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(03/09/10 8:16pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Alpha Tau Omega fraternity announced Monday that it will drastically reduce the number of members in its Delta Alpha chapter at IU, in the wake of alcohol violations and an ethics board review.“In addition to hazing, there were other issues,” said Wynn Smiley, chief executive officer of the national fraternity, in a video statement on the fraternity’s Web site. “Low grade point averages, a lack of willingness to admit that the chapter was not in a good place based on actions of members, and in some cases, a general attitude that if Delta Alpha was not ‘party central,’ what was the point? ‘After all,’ one commented, ‘ATO is not really about anything other than to facilitate alcohol-fueled parties.’”Smiley’s decision to remove ATO members came a week after the fraternity conducted a member review March 1 that he said involved interviews and drug tests.The review began as a result of a Jan. 25 Student Organization Ethics Board meeting, at which ATO representatives were asked about alleged alcohol violations in December 2009 and January 2010, said Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Activities Steve Veldkamp. He added that the meeting concerned only alcohol violations.Smiley said only about 20 of the more than 100 members have been asked to stay on as ATO brothers, pending appeals.Smiley said the national fraternity was aware of many of the problems and gave members a chance to explain their side of the story.“It was very clear that the chapter was participating in hazing activities,” Smiley said. “However, when asked about those activities, many members chose to deny that there was any hazing going on. It appeared the stories had been agreed upon by the undergrads, and many were adhering to the company line, despite being given multiple chances to come clean.”But an alumnus involved with the house said the violations are not indicative of the character of ATO members.“I don’t necessarily think there’s a bunch of bad guys in there and the place needs to be shut down — that’s not the case,” said Kent Miller, an ATO alumnus and president of the fraternity’s housing corporation. “I just know that based on how we run the chapter today, we feel that the standard, the bar of excellence, could be higher.”Veldkamp said after the ethics board review, the University met with ATO alumni and the national fraternity. Veldkamp said all the groups wanted to keep ATO on-campus.“It’s important to note that the alumni, national headquarters and campus felt that there were a number of men who are really valiantly trying to meet their stated ideals,” Veldkamp said. “Now it’s up to them to prove us right and succeed.”Dean of Students Pete Goldsmith said he was happy with the solution reached between the University and ATO officials because it will “help them be successful in the future.”“All fraternities and sororities are value-based organizations,” he said. “When they live up to those values, they can be a great part of the community.”While closing the house was an option for the national fraternity, Smiley said both he and local alumni supported keeping a select group of members in the current house.“It would have been much less work to pull the charter,” he said, “but I believe there are men in the chapter that are working and worth keeping the charter in place.”Delta Alpha chapter President Ian Bell said in an interview he could not answer questions about the membership review or the IU ethics board judicial process.Alpha Tau Omega was last cited for alcohol violations in 1992 and was not allowed to field a Little 500 team from 1992-94. Miller said members not invited to stay will be allowed to live in the chapter house, located on Third Street across from Swain Hall, through the end of the school year.“We do not see it as reasonable or logical to kick everybody out,” he said. “That would be heartless.”
(12/08/09 5:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In 1884, the IU campus stood a daunting 3,000 feet from the edge of Bloomington. Students walking to campus had to make their way down woodland paths, through grazing pastures and hunting grounds. “Well on the way to Brown County,” as one resident described it.More than 120 years later, the distance is just a short walk past neon signs and crowds of students. The years saw a small campus of just one building grow into the bustling state university IU is today.University Chancellor Ken Gros Louis took an audience of professors, students and alumni on a journey through IU history Monday at the DeVault Alumni Center.“It’s amazing how much he knows,” sophomore Brian Baltz said. “It’s like he instantly knows anything you ask about this campus.”Gros Louis’ presentation included stories about the old campus, paintings and photos of Bloomington’s ever-changing landscape and the reflections of one of IU’s longest-serving administrators.Gros Louis started his career at IU in 1964 and has since served as vice president for the Bloomington campus and interim chancellor, among other posts.The chancellor took his audience back to IU’s early days, on the old campus near the intersection of Second Street and College Avenue, when Bloomington was just a few buildings surrounding the town square – a time, Gros Louis said, when Bloomington was said to possess “more rascality than exists in any other spot of its size in the United States.”He described the changing architecture at IU, from the original one-room recreational sports center (“It’s hard to imagine what sports could have been played in this building”) to some of the older student clubs on campus, such as the “Dragon’s Head” club, which “prided itself on doing nothing,” and the organizers of the first Little 500 race. And Gros Louis remembered the old football stadium on 10th Street and the night he and then-IU President John Ryan thought up the Arboretum as a replacement.Gros Louis said he originally put together a segment of his presentation for incoming IU freshmen starting in 1983 and later for faculty members seeking a broader knowledge of campus. But, he said, this is the first time he’s made such a large presentation.While many of Gros Louis’ stories are in the past, such as IU’s Oaken Bucket game victory that ended in a 0-0 tie that “went to the home team,” the buildings and the history he recounted are still a part of campus.
(10/29/09 4:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>INDIANAPOLIS – When Nils Hasselmo thinks about Myles Brand, he pictures the former IU president “charging across the desert on a fast horse, notebook in hand.”Brand, an avid rider, was the president of IU from 1994 to 2002 and the National Collegiate Athletic Association from 2002 until he died Sept. 16 of pancreatic cancer.About 1,000 friends, family and coworkers attended a tribute to Brand on Wednesday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Hasselmo, a former president of the University of Minnesota, was one of several speakers and performers at the tribute.“(Brand) will be sorely missed by us, his personal friends, and he will also be missed in higher education,” Hasselmo said.During the tribute, which lasted about two hours and was hosted by sportscaster Jim Nantz, John Mellencamp and singer Sylvia McNair performed musical tributes. Co-workers, family members and three NCAA basketball coaches spoke on the influential president’s legacy.IU President Michael McRobbie also announced a new endowed professorship for cancer research named after Brand.“He changed me and how I view the world, and I was not alone in that response,” said John Walda, one of the trustees who helped hire Brand and a close friend of Brand’s. “It struck me from (our) first conversation that Myles Brand’s philosophy about higher education was exactly what a university is all about.”During his eight-year tenure at IU, Brand was known for spearheading efforts to improve information technology systems, consolidating IU Medical Center hospitals and Methodist Hospital to form Clarian Health, and his controversial firing of former men’s basketball coach Bob Knight.As the first former university president to preside over the NCAA, Brand worked to make academics a more important part of the collegiate athletics experience, insisting that athletes should be in college to get an education first and foremost.Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball coach Paul Hewitt and Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt testified to Brand’s impact on the collegiate game. Summit called Brand a “powerful leader without an ego” and “a difference-maker in our game.”McRobbie said IU has already received 145 gifts totaling $1.1 million for the new endowed professorship, and IU will contribute an additional $1 million.“It was one of the greatest honors of my life when (Brand) chose me as one of his vice presidents,” McRobbie said. “He was an outstanding president and a truly great man of dignity and grace.”Brand’s son, Josh, closed the ceremony with an emotional tribute to his father, calling himself “his father’s son,” and remembering how “we’d cross and uncross our legs at the same time” and seemingly think and speak the same thoughts. Like the rest of the speakers, it was the happy memories that stuck out, Josh Brand said.“Now Myles has ridden off into the sunset,” Hasselmo concluded, “but I can still hear the beating of his horse’s hooves.”
(10/28/09 3:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A large bronze sculpture sits in the Smith Research Center, where it’s been for years. But something is different now.“Adam and Eve,” a sculpture by former IU professor and sculptor Jean-Paul Darriau, has been turned around. While the nude Adam used to face out a window, with Eve facing in toward the entranceway, the sculpture was moved so that the male figure now faces inside, with the female figure facing the window.“It was this summer that someone reported it,” said Sherry Rouse, curator of campus art. Rouse is responsible for the art in buildings around campus, including paintings, sculptures and other pieces on IU property.Rouse said members of the IU Reserve Officer Training Corps moved the statue after the ROTC department moved from its Third Street location to the Smith Research Center on East 10th Street.Rouse said they expressed concerns that “women and children use the building,” and might be offended by the presence of a nude female statue. Representatives of the ROTC program did not return requests for comment by press time.“The funny thing to me is, now we’re just looking at full frontal man rather than a woman,” Rouse said.The statue’s presence in the Smith Center raises questions about the appropriateness of some fine art on campus. Rouse said she might have to move “Adam and Eve,” though she currently has no plans to relocate it.Other sculptures of Darriau’s still dot the Bloomington landscape. “Red, Blond, Black and Olive,” a sculpture of two faces looking at each other, sits in Miller-Showers Park between College Avenue and Walnut Street. An earlier version of “Adam and Eve,” titled “The Space Between Adam and Eve,” sits behind Kirkwood Hall.Rouse maintains it was “wrong” to move “Adam and Eve.”“The statue is still the way they left it,” she said, “but I think I’ll have to find a new home for it eventually.”
(10/16/09 5:16pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Pete Goldsmith had his first IU Homecoming more than 40 years ago, but the new dean of students said the pageantry of the Fall’s biggest week is still “special.”“When I think about homecoming, I get reflective about teachers I had, or some of the concerts that I saw or the events I experienced when I was here (as a student),” Goldsmith said. “When you come back for homecoming, it sort of all comes back to you.”Goldsmith, who started his student affairs career at IU as a resident assistant in Teter Quad in the 1960s, will experience his first homecoming in years this week. He said it’s not just a time for students and IU fans to celebrate, but also a time for alumni to come back to Bloomington and relive a part of their college years.“People love this place,” he said. “I was in New York last week visiting with some parents, and the parents are excited about IU. You walk around campus, and you don’t see too many other T-shirts or sweatshirts with anything but Indiana on them. I think that speaks to the spirit people feel about IU.”And for some people, Goldsmith said, coming back to IU can be a reminder of just what people are missing.“I think people realize, especially when they travel other places, what a special place Bloomington is and what a neat campus this is,” he said. “There’s a lot of pride, and I think it shows.”Goldsmith, who said the football game is the part of homecoming he’s looking forward to most, said he thinks IU has a good chance of beating the Fighting Illini in Saturday’s contest.“I think we should have beaten Michigan, but of course there’s that famous call we’re all kind of annoyed about,” he said. “(It) was a little tough with Ohio State, but I think the team is playing well.”And it’s not just the resurgent Hoosiers that have Goldsmith talking – it’s also a new atmosphere around games, bolstered by a student section that was 11,000 strong for the game against Ohio State.“I think Athletics Director Fred Glass has really brought a new spirit to the occasion of the football game and drawing people into the athletic family,” he said.
(10/13/09 4:44am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU professor Elinor Ostrom became the first woman to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday. Ostrom, who split the prize with University of California-Berkeley professor Oliver Williamson, was honored for her work in analyses of economic governance, or the way people exercise authority in economic systems.“What a way to start a Monday morning,” Ostrom said at a press conference. “Your phone rings at 6:30 in the morning, and you wonder if there’s going to be a voice at the other end. I was very surprised that there was a real person on the other end, and it was from Stockholm.”Ostrom, who came to IU in 1965 as a visiting assistant professor, helped found the Workshop in Political Theory and Public Policy with her husband, Vincent, in 1973. She is now a professor in the Department of Political Science and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. She was the first woman to lead the political science department in the early 1980s.“IU could not be prouder, and this prize could not have gone to a more deserving person,” IU President Michael McRobbie said. “Everyone at IU congratulates her, as does everyone across Indiana. This is an even greater honor for Elinor as she is the first woman to win in a spectacular year for women.”Ostrom became one of five women to win Nobel prizes this year – a record for women in an era when female researchers have considerably higher standing than when Ostrom started her academic career.“If you have lived through the era that I’ve lived through, getting into graduate school was a challenge,” Ostrom said. “You can’t have received a Ph.D. in 1965 as a woman and not be deeply aware that ... advice that was given to me. They said, ‘why would you try for a Ph.D.?’”Her work now centers around the relationship between governments, people and the resources they share. Since her dissertation, Ostrom has worked on groundwater problems in California, where salt water from the sea has caused problems by seeping into drinking water sources. Other resources like forests and fish have also been the subject of her studies, which span from Bloomington to Africa and Asia.“A lot of studies are just in the now,” Ostrom said. “Problems like deforestation, global change are because of short-term thinking rather than long-term thinking.”That kind of long-term thinking showed Ostrom that sometimes locals have much better economic solutions than governments or faraway regulators. And it was her work on the local level, or the “commons,” that netted the prize.In an official announcement, the Nobel committee said Ostrom “has challenged the conventional wisdom that common property is poorly managed and should be either regulated by central authorities or privatized.” Instead, Ostrom concludes that locals will often regulate themselves in the name of sustaining resources, rather than overharvesting.Ostrom’s work highlights the ever-changing nature of research, as her formal background is in political science, not economics. But in the digital age, she said, research can often be about researchers from many different disciplines conferencing to find solutions.“Can just a social scientist or just a forester address questions of how to stop deforestation? I’d say no,” she said. “But working together, really trying to understand lives of people who depend on those forests.”
(10/12/09 2:28pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU professor Elinor Ostrom became the first woman to win Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday. Ostrom was honored for her work in analyses of economic governance, or the way people exercise authority in economic systems.“What a way to start a Monday morning,” Ostrom said at a press conference. “Your phone rings at 6:30 in the morning and you wonder if there's going to be a voice at the other end. I was very surprised that there was a real person on the other end, and it was from Stockholm.”Ostrom, who came to IU in 1966 as an assistant professor, cofounded the Workshop in Political Theory and Public Policy with her husband Vincent in 1973.“IU could not be prouder, and this prize could not have gone to a more deserving person,” said IU President Michael McRobbie. “Everyone at IU congratulates her, as does everyone across Indiana. This is an even greater honor for Elinor as she is the first woman to win in a spectacular year for women.”Ostrom became one of five women to win Nobel prizes this year – a record for women in an era when female researchers have considerably higher standing than when Ostrom started her academic career.“If you have lived through the era that I’ve lived through, getting into graduate school was a challenge,” Ostrom said. “You can’t have received a Ph.D. in ’65 as a woman and not be deeply aware that ... advice that was given to me. They said, why would you try for a Ph.D.?”See idsnews.com later today for more on this story.
(10/12/09 3:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It could have been mistaken for Little 500 weekend. Riders in helmets and the obligatory spandex whizzed around the track Sunday at Bill Armstrong Stadium, skidding across the cinder surface at every turn.But absent were the mobs of screaming fans, the pageantry and the tension that accompanies race day each April. Instead, bales of hay stood in the riders’ way, as well as sharp turns, stairs and an off-track detour.This year’s Cyclocross – an event at the IU Student Foundation’s “A Day at the Track,” – drew more teams than ever before, pitting teams of two against each other in an exhausting relay. Brothers Ryan and Matt Kiel of Grey Goat Cycling won the event.“This is totally different from Little 5,” said third-place finisher Jordan Bailey, a rider for Black Key Bulls. “You have to get off at turn three, deal with the hay bales and everything. It’s a challenge.”The Cyclocross was just the first of several events, including individual time trials and a faculty race.“We took a poll of riders, and this was one of the events people seemed really excited about,” said Kristin Carroll, a Fall Cycling member of the IUSF steering committee. “We have fall series events every year, but there are a lot more people out this year.”Participation was not limited to established Little 500 teams, though many riders had trained for or ridden the big race before.Freshman Danny Fisher, who said he hopes to represent Zeta Beta Tau in the spring, used the event to familiarize himself with the cinder track – a different riding surface from the hilly Indiana roads that most riders train on.“It’s nice to get out here and get on the track–we’ll be on the road all winter,” he said. “But this is a real event. There’s a lot more strategy than people realize. Cyclocross is tough.”The fall series events also represent an opportunity for riders to “hang out,” Bailey said, because the open season for track practice only goes from February to April.“It’s nice to be able to see some of these guys,” he said. “Sometimes during the year we spend our time out on the road and don’t spend a lot of time with the other teams.”As riders emptied out of the stadium, IUSF workers loaded the hay bales onto a pickup truck, getting ready for the day’s later races.“We really like having the fall series events,” Carroll said. “Why limit it to the spring events?”
(10/06/09 4:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Comic theorist Scott McCloud spoke to a packed Whittenberger Auditorium on Monday, saying comics are an ever-expanding medium in “an environment that is changing all the time.”McCloud, who is an outspoken supporter of sometimes-controversial Web comics, came to IU to speak on what he calls the “infinite canvas” of the Web. McCloud was one of the pioneers of Web comics and now theorizes on different spatial presentations of traditional comics.“In terms of basic design strategy, there’s not much difference from some ancient wall paintings to modern comic strips,” he said, using Egyptian hieroglyphics as an example. “If comics can predate print, comics can definitely postdate print.”McCloud’s lecture was sponsored by the Union Board’s Canvas Creative Arts Magazine, a 100-page publication of visual and written work by IU students.After starting his work in comic books in the 1980s, McCloud wrote “Understanding Comics,” a book about the history of different comic mediums. He was also the lead writer of the Creator’s Bill of Rights, a document intended to make sure artists are paid for their work each time it is used.The Internet, McCloud said, is a great medium for comics because of its ability to present them with little outside interruption and in different visual and spatial formats.“When you’re watching a movie or reading a book, you’re not thinking ‘This is a book, time to turn the page,’” he said. “What do you see? You’re immersed in the story.”McCloud said he likes story presentations that don’t take the reader out of the story. For example, he said Web comics that simply require clicking on one frame to load the next allow the reader to stay in the story more than presentations that require complicated navigation.“There’s an element of the user wanting to feel in control,” he said. “The author has some control and the user has some control.”McCloud’s presentation, which was accompanied by slides, was followed by a question-and-answer session. Audience members asked about the evolution of comics, their history and even the debate about calling the books “comic books” or “graphic novels” – a term that was intended to give the genre more respect in literary circles.“Some people say comic books are stupid,” said McCloud, who in the past has written parodies of over-the-top superhero fights. “The best way to combat that is to stop writing stupid comics.”
(09/28/09 4:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A new bill passed Sept. 17 by the U.S. House of Representatives will make it easier for students to lessen rising college costs, University officials said.The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 increases funding for the Federal Pell Grant Program and simplifies the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA.“We have about 18,000 Pell recipients at all IU campuses and about 4,500 or 4,800 in Bloomington,” Doug Wasitis, IU director of federal relations, said. “Hopefully this will allow students to pay for college and stay in college without disruption.”If approved by the Senate and signed into law by President Obama, the bill would change the way some student loans are distributed by colleges and universities. It eliminates private lending, and federal students loans will be given out by the government’s Direct Loan Program.Obama hailed the bill’s passage as “historic.”“This bill will end the billions upon billions of dollars in unwarranted subsidies that we hand out to banks and financial institutions,” Obama said in a statement, “and will use that money to guarantee access to low-cost loans, and strengthen Pell Grants and Perkins Loans, which make college more affordable.”Of an estimated $80 billion the government saves from not funding bank loans, $47 billion is put toward Pell Grants. The grants currently compete for funding with the National Institutes of Health and other government programs, but this bill would provide the Pell program with mandatory funding.“The expansion of the Federal Pell Grant program offers a significant opportunity to high-need students interested in accelerating their undergraduate educations in order to contain their overall costs for attending college,” Susan L. Pugh, associate vice provost for enrollment management, said in an e-mail.Under the bill, the Pell grant would be increased to $5,500 in 2010 and to $6,900 by 2019. It would also simplify the FAFSA form, a document that currently has more than 100 questions.The FAFSA includes a detailed inquiry into applicants’ families’ ability to pay for college, but the new law would exclude several sections of questions for students who don’t meet the $150,000 “asset cap” for applying.“Anything we can do to simplify the process, we certainly support,” Wasitis said. “I think it’s certainly on people’s minds more today than was five years ago.”
(09/28/09 3:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU’s law school officially became the Michael Maurer School of Law on Friday in a ceremony attended by hundreds of alumni, University officials and students.The renaming came in the wake of a $35 million gift from 1967 law graduate Michael Maurer and his wife, Janie.“When I attended IU as a student, I received an academic scholarship, and I thought this might be something I should think about,” Maurer said in an interview before the naming ceremony. “My scholarship was $2,000, so I think IU got a decent return on their money.”Maurer, an Indianapolis lawyer and businessman, announced the gift in December 2008.The gift will be used exclusively for student scholarships at the law school, helping lower the cost of getting a legal education for potential IU students. The money will be invested by the IU Foundation, and returns on the investment will fund scholarships.“It will allow the law school to attract the very best students and compete with the very best schools, of which we are now one,” Maurer said.The law school was officially renamed by IU President Michael McRobbie after remarks from trustees, law professor Fred Cate, IU Provost Karen Hanson and a keynote address from Judge Sarah Evans Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.“Mickey’s dedication and philanthropy to the Law School and Indiana University over the last three decades are truly exceptional,” McRobbie said. “His gift for student scholarships will ensure that students from all backgrounds will have the ability to afford an outstanding legal education at one of America’s best public law schools for many generations to come.”The Maurers’ gift is one of the largest given to IU, following in the footsteps of Barbara and David Jacobs, after whom the music school was renamed following a $40.6 million gift, the largest gift by individuals in IU history.Throughout Friday’s ceremony, speakers were quick to mention the Maurers’ giving spirit and loyalty. Barker, who described herself as a longtime friend of the Maurers, praised the lawyer for ensuring the education of Indiana law students, and said she hopes some of the best and brightest lawyers stay in southern Indiana.Michael Maurer is the owner and publisher of the Indianapolis Business Journal, Court and Commercial Record and Indiana Lawyer, and he is chairman of the board for The National Bank of Indianapolis, which he co-founded in 1993. Law School dean Lauren Robel said she “can’t really describe how important this gift is,” saying the money would “transform” the school into a national player.“This particular gift sets a standard for our alums that is just inspirational,” Robel said. “This gift has really put the school on the map with the national legal academy.”
(09/24/09 3:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With a price tag of $2 per bag, trash collection in Bloomington can be an expensive proposition for students. But Sanitation Director Shelby Walker knows a way people can halve the amount of trash they throw out.“If you’re doing serious recycling, you might find you all of a sudden only have one bag to throw out, as opposed to two,” he said.The Sanitation Department offers free recycling to city residents, and Walker believes recycling regularly can be both a way to reuse materials and save money.“They kind of go hand in hand,” he said. “Some of it is economics, and some of it is that the residents really want to recycle.”The city runs several other programs Walker said are intended to save residents money, such as free leaf collection starting Oct. 19 and appliance pickup for $4.“I believe the economy has driven people to look at how they shop, look at what they can reuse,” Walker said. “People are not so quick to buy and say ‘I’ll just throw it away.’”At the same time, sustainability efforts are becoming a part of campus life. Residential Programs and Services reported recycling about 14 tons of cardboard after move-in day. The amount of trash coming from Bloomington has a direct effect on Indiana landfills. The city has a contract with Hoosier Disposal to pick up trash and recycling on a weekly schedule in Bloomington. While some recycling from Bloomington makes its way to a sorting facility in Indianapolis, trash goes to a landfill in Terre Haute, Walker said. Some materials, like glass bottles, are sorted in Bloomington.“There has definitely been a concerted effort to reduce the amount of landfill,” said Ron Howard, Hoosier Disposal Area sales manager. “I can’t say it’s directly tied to the economy, but awareness has gone way up.”It can be difficult for some residents to recycle, though. People who live in apartment buildings don’t always have recycling in their building. “At home we recycle quite a bit,” senior Jeremy Grover said. “But here I end up throwing away a lot of things that could be recycled.”But Howard said more and more apartment complexes are adding recycling programs each year, and Hoosier Disposal has added four or five buildings just this year. Grover, who said he’s lived in apartment buildings without recycling programs for the last two years, said he’d like to see the city provide recycling to big buildings.“There are so many of us dumping away so many things that could be reused,” he said. “This beautiful campus that we take for granted is not being sustained by its students, and that’s a shame.”
(09/22/09 3:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU Health Center is having its annual flu shot clinics this week and next, in a move health officials say will help hold off influenza on crowded college campuses.“We want to make sure we take care of seasonal flu now,” IU Health Center Executive Director Hugh Jessop said. “Because of the likelihood of the H1N1 vaccine being distributed, we want to get one clinic out of the way and plan for the second one, which would be bigger in magnitude.”Jessop cautioned that the shots are for the seasonal flu vaccine and will not protect against the H1N1 virus. But, he said, students should get the seasonal vaccine anyway.“People think any old upper respiratory problem is the flu,” Jessop said. “And if you’ve ever had the real thing, it’s like getting hit by a truck. You won’t be at work for five to seven days.”The Health Center will immunize students who have paid the health fee for $17.25. Students who have not paid the health fee can pay $21.25 for the vaccine.The seasonal flu vaccine takes about 10 to 14 days to reach full effectiveness and is intended to protect those immunized against various forms of influenza through the flu season, which usually ends in March, Jessop said.In addition to the Health Center clinic, Jessop said there will be flu shot clinics at the Kelley School of Business, the Indiana Memorial Union and several residence halls.He added that users should check the Health Center Web site, www.healthcenter.indiana.edu/, for specific times. And the best part, Jessop said, is that students don’t even have to pay on the spot – a student ID is enough to charge the shot to a student’s bursar bill.At the same time, the Health Center is preparing for the release of the H1N1 vaccine, which is expected sometime in October. Jessop said he is in the process of developing a plan to be prepared to give every IU student the vaccine.The H1N1 vaccine will be free for students. The federal government will provide the vaccine for free, while the Health Center would cover costs such as personnel and medical supplies like band-aids.Jessop said the latest he’d heard is that a one-stage vaccine for the H1N1 virus will be distributed in October and that it won’t conflict with the seasonal flu shot at all.
(09/16/09 4:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In the back corner of the Indiana Memorial Union, in what used to be a pottery studio and a darkroom, sit rows of shiny new computers. In front of them, sleek black and red chairs sit empty. The smell of fresh paint still lingers in the air.In the new Student Technology Center in the IMU, workers put up the last pieces of artwork and connected the last computers to wall sockets. The new center will open at 3:30 p.m. today with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony.The remodeled computer lab with more stations, new technology and vastly expanded seating, is a partnership of University Information Technology Services and the IMU.“We don’t have anything like it on this side of campus,” said Student Technology Centers Manager Doug Grover. “The synergy that you see in the Information Commons, it’s a place to go and stay, and we want this to be like that.”The new technology center has 37 computers – 30 Windows machines and seven Macintosh computers, a consultant station and five Macintosh InfoStations. There are also work areas with moveable tables and seating, as well as portable white boards. UITS bought four “collaborative media” tables where students can plug in laptops and share screens, and all of the usual printers, color and black and white, as well as a mini-plotter for large prints.“The traditional computer lab with just rows of computers and gray walls is a thing of the past,” said David Donaldson, director of Learning Technology Operations.In addition to the expanded seating and computer stations, the center will soon have a brand-new feature: laptop lockers. These lockers will allow users to plug in and leave their laptop in a locker with their own combination lock, and pick up the laptop after class or other campus activities.The center is on the Mezzanine level of the IMU and is scheduled to be open for all Union hours, from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. The lab had originally been scheduled to open Aug. 31.Designers said they wanted the center to be more than a computer lab because of the rapid evolution of classroom technology and students’ need for computer access.“The way students need to study and work is different than even a few years ago,” said UITS spokesman Chip Rondot, “and we’re trying to accommodate the needs of students in providing centers like this where they can hang out, get some food down the hall and get all of their computing needs taken care of.”
(09/16/09 1:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Indiana’s troubled unemployment system could be hurting until as late as 2015, lawmakers said last week, as the state continues to borrow more from the federal government to cover its own dwindling funds.“Indiana is currently borrowing to pay unemployment,” said IU economics professor Willard Witte. “But we have to get out of this hole if you want the unemployment compensation system to continue. I don’t think there’s much alternative.”The Indiana Department of Workforce Development said Sept. 9 that the state had been expected to stop borrowing from the federal government by 2012. But newer projections predict it will be 2015 before the state can stop borrowing.Indiana has already borrowed $1.1 billion from the federal government to cover unemployment – a figure that could rise to more than $1.7 billion by the end of 2009 and $2.7 billion by the end of 2010.Indiana State Legislature passed a law in April raising unemployment taxes on employers, which are used to pay unemployment benefits, but lawmakers said the higher taxes will not fix the problem right away.“It’s a fix that stops the bleeding and hemorrhaging, and it’s still going to bleed,” said State Rep. Russ Stilwell, D-Boonville. “We were very clear about that. It’s a long-term black hole.”But there will be consequences on the local level in the meantime, Witte said.“Indiana is going to have to pay back what it borrows and rebuild the (unemployment) fund, and that will be financed by business,” Witte said. “Economic theory says that will have some effect on businesses not hiring people. Since it raises the costs of employment, some of that might be offset by lower wages, and that’s where people will really see the difference.”Indiana is not the only state to have borrowed federal funds for unemployment. Seventeen other states have already borrowed federal money, and more could soon, according to the AP.Witte said the problem could have been avoided, and bad management by the legislature allowed the fund to dwindle.“One of the reasons the systems got into trouble was that they lowered the tax rate a couple of years ago because they said the fund was too high,” Witte said. “Now they’re getting payback for that. They figured they wouldn’t have to worry about unemployment, and that was a mistake, and now they’re being forced to pay for it.”Witte said businesses across Indiana could see “substantial” increases in taxes, though there is debate about how long the state should take to pay back federal funds and begin rebuilding its own unemployment fund. And it’s likely to be a long, tough road in times when unemployment is high.- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(09/15/09 2:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Friends of the Library Bookstore ended their biannual book sale Monday by giving away free books. The book sale started Friday and was at the Monroe County Public Library.Four days of ever-decreasing prices helped the Friends of the Library sell an estimated 10,000 books in three days, volunteer Barbara Wilcox said. She estimated the sale raised almost $4,000 for the library, which would be a new record.“We have all kinds of books, there are new books (and) old books, and a whole range of genres,” Wilcox said. The book sale occurs twice a year to help the store clear out the stacks of books it keeps in a large storage room. The store, located on the first floor of the library, is open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Sophomore Chris Thompson went to the sale and found a bag full of hardback books. But he didn’t stop there. The sale also included VHS and cassette tapes, as well as CDs, which went quickly.“One of the things that we have is a lot of tapes because the library is moving away from VHS and cassettes toward CDs and DVDs,” bookstore manager Faye Mark said.The bookstore – just a small part of the library – goes through tens of thousands of books every year and features a children’s room as well as movie and music sections.Mark said about half of the books come from the library while the other half come from donations.“The library circulates books, so we’ll get things they order,” Mark said. “We also have a lot of people bring in their old books, and sometimes people even bring back the books they got here to donate again.”The book sale was still buzzing with customers Sunday afternoon, despite that the books would be given away a day later.“It’s so cheap,” Thompson said. “So I might as well just give the library the $3 and get a bunch of books.”
(09/11/09 4:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Experts presented ideas for relieving traffic congestion in the 10th Street corridor Thursday, after a study yielded several ideas for new traffic patterns for the busiest street on campus.The 10th Street Mobility Study was commissioned in January by the Metropolitan Planning Organization, part of the Department of Transportation in Bloomington. Working with IU and the City of Bloomington, the MPO hired Gorove/Slade Associates, Inc. to conduct the study.“Hopefully, this is the study to end all studies,” said Raymond Hess, MPO senior transportation planner . “We need to find a solution for vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians – not just cars.”Gorove/Slade, the same firm that helped IU Athletics develop new game-day traffic patterns, presented three ideas for congestion relief. The first idea, said Dan Van Pelt of Gorove/Slade, is to leave 10th Street the same and expand the State Route 45/46 Bypass to four lanes – an expansion that he said will probably occur regardless of changes to 10th Street.A second plan calls for an expansion of Law Lane, which would be rerouted to meet 14th Street instead of terminating at Fee Lane, and making both 10th Street and Law Lane one-way routes, similar to the traffic pattern used on Third Street and East Atwater Avenue.A third plan would also provide for the expansion of Law Lane, but would keep both 10th Street and Law Lane two-way streets.Van Pelt said the one-way street option would cost an estimated $13 million in road construction alone, while the two-way option would cost an estimated $15 million.Bloomington residents at the meeting had mixed reactions to the plans. Some called for more attention to mass transportation considerations and were concerned about changing roads on Bloomington Transit’s most crowded routes – the 6 and 9 bus routes – that currently go both ways on 10th Street.Another resident said pedestrians and bicyclists were her biggest concerns. Plans might include new sidewalks and bicycle lanes installed on 10th Street or Law Lane.Van Pelt responded to the concerns, saying, “It’s not about moving vehicles from place to place, it’s about moving people.” Van Pelt added that the study did not plan for specific improvements to sidewalks or roads but was about the “feasibility” and results of changing existing traffic patterns.One resident, Margaret Greischer, said she was concerned about increased traffic in her neighborhood.“I’m worried my quiet neighborhood isn’t going to be that way any more with all those cars,” she said in a small group activity at the meeting.Hess said no final recommendations have been made to the city, and no decisions are likely to be made until the end of the year.“There’s still a long way to go,” he said. “A lot of details to be worked out.”
(09/09/09 4:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Nestled away in the Student Building is a unique library that doesn’t have textbooks or journals or even microfilm – it houses maps.But after more than 35 years as an official campus library, the Geography and Map Library is closing. The library is scheduled to close by the start of spring 2010.“Libraries are changing, and this change is truly evidenced on a national scale,” library spokesman Eric Bartheld said. “As more and more resources are available online and space on campus becomes more desirable, we see some of our smaller libraries closing.”The Geography and Map Library houses collections of atlases, topographical maps and a wide array of other maps, including information about population growth, old building sites and World War II battlegrounds, branch coordinator Heiko Muhr said. Most of the collections, Muhr said, will be moved to the Herman B Wells Library, while some maps will stay in the Geography Department. But geography professor Dan Knudsen doesn’t buy the argument that digitizing resources makes them more available.“What falls through the cracks there is the serendipitous nature of research,” Knudsen said. “One often goes to the library having only a vague idea of what one is looking for. The ability to look at the book that you thought you went for and all of the books on the shelf next to it is extremely important.”And it’s not just research that will be impacted. Some say teaching will be more difficult, too.“It makes a tangible difference – I need to see the maps, touch the maps,” anthropology professor April Sievert said. “Otherwise you can’t really see, get a sense of space. A digital version is like a little magnifying glass down on a real map.”Sievert, who has an office in the Student Building and regularly teaches classes that use the library, said moving the collections to the Main Library will make it harder to teach. She said she regularly teaches from maps such as the Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, which include detailed information about building locations, materials and construction from the 1880s to early 1900s. It would be difficult to carry a stack of large maps from the Main Library to the Student Building.“The maps, combined with the people who really know where they are, are invaluable,” Sievert said, who added that she sometimes goes into the library and stumbles upon resources she hadn’t known about before.Muhr said the Geography and Map Library is an especially good resource because it’s a depository for U.S. government maps. That, along with the efforts of previous librarian Dan Seldin, makes the library unique, Muhr said.Seldin, who worked at the library from 1974 to 1997, was known for traveling to the Library of Congress in Washington and bringing back duplicates of special maps.But as of the end of the semester, the library that was built in the old women’s gymnasium and pool will be gone, its resources moved to the corner of 10th Street and Jordan Avenue.No official decision has been made as to what will replace the space. Some of the suggestions have included it becoming classroom space.“There’s definitely a little sadness,” Muhr said. “It will be hard to say goodbye.”
(09/09/09 4:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It’s been more than 50 years since the death of pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing, but the efforts of a British computer scientist and an IU graduate student have put the man who helped break the enigma code back in the public eye.Turing, who worked as a code-breaker for the Allies during World War II and later made advances in artificial intelligence, was criminally prosecuted for being a homosexual in 1952, which was a crime in Britain at the time.Now, computer scientist John Graham-Cumming is at the forefront of an effort to get an official apology from the British government. In his blog, Graham-Cumming posted a letter to the Queen of England asking for Turing to be awarded a posthumous knighthood. But it’s Graham-Cumming’s online petition that brought Turing’s story into the international limelight. Last week, IU philosophy graduate student Cameron Buckner started an international petition for non-British citizens that now has more than 10,000 signatures from people on six continents.“(Turing) has just never been adequately recognized,” Buckner said. “It’s indisputable that his work saved lives, and he was a foundational figure in computer science.”Graham-Cumming’s petition, which can be signed only by British citizens, had almost 30,000 signatures as of press time, including the signatures of other scientists and celebrities.“I am amazed by the response,” Graham-Cumming said. “I thought I might have a hard time getting 500 signatures. Now, I have nearly 30,000 and many big celebrities including Richard Dawkins backing me.”Since Graham-Cumming’s petition was filed through the British Prime Minister’s Web site and has so many signatures, the British government will be required to provide a response.After World War II, Turing worked on various subjects including artificial intelligence and an early chess program that was too advanced for any computer of the day. But in 1952, police charged him with gross indecency after he admitted to having a homosexual relationship. This happened in an era where there was a great fear of homosexuals in England after two gay men, Donald Maclean and Guy Burgess, were caught spying for the Soviet Union.“A lot of people say, ‘Why Turing, why not everybody persecuted by these laws?’” Buckner said. “He’s a symbol of the costs these laws had.”After being convicted of gross indecency, Turing was sentenced to chemical castration. He committed suicide two years later.“It makes a point not just about homosexuality, but about persecuted minorities in times of national anxiety,” Buckner said.As of press time there were more than 4,000 comments on Buckner’s petition, about half of which were from the U.S., he said.Buckner said the “bare minimum” he’d like to see is an apology from the British government, though Graham-Cumming said he is “not confident” of getting one. Buckner said he’d also like to see a prominent memorial honoring Turing among England’s other national heroes.Turing has no direct descendents, but Graham-Cumming said on his blog he has heard from members of Turing’s family, and was “encouraged” that the family members had spoken out and supported his petition.The petition is available at www.ipetitions.com/petition/worldturingpetition/index.html.
(09/02/09 4:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU President Michael McRobbie announced Tuesday new grants intended to offset tuition increases for in-state students and appease a state senator who has delayed funding for IU building projects in protest of rising tuition.The University Incentive Grants will give in-state students at IU-Bloomington and IU-Purdue University Indianapolis $300 toward 2010-11 tuition if they earn a B average both semesters this academic year.Students earning a B average on other IU campuses will earn $200 toward tuition.“This will effectively reduce tuition increases for some in-state students to less than 1.5 percent,” McRobbie said Tuesday at an IU press conference in the Indiana Memorial Union. “I suspect a few of our students will feel more pressure from Mom and Dad to get good grades.”After the announcement, state Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, praised McRobbie in a press release for coming up with a way to reduce costs for students. Kenley, chairman of the state budget committee, had blocked new IU and Purdue building projects from the committee agenda because he was unhappy with the amount of tuition increases at the two universities. “My understanding is that these new University Incentive Grants will reduce tuition increases over the biennium to about 3 percent each year for all in-state undergraduate students who demonstrate a commitment to degree completion and academic achievement,” Kenley said in a statement. He said McRobbie deserved “high marks” for a plan that encourages students to work harder in class in return for tuition decreases.The grants are an expansion of McRobbie’s Degrees of Excellence initiative, one of his efforts to maintain college affordability since his inauguration in 2007.McRobbie said the funding for the grants is expected to cost the University about $3 million – money that he said will come from existing IU savings, as well as philanthropic support.“This really provides an incentive for students to do the best they can in class,” said IU Provost Karen Hanson in an interview after the press conference. “It helps us from a structural standpoint, in terms of being able to retain students, and from an institutional standpoint in terms of pushing our students to be more successful.”The awards will apply to all full-time IU undergraduates. While current seniors can earn the grant in just one semester and apply it to spring tuition costs, freshmen, sophomores and juniors must earn 3.0 grade point averages in both fall 2009 and spring 2010.McRobbie attributed the hikes in tuition to a rising cost of providing an education and the increased numbers of students on IU campuses.“When the economy declines, university enrollments increase,” he said, “and that’s exactly what we’re seeing across our campuses.”McRobbie said the Bloomington campus has up to 41,756 students – an increase of about 1,400 since last year, despite a smaller freshman class than last year.The IU president said a form of the program could continue beyond this biennial cycle if he sees “a substantial increase in retention rates and performance,” but he stopped short of saying the program could be permanent.