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(11/09/10 6:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Communication and interaction with professors can be a challenge for students, especially with the large number of international instructors at IU.IU has a strong presence of diverse faculty and staff from, quite literally, all around the world. While arguably beneficial, students often struggle to understand foreign professors.Sophomore business student Casey Deao said he had trouble understanding his statistics professor who is Russian, but stayed in the class and adjusted to her accent.“You need to learn how to deal with people from other countries, especially in the business school because it is so international,” Deao said, adding that coming from a culturally diverse high school might have given him more of an open mind to foreign instructors.Sophomore Elizabeth Littlejohn also had a similar experience with her foreign instructor for her macroeconomics discussion group last spring.“She didn’t know how to answer our questions or communicate with us,” Littlejohn said of her instructor. “At first we couldn’t even read what she wrote because she wrote her numbers wrong.”Littlejohn said she wanted to switch into a different discussion group, but none fit her schedule. Littlejohn explained that her class adjusted to the communication difficulty and had more interaction with each other than their instructor throughout the semester.“We didn’t know how to fix it; she didn’t understand us either,” Littlejohn said.For students having trouble communicating with a foreign instructor, IU has provided a guide. “Understanding International Instructors” is through the Student Policy Issues Committee of the Commission on Multicultural Understanding. The website explains why IU has such a strong international presence and provides suggestions of how to deal with foreign professors and associate instructors.The language barrier between international instructors and students is not always the problem, but cultural differences can play a large part in different teaching methods and communication, according to the website.David Hyuck Lee, a Ph.D. student in public affairs and international instructor from South Korea, agreed with this idea.“A lot of AI’s in my program have had a tough time creating a relationship with their students even if they speak English much better than I do because they have cultural differences,” Lee said. “Most instructors have trouble with their students because of culture, not because of English or their effort speaking it. Language is just the obvious way to judge.”Lee explained that the student/instructor relationship in Asian countries is much more professional and separated than the structure of this relationship in America. Some international instructors might interpret these differences as students being rude or disrespectful, though they are not.Lee said if efforts aren’t made to accept cultural differences the student/instructor relationship often shuts down completely.“To reduce these kinds of possibilities, the instructor has to understand the students’ culture here. My understanding is we live here and we learn here because you guys pay the tuition,” Lee said.
(10/28/10 5:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Robert Goodman resigned his position as dean of IU’s School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation on Tuesday.Goodman, who has served as dean of HPER since 2007, will remain a part of the department as a professor, conducting his teaching and research in his area of specialty — applied health science — Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson said.Hanson said HPER made a lot of progress under Goodman’s leadership in the school’s time of reconfiguration.“This change in leadership will not impede on the progress of the school toward its goal of becoming a school of public health,” Hanson said, adding that a meeting with HPER faculty and staff Wednesday showed further commitment to moving the school forward.Hanson said she knew of Goodman’s intentions to resign ahead of time and has named Mohammad Torabi, chancellor’s professor and chairman of the Department of Applied Health Science, as the interim dean for the time being. When asked whether or not there was controversy surrounding Goodman’s resignation, there was little comment about the subject from IU administration. When asked about such mentioned issues, Hanson and Torabi both had no comment.“I don’t really think it’s appropriate to comment on that. The truth is if one is in one of these leadership positions, there will always be criticism,” Hanson said.Torabi said Goodman’s resignation would not affect the progress and success of HPER, an established school of 70 years, and its various departments.“That was his decision, his call,” Torabi said of Goodman’s resignation. “These are very individual decisions, and I’m not going to second guess his decisions.”Torabi said he has no predetermined agenda as interim dean but plans to work closely with HPER faculty, staff and students to meet their needs and continue the school’s success.“Right now I’m just going to listen,” Torabi said.Torabi said his loyalty to IU will guide him in his new position.“This is home to me. If they ask me to do something, I don’t question it, I do it and give it 120 percent of my energy and effort,” Torabi said.Plans to replace the dean’s position permanently are unclear at this time.“Because the school is in a transitional mode it’s really not a good time to convene a search and screen committee for a new dean,” Hanson said. “It’s difficult to advertise a job that may change over time.”
(10/27/10 3:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Union Street Center — the first new residential construction project on campus in more than 40 years — was dedicated by University and city officials Tuesday.“It’s good to be back home,” Mayor Mark Kruzan said during the ceremony.Kruzan, who said he lived in Teter Quad near the new residence center as an IU freshman acknowledged the benefits of having IU’s campus reside in Bloomington. “This campus impacts our city and helps drive our community character,” Kruzan said.President Michael McRobbie said during the ceremony that the completion of the center is the first step in his promise to improve student living at IU during the next 15 years.“In short, imagine a student-living community that rivals the best in the world,” McRobbie said. The President also stressed the importance of residential facilities for students that are looking for their perfect college.The Union Street Center provides undergraduate students with one, two and four bedroom apartment units, which come fully furnished with energy-efficient appliances and other amenities. The facility can house up to 827 IU undergraduate students in each of its seven buildings, named hickory, birch, cedar, linden, cypress, beech and pine after trees that can be found on campus. The new residence hall has the Hoosier Café and Store, fitness facilities, classrooms, a Hutton Honors College residential community and more.“This is the kind of community that can set fire to the imagination,” McRobbie said, adding that the Union Street Center demonstrates the unity between campus and the community while also providing the best of homes to IU students and stimulating their learning with the educational services offered at the center.“The Union Street Center is the embodiment of meeting student needs,” Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson said, adding that it will provide current and future students the opportunity to live and study in a modern living community. Hanson said the innovative learning spaces in the center have the potential to make an impact on the education of students for a long time to come.“Students lean in different ways now than previous generations did,” Hanson said. “The Union Street Center will help keep students engaged.” Patrick Connor, executive director of Residential Programs and Services, said a review of the profiles from the center’s first residents showed 25 percent are either in the honors college or other similar academically focused programs. Connor also said RPS will continue communication with students on how to improve the center in the future.“The facility you see today will likely be different two to three years from now. The center was designed to evolve,” Connor said.
(10/22/10 3:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Student engagement in the classroom — there’s an app for that.A new and developing Faculty Learning Community is studying the effects of Apple iPads as teaching tools in the classroom.The Teaching and Learning with Mobile Tablets FLC, coordinated by University Information Technology Services and UITS’ Teaching & Learning Technologies Centers, allows eight participating professors to use an iPad along with additional iPad accessories for the academic year to experiment with the new technology. Each professor also has access to 25 iPads to explore whether the technology further engages student involvement and enhances the classroom learning experience.John Gosney, faculty liaison for the learning technologies within UITS, said professors in the FLC will likely develop projects for students outside of the traditional classroom setting.“A lot of the projects are revolving around mobility and what you can do if you weren’t tethered to your desk,” Gosney said.Gosney also said professors involved in the iPad initiative come from various departments, including education, biology, fine arts and more. “We’re really interested in finding out if you have that kind of freedom to work with information, how that might change your perception of that information,” Gosney said.Joshua Danish, an assistant professor in the Learning Sciences Program and part of the FLC, used the iPads in his class for the first time last week. In his graduate level course, Theorizing Learning in Context, Danish had his students work in groups while utilizing multiple iPad applications, including editing a presentation made in Keynote. Danish also had the students use the Twitter application to update their progress and to communicate with the other groups to share ideas.“The students in that class for the most part thought it was very fun,” Danish said. “One or two found it mildly distracting, but most said they thought it was very powerful.”Danish said a survey given to students to evaluate the use of the iPads in the classroom provided positive feedback, and he plans to continue to use this technology in future classes.“It added a little something to the class,” Danish said.Marty Pieratt, visiting lecturer at the School of Journalism, said the incorporation of the iPad into the classroom setting is inevitable.“I know it’s coming,” Pieratt said. “It is, and in the future will be, an integral part of how we do business. Eventually I don’t think we’ll have any classes that will not use them.”However, not everyone is enthusiastic. Senior and informatics major Tyler Harrison said he thinks the concept of using iPads in the classroom is illogical.“It’s a consumer product and not meant to be used like that,” Harrison said. “It’s small, awkward and from what I’ve heard, isn’t very ergonomic for typing.”Harrison said he disagreed with the idea that iPads would generate higher student involvement and connectivity.“How is giving one to the professor supposed to help engage with the students unless they are all using iPads, too?” Harrison asked, adding that even if iPads were distributed to students as well, it would be extremely expensive, hard to monitor usage and a liability for the school.Pieratt agreed that cost is a concern but has a different perspective. He said the iPad could likely replace laptops altogether even though not many people have been exposed to it yet.“I don’t think the iPad is a trend. I think it’s here to stay,” Pieratt said. “It could possibly be the format of the future for print — it may even be the salvation.”
(10/22/10 3:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The School of Public and Environmental Affairs is making an extensive effort to expand its available study abroad programs.SPEA currently offers eight summer study abroad programs that travel to countries around the world, including China, Germany, Kenya, Vietnam and more.Lauren Roberts of SPEA Overseas Education said these programs are being improved and other courses are being added, including a semester- or year-long exchange study program in the Netherlands and France.“It’s important for any students to get out of the country for a while. It gives you a perspective you otherwise wouldn’t get,” Roberts, a 2010 graduate of the Kelley School of Business said, adding that she wished she could have had the opportunity to study internationally herself.“It takes you out of your comfort zone to a large extent and forces you to change your world view and consider other points of view that you wouldn’t have before.”One of SPEA’s existing study abroad programs, IU at Oxford, has renovated its curriculum with a new focus on environmental policy. Since the program’s creation in 2006, it focuses on governance and decision-making.Stephanie Hayes Richards, associate director of the IU at Oxford program, said the new topic was chosen due to her and director of the program Ken Richards’ expertise in this area of study.“Because Ken and I specialize in environmental policy, we thought we could deliver an environmentally-themed program better on an annual basis,” Hayes Richards said, adding that this theme will likely be a permanent change.Similar to all SPEA study abroad programs, IU at Oxford is open to students of all majors and academic departments, but a strong interest in environmental policy is required and will be looked for through coursework, volunteer work or internships from applicants, Hayes Richards said.Throughout the six-week summer program, the students will take two environmental policy courses taught by Richards and Hayes Richards, as well as take several field trips to places relevant to their studies — such as U.K. environmental agencies, Parliament and a nuclear power station.“What we’re trying to do is give the students a sense of the European perspective on the environment,” Hayes Richards said. “The EU and the U.K. have both taken more advanced measure to protect their environment than we have in the U.S.The idea, he added, is to take students to live in Oxford for six weeks, expose them to European policy and bring them back to the U.S. to influence our efforts.”Roberts said other SPEA study abroad programs pending approval include a course in Barcelona and one in Moscow. Roberts expects the international study growth in SPEA to continue in future years, with the school possibly adding a course in South America.“We have a really diverse faculty and a lot of people who would be interested in creating their own programs like this,” Roberts said. “I see these programs growing, but at the end of the day we just want to see students study abroad, whether it be with our programs or others.”
(10/15/10 1:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In honor of the 30th anniversary of the forming of Solidarity — the trade union that brought Communism to an end in Poland — history professor Padraic Kenney is taking students back in time.Kenney’s course, The Technology of Revolution, gives 13 students the opportunity to place themselves in Communist Poland as part of the underground publishing society that brought about the historical social movement.“Communism would not have fallen without underground press,” Kenney said. “You may have a great idea about how something could change, but it wouldn’t have been heard without the underground press.”The course is being guided with the expertise of Witold Luczywo, one of Poland’s prestigious underground journalists who helped lead the Solidarity movement with his silkscreen printing method.During the first two weekends in October, the students assembled their own printing presses in an undisclosed location, wrote their own materials to publish and will print their content on the homemade presses Saturday. The location of the students work has not been released to mimic the environment of the Polish revolution.Kenney said the students have shown great appreciation for the course and have enjoyed making it as realistic as possible.“The students typed all their content on typewriters with towels to muffle the sound, just like the publishers in Poland had to do while under the watchful eye of the authorities,” Kenney said.The professor also said the materials, such as the ink, used for printing are very close to authentic. The ink is a mixture of shoe polish and floor soap and a students use a type of printing paper with a consistency somewhere between newspaper and grocery bag paper.“The students really rebelled against my original plan to use computer paper,” Padraic said, adding that he has been impressed by the students’ desire to make the project as realistic as possible.Senior and history major Maria Young, who is enrolled in the course, said the strong interest of the students is in large part due to Kenney.“He’s somebody who makes you want to study and learn as much as you can,” Young said.Young said Luczywo was jailed 25 times for his work, and talking to him has been an essential part of the course. She also said the course gives an appreciation for free press and speech, but also makes one consider the actual “freedom” we have.“There’s some limits on our press too, we just don’t talk about them as much because it’s not extreme enough to make us have to go underground to write what we want. It’s a more complicated freedom.”
(10/13/10 5:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As election season approaches, the usual backstabbing, rumor-spreading and slander of politicians can naturally be expected.A new website created by IU information and computer scientists, Truthy.indiana.edu, plans to highlight such misinformation and smear tactics occurring through the popular social media outlet Twitter.“The research goal is to study how ideas propagate through social media,” said Filippo Menczer, an associate professor of computer science and informatics in the IU School of Informatics and Computing. “A lot of things propagate in an organic way, but people also try to engineer this process hoping to generate traffic around a topic that may be a lie.”The website analyzes the thousands of tweets occurring by the hour in search of keywords related to politics and sorts them into commonly-recurring themes, Menczer said. These patterns, referred to as “memes,” are then examined to gather more information about their background and creation, in search of tweets being generated with false content or to mislead people.Menczer said he hopes the website helps raise awareness that not everything read can be considered true, and the source must be considered. He also said such tools looking to keep politicians and activists responsible might motivate candidates to clean up campaigns.“Political operatives of questionable ethics might be attracted to this technique of distributing whatever information they like through social media because it’s hard to get caught, and when you do, it’s often too late,” Menczer said. “The embarrassment of manipulating social media may be enough motivation, though.”The information acquired through this Twitter research device is documented with visual diffusions of the tweets related to each subject and a live tweet feed on the Truthy website, Menczer said. Even the individual words of tweets are analyzed to measure the mood of the tweet, including hostile, kind, confused, calm and other classifications. Such data allows the researchers behind Truthy to show where the information is coming from and how it is being so highly dispersed. Menczer said the ability to distribute information so quickly and in large quantities through Twitter can be dangerous.“With enough traffic, Twitter themes can be displayed on search engines like Google, and people tend to trust the information they see on such sites as being fact, even if its not,” Menczer said.Jacob Ratkiewicz and Mike Conover, Ph.D. students working on the project, said they agreed with the potential danger in social media.“Twitter is resilient and self-organizing,” Conover said. “On Twitter, you have no central control or constraint for journalistic integrity. It’s decentralized with no accountability. This creates an environment where rumors can spread like wildfire.”Ratkiewicz said the ability of information to spread quickly to so many people can cause misinformation.“If something comes to you from your friends, you are much more likely to accept it as fact,” Ratkiewicz said.The researchers encourage users to partake in the interactive aspects that allow people to mark information as “truthy” when they think it is false or is generated with an agenda in mind.“It’s like Wikipedia,” Conover said. “If you get enough people contributing, usually you get a good estimate of where the truth is.”
(10/08/10 3:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Several prestigious and rigorous academic departments reside on campus, and such programs come with strong reputations that often overshadow other majors and possibly create stereotypes.The question is: Are other majors really inferior to these programs?David Audretsch, an urban economic development professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, said he does not think so, and the difficulty of majors is hard to evaluate because the demands of areas of study vary greatly.“Dance is very different from the requirements of physics,” Audretsch said. “Each is legitimate and important, but very different.” He compared students quick to judge majors aside from their own to NFL players who may scoff at how easy ballet is until they try to learn and find it is very difficult in a different way.Sophomore SPEA student Emma Knapp said she has often heard comparisons of her area of study to those in the Kelley School of Business.“People assume SPEA is really easy because a lot of people who drop out of Kelley are in SPEA,” Knapp said. “I would say that it’s probably easier compared to Kelley, but it’s not a walk in the park.”While the Kelley School is ranked 10th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, SPEA was ranked second in the nation for “America’s Best Graduate Schools” for public affairs in the same magazine. “The tradition of business schools is much older and more established,” Audretsch said. “SPEA is like the new kid on the block. It’s hard to find schools of public affairs outside of the U.S. It’s a relatively new phenomenon.”Knapp said she considered applying to Kelley but chose not to after hearing about its level of difficulty. As a SPEA student, Knapp said she is required to keep a 2.5 grade-point average and meet demands she finds attainable.“I definitely have a lot to do, but it’s not enough to kill me,” Knapp said. Audretsch said the intensity most students endure through the business school has to do with supply and demand.“It’s entirely possible that Kelley is a lot more traumatic with more suffering for students, but if you look at fields where there are a big supply and limited opportunities, it tends to be a lot more competitive and cutthroat,” Audretsch said.Freshman Ali Strang, an education major, said she has endured criticism about her area of study being called an “easy” major.Unlike most students, Strang has only one book for all of her classes this semester. She said despite what most people would think from hearing this, education is still a difficult area of study.“The homework load obviously isn’t as tough as a business major’s would be, but what I have to learn is still difficult,” Strang said. “It’s crazy to think that you are going to be the one that is teaching a kid how to grow up, what to learn and how to get to where I am now.”Audretsch said students are used to school being a struggle and need to find the right fit for them to take away from this instilled belief that education should be a painful experience.“Anything can be difficult if your heart’s not in it,” Audretsch said. “Students may say their major is ‘easy’ when they have a good match with what they’re interested in. When a student finds a good match, it’s like they have the wind attheir back.”
(10/05/10 3:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Despite the College of Arts and Sciences Themester on sustainability and the promotion of an environmentally conscious IU community, a walk around campus shows various construction projects that could ignite concern.But Tom Morrison, vice president for capital projects and facilities, said precautions are taken for all construction projects to best protect the surrounding environment, as part of the campus master plan that outlines various goals for the future of IU. “Our master plan for IU Bloomington is infused with issues of sustainability,” Morrison said. “Within that, we maintain that all construction projects must develop an environmentally sustainable design that has a number of facets to it.”Bill Brown, director of the Office of Sustainability, said his office also monitors the effects of construction.“We’re involved with construction projects from the start,” Brown said. “I sit in on the design and construction meetings for new projects. The University now requires all new buildings to be certified green buildings.”Morrison said this certification comes from IU’s commitment to the International Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. A multitude of components that go into the buildings are evaluated and scored, which ranks buildings in the program at various levels of prestige based on environmental effect.Morrison said all projects must be at least at the silver level.He also said the possibility exists for reaching LEED Gold with the University Information Technology Services’ new Cyberinfrastructure building, which is being constructed with environmentally-conscious materials.“All the things that you could imagine in a building that’s environmentally friendly we’re trying to achieve with that building,” Morrison said.Brown said there are 11 projects, either new construction or renovations, currently seeking certification from LEED.“The new buildings on campus are having as low impact as possible on the environment because they are certified green buildings,” Brown said. “Because they’re certified by a third party, we know we’re doing the things we need to be doing.”But, creating green buildings is just part of the environmental effect of construction. The Bloomington University Master Plan — a 10-year construction plan created in March 2010 — also addresses the landscaping and preservation of trees. Brown said projects such as restoring the Jordan River and increasing the tree canopy are priorities.Morrison said an arborist on staff for construction projects evaluates which trees are the best to work around, and that trees lost to major construction are replaced — sometimes with more than previously existed.“We’re very careful about what trees we work around,” Morrison said, adding that part of the master plan is to plant 12,000 trees around campus within the next 10 years.Brown said with a growing population and campus, construction is inevitable, but IU is handling it in an environmentally conscious way.“The idea is how you can make construction have as little impact as possible on the environment,” Brown said. “Campus in the future will be much more dense, have much fewer parking areas, but there will be more trees and green spaces.”
(09/30/10 1:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Joseph Bonanno has an eye for optometry.After 12 years on the IU School of Optometry faculty, Bonanno has now been named the school’s new dean. Bonanno was chosen by IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz and IU Provost Karen Hanson. His appointment is pending the IU Board of Trustees approval, which is expected to take place in the next week.“Bonanno is an extremely successful researcher, optometrist, experienced associate dean,” Bantz said.Bonanno, who previously served as the school’s executive associate dean for academic affairs, said he has had a long history and interest in optometry.“I was always interested in the health field, and we had a family friend who was an optometrist,” he said. “He seemed to really like what he was doing, so when I was in grad school in biology I decided I needed a change.”Bonanno found this change at the University of California Berkeley School of Optometry, thousands of miles away from his home in New Jersey, and he endedup at IU after his graduation.Bonanno said he gained experience from a variety of areas outside of his education that made him eligible for this position. He has practiced as an optometrist, worked in optometry clinics, served as a professor and more.“I understand the full scope of the mission,” Bonanno said. “I was honored that they had the confidence that I could do the job and put the school on the right track and move forward.”Bonanno said his personal involvement with his research lab will be limited with his increased responsibilities as dean but that a research associate will manage it.“It’s a lot more responsibility but a lot more help as well,” he said. “There will be more people working with me in different aspects of the program.”Bonanno said he has several goals for the optometry program, including restoring and expanding research.“We’ve had to make some cuts in our academic programs. I’d like to restore some of those positions and increase the number of residency positions, a training position for people who have graduated and are licensed to practice, to enhance our research profile,” Bonanno said.Bantz said he thinks Bonanno will be beneficial to the optometry program as well.“I am hopeful that he’ll continue to improve success in all three areas: teaching, research and service,” Bantz said.
(09/24/10 2:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>To help bolster international presence at IU, the Intensive English Program helps assimilate students from around the world into American culture on campus. Students of all backgrounds and languages learn or improve their English through the programs offered at IEP prior to beginning their collegiate studies.Program director Marlin Howard said there are currently 280 students from 23 countries in the program, many of whom are from the Middle East. To join IEP, students must have finished high school and be at least 18 years old. Students admitted to the IEP take an exam that places them in one of the seven levels of the program, each lasting seven weeks.“Students in IEP are studying English full-time,” Howard said, adding that students spend 20 to 25 hours a week in English-only classes that focus on communication, reading, writing and grammar.Students join IEP to better their English for various reasons, Howard said. Not all students who go through IEP continue on to IU, he said, but many students stay nearby.“Most students who plan to go into their undergraduate stay in the Midwest because it’s perceived as safer and is less expensive than the coasts,” he said. Binghui Niu, a recent high school graduate from China, is currently enrolled in IEP to improve her English skills before she begins courses at IU.“I think it has already improved a little in just two weeks,” Niu, who is in level four of the program, said of her English.Niu said she did have some background knowledge from studying English in China, but it was not very helpful.“Our English is not very good, and the teacher’s pronunciation is not very good,” Niu said.Niu, who plans to study finance at the Kelley School of Business, said this is her first time in America, but she is adjusting well, particularly with help from services IEP offers, like coffee hour. The weekly coffee hour gives students a chance to socialize with one another and practice their English in a casual setting.Hany Alsalmi, a graduate student in the School of Library and Information Science who completed IEP last summer, attributed his success in the program to the coffee hour.Alsalmi said a little more than a year in the program has helped him greatly.“When I got to the U.S., I could not speak English really good,” he said. “I had some friends who would translate for me.”
(09/24/10 2:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Jacobs School of Music has welcomed a new class of Jacobs Scholars and Fellows for the 2010-11 school year.Eight students enrolled as freshman are now part of the Scholars group, along with four graduate students represented as Fellows. All 12 students are honored with the school’s highest scholarship award. The scholarships are sponsored by the Barbara and David H. Jacobs endowment and IU’s Matching the Promise campaign. Townsend Plant, director of admissions and financial aid for the music school, said the 12 students are rewarded for their talent with full tuition scholarships for their duration of time at IU.“Jacobs Scholars and Fellows are chosen among the top undergraduate and graduate applicants to the Jacobs School of Music each year, as recommended by faculty during the application and audition process,” Plant said. “Those selected have distinguished themselves both academically and musically.”All students are automatically evaluated for these awards when they apply to the music school. Selected recipients, though small in numbers, range in the areas of music they study and come from all over the world.New Scholar Kornilios Michailidis, from Greece, came to study at Jacobs after studying in Paris for two years. Michailidis said he chose to continue his piano studies at a university with a strong international reputation.“I heard about this University from many people, including a friend of mine and an ex-teacher who is American and strongly recommended this music program,” Michailidis said.Coming from a family full of musicians, Michailidis said he is thankful to have the merit-based scholarship, without which he would not have been able to study in America.“I love it even more than I expected,” Michailidis said. “I think it’s one of the best universities I’ve ever seen — particularly the environment, organization, resources and faculty.”Another freshman, Cornelia Sommer, from Washington, also chose to travel far to continue her musical study at IU.“I wanted a great music program, which IU has,” Sommer said. Sommer, who plays the bassoon and plans to double major in math and music, said her scholarship came as a surprise but helped seal the deal with her college decision.“I was leaning towards IU anyways, just because I really like the atmosphere of the music school. It seems really cooperative rather than competitive,” Sommer said.
(09/23/10 2:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Three new committees designed to evaluate the academic functionality and efficiency of IU’s curriculum will spend this semester examining what IU has to offer and how it can be improved.Announced last week by President Michael McRobbie, these academic committees — the New Academic Directions Committee, the University Steering Committee and the Old Crescent Academic Working Group — will each take a different approach at analyzing the academic structures offered by them university.John Graham, dean of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, will serve on the Academic Directions Committee to help evaluate the quality and efficiency of IU academics. The focus is to see how IU compares with current educational trends and what is expected or needed for future development.“Our challenge on new ventures is to build on IU’s underappreciated strengths in fields such as international affairs, humanities and philanthropic studies,” Graham said. Senior and IU Student Association President Michael Coleman, who will represent student concerns with his participation in the committees, said he sees various possibilities for how IU can make improvements to existing academic departments or even create new ones.“If someone wants to create their own major, we need to analyze that to see if we should offer this area as a degree rather than just as an independent program,” Coleman said.Coleman said the addition of an engineering program would help the University to better compete with Purdue University, and that there is a possibility of consolidating programs for efficiency.“There will be discussions of all schools and different majors,” Coleman said. “We’re thinking in perspectives that haven’t been thought about in a while to see where the academic affairs and our University should be going in the next few years to really make sure we’re offering the best for students.”Chair for the Steering Committee John Applegate, vice president for University Regional Affairs, Planning and Policy, said he did not think the elimination of existing programs or departments should be a large concern.“This isn’t really a program review process,” Applegate said. “This is forward looking to where we should be putting our focus, not doing detailed evaluations of particular programs.”Applegate said the committees will be focusing on how to organize academic programs to make them as effective and meaningful as possible.“I imagine if we taught horse and buggy repair we might say it’s time to move on to internal combustion action or electric cars,” he said.
(09/14/10 1:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Roughly 2,000 freshmen and sophomores take the Elementary Composition, Eng-W131, course each semester. However, due to changes in this high demand course, IU’s Writing Tutorial Services have had to revamp their tutoring techniques to keep up.WTS, which is part of the Campus Writing Program, provides writing assistance and guidance to any area of education.“The mission that WTS is meant to address is to serve any IU student in any class,” said Director of WTS Jo Ann Vogt, adding that the nearly 50 tutors employed by WTS come from all areas of study and are matched with students in similar departments.Vogt said the W131 course alone, which serves as a required course for many students, receives a large portion of WTS attention and services.“About 30 percent of our students using Writing Tutorial Services are W131 students,” Vogt said.This year there were a few slight changes made to the W131 curriculum, which Vogt said occurs every few years due to changes in staffing. In order to adjust to the changes, WTS tutors received a two-hour training session to update them on the course differences.Michael Lewis, a tutor of two years and graduate student studying English, said the changes are not major but make the class more feasible for students.“There are fewer small writing assignments,” Lewis said. “There is also an emphasis that students should focus on the specific texts they are analyzing and not to make a larger statement than needed.”Lewis said the class is still the same and has the same goals.“It will affect us, but I don’t think it will shift how we interact with students,” Lewis said.Despite the high popularity of this course, however, Vogt said the benefits and services offered by WTS falls under the radar for many students even though there are seven offices throughout campus.“We often see juniors or those who have graduated that had no idea the Writing Tutorial Services even existed,” Vogt said. Sophomore Kelsey Ray, who took W131 last year, was one of these students.“I felt sometimes that the papers had no direction and were really broad,” Ray said. “My professor would have us turn the papers in early for him to revise, but he would just say what is wrong and not explain why, so I had to figure it out by myself.”Vogt said WTS is striving to be more visible to students and is in the process of making a Facebook page.“You’d think it’s almost impossible for students not to have run into us with our seven locations on campus,” Vogt said. “We’re trying to branch out and get the attention of more students.”
(09/03/10 4:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Kelley School of Business will extend its global efforts through its newly instated Institute for International Business.The institute will be composed of the Center for International Business Education and Research along with additional grant efforts and global programs on campus. The center recently gained a $1.55 million Title VI grant from the U.S. Department of Education. “With our widely recognized programs in social enterprise and entrepreneurship, this new institute in particular will enable us to further our already significant presence in major emerging markets,” said Dan Smith, dean of the Kelley School of Business, in a press release.Smith also said the focus of the institute will be to assist women and small businesses in the Middle East and Latin America.“The state department believes that if you give people economic opportunity that it will lessen their tendency to engage in terroristic activity,” said Idie Kesner. associate dean for faculty and research for Kelley.The initiatives will be targeting emerging markets in these regions with the hope of benefiting local economies and giving women a more prominent presence in society, Kesner said.“We’re trying to create a novel opportunity for women to help them support their families, but in a way this challenges cultural norms,” Kesner said. Kesner also said the cultural and societal differences are being taken into consideration as the institute develops its initiatives.“We anticipate that there could be resistance, and we’re trying to mitigate that in advance,” Kesner said.IU alumnae and current Kelley students will help facilitate the business ventures in cultures where women are not generally part of the working society. Kesner also said IU’s deeply-rooted international initiatives, cultural diversity, advanced technology and ability to communicate worldwide will be of assistance.Programs such as GLOBASE have sent MBA students to Peru for consulting projects at small companies and non-profit enterprises while other students have traveled to and met with business and government leaders in India, China, Korea, Ghana, Brazil and other nations.“We’re definitely after those that are more progressive with their thinking, especially towards women,” Kesner said. “Even though there are regional similarities, you have to be willing to tailor your efforts to each country.”
(09/01/10 4:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Paints. Goggles. Canvas. Calculators. Manuals.The list goes on, and the cost adds up.The price of books is a pain for everyone, but for some students their chosen major leads them down an even more expensive path.Certain degrees at IU — from the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, the School of Education and the School of Fine Arts — often require classes that not only have pricey books, but additional fees for supplies. Sarah Cummins, a freshman majoring in human biology with a minor in medical science, said she has already experienced such costs in her first semester at IU.“My chemistry class alone basically cost around $400,” she said. “We got a new book that could only be bought hardback, a response card, goggles, a lab manual, laboratory graph paper, a calculator and an online access card where we do our homework.”With a major in the science field, Cummins said she knows she will have to face these costs continuously for the next four years — and for years to come after that.“I don’t think it’s necessary to have all of the materials cost as much,” Cummins said. “I can understand lab fees, though, because chemicals are expensive.”Sophomore Tom Colcord said he expects to spend about $200 on art supplies for his painting and drawing classes this semester — that’s in addition to tuition, housing and textbooks.As a freshman, Colcord said the extra costs were unexpected. But the studio art major said he’s now more prepared and has learned to factor supplies into his college budget.“By this time in my career as an undergraduate, I’m ready for it,” Colcord said. “It doesn’t catch me off guard.”While buying the supplies might be a hassle — requiring a few trips to Walmart or Pygmalion’s Art Supplies on North Grant Street — Colcord said it tends to average out with other course fees he bypasses, such as textbooks. Colcord spent approximately $150 on textbooks for his other classes. Coupled with the $200 he plans to spend on supplies, the total adds up to $350 worth of fees for the semester.Students can choose to buy their supplies from Pygmalion’s, which provides pre-packaged bundles for various IU art courses. While the bundle is an option, IU Provost Karen Hanson said students are not required to buy it, and can buy their supplies individually instead.“The stuff that is bundled by Pygmalion’s is also available piece by piece,” she said. “They’re supposed to be making that plain at the point of sale, and the faculty is supposed to be making it plain as well.”But art supplies are not the only school supplies weighing the pockets of IU students.Jordan Burns, a junior exercise science major, said he too has dealt with additional fees for classes. He is studying physical therapy, and said he takes a lot of five-credit hour science classes.“You have to get things like goggles and clickers, and if you take any type of HPER class you usually have to buy something else for it.”Burns said he spends about $500 a semester and usually gets his additional supplies from the T.I.S. College Bookstore.Though his supply cost situation can be frustrating and it sometimes seems unfair to have such extra costs, Burns said there really is no alternative.“I’d rather have goggles in a chemistry lab than not have them,” Burns said.
(09/01/10 3:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Two types of students are admitted to the Kelley School of Business every year: direct admits from high school and standard admission students already at IU. And while they both share the same title, there are differences in how they reach this coveted position.“There’s two ways to earn admission,” said Al Reiser, associate director of admissions for the school. “You either have to be elite in high school or elite in college.”Kelley students are familiar with the idea of being “elite,” which is defined for standard admission students as taking three of four listed business classes and an English course and receiving B’s or higher in each to be admitted.“It was tough,” said sophomore Max Walton, who was admitted to Kelley after his spring semester freshman year. “I studied quite a bit, but it was still a challenge.”The number of direct admit students has been on the rise recently, Reiser said, with approximately 60 percent of any given Kelley class currently enrolled composed of direct admits. Reiser gave two reasons for this growth.“Kelley became more attractive,” Reiser said. “Our brand equity improved, and we actively recruit high-achieving students.”The admissions standards for students applying directly from high school require them to have a 3.7 grade point average and receive either a 1270 or above on the SAT or a 29 or above on the ACT.Freshman Seth Jackson said his direct admit status is what helped him make his decision to attend IU.“It’s intimidating being a direct admit,” Jackson said. “It adds a lot of pressure. I’m glad I’m already in, but I’m going to be studying harder to stay in.”So how do the two groups compare?Reiser said the standard admission students tend to be successful in job placement, but the direct admits tend to garner the elite jobs. But, Reiser said, when considering academic probation, there are few standard admit students on probation. A majority of probation students are direct admits.“Standard admission students have already developed a work ethic early, and some direct admit students need to learn to be good students,” he said.Reiser also said the rift between standard admissions students who think direct admission isn’t fair stems from direct admits who take their position for granted.“Sometimes direct admits come here and blow it off,” Reiser said. “Students killing themselves in A100 see these kids sitting next to them not even trying. Those students stick out more.”Reiser said this is not common for all direct admits and that the system is fair because direct admits spend four years of high school reaching these standards.“We want it to be a realistic goal to get in,” Reiser said. “We evaluate work ethic. Students get in trouble not because they’re dumb, but because they make choices that aren’t academically focused.”
(08/24/10 4:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Creators of the website Ultrinsic want to motivate students to succeed in school —with a financial incentive.Students can bet on their grades and receive money, or lose it, based on how they meet their own academic expectations.“Students love learning, but there are times where studying and staying up all night is really difficult. Students need that extra push,” Co-founder Jeremy Gelbart said. “Ultrinsic provides incentives in the short term.”Students can create an account with the site by imputing their basic academic information and a class schedule. They then can deposit money in the account, which is used to predict the outcome of one’s grades. The site calculates the odds of these predictions based on the information gathered about the students and the classes. Higher grades then lead to higher pay. There is also a demo available on the site to help students understand the process.However, IU’s connection with the site has not pleased everyone. Is betting on grades a form of gambling? And if so, will many of the students using the site be younger than 21?“The website looks to us for some kind of commercial gambling operation,” said IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre. “That would be totally inappropriate for the University to be involved with. We don’t approve of gambling. We don’t condone it. And we certainly don’t want the IU name associated with any kind of gambling.”Gelbart said he denies any claims that the site is online gambling or illegal because he said students have control over their grades.“When a student has control, it’s not a gamble,” Gelbart said, adding that Ultrinsic has investigated gambling laws, and the site has the approval of several gambling lawyers. “Everyone would agree that it’s in a student’s control of how well they do in a course.”Ultrinsic launched last year at New York University and the University of Pennsylvania, the two schools Gelbart attended. The website has now expanded to 35 schools across the nation. Gelbart said he and his staff chose schools that represent a sample of all colleges across the U.S.“When we expand to different schools we want to be able to tailor a program to each individual school,” Gelbart said. “There are different requirements for each school.”Gelbart said Ultrinsic does not need anything from the schools that are connected with the site because all the information they use is public record.Gelbart said the IU administration has not contacted them yet, but Ultrinsic is open to discussion.“We would be happy to have a dialogue with them to discuss the benefit of having Ultrinsic available to the students at IU,” Gelbart said.Is this legal?According to the website 21onlinecasinos.com, “An age limit for players will be stated on the online casino site, and a reliable casino will do everything in its power to avoid anyone under this limit from playing at the site. It should be noted that at some online casinos the age limit is 18 and at other online gambling locations players are required to be over the age of 21.” In order to participate in the Ultrinsic website, students must be 18 or older, be a U.S. resident and provide an accurate transcript and access to school records. Students are also responsible for any fees in delivering the transcript.
(08/24/10 3:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Campus bookstores may be packed this week, but for those who have yet to purchase their books for this semester, there is an alternative to braving the long lines — textyard.com. Created by two seniors Rui Xia and Ben Greenberg, TextYard provides financial relief and easier book shopping for fellow students.“My goal is to end the problem of expensive textbooks,” Greenberg said. “The whole textbook market is changing right now.”TextYard launched last year after Xia and Greenberg started the project their freshman year.“It took a lot of work to get to that point,” Greenberg said.Because of the evolving market, the founders decided to accommodate and evolve faster than expected. Now, Greenberg and Xia’s website has spread to more than 15 schools for this semester, covering states in all regions of the country, including Hawaii.“At first I was thinking we would slowly expand,” Greenberg said. “But then I thought ‘Why the hell not?’ and decided to go national right away.”TextYard allows students to buy or sell textbooks, showing price listings of books on other various websites, including amazon.com, along with listings from students in possession of books being searched. What sets TextYard apart from other online competitors is the ability for students to search for books by courses.“It’s simple to use and easier to just enter your classes instead of book numbers or different editions,” said senior Sam Huang, who said he used the site for the first time last semester.“I saved a ton of money,” Huang said, adding that he got most of his books from the Amazon listings on the site. “Aggregating all the prices makes TextYard much simpler to use than other sites.”Sophomore Verena Vogel, who had a scholarship for books last year, said she faces the new concern of textbook shopping. Vogel is looking to the internet for a solution to the expensive problem.“I don’t want to spend all the money to get my books at the IU Bookstore again,” Vogel said. “I’ll probably use sites like TextYard to save money because I’m running out of time and need to be sure I can get the books.”
(04/30/10 2:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>This Saturday will mark the third-annual Coach Hep Indiana Cancer Challenge, in remembrance of the late Terry Hoeppner.The former IU football coach passed away in 2007 because of brain cancer, leaving his legend behind. The challenge was created to raise money for cancer research.“On a regular basis, I’m reminded of people who are inspired by him, and most of those people haven’t even met him,” Coach Hep’s widow, Jane Hoeppner, said. “It was because of the presence he had and the attitude he lived out of just never, ever quitting.”The challenge provides a variety of opportunities for people to participate in running, cycling or walking events of varying distances, with each event beginning at Memorial Stadium. The morning will culminate with a two-kilometer walk in which all participants are welcome.Registration will begin at 6 a.m., and the event will end with an ice-cream social from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.“This year, people in the cycling event and 5K run can participate in the walk if they are back in time,” said Jennifer Hurtubise, the Cancer Challenge’s marketing director. “We want this to be more of a family-friendly memorial walk.”Participants in the Cancer Challenge should acquire pledges to support the cause, Hurtubise said. Funds from the event will benefit the IU Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis and Bloomington Hospital’s Olcott Center for Cancer Education.Hurtubise said team recognition and awards will be given in several categories. The team that raises the most funds, for example, will receive one 2010 IU football ticket per team member and a tailgate with Jane Hoeppner before the game.“This is the first year we’re actually having the event while students are in town,” Hurtubise said. “We’re really looking for a big student turnout and hope they come out to support the event. It’s a great way to end the semester.”Other prominent IU sports figures will be attending the challenge, including former IU football players James Hardy, now a wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills, and Tracy Porter, a cornerback for the 2010 Super Bowl-winning New Orleans Saints.Hurtubise said all participants receive a pair of red shoelaces upon registration and are encouraged to wear them throughout the event to symbolize ties to cancer research.“(The Challenge) is a tribute to Coach Hep and to the fact that he still continues to motivate people,” Jane Hoeppner said. “I’m still motivated on a daily basis.”