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(10/07/11 4:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Armed with coupon ammunition, moms on a mission for half-price peanut butter and discount mac and cheese are the usual grocery store scavengers. But IU junior Tyler Cox has a different motivation: bringing a whole new meaning to the title “Super Shopper.” On Oct. 5, Cox was featured as one of two couponers on TLC’s series “Extreme Couponing.” The show profiles individuals who go to extremes to get the most bang for their buck in the grocery store. In May 2011 Cox applied to appear on “Extreme Couponing” and in late June was notified that he would be a featured extreme couponer for the hit show’s second season. “I called my mom and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. They picked me, they picked me!’” Cox said. But he admits actually getting used to the extreme couponing lifestyle was overwhelming and time-consuming at first. Although his strategy came from watching his extreme couponing idols on the show, he tailored his shopping routine to the needs of an IU college student. Cox said he would rather spend the $100 monthly grocery allowance his mom gives him on more important things. And Cox jokingly admits that party supplies ranks at the top of that list.He is also a self-proclaimed shopaholic, and he said extreme couponing seemed to be a good option to acquire some extra spending money.“I watched the show all the time and just thought to myself, ‘I could do that too.’” he said. In Cox’s episode, he went to Kroger in Bloomington with the intent of purchasing $300 worth of groceries for less than half of his $100 monthly allowance. His former roommate and high school best friend Darrah Saaré, a senior at IU, accompanied him. His total retail value was $293.23 but he only spent $53.11. Cox said that while not every shopping adventure is that extreme, it is always a challenge that gives him an adrenaline rush.“I think some of the people on the show have an addiction where they keep going out and they keep buying laundry detergent,” Cox said. “I’m not going to need laundry detergent for a while. I haven’t bought any more since the show, But it is an adrenaline rush, like when you’re at check-out and you see your total is up to like $200 and you’re sitting there thinking, ‘How low is it gonna go?’ So, it’s kinda fun.”Cox has a very strict routine when it comes to coupon clipping. He collects inserts from family and friends, buys at least two Sunday papers and finds additional deals online through blogs or digital coupons on store websites. He calculates to the penny how much he will spend before he steps foot in the store. “I make an Excel spreadsheet of what the price of the item normally is, what it is on sale, then what my coupon is going to take off and the final price,” he said. “I total it up and get a total without coupons and a total with coupons. Generally, it goes pretty well.”But he said there is always an element of fear as the cashier rings up the final bill. “Sometimes you to sit there and think, ‘What if my coupons don’t scan?’” he said. “You have to rely on those coupons ... That’s my money when I go into the store.”But he doesn’t want any of that to discourage his peers from entering the extreme couponing world themselves. He has tried to rope some of his friends into the fun but said many tell him they don’t have time. For Cox, coupon clipping takes no more than an hour now that he has established a routine. “I will ask my friends how much they spent at the grocery store the last time they went. They will say $75-$100,” Cox said. “I just say, ‘Do you realize you could be using that money on so much other stuff? Gosh, just coupon with me.’”But the one person he wants to impress the most is his mom. “My mom is thrilled,” he said. “She still gives me the money and she just loves that I am going out of my way to save money.”According to Cox, in the end it all comes down to common sense. “I could still get by on a hundred bucks a month for food,” he said. “I could do that going to the grocery store. But it’s just that — Why would I when I don’t have to?”
(10/06/11 3:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The 2011-12 Remak New Knowledge Seminar at IU will explore the paradoxical phenomenon of a nation engaged in war that exhibits no tangible “at war” feeling.The seminar, The In/Visibility of America’s 21st Century Wars, will feature a series of lectures by a variety of speakers as well as discussions facilitated by IU faculty from various disciplines. The seminar is restricted to faculty members in the Department of Communication and Culture, but the lectures given by guest speakers will be open to the public. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in the media that portrays the 21st century war experience for today’s America, including video games, film and photography. Organized by Department of Communication and Culture faculty members John Lucaites and Jon Simons, the seminar compliments the 2011 Fall Themester Making War, Making Peace. The seminar will explore the normalization of war in the 21st century and how it is portrayed in the media. “War has become somewhat invisible to us,” Lucaites said. “We seem to live in the midst of this perpetual war. It is visible to us, but it’s almost like we don’t see it.” Lucaites, a professor, and Simons, an associate professor, have been named Henry H.H. Remak Distinguished Scholars by the IU Institute for Advanced Study for their winning Remak New Knowledge Seminar proposal.The guest lectures, all of which are free and open to the public, will take place at 7 p.m. in the IU Fine Arts Auditorium (FA 015) on their corresponding dates.An additional set of four lectures will be in the spring semester.“We hope (audience members) come away with greater insight,” Simon said. “In particular, with a better understanding of the way that war is normalized in contemporary visual public culture, how it’s made to appear like the normal state of affairs rather than a great exception.”
(10/05/11 2:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU Office of Sustainability marches into a month of conservation and efficiency today as it kicks off the 2011 Fall Energy Challenge with a parade through campus.Students and staff pledging to accept and promote the energy challenge will march through campus at 1:45 p.m. from the Sample gates.Will McHenry, the sustainability intern running this year’s challenge, said the initiative’s goal is to show students the influence small changes can have.“The purpose of the energy challenge in general is to encourage participants to make small behavioral changes and to instill conservation habits,” McHenry said in an email. “Collectively, small changes in energy and water consumption can have a substantial effect on the University’s environmental impact.”The 2011 Fall Energy Challenge will take place from today through Nov. 2.The four-week challenge began in spring 2008, and this fall’s competition is only the second to take place in the fall.“RHA’s goal is to increase energy and water savings in every residence hall as well as to encourage student knowledge about energy usage, participation in the challenge and leadership in center-wide energy challenge events,” Laura Appelt, Residence Halls Association director of environmental affairs, said in an email. “We hope that the motivation to participate comes not only from campus-wide groups and organizations but also from within each community.”Find a photo boothThe Office of Sustainability has invited energy challenge participants to have their photo taken in the traveling photo pledge booth.Participants can show their enthusiasm for the challenge by posing with light bulbs and light switches provided by Habitat Restore.The traveling photo pledge booth will be available throughout the four-week challenge for students to make their pledge. You can schedule to have the booth come to your residence hall or academic building by emailing iuec@indiana.eduThis week the booth will be available at the following locations:Wednesday: 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. outside of Woodburn Hall; 5 to 7 p.m. at Collins Edmondson Dining HallThursday: 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at the Read Center Lobby; 3 to 4 p.m. at McNutt Residence Center; 5 to 7 p.m. at Collins Edmondson Dining HallTake the pledge“This semester, we’re focusing our efforts on increasing participant enthusiasm and involvement with the competition,” McHenry said. “We’re doing this by implementing a new promotional campaign which focuses on securing public and written commitments from participants to reduce energy and water consumption during the four-week challenge.”Find information on the pledge forms at energychallenge.indiana.edu.Look for energy challenge tables set up across campus where you can receive a “pledge” button signifying your commitment to the challenge.Academic conservationPromotion for the energy challenge is widespread among residence halls. However, Appelt said many students don’t realize the challenge exists within the academic buildings on campus, as well.“Students who don’t live on campus can work with their professors and within their departments to try to reduce energy and water use in those buildings, as well,” Appelt said. “Some of the most spirited teams of students have worked within academic buildings to win energy challenges.”Residence halls tipsShorten the length of your shower.Turn the water off when you are brushing your teeth or soaping up.Use power strips in your dorm rooms.Turn off the lights when leaving a room.Ditch the elevator and take the stairs.Academic buildings tipsTurn off lights in classrooms that aren’t being used.Turn the water off when you are soaping up your hands.Abandon the elevator and take the stairs.The payoffEach year a residence hall, academic building and Greek house win the energy challenge. The winning buildings receive bragging rights and a traveling trophy.Since the initiative began in 2008, academic buildings and residence halls have saved 3,813,600 gallons of water and 2,578,028 kWh of electricity, according to a study conducted by Nolan Hendon, a utility conservation summer intern with the Office of Sustainability. The efforts of participants have resulted in an avoidance of 9,376 metric tons of CO2 emissions and have saved the University $1,090,693 in utility costs.
(09/30/11 4:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Michele Bachmann recently reignited the controversy surrounding the human papillomavirus vaccination. During the Republican presidential debate in Tampa, Fla., she said it causes “mental retardation” and is potentially dangerous.But a group of professors and researchers at the IU-Purdue University Indianapolis Kelley School of Business and IU School of Medicine in Indianapolis begs to differ. Dena Cox, a professor of marketing and faculty fellow at Kelley in Indianapolis, has received a $99,600, two-year research grant from Merck pharmaceutical company to study how consumers process information about the HPV vaccine and act on the information they received. Dena Cox, the principal investigator, will be accompanied by her husband, Anthony Cox, chancellor’s faculty fellow and professor of marketing at Kelley, and Gregory Zimet, professor of pediatrics and co-leader of the cancer control program in the School of Medicine. The trio has worked on research projects in the past that analyzed the HPV vaccine.“We were intrigued by it originally because it is something novel in that it was the first vaccine where its sole purpose was to prevent cancer,” Anthony Cox said. He said he and his wife, with backgrounds in consumer marketing and research, wanted to investigate consumer questions that had a purpose.“Why not look at consumer questions that actually matter?” Anthony Cox said. “It might have a positive impact on the consumers.” They chose to look into vaccinations, especially the HPV vaccine, because there is a lot of misinformation that misleads the consumer, he said.“We want to cut through the clutter so parents can make informed decisions about their daughters and so patients can make informed decisions about themselves,” he said. Using a sampling of women aged 18 to 26 who have not yet received all three, if any, of the HPV vaccinations, they will divide the sampling into different groups and present each group with information about the vaccination in different forms.They will look at the relationship between what medium provided them the information, their comprehension of that information and their intention to get vaccinated. Six months later, the researchers will follow up with survey participants. “Vaccinations are the victim of their own success,” Zimet said. In other words, once a vaccination is proven successful, the consumers quit worrying about the disease it cured or prevented and start questioning the side effects of the shot, Zimet said.One issue he said he wants to resolve exists in the tendency of humans to automatically associate negative side effects with vaccines they recently had, which he called a “rational error.”Preventing misinformation means asking questions and becoming educated on the issue at hand, said Darron Brown, professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology in the Division of Infectious Diseases. “The best way is to talk to your own doctor about it,” he said. “Trying to become a scientist yourself if you aren’t one is difficult. Vaccination is the greatest public health achievement the world has ever known.”Zimet and Brown both said the medical community continues to refute claims the vaccine is harmful to those who receive it. “I see the controversy as manufactured,” he said. “There are some people who have strong opinions and believe the vaccine is dangerous. But from a scientific perspective, there is no controversy. This is the first major cancer-preventing vaccination. And ... the fact that there even is any controversy is absurd to me. We should be celebrating.”The researchers’ goal in this two-year project is to eliminate this controversy and discover ways to strengthen communication between the medical and consumer worlds, Anthony Cox said. “We hope to find improved ways to communicate to parents the information, to encourage parents to get their daughters vaccinated and young women to vaccinate themselves as well, and that includes a lot of people in Bloomington,” Zimet said. What is HPV?HPV, or the human papillomavirus, is a sexually transmitted disease that usually goes undetected but can cause genital warts.“HPV is common,” said Diana Ebling, a doctor and medical director at the IU-Bloomington Health Center. “Some studies show that 75 to 80 percent of young adults will contract it at one time or another.”How does HPV relate to cervical cancer?HPV strands 16 and 18 have been proven to cause 70 to 75 percent of cervical cancer.“12,000 women in the U.S. get cervical cancer every year and 4,000 die,” said Anthony Cox, chancellor’s faculty fellow and professor of marketing at the Kelley School of Business in Indianapolis. “If you could prevent 70 percent of those deaths, it would be like preventing a 9/11 every year.” What does the vaccine do?There are two HPV vaccinations that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for women aged nine to 26: Gardasil and Cervarix.The vaccination comes in three rounds, costing about $155 per shot. But women in that age group who have health insurance can get the vaccinations and are usually covered through their insurance plans. “Financial issues shouldn’t stop someone,” Ebling said.Students without insurance can apply through Merck pharmaceutical company to be vaccinated free of charge. “I would encourage all female students to get the vaccine,” Ebling said. “The vaccine covers two types of HPV that could increase a woman’s risk for cervical cancer. “Ideally before someone becomes sexually active, but even if someone is already sexually active we still encourage them to get the vaccine because Gardisil prevents four types of HPV, two of which increase the risk of cervical cancer, and two other strands, 6 and 11, which cause 90 percent of genital warts.”The FDA has also approved males aged nine to 12 to receive Gardasil shots, which prevent penile cancer and genital warts caused by HPV. How to get vaccinated at IU1. Check with your health insurance company to see if it covers the HPV vaccine. 2. If not, come to the IU Health Center and fill out a form for Merck’s free Gardasil vaccine.3. Call 812-855-7688 and make an appointment at the immunization clinic. Both Gardasil and Cervarix are offered at the IU Health Center.How it comparesThe below graph estimates the number of new STD infections each year.
(09/28/11 3:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A group of investors, mostly alumni, have pooled their resources to give students with startup ideas a boost — a competition with professional feedback and a $250,000 prize to start their own company. Building Entrepreneurs in Software and Technology is a competition for seniors and graduate students to submit business plans for a student-led company based on Internet and software technology.The prize money for the winning plan — a sum of $100,000 to be put toward the winning students’ or student’s startup company — will be the largest in the world granted to students by a university for a business competition. School of Informatics and Computing Dean Bobby Schnabel, who helped spearhead the formation of the competition, said there are several reasons students should submit their plans. “If they actually dream of being an entrepreneur, then this is an incredible opportunity,” he said. “But also, this is a great experience, not only because they are exposing themselves, but they will be exposed to successful and helpful entrepreneur professionals who are already in the field.”That exposure comes in the form of the 10 investors who created the $1.1 million to fund the competition for four years. Nine of the 10 investors are alumni, and all are leaders or CEOs of their respective companies. Investor Mary Delaney, an IU graduate and CEO of Luceo Solutions LLC, said the value of the competition extends beyond the monetary benefit. “Whether you win or not, you still ‘win,’” Delaney said. “It’s not just the money. They get the funding, but they also get exposure and coaching from multiple levels. I’m just really excited to see the untapped potential of the students.”The competition is in three tiers. The first deadline is Nov. 15, when contestants will submit a conceptual outline for their companies. Initial business plans and presentations of selected teams will be announced by Feb. 3, 2012, and selected finalists will provide a final plan and a public presentation by mid-April 2012. “It’s going to be so helpful, especially if we win,” said Neil Kelty, a senior business major and BEST contestant. “This could be a wonderful way to finance a startup company coming out of college and not having a whole lot of capital.”He said he thinks BEST will give an extra push to entrepreneurial students leery of presenting their ideas.“A lot of these students are the entrepreneurial type and have all these ideas in their mind but have never actually flushed them out,” Kelty said. “You can have the best idea in the world, but it means nothing if you can’t tell other people about it.”
(09/26/11 4:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The formula for online success is simple: keep it entertaining, interactive and social. That’s exactly what three groups of IU students have been trying to do, but they have found that success on the web isn’t as easy as it seems. Their websites mimic the witty content and social networks of current Internet superstars, but they are still struggling to break their sites into the “popular crowd” of online hierarchy. Hypehawk.com, whathappensinclass.com and bootydrop.com are websites founded by students and based on user-generated content. Hypehawk, a social networking site with a twist, serves to provide its users with a running tally of local entertainment opportunities. The latter two sites, modeled off popular interactive sites like textsfromlastnight.com and damnyouautocorrect.com, were created specifically for college students to share college humor.“A lot of humor is in the details,” bootydrop.com co-founder and junior Matthew Weaver said. “We wanted somewhere where after a party or the next day, college kids were able to post their stories online.”Weaver’s concept for the site began in the dorms with friend and then-IU student Kevin Lance, who has since transferred to the University of Maryland. After a night out, the two boys would joke around and create witty raps to relive their adventures, Weaver said. They made a rap called “Booty Drop” and thought the name was catchy. Within a week, they had checked the name availability through godaddy.com and bought the URL. Bootydrop.com was born. The site serves the Big Ten, Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference, a group of 36 colleges from the Midwest to the East Coast, and has had 40,000 hits since it launched Aug. 8. But with only 20 posts, the duo is realizing that marketing is key. Right now they are relying on word of mouth.“With Facebook and Twitter, it’s a lot easier to spread ideas and sites in today’s world,” Weaver said. Junior and whathappensinclass.com co-founder Sean Fleming agreed.“We did some research on textsfromlastnight.com, and their site took off by word of mouth,” Fleming said. Right now, Fleming and fellow founder Trevor Collins, a junior at Purdue University, are relying only on word of mouth to attract traffic to their site, too. “We know the chances (of success) are slim from the way we are going to market the site,” Fleming said. “It’s going to be all luck.”Christian Briggs, a Ph.D. student in the School of Informatics and Computing, said it takes a combination of several factors, such as how witty the content is, reader community and site design, as well as luck, to launch a successful website. “It is important to note that it is not just one of these factors, but the combination of them, that causes outcomes,” said Briggs, whose concentrations are websites and social media.Griffin Anderson, one of the founders of hypehawk.com, said he thinks luck has a lot to do with online success too. But the site’s founding group are relying on more than luck to bring success to their site.Hypehawk.com, a different type of user-generated content site, is modeled from popular social networking sites like foursquare and Gowalla and serves as an online platform to find local entertainment tailored to the user. Although it is still in the beta stage, which means its creators are in the process of working out the kinks, the website contains features intended to draw in the user and the user’s friends. The idea developed during spring 2011 when Anderson was studying abroad with fellow Kelley School of Business senior Michael Mulica, one of the site founders. They were in Stockholm, Sweden, and grew frustrated trying to find social events in an unfamiliar place. “We started to analyze different moments in our lives where we didn’t know what to do or where to go,” Anderson said. “We decided to build a platform where people can share events and try to solve a problem a lot of us have.”The problem is either having no entertainment choices or not knowing which choice is the best, Anderson said. He said in technology, success is all about speed and timing. For their site to be successful, they need the entire IU community to get plugged in.Several factors go into creating a successful site, especially a user-content generated one, Anderson said. “You need a good idea, something that is going to provide value and is attainable, and you need to find good quality people who know what they’re doing and a good team,” he said. All three students and all three sites have one commonality: they rely on fellow Hoosiers to generate content that will draw in the college audience. “It might sound really cliche, but if you’re passionate about it, you just gotta take risks and go with it,” Weaver said. “If this thing doesn’t go anywhere then I am perfectly OK with that. If you are having fun, then you should go with it. More people should do that.”
(09/16/11 4:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In 2002, they had the weight of history on their shoulders.In 2004, they passed that weight to Congress.Six-hundred-and-twenty-four pages of answers and a decade of questions later, the members of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, better known as the 9/11 Commission, reunited yesterday at IU to reflect upon their findings and evaluate Congress’ response to their advice. Welcomed by IU President Michael McRobbie and introduced by moderator and journalist Ken Bode, the commissioners found their respective seats center stage in the IU Auditorium. It was the first time the commissioners had reunited since the commission report was released in 2004. The applause subsided as Lee Hamilton, former congressman for Indiana’s 9th District and vice chairman of the commission, thanked the University for its hospitality. He casually spoke of the need for a public officials hall of fame, where he would induct Thomas Kean, chairman of the commission. Kean spoke admirably of Hamilton as “one of the most extraordinary public servants I know.” Former Indiana Congressman Timothy Roemer summarized the introductions in a light-hearted manner, boasting about meeting IU mens’ basketball coach Tom Crean earlier in their visit.But the tone swiftly shifted to that of a more serious note as Kean, Hamilton and Roemer spoke of the extraordinary significance of the commission’s bipartisan efforts. “This is the first time we have been together since we wrote the report, but when I read the report now I can still hear your voices,” Kean said. Moderator Bode noted that the commission was created to fail based on its combination of five Democrats and five Republicans, a bipartisan effort many doubted could succeed. The commission exceeded expectations.“The country saw for the first time in a long time a group of Republicans and Democrats working together in the interest of the American people,” Kean said.Roemer was quick to clarify that their success need not be credited to the commissioners’ ability to set aside their own political interests. Rather, he said it was the resolve of the 9/11 families, which had lost so much and craved the truth, that propelled the commissioners to investigate the attacks for the American people.“They put America first. Unity, flying flags, giving blood ... The American people rallied, and they weren’t going to be terrorized,” he said.Challenging their findings and demanding accountability, the 9/11 families served as some of the commission’s toughest critics. But the commissioners said their responsibility to the American people diminished any natural tendency they had to be partisan.“I recall vividly the day we released the report,” Commissioner Fred Fielding said. “I think we were more nervous than anything, because we met with the families before we had the public hearings and the release. We were so nervous they would turn on us or wouldn’t be happy, and it was the greatest relief to all of us when they walked up and asked us to sign their books. “The bipartisan strategy and genuine inspiration allowed the 9/11 Commission to meticulously comb through the events leading up to the attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2011, and formulate a plan to prevent such acts from occurring ever again. But Commissioner Slade Gorton said their’s was merely a procedural success.“We started something,” he said. “We didn’t finish it. We showed that different parties and administrations can work together.”And they expect Congress to follow their example. Commissioner Jamie Gorelick said Congress’ response to the 9/11 Commission’s report was one of the quickest in U.S. history. The administration implemented national security policies that prevented another attack on the United States over the last decade, and they took down Osama Bin Laden. The only thing Congress didn’t react to, however, was itself, she said. “I don’t think we can be safe if we are as divided as we are now as a country,” Gorelick said. “You cannot look at New York and not see that resilience ... We need that sense that together we can prevail against almost anything.” The commissioners listed several security measures they say Congress has yet to act upon, including reorganizing and enhancing a communication network amongst the intelligence agencies.“The 9/11 Commission is a high point of public life,” Commissioner James Thompson said. “There are key areas left undone. Lives were lost on 9/11 because police and firemen were not able to talk to each other properly.”Hamilton said the commissioners still fear complacency throughout the government and the nation 10 years after the attacks.“I think we learned an awful lot about America,” Hamilton said. “Where else in the world can we sit down with the President and Vice President? I came out of it all with a whole lot more faith in our government.”
(09/14/11 2:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>College students may not be able to control the job market, but some degrees could give graduates a competitive edge, according to a recent report. The Best Degrees, a web-based higher education resource that provides valuable information to help those entering or returning to college, has compiled a list that just might save some career lives.The website recently published a report of the top 51 degrees based on job potential in the current U.S. economy. The study set out to identify the best degrees for students seeking strong job opportunities and high earnings.“The reason we created this report was because we realized that the unemployment rate is high and the economy is down, and many students are told how much money you make at a certain job, but they aren’t told how likely it is they will actually get a job,” The Best Degrees Editor Dee Barizo said. Data was compiled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, and the report revealed a high demand for technology based-jobs. Seven of the top 10 degrees were related to the study of computers, software or databases. Barizo said the report can be broken down to basic supply and demand. “As technology and the Internet have improved, society continually demands a higher supply of tech-based products,” Barizo said. “People who have expertise in those areas are going to be more likely to get a job.”Writing HTML code may not be everyone’s idea of fun, but Barizo said even students who aren’t technology-minded can be.“Every discipline uses technology. Even if you don’t work for an IT company, every organization needs IT people,” senior computer science major June Clark said. “I always encourage my friends to take IT classes and to have a good understanding of some technology because having the IT background is always a plus.”She explained that all careers demand a basic understanding of today’s technology, and any major can be paired with an IT degree. Although the job market is intimidating for many students entering the real world, junior Kevin Phillips, an information process management major, said he isn’t concerned about finding a job because he feels his strong technology background gives him an edge.“The technology field is ever-changing, and there is a huge demand for it,” he said. “If you are a personable person who knows what they are doing in technology, there is no way you won’t get a job.”Phillips is the vice president of the Technology Management Club at IU, and he said they are always welcoming new members who are interested in improving their technology skills. “Anyone is welcome to join. If you have an interest and want to learn more for your specific major, we’ll make it happen,” he said.
(09/09/11 3:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It has been called the most comprehensive and aggressive approach to education reform today. In April the state of Indiana passed three bills to reform public education for grades K-12, and in July those policies became law.HEA 1001, HEA 1003 and HEA 1004 have been contested by politicians, educators and tax payers since their inception, and the controversy surrounding their legality is still prevalent. But the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) at IU has published a report to calm the controversy and neutralize the discussion. “School Choice Issues in Indiana: Sifting through the Rhetoric” is the 20-page report that addresses each of the bills, weighs the pros and cons of their implementation and provides suggestions for the consideration of Indiana policy makers. Report authors are Rebecca Billick, a licensed school counselor, local attorney and former CEEP graduate research assistant; Stephen Hiller, current CEEP graduate research assistant; and Terry Spradlin, CEEP’s director for education policy.The authors presented their findings and recommendations Sept. 1 during a meeting of the Indiana Public School/University Partnership, also called Partnershare. Partnershare was formed to create an alliance between researchers from IU and educators around the state to share information and ideas about the advancement of education in Indiana. “There’s a lot of bad information out there, and my goal is just to clear things up,” Billick said. “I want people to be real honest about what they are upset about and look at it from an unbiased perspective.”***HEA 1004 allows a select group of Indiana parents to receive a tax deduction based on income to home school their children or cover the expenses of sending them to a private institution.HEA 1001 permits students to acquire scholarships funded by Scholarship Granting Organizations, which are subsidized by private donations of individuals or corporations who receive tax credits for their contributions.HEA 1003 allows students to be granted a Choice Scholarship, commonly referred to as a voucher. The Indiana Department of Education can award 7,500 vouchers this school year and 15,000 next school year, with no cap thereafter. The state has already awarded approximately 3,700 vouchers this year, and 200 private schools are expected to accept students who have benefited from the new laws, Spradlin said. The reform plan is expected to save the state money, the report concluded, because the scholarship only awards a percentage of funding that would otherwise go to the student’s former public school. Billick also said the amount of money given through tax credits is far from appropriated at this point. “The annual limit on the amount of tax credits allowed each year to individuals donating to Scholarship Granting Organizations was increased from $2.5 million to $5 million during the 2011 legislative session,” Billick said in a press release. “But what’s important to keep in mind is that the Department of Revenue only granted about $340,000 in tax credits during the 2011 fiscal year for this program.”***The Indiana State Teacher’s Association has filed a lawsuit on the grounds that the new laws violate the Establishment Clause and the Indiana Constitution, but the CEEP report concludes it is unlikely they will win. Controversy surrounding the Establishment Clause, which prohibits the state from promoting a particular religion, is unlikely to help the teacher’s association, because the three Indiana laws were written in ways to avoid the legal pitfalls of similar programs in other states. “The research raises questions whether these policies will impact public education as a whole, but we just focused on how the policies will affect Indiana,” Spradlin said. “If these programs or options give students a greater opportunity to succeed, then we will see. If we are going to have vouchers, we need to give them time to see their impact,” she said. “And after several years, we need to be able to look at the program and evaluate their significance in advancing education.”
(09/02/11 2:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU graduate student Carl Urness has been in New York City for only a week and a half, but he is already getting a taste of what life is like in the public policy realm — and loving every minute of it. “I am still at work now, and it’s 6:30,” Urness said. “But it’s OK, because I am doing what I love.”He is working at the Center for Economic Opportunity in New York City representing the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs’ VISTA Fellows Program that launched last week.The Fellows Program, a suborganization of AmeriCorps, provides SPEA graduate students with the opportunity to work full time with anti-poverty organizations and agencies in Indiana and throughout the United States while obtaining their master’s degree. SPEA is working in partnership with the Indiana office of the U.S. Corporation for National and Community Service, the government agency that administers AmeriCorps VISTA, a national service program designed specifically to fight poverty.“It is a very innovative type of experience that combines education and community service,” said Tarah A. Maners, state program specialist with Indiana CNCS. “This fits directly into our strategic priorities — services to veterans and military families, increasing high school graduation rates and grade level achievement, increasing economic opportunity and improving the environment disaster preparedness and response.”Urness is one of seven SPEA graduate students participating in the program this year. Although they will be doing total volunteer work, as VISTA participants, the students will receive a modest living allowance, health care and other benefits.At the end of their one-year commitment, the participants will also receive either a $5,550 education award or a $1,500 cash stipend. The education award can be used for tuition, book fees or loans. They also earn credit toward their degrees, including the experiential requirement for the SPEA master’s programs, Maner said. “This is an opportunity for our students to think about what they’re learning and see how it applies, or doesn’t apply, in the real world,” SPEA Assistant Dean Doug Goldstein said. Goldstein said the school hopes the program will benefit not only the students that participate, but the entire SPEA community through the knowledge the fellows will bring back to Bloomington. The seven fellows participating this year have been placed at sites with some of the most innovative organizations working to relieve poverty across the country, SPEA VISTA Fellows Program Coordinator Megan Siehl said.Siehl joined SPEA last spring to recruit participants and organize placement sites for this year’s fellows, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Center for Economic Opportunity, where Urness is working. Staci Orr, an environmental sciences graduate student and fellow working with the Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis, said after her first week in the program, she already knows this experience will benefit her future. “My co-workers are amazing and really supportive,” she said. “I hope to gain program-planning skills fundraising for the Indiana AIDS fund and to develop a greater responsibility for something bigger than myself.”
(08/31/11 4:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For the third consecutive year, the Kelley School of Business has proven itself a tycoon in the entrepreneurship arena. Kelley’s Department of Management and Entrepreneurship ranked No. 1 in the 2011 World Rankings for Entrepreneurship Productivity. “I was originally going to go to NYU, but I decided to come to IU because I know entrepreneurship is my passion, and IU’s program is great,” senior entrepreneurship major Jon Stein said. “It makes me feel more confident compared to students at other schools because I know I am working with the best faculty in the world.”The study looked at the top three entrepreneurship journals — Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice and Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal — and determined its ranking by counting the number of published journal articles each institution’s faculty had generated during the last year. The study was conducted among 150 schools across the globe, and Kelley’s top entrepreneurship faculty produced almost twice as many articles as its nearest challenger. “Because we have the number one research faculty in the world, we are the ones that are moving the needle in the field,” Donald F. Kuratko, the Jack M. Gill Chair of Entrepreneurship, said. “We were thrilled the first year we were named number one, so to continue receiving the distinction is a great honor.”Some of the most prominent articles the faculty published included topics such as corporate innovation, as well as emotion, decision making and entrepreneurial failure, Kuratko said. Daniel C. Smith, dean of the Kelley School of Business, said the school’s goal is not just to outdo competition in the Big Ten, but to be a globally recognized and superior institution for business learning. “One of our goals at the Kelley School is to transform the lives of our students and to give them a competitive edge in the marketplace. Who better to accomplish these aims than the best entrepreneurship scholars in the nation, if not the world?” Smith said in an email. “I am confident that the reputation of our faculty has a material impact on the number and quality of students interested in studying at Kelley.”
(08/30/11 3:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Jacobs School of Music brought them to IU, her voice drew him in and the reds and oranges of autumn became the backdrop to a love story made in music.Now, after 20 years of marriage and professional experience in the musical world, Kevin Murphy and Heidi Grant Murphy are back in Bloomington where their love for music, and each other, began.The duo will bring its professional experience to IU this fall. Kevin Murphy will serve as a professor of practice and Heidi Grant Murphy will be an adjunct professor of practice in the same institution where they met. He is a pianist and vocal coach, and she is a world-renowned soprano.“These are people who are coming directly from the professional world to us,” Voice Department Chairwoman Mary Ann Hart said. Kevin Murphy will serve as the head vocal coach for the Jacobs operas, where he will polish the singers and their performances and help the students with foreign languages, Hart said.He earned his bachelor of arts in Piano from Jacobs and master of fine arts in piano accompaniment from the Curtis Institute. Kevin Murphy’s most recent professional position was with the New York City Opera, where he had served as director of music administration since September 2008. He also assumed the position of director of the vocal program at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute in August. “We want to help those in the Jacobs School make the transition from the student world to the professional world,” he said. Heidi Grant Murphy began her vocal studies at Western Washington University and continued at IU. However, her graduate studies were interrupted when she was named a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was recruited by Maestro James Levine to participate in the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Her husband joined her at the Metropolitan from 1993 to 2006 as assistant conductor. She has had an ongoing relationship with the Metropolitan for 20 years and will continue to work with them while she teaches a graduate opera workshop and Italian diction at IU. “It’s quite a statement about our school that so many of our students have become so prominent in the profession,” Jacobs School Dean Gwyn Richards said.The Murphys said they feel honored to join the Jacobs faculty. “The school already has a talented faculty. We just hope we can add to it,” Heidi said. “Bloomington has always been a special place for us — there is great art, it is full of color and the people here are wonderful.” Kevin, Heidi and their four children will move into a brand-new house in Bloomington on Wednesday, the couple’s 20th anniversary.“We’ve made roots here,” he said. “We plan to stay a while.”
(08/26/11 2:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Reece Clark, a freshman Herman B Wells Scholar and biology major, said he arrived on campus Sunday for Wells Welcome Week and has been attending formal and informal events since.But Clark finished out his whirlwind week by connecting with some of the scholars, old and new, for a pick-up game of ultimate Frisbee. “It’s amazing just to hear people talk. Everyone is going places,” Clark said. “We are like a family already, and I know this is definitely going to open a lot of doors.”The University inducted 17 incoming freshmen and one IU junior to the program, placing them among some 460 current Wells Scholars and alumni. The program was founded two decades ago in honor of former IU President and Chancellor Herman B Wells.Wells Scholars are nominated by their high schools, the IU Office of Admissions or IU faculty and are selected for having demonstrated exceptional qualities of character, leadership and distinction both inside and outside the classroom. The recipients fill out an extensive application, which requires three essays and a résumé, and visit the Bloomington campus for interviews in December. The scholars are then selected by a committee of IU professors and faculty.“We want to attract students whose characteristics remind us of Herman B Wells,” Wells Scholar Program Director Tim Londergan said. “They demonstrate academic excellence, proven leadership and a commitment to the life of their community.” Incoming freshmen Wells Scholars are granted full tuition, including course-related fees, and a living stipend for four years of undergraduate study on the Bloomington campus. Scholars may spend up to one of those years participating in one of IU’s study abroad programs. Newly named scholars who are already students at IU can apply the scholarship to their remaining years on campus.Scholars are also members of the Hutton Honors College and are granted special opportunities to take classes with distinguished guests and IU professors. Examples include a class on mind games with New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz and a class on international security issues in the 21st century with David Albright and British international security expert Lord Timothy Garden.“The students we get could go anywhere,” Londergan said. “We are competing to get them to our University.”Londergan said this year’s Wells Scholars will take a required freshman seminar for all scholars. Londergan will use his physics background to teach the fall seminar, “The Origin and History of the Universe,” and business professor Tim Lemper will teach the spring seminar, “Morality and Law in Utopia.”To remain a scholar, students must maintain a minimum 3.4 GPA and take at least 12 credit hours per semester. A press release announcing the new scholars also stated that Wells Scholars have gone on to win more than 60 national and international scholarships, fellowships and grants, such as the Rhodes, which brings students from around the world to the University of Oxford, and the Fulbright, which provides grants to study, teach and conduct research to U.S. citizens going abroad and non-U.S. citizens traveling to the United States.Wells, a beloved figure on IU’s campus, dedicated most of his life to the University and spearheaded the movement to keep the Bloomington campus green. He spent his undergraduate years at IU, returned as a faculty member and later became dean of the School of Business Administration. Most remember Wells for his 25 years served as IU President. Friends and colleagues of Wells began fundraising for the scholarship fund in 1988, and on June 7, 1992, Wells’ 90th birthday, he was officially presented with the Wells Scholar Program in his name. “The Wells Scholarship is the best thing any institution could have offered me. To be one in 18 is a very special honor,” Clark said. “It’s worth so much more than money.”2011 Wells ScholarsRadhika Agarwal, Carmel, Ind. Nandita Chittajallu, Indianapolis Reece Clark, Noblesville, Ind. Ian Clarke, Studio City, Calif. Saleh ElHattab, Plainfield, Ind. Casey Goodall, Wyoming, Ohio David Gordon-Johnson, Cincinnati Jonathan Hawkins, Charleston, Ill. Nicholas Kolar, Fort Wayne Grant Manon, Kendallville, Ind. Alicia Nieves, Munster, Ind. Marjorie Richards, Bloomington Aaditya Shah, Munster, Ind. Daniel Smedema, Indianapolis Sandhya Sridhar, Memphis, Tenn. Sarah TeKolste, Carmel, Ind. Emma Winkler, Bloomington Allison Winstel, Cincinnati
(02/14/11 3:17am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A celebration of the achievements of African Americans during the month of February. What is ... Black History Month? The Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center is celebrating this month-long cultural commemoration with its annual Black Knowledge Bowl, a Jeopardy-style trivia competition where students have the opportunity to learn about Black literature, geography, philosophy and culture.The event, which will be at 6 p.m. Feb. 23 in the Grand Hall of the Neal-Marshall, has been around for more than 25 years, culture center Director Audrey McCluskey said.“The Black Knowledge Bowl began in the African-American and African Diaspora Studies Department, and eventually the Neal-Marshall took it over in the late ’80s,” McCluskey said. “Each year we strive to grow the event, and we hope to see a great turn-out this year.”McCluskey said she, along with the help of her student staff members, has been reaching out to different student organizations on campus during the past several months, hoping to draw in participants and spectators from every corner of IU’s campus. They have contacted leaders in the greek community and major student organizations and even enticed passers-by in the Indiana Memorial Union with teaser questions similar to the ones asked during the competition.“We are trying to live up to the diversity that our campus advertises and embraces,” McCluskey said.Many teams have already committed to participating, but students have until Friday to submit their team registration forms to the administrative office at Neal-Marshall. “Our goal is to have six teams for this year’s competition,” McCluskey said.Tenecia Broaden, a junior majoring in Public Health and Biochemistry, participated in the Black Knowledge Bowl last year as the student coach for team Lioness, the reigning champion. “It’s really great, and I have come across a lot of the information in my classes here at IU,” she said. “It got real intense last year and I had so much fun, but I wanted to actually compete this year.”Broaden is joining a handful of her classmates from her Introduction to Writing and Black Literature class to form the Frederick Dougies. The students got the inspiration for the team name from the material they are studying in class about Frederick Douglass.“The Black Knowledge Bowl is a great way to educate yourself,” said June Evans, a graduate assistant at Neal-Marshall. “Anyone who is interested in black culture is welcome here.”McCluskey said students preparing for the Black Knowledge Bowl can find study guides at www.indiana.edu/~nmbcc, and books and sources containing the answers will be on hold for students to use in the center’s library. First, second and third place finishers will receive cash prizes, and the winning team will get its picture on plaque in the Grand Hall. Spectators are encouraged to attend and cheer on the participants, and there will be a reception following the competition where food and refreshments will be served.“Students should come because Black History is American History, and if you don’t know your history, you don’t know yourself,” Evans said.