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(10/12/05 10:17pm)
In its third meeting of the school year, the IU Student Association Congress last night discussed an upcoming Katrina relief trip to Biloxi, Miss., an increase in service-learning classes and student concerns regarding the athletics fee and admission standards.
(10/11/05 5:21am)
While students pay thousands of dollars every semester to attend IU, most do not have the opportunity to get together with the president of the University for a one-on-one chat about how they would like to see their dollars spent.\nBut students interested in expressing their opinions about University-related issues, such as the fate of the mandatory athletics fee or the possible increase in admissions standards, already have an often-untapped resource at their disposal: the IU Student Association Congress. \nBut the influence of that voice is only as strong as the student support behind it, said IUSA officials.\n"I wish that congress was more visible on campus," said Speaker of the House Laura Maul. "Our job is to be the student voice. We are basically just a vehicle of the student voice from the students to the administration." \nCourtney Thom, vice president of congress, said often students do not take advantage of this process.\n"We don't really get that many outside opinions," she said. "As it runs now, when it's just the congress, it runs efficiently, but it would be great to have more student input."\nEvery other Tuesday, 62 elected students meet in an attempt to provide a voice for the entire student body. Of these 62 representatives, 30 represent the student body by location -- 11 representatives from the residence halls, three from greek housing and 16 from off-campus housing. The remaining 31 representatives are broken down by academic schools.\nAt congressional meetings, members listen to the activity of IUSA executives, debate current issues affecting the students they represent and are asked to approve or reject legislation as a unified voice of the student body. \nCurrent issues facing congress include ending the controversial athletics fee. Athletics Director Rick Greenspan announced at the Sept. 16 board of trustees meeting that the athletics department plans to drop the mandatory $30 fee, but decrease the number of student seats available at basketball games and increase the price of student tickets by $4.\nIUSA will be working with the athletics department to give recommendations based on student input, said IUSA President Alex Shortle.\n"What we'd like to do more than anything is get the debate going," he said. "We certainly lobbied for a long time to get rid of this athletics fee and we finally got rid of it, and we believe that was the right thing to do. Now it's just an issue of what to do about losing seats in Assembly Hall and some other repercussions, which we knew were going to come."\nIUSA will also discuss students' opinions about raising admissions standards and the appointment of a new chancellor, Shortle said.\nThe congress' ability to speak on behalf of all students can implement change in the University, said Brian Clifford, chief justice of the IU Supreme Court.\n"When there are issues that students are concerned about, or suggestions of changes from the administration, which do you think would be more effective: a handful of students calling or e-mailing faculty members or administrators and complaining, or a resolution from the IUSA Congress saying 'The students of Indiana University want this to change?'" Clifford said in an e-mail interview. "The key is getting the input from the students and finding out what such concerns are."\nThough IUSA is considering using an electronic poll on its Web site for students to voice their opinions, Thom urges students interested in expressing their opinions on these issues to attend congressional meetings and speak with their representatives.\nStudents can also contact representatives by looking up their names and e-mail addresses on IUSA's Web site, www.indiana.edu/~iusa.\nStudents are invited to attend congress's next meeting, which will take place at 8:30 p.m. today in Room 211 of the Kelley School of Business.
(10/06/05 5:09am)
From greasy take-out diners to elegant fine dining, Bloomington offers a wide scope of restaurant choices for students with varying budgets.\nBut for those with a well-developed sweet tooth, whose eyes might wander to the back of the menu before even glancing at the appetizers or main courses, dinner is just a precursor to the most important part of the meal: dessert. \nWhether looking for a quick sugar-fix with your coffee or a full-out decadent dessert, students can find local restaurants catering to confectionary cravings with a variety of traditional and unconventional selections. \n \n
(09/28/05 5:22am)
IU Student Association congress voted to pass the proposed 2005-06 budget in a meeting held Tuesday, following a mass e-mail attempt by an IU student to prevent the budget's passage. \nAfter a lengthy debate, the budget passed with a vote of 33-3, with three representatives abstaining from the vote. \nIUSA President Alex Shortle, who has participated in student government for 2 1/2 years, said the discussion surrounding the budget was unlike anything he'd seen before. \n"The discussion tonight was fantastic," he said. "It was the best discussion we've had since I've been here." \nVice Chairman of the IU College Republicans Matt Lettelleir sent a mass e-mail encouraging students to oppose the budget early Tuesday morning to roughly 12,000 IU students on a compiled ListServ address he titled "The Shortle Watch." \nListServ is a tool used by IU to compile e-mail lists.\nIn his e-mail, Lettelleir accused the budget of containing "self-serving perks," in reference to executive stipends and parking permits. \nDozens of students attempted to have themselves removed from the list by replying to the original sender, but these replies were also directed to everyone on the e-mail list, creating a bulk of messages. \nLettelleir said he does not regret sending the e-mail, but that he should have made the list private rather than public so students would not be bombarded with messages. \n"I felt like I needed to do something to stop this," he said. "I think that it is a responsibility of every student to know where their money is going." \nThe budget passed Tuesday night allocates $48,400 to maintaining the IUSA office, $19,000 to pay IUSA executives and $21,265 for newspaper advertising contracts. The total budget amounted to $108,865. \nShortle said the attack on the budget should not have been directed through e-mail channels.\n"It's a shame we had to wake up so many students this morning to 100 replies," he said. "The most disappointing thing is there are a lot of people on that ListServ who are not students anymore. They're graduates and they're getting these e-mails at their place of work." \nIn addition, Shortle said this year's proposed budget did not use funds in an unusual way, and he hoped to make IUSA more organized so that past documents could be easily viewed by the public. \n"If I get this place running like a business by the end of the year, I'll feel successful with what I've done," he said. "There's nothing that we have added this year from years in the past. Everything has stayed consistent in terms of the past at least eight years, especially in terms of executive stipends."\nStudent Drew Nguyen, a recipient of Lettelleir's mass e-mail, said he was more concerned with the spam than the student budget. \n"I just woke up this morning and I saw 20 or 30 e-mails concerning this and a bunch of people saying, 'Take me off the list,'" he said. \nNguyen responded to the e-mail in defense of IUSA and the budget. \n"They set up relief efforts that encourage others to lend a helping hand to victims of Hurricane Katrina, people who genuinely need a little bit of help from everyone," he wrote in his reply. \nThe usage standards for ListServ state that "lists may not attempt to address the entire IU community, nor any large group of individuals for which the list owner is not administratively responsible."\nMerri Beth Lavagnino, deputy information technology policy officer for University Information Technology Services, said the e-mail violated these standards. \n"Since the individual's actions caused degradation of service to ListServ and perhaps even general e-mail users, we will be referring this incident to the Office of the Dean of Students," she said in an e-mail interview.
(09/26/05 6:09am)
IU Student Association Congress members will cast their votes Tuesday to accept or reject the proposed 2005-06 IUSA budget, which relies on nearly $80,000 of student money. \nIUSA President Alex Shortle said he believes this year's budget is more accurate than last year's, which claimed to use $176,657 -- nearly $70,000 more than this year. \n"We have no idea (why it was higher.) They certainly didn't spend that much money because we don't have that much money," he said. "I'm not really sure how they allocated that much or how it was passed, but it was. But we need to move forward and be more accountable for our expenses." \nUsing $79,100 in student-paid funds and $19,000 in funds rolled over from last year, the proposed budget allocates $48,400 to run the IUSA office, $21,265 for advertising in the Indiana Daily Student and $19,000 to pay IUSA executives. \nIf the budget passes, the IUSA president, vice president, treasurer and secretary will be provided with $4,500 stipends, and $2,100 will be allocated to purchase A, C, D and E parking permits for certain members of IUSA. \nThe proposed budget also lays out the fiscal details for the IU readership program, which uses $70,000 of student funds to provide on-campus copies of The New York Times and USA Today to students. \nDean of Students Richard McKaig said executive stipends have been a part of the budget for many years, with the initial goal of giving everyone a chance to participate in student government. \n"It was originally predicated on the assumption that they would stay in town over the summer," he said. "The conversation was, do you want IUSA to be an organization that only rich students can participate in?"\nShortle said he stayed in Bloomington during the summer and did not work additional jobs, but other executives were "in and out" of Bloomington and did hold summer jobs. \nShortle also said having a paid A parking permit creates more efficiency within student government. \n"It helps me a great deal not having to ride my bike around campus," he said. \nSenior Kelly Gartland said she did not agree with using student money to pay for executive parking permits. \n "In my opinion, if professors are required to pay for their parking permits, then the student body shouldn't be footing the bill for members of student organizations to have one," she said. \nMcKaig said IU faculty and staff traditionally pay for their own parking permits. \nThe budget also included a $6,000 fee to pay for a leadership retreat for IUSA congressional and executive members. Though the budget has not yet been passed, the retreat took place last weekend. \nIUSA congress, which is composed of 62 elected senators, must have a two-thirds majority for a resolution to pass. The budget was intended to be voted on Sept. 13, but not enough senators showed up to initiate a vote. \nCollege of Arts and Sciences Senator Adam Kintz said he would like more information regarding the budget. \n"Before I can vote on it, I'd like to know what, specifically, each category will entail," he said. "As a rookie senator I was pretty disappointed at the showing of the first meeting last week." \nStudents interested in expressing their views can attend the congressional meeting held in room 211 of the Kelley School of Business tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. or e-mail their congressional representative, whose names and e-mails are listed at http://www.indiana.edu/~iusa/congress/congressmembers.htm.\nIUSA Congress Vice President Courtney Thom said though Congress is meant to be the voice of the students, very few students take advantage of the opportunity. \n"In the past we've had maybe five regular students, at the most, attend Congress," she said. "We don't really get that many outside opinions." \nIUSA Speaker of the House Lauren Maul said she thinks the budget looks fair. \n"I've looked over the budget and I think it looks really good," she said. "There aren't really any more corners they can cut out of the budget."\nInvolving students in the process of determining the budget can be difficult, she said. \n"I'm all about the student body being involved ... but it's rather difficult to explain to the entire student body the whys and wheres for the budget," she said. "It's much easier for congressionals to understand and decide because they're a lot more informed about what the budget means"
(09/22/05 6:15am)
Ebay? Yahoo? Bank One? Amazon?\nYou might not remember what sites you've visited lately, and it's likely you don't care. \nBut someone out there might. \nFour IU researchers are working to fight Internet attacks before they start by putting themselves in the head of the "bad guys" and devising plans to take advantage of unsuspecting users. \nProfessor Markus Jakobsson, graduate student Tom Jagatic, graduate student Sid Stamm and senior Virgil Griffith demonstrated the dangers of "phishing" to members of the American Society of Naval Engineers at a conference this week. "Phishing" is a term used to describe a targeted, technological attack on Internet users in an attempt to acquire private information, such as credit card and bank account numbers. \nJakobsson, who spoke to naval engineers interested in security and defense issues, said these attacks could be evolved by developing nations to harm industrialized countries, either by obtaining confidential government information or shutting down bank systems. \n"They don't have the traditional weapons to attack us, but they've got enough resources," he said. "It just takes a handful of computers and one or two smart guys to develop terrifying electronic attacks that could cost us a lot." \nThese technological attacks, Jakobsson said, could also target areas hit by military offenses or natural disasters in order to stop rescue efforts from being carried out. \nJakobsson and his researchers demonstrated three possible ways phishers could exploit Internet users and discussed what users can do to protect themselves against these attacks. \nThe first of these methods involves making attacks using social networks. Phishers can use Web sites that reveal social connections between users, such as http://thefacebook.com, www.livejournal.com or a range of other sites, to send e-mails containing an unsafe link. This e-mail would appear to be from a friend in your social network, and could direct you to a Web site asking for a username and password or some other type of personal information. In a slightly more menacing situation, the hacker could pretend to be your bank and obtain access to your account. \nIn a second scenario, Jakobsson and Griffith used public records, such as birth and marriage certificates, to determine an individual's mother's maiden name -- a piece of information often used by banks for security. Once a database of these public records was created, Griffith said it took between five and 10 minutes to determine, with absolute certainty, the mother's maiden names of over 3.5 million people in the state of Texas. \n"When this was proposed to me, I said, 'No, it won't work. It's too easy,'" Griffith said. "And I was surprised. It was far more successful than I expected." \nThough he said he would be surprised if phishers were already taking advantage of this technology, Griffith warns that the threat will intensify as most states move to using large databases to store public records. A third possible vulnerability exists in the Web history of a user's Internet browser. Jakobsson, Jagatic and Stamm have developed a Web site that, in a single click of a mouse, can search an entire Web browser history and determine whe site, www.browser-recon.info, was created in an effort to alert the public to its own vulnerabilities. Though it does not record information, Internet users can go to the site and see which Web sites are discovered in their browser's history. \nThe site uses the same technology that marks which Web pages a visitor has already viewed, said Stamm. Though the technology was not designed to access private information, phishers can manipulate it for these purposes.
(09/15/05 6:26am)
By Hannah Lodge\nhjlodge@indiana.edu\nIn its first formal meeting Tuesday, the IU Student Association congress gathered to discuss upcoming plans and opportunities for the fall semester. Initiatives included goals which have already been set, such as Katrina fund-raising and fair police practices, a new discussion on tailgating and the Committee for Fee Review.
(09/14/05 5:38am)
Cradling a hot cup of herbal tea, Josita Maouene apologizes for her hoarse voice as she sits down to discuss her teaching experience at IU.\nAlthough she is sick and her voice is raspy, Maouene speaks the best she can, articulating her thoughts in an exotic blend of British and French accents. \nIt is her third semester teaching in a foreign country, and Maouene is no stranger to communication issues. \n"First semester I had trouble looking them in the face," she said, referring to the undergraduate psychology students she taught in the fall of 2004. \n"I make mistakes. I have an accent. For some people it can be problematic to adjust."\nMaouene is on one side of a story with multiple layers; she is one of many foreign instructors at IU attempting to teach complex material in a language she is still learning. \nOn the other side are the students, who must occasionally learn to decipher thick accents or imperfect English in addition to challenging course material.\nIt's a situation that is likely to remain relevant in years to come, as a considerable percentage of graduate and doctoral degrees in the United States are earned by students from other countries. \nAccording to the Survey of Earned Doctorates released by the National Science Foundation, 31 percent of doctoral degrees in 2003 were earned by non-U.S. citizens. In scientific fields, foreign doctoral students actually dominate the educational landscape; 63 percent of engineering and 45 percent of physical science doctoral degrees were earned by non-U.S. citizens. \nHere at IU, the impact of these numbers sometimes manifests itself in undergraduate lectures. \nSenior Julie Dziak said she experienced anxiety when her stress management instructor's heavy accent clouded the content of his lectures. \n"He'd be giving lecture and some words wouldn't come across right," Dziak said. "A lot of people would get frustrated and just start sighing out loud in class." \nSometimes, however, instructors are put at an immediate disadvantage due to their imperfect accents, Maouene said. \n"Sometimes we sound dumb or simplistic because we don't have all the words," she said. \nPredrag Radivojac, assistant professor of informatics, left Serbia in 1999 when he accepted a job in Philadelphia. Although he said his students at IU have been very patient when it comes to his English, he was taken advantage of when he first became a teaching assistant in Philadelphia. \n"Two students were cheating and I caught them," he said. "They complained that they couldn't understand me. Luckily, other students saved me and the professor was on my side." \nIn addition to overcoming the language barrier, Radivojac said it was hard to adjust to the educational system in the United States, which offers more course options and requires professors to attract students to their courses.\n"I don't see education as having that component of advertising, saying, 'Oh, take my course!'" he said. \nDobrin Bossev, associate professor of physics, also noticed the need to attract students to his course when he came to the United States after growing up in Bulgaria and studying physics in Japan. \n"I have never heard such thinking in Bulgaria, that the course has to be sold to the students. But here, I have to be on top of everything, a good showman," he said. "It makes my teaching more challenging and more interesting." \nMaouene agreed, adding that students are also graded easier in the United States. \n"In Europe we had the stereotype that we give good grades because students are paying, but from working on the inside, I don't see that," she said. "We don't want to punish students with grades, we want to encourage them."\nLynn Di Pietro, assistant dean for graduate education, works frequently with international AIs. Dipietro said having an international AI can provide students with practical experience to apply in the global workplace. In addition, she said both students and instructors must make an effort to keep communication clear. \n"To make the cross-cultural learning dimension work, both parties need to be proactive ... Students need to make an effort to understand accented speech," she said. "The AIs should acknowledge worries students have about difficulty understanding their English." \nThe experience will only be positive, however, if AIs are well equipped to communicate course material effectively, she said.\nIn order to prepare international AIs, the University takes two steps: first, a language-screening test is administered to make sure the instructor can clearly convey material to the class; second, a graduate-level course called "Teaching in the U.S. classroom" is offered to any graduate students seeking assistance. \nSenior Megan Fogarty participated in the Conversation Partners Program which pairs international AIs with undergraduate students to introduce each student to the other's culture and give AIs a chance to practice their English on a weekly basis. \n"We went to Nick's once and he had a hamburger. He didn't know what ketchup was," said Fogarty of her conversational partner. \n"I'm not a very diverse person at all, and I was kind of intimidated to do it, but I'm really glad that I did," she said. "Bloomington is such a nice city, it was nice to show it off to someone who's never been here." \nThere are other aspects that make teaching in a foreign language easier -- math and science, for example, already share a culturally independent set of dialects, said Bossev. \n"The apple falls with the same speed in Japan, Bulgaria and the USA," he said. "If you talk about World War II, there are many perspectives. Physics is straightforward."\nIn spite of the occasional student complaints, Radivojac said his teaching experience in the United States has been overwhelmingly positive.\n"One thing I realized when I came ... is the tolerance and how well-received I was," he said. "I always thought that was the best thing in the States. It makes you feel good, like you're accepted"
(09/08/05 6:06am)
Vote for Pedro won last year's student government election by a margin of fifty votes, promising free T-shirts for basketball and football season ticket holders, more free speech zones on campus and an increase in education concerning alcohol issues. \nAlex Shortle, president of the IU Student Association, said IUSA has achieved two of the goals promised during its campaign and is working on reaching two more. \nAmong upcoming priorities, drinking regulations rank high on the list. \n"It is understood that students will drink -- it's part of college," Shortle said. "The key is that policies need to be such that they support safe drinking." \nShortle said he wants to encourage responsible drinking, rather than making it a taboo subject. He said a good way to increase alcohol awareness is to sell beer in campus buildings.\n"I always wondered why we don't sell alcohol in the Union," he said. "Why don't we have a beer garden showing graduate students, faculty and staff drinking responsibly?"\nBrad Allen, Union Board marketing director, said a Union beer garden would not be plausible.\nAllen said alcohol is occasionally sold in the Union at catered, usually private, functions.\nShortle said he hopes to open discussion between student leaders, the dean of students and members of the community to create policies that discourage students from practicing unsafe behaviors when they drink. He said students should not be afraid to be out in public after drinking. \n"We push people off lawns into houses ... we regulate drinking so that it's better to take a bunch of shots of vodka than sit out on your porch and drink beer," he said. "Students generally feel safer driving home than walking home because it's quicker and they're contained. We need to support them walking home when they're only slightly intoxicated." \nIU Dean of Students Richard McKaig said IUSA has some influence over IU Bloomington's alcohol policy, but the University is bound to state laws, over which it has no influence. \nIUSA Vice President Will Leckey said this initiative ties in to a current campaign to increase awareness of a Bloomington ordinance requiring residents to keep the noise levels down between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. \n"If they can hear any noise from the street, the cops can come up to your property and issue a citation for $50," he said. "But what usually happens is they come up and issue a $50 violation, and then they say, 'Oh, you have a beer in your hand, can I see an ID?'"\nTonight, Leckey and other members of IUSA will put door hangers explaining the ordinance on doorknobs of 5,000 Bloomington residents. IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger said the police force does not regulate drinking outside of state policies. People drinking beer on a porch aren't going to be approached by the IUPD unless they are doing something illegal, he said.\nIn addition, Minger said he believes overlooking underage drinking that is practiced safely could lead to a slippery slope of enforcement.\n"If I beat you up and apologize, is it OK to overlook that law also? How far do we take overlooking or tolerating offenders?" Minger said.\nTo further increase the student voice, Shortle said IUSA is also looking to add more free speech zones on campus. Currently, Dunn Meadow is the designated free speech zone on campus. \n"We like to say 'Dunn Meadow is done,'" he said.\nMcKaig said the University is supportive of increasing free speech opportunities campus-wide. \n"We may literally lose the term 'free speech zone,'" he said. "More likely we'll just set down parameters for wherever it is." \nShortle said two important goals set by IUSA have already been achieved. Students with season tickets to basketball or football games will receive a coupon with their tickets inviting them to pick up their free T-shirts at T.I.S. Bookstore. The student government's readership program, which provides students with access to copies of The New York Times and USA Today in various places on campus, has been met with success, Shortle said, but requires an awareness campaign.\n"A lot of kids don't realize that they are, in fact, free," he said.The readership program is funded through a $2 annual fee charged to each student. \nShortle said perhaps the most critical part of his job will be increasing student feedback.\n"I'm supposed to be able to say that this is a student voice, and honestly I couldn't say that right now because we aren't strong enough as an organization," he said. "I need to know the students' voice"
(09/06/05 7:04pm)
IU students, faculty and organizations met last night in an attempt to pool their resources and share fund-raising strategies for Hurricane Katrina relief.\nThe IU Student Association, in an effort to prevent an overlap in charitable goals, organized the meeting, which spawned a number of ideas, including selling Mardi Gras beads, putting on benefit concerts and collecting money on campus. \nIUSA President Alex Shortle said though IUSA would not interfere with fund-raising campaigns, it did hope to centralize the effort in order to produce clear results. \n"With the tsunami effort, people were butting heads," he said. "This allows different organizations and groups to know what everyone's doing so they're not campaigning for the same resources."\nSophomore Brooke Rabin, who lived in New Orleans prior to the hurricane, attended the meeting and was grateful for the support. \n"It's hard to imagine, you see things on TV and it's just a building, but to us it's like, 'Oh my God, I was there last week,'" she said.\nWhile tentative, the student groups presented several fund-raising opportunities for IU students to participate in within the next few weeks, including:
(09/01/05 5:50am)
In five years, Indiana high school students applying to IU, as well as all other Indiana public universities, will be required to complete the state's recommended Core 40 curriculum, a state legislator said Wednesday. \nState Sen. Teresa Lubbers, R-Indianapolis, speaking Wednesday to IU students and faculty about the future of education in Indiana, said the recently approved Indiana Senate Bill 200 will make the Core 40 curriculum a requirement for high school students interested in pursuing a bachelor's degree in Indiana after the year 2010. \n"We have said if you don't complete Core 40, you should not be admitted into a four-year school in this state," Lubbers said.\nShe said 65 percent of all Indiana high school students are currently on the Core 40 curriculum, which requires four years of English classes, three to four years of math and three years for social studies and science. \nLubbers said she hopes increasing high school standards will lead to greater success in college.\nGraduate student Paula Lahann, a former high school teacher from Texas, said she, as someone new to Indiana, has mixed feelings about the Core 40 curriculum.\n"Teachers generally don't have the time to come hear about policy until it already affects them," she said. "(Core 40) is one of those issues, as a teacher, that I'm not comfortable with -- that all students have to fit in that mold."\nAlthough the new Core 40 legislation will raise IU's admissions standards in the future, Lubbers said any other efforts to raise academic standards at IU have not "been considered by the legislature."\nRecently, IU President Adam Herbert has spoke on the topic of raising IU's academic prestige by increasing admission standards, and Thomas Reilly, Jr., a new member to the IU board of trustees, authored a 2004 report suggesting IUB should become a more research-based institution and raise admission standards.\nLubbers said she hopes the new legislation will improve freshman retention rates in Indiana. \n"Our persistence rates for freshmen aren't what they should be," she said. "I would say many students aren't prepared for college when they leave high school."\nTerry Spradlin, associate director of the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, said he thought Lubbers spoke of realistic changes in policy. \n"They're not just going to implement changes for the sake of change," he said. "These are things that can be done."\nLubbers also spoke of additional possible changes to Indiana's education policy, saying a certain amount of money will be allotted for each school corporation based on their numbers of students attending.\n"We tend to fund school corporations rather than students, and that has created some disparities," she said. "What we attempted to do this year was say each student deserved a certain amount of money."\nUnder the new system, \nhowever, schools will no longer have a guaranteed minimum amount of funding, although they will not lose more than 1 percent of current funding, Lubbers said. \nGraduate student Andrea McCloskey, however, said she did not find the term "revolution" fitting for today's educational environment. \n"I think that was a little overstated," she said. "Lubbers would probably say that's my youth talking, but I didn't agree with that. I do agree things are changing, though"
(08/29/05 6:42am)
Students dish out hundreds of dollars for books each semester. Sometimes they are surprised to find the author of the textbook and the professor share the same name.\nA mistake? \nNot exactly. \nWith the wide array of classes available today, professors sometimes find themselves creating their own textbooks to best suit the needs of their course topic. But when a professor requires a student to buy something the professor will receive royalties for, students and faculty are presented with several ethical issues. \nPsychology professor and former IU-Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm, whose book "Intimate Relationships" was published in 1985, still assigns the updated version of the text today -- but not for the royalties, she said. \n"I think that if there had been another text that was competitive, I would have used it, because it is somewhat of a conflict of interest to assign your own book when you get royalties on it," she said. "But in this case, I didn't think there was another choice." \nBrehm said once the fourth edition of her book comes out, which will be edited by other authors, she will no longer receive royalties.\nThere is no outlined approval process for textbook selection, said David Nordloh, associate dean of faculties. Occasionally certain books come under suspicion, prompting an investigation. Nordloh said the review process was established a few years ago when some students objected to a required textbook authored by the professor. He said in that case, the professor was found to be within his rights under the University's conflict of interest policy.\nMaria Kennedy, a graduate student studying journalism, said generalizing professors as profiteers is unfair, and most are not doing it to make money.\n"I'm sure it's true in some cases, but there are excellent professors here," Kennedy said.\nAccording to the National Association of College Stores, textbook authors receive an average of 11.6 percent of the income generated from the sale of their textbooks. Professors do not make any money, however, when a used book is sold. \nProfessor C. Randall Powell, who teaches business career planning and placement, also wrote his own book. Powell said he did not think the money he received for assigning the book created a conflict of interest. \n"Very few people who write textbooks make much money," he said. "It takes an enormous amount of time to write a textbook. I mean, like, two years for me. That's why I say on a per-hourly basis, professors don't make much money on textbooks."\nAnn Gellis, associate vice president for research compliance, said though there is no University policy concerning textbook royalties, the state law does regulate professors from abusing the system. \n"If, under state law, teachers who assign their own textbooks to their classes and get royalties over $250, we recommend that the professor file a state conflict of interest form," she said. "In the form, under the state law, the contracts over $250 would require approval to make sure that it's a fair transaction."\nPaul Hazel, director of the IU Bookstore, recalls one incident in which a professor intentionally profited from his textbook. He said that faculty member supposedly failed to report which books he needed until after book buyback in order to sell more new books and attain more royalties.\nFor the most part, however, Hazel said he feels strongly that professors keep their students' best interests in mind. \n"Because of the price of textbooks, our faculty try to keep costs low for students," he said. "I just don't think it's an issue on this campus. There are issues, like publishers who try to do everything they can to stop us from selling used books, but I really feel our faculty are more responsible than that." \nFreshman Kyle Williams said he was not concerned with professors profiting from their books, but noted professor-authored texts offered a limited perspective.\n"He would know the material ... but it would also be pretty subjective," he said. \nRichard Wilk, a professor of anthropology, said he wrote his textbook, "Economies and Cultures," because there was no other text available for his course. He said he believes students are at an advantage when professors create a book for their course. \n"With the textbook market, as competitive as it is, it means that they're probably a pretty damn good teacher if they've written a textbook in that subject," he said. "It pretty much means you've got an expert teaching that course, and someone who really cares about teaching." \nAlthough he said his book has provided students with many advantages, Wilk said he has made no profit from his book -- the $12 it generated in its first year was given back to the University -- and has actually come at a personal cost. \n"I get a pretty positive feedback from my (students) ... but my colleagues hated it. And I almost didn't get promoted because they didn't want to count it towards my promotion," he said. "The other drawback, for me, was that in order to have the time to write it, I had to take a semester off without pay, and that kind of put my family in hardship"
(08/24/05 5:34am)
IU Law Professor Fred Cate will be grading more than final papers this semester -- he'll also be grading the U.S. government. \nThe National Academy of Sciences has appointed Cate to take part in a two-year project aimed at analyzing personal privacy in the context of government anti-terrorism programs. \nThe project is titled "The Committee on Information for Terrorism Prevention: Balancing Privacy and National Security." It is chaired by Charles Vest, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and composed of a handful of expert sources from across the country. \nCate said he believes the committee will have two primary objectives -- whether having personal information enhances security and how to protect privacy when the government uses personal information for security.\n"For example, to fly, you have to identify yourself, but does that make the airline any more safe? Does collecting personal information enhance \nsecurity?" he said. \nStephen Fienberg, vice chair of the committee and a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, said the project will benefit the American people. \n"It is fair to say that its work is in response to public and governmental concerns regarding privacy of individuals and the confidentiality of information in both public and private databases that have been or are likely to be used in efforts to detect potential terrorists," he said in an e-mail interview. \nJohn Applegate, executive associate dean and professor of law at IU, said Cate's appointment didn't come as a surprise. \n"I think he's a very well respected professor and colleague," he said. "Obviously they must feel -- and he is -- that he is a leading scholar in his area."\nCate said his interest in privacy and technology issues began after Sept. 11. \nTwo years ago, he was the chief counsel for the Department of Defense's Technology and Privacy advisory committee, and currently, he is director of IU's Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research. \nMarkus Jakobsson, associate director of the Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research, believes Cate's technological and legal background qualifies him for the position. \nDespite his new appointment, Cate said his work on the committee will not interfere with or replace any of his current commitments at IU. \n"I came here to teach, and I intend to teach," he said.
(07/28/05 4:33am)
One of Monroe County's oldest bridges is about to receive a $485,000 face-lift.\nThe Gosport Bridge, which spans the White River in Northwest Monroe County, will undergo a major clean-up and renovation project this fall after receiving a $199,000 grant from the Department of Transportation, increasing the project's budget to $485,000.\nThe truss highway bridge was built in 1903 to replace a ferry system used to cross the river. With a span of 315 feet, it has yet to be out-done.\n"This is the longest single-span truss of its kind in the state," said Bill Williams, Monroe County Highway Director. "So that in itself says something about the workmanship and the material they used years ago."\nIn 1996 the bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places at the request of the Wampler family, descendents of Senator Asahal Wampler, who was responsible for acquiring funds to build the bridge.\nAccording to Cheryl Ann Munson, a research scientist in the department of anthropology at IU and chair of the Historic Preservation Board for Monroe County, the bridge's restoration has been a long-time goal for the preservation board.\n"We're very excited that this is going to happen, because our board actually designated this particular bridge site as the first county historical site," she said. "It is certainly well-recognized by our board and the county for its significance."\nIn 1990 a new bridge was built directly beside the Gosport bridge in order to serve local traffic. The project received $2 million in federal funds, and as part of the funding agreement, Monroe county agreed to keep the old bridge in good repair.\nAccording to Williams, the agreement provided the county with a unique opportunity.\n"It's a piece of our past, a piece of history... It's really neat, when you're driving on the other bridge, to be ale to look over and look back at history, if you will, and see how things were over 100 years ago," he said.\nThe Gosport bridge is now used by pedestrians and fishermen and will continue to serve pedestrian traffic after renovations, which include a thorough cleaning of the bridge, two coats of paint, primer, and structural replacements and repairs to floor beam connections and bracing rods.\nWilliams said the renovation, which will hopefully have the bridge restored by this time next year, is the product of much careful planning.\n"We've been working on this probably for about the last four years, putting plans together and discussing strategies," he said. "I'm very happy."\nMunson said preserving historical elements, such as the bridge, is important to the community for a number of reasons.\n"I think we recognize what's valuable in our society and what was valuable in previous years ... and that information tells us about who we are today," she said. "By preserving historic sites, we teach future generations where they came from and what's valuable, so it's a way of providing continuity across the generations."\nAccording to Munson, Bloomington places a great deal of importance on historic preservation, and has both a Bloomington preservation board as well as a Monroe county preservation board in order to do so.\n"Many counties have not yet reached the stage of having a county historical preservation board," she said. "I think we're very fortunate to have a county that recognizes and takes care of our important historic sites"
(07/25/05 1:00am)
A Noblesville man was found not guilty on charges of assaulting an IU police officer at a 2003 football game. The jury reached its decision earlier this month after a two-day trial, upsetting some IUPD officers. \nOfficer Brian Oliger was struck in the back of the head with a beer bottle at an IU-Purdue football game in November 2003. Oliger was attempting to break up a fight that erupted after the game when he was attacked, according to police reports. The attacker fled the scene and no arrests were made, although a warrant was later issued for the defendant, Benjamin J. Repp. \nIUPD Lt. Jerry Minger, who arrived on the scene immediately after Oliger was struck, said the jury listened to many eyewitness testimonies before reaching its decision. \n"A jury found him not guilty after testimony of people who indicated that he had told them that he did it," he said. "One person said he saw him throw it." \nIn spite of the witness testimony connecting Repp to the accident, the jury did not find enough evidence to warrant a guilty verdict. \nOliger said he was disappointed with the results of the trial. \n"With what I know of the case, and the witnesses we had, I do believe he was guilty," Oliger said. "We wouldn't have went to court if we didn't think he was ... I just don't understand what the jury was thinking when they deliberated about this." \nMinger said he was also unsatisfied with the jury's \ndecision. \n"In one respect, I wasn't surprised, because I've seen juries do this before. Juries are notoriously unpredictable," Minger said. "The emotion, not only for me, but I think I speak for the law enforcement community that in this respect, it's very sad when we arrest someone based on good evidence and testimony, get warrants, go through all of the procedures ... and I think quite frankly they come back with a decision we feel isn't just."\nAlthough Oliger did not agree with the verdict, he said there are no plans to further pursue the matter or make an appeal.\nMinger said there are currently no other suspects in the incident. \n"Personally, I believe we had the person who committed the injury to Officer Oliger," he said. "But that's my opinion ... I think the justice system we have leans in the favor, many times, of a suspect or someone who's committed a crime. And maybe it should."\nOliger was treated at the hospital for a 1.5-inch gash in the head that required staples and has left a permanent scar. \nRepp, who turned himself into the Monroe County Sheriff's Department following the warrant, was charged with Battery Class C and Battery Class D felonies in January of 2004.\nAccording to the Indiana Criminal Code, a person convicted of a Class C felony faces between two and eight years of jail time and a maximum $10,000 fine. A person convicted of a Class D felony faces six months to three years in jail with a maximum $10,000 fine. \nNeither Repp nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.
(07/25/05 12:53am)
IU played host to more than 1,200 high school and college students participating in a volunteer program this weekend for intellectually disabled adults known as Best Buddies.\nSarah Baldini, deputy director of programs for Best Buddies' Indiana state office, said the program is crucial in helping adults with intellectual disabilities develop often overlooked social skills. \n"With people with disabilities, oftentimes the only relationships or social opportunities are with family members or paid staff," she said. "By giving them an opportunity to interact with someone who isn't disabled, they're learning critical skills that help them be successful so they can be contributing members of society." \nThe program, which pairs high school and college students with intellectually disabled adults in a one-on-one friendship, was founded in 1989 by Anthony Shriver, who attended Friday's opening ceremonies. \nShriver founded the organization based on his experience at Georgetown University, where he realized forming companionships with adults with intellectual disabilities could help expand their social skills. \nSome could argue, however, that Shriver's desire to volunteer was a genetic tradition -- his mother, Eunice Shriver, co-founded the Special Olympics, and his father, Sargent Shriver, was responsible for founding the Peace Corps. Shriver's sister, Maria, is also famous for her former role as a television reporter and her current role as First Lady of California. \nThis weekend's event, the 16th Annual Student Leadership conference, provided interactive workshops for Best Buddies who had shown active leadership skills in their programs. The workshops focused on leadership skills, civic responsibility and volunteerism. In addition, many activities were planned to make the weekend a treat, including a fashion show led by actress Maureen McCormick, best known for her role as Marcia Brady on the Brady Bunch, and a speech from Dr. John Passarini, Disney's 2003 Teacher of the Year. \nJunior Megan Smith, college buddy director for IU, said she hopes more students will become involved with Best Buddies in the next school year. \n"It's very new here, the program just started in 2002 … and it's really easy to get involved," she said. "Just fill out the paperwork and we match you with a buddy. You go out with your buddy twice a month and have contact once a week." \nThe IU program, which currently has between 25 and 30 members, does not receive funding from the University, Smith said, so the program relies on donations and fundraisers. Students are matched with an intellectually disabled adult from Stone Belt, the program's host site. \nBaldini said the program also benefits the students who volunteer. \n"We're giving college students the opportunity to give back to the community, but at the same time we're giving them the chance to meet a friend," she said. \nThe program, which operates in all 50 states as well as 14 other countries world-wide, is open to middle school, high school and college students. The program also provides the opportunity for individuals to become an "e-buddy," Baldini said. \n"The e-buddies program is so innovative because we all take for granted that e-mail and text messaging is a main form of communication now … e-buddies lets them be a part of that new technology and also teaches very valuable computer skills." \n24-year-old Mollie Noble of Indianapolis attended the conference for her second time. Noble, who was paired up with college student Mary Ann Gerlach, said the program has benefited her in many ways. \n"My favorite part is being with friends and having fun … we like to joke a lot," Noble said. "I'm very happy to be here." \nGerlach said she has also benefited from Noble's friendship. \n"She's always upbeat, excited and fun to be around," she said. "Her outlook on life helps me view things in a more positive way." \nStudents interested in participating can visit the program's Web site, www.bestbuddies.org.
(07/21/05 5:31pm)
IU's not the only university frequented by hackers.\nOfficials at University of Southern California are contacting roughly 270,000 people with some bad news: a hacker may have had access to their files. \nThe security flaw, which left personal information of everyone who had applied to the school in the past eight years vulnerable, was discovered by a hacker last June, who reported the error and is not believed to have used the information maliciously.\nThe breach in security, however, is not a new problem for college networks. Similar incidents have recently occurred at the University of Connecticut, Boston College and University of California Berkeley, in addition to several other campuses nation-wide. \nAlthough IU has seen its share of security issues, faculty and staff say they have been working hard to prevent system-wide security breaches and raise awareness about a new type of security threat. \n"IU likely has more people working on security issues than any other college or university," said Mark Bruhn, chief IT security and policy officer for UITS, in a recent e-mail. \nAfter an incident in 1997, in which personal information about faculty was discovered and posted on a public Web site, the University IT Policy and Security Offices were formed in order to increase security. Two incidents in 2001, which left student information exposed, prompted the board of trustees to pass a resolution that gave UITS authority to enhance security campus-wide. \nWith the implementation of PeopleSoft, IU also replaced social security numbers with student ID numbers, a move which leaves less personal information vulnerable to breaches. \nIn addition, Bruhn said, IU is actively promoting IT security through other means, such as their Web site, www.ren-isac.net, which provides security information to other colleges and universities.\nBruhn pointed out that impenetrable security, however, does not exist.\n"Even as we layer security on these central computers and databases, security cannot be 100 percent," he said. "We will never be immune from security breaches, though we have taken steps to minimize the chances." \nIU informatics faculty Filippo Menczer and Markus Jakobsson are working to raise awareness about another security issue -- an attack known as "phishing." In a controversial study conducted through one of Menczer's courses last semester, Menczer's students used publicly available information to trick other students into clicking on a link -- spoofing the e-mail address of a friend, for example, so the e-mail appeared to be from someone close. \nAccording to Menczer, 72 percent of IU students clicked on the link, which did not harm their computers, when the e-mail appeared to be from someone they knew. \nWhile many students were upset that they were included in the experiment without giving consent, Jakobsson said it was a necessary in order to obtain results and ultimately find a solution to the problem of phishing.\n"We're not doing this to harm people, but in order to tell people, legislatures, technical people and citizens, that this is a very ugly situation that is going to unfold and we need to do something," he said. \nJakobsson said phishers can do worse than imitate a friend, however; they can pretend to be your bank.\n"Everyone thinks their mother's maiden name is something they tell to people at their bank in order to verify who they are, and no one else could guess it," he said. "My student and I downloaded a huge amount of information, and we have derived over 4 million mother's maiden names for people born in Texas." \nUsing public records, phishers can profit by obtaining bank account information from unsuspecting users who believe e-mails from their banks that provide personal information, such as their mothers' maiden name, must be legitimate. \nJakobsson said the best defense against phishers is staying one step ahead. \n"It's like a game of chess," he said. "You think of the best move for the opponent and then you think of a countermove. We're both the evil guys and the good guys at the same time, which makes it kind of interesting"
(07/18/05 3:10am)
After being diagnosed with genital herpes this spring, a Stanford student is demanding answers -- not from her partner, but from the school's health center. \nMany students may be surprised to learn that genital herpes, a sexually transmitted disease that affects one out of five adults in the United States, is not routinely tested for by most University health centers. \n"The way we do it at the health center is on a case-by-case basis," said Kathryn Brown, health educator at the IU health center. "It wouldn't be included in an STD screening." \nThe Stanford student claims that routine testing for genital herpes, however, may have helped her avoid contracting it. \nOften characterized by painful sores around the genital area, the disease is actually frequently asymptomatic -- according to the American Social Health Association, as many as 90 percent of people with the virus don't know they have it and may be passing it onto others. \nSo why isn't testing routine? \nAccording to Brown, the decision isn't so black and white. \n"Herpes is a very complicated situation, because there are two types," she said. "You would have to then have further tests to narrow it down as to whether it's type one or two ... and it gets very complicated, because so many people have been exposed to herpes one, which is basically cold sores around the mouth." \nA lack of routine testing for genital herpes is not confined to college health centers, however. In 2004, Planned Parenthood reported 427 herpes cultures state-wide. The Bloomington Planned Parenthood, only one of 39 Planned Parenthoods in the state, did almost 2,000 gonorrhea and chlamydia tests in the same year. \nAccording to Barb Sturbaum, director of procedures for Bloomington's Planned Parenthood, the facility routinely checks for gonorrhea, chlamydia, yeast and bacteria, but a physical evaluation can lead a doctor to do a blood test for herpes. \nSturbaum cites the price of the test as one reason against routine testing. \n"It's an expensive test," she said. "We charge $53 for a herpes culture." \nIn addition to a steep price, Sturbaum said even routine testing is performed on an individual basis. \n"I think testing should be available, but I don't think everyone should routinely have every test. You have to call a halt to it at some point," she said. "And in fact, not everyone gets tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia. If somebody is 30 years old and only has one partner, they might not ask for it ... There are a lot of things you take into account when you do tests." \nIn addition, Sturbaum said, genital herpes is not life-threatening. \n"The sores are painful, they hurt, but it doesn't cause infertility like some diseases do, and it doesn't lead to pelvic inflammatory diseases, like some do," she said. "But you can pass it on to newborns." \nIn spite of genital herpes' prevalence and detection difficulties, Brown said practicing safe sex is an even more effective tool in reducing the spread of the disease. \n"People need to focus on having safer sex ... I think that's a far better thing to do than say that everyone should be tested," she said. "Sure, they could have a test and find out they have it -- then what? Are they going to stop having sex? I don't think so"
(07/07/05 4:06am)
Thomas D. Clark, a notable professor, author and historian, passed away June 28, just weeks short of his 102nd birthday.\nClark, who came to IU in 1966 after serving as the chair of the history department at University of Kentucky, was responsible for compiling a 4-volume series chronicling the foundation and history of IU. In addition to bringing IU's history to life, Clark was known for writing over 20 books, many of which recorded the history of Kentucky. Clark not only wrote part of Kentucky's history; he also he saved it.\nWhen Governor Albert Chandler ordered the clean-up of the office of state records for Kentucky, two truckloads of state records were mistakenly thrown away to be used as scrap paper. Clark was called in the middle of the night by an aide and rushed to stop the trucks from hauling the documents away, thus preserving the state's records. \nDavid Hamilton, professor of history at University of Kentucky, said Clark's passion for history was about more than just documenting it. \n"He grew up in a time when the South was beginning its transformation, and he was trying to explain it and come to terms with it," he said. "He just developed this deep love for history. He read quite widely and loved to study human failure and human successes ... He understood that failure told you a lot about a man, a woman, a society or a culture. He was very perceptive about that." \nClark used this intuitive understanding of history and human nature to write an honest and engaging look at IU's founding. \n"I have spent all of my mature life in a University community as student, professor, and trustee," he wrote in the first volume. "I know full well that the formal and official record is often impressive in its failure to reveal the full story. The inside human aspect of a University often perishes with the death of men or with their softening and fading memories ... There survives in various sources enough color to give the history a rich and human tone." \nHamilton said he believes Clark's passion and rich color will survive in the memories of his students. \n"For all of the books he wrote, for all of the honors he received, the most gratifying part of his career was being in the classroom," he said. "He taught at 8 in the morning to packed classes, and he was a superb lecturer ... He gave them a sense of what it was like to live in the past, but also a sense of how history moved on. He didn't worship the past."\nFamily friend Dovree Greene said she will remember Clark not only as a teacher or a historian, but as an individual interested and involved in a little bit of everything, including a life-long love for trees and various types of wood. \n"The last time I saw him was at a benefit ... It was a very fancy party, and he had donated a walnut table. He made it for his daughter, Elizabeth, but she no longer needed it, so he donated it and it brought in $5,500," she said. "And it was just so spectacular. It was another little aspect of what he could do, donating this table and having it madly bid on."\nClark, who made his way into college by producing cotton on his father's farm, believed every citizen, whether a farmer or a teacher, has a duty to be involved in the community. \nFor students and faculty of IU, he said, this means understanding the university's past in order to preserve its future. \n"Fundamentally it seems important for every person having a voice in decision-making, professors and administrators, to have at hand a source of information describing the processes of past changes," he wrote in the final volume of IU's history. "A university in which people are uninformed about its past is one without spirit or a sense of its continuity; it is an institution set afloat on a sea of confusion and needless repetition of mistakes and outmoded experiences"
(06/30/05 5:54am)
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that manufacturers of peer-to-peer downloading programs can be held liable for copyright infringement committed by users.\n"We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties," said Justice David Souter, who wrote the court's 24-page opinion. \nThe issue was brought to the Supreme Court after MGM sued file-sharing companies Grokster and StreamCast Networks, the parent company of the popular file-sharing program, Morpheus. Lower courts ruled in favor of the file-sharing programs, but the Supreme Court remanded the decision and sent the case back for further review. \n"When a widely shared service or product is used to commit infringement, it may be impossible to enforce rights in the protected work effectively against all direct infringers, the only practical alternative being to go against the distributor of the copying device for secondary liability on a theory of contributory or vicarious infringement," wrote Souter. \nConsidered a victory for the entertainment industry, the Supreme Court's message could potentially mean the end for many popular free file-sharing networks still in existence.\nAlthough senior Ilene Blumberg sees the potential legal problem of free downloading, she said the decision could result in a loss for some artists. \n"Downloading music is a good way to hear bands you've never heard," she said. "If I like the songs enough, I buy the CD or support the artist through going to their concerts, whereas if I'd never heard the downloaded songs, I might not have." \nWhile this decision could force many students to change their downloading habits, Merri Beth Lavagnino, deputy information technology policy officer for University Information Technology Services, said the ruling will not create any changes for UITS at the present time. \n"We do not plan on changes in our procedures related to peer-to-peer file sharing as a result of this ruling, unless and until we get direction to do so from University Counsel," she wrote in an e-mail. \nUITS provides information on legal options for obtaining music and movies online at their Web site, www.filesharing.iu.edu. The site also provides a tutorial on copyright infringement and articles on the Digital Millenium Copyright act and the No Electronic Theft act. \nIn a statement on StreamCast's Web site, Morpheus CEO Michael Weiss defended the file-sharing company and expressed hope that the battle is not over. \n"We will continue our David vs. Goliath fight to prove that we operate 100 percent on the right side of the law," he said. "Once all the evidence is put forward, we are confident that it will be proven that Morpheus did not, does not and will not promote or encourage copyright infringement." \nThe federal court that found in favor of Grokster and StreamCast used precedent set in a 1984 case brought against Sony for copyright infringement by means of the VCR. The court found, in Sony's case, that because the VCR was used for taping shows to watch at a more convenient time, the VCR's purpose was not copyright infringement, and thus Sony could not be held liable for copyright violations that occurred with its technology. \nThe Supreme Court argued this case was incorrectly applied to the Grokster and StreamCast case, however, because the file-sharing companies encourage copyright infringement.