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(01/11/13 4:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Mohammad R. Torabi has been appointed the dean of the IU School of Public Health, Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel announced Tuesday.Torabi served as interim dean of the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation during its transition into its current form. HPER was renamed the School of Public Health in September 2012.The School of Public Health in Bloomington is the second of its kind created by IU. The first was created in Indianapolis and is associated with IU-Purdue University Indianapolis. Both are the only two public health schools in the state.They were created as part of the 2009 IU Public Health initiative, which was launched to address “pressing public health needs” throughout the state, according to a press release.“The leading causes of death in the 21st century are related to lifestyle,” Torabi said.Obesity, nutrition and drug use, including tobacco, were cited as a few of Indiana’s pressing health problems.New schools of public health allow IU to be eligible for federal funding, thereby increasing public health spending for Hoosiers, IU President Michael McRobbie said in a press release.“Obesity was not a problem 30 or 40 years ago,” Torabi said. “Our ultimate mission is to prevent disease and keep health care costs down.” According to the September press release, the Bloomington school will have a rural community focus. “We are going to build on the strength of the Bloomington campus,” Torabi said. “This includes environmental, social and economic studies related to public health.”The school is currently seeking accreditation, a process that takes three years, Torabi said. Above all, Torabi said he hopes to expand upon the former HPER’s “seven decades of strength.”“We have long promoted healthy lifestyles,” he said. “We plan to be a futuristic school of public health.” His appointment will be subject to approval by the Board of Trustees in February.
(12/06/12 5:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Reflecting on the past semester, IU Student Association recognized that, while it was a productive semester, many of their initiatives still needed work. “We think next semester is going to be a crucial time to finish that last leg of the race very strong,” IUSA Vice President Pat Courtney said. “We’re sprinting to the finish line on a lot of these initiatives.”Internal ReformSince November’s town hall meeting, the IUSA administration reconsidered how they connect with and cater to students, IUSA President Kyle Straub said. Above all, the current executives sought to reform the infrastructure of IUSA to more efficiently serve as the voice of the students.“A lot of students have expectations, but when people come into the administration, they take how it works at face value,” Straub said. “But this year, what we have really tried to do is change the structure so that all subsequent administrations to come have a more robust structure and foundation.”Internal transformations aren’t the most “attractive” points of an administration’s accomplishments, Straub noted, but he said shifting this structure helps the IUSA more effectively do its job.“We’ve been pretty criticized for a rough transition because there is so much institutional knowledge you need to know,” Straub said. To solve this, the current administration created a packet of comprehensive transition materials so the 2013-2014 administration would “really grasp the core of the IUSA.”Part of reinvigorating the student government, Straub said, is reorganizing the branches of IUSA so each branch serves its original purpose. In particular, Straub said he wants to see students more aptly approach members of IUSA Congress with concerns and have the executive branch actually follow through on any legislation passed by Congress.Congress has 62 members, Vice President of Congress Stephanie Kohls said in an email, and has recently focused on increasing the amount of fully active, involved members in the Assembly. “Congress has focused most of its energy on becoming a more representative body and becoming a voice of the students by holding each other accountable and writing more researched resolutions,” Kohls said. This semester, Congress members are more responsible for their own resolutions, making Congress more able to check the power of the executive branch, Kohls said.“In years past, it’s been the discretion of the executive whether to act or not,” Straub said. “But now we want the whole student body to decide.”A typical government body has a Congress that sets the agenda and votes on legislation. Such a system has never been adapted to an IUSA state of mind, Straub said. IUSA executives usually came into office knowing what they were going to do, often by speaking to their friends, and then did what they saw fit, he said.This year, the IUSA set out to create initiatives based on student desires. This information was largely gathered in the Vision of the Ideal College Environment (VOICE) report, Straub explained. This report contained a survey comprised of 224 questions answered by 14 percent of the student body.“We want to experience the true beauty of government, just doing what the original roles were founded to do,” Straub said. “IUSA strayed from that.”The VOICE report also directed a number of IUSA’s most forward-moving initiatives this semester, Straub said. The report itself was one of the most successful of their initiatives, as it contained concrete evidence of desired initiatives and was highly valued by the University administration, he said. Platform InitiativesSafe Ride was one of those initiatives. The VOICE report survey data contained many concerns about nighttime transportation and emergency transportation, and Safe Ride seeks to amend these issues, Straub said. Through this system, a student can call the Safe Ride number and get a ride home until the very early hours of the morning. IUSA hopes to send in the final proposal to the dean of students and University president at the beginning of second semester.Straub was also very proud of his Culture of Care initiative. Culture of Care is an effort to create a more accepting atmosphere on the IU campus.“Some say it didn’t work,” he said. “Simply, that’s false. We are working very intimately with Student Life and Learning. They’ve completely restructured employees’ roles to embody Culture of Care.”The scope of Culture of Care has reached across the state, he said. High schools and other educators have inquired about the program. At the University level, Culture of Care is being incorporated into training programs for other student organizations, like Greek 101, a program that greek members go through joining a greek organization.Light Up IU, an initiative on the original platform for the Movement ticket, received little attention this semester. Straub said after meetings with the University and consideration by IUSA that the initiative was dropped because it would have been too much of a challenge.“It would have been a complete uphill battle,” he said.Student RepresentationAbove all, both Straub and Courtney said the IUSA stepped up to represent students and voice student concerns in a number of groups and boards. Both Straub and Courtney have sat in on meetings by University decision-makers to provide a student perspective.“We’re shifting our focus from being completely an initiative-based organization to a really representative group going to bat for student issues,” Courtney said.Straub provided a number of examples, particularly the online course questionnaires. These new questionnaires have faced opposition from a number of faculty. Around 200 faculty members have signed a petition against the new system since it allows students to have access to the results of four particular “student access questions” that would provide information on instructor performance to students, Straub said. IUSA members helped implement the idea. “If students hadn’t been at the table, we would not have access,” he said. “I have been adamant. Students use Rate my Professor. Anything is more legit than that.”Straub said he does not see himself giving up on any of the initiatives currently on their plate.“Anyone who has worked with the administration has known that you can say something is really easy to implement, but with all the barriers, it takes at least a year to get them done,” he said.Many of their initiatives may not come into full effect until fall 2013, he said.“We definitely have a lot of things to do,” Courtney said. “But we’re extremely excited about where we’ve gone so far.”
(11/30/12 5:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU Student Association included a unification of Bloomington Transit and IU Campus Bus services as a part of its party platform, but the plan is dependent on funding approval from the Indiana Department of Transportation.Bloomington Transit General Manager Lew May said Bloomington Transit officials have met with university administrators to discuss combining the two systems. The next step will be determining whether INDOT will provide additional funding to a unified system, May said.“It’s not a sure thing that a proposed unification will result in any additional funding,” May said. “There is the possibility there, and the potential benefits are too great to overlook.”May said both bus services will meet with the new INDOT commissioner after he or she is appointed by Gov.-elect Mike Pence.Campus Bus and Bloomington Transit carry 3.5 million riders per year respectively, May said. He added that Bloomington’s combined total ridership is the second highest in the state behind Indianapolis. Unifying the services, which already share facilities and travel similar areas, could increase state funding through a formula based partially on ridership. Campus Bus services do not currently receive state funding. Operations Manager Perry Maull, who was not involved in unification talks, said 98 percent of Campus Bus funding comes from student fees. IUSA Vice President Pat Courtney said student experience with the bus system would not change due to the unification. The bus systems would remain largely independent of one another, retaining their signature colors and defining their own bus routes according to need.May confirmed the current plan would allow the two services to define their routes.Courtney said cuts in state transportation have put some public transit systems in a tough spot. The campus bus systems recently applied for a federal grant to have more money for new buses. The request was rejected, Courtney said.“The bus systems are working hard to ensure student cost is not increased,” he said.Potential funding from the merger is estimated at $2 million.“It’s a number that’s been circulated throughout the University,” Courtney said. “We didn’t come up with that. It’s something the bus transportation world knows about.”The Monroe County Planning Organization’s 2030 long-range plan, published in 2005 and re-adopted in 2010, does not include bus unification as a stated policy goal. Bloomington Transit buses run routes through campus, though, and student travel patterns are included in the 201-page report. Part of student fees goes toward the universal ridership program for Bloomington Transit, which allows students to ride for free.Courtney maintains that now is the time to keep pushing for unification. IUSA particularly wants to increase student input concerning Bloomington Transit’s decision-making process.The campus bus system has the Student Transportation Board, which talks with campus bus leaders and represents student opinion concerning transportation issues.“This is very important because the campus buses use student fees,” Courtney said. “We’re trying to get the same with Bloomington Transit, because student money indirectly funds it.”IUSA has participated in multiple meetings with university administration and Campus Bus in the last month, Courtney said, and will meet with administrators next week to gather momentum before winter break.He said he is optimistic that the agreement can be reached within the current IUSA administration’s term but notes that many things, including INDOT’s response, could delay the process.“There’s lots of legwork that has to be done,” Courtney said. “It may not be moving as fast as students may want, but we’re looking into the many variables that affect this.”
(11/28/12 6:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>An 18-month effort toward the Vision of the Ideal College Environment Report, or VOICE report, will come to fruition within the next few weeks, said Augustin Ruta, IU Student Association chief of staff and co-leader of the VOICE report.VOICE is a collection of student thought concerning the state of IU gathered through in-depth online surveys and select focus groups. Five student committees led by student group leaders across campus created the questions, gathered the data and helped devise recommendations for the IU administration, Ruta explained.Each committee focused on a different facet of IU life, including technology, student collaboration, intellectual curiosity, facilities and campus safety.“We’re looking for the ideal state of IU in respect to these areas,” Ruta said. “So, the intellectual curiosity committee asks ‘How well does IU foster learning and enable students to explore their skills?’”The survey was 224 questions long and launched in early April. It went to 75 percent of the student body and had a 14 percent response rate, said Jarad Winget, executive director of VOICE Report Steering Committee.“That was actually beyond what we needed,” Winget said. “We passed the validity mark.”The first VOICE report originally commissioned by IU President Michael McRobbie was released in 2008. Recommendations from this report led to Wi-Fi in the dorms, the technology center in the Indiana Memorial Union and the Kelley Living-Learning Center in McNutt Quad.Ruta noted the report in 2008 was a major source of initiative ideas for many student organizations.“There was lots of good information on how things can be run better,” Winget said. He added that even groups like the Student Recreational Sports Center adapted their services to accommodate the recommendations. Ruta made it clear the initiatives from the 2008 report were mostly ideas that university administrators were already considering. In most cases, the University is looking for “actionable evidence” that students want change, he said.“It confirms student input,” he added.In 2011, IUSA decided to re-commission the report to see what had changed. The original report covered a broad spectrum of issues at IU, sweeping the entire community and encompassing as many facets of IU life as possible in its survey. This time, Ruta and Winget decided they wanted to look into specifics.“We wanted to drill down and focus on specific areas,” Winget said. “You get more bang for your buck where results and recommendations are concerned.”Preliminary work on the second VOICE report began in early summer 2011. Now, the report is essentially complete, Ruta said. After being finalized and double-checked, it will be sent to the university administration for a preliminary overview. Ruta said they weren’t looking for approval by the administration but rather wanted to show it to them as a matter of courtesy.“They really want to see it,” Ruta said. “We told the provost one of our recommendations for academic advising ... they were very excited.”The VOICE report does not implement changes, but IUSA plans to be “actively involved” in pursuing the recommendations, Ruta said.The second VOICE report does not yet have a release date for student viewing, but Ruta said it is very close to being finished. Upon release, the full report will be available for viewing on the IUSA website. IUSA officials also plan to release excerpts via Twitter and send the report to students via email.The 2008 report is available to all students via the Archives of Institutional Memory, which can be accessed online. Easily found with a Google search, the 2008 report is 127 pages long, including appendices.IUSA hopes to put the VOICE report on a five-year cycle so all student organizations and the university administrators have time to respond to what the report outlines.“It is not meant to promote IUSA goals,” Ruta said.Neither Winget or Ruta knew if other student governments attempted similar reports.“The VOICE report differentiates by depth, methodology and scale,” he said. “Every student government seeks out student opinion, but I don’t think they do it on this scale.”
(11/16/12 5:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Both the IU Student Association and Union Board have sought to integrate information from the Nov. 7 Town Hall Meeting into their new policies.In particular, representation of minority students and smaller student groups needed to be addressed, IUSA Chief of Marketing Alex Sabol said.“We like to talk about how democratic our election process is or IUSA’s election process (is),” Union Board Vice President of Programming Riley Voss said in an email, “but there is nothing democratic about getting elected and then shutting the door in front of those who we are supposed to be representing.”Katy Flanigan, IUSA co-director of campus outreach, said the town hall was eye-opening, particularly for IUSA’s Campus Outreach committee, which is in charge of gathering information about student opinion and bringing that information to the IUSA office. Now, IUSA is looking to set up new teams to address concerns raised in the Town Hall Meeting.“We especially want to create a team to reach out to minority groups and ask them how they would like to be represented by their student government,” she said. “We hope to hold a dinner with minority group student leaders before the end of the semester.”Sabol said single-issue advocacy groups on campus are a “tough barrier to hurdle,” but not because it was hard to speak with them.“When we move forward with initiatives, we want to make sure that we can actually affect that issue,” he said. “We also consider if we can add to part of the effort.”IUSA is better at starting initiatives and then passing them to other groups as the initiatives grow, Sabol said. The Lifeline Law was a good example of this, he added.“Sometimes we cannot take on entire projects, but at the very least, we can always listen and connect them to other resources or groups that may have a similar interest,” Flanigan said.Improving student contact with IUSA is a recognized concern, IUSA Vice President Patrick Courtney said, and solutions are already being implemented to fix this issue. One solution includes a block of office hours in the IUSA office where the majority of the IUSA executives would be present to answer any questions or concerns students may have.IUSA executives are not the only members of IUSA that students can speak with, Sabol said. IUSA Congress members are meant to be the representatives of student interests, yet their role in policy creation has waned in past years, he said. IUSA has recently taken steps to reinvigorate IUSA Congress as another avenue of communication with students.“Congress has definitely been revamped this year,” Courtney said. “We’ve given a lot more power to Speaker of the House to more separate the powers, like it is supposed to be.”IUSA is currently working to make Congress members’ information more visible and available, he said. After Thanksgiving break, contact information about each Congress member will be available on the IUSA website, which is being redesigned to include, among other things, a suggestion box for student input, Courtney said. One glaring issue Sabol noticed with the Town Hall Meeting was the lack of Congress members on the Town Hall panel. He hoped to change that and make improvements to future Town Hall Meetings.“It was good, not great,” Sabol said. “We wanted to see more participation. We could do better with terms of interaction of our executive team and the students. We got good student opinion, but it was kind of like ... a line dividing us and the students.”He did note that the collaboration with Union Board made reaching out to students easier.Voss said connecting with students may always be somewhat difficult but shouldn’t deter leading bodies from attempting to connect.“In these types of roles it is very easy to get caught up in trying to inflict our own agendas at times,” he said. “But when we’re faced every day with making sure we are acting or spending based upon the values of our students, it’s essential that we have these types of moments where we’re doing the listening and somebody else is doing the talking.”Courtney thought the event was fairly successful and enjoyed hearing the opinions of students, but said IUSA definitely wanted to make the event more informal to encourage more discussion. Current considerations include breaking students into small, round-table groups so they would be more willing to discuss concerns.“At the end of the day, that’s what we all are — classmates,” Voss said. “We should be working together and cooperating on the most basic levels to try and make Indiana University a better place for ourselves and those who come after us.”
(11/08/12 5:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU Student Association and Union Board leaders spoke to IU students and answered their questions in the Georgian Room at the Indiana Memorial Union Wednesday evening.In particular, both groups faced many questions concerning how they will further represent smaller student groups on campus.Lauren Kastner, vice president of Coal Free IU, a grassroots campaign that seeks to stop IU usage of coal, said during the question and answer portion that their group had been “snubbed” by IUSA in the past.IUSA President Kyle Straub apologized for the actions of previous administrations, but emphasized that with so many other student groups clamoring for attention, meeting with each of these groups is difficult to prioritize.“This issue is very select,” Straub said of Coal Free IU. “That is just me trying to be as transparent as possible. We must represent the whole. We can’t really commit unless a majority of students commit.”In particular, Straub said the Coal Free initiative was “a lot bigger than an IU issue,” and past administrations may have been trying to avoid opening this “can of worms.”IUSA Vice President Pat Courtney said the current administration had learned a lot since their work in IUSA last year, and were open to discussion. Vice President of Union Board Riley Voss said Union Board had not been addressed on this issue, or issues similar to Kastner’s.“Our focus is programming, but through programming, we influence policy,” Voss said. “We can be a vehicle to access IUSA.”Voss then asked Kastner the best way for Coal Free IU to access IUSA and Union Board.“It would be great to know that the student government isn’t going to dismiss us,” she said. “Some mechanism is wrong for representation here.”Kastner said her group had gathered more than 6,000 petitions concerning the stoppage of the coal plant at IU. Straub said he hadn’t known that.“It’s very much a two-way road,” he said. “We can meet in the middle. It hasn’t been on the agenda yet. We welcome more discussion, and it will certainly be on our agenda now.”Demetri Morgan, a graduate student at IU, said he was concerned about IUSA’s comments about supporting the majority of student needs. He said he was also concerned about the 4 percent of IU students that are students of color, as well as Hudson-Holland students, and whether their concerns would be heard even though they were not a majority.“We have not been approached by this, and it could be telling,” Straub said. “Either we are closed off, or people don’t know who to go to.”Courtney immediately agreed with this sentiment, and said they were excited to raise the issue on the agenda. For these smaller student groups, he said, students should try going to IUSA Congress officials or attending IUSA focus groups to get their voices heard. He admitted it may not always be realistic to immediately approach the IUSA executives.Union Board President AJ O’Reilly said students of these groups should not give up.“Forming an organization is the first step in my mind,” he said. “I commend you for starting. Keep fighting.”The two groups were also taking questions through the IUSA Twitter account. One person asked how the two groups would respond to critiques that called the groups exclusive.O’Reilly said he had never heard that, and that the Union Board office was open to students to hang out or study in. He also emphasized that anyone could apply to be a Union Board director.“If you are willing to put in the work, you can get elected,” he said. “People in the past who have seen things that aren’t going right with Union Board joined, became directors and changed things.”Voss said student involvement rates were down, and that was a challenge that they had to face.Straub said this critique was “nothing new” to IUSA. He said the five IUSA executives were elected by the whole of the student body, but that each elected ticket formed its own senior staff.“We must be selective,” Straub said of the senior staff selection. “It’s unbelievably inefficient if we aren’t. A smaller amount of people with more accountability is the way to get work done.”For other positions beyond senior staff, anyone can apply and go through an interview process.This town hall is one of the first times that IUSA and Union Board has collaborated in some time.“There’s a history of a little bit of a rivalry between the organizations,” Straub said. “But we realized they’re not the enemy. We’re trying to do the same thing, so why not cooperate?”He said since it was still early in their new relationship, they had less chances to work together than he would have liked. O’Reilly said differing terms of office had affected the relationship in the past as well. However, they remain positive.“Doing events like this are an example of the developing relationship,” O’Reilly said.
(11/07/12 1:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU Student Association and Union Board organized a town hall meeting for 7:30 p.m. tonight in the Georgian Room at the Indiana Memorial Union. All students, faculty and administrators are invited to attend, IUSA’s Vice President of Administration Patrick Courtney said. Two representatives from Union Board, President AJ O’Reilly and Vice President of Programming Riley Voss, and four representatives from IUSA, including President Kyle Straub, Vice President Patrick Courtney, Treasurer Casey Baker and Vice President of Congress Stephanie Kohls, will discuss any concerns students have with IUSA or Union Board programming. The executives present will also take a few minutes at the beginning to explain their current initiatives and discuss future plans, Courtney said.“A lot of students don’t realize all the things we do or all the things we plan to do,” Executive Chief of Marketing Alex Sabol said.After these introductions, students can present comments or questions both in person or through Twitter to the @IUSA account that someone will monitor during the event.The event is expected to last an hour to an hour and a half, Sabol said. The idea for the town hall meeting emerged early during spring semester last year, Courtney said, as an aim to provide increased transparency into initiatives. “We were elected as the voice of student opinions,” he said. “It’s great to be in a forum to get feedback and receive comments and questions, because that’s our goal at the end of the day: to serve students.”This town hall event is the first of its kind that IUSA has organized in the last few years, Sabol explained.“It takes a lot of work, and you don’t know exactly what the results will be,” Sabol said. “We’re very positive about getting a great turnout, but maybe in the past some had been afraid of what students had to say, good or bad. It’s something that really set our administration apart so far ... we really want to hear what students have to say.”Courtney said many of the current senior staff of IUSA had their first experience in the organization last year and faced a bit of a learning curve trying to come up with ways to gauge student opinion. They surveyed a few thousand students last year, he explained, but added IUSA preferred directly interacting with the students they serve.“It kind of naturally branched from our desires to hear what the students really want, and it seems like a very good way to do it,” he said. This event marks the growing cooperation between IUSA and Union Board. Union Board, like IUSA, is entirely student run, and members hope the event will prove informative for the student body, Union Board Public Relations Director Brad Domash said in an email.The event was partly organized by Union Board Campus and Community Engagement Director Matt Wilkinson.“As IUSA is also a prominent leader on campus, Matt thought it would only be appropriate to include them in the event,” Domash said.Both groups expressed hopes to expand their working relationship in the future. While the event is the first of its kind, Courtney is optimistic.“It’s obviously the first one, so it’s still going to be kind of a trial, but full groups of IUSA members are working on the best way to make this town hall meeting work,” Courtney said. Above all, the focus is on the students, he added.“We are really stewards of the students and student money,” he said.
(11/02/12 3:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU Physical Plant recently established a new system that makes it easier for those on campus to report broken lights, simplifying the repair process for the repair team, Assistant Director of Utilities Division Mark Menefee said. With the new system, each light is given a specific number. The light’s number and location is logged in an information map that tells the repair team exactly where the it is located. All lights also have a phone number on them so anyone on campus can call to report exactly which numbered light is malfunctioning.“Before, lights would get called in and people would say a light was out but have no way of saying which one,” Menefee said. “Now they can say ‘it’s light number 35’ and we would know exactly what they are talking about.”With this system, the light repair team can more ably fix the lights within 48 hours. They are a small group, Menefee said, and aren’t able to always go on campus and look for themselves which lights are out. If a light is not seen by someone, there is no way of knowing whether or not it is out.The system was completed six months ago, but Menefee said he now hopes to spread student awareness of the system so its effectiveness continues to increase.“It’s an effort to get more eyes on campus to see when lights are out,” he said.Demand for a new system came about as the utilities team noticed an increased focus on campus security. Older lights are also in the process of being replaced with the new University standard, particularly around University parking lots, Parking Manager J. Douglas Porter said.Utilities also seeks to improve campus lighting by beginning to install LED lights.Sophomore Eliza Williams lives off campus and often walks on campus in the evening, she said, though she doesn’t feel as comfortable walking on the campus after 11 p.m.“Around central areas, like the (Herman B Wells) Library and Fine Arts Building, there’s a lot of light,” Williams said. “Some stretches between the dorms aren’t lit up that well, though.”She also said once students leave the main part of campus, it is fairly dark. However, Porter said the dark areas close to campus are the responsibility of the city utilities departments.Menefee also said lights often face a “grey zone” right at dusk, so some lights don’t turn on immediately. Some run on photocells, which react to the sunlight. Others run on timers, which can be tricky, particularly during daylight saving time, Menefee said. However, if it is late at night and a light is still not on, it should be reported.
(11/01/12 3:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU’s Culture of Care, a program sponsored by the IU Student Association, received national attention after an interview with IUSA President Kyle Straub was published in O Magazine’s November issue.It discussed the origin of Culture of Care and Straub’s willingness to expand the program from a Culture of Care Week last year to a long-standing initiative.Culture of Care week was in April, and Straub noted that the idea gained strong support from students and administrators. The next goal was to figure out where to take that momentum, he said.“To actually change the culture of the University, we need a year-long campus effort,” said Katy Flanigan, codirector of the Culture of Care initiative. Culture of Care seeks to educate students concerning issues in four categories: mental health awareness, sexual assault, alcohol and drug abuse and discrimination.“A lot of instances have happened in the last few years that made us realize students need to learn when it is time to intervene,” Flanigan said.IUSA has pushed Culture of Care at a number of events, including the Jill Behrman 5K Run, the Out of the Darkness Walk and IU Dance Marathon. At each event, IUSA received the chance to speak or hand out information, water bottles and other promotional items to participants.Impact of Culture of Care is hard to measure since it is an abstract concept, Flanigan said. Despite this, the Culture of Care steering committee makes sure that someone records quotes and takes pictures at each event to document progress for future Culture of Care leaders, she explained.Leslie Fasone is the adviser for the Culture of Care program and is also a doctoral student in health behaviors at the IU School of Public Health. She has been at IU more than 10 years and said the movement is something she hasn’t seen before.“The fact that the student leaders from various organizations are collaborating on these initiatives and are essentially creating a movement at IU is something that is new and exciting,” Fasone said in an email. “I think that the Culture of Care is spreading in a number of ways, many of which we will never see or know about.” Getting students to speak about these issues is both the goal and largest setback of the Culture of Care program, Straub said.“Everything Culture of Care embodies is hard to speak about,” he said.Sexual assault and mental health issues, in particular, are considered taboo, Flanigan said. IUSA’s efforts seek to make it easier to discuss these topics. Teaching students how to respond appropriately to others who have these issues is a large part of this effort.“Some ways people think are appropriate ways to respond are actually making the problems worse,” Straub said.Because the issues have been stigmatized for so long, Straub sees success in getting students to talk about them at all. Shifting an entire culture is a daunting and abstract feat, Fasone said, but she is optimistic.“If anyone can change the culture, the students can,” she said. “IUDM just raised $2.1 million this past weekend. ... IU students are a powerful force.”The Step Up! Initiative is one way IUSA hopes to fight the unwillingness and fear of students to intervene when other students are facing one of these issues, Fasone added. Step Up! focuses on talking to students about the reasons they don’t intervene and finding ways to overcome these barriers.While these campus-wide efforts are necessary, Straub said, IUSA found it hard to shift its strategy to reach the most students in the most effective way. On Friday, Straub will participate in the Culture of Care summit, a meeting featuring the presidents and leaders of the 25 biggest student organizations on campus, in order to discuss the issues facing students.“We’re trying to target key influencers on our campus to try and embody this culture,” Straub said. Peer-to-peer communication is the heart of the program, he said, and he feels it is more effective than having administrators “talk down” to students on campus.“Studies have shown that this kind of stuff does work, but we’ll just have to see,” he said. “It’s a lot of trial and error, but we’re trying.”Culture of Care is still in its beginning stages, and Straub said he recognizes the difficulties at hand. He hopes others won’t be discouraged by this struggle.“It’s definitely an uphill battle, especially at IU,” he said. “Pretty much everything we are doing is not easy, but it is important to confront these issues and get people talking.”
(10/25/12 5:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Campaigns to spread awareness for the Indiana Lifeline Law, originally put forth by the IU Student Association, continue this week as IUSA executives visit and speak at high schools across the state.The law grants a degree of legal immunity to underage students who seek medical help for an intoxicated friend.“We’re still focused on the university level,” IUSA Vice President of Administration Pat Courtney said. “We have a whole team dedicated to that, but having the opportunities to go to these high schools where these problems start, where kids fear the legal system even more than the college students ... it’s really a great event to be a part of.”IUSA President Kyle Straub and Courtney visited Theodore Guerin Catholic High School in Noblesville, Ind., and Noblesville High School on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. They will visit Carmel High School on Monday. Ten more high school visits are being discussed, though dates are still being finalized, Courtney said.“It’s a student-to-student approach,” Courtney said. “We know the pressures they are facing. They really need to think about their choices and know that by making good choices, that doesn’t mean you don’t have to have fun.”Currently, IUSA is undergoing a “marketing blitz,” a vigorous push to raise awareness of the law, concerning the Lifeline law, Courtney said.“What we’ve found is that it really depends on how many students we are able to reach and able to educate,” IUSA Chief of Staff Augustin Ruta said. “Half the battle was passing the bill. Now, getting people to use it and be aware of it is the other half.”The idea for the Indiana Lifeline Law originated as Hoosier P.A.C.T., or Proactive Alcohol Care and Treatment, though they cover two distinctly different systems of authority, Courtney said. Both policies encourage students to call for help for an intoxicated friend whose life might be in danger by taking away certain punishments and sanctions for underage drinkers who call for emergency services.Hoosier P.A.C.T. was instituted more than a year ago and covered any sanctions the University would issue to intoxicated students who called for help. P.A.C.T. also covers other drug-related offenses and will protect the at-risk student from University sanctions, as well as the friend who called emergency services.P.A.C.T. does not have any legal standing, Courtney said.“It doesn’t seek to punish these individuals but have them learn from it and grow from it,” he said. Lifeline covers the legal issues involved, though it only covers the person calling for emergency services, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said on Oct. 15. “We’re trying to remove the disincentives to pick up the phone and make the call,” he said.This August, after Lifeline was passed and became law, Carmel student Brett Finbloom died from alcohol poisoning. His parents, Norm and Dawn Finbloom, now help drive the efforts to spread awareness of the Lifeline Law so others do not suffer the same fate, Courtney said. The Finblooms schedule and play a large role in the high school convocations.“They are there to drive home the point that no one is invincible,” Courtney said.On-campus efforts to spread awareness of the Lifeline Law have also picked up, he noted. Campaigning began toward the end of spring 2011, commencing with speaking tours and flyer handouts.Overall, IUSA seeks to encourage a “culture of care” to inspire students to make safe choices, he said.“Students aren’t having to binge drink every night of the weekend,” Courtney said. “We’re trying to make it a more safe culture.”IUSA has also been in contact with the IU Panhellenic Association and the Interfraternity Council to develop a relationship and help spread the word about Lifeline, Ruta said.“The greek constituency makes up a large component of campus,” he said. “More concentrated efforts are easier there.”Currently, IUSA is working on an email campaign, as it is an easy way to reach a lot of students, Ruta said.Logistics are still being worked out for when that message will be available.“We’re not naive that students will read it thoroughly, but we hope the headlines will have students look over it and absorb some information,” Courtney said.The Lifeline push is a continually developing process, Ruta said. “We are always brainstorming new initiatives,” Ruta said. “At our weekly executive meetings, ways to push Lifeline are always discussed.”
(10/19/12 3:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU officially reached the second round in the Most Vegan-Friendly College Contest after the first round of voting ended Tuesday organized by peta2, the youth division of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The Most Vegan-Friendly College contest splits U.S. colleges into big and small schools and seeks a winner in each category. Winners are selected through four factors: online voting, peta2’s assessment of vegan options offered at the school, the willingness of the school to promote vegan options and their nomination and openness to improving their vegan programs, peta2 street team coordinator Annie Leal said in an email.This year is the seventh running of the contest.“The contest helps prospective students see how their dream schools stack up while also giving current students a chance to recognize and support their university’s delicious, cruelty-free options,” Lead said.IU has had vegan options in Residential Programs and Services dining outlets for at least 10 years, said Rachel Noirot, RPS registered dietician. These options have expanded as more students commit to vegetarianism or veganism.“Vegan students are becoming more educated, and they are themselves requesting specific things of dining services,” Noirot said. “There’s more variety now.”As diabetes and obesity rates rise, more students see nutrition as a preventative tool for better health, further increasing veganism’s popularity, she said. “Students are thinking more about where their food comes from,” she said.Leal pointed out that as students learn about the meat industry, many do not want to support those companies.“Since 2005, the number of vegetarians on college campuses has increased by 50 percent, and the number of vegans has more than doubled,” she said. “Students simply don’t want to support an industry that slaughters one million animals every hour and devastates the environment.”Cailin Kennedy, a sophomore majoring in psychology and neuroscience, is a vegan for that reason. A lifelong vegetarian, she said she thought becoming a vegan would be difficult. After joining VegIU, a campus support group for vegetarians and vegans that cooperates with RPS, she found the transition easier than she expected.“I watched the movie ‘Earthlings,’ which is a movie about the use of animals in the world, not just for food, but for science, clothing, pets and more,” Kennedy said in an email. “After watching this movie, I stopped consuming animal products to the best of my ability because I did not want to be contributing to the animals’ suffering.” Kennedy lives at Collins Living-Learning Center, which is well known for offering a variety of vegan options to students, she said. Elsewhere, VegIU has had to work with RPS to ensure quality and quantity of vegan items on RPS menus.“Living in Collins did allow for better vegan options,” she said. “Last year RPS did not fully understand what was and was not vegan, but this year, after the work of VegIU, the items that are labeled vegan actually are vegan.”Noirot said more vegan and vegetarian options are available on campus, such as granola and vegan challah bread in prepackaged sandwiches. Tofu is an option in many food lines, and there are a variety of protein-filled nuts in salad bars. However, she noted RPS options still have some shortcomings.“We have a ways to go to get to what I’m comfortable with,” she said. “We are still getting there.”Currently, RPS is experimenting with new vegetarian wraps.“That’s one thing that I’d like to have expanded, our grab and go things,” Noirot said.She is currently working to create a hard-bound vegetarian guide for visitors to campus who would want more information concerning vegetarian options.Despite the setbacks, opinion concerning IU’s vegan and vegetarian options is positive.“The vegan options are very popular at IU even among non-vegetarians,” Leal said.
(10/16/12 3:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>To raise awareness of the Indiana Lifeline Law, Attorney General Greg Zoeller and State Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, have been visiting campuses across the state. On Monday, they visited IU to continue this effort.The Indiana Lifeline Law creates legal immunity for those who would call emergency services for an intoxicated friend, as long as they remain with that person and cooperate with responders. The bill was championed by former IUSA President Justin Kingsolver, and was largely the effort of students across the state, Merritt said.The law took effect July 1.IDS What brings the both of you to Bloomington?Zoeller “We are actually going around to a number of campuses. This is a student initiated bill that came from a number of campuses and their student governments. But the reason we go around is because there is still not enough recognition or understanding of the new Lifeline Act, so we have to go around to the campuses and try to get a little attention to it and really challenge the students to take a leadership role in a bill that they helped get passed.”Merritt “I authored the law and Justin Kingsolver among many others came to me last year with this idea, and after some consideration, I decided to author the bill. Like the attorney general, I go around to colleges and high schools and talk to kids about underage drinking and binge drinking and the existence of this law. I’ve got a son at DePauw, a daughter at Hanover...I’ve got kids in college now, and they talk about this. My son’s fraternity at DePauw is having No Shave October to call attention to the law. I just went through No Shave September to bring attention to the law.”IDS How did you come to be their legislative sponsor, Mr. Merritt?Merritt “Justin Kingsolver is a family friend and I went to Indiana University. They know I have college age kids. It just kind of fit hand and glove. For full disclosure, I came down to speak to a reporter a month or two ago. Since then, a young man in Carmel passed away, and that’s really what prompted me to grow my beard in September because I felt like I wasn’t doing enough to spread the word about the law.”IDS How did students first approach you about the bill exactly? When and how did you decide that this law needed to be authored?Merritt “When they approached me, I was 50/50 on the piece of legislation. I think the attorney general agrees with me — we never want to incentivize underage drinking. But we know that kids make mistakes. Once we came to the clarification that the inebriated, if you will, that is in desperate need of help. There’s no incentive to get to that condition, does not have immunity and only the caller and the kids that are there and will wait for the police, they are the ones that get the immunity, we got clarification of exactly how the law would go. That was the catalyst for the energy behind the bill. Now, early on, prosecutors were a little iffy, and that’s where the attorney general comes in.IDS Mr. Zoeller, what exactly was your role in moving forward this law and when did you decide to support it as well?Zoeller When they came to the legislature, I helped introduce them to some prosecutors. I could identify where the likely questions would be raised, so my role—we don’t vote in support or reject bills—I tried to give them some advice and frankly I thought they would learn the lesson that bills are hard to pass. I was skeptical that it would ever be passed on the first time, and it did, without objection. It unanimously passed both houses. Now they did learn how to compromise—there was a lot of back and forth between legislatures and prosecutors about how the bill was originally structured. But it also shows students voices can be heard at the state house, so I hope that is one of the lessons they learned and they stay involved.IDS What was the process of creating the law like, and were there any snags along the way?Zoeller They took out all the language about the person that was in trouble…that goes back to whether you are somehow promoting or incentivizing a person who binge drinks, so they took out all reference to the person taken to the hospital.It really was the prosecutors who had to get over the hurdle of “immunity.” Prosecutors don’t like that word.Law enforcement and the prosecutors and the criminal justice system get a lot of respect by the legislators...but I think the students worked the process and developed some support, and again...getting a bill passed unanimously.”Merritt “On the first try.”Zoeller “Yeah, it’s very remarkable.”Merritt “They came into the state house very prepared and were so professional...it was remarkable how many legislators made comments about how impressed they all were. That really gave it a lot of energy.”IDS How does the bill function exactly?”Merritt “I will tell you, there are a lot of misunderstandings about the bill. I have a friend who’s got kids at IU, and the kids did not want to get the sick individual in trouble, and that’s why they didn’t call.”Zoeller “This is really to empower students. They were the ones who really brought the bill to the legislatures, so it’s their bill for them. They are the ones who have to get the word out to their friends. “IDS How do you feel the bill has worked thus far?Zoeller “There’s not statistics. We’re going to work with law enforcement and prosecutors to see if we can’t get at least some examples. But the way the bill works, it won’t show up as a criminal charge, so we won’t have statistics like that. But we may get some anecdotal evidence that someone has been saved, and that might serve a pretty good purpose to show someone stepped up and did the right thing.IDS How are you working otherwise to spread awareness of the bill?”Merritt “I have a partnership with an entity called “Promising Futures of Central Indiana”, and we are raising money to do direct mail and radio/TV public service announcements.We will continually spread the word.”IDS Does this happen often? Do student governments usually make as professional an attempt to make laws like Lifeline?Merritt “This is the first serious attempt.”Zoeller: “That’s why I was so impressed.”Merritt “I’ve had a bill pass the Senate five or six times and never pass the House. Getting a bill into law is a terrific accomplishment.”
(10/11/12 3:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Secular Alliance at IU set up a table between Woodburn and Ballantine halls Wednesday with a sign that said, “Free Thought Day!”Alongside their pamphlets describing atheism, agnosticism and free thinking, members of the SAIU hawked Brother Jed Bingo cards.“I represent the Kingdom of God,” Brother Jed declared.A shuffling crowd of students surrounded Brother Jed, smiling and giving each other quizzical looks. Some filmed with their phone cameras. Many shouted questions.“How do I find a man who doesn’t masturbate?” one girl shouted.The crowd buzzed with laughter, but Brother Jed plowed on.“That’s a big problem here at IU,” Brother Jed answered.“Masturbates!” someone yelled. “Mark your cards!”Some spaces said “I used to be like you kids” and “Tells crowd to be quiet.” The prizes for winning included a “Free Inquiry” or “Skeptical Inquiry” magazine, which could also be obtained by trading in copies of the New Testament the Gideons International handed out.“He’s an adorable old man,” SAIU President Jessika Griffin said of Brother Jed. “And then he calls you a slut.”Brother Jed has been a campus staple since the 1970s. He first began his preaching at the University of Missouri.IU was one of the first places he preached, said Sister Cindy, Brother Jed’s wife. The pair visits different campuses five days a week for five hours a day, Sister Cindy said.While Brother Jed and SAIU did not purposefully seek to speak at the same place at the same time, the combination assisted the SAIU, Griffin said. “Brother Jed is always a boom to our membership,” SAIU member Ian Cunningham said with a smile.In spite of differing ideologies, crowd members never did more than verbally spar.A man in a wheelchair held a sign that said, “I’m gay and God loves me!” and occasionally sang lines from songs about acceptance.“I always come over here because it’s funny, and the reaction from the crowd is always good,” senior Brandon Nallenweg said.Free Thought Day encouraged students to ask questions about their own beliefs, Griffin said. A poster on the SAIU table posed questions for students and encouraged them to write their own.Cunningham at one point asked Jed if he wished to participate in Free Thought Day .“If you are thinking clearly and logically, your thoughts will lead you to God,” Brother Jed said. “If you are an agnostic or atheist, you are not thinking clearly.”Sister Cindy debated preaching techniques with Christian students. One student explained he believed that Brother Jed needed to use a more loving approach.“I think most students know God loves them,” Sister Cindy said. “We’re here to teach students to fear God.”She and Brother Jed are particularly hard on the “party animal lifestyle,” she said.Overall, the day was a success, Griffin said.“Brother Jed is good for Free Thought Day,” Cunningham said. “He makes everyone stop and think about religion.”
(10/11/12 3:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Charlie, a start-up company cofounded by IU alumnus Aaron Frazin, runs a mobile application that provides information about interviewers and clients five minutes before a meeting begins. The app pulls information from the Internet and social media profiles, Frazin explained.The idea for Charlie sprung from Frazin’s experiences during the blitzkrieg of job fairs and interviews of his senior year, and it’s a product he said anyone can use.Now, the same creative team that helped develop Charlie is facing complications as a result of the United States visa policy. Some of Frazin’s team members are being forced back to their home countries in the midst of the start-up’s new growth. “I couldn’t imagine making the U.S. my home and then having to leave,” Frazin said. “It’s a terrible issue.”In September, the Charlie team was selected to participate in Dreamit, one of the top-rated entrepreneurial accelerators.Dreamit provides capital to chosen start-ups to help them get off the ground and provides entrepreneurs with mentors and connections in the business world to help teach them how to improve their strategies, Frazin explained.To participate, Frazin is currently in Philadelphia, where he lives among entrepreneurs of the 14 other chosen start-ups. Many of them face similar challenges, he said, and one of these challenges is international team coordination.Rendy Schrader, director of international student and scholar advising at IU, said most international students have an F-1 visa and have options that allow them one year of either pre- or post-graduate work, as long as it relates to their field of study. Students can also obtain the H-1B visa, which allows them to work for up to six years, but this requires sponsorship from an employer and is subject to a yearly cap, Schrader said.Some students can be sponsored for a permanent residency visa, widely known as a green card, but there are hurdles in obtaining these permits, Schrader said.The entrepreneur visa issue has been nationally recognized, Schrader said. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a visa was created in 1990 for international investors in “new commercial enterprises.” Yet visa holders must be noted job creators and generally must invest $1 million into their venture. Frazin also faces other challenges working with a team.“He is very bright and hardworking but is running into the types of problems that more experienced managers run into as they progress up their careers,” Janet Hillier, assistant clinical professor at the Kelley School of Business and mentor to Frazin, said in an email. “How do you manage people and teams, how do you motivate your team, how do you get them to do what needs to be done in a timely and effective way?”The international element makes it even more difficult, Frazin said.“If there’s a conflict, conflict can get dragged on for a few days,” he said. “If you are next to each other, you can just talk about it. I wonder how a lot of teams do it.”Charlie is a particularly global company, sort of by accident, he said. Frazin searched for team members on talent websites and by posting flyers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology while participating in a scholars fellowship.A lot of talent is global, he said.“We are losing talented people,” Hillier said.In the meantime, Frazin is working in Philadelphia on starting up Charlie. A beta of the program will soon be released at trycharlie.com, he said. From there, they hope to receive feedback and give a strong presentation at Dreamit’s Demo Day on Dec. 5.
(10/05/12 4:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>People of all ages, races and genders milled between a semicircle of tables Thursday evening in Dunn Meadow, making posters for the Take Back the Night rally.“Men and Women Unite,” one read.“Rape hurts everyone,” read another.Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” played through the large speakers. “Take Back the Night is an event that serves to support social change and raise awareness in the realms of sexual assault and domestic violence,” IU Women’s Student Association President Grace Evans said in an email. She also said the event serves to create a safe space to support survivors.Condoms and flashlights were scattered across WSA’s table. Middle Way House, which serves and provides lodging for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking, had more signs on their table.“A woman in South Africa has a greater chance of being raped than learning how to read,” one said.At 6:30 p.m., speakers were called to the stage, and one by one they told their stories.Shani Robin, crisis intervention services coordinator at the Middle Way House, was the first speaker.“I am an incest survivor,” Robin began. “My father was my rapist.”She said she works for Middle Way House not for a paycheck, but for survival.“I am a queer woman,” she said. “We’re often not counted, because we are too afraid to come forward.”Maurer School of Law Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Catherine Matthews came forward to talk about the diversity and togetherness necessary to “raise the consciousness.”“Fear is as familiar to us as air,” Matthews said, quoting feminist writer Andrea Dworkin. “We inhale it. We live in it.”At 7:15 p.m., the group began their march toward the Monroe County Courthouse, chanting “Yes means yes, no means no, whatever we wear, wherever we go.” People in cars honked their horns and cheered.They marched up the stairs of the courthouse, passing the Alexander Memorial.“To the soldiers of all wars,” the statue read.According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network website, someone is sexually assaulted every two minutes in the United States. Studies estimate 54 percent of these assaults go unreported, and 97 percent of rapists never spend a day in jail. Evans said she was chalking for the event on a Friday evening when a woman, about 40 years old, with “blonde hair and weary eyes” took note of their pink and turquoise sidewalk scrawls.“I’m getting a divorce because of that,” the woman had said, nodding at the writing.Evans said she was dumbfounded.“She told me that she’s fighting to get her and her children to safety,” Evans said. “Probably only four people walked by us that day while we chalked and at least one of their lives was currently being shaped by domestic violence and sexual assault.”Globally, one in three women will be the victim of domestic violence or assault in her lifetime, Evans said.“That’s why Take Back the Night is important,” Evans said. “It takes a stand against domestic violence and sexual assault. For that woman on the sidewalk. For my mother. For my older sister, my godmother, way too many of my friends. For the little boy that I baby-sat this summer. For me. These are issues that affect millions of people every day and these are issues that we can change.”
(10/04/12 3:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Since National Voter Registration Day on Sept. 25, the IU Student Association has sponsored nonpartisan voter registration efforts on campus.This program, like other IUSA executive operations, would typically be spearheaded by upperclassmen. Today, 21 freshmen interns are the ones in charge, Deputy Chief of Staff Nick Johnson said.The IUSA Freshmen Internship program pairs a freshman with a senior IUSA staff mentor who they then shadow and observe in leadership positions throughout the year. “A lot of students come to campus and don’t understand what it takes to get involved or become a leader,” Johnson said.Co-director of the Freshmen Internship Program Aparna Srinath was a freshman intern last year. Entering a campus of more than 40,000 students is a daunting task, Srinath said, and she sought out the program to find a sense of community and connect with a smaller group of similarly motivated people.“I applied in the first week of classes,” she said. “I remembered reading it on a brochure and thinking that it would be a great way to stand out amongst 40,000 students, and I still believe this.”Students first learn about the program during summer orientation at the late-night campus tour. During the tour, IUSA members speak about the role of student government in campus life, Johnson said. “We got 90 applications this year, so it’s competitive,” Johnson said.Once chosen, interns work five to seven hours a week, working on larger initiatives such as the voter registration effort or sitting in on meetings with administrators or senior staffers. The important thing is that the interns take ownership of their work, Johnson said.It’s an opportunity to participate in something that not many freshmen get to be a part of, Srinath said. IUSA does not have many opportunities in the executive branch for freshmen.“That’s one of the greatest things about the program,” she said. “It doesn’t pigeon-hole you. It exposes you to all aspects of IUSA.”The internship program had actually been in place before, Johnson said, but it had fallen dormant. Former IUSA President Justin Kingsolver revived the program last year to begin cultivating a group of talented leaders on the IU campus, Johnson said.“Kingsolver thought that one of the issues IUSA has is finding these future leaders,” Johnson said. “We didn’t have access to a big group of talented leaders, so he thought that if you developed these leaders, you’d have more opportunities to find good leaders on campus. We’re taking that idea and furthering it.”The program also includes an eight-week course taught by Assistant Director of Student Leadership R.J. Woodring,, Johnson said. At the end of the course, the students participate in a “case competition” in which they develop their own initiatives for the proposed issues at hand.The case competition was also part of last year’s program,Co-Chief of Campus Outreach Katy Flanigan said.“My group designed a project to add a sustainable lighting fixture to an area of campus that we felt was poorly lit and made students feel uncomfortable,” Flanigan said.They are considering creating more detailed parameters for the projects so that groups will be able to better combine their efforts rather than approach many completely unrelated topics, Srinath said.The number of students who return to IUSA after the internship program is still somewhat low, Johnson said. Only four of the 29 interns returned to work with IUSA’s executive operations this year, he said, and even that was only an estimate.Srinath believes this has to do with the type of students the program attracts.“People who are coming into this program are the best and brightest of the incoming freshman class, demonstrated in interviews and a somewhat long application process,” Srinath said. “They may have a tendency to overextend themselves.”She also cited availability of positions as an issue. While IUSA tries to provide opportunities to its interns, not everyone takes advantage of them, she said. Others simply find themselves drawn to other causes, such as IU Dance Marathon or Kelley Student Government, Flanigan said. “IUSA can kind of be sort of internal, so you must establish yourself as leader as well as you can, showing executives that you can be a good leader by coming into the office,” Srinath said. “I only knew about my current position because I was an intern.”Johnson believes the program simply needs more time to grow and develop,yet Flanigan emphasized its impact.“As a freshman, I was able to meet many people, both in IUSA as well as in other major student organizations, who became my role models because of their intelligence, dedication to the University and promising futures,” she said. “Now, I have two interns of my own, and I hope to make their experience as rewarding and helpful as mine was.”
(09/27/12 4:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The 2012-13 IU Student Association budget, which was passed a few weeks ago, has created deep misunderstandings among constituents, IUSA President Kyle Straub said.In particular, the reinstatement of executive salaries has been a point of contention for opinion leaders throughout IU.“People make assumptions,” Straub said. “There are many misunderstandings because communication hadn’t been made.”For the past 20 years, executive salaries have been a standard part of the IUSA budget, Straub said. The 2011-12 budget did not have them. Throughout the past five years, IUSA has been putting more and more money into initiatives, Straub said. The administration elected in 2011 ran on the promise that it would not take salaries in order to place more emphasis on these initiatives.“Unfortunately, we came to realize this was a major disadvantage,” Straub said.This year’s budget grants $3,000 to each of the executive positions, representing about a fifth of the budget. These salaries are accompanied by analysis of performance by administrators, who can withhold the money if job performance isn’t up to par, Straub said.“Had there been performance incentive last year, we may have been able to achieve more, but we can’t know for sure,” Straub said. “No compensation really means no consequence for focusing on things other than IUSA.”Straub was IUSA treasurer last year and was present when the non-salary policy was in effect.“With salaries, you can’t back down from the students you represent,” current IUSA Treasurer Casey Baker said.Salaries were implemented because the executive positions took up so much of the students’ time, Assistant Director of Student Life and Learning R.J. Woodring said. They work 20 hours per week on top of academic responsibilities, so they wouldn’t have time to take on a part-time job or internship.“I’m fairly sure if you do the math, it adds up to less than minimum wage,” Woodring said. Straub agreed and said they average about $3 an hour.IU’s student government is not unusual in offering salaries to executive members. Student executives at other universities receive not only salaries but large tuition breaks, Woodring said. IU student executives do not receive discounted tuition. Salaries were reduced from $4,000 to $3,000 this year, as well.“Compared to their peers in student government, they get paid modestly for what they do,” Woodring said.Straub’s administration faced early controversy for running unopposed, and it has faced recent criticism for taking salaries after having no competition. It hopes the re-institution of salaries will encourage groups to run.“No one has run unopposed in 10 years,” Baker said.Woodring was unsure if reinstating salaries would incentivize more tickets to run on the ballot. Yet he emphasized that even though the current members ran unopposed, they did not minimize the work they put into their positions.“It’s not their fault they ran unopposed,” he said. “IUSA has the ability to make a big impact. There’s no reason students shouldn’t seek this opportunity.”Salaries are not the only talking point this year. A $10,000 marketing budget is a notable difference from past budgets, contrasted with a smaller initiative budget. This shift in expenses is only really in name, Straub said.“Marketing and advertising covers a lot of efforts and initiatives,” Baker said. “There’s high importance on getting information out to people.”Straub agreed.“We’re just reallocating it,” Straub said. “Instead of putting it all in initiative funds, they are all put under the marketing label.”Despite the smaller initiative budget, the administration reiterated that it did not reflect initiatives that did not require funding. Having a say in university decisions, for example, reflected a lot of effort but little spending by the IUSA, Straub said.Often, IUSA collaborates with other organizations to cover expenses, Baker explained. At the end of the day, the budget is only a guide.“The role of the budget is to help plan for the expenses of the upcoming year and is not the exact breakdown of the spending,” Straub said. “Plans are not set in stone. You have no idea what barriers or expenses will come up.”The Lauren Spierer campaign last year was a striking example of that, Baker explained.“Who would have guessed that would have happened?” she said. “You can’t always plan for what the campus needs.”IUSA often over-budgets in order to compensate for sudden expenditures, Straub said. Any money not spent goes to reserves to be used later in the year.Despite this, many students misunderstand or make assumptions about the budget, Straub said.“During my time as treasurer, not once was I asked to elaborate on the composition of the line items in our budget,” he said. “People see labels and assume to know what they entail.”Not everything they are working on is printed in the budget, he said.“It’s like a business,” he said. “A lot of people only base their opinions on financial information, but there are things you can’t learn by just looking at the numbers.”
(09/20/12 4:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For four years, law student Huong Nguyen has been studying democracy. Democracy is a fascinating abstraction for some but a given in a society that has preached the glories of a government for the people, by the people since its inception.For Nguyen, it’s a rallying cry. She has spent three of those years at Maurer School of Law fighting — both on her own and alongside Amnesty International Association at IU — to free her fiancé Nguyen Tien Trung from prison.On July 7, 2009, Trung was arrested from his home in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for “propaganda against the socialist state and plotting to overthrow the people’s government,” Nguyen said.“In a one party state, anyone asking for a multi-party system and free election is treated as a criminal, subject to criminal law and tried by the courts run by the party in power,” she wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. For the third time, Trung celebrated his birthday in prison Sept. 16. He is to serve seven years in prison, Nguyen said. Five others were arrested with him on the same charges. Nguyen and Trung met in 2002 in Rennes, France. She was an undergraduate law student, and he was studying computer science.They began dating in 2004 and got engaged in January 2007. The democratic movement in Vietnam was a mutual interest of theirs. While still a master’s student in France, Trung founded Viet Youth for Democracy and joined the Democratic Party of Vietnam.Above all, he wrote. Trung ran a blog until 2008.“He spent lots of time writing what he thought about the political situation,” she said. “He started to organize, and that may have made the government worry.”These discussions never called for radical revolution, Nguyen said. The couple and their close friends merely asked for basic rights of the citizens. A democratic constitution, elections, private press and free expression were among their demands.In 2007, Trung returned to Vietnam.“He could have stayed in France and had a good life there,” Nguyen said. “But this is something he felt very strongly about.”In 2008, the Vietnamese government started to act.Once Vietnamese citizens reach the age of 25, they cannot be drafted to the military, Nguyen said. Almost 25, working full-time and studying for a second master’s degree, Trung was drafted anyway. He was in the military for 16 months, from March 2008 to July 2009.“We always see that as another kind of jail,” Nguyen said. She had returned to Vietnam in 2008 and was able to visit him twice while he was in the military. In 2009, they moved him and she could no longer see him.Nguyen and their circle of friends and family discovered he was no simple soldier. He was essentially a political prisoner before ever being officially arrested for his political views, Nguyen said.In June 2009, the Vietnamese government began to arrest the couple’s friends, fellow supporters of democracy. Trung told Nguyen to leave as soon as possible.Two weeks after she left, he was expelled from military service. The next day, he was arrested.“I’m glad I listened to him,” she said with a small smile.Nguyen spent three years fighting on her own, writing letters to the U.S., Canadian and Vietnamese governments as well as nongovernmental organizations, motioning for the freedom of Trung and other political prisoners.She tries to write him, too, but they never get through the censorship system, she said.In spring 2012, Nguyen discovered Amnesty International at IU, a human rights organization that promotes activism on campus, president Sarah Jones said. “We never come in knowing what we are going to do,” said Laura Strawmyer, a sophomore member of Amnesty International. “But then Huong came up to our former president with packets of info about people imprisoned in Vietnam in order to get people to hear her story.”As soon as they heard the story about her fiancé, they picked up the campaign.“We want to see her get married,” Strawmyer said. “She came to the U.S. to get a law degree and promote change. That’s hard enough without your fiancé living in prison.”Amnesty International, like Nguyen’s earlier efforts, focuses on letter-writing campaigns in order to pressure governments into action, said Jones. They’ve sent letters to embassies and political leaders in both countries, senior member Marie Parent said, in addition to initiating petitions and information tables.Social media plays an important role not only in the release of Trung and fellow “prisoners of conscience”, Nguyen said, but in its existence as a medium of expression for the Vietnamese people that the government has a hard time controlling.Constant reminders to the government that people are watching are of upmost importance to people like Trung, sophomore member Kaylee Dolen said, and social media is one way to do that.“It’s a very isolated prison, very strict with visits and communication from family and lawyers,” Dolen said. “They want to make people disappear.”Progress is sometimes slow and usually difficult, Nguyen said, even on the U.S. side.“Sometimes it is hard to know. They say they are paying attention to the case,” Nguyen said. “But a petition is one way for U.S. people to say ‘We want you to pay attention to the situation, we are concerned with human rights, and we want you to pay attention to this.’” Nguyen has a petition online with more than 4,000 signatures.“Sometimes people say ‘It’s not the right moment,’ but I think that we need people to start to talk about democracy,” Nguyen said. “It’s not just a matter of ideology. There are people who suffer in this corrupted system, and that is something that really motivates people like him.”
(09/14/12 3:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Derek Pacqué , a Kelley School of Business alumnus, will take part in the season premiere of ABC’s Emmy-nominated show “Shark Tank” 8 p.m., Friday, revealing new innovations by his company, CoatChex, a ticketless and highly portable coat-checking system.“Shark Tank” is a reality show that brings promising entrepreneurs before the “Sharks,” successful and often well-known business owners, inventors and entrepreneurs. Those who “enter the tank” must make their pitch and convince the sharks to grant them the funding necessary to “make their dreams a reality,” according to a press release about the episode.Pacqué applied to be on “Shark Tank” on a whim.“I was a big fan of the show, so when I saw a tweet that said they were casting, I was like ‘Oh, this is interesting. Let me see what I have to do to be on the show,’” Pacqué said.His short application described how his original coat checking idea made him $50,000 in the first two months of business. He and one of the sharks, Mark Cuban, are both graduates from IU.He was competing against 30,000 people, so he said he didn’t expect anything to come of it.“I was at a trade show in Chicago and I get a call from Santa Monica on my business phone. ‘Why is someone in Santa Monica calling about a coat checking business, isn’t it always like, 70 degrees there?’” Pacqué said.The call informed him that he had made it past the first round.After spending time perfecting his application, he eventually received a call asking him to come out to Santa Monica for final auditions in front of the producers. He was chosen to go before the sharks and appear in the season premiere episode in September.“I didn’t encourage or discourage him from making an application,” Gerry Hays, Pacqué’s former entrepreneurial finance professor, said in an email. “Obviously, it was exciting when he was accepted, but my focus was making sure the business had the right message to the viewers in order to maximize the benefit of showcasing the business to 7 million viewers.”Hays is also founder of Slane Capital Partners, an early-stage venture investment firm that invested in CoatChex.Pacqué’s first appearance on national TV and the public introduction of CoatChex’s ticketless system are Friday. The CoatChex keg is a portable coat checking system that can be fit into the back of a truck and is transported, set up and taken down at different venues. The system takes a picture of clients and their belongings so attendants have a record that is easy to use, Pacqué said.It also obtains name and phone number information in case someone forgets his or her coat.“That was a big problem,” Pacqué said. “People would often leave their coats.” The original idea for CoatChex was created in Bloomington on a cold night when Pacqué, who had to walk home from the bars at 4 a.m., discovered his coat was nowhere to be found.When he first went out to bars, he realized they had no place to store coats, so he had to carry it with him on those nights. For a while, finding hiding spots for his coat sufficed, he said. But then one night, his coat was stolen from his hiding place inside one of the fake presents behind a Christmas tree.“This is ridiculous,” Pacqué said. “Bars need a coat check.”He then realized he could make a business out of it.“I started talking to venue owners, which was the hardest part,” Pacqué said. “It was kind of a weird question to ask. ‘Why don’t you have a coat check?’” Most venue owners said coat checking had too many liabilities, was too chaotic and required space they simply didn’t have, Pacqué said.“So what if I do it for you?” Pacqué said. With Hays’ venture capital class, Pacqué pitched the idea while enrolled in the Spine Sweat Competition, an capstone course that ends in presenting an entrepreneurial idea before a panel. “You get mostly thumbs-up, you pass and they can invest in you,” Pacqué said. “You get thumbs-down, you fail and can’t graduate.”Pacqué asked Hays to be his academic sponsor for his coat checking idea for the class. Hays accepted.“I was impressed with the fact that he wasn’t coming to me with ‘Here’s what I want to do’...but with ‘Here’s what I’m doing,’” Hays said.After passing Spine Sweat, Pacqué found the experience helped him during “Shark Tank” since it was essentially the same thing. Even so, the glamour of television production was new to him, Pacqué said.“It was sort of unreal,” he said. “I’ve watched pretty much every episode that they filmed. You get to the studio and you’re like ‘Whoa, this is exactly what’s on TV.’ Hundred of cameras pointing at you. Lights everywhere.”After graduating from IU in 2011, Pacqué continued to pursue coat checking as a business. Both he and Hays realized that a ticketless coat checking service that could be operated by anyone could be an industry-changing idea, Hays said.“Derek called and was contemplating taking a consulting job back in DC,” Hays said. “I’m not a sales guy but I do remember putting out all the stops to convince Derek to turn down the job and pursue CoatChex in Indianapolis. He had multiple questions I couldn’t answer...I just said ‘Trust me, we’ll get you everything you need to make this work.’” Now, CoatChex operates out of Broad Ripple and services the Indianapolis area, with plans to expand to other cities such as Chicago.“Derek is a unique individual,” Hays said. “He’s definitely a performer, but underneath that layer, he’s smart, incredibly hardworking and genuine. I don’t think Derek charmed the producers of ‘Shark Tank’ ... he was just being himself.”
(09/10/12 3:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>More than 9,000 students are enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences. Twenty-five years ago, the Liberal Arts and Management Program accepted only 25 of these students each year. Since then, the program has expanded, accepting about 100 students each year.That growth shifted the original intentions of LAMP and its programs, President of the Student Advisory Board Sukriti Bansal said. LAMP is an honors program that synthesizes the liberal arts education in the college with skills taught in the Kelley School of Business, Bansal said. Students take seminars and classes, such as Global Marketing and Advertising, which combine culture education and business application to make a culturally relevant advertising campaign.“Employers really like it,” said Adrian Hepfer, vice president of the SAB and communications director for the Virtu Project, one of three LAMP organizations. “You get lots of background and perspectives but obtain basic technical skills.” The Virtu Project is a program that students can become involved in once they join LAMP. It uses mock investing as a tool to learn more about investment and raise money for a nonprofit, Timmy Global Health, Hepfer said.While the Vitru Project has had clear goals, the other two programs, the Marketing Team and SAB, are undergoing changes. Upon realizing they weren’t satisfied with their current situation, students took matters in their own hands.“If we aren’t satisfied with what we’re doing, we should change what we are doing,” Bansal said.MTeam is a marketing-focused program that gives students marketing experience as the members work to make LAMP as meaningful a program to students as possible, Wilson explained.“We use a lot of internal surveys of LAMP students to figure out what courses are liked, what events they want, why they joined,” he said. “We work to get our fingers on the pulse of the program.”MTeam is the newest of the three programs and has struggled to maintain a model that will best suit LAMP.“Marketing Team has always known what it wanted to do and the impact it is going to have,” Wilson said. “The challenge has been turning that into a sustainable model for the club and an enjoyable experience for the members.”This is the first year MTeam has seriously analyzed their internal LAMP student surveys, hoping to improve them to get a better idea of what students want out of the LAMP program, Wilson said. They also share aspects of marketing with each other, such as interesting ads or YouTube videos, and invite LAMP alumni as speakers to make club meetings more dynamic and fun.The SAB is the oldest program. Founded in 1999, it has since needed to readjust its function, Bansal said.The SAB’s original intention was to be a liaison between the students and faculty of LAMP and the administrators, she said.“The way our classes are structured, a lot depends on discussion, so students have to be interested,” she explained. “We are a lot smaller and closer of a program, so it’s important to have a good forum for discussion and discourse.”When applying to be on the SAB, Bansal was told it was to be a leadership organization representing the students. That wasn’t what it was, she said.“It had become more of an event-planning committee,” Bansal said. After their annual LAMP SAB retreat, members of SAB decided they wanted to return to their original mission and move their focus to a select few initiatives that would improve the LAMP program as a whole.MTeam plays a large part of that change, Bansal said. It helps gather information about what students want out of the program.In all, members of the three programs hope the changes they’ve worked hard to create will continue after they leave. A lot is experimental, Bansal said, but they are “trying to take time to be sure the process works, that it’s sustainable and will be of use to LAMPers into the future.”