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(10/29/04 5:42am)
Senior Kris Olsen, like many other students, has already made plans to travel home to New York for Thanksgiving break. But he wonders if his flight will even get off the ground because he's flying with ATA.\n"I've used them the last couple of vacations because (ATA) has the bigger jets," Oslen said. "I will definitely not use them anymore now that they have gone bankrupt." \nATA Holdings Corp., and certain subsidiaries, including ATA Airlines Inc., filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana Tuesday. The nation's 10th largest passenger carrier will undergo "reorganization to address its debt levels and other obligations, and to lower its cost structure even further, while operating in the normal course of business," according to a statement from ATA. \nDuring a bankruptcy case, a company typically tries to get rid of underperforming assets and restructure around its core strengths, said ATA's Bankruptcy Attorney Michael O'Neil.\n"ATA has the exclusive right to file a plan of reorganization during the first 120 days of its case, and that 'exclusivity period' can be extended by court order," O'Neil said. "The timing of emergence from bankruptcy is impossible to predict, being just a few days into the Chapter 11 case."\nA statement from ATA gave several ambitions the company wishes to maintain during the bankruptcy. ATA hopes to maintain flight schedules, operations, customer service and travel rewards programs, enter into agreements with AirTran Airways, Inc. to operate and acquire routes at Chicago Midway, Ronald Reagan Washington National and LaGuardia Airports, and to have Indianapolis remain ATA's headquarters and primary hub.\nIU School of Public and Environmental Affairs Professor Clint Oster specializes in airline industry economics and aviation safety and said he believes there are certain reasons why ATA is in the position they are in.\nOster said when the economy collapsed after Sept. 11, 2003, ATA found itself struggling and perhaps heading toward bankruptcy, with payments coming up for aircrafts they bought pre-Sept. 11.\n"In the case of ATA, they have some special things that happened that certainly made their life more difficult," Oster said. "They carry quite a few passengers to Florida, and since the hurricanes hit Florida, it would decimate that market quite a bit. The second thing for ATA (was) they made a decision to purchase a larger number of new jets. The economy was doing really well then, and it was a reasonable decision." \nThough O'Neil said he doesn't know specifically why ATA went into bankruptcy there are some issues plaguing the entire airline industry.\n"In the airline industry as a whole, however, the two toughest problems are brutally high fuel costs and brutally low ticket prices," O'Neil said. \nThis is not the first major airline to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.\nAll majors airlines other than American Airlines and Delta have, at one time or another, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. \nOster said for students currently purchasing or who have purchased tickets from ATA, there are some things they need to do.\n"Continue to pay attention to what's happening," Oster said. "If I hadn't paid for the ticket yet, I would pay for it with a credit card. I would continue to check and see if the airline is still going to fly that flight, but if anyone has tickets on ATA in the next weeks, I wouldn't be that concerned about them."\nATA will remain in Indianapolis, the city they have called home since 1973, according to a statement from ATA.\n"We have begun taking the difficult steps to transform ATA into an airline that is positioned to meet the needs of our customers today and for the future," said ATA Holdings' Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer George Mikelsons in a statement. "Our agreements with AirTran, combined with ATSB's flexibility, will facilitate ATA's transformation into a formidable low-fare competitor capable of winning in today's airline industry environment for our customers, employees, creditors and other stakeholders."\n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.
(10/13/04 5:01am)
Not many people would pay attention to a 5-foot-5, self proclaimed big-eared man with two days of stubble on his face walking through the Indiana Memorial Union Tuesday night. But if those people took a closer look, they would have realized they had just walked past nationally syndicated columnist Harlan Cohen, more famously known as the "Help Me, Harlan" guy. \nCohen came to IU Tuesday night to perform his speech "College in the Nude," which helps college students deal with the everyday things they encounter, such as drinking, dating and rejection.\nCohen said that so often college is a really tough transition for people and it seemed a natural place to begin helping people with their problems by giving advice.\n"I think that it's nice for people to know someone's listening, someone hears them," he said. "I think the ones that are published, I know there are hundreds of thousands upon millions of people who are reading who can relate."\nCohen tried to hit home two specific topics about dating in his 75-minute long speech: the forms of adversity a person will meet and how to overcome them.\nCohen said the first form of adversity a person will meet is self rejection; the person doesn't allow themselves to think they are desirable. Second, rejection by circumstance; the person is rejected because of something they can't control, like the other person being engaged. Third, and most brutal, raw rejection; the other person simply just does not like something about the person doing the asking. \nCohen said there is a very simple way for people to correct this problem, and that is to train to be comfortable physically, emotionally and have a person get "great" people in his or her corner. \nCohen said the inspiration for his column came after an internship with "The Tonight Show," where he observed someone start their own advice column. He took the idea back to IU and pitched it to his editor at the Indiana Daily Student who gave him the green light after Cohen produced a sample, he said. \nThat column has now turned into "Help Me, Harlan," a nationally syndicated column running in such papers as The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News and the Seattle Times. Cohen reaches more than one million people a week and is a published author with his first book, "Campus Life Exposed: Advice from the Inside," and has a second coming out in March titled "The Naked Roommate: And 100 other things you might encounter." \nAccording to his Web site, Cohen's goal has always been to create a place where people can feel comfortable enough to share whatever happens to be on their minds.\n"It's a place where young people have the courage to write and those who have 'been there and done it' can share their thoughts, ideas and experiences. At the core, this column is a place for people of all ages to challenge themselves and attempt to do the impossible. It's a place for everyone to find that extra encouragement, to get that little push, to do the things each of us know we need to do in order to get happier." \nDean of Students Richard McKaig has known Cohen since he was an undergraduate and attended the speech Tuesday night. McKaig said he does check out the column to see what issues Cohen is helping his student audience deal with. Though he has never asked "Help Me, Harlan" anything, he said it would not be a bad idea with some of the issues with which he deals in his position.\nThe questions Cohen most frequently receives are: "How do I tell somebody how I feel? How do I find a date? How do I find a relationship?" he said.\nFreshman Andra Stacks found about the speech through various flyers posted around campus and, despite never reading his column, came to hear him speak, she said.\n"What really caught my attention about it tonight was that he talked about rejection and that it's OK to be rejected," she said. "I think he really brought that point home."\nThe letters he receives fit into three categories: the ones making fun of his ears, the ones where he thinks the person is making up a story, like having sex with an animal, and the ones dealing with serious problems the person has. \n"Take risks, and if you can't take a look at yourself because you are so drunk and you can't focus on you, that's an even bigger problem," Cohen said. \n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.
(09/30/04 5:57am)
After County Councilman Scott Wells filed a lawsuit Monday naming Herman "Bud" and Amy Bernitt as defendants, the Bernitts plan to do one thing: "fight." \nWells's attorney, David Colman, filed the lawsuit on his behalf Monday.\nIn September 2002, the Bernitts had reported a man they did not recognize, who was later identified as Wells, as "staggering" and "driving in a dangerous and erratic manner" to the Indiana State Police, according to the Wells suit. \nWells hopes to prove he was falsely arrested, wrongfully imprisoned and maliciously prosecuted in his lawsuit against several defendants. Along with the Bernitts, the suit also includes the Indiana State Police and the State of Indiana. Wells' suit seeks to prove the testimony given by the defendants during the original trial was false.\n"There are a lot of things that are going to be brought forward if this does go to court," Bud Bernitt said. "But I hope a judge will look at it and throw it out because it's just another hellacious lawsuit brought forth by Mr. Wells and his attorney."\nIt has been a little more than two years since the September 2002 traffic stop in downtown Bloomington, and a little under a year since Wells was convicted of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and disorderly conduct. \nBernitt said he thinks he will win if the case ends up going to trial.\n"We have been pounded in the press for two years and we are not going to sit back and take this -- we are going to fight and we are going to fight this thing vigorously," he said. "I'm not going to sit back and let this smear campaign go on against my wife and I and J.D. Maxwell, who passed away, or the other state troopers ... I'm not going to sit back and let this smear campaign go on against these men who did absolutely nothing wrong." \nFirst Sgt. Dave Bursten, spokesman for the Indiana State Police, said neither he nor his colleagues have received official notice of the case by press time and would not comment on any pending legislation.\nWells is seeking specific damages from each of the defendants, according to his lawsuit. \n"As to Defendant Herman "Bud" and Amy Bernitt, Scott Wells prays for a judgement adequate to compensate him for the consequences of their having made a false crime report and for the defamation and defamation per se which they committed against Scott D. Wells, and punitive damages all in an amount to be determined by a jury in this cause," the suit states.\nBud Bernitt said he doesn't have anything to hide.\n"I would go take a lie detector test anytime any place and WTIU can go film it and you reporters can be there," he said. "I'll even pay for Mr. Wells to go. We can go together and they can film the thing live." \n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu
(09/29/04 11:05pm)
On the two-year anniversary of Monroe County Councilman Scott Wells' arrest by the Indiana State Police, David Colman, Wells' lawyer, filed a lawsuit on his behalf.\nWells filed the lawsuit because he believes his civil rights were violated. \n"I hope to clear my name, restore my reputation and get total vindication," Wells said. "You can have all of the cost of comfort convenience, your materialistic wants and desires, but the only thing you really have on this earth is your good reputation -- without that, you are nothing."\nColman said a case such as this could take up to 18 months to resolve. \n"The (lawsuit) arises from the unlawful, wrongful and tortuous conduct by the Defendants in creating the brutally violent false arrest of Scott D. Wells and his wrongful imprisonment and malicious prosecution, all done in violation of Indiana Law and Federal Law and in deprivation of Scott D. Wells' constitutionally protected rights," the suit states.\nThe Indiana State Police, the state of Indiana, Herman "Bud" Bernitt and Amy Bernitt are named as defendants in the suit. The Bernitts "observed (Wells) driving in a dangerous and erratic manner, nearly running into pedestrians and demonstrating obvious impairment in his driving," according to the suit. Wells is disputing these claims in his suit.\nThe Indiana Daily Student reported in January 2004 that according to Indiana State Police reports, Wells was stopped in downtown Bloomington by a state trooper who was investigating a drunken driving complaint made by Wells' political adversary Bud Bernitt.\nAccording to the suit, the Bernitts called Indiana State Police Officer J.D. Maxwell, who was the Republican candidate for Monroe County Sheriff at the time. Maxwell, now deceased after battling with brain cancer for 14 months, was off duty at the time. Maxwell instructed officers Stacy Brown and Travis Coryea, who were on duty that night, to stake out Wells' car on suspicion of him driving drunk. \nThe two officers, also named in the suit, pulled Wells over after following him for a short period of time for a seatbelt violation, according to the suit. The two officers then allegedly struck Wells with several blows on the upper half of his body throwing him to the ground with his hands behind his back, the suit claims. \nThe lawsuit states "as a result of their combined efforts and actions, Scott D. Wells was subjected to False Arrest and False Imprisonment, and a Malicious Prosecution."\nNone of the defendants could be reached for comment by press time. \nAccording to State Police reports during his arrest, State Trooper Stacy Brown asked Wells to take a Breathalyzer test. Wells refused a test when pulled over and insisted it be administered at the Monroe County Jail. Police reports show Wells blew a .075 on the Breathalyzer, just under the legal limit of .08. \nWells was found guilty of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and disorderly conduct but was acquitted of misdemeanor battery and resisting law enforcement, the IDS reported in Nov. 2003.\nNearly two months after Wells was found guilty, he received a 240-day suspended jail sentence because Special Judge Frank Nardi felt Wells did not deserve jail time, Wells also paid fines and court fees.\nWells previously told the IDS he believes that certain Republicans were tired of him being in office because he stood up for what he believed in and that was the reason he was targeted.\n"You can beat me, you can mistreat me, but you cannot defeat me. ... I just checked today, and I still was not in the obituaries," he said. "It is not over, yet; I am innocent. I believe in the upcoming second round of my trials. The whole truth will come out, and the outcome will be much better for me. "\nAfter the arrest, Wells was fired from his tenured teaching position at Owen Valley High School for "neglect of duty." He was planning on retiring from his teaching career a the high school, but he said he cannot find employment now partially because his tenure dictates he should receive a high salary and partially because of his arrest.\n"The hatred of some of my critics is alarming. Just because I was winning big politically at the microphone with facts, figures and pictures, exposing the truth," Wells said, "it was pay back time on the night of my arrest over two years ago."\n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.
(09/24/04 5:52am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- For many across the nation, the U.S. Marshals are Tommy Lee Jones chasing Harrison Ford down sewers in the movie "The Fugitive," but there's more to the U.S. Marshals than the movies let on.\nThey are the oldest law enforcement agency in the U.S., they arrest more federal fugitives than all the other federal law enforcement agencies combined and today marks their 215th anniversary. The U.S. Marshals gathered Thursday at their office in the U.S. Courthouse in Indianapolis to speak about their experiences in preparation for the birthday. \nDeputy Ernie Mowell has been a marshal for almost 10 years and said although there are good days and bad days at the office, the good always outweigh the bad.\n"I'm very proud to tell the people I'm a deputy U.S. marshal," Mowell said. "There's a lot of tradition and mystique to be a deputy marshal. A lot of people don't know what the U.S. Marshals do. It's either Tommy Lee Jones or Matt Dillon. I kinda like Matt Dillon (better)."\nThe U.S. Marshals were created by the first Congress in 1789 after the first Judiciary Act was passed. With the act, President George Washington appointed the original 13 marshals to be in charge of 13 districts and to take the U.S census. \nSome of the most important history in which the U.S. Marshals have been involved is connected with civil rights, Deputy U.S. Marshal Jason Wojdylo said. \n"We essentially facilitated the integration of public school and universities -- James Meridith being the first African-American who was admitted to a university -- and it was us marshals who enforced that court action," he said. "We're not doing undercover drug buys. The FBI, DEA and Secret Service are doing all of that. When they can't find somebody, they turn it over to us."\nNow there are 94 districts across the country and the marshals have even more duties to perform. Along with hunting down fugitives, the marshals provide judicial security, witness protection, prisoner services, including transporting them in airplanes, as well as many other responsibilities, according to the U.S. Marshals Web site. \nDeputy Mowell said one of his favorite memories of working for the marshals is when he was in pursuit of a man convicted of rape in state court but who could not be found.\n"We were watching the house from about a quarter of a mile away with binoculars, and out he walked," he said. "We called in the State Police to help make the arrest, and it was just one of those where the whole team concept came together." \nThe Southern District of Indiana extends down from Kokomo to the farthest southern point of the state. There are 18 deputies that cover the entire area.\nChief Deputy Richard Burton has been with the U.S. Marshals 30 years and went to work for them right after he graduated from IU in 1974.\n"It's humbling to be realize that I'm only one of 2,500 people in the whole country that is a U.S. Marshal," Burton said. "The thing I like about the job the most is the variety of the duties I have been able to perform over the years."\n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.
(09/23/04 4:00am)
Wow, when I first picked up "The Guy Game" I thought it looked promising. I mean, it combined two of my favorite things -- video games and topless women. The cover promises the hottest girls on spring break flashing their stuff for the cameras. But after playing the game for a week I've come to the conclusion that this is one of the worst games I've ever played. Let me set the scenario for you.\nYou go through a round of answering trivia questions similar to a Trivial Pursuit game. The girl's breasts are covered with an animated sign sporting the title of the game. While you answer the questions, the "hottie" on the screen is asked the same question, and if she gets it right she does nothing, but if she gets it wrong, she lifts her shirt and shows her stuff. But wait! I'm sure right now you're thinking, "Sweet, all I have to do is answer some stupid question and I get to see some tits." Not true! Some of the questions are really hard, such as, "How many particles make up a mole?" I'm not in any kind of science class, so how the hell am I going to know? \nAs you get questions right or wrong, you earn money, and as you earn more money the level at which you can see the girl's jugs improves. By the second level, the girl's breasts are just blurred out with pixels, and again you must answer more questions to advance to the third level during which the girl's breasts are completely bare. That is the basic game play.\nWithin the game there are various other games that can be played other than the actual trivia game itself. In my mind, this game is too much work to justify. If you want to see a lot better-looking girls, then just go buy some porn. It will cost you less, and it will take a lot less work to see a girl naked.
(09/23/04 2:47am)
Wow, when I first picked up "The Guy Game" I thought it looked promising. I mean, it combined two of my favorite things -- video games and topless women. The cover promises the hottest girls on spring break flashing their stuff for the cameras. But after playing the game for a week I've come to the conclusion that this is one of the worst games I've ever played. Let me set the scenario for you.\nYou go through a round of answering trivia questions similar to a Trivial Pursuit game. The girl's breasts are covered with an animated sign sporting the title of the game. While you answer the questions, the "hottie" on the screen is asked the same question, and if she gets it right she does nothing, but if she gets it wrong, she lifts her shirt and shows her stuff. But wait! I'm sure right now you're thinking, "Sweet, all I have to do is answer some stupid question and I get to see some tits." Not true! Some of the questions are really hard, such as, "How many particles make up a mole?" I'm not in any kind of science class, so how the hell am I going to know? \nAs you get questions right or wrong, you earn money, and as you earn more money the level at which you can see the girl's jugs improves. By the second level, the girl's breasts are just blurred out with pixels, and again you must answer more questions to advance to the third level during which the girl's breasts are completely bare. That is the basic game play.\nWithin the game there are various other games that can be played other than the actual trivia game itself. In my mind, this game is too much work to justify. If you want to see a lot better-looking girls, then just go buy some porn. It will cost you less, and it will take a lot less work to see a girl naked.
(09/21/04 6:25am)
Shortly after construction began in April 2002 on Miller-Showers Park, a storm water treatment facility, the designers knew exactly what it was supposed to do, in theory. Two years and some months later, the park, which designers had envisioned to cleanse storm water, has done just that after many storms have dumped rain on Bloomington. The park opened to the public in July. \nThe park is serving as a regional storm water detention facility, draining more than 190 acres of surface water (mostly from downtown Bloomington), according to the City of Bloomington's Web site. In addition to collecting storm water, Miller-Showers will be a national leader in compliance to Rule 13 of the Clean Water Act, which will require communities to include storm water engineering technology for environmental compliance. \nThere is no need to make any winter preparations for the park because the treatment facilities below ground can function in any weather, said Mick Renneisen, administrator for the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department.\n"The ponds were designed to capture a 25-year rain fall event," Renneisen said. "So when we get the rains that happen every 25 years the ponds can sustain that. If a 100-year event comes, the ponds will overflow into the park and the water will still be retained. That's in the design and intended to happen."\nIn 1929 the strip of land where Miller-Showers Park is now was purchased for $1 from Jacob and Loretta Miller Homestead, according to the Bloomington Web site. \nAbout 100 more trees will be planted in early October, said Dave Williams, director of operations and development for the Bloomington Park and Recreation Department.\n"I think the rewarding part of this project has yet to come because once all the trees and grasses mature in the future it will look its best," Williams said. "It will not only improve the functional aspects of the park but the appearance of the park as well. We also like what we see in regards with public use of the park, now with the half mile walking trail around the outside people are in the park way more, unlike before the renovation."\n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.
(09/15/04 6:05am)
As IU President Adam Herbert approached the podium in the Frangipani Room of the Indiana Memorial Union, more than 200 pairs of eyes watched him intently while just as many sets of ears waited to hear what would be his first State of the University address since he took office last year. \nThe title of Herbert's speech was "Strengthening the Foundations for Distinction," and that is exactly what he did by proposing numerous goals to improve the University.\n"There is one other characteristic of this special institution that reinforces my pride in being a Hoosier," Herbert said. "It is IU's caring academic environment that fosters such a deep level of love for the University among our students and alumni."\nOne of the first major ideas Herbert proposed to the sea of students, faculty, administrators, reporters and television cameras was a new task force he has appointed. The Economic Development Task Force is visiting 10 cities throughout the state to establish how IU might contribute to economic developmental needs in those regions, with Bill Stephan, vice president for university relations and corporate partnerships, at the helm. \nHerbert also focused on adopting general education principles for all of the IU campuses. Members of the Academic Leadership Council and campus faculty councils, along with Senior Vice President for Student Affairs and IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis, are taking steps to develop a set of principles that will exemplify what an IU degree means.\n"My main job among the things (Herbert) listed is to chair the Academic Leadership Council that would be defining the General Education Principle that hopefully all the campuses will be able to adapt," Gros Louis said. "It's going to be challenging because clearly it's hard enough to get one faculty here on one campus to agree, and now seven other campuses have to agree."\nGros Louis will soon be replaced as IU-Bloomington's interim chancellor, as this semester the University will begin the search for his replacement with the conclusion of that search coming during the spring term.\nIn his inaugural address, Herbert proposed the goal of doubling IU's externally-funded research grants and contracts by the end of this decade. He reiterated the importance of this goal again in his speech with the added fact that in the fiscal year of 2004, the University has had the highest amount of faculty-submitted proposals in IU's history and, as a result, has received an all-time high $413 million in sponsored research income.\nNewly appointed Director for Hoosiers for Higher Education Debbie Sibbitt attended the speech and said she felt Herbert's speech is going to make faculty throughout the entire system very excited.\n"I can't imagine (University staff) won't be 100 percent behind what these initiatives are because (Herbert) was very comprehensive in almost virtually every aspect of the University ... and how it's directed to the entire state of Indiana, not just one campus," Sibbitt said.\nOne of the final major points within Herbert's speech was the fact that IU ranks toward the bottom of the Big Ten in terms of non-class laboratory and creative space, which include a variety of areas, such as wet laboratories, art and music studios, focus group study areas and the faculty office space in which people generate ideas. Several schools within the University are experiencing problems in this area and cannot hire more faculty or admit more students.\n"Their findings require that we think creatively and act aggressively to address this vitally important issue," Herbert said. "During the academic year, we will establish a process to further analyze this data and develop a strategic, prioritized physical facilities master plan focused on research space needs over the next decade." \nHerbert appointed a task force last year "to review the structure and operations" of the School of Continuing Studies. In concurrence with the findings of the task force, Herbert and Gros Louis recommended two things be done. First, the School of Continuing Studies is to be maintained as a University school, and it will continue to award the associate's and bachelor's degrees in general studies. \nHerbert said words from former IU President Herman B Wells can encourage the University to achieve even greater things.\n"Though our problems may be many and grave ... the resources available for their solution are vast. Not the least of these is the friendship of our community and state ... Within the institution itself, elements of incalculable strength are to be found: the competence and loyalty of the faculty and administrative staff; the interest, enthusiasm and prominence of the alumni, the ability and loyalty of the student body; the generous devotion and keen foresight of the board of trustees. Cognizant of the rich resources which are ours to command, we face the future with confidence," Herbert quoted Wells as saying.\nTo see the full text of President Herbert's "State of the University" speech, visit www.indiana.edu/~pres/sou04.shtml.\n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.
(09/14/04 5:31am)
The advocacy group Hoosiers for Higher Education appointed a new director Monday. Debbie Sibbitt will take over the reigns from former Director Kirk White, who was called back to the Indiana Army National Guard when his unit was deployed to Afghanistan.\nSibbitt graduated from the Kelley School of Business in 1977 and is a Bloomington native. She said everything she has done for the past 25 years just seemed to point her back to IU.\n"I was humbled. It was the first word that came to my mind," Sibbitt said of when she first found out she had the job. "I just felt so honored to work for an institution that has always been in my life."\nSibbitt said she has many goals for her turn as director, which lasts one year, as all contracts between the University and HHE do. HHE engages IU alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents and friends to impact legislative decision on the importance of higher education for Indiana's future, according to its Web site. Sibbitt said she wants to involve more students in the volunteer organization and mobilize some 9,200 already registered volunteers in the state.\nOne of Sibbitt's biggest goals is to develop a Web site that interfaces the database of the HHE and the database of the IU Alumni Association so they can better communicate with their volunteers. \nSibbitt's first assignment will be to get to know the administration within the HHE, said Tom Healy, IU vice president for government relations.\n"Debbie has a very good background in community volunteering," he said. "She was also the executive director of the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau, so her time was spent marketing and planning meetings, which is the kind of skill and kind of experiences we want the director of HHE to have."\nSibbitt has also worked for several charitable organizations, including Girls Inc., the American Red Cross and the Colloquim for Women of IU.\nJ.T. Forbes, director for state and government relations at IU, "will be working arm-in-arm" with Sibbitt every day, he said. There are a lot of people within the HHE organization who are excited to have a new leader who will help target the group's efforts, Forbes said.\n"Appointing a new director to HHE will provide the organization with a leader who will build on the success of Kirk White and Sue Talbot," he said. "Debbie will also help mobilize people to illustrate and amplify our case for funding for higher education."\n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.
(09/10/04 5:33pm)
As students walk through the many corridors of the Indiana Memorial Union, they pay little attention to what's going on around them. They pass by other students studying and eating lunch or IMU employees going about their business. They may even stride past a man of average height with gray hair and a slight smile on his face as he watches all the students buzz around like fireflies in the place where he has worked for the last 22 years.\nWinston Shindell, director of the IMU and IU Auditorium, is a soft-spoken, modest man with a firm handshake that exudes trust, confidence and experience. His last day on the job was Aug. 31, but his retirement party will be today after a little over two decades of service to the University. \nHis colleagues and friends have used words such as "passionate" and "leader" to describe who he is even though Shindell describes himself "as a man who doesn't like the spotlight."\nThe exciting part of the job for Shindell has been the honor of watching students grow, develop, leave and come back.\n"I find (the Union) to be a very exciting and highly motivating and highly inspirational environment in which to work," he said. "I'm very privileged in the standpoint that I'm one of those people that found the perfect job for me. I can't think of any other place I would rather be than right here at the Indiana Memorial Union at Indiana University."\nShindell arrived at IU in December of 1981, after working as the director of the union at Oklahoma State University, where he received his undergraduate degree.\nIn a Feb. 24, 1982, article, Shindell told the Indiana Daily Student that if he had it his way, he would always have something torn up because change is necessary and, if done properly, for the better.\nShindell stuck to his word. No more than eight years later, construction began on a $20 million renovation project overhauling the IMU and IU Auditorium. \nIU Auditorium Director Doug Booher said Shindell provides a strong base of leadership, but also takes the time to give the students he works with the ability to make decisions and learn from a lot of experiences.\nShindell's work ethic was evident to Brent Pieper, an IU alumnus and executive director for University Advancement at IU-Southeast. Pieper first met Shindell in 1993 but began working closely with him during his presidency of the Union Board in 1996.\nThere were several times when he turned to Shindell for advice during his stay at IU. Pieper said Shindell not only gave him an answer, but also taught him something new every time.\n"I frequently have thoughts about how wonderful it would have been to know Chancellor Wells, John Whittenberger and other Indiana University leaders who left such legacies," Pieper said. "Winston is part of the great present-day legacies in my mind, and I'm fortunate to have worked with him."\nIn all the work Shindell has done, all the students he has counseled and all the people he has touched, one theme is constant: If he is doing his work with the students and not having a good time, then he isn't doing it right.\n"I think I walk away saying I really feel good about what I did. I think we made a difference. I think we left the place better than when we found it, for the Union and the Auditorium," Shindell said. "There is a great deal of pride and ownership by the students who use them, by the faculty, the staff, and there's an ambiance that both of them have, and you want to protect that, you want to make it better."\n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.
(09/08/04 6:25am)
The budgetary woes for IU and the question of whether or not they will continue was the topic of discussion Tuesday at the first Bloomington Faculty Council meeting of the academic year. \nThe Budgetary Affairs Committee reported its findings for the 2003-2004 fiscal year budget, and in its memo to the rest of the BFC members described its goals in planning the 2004-2005 budget.\nThis year, through internal reallocations, the University will be able to hold the line, but as Chancellor Ken Gros Louis indicated, the University can not do the same every year, BAC Co-Chair Bob Kravchuk said.\n"Enrollment obviously tied to the volume of expenditure, and if enrollment projections turn out to be overly optimistic, then what we have done is set budget expenses at levels that are higher than what the revenues will sustain, that is the situation we are in right now," Kravchuk said. \nThe BAC is unique from the other BFC committees, as it acts on the behalf of the council. The committee is also a representative of the council, offering continuing advice and criticism on all aspects of the Bloomington campus budgetary policy to the chancellor and the chief budgetary officer for Bloomington, according to the BFC bylaws. \nThe committee noticed several fiscal themes surrounding the budget. For example, a memo to the council indicated some campus units do not participate fully in the annual budget process, thus skewing fiscal accountability.\nGros Louis spoke to the council about several subjects, including the enrollment shortfall, which he said appears to be 2.4 percent.\n"(That) has been addressed through one-time actions -- drawing down reserves, deferring discretionary spending and so on -- that do not impact the ongoing base budget of the campus," he said. \nGros Louis cited several statistics that have hurt the University's budget. Operation support is down $14 million or 3.1 percent of the University base budget, the state has deferred one month's appropriation of $38 million, the University technology funding has been cut by $12 million and the University funding per student is last in the Big Ten. But because of tuition increases for all students -- 4 percent for all resident students and 6 percent of non-resident students -- there will be an extra $14.8 million in unallocated new resources.\n"Thus, we had about $17 million in expenditures, or some $2 million more than the new resources," Gros Louis said. \n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.
(09/02/04 5:23am)
Like many other viewers Jason Wojdylo tunes in to the TV show "America's Most Wanted" at night.\nBut unlike most, Wojdylo is a deputy with U.S. Marshals in Indiana. \nWhile he was watching the show Saturday night, Wojdylo saw the segment about the Jill Behrman unsolved murder case. \nRight after the show Wojdylo drove 35 miles to his office in Indianapolis and called the lead investigator for the case, Indiana State Police Detective Rick Lang, to pledge the help of the U.S. Marshals Service in apprehending Kerry Silvers.\nSilvers is not a suspect in the killing of Behrman but shared a prison cell in the Lawrence County jail with a man suspected of committing Behrman's murder. The police believe Silvers has important information about Behrman's murder. Silvers is wanted by the police for escaping the Orange County jail and attempting to kill a sheriff's deputy during the escape.\nThe U.S. Marshals apprehend more fugitives than all other state law enforcement agencies combined, and Wojdylo pledges the same success in the Behrman case.\n"I've been in Indiana for five months and I've heard bits and pieces about this investigation but I never connected the dots," Wojdylo said. "After viewing the 'America's Most Wanted' segment (and) realizing that there was a fugitive from justice who was wanted for questioning in connection with Jill's disapearnce and death and the skills and specialty found through out the U.S. Marshals service I thought it was important to dedicate resources to bringing this aspect of this case to a conclusion. To do that we must locate Kerry Silvers."\nThe Indiana Daily Student reported Behrman's disappearance in late 2000. Behrman was last seen while riding her bike in Bloomington. Her bicycle was found later, but the body was still missing until March of 2003, when a hunter and his son found the remains of a human body in the woods near Martinsville. Scientists from the University of Indianapolis and IU-Purdue University Indianapolis used X-rays and dental records to confirm the remains were in fact Behrman.\nEric Behrman, Jill's father, said her case has been handled by several agencies during the past four years, and Wojdylo, who is new to the area, is going to provide the help of the U.S. Marshals. \n"Our situation, is at first we wanted to find Jill and bring her home and that was our first and foremost concern and we were happy when that took place," he said. "The next step is to find those who are responsible for her murder and bring those people to justice."\nWojdylo said Silvers is a very dangerous person.\n"If anybody knows the whereabouts of Kerry Silvers or is associating with him ... I would encourage them to contact law enforcement and assist us in bringing him back to Indiana," he said. \n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.
(09/01/04 6:47am)
New changes made by the George W. Bush administration to the regulations in the Fair Labor Standards Act are affecting workers all across the nation, and IU employees are no exception.\nThe FLSA establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, record keeping and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector as well as in federal, state and local governments.\nSpecifically, the new regulations change who is eligible for overtime pay and who isn't. In order to determine eligibility, three tests must be met. \nAccording to the salary basis test, each employee must be paid a predetermined, fixed salary that is not subject to restrictions based on the quality or quantity of work done. In the former regulation, the salary level test was satisfied if an employee made $155 a week, or $8,060 a year. Then he or she was eligible for overtime pay. Now the threshold is $455 a week, or $23,660 a year. The duties test states which types of jobs receive exemptions. \nDan Rives, associate vice president for University Human Resources, said IU, along with most Big Ten schools, is likely to see some positions become eligible for overtime as result of the new FLSA regulations.\n"Like many employers, they look at the new salary-level test that is now $455 a week. There are some part-time employees who do not meet that test who are currently exempt from overtime (that) the new FLSA regulations will require institutions to make positions eligible for overtime in the event they work over 40 hours in a work week," he said. "Outside those three tests, the FLSA lists specific jobs for which companies cannot exempt from overtime." \nAccording to a memo Rives sent to deans, directors and department heads at IU, the University must take several steps in order to implement the new overtime pay. \nFirst, positions and employees that are potentially affected by the new FLSA must have been identified by mid August 2004. Next, records need to be kept of actual hours worked by these employees so they can receive back pay. Once the lists are completed by the departments, each department must write a short summary about the affected positions to see if they meet the final FLSA exemption status. Finally, those who would be covered by the FLSA would receive back pay for the overtime they worked back to Aug. 22, 2004. \nThe decisions will be made in early October as to which positions are eligible and which ones are not. \nKenneth Dau-Schmidt, Willard and Margaret Carr professor of labor and employment law, said the new FLSA regulations are going to bump more people off of coverage than it is going to add.\n"The people that (FLSA) now extends coverage to, the University is not going to want them to work overtime, and the people who are not covered by (FLSA), the University is going to want them to pick up the slack," Dau-Schmidt said.\n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu
(08/31/04 4:55am)
For six months, former men's head basketball coach Bob Knight did not have any litigation pending against IU, but that streak ended Thursday in Indianapolis when Knight's attorneys filed a lawsuit against IU.\nKnight is suing the University and Indiana Insurance Company on the basis of the indemnity policy he had when he was employed by the University. An indemnity policy, a type of liability insurance, covers employee attorney fees and other expenses if a lawsuit is brought against the employee while employed at the University. \nThe suit claims Knight should receive $25,000 from the University for the cost of fees paid when he settled a lawsuit brought against him by former men's basketball assistant coach Ron Felling in 1999. Felling accused Knight of pushing him after a game.\nAccording to the policy, Knight should have received the money if he met the four stipulations required in the course of an incident. One of those stipulations dictates that Knight must have been acting in the best interests of IU.\n"We don't think (Knight's) actions fell within the provisions of that policy," said Dorothy Frapwell, counsel for IU.\nKnight did not return phone calls by press time Monday. Knight's attorneys could not be reached for comment.\nKnight was fired from IU in September of 2000 for what former IU President Miles Brand said was a streak of bad behavior. The streak culminated with an incident in which IU accused Knight of initiating physical contact with freshman Kent Harvey. \nKnight then sued the University for an estimated loss of $2 million in media and shoe contracts as well as basketball camps and endorsements. Knight dropped the case against IU earlier this year.\nThe Associated Press contributed to this report.\n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.
(08/27/04 4:47am)
Move-in day, the induction ceremony and roommate meet-and-greets, are just some of the many things freshmen face. They will read and hear countless names of administrators, faculty and staff without having a clue who those people are or what they have to do with the University. For that matter, students who have been at IU for years may not know these key individuals, such as the board of trustees, one of the most important branches of the University government.\nThe IU board of trustees meets monthly and has the power to govern by specific regulation and other lawful means. As such, the people from the board are just as important as the board itself.\n \nFrederick F. Eichhorn, Jr., President\nGraduated from IU in 1952 and was in the Air Force for two years after graduation. He is currently the president of the trustees and was appointed by the governor in 1990. He is the trustee liaison to IU-Northwest Gary.\n"We're all great Indiana busters and we all attended Indiana at one level or another and it's just a love of the institution that makes (us) want to serve."
(08/27/04 3:56am)
As the Major League Baseball season draws to a close in the coming months, everything begins to change. The teams begin to play their best as the number of games dwindle. The players begin to focus more every at-bat, pitch or catch during the game. The managers start to consider every possible situation. Even the beer vendors reach deep inside themselves to find every extra ounce of energy to sell all they can. \nESPN begins to air playoff shows, and the announcers for SportsCenter bust out their best lines knowing the baseball highlights will soon be nonexistent. \nBut that is not what's important at the moment. \nBeing from the Chicago area and a Cubs fan since the days of Andre Dawson and Shawon Dunston, I hang on each pitch Kerry Wood throws or every low-and-away slider Sammy Sosa whiffs at. Being only five outs away from the World Series last year isn't helping any loyal Cubs fan deal with their nerves this season.\nJust as Steve Bartman came out of the woodwork last year, so did so many fair-weather Cubs fans around the same time. Suddenly, walking around campus, I had never seen so many Cubs hats, shirts and other Cubs gear. Scanning my friends' away messages, I was surprised to see people from all across the States with "Next year is here!" proudly displayed as if they bled Cubbie Blue every season. People from the "Region" of Indiana, despite always saying they are from Chicago, suddenly claimed to be loyal Cubs fans. \nThese people were not true Cubs fans! These fans come and go just like the fashions of each season. If you asked them to name the announcers for the Cubs or the road that runs behind the right field wall, they wouldn't know (it's Chip Carey and Steve Stone and Sheffield Avenue, just so it's clear). All they know is the Cubs are winning and they feel like joining the cheering crowd.\nGranted, there are a lot of Cubs fans within the nation who pay extra money to get the Cubs game on TV or watch the game on the Internet. I'm sure that not everyone wearing a Cubs hat is a fair-weather fan, but the girl in the short ruffled skirt, tank top and pink Cubs hat probably doesn't know what the Billy Goat Curse is or whether or not the scoreboard in centerfield has ever bee n hit by a homerun ball. \nSeveral of the die-hard Boston Red Sox fans are in the same boat and know exactly what I'm talking about. \nWell, I'm going to issue a challenge to all the fair-weather fans this year:\nI challenge you to still be cheering for the Cubs as the Wild Card race comes so near to the end. And win or lose, you should still be proudly wearing that Cubs hat despite all the flack coming your way.\nIf you want to be a Cubs fan, you have to watch the games, check out the stats and learn the players names -- not just wear the hat and sing "Root, Root for the Cubbies" during "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in the stretch (if you know what that is). \nOnce you begin to understand more and more about the baseball team that is the Chicago Cubs, you will start to feel the adrenaline run through your body as each game comes to a close and the ivy begins to change colors.\nSo cheer for those Cubs not because they are winning and it seems to be the thing to do. Scream as loud as you can at the TV when the cubs hit a homerun because you know Harry Carey is going to be doing the same thing in his grave and if someone else is doing it with him it's going to make him smile.
(08/26/04 4:26am)
The search for a new director of media relations has been underway for some time, but it is now reaching its final stages. \nBill Stephan, vice president for University Relations and Corporate Partnerships, has whittled down the applicants from the original 40 to a handful.\n"I'm hopeful we are reaching a point to announce someone by early September," he said.\nStephan is conducting the search in the wake of the resignation of former IU Media Director Jane Jankowski, who left IU May 24 to work at a sports publishing company, according to a May 17 article in the Indiana Daily Student.\nBut the decision is not Stephan's alone. He must coordinate not only with IU President Adam W. Herbert, because the Media Director is a spokesperson for him and the University, but also with Perry Metz, executive director of Radio and Television Services for IU.\n"The person acts as the official spokesperson and oversees the media relations staff who work with reports from around the state and the nation," Metz said.\n"Ideally we wanted someone with strong media experience in newspaper and television; and either with experience in a university or with a good understanding of what makes a university tick,"\n -- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.
(04/30/04 6:04am)
The Kelley School of Business will have a new man sitting in the office with "Dean" labeled on the front door. \nDaniel Smith, currently the Clare W. Barker chair in marketing and an associate dean of academics at the business school, was named interim dean Thursday by IU-Purdue University Indianapolis Chancellor Charles Bantz, to whom the School of Business reports. \nSmith said he is honored to be asked to serve as interim dean of an institution with outstanding students, highly dedicated faculty, strong external partnerships and a positive "can do" culture that fosters excellence in both research and teaching. \n"I believe I have the ability to get beyond surface-level symptoms, identify critical underlying issues and bring people together around common goals," Smith said. "I have a good sense of vision and can establish clear priorities ... I am a good listener and can see multiple sides of issues."\nSmith will take the reins from current IU Kelley School Dean Dan Dalton, who served as the school's dean since 1997. Dalton resigned because of a desire to return to a teaching capacity. \n"I have served in the second-best position within the Kelley school now for eight years," Dalton told the Indiana Daily Student in a Jan. 21 article. "Now I look forward to be rejoining the best position in the school as a professor. I haven't been in the classroom for eight years, and that's entirely too long." \nBantz received input from more than 30 faculty and staff members and spoke to a dozen people from both the IUPUI and Bloomington campuses. \nSmith has been a part of the Kelley faculty since 1998, with focuses in brand management and marketing strategy, and has been published in scholarly journals. Smith was the chair of the MBA Program from 1998 to 2001.\nIU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis said Smith's current experience and the confidence his colleagues have in him are crucial to his success.\n"I know that he was the first choice of many faculty and his current experience as associate dean makes him well-suited to be the acting dean," Gros Louis said.\nSmith will be the interim dean of the Kelley School until the summer of 2005 or until the position is filled, Bantz said.\nSmith said he always tries to deal with people in an encouraging yet candid and honest fashion.\n"I am very comfortable working with a wide range of people, including faculty, business executives, students, parents and alumni," he said. "Above all, I care deeply about the well-being of the Kelley School and will serve with passion, dedication and integrity."\n-- Contact senior writer Mike Malik at mjmalik@indiana.edu.
(04/22/04 4:31am)
Notice anything different on TV lately? No, not the conservative backlash restricting the airwaves as a result of the now infamous Super Bowl halftime incident. \nQuite the opposite, in fact. \nThe commercials for the drug Levitra, which treats erectile dysfunction, have become a little too steamy. A new sexy brunette is now looking you in the eye telling you how happy she is because her husband is on the miracle drug. The couple's sex life is greatly improved, and the sexy woman wants to tell you all about it.\nWhile some may argue these advertisements for prescription drugs bring awareness to a common male problem, we beg to disagree. The ads are, in reality, socially irresponsible.\nBy having a little sex kitten rave about her satisfaction, the drug company is detracting from the fact erectile dysfunction is a very serious medical condition. It may seem like just a little problem to some, but www.webmd.com explains the physical conditions causing erectile dysfunction "can be harbingers of more general, potentially dangerous conditions; for example, narrowing of the penile artery may indicate coronary artery disease."\nFunny, but it seems men who could have a heart problem shouldn't necessarily be enjoying the benefits of Levitra.\nYes, these ads do bring public awareness to a common medical condition and make it easier to discuss an embarrassing and often difficult-to-talk-about issue. However, one fact remains: erectile dysfunction is a medical condition.\nIt can be brought about by a variety of factors, and in this quick-fix society, a pill seems like the best answer. But the truth is only you and your doctor can decide what's best for your medical condition, not an ad. These commercials encourage people to make a self-diagnosis and visit their doctor demanding a prescription for what is often seen as merely a recreational drug.\nSure, that sexy brunette makes erectile dysfunction drugs seem like a very good idea, but drug companies need to exercise a little more responsibility and make sure people understand this is not a quick fix. Levitra's not for everyone, and people should take the drug seriously.\nSo next time you see that girl telling you how great things are going in her bedroom, take a second to realize it's because her husband and his doctor decided that was the best approach.