Renting the right way
Somewhere amid a muddle of leases and landlords, you are trying to figure out the logistics of renting.
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Somewhere amid a muddle of leases and landlords, you are trying to figure out the logistics of renting.
Editor’s Note: Names of sources connected with illegal Adderall use were changed.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The first alert arrived at 4:01 a.m. Sunday. Phones buzzed and email notifications sounded with the message, informing 66,300 faculty, students and staff affiliated with IU-Bloomington of an armed individual on campus.Almost half the users received the alert as a text message, which read, “IU Bloomington Alert! An armed individual is at large on the BL campus. Take safe shelter. Lock door. Follow instruction from authorities.”The notifications came through IU Notify, IU’s security system to send out mass emergency and security messages including emails, phone calls and text messages. By default, all faculty, staff and students are subscribed to IU Notify via the information they provided during enrollment or hiring. Parents can also subscribe to receive safety updates via email.“We try to use every mode that we possibly can to get the message out,” said Debbi Fletcher, director of Emergency Management and Continuity. A follow-up message was sent twice Sunday, first at 5:34 a.m. and then 6:40 a.m., indicating the suspect was armed with a knife and that the incident occurred near Tulip Tree apartments.“When it was initially put out, it was not known if this was a stranger attack or a random attack of violence,” IU Police Department Lt. Craig Munroe said. “Not knowing that, we asked people to (take) shelter and stay in place. Things move so fast it’s hard to get accurate information right away.”The all-clear was sent at 7:52 a.m.The United States Department of Education’s Clery Act requires schools send a notification in emergency or safety situations and send an all-clear when the danger has passed. Fletcher said the additional messages were sent Sunday morning to update recipients.“We didn’t want people to think ‘everything’s OK now’ and go about their normal activities,” she said.However, Fletcher said sending too many messages could desensitize the recipient. “If we send so many messages that they say ‘whatever,’ that means that now they are going to miss that emergency notice,” she said.Mark Land, associate vice president of government affairs and public relations, said IU would rather be overly cautious than not cautious enough.Because of the amount of traffic the alerts directed to the Protect IU website, University Information Technology System representatives said users experienced difficulty accessing IU Notify. Services returned to normal by 8 a.m. “If the website gets hit too many times, we’ve had issues,” Fletcher said. “We’re identifying the problem.”IU Notify alerts range from armed individuals and tornado warnings to information on weather or incidents such as an off-campus gas leak.The system is a flat fee, so individual alerts do not cost IU more money, Fletcher said. The cost is about $200,000 a year to support the system for all IU campuses, Fletcher said.The University has issued alerts for three incidents since January: one warning of a robbery near campus, one test of the system and the alerts sent Sunday. Fletcher said on average there are about five to seven IU alert messages a year, most for severe weather.In less immediate cases, alerts might be sent out only in an email, Fletcher explained. In situations identified as emergencies, IU Notify alerts will be sent to all the contact information the system has for that individual.Both IUPD and Emergency Management have access to the notify system, with a dispatcher available constantly. Only public safety and IU administration officials can send messages to the entire system.“We will only send the message if we want people to do something,” Fletcher said.Emergency situations are identified based on a list emergency management has compiled. The list includes assaults, active shooters, bomb threats, terrorism and extreme weather. “You look at something and try to decide if there is going to be a potential danger, potential loss of life or property,” Munroe said.Fletcher said she received critical comments that an alert was sent out although the suspect was carrying a knife rather than a gun.“It was still a dangerous situation,” she said, adding that the notifications keep users from approaching the area and causing confusion or chaos. Other users were frustrated they received the notification when they live off campus, she said.“We don’t have the capability to select who it’s sent to,” she said. “You’re going to get the message if you are affiliated with IU-Bloomington.”An ongoing review of the process may let users select how to receive messages in the future. Presently, to receive text alerts users must add their number through OneStart. There is currently no university-sanctioned way to remove a user’s contact information from the system.“At this point, there is no way to opt-out,” Fletcher said. “I know it causes inconveniences. People don’t like to get messages early in the morning. We made the decision as a University that everyone needs to get the message as a matter of safety.”Land said the system worked well Sunday and called the police response to the alleged crime “outstanding.”“We can’t make people stay in place,” Land said. “This is not an elementary school where we can make people stay in a classroom with their heads under a desk.”Fletcher said despite complaints about receiving the notifications early in the morning, the notifications served their purposes of alerting everyone on campus.“We’re going to send the message because safety is number one,” Fletcher said. “We will err on the side of caution.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Somewhere amid a muddle of leases and landlords, you are trying to figure out the logistics of renting. Here are a few tips from Randall Frykberg, director of IU’s Student Legal Services. Consider them before you get the keys to your new home.Take pictures of your property before you move in Inspect the area thoroughly and note any defects. The strongest cases Student Legal Services receives are those with visual evidence, Frykberg said. “If a defect seems important (windows, door locks, bugs), don’t accept the keys unless your landlord fixes it,” he said.Do know your rights as a tenantThough most of your rights are specific to your lease, the government also mandates certain standards. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability. Bloomington code requires all residential renting units meet specific qualifications including:
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU Bloomington seniors remember not paying a repair and rehabilitation fee.Their sophomore year, 2011, the fee first appeared on Bursar bills. Their junior year, the fee doubled to $180 per semester. Now in its third year, the fee is back at the same rate and poised to bring in almost $25.6 million across all campuses.Repair and rehabilitation fees are intended to help finance projects such as repairing sewer lines, installing fire alarms and electrical systems and fixing sidewalks and roofs. “R and R is a lot of things that are under the ground and above the ceiling,” said Tom Morrison, vice president of capital planning and facilities.In 2011, IU received no state funding for R and R and decided the fee was necessary, Morrison said.“If it’s not coming from the state of Indiana, the students are our other source of revenue,” he said. This fiscal year, IU is receiving $11.5 million for R and R from the state of Indiana, the first time in almost half a decade it has received state money. “We did not get rid of the fee or reduce the fee even with the state funding,” said Mark Land, associate vice president of public affairs and government relations for IU. “Even with the state money we have demands for R and R that go beyond those two funds.”Land said a student fee is necessary for now in part to help lessen $700 million in deferred projects the University has accumulated. These are projects that don’t involve immediate safety needs and were put off because of low funding.Morrison could not provide a specific time frame for when the deferment backlog grew.As recently as 2000, the IU Board of Trustees meeting minutes indicate that R and R deferrals were under control. “We do not have large backlogs of deferred maintenance at Indiana University because we have been successful in convincing the General Assembly to support this very important need,” then-Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Terry Clapacs said at the May 2000 meeting.Four years later, Clapacs shared a different story. “Essentially all we’ve done for the last four to six years are those projects that are truly emergencies,” Clapacs said in a June 2004 trustees meeting. “We are way behind in building very rapidly a very large deferred maintenance set of projects that we’ve not been able to do.”In 2005, the Board of Trustees charged the facilities committee to review the growing deferred maintenance and consider alternate ways of funding R and R.Morrison said from approximately 2006 to 2009, the deferment rose from $600 million to $700 million as state funding continued to decrease.“We had to stop the hemorrhaging,” Morrison said.* * *The fee was first introduced on the Bursar bill in 2011 as the “temporary repair and rehabilitation fee.” This year, the word “temporary” was dropped from the Bursar bill, though it reappeared in the State of the University address Oct. 1 when President Michael McRobbie referred to the fee as a “special temporary student fee.” Even before the fee, students helped fund R and R projects through their tuition via the University’s general operating fund.Land said creating a fee rather than increasing tuition allowed the money to be channeled specifically into R and R.“All we did a couple years ago with the R and R fee is to absolutely say, ‘This is where your money is going,’” Morrison said. “We were just being more transparent.” IU reinvests in its buildings through annual repairs, a cost ranging from $40 million to $50 million a year. This year, IU plans to spend $44 million on R and R across all its campuses.Student fees will generate almost $25.6 million this year, more than half of which will come from IU Bloomington. Students at other IU campuses pay a lower fee than students in Bloomington, though their campuses contribute significantly less to the deferment total. With the student fee and the state funding, about $7 million will still have to be taken from the University’s general operating fund.Morrison said state funding would have to cover yearly R and R needs before the student fee could be eliminated. This mostly likely won’t be happening soon, he added, looking at the history of state funding during the past decade.Land said he cannot predict when the fee will be removed.“Until such time that it occurs, that the state more fully funds R and R, we’re going to have the fee,” Land said.* * *If there have been student complaints about the R and R fee, Land hasn’t heard them.He said he believes it is because the fee was frozen at the same rate. Likewise, IU Student Association Treasurer Casey Baker said she hasn’t heard any student comments about the fee, though she said the overall rising cost of tuition is always a big issue. “I think it’s a delicate balance of keeping our campus beautiful, updated and attracting students, but it’s also that you don’t want to charge too much to students,” she said. Land acknowledged the fee adds an extra burden to students’ bills.“We realize it was an additional fee to everybody, but it wasn’t like the state gave us all the money we needed,” Land said.But, he quickly added, IU is grateful to have state funding at all this year. Without money from the state, IU would have looked to raise the fee.Repair costs of a deferred project increase as the building or system ages. Seventy-six percent of IU Bloomington buildings are more than 40 years old.“Just because the funding doesn’t come doesn’t mean the roof doesn’t leak or the sidewalk doesn’t crack,” Morrison said. “The need doesn’t go away. Everyone can recognize that.”Between the state and student funding the deferred project total will reduce by 21 percent to $558 million, Morrison said. This is the first time in a decade the deferral amount will reduce, he said.During the State of the University address, McRobbie said his primary goal is to chip away at small deferred projects totaling about $170 million before tackling large projects. Such projects would include entire building renovations of Swain Hall, Ballantine Hall and the Geology Building, Morrison said. “A lot of it isn’t sexy,” Land said. “But it’s this vital structure, making campus safer and more comfortable for students.”Follow reporter Megan Jula on Twitter @MeganJula.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>During a Bloomington City Council meeting Wednesday, neighborhood associations and Bloomington residents voiced their disapproval of the proposed construction of an IU fraternity house.The IU Foundation plans to build the new Phi Gamma Delta — commonly referred to as Fiji — fraternity house in the University Courts Neighborhood at the corner of Eighth Street and Woodlawn Avenue.The chapter’s current house on Third Street will be demolished in order to expand the Maurer School of Law.The proposed construction of the fraternity house would require the demolition of six houses in the neighborhood that were placed on the State Register of Historic Places in 1992 and on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.Community members addressed the issue during the public forum portion of Wednesday’s meeting. Sandi Cole, a property owner about two blocks away from the proposed construction site, voiced her concerns about the demolition of the historic buildings. “I’m concerned that power and money are at the forefront of this debate,” Cole said. Property owners in historic districts are required to present any exterior changes on their property to the Historic Preservation Commission, but IU is exempt from this requirement.The Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission wrote a letter in August to the University, urging it to reconsider the proposed location of the fraternity house. Residents such as Jon Lawrence, a member of the Council of Neighborhood Associations Executive Committee, also expressed unease about the presence of a greek house in a residential neighborhood.“Beyond the physical demolition, there is the consequence of dropping testosterone and beer-filled men in the middle of an established neighborhood,” Lawrence said. Jenny Southern, president of the Elm Heights Neighborhood Association, is an IU graduate whose mother graduated from the law school. “It’s a big surprise to see those houses go down and a frat house pop up,” Southern said.Many residents recommended moving the location of the new fraternity house closer to Jordan Avenue or Third Street.“IU gets an expanded law school. The Fijis get a new fraternity house,” Bloomington resident Caroline Clay said. “What does Bloomington get?”Follow reporter Megan Jula on Twitter @MeganJula.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Major construction for Hoosier Energy’s new headquarters on the south side of Bloomington began this week after breaking ground Aug. 13.Hoosier Energy is a Bloomington-based generation and transmission cooperative servicing a 15,000 square-mile area of central and southern Indiana, and 11 southeastern Illinois counties.Their new headquarters will be northeast of the intersection of Tapp Road and State Road 37. The $27 million, 83,000 square-foot building will house approximately 115 employees who currently work in several offices throughout the county. Hoosier Energy headquarters are currently at 7398 N. State Road 37 in Monroe County.“We’ve been in our location for several decades,” Communications Manager Chris Tryba said. “This is an opportunity to bring all the employees together, improve work efficiency and better meet company needs.”Occupancy of the building is scheduled for December 2014, Tryba said. F.A. Wilhelm Construction, an Indianapolis-based company, is the general contractor on the project, and Schmidt Associates is the architectural firm.The construction project received permission for tax abatement, an exemption from paying taxes over an extended period, from the Bloomington Economic Development Commission earlier this year.The new building will also receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. In order to receive LEED certification, a building must meet certain sustainability criteria such as water, heating and cooling efficiency. There are four levels of LEED classifications, starting with certified and increasing to silver, gold and platinum. “We’re an energy company,” Tryba said. “We feel it is a corporate responsibility to be in a building that is more energy efficient.”Jacqui Bauer, sustainability coordinator for the City of Bloomington, said LEED certification is a growing trend, not only in Bloomington, but across the country.“In a way it’s a marketing tool,” Bauer said. “It allows people to say ‘sustainability is important to us.’”The program works especially well for new construction, like Hoosier Energy’s headquarters, she said, though it does require planning ahead.While the environmentally conscious materials may be more expensive in the beginning, Tryba said it will be worth the investment.“We’ll be using LED lighting, that equipment by its nature is more expensive,” he said. “Sometimes there are additional costs, but from our perspective, it’s the right thing to do.”Tryba also said the Bloomington community has been supportive of the new construction, mentioning the presence of Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann, Rep. Todd Young, R-9th District and Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan at the groundbreaking ceremony last week.Bauer said from both an economic and sustainability perspective, the company’s new headquarters will be an asset to the Bloomington community.“We think it was a great thing to have them move into Bloomington,” she said. “That’s exactly the kind of thing we want to see.”Follow Megan Jula on Twitter @MeganJula
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Major construction for Hoosier Energy’s new headquarters on the south side of Bloomington began this week after breaking ground Aug. 13.Hoosier Energy is a Bloomington-based generation and transmission cooperative servicing a 15,000 square-mile area of central and southern Indiana, and 11 southeastern Illinois counties.Their new headquarters will be northeast of the intersection of Tapp Road and State Road 37. The $27 million, 83,000 square foot building will house approximately 115 employees who currently work in several offices throughout the county. Hoosier Energy headquarters are currently at 7398 N. State Road 37 in Monroe County.“We’ve been in our location for several decades,” Chris Tryba, communications manager, said. “This is an opportunity to bring all the employees together, improve work efficiency and better meet company needs.”Occupancy of the building is scheduled for December 2014, Tryba said. F.A. Wilhelm Construction, an Indianapolis-based company, is the general contractor on the project and Schmidt Associates is the architectural firm.The construction project received permission for tax abatement from the Bloomington Economic Development Commission earlier this year, which is an exemption from paying taxes over an extended period.The new building will also receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. In order to receive LEED certification, a building must meet certain sustainability criteria such as water, heating and cooling efficiency. There are four levels of LEED classifications, starting with certified and increasing to silver, gold and platinum. “We’re an energy company,” Tryba said. “We feel it is a corporate responsibility to be in a building that is more energy efficient.”Jacqui Bauer, sustainability coordinator for the City of Bloomington, said LEED certification is a growing trend, not only in Bloomington, but across the country. “In a way it’s a marketing tool,” Bauer said. “It allows people to say ‘sustainability is important to us.’”The program works especially well for new construction, like Hoosier Energy’s headquarters, she said, though it does require planning ahead.While the environmentally conscious materials may be more expensive in the beginning, Tryba said it will be worth the investment.“We’ll be using LED lighting, that equipment by its nature is more expensive,” he said. “Sometimes there are additional costs, but from our perspective, it’s the right thing to do.”Tryba also said the Bloomington community has been supportive of the new construction, mentioning the presence of Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann, Rep. Todd Young, R-9th District and Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan at the groundbreaking ceremony last week.Bauer said from both an economic and sustainability perspective, the company’s new headquarters will be an asset to the Bloomington community.“We think it was a great thing to have them move into Bloomington,” she said. “That’s exactly the kind of thing we want to see.”Follow Megan Jula on Twitter @MeganJula
If the night of June 3, 2011 had gone differently, missing IU student Lauren Spierer would be graduating next week with the class of 2013.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bloomington took a moment to honor its youngest environmentalists Wednesday evening in City Hall.The Environmental Commission and the Office of the Mayor named 10 students “Eco Heroes.”Slightly fewer than a hundred participants entered the second annual Eco Hero contest, open to grades k-12, Senior Environmental Planner Linda Thompson said.Participants made projects including posters, birdhouses and a robot made from recycled materials, based on the theme “Eco-Heroes: How I put the ‘I’ in Environment.”“The purpose is to remind the students to be conscientious about environmental issues,” Thompson said. “Hopefully, along the way they make adults more conscientious as well.”Mayor Mark Kruzan shook the hand of each award recipient. Each received an award certificate and a gift bag sponsored by local businesses.“We count on people your age to remind people our age that it’s important to recycle,” Kruzan said to the audience. “We are here to celebrate Earth Day and all you have done.”The projects were displayed throughout the hall, including artwork with slogans such as “Help the penguins keep their home” and a depiction of “Eco man.”Eight-year-old homeschooler Emma Golden received a third place award in her age group for her essay “Why I Love Curious Otters.” Curious Otters is aprogram to teach 7 to 9-year-olds about plants, animals, survival skills and having fun outdoors, her instructors Monique Philpot and Kevin Glenn said. Golden said her favorite part of the program is woodcarving and learning to start a fire.Eighth-grader Hannah Kunzman from Jackson Creek Middle School created a watercolor painting of children in a tree holding signs displaying their efforts to protect the earth.She said being environmentally conscious is a critical issue.“I think it’s really important, especially now with global warming,” she said.The Eco Hero Committee was delighted by the submissions this year, Environmental Commission Chair Carrie Albright said.“The aim of this project was to not only educate students about the environment, but encourage them to be active participants in their environment,” she said. “It is a sign, that without question, the Bloomington community, including its youngest members, will have a positive impact on the world.”Thompson emphasized the students are a great example for the entire community.“I think they are a good example of using their creativity to get their message across,” she said. “I tell you, there is nothing cuter. My face hurts from smiling looking at all the entries.”Bloomington resident Greg Mitchell echoed this sentiment as he looked around at the colorful projects. Mitchell was at the ceremony because he is a member of the Green Team at his employer, educational stragey company Solution Tree, which sponsored an Eco Hero award.“Sometimes I worry about handing the torch over to the next generation,” he said as his eyes scanned the artwork. “Then you see this and it’s heartening.”
Bloomington will host a number of events for Earth and Arbor Days this week.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The tables in the Children’s Program Room at Monroe County Public Library were strewn with markers, glue and recycled materials on Friday.Presenter Janet Lambert helped about 30 participants make posters in honor of Earth Day.The purpose of the event was to “make awareness for the kids that they can make a difference for the Earth,” Lambert said. Nine-year-old Avery Njau and her mom worked on a collage made of old magazine pictures.“Since it’s Earth Day, I wanted to show all the animals in their natural habits,” Avery said. “It’s a day people can recognize they should help the natural Earth. People shouldn’t build cities and cut into animals’ habitats.”Avery has also helped to protect the environment at Fairview Elementary. A few weeks ago, Avery and a few friends started a group called Kids Go Green and have been picking up garbage in the schoolyard.Other participants were just getting started with their environmental activism.Five-year-old Emilee Templeton said her mom hadn’t told her about Earth Day yet, but she enjoys planting flowers. She enthusiastically slathered a poster with glue and stuck on paper cut-outs, old CD’s, toilet paper tube pieces and bottle caps.“This is a merry-go-round,” she said as she spun her finger in a circular motion over a group of bottle caps. “It goes whirrrrr.”Bloomington resident Sandra Dillman said she and her son, Chauncey, recycle more than they throw away at home. “We care about our Earth,” she said as she watched Chauncey glue blue and green crepe paper scraps into the shape of the Earth.“That’s where the iceberg is,” Chauncey said as he gestured to a spot he left blank.Lambert explained she has helped MCPL present Earth Day-themed events for the last few years.In the past she has set up different stations, but this year she enjoyed the hands-on craft. She said the kids made a lot of cute comments about helping the environment.“One little girl said the Earth would be better if we all planted flowers,” Lambert said.Tilly Robinson, 9, explained she participated in the event because people need to help the planet.“I’m doing a picture of a cat and it says ‘animals matter’ because I want people to know we are not the only ones on Earth,” she said. “I am going to do ‘plants matter’ over here.”As the posters were finished, Lambert helped the children to hang them on the library wall. “Happy Earth Day,” “The Earth is beautiful,” “The Earth needs Flowers!” they read.“People really need to try to help the Earth,” Tilly said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Little 500 is more than just a campus bike race. In Bloomington, it’s part of a rich biking culture.Jim Schroeder, president of the Bloomington Bicycle Club, moved to Bloomington because of the biking tradition of the town. He considers himself an “aficionado” of “Breaking Away,” the 1979 film chronicling the life and times of a local cycling team.Schroeder and other Bloomington residents are planning community biking events even as Little 500 participants prepare to pump their pedals around Bill Armstrong Stadium.Schroeder leads an annual “Breaking Away” bike ride time place around the time of Little 500.“Every year, we have a bike ride where we ride around Bloomington and go around to all the places in the movie or that used to be in the movie,” he said.It’s an easy, 15-mile ride, he explained.This year’s “Breaking Away” ride will begin 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the Bryan Park Pool parking lot.Mechanic Ethan Harrell, with Revolution Bike and Bean, said he sees an increase in Bloomington bikers as spring and Little 500 wheel in is evident. “We do see an up-flow as the weather changes for spring and people get jazzed for Little Five,” Harrell said.This time of year, he said, is a great time for residents to begin biking. People driving cars are usually more aware of bicyclers on the road, training for the race.The best part about Bloomington is there are paths to bike everywhere, he added.“You can get almost anywhere around Bloomington on a bike,” he said.Revolution also becomes involved in Little 500 as teams request bikes to be built for them by the shop, he added. Harrell works as a mechanic for two Little 500 teams, CSF Cycling’s women and men’s teams.But even though he works directly with serious riders, he said it’s fun to see the variety of people who come into the shop.“We got guys who come in who want to train, extreme mountain bikers and professors with bikes that they ride to work,” Harrell said.For Schroeder, he said it’s about getting a wide variety of people involved in biking. The Bloomington Bicycle Club is for beginning riders — it’s not a racing club, he said.Several members are coaches for Little 500 teams and alumni of the race, he added. For more serious riders, he leads a 100-mile ride once a week.He said he enjoys seeing the upswing of interested riders around Little 500 and seeing more people become interested over a long term.“I think a lot of them enjoy it, not just for Little Five,” he said. “They really have the bug for bicycling.”However, he said he remembers working with one student who didn’t really understand Little 500.“She said ‘You mean there’s a bike race during Little Five?’” he said. “So I had to explain to her what the race is all about.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A decade ago, Denise Breeden-Ost didn’t know if she would call an ambulance in the event of an emergency.“If you can drive the person to the hospital yourself, you don’t have to pay for the ambulance service,” she said. “Sometimes in that situation you do need an ambulance, yet you are thinking, ‘Maybe I can deal with this on my own.’”Back then, Breeden-Ost and her husband were among more than 800,000 uninsured Hoosiers. Now, the couple is covered by the Healthy Indiana Plan, a health care coverage program implemented by the state in 2008 to insure eligible adults.“Before that, I had never had health insurance — couldn’t afford it,” Breeden-Ost said. “One of the biggest differences has been being able to have my own doctor. I feel like I’m receiving health care rather than just treating urgent things.”The Breeden-Osts make their living selling vegetables grown on their farm, Getty’s Creek Farm. They have a place to live and healthy food to eat, but they need help when it comes to affording health care, Breeden-Ost said.And there are friends, family, neighbors who need to have the same kind of health care service available, she added.“It really is life and death,” she said. “For me, it’s a quality of life issue, but for some people it’s more than that. We need to do what’s right.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Amidst the buzz of clippers and the hum of blow dryers at Hoosier Barber Shop, IU Health and Osman Chiropractic Center offered free public health screenings Saturday. The tests included spinal screenings, lipid panels, blood pressure, diabetes, hepatitis C and HIV tests. Bloomington is one of 12 Indiana cities participating in the Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program, a statewide initiative to promote health education in the African-American community. Screenings were also offered at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.“Research has shown that the African-American male population has a higher (number of) incidents of disease and health issues,” Nancy Woolery, health projects manager for the Community and Family Resources Department, said. The Community and Family Resources Department and the Commission on the Status of Black Males presented the program for the third year in a row.Woolery said the barbershop setting encouraged the participants to get tested while partaking in a social environment.“Barbershops in the African-American population tend to be a social setting,” she said.Jay Thompson, owner of the barbershop, enthusiastically chatted with the customers flowing into his establishment. He laughed and listened as he deftly trimmed their hair. But when he had a spare moment between customers, he sat down and got tested by IU Health personnel.Licensed practical nurse Lorie Conolty strapped the blood pressure monitor to his arm. A collage of pictures detailing different haircuts hung above her head. Thompson said reaching out to the male population about health is important.“We don’t take care of ourselves,” he said. “We sit around watching the game, and then we die at half-time with a beer in our hands.”Offering the screenings in a barbershop made the atmosphere more comfortable for participants, Thompson added.“If you’re in the barbershop and you see another guy getting his blood pressure tested, you say ‘hey, that’s not so bad,’” he said.As he cut customer Mark Pointer’s hair, he did just that.“Jump in there. Don’t be scared,” he said. Beverly Smith, vice chair of the Commission on the Status of Black Males, said offering free health screenings has a personal connection.“Let’s put it this way. I am the sister, the daughter and the friend of African-American males,” Smith said. “Their health and prosperity is very important to me. Just the health of the entire community is very important to me.”The response of the recipients of the health tests was great, she said.“It’s been very positive and they are surprised that we could offer that for free,” she said.Conolty said she loved working with the local community. “I think there’s always a need for health care,” she said. “I like preventative types of health care, catching something before it leads to a bigger problem.”Next time, Thompson said the health screenings should be in a larger venue. He envisions barbershop chairs set up in the mall —free haircuts with your test, he said.The Community and Family Resources Department and the Active Living Coalition will also present free health screenings to the public May 18 at the B-Line trail.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Amidst the buzz of clippers and the hum of blow dryers at Hoosier Barber Shop, IU Health and Osman Chiropractic Center offered free public health screenings Saturday. The tests included spinal screenings, lipid panels, blood pressure, diabetes, hepatitis C and HIV tests. Bloomington is one of 12 Indiana cities participating in the Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program, a statewide initiative to promote health education in the African-American community. Screenings were also offered at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.“Research has shown that the African-American male population has a higher incidence of disease and health issues,” Nancy Woolery, health projects manager for the Community and Family Resources Department, said. The Community and Family Resources Department and the Commission on the Status of Black Males presented the program for the third year in a row.Woolery said the barbershop setting encourages the African-American community to get tested while in a social environment.“Barbershops in the African American population tend to be a social setting,” she said.Jay Thompson, owner of the barbershop, enthusiastically chatted with the customers flowing into his establishment. He laughed and listened as he deftly trimmed their hair. But when he had a spare moment between customers, he sat down and got tested by IU Health personnel.Licensed practical nurse Lorie Conolty strapped the blood pressure monitor to his arm. A collage of pictures detailing different haircuts hung above her head. Thompson said reaching out to the male population about health is important.“We don’t take care of ourselves,” he said. “We sit around watching the game and then we die at half-time with a beer in our hands.”Thompson added that offering the screenings in a barbershop made the atmosphere more comfortable for participants.“If you’re in the barbershop and you see another guy getting his blood pressure tested, you say ‘hey, that’s not so bad,’” he said.As he cut customer Mark Pointer’s hair, he did just that.“Jump in there, don’t be scared,” he said. Beverly Smith, vice chair of the Commission on the Status of Black Males, said offering free health screenings had a personal connection.“Let’s put it this way. I am the sister, the daughter, and the friend of African-American males,” Smith said. “Their health and prosperity is very important to me. Just the health of the entire community is very important to me.”The response of the recipients of the health tests was great, she added.“It’s been very positive and they are surprised that we could offer that for free,” she said.Conolty said she loved working with the local community. “I think there’s always a need for health care,” she said. “I like preventative types of health care, catching something before it leads to a bigger problem.”Next time, Thompson thinks the health screenings should be in a larger venue. He envisions barbershop chairs set up in the mall. “Free haircuts with your test,” he said.The Community and Family Resources Department and the Active Living Coalition will also present free health screenings to the public May 18th at the B-Line trail.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When Kai Tang drives around campus, he points out the cars he has sold. “That’s my customer, that white Audi,” he said, tilting his head to catch a better glimpse as he drove down Third Street.Tang is a 2012 IU alumnus and international student who started working as a sales consultant at Royal on the Eastside last fall. A Chinese flier at the dealership advertises his ability to speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese.“When I see a luxury car like Audi, first I would take a look at the drivers,” Tang said. If the driver happens to be Asian, he said, he’ll quickly scan the back of the license plate frame, looking for his company name. Most of the time, he said, the car is from Royal because the dealership has a large customer base with international students. Tang has proved to be a valuable asset at the dealership because of his ability to communicate with international and local customers, his colleagues said.“He sells more than just to the students. He sells to everybody,” Royal on the Eastside General Sales Manager Chris Pernatoni said. “The customers love him.”Before Tang was hired, Perantoni said there were sometimes difficulties in communicating with international students, who form a significant portion of their clientele.“I think we got through most communication problems, but sometimes it would take longer for some clients than others,” Perantoni said. “I think one of the things they prefer is obviously that we have someone who speaks their language.”He estimates the dealership sells about 110 new and used cars a month. International students account for 10 to 15 percent of sales, he said.“And that number seems to be growing,” he said.Sometimes, he said, international students who buy a car will return with a group of friends. They become regulars, he said.“They will pull me aside and say, ‘I like the fact that you treat us with respect and you seem like you appreciate our business,’” Perantoni said. “ And I say, ‘well of course I do. You guys are a big part of our business.’ Some of these students come in with quite good budgets, and they really seem to enjoy our line of high-line vehicles.”Sophomore Alvin Zhan is an international student from Zhejiang province in China. He purchased an Audi A7 from Royal last September, before Tang was hired.The car rung up to $60,000, he said.He marveled that the price was significantly cheaper than he would have paid in China, he said.The Audi A7 on the United States Audi website starts at $60,100. The Chinese website has the Audi A7 Sportback, the Chinese equivalent, for about $112,000.Tang explained the difference in market structures in the two countries contributes to the wide discrepancy in pricing. China also has a higher vehicle tax than the U.S.Zhan said he wishes he had been able to speak to a salesperson like Tang when he bought the car. Instead, he brought a group of friends to help him with his questions for the salesman.“They have lots of experience, so they help me to communicate with them,” he said.Many of his friends who are international students also have high-end cars, he added. He rattled off a list: BMW, Mercedes Benz, Range Rover, Nissan GT-R, Maserati. “Maybe the Asian people drive a lot of the famous cars, because, you know, once you can get to America to study, maybe your family has a lot of money.” he said. Some of Zhan’s friends contacted Royal for help in getting these luxury lines of cars, he explained, as they aren’t available locally.Perantoni said Royal receives these request occasionally and will try to order the specific car directly from the manufacturer.“They all seem to have unique budgets,” he said. “We remember the ones that spend the most money, obviously, because they all buy cars that we can only dream about.”For example, one international student came in a few years ago and wrote a $150,000 check for two cars, a Mini Cooper R54 and an Audi TT, he said. Then he ordered a pink Mini Cooper for his girlfriend.The dealership even has a program with Volkswagen and Audi called the Foreign College Student Plan, which allows customers to purchase a car without a social security number if they have documentation such as a visa or verification they are a student, he said. Although the FCSP website lists a social security card as a requirement, Perantoni said a letter explaining the international student cannot obtain a social security number can substitute.“It does allow us to stretch their budgets a bit better,” Perantoni said. Stephens Hyundai has a similar program: the Corporate Sponsor Program. The CSP allows students’ families back home to finance the car without worrying about social security numbers, Hyundai sales manager Randy Bush said.International students, mostly from Asian countries, make up about 15 percent of their sales, he estimates.While some students are looking for a low-cost vehicle for transportation, others will “buy a $38,000 vehicle without the blink of an eye,” Bush said.Bush said the Hyundai dealership would love to have a consultant like Tang with the ability to communicate with their international customers.“It’s fantastic for business, because you want the client to feel comfortable,” he said. “We have dictionaries and all that, but having that person who has been speaking the language since birth is more like talking to a friend as opposed to a salesperson.“Tang’s Occupational Practical Training Visa has allowed him to work in the U.S. for a year after graduation. Pernatoni said he has been trying to apply for a longer-term H-1B work visa for Tang.“We’re aggressively trying to help to keep him here as long as possible,” Perantoni said. “There are some pretty hefty costs that we are willing to pay.”Tang said he would love to continue working with the international students who come through the dealership, putting his trilingual skills to practice. “The job is challenging, but I really like it, and I want to keep working here as long as possible,” he said.And as long as Tang is there to explain horsepower in English, Mandarin and Cantonese, the dealership will be able to meet the demand of international students who are attracted to luxury vehicles at lower American prices.“Our family prepared for this fact,” Zhan said. “We know America is car country.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market opened Saturday with an array of fresh produce, flowers and local music at Showers Common. New to this year’s market is a program called “Market Match: Double Market Bucks Program.” Because of a $20,000 grant from a private foundation, the market is offering to double the worth of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food stamps when exchanged for Market Bucks. SNAP provides food assistance to low-income families and is designed to raise the nutritional level of these households. Market Bucks can be used like cash to purchase from the farmers’ market vendors. “We are very excited,” Market Master Robin Hobson said. “It helps to provide access to fresh and local foods to more members of the community.”The exchange program will cover up to $18 worth of SNAP benefits, equal to $36 Market Bucks.“We had a really good turnout,” Farmers’ Market Leader Crystal Ritter said as she manned the Market Match booth. “We had a long line of people this morning.”The program will run until the grant is completely used, which Ritter estimates will last the entire market season and perhaps run into the next season.The opening of the market season also brought back many returning vendors, like McCullough Farms.The McCullough family has been coming to the market since 1988, Brandon McCullough said as he stood next to his grandparents and their truck loaded with sweet potatoes.The McCulloughs will also sell sweet corn in the summer, he explained — the variety of produce at the market will increase as the season continues.He added that it was a pretty good turnout for the first market of the season, and he enjoyed interacting with the customers.“I like the relationships we form,” McCullough said. “We get a lot of repeat customers. People really like to have that connection with the person selling them their food.”Bloomington resident Victoria Bledsoe said she comes to the market to socialize and buy local, organic foods. “The food here is way better,” she said. “It’s not shipped across the country.”Meanwhile, right next door in City Hall, the Department of Community and Family Resources, IU Health Bloomington and the Monroe County Health Department sponsored free health screenings and educational information in honor of Public Health Week.“We wanted to do an event to promote to the community what public health is,” Nancy Woolery, Department of Community and Family Resources Health Projects manager, said. “I think a lot of it is preventative care. We like to have people have these screenings just in case there is a problem so we refer them to their doctor.”Next week’s market will feature “Energy Synergy: Sustainable Energy and You” from 9 a.m. to noon April 13 at Showers Common.Hobson said with 140 vendor applications for this year, she looks forward to a successful market season.“The market goes on through rain or shine, April through the end of November,” Hobson said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Franklin Community High School teacher Don Wettrick doesn’t normally wear glasses, but that’s about to change.Wettrick and his innovations class of juniors and seniors have been selected to receive Google Glass, a tiny voice-activated computer that is worn like a pair of glasses.There are 8,000 recipients who were chosen to beta-test the new technology after applicants were required to submit a 50-word testimony as to how they would implement the new device’s features into their respective lifestyles.“I’m more excited for my students,” Wettrick said. “This is a game changer. Just like the iPhone turned out to be more than just a gadget. Just how Twitter turned out to be more than just a way for Kim Kardashian to tweet about how she looks. It’s going to be like that for Google Glass.”Wettrick’s innovations class applied for Google Glass on the last possible day, he said. With a 15-second video and 140 characters, the class explained why they deserve the Glass.“#ifihadglass I would let my students discover all the uses of glass & collaborate w/ other schools worldwide,” Wettrick’s tweet read.Last Friday, ProjectGlass tweeted back, inviting Wettrick to the #glassexplorers program.“I got really excited. I just basically screamed and jumped up and down,” said Briceson Hill, a junior and self-described “tech-head” in the innovations class.He said the class is already his favorite part of the school day. But, the chance to test out the Glass makes the class even better.“It’s pretty crazy,” Hill said. “Google, in my opinion, is one of the best companies out there. Getting to work with them, then testing out the Glass, is just insane.” Wettrick said the class is already based on a method similar to Google’s “20 percent time,” where employes are allotted 20 percent of their time to pursue their own projects. Each student in his class has autonomy to concentrate on projects they are passionate about, Wettrick explained. These projects have ranged from increasing adoptions at a local animal shelter to working with an advertisement developer in Beijing. Likewise, Wettrick said he will allow the students to choose how they want to use the Google Glass — as long as they use it to the best of their abilities and don’t post videos of cats, he said with a laugh. “I think it will give us an even bigger platform to talk about what we do,“ he said. “I think with using Google Glass, since we are going to be among the first in the world, all eyes are going to be on us. We need to deliver.”Hill said he thinks the class has prepared him to experiment with the Glass.“It’s a bit overwhelming, but I think we can handle it,” he said. “Our class is purely based on results.” The class, he said, will try connecting the Glass with their android devices, as well as try Google conferencing with other classrooms.Grant Carlile, a technology teacher at Penn High School in Mishawaka, Ind., and an IU-Bloomington alumnus with a master’s in human computer interaction and design, was also chosen as a recipient of Google Glass. He said he plans to use the technology as an educator. “When you combine the two of us — my knowledge of the lesson plan and the technology of the Glass — it’s a great matchup,” he said.The idea of a wearable computer, he said, is not a new concept. Google augmented reality in the ’80s to see the different computers people have strapped to their heads, he said.But Google Glass marks the beginning of a wearable technology available to everyone, he said.“I think it’s a step in the history books,” he said. “We’ve finally made it to an augmented reality available to the masses.” However, Wettrick and his class will be able to experience Google Glass before it hits the commercial market either later this year or early 2014. The official launch date has yet to be confirmed.For now, Wettrick is waiting to find out when he can pick up the glasses from one of three Google locations — San Francisco, Los Angeles or New York. The eyewear doesn’t come cheap, either. Wetrrick has to shell out $1500 for the Google Glass, but he said he is glad to pay the amount to get the technology in his students’ hands.“When you are given a tool that you don’t know all the capabilities of, and it’s in your hands, that’s exciting,” he said. “That’s powerful education.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Pregnant women do not have the constitutional right to the control of their own bodies.That is the view Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, is striving to abolish from the US legal system.Law Students for Reproductive Justice, the Feminist Law Forum and the American Constitution Society brought Paltrow to speak on reproductive justice and the case of Bei Bei Shuai v. the State of Indiana at the Maurer School of Law on Friday.Paltrow said the Shuai case could set the precedent for cases involving pregnant women and fetuses.“The question is will the state of Indiana be the first state to declare itself as one where pregnant women are treated as separate and unequal persons,” Paltrow said.Bei Bei Shaui, an Indiana resident who emigrated from China, is facing charges of murder and attempted feticide after she attempted suicide while pregnant in her third trimester in 2010.Shaui consumed rat poison after learning her boyfriend and father of her baby was married and returning to his estranged family. Friends brought her to the hospital, and Angel Shaui was born on New Year’s Eve. Angel died in Shaui’s arms three days later, and after receiving treatment for lingering depression, Bei Bei was arrested and charged by the state. The case has been delayed, but a new time for the trial has not been set.Jim Spangler, a second-year law student who attended Paltrow’s speech, said the charges are “ridiculous.”“The biggest problem is that it took a behavior that was totally legal and made it illegal because she (was) pregnant,” he said, referring to Shaui’s suicide attempt.Paltrow, who recently published a peer-reviewed study on the arrests of and forced interventions on pregnant women, said these cases are occurring in every region in the country.She calls the concept the “new Jane Crow” laws.“What a new Jane Crow refers to is a system of separate and unequal law for pregnant and fertile women,” Paltrow said. “It relegates them to a permanent underclass status and removes them from the community of constitutional persons.”The feticide statute under which Shuai is charged was a post-Roe state law passed in 1979 that made the fetus a separate victim in crimes against pregnant women that caused her to miscarry or die, Paltrow explained.Thirty-eight states now have similar homicide of a viable fetus or feticide laws she said.“Each and every one of those laws was passed after an event of extreme violence against women,” she said. “They hijack the debate about the violence against women to establishing the treatment of eggs, embryos and fetuses as separate from the women.”Jessica Jackson-McLain, a second-year law student at IU, said Paltrow was very persuasive.“She makes a wonderful point even for people who would traditionally oppose abortion,” Jackson-McLain said. “It’s also about treating women differently just because they are pregnant.”LSRJ will send a group of students to Indianapolis on April 6 for a rally protesting the Bei Bei Shuai case and promoting reproductive justice. The rally will be at 2 p.m. outside of the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St.“Speak on behalf of Bei Bei Shuai. Speak on behalf of women,” Paltrow said. “Come to the rally on April 6 and demonstrate that you support a culture of life that includes and values the lives of pregnant women, whatever the outcome of their pregnancies.”The rally will take place 2 p.m. April 6 in front of the City Market, 222 E. Market St., in Indianapolis.