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(02/25/04 6:24am)
IU President Adam Herbert is a man on a mission.\nHerbert sent an e-mail Tuesday to all Bloomington students and faculty stressing the need for each of the University's campuses to have a "clearly articulated mission that can serve as a roadmap for strategic growth and future development."\nThe e-mail broadly outlined what Herbert is expecting from each campus's mission statement.\n"These missions must focus not only on the strengths and challenges each of our campuses faces, but also on their aspirations and relationships with local, state, national and international constituencies," Herbert said in the e-mail. "Mission clarification for our campuses is critical if we are to be as responsive, creative and distinguished as we can be as a University."\nTo this end, read the e-mail, IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis, Chief Student and Diversity Officer Charlie Nelms and IU-Southeast New Albany Chancellor Emeritus F.C. Richardson have been charged with leading the "Mission Differentiation" initiative.\n"This is something President Herbert has talked about since joining the University," IU Spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said. "It's been one of his priorities in establishing himself as leader of Indiana University and in the process of moving forward."\nThe e-mail also noted the board of trustees' intent as establishing IU "as one university with multiple campuses, rather than as a system" as part of the reason for reevaluating mission statements. \n"We don't know (if they need to be changed) until we examine them," said IU board of trustees President Fred Eichhorn. "I don't think they're wrong, but perhaps we need to refine them."\nJankowski said just what the initiative means for the IU campuses will be better defined as Gros Louis, Nelms and Richardson collect data from students and faculty.\n"The beginning phases will be to collect a lot of information from each of the campuses," Gros Louis said. "Much of the spring and summer will be (spent) collecting data and Charlie (Nelms), and I will be sending a memo soon detailing what those data will be."\nRichardson declined to comment, saying he could not make policy comments for Gros Louis and Herbert.\nNelms was out of town and unavailable for comment.\nJankowski also said there's a possibility Herbert will comment more on the "Mission Differentiation" initiative at the board of trustees Meeting Friday.\n"I don't know if he will, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/20/04 5:02am)
When Sir Timothy Garden last spoke on "International Security and the New Century" at IU three years ago, the world was a very different place.\n"In Feb. 2001, I don't think anyone thought international security would change quite so much," Garden said. "Since then, we've all come to know what fanatical terrorists can do. As I said then, predicting the future is always a somewhat hazardous affair."\nGarden is an international security expert who served in Great Britain's Royal Air Force for more than three decades, reaching the rank of British air marshal, the equivalent of a three-star general. Currently, he is a visiting professor at the Centre for Defence Studies at King's College in London but makes time for speaking engagements around the world.\n"Timothy Garden is very much in demand these days," said Brian Winchester, director for the Center for the Study of Global Change. "I'm amazed at the kind of schedule he keeps."\nGarden spoke about U.S. and European relations in the age of terrorism Thursday at the IU Law School.\nMuch of the lecture focused on the future or NATO. Garden noted that following the Sept. 11 attacks, the article that stated an attack on one member nation was an attack on all was invoked, but the U.S. still chose to invade Afghanistan with only help from the United Kingdom. NATO only assisted in peacekeeping after the fall of the Taliban.\n"NATO actually cleans up, but it's preparing itself for what the U.S. is only going to do at chosen times with chosen allies," Garden said.\nMany audience members found the British viewpoint enlightening.\n"It was really informative to hear the point-of-view from the other side of the Atlantic," senior John Idlewine said.\nGarden also discussed the growing tensions between the U.S. and the European Union before the invasion of Iraq.\n"The new Bush administration had a style of diplomacy that took a little while to get used to in Europe," he said. "Whatever (the case for war's) merits, personally, I think it was incompetent diplomacy and dirty politics on both sides."\nDespite his feelings before the war, he said it is important for Iraq to be properly rebuilt now.\n"We need the U.N. to make sure the government is legitimate and representative of the people," he said. "It's not going to be easy to make it a democratic model for the rest of the region."\n-- Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/19/04 5:00am)
It's Saturday afternoon and senior Brent Coyle is hard at work at Electronics Boutique in College Mall. Well, if you consider playing video games "work."\nCoyle is the Electronic Arts campus representative for IU, and he's at EB getting people to try "NFL Street," the latest from EA Sports BIG Brand for Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Microsoft Xbox.\n"We love these in-store demos," says EB Assistant Manager A.J. Heston. "It drums up business for EA and EB as a whole. It's not like most games where you just get a press release telling people what the game is like. They can actually come in and try it out before it's in stores. It really gets them excited."\nBut it's just another day at the job for Coyle.\n"What if someone sent you a game before it comes out?" he asks. "That's just awesome to be able to try something out before anyone else. They sent me this earlier in the week and me and my buddy have just been playing it non-stop."\nCoyle says it wasn't too difficult to land a job with the world's largest video game publisher in 2001.\n"One day my roommate came running into the room and told me that this guy on the floor above us was the EA rep but that he's graduating and needs someone to replace him," he says. "I e-mailed him and told him what I do and he sent it back and said I was hired. Thirty people applied for the job. There were even sign-up sheets at the business school, but he hired me right away."\nCoyle is one of many reps working on the biggest campuses across the company.\n"The program began as a response to our most devoted consumers -- primarily sports fans who were also into gaming," EA spokesman Trey Geiger says. "This group of people began conducting tournaments featuring several of our games, most commonly 'Madden NFL.' We started the program to support this core group of consumers -- hiring them, and equipping them to carry out their passion."\nThe program has been particularly successful in Bloomington.\n"Thanks in large part to the efforts of Brent and the reps preceding him, the program has been received very well at IU," Geiger says. "Indiana is a school where sports and the competitive spirit rule, making the program a natural fit."\nCoyle says if it weren't for his job, he would most likely not still be attending IU.\n"Before this I was an exercise science major and I was probably going to transfer to Old Dominion in Virginia," he says. "Then I took a sports marketing class and took this job and it all rolled together. I've been rolling ever since."\nIronically, Coyle says he was just about ready to give up video gaming before landing the job.\n"Right before I got the job I was moving away from it because I had to keep my grades up," he says. "But then you get all these games and you get addicted again."\nIt isn't all fun and games though. There's a lot of hard work involved in being a campus rep for the makers of the Madden football games. Coyle holds events around campus sponsoring the hottest games almost weekly. He estimates each event takes up about five hours of time that could be used studying.\n"I definitely do more EA stuff than school work," he says.\nThat's not even counting the time it takes to make fliers and spread them around campus or the giveaways Coyle organizes with Indianapolis TV. Plus, if a celebrity visits campus he has to be right there "putting stuff in their hands."\n"It's just constant little stuff," Coyle says."And if you don't do it, you get fired."\nCoyle extended his campus rep job into an internship with EA's Redwood, Calif. development studio last summer where he worked on the recently released James Bond game, "Everything or Nothing," for the three major gaming platforms.\n"I had so much input in that game, it's like my baby," Coyle says. "I kept telling them what needed to be done to make it better. I was kind of disappointed when it got delayed last fall, but I think it's going to be a much better game when it comes out now."\nCoyle says he hopes to land a job with EA when he graduates next year.\n"Everyone there works hard. It's just pure motivation," he says. "I would come in at 9 a.m. and I wouldn't leave until three or four in the morning. I'll do whatever I can for the company."\nHowever, there's more to a job with a video game publisher than just playing games all day. \n"You have to know the industry," Coyle says. "There's a lot of little day-to-day things like getting assets together and readying PR for magazines."\nCoyle says he's not afraid of voicing his opinion about EA's releases, even if they are paying the bills.\n"When they released 'Simpsons Skateboarding' in 2002 I just went nuts," he says. "It just wasn't a very good game, but if a game isn't good I'm probably the most verbal rep about it. I've gotten shot down a couple times for that."\nBack at EB there's no one complaining about "NFL Street," a follow up to EA's well-received "NBA Street" series, as a few teenagers gather around to play the PS2 version.\n"This game is awesome," says 13-year-old Jake Mulinix. "It's kind of like 'NBA Street,' but different. It's a little like 'Blitz' (an older arcade football game in the same vein), but it's more realistic, like it could actually happen."\nCoyle just stands back and smiles as the teens take the controls.
(02/19/04 5:00am)
Like many students, when junior Josh Nahrwold came to IU he found himself with a lot more free time than he had in high school; free time that most of his friends filled playing Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox or Nintendo GameCube. This just wasn't his scene. So he went home and dug his old black and grey 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System out of his closet.\n"I came down here and everyone had PS2 or Xbox. I was like, 'Man I need something to play too,'" he says.\nNahrwold's friends have also taken advantage of his preserved console.\n"We have people over to hang out and they see the Nintendo and they get all excited," Nahrwold says. "They usually sit down and play it for a half hour or so. It's something most people don't have still."\nThe major appeal of the system for Nahrwold is its simplicity.\n"New games have like nine buttons," he says. "The Nintendo only has the A and B buttons, select and start, and the arrows."\nNahrwold has played the newer systems, even the latest updates of his favorite games, but he still prefers to go back to the classics of his childhood.\n"My brother bought 'Final Fantasy VII' or 'VIII' a few years ago, and it was good, but it was so intense as far as the time it takes to beat," he says. "It was crazy how many paths you could take. Deep down, I enjoy the simplicity of older games."\nRob Kolhouse, manager of Game Stop in the College Mall, says the demand for old games is particularly high in Bloomington.\n"Everyone who trades in their old stuff just comes back for it," he says. "And in Bloomington when someone buys something, it stays gone. Everyone is a collector here."\nIU students might not have much longer to track down older games though. Game Stop is currently in the process of selling off its remaining used NES, SNES and SEGA Genesis games. As of Feb. 22 they will no longer accept these games as trade-ins.\n"The demand is there, but the profit margins aren't," Kolhouse says. "We need to start making room for new things coming out this fall like the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS, even the PlayStation 3 and Xbox2."\nBut another generation of home consoles isn't going to stop old-school gamers like Nahrwold from enjoying their favorite classic games.\n"It reminds me of being a kid and playing games all day," Nahrwold says. "You can't get that feeling from the newer systems."\nPart of the reason the original NES has made such a lasting impression on people is because it was the origin of many of today's popular video game concepts. When original games were being produced from 1985-1994 it was most gamers' first taste of now-common genres such as platforming, role-playing and adventure.\n"Nintendo had all the new breakthrough games," sophomore Matt Gregoire says. "And there were hundreds coming out all the time."\nGregoire says even though NES games don't have the sharp looks of modern games, they make up for it in core classic gameplay.\n"Obviously the graphics are nothing compared to Xbox and PlayStation 2," he says. "But the games are so addicting and fun it doesn't matter."\nWith nearly 1,000 games released for the NES in the U.S., plus certain games only released in Europe or Japan, it can get quite pricey to track each one down. Rarer games like "Dragon Warrior IV" have even topped out at more than $100 on Ebay. Luckily, there's a solution, albeit an illegal one. It's called emulation.\nAn emulator is a program that tricks your PC into thinking it's an NES, SNES or even a Nintendo 64, enabling you to play games designed for these consoles. The emulators themselves, which can easily be found on peer-to-peer networks and numerous Web sites, are perfectly legal, but the games, or "read-only memorys" (ROMs), are not.\n"I don't really have a problem with it since I actually own some of the games," says freshman Brian Hixson, who in fact owns an NES with about 25 games and plays an emulator with many more. "I believe in playing the games on the actual systems, but it's hard to find all of them."\nAnother reason gamers turn to emulation is the added bonus of online play, a staple of the Xbox and PS2. If you know someone else's IP address and you have the same game it's easy to play an NES game on the computer with someone down the hall or even across the country.\nMost game developers have come out at one time or another to denounce emulation, but most efforts to stop it have been concentrated on pirates who profit from it by making bootleg copies.\nThe trend is so widespread that even at Game Stop it's not entirely ruled out.\n"At the store level I give it a thumbs down," Kolhouse says. "But on a personal level, I say if you can't find it, go for it"
(02/19/04 4:38am)
Like many students, when junior Josh Nahrwold came to IU he found himself with a lot more free time than he had in high school; free time that most of his friends filled playing Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox or Nintendo GameCube. This just wasn't his scene. So he went home and dug his old black and grey 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System out of his closet.\n"I came down here and everyone had PS2 or Xbox. I was like, 'Man I need something to play too,'" he says.\nNahrwold's friends have also taken advantage of his preserved console.\n"We have people over to hang out and they see the Nintendo and they get all excited," Nahrwold says. "They usually sit down and play it for a half hour or so. It's something most people don't have still."\nThe major appeal of the system for Nahrwold is its simplicity.\n"New games have like nine buttons," he says. "The Nintendo only has the A and B buttons, select and start, and the arrows."\nNahrwold has played the newer systems, even the latest updates of his favorite games, but he still prefers to go back to the classics of his childhood.\n"My brother bought 'Final Fantasy VII' or 'VIII' a few years ago, and it was good, but it was so intense as far as the time it takes to beat," he says. "It was crazy how many paths you could take. Deep down, I enjoy the simplicity of older games."\nRob Kolhouse, manager of Game Stop in the College Mall, says the demand for old games is particularly high in Bloomington.\n"Everyone who trades in their old stuff just comes back for it," he says. "And in Bloomington when someone buys something, it stays gone. Everyone is a collector here."\nIU students might not have much longer to track down older games though. Game Stop is currently in the process of selling off its remaining used NES, SNES and SEGA Genesis games. As of Feb. 22 they will no longer accept these games as trade-ins.\n"The demand is there, but the profit margins aren't," Kolhouse says. "We need to start making room for new things coming out this fall like the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS, even the PlayStation 3 and Xbox2."\nBut another generation of home consoles isn't going to stop old-school gamers like Nahrwold from enjoying their favorite classic games.\n"It reminds me of being a kid and playing games all day," Nahrwold says. "You can't get that feeling from the newer systems."\nPart of the reason the original NES has made such a lasting impression on people is because it was the origin of many of today's popular video game concepts. When original games were being produced from 1985-1994 it was most gamers' first taste of now-common genres such as platforming, role-playing and adventure.\n"Nintendo had all the new breakthrough games," sophomore Matt Gregoire says. "And there were hundreds coming out all the time."\nGregoire says even though NES games don't have the sharp looks of modern games, they make up for it in core classic gameplay.\n"Obviously the graphics are nothing compared to Xbox and PlayStation 2," he says. "But the games are so addicting and fun it doesn't matter."\nWith nearly 1,000 games released for the NES in the U.S., plus certain games only released in Europe or Japan, it can get quite pricey to track each one down. Rarer games like "Dragon Warrior IV" have even topped out at more than $100 on Ebay. Luckily, there's a solution, albeit an illegal one. It's called emulation.\nAn emulator is a program that tricks your PC into thinking it's an NES, SNES or even a Nintendo 64, enabling you to play games designed for these consoles. The emulators themselves, which can easily be found on peer-to-peer networks and numerous Web sites, are perfectly legal, but the games, or "read-only memorys" (ROMs), are not.\n"I don't really have a problem with it since I actually own some of the games," says freshman Brian Hixson, who in fact owns an NES with about 25 games and plays an emulator with many more. "I believe in playing the games on the actual systems, but it's hard to find all of them."\nAnother reason gamers turn to emulation is the added bonus of online play, a staple of the Xbox and PS2. If you know someone else's IP address and you have the same game it's easy to play an NES game on the computer with someone down the hall or even across the country.\nMost game developers have come out at one time or another to denounce emulation, but most efforts to stop it have been concentrated on pirates who profit from it by making bootleg copies.\nThe trend is so widespread that even at Game Stop it's not entirely ruled out.\n"At the store level I give it a thumbs down," Kolhouse says. "But on a personal level, I say if you can't find it, go for it"
(02/18/04 11:05pm)
It's Saturday afternoon and senior Brent Coyle is hard at work at Electronics Boutique in College Mall. Well, if you consider playing video games "work."\nCoyle is the Electronic Arts campus representative for IU, and he's at EB getting people to try "NFL Street," the latest from EA Sports BIG Brand for Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Microsoft Xbox.\n"We love these in-store demos," says EB Assistant Manager A.J. Heston. "It drums up business for EA and EB as a whole. It's not like most games where you just get a press release telling people what the game is like. They can actually come in and try it out before it's in stores. It really gets them excited."\nBut it's just another day at the job for Coyle.\n"What if someone sent you a game before it comes out?" he asks. "That's just awesome to be able to try something out before anyone else. They sent me this earlier in the week and me and my buddy have just been playing it non-stop."\nCoyle says it wasn't too difficult to land a job with the world's largest video game publisher in 2001.\n"One day my roommate came running into the room and told me that this guy on the floor above us was the EA rep but that he's graduating and needs someone to replace him," he says. "I e-mailed him and told him what I do and he sent it back and said I was hired. Thirty people applied for the job. There were even sign-up sheets at the business school, but he hired me right away."\nCoyle is one of many reps working on the biggest campuses across the company.\n"The program began as a response to our most devoted consumers -- primarily sports fans who were also into gaming," EA spokesman Trey Geiger says. "This group of people began conducting tournaments featuring several of our games, most commonly 'Madden NFL.' We started the program to support this core group of consumers -- hiring them, and equipping them to carry out their passion."\nThe program has been particularly successful in Bloomington.\n"Thanks in large part to the efforts of Brent and the reps preceding him, the program has been received very well at IU," Geiger says. "Indiana is a school where sports and the competitive spirit rule, making the program a natural fit."\nCoyle says if it weren't for his job, he would most likely not still be attending IU.\n"Before this I was an exercise science major and I was probably going to transfer to Old Dominion in Virginia," he says. "Then I took a sports marketing class and took this job and it all rolled together. I've been rolling ever since."\nIronically, Coyle says he was just about ready to give up video gaming before landing the job.\n"Right before I got the job I was moving away from it because I had to keep my grades up," he says. "But then you get all these games and you get addicted again."\nIt isn't all fun and games though. There's a lot of hard work involved in being a campus rep for the makers of the Madden football games. Coyle holds events around campus sponsoring the hottest games almost weekly. He estimates each event takes up about five hours of time that could be used studying.\n"I definitely do more EA stuff than school work," he says.\nThat's not even counting the time it takes to make fliers and spread them around campus or the giveaways Coyle organizes with Indianapolis TV. Plus, if a celebrity visits campus he has to be right there "putting stuff in their hands."\n"It's just constant little stuff," Coyle says."And if you don't do it, you get fired."\nCoyle extended his campus rep job into an internship with EA's Redwood, Calif. development studio last summer where he worked on the recently released James Bond game, "Everything or Nothing," for the three major gaming platforms.\n"I had so much input in that game, it's like my baby," Coyle says. "I kept telling them what needed to be done to make it better. I was kind of disappointed when it got delayed last fall, but I think it's going to be a much better game when it comes out now."\nCoyle says he hopes to land a job with EA when he graduates next year.\n"Everyone there works hard. It's just pure motivation," he says. "I would come in at 9 a.m. and I wouldn't leave until three or four in the morning. I'll do whatever I can for the company."\nHowever, there's more to a job with a video game publisher than just playing games all day. \n"You have to know the industry," Coyle says. "There's a lot of little day-to-day things like getting assets together and readying PR for magazines."\nCoyle says he's not afraid of voicing his opinion about EA's releases, even if they are paying the bills.\n"When they released 'Simpsons Skateboarding' in 2002 I just went nuts," he says. "It just wasn't a very good game, but if a game isn't good I'm probably the most verbal rep about it. I've gotten shot down a couple times for that."\nBack at EB there's no one complaining about "NFL Street," a follow up to EA's well-received "NBA Street" series, as a few teenagers gather around to play the PS2 version.\n"This game is awesome," says 13-year-old Jake Mulinix. "It's kind of like 'NBA Street,' but different. It's a little like 'Blitz' (an older arcade football game in the same vein), but it's more realistic, like it could actually happen."\nCoyle just stands back and smiles as the teens take the controls.
(02/18/04 5:49am)
The Bloomington Faculty Council held its first read-through of the updated Student Rights, Responsibilities and Conduct Code Tuesday.\nThe 96-page code, first approved in 1990, has not been updated since 1997.\n"Since 1997, technology and computers are being used much more at the University, so we added an emphasis on technology," said Mary Popp, co-chair of the University Faculty Committee's Student Affairs Committee.\nMost of the changes regarding technology refer to how students use electronic resources and access to University computers. A section at the beginning also states students are expected to keep up-to-date with their IU Webmail.\nThe area drawing the most discussion from faculty was the updated section explicitly allowing professors to bring legal counsel with them when meeting with a student about a failing grade or similar classroom incident.\n"We're seeing an increasing trend of students either talking about or bringing lawyers into precedings," Associate University Counsel Beth Cate said. "But no lawyer is going to be as helpful as simply stating what the basis of an action is."\nThe rewritten student code also calls for a student to not allow others access to his or her resources in order to cheat on an assignment. Currently, it only states a student is to not intentionally help another student to cheat.\nMany faculty members felt even this update was not enough to curb cheating and called for an honor code which would require students to report any knowledge they had of another student cheating. Such a code is currently in place in the Kelley School of Business.\nDean of Student Ethics Pam Freeman said the committee that drafted the code had discussed an honor code with the Kelley school, and were strongly advised not to add one to the student code. She also said the faculty needs to do a better job of reporting cheating.\n"Another point is that we received comments that there is a bigger problem of not reporting on the part of the faculty," Freeman said. "If we can't get the faculty to report academic misconduct, how can we get the students to do so?"\nBusiness Professor Eric Rasmusen pointed out there are currently no consequences for a faculty member who doesn't reporting cheating.\nPopp said more changes are expected to the proposed student code as the other IU campuses are surveyed for input.\nThe BFC is expected to vote on the student code at the next meeting March 2.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/17/04 5:30am)
The family of a Ball State student shot and killed by a University police officer has filed a $100 million lawsuit in federal court.\nJunior Michael S. McKinney, 21, of Bedford, Ind., was shot four times after lunging towards Ball State Police Officer Robert Duplain 24, in the early morning hours of Nov. 8, 2003.\nOfficers were called to the scene after a resident of an off-campus house called police complaining that the intoxicated McKinney was banging on the back door and windows and that a burglary was in progress, according to a Nov. 10, 2003 IDS story.\nA Delaware County grand jury decided not to indict Duplain Jan. 5.\n"Someone killed my son and has to be held accountable for that," said Tim McKinney, Michael's father. "The criminal system didn't bring us that accountability, so this is the only option we have left."\nThe lawsuit names Duplain as the defendant, but as his employer, Ball State would be responsible for any judgment. Indiana law does not allow a public entity to be sued for more than $300,000, but there is no such limit in federal court where the suit was filed.\nWhile the suit does not specify an amount, it complies with federal court rules that require damages of at least $75,000.\nMcKinney said his lawyer, Michigan attorney Geoffrey Fieger, decided on the $100 million amount. Fieger has previously represented controversial assistant suicide doctor Jack Kevorkian.\n"(Fieger) has more experience with police shooting and death cases than anyone else we could find," Tim McKinney said.\nBall State continues to defend Duplain, claiming he was adequately trained at the time of the incident and did not violate any laws.\n"Our attorneys have reviewed the complaint and believe that the defendant will prevail," said Ball State Executive Director of Communications, Heather Shupp. "In the months since the incident it has been investigated and reviewed several times, and each time there has been the same conclusion -- Officer Duplain did not violate state law or university police department policy."\nHowever, in the case of a large judgment, Ball State could be in trouble.\nThe school has two liability insurance policies. A primary policy will cover the university for up to $1 million in the case of a single incident, and an excess liability policy will pay an additional $15 million Shupp said.\nShupp also said she did not think there would be an award in excess of the university's coverage, especially since the lawsuit did not specify an amount.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/13/04 5:48am)
IU's number is up.\nFollowing in the footsteps of other state schools, IU is planning to replace its student identification number system so students will no longer be identified by their social security numbers. Instead, students will be assigned random 10-digit numbers.\nThe change is being made as IU converts to the Student Information System software the University began running this spring, said IU Spokeswoman Jane Jankowski.\nThe new numbers, which will go into effect at all eight IU campuses this fall, have already been assigned, Jankowski said, but students will not know what they are until the fall. Incoming students will have their numbers assigned as they enroll.\nIn the past, students were given the choice of using either their social security number or a random number. Under the new system, students will no longer have that option -- they must accept the random number.\n"Most students I've talked to have been eagerly anticipating this change," Dean of Students Richard McKaig said. "The only downside I can think of is they may think it's complicated to remember two numbers."\nMcKaig said student groups had recently complained to him they were having trouble getting students to sign their petitions because when asked for their student ID number, they did not want to give out their social security numbers.\n"This will certainly be easier," he said. "Students won't have to give their social security number when releasing certain things now."\nStudents receiving financial aid will still need to use their social security numbers in some aspects of the system, McKaig said.\nPurdue University changed to a random system last year, and Indiana State University switched two years ago.\n"Identity theft is an enormous problem," said Steve Hare, associate vice president for information technology at Purdue University. "There were more than 10 million cases of identities being compromised last year. We want to keep people from having access to social security numbers unless it's needed."\nHare said the only problems encountered at Purdue have been with groups that depended on the visual aspects of older identification cards and needed to update their software.\nSince IU won't be issuing new ID cards, minimal problems are expected when students enroll with the OneStart service next fall.\n"(Students) will not need to know their number to use the OneStart service or to enroll, since they will be entering into the system and authenticating their identity with their Network ID and password," said Roland Cote, associate vice chancellor for enrollment services. "If students forget their University ID number, they can always go back to OneStart to retrieve it."\nIn December, the U.S. Department of Education said college students are particularly vulnerable to identity theft because of the many ways they share their social security numbers, including applying for loans and professors posting grades online, according to The Associated Press.\nIn the case of freshman Tom Gillund, he's even had to put his social security number on tests, where it's easily accessible.\n"Anyone could get your social security number that way," he said. "This switch is a good way to protect the privacy of students."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/11/04 5:10am)
The Residence Housing Association election season officially kicked off last night with a meeting covering the rules of the campaign.\nThe two parties running for the March 2 election are the Connect ticket and the Amplify ticket.\nConnect's primary goal is to improve communication with students living in residence halls and Residential Programs and Services leaders. \n"We're really just out to listen to the residents in different resident centers and provide them a voice to the RPS administration," said sophomore Joe Reid, who's running for vice-president of internal affairs. "That's why we chose Connect as our name."\nConnect presidential-hopeful John Palmer is even going so far as to promise that, if elected, his ticket will regularly visit residence hall floors to hear the comments and complaints of students.\n"The student voice needs to be brought around any static and brought directly to the administration," Palmer said.\nThe Connect ticket is also out to improve the success of RHA events.\n"A need to increase the success of RHA events and make effective use of student activity money is absolutely necessary," Palmer said. "We've got to make sure that we are listening to the student voice and putting out only programs they'll be interested in."\nAmplify presidential candidate, junior Jon Greene, also wants to improve communication with dorm residents, but he said he sees his ticket taking a more modern approach.\n"RHA always has an open door policy, but we want a Web site where residents can send their ideas," he said. "We can't talk to every person every week, but if we get a lot of requests for something, it gives us more negotiating power when dealing with RPS. Most people feel like when they live in the dorms they don't have a voice to change things. We want to change that."\nAnother aspect of RHA Amplify wants to change is the way Channel 7, IU's residence hall movie channel, is run. Currently, the movies run are selected from all the e-mails sent to RHA, but not all of those requests can be satisfied.\n"About 30 or 40 percent of those e-mails can't be filled because we don't have access to those movies," Greene said. "We want people to be able to request things we can actually get."\nThat may be a lot to promise, but Greene vows to follow through.\n"We have the means to fulfill all of our platforms, and 100 percent intention of doing so," he said.\nThe next stop on the campaign trail will be a debate forum at 9 p.m. Feb. 26 with a location to be announced.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/06/04 4:32am)
Colorado State Rep. Shawn Mitchell has introduced legislation in his state to create an outlet for students who feel their conservative political beliefs threaten their grades.\nBut some feel the proposal may actually limit political discussion in classrooms. \n"This isn't about stifling political debate," Mitchell told The Chronicle of Higher Education. "It is about allowing political debate and trying to create a fair environment for everyone." \nIU College Republicans President Angel Rivera has heard many stories about liberal professors teaching their political bias, including one who tried to argue HAMAS and Hezbollah are humanitarian organizations.\nHowever, Rivera said he is wary of Mitchell's bill.\n"It's good to an extent because it could help limit bias," he said. "But I fear anything that could limit discussion in American classrooms."\nRivera also said while he has had many left-leaning professors, they have not stopped him from expressing his views, nor have they threatened his grades.\n"I've personally never been stopped from discussing my views," Rivera said. "I don't know. Maybe that's not the case in Colorado."\nIU's political science department is especially filled with liberal professors, Rivera said.\nDepartment Chair Jeff Isaac said political beliefs do not interfere with the way political science professors teach.\n"Our teachers strive to be fair in the classroom, to represent the most important scholarship that is available and to illuminate political issues in a way that is informed and also open to the questioning and discussion that is at the heart of real education," Isaac said. "Whatever their political, musical or culinary tastes, political science professors do their jobs as professionals."\nFormer IU College Democrats Vice President Laura Walda said a professor's views have nothing to do with what is taught.\n"As long as a professor is being a good teacher, there's no reason to be concerned with their political views," she said. "I have several professors, both liberal and conservative, who say that if they come off as liberal or conservative, 'That's how I am,' but we're not being graded on their beliefs. They don't give out tests asking who the greatest president was and expect us to answer Ronald Reagan or FDR."\nIsaac also blasted Mitchell's proposal because he said it doesn't accurately reflect the nature of most classroom discussions.\n"They are motivated by inaccurate and politically-motivated accounts of what actually goes on in the vast majority of college classrooms," he said. "I do not deny that there are, in some places, violations of the principles I have enunciated, some serious, most less serious. But such violations are not common, and the basic commitments and procedures of academic freedom and faculty governance are sufficient to deal with them."\nIn fact, it is Dean of Students Richard McKaig's job to hear complaints from students who feel their professors' teachings are leaning too far to either end of the political spectrum, though McKaig said he hasn't had such a complaint in the past few years.\nPolitical bias is not always a bad thing, but sometimes it interferes with the educational process, said Chase Downham, sophomore and president of the Grand Old Cause, a conservative student organization.\n"I personally think it's sometimes nice to get another point of view," he said. "The bad part of that is when only one view is presented. To ignore the other side is not really teaching."\nTo combat this, students at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo., launched a Web site last month where students could report professors who expressed their political views.\nDownham said creating such a site at IU has been discussed and one may appear in the future.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/04/04 5:30am)
Food services has placed posters in Gresham Food Court which detail several extreme lengths students go for free food, as well as flyers warning students they are being video taped "to hold people responsible for their behavior," and possibly be recommended for judicial board review as part of a plan to curb food court theft.\nThe posters warn against several infractions, including taking the grilled chicken off the bun and hiding it under a salad.\n"Our costs are skyrocketing because of theft," said Gina Brooks, Gresham Food Court manager. "We track the food. We know what's ordered, prepared and lost from waste. We know what we should be going through and the discrepancies are pretty dramatic."\nBrooks said the way Gresham was built allows students to hide what they are doing in certain areas. However, she said not all theft is intentional.\n"There are people who eat grapes in line that aren't doing it maliciously," she said. "We're just trying to make them aware of their theft."\nSandy Porter, manager at Wright Food Court offered another explanation.\n"This is the time of year when a lot of students start running out of meal points," she said. "They need to remember they can still pay cash or get someone else to pay for them."\nFood services receives no funding from the state or the University with all the costs paid by students going through cash registers. Porter said they are currently operating nearly 3 percent higher than where they should be.\n"This is home," Porter said, "And we want students to feel at home, but we also want to make them aware when they eat stuff they haven't paid for, it affects the cost for everyone."\nBrooks gave an example of just how much one person can affect the cost of food.\n"Last week I was talking to a student who was rebuilding his sub," she said. "He had two grilled chicken sandwiches he was attempting to put on it. A sub already costs $3.69, and you add those two grilled chickens, that's about six dollars right there."\nStudent reaction to the campaign was mixed.\n"I noticed the sign talking about a (Judicial) board meeting," sophomore Colin Beck said. "That seems a little overboard for just stealing something when they could just have you pay for it."\nPorter pointed out the cameras are not used just to punish students. \n"They're there for security for any type of incident," she said. "The (IU Police Department) uses them a lot if there's misuse of someone's ID. The cameras actually work to the student's benefit if someone steals their ID."\nOther students reacted with indifference.\n"I could care less. I am not a crook," said freshman Tyler Crookston, using his best Richard Nixon impression.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu
(02/02/04 5:55am)
Have you heard the IU urban myth about the fish and the virgin? \nNo?\nLegend has it that should a virgin ever graduate from IU, a fish from the Showalter Fountain will swim away.\n"There used to be a seal there that was regularly stolen by sports fans after we won something, but it was always returned," Folklore Associate Professor John Johnson said. "But one time it wasn't returned, and it had to be replaced with a fish. So the story began circulating that it was because a virgin graduated and that if another one ever graduates, that fish is going to swim away, too."\nLike most urban legends, the fish-virgin story started somewhere else but was adapted to fit IU.\n"At Texas Tech there's a statue of Will Rogers that will ride off if a virgin graduates, and there are lions in front of the New York City Library that will roar if a virgin walks past them," Johnson said. "It's a common legend around various places."\nNot surprisingly, there are other legends on campus surrounding the loss of virginity.\n"When a frat guy loses his (virginity) for the first time, he throws his shoes up on telephone wires," Johnson said. "But that's just one of many legends surrounding why the shoes are up there. I'm not sure anyone really knows why they're there."\nAnother myth in regards to the dangling shoes reveals that students throw their shoes over telephone lines when they make the Dean's List, while those who flunk out throw snakes.\nThat's not uncommon when it comes to urban legends, though. A story will get started by someone and then twisted around by so many people that it barely resembles the original version after a few tellings.\n"It's called a friend-of-a-friend story," Folklore Professor Sandra Dolby said. "You hardly ever find where they start, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have originally happened. I suspect it's a combination of something happens, and it gets passed around and 'improved' a few times."\nDolby also believes that urban legends are altered in different regions to highlight the problems of that area. College is a time when many lose their virginity. In another place, the fish could have an entirely different meaning.\n"Look at Gary," Dolby said. "It's an area of racial conflict, and the legends there have to do with gang initiations and things like that. Legends get adapted to show the concerns of an area. If people are afraid, they immediately believe something."\nAnother IU legend, for instance, tells the story of a coed-murdering lunatic. Although there's no record of an escaped mental patient ever killing anyone on campus, it still remains a popular story around IU.\n"The story goes that there were two roommates who stayed on campus over a vacation," Folklore Faculty Emeriti Linda Degh said. "One goes out and one stays in when there's a radio message that a lunatic has escaped an asylum. The girl who stayed in hears scratches at the door but doesn't open it all night because she's afraid it's the lunatic. In the morning, she wakes up and opens the door to find her roommate dead."\nAnother aspect of urban legends is their tendency to return. IU has twice been caught in the grip of fear over the same prediction.\n"Twelve or so years ago, there was a rumor going around that Jeanne Dixon predicted that a coed would be murdered on a Midwest campus during a holiday," Johnson said. "Parents were trying to get their daughters to come home or coming down to stay for weekends. Then a few years ago, the same story started going around and everyone believed it again. Urban legends are like fads. They don't last very long, they go away for awhile and then they come right back again."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(01/30/04 6:04am)
The gravel parking lot directly south of Assembly Hall on the corner of 17th Street and Fee Lane will be given a much needed makeover this summer. \nIn a plan approved by the board of trustees Thursday, the Blue lot will be paved, new lighting fixtures will be installed and trees will be planted around the perimeter. The plan also calls for the realignment of the entrance drive near Walnut Grove Avenue and the closing of the drive near Forrest Avenue.\n"This reconstruction is a long overdue improvement," University Landscape Architect David Smith said. "I've been here more than two decades, and it's been gravel as long as I've been here."\nThe project is expected to cost more than $1.6 million, which will come from revenue the parking operations receives from selling permits and ticketing. Smith said he expects to begin the project this summer and have it completed by the time students return in the fall.\nBoard of trustees Vice President Stephen Ferguson supported the idea.\n"This is a priority," he said. "It is important because it represents improvement for two areas of the University. It serves the parking needs of both the campus and the athletic department."\nSmith said an aerial photograph taken at a football game showed the Blue lot currently holds approximately 975 cars and a few motor homes. By paving the lot, it should be equipped to handle approximately 1,274 vehicles.\nLater, Executive Director of Transportation Maggie Whitlow outlined two parking areas that need improvement in the next two to five years.\nNew construction eliminating the lot on the corner of 11th Street and Walnut Grove Avenue will create problems, she said. \nThe Indiana State Budget Committee approved the construction of a mulitdisciplinary science building in Sept. 2003 to be located off Tenth Street and between Woodlawn Avenue and Walnut Grove Avenue.\n"There's a 200 space lot going away, and 600 spaces are going to need to be there," Whitlow said.\nShe said new construction will also create the need for further parking in the southwest corner of the campus.\n"We've been surveying where people work compared to where they're parking," Whitlow said. "The southwest is a critical sight."\nCurrently, parking operations is working with Bloomington to provide student parking on the south side in Bryan Park.\nIn another effort to improve on-campus parking, those with A or C permits were offered free bus passes.\n"We sent those e-mails out at 5:30 on a Thursday," said Bruce Jacobs, assistant vice chancellor of residential programs and services. "By noon Friday, we had 1,200 requests. It's simple to use, and it reduces the number of cars on campus, which was the goal."\nWhitlow said an increase may be in store for A and C permits next year, and students and faculty should explore other ways of getting to campus.\n "The employee bus pass is a good way of getting people used to what the bus can do for them," she said. "As the campus need for parking grows, we have to experiment with alternate ways of getting here besides one person in one car." \n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(01/30/04 4:41am)
The Board of Trustees Finance and Audit Committee struck down an increase in housing costs Thursday for an enhanced freshman learning community at IU-Purdue University-Indianapolis but gave preliminary approval to raising rates to cope with higher living costs.\nIUPUI Vice Chancellor of Student Life and Diversity Karen Whitney proposed an 8 percent increase for students living in Ball Residence Hall next year, a dorm exclusive to freshmen, to pay for the "Living the Freshman Experience" initiative. The plan would have been part of an overall 4.25 percent housing increase for the campus.\n"It's not needed from a marketing standpoint," she said. "It's not needed to sell out Ball Hall. We just want to provide a reasonable living and learning experience for students who live there."\nThe hall itself is also scheduled for refurbishment in the near future, which will close it down for a year. There is also a possibility that it may close all together as a residence hall, Whitney said.\nIUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz said the increase was necessary to improve student retention rates at the campus.\nThe current learning community at Ball Hall has a higher retention rate, but it was still not acceptable, Whitney said.\nIU President Adam Herbert also endorsed the proposal.\n"I'm for the general proposal, but I think it's important we phase out increases over time," he said.\nWithout the added price of improving the learning community, housing costs at Ball Hall would only increase by 3.67 percent. Trustees wondered what the extra money would go towards.\n"It seems a little sketchy to me what this extra 4 percent is going to be," Trustee Patrick Shoulders said.\nOthers expressed worries that the increase would keep some students from living in Ball.\n"I understand the reasons behind it, but I think with the economy the way it is, students without the money would be very opposed to that large of an increase," Trustee Cora Breckenridge said.\nEventually, Whitney conceded that IUPUI could work with a smaller housing increase.\n"If the board believes, it should be along the lines of four percent, or 4.25 percent, we can work with that."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(01/29/04 4:47am)
The IU Board of Trustees is expected to discuss soccer, parking, and library sciences among other topics at this month's board meeting, scheduled for today and tomorrow in the Dogwood Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.\nFriday, the board will review IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis' recommendation for the School of Library and Information Sciences Dean position, former SLIS Dean Blaise Cronin. Debora Shaw is the current interim dean.\n"A university of our size has a constant turnover rate, so we rely on good recommendations from the chancellor," said trustee Patrick Shoulders, who also serves on the Academic Excellence Committee. \nCronin, whose 12-year tenure as dean saw the program rise to national prominence, announced in January 2003 he was taking a year-long sabbatical, but would stay on as a faculty member.\n"I don't think it's unusual for deans to take leave of absences," Shoulders said. "There are those that sometimes tire of administrative duties and go back to the classroom for awhile."\nCronin declined comment for this article.\nThe Academic Excellence Committee will also review a report on what IU is doing to attract promising high school seniors to the University, Shoulders said.\nThursday, the trustees will view a plan to improve the parking lot on the corner of 17th Street and Fee Lane.\nThe operation would not only call for the paving of the current gravel lot, but also the realignment of the entrance drive near Walnut Grove, and the closing of the drive near Forrest Avenue.\nBoard of Trustees President Fred Eichhorn said the new lot will be an improvement over the gravel. \n"It should improve foot traffic and get rid of some weather problems," he said. \nEichhorn said the paving was not due to any complaints from those attending football and basketball games -- or even students who park there during the week.\n"It's just one of those things you do when you have the time and money to make it more user friendly," he said.\nOn the athletic front, the board will also honor IU's national champion soccer team and retiring coach Jerry Yeagley, as well as hear a report on the athletic department's financial status.\nThe department reported a $1 million deficit to the trustees in Sept. 2002. \nThat figure is expected to have been reduced, Shoulders said.
(01/27/04 5:44am)
In 1998, when students needed microwaves, mini-fridges or new computers they could just go down to Circuit City and pick one out. \nBut just when consumers thought all their electronic needs were satisfied by Bloomington's Circuit City, Best Buy opened right across the intersection of Routes 45 and 46 in November 2003.\n"It's not an unusual situation," Circuit City corporate spokesman Steve Mullen said. "We have a number of stores across from or near Best Buys across the country."\nMullen believes customers will stay loyal despite Best Buy's opening.\n"We have our customers and they know who we are," he said. "They'll probably check out the new store, but we're confident they'll come back."\nIt is Best Buy's policy not to comment on its competitors, but corporate spokeswoman Erin McMillan pointed out several services unique to Best Buy.\n"We offer a broad and deep assortment of everything from complete solutions making it easy to enjoy a digital lifestyle with products such as software, CDs, DVDs, mobile phones, laptop/desktop computers, \nhigh-end flatscreen TVs and wireless home networking," she said. "Best Buy is a 'Smart Friend' to consumers and the stores offer an enjoyable and easy place to shop. We offer interactive displays where customers can try out and play with products before buying them to ensure the technology will complement their lifestyles and the technology they currently own."\nMullen said its customer service sets Circuit City apart.\n"I'd say our customer support makes us unique," he said. "We have the best trained staff around."\nStill, some IU students prefer shopping at Best Buy instead of Circuit City.\n"Best Buy just has more stuff than Circuit City," freshman Robert Zendejas said. "They have more TVs, video games, music and computer stuff. You go to Circuit City and they just don't have the same stuff."\nFreshman Blake Roebuck agrees with Zendejas.\n"There's mostly everything at Best Buy," Roebuck said. "There's a bigger selection of home entertainment stuff, plus computer furniture and things like that. You name it, they have it. Plus, if you find something cheaper you can take it back."\nBest Buy will take back many items without a receipt, but Zendejas prefers the Circuit City refund policy that allows an item purchased there to be returned for more than a full refund if it is found cheaper anywhere else within 30 days of purchase.\n"I love that you can return something at Circuit City if you find it cheaper somewhere and they'll give you 110 percent of the price back," Zendejas said. "You don't even need an excuse to return it."\nZendejas also confirmed Mullen's comment about Circuit City's staff.\n"Circuit City is friendlier," he said. "Their return policy seems quicker, even when there are crowds. Once my sister had a CD player that didn't work real well. We took it back, but they didn't have that model, so they upgraded it for one that was better."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(01/23/04 6:04am)
IU has come a long way in accepting its gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population, concluded the participants of yesterday's "Being Gay at IU" panel, held at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. \nAt the same time, there's still more work to be done.\nIt wasn't until May 2002 that University employees could sign their partners on their insurance. Since then, more than 75 employees on the eight IU campuses have signed up for such benefits, said Cindy Stone, a training coordinator at the physical plant.\n"Ten years ago, when my partner of 20 years died, our status wasn't recognized," Stone said. "There were no domestic partner benefits. I was only guaranteed two hours of funeral leave to attend the funeral of a friend. My supervisor had to break the rules to give me several months of leave. It was then that I vowed that no other staff member would have to deal with such red tape."\nDespite the progress, panelists felt IU made several mistakes last semester in dealing with Kelley School of Business Professor Eric Rasmusen's Web log. Rasmusen's log, which contained anti-homosexual remarks, was removed from IU servers but reposted one day later to protect his first amendment rights.\n"I wish the president had gone on record," said Terrill Cosgray, director of the MBA program at Kelley. "I'd like to know how the University level dealt with that issue. The public has a sense that it doesn't matter because the University didn't respond."\nThe incident was particularly upsetting for senior Kendra Clark, a first-year transfer student from Virginia.\n"The Rasmusen blog was my first impression of IU," Clark said. "I didn't know what to do. It was not only anti-homosexual, but anti-women and racist. It was just appalling to read. There was a lack from the administration of saying, 'We condemn what's going on.' It was implied, but never said."\nThe four-person panel was sponsored by the Bloomington Professional Counsel and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Committee as part of the week-long celebration of MLK Day.\nSome audience members thought it was unusual for the GLBT to participate in a holiday normally used to reflect on the struggle of blacks. \nPanelists pointed out that King fought against the oppression of all people and that coming out can be particularly difficult for minorities.\n"I'm bi-racial, and I think that's more complex," Clark said. "The people who are most out are usually Caucasian. I think it has something to do with the way we're raised -- church and all that. We're less apt to be out, and that's a shame."\nCosgray also relayed that gays currently share many of the struggles of the early Civil Rights movement.\n"The hateful things said about interracial marriage in the fifties are very similar to the things said about gay relationships today," he said. "I think gays are the last group of people that can be publicly derailed and people will support that view. It's unfair that we're not always viewed as a minority group by other minority groups."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(01/22/04 5:24am)
It's not even spring yet, and IU is already cleaning the house.\nThe resignation of the Kelley School of Business Dean Dan Dalton Tuesday has brought the total number of open academic and administrative leadership positions to seven.\nOther positions currently being filled are the director of faculties, director of the Kinsey Institute, dean of the School of Journalism and new leaders for the Indiana Memorial Union, IU Auditorium and Indiana University Press.\n"We have changes all the time," said IU Board of Trustees President Fred Eichhorn. "We just have to make sure that those who come in to replace those who leave are highly qualified and continue to positively influence the University."\nTrustees will soon approve another change. Interim School of Library and Information Sciences, Dean Debora Shaw, is slated to be replaced by former SLIS Dean Blaise Cronin, Eichhorn said.\nSome may think the open positions may be the result of President Adam Herbert's attempt to restructure the University, but Eichhorn said, for the most part, this is not the case. Herbert was named president in June of 2003, replacing Myles Brand, who left IU to become president of the NCAA in October of 2002.\n"The resignation of the chancellor (Sharon Brehm, and subsequent naming of Ken Gros Louis as interim chancellor) was brought about by the new president because he wanted a new form of organization," Eichhorn said. "But I don't think the new president's influence had anything to do with the other positions."\nThe search for a director of IU Press was stalled because of questions regarding the future role of the chancellor position, but has now resumed.\nMost other positions need to be filled because of retirement. \nDean of Faculties Moya Andrews, Journalism Dean Trevor Brown, Kinsey Institute director John Bancroft, and Executive Director of the IMU and Auditorium Winston Shindell are all retiring at the end of this semester.\n"To me there's a difference between a planned and an unusual retirement," said journalism professor Bonnie Brownlee who serves on the dean search committee at the journalism school. "Our dean has been planning to retire, and we've known that for some time, but it's different in different places. There's always excitement when things change, but also a fear of loss of institutional memory."\nDalton is not retiring, nor was he pressured by the administration to resign.\n"I had the second-best job in the business school -- and that's dean," he said. "Starting in the fall, I'll have the best job -- professor."\nDalton also believes the University will pass through all these changes without any trouble.\n"We need to remember that IU has a very long history," he said. "We've had many changes in deans and other high-ranking officials. IU has provided opportunities to untold men and women over the years, and I'd be surprised if we lost any step during all these transitions"
(01/16/04 5:33am)
While the media has focused on the controversy of easier access to birth control pills, not many have paid attention to the possible sexual side effects of this contraceptive, until now.\nIU's Kinsey Institute and the Regenstrief Institute for Health Care of Indianapolis are in the midst of a study investigating the correlation between oral contraceptives and sexual dysfunction in women.\n"We're looking at the effects of the pill on sexuality and well being and what relationship there is between changes in hormone level and changes in sexuality," said Cynthia Graham, a co-principal investigator of the study and IU professor of psychology. "We know the pill lowers testosterone levels, and we know women are more sensitive to that. It's been speculated for a long time that some women may be negatively influenced sexually by this, but this is actually the first study of its kind."\nTestosterone occurs naturally in both males and females but at much lower levels in females, Graham said. When starting on the pill, the level of testosterone drops even more, negatively affecting the sex drive of some women, Graham said.\nIt has been theorized that testosterone and estrogen are the driving forces of libido, Graham said.\nTeri Greco, the other co-principal investigator, said she believes drug companies have been "conveniently" ignoring sexual side effects over the years.\n"It has been known for years that oral contraceptives can cause a loss in libido," Greco said. "Information from drug companies has always listed it as a possible side effect. I'm not sure why it's not a priority. Maybe the drug companies are not comfortable with it as a side effect."\nThe idea for the study sprung from Graham and Greco's mutual interest in the subject of sexual dysfunction.\n"I was interested in female sexual dysfunction, and Cynthia was also interested in that and oral contraceptives. So we sat down and worked on a protocol idea, how to recruit, eligibility and other criteria," Greco said. \nAs part of the study, women are interviewed twice, before and after starting the pill, and given three free months of the contraceptive Ortho Tri-Cyclen or Ortho Tri-Cyclen LO.\nThe IU Health Center has been a major recruitment site for the study.\n"They've been very pleased with the response so far. They wanted 60 women for the study and so far they have 40 enrolled," University Physician Dr. Diana Ebling said. "It's an appealing study with benefits such as being paid and free pills."\nEbling also praised the goals of the study.\n"This is an area we need to know more about," she said. "The study is asking good questions."\nGraham hopes the study will be concluded by June.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.