55 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(05/12/14 12:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Concluding the weekend of graduating commencements, pictures and tears, was one more ceremony, presented by the IU Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program. It was an intimate gathering with just eight seniors, family and friends, and fellow military personnel. Similar to their colleagues of IU, these men and women will leave IU as students, but will emerge into society as lieutenants for the United States Military. Lieutenant Sara Wilson is among this small group of individuals. Beginning her training as an acive duty nurse in Texas, Wilson said she is honored to be a part of such a great program and group of people.“We are very close and work well as a team,” she said. “We respect each other. It is like being part of a family here.”The rest of the “family” included Angela Bowman, Nicholas Dutton, Benjamin Krebs, Alexander Pappas, William Thomas, Spencer Tigges and Joshua Whisler. These students were honored in in the Whittenberger Auditorium of the Indiana Memorial Union Sunday. The ceremony began with the introduction from Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Hoch, professor of military of science, welcoming the loved ones of the graduates and presenting the Colors and the singing of the National Anthem. An invocation was said by David White of Campus Crusade Ministries. Hoch also presented to the audience the guest speaker, Brigadier General Ivan Denton, who, after graduating high school in 1982 in Paoli, Ind., served as an infantryman in the Indiana Army National Guard. While still enlisted with the Guard, he joined the IU ROTC program. Denton graduated from IU in 1986 with a commission as an infantry officer, a distinguished military degree, and the George C. Marshall Leadership Award.He served four years in the Korean demilitarized zone before leaving to continue his work for INARNG and is currently serving as the National Guard Bureau’s director of manpower and personnel.Denton spoke of the importance of the preparation of the commissionees during the next 18 to 24 months. He also issued advice for the young militants, about being a successful leader and how to balance life with the responsibilities with which they will soon be entrusted.“You come to the army to make an impact, to lead,” he said. “And I challenge you to be the best leader you can be.”But of course, he said, there are no perfect leaders. “You have standards in which you will instill on others,” Hoch said. “But they must first be met by you.”Denton then addressed the parents and loved ones of the graduates, reminding them of the oath their children are going to make. “Your child will be endowed with an extreme amount of power,” he said. “They will have decisions to make or don’t make that can get someone killed.”These decisions are what White helps with during the four years of the cadet program.White, who has worked with the ROTC program for the past three years, said as the chaplain for the program, he cares for the spiritual well-being of the cadets. He serves as liason between cadets and religious advisers found on campus.“I help the cadets deal with tough issues and the stress of life, or with college,” he said. “I help them get through things. Life at home doesn’t stop. Things are always going to be hard.”The choice these eight seniors made to go into the military life was a hard one as well.LTC Hoch said less than one percent of the U.S. population is enlisted in the military. Addressing the parents of the students, he said they are now the parents of a person in the military, a group of people that deal with issues only they can understand. “What you see on the news will impact their lives,” Hoch said. “You will watch the news and have concerns that only other army families will feel.”Yet, Wilson’s parents said they are excited and proud of the decision she made as a senior in high school. “Not having any military people in the immediate family, it was a good learning experience for us,” Sara’s mother Cathy Wilson said. “Sara had a lot of support in the program that led to her success and graduation.”Despite the different paths on which the eight lieutenants will embark, Denton said to remember to have fun being a lieutenant and preparing for leadership.“For goodness sakes, it is not the destination. It is the trip,” he said. “And for goodness sakes, enjoy that trip.”
(05/09/14 3:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The nation’s first known patient diagnosed with the sometimes deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome is improving and now in good condition. The Community Hospital in Munster, Ind., is currently preparing to discharge him.He will be released and confined to home isolation, where he will remain in home isolation until the Indiana State Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deem he is not an infectious risk to the public, the Community Hospital in Munster said in its most recent statement.On April 28, the unnamed patient reported to the emergency room after experiencing respiratory issues. The patients’ symptoms and travel history prompted Indiana public health officials to test the patient for MERS, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC. The following day, the Indiana State Public Health Laboratory and CDC confirmed the MERS infection in the patient.“We were alerted by the Indiana State Department of Health on the night of May 1st that the patient tested positive for MERS,” said Jason McDonald, spokesperson of CDC’s National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases. “They sent a sample that morning to the CDC, and they tested it to confirm the diagnosis.” After the patient’s diagnosis was confirmed, he and the hospital workers who first came into contact with him were isolated from the general public. There is no anti-viral drug or vaccination to remedy MERS. However, after being provided with oxygen support and basic medical support, the MERS patient health has progressively improved. The MERS virus is comparatively new to humans and was first discovered in 2012 in Saudi Arabia, McDonald said. The patient is an American citizen who works as a healthcare provider in Saudi Arabia where the number of infected MERS patients continues to increase.“There have been over 400 cases reported since it was discovered in 2012, all of which have been linked to six countries in or near the Arabian Peninsula,” McDonald said.The patient flew from Saudi Arabia to London and then to Chicago on April 24. He then took a shuttle bus from O’Hare International Airport Chicago to Highland, Ind. Three days later, he began exhibiting respiratory symptoms, including shortness of breath, coughing and fever, according to a statement by Community Hospital in Musnter.MERS is caused by a type of virus called a coronavirus. The fatal SARS virus, which killed more than 700 people from November 2002 to July 2003, is also a coronavirus. Consequently, the MERS outbreak has the American medical community on high alert.“We’re watching this closely, because in the cases that have been reported, about 30 percent of those infected die,” McDonald said. “That’s a pretty high mortality rate.” Despite its recent arrival on American soil, MERS has been anticipated to enter the U.S. since its discovery in 2012. “In this interconnected world we knew it was probably only a matter of time until it reached the United States,” McDonald said. “We’ve been preparing for MERS for a year and a half.” As a result, once the CDC became aware of the patient in Indiana who tested positive for MERS, they were primed to tackle the situation. “We were alerted,” McDonald said. “We were prepared for it and took the appropriate steps to properly identify it, isolate the patients and provide treatment.” While the MERS virus is contagious, there isn’t any evidence that it’s able to transmit easily between people in the community, McDonald said. The MERS virus is believed to require close contact for transmission. “People who treat MERS patients in a hospital setting or those who they live with that may be caring for them while they’re ill are at the greatest risk,” McDonald said. The Community Hospital employees that had direct contact with the patient are in temporary home isolation and are being monitored for symptoms, according to the hospital’s latest statement. These employees will be permitted to return to work following the 14-day incubation period and confirmed negative test results for the MERS virus.“All the employee lab results have been negative thus far, which is great news,” Community Hospital Chief Medical Information Officer Alan Kumar, M.D., said. “We have contained the exposure, we will continue to monitor the situation.”Indiana citizens are at a low-risk, but are advised to keep alert.“Check for fever, shortness of breath and coughing,” McDonald said. “If you start to notice any of the symptoms contact your physician as soon as possible. It’s a standard recommendation to protect yourself from respiratory illness.”If someone in Bloomington were diagnosed with MERS, IU Health Bloomington would follow the same procedures as the Community Hospital in Munster, Infection Preventionist at IU Health Bloomington Jean Young said. They would have collaborated with the CDC and the Indiana State Department of Health to remedy and constrain the expansion of the contagion. The patient would have been quarantined following IU Health Bloomington’s meticulous prevention strategy.“If the patient is hospitalized, the patient would be placed on contact precautions in an airborne infection isolation room equipped with a special air handling and ventilation system,” Young said.However, the risk to the general population is very low, Young said. Still, she encouraged good hygiene.“It’s always a good idea to wash your hands often. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands. Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, such as doorknobs. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue to cough or sneeze, and avoid close contact such as kissing, sharing cups or eating utensils with sick people.” Now that the imminent threat is temporarily contained, the CDC advises the public to monitor themselves.
(04/09/14 3:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Neo-Nazi groups, the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacy were major points of discussion Tuesday evening as students, faculty and staff gathered to hear a message about hate and extremism in the United States.IU Student Association organized the “State of Hate and Extremism in the U.S.” workshop Tuesday in the Kelley School of Business.The workshop featured Lecia Brooks, the director of the Southern Poverty Law Center.SPLC, an organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, seeks justice for the most vulnerable members of society, according to its website. It addresses the resurgence of traditionalist groups across the nation through education and litigation, Brooks said. Brooks embraced the opportunity to speak to IU students. “I want to help students learn about the Civil Rights Movement and its connection and relevancy to contemporary social justice issues,” she said. “It’s been my experience that when students are made more aware of the experiences and stories of the people responsible for the successes of the Civil Rights Movement, they’re moved to take action against hatred and extremism.”Brooks began her presentation by speaking about the Civil Rights Movement and highlighting the successful litigations of the SPLC, prosecuting culprits of hate crimes.Traditionalist Youth Network, classified as an active white nationalist hate group by the SPLC, has a chapter at IU. Brooks said TYN misrepresents itself by not claiming to be a white supremacist group, and that poses a threat to this community.“People can find themselves aligned with this group not realizing they’re white supremacist,” she said. “I want to help prevent that.”SPLC gathers intelligence about active groups in the U.S. and distributes that information to law enforcement and homeland security, Brooks said. “I hope to stimulate a resurgence of activism,” Brooks said. “Students who feel marginalized must continue to demand an increase in representation in student population and faculty. It’s important to take a stand.” Brooks’ message of increased activism resonated with the audience. “What she is talking about is what we need at IU — integration, inclusion and promotion of diversity,” said Justin Bouger, freshman and founder of Students Against Intolerance. “It is our duty as a community that everyone feels welcome and everyone is allowed to be themselves.” he said.The workshop concluded with a question and answer session, during which audience members were able to ask questions about racial dilemmas to Brooks. “We wanted this workshop to be more interactive,” said Leighton Johnson, IUSA Chief of Diversity and Inclusion and lead student organizer for the event. “We wanted students to be engaged with the discussion.”Follow reporter Javonte Anderson on Twitter @JavonteA.
(04/07/14 3:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Splattered with mud, biceps bulging and veins protruding from their necks, two teams engaged in an exhausting competition of tug of war Friday during IU’s first Greek Olympics. This weekend, IU’s greek community assembled to partake in the two-day event that began with a competition portion Friday and culminated in a volunteer service project Saturday. Fraternities and sororities from different greek councils composed eight teams, each consisting of eight to 12 people.On Friday, the teams competed in Dunn Meadow in rain, mud and strong wind. They participated in a myriad of events, including tug of war, kickball, a three-legged race and a tube race in which the teams held hands as they transferred an inner tube back-and-forth in a line. Success in these events was measured with a point system. “Team Black,” composed of members from Delta Gamma, Lambda Upsilon Lambda and Pi Kappa Alpha, emerged victorious after sustaining its lead the entire weekend. In addition to allowing the teams to compete, Friday’s events provided a social aspect to the Olympics that allowed members from different councils and organizations to fraternize.“We were able to bond socially with people we wouldn’t have known otherwise, potentially establishing new friendships,” said Jose Delgado, member of Team Black and Lambda Upsilon Lambda.On Saturday, the teams conducted service-projects at various locations, including the Boys and Girls Club, Jordan River clean-up and Middle Way House. The teams earned points based on how many people attended their respective service projects. “It’s good to be competitive and build team spirit, but we wanted to emphasize the importance of serving your community,” said senior Kimberly Lucht, president of IU Unify and coordinator of the Greek Olympics.Team Black organized its service project at Middle Way House, a domestic violence shelter and rape crisis center. With 27 volunteers, the team had the second-highest attendance at its service project. Volunteers cleaned, painted the interior of the building and did maintenance work. Debra Morrow, community service coordinator at Middle Way House, expressed her gratitude to students for their labor.“You have no idea how much this means,” Morrow said. “We have not had the time to clean, and we have not had the time to paint this apartment for one of the families.” Delgado said he prefers hands-on community service as opposed to philanthropic contributions. “I like getting my hands dirty,” he said. “Anyone can write a check, but it’s something special when you dedicate your time and energy, and you’re able to see the results right in front of your face.” Lucht agreed volunteering time means more than donating money.“There’s a big difference between serving 10 hours and writing a check for $10,” Lucht said. “When we go out into the community as IU students and as greek students and show our faces and show how much we care, they get a better idea of who we are.” The greek community should bear the responsibility of serving the community, she said.“A lot of these volunteer organizations want to see the IU campus get involved in Bloomington,” Lucht said. “There is so much we can do. There are so many places that need help.” Lucht said having a service project as a key component in the Greek Olympics gave IU Unify the opportunity to highlight the initiatives of some local organizations in need of assistance.“A lot of people got to contribute to service-oriented projects at volunteer organizations many of these students didn’t know existed,” Lucht said. The second day of the event drew 108 IU students to volunteer throughout the Bloomington area. IU Unify, an organization that works to unify the greek community, helped organize the Greek Olympics.“The idea of IU Unify is for cross-collaboration across all IU greek councils and organizations,” Lucht said. She said Greek Olympics was an opportunity to bring the greek and IU student community together on a bigger scale than ever done before. The winning team will select a volunteer organization that IU Unify will sponsor next year. However, Lucht said there were no winners and losers in the competition. “It wasn’t necessarily about winning,” she said. “None of that mattered. It mattered that chapters came together, interacted and cross-collaborated to bond with new people and have a positive impact on society.”IU Unify plans to make the Greek Olympics an annual event.“We’re already planning for next year,” Lucht said. “We’re going to do this event yearly.”
(03/31/14 3:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A group of students from the Indianapolis Public School system assembled at IU Saturday for a glimpse into what could be their future. The Holding Hands With Our Future program allowed students in grades five through 12 to spend a day on campus and participate in a leadership workshop, college panel discussion and social events. Brooke Moreland-Williams, an IU alumni and the assistant residence manager at Union Street Residence Center, established Holding Hands in 2007. Moreland-Williams created the program while she was an undergraduate at Butler University. Initially, the program was created as a requirement to fulfill Moreland-Williams’ duties as a residential assistant. At that time, she brought Indianapolis students to Butler, and her residents mentored them. She said she did not foresee the success of the program. “I didn’t know it would blossom into a nonprofit, where we are doing workshops and exploring a major university’s campus,” she said. Moreland-Williams said she empathizes with the struggles of the students in the Holding Hands program. “They mirror the type of student I was,” she said. “I went through IPS and saw the low graduation rates. According to statistics, I shouldn’t be here.” Despite the unfavorable statistics, Moreland-Williams wants the idea of college to become tangible to these students. “I want them to learn it doesn’t matter how big this opportunity may seem, that college is attainable,” she said. “It’s a dream you can reach.” Moreland-Williams said she still aims to have a positive affect on the students that don’t attend college. “I want them to know that they have the power to make good decisions to have a life of good quality,” she said. The program began with a college panel discussion where the students were able to ask questions about the college experience. Students inquired about creating class schedules, how to handle tuition, intramural activities and dining halls. IU junior and college panel member Nakia Jones said it is important to answer pragmatic questions about the college experience. She said she hopes her discussion with the young students helps them view college as a more achievable goal. “I hope they realize that it’s an option, and they have plenty of resources and help to make it to college,” Jones said.Participant Azaria Mitchell, age 12, said she relished the opportunity to ask the panel questions. “I really enjoyed getting information from real college students,” Mitchell said. “We got a lot of information.” After the panel discussion, the students outlined an action plan for their future. They discussed where they wanted to be one, five and 10 years from now, as well as how to fulfill those aspirations. Following the discussion, students went to the Indiana Memorial Union to bowl and eat pizza. Their afternoon consisted of a walking tour of IU’s campus, a visit to the IU Art Museum and a leadership workshop. At the beginning of the day, Moreland-Williams said the tour was an essential part of the program. “As we are taking a tour, they can try and visualize themselves being and living here,” she said. “I want them to see themselves here. I want them to envision themselves where other successful people are.”The walking tour resonated with many of the students.“The tour of campus was my favorite part of the day because we got to see how beautiful the campus was,” 17-year-old Marco Harris said. “I want to come here so bad.”Harris said Holding Hands taught him a lot. “It has prepared me for my future and given me a better understanding of what to expect from college,” he said. Moreland-Williams said she hopes to expand and improve Holding Hands. “My goal is to definitely get a major grant,” she said. “More money could get us more resources and make the program more efficient.” However, Moreland-Williams said she will continue her initiative to promote and encourage youth education. “It’s a social responsibility for me to invest in the youth as some people did with me,” she said.Follow reporter Javonte Anderson on Twitter @JavonteA.
(03/14/14 3:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This August, Kelley Benham French will join IU’s Media school as a professor of practice, and it’s been a winding road to get here.She went to summer camp at the Poynter Institute twice before she graduated high school, joined the student newspaper at University of Florida and graduated with a degree in journalism. Soon after an internship at the Dallas Morning News, French began teaching at Deerfield Beach High School, a communications magnet high school in Deerfield Beach, Fla.“I had a full schedule of just journalism,” French said. “It was phenomenal.” French also advised the high school newspaper and the yearbook at Deerfield. “We won a bunch of awards, and we had a great time,” she said. After three years of teaching, French decided to attend the University of Maryland journalism graduate program. “I heard about the graduate program at Maryland, and there were some people teaching there that were legends to me,” French said. She said she relished the opportunity to study under journalism icons such as Gene Roberts, former national editor at the New York Times and executive editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and Jon Franklin, two-time Pulitzer Prize award winner. Despite flunking Franklin’s narrative writing class, French said her graduate school experience was “magical.” In 2002, French started writing for the Clearwater Bureau for the Tampa Bay Times. She said she sometimes felt she was writing trivial stories she felt were getting her nowhere. “I wrote stories about street signs and rusty water pipes, and I was like, ‘What am I going to do?’” French said. After writing a story about a rooster that attacked a two-year-old girl, she got national attention. “That was one of the stories that demonstrated her great gift,” Mike Wilson, former managing editor of the Tampa Bay Times, said. “Everybody noticed that piece.” It was the story that prompted Wilson to hire French as a feature writer for the Tampa Bay Times. “It’s a section that, for years, had showcased the best writing in the country, and it has always been my dream to work for that section,” French said. French said she attributes most of her professional journalistic acumen to Wilson. “Mike Wilson must have been in the top handful of editors in the country, and he pretty much taught me everything,” she said. French’s career flourished while writing and editing for the Floridian feature section of the Tampa Bay Times. There, she edited two stories that were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. French was a Pulitzer finalist herself in 2013 after she reported and wrote a series of articles titled “Never Let Go.” The series chronicled the triumphant survival of her premature daughter, born 1 pound and 4 ounces after only 23 weeks and six days. The three-part story was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing. French said the story’s effect transcended her daughter’s struggle. “It’s an incredibly important story, not just about my daughter and what she went through, but about these early babies are this frontier in medicine, science and ethics, and these profound questions about these babies,” she said. French’s effect also transcends her classrooms, according to some of her students at the University of Florida. “She was the best professor I’ve ever had by far in my whole college career,” Jon Silman, French’s former student, currently a staff writer for the Tampa Bay Times, said. “Kelley has a way of taking mundane, ordinary, everyday stories and turning them into extraordinary, life-affirming, deep, thoughtful, insightful pieces of journalism.”French said she believes her classroom should be a laboratory for her students to tell the best stories they can. She said she will employ an interactive heuristic approach to teaching journalism. “I’m not going to have a classroom where we just work out of textbooks and do assignments that don’t go anywhere,” French said. French said she understands the significance of a potent teacher-student relationship and hopes to cultivate some at IU.“It only takes one really important relationship with a professor to change the trajectory of someone’s life or career,” she said.
(02/25/14 4:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Board of Trustees amended this February the tobacco-free policy implemented in 2008. The genesis of the IU policy can be traced back to February 2007, when former IU president Adam Herbert introduced a potential non-smoking policy to the Board of Trustees. “In spring 2007, President Herbert issued a directive that all campuses adopt a non-smoking or tobacco-free policy,” said John Applegate, IU’s executive vice president of University Academic Affairs. The policy, which took effect Jan. 1, 2008, prohibited the use or sale of tobacco products on University property and in University vehicles. Four years later, Indiana enacted its first ever statewide smoke-free air law, which prohibited smoking within 8 feet of a public entrance to a public place or place of employment. Indiana’s Smoke Free Air Law stimulated discourse among IU’s administration to modify its existing tobacco-free policy. “It seemed like a good time to clarify what’s covered in the policy, and since we have this uniform state law and these campus policies which were more or less the same already,” Applegate said. The current policy condenses the different IU campus policies into a single policy that complies with the state law and is uniform, Applegate said. In addition to adopting components of the state law that weren’t in the pre-existing policy, the current policy extended its ban on tobacco to include electronic cigarettes, hookah-smoked products, pipes, oral tobacco and nasal tobacco.“I think the e-cigarette ban is a little too far,” one IU senior, Tyler Howell, said. “There is little to no smell with most of the e-cigarette options, and the smoke doesn’t linger like normal cigarette smoke.”Despite the revamped tobacco-free policy, Applegate said he believes the policy will be enforced through a community effort. He acknowledged the Indiana University Police Department’s role in enforcing the policy as well. “With the state law, we’re required to give citations for it,” Applegate said. “If IUPD finds people smoking, they must follow state law.” IUPD Chief Laury Flint said all IUPD officers are familiar with the disciplinary protocol if someone is found violating state law or University policy. “IUPD is responsible for enforcing state laws as well as University policy,” Flint said. “Those who are found smoking within 8 feet of a public entrance to one of the buildings on campus will need to be identified and issued an infraction citation for prohibited smoking. Those persons issued a citation for this violation will be required to pay court costs in addition to the standard fine.” These people will also need to be identified and referred to the Dean of Students if a student, or Human Resources if an employee, Flint said.Jerry Minger, University Director of Public Safety and the person responsible for coordinating police operations on all IU campuses, said he fully expects IU police officers to regulate state law and University policy. However, Minger pointed out the potential limitations of strictly policing the tobacco-free policy. “It’s something where you usually aren’t avidly patrolling,” he said. “We don’t have enough officers to be absolutely everywhere all of the time.” Since July 7, 2012, the day the Indiana Smoke Free Air Law went into effect, IUPD received 31 complaints, and seven citations have been issued, Lt. Craig Munroe, IUPD public information officer, said.Instead of violating state law and University policy, Applegate said he urged smokers to access smoking cessation programs. ”We have for faculty, staff and students various smoking cessation programs that are available,” Applegate said. “A smoking cessation program is a far more preferable way of dealing with this than punishment, because you get a long-term benefit to the individual.” IU’s tobacco cessation services offer support, counseling and free nicotine replacement therapy. Applegate said he believes this policy can have a positive effect on the IU community as time goes on.“I think in the long run, this is a matter of changing the culture,” he said.
(02/21/14 5:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Lindsay Arcurio, a graduate student in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, has authored a study that examines alcohol dependent women’s brain activity while making high-risk decisions. Researchers studied the brain activity of alcohol-dependent women as they responded to hypothetical situations involving alcohol, food and sex-related high-risk situations. The study compared the brain activity of the alcohol-dependent women with a control group — women who were light, social drinkers. She and her colleagues looked at the pattern of brain activation for alcohol-dependent women and for control women separately. The results revealed a stark distinction between the brain activity found in alcohol-dependent women and the control group, Arcurio said. “Control women activated regions that were part of the brain’s default mode network,” Arcurio said. “Traditionally, the network is activated while you’re resting. But very recently researchers are finding that this network is also involved in future planning.”While the control group was activating regions of the brain that might be involved in future planning, the alcohol-dependent group was activating reward regions of the brain. “This study points to a reality that underlines the importance of understanding the factors behind decisions to drink in low- and high-risk situation,” Peter Finn, director of the Behavioral Alcohol Research Laboratory and co-author of the study said. “If we understand mechanisms underlying problematic and risky drinking then this might be helpful in learning more about that and figuring out preventive and treatment methods.”The alcohol-dependent women switching between different brain networks are potentially problematic, Arcurio said.“What we’re thinking is that alcohol-dependent women have a probable difficulty in figuring what strategy to use when they’re facing a high risk decision to drink alcohol,” Arcurio said. Arcurio said this is the first study of its kind to examine risky drinking exclusively with women. “We looked at risky decision making, especially decisions to drink alcohol,” she said. “This task is one of the first to take an ecological approach — to take a drinking task and see what neurological networks are activated for high and low-risk decisions to drink.”The results of this study are the culmination of two years of recruiting and research. “We put fliers around town and campus recruiting women between the ages of 18 to 28,” Arcurio said. “We wanted to focus on the college drinking and young adult age.” During the study, the women were placed in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scanner. Both groups were confronted with hypothetical high-risk and low-risk drinking situations. Participants were shown images and asked to rate their likelihood to drink alcohol, eat food, buy an item or have sex with someone on a four-point scale, where 1 = very unlikely and 4 = very likely, Arcurio said. The risk information varied depending on the situation. A brain scanner collected images of the subjects’ brains as they made decisions. “We process all of the imaging data and compare the alcohol-dependent group decisions to our control group decision,” Arcurio said. The alcohol-dependent group is activating three different major networks of the brain, Arcurio said. Arcurio said she hopes the findings of this study lead to specific interventions to help alcohol-dependent women. “It’s really important to find interventions for women who have problems drinking when they’re young adults,” she said. Follow reporter Javonte Anderson on Twitter @JavonteA.
(02/20/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“About Last Night” is about an African-American quartet polarized into
two separate couples. Bernie (Kevin Hart) and Danny (Michael Ealy), like
Joan (Regina Hall) and Debbie (Joy Bryant), are best friends. However,
both pairs of friends have near-opposite personalities. The stark
contrast between the two couples gives the movie balance.
After hooking up on the first night, Bernie and Joan drag their best friends along on their first real date. Danny and Debbie are both conservative, and, despite their attractiveness and success, they are both single.
After Bernie chases Joan into the women’s restroom for a quickie, Danny —
in true gentlemen fashion — walks Debbie outside, which leads to a
passionate first-night hookup. Bernie and Joan’s chaotic and sex-driven relationship is refreshing and provides some awkward but frequent laughs.
While the bedroom scenes are invasive, they break the mold of the
typical “perfect” bedroom scenes. Instead of candles, bubble-baths and
the missionary position, they give the audience the leg-over-the-head,
dental fantasies and chicken masks.
Joan and Bernie relentlessly spew obscenities at each other throughout
the entire movie. Although it’s vulgar, it’s refreshing and a large
portion of the comedy in this film. Seeing and hearing the vulgar verbal
battles between Bernie and Joan is hilarious. Unfortunately, this means
all the comedy in “About Last Night” comes from a divided and fractured
couple verbally abusing one another.
Hall matches Hart’s natural skill to discharge impromptu sexual
obscenities and vile language one may hope isn’t used in real-life
relationships. It is their constant and explosive bickering that leads
to their break-up, but also leaves the audience rooting for their sexual
rendezvous to evolve into a relationship.
Though Danny and Debbie aren’t funny, their relationship is initially
therapeutic. They provide the audience some relief from the chaos of
Bernie and Joan. They allow the audience to feel good about and root for
love.
Danny and Debbie are a mature, composed and elegant couple. Their
intimate moments conform to the typical Hollywood lovemaking scenes.
Danny is calm, smooth and gentle — a nice contrast to his best friend
Bernie. Despite having sex their first time meeting, Danny and
Debbie’s relationship resembles the conventional relationship. It is
through their relationship the audience is able to witness the hurdles
many couples are forced to overcome.
The nucleus of the plot lies within the dynamics of Danny and Debbie’s
relationship. As we watch the predictable, and at times stagnant, ebb
and flow of their relationship, it’s refreshing to see the chaotic and
buffoonish distraction that is Bernie and Joan.
Bernie and Joan provide a refreshing chaotic twist in what would have
been a traditional love story. Without their lewd behavior and flammable
chemistry, this romantic comedy would have been your run-of-the-mill
love story.
It has some of the most sexually explicit language I’ve ever heard in a
film, or anywhere for that matter. But I appreciate how raw the dialogue
is. It’s a solid film with big laughs and vulgarity at its finest.
(02/20/14 4:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The buzzer rang. The pressure mounted as the 10-second time limit dwindled away. “Who is Marcellus Neal and Francis Marshall?” Junior Isaiah Sloss knew the answer. He correctly named the first African-American man and woman to graduate from IU. A coterie of IU students gathered at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center to showcase their knowledge about African-American history during Wednesday’s Black Knowledge Bowl. Sloss’ team, Higher Purpose, emerged victorious for the third-consecutive year. They dominated the competition from start to finish, holding a 3,900-point lead heading into the Final Jeopardy round. Organized in honor of Black History Month, the bowl is an academically competitive program that tests students’ knowledge of academic disciplines relevant to African-American history, according to Neal-Marshall’s website. Presented in the “Jeopardy” television show format, the competition quizzed teams of undergraduate students in various categories such as Black Sports, Black in the Day and Fight the Power. “The idea was to have a jeopardy game show with black history facts,” Neal-Marshall Director Stephanie Power-Carter said.The participants were not told of the categories in the competition ahead of time, but they were given study guides to prepare.Sloss said his team were dedicated with their preparation for the bowl, which helped them emerge victorious.“We put together our hard work to win this competition,” Sloss said.Juniors Aaryn Eady, Mustapha Baryoh and Brandon McGhee, all members of Higher Purpose, said they plan to return next year for a four-year sweep. Aside from the $300 prize, they said their friendship motivates them to compete every year. “We’re also friends, so it makes it easy to work with these guys,” Baryoh said. The bowl is one of many events this month to educate the IU community about African-American history.“It’s another way to educate people about the contributions that blacks have made in the United States and globally,” Power-Carter said.Follow reporter Javonte Anderson on Twitter @JavonteA.
(02/18/14 4:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When he’s not teaching gender studies at IU, or conducting research at the Kinsey Institute, Justin Garcia makes a living tying the knot between science and love.The scientific adviser for the online dating website Match.com, Garcia’s academic journey has led him to research all things human intimacy: behavioral biology, romantic love, intimate relationships, uncommitted sex and the hook-up culture in emerging adulthood. Early on, Garcia said he wasn’t interested in human sexuality and sexual behaviors.But in the midst of his academic career, Garcia said he “sort of stumbled into the field of asking questions about social and sexual monogamy in human behavior.” After completing his postdoctoral research at the IU’s Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, Garcia became an assistant professor and a research scientist. As the scientific adviser for Match.com, Garcia is a co-investigator for a study entitled “Singles in America,” which received national media attention from the Huffington Post and USA Today.“Match.com is interested in understanding singles and they wanted to get a comprehensible study of who U.S. singles are,” Garcia said. “The study focuses mostly on the attitudes and behaviors of singles around issues of dating, romance and sexuality.” The findings of the fourth annual Singles in America study are on its website, SinglesinAmerica.com. The study contains statistics on categories such as the “Do’s and Don’ts on Dating Etiquette,” “Sex and Singles” and “Love and Money.” Garcia lauded “Singles in America” as being the most ambitious study to understand who American singles are. “Every year we collect information from over 5,000 U.S. singles,” Garcia said. “We get high to low socioeconomic groups, every race and ethnicity and sexual orientation,” he said. “We really try to get a representative sample based on what the U.S. Census tell us is the distribution of those demographics.” As an assistant research scientist at the Kinsey Institute, Garcia said he focuses primarily on issues of romantic and sexual relationships across the life cycle.But more specifically, a lot of his work focuses on emerging adulthood — those ages 18 to 25.“I’ve written quite a bit about hook up culture on college campuses,” Garcia said. “One of the issues is the dating culture and courtship have changed from youth in America today,” Garcia said in regards to the high percentage of college students engaging in hook up behavior — or casual sex. Garcia said he is also interested in each of the sexes’ motives behind dating.“There’s this perception that men want to run around and have casual sex and women want love and babies. That’s totally bogus,” Garcia said. Garcia said it’s important for him to remember to separate real life from research. “We have to be cautious about applying statistics and data, and the way that we apply it, because our lives are more complex then we’ll ever understand in one single study,” he said. “It moves us away from focusing on the science, the data, the scholarship and the expertise.”Garcia’s lab at the Kinsey Institute is collaborating with the IU Dean of Students Office on a study about sexual assault on college campuses.“That’s a really exciting project because we’re taking all of this exciting research and knowledge and we have the challenge of applying it to improve the safety,” Garcia said, “experiences and pleasure that men and women can experience while they’re in college around issues of sexuality and gender.” Garcia said he believes people who conduct research have an obligation to share their research. “Those of us who specialize in these issues have an obligation to get the real data and the real facts to the public,” he said.Follow reporter Javonte Anderson on Twitter @JavonteA.
(02/13/14 4:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Chris Herren, a former NBA player, spoke to an audience replete with IU student athletes Tuesday. Herren, who was featured in the ESPN documentary “Unguarded,” told his story of overcoming substance abuse in the Heinke Hall of Champions in Memorial Stadium. He delivered his message to what he said was his preferred audience. “Where I want to be most is in front of student athletes,” he said. For an hour, Herren recounted his life story to a jam-packed audience. In high school, he said he drank and smoked marijuana. As his life progressed, so did his drug use, and he jumped from cocaine to oxycontin to heroin. At Durfee High School in Fall River, Mass., Herren was an All-America basketball star and had the opportunity to attend any college.He chose Boston College. During his first semester, Herren’s head coach brought in someone to speak to the team about substance abuse. “I heard way too many speakers about substance abuse, and it’s a waste of time,” Herren said. ”I truly believed I was above it.”Directly after one of these talks, Herren returned to his dorm room.When he opened the door, his roommate and a woman, both freshmen student athletes, were snorting cocaine. Herren turned to exit the room, but the woman told him to come back. That was the first time he did cocaine.“At 18 years old, I promised myself one line, just one time,” he said. “I had no idea that one line would take 14 years to walk away from.”The following day, Herren had his first drug test. “I walked into my first college drug test knowing I was going to test positive for marijuana and cocaine,” he said.After fracturing his wrist in his first college basketball game, Herren was out for his freshman season. With basketball temporarily out of his life, he indulged in partying and drugs. “I figured they wouldn’t test me because I wasn’t playing. I was wrong,” he said.After failing three more drug tests, Boston College rescinded his scholarship and sent him home.Even after Hall of Fame Basketball Coach Jeff Tarkanian gave Herren a second chance to play at Fresno State, Herren continued to abuse drugs. Despite his battle with drugs, he still performed well. In 1999, he was selected 33rd in the NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets. “When I walked into that locker room with the Denver Nuggets, I had guys like Chauncey Billups, Nick Van Exel, Antonio McDyess, who pulled me aside and said, ‘We’ve seen your story ... that’s not going to happen here,’” Herren said. He stayed out of trouble until after the season, when he purchased his first oxycontin pill for $20.“I had no idea that the $20 I spent that day ... would turn into a $25,000 a month oxycontin habit,” he said.Herren’s career continued and finally peaked when he was offered the position of starter for the Boston Celtics. But Herren said he doesn’t remember the night his dream came true.After his last season in the NBA, Herren played in Europe. At 24-years-old, Herren shot heroin intravenously for the first time. It wasn’t until basketball Hall of Famer Chris Mullin, who had struggled with an alcohol addiction, paid for Herren to enter a treatment center that he started to get better. Junior football captain and starting linebacker David Cooper said he appreciated Herren’s message and understood the dangers of drug abuse. “It could potentially affect everyone in this room,” he said. Head Football Coach Kevin Wilson said it was important to have his team in attendance. “We have to continue to educate our guys on and off court on social activities and behaviors,” he said. “We have to educate guys on how to do the right things.”
(02/12/14 8:40pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Chris Herren, a former NBA player, spoke to an audience replete with IU student athletes Tuesday. Herren, who was featured in the ESPN documentary “Unguarded,” told his inspirational story of overcoming substance abuse in the Heinke Hall of Champions in Memorial Stadium. Herren delivered his message to what he said was his most preferable audience. “Where I want to be most is in front of student athletes,” he said. For an hour, Herren recounted his life story to a jam-packed audience. In high school, he drank and smoked marijuana. As his life progressed, so did his drug use, and he jumped from cocaine to oxycontin to heroine. At Durfee High School in Fall River, Mass., Herren was an All-America basketball star and had the opportunity to attend any college. He chose somewhere close to home: Boston College. During his first semester at the university, Herren’s head coach brought in someone to speak to the team about substance abuse. At 18, Herren said he had no interest in hearing about it. “I heard way too many speakers about substance abuse, and it’s a waste of time,” Herren said. ”All I do is drink and smoke. That’s where it begins, and that’s where it will end ... at 18-years-old. I truly believed I was above it.”Directly after one of these talks, Herren returned to his dorm room.When he opened the door, his roommate and a woman, both freshmen student athletes, were snorting cocaine. Herren turned to exit the room, but the woman spoke. “Come back. It’s not going to kill you,” Herren said he recalled her saying.That was the first time he did cocaine.“At 18-years-old I promised myself, one line, just one time. I had no idea that one line would take 14 years to walk away from,” Herren said.The following day, Herren had his first drug test. “I walked into my first college drug test knowing I was going to test positive for marijuana and cocaine,” he said.After fracturing his wrist in his first college basketball game, Herren was out for his freshman season. With basketball temporarily out of his life, he indulged in partying and drugs. “I jumped into partying, had to fit in. I figured they wouldn’t test me because I wasn’t playing. I was wrong,” Herren said. After failing three more drug tests, Boston College decided to rescind his scholarship and send him home.Even after Hall of Fame basketball coach Jeff Tarkanian gave Herren a second chance to play at Fresno State, he continued to abuse drugs. “That monster stayed with me through Fresno State,” Herren said, but despite his battle with drugs, he still performed well. In 1999, he was selected 33rd in the NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets. “When I walked into that locker room with the Denver Nuggets, I had guys like Chauncey Billups, Nick Van Exel, Antonio McDyess, who pulled me aside and said ‘we’ve seen your story ... that’s not going to happen here,’ Herren said. It was under that veteran leadership, he said, that he was able to stay out of trouble. After the season, Herren returned to Fall River, where he purchased his first oxycontin pill for $20.“I had no idea that the $20 I spent that day ... would turn into a $25,000 a month oxycontin habit,” he said.Herren’s career continued and finally peaked when he was offered the position of starter for the Boston Celtics.But Herren said he doesn’t remember the night his dream came true.“All I remember about that night was chasing around that little yellow pill that cost me a 20 dollar bill,” Herren said. After his last season in the NBA, Herren played in Europe. At 24-years-old, Herren shot heroine in his veins for the first time. It wasn’t until basketball Hall of Famer Chris Mullin, who had struggled with an alcohol addiction, paid for Herren to enter a treatment center that he started to get better. After concluding his story, Herren offered to assist anyone in the audience that struggled with addiction through his foundation, “Purple Project.” Herren’s message resonated with the predominantly student athlete audience. “I thought he had a real good message,” said junior captain and starting linebacker David Cooper. Not only did Cooper appreciate Herren’s message, but he also understood the dangers of drug abuse. “It could potentially affect everyone in this room,” he said. Head football coach Kevin Wilson said it was important to have his team in attendance. “We have to continue to educate our guys on and off court on social activities and behaviors ... we have to educate guys on how to do the right things.”Follow reporter Javonte Anderson on Twitter @JavonteA.
(02/10/14 3:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center organizes a First Friday Family Dinner every month, but this month NMBCC decided to do something different.In honor of Black History Month, the NMBCC worked with the Black Graduate Student Association to organize the first Scholars Research Symposium. The Research Symposium allowed some of IU’s black students to showcase their research in the fields of freedom and wellness. “The idea was to showcase what black students were doing on campus and to show students were thriving academically,” NMBCC Director Stephanie Power-Carter said.The students presented their research in the NMBCC Bridgewaters Lounge, where students, faculty and staff gathered to view the work. It gave students an opportunity to come together and network, Power-Carter said.Leighton Johnson, an IU senior and the IU Student Association Chief of Diversity, Inclusion and Advocacy, said he felt inspired. “It’s refreshing for students who look like me and come from the same background as me to showcase their ambition,” Johnson said. “The African-American scholars displaying their research set a good example for the underclassmen. We’re role models, lifting as we climb.” Junior and administrative worker at the NMBCC Nichelle Whitney said she appreciated the opportunity and the effect the Research Symposium could have on underclassmen who attended the symposium. “It gives undergraduates a chance to connect with graduate students and potentially connect with a mentor,” she said.After the hour-long symposium, the First Friday Family Dinner began.The dinner took place in the NMBCC Grand Hall, and the students were served a meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans while a stand-up comedy special performed. This event is only one of the many events the NMBCC will organize during Black History Month. It coincides with the NMBCC Black History Month theme, “Let’s Move! Freedom and Wellness in a Civil Society.” This event, like many others which take place this month, aspired to encourage the IU community to be active and reflective. “It was a light and fun way to kick off Black History Month,” Whitney said.Follow reporter Javonte Anderson on Twitter at @JavonteA.
(02/10/14 3:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bloomington Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. held its fifth-annual pancake breakfast Saturday at Longhorn Steakhouse. The fundraiser was open to the public from 8 to 11 a.m. For five dollars, patrons were served a pancake breakfast and a lesson about health and literacy.The women of Delta Sigma Theta provided health information on heart disease and diabetes and distributed voter registration forms and health insurance applications. Additionally, Delta Sigma Theta organized a book drive for Habitat for Humanity with the goal of promoting literacy. All of the money gathered from this fundraising event will go to the Dr. Betty Shabazz Delta Academy, which is a program under the larger umbrella of the National Girls Collaborative Project.The Delta Academy was named after a fellow Delta Sigma Theta sorority sister and Malcom X’s widow.Its goal is to shape well-rounded young women by focusing on African-American history, literacy, character development, healthy choices and service learning, according to its website. It targets girls ages 11 to 14.“We assist African-American girls in middle school to give them information on the arts, to give them empowerment and to provide them with information on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) initiatives,” said Mary Howard-Hamilton, president of the Delta Sigma Theta Bloomington Alumnae Chapter. Fundraising is essential for the existence of the Delta Academy. They provide free programming, activities, tickets to plays, T-shirts and transportation to all of their events. “We don’t want our academy girls to spend any money on anything ... so every penny we raise here goes into our Academy,” Howard-Hamilton said. The Academy girls meet once or twice a month, with their site varying depending on the activity or event, Howard-Hamilton said. In addition to meeting their academic initiatives, the academy girls participate in volunteer activities. They have filled boxes with toiletries to donate to the homeless and to mothers who couldn’t afford to buy them for their children, academy member Taja Cuthkelvin said. Delta Sigma Theta coordinated the pancake breakfast as part of Bloomington’s Black History Month celebration. Events will continue throughout the month and will include a theatrical performance, an essay contest and a gala, among several other functions.Follow reporter Javonte Anderson on Twitter @JavonteA.