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(10/03/11 3:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>An IU freshman died Saturday after an early morning fire broke out at Terra Trace Apartments.Renee Ohrn, 19, of Gary, was pronounced dead at IU Health Bloomington Hospital at 4:32 a.m., Monroe County Coroner Nicole Meyer said in a statement.Ohrn was a resident of Eigenmann Hall on campus, Meyer said, but was staying with a friend at the apartment complex when the fire happened.Four people were transported to the hospital with injuries related to the fire, hospital spokesperson Amanda Roach said. Among the injured were Bloomington police Sgt. James Batcho and Bloomington fire Capt. Woodrow Hueston. Batcho suffered smoke inhalation after helping a resident down from a balcony, Lt. Faron Lake of the Bloomington Police Department said. Batcho was one of nine BPD officers who assisted the Bloomington Fire Department during the fire, Lake said. The IU Police Department was also on hand. Both the officer and the firefighter were treated and released from IU Health Bloomington Hospital Saturday.The fire broke out at about 3 a.m. at the apartments in the 300 block of East 15th Street.BFD Battalion Chief Rick Petermichel said the three-alarm fire affected all 12 units of the complex’s D building. Though it did not spread to other buildings, people in building C were asked to vacate at about 3:30 a.m.Saturday afternoon, residents of both buildings returned to gather their belongings. A blue and white blanket hung from a second-floor bedroom in the D building. Shards of glass remained where a window should have been.The fire that began nearly 12 hours earlier did not make it into the room, but outside the apartment’s walls, a layer of black covered the building’s stairwell.“The fire was originally coming out of the stairwell,” said senior Mark McWhirter, who lives in a house across from the building on East 14th Street. “It wasn’t coming out of any windows or apartments.”McWhirter said he saw the fire from his front lawn before police or firefighters arrived on the scene. He stood on a hill across the street as five people ran out the building’s front door, flames coming from behind them.Half an hour after McWhirter noticed the fire, he said he thought he heard a cry for help come from inside the building, but he didn’t think anyone was still in it.“I just cannot believe that someone passed away in there,” McWhirter said.The fire was still in progress about three hours after it started, McWhirter said.“We were here till sunrise, and it kept going on and on,” he said.Across the street from the apartments, two people sat with a snowboard, ski boots and a rug. Picture frames were placed on a wooden pole next to them.Windows from the first to third floors on the left side of the building were broken and, from the street, the stairwell on the third floor was visible through blackened wood beams. Most of the outside wall was gone.On the other side of the building, two women waited for a firefighter to return from their apartment.The firefighter walked down the charred staircase holding a black backpack, laptop and a birthday gift bag.“Here’s a laptop,” he said, putting it down at one woman’s feet. “Or, what’s left of one. The light’s still on. It could be salvaged.”She bent over to look at it, shook her head and left it on the ground.IU spokesman Mark Land called the fire a tragedy and said the University would do anything it could to help the students who were affected.“It’s a very sad thing,” Land said, noting the fire came just days after the death of another IU student, freshman Matthew Erickson. “To lose two students in the same week is very difficult for everyone.”He said Residential Programs and Services and the Office of the Dean of Students worked Saturday morning with the Monroe County Red Cross to support the displaced students.Six students stayed in Forrest Quad Saturday night with the option to stay for a couple of weeks. If they wish to move into a dorm room for the rest of the semester, Land said the University will work to make that happen at a reduced rate.Counseling and Psychological Services remained in Eigenmann Hall Saturday to help distraught students there, he said.“We’re going to do everything we can,” Land said. “It’s been a tough day in a tough week.”
(10/01/11 5:07pm)
A 19-year-old IU student died Saturday after an early morning fire broke out at Terra Trace apartments.
(09/30/11 4:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Crystal Grubb had been missing for nearly two weeks when her body was found in a northern Monroe County cornfield. The 29-year-old mother of two was found strangled and stripped of most of her clothing. The news of her disappearance was relatively quiet and, one year later, her murder remains unsolved.But her friends and family have not forgotten Crystal. This weekend — the one year anniversary of her body being found — they hope to help others remember Crystal, too. A memorial walk will take place at 6 p.m. Saturday at People’s Park on Kirkwood Avenue.Crystal’s mother, Janice Grubb, said the event is also about bringing awareness to a comparatively forgotten case. “We’re all hoping to bring some focus to the case and help get it solved,” Grubb said. “We want the community to join together and get something done.” Those participating in the walk will carry posters, Grubb said, as well as wear T-shirts displaying Crystal’s dates of birth and death and a photograph of her. The back of the shirts will read, “We want justice for Crystal Grubb. We all miss you and love you.”Originally, the production of the T-shirts was being handled entirely by the Grubbs and their friends, as the family does not have the money for professionally made shirts. But a chance connection to Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan led to a gesture of support from the city. Two decades ago, Kruzan’s executive assistant Diane Daily was Crystal’s big sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program. When Daily heard of the walk, she told the Mayor the family could use some assistance. “This was one way we could help,” said Kruzan, who allowed the city to donate 150 T-shirts for the walk. Kruzan said he hopes the walk will help persuade someone to come forward with information and bring some closure to the family.“This is a very sad situation, and there’s only one way it can even come close to being somewhat remedied, and that’s if there’s a solution to this mystery,” Kruzan said. “There are people who can help and at least put the unanswered questions to rest.”Three Bloomington men, including Crystal’s boyfriend at the time, have been labeled as persons of interest in the case, and all three are currently being held in Monroe County Jail on charges of dealing methamphetamine.The charges stem from the same night Crystal disappeared, and the men were reportedly the last to see her alive. However, there is not enough evidence to connect them to the murder.“Obviously, it’s important for a family to remember a loved one, but there’s also a very practical reason for the walk,” Kruzan said. Janice Grubb said her reason is simple.“My daughter was murdered last year,” Grubb said. “I just want to see justice done.”
(09/28/11 4:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>More than 40 Bloomington area Postal Service workers joined letter carriers across the country Tuesday to rally in support of a bill they say could help save thousands of jobs.A total of 492 “Save America’s Postal Service” rallies took place throughout the United States — at least one for every congressional district — promoting House Resolution 1351. In Bloomington, letter carrier Bill Sherman walked near the back of the crowd of rally-goers as it made its way from the City Hall-Shower’s Building down College Avenue. Sherman, who has been a letter carrier for 32 years, wore a blue peaked cap over his gray hair and a “Save America’s Postal Service” t-shirt slung over his shoulder. A badge pinned to his blue cardigan displayed three words depicting his way of life: eat, sleep and carry.“This rally is really about how we want Congress to support H.R. 1351,” Sherman said. “This bill would give back pre-funding to the Postal Service after a lame duck Congress decided we had to pay up-front medical costs for 75 years from now.”The move came in 2006, when Congress passed legislation that requires the Postal Service to pay its health care benefits for future retirees far in advance. Because of the law, the Postal Service must come up with 75 years’ worth of benefits during ten years. As of 2011, the Postal Service now faces an $8.3 billion budget deficit.The legislation put an unfair burden on the Postal Service, Ken Hill, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers local 828, said during a quick break from shouting chants through a bullhorn. It is the only company in the country legally required to pre-fund benefits, he said.“We’ve got a $5 billion payment due to pay for these benefits,” Hill said. “We’ll be paying for people we haven’t hired and people that haven’t even been born yet.” Post Master General Patrick Donahue, however, said he believes the debt is the result of another problem. With text messaging and emails, there’s been a decline in so-called “snail mail,” and he suggests shutting down thousands of local offices and eliminating Saturday delivery as a way of saving money. This could eliminate 19,000 jobs, Postal Service unions estimate.A bill sponsored by U.S. Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Dennis Ross, R-Fla., proposes similar cuts and was passed in a House subcommittee Sept. 21. Issa has also said the Postal Service is going come to American taxpayers looking for a bailout. Postal Service Unions said H.R 1351 would just reallocate the extra funds the Postal Service has already overpaid toward pensions and not pull a single penny from taxes. In fact, for the past 30 years, the Postal Service has not been funded by taxes in any way. Instead, it is run through the sale of stamps and postage. Sherman said while it’s true the Postal Service’s place in the country has changed in recent years, not all of it has been for the worse. “Things have changed,” he said. “Everyone realizes that. Our work force has already decreased by 25 percent in the last few years.”But there has been growth too, he said.“Netflix was good to us,” Sherman said. “Amazon and online shopping, too. Lots of package services help us by us helping them. UPS and FedEx can’t always make it out to the rural areas, so we take it the rest of the way.”If the thousands of post offices potentially slated to close shut their doors, small-town America and rural areas would suffer, Sherman said. Standing outside the old courthouse at the square, Hill brought his bullhorn to Sherman.“What do we want?” Sherman shouted through it.“Six-day delivery,” answered the crowd gathered in front of him.“When do we want it?”“Now!”“Forever and ever?”“Forever and ever!”Then Hill told the crowd to head back to City Hall, where they would present a stack of signed petitions to U.S. Rep. Todd Young, R-Ind.Inside the Shower’s building, the rally-goers squeezed into the representative’s office. Young was not there, but District Office Manager Hal Turner took the petitions and promised to give them to the congressman.Young is not one of the nearly 200 co-sponsors who have already signed the resolution. “This is just the start,” Hill said as the rally came to a close. “It’s just the beginning of the push to keep our doors open.”
(09/27/11 2:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A private detective that called Bloomington police Chief Mike Diekhoff “Gomer Pyle” on a New York talk show Friday has apologized to the state and the city.During a brief radio interview with Don Imus on Monday, retired New York police detective Richard “Bo” Dietl did not specifically mention the comments he made last week on “Good Day New York,” but he did repeatedly say he was sorry.“I just want to apologize,” Dietl said near the end of the interview, without a prompt from Imus. The radio host seemed in the dark about what Dietl was even referring to. “I say some things sometimes, and I really don’t mean it,” Dietl said. “I want to apologize to the great state of Indiana and Bloomington. I apologize to them and that’s all I’ll say, and that’s it.”Dietl was hired by the Spierer family to help find their daughter, missing IU student Lauren Spierer, and was being interviewed about the case when he made the disparaging remarks. The investigator has been in similar situations, having previously given public apologies to House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and journalist Katie Couric. During Friday’s television appearance, Dietl criticized the Bloomington Police Department, comparing Diekhoff to the character Gomer Pyle, a dim-witted, southern auto-mechanic featured in “The Andy Griffith Show.” Dietl also likened college students to zombies in the film “Night of the Living Dead,” adding that pill usage is rampant at universities and that he believes drug use at IU directly affected Lauren’s disappearance.Dietl, who became a private investigator and prominent media personality after his retirement, said he and a team of four other retired New York police officers have been involved in the case for some time. “They’ve uncovered stuff that really is giving us a direction on this case,” he said. “We have a lot of information.”Dietl said the information will be turned over to the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office and Bloomington police in due time, though he did not have kind things to say about the department. “I met with the chief, and all I can say is, thank God for New York detectives,” he said.In an email Monday, Diekhoff confirmed that Dietl’s team of detectives have been in the city and have spoken to Bloomington police. “They introduced themselves as retired New York City police officers that were hired by the Spierers to privately investigate Lauren’s disappearance,” Diekhoff said. “Bo wanted to ‘partner’ with our department and wanted us to share details of the police investigation.”In order to maintain the integrity of an investigation, the department cannot reveal pertinent information and files, Diekhoff said. Additionally, he said it is unethical and not normal police practice for a police department to partner with a private agency. Diekhoff also said the team’s investigation methods did not quite line up with the procedures of the Bloomington Police Department. “It was evident from the discussion that at least part of their intention was to harass certain individuals,” Diekhoff said. “Obviously, that it is not something that our department can sanction. And, in fact, we have already received complaints that individuals have been harassed by at least one of Bo’s private investigators.”The chief said Dietl had contacted the FBI and other agencies assisting in the search and was met with a similar response. “As he did not get the information he came seeking, I can only surmise that is the reason he described me as ‘Gomer Pyle’,” Diekhoff said.Originally, Dietl said he wasn’t concerned with offending Diekhoff because his main goal is to “find that little girl.”It’s a goal Diekhoff said the BPD shares.“Our department is as committed, as Bo professes to be, in finding Lauren,” Diekhoff said.
(09/14/11 2:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The closing of a major Indiana bridge is becoming a headache for both commuters and government officials. The Sherman-Minton Bridge, which crosses the Ohio River to connect Louisville, Ky., and New Albany, Ind., was suddenly ordered closed Friday by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels after a “concerning crack” was found.Since then, the more than 80,000 vehicles that normally travel the bridge daily have been diverted to other throughways, sometimes backing traffic up for miles and forcing drivers to change routes and routines.The 50-year-old bridge is one of just three bridges that cross the Ohio River to connect Southern Indiana to Kentucky. Megan Lynn, a student at IU-Southeast New Albany who lives in Louisville, uses the bridge four days a week to attend class. “The Sherman-Minton being closed has totally changed my route to school because they have closed off the ramp from I-64 to I-65, which is the way that I have gone for the last year and a half,” Lynn said. Now, she has to take an alternate route that adds around 10 miles to her commute, Lynn said. In order to avoid traffic, she steers clear of rush hour congestion and has even stayed at a friend’s house in New Albany to get around the morning traffic. But, as other drivers get similar ideas, even rush hour is altered by the closing."Tuesday, I hit a pretty decent amount of traffic at 2:45 p.m., which isn’t typical,” Lynn said, “meaning that rush hour is starting earlier.”In a statement Tuesday, Republican Todd Young, who represents Indiana’s ninth district that includes New Albany, said despite the increased congestion, Gov. Daniels and the Indiana Department of Transportation made the right decision in closing the bridge. After the crack was found, structural engineers from both the public and private sectors, as well as from engineering universities, recommended closing the bridge. It is to remain closed indefinitely while more examinations of the bridge are conducted.“I’m confident that INDOT made the right decision,” Young said. “But this will have a very real impact on traffic and businesses in the region. We want to be able to help any way we can at the federal level to get repairs made quickly and safely so that we can alleviate those concerns.”Soon after Young released his statement, the Indiana Democratic Party took the opportunity to blast Young for “his lackluster involvement” in the closing of the bridge.“It sounds to me like Congressman Young wants to play armchair quarterback when he should be in the huddle talking about how to fix a problem that’s directly affecting his constituents,” Party Chair Dan Parker said.Parker also pointed out a bulletin from the federal government, which discussed previous structural problems with the bridge and urged Young to accept President Obama’s current job plan.“The closure has caused hours-long traffic backups and may call into question the structural integrity of other nearby bridges,” the party added in a press release.Traffic is currently re-routed to cross the Ohio River’s two other bridges, the Clark Memorial and the Kennedy, while the bridge remains closed. Even with the increased traffic, there are no current safety concerns with either bridge, officials said.Back by the Ohio River, Lynn said the closing has been annoying but has remained manageable — so far.“Ask me how I feel about it in a few weeks, and there will probably be a lot more profanities in my description,” she said.
(08/30/11 3:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The flood of IU students returning to Bloomington last week resulted in nearly 200 excise citations — the largest number of Welcome Week tickets since 2007.Police issued 191 tickets in all, Officer Travis Thickstun of the Indiana State Excise Police said. In 2007, the number was exactly 200.The amount of tickets increased from last year’s 138 citations because of a combination of factors, Thickstun said.“There were a high number of people possessing and consuming alcohol, but we also had an increased presence,” he said. “We really chose to focus our attention on college campuses this weekend in places like Bloomington, Muncie and Terre Haute.”At Ball State University in Muncie last week, excise police issued 93 tickets.In Bloomington, 89 of the citations during this year’s Welcome Week were for illegal possession or consumption of alcohol.Thirty-three people were cited for possession of a false ID and 23 were cited for using one. Nineteen adults were ticketed for providing alcohol to minors.Other charges from last week include six traffic violations, four possessions of marijuana and one possession of cocaine.A large number of the citations were issued Friday after excise and Bloomington police investigated a noise complaint on North Washington Street,Thickstun said.Dozens of tickets for illegal consumption were issued at a party there.The five residents of the apartment were cited for aiding a minor to possess an alcoholic beverage.One underage woman at the party was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital by ambulance due to her level of intoxication, Thickstun said.Welcome Week has long rivaled another popular week-long IU drinking occasion: the celebration of the Little 500 bicycle race.Though Little 500 is a nationally known event often referred to as the “World’s Greatest College Weekend,” the numbers of excise citations between the two have remained close in recent years.In 2010, only 20 fewer excise tickets were issued during Welcome Week than during Little 500.The numbers from the 2011 race actually trail those of this year’s Welcome Week.Police issued 167 citations this year during Little 500, compared to the 191 issued this week.Both events see a larger and more obvious presence from Bloomington, IU and State police than other weeks in the year. State Police Superintendent Matt Strittmatter said the increased presence of excise police is an essential part of keeping students safe as they return to Bloomington.“The State Excise Police will continue its efforts to ensure the safety of everyone in college communities by enforcing the underage drinking laws and other laws that regulate the access of alcohol to minors,” Strittmatter said.
(08/26/11 8:22pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A Bloomington man has been charged with the murder of a Solsberry, Ind. woman found dead last week near a Greene County church. Randy L. Knapp was charged with murder, a class A felony, criminal confinement, a class B felony, and obstruction of justice, a class D felony. The charges are in connection with the death of Stacey Lawson, 28, Indiana State Police Sgt. Curt Durnil said in a press release Friday.Lawson’s body was discovered on Aug. 20 in a wooded area south of county roads 760 East and 740 North, near Newark Baptist Church. The church is about 20 miles west of Bloomington.An autopsy of the victim’s body determined she died from blunt force trauma to her head, Durnil said. Knapp has been held in the Monroe County Jail since Saturday evening on a charge of residential entry, a class D felony. It is unclear if the charges are related.The arrest was the result of a joint investigation between the ISP and the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, Durnil said. The Bloomington Police Department also assisted in the arrest.Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw said he anticipates Knapp’s initial hearing to take place early next week. Holtsclaw said he will not comment any further on the case, as it is pending.
(08/25/11 3:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A Bloomington man, who served time for rape and was only recently released from prison, was arrested Tuesday for allegedly forcing a woman’s hand down his pants. Dale A. Wells, 54, served nearly 12 years in prison for raping a 22-year-old woman. He was accused of the new crime less than a week after his release, Monroe County Deputy Sex Crimes Prosecutor Rebecca Veidlinger said.“It was around three days,” Veidlinger said. On Aug. 12, a woman was resting on a couch at Centerstone, a mental illness and addiction center on North Rogers Street, when a man approached her, said Sgt. Jeff Canada of the Bloomington Police Department.The victim told police the man was complimenting her, but when a volunteer monitoring the room momentarily stepped outside, the man grabbed her hand and put it down his pants.When the volunteer returned, the man fled, Canada said. The police were called, but nobody at the center was able to identify the suspect.A few days later, the same man returned to the center, as he was also allegedly seeking treatment there. A volunteer approached him and told him of the allegations, Canada said, and advised him to leave. During the conversation, the man told the volunteer he was on probation.When the man left, the volunteer called the parole office, and the man was identified as Wells. He was scheduled for a parole meeting Tuesday and was told to come to the police department. Wells, however, refused to speak with police, and he was arrested for the alleged sexual battery, Canada said.Wells was previously arrested on June 18, 1998, after a woman told police he raped her twice in one day.According to the arrest report, Wells told the woman he was a maintenance worker. He invited her to dinner, and the pair went to his apartment. She soon began to feel uncomfortable, she told police, and attempted to leave. Wells then grabbed her, she said, and threw her into a wall before dragging her into his bedroom. When she tried to scream, he choked her and began raping her.The report said when she attempted to escape, Wells raped her a second time. He later fell asleep, the victim told police, and she was able to escape.Wells was arrested the next day. He eventually pleaded guilty to felony rape. The second count of rape and two counts of confinement were dismissed by the plea agreement. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison. For the new arrest, the Prosecutor’s Office has asked for Wells to remain in jail on a 72-hour hold, Monroe County Deputy Prosecutor Bob Miller said Wednesday. Miller said charges will most likely be filed by the end of the week.
(08/11/11 2:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When the IU Board of Trustees voted to raise tuition by 5.5 percent for resident students and 6.7 percent for nonresident students in May, it was just the beginning of a summer characterized by uncertainty for students. IU President Michael McRobbie received a 12 percent pay raise that irked some students and staff, while financial cuts and reorganization led to layoffs across IU libraries. A new Indiana law went into effect requiring students to verify their citizenship or pay the higher tuition of a nonresident student. Then the United States careened toward defaulting on its national debt. A last second deal was made, raising the debt ceiling but at some cost: the loss of subsidized loans for graduate students. With much of this leading to higher costs for students and the unemployment rate struggling to remain below 10 percent, some are starting to ask if college is worth the cost.IS IT WORTH IT?“This is something that really gets asked every 10 to 15 years, since at least 1950,” said Don Hossler, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center and an education professor at IU. “You get these studies comparing high school graduates with college graduates to see if it’s worth the investment.“They look at not only the money spent on college, but also the money you are not earning while you’re there. The opportunity cost.”With college, the opportunity cost can be anything you’ve given up to go to school. For example, the hours you could be working instead of studying for class, the money you could be putting in the stock market instead of paying tuition or the cash you could be spending on food instead of spending on books.Peter Olson, an economics lecturer at IU, said it’s important to consider not only the opportunity cost, but also the direct cost of tuition.“You balance those costs against the benefits,” Olson said. “The return for an additional year of schooling has historically been around 7 percent. In the 90s, it went up to 9 or 10 percent.”The degree itself has an additional 9 percent rate of return, Olson said. Those percentages are increases in earnings.But for someone to have earnings, they’ll need a job first.AND HOW'S THE JOB MARKET LOOKING?In 2010, the unemployment rate for those with a bachelor’s degree was at 5.1 percent — the highest rate since records have been kept. This year, it’s around 4 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national unemployment rate rose to 9.1 percent this summer. In Indiana, the rate improved from last year, but still hovers around 8.3 percent. Hossler said during the recession of 1973 to 1975, the country was in a similar situation and asking itself the same kinds of questions.“There was an issue of TIME Magazine, and the cover showed two students digging ditches,” Hossler said. “We’ve been through these cycles before; but the evidence suggests that while things are not as positive as they were five or seven years ago, there is still a good return rate. The rate for master’s degrees is even higher.”There’s even a possibility that, within the next few years, undergraduate degrees will become even more valuable, he said.“Some predict that there will be a shortage of college education degrees,” Hossler said. “People like me will be retiring. And there are not enough people in the pipeline to replace these folks.”There’s also the possibility, however, of another change. And this one isn’t as positive.“Unless the payoffs increase, the return goes down,” Olson said. “You have a lot of people talking now about an educational bubble, just like any other asset bubble.”While there has not been an educational bubble before, the effect would be like when any other economic bubble bursts, such as real estate or internet companies in the late 1990s. The value of that asset would be downgraded, Olson said. Entry-level salaries would be smaller and lifetime earnings would be lower.“College wouldn’t be worthless,” he said. “It would just be worth less.”RETENTION HEADACHEOf course, all of this rides on whether you even get a degree. Going to college and graduating from college are two very different things.In a recent report co-authored by Hossler and released by IU’s Project on Academic Success and the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, plenty of people are still finding college to be a necessity they are willing to pay for.During the recession, a time when many thought higher education would be a casualty of the sinking economy, public four-year universities saw hardly any change at all, the study showed. Enrollment at community colleges actually increased. Colleges across Indiana are seeing record enrollment this year, the state’s Commission of Higher Education reported, but the graduation rate remains relatively low.Within four-year programs, only one-third of students actually complete college in four years. Even after six years, only half of the students in the program graduate. Across Indiana and the country, only 25 percent of students complete two-year programs in three years.Many students never graduate at all.“We encourage someone who wouldn’t go to college to go to college,” Olson said. “The question is: Is that actually beneficial? A lot of people don’t finish school. If these policies encourage people to waste a year or two of their lives, I’d consider it a misguided policy.”There are many different aspects to consider when looking at how successful a college graduate will be, or even if they’ll graduate, Hossler said.Different colleges have different policies to help with retention, he said, and different students have different backgrounds. What a student majors in also has an impact on the rate of return.“It’s important to look at not just college kids across the board compared to high school graduates, but also the variation upon majors,” Hossler said.With so many variations and paths, college is not a guarantee, Olson said. But, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it.“For the average student, there’s still a positive return to getting a degree,” Olson said. “In other words, college still pays for most students. It’s still worth it for most. But most doesn’t mean all.”
(08/08/11 12:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When John Ryan announced his retirement from the position of IU president in 1986, the news didn’t make many waves with the student body. Even the staff of IU’s yearbook, the Arbutus, buried the announcement in a roundup of other random news items from that spring. But by the time 81-year-old Ryan died early Saturday at IU Health Bloomington Hospital, his list of admirers was long. His list of accomplishments at IU may have been even longer. During his 16 years as president, Ryan oversaw the creation of regional campuses in Richmond, Ind., and New Albany, Ind. He also established the IU Office of International Affairs, as well as the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.And, in 1978, he allowed the filming of the Oscar-winning movie “Breaking Away” to take place on campus, immortalizing Bloomington, IU and the Little 500 in a way only Hollywood could do.“For more than half a century, John Ryan played a pivotal role in the growth and development of IU and was a major figure in higher education nationally and internationally,” IU President Michael McRobbie said in a statement Saturday. “He had a remarkable vision for how the University should evolve, both across the state and around the world.”* * *John. W. Ryan, sometimes called Jack, was born just one state over in Chicago in 1929, but he did not walk a straight path to the office of IU president. He travelled west after high school to earn his bachelor’s degree at the University of Utah. He first came to IU in the late 1950s, earning a master of arts and a Ph.D. in government in 1958 and 1959, respectively. He did not return to IU until 1968 when he became vice president of IU’s regional campuses. Three years later, he was named the new IU president. “He was a strong leader who took the helm as president at a difficult time and earned the respect of the faculty, staff, state legislature and alumni,” McRobbie said. * * *The difficulties Ryan faced as president were not simply ones of administrative bureaucracy. In 1978, a blizzard dumped 29 inches of snow on campus, 14 of which fell in a two-day period that also saw subzero temperatures — a crisis made even worse by a 110-day coal miners’ strike. Ryan and other University officials had been anticipating the strike, stockpiling 38,000 tons of coal. This usually would have been enough to see the University through a normal winter. But, with the unexpected extreme conditions, the University found itself burning nearly 500 tons of coal a day. In an effort to conserve energy, elevators and escalators were shut off, as were electric hand dryers, ventilation fans and coolers, which refrigerated campus water fountains. The heating in some campus buildings was forced to stay in the low 60s and lights in many classrooms with windows remained off.Things continued to get worse. With talks between mine owners and striking workers falling apart, the University needed to reduce its energy use by an impossible 50 percent. Ryan approved an order for an emergency recess, and IU was closed for three weeks in March until a deal was finally made after spring break.More trouble was ahead for Ryan in the coming months. After facing a vote of no confidence in 1977 from the Bloomington faculty council, Ryan found himself the captain of what, by appearances, was a sinking ship. In the past decade, salaries of IU professors had dropped from near the top of the Big Ten to the bottom. Enrollment had begun leveling off in the mid-1970s. And in 1978, enrollment actually dropped.“We have to see a period of no growth and perhaps even the prospects of growing smaller,” Ryan said in a State of the University address that year. “We must face the prospect of declining enrollments and raging inflation.”He outlined a 10-year plan for the next decade and attempted to create what he called “a renaissance of spirit” at the University. Only two years later, in 1980, Ryan was able to announce the University had received $77.7 million in gifts and grants — a 20 percent jump from previous years — and an increase in enrollment.***When Ryan officially retired as president in 1987, he left behind a long list of accomplishments, as well as mixed emotions among the student body. “Although enmeshed in a virtual long-running feud with a select portion of IU students and staff — ‘He’s totally unreachable’ was the common complaint — Ryan did much during his tenure to establish IU as a national educational powerhouse,” Arbutus writer Todd Anderson wrote in 1987.During his presidency, Ryan further established IU as one of the most beautiful campuses in the nation with the addition of the Arboretum. He charted growth for both the business school, as well as IU’s presence across the state, through its regional campuses. He oversaw the creation of several cultural centers on campus. The University’s endowment increased from $11 million to $38 million during his presidency. He also kick-started an athletics heyday, hiring legendary men’s basketball coach Bob Knight.“Dr. Ryan saw the possibilities for IU as a great state university operating on an international stage at a time when few others were thinking in such terms,” McRobbie said. Yet, at the time, some students remained unimpressed by Ryan’s quiet method of leadership. When a student-sponsored goodbye party was being planned for the president, the IU Student Association refused to contribute any money to the event. “As John W. Ryan leaves the position of president of IU, many are filled with mixed emotions for a man that everyone and no one really knew,” Anderson concluded.***But as news spread of Ryan’s death Saturday, there was no shortage of people who remembered him fondly. On a website created in Ryan’s memory, IU Chancellor Emeritus Ken Gros Louis said the former president was a strong-willed leader but was also compassionate and willing to change his mind if convinced.“John had a terrific sense of humor, warmth and charm,” Louis said. “He made IU a better place and, like Herman Wells, was a world traveler, to IU’s benefit.”Robert King, former chancellor of State University of New York, remembered Ryan as a man whose influence was far reaching. King said Ryan was not someone whose ideas were limited to IU and SUNY. He served as chancellor at SUNY from 1996 to 1999.“Jack Ryan was a rarity among men: a dreamer who created the architecture to make those dreams a reality for thousands of students across the country and around the world,” King said.Even in retirement, and as his professional obligations drifted elsewhere, Ryan remained a friend and champion of the University.Ryan helped to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for IU and chimed in on important decisions about its future. “John Ryan’s love and leadership of IU never ended,” Gov. Mitch Daniels said Saturday in a press release. “He was engaged and consulted on key decisions right to the end of his days.”***In 2009, Ryan was presented with the University Medal, the highest honor IU can bestow. Recalling that honor, McRobbie was reminded of a gift Ryan once presented to him.Just a few days after being named president, McRobbie said, he received a vase of red roses from Ryan. Ryan had received a vase of similar flowers from Herman B Wells more than 30 years earlier when he was named president.“Indiana University has lost a visionary leader and great friend with the passing of Dr. John Ryan,” McRobbie said. “He will be deeply missed.”Ryan is survived by his wife, Patricia, two of his children and four grandchildren. His son Kerrick Charles Casey Ryan died in 2010.
(08/04/11 2:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Ten employees at IU libraries are being laid off this week — the latest budgetary issue in a summer of pay raises, tuition increases and financial cutbacks. Seven support staff and three professional staff were told Tuesday and Wednesday their positions are being eliminated. The University would not comment on what those positions were.In an email sent Tuesday, Dean of Libraries Brenda Johnson informed library staff why the positions were being cut. “The evolution of library services over the past several years has presented opportunities for our organization to innovate in ways that best meet the changing needs of our university,” Johnson said. “At the same time, we are acutely aware of the challenges we face to meet the increased demand of our services with limited resources.”Over the past three years, IU libraries have seen budget cuts of more than $1 million. The layoffs, which Johnson described as a difficult decision, are an attempt to reorganize the strengths of the libraries.The news came just a week after IU President Michael McRobbie received a 12 percent pay raise, increasing his annual salary to $533,120. The timing was met with condemnation from the local chapter of Communication Workers of America, a union that represents 1,700 IU support staff.“In a time of financial cuts, difficult decisions have to be made,” Chapter President Bryce Smedley said. “There’s no question about that. But on one hand, we’re seeing these huge raises, and on the other hand, we’re seeing 10 people getting laid off.”If McRobbie had forgone the larger raise and accepted the same 1.5 pay increase as many IU employees are, the IU president could have then saved some of those jobs, Smedley said in a prepared statement. “Such actions are clear examples of how Indiana University’s decision to tighten their financial belt has put the most vulnerable employees at risk while padding the incomes of those in leadership positions with enormous pay raises,” he said.IU spokesman Mark Land said the layoffs are a result of a combination of factors, not strictly the result of budget cuts.“The big overriding reason is the library is going through an evolution or a reorganization trying to provide better services with less money,” Land said, adding that the library is facing a $350,000 budget reduction from last year. The positions being eliminated were selected from a staff of 270 across all IU-Bloomington libraries, not just the main Herman B Wells library. No library faculty positions will be affected. IU libraries’ senior leadership is taking a close look at skills and positions across campus to determine which of these are no longer as critical as they had been in the past, Land said.“Technology is really changing the skill sets that are needed to be an effective librarian,” Land said. “They’re trying to get more efficient and really focus on the skills most critical to the libraries going forward.”
(08/04/11 12:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU has been named the country’s No. 16 party school in the 2011 Princeton Review survey released Monday. Ohio University topped the list, knocking the University of Georgia down a slot from last year. Ohio has made the list numerous times the past decade, but this is the first time it earned the No. 1 title.IU has also been ranked in the top 20 party schools several times in the past 10 years. In 2002, the University appeared out of left field to claim the No. 1 spot. IU was not on the list at all in 2001.The placement was met with speculation and derision by campus officials at the time. “The notion of party school has become synonymous with alcohol, which is a perversion,” said then-IU Dean of Students Richard McKaig in August 2002.Bill Stephan, vice president for public affairs at the time, told the Associated Press the school had been cracking down on partying following the 1998 alcohol-related death of a student. In 2000, five IU fraternities were suspended or expelled after violating alcohol policies. “I think there are some serious questions about the methodology of the study and it really calls into question the credibility of the ranking,” Stephan said.The methodology is one based on surveys filled out by 122,000 students across the country through email. Around 325 students from each of the 370 schools responded this year. Altogether, there are 60 lists in Princeton Review’s survey, including categories ranking the most beautiful campus, best dorms and best campus food.Princeton Review is a test preparation and college admissions company with no affiliation to Princeton University. The results of the surveys are published in its annual guidebook, “The Best 376 Colleges.”Since 2005, IU has seen a decline in its party school ranking, sliding down the list from No. 6 that year to the low teens in the later part of the decade. IU spokesman Mark Land called the survey an “inexact science,” and said the party school list is not something the University puts much stock in.“Obviously, we don’t try to be on the list,” Land said. This year, IU was also ranked on various other Princeton Review lists, including “most popular study abroad program.” Additionally, IU is ranked as having one of the top ten college theaters in the nation. “The party list gets the most attention,” Land said. “But if you do pay attention to those kinds of lists, there are other lists that better reflect the entire IU experience.”
(07/28/11 1:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU President Michael McRobbie will receive a salary of $533,120 for the 2011-12 school year, according to the University’s annual salary report. The new amount is a 12 percent increase over the $476,000 McRobbie made last year. “This puts him right in the middle of the Big Ten as far as president’s salaries go,” IU spokesman Mark Land said. IU faculty and staff will also see a pay raise this upcoming year, albeit one of only 1.5 to 3 percent. The IU Board of Trustees approved the raise, which is to be merit-based, in June. A month earlier, the trustees approved a 5.5 percent raise in tuition and fees for resident students at IU Bloomington, as well as a 6.7 percent raise for nonresident students. Tuition also increased at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis and across IU’s regional campuses. This will result in an allotted $12.9 million for maintenance and improvement projects on all IU campuses, the trustees said. IU has a current maintenance backlog of more than $600 million. News of the raise has not gone without criticism. The local chapter of Communication Workers of America, which represents 1,700 support staff at IU Bloomington and IU Northwest, called the increase “frustrating.”Chapter President Bryce Smedley said the 1.5 percent raise the support staff is earning does not match inflation, and some staff members are having trouble paying the bills. Others, he said, are even facing layoffs.“We were told there’s no money, that this is not the time for raises,” Smedley said. “It was a hard pill to swallow, but we made that sacrifice. So to hear this is upsetting.”Smedley said McRobbie should stand in solidarity with his employees.“If we are to sacrifice as a team and as a community, we need leaders that lead by example,” he said.But IU Board of Trustees chair William Cast said even with the current financial strain, the raise is a necessary one. IU is an American Association of Universities research university, of which there are only 59 in North America. In the coming months, around 30 of those are going to be looking for people in McRobbie’s position, Cast said, as many presidents are nearing retirement. “The headhunters aren’t going to go after people who are untried,” he said. “They are going to go after someone who has shown he can handle a university like this.” It’s important to keep McRobbie around not only because of the job he’s doing, Cast said, but also because of the hassle that can be caused by turnover if McRobbie was lured away. In the past decade, IU has had three presidents, including McRobbie. With a change in president comes a change in staff and programs. “You talk to people from the last seven to eight years who have gone through those changes, you’ll see there’s a very high cost to turnover like that,” Cast said.Additionally, presidential salaries in the Big Ten are increasingly competitive. While Purdue University President France Córdova, who is not receiving a raise this year, earns $431,000, many presidents in the conference make considerably more than McRobbie. The annual cost of employment for Ohio State University’s E. Gordon Gee is more than $1.8 million, making him the highest paid public university president in the country.Graham Spanier of Pennsylvania State University also earns more than the IU president with an annual salary of $800,592, as does University of Michigan’s Mary Sue Coleman, who earns $783,850, and University of Illinois President Michael Hogan, who earns $620,000.“There’s a high demand for people in his position,” Cast said.
(07/28/11 12:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU will receive $250,000 of a $1 million grant given to the state of Indiana to help improve its college completion rate, Gov. Mitch Daniels announced Tuesday.Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the non-profit group Complete College America, the grant will provide assistance to IU regional campuses and Ivy Tech Community College in graduating more students.“The single biggest challenge, and therefore opportunity, in terms of the jobs future of this state is to address our shortfall in post-secondary education,” Daniels said during the announcement.Thirty-three states applied for the grant, but only 10 were selected by the advisory committee. Out of those 10, Indiana was one of three states that was selected unanimously.“It really is a recognition and validation of the path Indiana is on in tackling this very important issue of having more students graduate from college and raising the educational level of the workforce in the state of Indiana,” Stan Jones, president of Complete College America, said.He said one of the untold stories of the recession is while people are not buying things like new houses and cars, they are buying education. The country is seeing record enrollment, including Indiana colleges.“It means that people have chosen in this difficult economic time to place their bet on higher education,” Jones said. “They have chosen to take time from their families and their jobs and what little money they have to place a bet on higher education as their way to steer through this economic uncertainty.”But despite this record enrollment, the graduation rate remains low.Within four-year programs, only one-third of students actually complete college in four years, according to the state’s commission of higher education. Even after six years, only half of the students in the program graduate. Across Indiana and the country, only 25 percent of students complete two-year programs in three years. Many students never graduate at all.“They walk away with some college and a lot of debt,” Jones said.The proposal will focus on restructuring and remediation in order to graduate more students and graduate them more quickly. Approximately $500,000 of the grant will go to Ivy Tech and $250,000 will go to IU’s regional campuses. The leftover $250,000 will remain at the state level to support the proposal.“We don’t have all the specifics yet, but this is going to help kids put together an academic plan and get the support they need so that they can actually graduate,” IU spokesman Mark Land said.For IU, the money means better support for the University’s Blueprint for Student Attainment at the regional campuses, a plan that was approved last June by the Board of Trustees. The program will help provide course mapping software, intensive student advising and other strategies to help encourage students to complete college.Dean of Students Harold “Pete” Goldsmith said the grant will help make a positive change in the state and at all IU campuses.“The attainment of a college degree is becoming more and more important to states to help revitalize sagging economies and take advantage of the new technologies that require workers with greater technical skills,” Goldsmith said. “Anything that helps increase the number of college grads is a good thing.”
(07/18/11 12:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Amid protests and even the arrest of two IU students, a bill prohibiting in-state tuition for undocumented aliens in Indiana was signed into law May 10. As the law takes effect this month, IU students will soon have to verify their citizenship, University officials recently announced. An email sent by the Office of the Registrar alerted students of the change.“While there is no action required by you at this time, we felt it important to share this information so that students who might be negatively affected by this legislation would have time to assess their situation and seek advice/alternatives,” the email said.Previously, to qualify for in-state tuition, IU only required students to reside in Indiana for 12 months. With the new law, students must be documented citizens of the United States. Those who cannot verify their citizenship will have to pay nonresident tuition and will be ineligible for scholarships, grants and any other aid funded by the University. Students who are U.S. citizens will be unaffected, as will foreign nationals with valid visas or immigration statuses.Junior Alicia Nieves said the content of the email is disheartening. Nieves is coordinator for DREAM IU, a campus group that campaigned last year on behalf of the DREAM Act. The act, which did not pass, would have allowed undocumented aliens the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency if they complete two years of military service or college.“We knew this was coming, but it’s still disappointing,” Nieves said. “As a public university, IU has to comply, despite how unfair the law is. We recognize that.”Nieves added that she hopes all of the students who received the email would take time to recognize its importance before the message gets lost in their inboxes. “It’s significant,” she said. “This is a law that will directly affect your classmates. Even though they won’t be kicked out of IU, they will be ‘de facto’ kicked out.”As undocumented citizens are already ineligible for most forms of financial aid, even in-state tuition is a burden for those students, Nieves said. “To triple that tuition will make it impossible,” she said.Junior Erick Gama, who was arrested with his twin brother Omar and three other people in Indianapolis while protesting the law in May, said the email is just another reminder of the troubles that lie ahead for students like him.“We’re trying to find alternatives, but there really just aren’t any,” Gama said. “We can drop out or maybe just become part-time students and take one or two classes.”Gama and his brother have lived in Indiana since they were 11, but they are not U.S. citizens. They spent their first two years at IU paying in-state tuition as Indiana residents under IU’s old guidelines. In the fall, they will have to pay an extra $18,000.“We make it to the middle of college, then people start messing with our education and we can’t do anything,” Gama said. “It just sucks.”
(07/14/11 12:43am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As common as birds, bees and clichés, sex is everywhere in nature. But it’s hardly necessary. In fact, scientists say asexual reproduction is a more efficient way of expanding a population, as there’s no need to find a partner.So why, then, is sexual reproduction so prevalent?Biologists are now closer to that answer, thanks to evidence found by researchers at the IU Department of Biology. Sexual reproduction as we know it may have started as a way to avoid infection and death from parasites — infections that species enjoying asexual reproduction are particularly susceptible to. “It’s been a fairly major problem for evolutionary biology,” said Levi Morran, lead author of the report that presented the research. “There should be a lot more examples of self-fertilization and asexual reproduction out there than there is. This brings us a step closer to understanding why that is.”With offspring of asexual reproduction, the gene pool is considerably more limited, Morran said. This limitation means if a parasite can infect one organism, it can infect an entire species. Sexual reproduction may be a result of combatting this, allowing parents to produce offspring more resistant to parasites. This would save a species from extinction. The findings affirm an evolutionary theory known as the Red Queen Hypotheses, which suggests that sexual reproduction through cross-fertilization helps species stay a step ahead of the parasites that would infect them. The name of the theory comes from the villainous monarch in Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass,” the sequel to “Alice in Wonderland.”“Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place,” the Red Queen said to Alice during a foot race in the novel.In that same regard, hosts and parasites are constantly evolving as fast as they can without really getting anywhere, Morran said. “Basically, the theory is that hosts and pathogens are constantly locked in this evolutionary arms race,” he said. “Pathogens are constantly evolving so they can infect hosts. And hosts are constantly evolving so they can evade pathogens.”Based on this theory, Morran said he was involved in an experiment in Oregon as a graduate student that formed the basis of the IU study. There, he studied how worms that reproduce sexually under changing conditions evolve at a greater rate than those who use self-fertilization. But what were those conditions in nature?At IU, he partnered with three undergraduate students in the department to figure the problem out.In this study, the researchers used a microscopic roundworm called Caenorhabditis elegans as a host and a pathogenic bacteria called Serratia marcescens to create a host-parasite co-evolutionary system in a controlled environment.They conducted more than 70 evolution experiments to test the Red Queen Hypothesis, altering the mating system of the worms. Now, different populations of the worms mated sexually, while others mated through self-fertilization. Some experiments used a mixture of both within the same population. The researchers then exposed the roundworms to the bacteria. The parasites were either allowed to co-evolve with the worms or were prevented from evolving. Through this, the researchers then determined which system gave populations an evolutionary advantage.When the bacteria did not co-evolve with the worms, self-fertilization evolved as the preferred form of reproduction. When the bacteria were allowed to co-evolve with the worms, sex became the dominant form.Morran said the findings could be particularly significant in the fields of medicine, agriculture and conservation. “Sex is important because it creates a situation where genetic variation can happen,” Morran said. “And genetic variation is very important.”
(07/14/11 12:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Minors wishing to purchase alcohol are having a much more difficult time breaking the law than they did a few years ago.Officers conducted more than 5,000 inspections and only 6.5 percent of Indiana establishments selling alcohol have committed violations so far this year, according to new data released by the Indiana State Excise Police. Across the board, different types of establishments that serve alcohol are committing less alcohol violations. Travis Thickstun, an excise officer with the Indiana State Police, said he doesn’t think any one thing can be credited with changing the willingness of businesses to sell alcohol to minors.“I think the rates are falling because of our continued enforcement, combined with the Survey for Alcohol Compliance coupled with educational programs,” Thickstun said. “It’s those things working together.”Relatively few establishments are committing violations and only two of the seven categories the statistics divide establishments into didn’t see a decline in violations: farm wineries (which were not a part of the survey previously) and hotels. The rest: bars, liquor stores, restaurants, private clubs and grocery stores, all saw their violations decline.“In the past two to three years, we’ve seen the rates drop across the board,” Thickstun said.Some of these rates dropped dramatically. In 2009, the first year the excise police started a new system of enforcement, 41.2 percent of liquor stores violated alcohol laws. In 2010, only 7.7 percent of liquor stores violated alcohol laws and only 4.3 percent have thus far in 2011.Hotels and farm wineries were the only categories above 9 percent noncompliance. Hotels have stayed at a relatively high level of around 25 percent since 2009, and farm wineries were not included in the new compliance system until this year. Twenty-eight percent of farm wineries were cited for violations so far. The Survey for Alcohol Compliance began in 2007, though it was used only for information gathering for statistics at that time, he said. The enforcement phase of the survey actually began in July 2009. To conduct the survey, two officers accompany an undercover minor to a business that serves alcohol. One officer will remain in an unmarked car, Thickstun said, while the other officer goes inside with the youth, who must be at least 18 but not within three months of turning 21. The minor will attempt to buy alcohol, and if the business is willing to sell the beverage, then it is cited for failing the inspection. Businesses usually are inspected twice a year, but those that fail are reinspected until they pass.“Clearly, the Survey for Alcohol Compliance continues to have a significant effect on the number of businesses willing to sell alcoholic beverages to minors,” Thickstun said. — Zach Ammerman contributed to this report
(07/11/11 12:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In 1911, surrounded by racism and segregation, 10 men founded the first historically black fraternity at IU — one of the first of its kind in the country.One hundred years later, thousands of men and their families came to Indiana to celebrate the fraternity’s centennial from July 2 through July 10.As part of the celebration, members of Kappa Alpha Psi met in Indianapolis for the fraternity’s 80th Grand Chapter Meeting last week, and nearly 4,000 of the members arrived by 60 buses in Bloomington June 7 to see where it all began.“This was a matter of trying to reconnect with the founders,” said Evelyn C. Robertson Jr., a Kappa who graduated from Tennessee State in 1962. “The path they traveled was very different than the direction of the fraternity today. This was about connecting to the past, appreciating the adversity and sacrifice.”Elder Watson Diggs and nine other black IU students founded Kappa Alpha Psi on Jan. 5, 1911, and created a constitution as well as bylaws that have never excluded a man from membership because of color, creed or national origin. It became the second historically black fraternity incorporated as a national organization and the first national fraternity to be founded at IU.Polemarch of Alpha Chapter at IU, senior Aaron Barnes, said the pilgrimage helped put the historical and national significance of the fraternity into perspective.“This is a great moment of reverence for myself and my brothers,” Barnes said. “We are a reflection of our founders. It’s something we take for granted living here in Bloomington with Alpha Chapter.”Those visiting IU for the centennial did not take the city for granted, IU Senior Vice Polemarch David Macon said. They visited various historical sites, including the first chapter house, a church where the founders frequently gathered and Jordan River in Dunn Meadow.Jordan River is a significant landmark in Kappa Alpha Psi’s history, with references being made to it in Kappa songs. A plaque celebrating the fraternity was unveiled there during the pilgrimage.In addition, another plaque on Kirkwood Avenue as well as a bench at People’s Park were unveiled.Macon, who was one of the tour guides for this “Kappa Trail,” said it was a way to pay homage to the founders and what they went through.“I saw people actually crying to be able to see and be where the founders walked and went to class,” he said. “It was a sharing experience that brought us together.” BJ Grimes, National Pan-Hellenic Council president, said it’s significant that IU is home to the Kappa Alpha Psi Alpha Chapter.“For IU, it’s great to have a continuous black organization,” said Grimes, a senior majoring in pre-med. “It shows how our campus has grown. It’s kind of the mecca of the fraternity. Bloomington gets talked about a lot in the fraternity.”In addition to the “Kappa Trail,” a celebration was also organized at Dunn Meadow for the pilgrimage. At the gathering, Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan officially declared July 7, 2011, as Kappa Alpha Psi Day in the city.“Today is a historic day itself,” Kruzan said. He went on to recap the adversity the fraternity has faced in its home state throughout the past century.When the fraternity celebrated its 25th anniversary, he said, Indiana still had government officials who were members of the Ku Klux Klan. When the 50th anniversary arrived, the country was still segregated.Now, as the members honor the 100 years that have passed since the founders created Kappa Alpha Psi, discrimination still exists, albeit often in a sneaky, more subtle form.“This is a time to celebrate but also a time to accept these challenges that still exist,” Kruzan said.Also during the celebration, the Creating Inspiration Award was given to IU and Kappa alumnus George Taliaferro, the first African-American drafted by the NFL. During his time at IU, Taliaferro fought to desegregate the swimming facilities here.Kappa Alpha Psi Grand Polemarch Dwayne Murray, before presenting the award to Taliaferro, told the crowd he had visited the first chapter house earlier and sat down on its steps.“I tried to imagine what the conversations there were like,” Murray said, “Conversations about the opportunities other students had that weren’t afforded to them, like signing up for certain classes, playing contact sports or using the same swimming pool.”IU, the fraternity and the country have come a long way in those 100 years, he said.“We’ve moved from just thinking of going to the White House to sitting down with the president of the United States and talking about change,” Murray said. “But, I tell you, my brothers, the best days are yet to come.”Brotherhood and strength in the fraternity was as constant for the centennial celebration, Macon said, and will continue to be in the future.“To see all those Kappas in Bloomington, to go from just 10 to thousands of brothers, is a really beautiful thing,” Macon said. “We will continue to grow and inspire young men to live their dreams.”Kappa Alpha Psi: The early years Jan. 5, 1911Ten IU students found a fraternity based on a vow of not excluding any man because of his color, creed or national origin. The fraternity is called Kappa Alpha Nu.May 15, 1911 Kappa Alpha Nu is chartered and incorporated. That summer, while working at a hotel in Fort Wayne, three of the founders enlist a Professor of Greek Art there to help them create the Kappa suit of arms and motto.Spring, 1912Elder Watson Diggs creates the fraternity’s constitution, writing it in a little blue exam book. It would be rewritten in 1920 and 1957. Feb. 18, 1913The fraternity begins to go national, with its Beta Chapter being established at the University of Illinois.March 7, 1914The Kappas continue to fan out, and a Delta Chapter is created at the University of Iowa.April 15, 1915The organization changes its name to Kappa Alpha Psi, officially becoming a Greek Letter fraternity. By the end of the year, the Kappas reach the East coast, establishing its Epsilon Chapter at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
(07/10/11 11:12pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After nearly a month of searching city streets, campus buildings and county parks, the official public searches for Lauren Spierer were called off June 29.But now, as the search continues well into its second month, University officials say they have not given up trying to find the missing IU student.“We will continue to be with the family every step of the way,” said Rabbi Sue Silberberg, director of IU’s Helene G. Simon Hillel Center. “We are determined and will not stop until we find Lauren.”Silberberg and the Hillel Center were quick to respond to Lauren’s disappearance last month. While the center created multiple web pages to raise awareness and funds, Silberberg helped coordinate many of the searches and offered support to Lauren’s family.Through the media, Silberberg urged anyone who might have seen Lauren between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. June 3 — the morning of her disappearance — to call the Bloomington Police Department.“Even if they didn’t talk to her, they need to call,” Silberberg said in June. “They might think something they saw is irrelevant, and it could be very relevant. I am begging them to please, please, please call. It could be the missing piece that we need.”A month later, the plea remains the same, she said.“Someone knows something, and they need to come forward,” Silberberg said. “Meanwhile, it continues to just be heartbreaking and agonizing for everyone involved, especially for the family.”The website created to help fund the search effort continues to receive donations, she added, and Hillel remains involved with events planned by the family, including the “Laps for Lauren” event that reunited volunteer searchers on Saturday. Dean of Students Harold “Pete” Goldsmith said the University will also continue to be involved. Soon after Lauren went missing, a banner appeared at the top of the online student resource OneStart linking to a special Lauren Spierer web page on the IU public safety and institutional assurance website, Protect IU. That banner and web page will remain there for some time, Goldsmith said, as will a $50,000 fund that was created June 14 through the not-for-profit IU Foundation.So far, half of the money has been used, he said.“The Find Lauren Spierer Fund was created to defray costs associated with the search for Lauren,” Goldsmith said in an email. “Because she has not been found yet, the University will continue to provide funds to aid in the search.”