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(10/06/09 4:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>There were only 17 people seated around the stage at Bear’s Place Ale House & Eatery, but New York native Jordan Cooper was still able to take advantage of his audience.Monday’s Comedy Caravan was headlined by Florida-based comedienne Valarie Storm and Cooper as the feature comic. Cooper’s jokes included self-deprecation and “social commentary” on terror alerts in Indiana.“You guys have nothing to worry about,” he said.Cooper also said he doesn’t understand the existence of condom machines in men’s gas station restrooms, wondering who feels the need to have sex in a Speedway “right now?”“How many we got out there?” Cooper said to a crowd that originally wasn’t biting. “How many of you guys have homes?”Another Cooper was in the audience. Bloomington resident Dave Cooper was on a date with Lori Little, a continuing studies student and local resident. They were unrelated, but their dialogue back and forth seemed to suggest otherwise, as they discussed pedophilia and a potential family reunion. Jordan Cooper also poked fun at his graduate school, Nassau Community College in New York.“‘N’ stands for knowledge,” he said.An anonymous chuckle let loose in the dark room. Whoever it was wasn’t laughing at Jordan Cooper’s last joke, and told him so. “That is the worst thing you could ever say to a comedian, and it’s beautiful,” Jordan Cooper said right before he spotted a reporter and a photographer from the Indiana Daily Student. Jordan Cooper made it clear what they were to do: “Get the statistics. Ninety-six percent of the audience will laugh at this one. Can we get an obituary of the jokes that died tonight in the paper? Driver’s ed and sex ed were taught in the same car where I went to school because it was so poor.”He also noted that he liked cheese and wanted an argument against those who liked cheese to “hit the printing presses.”The cheese set out before the audience molded into something dirty when headliner Storm hit the stage at the end of Jordan Cooper’s set. Her trademark humor recalled memories of living in Florida, relationship crises and raising her 15-year-old son as a divorced mom, whom she lovingly referred to as her “own personal cockblocker.” Storm shared an anecdote about “passing through.”“You have to go through Georgia first,” she said. “It’s a scary state, especially if you can read.”Storm went on to say that the cops don’t really care about one’s intoxication level when they pull people over from other states. “They’ll have you do your ABC’s and your 123’s, but they don’t think you’re drunk, they just want to know,” she said. About her son, Storm commented on the biggest mistake parents can make: “Teaching them how to speak.”She rationed her son’s fear of monsters as a small child to be her own fault.“Sometimes you just gotta kick their door open, they’ll shut up. ‘Mommy did you hear that?’” Storm said. “I may not be mother of the year, but my nights are peaceful.”It was Little’s favorite joke of the night and her first time at Bear’s Place to see a comedy show. Dave Cooper also appreciated Storm’s fresh material. “She’s a real comedian,” he said. “She came with stuff rolling off her tongue, and that was nice to see.”
(09/30/09 4:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Room 318 in the Fine Arts building smells of paint, but the aroma itself isn’t so toxic, as a hint of lemon fragrance invitingly inhabits the room. A female subject sits cross-legged on a sky-blue sheet with direct light beaming on her, adjacent to a cerulean-painted wall of bright fruit bowl portraits arranged in two rows of six. The subject rests calmly under the careful gaze of graduate student-artists Ben Pines and Devin Mawdsley as they sit at easels. Pines is wearing blue gloves, so as to not smudge the black-and-white facial portrait he is crafting, and Mawdsley intensely sketches, editing and erasing multiple faces of the subject. She is nude. The model rises from her position and drapes herself in a robe. It’s time for a five- to 10-minute break on her two-and-a-half-hour shift of various poses that may include bending, laying, standing, sitting and of course, facial expressions. Pines sets his paintbrush to rest on the easel as he waits for the model to return in a new position. He understands her exhaustion.“She’s a very conscientious model,” he said of her intense focus. Pines is an associate instructor of a fundamental drawing studio art course. He said that most enrolled students in these classes have a model come in “a couple times at the end of the semester.”Pines said he believes painting nude subjects is a way “in the tradition to explore more deeply what it means to be human,” though for the most part, he said he does facial portraits of nude subjects more often.“I don’t do portraits because it’s safe, because people don’t find classical portraits indecent,” Pines said. “But classical nudes are considered indecent, and I wish it weren’t that way. We tend to think ourselves as inheritors of tradition dating back to Greek bodies, but in America, nude art is still widely seen as something suspect.”THE FINE ART OF THE NUDEThe Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts at IU allows “just about anyone older than 18 who is comfortable holding a pose nude for 30 minutes at a time” for introductory and advanced studio art courses in sculpting, painting and drawing, said Stephanie Klausing, graduate services coordinator in the Fine Arts school. Klausing also helps coordinate nude models, who she said range from college-age to adult Bloomington residents and are paid $10 hourly for the position. The models also have the option of posing partially nude, and are sometimes directed by instructors.As an undergraduate student, Klausing had to paint nudes in several studio art classes she took. For her, there was nothing sexual or erotic about the people she portrayed. It was a purely academic experience.“It’s not uncomfortable for me, especially when you consider the history of the nude in art forms,” she said. “You just know what is expected of you as a professional.”Like Pines, Klausing said she was able to see so many body types when drawing them, and it enriched her learning experience. “You see the bodies that seem to have gone ‘out of fashion,’” she said. “In the Rubenesque period, women were more voluptuous, and as an artist you just learn to appreciate the human form in its physicality and relate that perspective to your audience.”A KINSEY AFFAIRCatherine Johnson-Roehr is a curator at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction and worked to put together its latest exhibit, “The Shape of Us.” Johnson-Roehr seized the opportunity to look for diverse bodies used for artistic purposes worldwide. The exhibit includes among its many portraits and artifacts a “penis wall,” a corset and fetishist high heels in a glass case, a shirtless, transgender female-to-male covered in tattoos and photographs taken of women’s nude bodies as per Kinsey’s request to use in his studies. To be fair, she said the exhibit includes art portraying “conventionally beautiful” bodies as well, adding that she thought Alfred Kinsey would “approve of the diversity represented in his collection, if he was alive today.” “I mean, there are pictures of larger women who are really comfortable with their size,” Johnson-Roehr said of the exhibit. “People like a lot of things, and everyone thinks size and the shape of who we are as the same thing, when there are Web sites that prove not everyone is looking for hairless men and skinny women with large chests.”For Johnson-Roehr, the choice of art used in the exhibit display the importance of positive body perceptions that date back to Kinsey’s principalities as a pioneering sex researcher.“A common question a lot of people have when looking at others’ bodies is, ‘Is this normal?’” she said. “Kinsey really challenged that and broke the mold, because in his research he found endless variety. What’s normal for me isn’t normal for you, and there it is.” A DAY IN THE LIFE: LOUIS PAGANOLouis Pagano is a graduate student in counseling psychology by day and a nude model by night. It may seem contradictory to some, but for Pagano, it’s natural.“I’ve always wanted to do it,” he said.After a typical day of classes and his practicum internship, he catches the 9 Bus to Jordan and 7th, shoves the doors open and bolts toward the Fine Arts building, peeling off his clothes as he runs.He takes off his Versace glasses, then it’s showtime. “Luckily, I’m vision-impaired, because if I saw everyone looking at me, I might be worried,” Pagano said.Pagano is a busy graduate student and often sees the $10-an-hour gig as a Zen opportunity to “reflect and relax,” but of course, he said he doesn’t venture into full REM sleep mode.Nude modeling is not an act of self-consciousness for Pagano – who comes from a background of “showing off in theater” and, as he joked, “streaking in his undergrad days” – but an act of self-confidence. “If I can do this, of course I can talk to that girl I think is cute,” he said. “And when people say I’m gutsy for doing this, I say, ‘Yeah, I guess I am.’”A DAY IN THE LIFE: MADDY HAYDENJunior Maddy Hayden has always been a modest girl. She goes to class, reads novels such as “A Wrinkle in Time” and plays with her four-month-old guinea pig, Grubby, in her down time. “I would never change in front of people at the gym,” she said. Now, Hayden bares all for the sake of art and an “interesting experience.” “I liked the idea of seeing myself in art in general,” she said. “It’s important to study how the human body is used in different facets. It feels good to be naked and have people create art off what they see.”Besides, Hayden said, female bodies are a lot prettier to look at, in terms of art anyway. All of this self-assurance isn’t to say that she didn’t struggle with first expectations. Hayden said she saw the opportunity as another way to “show yourself for who you are” in the same way she has done for theater productions she’s been involved in.“I had no idea what to think going into it,” she said about her first nude session. “But at least I don’t have to worry about being upstaged.”Hayden said she naturally wondered what people thought of her, adding “these people are around my age and maturity level. They’ve gotta be thinking something.”But all those first-time jitters went away, and now, Hayden can finally change clothes around people in the gym. She said a nude portrait of her was even briefly featured in the IU Art Museum.“You have to have a bit of a sense of humor,” she said. “Although I must admit, it is a little funny seeing someone from a class in public who has also seen me naked.”
(08/13/09 12:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“Once, I was dating this girl and we were making out and the CD we were listening to ended. She got up and put on this death-sounding, satanic noise stuff, and it just totally ruined the mood. It made me afraid of who I was with.” Michael Anderson, owner of TDs CDs and LPs.“It depends on what you’re into (sexually), I guess. If I associate the Supremes with grandma, I’m not gonna put that on when I’m getting it on with a girl, because that’s just weird.”Andrew Wilburn, IU student“Whatever the music is to get you in the mood, it should have some kind of rhythm to it. You should not be actively listening to it the whole time while doing it, however. As far as what the music is, I’m down for pretty much anything else besides Kid Rock or Creed, or Nickelback, because they’re gross.”Sarah Fuller, IU Student
(08/10/09 12:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>“No sex, please. I’m 12!” was one of many comments made in professor Jennifer Maher’s “Gender, Sexuality, and Popular Culture” class for Intensive Freshman Seminars this summer.That comment was in reference to “teenybopper” magazines such as Cosmo Girl and Tiger Beat that display a more feminine deviation of masculine role models for young girls than what is typically portrayed in more widely distributed American media.The course observes the making of masculine and feminine sexualities within popular culture while examining scholarly texts that analyze media’s social constructions of gender and sexuality.Intensive Freshman Seminars occur during the three weeks leading up to IU Welcome Week. Each student enrolls in one specially designed course. Topics range from climate change to Shakespeare to human genetics. Courses are taught by IU faculty members. Each class is limited to 20 students, according to the IFS Web site, www.ifs.indiana.edu.Constructions of masculinity was the topic of discussion at Friday’s 9 a.m. session.CLASS CULTUREMaher greeted her students warmly at the start of class as ballpoint pens clicked and chairs shuffled as the students focused their attention on her.She mentioned taking a class field trip to the movie theater.“‘Bruno’ is still playing,” she suggested. “Last summer we saw (Adam) Sandler in some stupid firefighter movie – ‘Chuck and Larry.’”“Oh whatever, it’s great,” a male student shouted back.“It’s horrid,” Maher responded.Students laughing and chatting among themselves set the tone for the light tone of the rest of the class.Maher commanded attention.“Pass notes if you want to talk to each other,” she advised.The class next door erupted in sound.“We’re gonna play something louder, a Madonna music video,” she said.Maher said she wrote her dissertation at the University of Wisconsin on “Silence of the Lambs” and Madonna, titled “Like a Thesis.”At the end of Madonna’s “Open Your Heart” video, the class erupted in conversation about the content of the video, which took place at a peep show.It was argued the video put Madonna in a position of power over the male gaze of female bodies.“Madonna is different from the Spice Girls,” Maher said, referring to Madonna’s control of her public and professional image. “But of course, once a culture text is out in the masses, it is then subject to a variety of interpretations.”Class discussionThis was followed by a discussion of “phallocracy,” which argues that society is ruled by male influence – namely phallic objects.After that, homoerotic film content was the focus. “The most macho of films tend to be the most homoerotic,” Maher said, calling out fans of testosterone-driven films such as “300” and “Troy.” “They’re touching each other to hurt each other, but, of course, their phallic muscles glisten perfectly while they are touching each other.”Maher said glistening muscles in film are used as phallic objects because they are always hard and controllable, citing men who work out for hours at a time in the gym.She made it a point to identify the range of masculine and feminine sexualities on a spectrum. “I’m not saying men who enjoy these films are secretly gay,” she said. “I’m not saying anything is wrong or right about film portrayals of men, but they should be examined.”Maher said she simply wanted to call out homophobic messages in male-dominated society.As an example, she showed the beach volleyball scene from “Top Gun” starring Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer. It showed shirtless men playing volleyball in floral print shorts and tight jeans, and the soundtrack featured the song “Playing With the Boys” with lines like “I’m obsessed with desire.”The class then moved to a segment about the male pin-up and the now-defunct Playgirl magazine.“The idea of a male pin-up doesn’t work because it could never live up to its potential,” she said.Maher said this was because the nude female body is so normalized in popular culture that little thought is given to it. This is why the female pin-up will always have a place in society, she said.“Playgirl tried hard to market to straight women,” Maher said. She told the class about a time she marched in like a “weird heterofeminist” into Borders and found Playgirl in the “Men’s Interest” section and not in the gay or lesbian literature section.Class responseAshleigh Smith“The class is interesting. I’m learning differences between masculinity and femininity. There are lots of shades of gray. I like how Professor Maher is not all wrapped up in the fact that she’s a teacher.”Zack Montgomery“I love the class. It’s a fresh, totally new and interesting perspective on masculinity and femininity that I wouldn’t think of on my own. Maher is easily the best teacher I’ve ever had.”Amanda Casey“The teacher makes all this stuff that we don’t really think about every day, so it’s exciting to actually learn about. Waking up at 9 isn’t fun, but in this class, you can’t wait to see what happens next.”Kelly Casper“There are some abstract topics in this class that we can apply to anything. It totally changes the way you look at stuff in general. It’s humorous that I see so many things as phallic symbols now.”
(08/05/09 10:43pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Michael Schug, communications specialist for the IU Simon Cancer Center, said he wants to be clear: The upcoming collection is not a campaign.Schug said the tissue bank does monthly collections of blood and breast tissue, and it is the only bank in the world that collects normal tissue samples from volunteer donors.This one, taking place Aug. 8, will target Hispanic women in response to a study that cites Hispanic women to be 2.7 times more likely to have “an advanced cancer, which lessens the effectiveness of treatments,” according to a press release detailing the collection.Schug said while Hispanic women are encouraged to donate, all women are welcome to volunteer at the bank Saturday. Dr. Susan Clare, an attending physician fromIU's Hospital at IU–Purdue University Indianapolis, is one of two doctors leading the collection.“We want to be representative of the country’s population,” she said. “So we’re trying to diversify the bank, because obviously, Caucasians are not the only people affected by cancer.”Clare said breast cancer research is necessary because breast cancer is the only form of cancer that has no tissue to compare the cancer to.“It is clear from medical history that the best strategy for prevention is to research and inform,” Clare said.A 1998 study showing a “hole in the portfolio of research” indicated a need for other ethnic groups to be represented in cancer research findings.In 2004, Connie Rufenbarger, on behalf of the Indiana-based organization Catherine Peachey Fund Inc., contacted the tissue bank to help fix that problem, Clare said.“It’s not for us alone to fix. It’s for anyone with a great idea on breast cancer prevention,” Clare said. “The slight pain of the procedure is nothing, considering the benefits of helping research.”Clare said the tissue bank has had about 600 women act as volunteer donors thus far.THE STORY OF CHRIS AND JOSIEChris Baker of Kansas City, Mo., is one of about 100 women registered to donate breast tissue to the Komen Tissue Bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center.She’s doing it for the first time instead of sending a check.She’s doing it for other women, who aren’t as “lucky” as she is.She’s doing it for her sister, T.C., who was diagnosed with lobular breast cancer in 2003 and passed away in November 2007.Baker moved to Indianapolis for six months and befriended Indianapolis resident Josie Shannon, whom she jokingly said was her “only friend in there.”“We hit it off after, like, two seconds,” Shannon said of their fast friendship. “She’s seriously the funniest person I’ve ever met despite all she’s been through.”Shannon will be volunteering for her second time at the tissue bank.“How could I not be involved?” she said. “I feel a responsibility to do something, though my family has been blessed to not have dealt with cancer.”Shannon, the wife and mother of three, will be supporting Baker but also donating tissue for the sake of her two girls because, she said, you just never know.The friendship endured Baker’s loss of her sister, especially through a blog Baker began as a humorous way for people to keep up with her life, which later became an outlet to capture the range of emotions involving T.C.Baker is involved with the fight against breast cancer in Kansas City, pledging 10 percent of her earnings as a spa owner to the Kansas University Medical Center’s Kansas Masonic Cancer Research Institute.But, Baker admitted, she had no hands-on, personal dedication to the fight besides doing annual walks for a cure.Baker’s friend Robin is coming along with her.Together, they went down a list of blessings they share.“We both have health insurance and access to health care, where so many don’t,” Baker said. “The thought that our physical bodies can help so much to find a cure far outweighs any pain I may experience.”ANOTHER PERSPECTIVELa Casa Latino Cultural Center Director Lillian Casillas said she commends the tissue bank at the IU Simon Cancer Center and its efforts to diversify its bank by targeting specific ethnic groups.“I like that they are targeting Latina women for this particular collection, because unfortunately, in many studies regarding disease and cancer, people of color are often not included,” she said.But, to do more outreach to various ethnic communities and get more Hispanic women involved, Casillas suggested a more aggressive campaign, which includes really getting in touch with members of certain communities and their media.“I didn’t even know this was going on,” she said. “I may sneak up there and see if I can be volunteer 101, if they are expecting 100.”Casillas said she has dealt with stomach cancer in women on her father’s side of the family and ovarian cancer for women on her mother’s side.“So, if I am at risk for anything, breast cancer or otherwise, I’d love to know more about what the risks are and how can I reach out,” she said. “How can we reach out?”
(08/02/09 11:37pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Sophisticated musical arrangements and Italian accents lit up the Musical Arts Center like a Tuscan sunset Friday.IU Opera Theater produced the collegiate premiere of “The Light in the Piazza” as part of this year’s Summer Music Festival.The show employed guest conductor Dan Riddle, who was associate conductor in the original Broadway production. “The Light in the Piazza” is a 2005 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical with a book by Craig Lucas, music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, and is based on the original 1960 novel by Elizabeth Spencer. The story centers on a young American tourist from Winston-Salem, N.C., named Clara Johnson, played by graduate students Jami Leonard and Christa Ruiz, and her mother Margaret Johnson, played by graduate students Emily Smokovich and Sarah Stone. While touring Italy, Clara falls in love with a young Italian named Fabrizio Naccarelli – played by senior John McLaughlin and graduate student Tom Stoffel – who comes from an affluent family.It is gradually revealed that Margaret, who is in a deteriorating marriage to Clara’s father, disapproves of the affair because of her insecurities that “Clara can manage life on her own.”At her 12th birthday party, Clara was kicked in the head by a Shetland pony and was diagnosed with having a “slower mental and emotional development,” though her body would continue to grow normally. Since then, Margaret has made all of Clara’s important decisions. If there is one thing Clara has made her mind up on, it is her decision to marry Fabrizio no matter what. And at the end, she does. Jacobs School of Music graduate Joe Fumusa came from Indianapolis to see the show. He said he found the production to be “brilliant” and the story “mesmerizing.”“It was light and profound in its music and its message,” Fumusa said. Dennis Breiter was in town from Houston to visit his nephew and said it was “refreshing” to see a show that emphasized the importance of good values. He said he enjoyed the way in which opera and musical theater techniques were combined to make a show that offered “something for everyone.”Breiter’s fiancee, Claudia Salazar, came along for the ride. She teaches children with developmental handicaps in kindergarten. She related this to the show and how Clara’s mother held her back for fear that Clara could not find her own way. “There’s a lot of harmony to be had once it is realized that people who have special needs have their own path just like anyone else,” Salazar said. “Clara definitely saw her own path through in the end.” The opera’s final two shows are 8 p.m. Aug. 7 and 8 at the Musical Arts Center. Tickets are $8 to $18 for students and $12 to $25 for the general public and are available at the MAC box office or ticketmaster.com.
(08/02/09 11:32pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A host of parents and their children took a moment from the play and chatter at the new Karst Playscape grounds Saturday, directing their attention to a green wing macaw named Bird. A woman in a turquoise bead necklace walked up to Bird and the small crowd, held hands with her husband and asked to pet him. “You’re awful cute – you’re very cute,” she said, stroking Bird’s feathers. “They can’t pet the bird because he sometimes bites,” Bird’s co-owner Joe Porowski warned the children reaching to pet him under their parents’ attentive gazes.“But he doesn’t know he can fly,” Porowski said to the children.The Karst Playscape, the first of its kind in Bloomington, had its grand opening Saturday at the Karst Farm Park on South Endwright Road near the Monroe County Airport. The Playscape is possible thanks to a $411,000 W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant with the Monroe County Parks and Recreation Department.Kelli Wittmer of the Monroe County Parks and Recreation Department said the project was two years in the making and was built from the ground up by her and a small staff during that time – no contractors. The Playscape features a Splash Pad for families and waterproof wheelchairs for those who are chairbound and want to participate in the fun. The Playscape will include a complete playground and a “nature and play area,” said volunteer Ladi Terry, who was running an “idea station” for anyone wanting to contribute ideas to the growth of Karst Playscape. The facilities are accessible to people of all ages and abilities. A rainbow-colored ribbon was cut in honor of the opening. The sprinklers of the Splash Pad were turned on, and children wearing brightly colored beads and bathing suits danced in the water with one another. Three men dressed in pirate garb called The Pirate Band played tunes, from “Yo ho ho and a Bottle of Rum” to a song about commercialism in the 17th century, after the ribbon-cutting.Bloomington resident Nicole Fry came with her 2-year-old daughter Elaina, who was running around in the sprinklers.“She can’t swim, so this is great for her,” Fry said. “A big pool can be overwhelming for smaller children.”Fry said her daughter had open-heart surgery at just four days old and is unable to talk. She is grateful for the creation of the Karst Playscape because Elaina is limited to what she can do because of her condition. “She just wants to be able to do what other kids like her are doing,” Fry said, as screaming children circled a woman in a sundress eating a lemon snow cone. Bloomington resident Yael Ksander’s said her only complaint about the Playscape was the need for more shade. So, she patiently soaked up the sun on the lot in front of the stage where The Pirate Band played as her son Jarno circled the premises, growling and wielding a plastic pirate sword and donning an eye patch. “He’s gonna be four this month,” Ksander said when he returned to her from his adventure. Jarno plopped down on Ksander’s lap.“I took him to a Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland and he’s been obsessed ever since,” she said.For Ksander, the opening of the Karst Playscape means something different to her.She said it is just another example of Bloomington’s dedication to green space, “improving the integral quality of everyone’s lives.”And the bonus is spending quality time with children and families of the community, thus bringing the community together.“We spend whole weekends at events like this,” Ksander said. Marie DeWolf, a physical therapist for Bloomington Hospital, volunteered her time to facilitate the development of the park. DeWolf smiled as she looked around at the playing children.“This is teaching kids it’s OK to be different,” she said. “You shouldn’t be limited by what you can do, no matter what level of ability you have.”
(07/12/09 11:42pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Forty-one-year-old Tyler Ferguson was an ice skater before she ever put on a pair of roller skates.Even when Ferguson began roller skating, she admitted, it was all about “trying to get the attention of the cute boys at the roller rink.”Now, however, roller skating means something more to her. She competes for the Bleeding Heartland Flatliners roller derby team and goes by the derby name KaKa Caliente. The Bloomington-based team, along with Code Blue Assassins of the Bleeding Heartland Rollergirls league, began three years ago, following a trend of growing international teams in the sport of roller derby from Canada to Germany. The teams were co-founded by skaters Molly McFracture and Truly F Obvious in 2006.Make no mistake, roller derby, though officially seeing its recognition as a sport since 2004 with the foundation of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, has been around in some form or another since the Great Depression era, said Flatliner Allison Baum, who goes by Killer Kindness on the track.“I’ve always wanted to be called ‘killer.’ It’s tough,” she said of her pseudonym.Roller derby these days requires girl-on-girl body contact, in the vein of hard-hitting NFL teams, and there are numerous spills and injuries to prove it.Baum cheered on her team because of a sprained knee as they played against the Hard Knox Rollergirls of Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday night at Bloomington SportsPlex.The Flatliners and Bleeding Heartland Code Blue Assassins roller derby teams practice at Eagle’s Landing gym in Ellettsville and have “bouts” in the SportsPlex, learning safety regulations and strategies to play the hard-hitting, female-dominated sport. The nonprofit Bleeding Heartland Rollergirls league has also traveled from Grand Rapids, Mich., to Louisville, Ky., to compete, with a lot of behind-the-scenes work such as promotion and charity benefits.Baum said the league is largely run by the unpaid skaters.The results can be taxing.Dutch instructor by day and Code Blue rollergirl by night Meghan Goff, pseudonym Mega Byte, gestured to her teammates. “I think I see you guys more than my nonderby friends,” she said.It might be a whirl of pseudonyms, sparkly panties, eyeliner and lemon-colored helmets on a flat basketball track during an ordinary bout, but off the track the women assume roles as mothers, lawyers, nurses and rock stars. It’s not pro wrestlingWhile some might see names in the program for a roller derby bout ranging from Felanie Charges to Charmed N Dangerous as theatrical devices, Baum wants people to know: “It’s not pro wrestling.”“One of our founding girls said, ‘Roller derby generally attracts women who don’t have strong relationships with other women,’” she said. “But though we’re all so different and strong-minded, we bond together really well.”IU graduate student Katie Cierniak, who goes by Kung Furious because of her love of Bruce Lee-style Kung Fu, echoed similar sentiments.“It’s like any sport,” she said. “It’s not as glamorous as it looks. There’s so much strategy that goes into everything you do when in competition.” What’s in a name?Jenni Schultz of the Black-n-Bluegrass Rollergirls team of northern Kentucky that competed against Code Blue at the SportsPlex goes by Florence Nite-N-Hell, a play on her hometown Florence, Ky., and Florence Nightingale, pioneering English writer and nurse.Schultz is a 38-year-old gothic artist who was once in mosh pits at metal shows and is now raising a teenage daughter, and has four cats, one named Scrubbles, who she swears is “on crack.”Samantha Graham of the same team goes by Bertha Knuckles on the track.“We all have that inner Bertha, that tough character inside all of us,” she said.Graham works in a cubicle at a 9-to-5 desk job at a cable company.She said she has a “serious boyfriend” whom she “loves very much.”Hard Knox’s Samantha Noah was given the derby name Drop Dead ... Gorgeous by her father, a derby referee.And Math Murderer of Code Blue is Kelley School of Business professor Sarah Sherry, who teaches K201: Computer in Business.Standing among teammates behind fan bleachers after the first bout against Black-n-Bluegrass, Sherry said she was just happy to be able to relax. Code Blue won 69-62.Three-year derby fan Edwin Schurg, sporting a Farm Fatales Rollergirls team T-shirt, crossed the gymnasium to give Sherry a high five and watch Bloomington’s Different Drummer Belly Dancers at halftime.“You were so awesome,” he said.Sherry shook her head.“It’s just crazy because it’s my first season actually being ejected from a game,” Sherry said to Schurg, referring to a foul penalty she received in the bout. “They (Black-n-Bluegrass Rollergirls) hit us a lot, but I’m so glad because it meant they took us seriously.”Fans apparently take roller derby as something more than a spectator sport.At bouts, die-hard fans have the option of sitting in “Suicide Seating.” The program warned, “Sit at your own risk!!! ... Neither Bleeding Heartland Rollergirls nor the SportsPlex assume any responsibility for audience injury ... But EMTs are on hand, just in case.”Schurg was one of those fans.“I love that it’s just powerful athletic women competing,” he said. “These women are the opposite of victims.”Some fans even come with their own names, like the rollergirls, reflecting other sides to their personality.Bloomington residents and married couple Ryan Stringer and Emily Krejci also sat in Suicide Seating. Stringer, as a play on his last name, would go by String-’Em-Up to represent a cowboy theme, complete with a spiky helmet.Krejci said she calls herself Hurricane Jane, paying homage to her middle name and the destructive power of hurricanes.Her favorite thing about the roller derby was not just the fishnets and boy shorts.“There is every type of female body represented here, which I think is great,” Krejci said.“Oh, sparkly!” a male audience member yelled, pointing at Hard Knox’s player Goblynn.She sported silver boy shorts and face paint as her team did laps around the track in preparation for the next bout against the Flatliners.“She’s just as scary up close as she is far away,” Notre Dame senior Mike Banning would later say upon high-fiving Goblynn when congratulating the team, who lost to the Flatliners 97 to 75.IU junior Katrina Feil stood by as fans reclaimed their seats in the bleachers and Suicide Seating areas. She and her boyfriend, IU alumnus Steven Brown, weren’t as brave.“I love all the skirts,” Brown said. “And the intensity.”Sipping on a Diet Coke, Feil said jokingly, “We really didn’t sit on the floor for fear our butt cracks would hang out.”Feil said she wanted to be a rollergirl because she was impressed by the diversity of body types represented on the teams.“I would either call myself Cruel Mama, or Spanks, because of my big ass,” she said, laughing.Crowd FavoriteAfter the bout, Flatliner KaKa Caliente found herself surrounded by fans, Fearleaders and paramedics. She received a shoulder to her sternum from an opposing team member in the last 30 seconds of the bout and was nearly doubling over in pain.“Forty was the best year of my life,” she said in between cheerfully greeting fans, including one child in a blue T-shirt who called her his “favorite player on the team.”The constant cheers of her name throughout the bout and moments like this don’t seem to get to Caliente, who played her first season last year and was voted by fans as a crowd favorite at a home bout because of her speed and fiery personality.“Those sick nauseous feelings of nervousness don’t vanish until the final whistle blows,” Caliente said. “And there are so many talented skaters who could skate circles around me. I just learned this, really.”She joined the team after reading about it and watching a documentary on A&E about a roller derby team in Texas.“I’m infinitely happy since I joined,” Caliente. said “I haven’t had a down day since.”In her free time, Caliente is in a band and has an “awesome husband” she “chills with.”She also said she enjoys working in her garden in her spare time.She said her favorite flower is a tuberose, because it is a “labor of love.” “Just like skating,” she said.
(07/05/09 10:47pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Honoring the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City on June 28, 1969, Bloomington residents Lillie Aydt and her group Gay Recruiters led Bloomington’s first-ever sit-in for marriage equality Thursday at the Monroe County Justice Building downtown. The Stonewall riots occurred when members of the LGBT community in Greenwich Village at the Stonewall Inn fought back against the oppression they faced from various government-sponsored systems.Gay Recruiters was formed in response to the Proposition 8 Supreme Court decision, which upheld the illegality of same-sex marriage in California and thus established what Aydt called “an Orwellian precedent, allowing certain gay citizens more rights than others.”Preparing forthe sit-inThe day before the sit-in, members of the Gay Recruiters gathered in Rachael’s Cafe on Third Street to make signs saying “God Loves Fags” and “Every Wedding Should Be Fabulous.”Bloomington resident and Gay Recruiters member Linda Zambanini draped a rainbow flag across the round table Aydt was sitting at.“Every conversation to be had about equality deserves to be recognized by the symbolism of this flag,” she said. Zambanini fronted the Lesbian Liberation Organization in Bloomington during the 1970s. The group was centered on radical politics, or as Aydt said, “getting a social movement back out into the streets.”Zambanini said she was inspired to join Aydt’s cause when she met her at the May Proposition 8 protest downtown and heard about the Gay Recruiters.Aydt appointed her to the position of “National Secretary of Rabble-rousing” once a Bloomington sit-in was approved. Zambanini put her “rabble-rousing” skills to use following the downtown protest and e-mailed Aydt with the idea of conducting a sit-in with the Gay Recruiters after she saw videos on YouTube and Facebook of similar demonstrations in Denver and San Diego. We shall overcomeThe next day at 9:30 a.m., Lillie Aydt arrived with her partner Hilary Aydt and sat down on the granite steps outside the justice building.Lillie Aydt wore a green-and-white polka dot dress and a smile as Hilary Aydt pinned white knots to the both of them.Later, other followers arrived adorning the same knots. They symbolized the advocacy of marriage equality for all citizens and became a national campaign in February when Dustin Lance Black, the openly gay screenwriter of the film “Milk,” wore one when he accepted his Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.Lillie Aydt said her politics align with radical yet peaceful demonstration methods of civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, and she jokingly referred to herself as “Lillie X.” “You could be the Betty to my Malcolm,” she said, holding Hilary Aydt’s hand. Lillie Aydt looked at the police officers gathered in front of the building. “I’m not afraid,” she said. “But it is nice to see we have support from cops when 40 years ago we were beaten in the streets.”More protesters arrived, including residents Renee Reed and Erica Romeo, who were wearing white wedding dresses.Romeo, who is in a heterosexual relationship, said she told her partner she wouldn’t marry him until marriage was made legal for everyone. He agreed.Zambanini arrived and hugged Lillie Aydt.“You guys look so beautiful from here!” she shouted to the gathering crowd about 10 a.m..People seized their signs and held them in the air as passersby expressed sentiments ranging from horn-honking in support to a man in overalls glaring at the crowd as he crossed the street. Camera crews and reporters from Indianapolis’ RTV6 and Bloomington’s WTIU and The Herald Times arrived to hear Lillie Aydt address the crowd with a personal statement and letters of support from Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan and Bloomington City Councilwoman Susan Sandberg.Dissenter Bruce Anderson stood at the top of the stairs of the justice building wearing a homemade white T-shirt with the words “Abortion, Baby Killers, Obama, Supported by his taxes, an Hitler style government” scrawled on it in black marker.Anderson gestured to the officers nearby and then nodded in the direction of the protesters. “The gays already have their rights because of someone willing to stand in defense for these types of protests,” he said, citing God as his inspiration. “If they don’t believe that, they should be overseas killing each other.”The crowd proceeded to the stairs and entered the justice building. Bloomington resident Stephanie Burks, who wore a black button-down and a tie made of rainbow beads, held hands with Reed and entered the city clerk’s office to apply for a marriage license.“You know the laws in Indiana, right?” a secretary asked them amidst camera flashes. The first law in the Indiana Code concerning issuance of marriage licenses reads, “Same sex marriages prohibited.”“It’s interesting that it’s the very first thing you see,” Reed said. “Can I at least look at the paperwork for filling out a license application?”They were denied. Burks said she was surprised at how abrupt the process was. “It’s ridiculous,” Reed said. “You can change the laws. We’re both legal age. We just happen to be the same gender.”Cindy’s storyCindy Bradley sat cross-legged in the doorway of the voter registration room across the hallway and adjacent to the city clerk’s office with a rainbow flag draped around her shoulders. Bradley said for years she has volunteered many hours during voter registration periods around election time. She was inspired by Harlan Booker, the recently deceased Bloomington Democratic voter registrar, to have what she called a “one-woman sit-in.” Bradley said Booker had been in a 45-year relationship with a man named Jack Davis.“I wanted to do something personal for my friend and the countless others who can’t be married because of their orientation,” she said. “This isn’t just a ‘gay rights’ issue. Straight people need to be concerned as well.”‘Let freedom ring’Back in the city clerk’s office, Lillie Aydt and supporters Jurion Jaffe, Aaron Casper and Zambanini stood in a circle. “We’d like to stand in front of the counter,” Aydt said when asked to move. At 10:45 a.m., the group began to chant in unison, “1138 rights denied, I am a gay American and I am a second-class citizen,” and passed around a stack of papers – descriptions of the federal rights denied to gay Americans, not just concerning marriage. Next to Lillie Aydt was a heterosexual couple, applying for a license. The man turned to Lillie Aydt and said, “This is a sacred union,” to which she responded, “I know this is special for you, but would you like to join in the voice of those who can’t cherish what you have?”“No, thank you,” the man replied.“I love the ‘Let Freedom Ring’ sign,” Reed said, pointing at a sign hanging up above Lillie Aydt. Hilary Aydt stood outside the office looking on, shaking her head.“Say someone had to get married tonight,” she said. “Well, you can have a ceremony, but why is there no recognition? God forbid you can’t see your spouse if he or she gets hurt. We just can’t come in after the honeymoon and get a license.”Monroe County Clerk Jim Fielder expressed support for the Gay Recruiters’ cause, coming from around the counter and shaking hands with Lillie Aydt. She pinned a white knot to his shirt amongst cheers and chatter. When the group finished reading the rights denied them, Reed and Burks, dressed as bride and groom, tossed a bouquet made of red, white and blue plastic flowers, which Lillie Aydt caught.
(07/02/09 12:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Public or private? Soon Facebook users will have the option of sharing certain parts of their profiles with non-members.On June 24, Facebook announced its highly anticipated, hotly debated and, to some, inevitable shift from private to public profile content.The shift means users will have the option of making status messages, photos and videos visible to all Internet users – Facebook members and non-members – adding to the availability of personal information that keeps social media sites such as Twitter and MySpace up and running.This new development will affect the Publisher privacy feature on Facebook. The beta version is currently available only to members who had set their profile privacy setting to “Everyone.” According to The Facebook Blog, the site hopes to expand the new privacy option to all members eventually.As the new privacy feature becomes available, Facebook users will choose between three options. The first is members can make their entire profile open to everyone, including non-members.The second is choosing to make only certain information available to the public, like a particular photo, wall post or status update. The third option is for those uninterested in making information viewable to everyone. Users will still have the option to make their entire profile private and viewable only by their Facebook friends.Facebook’s executive decision has IU students and faculty divided about issues of privacy and protection of user information. IU telecommunications professor Mark Deuze said the new change will force users to reconsider what information they choose to share.“Everyone knows that just about anything you put online is public in some fashion,” he said. “Knowing this, people will redact their (digital) personas. It’s like going on a date – you’ll want to put on your best face at all times.”IU law professor Fred Cate argued another side.Cate said he believed the majority of youth online are increasingly comfortable with what they share and didn’t expect much of a backlash.IU journalism professor Anthony Fargo shared an opinion in agreement with Cate’s.Fargo said from a legal standpoint, Facebook is going to do exactly what it wants to do, as long as people receive advance notification of drastic changes.“People make the mistake of having a reasonable expectation of privacy,” he said. “They fail to realize just by accepting a friend request, you’re already knocking down a wall.”Cate proposed that the general misunderstanding of expecting privacy in contrast with the reality that everything is public should be apologized for.“It’s too bad,” he said. “I feel like social media should specify, you know. If you’re not President Obama with 25 encryption passwords on a Blackberry, then you’re not safe.”Cate said it is important to recognize whenever college students post their drunken spring break pictures, Facebook owns them immediately.Perhaps the more extreme case is when a user is involved in a crime, the government doesn’t have to go to court. It can go directly to Facebook and demand information.“With the innovation of Twitter, you have people who are less concerned with privacy and have their privacy rights sort of fluffed away,” Cate said. “Someone can be standing in hot water and it be gradually turned up to boiling until they realize what is happening to them.”For students such as junior Adam Dicken, Facebook’s new changes affect him less, though he admits that Facebook’s changes for the sake of profit and risking people’s false sense of trust in privacy is “annoying.”Luckily for him, he said he “isn’t a big Facebook user anyway” and he “rarely posts anything.”Graduate student Emily Pratt said she feels uncomfortable about the developments.“I like to make my posts and pictures private,” she said. “I don’t think that it is fair that employers or anyone random should have access to what I think is private.”Senior Adam Davis said he felt a sense of self-control would come over Facebook users and they’d be forced to differentiate between what is “appropriate” and “inappropriate.”Deuze weighed the pros and cons of forced self-control.He said he found it scary that people have to resort to half-truths because of fear their privacy isn’t being protected.“You don’t get a sense of who people really are,” he said. “Of course, when you open your house to everyone, there may be a burglary now and then. But what about people who want to be radical and political? They can’t because it seems inappropriate.”
(06/10/09 9:53pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>At its Kirkwood Avenue location, Uncle D’s New York Pizza has brought its authentic brand of New York-style pizza by the slice to Bloomington and IU students for a little more than two years.Now, the small franchise, which also has restaurants at the University of Michigan campus and 3 other Michigan locations, is reaping the benefits for its hard work. Bloomington location co-owner and manager Andre D’Angelo said Uncle D’s New York Pizza is revered as “The Best Take Out Pizza” by Bloom magazine food critics and, as a byproduct of its success in town, is now being inducted into the “Would I Buy It Again? Hall of Fame.”The award came as a letter from the producers of a blog of the same name, which claims to “answer one simple question for Indy food consumers.” D’Angelo said Uncle D’s began in 1997 in New York when he and his cousin, Uncle D’s CEO and company namesake, Dominico Tellemaco, collaborated on a way to provide an answer to the popularity of growing New York pizza shops. “New York doesn’t need another pizza shop, so we decided to take that flavor elsewhere,” he said. At the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, D’Angelo and Tellemaco cemented their commitment to high-quality pizza by the slice by utilizing family recipes from Italy. D’Angelo said Uncle D’s even has its own way to stretch the dough. Tellemaco’s mother put the menu together, which has original specialty pizzas such as Philly cheesesteak and baked ziti. “We knew what he had was good enough to share,” he said. “There were all these New Yorkers in town, but there was nothing really representing New York-style pizza until we came along.”The decision to bring the business to Bloomington came from a suggestion of longtime friend and business partner Brian Evans, an IU alumnus and former NBA player for the Orlando Magic.D’Angelo said he realized this move would make sense because of IU’s connection as one of the Big Ten schools and the large customer base that connection attracts.IU employee and Uncle D’s patron Melody Amato has been eating at Uncle D’s since it opened. She is from Florida, where she said there were “lots of Little Caesar’s chains.”“It’s refreshing to have pizza that is more authentic-tasting,” she said. “I could expect to find the same things on a New York street corner.”Recent graduate Jessica Pirucci has worked at Uncle D’s since January. She is from Michigan and said she never tried New York-style pizza until she began working there. Pirucci said she most enjoys the variety of options. Her favorite pizza is also Uncle D’s most popular, the mild buffalo chicken pizza. “It has bleu cheese on it,” she said. “I hate bleu cheese, but I love the pizza.”Graduate student Kevin Foster came to the store Tuesday and purchased a slice of spinach pizza. He ordered it to go and said he would eat and walk. For students on the go like himself, Foster said Uncle D’s is quite convenient. “And it’s a nice portion of food for only three bucks,” he said. “For Bloomington, that’s pretty good.”
(06/08/09 12:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With a constant “what’s next?” attitude and a genuine zest for life, Aimee Stanton is not afraid to try new things. Although the 25-year-old admits that her generalized anxiety disorder and depression have been deeply rooted in her fear of her identity and ambitions, the fear has not held her back.Though nervous about her admission status, Stanton aspires to attend IU in the fall to study journalism as a freshman. She wants to be in front of the camera, eventually as a late-night talk show host like her favorite, Conan O’Brien. But for now, she has “The Aimee Stanton Show,” which covers everything from robots to politics, on Bloomington’s public access TV station, to keep her occupied.Stanton, a Bloomington native, said her first love was television. She grew up watching “Ren and Stimpy” and “Blossom.” These shows served as her escape during what she called her parents’ “toxic marriage.”Stanton was 13 years old when she watched her first late-night talk show. “I was watching a skit on Conan on New Year’s Eve with a friend,” she said. “He was trying to make it to the central time zone to see the big ball drop in Times Square. It was so wacky, and then I realized, ‘Hey! That’s how I am!’”She became a fan of the show thereafter, identifying with the “Walker Texas Ranger lover” character, thus carving out a space in her brain to remember her first love.“There’s a place for that kind of wackiness,” she said. “People really seem to love his show, and I thought, ‘Why can’t I?’”Stanton took several detours before finding her niche, however. Upon graduating from Bloomington High School South, she wanted to become a chef because she was a “foodie,” interested in learning everything about strange and “normal” foods.“I wanted to make Emeril Lagasse look like a short-order cook,” she said. “I was good at what I did.”Stanton said she was fine with starting small and building an expansive culinary career, but the realization of its high-stress environment didn’t mesh well with her anxiety and depression.“I felt like chefs had more stress than brain surgeons,” she said. “Or at least they have the erratic hours and pressures. Being yelled at for the mistakes you made was typical of the job.”She said what she feared even more than outright failure was exiting her bubble of comfort in Bloomington and “pushing the envelope to experience new heights.”This made wanting to be on television seem impossible.“Flying to the moon with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny seemed more possible,” she said. “It was like I had to put my dreams of television on the back shelf in my brain to collect dust.”Food was all Stanton knew. She admits feeling incredibly lost, which led her to pursue many different interests. Working with developmentally handicapped children helped her realize she didn’t have “a personality that easily fits in a box.” For her, there was a definite clash of will and what was needed to maintain the job.She tried studying nursing for a few months, taking introductory courses at Ivy Tech Community College. She was enrolled in “Anatomy and Physiology 2,” studied all night for an exam and got a 4 percent on it. Next up was day care.“I didn’t exactly know how to interact professionally with children,” she said, laughing. “And I was afraid of their parents.”Upon driving back to her apartment after quitting the day care job, she had what she calls her “aha!” moment and started thinking about television, her first love. The next day, she went to the Bloomington public access station and worked for an hour and a half figuring out how to produce her own television show, “The Aimee Stanton Show,” which she said will act as a platform for another stage in her life to aspirations of late-night debauchery.They’ve yet to air, but she’s produced two shows thus far that she’s given to the station: one about gender and sexual discrimination and another about diet and exercise. Stanton’s pending plans are to propose the show to IU Student Television upon acceptance to IU and the journalism program.Though Stanton said she wants to cover issues of importance, she wants people to know she is fun. Ironically, this has come from learning not to take herself so seriously and to have the desire to press on in spite of her fears. “People are funny,” she said. “I’m just learning by doing. Obviously, that’s what my whole life has been about.”Stanton's show can be watched at www.myspace.com/theaimeestantonshow
(06/04/09 12:07am)
While in college, Pam Freeman remembered having a French teacher who “couldn’t stand Germans and was very vocal about it.”
(06/03/09 11:34pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s basketball team members are still a bit jet-lagged from their 10-day excursion in Italy, where they managed to win four games while touring the country’s landmarks. Senior guard Jamie Braun, who averaged about 13 points per game during the trip, and junior guard Andrea McGuirt, said they enjoyed their experiences.“It’s really weird being here now because of what we experienced in Italy,” McGuirt said. “We all really bonded like you would on vacation with your family.”Braun said part of that bonding came from understanding when it was time to show up and represent women’s basketball.Coach Felisha Legette-Jack expressed full confidence in the women’s ability to perform.“They are fantastic, mature young women, and I and the other coaches recognized that,” she said in an phone interview. “They always rise to the occasion when it’s game time, so we really wanted them to experience Italy through their own eyes and leave a respectable impression on the country.”Legette-Jack said the inspiration to travel to Italy came from the how she and the coaches all felt changed by the players.“They deserve to do something this significant in their careers,” she said. “Some of the girls will never have the chance to do this again.”The opportunity came about because of IU President Michael McRobbie and an NCAA ruling that allows traveling college teams one international trip every four years. The team spent time in Rome, Treviso, Florence, Venice and Milan, along with several other stops. McGuirt and Braun said they competed with girls of all ages who “definitely brought their A-game and represented their country.” They said it was a wonderful end to a hard-fought season and served as a proper goodbye to graduates Amber Jackson, Kim Roberson, Lydia Serfling and Whitney Thomas.McGuirt and Braun said they also experienced several interesting cultural differences from America, dining being one of them. The women didn’t have to leave tips but paid a service charge at the door, and there were smaller portions of food. Chicken and pasta was not a proper mix, apparently.“It was a bit hard for (Braun) to handle that none of the pasta we ate had chicken in it, because all she eats is chicken in butter with no pepper or anything,” she said.“Girl, I like seasoning, too,” Braun said defending herself.McGuirt brushed that off, citing Italian food as being better because of its lack of being “drenched in grease,” something that plagues American food.Both women might not have agreed on food, but they did see eye to eye on Italy’s beautiful landmarks.Braun bragged about holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa in the Tuscany region. McGuirt recalled being speechless at the Vatican, where the team saw the pope and the Sistine Chapel.Braun and McGuirt said they have their “fabulous” and knowledgeable tour guide, Fabio, to thank for all their unforgettable memories.“If he weren’t there to guide us through, we wouldn’t have half the amount of history we experienced,” McGuirt said. “The whole experience was breathtaking, and we will never forget it.”For more information about the women and their adventures in Italy, visit their blog “IU In Italy” on the team’s Web page.
(06/01/09 12:31am)
Rachael Jones, owner of Rachael’s Cafe on Third Street, has come a long
way from not having a four-way stop in rural Beanblossom, Ind.
Part of that transition has come from being more comfortable in her own
skin as a transgendered individual, as well as ridding herself of her
own prejudices.
(05/28/09 1:30am)
Graduate student Huey Newton experienced a rude awakening when he came
to Bloomington, and it wasn’t because of something in the water.
(05/28/09 1:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For Lillian Casillas, director of La Casa Latino Cultural Center, Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the highest court in the land marks another historical high note in Obama’s tenure.“For me, it’s a double-sided perspective,” she said. “It’s like, I’m a Latina who says, ‘Yes! Another Latina.’ But then I feel that as a liberal, she also stands for rights I and other women care about.”Sotomayor, a federal district and appellate court judge for the past 17 years, has been nominated by President Obama to become the nation’s first Hispanic Supreme Court justice.Sotomayor grew up in a Bronx, N.Y., housing project after her parents moved from Puerto Rico, according to an Associated Press article. Her father died when she was 9 years old.Casillas said she would advise those looking for an “extremely liberal” perspective from a minority female to think again.“It’s great to finally have a Latina female as part of the face of government,” she said, “but that’s really not what it’s about.” Casillas said a judge’s ethnicity does not necessarily determine his or her political leanings.Joseph Hoffman, a professor at the Maurer School of Law, said he believes Sotomayor is not a particularly staunch conservative, but rests more in the middle.Law professor Christiana Ochoa said despite Sotomayor’s political views, it is important to recognize her “real intent in interpreting the law” during the confirmation process.Ochoa said this is important to understand because Sotomayor has a real perspective on what it means to have relationships with different life experiences.“She’s very straightforward about those differences, and it is a breath of fresh air,” she said. “Being straightforward is especially valuable for conversations.”These conversations that need to occur are typically under the surface, Ochoa said. “And of course, definitely with President Obama, you see a whole conversation opening up about race, class, where he’s been and where he is now, and how that is all relative to executing the law,” she said. “You will see the same thing with Sotomayor. The judicial branch will be highly influenced from her experience.”Hoffman said though it is important to acknowledge Sotomayor’s ethnic background as a factor for inspiration, he believes it is no reason to think she defines herself or her role as a justice by the fact that she is Hispanic.“One thing I can say about judges is they do not appreciate being categorized by views, race or religion,” he said. “The whole point is to have a role that transcends aspects of her identity.”Hoffman said Sotomayor’s nomination is a wonderful moment in history and generates a lot of Hispanic pride.“People are who they are,” he said. “And we aren’t much without the fullness of our own personal experiences. But well-respected judges like Sotomayor are trained and acculturated to rise above labels and categories and strongly represent the body of law.”
(05/27/09 11:11pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The hardwood floorboards of Boxcar Books were adorned May 22 with acoustic guitars, iambic pentameters and cups of sangria at the premiere event for fiore magazine and The Robin: “Lit and Wit.”A blank white tapestry facing the front door read “What Inspires Your Creativity?” and rested against the backdrop of Boxcar’s walls, painted pastel blue and trimmed with rose red.For Dawn Shanks, founder and editor of the bi-monthly fiore magazine, her creativity is inspired by literature and Oscar Wilde.“‘Fiore’ is Italian for flower,” she said. “But me and some friends came up with the idea to start a magazine that focused more on the community. How many community lit mags do you really see? Not many.”Shanks said the idea to start an event in support of fiore blossomed from her collaboration with IDS staff member Georgia Perry, founder and editor of The Robin, a satirical newspaper.“We thought it would be cool to combine the ideas of local artists and promote the work featured in both publications,” Shanks said. “And to host an event at Boxcar is really cool because it’s a lot more intimate than other public spaces.”Shanks smiled as more people walked through the door. It appeared as though she and Perry were expecting a much smaller crowd, as the five wooden chairs available were quickly filled. The floor became the next best option, on which people stood and sat for mingling.Next to the appetizers was a glass jar, rapidly filling up with cash donations.The attention turned to the emcee as he introduced a series of local artists and jokingly said, “Now let’s get to the talented people.” Bloomington writer Lee Chapman shared two poems, one called “Force” about his “conflict with a hardware guy as a software guy at a computer company.” Chapman lovingly referred to his poem “Butter Pecan,” which was about coupons and ice cream, as his “indictment of corporate America.”After one poem about “Updating the Profile” on Facebook and a short story about an undiagnosed sociopath named “Daiquiri Hateful,” audience member and senior Elizabeth Cockrell decided to contribute.“I wasn’t sure if I could just jump in or not,” she said, before reading her poem about the personification of regret.Cockrell said she got an e-mail an hour prior to the start of the event and decided to go on a whim.A performance by members of Awkward Silence and Full Frontal Comedy troupes followed. During one game, they asked the audience the favorite tragic qualities of their favorite dead poets.“Alcoholism!” someone shouted.Recent graduate Jonah Malarsky played original acoustic tunes such as “Sole” and “Let’s Get Happy” throughout the poetry readings, and he hung out after the show. He’s been playing for about six years. “I’ve never been to the new Boxcar location,” he said. “It’s just great to be involved in community and local art.”Junior Samantha Smith stood staring at the “What Inspires Your Creativity?” wall as it filled up with things like “A.D.D.,” “My sister in a wheelchair” and “10,000 BC is good enough for me” scrawled hastily by departing patrons.She drew a window on the wall, with the words “This View” enclosed in the lower window pane. “This was so much better than the high school angst poetry we all used to write,” Smith said. “And even that is less gross to me now, because now I can appreciate the possibility of anyone being an artist.”
(05/21/09 12:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bloomington SportsPlex will shift from private ownership to Bloomington city ownership.The city’s communications director, Danny Lopez, said the private owner was looking to sell and approached the city of Bloomington about a year and a half ago.A $6.5 million revenue bond was drafted to help fund the sale of the SportsPlex in addition to a number of renovations within the building itself, Lopez said. The building was purchased for $5.5 million. Bloomington Parks Department Director Mick Renneisen, who is in charge of negotiating the entire operation, said renovations will include restroom remodeling and air conditioning updates, repainting and technological improvements, like a new computer lab where office space has been previously. The synthetic soccer surface will be replaced.The renovations are expected to cost about $300,000, Renneisen said, but there are no planned changes to the architectural structure of SportsPlex.“Funding through revenue bonds, which relies on the income of SportsPlex, is possible, thanks to approval from the mayor and the public, as seen through conducted surveys,” Renneisen said. “The revenue bond helps support managing and operations.”He said SportsPlex, in addition to being branded under the Parks Department umbrella, will undergo a name change, though one has yet to be determined. For those concerned with user fees, Lopez said there is no need to worry.“As of now, user monthly and day pass fees are not expected to go up as a result of all the changes,” he said. “In fact, we’re looking for ways to effectively reduce fees existing as is for people.”Renneisen said the improved SportsPlex building – complete with a name change, new logos and branding – is scheduled to be unveiled in August with a ceremony. “The SportsPlex has been a valuable athletic center for 10 years in the community, as well as an anchor in youth sports,” he said. “We just want to enhance what is already there and improve customer needs the building has already been fulfilling for so long.”
(05/18/09 12:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU football coach Bill Lynch and hundreds of other students, faculty, athletes and community members honored the legacy of the late coach Terry Hoeppner on Saturday at the second annual Coach Hep Indiana Cancer Challenge at Memorial Stadium.The event featured a 2K family walk, a 5K run, a 25K family bike ride, a 50K cycle and a 100K cycle.Tables of student volunteers with the IU Foundation and the American Cancer Society were sprawled across the football practice fields. Athlete teams and individuals of all ages were signing in, tagging themselves with numbers and warming up on the turf.Lynch stood by, taking it all in as he took a bite from his Snickers bar and exhaled.“This is a great event that properly honors the legacy of Coach Hep,” he said. “Cancer has touched so many of us in different ways.”For Tammy Smith, administrative assistant for the American Cancer Society, it means being a cancer survivor and sharing her knowledge with the community.“Being affected by cancer is how I got here to where I am today,” she said. “I’m thankful for what I’ve been through and I’m stronger because of it.”Sharing in this motivation to spread awareness is what got local physician Rick Schilling and Terry Hoeppner’s wife Jane Hoeppner to start the Coach Hep Cancer Challenge to raise money for cancer awareness.Schilling approached Jane Hoeppner after his father-in-law died of cancer, keeping in the spirit of coach Hoeppner’s “Don’t Quit” attitude.“My father-in-law never quit and that’s what inspired me,” he said. “This affects all of us, regardless of race, gender and age.”Jane Hoeppner will never quit either.“We’ve been there and done that, you know,” Jane Hoeppner said. “We feel motivated more through things like this event to help find a cure.”She said part of the appeal for the event was the combination of having a good time for a good cause and getting exercise. She gushed at how well the community has taken to the event.“The online regular cash donations are already up from last year,” she said. “The Big Ten Network is going to be here as well. It’s all quite overwhelming.”Nearby, IU volleyball team members were giggling and placing volunteer name tags on their crimson-colored T-shirts.Sophomore Caitlin Cox said this was the team’s first time at the challenge.“We thought it would be good for our team to get out into the community and do something worthwhile,” she said.Senior Kelsey Hall said she wants the community to get to know the women’s volleyball team in a setting outside of practices and games. Hall and her teammates handed out water to the runners at a station along North Jordan Avenue during the 5K, the day’s final event.At the water station adjacent to Alpha Omega Pi sorority house, the women shared stories about how cancer has affected them, while feverishly running to hand out fresh water in Coca-Cola cups to children and their parents, and even to a fireman who was running in full gear despite the humidity and cloudy skies.Steve Coover of the Bloomington Fire Department doused himself with water.“Thank you, girls, for being here,” he shouted as he took off after the pack ahead of him.“Nice pace,” yelled sophomore Mary Chaudoin. The Georgia native said she participated in Relay for Life every year at her high school. Relay for Life is the American Cancer Society’s largest fundraising event that takes place in cities and towns across the country annually.Junior Taylor Wittmer watched as junior Ashley Benson chased her 4-month-old puppy, Santino, in the street. Wittmer stood away from the crowd for a moment to reflect on how cancer has affected her life.“My aunt is a leukemia survivor,” Wittmer said. “To live through that despite the family struggles just makes me want to help out more, as much as I possibly can.”