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(01/30/15 4:34pm)
Bloomington is full of places to buy furnishings for your new house or apartment. Whether you’re in the market for a bed, a kitchen table or random knickknacks to decorate with, these are some of the places that can help you turn your new living space into a home.
(01/24/14 5:00am)
Bloomington has enough options to fit every student’s moving needs.
(10/14/13 5:57pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington is full of places to acquire furnishings for your new house or apartment. Whether you’re in the market for a bed, a kitchen table or random knickknacks with which to decorate, these are just some of the places that can help you turn your new living space into a home.Pier 1 Imports849 S. Auto Mall Road812-333-7437Shop here for smaller furniture items, such as upholstered chairs, dressers and side tables, as well as kitchenware and accent items like mirrors, picture frames and wall art. The décor is colorful and will make your living space look put-together, but be prepared to pay a bit more for the value.Delivery is not available, although items can be shipped via FedEx or directly from the website.Goodwill1284 Liberty Drive 812-336-8104 For frugal college students, consignment furniture can be the difference between a partially and fully furnished living space. Although it can be hit or miss, shop Goodwill for deals on dressers, full-length mirrors, sofas and wall art.Delivery is not available, so enlist the help of a friend with a truck to transport large furnishings.Long’s Landing5167 E. State Road 46 812-332-5888Visit Long’s Landing for new and used furnishings, including bedroom sets, sofas, mattresses, desks and bookcases. Expect to pay close to retail price for many of the newer items.Delivery is $30 for anywhere in Monroe County.Furniture Exchange424 S. College Ave.812-334-1236 Shop here for new and used sofas, dresser drawers, chairs and mattresses. They also have a wide selection of accent pieces and inexpensive artwork.Delivery is offered in Monroe County for $35.
(10/14/13 5:51pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>You’re getting ready to leave town for the summer. But what do you do with all that stuff?While some students decide to haul it home, many will opt to stash belongings in one of many storage facilities in Bloomington.Julie Aton, owner of Aton’s Self Storage in Columbus, Ind., shared some tips for students seeking to rent a storage unit.Don’t just choose the closest storage facilityMost people select the closest facility for the sake of convenience, but Aton said for summer storage, that might not be the best choice.“It would be important for someone who would be making frequent trips to the storage unit,” she said, adding that most students renting a storage space make only a few trips between their dorm or apartment and the storage facility.Visit the facility beforehand“The staff should be professional, courteous and ac-cessible,” Aton said. “Ideally, you should look for a facility that is fully fenced with a computerized access gate and surveillance cameras and is well-lit.”Aton said it is helpful to check online reviews from other customers and ask about pest control, gate access hours, payment options and office hours.Better protect your stuffMost storage facilities offer climate-controlled and non-climate-controlled storage units.“For summer storage, you may prefer temperature-controlled storage, especially if you are storing electronics and nice furniture,” Aton said.If temperature-controlled spaces aren’t available, students can take certain steps to protect their belongings from heat and humidity. Aton recommended purchasing a chemical moisture absorber, such as DampRid or Dri-Z-Air, for storage units without air conditioning. She said placing a tarp or wooden pallets on the unit’s concrete floor can further protect belongings.
(10/14/13 5:48pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington has enough options to fit every student’s moving needs.Every time students need to leave town, they’re stuck with a dilemma — what to do with all that stuff.While some students decide to haul their stuff home, many will opt to stash their belongings in one of the available storage facilities in Bloomington. Julie Aton, secretary and treasurer of the Indiana Self Storage Association, a non-profit trade organization, shared some tips for students looking to rent a storage unit. Don’t just choose the closest storage facilityMost people select the closest facility for the sake of convenience, but Aton said for summer storage, that might not necessarily be the best choice.“It would be important for someone who would be making frequent trips to the storage unit,” she said, adding most students renting a storage space make only a few trips between their dorm or apartment and the storage ?facility.Visit the facility beforehand“A visit to the storage facility should assure the facility is clean and well-maintained,” Aton said. “The staff should be professional, courteous and accessible. Ideally, you should look for a facility that is fully-fenced with a computerized access gate and surveillance cameras and is well-lit.”Aton said it is helpful to see the actual storage units beforehand as well.Aton said potential renters should ask about pest control, gate access hours, payment options and office hours. She said it is also helpful to check online reviews.Take extra measures to protect your belongingsMost storage facilities offer both climate-controlled and non-climate-controlled storage units.“For summer storage, you may prefer temperature-controlled storage, especially if you are storing electronics and nice furniture,” Aton said.However, if temperature-controlled spaces aren’t available, there are steps students can take to protect their belongings from the heat and humidity. Aton recommended purchasing a chemical moisture absorber, such as DampRid or Dri-Z-Air, for storage units without air conditioning. She said placing a tarp or wooden pallets on the unit’s concrete floor can further protect belongings.“It is important that the items you store are dry, clean and protected,” Aton said. “You can also further protect your items by covering them with plastic.”Save some moneyAton said students should look for special discounts for student storage.“You may also be able to negotiate a discount if you pay the full amount in advance,” she said.Storage rental companies will often ask whether your belongings are insured. Some will offer insurance, but students can also check with their current insurance providers to see if they can cover the items going into ?storage.Lock up your stuffMost facilities require renters to provide their own locks, although many will sell locks at the facility, Aton said. She suggested a high-quality, maximum-security lock, such as a disc lock.
(07/09/13 2:58pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Things don’t always go according to plan. Grade-point averages miss the mark, parking tickets wind up on windshields and students make bad decisions. In high school, you were always there to bail your students out. Now they’re away from home and have to figure out solutions on their own.We’ve provided the answers to a few common college dilemmas, so when you receive a phone call from your student asking for advice, whip out this article and help point them in the right direction. Academic ProblemsProblem Your freshman gets their first midterm grade back in economics, and it’s a failing grade. Or maybe the first week of school the class that sounded so awesome over the summer isn’t so awesome after all. Solution Instruct your student to make an appointment with an adviser (which can be done online at starnet.indiana.edu). Dropping classes can then be done online via OneStart. Dropping a class during the first week of classes won’t show up on the transcript, but a fee will be charged to the Bursar. Classes dropped after the first week, however, will result in a W for withdrawal on the transcript. Problem Your freshman realizes that the standard five-paragraph essay that got them through high school might not cut it in college.Solution Send them to Writing Tutorial Services, which can provide them with a free 50-minute session with a peer tutor. They can also call 812-855-6738 to make an appointment.Housing ProblemsProblem Your freshman calls home after the first week. They are convinced that if they continue living with the current roommate, it’s going to be a very long year.Solution Your student should go to the Resident Assistant first. If the conflict still cannot be resolved, students can request a roommate change. To get the process started, students can go to their residence hall’s center desk and fill out a roommate change request form.Legal ProblemsProblem Your student received a court summons (we won’t speculate why).Solution IU Student Legal Services, located across from Dunn Meadow on Seventh Street, offers students who have paid the Student Activity Fee complimentary legal advice and if necessary, legal representation with their staff of four full-time, licensed attorneys and about 25 second- and third-year IU law students. Have your student call 812-855-7867. Health ProblemsProblem Your student wakes up with a fever of 104 degrees or breaks a finger playing intramural volleyball.Solution The Health Center, located on the corner of 10th and Jordan streets, staffs nurse practitioners who can help. For more serious situations, the IU Health Bloomington Hospital Emergency Department, located at 601 W. Second St., can be reached at 812-353-5252.Problem You can’t quite put your finger on it, but your student hasn’t been their normal self lately. You’re concerned they might be depressed.Solution Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is located within the Health Center and provides counseling as well as psychiatric consultation and treatment. Encourage your student to make an appointment by calling 812-855-5711 or stopping by for a walk-in appointment.Emergency ContactsAlthough we hope your student never has to use them, it is always helpful to have local emergency contact information on hand. If students find themselves needing one of the following phone numbers, here’s what to tell them.Indiana University Police DepartmentAvailable 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 812-855-4111, or dial 911 for emergencies. Located at 1469 E. 17th St.Bloomington Police Department Located at 220 E. Third St. The department can be reached at 812-339-4477 or 911 for emergencies.Bloomington Fire Department Located at 300 E. Fourth St. It can be reached at 812-332-9763 or 911 for emergencies.
(06/07/13 8:33pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>There’s so much to worry about going into your freshman year: getting lost, making friends, and the dreaded “Freshman 15.”Fortunately, IU makes it easy for students to get fit and stay in shape with its two recreational facilities. With tuition, every student pays a mandatory Student Activity Fee, which, among other things, grants every IU student access to workout facilities such as indoor swimming pools, weight rooms, cardio equipment and free group exercise classes with the flash of a student ID. THE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTHThe School of Public Health, affectionately known by its former initials HPER (pronounced “hyper”), is located on Seventh Street across from the Indiana Memorial Union. The HPER is quite expansive, offering students 12 racquetball/wallyball courts, 10 basketball/volleyball courts, squash courts, an indoor pool with a diving well, an indoor running track and more. The adjacent Woodlawn Tennis Courts are also a part of the HPER facility, as is Woodlawn Field. The oldest section of the building dates back to 1917, with its newest addition built in 1961. The HPER is undergoing renovations during the summer, which is tentatively scheduled to be complete by the beginning of the fall semester.STUDENT RECREATIONAL SPORTS CENTER (SRSC) The Student Recreational Sports Center, or SRSC, is the other workout facility on campus. Its location, within a 10 minute walk of the greek houses on North Jordan and most of the dorms in the central neighborhood, makes it a popular workout destination for many students. While the SRSC offers many of the same features as the HPER, including nine racquetball/wallyball courts, five basketball/volleyball courts, an indoor track, an Olympic-sized pool and more, many students prefer the SRSC for the condition of its facilities.HOW TO FIT FITNESS INTO YOUR SCHEDULEPerhaps the biggest obstacle for freshmen trying to stay fit is trying to maintain focus while surrounded by so many collegiate distractions. After all, it’s much easier after a long day of classes to lounge in your dorm eating junk food than it is to find the motivation to hit the gym. Both a music and pre-med student, Madhura Sundararajan manages to find time to exercise while juggling homework, music practice and her social life.“You just have to make time for it,” she said. “It can be really difficult with the workload, but you have to make time to take care of yourself.”FREE GROUP EXERCISE CLASSESOne way to hold yourself accountable is to take the free group exercise classes available throughout the week at both facilities.Heather Hamilton has been a group exercise leader for the past four years, leading classes like Step, Cardio Core, Trekking and Circuit Strength.“All of the classes, with the exception of Step II and III, are good for beginners, and leaders will give you modification options if you are just starting out and need to take it slow,” Hamilton said.Some group exercise classes, such as yoga and pilates, are available to students at an additional cost. With classes like Cardio Kickboxing, Strength Core and Zumba (a workout disguised as a dance party), there’s something for everyone. Schedules of group exercise classes are available on the IU Campus Recreational Sports website at iurecsports.org/grp_exercise.
(05/01/13 4:39pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A suspect in a Wisconsin homicide case shot and killed himself Tuesday night after he was located by Bloomington police while riding a bicycle on the B-Line Trail.Bloomington Police Department personnel had been notified Eddie D. Callaway, 26, of Waukesha, Wis., who was wanted for alleged involvement in an April 22 homicide, was possibly in Bloomington due to family connections, according to a press release issued Wednesday by BPD Capt. Joe Qualters.At about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, an Indiana State Police detective alerted a BPD officer that he recognized Callaway, who was wanted by U.S. Marshals, traveling north on the B-Line Trail. The officer alerted other personnel of Callaway’s description and direction of travel, and another officer confronted the suspect on the B-Line Trail near North Fairview and West 11th streets.Police ordered the suspect off his bicycle and held him at gunpoint until back-up officers arrived, according to the release.The back-up officer arrived, and the suspect reached toward his waistband. Despite verbal commands to keep his hands away from his body, the suspect retrieved a weapon and shot himself in the head, according to the release. He was pronounced dead at the scene.“Early media reports that this was an officer-involved shooting are inaccurate and it has been determined that no Bloomington Police Department personnel discharged a weapon during the encounter with the suspect,” the release said.
(04/29/13 4:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It was the day after Thanksgiving break when freshman Mason Reiter and the rest of his Zeta Beta Tau pledge class received news of the sexual assault allegation.On Nov. 5, 2012, then-ZBT President Kyle Mataloni received a letter from the Student Organization Ethics Board, which oversees disciplinary hearings involving allegations, criminal or otherwise, involving a student organization.The letter placed the fraternity on deferred suspension for more than a year and informed Mataloni that students on the board had found ZBT members responsible for “sexual assault” and “sexual contact with another person without consent,” according to the letter.Representatives from Student Life and Learning did not respond to requests for further information about the findings.The four-page letter outlined sanctions and requirements the fraternity had to meet in order to remain an active chapter on campus, including completion of a series of sexual assault awareness educational programs led by IU Health Center and Student Life and Learning.But on the day after Thanksgiving break, two members of the fraternity’s national organization drove from their headquarters in Indianapolis to meet with the pledges.During the meeting, Reiter and his fellow pledges learned they would no longer be initiates of the fraternity they initially wanted to join. Unbeknownst to the new recruits, representatives from nationals and the University had been meeting with members of ZBT’s then-executive board discussing the consequences of possible criminal activity in the house.Without a house and without upperclassmen members, nationals approached the pledge class with a proposal.“We were just completely cut off from everything until nationals finally came to us and said, ‘They’re all gone. Do you guys want to step in?’” Reiter, now the president of what he and his executive board call the “new ZBT,” said. “We said yes.”The current chapter of ZBT, National ZBT Director Laurence Bolotin said, has no relationship with the former chapter.ZBT crewneck sweatshirts began reappearing on campus in early April, when members of the “new ZBT” started one of their two philanthropy projects for the remainder of the year.A group of freshmen rolled an eight-foot-tall beach ball around campus, soliciting students to sign it. For every signature, $2 would be donated to Hoosier Hills Food Bank.Mid-signature, some students would ask, “Didn’t you guys get kicked off campus?”***Zeta Beta Tau’s disciplinary problems began in April 2010 when a woman was transported to the hospital after consuming alcohol at a fraternity function. Citations for “uncontrolled distribution of hard liquor” and “drinking games” followed, according to University documents, and the fraternity went through periods of disciplinary probation and social restrictions through 2012.But in September, allegations of sexual assault surfaced. Police went to the fraternity’s house on the North Jordan extension and seized security footage, sophomore and former ZBT Vice President Chad Silver said.According to IU Police Department records, a forcible sex offense was reported at ZBT’s house Sept. 10, 2011. The case did not end in arrest. No charges were filed. IU’s Assistant General Counsel Stephen Harper declined the release of further information about the report.In an email from December 2012, Assistant Director for Fraternity and Sorority Life Michael Goodman told the IDS that ZBT was “found responsible for disorderly conduct, actions that endanger the community, harassment and alcohol violations, among several others.”At the time, Bolotin refused to comment on the exact nature of the offenses that contributed to the fraternity’s suspension.In early December, Mike Shartiag, ZBT alumnus and owner of the fraternity’s former house at 1640 N. Jordan Ave., announced he would not allow ZBT to occupy the house for the 2013-14 academic year. The letters were removed from the fraternity’s home. In a December interview, Shartiag said repeated violations of the building’s fire code — mattresses propped against walls and general mistreatment of the property — caused him to not renew the lease. Shartiag witnessed a former ZBT house burn in a 1984 fire that was ultimately deemed arson. The fire caused the death of a 19-year-old and the hospitalization of four fraternity members who suffered second-degree burns and injuries from leaping from the burning fraternity house. Thirty other individuals were also treated, according to a report from the Associated Press.“I find it incomprehensible that today’s ZBT could repeatedly commit such egregious life safety violations,” Shartiag said in a press release issued in early December. “The single deciding factor on the part of the ‘Landlord’ in not renewing ZBT’s lease was the life safety contractual violations with respect to the fire alarm system and fire code violations in the leased property.”On Oct. 29, 2012, IU’s Office of Insurance, Loss Control and Claims conducted an inspection of 1640 N. Jordan Ave. based on the number of runs Bloomington Fire Department was making to the house. The fire alarm was working as designed, and the arrangement of smoke detectors surpassed the requirements set by the office’s codes.In the times the fire department responded unnecessarily, such as when occupants smoked in the individual rooms, action was taken against individual fraternity members, according to a report written by Assistant Director of the Office of Insurance, Loss Control and Claims Mel Lane.Shartiag did not respond to multiple email inquiries about the sexual assault allegations. Throughout November and December of 2012, the national fraternity and the University worked with the fraternity’s executive board to find solutions to the allegations. The national chapter conducted a review of all members.The investigation of any criminal allegations against fraternity members was left to law enforcement, Bolotin said April 17.“Zeta Beta Tau applies a much higher standard of conduct to its members,” he said.Accordingly, the national fraternity conducted an investigation not because of suspected illegal activity, but because it was suspected that members fell below standards expected by the fraternity, Bolotin said.By spring semester 2013, the national fraternity had expelled members of ZBT, Bolotin said. Some were given the opportunity to reapply for membership. Those who declined became early alumni of the fraternity.In early December, Mataloni told the IDS that members of the fraternity were upset with national headquarters and decided to disaffiliate on their own accord. Mataloni did not respond to numerous requests for further comment. ***Although Office of Student Ethics Director and Associate Dean of Students Jason Casares could not discuss ZBT’s case specifically, he said the Office of Student Ethics is the point of entry into all allegations, criminal or otherwise, which might require disciplinary action on the part of the University.This was the case for sexual assault allegations against ZBT.When an incident of sexual violence is reported to IUPD, the Office of Student Ethics is notified and reaches out to the victim, requesting to meet. The initial meeting involves the victim, a representative from the Office of Student Ethics and a third-party student advocate going over different resources available on campus. During this time, the victim will also learn about the Office of Student Ethics’ capacity to investigate the incident. Casares said reports of sexual violence account for “an extreme minority of cases that we have.”Whether or not the Office of Student Ethics enters into an investigation is at the discretion of the victim, Casares said, unless it is determined there is a larger campus safety concern at hand.The Board of Student Ethics determined the incidents at ZBT were organizational — the problem transcended individual members and was associated with the fraternity at large — and the case moved to Student Life and Learning to be heard by the Student Organization Ethics Board.The Student Organization Ethics Board, Casares said, consists of IU students who review details of investigations conducted by the Office of Student Ethics and make decisions about the group based on the findings.***In the aftermath of the fraternity’s loss of housing, rumors circulated about the future of the fraternity, of possible rapes and even the presence of a “rape room” within the fraternity’s former house.“Those rumors are false,” Bolotin said. “In fact, they are ridiculous.”ZBT is still recognized as an active chapter by the University. It consists of 24 members, all of them freshman. Left without a house, they meet in Briscoe Quad, where the majority of the fraternity’s members live.ZBT is the only fraternity on campus with an all-freshman executive board, and they are working to completely change the image of the group after the “sexual assault scandal,” as one member of the executive board called it.Several months ago, ZBT announced it would partner with sorority Sigma Delta Tau and Jewish Women’s International to develop a program to help members understand “the foundation of safe, healthy and mutually respectful interpersonal relationships,” Bolotin said.“We know that our image isn’t going to change over night,” Reiter said. “Ideally, we’d love it to because we’re a new group of kids who aren’t associated with what the old ZBT image is known for.”
(04/09/13 12:27am)
Sweat beaded upon Winston Fiore’s forehead. It saturated his cargo shorts, T-shirt, and woolen socks. It clung to his skin as he neared the day’s roughly 25-mile mark after hours on foot.As the IU grad walked along the highways, cars rushing past provided hints of breeze. On nights when he found $10-per-night hotels in Thailand, he dried his clothes over the air conditioner while he slept. He would wake the next morning to find his clothes wearable, but they would be stiff once the liquid evaporated, leaving only the salt lodged between fibers of synthetic fabric.In the middle of Malaysia, though, hotels were too expensive. When the sun began to set, Winston set up camp. Finding a place to sleep was an art and a science — choose too open of an area and you risk being disturbed by law enforcement or passers-by. Choose an area with too much cover and you forego the chance to enjoy the breeze.Winston spent many nights with his two-man tent enshrouded by trees in oil palm plantations. All he wanted to do was sleep, but his body would not cool down from the day’s walk.He lay there awake, sweat clinging to his skin.Winston’s decision to spend a year exploring the world came to him in the back of a flatbed truck during the summer of 2007, as he was driving through stretches of Senegalese countryside.Then 22, he had never traveled beyond the Western world. In Senegal, he witnessed women fetching water from distant sources and people dressed in rags rummaging through trash. It was so different from his middle-class upbringing in Bloomington.His idea began to evolve — he didn’t just want to see the world. He wanted to interact with those living in it, as he had with the people during those three weeks in Senegal. He decided he would travel by foot instead of by car or airplane.But he didn’t want to embark on his adventure without making a positive difference in the places he visited, so Winston began to search for a cause to attach to his journey. When Winston returned to Bloomington later that summer, he shared his plan with his parents even though the departure date was years down the road. He wanted to finish college, and that was about two or three years away.“But to be fair, even at that point,” Winston says. “They were becoming used to my shenanigans.” He hadn’t lived in one place for more than a year since he graduated from Bloomington High School North in 2003 — and still hasn’t to this day. Straight out of high school, he served in AmeriCorps, followed by two years with the Marines, one year in New York City, one in Bloomington to attend IU, and another to study in Peru. He graduated from IU in 2009, and shortly after that, was deployed to Afghanistan with the Marines.At the end of the summer in 2007, Winston moved to New York and received a newspaper article in the mail from his father, who had been keeping his eyes open for a cause for Winston to throw his weight behind. The article told of a non-profit group, the International Children’s Surgical Foundation, founded by a surgeon who performed cleft repair surgeries in developing countries.“I read a piece about these guys,” Patrick Fiore wrote to his son. “It’s something you could look into.”About one or two out of every 1,000 children is born with a cleft lip or palate, a developmental abnormality affecting a child’s mouth and palate. Without corrective surgery the fissure can affect the child’s ability to speak and smile.The smile, Winston says, is at the very core of human interaction.“To have that nipped at the bud is — it sucks. It’s not fair,” he says. “It’s not acceptable, and when the solution is so affordable and relatively quick, there’s no reason for children to be living like this.”Winston adopted the International Children’s Surgical Foundation as a focal point for his journey. In late September 2011, he set off on a 5,000-mile trek from Singapore, through Malaysia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, into China and Taiwan, through the Philippines and Brunei and back to Singapore. He carried everything in nylon sacks attached to his tactical vest. The left pocket of his vest bore the web address he created for his journey, which he called “The Smile Trek.” Over a pocket on his right hand side, he carried a set of pictures of a girl before and after her cleft repair.Winston spent 412 days walking the trek. He was alone most of the time. Sometimes he played John Williams to make his journey seem more epic, but he quickly exhausted his music collection. Instead he downloaded public affairs talks, conversations, and interviews that allowed him to temporarily retreat into Western culture. “You really — I don’t want to say drive yourself crazy — you seek out, as much as possible, conversation with other English-speakers,” he says. Hearing conversations in his native tongue, even pre-recorded ones, felt rewarding. Outside major cities, in-person conversations with English-speakers were rare.“It seems silly, looking back, like, ‘Oh, another Anglo. Let’s talk. You speak English, I speak English — let’s connect,’” Winston says. There were the Westerners cross-country biking across Thailand. There was the French woman cycling through Laos. There was the group of white men riding Harley-Davidsons in Palawan, Philippines. And there were the American sailors in Malaysian Borneo where a naval fleet had docked.“If we were to run into each other in Bloomington, we wouldn’t talk,” Winston says. “It’s because we’re outliers in whatever country that we have that connection.’”But in Vietnam, China, and Taiwan, there was no one.A pack of stray dogs barked hysterically as Winston, hovering at the 1,000-mile mark of the Smile Trek, chatted on the phone with a member of a Rotary Club.Stray dogs regularly roamed the streets of Thailand, and they often barked at Winston as he walked by.The man on the other end of the line asked Winston if he was under attack. “I’m good, man,” Winston assured. “It’s just a bunch of — ” A set of sharp teeth nipped at Winston’s right calf. He swung his umbrella at the dog’s face, but blood already pooled around the bite mark. The skin had been broken, and although Winston was about a mile away from his lodging for the night, he knew rabies was a concern. He stopped at a gas station, and the attendant doused the wound in disinfectant and iodine.At the motel, a scooter taxi brought him to a nearby emergency room, where he received 11 shots — one in each shoulder and forearm, six in the wound on his leg, and one on his left buttock — just as a precaution.The day started at 6 a.m. Any earlier, and Winston would have to pack up his gear in the dark. He turned the screw on his inflatable mattress while still laying on top of it. His weight forced out the air. He sat up, stuffed his sleeping bag back into its sack, rolled up the mattress, dismantled the tent, and put on his vest.Although each morning started basically the same way, the remainder of the day depended on his circumstances. If he was lucky enough to stay with a family inside their home, breakfast and electricity were usually available.If not, he would walk until he found a place with food, coffee, and an outlet for his phone.He would take breaks every couple of hours, ideally at a restaurant where he could eat, dry his feet, and change socks during the same stop. If there was nothing for miles, he would stop by the side of the road.The best days were those in which he began his walks in the afternoons and continued until 11:30 p.m. That way, the sun beat down brutally for a few hours of the walk but most of the walking occurred past midday, accompanied by a cool and easy breeze. Those days occurred only when he could arrange the night’s lodging ahead of time. People aren’t too receptive to a man knocking on their door after dark, wearing what looks like a suicide vest and speaking a different language, Winston says.Although he never went a night without finding somewhere to rest, finding a place to sleep was a constant source of anxiety.The same year Winston graduated from IU with his degree in theater, he became disillusioned with acting. It wasn’t a burning passion, he realized. It was just a hobby.“The moment I realized it wasn’t something that I couldn’t live without I said, ‘Well, I better stop now,’” he says.He hasn’t acted since.Somewhere in the middle of Vietnam in February 2012, a friend pulled out her laptop and showed him the documentary, “Dirt! The Movie.” A brief segment about homeowners growing grass on their roofs piqued his interest. He researched green roofs and came upon rooftop farming. “Why not use otherwise wasted space as a food source?” he thought.Some Googling led him to The Urban Canopy in Chicago, a hydroponic rooftop farm just starting up. Within a week of watching the documentary, Winston got in touch with The Urban Canopy and made plans to work pro bono as an apprentice there.Thirteen months after Winston found out about The Urban Canopy, he moved into an apartment on the south side of Chicago. He had a scheduled start date for the farm and a follow-up interview scheduled for a wait staff position at a local French restaurant. It was a relief, Winston says, to finally start his return to normalcy.In some ways his experience was monotonous, Winston says. You wake up. You walk. You go to bed. Four months since the end of the trek, Winston catches himself looking back on the experience every now and again and is both overwhelmed and underwhelmed.On one hand, he says, it’s difficult to think about the steps he took through the middle of nowhere. He has no regrets and would embark on another journey given the opportunity. On the other hand, it didn’t change him like he anticipated. He didn’t come back as a different person. “The experience was very superficial in a lot of ways too because I never —”He pauses to think.“You can only connect with people and with a community so much when you’re just passing through.”Grass crept onto the concrete porch in front of the house.It was about 5:30 p.m., and Winston was about 25 miles from where his day began. He had digitally scouted out the area on his phone before he set out for the day. In the vast landscape of rural Malaysian Borneo, where only oil palm plantations interrupted the gaping areas of nothingness, it was one of the only ways to guarantee there would be a place to rest at the end of the day. Winston had marked a house, modest in size with a siding roof instead of shingles, as the first place he would try to stay for the night.He knocked at the front door.A man who appeared to be in his late-60s answered. He was shirtless and lean, possibly a farmer or fisherman, and unfamiliar with English.Winston pantomimed: Looking for a place to sleep.He motioned toward his tent, collapsed and attached to his vest, and pointed into the grass. Can I put my tent here?The man, joined by his wife, motioned in return. No, here. Inside.The man and his wife showed Winston to the wash room, where he cleaned off before dinner. Afterward, Winston inflated his air mattress and unrolled his sleeping bag in the foyer, a large room furnished with a clothes line, two lawn chairs, and a box TV.He fiddled around on his phone until he grew tired, checking his email and surfing the Internet. He ended many nights scrolling through his entire Facebook news feed until it started repeating itself from where it left off the night before.It was a small way to feel connected to his other life, more than 9,000 miles away.
(04/08/13 2:34am)
The University’s first international student from outside North America was a Japanese man named Takekuma Okada, class of 1891.
(03/27/13 3:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Three men facing preliminary charges of armed robbery appeared in court Monday for an initial hearing.Keith Bunton, 20, Marquese Steward, 21, and Darvon Hill, 20, remained at the Monroe County Jail as of 9 p.m. Tuesday, following the reported March 16 armed robbery of a north side apartment.A warrant was issued Friday for a fourth suspect in the incident, Anthony Rutland.The evening of the incident, a 19-year-old woman was hanging out in her apartment with her boyfriend and her two female roommates. There was a knock at the door, and Rutland and Steward entered the residence to purchase marijuana, according to the probable cause affidavit.The victim escorted Rutland and Steward into her bedroom to sell them a quarter pound of marijuana, the usual amount Rutland purchased from her.As the deal was about to be carried out, Steward informed Rutland they were short some money and would obtain additional cash from the car. The victim thought this was suspicious, she later told police, since Rutland had bought the same amount from her before and had never been short money in the past.Soon after Rutland left the room, the victim’s boyfriend stepped outside onto the balcony adjacent to the bedroom for a cigarette. As he exited, Steward closed the door behind him. Because the door was broken, the boyfriend could not get back in from the outside.It was just the victim and Steward inside the bedroom at that point, according to the affidavit."Get on the ground," the victim heard someone say from an adjacent room. The victim shut and locked her bedroom door, fearing something had gone wrong.Commotion continued in the next room. Someone began beating upon her bedroom door.Don’t open the door, she told Steward.Steward opened the door, and two masked intruders, armed with guns, entered the room.They ordered the victim to lay face-down on her bed, got on top of her and held her down, according to the probable cause affidavit.One masked man, wearing a green hooded sweatshirt, grabbed a green duffel bag containing the victim’s marijuana. The victim told police she recognized the mask from a Halloween party she attended and believed a man named "Keith" may have been wearing it. Once the men had the duffel, they fled the apartment.The victim left her bedroom and discussed the incident with her roommates. Together, they determined a total of four armed intruders entered the apartment — two rushed for the victim’s bedroom and two stayed in the living room with the roommates.Five days after the incident, the victim identified Rutland and Steward from a photo lineup of suspects. The following day, police made contact with Rutland at Macri’s at the Depot, the deli at which he worked. After interviewing Rutland, police placed him under arrest on preliminary charges of attempted possession of more than 30 grams of marijuana.During the interview, police learned Rutland resided on the 1300 block of West Kirkwood Avenue with Steward and Bunton, and afterward responded to their house. They saw a red Pontiac Grand Am pull up to the house and a man they believed matched Bunton’s description get in the passenger’s seat.Police followed the car and stopped it near the intersection of 17th and Lincoln streets. Bunton exited the car and told police he would talk with them at the Bloomington Police Department and was transported to the station. A search of the car produced a large duffel bag containing the marijuana.Police obtained a search warrant for the residence following an initial interview with Bunton. The search produced two white ski masks — one in Rutland’s bedroom and the other in Bunton’s closet — as well as a BB gun that appeared to have "every distinguishing look of a real semi-automatic handgun," according to the probable cause affidavit. Small amounts of marijuana and paraphernalia were also found.The search also led police to a fourth suspect, Hill.Thursday evening, officers executing the search returned to the Bloomington Police Department to find Bunton still inside one of the interview rooms. Despite the fact he requested a lawyer and one was not present at the time, he told detectives he wanted to tell the whole story as it actually happened, according to the affidavit.Steward was the ring leader of the incident, Bunton told police, and while Steward was inside the victim’s bedroom, he, Rutland and two other men whom he only knew by their first names entered the residence, wearing masks and wielding weapons, only one of which was a real handgun. One also had a taser, he told police.Police made contact with Steward at his residence, according to the affidavit, and he went to the police department for an interview. Hill was brought to the station later that evening. Steward, Bunton and Hill were arrested and preliminarily charged with armed robbery.That evening, police reported to the Monroe County Jail, where Rutland had previously was being held on preliminary charges of possessing more than 30 grams of marijuana. Upon arrival, it was found he had bonded out and was no longer at the jail, and a warrant for his arrest was issued.
(03/25/13 4:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A woman reported to Bloomington police Friday evening that she might have been raped after a male entered a sexual encounter between herself and a female acquaintance without permission.The victim, 26, while at the Bloomington Police Department being investigated for a prior theft and burglary, told police she might have been raped in February, Sgt. Lucas Tate said.Police received permission from the victim to search her cell phone for information she told police would assist in the rape investigation.The search produced information that linked her to the theft and burglary previously being investigated, Tate said, and police arrested her.During the sexual assault investigation, the victim told police she was at the south side residence of a female acquaintance, with whom she had consensually been engaging in sexual acts. A man at the residence asked the acquaintance if he could participate in the acts between her and the victim, Tate said.The acquaintance initially told the man he could not participate. The man then asked a second time, offering the acquaintance money.The man became involved with both women, the victim told police, and this was when the alleged rape occurred. The woman told police she did not seek medical attention following the incident.Although the victim was arrested in connection to the theft and burglary, BPD continues its investigation of the reported rape.— Kirsten Clark
(02/27/13 4:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Floor-length gowns, short frocks and old bridesmaids dresses — between 30 and 40 of them — sit inside a Bloomington High School South classroom.BHSS group Students Advocating for a Greener Environment, also known as S.A.G.E., has been collecting used prom wear in the name of sustainability.“Most people when they go to prom, they buy a $200 or $300 prom dress, wear it once and never wear it again,” senior S.A.G.E. member Jessie Menefee said.The whole idea of the initiative, Menefee said, is to create a more eco-friendly prom.S.A.G.E. President Katie Head, a high school senior, said like many of her classmates, she grew up in Bloomington, which she described as a fairly progressive city.The high school’s students know what recycling is, she said, but Project Green Prom allows them to take it further by “introducing sustainability in a chic way.”Head started S.A.G.E. during her freshman year after realizing a lack of environmental groups at the school left a void. Last year marked Project Green Prom’s first prom dress collection.“Before, I never thought of fashion as being sustainable,” said Head, a self-proclaimed lover of fashion.To her junior prom, Menefee wore a black velvet dress with gold sequins on the bodice, a gown she found during last year’s Project Green Prom. This year, she re-donated the dress in hopes another girl can wear it.She said she hopes to find another recycled dress to wear to her senior prom.Dress collection will continue during school hours until March 8, culminating in a prom dress fashion show at 10 a.m. March 18. Those interested in donating dresses or prom accessories can do so in-person at BHSS’ main office or email projectgreenprom@gmail.com to arrange for students to pick up the items.After the fashion show, S.A.G.E. will sell the dresses that will range in price from free to $10 to students looking for a wallet-friendly alternative to retail-priced dresses, freshman S.A.G.E. member Victoria Fosha said.Fosha has been helping Head organize the event in preparation to take over the planning after Head graduates. Fosha said she is pleased so far with the number of donations S.A.G.E. has received, and she hopes next year’s event will be as successful.“[The event] brings everyone together,” Fosha said. “And it’s just fun.”During last year’s Project Green Prom, students collected about 70 dresses, many of which were sold to students and made an appearance at the school’s prom last spring.“It was super cool to see the recycled dresses,” Head said. “We started it to be a sustainability thing, but it ended up reaching a variety of students.”
(02/25/13 6:10pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel remembers driving distinguished professor of political science Elinor Ostrom home from Martinsville, Ind., after a speaking engagement at a charity camp.It was late at night, she said, and Elinor Ostrom had to fly out of Indianapolis early the next morning.“So I drove her to that beautiful little house on Lampkins Ridge, and it was easily 11:30 when I got there,” Robel said. “And I remember Vincent peeking out the window, waiting up for her.”Nine professors and administrators from around the world contributed vignettes and remarks during a celebration of the lives of Elinor Ostrom and her husband, distinguished IU scholar Vincent Ostrom, who both died in June 2012.Hundreds of students, faculty and friends of the Ostroms attended the event, which took place Oct. 15, 2012, at the IU Auditorium.Political science professor Michael McGinnis remembers joining the Ostroms during holidays and later helping the couple with medical appointments.Elinor Ostrom’s death came earlier than expected, McGinnis said, but in ways it was comforting both husband and wife died within weeks of one another.“They had always been a team,” McGinnis said. “In their research and their affection for one another.”University of Colorado associate professor Krister Andersson said Elinor and Vincent Ostrom were an example of the power of working together.Although many knew Elinor Ostrom for her work in academia and the recognition she received as a result — she is the only woman to have won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences — IU professor of political science Marjorie Hershey said she had the privilege of knowing Elinor Ostrom personally.Like most of the speakers at the event, Hershey knew Elinor Ostrom as simply, “Lin.”“Lin’s contribution to daily lives should have won her a second Nobel prize,” she said.The Nobel Prize winner was also a longtime competitive swimmer who loved Inuit art.“Lin” hated shopping so much that when she found a pair of comfortable shoes, Hershey said, she would buy as many pairs as she could so it would be years before she had to shop again.She and her husband also built a cabin on Manitoulin Island in Canada.The cabin had no electricity or running water.In a video presentation created by Carleton College professor of social sciences Barbara Allen, the couple talked about furniture they built.The Ostroms’ house and everything in it has been given to the University, IU President Michael McRobbie said.The School of International and Global Studies, scheduled to begin construction in spring 2013, will include a room dedicated to the couple and will house some of their handmade furniture.Other speakers included Washington University in St. Louis professor and 1993 Nobel laureate Douglass North, School of Public and Environmental Affairs Dean John Graham, Delft University of Technology professor and Dean Theo Toonen and University of Cincinnati assistant professor Gwen Arnold.At the conclusion of the event, IU President McRobbie and Robel unveiled a portrait of Elinor Ostrom to be displayed in the Indiana Memorial Union.In it, she holds her Nobel medal, which is now housed in Bryan Hall.Behind her sits an open laptop, which McRobbie said signifies her steadfast work ethic, and right beside her sits a picture of her husband.
(02/18/13 5:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A resident of Varsity Villas was arrested during the early morning hours Saturday after allegedly threatening his neighbors with a shotgun for playing their music too loudly.Colby Shiver, 21, now faces preliminary charges of intimidation with a deadly weapon and public intoxication, Bloomington Police Sgt. Lucas Tate said.Bloomington Police Department officers reported to the apartment complex at about 12:45 a.m. after a Graham’s Security Patrol employee reportedly saw a man walking around with a shotgun, Tate said.Upon officers’ arrival, security officers were with Shiver, who was seated on the ground near a black shotgun with the shells removed. Shiver told police he went to complain about the noise and brought the gun for his own protection, Tate said. Witnesses told police Shiver approached the apartment and yelled to his neighbors from outside, threatening to shoot them. A security officer told police he witnessed the suspect point the gun at the neighbor’s door, Tate said.Bloomington police collected the shotgun and shells, which are currently booked as evidence.— Kirsten Clark
(02/12/13 3:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A group of three men reportedly jumped a Stadium Crossing resident Sunday evening in the parking lot of the complex formerly known as the Villas. The group then reportedly demanded the victim’s car keys at gunpoint and drove away in the victim’s silver Kia Soul.The victim, 21, told police he left his residence to retrieve an item from his car in the parking lot, Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Joseph Crider said, when three men approached him.Although the victim did not report any injuries as a result of the encounter, the suspects successfully gained possession of the victim’s vehicle, Crider said.The car, which contained cash and several articles of the victim’s clothing, has yet to be located as of Monday morning.— Kirsten Clark
(02/11/13 5:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A woman reported a possible rape Wednesday morning after she returned to the residence of a man she did not know following a night out at the bars.Bloomington police are still investigating the circumstances.Officers met with the victim at about 10 a.m. Wednesday at IU Health Bloomington Hospital, where she was undergoing a rape kit, Bloomington Police Department Lt. Steve Kellams said.The woman, 23, told police she had been out at the bars during the early morning hours of Wednesday when she met a man and returned to his residence with him, Kellams said. She fell asleep on his bed, she told police and woke up to the man having sex with her.A second man reportedly walked into the room and got into bed with her after the first man. The victim told police she was unsure whether any sexual act occurred between them. The second man eventually got up to lay down on the floor. The first man returned and reportedly had sex with her again, Kellams said.The woman then went back to sleep, she told police, and the man whom she met at the bar drove her home at about 8 a.m. She told police she did not explicitly tell the men to stop, and she did not try to push them away, Kellams said.She also told police she was unsure whether she wanted to pursue charges at this time.— Kirsten Clark
(02/06/13 4:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington Police Department officials received a tip last August: a local retailer was possibly involved with selling synthetic substances — drugs such as those labeled “spice” or “bath salts,” often sold in small packets for between $20 to $50, typically labeled “not for human consumption.”Officers obtained a sample and, in compliance with protocol, BPD sent it away for analysis. The results came back revealing the sample’s legality.Had the sample been retrieved in September, it could have been deemed illegal, and Bloomington law enforcement could have taken appropriate action. “Unfortunately, it didn’t become ‘illegal’ until September,” BPD Captain Joe Qualters said in an email. “Which means that is was legal at the time law enforcement obtained it.”Cases like this, he said, illustrate an inefficiency in the current law.Indiana’s current synthetic drug laws grant the state’s Board of Pharmacy the authority to impose emergency rules that criminalize certain chemicals commonly found in synthetic drugs. The only stipulation is that the Drug Enforcement Agency or another state has to have scheduled a rule or have criminalized the substance first, Indiana Board of Pharmacy Director Gregory Pachmayr said. “As I understand it, there are some challenges in enforcement of current law due to manufacturers slightly changing the chemical makeup of these substances to keep them ‘legal,’” Qualters said.The Board of Pharmacy works closely with the Indiana State Police Lab and other stakeholders, Pachmayr said, and the board conducts its own research to develop the emergency rules.Since the board was granted the ability to do so, it has exercised its ability to create emergency rules three times since August 2012. Most recently, the board added nine materials, compounds and mixtures to its list of outlawed substances in a rule filed Jan. 17. Qualters said officers regularly encounter individuals who use synthetic drugs, and officers have responded to several burglaries at establishments known to sell them.“We know that the demand is high,” he said.Qualters also said lives can be potentially devastated by the effects caused by the drugs. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the effects of synthetic marijuana can be as mild as “agitation” or as severe as rapid heart beat, tremors and seizures.Bath salts can cause extreme paranoia and hallucinations, which can result in violent behavior toward the user or those around him.Sen. Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, said he was alarmed by the accessibility of synthetic drugs within his Indianapolis district. The substances, he said, could be found at various independently owned gas stations in the area.Like Qualters, Merritt said he sees flaws in the current legislation. Every time a compound found in synthetic drugs is added to a list of banned substances, retailers pull them from the shelves, drug makers alter the recipe and vendors get away with selling it, he said.Last September, Attorney General Greg Zoeller addressed state business owners in a letter, warning them of the risk vendors run by selling synthetic drugs.“The purpose of this letter is to put you on notice that my office will aggressively pursue civil remedies against any person or business involved in the sale of these dangerous substances,” Zoeller said.The letter was one of many steps Indiana officials have been taking in the fight against what Merritt called a “scourge on society.”In 2010, Merritt began working on a proposal to expand the definition of synthetic substances. Senate Bill 536 was approved Jan. 29 by Indiana’s Senate Committee.The bill proposes an expanded definition of a “synthetic drug” that builds on the current legislation. If passed, the new definition would not rely on chemical components to classify a substance as a “synthetic drug.” According to Merritt’s proposal, if a reasonable person would believe a substance to be a synthetic drug, it should be classified as such.Merritt said he believes the bill will be passed into law with relative ease by July.Until then, law enforcement agents will continue to crack down on synthetic drug use to the fullest extend of the law, Qualters said.“Our efforts will continue,” he said. “But our hope is that current laws can be expanded or become more clearly defined so that enforcement can be easier and more timely.”
(02/01/13 5:31am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A female reported a sexual assault at about 2:45 a.m. Thursday, Bloomington Police Department Lt. Steve Kellams said.Bloomington police continue their investigation in which a 21-year-old woman reported she met a man while at a bar where she had been drinking, Kellams said. The interaction with him began as consensual, she told police, but she then blacked out.Kellams said she told police that when she became aware of what was happening, she realized she was laying in some shrubbery somewhere in the downtown area. The man was on top of her, rubbing against her.She told police she had to push the man off.The woman then reunited with her friends at the bar, Kellams said, and she returned to her residence, where she reported the incident.Officers spoke with the victim at her residence and transported her to IU Health Bloomington Hospital where a rape kit was performed, Kellams said.