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(10/12/11 1:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Gustav Potthoff’s is “the most American of stories,” said Jon Kay, director of Traditional Arts Indiana. Kay will curate “Tell People the Story: The Art of Gustav Potthoff,” an exhibit that is part of the Fall 2011 Themester, “Making War, Making Peace.”As an immigrant seeking freedom from financial and physical oppression, Potthoff, a World War II veteran, achieved the American dream, Kay said.“He worked hard and created a life for his family in a small Midwestern town,” Kay said.Upon retiring, Potthoff became a prolific self-taught artist, compelled to carry the story of his time as a prisoner of war and keep the memory of his fellow prisoners alive, Kay said.“This is not commemoration. This is not celebration,” Kay said. “This is really about telling people that this happened. There are still people unaccounted for.”The outdoor exhibit will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. now until Sunday in the Indiana Memorial Union garden, which is near the Tree Suite Rooms.From 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. Saturday, Potthoff will be present to speak with visitors.The exhibit consists of 10 vinyl panels, eight of which are 39 inches by 72 inches and two of which are 4 feet by 4 feet. Photographer Greg Whitaker took the images of Potthoff’s artwork for their outdoor display.The son of a German father and an Indonesian mother, Potthoff was raised in a Dutch orphanage in Indonesia from the age of two. After 15 years there, he enlisted in the Netherlands Army Tank Battalion.When World War II began, Potthoff was captured by the Japanese. At the prisoner of war camp where he lived, he was forced to work on the infamous Hellfire Pass and the bridge over the River Kwai.These projects were part of the Thailand-Burma Railway. Its construction was considered a war crime — 16,000 of Potthoff’s fellow prisoners perished while building it.“At a time when I was thinking about what I’d do after high school, he was already in a prisoner of war camp,” Kay said.After he was liberated from the camp in 1945, Potthoff went on to fight during the Indonesian National Revolution. From 1955 to 1962, he worked in the Netherlands as a tank repair mechanic until his military retirement.It was then that he emigrated to the United States with his young family. Sponsored by the Downey Avenue Christian Church of Indianapolis, his family settled in Columbus, Ind. He worked at Cummins, Inc. until his retirement in 1987.Now that he is retired, he paints with brushes and sponges. He’s a fast painter, and his artwork is not for profit, Kay said. Instead, he gives his artwork to schools, libraries and museums to keep the memory of his friends alive.Kay said Potthoff buried one close friend, an Australian, in a shallow jungle grave only two feet deep. The guards wouldn’t allow him to dig any deeper as it was a “waste of labor.”But despite all of the atrocities and brutal conditions Potthoff has endured, Kay found him to be at peace and without anger. Instead, his artwork serves as a mnemonic device.Most of the paintings have a variety of spirits that live in the jungle looking down on him, Kay said. These spirits are ever present, a remembrance of his friends.“He has very much forgiven people for what has happened, but he doesn’t want it to continue,” Kay said. “Forgive is not the same as forget.”AN AMERICAN STORYBrigitte Potthoff still has the blue trunk that carried her family’s possessions from the Netherlands to the U.S. in April 1962. She still has the receipts for the boat tickets for herself — then a two-year-old child — and her parents, Adele and Gustav Potthoff.When they stepped onto the soil of “America, land of the free,” her parents had $150 in their pockets, their life savings. Since then, they feel privileged to have lived the American dream.Potthoff and his wife have lived in the same house since 1966. When Brigitte was growing up, her mother worked the second shift at the hospital, so her father was her primary caretaker in the evening. While he never shared anything specific about the war when he tucked her into bed, she knew he was an orphan.It bothered her to think he wasn’t wanted. Later, she realized that because of the war, his mother couldn’t takecare of him or his younger sister. As she grew older, her father told her more about the exotic but brutal camps.TIME IN THE JUNGLEHe rode elephants. He built bridges. He swam in the rivers.The elephants helped carry the heavy teak wood, which was used to make the railroad sleepers. The swimming, Brigitte later learned, was not recreational.To construct the cement foundations of the bridge, he had to dive underwater. Brigitte swam in the River Kwai when visiting Thailand in 2006, and “the current is unbelievable,” she said.Potthoff had to use buckets of sand as weights to hold him down so he would not be swept away. After the prisoners came out of the water, they often had to remove the leeches from their bodies, only one problem of many in the camp. Potthoff suffered from beriberi, dysentery, cholera, malaria and a snakebite. He still bears the snakebite scar, and he can’t donate blood because of the malaria.For food, the prisoners had rice or rice porridge. When in the jungle, they would watch to see what monkeys would eat and follow suit, as the roots and plants they selected were likely to be safe for humans.“It wasn’t until I got older that I pieced things together,” Brigitte said. “In my 20s, I realized that he was put in a ship for a month or so.”Potthoff described it as a “hell ship” to Brigitte, for that’s what it was — thousands of prisoners of the Japanese packed in for transport to camps. Food was inadequate, and the conditions were severely unhealthy. Hundreds died.These ships were often not marked as carrying prisoners of war, so the Allies would sometimes bomb them. Potthoff was fortunate to not be sunk.Brigitte believes her father was able to survive not only because of his strong spiritual connection, but because he is Asian. As he grew up in Indonesia, he was used to scorching, humid weather nearly year round and the monsoon seasons, when the rain would last for months.“He is a very, very strong individual,” Brigitte said.GENTLE ARTISTPotthoff has always been a quiet man, and a little self-conscious because of his thick accent, Brigitte said.“To be able to speak through his paintings has opened a way to communicate for him,” she said.She said she loves his bright, vivid colors. Someone once pointed out to her that he never uses black. No matter how dark his time as a POW was, his paintings are still full of beautiful color.She asked him why there were flowers in the trees. Wild orchids grew high in the trees of the jungle, her father replied.Brigitte saw these orchids herself in a 1994 trip to Thailand with her mother. They walked through what had been Hellfire Pass, and there grew the same orchids her father saw during the war.“Amid all the ugliness and death, he saw beauty, and he remembered that,” Brigitte said. Her mother lost much during the war, too, but neither of her parents has lost their zest for life, she said.When she thinks of all her parents have been through, she feels tremendously grateful for what she has.“Because of them, I’m here in this great country and wonderful community, and I’m thankful,” Brigitte said. Her mother, Adele, recently celebrated her 79th birthday, and Potthoff will turn 90 next year.When they arrived in America nearly 50 years ago, everything was new and beautiful and big, and the people were friendly, Adele recalled. Financially, they struggled for the first year or two — but, Adele said, “Being young, you don’t notice that.”Adele worked as a nurse, and Potthoff, with his experience working on tanks and engines for the military, worked for Cummins until his retirement. When asked about her husband’s artwork, Adele paused.?“Well, I’m a very difficult critic,” she said. “It’s OK, but I’m a difficult person.”The artwork has helped him to cope with the problems of his younger years, she said.“When you get old and retire, you have more time to think about what has been, and that’s when the memories come up,” Adele said. “When you’re young, you don’t have time.”Now that he has retired, Potthoff volunteers at the Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum in Columbus, Ind.
(10/06/11 1:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A few months ago, Ziona Riley was involved in so many musical groups she couldn’t even name all of them, though a few jumped to mind: Upfolk, The School of Synchronicity and Beauty Fall.“I’ve been most influenced by the people around me,” Riley said. “Everyone I hang out with plays music or does something artistic.”Now, with her debut album’s release just around the corner, the local musician said she is more focused on recording but still performs frequently.“She’s a versatile singer, from country to alternative,” said Lilly Walker, who has performed in Upfolk with Riley and as a back-up vocalist for her solo shows. “She can come up with some really original hooks and choruses.” When Riley came to one of Upfolk’s shows, Travis Puntarelli, the organizer of the all-strings band, said, “Ziona’s in the house. Give her a guitar.”“Her involvement was almost spontaneous,” Walker said after recounting the tale. “She has an incredible voice,” Walker said. “It’s very mournful and unique.”Upfolk, Walker said, will get back together at some point.As for Upfolk, with its ever-changing lineup, Walker painted it as “a big group of friends, and we all bounce around into each others’ groups.”Walker’s sister Evelyn is the cover artist for Riley’s upcoming debut album, which is being recorded at Rewind Records. The release is set for Oct. 16, with a CD release show to be held at The SwitchYard. “Her music is a mix between folk and 1950s classic country,” said Austin Hoke, fellow Bloomington musician. The country feel, he added, has crept in.A bit surprised at the country classification at first, Riley agreed that “old country music is really pretty.”She said her own music is strongly folk style and melodic, though.“I can’t sing something without a beautiful melody.”She’s also performed in the School of Synchronicity, which combined music with puppet shows, costumes and dancing. The group played all around town, for an Indiana Forest Alliance Benefit and for the children at the Bloomington Meadows Hospital.“The kids were super glum and depressed, but then they got involved,” Riley said.Although Walker never played at the hospital, she heard from the other musicians that the children were inspired.“They got up after the concert and showed their own songs, mostly Katy Perry and pop songs,” Walker said. “No one knew they had prepared them.”Riley plans to work more with these groups in the future as they start up again, from Upfolk to the School of Synchronicity to the musical duo Beauty Fall she performed in with her friend Iris.For the moment, however, Riley’s kept busy with her album production and part in the chorus for “Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party,” an IU Players’ production that will premiere Oct. 21.While her musical plate is full, a birthday present has Riley particularly eager — soon, she’ll learn to play the autoharp.Riley’s music can be heard at www.zionariley.bandcamp.com and www.myspace.com/zionasongs.
(10/03/11 2:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Fans squeezed into Russian Recording for the finale of the Can O’ Worms Rock ‘N’ Roll Weekend, and the room was packed tighter than a tin of sardines.Tammar’s music spilled from the stage for its record release performance. The music rose to the high ceiling and bounced off the softly lit blue walls with acoustical clarity as old film footage was projected behind the band.Bloomington local Thomas Hartnett said he pre-ordered Tammar’s new album, “Visits,” but was eager to see the band live again.“This is a really exciting scene,” Hartnett said. “It’s great to see bands getting attention.”Another music scene fan and Bloomington local, Ryan Interland, was likewise enthused. He described Tammar’s music as a combination of The Velvet Underground and Echo & The Bunnymen.“The masses are noticing them,” Interland said.Tammar was followed by Open Sex, the final band of the night. With Open Sex, you “never know what’s going to happen,” Interland said.The band employs an open format — as its name implies — with fresh, varied music for each performance, Interland said.Numerous bands, many of which are based in Bloomington, came together for the music festival. Eager attendees were pulled back and forth between Magnetic South and Russian Recording to see all the acts Saturday.The night before, red and green lights illuminated Haley Fohr’s face for the opening act at Magnetic South. She swayed slowly, and her feather earrings shook, but her arm flew up and down in a blur as she strummed her guitar for her solo project, “Circuit Des Yeux.”Junior Greg Simpson, who backed Fohr on guitar along with Clarke Joyner on drums, loaded his instrument into its coffin-shaped case at the act’s conclusion.The band’s mostly been touring, and this was its second local show, Simpson said.“It’s a tight-knit musical community,” Simpson said. “I’ve lived here five years, and it’s always been very open.”Circuit Des Yeux was followed by *Ask, a recently formed cover band with Paul Mahern of Zero Boys fame. Next was Landlord, described by the program as a “Bloomington riff-rock band” to make the audience remember “a time when the term Alternative Rock actually meant something.”Friday’s musical night ended with Sir Deja Doog and the Wasted Knights, which covered well-known rock classics in addition to its original tunes.People danced and twisted to the music, from Van Morrison’s “Gloria” to The Coasters’ “Poison Ivy,” shouting lyrics back to the band. “There’s more of a dialogue between the audience and the performers,” Hartnett said.Sir Deja Doog said he had been knighted by Seth Mahern, one of the Can O’ Worms organizers and member of Apache Dropout, which played Saturday. He defined his music as “frat-rock” of the 1960s.Inspired by such bands as the Kingsmen and the Wailers, the band “seeks to re-imagine the energy and vision of those bands,” Sir Deja Doog said.He said he likes to have music rooted in a sort of history. His band “takes rock ‘n’ roll standards and makes them accessible,” Sir Deja Doog said.A number of other bands attracted crowds to Magnetic South, Landlocked Music and Russian Recording: Vacation Club, Jerome & the Psychics, Cro Magnon, Charlie & the Skunks, 3 Man Band, Eric & the Happy Thoughts and Apache Dropout.The second year of Can O’ Worms was as full and varied as the last and encouraged people to explore Bloomington’s musical landscape.“This is a lot of fun,” Harnett said. “There’s greatenergy.”
(09/30/11 1:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>They’ve been lauded left and right, coast to coast and by both the Seattle Times and the New York Times. They were featured on NPR in June. They’ve traveled from state to state since their tour began last week, and Friday they’ll drop into Bloomington.At 8 p.m., The Wood Brothers will bring their roots-oriented, blues and folk-style music to The Bishop.“Their music requires an intimate space. We’ll provide it,” Bishop owner Stephen Westrich said.Tickets are $13 in advance and $15 at the door. They can be purchased at The Bishop, Landlocked Music, TD’s and the Buskirk-Chumley Box Office.Brothers Chris and Oliver Wood perform with drummer Jano Rix.The brothers split paths for 15 years and played in different bands in different parts of the country. While Oliver dove into Motown, R&B, funk, soul and country on guitar, Chris tackled jazz, funk, blues and experimental noise on bass.“We established our own styles,” Oliver Wood said. “It was fun to bring those styles together and create a unique sound.”Clay Cook, who has worked with musical acts like John Mayer and Sugarland, will open for The Wood Brothers. He’s toured with the band in the past and assisted with their most recent album, “Smoke Ring Halo,” both musically and in engineering.“We have a nice musical bond with Clay on several levels,” Oliver Wood said after describing Cook as a talented multi-instrumentalist and vocalist.At the end of each night on tour, Cook joins The Wood Brothers with his steel guitar for a few songs.“They’re my favorite so far for touring with,” Cook said of The Wood Brothers.The musicians have had sold-out shows since their tour began, playing to a mix of old fans and fresh faces.“We expect a great crowd,” Westrich said.The Wood Brothers’ music is rooted in a few different areas, Cook said, with an old-time blues feel that’s more Robert Johnson-style than Chicago-based.“They definitely have a pop sensibility as well, and amazing lyrics,” Cook added.His own music is a solid combination of Americana and pop sensibilities, with hooks, choruses, stories and lyrics people can sing along to, Cook said. The performance will include songs from across the spectrum of The Wood Brothers’ discography, Oliver Wood said, but will feature many of their newer songs.“Our drummer (Jano Rix) is an amazing addition, too. He also does keyboards and vocals,” Oliver Wood said. “He’s a fun guy to watch.”The Wood Brothers and Clay Cook are recording their tour shows. For Cook, the audio will lead to some live tracks. For The Wood Brothers, it will culminate in a live record. “Their music moves you as an everyday person,” Cook said. “And, at the same time, it blows you away if you’re a musician.”
(09/29/11 4:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>People usually avoid opening a can of worms and letting the twisted mess unfold.But when the can’s exploding with rock ’n’ roll, punk rock and 1960s garage rock, there’s no reason to shy away.This Friday, the Can O’ Worms Rock ’n’ Roll Weekend returns for its second year. Whether attendees stay for one band or all 14 in the lineup, a ticket costs only $5 at the door for the all-ages music festival. It will be at three different locations: Landlocked Music, Russian Recording and Magnetic South.“It’s a chance for people who are new to town, at least, to get a taste of something different,” said guitarist Evan Whikehart, whose band Tammar will be part of Saturday’s concert.The festival was organized by Charlie and the Skunks member and freshman Chris Mosson, Apache Dropout member Seth Mahern and Landlocked Music co-owner Jason Nickey.“The goal for the three of us was to get our favorite local bands to all play in one weekend,” Nickey said.Can O’ Worms opens with a free concert at Landlocked Music and ends with free beer — for those of age, of course. Tammar will provide the beer for its LP release show as part of the musical weekend.“We’re not a big touring band. We take it slow,” Whikehart said. “This album has songs we’ve been kicking around for a while.”While many of the festival’s bands are “garage-leaning,” Nickey said Tammar’s music is more “synthy and atmospheric.”Whikehart said the audience can expect to hear songs from Tammar’s new album, “Visits,” as well as reworked and newer songs. The album itself has been featured on NPR’s Song of the Day and received high ratings on pitchfork.com.“We’re proud of recording, but we love playing live,” Whikehart said. He said he’s excited to play with other local bands, from Apache Dropout to Charlie and the Skunks to Open Sex, the act that follows Tammar on Saturday night. Most of the bands playing in the “strange vibes time machine,” as the event is billed, are native to the state.“We want to showcase some really good music from the Midwest, particularly Indiana,” Mosson said. Last year’s show went well, he said, and while he would like to make the festival an annual event, they’re taking it one step at a time.“The three of us all agree it’s a labor of love,” Mosson said. “We really like to throw a party with all of our friends and keep it cheap for everybody.”
(09/28/11 2:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Junior Gabrielle Cherney was relaxing in a friend’s living room when he pulled up some music on Youtube — catchy music that was vaguely familiar to her.She was shocked when her friend, senior Sam Owens, revealed the music was the effort of his roommate, senior Robert Rossman, and his friend, senior Ari Kaplan.For music that was mixed on the computer, Cherney said she would have expected it to sound more forced. Instead, she said she found Rossman and Kaplan to have “a really good sense of musicality. It sounded great and flowed really well.”What Cherney heard in this Bloomington living room was recorded in a living room 2,100 miles away in Thousand Oaks, Calif.The music is for the upcoming album “Popular People,” which is being co-produced by Kaplan and Rossman. As students in the Recording Arts program, they’ve often recorded other artists’ work. Now, they’re working on their own.With music written and mainly performed by Kaplan, with his friend Brock Cardiner on drums, and the recording process controlled by Rossman, the album is well on its way to release in December.“We have really good creative chemistry,” Rossman said. “It sped up the process.”The duo dubbed this past season “The Powerhouse Summer,” as they both worked 80 to 100 hours a week on their professional endeavors and this creative project, Rossman said.“We wouldn’t have done anything else this summer,” Rossman said. “It was the right kind of busy,” Kaplan said.While the Hutton Honors College provided the grant to record the album during the summer, the pair still needed funding to mix, master and press the CDs, as well as pay for distribution costs — so they turned to Kickstarter.com.The website allows people to pledge money to projects. Pledges go through only if the fundraising goal is met.“What can I say about Kickstarter — it’s a cool little platform,” Rossman said.Kaplan and Rossman surpassed their goal of $1,500 by $677 this past August after wooing backers with “Ari Kaplan” headbands, copies of the album and promises of personalized letters of recommendation written by Kaplan. While Kaplan has never charged for the approximately dozen EPs he’s released in the past, he decided to see if people would fund this album.“They overwhelmingly liked the idea,” Kaplan said. “It was cool to see.” With a tagline of “one step away from being over-the-top,” Kaplan and Rossman said they sought to produce extremely high-quality music that is enjoyable for the audience.“It doesn’t take itself too seriously but is still musically respectable,” Kaplan said. The album will be released on Rossman’s own label, Hot Ass Records. “We’re super thankful to all parties involved,” Rossman said.
(09/23/11 1:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For High Dive’s three musicians, life is a balance of work, friends and musical projects. They’ve performed their pop-punk tunes around Bloomington at house shows and in local venues. Now, they plan to record a full-length album in the first week of October.Shortly before they record, the band will perform at the WIUX fall kickoff show with Ivory Wave and Eric Ayotte. The free show begins at 9:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at The Bishop.Toby Foster, performing vocals and guitar, formed High Dive with bass player Ryan Woods of the band Defiance, Ohio and drummer Nick Romy of Community Currency. All three musicians are involved with a number of other projects and bands.High Dive’s members work at the Owlery, a local vegetarian restaurant co-owned by Woods and Foster. The band first practiced together about nine months ago, just before the restaurant’s opening.Between lunch and dinner hours, the Indiana Daily Student met with High Dive inside the brightly painted, artwork-laden walls of the Owlery.IDS What’s your motivation behind the new band?FOSTER For me, it’s been a while since I’ve been in a loud band. I had some songs I wanted to play.ROMY I don’t get to play drums very often, so that’s pretty different for me.WOODS Defiance, Ohio is pretty spread out right now, so I wanted to do something in town that was somewhat similar in style, in writing.IDS What influences your music?WOODs Right now, we’re all working a lot and the songs seem to come very directly from our experiences right now in Bloomington. ... It’s natural in both how the music comes together and what the lyric content is. I think it’s very much tied to our everyday, so there isn’t a lot of time to stop and think about what we’re doing.IDS Would you say what you’re doing is Bloomington-oriented, then?FOSTER Maybe you wouldn’t think that, necessarily — I think we’re all really connected to living here, and a lot of things come from that.ROMY We just write about our personal experiences, and currently, it happens to be here and what we’re doing.WOODS I think that Bloomington has a very special sort of interaction, so I think in that way it is very specific to here.IDS Any local bands you would recommend?WOODS Dylan Sizemore — he plays music by himself, and he’s really good. He’s a new guy who just moved to town.ROMY It’s really easy to find great music in this town — you can stumble on it even if you’re not looking for it.IDS What do you think about notions or descriptions of punk as simplistic?ROMY I think the setup of our band might be more simplistic than other setups ... but it’s unfair to generalize punk music. It can be (simplistic), but there are also a lot of really amazing punk bands that exist now and have existed that are incredibly intricate musically and thematically and everything.FOSTER Maybe ‘straightforward’ would be a better word for what I try to do.WOODS I think, also, when you get in a conversation about what punk is, punk can be a style of music. But for myself, punk is much more about the ethics of how music is produced, and so someone can be playing solo music on an acoustic guitar, and it can be extremely classically played, and they can still be a punk band.IDS Any advice for musicians getting started?WOODS Just to enjoy playing with friends and not focus too much on end goals. I think, sometimes, people get in bands, and they want to see what they can do and where they can go and maybe don’t focus enough on their own personal interactions.ROMY Just enjoy it. Do it because you love it.
(09/19/11 1:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Telesha Smith and Marianna Beard pulled their blanket closer to the concrete stage of Dunn Meadow, but they weren’t sitting for long.Smith, a graduate student, and Beard, a senior, were soon dancing to The Main Squeeze’s funky jams. The local band was one of many to play Saturday at Audio Scenery’s first concert of the semester, a free, all-day music festival filled with body-painting, hula hooping and sunbathing.“The Main Squeeze is one of our favorites,” Smith said. “We know all of their music.”Beard added that they were excited to find out the event benefited the Middle Way House. Each of Audio Scenery’s next concerts, on Oct. 1, 15 and 29, will take donations for a different cause.The concerts feature a wide spectrum of artists and are in Dunn Meadow, the centerpiece of downtown and campus, said junior Mckenzie Earley, founder of Audio Scenery.“The main reason (for the concerts) is to promote local and regional musicians as much as we can,” Earley said.As evening set in, they anticipated the music of Flow Theory and the headliner, Kaleidoscope Jukebox.“It’s really cool,” sophomore Jack Whittle said. “It’s a little ghetto, but the music sounds really nice.”Dog-walkers, families and Frisbee throwers stopped by to listen, and much of the crowd wore red and white from the football game.“I support local music, especially on a beautiful day,” senior Linda Sapp said.Senior Sujal Patel had been at the concert since it began and described it as recovery from tailgating earlier on. Like many other attendees, he was pleased the weather had turned out so well for the concert.“I can see the sun reflected off of everyone’s smiles,” he said. “There’s this feeling of joy.”Senior Caren Charles also appreciated the fortunate weather. She described the concert as a wonderful way to hold onto the last leg of summer.“Everyone loves music during the daytime, and it’s a great cause,” Charles said. “You can’t go wrong with that.”
(09/16/11 2:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>XRA-Fest began in much the same way as its label Crossroads of America Records — friends helped friends and produced good music together.This weekend the annual XRA-Fest returns to Bloomington for its fourth year. What started as a low-key barbecue is now a full-blown, two-day music festival. The barbecue aspect has been kept alive as a way for the label’s musicians to reunite with each other, organizer Tim Felton said.Bryant Fox of Alexander the Great described XRA-Fest as a community of people who care about music and want to share it.“XRA-Fest is usually sold out,” Fox said. “It’s a really good time.” Metavari, Bro. Stephen and husband&wife will play Friday at Russian Recording. Frank Schweikhardt, Black Cat, Rodeo Ruby Love, Sleeping Bag and Alexander the Great will perform Saturday at the Bishop. Doors open at 8 p.m. both nights.Frank Schweikhardt and his eponymous band have performed at XRA-Fest since its inception. “It’s my favorite holiday of the year,” Schweikhardt said.The music festival has grown in number of attendees and excitement since it began, he said. Friends travel from afar to reunite and celebrate.“It’s centered on music, but it’s about more — our relationships with people,” Schweikhardt said.Like Schweikhardt, Scott Kirkpatrick of Bro. Stephen has played at every XRA-Fest to date. This year, his band will perform four songs live for the first time. These songs had been recorded for XRA’s exclusive Laminar Excursion CD series.“For my musical style, they’re all just personal, reflective songs for the most part,” Kirkpatrick said. “Stylistically, it changes a lot.”Bro. Stephen has a record to be released Nov. 8 and a full-length album, “Baptist Girls,” coming out Jan. 25.As old and new bands come together, Alexander the Great will perform for the last time. Since its beginnings six years ago, Fox said, everyone in the band is at a different place and ready to move on.“It’s going to be a big blow-out celebration,” Fox said. Tickets can be purchased in advance at Landlocked Music, 202 N. Walnut St., for $8, which covers both nights. They can also be picked up at the door for $5 each night.While this will be her first XRA-Fest, sophomore Erika Fisher has attended Rodeo Ruby Love’s shows since her sophomore year of high school.“Their music is very upbeat, and they have a variety of instruments like the marimba and trumpet,” Fisher said. “Every show is different. I’m really excited to go.”For the first time this year, XRA-Fest will also include live band karaoke at the free after-party, which will begin at 11:30 p.m. Friday at the Bishop. Felton said he’s heard much excitement about it.“One of my favorite things is when people new to XRA-Fest come away feeling that this is a really positive label,” Felton said.
(09/16/11 1:57am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Permit holders across the state of Indiana have been allowed to bring their guns to most public places since the beginning of July. The Bloomington City Council passed an ordinance Wednesday night to comply with the new state law since it supersedes municipal gun restrictions.“I think this is a step backwards, but I understand our city council attorneys wanting to be in compliance,” council member Dave Rollo said at the meeting.Indiana residents may now bring guns with valid permits to parks, libraries and many city council chambers across the state. Updating local law seemed to be a formality, Council Member Stephen Volan said.Bloomington Police Department Capt. Joe Qualters said to his knowledge, the local police have never had problems with firearms at public buildings.“The vast majority of people probably do not take firearms into public buildings,” Qualters said.And, added Qualters, nothing prohibits the police from asking someone to display their permit. The Indiana legislature included exemptions for schools and buildings with courtrooms, Qualters said. More volatile situations could obviously arise in the courtroom setting, he said, thus the exemption was necessary.Qualters described the legislature’s challenge as finding a balance between Second Amendment rights and the preservation of security.“Hopefully, there will be no incidents that show that the legislature went too far in that extension,” Qualters said.The Monroe County Public Library updated the language of its policies to comply with the law, Community Relations Coordinator Margaret Harter said in an email.The library has also adopted a new, one-sentence policy, which reads, “The Monroe County Public Library prohibits the intentional display of a firearm or other weapon at a public meeting.”Library Director Sara Laughlin said the policy regulates behavior, which is still within the library’s purview. Its policy has also been updated to prohibit library employees from carrying weapons into work, an exception that is allowed under the law, Laughlin said.“We’re concerned. We don’t like the law one bit,” Laughlin said. “But it’s a state law, so we changed our policy in June to comply.”Qualters said he hopes people will not display their weapons or use them for intimidation.“Hopefully, people will use appropriate discretion and common sense,” Qualters said.At the city council meeting Wednesday, Rollo deemed the state law significant, as members have received threats in the past. “We don’t have any type of filtering to try to prevent people from coming in, and I like that and I prefer that,” Rollo said. “But this is a concern of mine, because it is clearly a major change.”Assistant City Attorney Patty Mulvihill also spoke at the city council meeting, where she said she doesn’t think the matter is finished. The Indiana Association of Cities and Towns is attempting to change portions of the state law through lobbying.“We do the public’s business in a public forum, and so I think that our concern for everyone in that forum should be obvious,” Volan said.
(09/14/11 3:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>At the bottom of Lechuguilla Cave in Carlsbad Caverns National Park in Carlsbad, N.M., lies the Chandelier Ballroom, named for the shimmering crystals suspended in the air. Bloomington band Chandelier Ballroom lives up to its namesake.“There’s this notion that caves are so unexplored relative to other things around Earth,” member Sean Armie said. “It’s a great metaphor for what we’re trying to do with music.”Chandelier Ballroom is composed of Cameron Thompson on bass, John Concannon on drums and IU seniors Steven Elmlinger and Armie on vocals, guitars and synthesizers, along with a piano and sampler.Their EP release show will begin at 9 p.m. Thursday at The Bishop, with an entry fee of $5. The show will also feature Indianapolis-based bands Everything, Now! and Slothpop.“They’re both really good bands,” Thompson said. “They’re established, and they know what’s going on.”Junior Mckenzie Earley, founder of the IU organization Audio Scenery, has long attended Chandelier Ballroom’s shows. Earley booked Chandelier Ballroom for the Audio Scenery music festival series soon after first seeing them and has been a fan ever since. “Their style is something you have to experience to be able to describe,” Earley said. “And it is most definitely worth experiencing.”Earley described their style as body music because the listener can feel all the rhythms throughout his or her body. This quality quickly draws a crowd into dance mode.“Although they made up the trend, it’s pretty accurate,” Earley said.Armie described their music as increasingly more minimalist and dance-able as they distill it to the most basic elements and build from there. Among their influences are David Byrne, David Bowie and Mogwai, Elmlinger said. “We’re finding our niche,” Thompson said. “We’re about to reach a really nice plateau in the best way.”The show will celebrate the release of the band’s first EP, “Long Division.” Consisting of four long, self-produced songs, the album was recorded with reel-to-reel tape to give it an “old vintage style,” Thompson said. The EP will sell for $5. “It gives it a warmer tone,” Armie said. “I think it comes off well and creates some unexpected moments.”The band was pleased to find an album and poster artist with “a vision that fits ours” in Amanda McCullough, Thompson said. Armie found her lettering for the upcoming show’s poster to be a perfect combination of art deco meets psychedelia.The EP release show will be especially suitable for dancing, Armie and Thompson said.“It’s a communal experience,” Armie said. “You get out of it what you put into it.”Now, after their first release, Chandelier Ballroom’s goals are to tour next summer and to have a full-length album out next fall.“We want to see how big of a family and fan base we can create,” Elmlinger said.As for the upcoming release show, Armie said the band hopes to give an experience where the audience will let their guard down and have a good time.“We want to give you something you can relive,” Thompson said.
(09/09/11 1:08am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Since its passage in May, school voucher legislation HEA 1003 has gradually been implemented across Indiana and in Bloomington. The program appropriates state funding typically given to public schools and distributes it to families who wish to enroll their children in private or parochial schools.Statewide, parents have applied for 3,685 of the 7,500 vouchers allotted this year, said Indiana School Superintendent Tony Bennett. Next year’s number is capped at 15,000. In the third year the cap will be removed. The Sept. 16 enrollment deadline is fast approaching, and so far a total of 14 voucher students have been accepted to the four Bloomington private schools in the program.There are none for St. Charles Catholic Schools, three for Clear Creek Christian School, five for Pinnacle School and six for Lighthouse Christian Academy.While St. Charles has received inquiries, none of the applicants so far have qualified, St. Charles Principal Alec Mayer said.“I don’t expect any (voucher students) this year only because the final set of rules came so late,” Mayer said. Mayer said he supports the program and its goal to give parents the right to choose their children’s educational facility. However, Mayer said he does not expect many voucher applicants next year, either.“Public schools are great schools,” Mayer said. “Parents are pleased with MCCSC schools, so why change?”Teresa Meredith, vice president of the Indiana State Teachers Association is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the voucher program.Meredith said she hopes that satisfaction is the reason for the low numbers so far.“We don’t know if people don’t know about it or if they’re happy and content and so haven’t sought the vouchers,” Meredith said.However, she said she believes when the cap comes off, the program could be a serious concern if a large exit occurs. After $600 million in cuts to education during the last two years, “we can’t afford to have any more siphoned off,” Meredith said. Mayer said he doubts the program will take much money from public education unless a flock of students seek vouchers. Besides noting the low number of voucher students in Bloomington, he added that while money might be taken away, public schools “are not getting the student, either.”In order to accept voucher students, the schools must comply with the program by becoming state-accredited and administering ISTEP tests. Lighthouse and St. Charles have long used the tests. Pinnacle and Clear Creek Christian complied despite some objections to ISTEP testing.“I’m not a fan of ISTEP, but I don’t want that item to get in the way of the voucher system,” said Penny Adams, Clear Creek Christian principal. “It certainly gives parents choices.”For a student to be admitted to Lighthouse Christian, at least one of his or her parents must be Christian, enrollment coordinater Donna Wilson said. St. Charles gives Catholics priority, but 15 percent of students are non-Catholic, Mayer said. Clear Creek Christian accepts any student if their parents want to enroll them, regardless of religion, but let all know up front that the school is religious, Adams said.Meredith describes herself as deeply religious and not against private schools,.However, she said she doesn’t believe using money from the common school fund for private institutions is appropriate. She said she thinks the program violates the Indiana Constitution.“You can’t evangelize with state dollars,” Meredith said.Indiana University’s Center for Evaluation and Education Policy recently released a policy brief with analysis of the voucher program and recommendations. The report found that legal pitfalls can be avoided if state treasury money is not put directly into private institutions. The money has to be given to families to make a private decision about which school to pay. The report also recommends the establishment of a “neutral entity to gather information on the performance of schools and their unique cultures in order to help families navigate school choice options,” according to a press release.The Monroe County Community School Corporation will not have information regarding the program’s impact on its school system until late October, said Donna Zink, executive assistant to Superintendent Judith DeMuth.
(09/08/11 3:08am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Punk band Heinous Orca is a tale of two cities, Nashville and Bloomington. Twins Isabel and Laura Solomon, on drums and vocals respectively, are recent graduates of IU returned to their native Nashville, Tenn. while guitarist Austin Hoke and bass player Evan Latt are finishing their senior year at IU.“I knew (Evan) before, but I met the twins in Bloomington, even though they’re literally from my street in Nashville,” Hoke said.The band recently finished its first album, “Heinous Orca presents: prick! The incredible skunk group, in — ‘It’s bath time.’”Isabel Solomon said she loves the exertion required for the fast, to-the-point songs.“The sweat and the grime and the energy of it,” Solomon said. “I love the energy of punk.”Heinous Orca’s next performance is Sept. 14 at the Comedy Attic for the comedy and music variety show “It Still Bleeds.” “We take our music seriously, but we’re also up for anything,” Isabel Solomon said. “We’re not self-conscious.”The Indiana Daily Student spoke with Heinous Orca members Austin Hoke and Evan Latt.IDS How did you get started? Had you been in other bands before?HOKE I’d been in other bands in Nashville and a few bands here, also.LATT We played in a bluegrass country band, since we’re from Nashville, called the Oldtime Apothecary Feel Good Liquor Band, which just played on street corners in Nashville. But Heinous Orca was the first time I had actually played music. I didn’t know how to play an instrument, really, and then Austin’s like, ‘You should learn to play bass. I’m going to teach you bass by having you join a punk rock band.’IDS Why punk rock?HOKE Because I love X a lot, and the Buzzcocks and all those old pop-punk bands. It doesn’t have to be extremely simplistic. You can find ways of having that kind of music sound unique and have unique chord progressions, unique attitudes.LATT You get a lot of people who just think that punk rock is just three power chords over and over again. Which, you know, great, the Ramones were awesome, they did that real well, but I think it’s really interesting to try and take the form and play with it. And, of course, the Buzzcocks are awesome.IDS How do you make your music unique?HOKE It’s a balance of finding catchy, powerful hooks and presenting them in unique ways and finding chord changes that still sound powerful and easy to listen to, but aren’t necessarily. I’m not going to go out of my way to make it more complex for the sake of that. The kind of sound that I like — that I listen to .LATT It’s always good when something sounds just a little bit off kilter. It sounds a little wrong, but it’s right because of how wrong it sounds.IDS Any themes for your music?HOKE Absurdist stuff, really ... I don’t like writing about big things or big issues, I like writing about various small things ... We do spend a lot of time working on our lyrics.LATT It’s shockingly hard to write nonsense.
(09/06/11 1:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Green hillside and fresh foliage sloped around the stage to form a bowl, the bottom filled with bales of hay aligned like soldiers in marching order — here, Labor Day weekend began on Friday.As people poured in for Upland Brewing Co.’s fourth annual Hillbilly Haiku Americana Music Series, the bowl filled with cowboy hats and baseball caps, folded chairs and an unfolded stage, Bloomington beer and cold water, pulled pork sandwiches and corn on the cob, bobbing heads and tapping feet. The concert goers came for local acts and international act Rusted Root. Sophomore Emily Jones heard Rusted Root for the first time in the film “Matilda,” after which her father bought and played the group’s record for her. She said she was taken in by the message of the band’s music and the sound of the drums.“Ever since then, I told myself that if I had the opportunity, I would see them,” Jones said.As the sky shifted to bluish black and the treetops melded with the skyline, Rusted Root’s slow serenade “Beautiful People” melted into the faster-paced, more percussive “Back to the Earth.” A woman collapsed her chair to give herself more dancing space as the crowd rose and swayed. The cheering crescendoed as band member Preach Freedom performed his drum solo.After several songs, lead singer Michael Glabicki raised his glass to the crowd.“Cheers, everybody,” Glabicki said. “This is a great beer to a great cause.”The cause Glabicki lauded is the Sycamore Land Trust, which works to preserve southern Indiana’s natural landscape. One hundred percent of the concert’s proceeds went to the Trust.There are a number of reasons, environmental, ecological and otherwise, to protect the beautiful landscape of Indiana, Trust Communications Director Patrick Petro said.“Quality of life is tied to the quality of place,” Petro said.The Trust plans to increase its protected area from 6,000 to 20,000 acres by 2020, Petro said. This new strategy will be detailed at the Trust’s annual celebration on Oct. 21, where Nobel Laureate Dr. Elinor Ostrom will act as hostess.Opening act Bobbie Lancaster also praised the cause, thanking Upland Brewing Co. for providing “high-quality libation and also saving the world one sycamore tree at a time.”Lancaster’s final performance was her newest written song, “Red Petunias.” “I really like how personal she was with the crowd,” Jones said.T.V. Mike and the Scarecrowes, with simple style and twangy vocals, followed Lancaster’s act. Before switching to what he called the competitive California music scene, Michael Klinge was a longtime employee of Upland Brewing Co., where the band played often.The concert concluded with an encore from Rusted Root. “They were pretty damn good,” Ivy Tech student Gavin McMillan said. “It was a great show and a great encore.”
(09/02/11 2:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Acclaimed act Rusted Root will have fans on their feet for the 4th annual Hillbilly Haiku Americana Music Series Saturday at Upland Brewing Company. Charles Stanley of Upland Brewing Co. described Rusted Root as a high-energy country Americana group.“They’re real upbeat and fun. We expect people to be up and dancing,” Stanley said.The show will open with Bloomington musician Bobbie Lancaster, followed by T.V. Mike and the Scarecrowes, visiting from California.“This is going to be our biggest one yet. We’re actually concerned we’ll sell out,” Stanley said. More than a thousand tickets have already been purchased.All profits go to the Sycamore Land Trust, a Bloomington-based nonprofit that works with private landowners to preserve southern Indiana’s natural landscape.As a resident of a Greencastle property that is part of the Sycamore Land Trust, Lancaster is supportive of the program and said she’s “all about the preservation of all things real and good.”Enthused to open for Rusted Root, one of her favorite bands from her college days, she said she’s been impacted by their work.“Real freedom and joy,” Lancaster said. “That’s what drew me to their music originally.”Guitarist and vocalist Michael Klinge, also known as T.V. Mike of T.V. Mike and the Scarecrowes, expects Rusted Root will bring more of a party atmosphere to the concert. Despite the bales of hay set out, he predicted more dancing this year.Like Lancaster, he supports the cause of “keeping southern Indiana looking like southern Indiana,” although his band has transplanted to California from Bloomington. Lately, they’ve thought of their music as “Americalia.”“We use very basic song structures and tie in the lyrics,” Klinge said. “I tend to write about nature and human emotion.”He hopes the band’s newest album, which he described as being a thought on end times with an emphasis on patience and courage, will be finished by next year.Lancaster released her most recent album, a live recording, on Aug. 14th. She plays mandolin and sometimes mandola, and said her music is spirit-oriented. She anticipates an attentive audience Friday.“There’s hardly anything better (than performing live),” Lancaster said. “It’s almost equal to the joy in crafting songs.”The concert will bring out the crowds, Stanley said, especially because of Rusted Root.“It’s generally a good time with good music, good beer and good friends,” Stanley said. “That’s what we always say about it.”
(08/31/11 3:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Guitar shadows played on the blue-lit walls of the Bishop on Tuesday as bands husband&wife, Metavari and State Park arranged their equipment. Ambient sound checks filled the room.Muncie-based band State Park opened for Metavari and husband&wife, two bands touring “the universe and back,” as their poster announced, going from Midwestern cities to several stops in Canada.Derek Miller, lead vocalist and guitarist for State Park, said he “just wanted to start a band with his friend.”A fresh, young band started in March of this year, State Park’s sound can be described as “slacking off,” Miller said, and it’s influenced by many 1990s bands.While this was their first performance in Bloomington, they’ve been hanging out here for a couple of years with friends husband&wife.All of the members in State Park attend Ball State, and this was their third show. “It’s kind of nice to see them off,” State Park tambourine player Derek Tulowitzky said, adding that he enjoys husband&wife guitarist Tim Felton’s noodling and the Nirvana covers husband&wife has done in the past.Jared Cheek, owner of Flannelgraph records, came to see his friends in Metavari and husband&wife off as well.“I like both of them a lot, and they keep getting better,” Cheek said.He added with a laugh that they both have trouble keeping drummers, and he liked their work for the same label, Bloomington-based Crossroads of America Records. As a Bloomington native, Miranda Hewins has listened to husband&wife for several years.“I love them. They’re one of my favorites of all, out of local or major bands,” Hewins said.Hewins said she enjoyed their mellow but upbeat sound, which is what drew her to them. “They don’t sound like a lot of other bands.”
(08/29/11 3:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It was Friday night at Bluebird Nightclub. Waves of sound pounded through the door of the backstage room. There, the musicians of Sublime tribute act Secondhand Smoke waited in church pew seating while local band The Broderick rocked away. Chris Gelbuda, Secondhand Smoke’s lead singer and guitarist, burst through the backstage door after sampling the performance.“These guys have a ton of potential. I hope they go on tour,” Gelbuda said. “They’re not as soothing. It’s just good songwriting. I’m kind of jealous.”The Broderick was named after the 1930s slang for a beat-down, guitarist and lead singer Max Mullen said. The band played to a crowd of friends and fans. IU alumna and friend of the band Kelsie Hacker described The Broderick’s sound as “indie rock with folkish lyrics.” And she said she appreciated their energy.“As far as live shows, you can’t really beat it,” Hacker said. The Broderick opened for Secondhand Smoke, whose drummer, Brad Dickert, said his band keeps the music alive for fans since Sublime’s lead singer, Bradley Nowell, passed away in 1996.“With Sublime, you just can’t (see them live),” Gelbuda said. “People have a thirst to get as close to the real thing as possible, and they’ll find that fix any way they can.”Outside their cover band, Secondhand Smoke members perform in an array of other bands and all have original projects. Gelbuda has a recent solo EP, “Sunshine.” Graham Czach’s debut album, “Lucid,” was unveiled in 2010.Czach described his album as “in the vein of harder rock, with some retro ’60s and ’70s psychedelic stuff.”Czach said music is a more complex art form than just sex, money and drugs. As a trained musician, he said he appreciates intellectual music and worries that pop music has been watered down.“In the ’60s, you had the Beatles,” Czach said. “Now we have Justin Bieber.”Fans also await The Broderick’s new album. Senior Scott Schmadeke describes their music as not only “apathetic and chanty” while still positive, but “sometimes heartbroken and beautiful.”The upcoming album is about 80 percent finished, lead guitarist John Codespoti said. “We’ll shop around (for labels) and build hype and anticipation.”With the new album will likely come a name change, since an Australian band shares their current name. The band has already gone through some changes, as it no longer has a keyboard player and has a new bassist, Eric Day.“After our bass player left, Eric was the only one we wanted,” Mullen said. “He brings a different background.”Drummer Quintin Schulze said the band is focusing on “letting it (our sound) grow naturally.”Codespoti agreed and said the band wants something people can listen to instead of something obscure.“It’s very heartfelt, very captivating,” senior Luke Miller said of the band’s sound. “You get into it and really feel the emotion in the band.”
(08/29/11 3:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Mike Adams can’t quite say what it is that gives husband&wife its Midwestern feel, but he’s often told the band is “definitely from the Midwest.”He and other members of husband&wife will spread the Midwestern mood as they kick off their tour with the Fort Wayne-based instrumental band Metavari at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Bishop. Admission for the show, which will also feature Muncie-based band State Park, is $5.Husband&wife guitarist and singer Adams said he looks forward to performing with Metavari. “To me, they sort of blend just a traditional approach to writing music with technology in this cool, evolving way that is very modern,” Adams said. “But the music is as relatable as anything.”Metavari blends their music with audio samples foraged from a number of sources, whether they’re old videos or archived footage from speeches, member Nate Utesch said. Their live shows feature video and electronic beeps synched with the performance, which can make it seem “like manning a spaceship,” Utesch said.“We try to be intentional about telling a story through the music without words, where you can close your eyes and picture it being a soundtrack or your own life,” Utesch said, describing their musical style as cinematic.Metavari’s next full-length album is about halfway done and will likely be released by spring 2012, Utesch said.Husband&wife’s sound, Adams said, has gravitated toward a more traditional approach since their last album, “Proud Flesh,” came out. He added that while their 2009 album, “Dark Dark Woods,” was more laid back, “Proud Flesh” was the fast, aggressive rock record the band wanted to make.“We’ve done that now, so we’re trying to figure out what to do next,” Adams said. “(We’re) throwing out the rulebook at this point and kind of returning to anything goes.”Tim Felton, guitarist and singer for husband&wife, said the indie rock group will be trying a new approach to song-writing for their next album, using all members of the band. Felton, Adams, bass player Bryant Fox and new drummer Burke Sullivan will be working collaboratively, he said.“It’s less of a folk song approach and more of an organic band approach now that we have a consistent lineup,” Adams said.Temporary drummer Dan Willig will join multi-instrumentalists Utesch, Ty Brinneman and Kyle Steury for the tour, as the band’s drummer, Andrew McComas, will not travel with them. Metavari will travel with husband&wife to Canada for the first time on this tour.“I’m excited to be the band from out of the country,” Felton said. “I think it will make us stand out.” Felton is also excited, he said, to see what the young band State Park can do live. Utesch said he is already a huge fan of their music.“It’s an awesome intersection for all of our worlds,” Utesch said.Now, with new drummers and a new van for Metavari, the two bands prepare to set off.“The show’s going to be great,” Adams said. “I hope some people come out.”Husband&wife and Metavari will be back in Bloomington for the 4th annual XRA Fest from Sept. 16 to 17.
(05/02/11 1:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Just as professors grade final exams, students can grade their landlords at www.grademylandlord.com.The social networking website provides a hub for students to both evaluate their landlords and search for near-campus rental properties.“It’s a good opportunity for students to help out other students,” said Michael Montesano, a May graduate of Ball State University who created the site with Jorge Galindez of Dayton University.The site, which has been up for about two weeks, allows students to grade their landlords in six categories: party tolerance, security deposit return, contract, timeliness, kindness and maintenance. “The layout’s pretty good,” IU sophomore Adam Arrivo said. “It’s pretty user-friendly.”Arrivo used the site to rate a property and intends to use its search function in the future. Users can search the site by landlords, properties or schools. More than 50 schools are currently listed.Arrivo said he thinks the site will help first-time renters know what a landlord can be like and what a property might be like. “I think it’s going to be really helpful,” Arrivo said. Montesano, who said he has had bad experiences with a couple of college landlords, said he and Galindez wanted to create a website that would serve as one central location for students so they wouldn’t have to drive around to see apartments.“We all used RateMyProfessor (www.ratemyprofessors.com) in college,” Montesano said. “It did help inspire us. We kind of put our own tweak on it.”He and Galindez came up with the website’s plan six months ago and have worked on it ever since, Montesano said.While he has received some positive feedback from landlords, Montesano said, others are hesitant and believe some students will only provide negative feedback.Matt Carter, landlord for Mackie Properties in Bloomington, said he finds the site interesting and hopes it goes viral.However, he said the site doesn’t include landlords’ points of view, which he would like to see. “It’ll help everything about business,” Carter said. “But like I said, it could hurt your business if a tenant doesn’t want to work with you.”Montesano said he does want to see both sides and hopes the site grows in the coming months.“We’ve had a lot of positive responses from students glad they’ve had a way to speak out,” he said.
(04/26/11 2:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In the 1980s, a series of catastrophic droughts in the Sahel area of Africa inspired a young, idealistic teenager to choose the fields of atmospheric science and climate change.“If we can predict severe climate events, we can prevent this from happening,” she said.She was about to study at the University of East Anglia in Britain.This teenager was Sara Pryor, now an atmospheric scientist and Provost’s Professor at IU. She has been appointed to the National Climate Assessment and Development Committee to assist the U.S. government as it copes with climate change.Comprised of 40 of the best climate scientists in America and 13 representatives of federal agencies, the committee has been tasked with developing a National Climate Assessment by June 2013. “Everyone on the committee should feel a sense of honor,” Pryor said.The committee’s work will prove a real opportunity, she said, to serving improved public policy based on its work. Pryor said the committee will work to advance understanding of climate science and the scale of likely impacts, as well as developing mitigation strategies to limit future climate change and the risks it poses.“Ultimately, what we need to try and do is provide our government, whether local, state or federal, with the best information to moderate the impact of climate change,” Pryor said.The United Nations, Pryor said, uses a two-degree system to determine what level of climate change is dangerous, which it defines as threatening significant loss of human life.However, she stressed that this is a global system, whereas the committee will be determining if the same system protects the United States against climate change and whether parts of the United States are more vulnerable.The Midwest, for example, is now more at risk for flooding due to an intensified magnitude of rainfall — an intensification that once occurred every 100 years but now occurs every 10, Pryor said.“Some of the most interesting climate questions pertain to the Midwest,” Pryor said, due to the agriculture of the area that affects the entire country. As to the debate about climate change itself, Pryor said there is a real misunderstanding in the general public, despite the strong foundations of climate science. “We know that humans have changed the climate, and that future change is inevitable,” Pryor said. “Change is certain. The uncertainty is over how much change.”She added that climate science is not a belief system.“It’s like gravity. We don’t talk about believing in gravity, we know it to be fact,” Pryor said.While her committee work will be a significant time commitment, Pryor said she will still enjoy teaching her students with state-of-the-art, cutting-edge research and hands-on activities.“That’s one of the fun things of being a professor,” she said.