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(08/14/12 12:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Growing up, Jacobs School of Music lecturer Andy Hollinden was never a fan of the Beach Boys.“The Beach Boys weren’t very hip during the late ’60s and early ’70s,” Hollinden said, adding that the music of Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart was more his style.But this fall, Hollinden and his students will spend about four hours each week with the Beach Boys in MUS-Z320: Music of The Beach Boys, new to IU this semester. The class will chronologically survey the band’s 50 years of music while exploring the music’s context, which was what changed Hollinden’s mind about the band later in life.“I would say that they’re probably America’s greatest band,” Hollinden said. “It’s that simple.”Hollinden said he attributes the band’s greatness to its “other-worldly” harmonies and its longevity.This summer, all surviving original Beach Boys toured for their 50th anniversary, and Hollinden said he attended their Cincinnati concert without “super high” expectations.“I felt a sense of obligation to go because I thought it would be heartwarming,” he said. “I was unprepared for how great it would be. It was without a doubt one of the best music events I’ve ever witnessed.”Hollinden said his other music history classes, which include MUS-Z301: Rock Music in the 70s and 80s, MUS-Z385: History of the Blues and MUS-Z403: The Music of Jimi Hendrix, have been popular among students.“It’s a way to get some arts and humanities credits and study something that they’re interested in that pertains to their day-to-day lives,” he said.Senior psychology major Rory Derryberry said he enjoyed Hollinden’s class about Frank Zappa, which partly influenced his decision to enroll in the new course.“I’ve always enjoyed their music,” Derryberry said of the Beach Boys, adding that he finds leader Brian Wilson’s story to be an interesting one.Derryberry said he believes the rock ’n’ roll history classes at the Jacobs School are popular simply because “they’re fun courses, especially with the classic rock.”“So many people listen to it, and it’s part of our history,” he said. “It’s cool that IU offers that.”In addition to the historical aspect of the Beach Boys class and similar courses, Hollinden said they enable students to improve listening skills and increase appreciation for songwriting and production.“Most people don’t have the proper context of the music they listen to,” he said, adding that he has been interested in music for quite some time. “It took me decades to realize how little I knew, that I had barely scraped the tip of the iceberg.”Seats are still open. Students may drop or add courses through the first week of classes on OneStart.
(06/07/12 4:54pm)
____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 son gets his first mid-term grade back in economics, and he’s failing. Or maybe he finds out the first week of school the class that sounded so awesome over the summer isn’t so awesome after all. Solution Instruct your son to make an appointment with his adviser (which can be done online at https://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 daughter realizes that the standard five-paragraph essay that got her through high school might not cut it in college.Solution Send her to Writing Tutorial Services, which can provide her with a free 50-minute session with a peer tutor. She can call 812-855-6738 to make an appointment.Housing ProblemsProblem Your freshman calls home after the first week. She is convinced that if she continues living with her current roommate, it’s going to be a very long year.Solution Your student should go to her Resident Assistant first. If the conflict still cannot be solved, students can request a roommate change after the second week of school. 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 7th 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 Street and Jordan Avenue, 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 himself lately. You’re concerned he 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. It can be reached at 812-339-4477 or 911 for emergencies.Bloomington Fire DepartmentLocated at 300 E. Fourth St. It can be reached at 812-332-9763 or 911 for emergencies.
(04/30/12 4:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>About 30 students participated in what associate instructor and organizer Tristan Tager called a “protest for the greater good of humans” at 5 p.m. Friday at the Sample Gates.The anti-zombie protest addressed a growing problem in America, Tager said. Participants held signs that read “Just die. Again” and “More guns, less bites.”“There’s a permeating theme of zombies being increasingly relevant to American life — zombies running around eating people’s brains, taking American jobs, zombies teaching in the math department and infusing the youth of today with an utter lack of vigor and energy,” he said. In reality, the protest was an opportunity for finite math instructor Tager’s students to blow off steam prior to finals week.Tager, who teaches a class of about 80 students, said the protest was partially meant to poke fun at the recent influx of protests on and around campus.In the background, a man in a spandex American flag jumpsuit carried a sign reading, “’Merika hates Zombies!” A group of students shouted at a couple walking by with a stroller, asking if the couple knew whether its child was a zombie.“We felt this had reached a breaking point and that it really needed to stop, so we decided that, being the youth of America, the future was in our hands, and we took action directly,” Tager said.The protest was met with mixed sentiments, as IU-Purdue University Indianapolis Professor of Economics and Bloomington City Council member Martin Spechler observed nearby.“Are you for or against zombies?” a protester asked him. “I wouldn’t waste my time with that,” Spechler replied.Later, Spechler said students should devote more energy to the social injustices present today, such as income inequality and concerns about oil companies.“This is nonsense,” he said. “Students should be for or against something.”At about 5:30 p.m., Tager suggested the group take the anti-zombie protest to the streets en route to Hartzell’s Homemade Ice Cream for a celebratory snack.
(04/25/12 5:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Returning undergraduates can expect a few cost increases on their Bursar statements next year.Indiana residents will experience a 3.8 percent hike in tuition costs for the 2012-13 academic year as compared to previous years’ tuition. Non-residents can expect a 6.2 percent increase.The credit hour flat fee, paid by all full-time undergraduates carrying less than 17 credit hours, is set at $4,375 per semester for in-state students and $15,100 for out-of-state students.The Indiana Commission for Higher Education’s non-binding target tuition increases for the coming academic year, released in May 2011, suggested a 0 to 3.5 percent increase in tuition and mandatory fees from the previous budgetary cycle.The Board of Trustees approved the fee schedules for the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years, also in May 2011, announcing in-state undergraduate fees would increase by 3.5 percent for both academic years. The 0 to 3.5 percent increase in tuition and mandatory fees was also suggested for Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus, which enrolled nearly 40,000 students for the 2011-12 academic year.Regional IU campuses will experience tuition and fee increases for in-state undergraduates as well, with all campuses except IU Southeast preparing for a 2.5 percent increase. IU Southeast students can expect a 2.4 percent increase.Although in-state instructional fees are increasing 3.8 percent, the University still adheres to the 3.5 percent maximum increase set by the Commission for Higher Education when mandatory fees, such as the student activity fee and technology fee, are factored into the equation.However, the temporary Repair and Rehabilitation fee, introduced in fall 2011 after state funding for University renovations and repairs decreased, was not included in the University’s calculations in regard to the 3.5 percent increase. When the temporary $180 annual fee is factored in, the total cost for in-state undergraduates will increase 5.4 percent from this year’s costs. This includes tuition, mandatory fees and the temporary Repair and Rehabilitation fee.Associate Vice President for University Communications Mark Land said part of the reason for the tuition and fee increase is due to a decrease in state support. He added that the majority of the University’s revenue comes from four main sources: tuition, donations, state support and federal research grants. “I don’t want it to sound like we’re blaming the state, but it’s a fact that when one revenue source changes, we need to make some of it up,” he said.Land said the majority of gifts to the University are given with a specific destination in mind, such as for a specific school or a scholarship fund. Consequently, the money does not go into a general fund for the University to allocate where necessary.Addressing the issue of increasing tuition is a balancing act, he said, as costs associated with staff healthcare, salaries, benefits and operating costs continue to increase.“We’re very much aware that people are price-sensitive, more so than usual because of the economy,” Land said. “We want to provide a good education, but we also want to provide a good value.”
(04/24/12 3:04am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>About 30 students met with Interim Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel and Dean of Students Harold “Pete” Goldsmith Monday evening for the second open forum meeting in the Indiana Memorial Union Persimmon Room.Assistant Dean of Students Steve Veldkamp, who organized and moderated the meeting, said the two-part open forum meeting arose out of Robel’s and Goldsmith’s desire to listen to student concerns after various student groups voiced grievances at the Board of Trustees meeting April 12 and 13. The first open forum meeting took place Friday afternoon at the same location.At the trustees meeting, Veldkamp presented the opportunity to meet with administrators to protesters, as well as other students.John Brown from the Board of Aeons and members of Union Board, the Residence Halls Association, the IU Student Association,and the Graduate and Professional Student Organization also attended the open forum, as did students unaffiliated with any formal student group.Students tossed issues back and forth for the first half hour, wrestling with how to best bring about change within the University. Grievances against the structure of the Board of Trustees and tuition hikes were aired, and the discussion focused mainly on how students can apply the leverage necessary to generate change. In response, next year’s IUSA administration has arranged monthly “town hall” meetings to begin next fall, newly elected IUSA Vice President of Administration Pat Courtney said.“The University does move at a slow pace, but I think by having students that are persistent in certain issues, we can speed that pace up,” Courtney said. “Having these town hall meetings will get more reassurance on what is most important to the students. Our term is only a year long, so finding out quickly what impacts students the most will lead to more effective policy changes.”Veldkamp said there are no plans to continue open forum meetings into the next academic year. The IUSA town hall meetings will serve a similar function, he said, unless he receives notification that students want more open forum meetings.Courtney said that for now, student input from a suggestion box will be used to generate monthly agendas for the town hall meetings. Each meeting will have a theme, such as the rising cost of higher education.“People who want to voice their opinions about that can come, and we’ll try to lay out some type of structure — ‘How can we move forward? How can we actually influence policies? Which administrators do we need to talk to?’” Courtney said. “We think that’s the most effective way to move forward, but we don’t want any student opinions to be left to themselves.” Some students expressed concerns within the open forum that such a structure of communication won’t facilitate large policy changes. However, Veldkamp said the reason a student trustee now sits on the Board of Trustees is because of an IUSA initiative from the mid-1970s that began with students dissatisfied with representation within the Board of Trustees. The position of student trustee is now written into state code, Veldkamp said, because of student activism on the Bloomington campus and other university campuses across Indiana.Student Laura Douglas suggested a comprehensive guide so students with grievances can know how to go about directing their concerns. Goldsmith said a former graduate student created a compendium of University committees so students could easily identify which sectors they need to address.“We’re trying to locate that, update it and make it generally available,” Goldsmith said.Also discussed was the possibility of forming a student committee to review the University budget to ensure transparency and act as a watchdog in regards to allocation of University funds. Goldsmith acknowledged the feasibility of such a committee, as the budget is available for public use.
(04/20/12 5:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Singer Jessie J’s “Do it Like a Dude” played from speakers in a Ballantine Hall classroom Thursday night as freshman Ash Kulak rehearsed an act for GenderF**k IU 2012. The mash-up of performances, which is organized by Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Equality, is a gender-inclusive drag show that premiered on the Bloomington campus in spring 2011.“We didn’t want it to just have drag queens or drag kings,” senior Vice President of SAGE Miranda Ettinger said, adding the organization wanted to include a variety of expressions of gender and feature a diverse group of performers.Kulak, outreach coordinator for SAGE, said GenderF**k serves a similar purpose as the Miss Gay IU pageant, which is typically an annual event but did not happen this year.This year’s GenderF**k will include lip-sync and dance performances to songs that address issues of gender, such as “Do it Like a Dude” and Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” Also on the program are songs that speak to originality, such as Cascada’s “Original Me.”GenderF**k also coincides with the 2012 Day of Silence organized by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, although no group on campus is officially participating. Kulak said GenderF**k isn’t directly affiliated with the Day of Silence but added that the event serves a similar function if people want to recognize it as such.“A lot of people have Day of Silence ‘break the silence’ parties, and because GenderF**k is so late in the day, it could serve as a ‘breaking the silence party’ because really, that’s what we’re doing,” Kulak said. “We’re revolting against the majority in the show and against the government that tells us, ‘This is how you have to be, and this is what you have to do.’”SAGE President Ashley Carroll, a senior, said GenderF**k is a celebration. She said the Day of Silence, which had been observed on campus in previous years, is no longer as necessary as it used to be.“Each year, there’s less and less need for it,” she said. “We’re here, and we’re talking.”Ettinger said GenderF**k serves to show gender is something that people can identify with and express in different ways, both in everyday life and performance settings.“This is sort of our fun event to show that gender is just the playground,” she said. “Gender doesn’t have to be strict rules, and it doesn’t have to be binary. I want people to realize we don’t have to take gender so seriously.” IU Student Association is co-sponsoring the event. GenderF**k begins at 8 p.m. Friday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, and admission is free.
(04/19/12 2:57am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Current trustee Philip Eskew and Michael Shumate are vying for a three-year term on the Board of Trustees.The annual election for one of three alumni-elected University-trustee positions begins May 1. Two of the elected positions go to University alumni, while the third elected position goes to an IU student. While only University alumni are eligible to vote, that includes current seniors scheduled to graduate in May. The IU Bloomington Dean of University Libraries and the IU Alumni Association conduct the election.Alumni can vote online at election.alumni.iu.edu, and voting will close at 11 a.m. June 29.Philip N. Eskew, Jr., M.D.Dr. Eskew, currently completing his second term as an elected trustee, is running for re-election to the Board of Trustees. During the past six years, Eskew has served as chair of the facilities committee and chair of the Advisory Boards of Leaders for both the IU-Purdue University Indianapolis and IU-South Bend campuses. He also has acted as a liaison to the IU Athletics Varsity Club.Eskew completed medical school at IUPUI and spent time as an undergraduate student at IU-Bloomington. He currently teaches as a volunteer clinical professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.“I think we’re in the midst of a positive movement for the University and positive growth,” Eskew said.“We’re building buildings and we’re also re-evaluating our academic directions, re-evaluating all of our courses to see which are appropriate for today’s marketplace.”Eskew said that in the future, the Board of Trustees needs to be efficient when dealing with the cost of completing a degree.“There is declining state support for the University, so we as trustees need to streamline the educational pathways toward the completion of a degree in as short of time as possible,” he said. “We need to be affordable, we need to be efficient, and we need to get there.”Eskew said the Board of Trustees needs to ensure the University maintains top-notch academics apart from the facilities. A lot of students come to IU for its campus, he said, but many choose to attend IU for other aspects of the University’s environment.“A critical piece of the Board of Trustees is to create a campus environment that attracts outstanding students and faculty,” he said.He said that although the majority of undergraduate students are not allowed to vote in the upcoming election, they should prepare for a time when they are able to participate.Michael D. ShumateShumate, who graduated from the Kelley School of Business in 1967, said he had been thinking about running for election for quite some time. “I’m running because I’ve lived outside the state for a long time, but I’ve stayed engaged in the University,” he said. “Ever since being a student, I’ve loved the University.” Upon completing his undergraduate degree, Shumate went on to receive his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law and continued to work as an accountant and lawyer in the Los Angeles and New York law offices of Jones Day.Shumate is the current director of the IU Foundation, a member of the Kelley Dean’s Council and president of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Alumni Association.Shumate said faculty pay tops the list of issues he hopes to focus on as a trustee.“I think faculty are one of the most important components of the University,” Shumate said. “Even in this challenging economic environment, we need to be doing more.”Shumate said he also hopes to focus on issues of diversity, adding that the University should continue the push for the diversity Herman B Wells started.He said he also hopes to address administration accessibility to students and faculty.He said he attended college in the “turbulent ’60s,” and had the chance to be taught by former University Presidents Herman B Wells and John Ryan, as well as former Dean of Students Robert Shaffer.“They taught me valuable principles that have remained with me to this day — the importance of freedom of student expression and accessibility to administration,” Shumate said. He said he saw the administration become more effective when they provided a clear pathway for ideas to be exchanged. Currently living in Los Angeles, Shumate said he returns to Bloomington about once a month and is in the process of buying a condominium in Bloomington. He said he remembers serving as president of his senior class during his time at IU, as well as living in the Sigma Chi fraternity house, playing frisbee in Dunn Meadow and hanging out at Nick’s English Hut.“I had a great four years,” he said.
(04/18/12 3:17am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bloomington Faculty Council convened Tuesday for the last time this school year. The council discussed course evaluations, the only action item on the agenda. The council also discussed affirmative action among faculty members on campus.Course questionnaires The council continued a discussion regarding a new policy about course questionnaires, formerly referred to as “course evaluations.” Members discussed the issue of moving the questionnaires from their traditional pen-and-paper format to an electronic evaluation available online. Professor of Optometry William Swanson and other faculty members expressed concerns that such a change would decrease student response rates. Former IU Student Association President Justin Kingsolver said that if students were to receive some sort of benefit, such as making certain results of the questionnaires available to students, the response rate would likely stay the same. The return of data to students had been discussed at previous meetings.Purdue University converted to an online course questionnaire system two years ago, Kingsolver said, and according to a report, the format change saved about 750,000 pieces of paper. Kingsolver said the change would cater to sustainability, an issue he said students care about. A preliminary vote revealed more supporters than opponents for the electronic questionnaire.The council also discussed making select information from the questionnaires available to students. “I have a lot of faith that our student body would use the information in a positive way,” Kingsolver said, adding that a return of data would open the relationship between faculty and students. Faculty members expressed concerns that the information would be misinterpreted. Council members voted to allow the return of information to students. The council also voted to grant the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education access to the data for purposes of program review and assessment, as well as to include several campus-wide questions on each department’s evaluation.Affirmative action reportUniversity Director of the Office of Affirmative Action Julie Knost presented the annual affirmative action report for the IU-Bloomington campus. This year’s report, which included data from the University employee database, indicated many successes in representation of women in faculty and highlighted areas of improvement for the University, Knost said.The total number of women faculty members increased by 2 percent for the 2011-12 school year, Knost said, which continues a 15-year trend of a roughly 1 percent increase in women faculty members every year.Despite the increases, Knost said the University should “watch the distribution of where women are hired.” She said progress has been made in the sciences, although “math is still a problem.”The report also included statistics about minority faculty members, which Knost said were based on faculty members’ self-identification of minority status. Despite 16 new minority hires for the current school year, 12 minority faculty members resigned, which Knost said might be indicative of an issue with faculty retention.
(04/16/12 2:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After protests Thursday, the Board of Trustees convened Friday morning for the second day of meetings with few interruptions.“If we identified (people) as being part of the disturbance from yesterday, we didn’t permit them to go in today,” IU Police Department Capt. Thomas Lee said.Students from Coal Free IU staged a quiet demonstration in the Indiana Memorial Union Frangipani Room in which members sat in the front row of the visitor seating area holding signs with images of coal-related issues.Representatives from the Hudson and Holland Scholars Program also attended after an unsuccessful attempt to speak with trustees Thursday.In the academic and affairs and University policies committee report, trustees discussed the New Directions in Teaching and Learning initiative with Interim Provost Lauren Robel, Executive Vice President for University Regional Affairs, Planning and Policy John Applegate and IU-Purdue University Indianapolis Chancellor Charles Bantz.Trustees said it was important to cut costs for students, especially when higher education institutions such as University of Phoenix can offer degree completion for students at a lower cost. The group discussed how to balance cutting the costs of education with maintaining a high-quality research program within the University.“We need to understand what happens to the research mission of campuses when you have a model that is squeezing away all the places in which you generate the resources to support research,” Robel said.Robel also spoke about the possibility of applying the model of the eText initiative to general education requirements as an instrument for cost reduction.During a brief recess, Trustee Patrick Shoulders addressed the representatives from Coal Free IU.“I want to salute the Beyond Coal (Coal Free IU) people for bringing their message forward,” he said. “To get that message across depends upon mutual respect.”Shoulders invited the students to the front of the room to speak with the trustees. The representatives from Hudson and Holland also met with Trustees Mary Ellen Bishop and Cora Griffin.President of Coal Free IU Megan Anderson said the storyboard demonstration told the story of coal use and included an image of the coal mine from which IU gets its coal and an image of a pregnant women to signify the threat of mercury, found in coal, to healthy pregnancies. The final image in the presentation showed the solar panels at the IMU, which Anderson said was the way they wanted to end their story.“We have some serious issues that we need to confront ... but we have a beautiful opportunity to move to a clean energy future,” she said.Anderson said the group was pleased with the trustees’ response, and they left a letter and an information packet for them.“We think they do have our best interest in mind,” she said. “They were positive about letting us speak, and the experience was great on both sides.”During the second half of the meeting, the introduction of IU Student Association’s new president, Kyle Straub, was briefly interrupted when IU police officers escorted a man out of the Frangipani Room. Moments later, another man was escorted from the room. Lee said the men were identified as participants in Thursday’s protest, and officers escorted them out of the room when they began disrobing.The agenda for the April meeting indicated the trustees would discuss the University’s tentative operational budget for the 2012-13 year. Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Neil Theobald distributed raw data for the trustees to look at, Associate Vice President for University Communications Mark Land said, but did not discuss it. During the May meeting, Land said, Theobald will offer a formal tentative budget.During the remainder of the meeting, the trustees agreed to engage in an ongoing discussion about student debt and will study methods of debt management and minimization.Approvals were made for several building-related projects on various campuses.The trustees also approved new guidelines for fees associated with online courses. While a set cost for online courses was not set, the online instructional fee for each undergraduate course offered during the academic year will be at least 10 percent higher than the instructional fees of corresponding classes taught in a classroom.For nonresidents, the fee will be at least 30 percent higher than the fees associated with courses taught traditionally. The fee varies for students at regional campuses.The Board of Trustees will reconvene Friday, May 4, on the Bloomington campus.
(04/13/12 6:21pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After protests erupted Thursday, the IU Board of Trustees convened Friday morning for the second day of meetings with few interruptions.“If we identified (people) as being part of the disturbance from yesterday, we didn’t permit them to go in today,” IU Police Department Captain Thomas Lee said.Students from Coal Free IU staged a quiet demonstration in the Indiana Memorial Union Frangipani Room, in which members sat in the front row of the visitor seating area holding signs with images of coal-related issues.Representatives from the Hudson and Holland Scholars Program also attended after an unsuccessful attempt to speak with trustees Thursday.In the academic affairs and university polices committee report, trustees discussed the New Directions in Teaching and Learning initiative with Interim Provost and Executive Vice President Lauren Robel, Executive Vice President for University Regional Affairs, Planning and Policy John Applegate and IU-Purdue University Indianapolis Chancellor Charles Bantz.Trustees said it was important to cut costs for students, especially when higher education institutions such as University of Phoenix can offer degree completion for students at a lower cost. The group discussed how to balance cutting the costs education with maintaining a high-quality research program within the University.“We need to understand what happens to the research mission of campuses when you have a model that is squeezing away all the places in which you generate the resources to support research,” Robel said.Robel also spoke about the possibility of applying the model of the eText initiative to general education requirements as an instrument for cost reduction.During a brief recess, Trustee Patrick Shoulders addressed the representatives from Coal Free IU.“I want to salute the Beyond Coal (Coal Free IU) people for bringing their message forward,” he said. “To get that message across depends upon mutual respect.”Shoulders invited the students to the front of the room to speak with the trustees.The representatives from Hudson and Holland also met with Trustees Mary Ellen Bishop and Cora Griffin.President of Coal Free IU Megan Anderson said the storyboard demonstration told the story of coal use and included an image of the coal mine from which IU gets its coal and an image of a pregnant woman to signify the threat of mercury, found in coal, to healthy pregnancies. The final image in the presentation showed the solar panels at the IMU, which Anderson said was the way they wanted to end their story.“We have some serious issues that we need to confront . . . but we have a beautiful opportunity to move to a clean energy future,” she said.Anderson said the group was pleased with the trustees’ response, and they left a letter and an information packet for them.“We think they do have our best interest in mind,” she said. “They were positive about letting us speak and the experience was great on both sides.”During the second half of the meeting, the introduction of IU Student Association’s new president, Kyle Straub, was briefly interrupted when IU police officers escorted a man out of the Frangipani room. A few moments later, another man was escorted from the room.Lee said the men were identified as participants in Thursday’s protest, and officers escorted them out of the room when they began disrobing.At the conclusion of the meeting, the trustees agreed to engage in an ongoing discussion about student debt and will study methods of debt management and minimization.
(04/13/12 4:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Student activists began protesting during the Board of Trustees meeting Thursday afternoon. The group, which representatives said was not officially affiliated with the Occupy movement, openly discussed grievances against the University as the trustees simultaneously carried on with their scheduled business in the Frangipani Room in the Indiana Memorial Union.Prior to the meeting, University employees distributed half-sheets of paper to student protesters. “Anyone may attend,” it read, adding that all sessions except for executive sessions are open to the public. The flyer also included notes about permissible conduct in the meeting and information about students’ right to protest.The afternoon meetings of the finance and audit, finance and academic affairs and University policy committees began at 1 p.m. Students lined the hallway leading to the Frangipani Room prior to the meeting, and University employees checked backpacks and purses prior to entry.Student protesters circulated their own flyers, expressing grievances with the way the University is run and the lack of student input when major decisions about student life are made.“The meeting is public — anyone can attend — but there is not period for public comment,” the flyer read. “Therefore, we will be attending the meeting at 1PM on Thursday, April 12, and we intend to participate on equal terms with the trustees.”Dan Rives, associate vice president for University human resources, began by discussing the tentative health care plan for 2013. About 20 minutes later, students’ cellphones began to ring repeatedly, and student protesters gathered on the left side ofthe room.The students began having a meeting as IU police officers stood nearby. The trustees continued with their meeting. Voices of protesters competed with those of the trustees as both meetings occurred simultaneously.“I don’t think these people should be making decisions for us,” one protester said.“If you would like to speak and make public comment, we’re making public comment over here,” junior Samantha Harrell said, inviting other visitors to join the meeting.“Our next session, we’re going to look at student affordability,” Neil Theobold, senior vice president and chief financial officer, said.In an ongoing discussion about student debt, the board discussed ways the University could provide students with information about loan repayment and debt management.John Applegate, executive vice president for University regional affairs, planning and policy, said all regional campuses have been examining the issue of student debt.“For your information, they’re discussing student affordability right now,” one protester said in response.The trustees discussed ways to educate students about loan repayment. Protesters discussed how it is in students’ best interests to avoid taking out loans for education in the first place.“Is the loan thing driven because of the attractiveness of the loan?” one trustee asked his colleagues.Harrell turned around to address the board.“We can answer a lot of the questions you’re asking right now,” she said. “It would make sense to ask us.”The board continued the discussion amongst themselves, not addressing the protesters.At about 2 p.m., the protesters moved to the center of the room, near the trustees’ sitting area.“Just because they didn’t arrange for us to sit in a circle doesn’t mean we shouldn’t,” Harrell said.The protesters sat on the floor as IU police officers moved toward the area.The board meeting continued as protesters began to address student trustee Cora Griffin, a graduate student at the School of Environmental and Public Affairs at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis. One protester invited Griffin to join the assembly. Others expressed disappointment in her.“I want to ask why the student representative didn’t represent us during the discussion about student debt,” a student said loudly.The student group grew louder until a board member asked his fellow trustees if they would like to take a break.The meeting finally paused as trustee members deliberated their next course of action.Griffin later addressed students. She said she appreciated the student participation and said there were “many channels” for students to address the trustees withgrievances.At about 2:45 p.m., the board took a break, during which Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Life and Learning Steve Veldkamp addressed the protesters.He said Interim Provost Lauren Robel offered to meet with them to discuss their grievances. Veldkamp described Robel as a “key player for the Bloomington campus.”One student thanked Veldkamp for speaking with the group but said he supported the protesters’ actions.“I personally would like to throw out that there is more than one way to skin a cat,” the student said.Shortly afterward, protestors reacted to rumors of police possibly making arrests. IU Police Department Chief Keith Cash said as long as activists were not overly disruptive, they would not make any arrests. He also said that because most of the protesters were students, any consequences would be handled through University judicial review.The Board of Trustees meeting reconvened at about 3:20 p.m., and students began chanting and listing demands, which included affordable tuition, reduced funding for police force on campus and public comment.The chanting caused the trustees to pause the meeting again.The protesters stood up and, without police prompting, began exiting the room, shouting, “Whose school? Our school!”When the last protester left, the trustees resumed their meeting. They discussed several proposed design plans needing approval, including renovation of the IU Kokomo Wellness and Fitness Center and the recent acquisition of more land on the IUPUIcampus.Discussion began about a 30-year vision for work on the IUPUI campus, which included talk of heated people-movers to alleviate the lack of parking on campus.Men’s basketball Coach Tom Crean also talked about the season, after which the Board of Trustees gave him a standing ovation.A group of students from the Hudson and Holland Scholars Program also attended the meeting, hoping to speak with a trustee about the budget cut the mentorship and scholarship program has experienced.Titilayo Rasaki, a junior who has been a Hudson and Holland Scholar since her freshman year, said the group had met with Edwin Marshall, vice president of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs, to express their concerns.When the situation did not improve, they sent a letter to IU President Michael McRobbie, requesting to meet. McRobbie declined, and the group decided to attend the Board of Trustees meeting Thursday with hopes of speaking with a trustee during the break, Rasaki said.Rasaki said the Hudson and Holland students focused on being respectful during the meeting, and for them, attending the meeting was a way to show administration they care about the University.“At the end of the day, Hudson and Holland wants to show appreciation for the University and give back,” she said.The Hudson and Holland representatives did not get to speak with anyone at the Board of Trustees meeting, and Rasaki said she found the protest frustrating.“It was very disrespectful because at the end of the day, trustees are trying to run the University, and if you’re being disruptive, that’s not helping anyone,” Rasaki said.Harrell said she felt the protest was extremely productive, adding it attracted a diverse group of students. She said she believed the method of protest was warranted, despite University officials’ urging activists to voice concerns in a different manner. “Other ways aren’t as effective,” she said. “When it gets to a certain point, we have to utilize other forms of communication.”After the meeting, Associate Vice President of University Communications Mark Land said that while the University respects the right of students to speak their minds and protest, there is a process to going about it.“Interrupting the trustees’ meeting isn’t exactly that process,” he said, adding that Coal Free IU had organized an “orderly, quiet protest” earlier in the day.Land said University officials weren’t surprised by the crowd after seeing flyers circulating earlier in the week. He said he hopes student protesters will take advantage of the opportunities to speak with Griffin and Robel.“At the end of the day, we were able to accomplish what we set out to do,” Land said of the trustee meeting. “We tried very hard to be very respectful of their right to do what they felt like they needed to do.”
(04/12/12 4:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Additional locker space on the upper level of the Student Recreational Sports Center is unrelated to increased instances of theft, Associate Director of Recreational Sports Jackie Puterbaugh said.The SRSC installed the additional storage space for safety and increased theft prevention, she said.“We had been lax with enforcing where people put their stuff,” she said. Students leaving their belongings on the side of basketball courts where players could trip posed a safety hazard, she said.Puterbaugh said at different times of the year, the SRSC experiences more thefts than at other times, but the lockers are “not a response to more thefts than normal.”Some students come from neighborhoods where theft is not prevalent and would leave items such as billfolds and coats by the basketball courts and not watch them, she said.“We don’t want students to have to deal with the consequences of theft,” she said.Recreational Sports staff members spoke with students and found they didn’t use the previously existing lockers on the lower level because the lockers weren’t big enough to hold backpacks and gym bags.Students said the lockers were not located close enough to facilities they wanted, such as the weight or conditioning rooms.Larger lockers were taken from the Wildermuth Intramural Center and placed in the SRSC outside the weight room.The decision to place an SRSC employee outside the weight room is also unrelated to added surveillance, Puterbaugh said. It was a customer service decision, allowing patrons to be greeted and assisted in signing up for cardio equipment, although she said it has an added benefit of having someone watching students’ belongings.The WIC locker rooms underwent renovation two years ago, so no plans exist to provide additional locker space, Puterbaugh said.
(04/11/12 3:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Social work students organized a panel, “Defending Cultural Competency in Our School Systems,” Tuesday evening to discuss the importance of educator awareness of different cultures.Junior Samantha Harrell said the idea for a panel came from a class assignment to follow a bill and actively do something about it. Harrell and several classmates decided to follow Indiana House Bill 1308, which she said would have required, among other things, increased cultural competency in teacher evaluations and the curriculum of courses in higher education.“When the bill died, we were really upset about that, and we wanted to bring people out to learn why it was so important through those who understand the various competencies,” Harrell said.Rabbi Sue Silberberg, executive director of the Helene G. Simon Hillel CenterSilberberg, representing the Jewish community on campus, spoke about the general assumption in American society that everyone is Christian, whether in practice or by mere association.She said this is a struggle for not just Jewish individuals but anyone who does not associate with Christianity.“For Jewish holidays, the most holy days of the year fall in September, and in Judaism, on that type of a holiday, those holiest days, you’re not allowed to do any form of work,” Silberberg said. “Many students do, but you’re not supposed to go to classes.”Days are set aside to attend services and be with family, Silberberg said, and this poses difficulties for Jewish students for whom the holidays coincide with the first few weeks of school. Students in these situations, she said, have to deal with revealing their cultural background and identity to a new teacher without knowing how the instructor will respond.Charmayne Champion-Shaw, associate director of American Indian Programs at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis Champion-Shaw, also a faculty member in the Department of Communication Studies at IUPUI, has researched the portrayal of American Indians in social studies textbooks. What she found was that Native Americans in every instance were described in the past tense.“If you have Indian students in your class, and they’re already struggling with their identity ... and they’re referring to Native Americans in the past tense, they’re going to continue to struggle with their identity,” she said.Lillian Casillas-Origel, director of La Casa Latino Cultural CenterCasillas-Origel discussed the way in which public schools handle instances of undocumented students. She addressed a culture of hiding that exists with undocumented families and the ways public schooling has fueled a fear of authority.She said some schools have acted as immigration offices after immigration bills passed, contributing to this culture.Casillas-Origel, who has taught a course to high-school students about college called “College 101,” also spoke about English as a Second Language classes and the isolating effect they can have on students.She also spoke about the importance of seeing Latino students as more than just Hispanic, noting that Latino and Latina individuals span various religions and sexualities.Sabrina Sullenberger, social workerSullenberger, who worked as an inclusion coordinator for public schools in Tennessee, spoke about the effects of cultural incompetency in schools.In one case she witnessed, she observed a teacher who, although she was a “self-professed lover of all children,” referred to her students by their disabilities.Sullenberger emphasized the importance of focusing on students abilities rather than their disabilities.“Inclusion is saying, ‘You are a part of our community,’” she said.Dustin Nisley, social work intern at Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Support ServicesNisley spoke of his own experiences with coming out to his family after being brought up in an Evangelical Christian background.He witnessed anti-GLBT language growing up and faced hostility after he came out to his parents during his sophomore year of college.Now a senior, Nisley said his relationship with his parents is improving. However, he said educators should be weary of intolerant language in public schools.
(04/10/12 2:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bedford, Ind., resident Missy Wilson had just learned the man who killed her son would face eight years in prison instead of the 16 he previously faced.Brent Knapp, 24, had been charged with murder after he allegedly shot Braden Wilson, 20, in July 2010. Last week, the Lawrence County prosecutor told Missy Wilson the judge would hear a plea agreement in which Knapp could plead guilty to reckless homicide in exchange for having the murder charges dropped.At about 9:30 a.m. Monday, the judge accepted the agreement, and Knapp now faces charges for reckless homicide, a Class C felony, and criminal recklessness while armed with a deadly weapon, a Class C felony. The murder charge had been dropped.Missy Wilson grabbed a cigarette and paced as friends, family and supporters gathered around.While the judge heard Knapp’s plea, the group had waited across the street from Courthouse Plaza in downtown Bedford protesting the pending agreement.Signs on neon poster board expressed outrage with the Lawrence County prosecutor and referenced Knapp’s previous criminal record, which protesters said included a stabbing, a beating and marijuana possession.“No plea agreement for Braden Wilson’s killer,” one sign read.“What is justice?” read another.Knapp’s attorney, Lorinda Youngcourt, could not be reached for comment.A display outside the courthouse recreated the crime scene, protest organizer Eddie McLain said. McLain and Missy Wilson have been friends for more than 20 years, McLain said. The display consisted of mannequins and demonstrated the path of the bullet.Lisa Fish, who helped organize the protest, said the shooting occurred when Knapp entered Braden Wilson’s bedroom in the apartment they shared. The two had been friends and coworkers at a local restaurant, Pappa’s.Braden Wilson was in bed with his girlfriend, Raichal Miller. According to court documents, Miller woke to the sound of Braden Wilson warning Knapp to “not mess with the guns and that the guns were loaded.”Miller saw Knapp holding a long gun at the side of the bed. The report said that seconds later, Miller heard a loud noise and felt numbness in her arm followed by extreme pain.The display showed what an autopsy revealed: Braden Wilson had been shot in the head, and the bullet had then entered Miller’s arm.“His girlfriend was seven months pregnant at the time,” Fish said. “It’s done a lot of damage to her arm. She’s still having reconstructive surgeries to her arm.”Knapp later admitted that, prior to the shooting, he had been drinking and snorting Adderall pills.Alicia Bunch and Amber Jenkins worked with both Knapp and Braden Wilson at Pappa’s.The two wore T-shirts with Braden Wilson’s picture printed on them.Bunch said Knapp and Braden Wilson had been best friends, nearly inseparable, even though she said Knapp was violent. “They’re bringing this up again, and they’ve been holding it off for so long, it’s just opening new wounds,” Bunch said.Braden Wilson was three weeks away from celebrating his 21st birthday when he was killed, Missy Wilson said. She said Knapp had been charged with stabbing another man in June 2010. He was jailed, she said, and bond was posted at $300.“Had they kept him in jail, he would not have even been in court until July 21, which is the day after my son was shot,” Missy Wilson said. “So he wouldn’t have even shot Braden if they had kept him in jail.”Disappointed with the judge’s decision to rule in favor of Knapp’s plea agreement, Missy Wilson plans to seek an appeal.“I’m taking it all the way to the top,” she said. “I’m not going to stop until at least another mother doesn’t have to stand where I’m at.”
(04/06/12 2:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Renovation and expansion on the newly renamed Hodge Hall Undergraduate Center, the undergraduate building of the Kelley School of Business, is scheduled to begin in mid-May.In a presentation ceremony March 30, IU President Michael McRobbie announced the dedication of the building to Kelley alumnus James Hodge. Hodge, president of Permal Asset Management in New York, donated $15 million for the expansion project.“Forty years later, after the first time I set foot on this campus in fact, both the building and I are due for a facelift,” Hodge said at the ceremony, according to a press release. “It makes me feel really good to do something with the goodness that’s fallen on me, for the institution that’s done so much for me.”The expansion and renovation are estimated to cost $60 million. In addition to Hodge’s gift, Lilly Endowment provided $33 million. A website devoted to the project is accepting donations, and as of Thursday, donors have provided more than $56 million in funding.The current undergraduate building is almost 50 years old, and while still structurally sound, Kelley Dean Dan Smith said “the current technology and facilities are not where we want them to be for our vision of where we want to go in the future.”Part of the renovation and expansion will increase classroom space as well as small-group study space, Smith said. The additional space will in turn affect the number of students admitted to Kelley. “We will probably increase our enrollment by about 100 to 150 students each year,” Smith said. “So, over the course of four years, we’ll add between 400 and 600 more students to the Kelley School.”The renovation will also create opportunities for distance learning and other technologies, in line with Kelley’s goal of achieving a more global presence, Smith said.“The way business education is being delivered now requires a robust technological backbone,” said Rick Dupree, Kelley assistant dean of development and alumni relations.He said the renovations will allow the school to utilize, among other things, the distance learning technology TelePresence, which he said he hopes will enable the school to digitally bring in CEOs and other executives from around the world.Dupree described the renovated undergraduate facility as “a beautiful building but not opulent.” He said he hopes the new facility will create an inviting atmosphere for students of all concentrations to stay after classes, fueling increased cross-collaboration.The renovation and expansion will occur in two phases, he said.In the first phase, expansion will take place in a wrap-around fashion in relation to the existing undergraduate facility. This will allow students’ schedules to remain the same, Dupree said, because students will still be able to attend classes in the current building. Classrooms in the Godfrey Graduate and Executive Education Center will also be used. Phase one will last about two years.The second phase will consist of renovation of the current undergraduate facility. At that time, students will attend classes in the expanded facility, Dupree said, as well as the graduate facility.Both Smith and Dupree said the construction will not significantly interrupt classes, as noisy construction will be completed largely during evenings and weekends.
(03/30/12 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A Monroe County sheriff’s deputy and a suspect were transported to the hospital after the Bloomington Police Department responded to a shot fired at the intersection of West Seventh and North Adams streets at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday.“We received a report of a shot fired here in this general area. Possibly there was a suspect being transported that was under arrest by a sheriff deputy,” BPD Lt. Bill Parker said. “At some point, the shot was fired, and the subject was at large.”Six officers from the IU Police Department responded as well, and the K9 unit’s presence was requested, IUPD Chief Keith Cash said.Cash said as far as he knows, no one was struck by gun fire.Cody Headley, a manager at Bloomington Auto Color near Seventh and Adams, was working at the time of the incident. He said that while the deputy was arresting the suspect, the suspect began choking her. A man mowing a lawn nearby intervened, Headley said, and he heard something that “sounded like a car hit something.” Headley said it could have been a gunshot.The suspect then got away, fleeing on Seventh Street, Headley said.“Officers from several agencies of the force came to the area and eventually did locate the suspect,” Parker said.Cash said he was walking north toward Seventh and Adams when he heard screaming from behind a house. Cash said that when he arrived, the suspect was on the ground and handcuffed, and IUPD, BPD and sheriff’s officers ensured the suspect was secure.The suspect said he had broken his leg, Cash said. This prompted Cash to request an ambulance, he said.Parker said the exact nature of the injuries was unknown.“He was transported to the hospital in custody,” Parker said. “The deputy was also transported.” The conditions of the sheriff’s deputy are also unknown at this point, he said.The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office asked BPD to assume the investigation.Detectives on the scene were investigating the deputy’s sports utility vehicle, in which the suspect was to be transported. They recovered a semi-automatic weapon, although the make and other details were not available, Parker said.At about 3:30 p.m., Parker and other officials began removing the crime scene tape.He said the deputy and suspect were at IU Health-Bloomington Hospital receiving treatment as police interviewed witnesses at the station.
(03/30/12 3:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As 18 campus buses need to be replaced, the University is looking to invest in more environmentally friendly transportation options. The current buses, which run on diesel fuel, must spend a minimum of 12 years on the road before they are eligible to be replaced, IU Campus Bus Service Operations Manager Perry Maull said. Eighteen of the 27 campus buses reached 12 years on the road this year and are now due for replacement. The nine other buses range from 2002 to 2005 and are not in need of replacement for another two to five years.With the replacement, the Campus Bus Service is looking to purchase hybrid electric buses, similar to those used by Bloomington Transit.IU Office of Sustainability Director Bill Brown said the old buses have their share of shortcomings.“They’re aging diesel buses, so they’re not going to be the latest in technology in terms of pollution control,” he said.Brown said the proposed hybrid buses would greatly reduce fuel costs and emissions. “They’re a good idea from both standpoints — financially in the long-term and environmentally,” he said.The University filed a federal grant application earlier this month, Maull said.A single hybrid electric bus costs $565,000, and it would total more than $10 million to replace 18 buses at one time. If the grant is approved in July, the Campus Bus Service will try to start replacing the buses four at a time.Staggering the replacement of the buses will alleviate demands on the Campus Bus Service, Maull said.“We don’t want to have that happen again where we have all the buses from the same year,” he said. “We want to do it a few at a time each year so we’re not trying to replace 18 buses all at once.”If the University receives funding for the replacement, the new buses will be on campus by late 2013 or early 2014, Maull said.If denied funding, either partially or entirely, the University will consider replacing the old buses with new diesel buses.“Any new bus would be better than the buses we currently have, but that’s not the goal here,” Maull said. “We want the hybrids.”
(03/28/12 4:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students received news about former Provost Karen Hanson’s resignation in September. “In every University decision for decades, students have been among the first consulted,” said IU Student Association President Justin Kingsolver.Six months later, he said, he wonders why students have not been involved in the search and screening process.Kingsolver discussed the issue with other student leaders and wrote a letter March 19 to IU President Michael McRobbie and other administrators “on behalf of the 43,000 graduate and undergraduate students at Indiana University in Bloomington,” it reads.Kingsolver said he emailed the president’s office repeatedly prior to writing the letter, asking for updates about the search process. He said he only received word that the “search and screen process has not yet begun” and “the President’s Office is reassessing what kind of person it would like to see as Provost.”In his letter, Kingsolver acknowledged the validity of those claims but requested that students play a more active role in that dialogue. He also asked for increased inclusion and transparency for students in the entire selection process.Associate Vice President of University Communications Mark Land said the University has not yet formed a search and screening committee. “It’s still early in the process, so the most important thing for us to do is get the best possible candidates,” he said, adding that he was unsure there had even been a timetable created for forming the committee and completing the search.Land said the search for a new provost will follow a set of guidelines used in previous searches for University administrators. The policy calls for students to sit on the selection committee, although the majority of the committee will consist of faculty and administrators.“One of the challenges is sometimes these searches can take quite a while, and students are more transitory than faculty and staff,” Land said.Dr. William Cast, chair of the Board of Trustees, said students have been involved previously in such processes, particularly when the search is external and candidates previously unaffiliated with the University are considered. Cast said it has not yet been determined whether the search will be internal or external. Kingsolver sent the letter to Board of Trustee members, Interim Provost Lauren Robel, Dean of Students Pete Goldsmith and other administrators.In the letter, Kingsolver referred to Robel as an “inspired pick” whose “vigorous approach and commitment to her new responsibilities will steward the office until a permanent replacement is ascertained.” However, he emphasized the need for student involvement in planning for the University’s future.“This is something students should know about because it’s a position that’s highly paid, and it’s the chief academic office,” Kingsolver said.
(03/28/12 3:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Former Playboy Playmate Rebekka Armstrong stretched a condom over her right arm.“Guys don’t always want to use condoms, and they make up excuses,” she said. “Girls on occasion have been known to say, ‘Oh, you don’t need to use a condom.’” She then listed common excuses for not wearing one.“I’m too big for a condom, baby,” she joked, holding up her arm. “Brother, are you bigger than this?”Students gathered in the Indiana Memorial Union’s Frangipani Room on Tuesday night to listen to Armstrong, an HIV/AIDS awareness activist, speak about her experience living with HIV/AIDS.Armstrong said she contracted the virus from unprotected sex at 16. Now, she not only speaks about HIV/AIDS but is a safer-sex educator.“Condoms get a bad rap,” she said. “But one of these could’ve saved my life.”Union Board sponsored the lecture. Hillary Anderson, Union Board lectures director, said she had hoped students who wouldn’t normally attend the talk would be drawn to the Playboy label and come away with a valuable lesson.“We wanted to bring her because we felt like the topic of HIV and sexual health awareness was a message a lot of students needed to hear,” Anderson said.Armstrong also talked about how self-esteem and personal boundaries can create healthier relationships.“I wanted you to like me. I wanted you to think I was cool,” Armstrong said. “I wanted to fit in, and that put me in situations where I didn’t create healthy boundaries.”Armstrong also discussed the medication she takes and associated myths, such as that there is a cure for HIV/AIDS. There isn’t a cure, she said, only medications to slow progression and ease side effects.“People ask me, ‘Can’t I just take those meds that Magic Johnson takes?’” she said.Armstrong became a Playboy Playmate soon after turning 18 after a family friend passed her picture along to Hugh Hefner. She tested positive in 1989 at age 22. In the first stages of her illness, she was prescribed azidothymidin, also known as AZT, the only drug available at the time for patients with HIV/AIDS, to fight progression of the virus. She was taking a total of 18 AZT pills a day.Armstrong recalled the violent side effects of the medication, which ranged from open sores covering her body to fiery, nail-like sensations in her hands and feet to hair loss and extreme nausea. “‘Can I just take those meds that Magic Johnson takes?’ Absolutely,” she said. “But I suggest you rethink what you do today so you don’t have to go down that path.”In 1994, Armstrong went public with her HIV diagnosis. She now speaks at schools, as well as women’s HIV-positive support groups and youth groups.She said saving lives, prevention and awareness influenced her choice to travel and speak about her experiences.“Because of the medications, there’s complacency,” she said. “Young people are having unprotected sex more, I think, because they’re not hearing about the death and the really horrific side of HIV.”
(03/27/12 2:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Gov. Mitch Daniels signed House Enrolled Act 1220, a bill aimed at curbing “credit creep” and streamlining students’ college experiences, on March 16.The new legislation, which will take effect July 1, will require public four-year colleges in Indiana to limit bachelor’s degree programs to 120 credit hours. These 120 credit hours are equivalent to a full-time student taking 15 credit hours per semester for a four-year period.A press release from Daniels’ office stated that nearly 90 percent of Indiana college degree programs currently require more than 120 credit hours. Universities will be required to gain approval from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education for any degree program requiring more than 120 hours. Approval will be reserved mostly for programs requiring extra credit hours for licensure and accreditation, as well as other circumstances. “At a time when higher education has never been more important, earning a college degree is taking Hoosiers too long, costing them too much, and leading far too many to pile up debt with no degree,” Daniels said in the press release. Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Sonya Stephens said the legislation is regulated by good intentions but will require creativity on the University’s part to balance the new limitation and the quality of education the school has traditionally delivered. The new limits will affect most, if not all, the undergraduate programs IU offers. All the majors in the College of Arts and Sciences require a minimum of 122 credit hours. A Bachelor of Science in Business from the Kelley School of Business requires a minimum of 124 hours. “This is happening in other states, too,” Stephens said. “But the real issue for us is not that this is coming now, but that this is coming with another bill, one that imposes statewide general education requirements.” The University remains unsure exactly how this bill will affect curriculum on-campus, but Stephens said it will potentially affect the campus-wide core curriculum implemented in summer 2011. If what are currently considered IU’s core curriculum classes are not included in what the state sets as its general education requirements, IU will have to move those classes elsewhere. This will cut into a program’s 120-hour limits. Collectively, Stephens said, the core curriculum bill and HEA 1220 have the potential to squeeze the University at both ends as it makes new requirements for core classes but limits available credit hours. Stephens said the credit hour cap also limits students’ ability to explore disciplines not offered at the high-school level. “That exploration is really what college is about, and this sends the message that you have to finish as quickly as possibly and get out and get a job,” she said. Jason Bearce, associate commissioner for strategic communications and initiatives with the Commission for Higher Education, said students will still have the opportunity to surpass the 120-credit hour limit. Students can take as many credit hours as they want, he said, since the limit is more about preventing colleges from requiring students to take an exorbitant number of hours prior to degree completion. “The bottom line at the state level is making sure colleges are focused on improving college completion rates,” Bearce said. “The state wants to know the university isn’t just having the hours for the sake of having hours.” At the same time, Bearce said, the state wants students to be focused on graduation, which in turn will keep tuition costs and debt from student loans under control. “If you’re going to school full-time, you should be taking 15 credit hours a semester,” he said. “If students take less, there’s no way they’re going to graduate on time.