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(09/27/07 4:00am)
W.T. Wright will take IU Student Association one step closer to its long term goal of creating a student section in Assembly Hall on Wednesday. \nThe IUSA President plans to attend the IU athletics committee meeting, but he’s not making any promises.\n“You can’t get something like student seating accomplished in one year,” Wright said.\nLong term changes are difficult for IUSA because a new administration is elected each year. University officials realize this and feel IUSA goals will change as quickly as their administrators, Wright said. He said he sees his role with IUSA as more than a year-long commitment. \nThe Fort Wayne native was involved with IUSA as a sophomore and has another chance to run for president next year as a senior.\nThe IUSA presidency is part of Wright’s growing list of accomplishments since coming to IU. He was a direct admit to the Kelley School of Business. He is an honors student who joined the Kelley School’s investment banking workshop as a sophomore. The workshop is a lifetime commitment, Wright said. When workshop members graduate and get jobs, they’re supposed to help pull the younger members up to Wall Street, Wright said.\n“You give above and beyond what you get,” Wright said. “That why it’s so successful.”\nWright is working toward other major changes like the addition of a week-long fall break. Wright said he plans to push for the break, but realizes it won’t happen overnight.\n“I’d like to see another administration come out of this and work on what we are,” Wright said.\nLast year’s IUSA President Betsy Henke said high turnover will continually challenge new IUSA presidents, but there are things they can do to make their administration productive. Henke told Wright to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of himself and others.\n“You can’t be everywhere and be good at everything,” Henke said.\nHenke told Wright to pull people into their areas of interest, and Wright listened.\nWright offered sophomore Brittney Banks a position on IUSA as director of greek recycling when he saw her passion for the issue. The two talked about recycling during IU President Michael McRobbie’s office hours on Aug. 31. Banks and her partner, Sutton Kauss, were invited to an IUSA congress meeting where they gave a PowerPoint presentation about their recycling plan.\nWright presented some of Banks’ ideas at the board of trustees meeting Sept. 21. Her ideas were met with a positive reception, Wright said.\n“This could be a huge accomplishment for (Banks), IUSA and everyone if we get it done,” Wright said.\nWright said he encourages other students to bring their concerns to IUSA congress. The 60-seat congress has representatives from all aspects of campus, including the Hutton Honors College and the greek houses and the dorms, Wright said.\n“When I go to a meeting, the ideas I discuss are not coming from me,” Wright said. “They come from our congress.”\nIUSA’s purpose is to give students input with what happens on campus, Wright said.\n“We are an advocate for change,” Wright said. “We provide the means.”
(09/25/07 4:49am)
The forum for political activism on college campuses has moved away from the streets to networking Web sites on the Internet.\nJust as television became an important part of political campaigns in the 1960s, the Internet has become just as powerful in the 21st century. Politicians ranging from the local to national levels now have their own Facebook profiles where students can click to support their campaign and post messages. Other Web sites, like www.meetup.com, have helped students organize political groups and raise support for candidates.\n“I am a very strong believer in the Internet becoming the new paradigm of political activism,” said Andrew Sharp, president of Indiana University Students for Ron Paul. “People are not going to be able to ignore it anymore. Internet is the secret weapon that mainstream media has not caught on to.”\nSharp said his group has “generated a good amount of buzz” by chalking Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul’s name on sidewalks and buildings around campus, but the buzz began on meetup.com. Sharp said that the site is where a lot of Paul’s supporters go to meet other supporters and coordinate events. Last week, Sharp and six others drove to Chicago to see Paul speak at a rally that they had learned about through the Web site. \nTorrey Kittle, state coordinator and online organizer of Students for Barack Obama, said his group’s presence can be felt online through Facebook groups and www.my.barackobama.com.\n“Technology turned campaigns upside down in 2004,” Kittle said. “This is just the beginning.”\nThe Internet has become a great tool for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s campaign, said Chapter Coordinator Tim Granholm.\n“It makes it a heck of a lot easier for students to get in contact,” Granholm said. “We post meetings online so they’re available for anyone.”\nThe Internet also helps the IU chapter of Students for Barack Obama communicate with other schools. On Sept. 1, Granholm and Obama supporters from other schools around the state traveled to Iowa, the first state in the primary election, as part of a program called Indiana to Iowa. The group met with other supporters at Obama’s field office in Cedar Falls, Iowa. They talked to students at the University of Northern Iowa and tried to encourage them to vote for Obama in January, Granholm said.\nGranholm said joining a Facebook group could be perceived as a lazy form of political activism, but it’s better than the alternative.\n“At least they’re taking that first step and opening the door to more involvement,” Granholm said. “Maybe next time they’ll be more likely to volunteer. Small steps are better than no steps.”\nAlthough the Internet is changing the way political campaigns reach voters, traditional forms of activism are still alive on college campuses.\nThe IU College Republicans will hold debates with the IU College Democrats as the presidential election approaches, said College Republican Chairman David White. The IU College Republicans also holds weekly meetings on Mondays in the Indiana Memorial Union. White encourages students to attend a meeting whether they are Republicans or not.\n“You don’t have to be one way or another to come to our meeting,” White said. “Hang out and learn a bit.”\nOther student groups not focused specifically on one candidate or party are also a political presence on campus. Last Friday, Indiana Public Interest Research Group took students to Indianapolis to interview Republican presidential hopeful John McCain about his position on global warming as part of a national campaign called “What’s Your Plan?” The group, which holds meetings on campus, aims to convince presidential candidates to pay attention to younger voters. INPIRG Treasurer Lindsey Lucenta said that the Internet plays a large role in reaching the 18-30 demographic.\n“Our generation is becoming more dependent on electronic means, whether it’s e-mail, Web sites or Facebook,” Lucenta said. “I think it’s a valuable commodity.”
(09/25/07 4:40am)
A new “master plan” for the IU-Bloomington and IU-Purdue University Indianapolis campuses is in the works today. \nThe plan will be developed by an architectural firm and will serve as a guide for future construction and development, according to a press release. Space-planning task forces were created to evaluate long term space needs for research, classrooms and student living. The master plan should be completed by the end of 2008, said Vice President of Administration Terry Clapacs.\n“This is something you have to do,” said Director of Media Relations Larry MacIntyre. “You can’t make decisions on multi-million dollar buildings without having some rationale. This will make sure we have a well-thought-\nout process.”\nThe idea for a new master plan began with a report commissioned by the Office of the Vice President for Research in September 2004, according to a letter IU President Michael McRobbie sent to the President’s cabinet, deans and regional chancellors. The report concluded that 5 million square feet of new research space would be needed at IUB and IUPUI over the next 10 to 15 years. The space-planning task forces on both campuses will be activated right away, MacIntyre said. \nMacIntyre said students today have higher expectations for living facilities than \npast generations.\n“We’ve got to respond to that,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure that in 10, 20 years the living facilities we have will appeal to the kind of students we want to attract.”\nMcRobbie asked Clapacs to “prepare a services document by the end of September that describes the scope of services, objectives, desired outcomes, etc. that IU requires for the development of a master plan,” according to the letter. This document will be prepared while the task forces are making their evaluations, Clapacs said.\n“We will try to lay out various objectives the University will hold as we head into the master-planning effort,” Clapacs said.\nInterested architectural firms will submit proposals to a 17-member University master-planning committee chaired by McRobbie, Clapacs said.\n“This is a very big effort,” Clapacs said. “To do it for two campuses at the same time will require a lot of time.”\nThe master plan will be a fairly costly investment, Mac-\nIntyre said.\n“I hesitate to give you a specific number,” MacIntyre said. “It will certainly be six figures.”\nMcRobbie is interested in student participation, said University Architect Bob Meadows, who is a part of the committee. Influencing the master plan is a great opportunity for students, because it will determine where the University will go in the future. Contacting the IU Student Association is a good way to get involved with the project, Meadows said. \n“This is a real unique period of time,” he said. “I think if students are quiet, they won’t have a say, but if a group of students is interested I think it will be really welcomed.”
(09/24/07 3:53am)
The All University Student Association held its first video conference Friday. The association serves as the liaison between student governments on all IU campuses, and its board of directors consists of the student body presidents on each IU campus.\nThe video conference was organized by student trustee A.D. King. It encouraged more participation by making meetings more accessible, King said. Participation in AUSA meetings has been dismal in the past because of the distance student government leaders had to travel, King said. \n“Video conferencing capitalized on cost and time efficiency,” King said. “Leaders from around the state appreciated not having to drive four hours plus to attend a 90-minute meeting.”\nThe student trustee – one of nine trustees that are in charge of most funding and policy decisions at IU – traditionally works with AUSA to facilitate and host the first meeting of the school year, King said.\nStudent government representatives from IU Bloomington, IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, IU Kokomo, IU Southeast, IU South Bend and IU East participated in the video conference. King said he was pleased with the turnout.\n“This is a great group of students who care a lot about IU,” King said.\nThe board of directors held elections for chairperson and vice chairperson during the video conference. They elected IUSA Chief of Staff Matt Jarson as chairperson and IU Kokomo Student Body President Chad Andrews as vice chairperson.\n“I think Matt (Jarson) is going to do a great job,” King said. “I’m pleased Chad Andrews stepped into his roll.”\nJarson will take over the planning of AUSA meetings for the rest of the year, King said.\nAUSA will continue to use video conferencing, Jarson said. It will become AUSA’s primary means of meeting, but Jarson plans to have at least one live meeting this school year.\n“Video conferencing is very useful, but we need to make sure we have interaction in person,” Jarson said.\nAUSA will probably meet monthly, Jarson said.\nOutsourcing of the IU Bookstore and the campus-wide smoking ban were two of the issues discussed during the video conference, Jarson said. Students were unable to bill textbooks purchased at IU Bookstores to the bursar this semester due to privatization issues.\n“We’re still trying to look into it,” Jarson said. “We’ve received conflicting reports.”\nJarson said he wants to get a full picture to the board before deciding on a course of action.\n“I think next meeting we’ll have a resolution on it,” Jarson said.\nThe Bloomington Campus Tobacco-Free Policy, implemented by former IU President Adam Herbert, will go into effect Jan. 1. It prohibits the use of tobacco on University-owned or leased property, according to an Aug. 24. Indiana Daily Student article.\n“I think it’s going to be an ongoing dialogue,” Jarson said, referring to the smoking ban.\nAUSA doesn’t receive funding from the University. This has been an obstacle for the organization in the past, Jarson said. He plans to look for funding, but discussions have just begun.\n“Everything’s kind of up in the air at the moment,” Jarson said.\nEveryone will benefit from an active AUSA, King said. It allows student governments to learn from each other.\n“AUSA is a platform for collaboration of the best practices among student governments,” King said.
(09/21/07 4:21am)
Memorial services for IU student and Lamda Chi Alpha fraternity member Justin Roy are over, but he will live on in the hearts and memories of his friends.\nRoy, 21, passed away Sept. 14 after complications from a car accident at the end of June. Services were held at Harry Moore Mortuary Tuesday. \nJessica Stawick, a friend of Roy, said she feels like he is still here.\n“I feel like he was listening to the whole funeral,” Stawick said. “I feel like there’s nothing I need to say because he knows it all.”\nStawick, a senior at the University of Southern Indiana, met Roy in history class at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis. She thought he was dorky at the time and said he was always doing weird things for attention.\n“He bought a big roll of tickets, like you’d get at a carnival, and gave them away randomly one time,” Stawick said. “He was always doing random things to keep you on your toes.”\nStawick and Roy had two other good friends from high school, Kyle Reasner and IU senior Jonathan Robison, and they called themselves “The Quatro.”\nThe first half of The Quatro was formed when Reasner met Roy in middle school. They were in several Spanish classes together, and were always “companeros,” or partners, for group exercises. This evolved into the phrase “companeros para siempre,” meaning friends forever, Reasner said.\n“We’d get in fights sometimes, but one of us would say (the phrase) and we’d make up,” Reasner said.\nReasner said he received a call from Roy’s father after the car accident June 29. Reasner was in Terre Haute at the time and headed to Methodist Hospital in downtown Indianapolis. Reasner had planned to see Roy that weekend.\n“I was supposed to call him the day before, but I never did,” Reasner said. “That messed me up.”\nReasner called Robison, who also came to Indianapolis. Roy was in critical care for a couple of days, but his condition was stable after that, Robison said.\n“Up until last week, we thought it would be a full recovery,” Robison said.\nRoy’s condition began to improve, and he began breathing on his own after several weeks.\nReasner said he got another call two weeks ago saying Roy’s heart had stopped. He and dozens of others rushed home to see Roy. They stayed overnight.\n“I was just completely shocked. I didn’t know what to think,” Reasner said. “To all our knowledge he was doing fine.”\nRoy was put back on life support, but he didn’t get any better. His parents made the decision to take him off life support Sept. 14. Reasner said he received a call the next morning.\n“I already knew what it was. I’d already accepted it,” Reasner said. “There’s nothing we could do, and he’s going to a better place.”\nRoy was great at everything he did, Reasner said. Whenever Reasner worried about Roy’s future, the phrase “companeros para siempre” would ease any concerns and solve any arguments.\n“Don’t let your talents and abilities go to waste,” Reasner said. “If you can do something well, do it, because you never know.”
(09/20/07 2:57am)
IU will host the largest university law fair in the country today, welcoming 108 different law school representatives to the Indiana Memorial Union. \nRepresentatives from a record number of law schools have registered to attend this year’s event, said Director of Health Professions and Pre-law Center Mac Francis.\n“No other college or university in the country is able to attract so many law schools,” Francis said.\nLaw day will begin with a panel discussion featuring four law school deans at 9:30 a.m. in the Georgian Room of the IMU. \nThe discussion will be followed by a law fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Alumni Hall at the IMU. At the fair, representatives from 108 law schools will be present to answer questions and talk to students. \nThe Indiana Conference on Legal Education Opportunities will be there to help students from traditionally underrepresented populations, such as first-generation college students and minorities. IU’s two pre-law clubs, Phi Alpha Delta and the Legal Studies Club, will also be at the fair.\nStudents will be able to talk one-on-one with law school admissions deans about financial aid and what they look for in law school applicants, Francis said.\n“It’s a laid back atmosphere and students will be able to chat,” Francis said. “If they leave a good impression, that’s only going to help them.”\nAt the fair, law school deans will discuss what works, what matters and what they \nfind annoying. \n“It’s insider information that’s not available in stores,” Francis said.\nIU School of Law-Bloomington Assistant Dean of Admissions, Dennis Long, has been part of the panel discussion for several years. He has provided students with information about letters of recommendation and how to write personal statements.\n“The more information you have, if you’re applying to law school, the better off you are,” Long said. “Like applying to any graduate school, the more homework you do the better it’s going to look.”\nSome sophomores and juniors have attended the discussion in the past to decide what majors work best when applying, Long said.\nStudents who plan to attend seem very excited, Francis said. He said the students can expect to leave more optimistic and upbeat. \n“Law school admission is about more than just your LSAT score,” Francis said. “To hear that from deans of admissions is very convincing.”
(09/14/07 4:48am)
College will be put on hold for students who will be deployed to Iraq next year. About 60 to 75 IU students are part of the Army National Guard 76th Infantry Brigade which has begun to prepare for deployment, said senior and Indiana Army National Guard Sgt. Brian Binkley in an e-mail.\n“A lot of student soldiers are not fans of having to stop college for a deployment, but they have to do what they have to do,” Binkley said in an e-mail. “It’s what they signed up for, and we’re proud to serve our country and state.”\nThe brigade will go to Camp Atterbury, near Edinburgh, Ind., some time in December for 10 days of training, Binkley said. They will then have 10 days off for Christmas before heading to Fort Stewart, Ga., for more training in January and February. After training, they will spend about nine to 10 months in Iraq.\nBinkley, 25, said in a phone interview that he is more optimistic about this trip overseas than when he left for Afghanistan in 2004.\n“It isn’t that bad at all,” Binkley said. “It’s shorter than my previous tour.”\nIU has worked to help its student soldiers finish their degrees, Binkley said. He added he finished his sophomore year while in Afghanistan and plans to work on his degree while in Iraq. \nIU Veterans Support Services helps students take advantage of IU’s “Reserves Called to Active Duty Policy,” said the group’s director, Margaret Baechtold. The policy minimizes disruptions for students fulfilling their military responsibilities, giving them a 100 percent refund for tuition and fees after classes are withdrawn.\n“Students who leave under policy can be placed on military leave of absence,” Baechtold said.\nA military leave of absence also allows students to keeps their IU accounts, such as Webmail and Onestart.\nSenior Tara Virgil, 21, who is also part of the Army National Guard 76th Infantry Brigade, said the assistance from Veterans Support Services has been helpful. She said she will be able to keep her IU e-mail address and register for classes in the spring of 2009. \nVirgil has already withdrawn from classes this semester because she would have missed midterms and finals due to training. She decided she didn’t want to focus on school work before she went to Iraq.\n“All I can think about is that my life is going to stop for one whole year,” Virgil said. “I think a lot about family and friends and what I’m going to miss that year. I think about fellow soldiers and just hope that all of them come back.”\nVirgil said her unit has been told their training and time in Iraq will total one year. This is just an estimate, and more time can be added later, she said.\n“We all think we’re coming back in a year, but we all know that can be extended,” Virgil said.\nSophomore Amanda Brezina, 22, went to Afghanistan with the brigade two years ago. She said her unit was promised they would not be deployed \noverseas again until 2010. However, Brezina said she was notified her unit plans to redeploy overseas in 2008.\n“It’s frustrating,” Brezina said. “It was a promise, but due to the situation, there’s not a lot we can do.”\nBrezina said she joined the National Guard in October of 2002 for the experience and to help pay for college. She said, at that time, she was told to expect deployment overseas once every six years.\n“I expected one, but I didn’t expect two in five years,” Brezina said.\nBrezina said she still doesn’t regret joining the National Guard, but she said it has been frustrating to put her life on hold.\n“My time in has been a really positive experience,” Brezina said. “Being in this type of job you always prepare for anything because you never know what to expect.”
(09/13/07 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>I know what Howard Stern felt like just before he went on stage dressed as Fartman.
"All I'm trying to do is be funny, and I end up feeling like an asshole," Stern said in the 1997 movie "Private Parts."
That's how I felt last week as I camped in the Arboretum and asked strangers for hugs.
Day 1
Challenged to make myself famous in one week, I started by scouring Facebook for photos of myself. When I asked a co-worker which photo I should use, she said, "You look like a tool in all of them."
For the fliers that were supposed to make me famous, I settled for a picture of me wearing a Grateful Dead T-shirt and holding a can of refried beans. They read "Help this 'no talent ass-clown' become a celebrity in one week. Look for Michael Reschke to be doing ridiculous things around campus and Bloomington to gain celebrity status in seven days. Join the Facebook group: 'Indiana University's Most Famous Person.'"
I printed more than a 100 fliers and went to work plastering my mug around campus. I put my face inside bathroom stalls, in bus shelters and on the doors of the main library. They were gone by the next morning. I was pissed because I spent so much time decorating the campus, but I smiled when I thought of the person who had to take down all those fliers.
Day 2
I spent about an hour stapling and taping my fliers to telephone poles and light posts before I turned myself into a walking billboard Monday, Sept. 3. I tied two poster boards together and wrote "No Talent Ass-Clown" on the front, and the back said something about Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. I put this makeshift sandwich board on, grabbed more fliers and headed out with my personal paparazzi. I felt sick to my stomach at first, but once I got in the "no-talent-ass-clown" zone I was good. Most of the individuals I approached took a flier and told me they would join my Facebook group except when I went to People's Park.
"Don't take my fucking picture," one guy said.
He probably didn't have a Facebook account anyway.
I headed to the Bluebird for karaoke later that night. I sang "You Shook me all night long" by AC/DC and tried to look like guitarist Angus Young. I wore a Kangol hat, a black tie and a white button-down shirt tucked into a pair of shorts I bought long before I gained my freshman 30. I can only imagine what people thought of me.
Karaoke started later than I expected so I had plenty of time to drown the butterflies in my stomach. I left a stack of my fliers on a table while I went to the bathroom. When I came back someone had turned them facedown. I turned them over and a girl at a table next to mine asked me what I was doing. I explained and she ranted about me wasting paper.
"I know," I said. "I'm going to environmentalist hell."
I tried to get her to join my group, but she didn't appreciate my cause or my joke. My paparazzi took pictures of our discussion, and when she saw this, she made him delete the photos. I could tell my popularity was shooting through the roof.
When it came time for my moment in the spotlight, I gave it all I had and pretended no one else was in the room. I stumbled over lines I didn't know and sung the ones I knew too loud. It was fun.
Day 3
The next day in class my instructor asked if anyone had any stories from the weekend. I told the class I was trying to make myself famous, but no one laughed. No one said anything. Tough crowd.
I went to the Student Recreational Sports Center to work out that evening and as I was leaving an employee asked me, "Hey aren't you that guy … with the Facebook group?" I had officially become "that guy" by Tuesday.
Later that night, I gathered an air mattress, two pillows, a sleeping bag and tent. I carried my stuff to the Arboretum (the grassy area west of the Herman B Wells Library) and set up camp. People walked past, not even paying attention.
It took a while for me to fall asleep that night. I had weird dreams when I finally fell asleep. The sprinklers woke me up around 6 a.m.
Day 4
Around 7 a.m., I ran to the library to pee and grab a newspaper. I heard a girl say, "Oh my God, there's a tent right there," just as I laid back down to sleep until about 8:45 a.m.
I woke up during Arboretum rush hour, put on my sandwich board and handed out more fliers.
I had to come up with a new stunt for the next day. I decided to make a YouTube video similar to the Dave Matthews Band video for "Everyday," in which a guy walks around asking strangers for hugs.
Day 5
I e-mailed administrators to schedule hugs, but Chancellor Ken Gros Louis was the only one who agreed to hug me. For my video, he pretended to give me the advice I needed to get hugs from people. Thank you, chancellor.
Later that night, I was eating a stromboli with a friend at Nick's when someone I'd hugged while filming my video came over and asked me for a hug. He and a friend came over to talk about what I was doing. I finally had some fans.
My friend and I walked to Upstairs Pub after Nick's. A stranger stopped to ask if I was the guy on the fliers. He said he was a building manager at the Indiana Memorial Union, and after I explained what I was doing, he said I could put my fliers all over the Union. Where was this guy when my fliers were taken down Sunday night?
Days 6 and 7
I spent some time at Upstairs by myself Friday night. It felt good to blend into a crowd instead of fighting to be the center of attention. I go to a school with more than 30,000 students and I only got 292 people to join my Facebook group by the end of the week. I guess passing out fliers, camping in weird places and making a music video won't make you famous. Maybe I should have married a backup dancer, shaved my head and fed my child Coca-Cola in a baby bottle.
(09/05/07 3:20pm)
The faint clamor of everything from tubas to clarinets echoed from the east side of Memorial Stadium. It’s about 4 p.m. and 250 IU students have gathered in the parking lot to perfect a show they will only perform once. \nThe jumble of students and instruments is then divided into groups – sousaphones with sousaphones and piccolos with piccolos. Everyone has a group and an instrument in hand except for senior drum major Schuyler Troy. He stands by himself, shirtless with a treble clef tattoo on the left side of his back glistening under the hot August sun. \nTroy flips the mace around in his hand and brings the whistle up to his lips when it’s time to start the next phase of practice. The other 249 members of the Marching Hundred – who earned their name for being one of the first bands to march in a 10 by 10 block – join together in rows and face Director of Athletic Bands David C. Woodley to hear what the day’s practice will consist of.\nDuring football season, the Marching Hundred learns a new halftime show for every home game the Hoosiers play. Even though the band doesn’t compete and most won’t pursue a career in music after graduation, they have found something they love doing and that’s what keeps them coming back day after day.\n“It’s incredible having 250 people come together for one thing and create an outstanding product,” said sophomore piccolo player Annie Herchen of performing during football games. “I think I cried the first time.” \nThis Saturday as the band plays in the stands, they’ll be wearing matching T-shirts in memory of former football coach Terry Hoeppner. The shirts have the number of games the Hoosiers will play if they make it to a bowl game this year – 13 – along with the words “Don’t Quit.” \n“Coach Hep’s gone, but that doesn’t mean we should give up,” Herchen said. “We should fight for it for him. ... We thought we should do something that shows we’re all thinking about him.”\nThe pride Woodley puts into his own Big Ten band has helped the Marching Hundred win the only award given to college bands, the Sudler Trophy.\n“It honors marching bands across the country who have put in decades of innovation,” Woodley said, who has been directing the Marching Hundred since 1993. \nThe Sudler Trophy will be presented at this year’s homecoming game Oct. 20. The Marching Hundred will keep the trophy for one year, and then it will be presented to another band.\nWhen game day finally \narrives it’s pretty much insanity, Herchen said. The day can start as early as 7 a.m. for the band depending on kickoff time. \n“There’s lots of marching and wonderful cheers,” Herchen said. “I don’t know how we get through the whole day. You have to have bundles of energy.”\nSenior trumpet player Ross Wilkerson said he feels comfortable performing at college football games now, but it was “insane” when he first started.\n“It’s such a huge change from high school marching band,” he said. “There are thousands of people in the stands.”\nBut before the band even gets to this point, there’s a long week of camp held the week before classes start each year. It’s an all day affair – 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. – and band members get to know each other quickly, Troy said. Rookies show up to camp a few days before the veterans to learn the pre-game show.\n“People don’t realize how much work is actually put into pre-game,” Troy said.\nThe Marching Hundred high steps during their pre-game show, which is something most members didn’t do with their high school bands. The intent of a high step is for a person’s thigh to be parallel to the ground with their toe pointing straight down. The Big Ten conference may be one of the last where every band high steps, Troy said.\n“Big Ten bands have long been held up as the most proficient and best in the country,” Woodley said. “We feel Big Ten bands are at a different level.”\nThe high step is a physically strenuous activity, Troy said, and it’s tough to make it look crisp. \nCrowds at Memorial Stadium are what make the experience of being in the marching band at IU memorable for Herchen.\nHerchen feels a sense of pride and community when she performs on Saturdays with her friends.\n“I feel like I’m giving back to the school,” Herchen said. “Students just know we put all that hard work in for them.”
(09/04/07 4:06am)
Junior A.D. King has been a leader for most of his life. \nHe was the quarterback of his high school football team, CEO of the Global Sales Leadership Society in the Kelley School of Business, president of the Board of Aeons, and for the next two years, he will help lead the University as IU’s newest student trustee. \nKing was finishing up an internship with a chemical coating company in Shanghai, China, on Aug. 2 when Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed him to represent students from the eight IU campuses.\n“I’m kind of representing almost 100,000 students,” King said. “It can be an arduous task, but I will do everything in my capacity to effectively do so.”\nKing is a fourth generation Hoosier and no stranger to IU traditions, specifically the Little 500. He raced on Fiji’s team last year, which finished eighth. With a father who won the bike race during his time at IU, King has a lot to live up to.\n“It was a little discouraging to not finish first or in the top three,” King said. “But we have all our riders returning, so I have a very auspicious outlook for this season.”\nKing’s history with the University is one of the reasons he cares so much about it and why he decided to pursue such an active role in its future, he said.\nKing said his first public board of trustees meeting, where the board approved all of IU President Michael McRobbie’s new appointments, was relatively simple. He said the other trustees’ attitude was very encouraging.\n“They want to hear the student input and student voice and student perspective on certain issues and will look to me to provide that,” he said.\nKing said he would like to voice the student opinion, even if it means going against the other board members. He said he doesn’t foresee many situations where he will have to do this because if students feel strongly about an issue the board will respect those feelings.\n“I definitely don’t want people to think it’s students versus adults,” King said. “We’re not adversaries, we’re all working toward the same common goal and that’s extremely important to realize.”\nOne of the challenges King will face as a new trustee is learning how complex the institution is, said IU Chancellor Ken Gros Louis.\n“My advice to new trustees is to try and identify several issues they want to become particularly knowledgeable about and focus on that,” Gros Louis said.\nGros Louis met King through the Board of Aeons, which was created in 1921 to help voice student opinion. Gros Louis helped King prepare for his position by filling him in on issues concerning other IU campuses and explaining the role of a trustee.\nGros Louis said King is a good choice for student trustee and he is pleased an undergraduate was chosen to fill the position. The majority of student trustees have been graduate students, but the majority of students across all IU campuses are undergraduates, Gros Louis said.\n“It’s good for an undergrad who intends to listen, as A.D. does, to make sure the board understands what undergrads are thinking because they do make up most of the student body,” he said.\nThis year King faces an honors I-Core course schedule, training to live up to his father’s Little 500 legacy and representing students all over the state, but he welcomes the challenge.\n“It definitely keeps me busy, but IU is a passion I have, and I really want to do the best job possible,” King said.
(09/03/07 5:22am)
IU President Michael McRobbie met with six of the 14 students who came to his first open office hours Friday and discussed everything from recycling to dental coverage.\nMcRobbie’s office hours are intended to provide students an opportunity to share their concerns about important issues affecting them, their peers and the University at large, according to an IU news release.\n“I wanted to find an opportunity to talk directly to students,” \nMcRobbie said.\nFormer president Adam Herbert was often criticized because he was not visible enough to faculty and students, but IU Director of Media Relations Larry MacIntyre said one of McRobbie’s priorities is to understand the concerns and issues of the student population.\n“He can’t spend hours and hours every day walking around campuses,” MacIntyre said. “But he can make time to talk to students, and that’s what he did.”\nStudents hoping to meet with McRobbie signed in and waited in a conference room for their names to be called. Students talked to Dean of Students Dick McKaig, Student Trustee A.D. King and IU Student Association President W.T. Wright while waiting for McRobbie. McRobbie wasn’t able to meet with all the students who showed up, but said he hoped to be able to hold “open office hours” again in the next couple of weeks.\nSophomore Brittney Banks said McRobbie was generous in giving students an hour of his time.\n“It’s not a whole lot, but he doesn’t have a lot of time, so it is a lot,” Banks said.\nBanks met with McRobbie because she thinks IU needs to improve its campus recycling system. She said McRobbie told her he feels strongly about the issue and he is working on it.\n“I’m going to make sure he is throughout the year,” Banks said.\nJohn Duncan, a doctoral student studying computer science, talked with McRobbie about health care issues facing graduate students.\n“We have health care and limited vision coverage, but we have zip for dental,” Duncan said.\nMost Big Ten schools provide dental coverage for their graduate students, Duncan said. He suggested the University offer some kind of graduated cost of living increase for graduate students. \nDuncan said he has a positive feeling about the meeting because McRobbie asked him to send an e-mail with some of the information they talked about. Duncan said open office hours with the president will be helpful assuming McRobbie intends to act on students’ suggestions.\n“This is a big step forward for a public school,” Duncan said.\nSophomore Alexandra Chtchedrina said McRobbie’s assistant took notes during her visit. Chtchedrina said she talked to McRobbie about her discontent with the removal of the bursar billing option at the IU Bookstore. She also said she was pleased with the addition of two new bus routes and suggested the University create a program to help freshmen learn about the different bus routes. Chtchedrina said McRobbie told her she had useful ideas that made sense.\n“It was definitely time well spent during my Friday afternoon,” Chtchedrina said.
(08/29/07 5:50am)
Extra bus routes were met with a record number of riders Monday.\nThe campus bus service hauled more than 23,000 passengers on the first day of classes, utilizing its full 23-bus fleet for the first time in at least a year. It added two new routes and 12 full-time employees to help accommodate the increasing number of riders. \nThe system reintroduced the U and D bus routes to relieve stress on existing routes, said Perry Maull, operations manager for Campus Bus Service. Both were previously offered and removed several years ago. \nBuses on the U route begin at the stadium, head down Fee Lane, turn left on 10th Street and make another left on Jordan before turning around Fisher Court at the end of the extension. It’s supposed to pick up passengers who normally ride the A and B buses, Maull said.\nThe U buses carried 736 passengers Monday. Maull said the lack of riders may have been because students didn’t understand where the U bus was going. The electronic sign on the U buses read “10th Street” and “Fisher Court.” Maull said. He received a report that a group of students at the library didn’t get on a U bus and waited to get on a B bus. \n“I didn’t know there were new buses,” said junior Caroline Blowers. \nMaull said they’ll change the destination sign to be more clear.\n“The U route was not as good as we would have thought,” Maull said. “We’ll have to fine tune it.”\nThe D route was more successful. The single bus on the D route carried 1,119 passengers the first day of classes.\n“We were pleased with that first day,” Maull said.\nThe D bus begins at Willkie Quad, then travels on Third Street, Indiana Avenue, Seventh Street and Woodlawn Avenue, and stops at the library. The bus then continues on 10th Street to Teter Quad, Eigenmann Hall and then back to Willkie Quad.\nThe D route was put back in place to relieve stress on the E route, where buses come every 20 minutes. The D bus comes in between the E buses.\n“From Eigenmann on, students will have a bus every 10 minutes,” Maull said.\nMaull suggests students go to bus stops earlier or later than they normally would to relieve stress.\n“If everyone tries to get on a bus at the same time, it won’t work,” Maull said.\nMonday’s ridership was up 1,137 passengers from the first day of classes last year and 650 from the previous ridership record, set Feb. 2. \nMaull said he attributes the increase in passengers to the number of bus operators. In the past, there weren’t enough drivers to operate all 23 buses each day, but that problem has been resolved.\nThe system now employs 18 full-time bus operators, a dramatic increase from the six from last year. It was able to keep a full staff this year because bus operators are being paid more, which has made the job “more attractive,” Maull said. Full-time operators receive benefits like medical insurance and paid holidays.\n“This year we’re fully staffed for the first time in quite a number of years,” Maull said.
(08/27/07 4:19am)
The option of billing textbooks to the bursar will not be available this semester because of Barnes and Noble’s recent takeover of the IU Bookstore.\nThe bookstore’s speedy summer transition from University to corporate ownership left little time to resolve the matter.\nBruce Jacobs, associate vice president for student affairs, said IU officials are trying to determine whether the private vendor can use IU’s bursar billing system. Officials are uncertain if and when they will be able to reinstate the bursar-billing option. \n“There’s a lot of detail that we have to go over with bursar billing since Barnes and Noble is not part of IU,” said Joe Bender, manager of the IU Bookstore. “There just wasn’t enough time to get those details together.”\nBarnes and Noble assumed operations of bookstores on all IU campuses July 1.\nIU has had difficulties with the bursar billing option in the past. All students could bill their textbooks to the bursar when the IU Bookstore implemented the service in 2001. In 2005, the service was limited to athletes and students who hold one of four financial aid distinctions, according to an April 22, 2005, Indiana Daily Student article. The modified system was a result of lengthy negotiations between IU and T.I.S. Bookstore, which claimed bursar billing gave the IU Bookstore an unfair advantage. \nAbout one-third of undergraduates qualify for the modified service, Jacobs said.\nAuxiliary Services and Programs has been discussing the latest billing issue with fiscal management on campus and a legal council to make a decision, Jacobs said, and will then make a recommendation to campus administrators, who will make the final decision.\nLarry MacIntyre, director of media relations, said students waiting for financial aid can take out a short-term loan with the bursar’s office to cover their books. \n“We’re going to take another look at it to see if there’s a better way of doing it, but we’ve not made a decision,” MacIntyre said. “We believe there may be a small number of students who don’t have the ability to buy books right away, and they can get a short-term loan.”\nJunior Megan Pate said she received an e-mail a couple weeks ago notifying her she couldn’t charge her books to the bursar. Until now, she has charged her books to the bursar every semester she has been at IU.\n“Had I not got my grant money, it would have sucked,” Pate said. “It was just frustrating.”\nBender said he wants IU to continue offering the services and thinks students want it, too.\nStudents who have concerns about the issue should contact the IU Student Association, Jacobs said.
(08/24/07 5:11am)
Sophomore Nikki Ashkin won’t have to walk through clouds of cigarette smoke on the business school steps \nafter Jan. 1.\n“Everyone smokes and it’s really gross taking deep breaths of smoke,” Ashkin said. “It will be nice not having to deal with that.”\nBut not everyone on campus will be happy with the change.\nIn the newly created position of smoking cessation educator, Neva Cottam said there might be some resistance to the policy initially, but she thinks the political climate is changing in such a way that people are becoming more accepting of these kinds of policies. She said when Bloomington passed its no-smoking policy there was resistance from businesses who said they would lose money.\n“Quite the opposite has happened,” Cottam said. “Businesses have actually done better because people who wouldn’t go there before will now go.”\nCottam was hired as a smoking cessation educator at the Health and Wellness Education Center this year. Her job is to teach smoking cessation classes to faculty and students as a provision of the policy. Classes and nicotine replacement products will be provided at little or no cost.\nThe Bloomington Campus Tobacco-Free Policy, which will go into effect next semester, prohibits the use of tobacco on University-owned or leased property. \nAshkin supports the policy and said she thinks it will help in the long run.\n“I don’t think anyone who smokes will be thrilled,” Ashkin said. “But I guess there’s not much they can do about it.”\nSophomore Michelle Hoover has smoked cigarettes for three years. She doesn’t mind IU’s current policy prohibiting individuals to smoke near building entry ways, but does not support new policy.\n“It’s a giant campus, and now they’re banning tobacco,” Hoover said. “It’s pissing me off, and now I need a cigarette.”\nHoover said when she is preparing for exams she smokes to relieve stress, and if she has to smoke, she’ll have a cigarette.\nIU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said officers won’t be handcuffing students for smoking on campus.\n“Normally that is handled through the office of student ethics at the dean’s office,” Minger said. “They would be enforcing that kind of regulation.”\nThe policy states violations will be referred to “the appropriate administrative office for review and appropriate administration.”\nMinger said there has been an overwhelming amount of compliance with the IU’s current no-smoking policy near facilities.\n“People will normally comply when they realize it’s in the best interest of everyone’s health,” Minger said.\nCottam said she will take August and September to take care of funding issues. Her goal is for classes to start Oct. 1. \nFor more information contact the health center at 855-7338, or e-mail Cottam at ncottam@indiana.edu.\n“More people will utilize IU for conferences because we are a leader with this policy,” Cottam said. “I think we will see more support and money come into the campus because of it.”
(08/24/07 4:35am)
IU is hoping freshmen will gain more privacy, food options and cool air after a round of renovations to several residence halls this summer. \nLarry Isom, director of facilities for Residential Programs and Services, said the hiatus between the spring and fall semester is the ideal time to fix up the University’s dorms. And with a revamping of bathrooms in McNutt and Teter, replacing the McDonald’s in Read with the multi-choice food eatery, El Bistro, and installing air conditioning in Foster tower A, RPS has been busy getting everything ready. \nThere are now eight individual bathrooms \non each floor of the Elkin wing of Teter. Each room includes a shower, toilet and sink. The renovation of bathrooms in residence halls has \nbeen a request from students for quite some time, Isom said.\nFreshman Mary Mesteller said she was “stoked” when she realized the floor in her dorm had individual bathrooms.\n“I like the privacy and not sharing hot water,” Mesteller said.\nFreshman Lindsay Whisler said that though she is excited about the private bathrooms, she has one complaint.\n“The only thing is, I heard we’ll miss out on the social side of all the girls getting ready in the bathroom,” Whisler said. “But we all hang out anyway so I don’t feel like it’s that big of a loss at all.”\nEl Bistro isn’t scheduled to be completed until Oct. 1. McDonald’s closed because their contract was up and they weren’t willing to negotiate \nwith the administration for a more flexible contract, said junior Dan Sloat, the Meal Plan Committee chairman. \nIU paid costly overhead fees when \nMcDonald’s was on campus, Sloat said. \nThe Meal Plan Committee conducted several different surveys to determine a replacement for McDonald’s, said Sandra Fowler, director of dining services for RPS.\n“We did breakfast on the curry line upstairs to get a reaction from the students of what they would like to have downstairs,” Fowler said.\nThe committee tested breakfast, Mexican and pasta menus on students. The breakfast menu was the most popular, with Mexican coming in second and pasta coming in third, Fowler said. Fowler said they decided to incorporate the top two preferred menus into one restaurant.\nEl Bistro will serve breakfast all day and have a “build your own” burrito station and deli-style cuisine.\n“I think (students are) going to be excited and pleased with what is down there when we’re open,” Fowler said.
(08/23/07 4:18am)
President Michael McRobbie toured residence halls during move-in Wednesday, much to the delight of the students and parents he greeted.\n“I think it’s important that we be seen to be part of the welcoming face of the University,” McRobbie said. “And that the senior administration understands just how important a day like this is.”\nAs the father of an IU graduate himself, McRobbie said he knows exactly what it’s like for parents on move in day.\n“For parents this is a very proud, but in some ways a slightly poignant, moment,” McRobbie said. “Their children are really leaving home for good in many ways.”\nMcRobbie spoke with Dick Frantz, who was helping his granddaughter move into her Briscoe dorm. He said seeing the president of the University on move-in day was unusual.\n“It was really impersonal when we brought our girls here,” Frantz said. “(My granddaughter) had so much help registering. We didn’t get that with our kids, so I’m pleased with the change in attitude.”\nFreshman Michael Baynes said it was fun to meet McRobbie while moving into Foster.\n“It was a nice welcome,” Baynes said. “I wasn’t really expecting that.”\nMcRobbie’s wife, Laurie Burns McRobbie, IU Provost Karen Hanson and other senior administrators also visited residence halls throughout campus. McRobbie said during visits to the dorms he heard nothing but praise from students and parents about freshman orientation.\n“I think that’s really part of making the students comfortable and parents comfortable,” McRobbie said. “This is the beginning of the real heart and soul of the university. The return of all the students.”
(08/22/07 4:36am)
Michael McRobbie has only been IU president for about six weeks, but he has quickly reshaped the University’s administrative infrastructure. \nUniversity Chancellor Ken Gros Louis said McRobbie has made several strong appointments to some of the top positions at IU and has already begun to share his vision of the University’s future. \n“His remarks to trustees indicated a vigorous agenda and a good agenda,” Gros Louis said. “He has sent a strong statement to state and IU faculty on all campuses that this is going to be a train ride and not a buggy ride.”\nMcRobbie’s first action as president was to make several new appointments to his cabinet, including appointing a new campus leader, Karen Hanson, as provost.\n“Within the constraints of what could be done during a down time, Michael’s really achieved a lot,” Gros Louis said. “He has made very fine appointments across the board that will make a strong and vigorous administration.”\nMcRobbie appointed eight new vice presidents, including Hanson, by July 30, said IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre.\n“(McRobbie is) moving very quickly on a number of fronts,” MacIntyre said. “As far as his long term goals for the University, he will lay those out in great detail at his inaugural speech in October.”\nMcRobbie named Ora Pescovitz to the position of vice president for research administration on July 24. Pescovitz is setting up a University-wide program to oversee the research grant administration process, which is important to keeping IU competitive in receiving research grants, MacIntyre said.\n“One of the most important things IU had to do quickly was to make sure it had the administrative infrastructure in place to compete for research grants,” MacIntyre said.\nMcRobbie created a new vice president position when he named Patrick O’Meara as vice president for international affairs July 20. MacIntyre said McRobbie places great importance on increasing opportunities to study abroad and he wanted O’Meara to oversea that mission on all the campuses.\n McRobbie replaced vice president for student development and diversity Charlie Nelms with Ed Marshall and renamed the position vice president of diversity, equity and multicultural affairs July 18.\nExecutive Associate Dean of College of Arts and Sciences Robert Becker said he is happy with McRobbie’s reorganization of key offices.\n“So far so good,” Becker said. “He’s doing exactly what he was brought in to do.”
(08/21/07 10:15pm)
Political science offices in Woodburn Hall remained closed Monday and all political science staff members were sent home due to fumes.\nPolitical Science Department Chairman Jeff Isaac sent his staff home Thursday, Friday and Monday because of problems with fumes. The fumes are from a bonding adhesive used by a construction company, contracted by IU construction management, doing work on the roof of Woodburn Hall.\n“Last Thursday it was so bad I contacted environmental management,” Isaac said. “I closed the department and sent people home because people were feeling sick.”\nIsaac said he was told measures were being taken to fix the problem Friday. The problem returned today, Isaac said.\n“The building has been tested at different times by environmental safety at my insistence,” Isaac said. “Thursday, and again today, tests showed traces of toxic chemicals.”\nThe level of chemicals, such as toluene, are below what Occupational Safety and Health Administration consider dangerous.\n“I believe the chemicals present are sufficient to make my staff sick and that’s what I care about,” Isaac said.\nIsaac, as chairman, has the power to instruct his staff to leave the building, but not the faculty. He suggested all his faculty leave the building as well, and they complied. He also post-poned or cancelled all activities in the department.\n“The fumes have made a sufficient number of people uncomfortable and ill so I felt I had no choice but to close down departmental operations in the building,” Isaac said. “It has been an absolute nightmare for the department.”\nIsaac said his department is in the middle of graduate student orientation, which had to be moved from Woodburn Hall.\n“It’s a huge hassle logistically,” Isaac said. “It’s not a good thing.”\nIsaac said he has also post-poned important meetings that are time sensitive. This is also comes at a time when the political science faculty and staff are preparing their syllabi.\nIU Environmental Manager Dan Derheimer declined to comment on the situation until tomorrow.
(08/21/07 10:14pm)
After almost a week of controversy, Woodburn Hall is now open to political science department staff members.\nJeff Isaac, chairman of the political science department, sent his staff home Thursday due to fumes from a bonding adhesive used in the re-roofing project at Woodburn Hall.\n“Last Thursday it was so bad I contacted (IU) environmental management,” Isaac said. “I closed the department and sent people home because people were feeling sick.”\nThe problem continued through Friday. Isaac said he was told measures were being taken to fix the problem, but fumes were still present on Monday.\n“This has been an absolute nightmare for the department,” Isaac said. “It’s unheard of for a department to close.”\nGraduate student orientation was moved to Hutton Honors College Monday and was held in the Indiana Memorial Union Tuesday.\nIsaac met with IU architect Robert Meadows and several others Tuesday morning to work on a solution, said Robert Becker, executive associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.\n“They’re going to change the type of adhesive to one that is supposed to be water based and less troublesome and dangerous,” Becker said. “Even though the previous one was supposed to be safe.”\nIsaac said Woodburn was tested Thursday and Monday by IU environmental management at his request. The results showed traces of toxic chemicals, such as toluene, but the levels were below what Occupational Safety and Health Administration considers dangerous, Isaac said.\n“I believe the chemicals present are sufficient to make my staff sick, and that’s what I care about,” Isaac said.\nIsaac said in an e-mail that Tuesday’s meeting was excellent, very professional and constructive.\n“The IU team, headed by chief architect Robert Meadows, came up with a reasonable and seemingly effective solution, centering on stopping the use of the fume-causing adhesive using instead a California-approved alternative that appears to be safer and better,” Isaac said in an e-mail.\nIsaac said in an e-mail this story has a “good ending” because of his persistence in questioning and insisting on an alternative.\n“I hate to think of all the situations where these processes simply proceeded unquestioned and unhindered and I wish that people would be more critical and more outspoken in the face of real or perceived dangers,” Isaac said. “We do live in a democracy, after all!”\nDan Derheimer, IU environmental manager and Gary Chambers, director of construction management did not return phone calls in time for publication.
(07/19/07 4:00am)
Spells, Potions and Magical Devices for you wizards