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(03/31/08 6:36am)
Actor Kal Penn journeyed to Bloomington Saturday evening, not to eat sliders from White Castle but to stump for Sen. Barack Obama.\nSpeaking to about 450 students, Penn rallied support for the Illinois senator’s presidential campaign.\n“Wow, this is huge,” Penn said to the packed auditorium in Ballantine Hall. “I think you guys just set the national record of students at a circuit event. Wow, you guys have nothing better to do on a Saturday night.”\nPenn’s speech kicked off with a personal story about a friend of his who was living in Texas and was trying to pay for college. One day Penn’s friend received a phone call from Halliburton, which said it would pay him $90,000 if he’d agree to drive a truck in Iraq for a year.\n“It’s a pretty sad day when a buddy of ours only way to go to college was to work minimum wage or drive a truck in Iraq,” Penn said. “We’ve only had two families in the White House in the last 20 years. They’ve both had some good ideas, but they didn’t get a lot done.”\nPenn’s lecture consisted mostly of Obama’s “Blueprint for Change”, which consists of health care, the Iraq war and environmental issues.\n“Basically, he just made Barack the voice of young America,” said senior Ashley Williams while sporting an Obama T-shirt. “We haven’t been voting, but now our generation is coming out in mass numbers.”\nPenn discussed how as a senator, Obama provided money for health care in Illinios to 150,000 children and their families. Penn also said Obama wants to provide a $4,000 tax credit for every student who wants to attend college.\nPenn stressed how important it is for the youth of America to vote. The average age of voters in Iowa in 2004 was 64, Penn said. The youth turnout increased by 150 percent in Iowa for this election, he said.\nPenn opened the rest of the rally up for audience questions.\nOne audience member asked Penn how Obama can put America on the path for social change and justice worldwide. Penn told the audience about a public HIV/AIDS test Obama conducted in Kenya and his overall interest in world affairs.\n“There are places in Africa where whole generations are missing,” Penn said. “In the ‘Blueprint for Change’, it’s all about how to make the world an overall better place.”\nAn audience member asked Penn how Obama plans to withdrawal troops from Iraq, even though there are still soldiers around the world.\n“He doesn’t just want to walk away,” Penn said. “It’s a gradual, 16-month withdrawal plan.”\nThere were some light-hearted questions in which one student asked Penn about his is favorite White Castle meal.\n“I don’t eat that stuff; it’s so bad for you,” he said. “I actually love eating organic.”\nThe crowd was mixed with Obama supporters, Penn fans and voters who are still undecided.\nSophomore Jackie Webster said Penn’s speech made her think more about the upcoming election. She said she’s usually too busy to worry about it.\n“He definitely did his research and knew what he was talking about,” she said. “I kind of wish he would of talked more about Obama criticism and retaliated.”\nOne of the last questions asked was whether or not Obama plans to visit IU in the fall.\n“Absolutely yes,” Penn said. “The senator has plans to visit several times. It’s really up to you guys. What happens in Indiana isn’t just about the primary, it’s about setting up the general election.”\nPenn ended his lecture giving students statewide an opportunity to play basketball with Obama.\nStudents need to register 30 people to vote before April 7 and take their registration forms to the Obama headquarters at Third and Washington streets. The winner will get to play on a team with Obama and his bodyguard against three high school students.\n“If you don’t want to register for my friend or to prove the critics wrong, do it to play ball,” Penn said.\nTim Granholm, president of IU Students for Barack Obama, said the event was “really big” because it has brought attention for the Indiana primary.\n“His presence is going to help us get a broader audience,” Granholm said. “Now (students) will be more willing to come and attend meetings and help us out.”
(03/28/08 6:15am)
There are 272 people living in the Monroe County jail, which is only meant to hold 200 people. About 70 people sleep on the floor each night.\nWith this many people filling the jail, Monroe County could face a federal lawsuit because of its lack of compliance with state and federal laws that state all inmates must have their own beds. The sheriff’s department and others want to build a new jail while some in the community think that there are better options.\n“Several other counties in the state are in the same state as us,” said Scott Mellinger, chief deputy for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. “There’s no magic formula to deciding how much jail space is needed.”\nThe sheriff’s department believes that a new jail should be constructed outside of town at the Thomson industrial site. The county commissioners, along with the sheriff’s department, think a new jail needs to be constructed that can hold a minimum of 420 beds.\n“We really aren’t sure if (the new jail) will be big enough to last us the next 20 years,” Mellinger said. “Somewhere between 400 and 450 would be a number that we would support. What you really have to do is see what the community demands.”\nIt’s also important to get trials scheduled more quickly and completed faster, Mellinger said. \nA survey taken by the sheriff’s department to see who is actually residing in the county jail found that more than 40 percent of all inmates are awaiting trial. The rest have already faced trial or are being held for probation violations.\n“I believe courts are getting people through as fast as they can, but prosecutors and defendants could reach agreements more quickly,” Mellinger said.\nOn the other hand, former Sheriff Stephen Sharp, who is also running for county commissioner, has different views on how to solve the overcrowding problem. Sharp proposed that the current jail, which takes up the top two floors of a five-story building, should be allowed to take up all five floors. At the moment, the bottom three floors are court offices, and a small portion of the first floor is the jail. Sharp proposes that the Curry and Fiscus buildings next to the jail should be reconstructed so they can hold the court offices.\n“The current jail is totally paid for,” Sharp said. “It’s overcrowded, but it can be corrected.”\nSharp believes that many of the people who are currently in jail should not be there. About 35 percent of the people are behind bars because of technical violations of their probation, Sharp said. Sharp argues that the jail should also stay in town.\nBut county Commissioner Iris Kiesling disagrees.\n“That wouldn’t allow for future expansion,” she said. “If we build the jail downtown, it’s landlocked. The public is paying for this, and we need to know we are doing it the right way.”\nThe Curry building cannot be torn down because the front is historic, Kiesling said. She also predicted that building a new jail will cost the county somewhere between $25 and $40 million while Sharp believes it will cost about $10 million for his proposition of the jail and another $20 million to take down the Fiscus and Curry buildings.\n“All the people who live in Monroe County pay county taxes,” Kiesling said. “This is the jail for the whole county. Everybody in the county will pay. We need to make wise investments.”\nMark Stoops, who is also running for county commissioner, believes that a new jail is not the best option.\n“The current jail is not in good shape, but when it’s broken down, we can’t afford a new jail,” Stoops said. “If we build a new jail of the capacity of 450, we will fill it fairly quickly. We will have to pay for food and medical expenses and we can’t afford the people we have now.”\nStoops thinks the solution is to work on keeping the jail population down. Besides having a lot of probation violators in jail, people who can’t pay their $500 cash bond must also stay in jail, Stoops said.\n“It seems (it) would be better to use the money for a new jail instead to keep the jail population down,” Stoops said. “Use that money for an intensive treatment center to turn people around or for kids and juvenile offenders so when they get older they can hopefully turn their lives around.”\nPrimary elections for county commissioner will be held on May 6.
(03/28/08 6:11am)
IU Students for Barack Obama is bringing actor Kal Penn to IU on Saturday to talk to a group of Obama’s student supporters.\nPenn, otherwise known as Kumar from “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” and Taj from “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder,” will hold a rally at 7 p.m. Saturday in Ballantine Hall 013.\n“We hope to fill the room, and it fits about 300-plus,” said Tim Granholm, president of Students for Barack Obama. “I’m pretty confident we can fill it. I hope (students) are energized by this rally and it motivates them to get involved in the campaign.”\nAfter the rally, Penn will head to The Bluebird at 10 p.m. Granholm hopes to register people to vote at both events.\n“I think the campaign sending a supporter here that is high-profile is a symbol of how much students matter,” Granholm said. “The campaign is here now. It’s a chance for all student supporters to get together and work off enthusiasm.”\nBesides having Penn here, this weekend is important for Students for Barack Obama because Bloomington’s Barack Obama headquarters will have its grand opening at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The headquarters, located at the intersection of Third and Washington streets, has unofficially been in operation for two weeks. About 10 offices around the state will open this weekend in areas including West Lafayette, Evansville, Fort Wayne and Gary.\nGranholm and about 25 other students started the local chapter of Students for Barack Obama in February 2007. They now have about 100 active members and have visited several different states in their campaign efforts. At the beginning of the year, the group got more than 1,000 students to sign cards stating that they supported Obama.\n“It’s a big deal to us because we’ve been doing this for a while now,” Granholm said. “It’s exciting that the race has finally come to Bloomington. It’s even more important that we can help influence votes amongst our peers. Now we’re lucky enough to have a couple of staff members on the campaign.”\nStudents for Barack Obama visited Iowa four times before the Jan. 3 caucus, and the group has been to St. Louis and Cincinnati.\n“We saw (Obama) in St. Louis,” said Jamie Worsek, who graduated last semester. “All the girls in the group, our job was to stand in the fourth row behind him and cheer.” \nRight now, the group’s main goal is to get as many students registered to vote as possible, Granholm said.\nThe group has also held phone banks during which members called people in states holding primaries and reminded them to vote.\n“Even with phone banks, we’re reaching out to people our own age,” said freshman Brianna Dines, the dorm captain for Wright Quad. “It’s been really effective getting youth vote, which is really rare.”
(03/26/08 4:43am)
During his time at IU, professor Henry Fischel was responsible for helping start the Jewish Studies Program and the Department of Religious Studies. He also taught students about his experience in WWII Germany. \nFischel, 94, died March 18 at Meadowood Retirement Community \nin Bloomington.\n“He was a magnificent teacher,” said Stephen Katz, associate professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. “He loved his students. He marveled in the sake of learning. He knew something through and through.”\nIn 1913, Fischel was born into a Jewish family in Bonn, Germany, and was eventually taken to a concentration camp. When Fischel began teaching at IU in 1961, he taught a variety of subjects, but used his experiences from the Holocaust in his teachings. He stressed the idea that there is no such thing as a pure race.\n“He talked about his experiences, but they were only experiences,” Katz said. “Many Jews were killed in the streets of Germany. He knew Nazis were looking for him. He was in a club for Jewish students at his school. He was afraid of getting his fellow students in trouble, so he marched to the police station to turn himself in.”\nHe was eventually imprisoned in Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp in Germany. He got out of the concentration camp because of the intervention of the International Student Services which gave scholarships to students, including Fischel, to study abroad. The camp released Fischel to Scotland and he eventually became an ordained rabbi, Beth Shalom Rabbi Mira Wasserman said in Fischel’s eulogy.\nBecause of Nazi threat, he escaped to Canada where he continued his studies, and eventually arrived at IU.\n“He was a great scholar of Jewish studies,” Wasserman said. “He was a real treasure. It was unusual to have someone with his history and depth of knowledge.”\nIn 1970, Fischel worked alongside Andrew Mallor, an undergraduate at the time who is now a local attorney, to help form the Jewish Studies Program. They took surveys of students and faculty to see if there was a need for this program. The first meeting for the formation of this program took place in Fischel’s home library.\n“He was very passionate about everything he did,” Mallor said. “He was a great scholar. He had an interesting variety of things he was interested in and was the best at it. He was a renaissance man. I’m not sure we’ll have anyone else like him ever again.”\nFischel also wrote many books, including the “First Book of the Maccabees.”\n“He was one of the ones who categorized the formation of Jewish studies,” Katz said. “He was the one who was the nucleus in which many Jewish studies classes were formed before there was a program.”\nDuring his life, Fischel was very interested in music. He was trained as a classical pianist and grew up in the same city as Beethoven and used him as an influence, Katz said. He was a boxer, and loved IU basketball even though he never attended a game. He was interested in current events throughout his life. He was an avid reader and read the Indiana Daily Student and other papers constantly. As he began to lose his sight, he relied on the radio to provide news, Katz said.\n“He was always a gentleman,” Mallor said. “He always made people feel comfortable around him. He remembered everything. I never left Henry not asking about my wife and children and my parents. His mind was amazing.”
(03/25/08 2:36am)
“Red touches yellow, kill a fellow. Red touches black, you’re OK, Jack,” said Snakehead Ed, otherwise known as Ed Ferrer, while holding a large snake and explaining how to tell a venomous snake from its nonvenomous counterparts.\nFerrer’s message was one of many about the legless reptiles during the “Red Before Black: A Live Snake Presentation” on Saturday at WonderLab.\nFerrer brought 10 of his 21 snakes to the science museum for three presentations this weekend. This event is one of three animal shows WonderLab is hosting this month.\n“It’s a passion I have because it’s my way of helping out nature,” Ferrer said. “We’re killing their natural habitat, and if I can do something to educate others so they’re aware that they need help, then I’ve done my job.”\nStaci Radford-Vincent, programs manager for WonderLab, said Ferrer was able to clear up a lot of misconceptions people have about snakes.\n“Ed’s very positive about the animals,” she said. “Yes, they can be dangerous, but it gives kids an opportunity to see someone handle snakes.”\nAs the presentation went on, Ferrer pulled bigger and bigger snakes out of bags. As he rolled a large red cooler duct-taped closed to the front of the room, he asked for three adult volunteers. Soon, Ferrer pulled out Melvin, an Albino Burmese Python that is 14 feet long and weighs 95 pounds.\n“It’s so hard to describe because it’s so heavy and it’s like this constantly moving bag of mice,” Bloomington resident Erin Fleser said, explaining what it was like to hold Melvin. “It was really amazing to hold something this large. It’s kind of like a football, but warm and moving.”\nFleser brings her two kids to WonderLab two to three times a month and has seen Snakehead Ed perform before at the Monroe County Public Library.\n“I love snakes,” said Ian Fleser, her 7-year-old son. “They should really have a chance to live, not just wipe them out.”\nFerrer has been doing presentations about snakes for about three years. In his previous job as a teacher, he had 18 snakes in his classroom to fuel his students’ interest in science. He now travels all around the state to schools, libraries, birthday parties and to Boy and Girl Scout troops. He has even brought his presentation to the The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Ferrer has 50 presentations scheduled for the next two months.\n“Teachers are normally good presenters,” Ferrer said. “The PTA groups at the middle school wanted me to come ... I’m trying to tell people what snakes are really like, otherwise they will think what they see in the movies (is real).”\nThis is WonderLab’s second animal presentation this month. It usually holds its animal presentations in the spring to give children and their families something to do during spring break, Radford-Vincent said. Last week, it brought in a bobcat from the Exotic Feline Rescue Center, and next week, WildCare Inc. will bring in a barred owl and an eastern cottontail rabbit to show predator-prey relationships.
(03/24/08 3:02am)
During spring break, the Indiana Daily Student and the Arbutus Yearbook took a bite out of the Big Apple by bringing back five awards from the College Media Advisers Spring Conference.\nOut of thousands of papers, the IDS brought back a Gold Crown Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for spring 2007 and a Silver Crown Award from fall 2006. The Arbutus yearbook brought home a Silver Crown award for the 2006-2007 yearbook.\nGold Circle awards were also given out to the staff and individuals of each publication. The Arbutus yearbook received seven Gold Circle awards, the IDS received 20, INside magazine won eight and Weekend magazine received one.\n“These national awards are just a great recognition of the hard work the Indiana Daily Student and Arbutus yearbook do in their daily lives,” said Nancy Comiskey, interim IU director of student media. “They are basically working full time while they’re taking classes while trying to have a normal college experience. It continues the long tradition of excellence at the IDS and Arbutus yearbook.”\nBoth publications also received the David L. Adams Best of Show award, named after the IU student media director who died last summer. The Best of Show award was given to the best large university daily broadcast publication and best yearbook present at the conference.\n“Apple awards are a big deal,” said senior Carrie Ritchie, editor-in-chief of the IDS. “I feel like we honestly couldn’t have won a more special award. It makes us proud because (Adams) would have been proud and it’s what he would have wanted.”\nThe Arbutus yearbook also brought home two awards.\n“It’s a 400-some page book, and we can’t do that alone,” said junior Lea Wilcox, managing editor of the Arbutus yearbook. “The (then) editor-in-chief, Lauren Cooper worked really hard on it. It takes a lot of people to put it out.”\nThe David L. Adams Best in Show award is the first award for this semester’s IDS staff.\n“It just shows we’re really highly honored for newspapers,” Ritchie said. “It’s really prestigious because our competition is against every newspaper in the country.”\nThe conference took place March 16 through 18 in New York City. Representatives from the IDS, Arbutus yearbook and INside magazine all attended the conference.\n“There were a lot of really good speakers and a lot of good workshops,” Wilcox said. “One was lead by an IU alum who is an editor at Rolling Stone Magazine.”\nOnly nine or 10 crown awards are given in each division, and 12 Best of Show awards were given throughout the entire competition.\n“Just the idea of renaming the awards for Dave shows the impact he made on national media,” Comiskey said. “I think he’d be proud of those honors and even more proud of his students.”
(03/20/08 5:49pm)
Protesters fell onto the sidewalk in front of the Kirkwood Avenue National Guard recruitment center Wednesday, representing fallen soldiers as they participated in a voluntary “die-in” protest marking the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War. \nStudents and Bloomington residents marched across campus and through the town to protest the war in Iraq, despite the rain and freezing conditions. \nThe protest was one of many across the country Wednesday that marked the five-year anniversary of the war in Iraq, which began March 19, 2003. \n“My friends and myself feel this war has gone on much too long, or we never should have gone in the first place,” said senior Eoban Binder. “Today is a good day to protest our presence in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East.”\nThe protest started at Ballantine Hall with Indiana Students Against the War and the Democratic Socialist group leading the protest. They soon headed to the Sample Gates at the intersection of Kirkwood and Indiana avenues, holding up signs that read “five years too many,” “say no to war” and “five minutes for five years of war.” Protesters also spoke through megaphones and banged on plastic drums.\n“The first time I ever did this was five years ago when I was 16,” said senior Kyle Andis, speaking of a protest in Indianapolis. “We knew it was going to happen, so we met in the center of the city.”\nThe Bloomington Peace Action Coalition joined the protesters at the Sample Gates along with students from Bloomington High School South. Students and residents joined the protest as it carried on.\n“I was hanging up posters for another event,” said junior Melissa Roth, who joined the protest at Ballantine Hall. “I had no idea this was going on. More people than this are interested, and it’s important to spread awareness.”\nAfter protesting in front of the Sample Gates, the marchers made their way down Kirkwood Avenue to the National Guard recruitment center. Protesters participated in five minutes of silence to represent the five years in Iraq.\nIU police officers were also present to make sure the protesters stayed out of the streets.\n“This protest is in conjunction with a series of larger protests nationwide,” Binder said. “There are larger protests in larger cities ... We try to coordinate local protests with protests going on throughout the country.”\nProtesters continued to march down Kirkwood Avenue until they reached City Hall, where they continued to demonstrate. Prior to Wednesday’s events, Indiana Students Against the War collected postcards from the public asking the government to take action and stop the war. The postcards were delivered to 9th District Rep. Baron Hill’s office at the end of the protest.\n“At least we let them know that there are people around the world against the war,” said graduate student Sandrine Catris. “We want to be visible and show the Iraqi people we want to be out of there.”\nSome students also wore black ribbons to represent the people who have died in the war.\n“You have to look at history because it doesn’t just take internal disagreement,” Binder said. “We would have been in Vietnam a lot longer if there hadn’t been such an outcry. There hasn’t been such an outcry because we don’t have a draft.”
(03/19/08 4:00am)
Sophomore Rachel James loved traveling. She lived in Argentina in 2004, and was selected as one of four students who would be studying abroad in Argentina next fall through the Council on International Educational Exchange program. \nBut her dream of studying abroad ended early when James died in a car accident three weeks ago. Since then, the exchange program has presented IU with a study abroad scholarship honoring her memory and “seize the day” outlook on life. \n“She was very alive, very passionate,” said Rachel’s father, Danny James, who teaches in the history department at IU, but is on sabbatical and currently resides in Scotland. “She had very passionate beliefs of the world.”\nThe Rachel Di Pietro James Scholarship will give $1,000 to an IU student who will participate in the Council on International Educational Exchange’s Argentina program. The scholarship will begin in the 2008-2009 school year and run for the next 10 years.\n“It’s a great consolation to the family,” said Kathleen Sideli, associate vice president for Overseas Study at IU. “It will honor her memory. Most study abroad organizations are not going to just give away a scholarship. They were moved by the circumstances.”\nWhen deciding upon who will receive Rachel James’s scholarship, the overseas study program will look for somebody who embodies her spirit and interests, Sideli said. IU will set up the criteria for the award with her family.\nPlans are also underway to possibly create an endowed scholarship in honor of Rachel James through the IU Foundation. Information will be forthcoming as plans are decided, Sideli said.\nRachel James was a Spanish-Latin American studies major. Besides spending eight months in Argentina in 2004, she had traveled to Italy, France, Spain, Uraguay and western Europe. She planned to visit her parents in Scotland over spring break.\nRachel James was very close to her brothers Daniel, 26, and Nick, 30, and his wife Capella, who considered each other sisters, Daniel James said. Her mother was Lynn Di Pietro, who worked as an assistant dean in the IU Graduate School.\n“She was an amazing person,” Daniel James said. “Very unique. Very caring. Beautiful inside and out. Life of the party. She said she always hated injustice and discrimination of any kind.”\nAlong with travel, Rachel James loved theater, reading, writing, poetry and cooking, Danny James said. She had written one of her poems on a painted background, and at her funeral, her friends presented her family with the memento. She kept a notebook full of poetry and quotes. An earlier version of the poem was found in the notebook, he said\n“It’s about a young woman at her age and how life is full of possibilities and seizing your life,” Danny James said. “A poem that was very much a reminder of my daughter Rachel James.”\nRachel James grew up in Durham, N.C., where she formed a passionate, not to say slightly crazy, obsession with Duke Blue Devils basketball, Danny James said.\n“She’s still watching every Duke basketball game,” Daniel James, said. “She never missed a game.”\nRachel James was an honors student and her professors spoke very highly of her, Danny James said. Last summer she worked at a YMCA camp in Bloomington.\n“She got really interested in kids,” Danny James said. “It was an eye-opening experience for her. I think teaching at a YCAMP made her think about young children. We were looking forward to seeing her change.”\n“She was the most intelligent, bright, beautiful, caring, ambitious person I’ve ever met in my life,” Daniel James said.
(03/18/08 3:29am)
Since a very young age, Kay Minger knew she wanted to be just like Nancy Drew.\nDespite her desire to become a detective, she discovered after entering the police force in 1972 that jobs for women in the field were scarce.
(03/07/08 8:18am)
Last April, sophomore David Lota received an e-mail from the Recording Industry Association of America stating he was being sued for copyright infringement, and he later had to pay $4,000 for illegally downloading music.\n“I definitely didn’t expect for it to happen,” Lota said. “I had to work all summer to help pay it off.”\nToward the end of February, the RIAA sent out about 400 pre-litigation settlement letters to students at 12 universities. Students at schools such as Purdue University and Ohio State University all received these letters – so did IU, where 40 students were sent pre-litigation settlement letters for illegally downloading music. The 40 students at IU represent all seven IU campuses.\n“The biggest problem students have is that they are not anonymous on the Internet,” said Merri Beth Lavagnino, chief information policy officer for University Information Technology Services at IU. “They are targeting universities and colleges. You are more likely to be caught through a university or college network.”\nThe problem is many students don’t realize they are downloading music illegally, Lavagnino said. They find a Web site offering free music, and they assume it’s legal.\n“If it’s free to download a song, be suspicious,” Lavagnino said. “It’s rare that it’s legal. Be suspicious if it’s free, because they have to pay rights for that music. It would be odd for them to give them out for free.”\nStudents may be aware that they are downloading music illegally, but unaware of the risks. Besides receiving pre-litigation letters, students also run the risk of downloading unsafe software.\nAlso, if students have a file containing legally downloaded music or a CD that is digitalized to the computer, they run the risk of sharing that file when they download other music, Lavagnino said. When a student \ndownloads more music onto their computer and uses the same file already containing music, that music will be shared online and students can get in trouble for sharing their current file.\n“You may not even know you are actively providing content for others,” Lavagnino said.\nWhen the RIAA sent the e-mail to Lota, they didn’t know his actual identity; they just knew the Internet protocol number for his computer and the time he illegally downloaded music. A letter was later forwarded to IU in which they identified Lota and sent him a letter. The letters make it clear that it is a formal step to a lawsuit, said an RIAA representative.\nOnce Lota received his letter, he said he was issued a subpoena where he was given the chance to pay a fine and he had to agree to not engage in illegal activity again.\n“I don’t download music anymore from Limewire,” Lota said. “I really love music, so I’m not going to stop listening to it. I haven’t been using any download services since. I use the streaming ones and I use CDs.”\nSites such as Limewire, Ares and BitTorrent are just a few of the sites the RIAA punishes for illegal downloading, said an RIAA representative. \nStudents can use services that allow them to stream music and listen to it for free such as Ruckus, Lavagnino said. Students can also visit filesharing.iu.edu for a list of legal alternatives to downloading. On this site, students can also go through a copyright tutorial and find out how to download music and movies legally. \n“I don’t think it makes sense to do illegal downloading,” Lavagnino said. “It’s 75 to 90 cents to download a song legally. If you purchase a song legally, it’s clean.”
(03/06/08 5:00am)
As the shooter walked onto a stage in a classroom Feb. 14 at Northern Illinois University, Dan Parmenter grabbed his girlfriend, threw her to the floor and began praying out loud. He saved her life.\nOn that day, 27-year-old former student Steven Kazmierczak killed five people, including himself, and wounded 16 more. Parmenter, a sophomore, was shot five times and was later pronounced dead. His girlfriend was shot only once.\n“I think it was more frustration that we felt,” said IU sophomore Alex LoCicero, one of Dan’s best friends since elementary school. “Hatred and anger wasn’t beneficial. (Dan) sacrificed his life for his girlfriend. A lot of us made peace with that. He didn’t die in vain.”\nWhen LoCicero heard of the shooting through TV news reports and word-of-mouth, he and his friends tried to contact Parmenter, but they never received a response.\n“I walked into Willkie and saw it on the news,” LoCicero said. “I knew several people there. We tried calling and Facebooking our friends. When we hadn’t heard anything, I knew something wasn’t right. Several hours later, you’d figure you’d heard something.”\nParmenter’s friends all across the country experienced the same problem when it came to finding information on his situation.\n“I saw something on Facebook that said, ‘We’re praying for you, Dan,’” said Western Illinois University sophomore Thomas Seida, a childhood friend of Parmenter. “We had no information on whether he was dead or alive.”\nIt was Valentine’s Day, and Parmenter had called his parents and older sister in the morning to tell them he loved them. He had also bought his girlfriend a necklace, but he never had the opportunity to give it to her. His older sister found the necklace after his death and later gave it to his girlfriend.\n“It was a small gift compared to giving a second chance of life,” LoCicero said. “It was the most selfless event that could have been done on that day. There’s no better way to define love than giving someone a second chance to live.”\nOnce the news of Parmenter’s death spread, Parmenter’s mother called his six best friends from childhood and asked them to be pallbearers at his funeral. The men had known Parmenter almost their entire lives, but they were separated after high school, each attending a different college.\n“We’ve all known each other since kindergarten,” LoCicero said. “We all went to middle school and high school together. He had his frat brothers, but we were just as much his brothers because we grew up with him.”\nParmenter’s wake was held the following Monday. There was a four-hour wait just to see the open casket and talk with his family. The wake was scheduled for 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., but it lasted later than midnight, LoCicero said. LoCicero and his friends told stories about Parmenter, trying to keep his memory alive.\n“During the wake, it was more just expressing what we were feeling and getting it off our backs,” Seida said. “People had videos on their phone that made you laugh and made you want to smile. One friend just said to write down every good memory and the memories will always be there.”\nAt the funeral on Tuesday Feb. 19, the six men took their places as pallbearers.\n“Once it started and we had to walk the casket to the altar, it was very surreal,” LoCicero said. “We sat up front with his family. It was hard not to break down.”\nAt the end of the service, Parmenter’s Phi Kappa Alpha fraternity brothers lined the walkway out to the hearse, and the casket was walked through them as they paid their respects.\n“You really had to regain your composure,” Sieda said. “Putting him in the hearse was an honor, but very difficult.”\nA small burial was held Wed. Feb. 20, for family and close friends. LoCicero and the others began making their way home to their respective universities – Pennsylvania State, Western Illinois, DePauw, Indiana and others.\n“The hardest part was coming back here on Wednesday,” LoCicero said. “At home we had friends. It’s harder at school. It’s harder to tell those stories to people who didn’t know him.”\nAt Western Illinois, Seida saw a lot of support, too, because it is so close to Northern Illinois University.\n“Immediately you hear there’s something at Northern Illinois, you don’t believe it because it’s so close,” Seida said. “Everyone here knows people there.”\nWhen the men came home, the six of them each wrote a letter to send to their school publications in order to share Parmenter’s story.\n“We may not be able to change things, but maybe we can make people aware,” LoCicero said. “He was in the front row of class. It could have very easily been at IU, at any campus.”
(02/28/08 4:46am)
While IU Police Department Sgt. David Rhodes has been teaching martial arts since the late 1980s, he didn’t open his own studio until five years ago.\nAt his Ryukyu Kyusho Martial Arts Studio, Rhodes instructs Bloomington residents in defensive martial arts techniques.\n“We like to be able to teach them how to avoid confrontations,” Rhodes said. “It’s better to talk your way out of something than fight. You learn to defend yourself in the hopes that you never have to.” \n“The biggest thing is his experience and the level of expertise,” said Dennis Abrams, a student of Rhodes’. “It’s very family-friendly. My 7-year-old comes in to watch, and she ends up doing kicks with him or doing different things.”\nRhodes began his martial arts training in 1969. Before opening his studio, Rhodes taught martial arts lessons at the former IUPD Headquarters, 801 N. Jordan Ave., twice a week for several years. He now teaches a variety of classes such as Small Circle Jujitsu, Isshinryu Karate, Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu and Modern Arnis. He also teaches an aerobics class and children’s martial arts classes.\n“I like the different age groups because self-defense isn’t limited to one age group,” said IUPD officer Matt Keithley, one of the studio’s instructors. “I think anybody can benefit from it, no matter what age they are.”\nKeithley said he began taking classes with Rhodes in 2002 when Rhodes was teaching self-defense classes at the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation building. Through martial arts, Keithley became interested in police work and made many contacts in the police force.\n“There have been plenty of times when I’ve been working as a police officer and I used tactics that I’ve learned through martial arts,” Keithley said.\nRhodes said he also uses pressure points and control tactics in his teachings of both martial arts and in his police work.\n“The way martial arts is today, it’s a way of life,” Rhodes said. “I’m talking about the strict sense of martial arts. Police work is just a job. A lot of the martial-arts techniques were made to fight each other. When we do martial arts today, it’s not to injure someone, it’s to stop their actions. Our main goal is always to get away from somebody.”\nThe studio hosts open classes on Saturdays, and people can come in during that time and practice whatever they might be interested in. Those interested in taking classes at the studio can visit www.ryukyu-kyusho.com.\n“The hardest thing about my martial arts studio is walking through the door for the first time,” Rhodes said. “Then you realize it’s fun and you enjoy being there.”\nThe studio, located at 2620 N. College Ave., is open Monday-Friday evenings and Saturday mornings.
(02/27/08 8:38am)
Sophomore Rachel James was described as a person who could always make others laugh. \nShe was the girl with the smile on her face who could always put a smile on other’s faces, said sophomore Katie Avers.\nOn Monday night, James, a Bloomington native, was involved in a fatal car accident on US 231 North after losing control of her vehicle.\nAccording to police reports, first responders arrived on the scene after James’ 1998 Plymouth Voyager crossed the center line of US 231 North and ran into the car of Clark Jackson, 50. Both were rushed to St. Clare Hospital where it was discovered that James suffered severe internal injuries, and was then transported to Methodist Hospital where she was later pronounced dead. Jackson was released from St. Clare Tuesday.\nThe cause of the accident is not yet known, but weather conditions might have played a part, according to the police report.\nAt IU, James was involved in the IU theatre department. \n“She was the girl you always had fun with,” said sophomore Valerie Banakis, a girl who lived on James’ residence hall floor last year. “She was really approachable. I’ll miss her charismatic personality and being able to say hi.”\nJames attended Bloomington North High School and loved watching Duke basketball.\n“Rachel was a really fun person,” Avers said. “She was always up for making the best of things. When my friends and I are at the lake or the quarry, she was always about getting people together.”\nJames lived on South Grant Street with four other women. James’ roommates were informed about the accident just after midnight on Tuesday and were informed of her death at about 2:15 a.m. James had friends in California, Chicago and at Penn State who have also been notified.\n“It’s been really eerie calling our friends,” Avers said. “Everyone’s been very hesitant in being the bearer of bad news. We’ve all been talking on the phone and texting each other.”\nJames’ family members, who were notified of her death Tuesday, recently moved to Scotland and won’t be arriving in the U.S. until Wednesday, Avers said.\n“She was always the girl, if all of us were hanging out, she’d start gabbing and make everyone laugh and say things only Rachel would say,” Avers said. “She was always there as a shoulder to cry on. It will be hard this summer not having her around, but we’ll have each other.”\nAvers said the funeral service will be on Friday, but the time is not yet known.
(02/21/08 6:07am)
After last week’s shootings at Northern Illinois University, the IU administration is analyzing the current security on campus in the case of an emergency event.\nIn the wake of the NIU shootings in which five students died, 16 were injured and the killer committed suicide, IU is encouraging students and faculty to sign up for the IU-Notify system so that the University can send text message warnings in case of a similar emergency. \nWith the IU-Notify system, the University can contact students and staff through their cell phones in case of an emergency. Students have to register on Oncourse by updating their information, but many students and staff have yet to do so, said Kirk White, director of community relations.\n“We believe one of the most important things is for students to get timely information,” White said. “Many personnel have not updated yet. Text messaging is most critical because it can get there faster.”\nHowever, security measures can be difficult to implement on such a large campus. \n“The fact is, we can’t turn this campus into some kind of closed limited access,” said Larry MacIntyre, assistant vice president for University Communications. “We can’t turn it into a prison with walls, gates and fences. Students wouldn’t be happy if they had to go through security or \nshow identification.”\nAfter the shootings at Virginia Tech in April 2007, soon to be IU President Michael McRobbie ordered a new study committee, consisting of administrators and police officers, to evaluate security on campus, MacIntyre said. Through its evaluation, the committee decided to form a notification system and a more secure locking system on classroom doors.\nIU set up three warning sirens, which will go off in case of an emergency, White said. The sirens have the ability to communicate necessary information to students while they are walking around campus. Three more sirens will be added to campus in April, \nWhite said.\n“There’s always room for improvement,” he said. “Ours is a bigger campus than Northern Illinois, which gives us a need to plan more. The bigger you are, the harder it is to handle these types of emergencies.”\nPart of the study committee also looked at IU Police Department’s efficiency in emergency situations, said IUPD Capt. Jerry Minger. \nAs the events unfolded at NIU one week ago today, IUPD became more vigilant with safety issues concerning the University, Minger said. IUPD had to react to the increased level of anxiety throughout campus and look for potential copycats, he said.\n“We’re aware that people that may be prone to that type of behavior will see it in the media and they might do the same thing on another campus,” Minger said. “We as police want people to know we are here. We try to circulate cars more and become more mobile to try to allay some of the fears.”\nIUPD changed its policies to a greater extent after two students killed 12 people at Columbine High School \nin 1999. \nWhen the shootings happened at Columbine High School, SWAT teams were sent in to handle the situation, Minger said. \n“We have a few uniform officers who are trained to stop a shooter,” Minger said. “We will pass by people who may be injured, but we are there to stop the shooter.” \nIUPD encourages anyone who sees suspicious behavior to report it to IUPD.\nFreshman Philip Heleringer said despite the size of the IU campus, he feels safe.\n“I don’t really fear for my life. I feel safe walking back at night,” Heleringer said. “IU has pretty adequate measures to keep students safe. You don’t really have a way to test it until it happens.”\nDespite increased security measures by the University, freshman Emily Jasper said she has never heard of the IU-Notify system.\n“I don’t really see any precautions being taken,” Jasper said. “We haven’t really been talked to. I don’t think anyone can really be prepared for it.”\nIU sent out e-mails last week to encourage people to update their information on IU-Notify, and the University is sending out posters to all residence halls and buildings, White said.\nStudents can check http://indianauniversity.info during a critical incident or emergency. IU plans to update its Web site with information if there is ever an emergency.\n“We’re in an environment now that people are doing things we haven’t seen in the past,” White said. “Now that these things are a reality, we all need to be careful.”
(02/21/08 5:01am)
A minstrel show is usually thought of as an all-white cast dressed in blackface performing as black characters. But this weekend, an all-black, all-male cast will take the stage at the Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church at 237 N. East St. in Indianapolis for a new take on the traditional minstrel show.\n“The Little Tommy Parker Celebrated Minstrel Show” will run three nights, starting at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday. The cast features six main characters and one supporting character.\n“I think it helps to show a side of history that people don’t usually see,” said Kendra Mitchell, artistic director of The Etheridge Knight Theatre. “People think of white actors in black costumes. What people don’t realize is there was a lot of black minstrel shows.”\nEven then, Mitchell said black people represented black people but still had to put on blackface makeup.\nThe play is set in a railroad car in the 1800s with six men waiting to perform their minstrel show. There’s a snow storm, and one of the men leaves the car and gets into an altercation with some of the residents of a small town in Missouri. The play soon changes directions when the men ask themselves how they are going to out of the town without getting killed. The blackface will only be used in the last few scenes of the play.\n“They used to actually burn cork, and the ashes were used to create the blackface,” said Ron Rose, an actor in the play. “For some reason, audiences weren’t as accepting of black actors unless they did blackface.”\nThe play takes place through The Etheridge Knight Theatre in Indianapolis. Etheridge Knight Inc. has been around for about 17 years, but the theatre only started a year ago.\n“We’re actually an African American troupe,” said Eunice Knight-Bowens, funding director of The Etheridge Knight Theatre. “We strive to provide an arena for African American artists to develop skills in the arts. We started in April 2007 with a play called ‘Dinah Lost Daughter of Israel’ that I wrote.”\nWhen the theater first started last year, Knight-Bowens and Mitchell searched for a location to hold their performances. They came upon the Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church and have had two other performances there since. \n“When I first saw the place, I thought there was no way to perform there,” Mitchell said. “We’ve basically built a train car in the church. People could sit at the end of the first pew and almost be on stage. It’s a very interactive setting, which I love.”\nThe cast has been preparing for this production since the beginning of February, but the actors have had their scripts since January. \n“I hope the audience first are drawn to research and go back and read and think about life in the late 19th century for African Americans,” Rose said. “We’re not just taking about African Americans, but life in the late 1890s for the Jewish faith and women was all very different.”\nThe theater tries to run a show every two months during their season from October through June. \nThe theater will present “Cannibal Monster,” which is a children’s play, in April, and “Cryin’ Holly” in June. The Etheridge Knight Festival will also be held in April with performances at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis and Lockerbie Central United Methodist Church.\nMitchell encourages attendees to buy tickets in advance for $15. Tickets will be $20 at the door. To purchase tickets, visit www.ekfestival.org/events.html.\n“First and foremost, we want to entertain people and educate people,” Mitchell said. “I hope they learn a lot of history. I just want good, quality shows. I don’t want any junk on my stage.”
(02/13/08 7:15pm)
As a winter storm swept through Indiana Tuesday, students struggled to make it to class on slippery sidewalks while maintenance crews worked to keep up with the weather. But IU officials said it takes a lot more for the school to close.\nClasses at IU-East and IU-Purdue University Columbus were canceled during the afternoon, said Kirk White, IU director of community relations. White said that because the campus-wide alert system is used on all nine IU campuses, some IUB students received the alert, but they still had to attend classes. \n“The most important thing here is, number one, there’s a system in place that works,” White said, “and number two, we have to get the message out that the students, faculty and staff need to go onto the OneStart Web site and update their profiles.”\nDespite slippery conditions, White said, many criteria must be met for IU to cancel classes. He said that because most students live close to campus, University officials don’t close campus often.\n“It has to be a pretty critical situation for students, faculty and staff,” White said. “(Tuesday’s) weather doesn’t even come close to the threshold we consider to canceling class.”\nStill, some felt the pain of commuting around campus. At around 1 p.m., Elizabeth Horseman fell outside of Ballantine Hall because of the icy conditions. An ambulance rushed Horseman to Bloomington Hospital because she injured her right ankle, said IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger. No one could confirm that Horseman was a student.
(02/08/08 6:52am)
As the fire alarm went off in Foster Quad, two drag queens, Macy Kirkland and Brandi Ice were interrupted from applying layers of makeup and stage clothes to stand in the cold.\nOnce they got back inside, the queens strutted their stuff to a group of curious college students. The show was followed by a question and answer session by the drag queens and a panel discussion about people who identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, questioning, queer, intersex and allies. \n“Lots of first year students have never been exposed to these issues,” said sophomore Radley Alcantara, CommUNITY Educator for Foster Quad. “A lot of discrimination comes from ignorance and having a different view and different light. This environment (was) a safe environment to ask questions without having to be ridiculed.”\nOne student asked about the experiences the panel had when they told their parents about their sexual orientation. In OUT president Joshua Sutton’s case, his parents were very accepting and his mom even goes to gay events with him. In the case of Kirkland, her parents had a harder time dealing with it, but they are still accepting.\n“I’m glad they asked (the questions),” Ice said of the audience. “They were comfortable with us. The questions were fine. Usually there’s a lot more, though.” \nThe show started with Ice, former Miss Gay IU 1998, performing to “This Kiss” while wearing a bra made out of a bag of Hershey’s Kisses that were distributed to the audience. Ice later came out in a cover-up that was soon removed to reveal a dress with no front.\n“When I first started, it was a very small crowd,” Ice said of her performances in Miss Gay IU. “We had to do a lot less than they do now. Now they have backup dancers. I’m glad I won when I did, because I don’t have a chance now.”\nIce was followed by Kirkland, a contestant for this year’s Miss Gay IU, whose clothing was a little less risqué, with a tiger-striped dress followed by a brown dress and a platinum blonde wig.\n“I just want to get some words out there. I wanted to promote Miss Gay IU,” Kirkland said. “There’s a lot of misconceptions as far as drag goes. If nothing else, I hope (the students) become a little more aware of the diversity in Bloomington.”\nA panel discussion followed, featuring the president of OUT, the reigning Hoosier Daddy, a resident assistant from Collins Living-Learning Center, Kirkland and Ice.\nThe audience asked a variety of questions including what the panel’s feelings were toward people saying “that’s so gay” or how they felt when people asked if they chose to be gay. The panel responded with, “did you choose to be straight?” \nWhen asked about GLBTQQIA, Kirkland said, “I hate labels. Why do you have to be a certain way?”\nDiscussion continued with what it means to be transgender and the transitional process from male to female and female to male.\n“I don’t pass as a boy anymore,” Ice said about her transition from male to female.\nThe panel also spoke about the discrimination they have received from the public and their first experiences of discrimination.\n“Discrimination is going to be everywhere,” said Christina Sell, the reigning Hoosier Daddy. “It’s something that becomes a part of everyday life.”\nMiss Gay IU 2008 will be held April 18 at the IU Auditorium. Tickets are available now at the IU Auditorium box office for $10.
(02/06/08 6:18am)
IU announced Tuesday that it has partnered with Google and Microsoft to provide students with commercial e-mail accounts using their IU addresses.\nGoogle and Microsoft offer their e-mail programs to many schools across the country, including kindergarten through grade 12, but IU is only one of two schools that will use both programs in its e-mailing system.\n“We began a selection process of what was right for IU,” said Dennis Cromwell, IU’s associate vice president for enterprise infrastructure. “We realized we could provide the best vendor for students if we provide both.”\nCurrent students will have the choice between a Google, a Microsoft or an IU Webmail account. As new students come in, the Webmail program will no longer be offered. The incoming freshman class of 2012 will still have the Webmail option because many have already set up those accounts. \n“A lot of students are already using these accounts at home,” said Jim Morgan, director of educational technology of the IU School of Medicine. “It’s now going to be part of the IU system.”\nThe two companies are offering their services to IU for free. Not only will IU save money by not having to control Webmail, they will also save money through these two programs. It costs IU about $700,000 a year to run Webmail, Cromwell said, so now the money will be reallocated as needed.\nDuring the summer, a committee of students and faculty was formed to evaluate the two programs and pick the one it liked best. Each company was asked a set of questions, and the committee analyzed their responses and ranked them. They also conducted a web conference and each committee member received a two-week trial of each program. \n“It was very hard for the committee to decide between the two,” Morgan said. “A lot of students liked GMail, but Microsoft is easy to put into the system. So we thought, why not both?”\nEach system provides more storage than Webmail. A Google account can provide 6 gigabytes and Microsoft can provide 5 gigabytes of storage. \n“A big advantage for students is disk space,” Morgan said. “You can e-mail short videos and not worry about running out of disk space. It’s hard for Webmail to keep up with commercial products.”\nThe accounts will be a little different than the normal public accounts. The IU logo will be placed on the e-mail pages, and many features will be available to students. Both programs provide other features besides e-mail, including instant messaging and document and spreadsheet applications.\n“The student focus was to evaluate e-mail from a student perspective,” said senior Scott Albin, a student on the summer committee. “On the student side, there was a preference for Google. I have a GMail account, and it would be easier for a student to switch to GMail because they are used to it.”\nOnce students graduate, they will still be able to continue their accounts and keep their IU address if they choose to do so, Cromwell said. \nIU is also working to establish a more efficient way to transfer from Oncourse to students’ e-mail accounts. Cromwell said administrators hope to find a way for students to log onto Oncourse and go directly to their e-mail account without worrying about logging in again. \nCromwell said information will be sent out around spring break with updates on how students can switch accounts.
(02/05/08 6:19am)
The original charges for voyeurism and child pornography against Bloomington resident Christopher A. Casady, the man accused of “peeping” at men in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation building, were dropped last Friday. These charges will be replaced with 16 new charges of voyeurism.\nA year ago, Casady was arrested because of complaints of a man videotaping other men using the bathroom in the HPER building. The 16 new charges are from the original 15 hours of video that officers found in Casady’s possession last February.\n“The reason we made this decision is because we have two identified persons on these tapes,” said Bob Miller, deputy prosecutor for Monroe County. “These charges have always been there. We’ve been using them as a negotiation tool with (the) defendant’s attorney with the original case.”\nPolice found the 15-hour video during an executive search of Casady’s residence after they received a search warrant last February. The tape has been in the hands of the Monroe County Prosecutor’s office ever since, Miller said.\nThe 16 new allegations also stem from video footage from various locations on campus, including the HPER, Student Recreational Sports Center and the Herman B Wells library. Other images have been identified as being filmed in Bryan Park. The images are of male genitalia in bathrooms and showers, Miller said.\nCasady’s attorney, David Schalk, disagrees any evidence substantiates the charges Casady faces.\n“Christopher Casady has been charged since last February with voyeurism, which is hiding someplace and taking movies,” Schalk said. “There was no witness that said he was being sneaky or hiding. He never had his video camera out of his bag.”\nSchalk also denied all allegations of child pornography charges against Casady.\n“Pornography is showing children in sex acts,” Schalk said. “If a kid is taking a leak, it can’t be considered as sexual porn. Even with the evidence in this case, he’s simply not interested in kids. He doesn’t show any interest in children. They are completely baseless allegations.”\nThe videos are generally all of adult men, whether young or old, Miller said. \nAll charges against Casady are Class D felonies, each with a jail sentence of up to three years, equaling 48 years if consecutively served. A court date for the charges has not been set yet.
(01/28/08 12:55am)
As children now enter WonderLab, they will discover that the majority of the first floor has been turned into a brand-new exhibit full of color and patterns from nature.\nNature’s Numbers, a traveling exhibit, is open to the public until May 18 and contains 20 interactive exhibits.\n“The purpose of Nature’s Numbers is to increase awareness of all the patterns in nature,” said Aerin Sentgeorge, gallery operation manager for WonderLab. “The graphics in the exhibit are magnificent. It’s neat to stop and look at the beauty around you.”\nThe exhibits are all centered on patterns in nature. Children can look through a microscope and notice a snowflake that usually looks like a normal hexagon is actually made of one shape that repeats itself over and over again.\n“Some of the simple things are actually very complex,” Sentgeorge said. “I think it will be really great for people to realize how complex objects in nature are.”\nThe 20 exhibits are split up into three groups, each geared toward a different age group. Children can examine the patterns in honeycombs, leaves and butterfly wings. Kaleidoscopes are available to look through and logarithmic spirals and the balancing act of airplanes are examined.\n“It’s good for people of all ages,” Sentgeorge said. “Our main audience is children, but adults have a good time, too.”\nSome of the WonderLab’s current exhibits, such as the hot air balloon, have been taken out to make room for the exhibit. WonderLab expects to hear some complaints about the removal of some of these exhibits, but they will be put back at the end of May.\n“The kids get really excited sometimes,” said sophomore Laura Davidson, a volunteer at WonderLab. “Everything is so interesting to them. To us, it’s just usual. I get so excited when they get excited. It’s like I’m discovering for the first time, too.”\nNature’s Numbers was originally stationed at the Children’s Museum in Port Smith, Va., Sentgeorge said.\n“We went to Virginia to see it,” she said. “At that point, we already knew we wanted it. We wanted to familiarize ourselves with it so we could create other activities that relate to Nature’s Numbers.”\nLast year, the traveling exhibit was Team Up, focusing on physics and its use in sports.\n“We always like to try a traveling exhibit every spring,” Sentgeorge said. “It keeps things fresh and interesting. It generates interest in the public that we have something new.”\nWonderLab is run by 15 full-time employees, she said. About 800 volunteers helped out last year providing about 1,500 hours worth of volunteer time.\n“Its nice for the kids to have somebody older to say ‘this is cool,’” Davidson said. “It’s just a really fun atmosphere for kids to come and play and have fun with science.”\nMany children will visit Nature’s Numbers on field trips in the next few months. March through May is the most popular time for teachers to bring their students to WonderLab for field trips.\nThere is a lot of activity with other kids, said Bob Weaver, one of 1,200 members of WonderLab.\nThere are so many things for them to touch, feel and manipulate, he said. The exhibit is a little bit larger scale than the classroom and less structured. They see this as play not learning, he said.