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(09/07/11 4:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After not receiving a bid from the house she wanted during rush, senior Samantha Raab dropped out of formal recruitment at IU. However, Raab was not alone.“Sororities turn so many girls away, and I was one of those girls,” she said. “I think girls are going to want a different experience than that.”Raab has decided to try greek life again. The journalism and communications major is one of the first girls to receive bids from Theta Phi Alpha. In an expansion effort by the Panhellenic Association, TPA is coming back to IU.TPA arrived in the 1920s but left on good terms in the ‘50s due to lack of funds and interest, said Katie Jackson, the Residential Educational Consultant for the National TPA Chapter.“We’re really excited to be back at IU,” she said, “especially since it’s the Zeta chapter.”Jackson will live in Bloomington until April to help restart TPA. During the summer, she contacted interested women and spent the first week of classes meeting with them. Some bids were given out.Raab said Theta Phi Alpha will be different from the other 19 houses. Unlike other sororities, TPA won’t have a house. “We will be off campus, and that’s a new thing for IU, but I hope it doesn’t deter girls away,” Ashley Dillon, a junior majoring in English, said. Dillon has a Theta Phi Alpha bid.Dillon said she found out about TPA from friends, and interested women are getting in contact with Jackson.“I didn’t rush because, as a freshman, I had a scholarship that prevented me, and by sophomore year, I was really involved on campus,” Dillon said. “I’m really excited to meet and hang out with a group of new girls. I think this is a neat opportunity for people looking for something different.”Michelle Laplatney, the National Vice-President, is in charge of extensions and new chapters at universities and said TPA is able to offer something different at IU, being without a house.“We were so glad to be invited by IU’s progressive Panhellenic Association,” she said. “We’re all very unique and different on every campus. That’s something we’re proud of.”
(08/29/11 1:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When IU junior Mike Dits’ tire reached Santa Cruz, Calif., it marked the end of an 81-day bike journey from Charleston, S.C. The Kelley School of Business triple major spent his summer biking and building affordable housing with Bike and Build, a non-profit, service-oriented cycling trip organizer. Dits, who had never cycled before, heard of Bike and Build from his older brother. After an expensive application fee, about six essays and a lot of paperwork, Dits said he was ready to spend his summer on the road. “When I was younger, my dad had one of those huge Schwinn bikes, but it was nothing at all like road biking,” Dits said.Riders have to commit to at least 500 miles before the trip to get acclimated to cycling.“I trained for about a month and a half before the trip,” he said. “As summer drew near, I had to tell my IU rugby coach that I had to focus on cycling. I cycled inside at the HPER and SRSC until I got my bike and then got as many miles in as possible.”There was a lot to learn about biking in that month before the trip, he said, such as maintenance and riding in a style called spinning. Dits said every rider had to raise $4,000 for affordable housing projects, but some of that money paid for the rider’s bike. “There are four ways the money is donated,” he said. “Each rider has $500 to donate to any affordable housing charity of their choice, so I chose the Monroe County Habitat for Humanity.” The riders also donated on the road, giving it to the churches or other places they stayed. Organizations could apply to get grants from Bike and Build.The 32 riders spent a week in Colorado Springs, Colo., building a house alongside a single mother and her son, who were the recipients.“It was amazing to see these young adults fund and build this house,” Dits said.Along the road, there were always adventures waiting to happen, he said.“It was a great trip in that there wasn’t a strict schedule,” he said. “We had a curfew, but there was a lot of freedom, especially when we were riding.”Kara Alhadeff, another rider and a senior at Boston University, did not know anyone on the trip before they left, but she said the riders are trying to keep in touch. “When you’re forced to live with 31 people for 81 days, you get to know them,” she said. “It’ll be difficult to keep in touch, but we’ve talked about a reunion trip through Mississippi.”The riders ended their trip in Santa Cruz, Calif., and because Dits was one of four trip leaders, he drove a support vehicle back across the country he had just cycled across.“I’m still adjusting to a normal life where I’m sleeping (in) the same place every night,” he said.
(07/14/11 12:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When it comes to health issues of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community, health activists say the country is at a crossroads.This year’s National LGBTI Health Summit will take place in a part of the country that reflects that — Indiana.“Indiana is at a crossroads of the country location wise and with our view of national health coverage,” said Rebekah Sinders, a member of Rainbow Road Crew, the committee organizing the summit. “People still aren’t asking their doctors the right questions. This is important because it’s grassroots, people taking control into their own hands.”The summits have previously been held in Boulder, Cambridge, Philadelphia and Chicago. This year’s summit, based on the theme “At the Crossroads,” will be at IU July 16 through 19.It will focus on health and wellness issues facing the LGBTI community.Workshops, networking and social activities will offer participants the opportunity to meet and share ideas, this year’s chair Patrick Battani said.The summit usually attracts health care professionals and activists, alternative health providers and outreach workers.Battani said anyone interested in LGBTI health issues is welcome to attend.“It’s a grassroots thing,” he said. “A national health conference may not recognize issues of the LGBTI community.”The Rainbow Road Crew accepted abstracts from anyone around the country and the world.This gives people the opportunity to ask real questions and get real answers about LGBTI health, Battani said.Topics this year include abuse in lesbian relationships, aging with HIV epidemic and innovative LGBTI health programs in Canada.Public health discussions usually view the LGBTI communities as needing to modify behavior, organizers said. This summit breaks from that idea and will focus on a more asset-based approach.Creativity, passion and community can play a role in the health of the LGBTI community, said Carol Fischer, a producer of the local LGBT radio show BloomingOUT and the office coordinator at the IU GLBT Student Support Services office.“Issues surrounding health for gays and lesbians are especially scary for the LGBTI community,” Fischer said. “Most medical professionals are woefully ignorant of the needs and issues of the LGBTI community. More education is needed and more research into the needs of the LGBTI community in order for the medical community to better serve our health needs.”Fisher said it’s important people are aware of the health issues facing the LGBTI community.“It’s important because the LGBTI community is an oppressed community largely because of ignorance and myth,” she said. “The more summits such as this one educate and enlighten folks, the less oppressed our community will be.”
(07/11/11 12:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In 1911, surrounded by racism and segregation, 10 men founded the first historically black fraternity at IU — one of the first of its kind in the country.One hundred years later, thousands of men and their families came to Indiana to celebrate the fraternity’s centennial from July 2 through July 10.As part of the celebration, members of Kappa Alpha Psi met in Indianapolis for the fraternity’s 80th Grand Chapter Meeting last week, and nearly 4,000 of the members arrived by 60 buses in Bloomington June 7 to see where it all began.“This was a matter of trying to reconnect with the founders,” said Evelyn C. Robertson Jr., a Kappa who graduated from Tennessee State in 1962. “The path they traveled was very different than the direction of the fraternity today. This was about connecting to the past, appreciating the adversity and sacrifice.”Elder Watson Diggs and nine other black IU students founded Kappa Alpha Psi on Jan. 5, 1911, and created a constitution as well as bylaws that have never excluded a man from membership because of color, creed or national origin. It became the second historically black fraternity incorporated as a national organization and the first national fraternity to be founded at IU.Polemarch of Alpha Chapter at IU, senior Aaron Barnes, said the pilgrimage helped put the historical and national significance of the fraternity into perspective.“This is a great moment of reverence for myself and my brothers,” Barnes said. “We are a reflection of our founders. It’s something we take for granted living here in Bloomington with Alpha Chapter.”Those visiting IU for the centennial did not take the city for granted, IU Senior Vice Polemarch David Macon said. They visited various historical sites, including the first chapter house, a church where the founders frequently gathered and Jordan River in Dunn Meadow.Jordan River is a significant landmark in Kappa Alpha Psi’s history, with references being made to it in Kappa songs. A plaque celebrating the fraternity was unveiled there during the pilgrimage.In addition, another plaque on Kirkwood Avenue as well as a bench at People’s Park were unveiled.Macon, who was one of the tour guides for this “Kappa Trail,” said it was a way to pay homage to the founders and what they went through.“I saw people actually crying to be able to see and be where the founders walked and went to class,” he said. “It was a sharing experience that brought us together.” BJ Grimes, National Pan-Hellenic Council president, said it’s significant that IU is home to the Kappa Alpha Psi Alpha Chapter.“For IU, it’s great to have a continuous black organization,” said Grimes, a senior majoring in pre-med. “It shows how our campus has grown. It’s kind of the mecca of the fraternity. Bloomington gets talked about a lot in the fraternity.”In addition to the “Kappa Trail,” a celebration was also organized at Dunn Meadow for the pilgrimage. At the gathering, Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan officially declared July 7, 2011, as Kappa Alpha Psi Day in the city.“Today is a historic day itself,” Kruzan said. He went on to recap the adversity the fraternity has faced in its home state throughout the past century.When the fraternity celebrated its 25th anniversary, he said, Indiana still had government officials who were members of the Ku Klux Klan. When the 50th anniversary arrived, the country was still segregated.Now, as the members honor the 100 years that have passed since the founders created Kappa Alpha Psi, discrimination still exists, albeit often in a sneaky, more subtle form.“This is a time to celebrate but also a time to accept these challenges that still exist,” Kruzan said.Also during the celebration, the Creating Inspiration Award was given to IU and Kappa alumnus George Taliaferro, the first African-American drafted by the NFL. During his time at IU, Taliaferro fought to desegregate the swimming facilities here.Kappa Alpha Psi Grand Polemarch Dwayne Murray, before presenting the award to Taliaferro, told the crowd he had visited the first chapter house earlier and sat down on its steps.“I tried to imagine what the conversations there were like,” Murray said, “Conversations about the opportunities other students had that weren’t afforded to them, like signing up for certain classes, playing contact sports or using the same swimming pool.”IU, the fraternity and the country have come a long way in those 100 years, he said.“We’ve moved from just thinking of going to the White House to sitting down with the president of the United States and talking about change,” Murray said. “But, I tell you, my brothers, the best days are yet to come.”Brotherhood and strength in the fraternity was as constant for the centennial celebration, Macon said, and will continue to be in the future.“To see all those Kappas in Bloomington, to go from just 10 to thousands of brothers, is a really beautiful thing,” Macon said. “We will continue to grow and inspire young men to live their dreams.”Kappa Alpha Psi: The early years Jan. 5, 1911Ten IU students found a fraternity based on a vow of not excluding any man because of his color, creed or national origin. The fraternity is called Kappa Alpha Nu.May 15, 1911 Kappa Alpha Nu is chartered and incorporated. That summer, while working at a hotel in Fort Wayne, three of the founders enlist a Professor of Greek Art there to help them create the Kappa suit of arms and motto.Spring, 1912Elder Watson Diggs creates the fraternity’s constitution, writing it in a little blue exam book. It would be rewritten in 1920 and 1957. Feb. 18, 1913The fraternity begins to go national, with its Beta Chapter being established at the University of Illinois.March 7, 1914The Kappas continue to fan out, and a Delta Chapter is created at the University of Iowa.April 15, 1915The organization changes its name to Kappa Alpha Psi, officially becoming a Greek Letter fraternity. By the end of the year, the Kappas reach the East coast, establishing its Epsilon Chapter at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
(06/15/11 11:45pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation became officially recognized Jan. 1, 1863, the news was slow-going.It would be another two and a half years before word reached Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War had ended and those who were enslaved were now free. The date, June 19, 1865, became known as Juneteenth.The Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center will celebrate that day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 18. The celebration is free and open to the public.“It is our hope that we will fill up the Grand Hall and all the hallways leading to it in excitement of celebrating Juneteenth and our grand freedom daily,” NMBCC Administrative Assistant Sachiko Higgins-Kante said. “This is truly our freedom which comes before the Fourth of July.” The 13th annual Juneteenth Freedom Celebration will feature multiple activities, including vendors selling African artifacts, face painting and a bouncy house, all under the theme of “Forever Free: Celebrating Our Freedom, Renewing Our Strength.” Carl Darnell, a student in the IU Higher Education & Student Affairs Ph.D. Program, will speak about why Juneteenth is celebrated.“The biggest thing is we’re celebrating freedom, not just emancipation,” Darnell said. “We must look at other events, like what’s going on in Haiti, and other people who need to be free.”Just Making Use of Social Expressions, or JMuse, will also perform at Juneteenth. JMuse is a student ensemble that uses singing, dancing, acting and step to express social issues through art.“We focus on art for the sake of activism,” JMuse member and IU graduate Melody Barham said. “We accepted the invitation to perform at Juneteenth because much of our work is based on the Black aesthetic. Education through art is what is important to us.”Barham said Juneteenth is worth celebrating because it is a landmark in U.S. history.“It compels us to seize the day,” she said.Darnell said he also thinks Juneteenth is important to recognize.“We must make sure everyone around the world is free,” Darnell said.
(06/14/11 2:18pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Suzanne Phillips is the director of the Parents Association, an organization meant to connect parents to IU. We spoke to her about what this important resource can do for parents of IU freshmen.What is the Parents Association?It’s an affiliate group of the Alumni Association and is a non-dues-paying association that links parents to the campus. We hold the Freshman Family Weekend and Parents Weekend in the fall, too. There’s a parent board representing 25 families that meets twice a year, and parents are automatically members when their kids go to IU.How does a parent join?All parents are automatic members. We used to send out a letter but had to stop last year because of costs so now we do email. The problem is, we don’t get the parent’s email, so they should give us their email so they can get the newsletter, Campus Link. They can email mykidis@indiana.edu, which will get to me, with their information.Why should parents join?They can email mykidis@indiana.edu with any questions they have, and we’re looking to be on Twitter and Facebook soon. Those will actually go to me, and I’ll be the one answering.Does the association offer anything special for parents of freshmen?The Freshman Family weekend will be the weekend of Sept. 17. The tentative schedule can be found online at http://studentaffairs.iub.edu/parents/, and there will be a tailgate tent before the game.What events should parents look forward to through the association?We host the Freshman Family Weekend and also the Parents Weekend for all other parents, and that will be the weekend of Oct. 1st. The tentative schedule for that weekend is also online, and a tailgate tent will offer refreshments before that game, too.
(06/13/11 2:37pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>College allows a lot of freedom compared to high school, but before freshmen can get used to curfew-free lives and diets of ramen noodles, they have the freedom of deciding how much access to give their parents to their college lives. OneStart has a third-party access setting that students can assign to any person, like a parent or guardian. It grants that person access to the student’s information including grades, unofficial transcripts, class schedules and more personal information such as addresses and phone numbers. Students can assign third-party access to as many people as they wish, so both mom and dad can keep tabs on their child’s grades. But some students might choose not to allow third-access to anyone, and that can create tension.Sophomore and environmental science major Kate Drass said her parents left the decision to her, and while she allowed them access, she kept her grades private.“With grades specifically, it’s about letting go of control,” she said. “It’s the kid’s responsibility now.”Drass said keeping that information inaccessible to her parents has actually helped with communication about academics.“They’ll ask, but we have that communication that I can say I might not be doing so well in one class. I feel more willing to talk about it with them,” she said. “If we have that communication rather than them having direct access to my grades, it’s better for us.”Counseling and Psychological Services has similar advice for parents when dealing with letting go of complete access to their child’s life.Regular communication about expectations can make it easier to avoid tension with our child, according to the website.If parents assume their child will want to give them access to every financial and academic detail but their child assumed that access stopped at high school graduation, communicating why each party felt that way can help.“Parents need to realize their kids are in college now,” Drass said. “It’s all about growing up and becoming responsible.”
(06/09/11 12:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>War and peace — two concepts completely at odds, yet forever connected.The College of Arts and Sciences Fall 2011 Themester will explore this relationship through plays, courses, speakers and events with its theme “Making War, Making Peace.”The Themester will address questions like why we should go to war, what counts as war and peace in a particular culture and how our concept of war affects our concept of peace.While Themester is an initiative of the College of Arts and Sciences, it is meant to spread to the rest of campus through partnerships with other departments such as the IU Art Museum, the Kelley School of Business and the Mauer School of Law, Themester Coordinator Tracy Bee said.“The Themester is meant to incorporate important issues and concerns of our time,” she said. “Students in college haven’t spent a lot of time without war.”The initiative was started in 2009 in an effort to engage students and community members in research and exploration of a single, complex topic.The effort is made every year to pick a topic that is timely, Jocelyn Bowie, director of communications and marketing for the college, said. Previous topics have touched on sustainability and evolution.“We look at what’s happening in the world and what we have to offer,” she said. “With the theme of ‘war and peace,’ we could not have foreseen what happened with Osama bin Laden. It’s very timely.”One of the events will be a visit from Pulitzer Prize finalist Tim O’Brien, author of “The Things They Carried” and “Going After Cacciato.” He will have a public reading, Bee said.The Department of Theatre and Drama has participated in every Themester and this fall will put on “Hair,” “The Three Musketeers” and “Lysistrata.”“We’re actually doing quite a bit with the Themester,” department chair Jonathan Michaelsen said. “I think ‘Hair’ is a great way to kick things off. ‘The Three Musketeers’ certainly has some elements of war and peace in it and ‘Lysistrata’ will close the Themester.”The IU Cinema will present showings catered to the Themester with films like “Dr. Strangelove” and documentaries like “Fog and War.”IU Cinema Director Jon Vickers said it’s their first year with the Themester and they have dedicated about 10 screening dates for Themester titles.“This partnership with Themester fits our mission to partner with academic departments,” Vickers said.While those titles have been specifically chosen for the Themester, other films will be shown that inadvertently fit in with the theme. For example, the class, “Cold War Cinema” will show three films that will fit the Themester, but aren’t funded by it.“We try to reach across the entire university with the cinema,” Vickers said.The Themester will include 40 courses across departments in the college, Bee said, but it can also be an educational experience for the city as a whole.“Community members are encouraged to participate in public events,” Bee said.
(06/02/11 12:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Over the past 70 years, it has brought authors like Amy Bloom, Marguerite Young and Kurt Vonnegut to IU.Now, the IU Writers’ Conference will return for its 71st year on June 5-10, offering workshops, classes and readings for writers and non-writers.Speakers at this year’s conference include Gary Ferguson, Jill Godmilow and Julia Story. However, much of the excitement is for Dan Chaon and Lynda Barry, conference interns said.Barry, a cartoonist and fiction writer, will teach a class called “Writing the Unthinkable.” “She’s definitely going to be amazing,” Ben Smith, who recently graduated from IU with a bachelor’s degree in English, said. “She’s a creative tour de force.”Smith is one of the interns who has been working on the IUWC all spring. Kelsey Adams, a junior majoring in English, is also one of those interns.“It’s just a really cool medium,” Adams said, referring to Barry’s work.Dan Chaon is the author of “Among the Missing,” a short story collection that was a finalist for a National Book Award. He was also a guest at the 2010 IUWC, Adams said.“Since he was here last year, the community kind of knows him,” she said.IUWC is one of the oldest writers’ conferences in the country, Assistant Director Caroline Diggins said. She participated in the workshop last year and said there’s a lot to gain by attending.“It’s nice to indulge in this literary week,” Diggins said. “There’s a sense of community and everyone has an open mind to hear great writing. It’s just a happy time.”Diggins said there are two ways to participate in the conference: seeing the speakers and taking the workshops, or only seeing the speakers. The readings each night are open to anyone.“It’s nice for writers that are not in a writing program,” she said. “It’s nice to have new eyes on your work. It’s a good thing for IU and a good thing for Indiana because it’s such a tradition.”The conference will also feature notable faculty members such as creative writing professor Tony Ardizzone, who recently published his fourth novel, “The Whale Chaser.”Faculty member Ross Gay spoke at the 2008 conference and said it is a great experience for students of all kinds, not just those studying English.“Of course creative writing students would benefit from studying with a novelist or a poet they might not run into again, as would all English students,” Gay said. “But why not a business student or an engineer? Or a pre-med student or a law student?“Students from all fields could benefit from the discussion of language that the conference offers, he said. “Not to mention, it’s just fun to meet these folks, hang around, talk about ideas and books and words and to become a better writer in the process,” Gay said.Participants can earn up to two credits at the undergraduate or graduate level. For an application and information, visit http://www.iuwc.indiana.edu/.
(06/01/11 5:20pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>How men make decisions about sexual partners, how mood affects sexual arousal in women and what prevents couples from using condoms are only some of the topics on sex being researched at IU’s ground-breaking Kinsey Institute. The Institute has been a source of research and information about issues in sex, gender and reproduction since 1947.The Institute is named for Dr. Alfred Kinsey. Kinsey gathered histories of sexual behavior in thousands of interviews, which culminated in his book “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male,” published in 1948. This was followed by his “Sexual Behavior in the Human Female” in 1953. The volume “surprised everyone when it became a bestseller,” according to the Kinsey website.The Kinsey Institute offers a library, art collections, events, an active research program and a Kinsey Confidential Website. For example, Kinsey has 250 original prints by Wilhelm von Gloeden, who is known as the first photographer of the male nude.Open Monday through Friday, 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., the Gallery showcases selected pieces from the Institute’s collection of art, artifacts and photography.Self-guided tours are available Monday through Friday, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and guided public tours are offered on certain Fridays. Reservations are required for public tours and can be made by calling 812-855-7686 or emailing kinsey@indiana.edu.Have questions about birth control, sexual dysfunction, condoms, orgasm or sexual assault? Kinsey Confidential is a blog and podcast website from The Kinsey Institute that provides information on sexual issues for college students. Questions can anonymously be submitted on the website.
(06/01/11 3:55pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When former IU student David Kerner was watching hippopotamuses on a camping safari in Botswana, he didn’t know he would be woken up by one at 4 a.m. outside his tent that night. Kerner went on this camping safari and other trips while studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa.The IU Office of Overseas Study facilitates more than 250 administered, co-sponsored or autonomous programs on all eight IU campuses to more than 2,500 students and gives more than $100,000 in need and merit-based scholarships annually. With so many options, the Office of Overseas Study provides guidance for interested students with a staff in Bloomington for advising, student services, financial and budget.While IU offers 250 overseas study programs in 17 languages in 52 countries, fluency is not required, according to the IU Overseas Study website.Kerner graduated in 2011 with a degree in psychology and was in Cape Town for the spring 2010 semester.“The best thing about IU study abroad programs is there are so many destinations,” he said.For students considering studying abroad, Kerner had advice.“Get your major out of the way quickly so you can take electives abroad. Making friends with teachers always helps for those letters of recommendation,” he said. Because he didn’t have many major requirements to fulfill, Kerner said he was able to take classes he wanted to while abroad, like a course in African politics. He also had advice for when students are abroad.“Try everything. Take risks,” he said.The “First Step” section at the IU Overseas Study website provides information on choosing a program, financial aid, alternative overseas experience and profiles of students who have studied abroad.IU programs and non-IU programs are both offered, but prospective students need to keep some things in mind when choosing, according to the website.IU programs offer direct IU credit, grades count in grade-point average and most financial aid is applicable. However, students should check that credits earned in non-IU programs are transferrable and that financial aid can be applied. Grades for non-IU programs are not calculated in the GPA and it does not count toward senior residency.Application instructions for programs through Overseas Study, other IU units and non-IU programs can be found at www.indiana.edu/~overseas/apply/index.shtml.IU Scholarship and Grant applications are also available.The IU Overseas Study Information Center Franklin Hall 303 Open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Staffed by advisers and peer counselors. Students can also schedule an appointment by calling 812-855-9304 or emailing overseas@indiana.edu with questions.
(05/26/11 12:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For the third year in a row, an IU student has been appointed 500 Festival Queen.Sophomore Riley Hoffman of Greenwood, Ind. beat out 33 nominees from 11 different universities to be crowned the 2011 queen by racing legend Johnny Rutherford at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.“I was very surprised,” Hoffman said. “The other 32 girls were so qualified. I would have never expected this honor.”After being crowned, Hoffman and her court spent Pole Day giving TV interviews, being photographed near the Borg-Warner Trophy and walking around the track, she said.Hoffman’s parents were there when she was crowned and her mother, Bev Hoffman, a media specialist for Franklin Township, said she is very pleased and surprised that her daughter won.“I thought since she was one of the youngest, she probably wouldn’t win,” Bev Hoffman said. “I’m excited to see her get to do all these things this week.”They include the 500 Festival Community Day on May 25 and the 500 Festival Memorial Service on May 27. When she was just a nominee, Hoffman said she was excited for the Memorial Service. Now, she will participate in it by giving a wreath to either a widow or sister of a veteran, she said.“I’m even more excited now,” she said. “I’ll definitely need my water-proof mascara for that.”Her duties as queen will also be needed on race day, which takes place May 29.“On lap 190, I’ll go to Victory Lane and get ready to kiss the winner,” she said.On race day, Hoffman said she will be rooting for Simona de Silvestro, Pippa Mann and Helio Castroneves.“I was really excited to see Pippa qualify and I think Simona is a great role model for her dedication,” Hoffman said. “I got to meet fastest qualifying rookie JR Hildebrand on Armed Forces Day, and I’ve also met Helio Castroneves, and he was such a nice guy.”As a student in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, Hoffman is specifically enrolled in the Department of Kinesiology. Department chair Dr. David Koceja said the department was proud of Hoffman being picked as queen.“We pride ourselves on not only educating students, but creating leaders,” Koceja said.
(05/18/11 10:32pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Seven students on IU-South Bend’s campus filed complaints against IUSB Chancellor Una Mae Reck for allowing Chick-fil-A to vend at the two main dining areas on campus once a week. The students filed the complaint because a Pennsylvania Chick-fil-A franchise donated food to the Pennsylvania Family Institue’s seminar, “The Art of Marriage,” an event perceived to support discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Reck suspended service to review the facts, but reinstated the vendor on February 2.The students requested a public hearing, but their complaints have been forwarded to the IU Office of Procurement Services in Bloomington because they have authority over vendors, according to IUSB spokesman Ken Baierl. IU-Bloomington has a Chick-fil-A in the basement of the Wells Library, which several students are working to remove. Senior and telecommunications major Tom Tahara supports removing Chick-fil-A from campus.“This type of stuff just doesn’t really fly that well in America anymore and I think this proves that the next generation realizes it and will not tolerate it,” Tahara said.Jake Porter is a senior majoring in queer studies through the Individualized Major Program who also started the Facebook group “Kick Chick-Fil-A off IUB’s Campus!” after he heard what was happening at IUSB.“I think it’s admirable that Chick-fil-A sticks to its religious beliefs, but I don’t think it’s appropriate that a public university like IU has it on campus,” he said.Porter said that even if IU is contracted to have Chick-fil-A on campus for a few more years, he would like IU to release a statement that they don’t support it.More than 9,800 people have signed an IUSB petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-indiana-university-south-bend-remove-anti-gay-chick-fil-a-from-campus urging Reck to suspend Chick-fil-A service on campus.“According to students and faculty, Chick-fil-A’s substantial anti-gay donations run counter to IUSB’s diversity and anti-discrimination policies — which all vendors on campus must follow — and until Chick-fil-A makes a pledge not to support vehemently anti-gay causes, they should not be a service on IUSB’s campus,” the petition’s overview reads.From 2003 to 2008, the company’s charitable arm, the WinShape Foundation, has donated more than $1.1 million to groups that oppose equality based on sexual orientation, according to the blog “Equality Matters.”The WinShape Foundation participates in discriminatory acts against the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community directly via their retreat centers and by funding organizations that push for legislative discrimination against the GLBT community, according to a letter sent to Chancellor Reck by Jason Moreno, IUSB senior and spokesperson for the Civil Rights Student Association.Moreno said vendors on campus are required to comply with campus policies that state GLBT students should be protected from discrimination.Chancellor Reck defended her allowance of Chick-fil-A in a statement posted on the Office of the Chancellor’s website.“IU-South Bend is a public university where all ideas and beliefs are welcome,” Reck said in her statement. “Chick-fil-A is an American company that has the right to provide its food and resources to any event it wants to support.”Moreno, who filed the petition, said that Reck’s decision involves the school with discrimination.“It’s undeniable at this point,” Moreno said.Bruce Jacobs, executive director of the Indiana Memorial Union, said he has spoken with the purchasing staff at the Office of Procurement and they are reviewing the entire matter at this time.
(05/18/11 10:29pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s also referred to as corn toss or Indiana horseshoes, but most Hoosiers recognize the two wooden platforms and corn bags as Cornhole.Cornhole is thought to have started in 14th-century Germany and was brought to Kentucky about 100 years ago, according to the American Cornhole Association website.The game has become an IU tradition with many clubs, including the Student Alumni Association, sponsoring tournaments throughout the year, said Conor McIntyre, director of student programs.“It’s something anyone can pick up and play,” McIntyre said. OFFICIAL AMERICAN CORNHOLE ASSOCIATION RULES- The Cornhole court shall be a level rectangular area 10 feet wide and a minimum of 45 feet long.- While pitching, contestants must remain in the pitcher’s box, a 4-foot by 3-foot rectangle parallel to and on both sides of the Cornhole platform.- Each Cornhole platform shall be a 4-foot by 2-foot rectangle made of half-inch plywood.- The hole in the Cornhole platform shall be six inches in diameter and be centered nine inches from the top and 12 inches from each side.- A corn bag in-the-hole has a value of three points. A bag on the platform has a value of one point. A bag thrown anywhere else has no scoring value. - A Cornhole match shall be played until the first team reaches or exceeds 21 points.- Every effort shall be made to keep from distracting contestants during Cornhole play.Source: http://www.playcornhole.org/rules.shtml
(05/18/11 10:27pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With IU Campus Recreational Sports’ summer program, faculty and staff can keep track of their step count as they walk their way to a healthy lifestyle.Registration is open for the annual Step into Fitness walking incentive program. The nine-week program, beginning May 30 and ending July 9, encourages IUB faculty and staff to increase their daily step-count by providing participants with a free pedometer, food tracker and weekly e-mails with inspiration and tips.The program will kick off from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. May 25 in the foyer of the IU Auditorium with free food from Bloomington Bagel Company, chair massages, blood pressure screenings and other health information services.There are no maximum or minimum step counts, according to the Step into Fitness website. However, it lists guidelines for participants to gauge their exercise. Six thousand steps a day is good, 8,000 is better and 10,000 is excellent, according to the website.When the self-guided program started in 2005, it was only four weeks long. Participants increased their step counts during the program, but decreased their step counts afterward, said Megan Amadeo, the coordinator of the Step into Fitness worksite wellness program. The program needed to be longer to make a lasting change, she said. Last year was the first time the program was extended to nine weeks.Amadeo said the program was started in response to a Recreational Sports survey that showed walking was the preferred exercise of faculty and staff.“People should participate because walking is something almost everyone can do; you don’t need a gym or special equipment,” she said. “The health benefits of walking are great because walkers have less incidence of cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other chronic diseases.”Walkers will also receive a food tracker that Amadeo said will allow participants to see what food and nutrients are lacking in a diet.“Hopefully participants will start to eat more fruits and vegetables instead of refined grains as snacks,” she said.The food tracker could lead to some weight loss, she said, but the goal of the tracker is to encourage participants to eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day.Participants may be asked to take part in research for the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation in order to make the program more effective. Findings about the worksite wellness program will be presented at the American College of Sports Medicine’s spring meeting.Jeanne Johnston, assistant professor in the Kinesiology Department, has been studying the program since 2009 for its worksite wellness efforts.“The worksite is a great place to deliver a program that promotes health
and wellness through healthy choices such as proper diet and activity,”
she said. “I believe a continuum of activity exists, and for some, we
need to focus on just increasing movement before we focus on how much
and what intensity.”IUB faculty and staff can register until June 3 at http://www.iurecsports.org/step_into_fitness.
(05/08/11 11:12pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students in X255, Business Culture of Greece, will be concluding their eight-week course studying the country’s history, economy, legal system and politics with a trip to Greece from May 14 to 25, according to a press release.Greece is currently in the midst of a financial crisis, with its public deficit at 10.5 percent of gross domestic product. This crisis has continued even after the European Union gave Greece a 110 billion euro bailout in 2010.Besides business meetings and company visits, the trip will also include visits to the Acropolis, Delphi and the National Archeological Museum.Junior Carl Comstock is majoring in finance and accounting and is going on the trip. It will be his first time out of the country.“Travelling by myself and getting around with the language barrier should be an interesting experience I’m really looking forward to,” he said. “Food shouldn’t be a problem either because I’m not a picky eater.”Sophomore Christian Fritz is majoring in accounting and finance and is going on the trip with his two roommates who also took the course. He said he’s looking forward to seeing how the Greeks perceive economic issues.“You hear in the news about economic crises and this is a good opportunity to study them firsthand,” he said.Having been to Toronto three times, this will be Fritz’s first time out of the continent. “I’m really excited to see how close the Greeks are, it’s a close-knit culture,” he said.The students will visit McCann Erickson, the international advertising and marketing firm that is led by a Kelley School of Business graduate, according to the release.“They’re going to a country that in one way or another is experiencing the same economic issues as their own (U.S.) domestic economy, just in different proportions and maybe in a different context,” Paul Coulis, an IU alumnus who helped organize the class, said in the release.To help students prepare for the trip, Coulis judged a case competition and held a Q&A session with them. The class was open to admitted business and liberal arts and management students with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average and at least a sophomore standing, said Tia Trueblood, assistant director of International Programs. This is the first year the course was offered by Professor Tatiana Kolovou and there are 19 students in the spring course.Each student will participate in a blog about their trip at http://kelleygreece2011.blogspot.com/
(05/06/11 3:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Americans own approximately 24 electronic products per household, according to a 2008 study by the Consumer Electronics Association. For those who don’t know what to do with their unwanted electronics, IU is organizing its third annual Electronic Waste Collection Days to provide free recycling collection services for items such as hard drives, cell phones and televisions.E-waste refers to consumer and business electronic equipment that is no longer useful. IU students, staff, faculty and the general public can drop off items from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 14 at the purple lot of Memorial Stadium. Items from public or private schools, universities other than IU, businesses and nonprofit organizations can be dropped off 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 12 and 13 in the same location.Items that will be accepted include computer systems and accessories, handheld devices, audio and video equipment and office equipment. Lightbulbs, hairdryers, paper and cardboard will not be accepted. For a full list of what can be collected, visit http://ewaste.indiana.edu/.Items dropped off by a representative from an IU department must follow special instructions found on the website.None of the electronics will be resold and 100 percent of the received items will be kept out of landfills, according to the release. E-waste can contain toxic materials, such as lead found in cathode ray tubes in many TVs, that can harm the environment.“Millions of pounds of electronic waste from Indiana residents and businesses end up in landfills every year,” said event organizer and sustainable computing graduate student, Gerrell Williams in the release.
(04/29/11 3:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The lecture you missed Defne Jones, a central Eurasian studies professor, spoke Thursday about the decline of the press in Turkey. The lecture, “Constitutional Reforms in Turkey: Who’s in Power?”, was sponsored by the Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies Chair Kemal Silay and the Turkish Studies Program. Most surprising quote“It is comforting to think of democratization as a switch that, once turned on, can never be turned off,” Silay said. “As we have seen, however, democracy operates more like a thermometer than a switch.” Behind bars Turkey’s prisons housed 57 journalists in 2011, the most in the world. The first prison sentences began in 2005. Freedom of the press has steadily declined since the Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi came to power.
(04/26/11 2:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Professor Yasir Suleiman, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Sa’id, gave a lecture Monday night titled “Language, Conflict and Inter-cultural (Mis)Communication” to a crowded audience in the Indiana Memorial Union Maple Room. Suleiman is a professor of Modern Arabic Studies, a Fellow of King’s College and a professor at University of Cambridge.Cigdem Balim, faculty member of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, introduced Suleiman.“I think of studying language as the underdog, and I consider myself an underdog so I thought, ‘Why not put two underdogs together?’” Suleiman said.He said we not only need politicians talking about conflicts, but also linguists. Suleiman talked about the Great Hyphen Debate, a conflict between using the name Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia.“If you can track names, you can actually track many ideological movements in societies,” he said. Following Sept. 11, the presence of Arabic in the U.S. seemed to cause fear, he said.“When fear takes hold and turns into phobia, rational responses may be stopped,” he said.Suleiman discussed language as a national identity.“There is a lot of anxiety about language between Middle Eastern peoples also,” he said. “But there is also anxiety about language in France and America.”Suleiman quoted Amin Maalouf’s “On Identity” when he said, “France herself had global ambitions as regards language; she was the first to suffer on account of the extraordinary rise of English.”The third limitation of language, Suleiman said, is how it reflects reality.“The saying ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones’ does not reflect the meaning of the words,” he said. “Speaking Arabic, in the beginning, was thought of as an ethical act.”Suleiman showed a slideshow of road signs in Jerusalem to show how language conflicts appear in common places. On a certain road sign, Arabic and English were on the original plaque and then Hebrew was added later. That sign was replaced by a new sign including all three languages.“We need to track conflict between cultures through the symbolic and instrumentality of language,” he said.
(04/20/11 2:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Five East Asian Studies Center graduate students created a forum on their research on Japan on Tuesday accompanied by Japanese refreshments and tea for about 20 people.The Japanese Student Association set up a poster and donation box for attendees to donate to the Japanese Red Cross in response to the recent earthquake and tsunami.Kaleem L. Kheshgi (M.A. student, EALC) — “Bukatsudô: Extracurricular Activities in Japanese High School”Jeffrey A. Tolbert (Ph.D. student, folklore) — “Scaring Yourself Silly: Fear and Folklore in the Video Game Fatal Frame”Mitsuko Kawabata (Ph.D. student, ethnomusicology) — “Singing Disasters: Charity Songs for the Tôhoku Region Earthquake”Bradley D. Good (M.A. student, anthropology) — “The Taishô Pattern in Japanese Beef Consumption: A Culinary Localization Trend”Shingo Hamada (Ph.D. candidate, anthropology) — “The Forest Is the Ocean’s Lover: Oystermen and Environmental Stewardship in Kesennuma, Miyagi”