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(09/06/12 1:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>History creaks in the old wooden floors of the IU Press, which has published academic books for 62 years.IU Press is part of a long-standing tradition of scholarly printing on the Bloomington campus, Director Janet Rabinowitch said, and an important aspect of academic publishing worldwide. Still, it hasn’t been without challenges.After the 2008 recession, the press struggled to meet budget.“We had a bad year because of the recession, and we budgeted a small loss the last two years,” Rabinowitch explained.This fiscal year, IU Press came out on budget, she said, but that shift hasn’t come without changing how things are run.Libraries, important clients of the press, buy less than they did 20 years ago.“A lot is available online, so library selling is down,” Rabinowitch said. “It’s a hard time in publishing with all the transition to e-books, buying things online and even reading things online for free, rather than reading books.”These concerns have been felt throughout campus.“The landscape of academic publishing is rapidly changing, and traditional presses, including university presses, continue to be impacted by new technologies and financial challenges,” Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel said in a press release.IU Press specializes in the humanities, social sciences and international studies. Last year, it published 135 new books and 28 journals, Rabinowitch said, a feat accomplished due to its extensive network of scholars from around the world. This network informs the press of who might be writing “the next great book.”“Scholars come to us because they want to be published by us,” Rabinowitch said. “We have great strengths in particular genres.”IU Press is a non-profit organization, so fundraising plays a small role in supporting it. Each year, the company sends out one fundraising letter called “Friends of the Press” in order to obtain contributions.“For some books that are expensive to produce, like art books, we seek out a donor,” Rabinowitch said. Still, like other for-profit publishers, most of the company’s income is from sales and licensing rights.“We sell all over the world,” Rabinowitch said. “Our biggest customer is Amazon.”Recently, IU Press has made large shifts to put more of its publications into electronic form. The press signed on with CoreSource, a digital asset management company that takes the digital files of every new book obtained by the Press and changes them into forms each e-book publisher requires. Kindle, Nook and Google all have different forms, Rabinowitch explained.This shift in publication climate inspired IU to create the Office of Scholarly Publishing, which assumed operational responsibility of IU Press on July 1, according to a June press release.“It has as much to do with bringing together publishing capability as it does with combining what other groups have to offer,” Rabinowitch said.These other groups include IUScholarworks and the eTexts@IU initiative, both elements of IU Libraries’ digital publishing program. E-texts and open-access journals are a large part of this new program as it seeks to expand electronic book capabilities on campus.“It’s an attempt to strengthen the Press, give it more resources,” Rabinowitch said. A 2012 Pew Research Center study revealed that the number of e-book readers is steadily increasing. Despite changes, e-books remain only a small part of IU Press’ market.“It’s still a very small part of book revenue,” Rabinowitch said. “It’s growing. But it’s got a long way to go. We still mostly sell print.”The future certainly holds promise for e-books, Rabinowitch said. Her observation is supported by Pew research stating that an average e-book user read 24 books in a year while a non-e-book user read only 15.Student preferences are split, Rabinowitch explained. Some prefer print because they can take notes in print textbooks.“Now that I see many kids at Monroe public schools getting iPads and doing all their work online, I wonder about the future,” she said. “But I don’t think print books will go away.”
(08/31/12 3:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Occupy IU met for the first time this semester Thursday evening outside the Indiana Memorial Union Commons.Circled around the wooden tables and large red umbrellas, members discussed the successes of last year and concerns for the upcoming one.“It’s about spreading the dialogue between students and workers, and getting them to realize what’s happening,” senior Aidan Crane said. Crane has been a member of Occupy IU since fall 2011, when it first began.A large part of discussion involved reflection on the events of last year, including objections to the Board of Trustees and an occupation of the School of Fine Arts that ended in IU Police Department officers removing them from the building.The Board of Trustees is not elected by students as the governor appoints six of the nine trustees, and the other three are elected by alumni, Crane said.“We objected to raising tuitions while raising salaries of administration,” Crane said. “It wasn’t about creating dialogue. They weren’t going to be honest with us. It was about reappropriating the space to express our concerns.”“Money was silencing us,” said Karissa McKelvey, an informatics graduate student. A pamphlet titled, “A Modern Proposal for Autonomous Student Struggle,” was passed around the meeting. It outlined the purpose and goals of the Occupy movement.“Traditional negotiations are no longer useful in our situation,” it read. Crane has been following the Occupy Wall Street movement since its inception. He said he was then intrigued by the Occupy Bloomington group established in Peoples Park. Inspired by their open communication and dedication to dissent, he decided to seek out Occupy IU.“Other people had the same concerns about the structure of the University and how it was run,” he said. McKelvey agreed with Crane’s sentiment.“It creates a space for us to talk about things that are bothering us,” she said during the meeting. “Before I joined Occupy, I was really angry all the time at national news and politics. Now I have an outlet.”But it’s not just about anger, it’s about finding a way to take action, McKelvey said.Meetings are generally weekly at the IMU because it is a public place, Crane said.Members sit in a circle and openly discuss their concerns. They are encouraged by a “facilitator,” a person who helps move the meeting along and make it easier for everyone to share their opinions. There is no established authority of the group.“The purpose of the way they are set up is to manufacture consent,” Crane said. “We are supposed to be non-hierarchal. It gives people their voices back when there aren’t any concrete leaders or authority.”Crane said one of the main goals of the Occupy movement is to encourage dialogue, so any disagreements with any proposed policies or ideas during the meetings are usually discovered through “temperature checks.”“We check if people agree,” Crane said. “Even if one person disagrees, we’ll stop to talk about why.”The assembly has already been at work this semester. During Welcome Week, the movement participated in instituting a “really, really free market” in front of Walmart during Midnight Madness, said Charis Heisey, an IU alumna.During Midnight Madness, a popular Welcome Week event, students are bused to Walmart to participate in special discounts and activities. A few members of the assembly started giving items away to students for free. They sought to protest Midnight Madness’ message. “It was an hour of us being in front of this capitalist spectacle, giving away shit,” Heisey said during the meeting. “And then people starting donating shit too.” After an hour, the meeting was stopped by the police. While, currently, plans for this semester are still embryonic, their goal is clear, Crane said. “More than anything, it’s about ending apathy,” Crane said. “If no one does anything, the University is going to continue to screw us.”
(08/24/12 3:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Out of 30 to 40 nominees, there can be only one. Sometimes two.The odds are already slim. Consider that these 30 to 40 undergraduates comprise only a small part of the top 1 percent of the intellectual elite at IU, and the odds become extraordinary.These are the odds Raymond Parrish II, a junior, beat to become the single Internal Wells Scholar for 2012. Yet few know the program exists.“I did my undergrad here, and I had never heard of it until I was an instructor,” Levi Morran, National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow and mentor to Parrish, said.According to the Wells Scholar website, the Internal Wells Scholarship is part of the larger Wells Scholar program, named for former IU president Herman B Wells. Eighteen to 22 students are chosen each year and are granted full tuition, coverage of all mandatory fees and a living stipend for four years of study at IU. At least one of these 18 to 22 students is a sophomore or junior. More students know about the incoming freshmen Wells Scholars Program because they must directly apply, said Tim Londergan, director of the Wells Scholars Program and physics professor.The Internal Wells Scholarship works differently.“It’s certainly possible that the students don’t know the option exists, because we ask for nominations from the faculty who will nominate the best students that they know,” Londergan said.Students must have studied at IU for three semesters to qualify, Londergan said. They also cannot directly apply. “Ray was a student in an introductory biology class I taught in fall 2010,” Morran said. “He was one of the best students in class, and I enjoyed my interactions with him, so I recruited him to help me out in the lab.”Parrish was nominated by Curtis Lively, distinguished professor of biology and the leader of the lab in which Parrish was recruited to work. There, Parrish studies evolutionary biology and has already written a paper that was published in Science, one of the world’s top journals. “I’ve met very few people that just absolutely love to learn as much as Ray and even fewer still that have a level of intelligence that helps them absorb everything they see, hear, and observe,” Morran said.Parrish had no idea he would be nominated.“It was a complete surprise,” he said in an email. “Dr. Lively never let on that he was considering nominating me.”Parrish is a biology major with chemistry and music minors. “It’s an interesting combination,” Londergan said.Not only does Parrish have “the usual routine of class and studying”, but he works in Lively’s lab, which he said he finds “very fun.” He is in the midst of launching a new student organization called Folding@IU, of which he is the president. Folding@IU is both a philanthropic and research-oriented program that reaches out to students to involve them in various studies of protein folding, Londergan said.Parrish is a member of the biology club and Student Pre-Medical Association at IU and has served as an undergraduate teaching assistant in the biology department. He volunteers with Dukes Memorial Hospital Auxiliary in, Peru, Ind., according to a press release about the 2012 Wells Scholars.Parrish said he enjoys writing music, trying out local restaurants and is a New York Yankees fan.“He’s an incredibly caring and genuine person on top of that,” Morran said. “A rare combination of intellectual ability, sincerity, ingenuity and integrity.”This combination inspired the scholarship committee to interview Parrish as one of the top six nominees.“He did the interview between finals,” Morran said. “I teased him about it. ‘Ray thinks he’s so smart that he dresses up to go to finals!’”It didn’t bother Parrish. In fact, he said because he didn’t have time to get nervous, he was able to relax and be himself.“The first response from our interview panel is that they would like to give scholarships to all of our finalists,” Londergan said. “We have many extraordinary students. Frankly, we are kind of sorry that our endowment doesn’t allow us to offer more than one or two, but that is all we can afford.”Parrish said his future plans are unclear, but he explained he has “strong interests in clinical medicine, medical education, evolutionary genetics and the intersection of the medical science and evolutionary biology in the form of evolutionary medicine.”He is beginning work on his honors thesis project. Plans currently include using flow cytometry, a tool that helps count very small particles, to study the effect of mutations on thousands of nematodes. “It’s risky,” Morran said. “We may not have the precision to get good enough measurements.”He smiled.“But if there’s anyone, Ray’s definitely the guy to do it.”
(02/22/12 4:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Tunes ranging from popular new tracks to Beach Boys classics echo in the chilled arena. Silence, otherwise, has filled the ice rink.Women — and one man — glide across the floor with dedicated fervor, swirling into smooth jumps and spins. None of them work at the same pace. Yet even as skaters slice their own patterns in the frost, the quietly shifting pieces of the whole converge into one team. Women embrace. One skater helps another, offering advice and an encouraging word.All seems effortless.“There’s a lot of effort into making it effortless,” freshman Kadie O’Malley said, laughing.O’Malley is a member of the IU Figure Skating Club, which has existed on campus since 2003, when a group of student skaters decided one was needed. Many universities in Michigan and Ohio have figure-skating teams, but IU claims the only university team in Indiana, she said. Anyone affiliated with IU is allowed to join.“It’s not about being exclusive,” said Katie Rocco, self-proclaimed “Group Yeller” of the team. “Whoever wants to skate has the opportunity.” Only students can compete, however.Freshman Elisabeth Bell said this year was a year of rebuilding due to all the new, young skaters. The team skates twice a week, and despite the year of regrowth, all the women help and teach each other.There are no official coaches.“It’s more comfortable asking the girls,” O’Malley said. “It’s less intimidating than asking a coach.”Though the group accepts inexperienced skaters, many of the skaters bring high-school experience to the table. High-school figure skating, however, is nothing like college-team skating. College level is relaxed and comfortable, but high school is intense and competitive.“High school is a big competition because everyone is at the same level,” freshman Mary Kiray said. “A lot of unnecessary drama.” She and the other girls reminisced about how dresses and appearance were always a point of comparison and rivalry. “It’s more supportive here,” O’Malley explained. “There’s no tension because not everyone is at the same level.”Kiray agreed. “But even if we were at the same level, I don’t think there would be tension,” she said. “It’s more for fun now.”However, challenges still present themselves.“It takes perseverance,” sophomore McKenzie Snider said.“Tough skin,” O’Malley said. “It’s a challenge to yourself more than anything else.”Despite these challenges, the team’s dedication remains strong.Recently, the team placed fifth out of 15 teams in the Midwest region. Teams obtain rankings as each individual skater places at each competition throughout the year, acquiring points that add to the team’s rating. Many other teams have 20 or 30 women competing on the circuit, Rocco said. IU’s team had six this year and managed to beat larger teams.“We’re all really dedicated and passionate,” Rocco said. “Most of us do as many as three or four events each competition, which is how we get the points.”After three competitions, the competitive season is finished. Practice has been focused on the upcoming spring ice show, “World Tour.” Both freestyle skating and ice dancing will be featured, as well as the newly formed synchronized-skating team.Synchronized skating involves eight to 20 skaters performing together and requires great precision and sharp movements, O’Malley said. “It’s similar to marching band,” O’Malley said. “It requires a lot of dedicated people.”Synchronized skating used to be called “precision skating” due to its particular movements. It has yet to become an official Olympic sport, but international competitions for synchronized skating do exist.Very few schools have varsity synchronized teams, and those that do often recruit people who are specifically trained as synchronized skaters, O’Malley said. IU’s team consists of 10 skaters, all of whom do synchronized, as well as freestyle and ice dancing.“We’re the rag-tag team,” Rocco said.“World Tour” will begin at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Frank Southern Ice Arena. Tickets cost $5. The team uses the event as a fundraiser, Kiray said.Above all, the adrenaline rush, the challenge and the camaraderie bring the team back together each year, she said, adding that the people are her favorite part of ice skating.“The people you meet in ice skating, you wouldn’t meet anywhere else,” Bell said with a smile.Watch the Upcoming Spring Ice show, ‘World Tour’WHEN 1:30 p.m. SundayWHERE Frank Southern Ice Arena, behind Bloomington High School SouthMORE INFO Tickets are $5, and all proceeds will benefit the IU Figure Skating Club.
(02/02/12 5:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU Black Student Union was host to “The State of the Black Student Union Address” at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center on Wednesday. The address featured five panelists discussing the positives and negatives facing the black community today.“Why don’t you meet someone you’ve never met before?” Eric Love, director of the Office of Diversity Education, asked of the audience at the start of the event. A moment of trepidation passed before the small personable audience was up shaking hands, exchanging names and chatting. Friendly greetings passed between students and faculty who were present at the event.Vanessa Gee, president of the BSU, opened with a discussion of the student group’s history. Gee said the BSU was a local organization that sat in at a variety of conventions and meetings in the 1960s, including the Little 500 and faculty board meetings, to promote racial integration and support of the black community.She then discussed the different aspects currently facing the black community. “There is a lot of division between us,” Gee said. This notion was supported by all five of the panel speakers.Aaron Barnes, a senior in business marketing, explained that a “vocal few desire unity and cohesion, others seek to stay in their own social circles.” He said this wasn’t different in the past. “You can’t force people to change,” he said, reiterating some people simply prefer to keep to their smaller groups or “cliques” than become involved in the larger black community.Barnes, whose main topic of discussion was the academic and social spheres of the black community, was quick to point out the gradually increasing graduation rate of black students at IU, with 51 percent at the rate’s peak. However, he said this number was lower than where it should have been. “Look to your left. Look to your right,” Barnes said. “That person may not be here (come graduation).”Christina Robinson, the second speaker of the panel, also focused on academics in her speech. A member of the Hudson and Holland Scholars program, she touted the organization’s great opportunities and resources for minority students on campus.“We represent many schools on campus: Jacob, Kelly, HPER,” she said. However, the Hudson and Holland Scholar program suffers from its own issues.“We don’t have enough funding,” Robinson said. “If we had more support, our graduation rate would be higher, as it is lower than it was in the past. Hudson and Holland made me the well-rounded student I am today.” Well-roundedness and involvement as well as community cohesion remained a large topic throughout the discussion.“Blacks have performed lower academically than the rest of the population,” said BJ Grimes, another panel speaker. He also said he was concerned with the state of unity in the black community, and members of the black community were very supportive of each other but often only in their little “cliques.” He urged the audience to fight this impulse.“We’re here for our education, here to better ourselves, here to better our community,” Grimes said. Resources for black students certainly do exist, said Melody Barham, the third speaker of the panel.Barham discussed the necessity of students using these resources, particularly the Neal-Marshall Center itself. The Neal-Marshall Center seeks to remain true to the original mission of the center, originally called “The Black House,” and provide a hub of black culture on IU’s campus. She listed upcoming event after event, but then reminded the audience that students don’t often take advantage of what is offered to them.“Often students complain that the Center doesn’t have anything to offer, but then no students show to the programs,” Barham said. “We want to support the Black Culture Center, but we need you to use the space.”JT Snipes, a graduate student, concluded the panel discussion by calling on the black community to stand up and take their place on campus. “All I want to say to you is wake up and take what you deserve,” Snipes said.
(01/25/12 3:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students interested in representing the United States in Korea at the 2012 World Expo can now apply to be student ambassadors at the USA Pavilion this summer. While there, they will present the voice of the American people to millions of visitors from around the world.This year, the World Expo will take place in Yeosu, Korea, a coastal city on Korea’s southern coast. USA Pavilion CEO Andrew Snowhite explained that student ambassadors will help with everything from greeting visitors and VIPs to helping address the media and completing back-house operations, the business side of the Pavilion’s presence. “Ambassadors will be an integral part of the team in the Pavilion itself,” Snowhite said. “They will really be acting as the face of America to the millions of guests who will visit.” The World Expo, once called the World’s Fair, has existed in some form since 1851. Since then, World Expos have occurred in cities globally at various intervals. At each, inventors, engineers and thinkers from many nations converge to share their novelties with the world.For student ambassadors, the trip is an all-expenses paid experience, including a $20 per day stipend, an entry visa and apartment-style housing. Ambassadors will arrive May 2 for a 10-day orientation before the World Expo opens May 12. The Expo will end August 12.“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent America on a global stage, earn college credit and have an amazing adventure,” Snowhite said.Applications are open to student who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, but are restricted to those currently enrolled as undergraduate or graduate students or to recent graduates. Applicants should have good standing at their university and experience in public relations, as well as basic to intermediate proficiency in Korean.Because the University of Virginia was recently announced as the official partner of the World Expo, IU students may apply online through that school’s study abroad application system at Pavilion2012.org. The application process requires a personal statement of interest in the program, transcripts, a résumé, two faculty recommendations and a $90 application fee. “We need a wide variety of folks,” Snowhite said. “Some applicants need to be good in front of a crowd, but we’re also looking for those interested in figuring out how a business runs and doing our back-house operations. Overall, we need people who are open-minded and team players.”Applications are due Feb. 10.
(12/09/11 3:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In 1983, Hasbro released a line of colorful plastic ponies with vibrant manes, bright symbols on their flanks and a sprinkling of accessories. Young girls went gaga for these new characters.Twenty-eight years later, college men are doing the same.In fall 2010, “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” premiered on The Hub, a TV station with programming mainly for children ages 6 to 12. Little did Hasbro know that older men would be swept up by this animated sensation.“I watched the first episode and, as soon as Fluttershy was introduced, was hooked,” said Daniel Talton, a sophomore recording arts major and a self-proclaimed “brony.”“Bronies” — a portmanteau of “bro” and “ponies” — have built a vibrant and involved community in which they share fan art, fanfiction and, above all, their love for “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” and its characters. Talton says the term “brony” stems from the adult fan base, both male and female, that creates a large base of fan content and interaction with the show.“There is an absurd amount of fan music, videos, screenplays and fiction. ... I’m currently reading one that is at least 300 pages long so far,” Talton said.Reviews of the show often cite the top-notch animation and production work that goes into the cartoon as a reason the show attracts the unexpected demographic. However, Talton reveals that the adoration is even simpler than that.“I like the show because it’s funny and the characters are believable and relatable,” he said. While the term was originally coined because of the male following, older girls have an appreciation for the show, too.Sophomore Adriana Giuliani, who studies biochemistry, was introduced to the show by another of her “brony” friends. Others often find the show online through YouTube or Memebase, a collection of internet jokes and trends. “I like ‘MLP’ because it, in some sense, brings back the security and color of childhood but is still stimulating,” Giuliani said. “The stories are appealing and the characters have a lot of depth.”Indeed, part of the show’s appeal is original Creative Director Lauren Faust’s goal to step away from the overtly girly aspect of the show and instead create a story with rounded characters, a developed setting and adventure-filled story lines. According to an article Faust wrote for Ms. Magazine, the show wasn’t made “just for girls.” “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” was to be a show about girls going on educational, complex journeys that could be just as interesting as any “boyish” cartoon.Talton said people’s reactions to his appreciation for the show are certainly varied. He said one friend thought his interest in the show was “pedophilic.”Alex Arnett, a freshman at IU-Kokomo, said many people are “weirded out” by his “brony” status. “I have had very few people actually ‘accept’ it,” he said. Arnett said he loves to watch the show, but he distances himself from forums such as “Equestria Daily.””It seems a little bit too far in my opinion,” he said. Giuliani said she does not view herself as a “brony” for similar reasons. “It isn’t an issue about whether I am a girl or not,” she said. “A lot of association with the word ‘brony’ is with the social websites that are around about the show... I am not involved with any of that.”Regardless, these fans aren’t afraid to express their love for the show. “It’s a TV show that gives me a few minutes of childlike pleasure for a few minutes every other day,” he said. “The ‘brony’ community is just a collection of fans of ‘My Little Pony.’ No more, no less.”
(11/30/11 3:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Underneath an old metal awning crafted out of oven burners, bike tire rims and a sickle blade, the door to the Walnut Street Inn nestles between the prominent windows of two local shops. In the heart of downtown Bloomington, this inn is a clandestine cove of local art, modern comforts and Bloomington lore. “We want to show the best of what Indiana has to offer,” owner Ryan Dauss said.Dauss and fellow owner Emily Crum have owned and operated the Walnut Street Inn since 2007. Before then, they owned Natural Elements — now known as Global Gifts — and Roots on the Square, both of which flank the inn. Dauss, however, said there was growing demand for overnight accommodations on the square. “It’s hard to find a room on a weekend in Bloomington,” Dauss said. He said he realized he could retrofit the business space above Roots and Global Gifts into something more suitable, like an inn, and set to work.After six months of renovation and another six months spent finishing two more rooms, the inn quietly began business.The wood-framed glass door at the corner of Walnut and Sixth streets leads to a wide wooden staircase, which ascends into a hallway decorated with locally made paintings and painted in neutral, earthy colors.The front desk sits prominently in the hall, but it usually remains empty, Dauss said. “We’re kind of an unusual business. We don’t have someone at the front desk at all times,” he admitted. “People want their privacy, but we’re on call to help with any emergencies.”The slight eccentricity of the inn is reflected in each of its four suites, all with varied, spacious floor plans.Among the flat screen TVs, new appliances and plush sofas, the rooms feature amenities like a lamp made of African desert wood and local cedar headboards made by a local Amish community. “Our business model is and always will be about supporting local businesses,” Dauss said. “It’s a big facet of what we do.”The building, Dauss said, is the oldest on the square. Built in 1847, it was originally called The Faulkner. Coincidently, it began as a hotel, even once named the Walnut Street Hotel. “It’s ironic that it was used the same, had the same name,” Dauss said. “The building wanted to be an inn.” While he’s excited to share his inn with the world, Dauss said he doesn’t think it will be long before he finds his next big project. “It’s always been a passion of mine to have my own business,” Dauss said. “To be independent, self-reliant. The entrepreneurial spirit has always been something that captivated me. It’s kind of an obsession.”
(11/08/11 12:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Beautiful structures of antique brick and lumber, the Bryan House and the Woodburn House remain untarnished gems ingrained in the history of campus. These homes retain threads of IU’s grand old history, and many students don’t even notice them.Bryan HouseThe stately yet unassuming William Lowe Bryan House retains a calm sanctity despite sitting on a knoll two-minutes away from Ballantine Hall . In 1921 , the Board of Trustees declared it would commission someone to build “a suitable house for the president of the University; that it should be built for the future as well as the present,” according to the Offices of Residences. By 1924, the house was complete.It served not only as official home of the president, but as a center for entertainment of notable guests and dignitaries. In an old house guestbook, Robert Frost and Carl Sandburg wrote poem verses. Eleanor Roosevelt signed her name “with good wishes.” In 1955 , Bryan died . Three years later , Herman B Wells took up residence, maintaining the house for the rest of his presidency.Wells updated the house to include new plumbing , wiring and an elevator . The renovated kitchen, though small, can cook meals for up to 50; the basement can cater tea for 1,000. In 1987 , IU President Thomas Ehrlich and his wife, Ellen , restored the house to its original appearance after Wells’ renovations, making it a living example of 1920s Bloomington life.The Bryan House is a treasure trove of history. Above the stairwell hangs a chandelier once used in the Indiana Memorial Union. A Steinway Piano made in 1900 lounges serenely in the living room, on long-term loan from the Jacobs School of Music.A brass plate sits atop the stairway’s newel post, the names of past IU president engraved in a smooth, spiraling pattern. Today, it is still maintained as one of the official offices of IU’s president. Th e Bryan House is the crown of a legacy, a vault of antiquity and verve, bursting with stories, history and life.Woodburn HouseBuilt in 1829 , the Woodburn House is one of the oldest houses in Bloomington. Its deep red brick, a striking sight along old College Avenue , harkens back to the days when lumber was more difficult to obtain than clay. Bought in 1855 by James Woodburn , his son, James A. Woodburn eventually came to own the house. Woodburn, a prominent political science professor of the late 1800 s and early 1900s widely known today for his namesake, Woodburn Hall, added modern renovations and opened the house frequently to students, faculty, friends and neighbors. In 1924 Woodburn retired and in 1932 , rented the house out to none other than Herman B Wells, who was still a young instructor in the Department of Economics.While the house’s lower levels captured life during the Woodburn era , the upper floor divulges memories and mementos of Wells both before and after he Wells both before and after he became president. Amongst the menagerie of Wells memorabilia hangs an old Santa Claus suit Wells famously wore in the winter season . Vintage publications are spread across the large, mahogany desk . Close by lurks one pair of Wells’s old spectacles , evoking images of “comfortable productivity”, according to the Office of Residences . In 1941 , Woodburn donated the house to the university , which maintains it today.The house has woven its way into IU history. In 1872 , the Delta chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority was founded here . In 1946, the home served as temporary housing for many displaced students during a post-WWII housing crisis. Still today, the house welcomes many receptions, dinner parties and meetings within its old walls. Such examples harken back the house’s original motto: “hospes genius domi” , which means “the guest is the spirit of the house .”