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(04/12/07 4:00am)
After months of preparation and more than $1,000 spent, Vanessa Vale was ready to compete.\nWith dancers in line and the music ready for her Cruella DeVil-themed talent act, Vale prepared herself to take the stage last year at the IU Auditorium for the annual Miss Gay IU drag queen competition. \nWith her dancers wearing nothing but boxer briefs, Vale lip-synched her way to a standing ovation. At the end of the evening, Vale was crowned Miss Gay IU 2006. \nAt 8 p.m. Friday, April 13 the annual Miss Gay IU show will begin, ready to crown another winner. \nHosted by the OUT, the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender student union, the annual IU tradition aims to celebrate the success of the GLBT community and their allies in Bloomington. \nDubbed as the largest drag queen pageant in the entire country, Miss Gay IU invites everyone to participate in the show and to be entertained as well.\nThe categories for Miss Gay IU are like any beauty pageant, said OUT President and senior Kim Ruggles. Contestants will participate in a pre-pageant interview, an onstage question and answer, an evening gown segment, along with the talent portion of the show. \n“The person who really wins Miss Gay IU serves as a role model for the GLBT community at IU,” Ruggles said. “It is a role that takes up a lot of responsibility and integrity.”\nVale will be present so she can pass along the crown to the 2007 winner at the end of the evening.\n“I truly want this year to be phenomenal,” Vale said. “I want each one of the contestants to be on top of their ‘A’ game.”\nVale, besides passing on her crown, will be making several appearances throughout the show as well. Vale spent the past year being active and involved in OUT events as the spokesperson. In addition to attending discussion panels across the state, she participated in benefit performances for AIDS organizations. \n“She’s been a huge influence on OUT members and the entire IU community this past year,” Ruggles said. “It’s sad to see her go, it’s very bittersweet to see her give up her crown.” \nDoors open at 7 p.m., and Ruggles said she urges people to arrive early, as it does get crowded. The evening will feature six contestants vying for the 2007 crown.\nWith six contestants, Ruggles said that this is the largest show for competitors in the past six or seven years.\nRuggles said more than 850 people attend every year, and she hopes more will attend this year.\nSeveral guests and performers will be involved throughout the show, including Bianca Defy, Miss Gay IU 2004; and Alana Steele, Miss Gay IU 2005. The main host is Vicki St. James, who has graced the Miss Gay IU stage several times.\nRuggles said everyone who attends is encouraged to dress up and wear “Rocky Horror Picture Show” attire to go along with the theme.\n“Even if you don’t identify, this is the largest cultural event on the campus throughout the year,” Vale said. “People come out of town year after year. It’s a fun time and something you can bring your older children to and to learn more about the GLBT community.”\nVale agrees, and said she hopes people attend the event, even just to have their minds opened. \n“I wanted to be someone students could come to with questions and anything they want to know about what it is like to be a gay student,” Vale said. “I know college is a very hard time, and most come to the realization of (their) sexuality during this time with the hardships that (they) endure during the 18 to 22 year period.”
(04/11/07 4:00am)
Sophomore Hilary Sinker didn’t think she would be skating in college. She arrived without skates, only to call her mom telling her she’d have to send them. \nAfter a call-out meeting, Sinker decided she would grace the ice again for the IU figure-skating team.\nThis weekend 19 of the 22 women on the team will be competing in the National Collegiate Figure Skating Team Championships at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.\nLast year the team placed fourth, and the previous year the team was sixth. \nJunior Beth Dorr, the team president, said the women have high hopes of achieving a higher place this year, especially since it earned two first-place titles in the two competitions they had this season. \n“We go into nationals and want to do well,” Dorr said. “What is so great is we are only in our fourth year and we are already well-known among the collegiate skating teams.”\nDorr started skating when she was 5, and 15 years later the atmosphere of skating remains something she loves.\n“Just being at competition, it is intense,” she said. “But everyone is there to have fun. You are competing against other schools but everyone cheers for each other and want people to do well.”\nSenior Kirsten Blodgett, who has been skating since the second grade, described her passionate hobby as “therapeutic.” \nShe was a freshman in 2003 when the IU team officially started. She helped the main founder, senior Katie Laughner, recruit members for the team.\nDuring its initial year, the team only had 10 members. Now the team has doubled in size and has started a synchronized skating team in addition to the solo skating competitions. \nBlodgett said when she tells people of the team, the most common reaction she receives is, “What? I didn’t know the team existed.” While the team might be under most students’ radars, she said, it is still growing and becoming more well known.\nLast year was Sinker’s first year with the team. She considers herself a synchronized skater instead of a solo skater. But now in her second year, it isn’t the skating that Sinker loves most, although she definitely enjoys it. She likes being on the team to get to know the girls better.\n“I like being with my teammates, that is why I like synchronized skating so much better – we work on each other to become better,” Sinker said.\nThe team’s normal practice rink closed after spring break, but with nationals still left for the women, Dorr said the team, which is self-funded, travels to Columbus, Ind., or Indianapolis to practice.\nSinker said she expressed confidence in the approaching competition.\n“The program in general is faster and a hundred times better than the year before,” Sinker said.
(04/11/07 4:00am)
With the ability to protect one of IU’s most valuable assets from direct hit from a tornado, a $64 million design plan for the Cyber Infrastructure Facility was approved last Friday at the IU board of trustees’ meeting at IU-South Bend.\nThe facility, a project that might be completed in the next two years, will be home to a partially underground data center to hold computers and information-technology equipment, including the Big Red supercomputer. It will also house an office building for information-technology employees. \nBob Meadows, the University architect, said the facility is necessary to keep expanding IU’s data processing system and beyond.\nThe equipment is currently housed in the Wrubel Computing Center at the old University School building, 2711 E. 10th St., which is “not strengthened or hardened for natural disaster,” Meadows said.\nMeadows said the equipment is valuable and is in danger if a tornado or other natural disaster were to hit the building. \n“Interim Provost Michael McRobbie, from the day he arrived, has been talking about getting a new facility – and getting one that is harder – in addition to a new data center,” Meadows said.\nThe new data center would contain generators along with other equipment to allow for uninterrupted data flow.If a tornado did hit the facility, Meadows said, everything would still run and withstand the hit.\nThe new facility will be near 10th Street and the 45/46 bypass. Funding from the state legislature is awaiting approval.\n“That’s the key – state budget approval – and if it is approved we will proceed,” Meadows said. \nThe Cyber Infrastructure Facility includes a data center and a “cyber information building,” which includes offices.\nIf funds are approved, construction for the data center will begin this summer and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2008. \nIf all funds requested are granted, the construction of the office building will begin this summer as well, with expected completion in 2009. \nThe idea for the facility has been circulating for four to five years. Meadows said various locations were considered before settling on the 10th Street-bypass location. Meadows said the location they chose will be up to $20 million cheaper than other options.
(04/06/07 4:00am)
As the sun rises Saturday over Bloomington, John Byers will be setting up his booth to prepare for the start of the season – the farmers market season.\nStarting this Saturday until the last Saturday in November, the Bloomington Farmers’ Market is open to the community.\nLast season, the market had 91 vendors and averaged about 3,500 customers per Saturday, said Marcia Veldman, the farmers market coordinator.\nVeldman said the first Saturday of the season won’t be too busy. But as more produce becomes available, along with a wider variety of vendors, the market will be “packed full” of people.\nThe market is located at Eighth and Morton streets in the Showers Common next to City Hall.\nByers, who has been involved in the farmers market since 1993, specializes in selling maple syrup. He describes the syrup he sells as having “more character” than typical store-bought syrup. Because he is a small producer, he said, the syrup isn’t blended, resulting in a different and sweet result.\nByers was raised on a farm, which sparked him to help Tom and Dan Weber, two brothers who own Weber’s Sugar Camp.\nByers said the maple syrup is produced in the spring and takes about 50 gallons of sap per 1 gallon of syrup, along with “lots and lots of firewood.”\n“The (farmers market) is a great place where the customer and the vendor can meet face-to-face and know they are getting an honest product,” Byers said.\nBloomington’s Farmers’ Market was started in 1975 and serves as a growers-only market, meaning the people selling the produce or other products are those who grew it, Veldman said.\nNew market hours, inspired by daylight saving time, are in place this year. The market will be open from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. each Saturday until the end of September and from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. during October and November.\nWith the sudden cold front invading Bloomington’s previously warm spring season, Veldman anticipates that not as many customers will come out, but vendors will be there, she said. Overall, she said she feels people will bundle up and enjoy the first day of the market season.\nBesides maple syrup, the market offers customers the chance to purchase other dairy products, freshly grown vegetables and fruits, along with selections of perennial plants and annuals and freshly cut flower bouquets.\nEach week also offers food to the community prepared by local vendors such as the Scholars Inn Bakehouse or the Market Cafe operated by Bloomingfoods. \nAs Byers keeps coming back each year to sell his syrup, he hopes the people keep coming back, he said.\n“I hope lots and lots of folks show up,” he said. “It’s a great place to not only get really great food, but to meet people and discuss the events of the day.”
(04/06/07 4:00am)
Police are looking for a woman who stabbed another woman two times Wednesday night.\nThe 24-year-old victim was at her boyfriend’s house in the 400 block of East Southern Drive around 5:15 p.m. She told police she and her boyfriend were sleeping when they heard a doorknob turn and blinds moving from the window, Bloomington Police Department Detective Sgt. Jeff Canada said.\nThe boyfriend investigated the noise. He and her girlfriend heard a female’s voice ask, “Where is she?”\nThe female suspect then proceeded to the back bedroom where the victim was. There was a brief struggle before the suspect went to the kitchen and grabbed a steak knife. \nThe suspect cut the female victim twice on the left forearm. One cut was fairly severe, while the other was not, Canada said, reading from a police report. The victim suffered other injuries from the initial struggles and fight, but none required medical attention.\nAfter the incident, the suspect left, Canada said.\nThe victim went to Bloomington Hospital and was treated and released the same night, Canada said. \nA police investigation is now ongoing to find the suspect.
(04/05/07 4:00am)
CocoRosie seems to sum everything up very nicely on their song, "Japan." They state, "Life is like a roller coaster, it does flips and throws you over," while a pentatonic carousel of instrumentation merrily plods along in the backdrop. Sisters Bianca and Sierra Casady manage to capture the roller coaster mentality on all of their works. Unexpected twists, loops, varying speeds and feelings of exhilaration occur on their latest release, The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn.\nThe album is playful but never too silly. With sound effects like battery-operated toys added to the mix, the album maintains a feeling of child-like wonder with a dash of sophistication. The album is imperfect and uncertain but wholly endearing. The works generates a feeling of joy akin to the feeling we gained as children when making up songs about whatever objects or places fell within our site. Obviously the lyrical content isn't as simplistic, but the emotion is on the same plane.\nWhile listening, the element that was most noticeable in the songs was not the in-and-out beats, watery synths, flute melodies or any other instrumental adornments but rather the impressive, albeit unorthodox, vocal work. Vocals are sometimes Joanna Newsom-esque and provide the glue that holds the songs in place. The chorus of "Rainbowarriors" sways in a blissful drone while "Houses" begins sounding like it was plucked out of a cabaret and turns into a sullen operatic aria. Vocal consistency is not a priority, but the unexpected changes in quality provide an element of surprise that keeps the album fresh through its duration.\nThe Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn, however, falls into the category of albums with no commercial potential. It is entirely too eccentric and irregular to generate much interest outside of a community of people who are open to this much experimentation and deviation from the norm. Some may like it just because it is so different, some may appreciate it for what it is, and most people might just classify it as "weird."\nWhile the album often strays away from the safety of conventions of popular music, it provides a series of songs that can be anything from mischievous to beautiful and haunting. The hope of this humble reviewer is that CocoRosie might get the chance that they deserve. It's just like that roller coaster. You were scared before you got on, but once the ride is over, you're glad you experienced it.
(04/05/07 4:00am)
Police are looking for a woman who stabbed another woman two times Wednesday night.\nThe 24-year-old victim was at her boyfriend’s house in the 400 block of East Southern Drive around 5:15 p.m. She told police she and her boyfriend were sleeping when they heard a doorknob turn and blinds moving from the window, Bloomington Police Department Detective Sgt. Jeff Canada said.\nThe boyfriend investigated the noise. He and her girlfriend heard a female’s voice ask, “Where is she?”\nThe female suspect then proceeded to the back bedroom where the victim was. There was a brief struggle before the suspect went to the kitchen and grabbed a steak knife. \nThe suspect cut the female victim twice on the left forearm. One cut was fairly severe, while the other was not, Canada said, reading from a police report. The victim suffered other injuries from the initial struggles and fight, but none required medical attention.\nAfter the incident, the suspect left, Canada said.\nThe victim went to Bloomington Hospital and was treated and released the same night, Canada said. \nA police investigation is now ongoing to find the suspect..
(04/04/07 4:00am)
Students will have Labor Day off in 2008, after the Bloomington Faculty Council voted Tuesday to pass a resolution to make it an official school holiday.\nIn 2008, Labor Day is scheduled as the first day of classes for the fall semester for the current academic calendar for IU-Bloomington.\nIt is because of this that Labor Day will be observed as a holiday, and at the meeting this proposal and resolution were passed with overall acceptance, said Kelly Kish, the Bloomington Faculty Council chief of staff. \nMore calendar changes were discussed at the meeting as well, especially pertaining to a potential fall break in the academic calendar.\nIn a vote of 23 to 22, the BFC passed a friendly amendment stating the BFC supports evaluating various calendar principles regarding equal number of days for the fall and spring semesters, along with holidays and breaks. \nThe proposal also allows for a request to the provost and his select administrators to meet to discuss a possible summer session calendar along with implementations for a new campus calendar. Then, in the fall, the provost will reconvene with the BFC to report on whether or not he has any suggestions or has come to a decision regarding the summer session calendar or any other calendar principles. Based on this report, the BFC will then consider amending calendar principles, such as breaks and holidays, based on the calendar schedules and suggestions the provost makes. \nKish said the final vote for the entire resolution passed in the end after much debate and discussion. Now the Bloomington academic calendar proposal is in the hands of the provost.\nInterim Provost and incoming president Michael McRobbie said at the meeting that it might be possible for the next provost to say that some of the proposals are not possible. \nKish said the BFC would like the provost to look at the calendar for any proposals, changes or solutions, and then bring it back in the fall to the BFC for further discussion.\nThe Labor Day holiday for students in the fall of 2008 is officially passed, and the Bloomington Faculty Council now looks to finalize the future IU academic calendar in regards to breaks and scheduling of classes.
(04/03/07 4:00am)
Freshman Miles Taylor hopes people will leave this evening’s lecture “thinking.” \n“Not about politics of the Iraq war, but about how we as a country can maintain a strong and compassionate role in the world while still looking out for our security interests,” said Taylor, director of the Student Alliance for National Security.\nAfter months of comparing schedules and making room for accommodations, Iraqi Ambassador to the United Nations, Feisal Istrabadi, will be returning to the IU campus for the first time since 2005 today to present a speech on “Implications of Failure in Iraq for U.S. Security.”\nIstrabadi will be speaking from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Whittenberger Auditorium. Admittance is free and open to the public. \nIstrabadi, an IU alumnus who graduated in 1986, last visited IU to discuss the current situation in Iraq at the IU law school. Again, he returns with the intent to discuss what failure in Iraq will mean for security issues. \nTaylor said that the Iraq war is the “most compelling conflict so far this century.” Taylor said the Student Alliance knew Istrabadi would bring an extraordinary perspective to this “critically important” topic as a leading Iraqi official, a top-flight diplomat. \n“The implications for the Iraq war will be for our generation and we hope that this lecture, from a top Iraqi official, will give students critical, firsthand insight on the issue,” Taylor said. “The war’s effect on the Middle East will reach beyond this decade and its implications for the United States will be inherited by the next generation of American leaders.” \nThe Student Alliance for National Security, which is sponsoring the event, is hoping for a high turnout, said freshman Eva d’Ambrosio, communications director for the group. D’Ambrosio said a Facebook event has been established to publicize the event. As of press time, she said 260 people “confirmed” to attend.\nD’Ambrosio said the lecture will allow attendees to see what the possible failure in Iraq means for the United States in security terms.\nSenior Adam Newman, director of debates and issues for Union Board, said he hopes students who attend the lecture will gain a new appreciation and understanding for the depth and complexity of the political situation in Iraq. \n“People already see on the news how stressed out the military is in dealing with the civil war, and news reports show the strategies, but people often don’t have a good understanding of the politics,” Newman said. \nD’Ambrosio said she hopes those who attend will be able to gain a broad perspective past the gruesome images seen on the television and instead be able to realize the situation in Iraq and how it affects the Iraqis. In addition, she said the impact of the United States’ presence in Iraq affects security in not only the U.S, but in other countries as well. These topics will be among the issues Istrabadi will address. \n“We really wanted to get him because we thought he would be a fantastic source for students at IU,” d’Ambrosio said, noting that Istrabadi helped write the Iraqi Constitution. \nThe interim constitution that he helped draft proposed reconciliation between Iraq’s divided religious and ethnic groups. The constitution received approval in March 2004. \n“He is hands-on and knows the situation in and out and will be able to give his point of view,” d’Ambrosio said.\nIstrabadi will also be addressing the fear of the violence in Iraq spreading, along with ways to ease these tensions to prevent all-out civil war. The future of Iraq itself along with discussion in regards to political and security issues in other countries will be topics \nas well.\n“The situation in Iraq has progressed and state and political considerations are important as well as military ones,” Newman said. “I think the Iraqi ambassador will be very \nvaluable.”
(04/02/07 4:00am)
Les Morris can hardly contain his excitement over the new project being initiated at College Mall: a food court. \nThe spokesman of Simon Property Groups is anticipating the new food court being planned. On March 26, it was announced that the mall will be renovated and constructed so shoppers can enjoy a food area near Sears with as many as nine new food vendors.\nWhile senior Kathryn Heath doesn’t typically eat at food courts due to the expense, she said the addition of a food court and some new shopping venues to fill relocation space is a perk.\n“That’s exciting,” she said. “If there would be a restaurant to be added in the court, I would prefer a healthy one.”\nThe multimillion dollar project is expected to be completed by spring of 2008. But Morris said everything possible is being done to accelerate the time frame so the project can be completed by the 2007 holiday season. \nWhile specifics of the project are unknown, Morris said there will be great opportunities once the project is underway.\n“We just want to offer and enhance our properties, as the College Mall has a special place in the Simon Property Groups,” Morris said. He said the mall is the second one in Indiana that Melvin Simon built, so its historical significance is important to the group.\n“We want to make the mall an attractive place to not only shop, but to experience food and hang out,” Morris said. “Food is really becoming more and more important to the general shopping center mix, and at the mall there isn’t a dedicated food area.”\nWhile there is a “cluster” of restaurants, Morris said, there is not a real food court. With the new one in progress, Morris said traffic flow and the clutter around the current food locations will be eased.\nCustomers will have access to wireless Internet, music, new men’s and women’s bathrooms and new seating for up to 376 customers. \nAesthetics will be taken into account to include raised ceilings, celestial glass for natural lighting, along with other decorative items. \nNew food options include possible Asian and Mexican restaurants, and a sandwich shop, in addition to about three food kiosks.\nSome of the current food businesses might be moved to the new food-court location, although it is not certain which stores could move.\nWith the relocation of several stores near the new food court, Morris said “holes” will open up, allowing new stores to fill the spaces. \n“Not only will (shoppers) have a food court but they will also have new stores to enjoy,” Morris said.
(04/02/07 4:00am)
On Friday, the IU Student Media Board announced the new editors-in-chief for the Indiana Daily Student and the Arbutus yearbook. \nThe board named sophomore Zachary Osterman, the current IDS assistant Campus editor, as the summer editor in chief; junior Trevor Brown, an IDS managing editor, as the fall editor in chief; and sophomore Margaret Woods as the Arbutus editor-in-chief.\nBoth Brown and Woods ran unopposed, but Osterman ran against senior Chris Freiberg, an IDS managing editor. \nThe board that selects the new editor-in-chief is made up of 11 individuals, including representatives from the IDS, Arbutus, IU Student Association, the Bloomington Faculty Council and professional media outlets.\nIn her speech and interview, Woods discussed how sales for the Arbutus can be increased, as well as different marketing techniques. She suggested coffee sleeves advertising the yearbook as a marketing method, in addition to drawing students into the Web site with contests.\n“My ideal staff consists of people who are friends, people who want to come into the office and see each other while getting work done at the same time,” Woods said.\nWith INside magazine being housed in the Arbutus office next year, Woods said she looks forward to working together with student media, as she considers all the outlets to be equal.\n“I don’t find anything competitive,” Woods said, “but rather a chance for everyone to work off each other and share ideas.”\nFreiberg focused his interview around his involvement and dedication to the IDS Web site and the changes that can be made in the future to evolve the ever-changing technology.\nOsterman, selected as summer IDS editor-in-chief, said in his interview that his passion and commitment to journalism allows him to put the IDS first no matter the situation. Osterman plans to work for the IDS until he graduates, and this summer he hopes to foster a comfortable environment, he said.\n“I am surprised, grateful and excited,” Osterman said. “I am most looking forward to, as cliche as it sounds, leaving my mark on the paper this summer.”\nOsterman plans on focusing on in-depth and feature reporting this summer, when the newspaper publishes just twice a week, allowing more time for investigative pieces. \nBecause of the slower pace of the summer, Osterman hopes to constantly update the Web site.\nIn his interview, Brown said that when he started working for the IDS, he never expected to run for the top editor position. But his involvement at the paper over the years has allowed him to grow as a person and gain confidence as well as fostering a familylike environment, he said.\n“I feel the IDS is a learning lab for the professional world,” he said. He cited three key words – innovative, bold and new – as words to be associated with the IDS.\nLike Osterman, Brown said he will continue to incorporate more Web news updates in the fall.
(04/02/07 4:00am)
Like mother, like daughter.\nKaren Smith and her daughter Jennifer Hanskat walked the Hayes Track in memory and support of those affected by cancer for IU’s fourth annual Relay for Life from 4 p.m. Saturday evening until 9 a.m. Sunday morning. \nFor both women, their footsteps meant they were survivors.\nWhen both women were 33 years old, they were diagnosed with breast cancer. Walking proud in their purple “survivor” T-shirts allowed them a chance to raise awareness for those who lost their battles to cancer and for those who celebrate their survival.\nThe event exceeded its fundraising goal, netting profits just over $74,000 for the American Cancer Society. Mike Grady, IU Relay for Life’s team development chairman, said money was still “rolling in.”\nMore than 800 participants and 59 teams registered for the event.\nParticipants were the main reason the Relay achieved its “lofty goal” of raising more than $6,000 than last year, Grady said. “The 2007 Relay for Life was one of the biggest ever at IU, and these numbers show great promise for the future for it at IU,” Grady said.\nAbout $5,000 was turned in at the event from donations throughout the evening. “A lot of generosity,” Grady said. “Thanks to the efforts of our participants and the generosity of the IU community.”\nAs the American Cancer Society’s signature fundraising event, Relay for Life supports those affected by cancer as well as people who know others who have died from the disease.\nFor Hanskat, it’s the time of year the event occurs at IU that means so much to her.\n“It’s coming up on the fourth anniversary since I was last diagnosed,” the 37-year-old said.\nBoth Hanskat and Smith love to walk, but especially for cancer charities. They have done numerous walks for breast cancer.\n“Everything we own is pink – see!” Smith said, showing off her pink jacket. \nHanskat was impressed at the young people who walked the track.\n“They could be anywhere,” she said. “It’s a Saturday night – they could be at the local bars or camped out watching TV, but instead they are doing something for someone other than themselves. ... That’s impressive to me.”\nIndividual student teams raised money as did greek organizations, other student-based teams from IU and any other participants willing to help the event.\n“Super Squad,” led by team captain and freshman Elizabeth Carroll, contained 13 members from her dorm floor in Foster Quad. The team raised $800 with the hope, as the back of their T-shirts proclaimed, to “wipe out cancer.”\nA “Rock Out Cancer” awareness concert, with live music from regional bands, highlighted the other events at Relay for Life.\nPausing at dusk, the traditional Luminaria Ceremony began the event, as candles in paper bags lined the track in memory of those affected by cancer. Some of those candles spelled out the word “hope” on the bleachers, a tribute to cancer patients.\nFor the sorority sisters of Phi Mu, this year’s relay had a different meaning.\n“We do relay every year for survivors, never in honor,” junior and team captain Alli Newell said. “This is the first year it is in honor.”\nIn January 2007, IU graduate Elena Ariano passed away of cancer. Two Phi Mu sisters – senior Amy Hayes and freshman Anna Berg – are also cancer survivors.\n“I’m doing Relay more for my grandpa,” Berg said. “When I was going through treatments, he came and visited when it was really bad to help as a pick-me-up, and then he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. So I’m doing it in support and memory of him.”\nPhi Mu raised $6,500, and the sisters sold Lifesavers candy, their theme for this year.\n“I really wish more people came out,” Berg said. “It’s a big event and so many people are affected. The support is overwhelming.”\nAll the members of Phi Mui attended the opening ceremony and nearly 60 participated.\n“I am unbelievably thankful,” Newell said. “There is no way I could go through the night without my sisters.”
(04/02/07 4:00am)
His lips had barely touched the silver aluminum of the 2002 Pontiac Grand GT that sat on Delta Upsilon fraternity’s front lawn.\nBut freshman LaVon Carter quickly took his lips off the car and walked away, leaving 19 other puckered-up contestants behind him.\nDelta Upsilon and Alpha Chi Omega sorority teamed Saturday to present Kiss Off, a philanthropy event to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club and Middle Way House. \nAs Carter walked away without even five seconds of lip-to-car action, fraternity brothers looked at him in confusion.\nHe had purchased a $5 raffle ticket to participate in the contest, which offered the car as a prize to the person who could kiss it the longest. But Carter said he didn’t do it for the automobile.\n“It’s for the Boys and Girls Club. That’s the main reason,” Carter said. “I don’t need the car; I’m doing it for the kids. Every dollar counts.”\nThe event raised close to $5,000. Junior Brad Newell of Delta Upsilon said the car helped raise more money for the event.\n“People think that if we raise enough money to buy the car then why don’t we give it to the charity,” he said. “But the reason we don’t hand the money right over is because we want to raise campus awareness and get people involved. It allows people an incentive to donate.”\nNewell said that of more than 900 tickets sold, most bought to donate to charity, not win the car. Most of them contestants selected to pucker up were not present Saturday.\nThe 20 kissers who did participate performed well. A variety of gymnastic moves accompanied their kissing as they tested strategies to stay in the contest. Delta Upsilon member and sophomore Alex Ray supported his girlfriend, participant Michaela Conner, throughout the event, as she wrote him notes and used her purple flip-flops for hand pads. \nAt last year’s Kiss-Off, senior Chris Medlyn kissed for 15 hours before winning a yellow 1998 Ford Mustang. This year it only took about six hours before Tommy Dutko, a non-IU resident, won the car. Newell said the strict judging at this year’s event aimed to make the kissing harder and to get people eliminated quickly so participants would be allowed to enjoy the day. \nDutko, who is friends with some Delta Upsilon members, drove three hours from his home in Cedar Lake, Ind., and won the contest after purchasing three raffle tickets. After winning, Dutko was shocked.\n“I’m not even that excited because I am in shock,” said Dutko, who exclaimed, “I love everyone here!” after winning the car. He congratulated sophomore Suzanne Hakeem, who came in second.\nDutko said he is uncertain what he’s going to do with his new vehicle, but he is thinking of selling it. \nWhile Hakeem’s strategy was to remain like a statue while kissing the car’s back bumper, Dutko said he relied on a little bit of movement to keep him going. \nThe rules were simple: Contestants was to kiss the car for as long as they could. If participants’ lips ever left the car’s surface, they were eliminated. Only their lips could touch the car; if any other body part touched, they were disqualified.\nThe event kicked off shortly before 2 p.m. By 4:30, only four contestants remained. Senior Dustin Marlan was one of them. \n“I’m really upset. I really wanted the car, you know?” he said. “It’s terrible when you are the last four. I thought there were more people on the car.”\nMarlan tried to adjust his position when he accidentally took his lips from the car.\n“There is so much room for slip-ups and errors,” he said. “It sucks. I gave so much effort, and it was such a small mess-up.”\nJunior and Delta Upsilon member David Kittle said the event was fun to organize. Kittle helped lead the Kiss-Off last year.\n“It’s good to get the community involved,” Kittle said. “and it’s important to give back when we have brothers and the means to do it.”
(03/30/07 4:00am)
If there’s one thing senior Chris Medlyn wants to do before he graduates, it’s to win a free car.\nAgain.\nMedlyn outlasted 24 other people last year to win a 1998 Ford Mustang. All he had to do was kiss the car – for 15 hours.\nSponsored by Delta Upsilon fraternity and Alpha Chi Omega sorority, the philanthropy event raises money annually at the Kiss-Off event for the Boys and Girls Club and Middle Way House. \nOn Saturday, Medlyn said he hopes to make a repeat to hold his title from last year.\n“Pretty much the second I started kissing the car, I pretty much was going to win it and nothing was going to stop it,” Medlyn said. “When you sit there for 15 hours, you think about what you are going to do when you win it, and all I wanted to do was get my lips off the car and go to sleep.”\nMedlyn also wished luck for the “most determined person” to win while also reminding hopeful contestants to charge their iPods.\nSophomore Jeremy Devine of Delta Upsilon, who is the co-philanthropy chair of this event along with junior Brad Newell, said he’s aware of Medlyn’s plan and ambition and said he finds it “kind of funny.”\nTo make the event, Devine said throughout the year before the big day, a variety of fundraisers, such as selling pizza outside Kilroy’s and canning, take place to raise the money to buy the car.\nThis year the car is a “fairly new” silver 2002 Pontiac Grand GT, Devine said.\nWith his Mustang from last year, Medlyn said he absolutely loves his car and has made a ton of modifications to it. He is waiting to save up funds for a bigger engine that he can use in drag racing.\nMedlyn plans to move to Indianapolis after graduation and start his own business. His intent if he wins the Pontiac is to sell it and use it for money to start living on. \nTickets are $5 and are available until the day of the event. The drawing for the 19 contestants will be at 1 p.m. Saturday. A 20th spot will be auctioned off. The event will take place at the Delta Upsilon house, 1200 E. Third Street.\nTo ensure he had a spot last year, Medlyn said he used simple math to buy as many tickets to allow him a 50 percent chance to be picked.\n“In the beginning it’s about the luck of the draw, and it’s a real good because the money is being raised for, and you’re not throwing away cash,” Medlyn said. “I can either do this on a Saturday night or go to the bars and drop $100, but now you can drop $100 and help people out.” \nLips will be puckered and ready as hopeful winners will kiss for six hours straight before a 15-minute break, then again for four hours. Following another break, they will kiss for four hours again until the last lips are left.\nFor those who are not selected to pucker up, chances to win prizes are still available, Devine said, as tickets will be drawn throughout the event for prizes like a dinner for two and other gift certificates, along with concert tickets to see the performer Jibbs.\nDevine remembers one year when 26 hours passed until the car was won. He expects this year to be just as competitive.\nMedlyn’s ambition to win again just raises the stakes even more.\n“I will be willing to challenge anyone.”
(03/30/07 4:00am)
Police arrested a 30-year-old man on the 1700 block of North College Avenue at a traffic stop on charges of possessing more than three grams of cocaine, said Bloomington Police Department Detective Sgt. Jeff Canada.\nThe subject, Bruce Kincade, is being charged on a Class A felony.\nBloomington police have been investigating Kincade since December 2006 for drug-related activities, Canada said, reading from a police report. He was stopped yesterday because an officer who recognized Kincade noticed him driving and knew he did not have his license.\nDuring the investigation, a confidential informant purchased drugs from Kincade multiple times.\nKincade is in the Monroe County Jail with release pending on a $100,000 surety plus a $500 cash bond, Officer William Axsom said.
(03/30/07 4:00am)
Scurrying across the tile floor, a rabbit bounces. Following this fluffy cotton ball, a cat slinks, silently meowing. \nUpon entering the Bloomington Animal Shelter, such a scene greets entrants. But they aren’t the only animals visitors will see.\nLining the walls to the reception area are numerous cages filled with cats, dogs of all ages. Barks and whimpers echo from the hundreds of these animals awaiting adoption. \nTo address pet overpopulation in Monroe County, Monroe County is pushing The Adopt Today! Campaign that was launched last month is an effort to encourage adoption and other efforts to curb the area’s increasing overpopulation over the years.\n“You can’t adopt away the problem,” said Sarah Hayes, CEO of the Monroe County Humane Association. “There cannot be enough homes in the community.”\nWith the shelter accepting more than 5,000 animals a year, the overpopulation of animals in the community continues to rise.\nOf the 5,000, about 1,200 are euthanized each year, said Sarah DeLone, the education program director for Monroe County Humane Association.\nDeLone said the reasons for euthanization vary.\n“For dogs, most are euthanized due to behavioral or health issues,” DeLone said. “There are not a whole lot of dogs euthanized for space. But with cats, there are still so many that are euthanized because of space, so it’s a big issue still.” \nDuring 2006, the Bloomington shelter received more than 5,000 animals, including 2,567 cats. Just 868 cats were adopted last year. \nTaking care of animals is costly, and if animals’ basic needs cannot be paid for, Monroe County’s problem of animal overpopulation will only escalate, DeLone said. \nThe shelter is open admittance, meaning it accepts any homeless animal from surrounding counties, Hayes said. \n“Working here in the shelter building, I do see the effects of pet overpopulation every day and each year,” DeLone said. “And I also, unfortunately, see the number that don’t end up getting homes.”\nIn May 2004, the Bloomington shelter expanded its location, and as a result it brought in more animals. \n“We want people to adopt, and we want spay and neutering to occur,” DeLone said. “Spay and neutering is the ultimate way to make a difference.” \nHayes and the Bloomington shelter’s director, Laurie Ringquist, said spaying and neutering the incoming animals of their respective shelters could help lower the number of homeless animals in the future.\nThe Adopt Today! Campaign encourages adoption rather than euthanasia. Animals that aren’t adopted within a certain time frame are sometimes euthanized, Ringquist said.\nHayes said low-income areas of the community are especially affected because costs of surgery and other medications that prevent animal overpopulation aren’t easily affordable.\nFor 15 years, the Monroe County Humane Association has been running the SNAP program – Spay Neutering Assistance Program – which aims to help families with the cost of surgery for their pets. \nEach year, the humane association pays $32,000 to the citizens who need assistance in the community to have their pets spayed and neutered.\nHayes said that out of 18,000 animals that arrive at Monroe County animal organizations each year, about 800 to 900 are spayed and neutered that wouldn’t have been able to be.\n“We’re encouraging spay and neutering and making funding available,” Ringquist said. \nKeith Dayton, an IU senior faculty lecturer, teaches Z302: Managing Behavior in Organizations, a class that has been incorporating agencies like the Humane Association into the curriculum.\n“(The human association) asked to be part of the class, even brought the dog Journey, which was a big hit for students,” Dayton said. “The students were exposed and came up for some ideas that the humane association could utilize as part of the community.”\nDayton said he class project was successful because it exposed students to community groups that need assistance.\nHe has one of the projects, a marketing campaign’s poster, hanging on his door, which explains how people can be with animals besides owning them – such as visiting or walking the dogs.\nRingquist said those working at the shelter deal with these problems daily.\n“Animals affect us deeply every single day, and that’s why we have a shelter,” she said. “Of course, as a shelter we are disturbed and troubled, and we work all day every day to try and control it.”
(03/29/07 4:00am)
Police arrested a 30-year-old man on the 1700 block of North College Avenue at a traffic stop on charges of possessing more than three grams of cocaine, said Detective Sgt. Jeff Canada, reading from a police report.\nThe subject, Bruce Kincade, is being charged on a class A felony. Bloomington police have been investigating Kincade since December 2006 for drug-related activities, Canada said. He was stopped yesterday because an officer who recognized Kincade noticed him driving and knew he did not have his license.\nDuring the investigation, a confidential informant purchased drugs from Kincade multiple times.\nKincade is in the Monroe County Jail, with release pending on a $100,000 surety plus a $500 cash bond, Officer William Axsom said.
(03/27/07 4:00am)
On the side of Interstate 65, a 24-year-old man stood clad in a yellow T-shirt, corduroy pants and sneakers. The night before, he rummaged through Dumpsters to find smashed cardboard boxes to serve as a bed.\nThough he hoped for money as he panhandled on I-65, he realized with each passing moment his hands would remain empty.\nUntil one person approached the man – handing him his last 15 cents.\nExcept the man receiving the money wasn’t homeless. \n“He told me, ‘I’m sorry this is all I have,’” said IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis graduate student Kyle Walke, the man in the yellow T-shirt who loitered on the interstate. \nOver his spring break, Walke posed as a homeless person in Indianapolis to experience the tasks and challenges that real homeless people face daily. \nWalke, who is studying social work, lived on the streets from March 9 to 15 and plans to make a documentary about his experience.\n“You have to understand that everyone has their own story and not everybody out there is an addict,” he said.\nRyan Angrick, a sophomore at Ivy Tech Community College, is dedicated to filming Walke’s encounters.\n“I don’t have as big of a heart as he does,” Angrick said about Walke’s endeavor. “Before this I never looked twice at homelessness.”\nWhen he asked for money on day two of his journey, Walke said he tried to give the 15 cents back to the homeless man.\n“He thought I was asking for more money, but I wasn’t, so he kept saying over and over how sorry he was, that it was all he had,” Walke said. “That really touched me. We get so caught up in our daily lives, but the reality is you can have nothing and you can still find a way to give.”\nHe stayed out a little longer at the interstate after the incident before asking for money outside Conseco Fieldhouse, at an Indiana Pacers’ game. He ended the day with $8.\nWalke said that he wore a pedometer which recorded that he walked 46.5 miles throughout the week. During this time he also lost seven pounds, he said.\n“My feet killed; my back hurt,” he said. “With all of those various stressors it really changes who are you are almost.”\nWalke stayed at Wheeler Mission Ministries the first night and said he realized the welcoming atmosphere the shelter maintained was also overwhelming.\n“The shelter was a really great resource for people who need to rejuvenate themselves, to find a bed and get some meals,” Walke said. “But it can be pretty intimidating for someone who has never been through it.”\nTo address the negative stereotypes the homeless often face, Walke spent a day outside the Circle Centre mall, greeting people and telling everyone who passed in and out to have a nice day.\n“A lot of people looked at me confused, like they expected me to ask for money, and I wasn’t,” Walke said. “Some people were really nice, saying, ‘You have a great day too.’ But some people wouldn’t say anything.”\nDespite Walke’s intentions at Circle Centre, he said security didn’t take kindly to his actions. \n“I was told I had to leave Circle Centre. … It was pretty frustrating,” he said. “I hadn’t asked for any money and I just wanted to sit down. ... I wasn’t there for 10 seconds before a security guard appeared and told me to leave without explanation. Obviously, they’ve been dealing with issues like that and it was a judgment call based on the plastic sack I was carrying clothes in.”\nWalke also spent part of a day washing someone’s car with paper towels and water. To end the day, he donated the $8 he made to a homeless person.\n“When I was done, I felt good about myself – especially for giving some of my money to another homeless person a day after I had someone do that for me,” he said. “It was important for me to do that for someone else.”\nApplying for jobs, experiencing the intake process at a Horizon House day shelter and paying respect to homeless veterans were among the activities that Walke experiences during the week.\nWalke’s friends photographed his experience, and he is planning to create a documentary of his journey to educate people about the misconceptions associated with the homeless.\nBloomington’s Shalom Community Center Executive Director Joel Rekas said though Walke’s project had good intentions, he thought it would take more time to really understand homelessness.\n“I think the intent is good, but I’m not sure if someone doing that for a week is going to get a true picture,” Rekas said. \nWaking up on day seven, Walke said he remembered feeling different than his usual self.\n“I didn’t expect this, but getting into the car and going back home, I felt a little off,” he said. “It took me a couple of days to feel normal again... Emotionally you become a different person.”
(03/26/07 4:00am)
Man arrested after chasing roommate
(03/26/07 4:00am)
Junior Brandon Fishburn said smiles and thank yous could not have been a better reward for the work a group of student volunteers completed Saturday. \nOn Saturday morning, students in association with the Indiana Public Interest Research Group and the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness spent the day volunteering in the Bloomington community with various organizations. \n“The weather was great, and the cause was treated nicely by it,” Fishburn said. “Mother Nature welcomed us well.”\nFreshman Elizabeth Williams said she is grateful to everyone involved in making the day a success.\nFishburn, who is also the INPIRG Hunger and Homelessness coordinator, said most IU students do not usually wake up early on a Saturday morning, but that is exactly what almost 40 volunteers did.\nGathering in Woodburn Hall, students enjoyed a light breakfast and an opening statement by Joel Rekas, the executive director of the Shalom Community Center, before they volunteered at places including the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, The Rise, Middle Way House, Backstreet Mission, Hoosier Hills Food Bank and the Shalom center.\n“You really have no idea how much it means to the organizations to go and help out on a Saturday,” Rekas told the students in his address.\nThe Shalom center serves as a day shelter for the homeless, providing tools and services for those in need. The center relies on volunteer support to keep going, Rekas said after thanking those who would be volunteering that day.\nSenior Joey Reginaldi volunteered at The Rise, a local shelter for battered women. He spent time reorganizing the common area and donations The Rise receives. \n“I received a great vibe,” he said. “It’s not that we showed up and they were like, ‘Oh, great volunteers.’ No, they seemed very glad to have us.”\nAmong its many projects, INPIRG helps raise money and provide aid for efforts to prevent hunger and homelessness in Monroe County.\nBoth Fishburn and Williams spent their time at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.\n“The stuff you volunteer for is not necessarily crucial stuff,” Williams said, “but for a lot of the organizations, it is background stuff that they just don’t have time to do. Constructing desks and moving materials and furniture were some of the responsibilities of the volunteers.\n“We provided some errands and some things they needed to get done and busy work they didn’t have the manpower to do,” Fishburn said. “It was a really, really good experience.”