, Canada said.
(09/05/08 1:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A Rose-Hulman student died on his 21st birthday Wednesday after a motorcycle accident on Old State Road 37.Cory Salem of Fairlawn, Ohio, was pronounced dead at Bloomington Hospital from head and chest trauma, said Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Jeff Canada, reading from a police report.Salem was third in a line of four motorcycles driving and lost control of his vehicle while driving down a curved hill, according to reports. Salem went down the hill with his 2001 Yamaha motorcycle and slid into the left lane toward the passenger’s side of an oncoming truck, Canada said.Upon hitting the truck, the motorcycle flew into the guardrail and back into the road while Salem became pinned under the right front wheel.The fourth motorcyclist stopped and told the driver of the truck to back up, Canada said.Officers believe speed played a major role in the accident and said Salem was wearing a helmet.
(09/04/08 8:15pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A Rose-Hulman student died on his 21st birthday Wednesday after a motorcycle accident on Old State Road 37.Cory Salem of Fairlawn, Ohio, was pronounced dead at Bloomington Hospital from head and chest trauma, said Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Jeff Canada, reading from a police report.Salem was third in a line of four motorcycles driving and lost control of his vehicle while driving down a curved hill, according to reports. Salem went down the hill with his 2001 Yamaha motorcycle and slid into the left lane toward the passenger’s side of an oncoming truck, Canada said.Upon hitting the truck the motorcycle flew into the guardrail and back into the road while Salem became pinned under the right front wheel.The fourth motorcyclist stopped and told the driver of the truck to back up, Canada said.Officers believe speed played a major role in the accident and said Salem was wearing a helmet.