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(08/26/10 12:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Ghana and Bloomington might be located on what seem like polar opposite ends of the globe, but thankfully, when it comes to music, the world became flatter this summer.Popular culture in Ghana is a great blend of West African traditions with the modern influences of America and the rest of the Western world. This effectively merges two seemingly separate worlds of taste, creating an interesting cultural scene, especially in terms of music. Hiplife music in Ghana best exemplifies this juxtaposition. Hiplife blends Ghana’s genre of highlife with the American genre of hip-hop to form a genre that illustrates the great diversity of popular culture in Ghana. It combines traditional beats and local languages like Twi and Ga with Western motifs and Ghanaian Pidgin English.Hiplife has invaded every facet of Ghanaians’ lives. Regardless of age, geographical location or profession, it seems every Ghanaian listens to it. Hiplife plays in tro-tros (large vans that serve as public transportation in Ghana) at clubs and everywhere else one happens to venture within the confines of the country. American hip-hop songs like Young Money’s “Bedrock” and Iyaz’s “Solo” were also extremely popular tracks in Ghana this summer. A Ghanaian student, Gideon Okraku, said he particularly enjoys music by artists like The Game, T.I., Lil Wayne and Kanye West. He and his friends find the beats particularly interesting to listen to and think most Ghanaians enjoy hip-hop not only because it’s great to dance to, but also because the central themes found in most hip-hop are relatable to Ghanaians. Hiplife and hip-hop aren’t the only popular musical genres in Ghana. Artists like Kenny Chesney and Taylor Swift also have huge fan followings in Ghana. This summer Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband’s song “Dream Big” became a huge hit in Ghana. At first, country music might seem like a strange fit for an African nation, but the concepts of nostalgia for home and trouble brewing in the community are universal issues. “I fell in love with country music about thirteen years ago,” said Raymond Harrison, a Ghanaian sophomore at the Legon campus of the University of Ghana. “Atlantis Radio, an FM radio station based in Accra [the capital of Ghana], played it every afternoon. I did not know what it was called then, but just listening to the stories they told and their smooth sounds were enough to get me addicted.”He said there used to just be a few radio shows featuring country music, but lately a lot more FM stations started picking it up. This interest led to the inception of a club in Accra named Afrikiko, which plans to cater to fans of country music. Most Ghanaian clubs are a lot like their American counterparts, only with more musical diversity. They start their set with some Bob Marley, sometimes a little Keith Urban and then finish off the night with some Beyonce. This blending of local and foreign genres creates an atmosphere where everyone feels free to dance the night away and forget where they are located in the world. Whether you are Ghanaian or a Hoosier, good music is good music no matter where it comes from.
(04/19/10 8:47pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Though China continuously contends that it has no international friends, only interests, it seems Africa is quickly becoming more than a mere interest for China.Since the first Chinese-African diplomatic contacts at the Bandung Conference in 1955, China has been showing interest and making major headway in development all around the continent. With the fastest growing and the second-largest current population as a continent, Africa deserves far more attention and respect from the global economic system. China has taken note of Africa’s ever-growing population, abundant natural resources and huge potential for growth and development.China has come to the African continent in a peaceful manner and offered countries alternatives to the traditional power politics of Western aid in Africa.“The Chinese bring what Africa needs: investment and money for governments and companies,” Rwandan president Paul Kagame said in an interview in October.China offers real hope for African countries because it serves as a shining example of how hard work and rapid change can allow a third-world country to rise to the status of major world power. The West may seem to provide a lot of aid to Africa, but it is tied to many regulations and stipulations that end up taking back a large financial chunk. However, the Chinese give aid in a no-strings-attached form that helps the general population rather than elites.China provides huge loans for developing infrastructure at nearly zero percent interest, builds the country’s much-needed infrastructure at a very cheap price that also gives jobs to Africans, allows the countries to repay the loans in natural resources and, most importantly, treats the African countries it works with as equals and shares mutual respect for them. It also provides cheap products, which gives Africans more purchasing power.In Ghana, Chinese developers seem to be building new infrastructure all across the country. Road conditions in Accra are pretty subpar, with potholes often making roads nearly impassible, yet recently Chinese developers have come in, building or fixing the existing roads throughout the city.Even remote rural areas, like Bui in the Brong Ahafo region on the border of Cote d’Ivoire, have been affected by Chinese development. In Bui, the Chinese are constructing a new dam that will help power Ghana and other places in West Africa.Chinese development in Africa works to ensure its involvement in Africa is mutually beneficial. The Chinese competitively challenge Western bids for development projects and tied aid. Only time will tell whether China’s policies toward Africa will bring much-needed development or end up bringing more of the same empty promises and disappointment.
(04/18/10 7:18pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Amidst a sea of traditional Ghanaian universities, polytechnics and colleges, Ashesi University College stands alone as a shining beacon of liberal-arts education in West Africa.Ghanaian public universities as a whole are very different from the typical American university. A typical Ghanaian class is large with lectures from prepared notes. In most classes the final exam serves as 100 percent of one’s grade in any given course and consists of questions that mostly rely on rote memorization.However, Ashesi’s founder, Dr. Patrick Awuah, sought to create an alternative form of education for Ghanaian students. After attending Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, he decided he wanted to return to his home country and form a university that closely resembled his alma mater. He worked diligently, and in March 2002 his hard work paid off when the school opened its doors with only 30 students.With a small campus composed of only three buildings and approximately 400 students, Ashesi most certainly is a small school where everyone knows one another. This sense of community and enthusiasm is helpful in that it keeps everyone, from the student body to the administrators, connected to one another and kept accountable for their work and thinking in innovative ways.“Ashesi tries to teach its students to appreciate all of life’s ambiguity and have the courage to do things differently,” said Sarah Mills, alumna and Development and Alumni Relations officer. “We try to teach our students that even if you live in Accra, what you do affects people in China and beyond.”Mills said it is that kind of moral responsibility and personal ownership that helps students achieve in Ashesi and beyond. Mills said that she first heard about Ashesi from a friend and filled out the application on a whim. She never thought she would attend the school because at $2,661 a semester, it is the most expensive institution in Ghana. However, she applied, got in and with the help of Ashesi’s financial aid program, was able to attend the school of her dreams.“I loved my time at Ashesi,” she said. “I remember going to bed excited about going to class in the morning.”Ashesi is currently working on expanding its campus to a larger location in the Akuapem hills that will allow more students to join the Ashesi family. It is also working on developing more major programs in addition to the current three options of computer science, information systems management and business administration. The school strives to allow its students more choices in their education. It also hopes to try and broaden the diversity of its student body by getting more students from underrepresented Ghanaian regions.For current students such as sophomore Isaac Bruce, Ashesi provides the opportunity for a unique college experience. With small class sizes and after-school opportunities, Ashesi has been the gateway for his involvement in school and his community.“I chose to come to Ashesi because of how it has transformed the mindsets and attitudes of its students, whilst my time here showed how you cannot just get away with mediocrity,” Bruce said.Ashesi has changed the face of education in Africa, and one can only imagine that its growing success might serve as the gateway for liberal-arts education for all African students. Education has always been a tool of empowerment, and one can only hope that the expansion of liberal-arts education throughout Africa might help it tackle the many issues at hand on the continent.
(04/11/10 11:36pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The musical genre of hiplife has invaded almost every facet of Ghanaian life. Regardless of age, location or profession, it seems every Ghanaian listens to hiplife. It is played in tro-tro buses, at clubs and everywhere else one happens to venture within the the country. Hiplife is the popular contemporary fusion of indigenous and elite Ghanaian musical forms.Prior to the 1970s, every Ghanaian community had its own form of traditional music, such as Borborbo, Agbadza, Kpanlogo and Adowa. These musical forms were not enjoyed by the entire Ghanaian community, but rather a smaller ethnic base.In the early 1970s, an incorporation of these indigenous musical forms and dances formed the genre of highlife. This was the first genre in Ghanaian history to go beyond ethnic groups and have mass appeal to all Ghanaians.Then, hiplife sprung up in the late 1970s as a fusion of endemic highlife and elite hip-hop with musical pioneers such as K.K. Kabobo and Gyedu Blay Ambolley leading the way. The juxtaposition of elements of tradition and modernity in Ghanaian music created hiplife.Since then, various hiplife artists have experimented with the genre in many different ways, combining traditional Ghanaian dances and beats with Western motifs.The songs generally use multiple languages to represent the diversity of Ghanaian life. Some artists perform solely in English or local languages like Twi or Ga, but most combine the two or use vernacular forms of languages, such as Pidgin English, to better identify with their audience.Hiplife has been popularized because of its innovative blend of indigenous and modern music to appeal to a wide range of Ghanaian audiences. The very name illustrates a synthesis of the two types of music to form hiplife.Since its conception, hiplife has been spreading rapidly across the country and beyond. It now serves as a unifying element of popular culture because it is accepted and enjoyed by people across Ghana via the various forms of mass media.Hiplife allows Ghanaians to hold on to traditional forms of culture, yet merge these forms with popular music from the West to construct their own unique form of music and dance.
(03/08/10 9:17pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The small West African country of Togo re-elcted its national leader Thursday when Faure Gnassingbe won with 1.2 million votes.Gnassingbe has been the President of Togo since 2005, following the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, and his family has lead Togo for more than 40 years.Jean-Pierre Fabre, the opposition candidate from the Union of Forces for Change Party, received merely a third of the votes. Former Togo prime minister Yawovi Agboyibo received less than 3 percent of votes.Since the results were released on Saturday, life in Lome, the capital, has been called calm. Yet before the announcements of the results, demonstrators led by Fabre filled the main square and were broken up by the riot police.Fabre has deemed the results fraudulent. He said there were many activities during the election that exhibited voting irregularities.For now, Togo’s future seems to be a highly contested issue. Togo’s constitutional court has yet to approve the results of the election, and the UFC is sure to make more noise during the proceedings that will be held later this week.
(03/03/10 10:56pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As I sat at the outdooring (baby naming) ceremony, I couldn’t help but notice the intense interactions between tradition and modernity in Ghanaian society.As the pastor performed the traditional sacred rites of naming the 8-day-old baby, cell phones began to ring. During the ceremony, I counted 20 cell phones going off (including that of the parents and the pastor performing the ceremony), 12 people texting, six people leaving the room to use the phone and one getting up during the ceremony and talking loudly on their phone.Ghanaians are all about the cell phones. Everywhere you look you see ads for Tigo, MTN or Zain on billboards, T-shirts and even painted on the walls of houses in slum areas.Phones here are pay as you go, so you buy a phone for about 40 cedis (about $28) and buy a chip and some minutes. There are no contracts; you just buy a sim card for 1 cedi (70 cents) that provides you with a number and you are ready to have your friends call you.And call you they will. Nearly anytime I walk anywhere I meet new “friends” who want my phone number. I learned very quickly to say “no, I don’t have a phone” or even just “I don’t want to give you my number.” From the moment you give someone your number, he or she will flash you, call you so you have their number on record, and continue to call and text you at all hours of the day and night until you answer.Phones are an important mode of communication in Ghana. In a country without many landlines, access to speedy Internet or reliable transportation, it is difficult to get in touch with people. That is where phone companies like Tigo and MTN come in. These companies play a vital role in uniting the more than 40 different ethnic groups of Ghana and bringing a sense of modernity to traditional settings.
(02/25/10 10:31pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Living as a female in the United States, I often take for granted how equally I am treated. Sure, there is the occasional sexist remark or rude gesture, but in general men treat me like an equal.However, at the University of Ghana in Legon, men feel it’s their duty to hoot and holler at women merely for walking around campus. I hear cat calls, whistles and rude comments shouted at me from the streets and the balconies of dorms. At first, I was very put off by it, but now I am starting to ignore it completely.It is unfortunate that women and men exist in separate spheres here. Yes, women can do whatever they want in Ghana, but they will be doing it alone. Most female students on campus are fairly wealthy, while the men come from a range of economic classes. This disparity means only a small fraction of the female population have access to education.Male and female students here don’t hang out — ever. You either date someone or you are a friend in that you say “hi” to them when you see them. I often hang out with my male Ghanaian friends at their dorms and they’re very nice to me, but when I ask why I’m the only woman around them, they respond that Ghanaian girls just don’t hang out with guys. The men also tell me they don’t understand Ghanaian women and are frustrated because the women don’t want to relate to men outside a full-fledged relationship. Though men and women seem to have great bonds with their own sex, they don’t hang out with the opposite sex like college students in the United States.Women and men here also do not show affection in public. Holding hands, kissing or, god forbid, making out is strictly against the moral code. Kissing is also not shown in Ghanaian films, so many people are unfamiliar with how to show such affection.Instead, affection is saved for the bedroom. Also, many women date a man their age in addition to a sugar daddy, an older man, while men date one girl in public and many more on the side. Once people are married, the woman must always be faithful to her husband, but it is OK for the man to cheat as long as he is discreet. Overall, men and women not only operate under different spheres but also under different moral standards.It is sad that genders seem to have poor relations here. Men and women, in general, seem to be uncomfortable around each other. As someone who has always had mostly male friends, it has taken me a while to explain to Ghanaian men that women and men can and should be friends with one another. I hope the future of male and female relations will be brighter, but for now the future looks pretty bleak to me.
(02/23/10 11:15pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Major Salou Djibo, the president of the Supreme Council for Restoration of Democracy, has been named as Niger’s new leader of the military junta.“The highest authority designing and directing national policy is headed by a president who exercises the functions of the head of state and government,” the CSRD said in its decree Monday. Djibo’s new role as the leader of Niger follows the military coup lead by the CSRD on Feb. 18. Armed Nigerian soldiers entered the palace at noon and captured Niger’s President Mamadou Tandja during a government meeting. Upon entering, they began firing and shots occurred for nearly 30 minutes nonstop, followed by more shooting in less rapid intervals.The operation, though successful politically, caused at least 10 casualties. Violence broke out in the streets and people quickly evacuated the premises and fled indoors.During the coup the soldiers effectively removed Tandja from his office. He remains in their custody.Tandja was overthrown after more than 10 years of holding the office of president. He recently revised Niger’s constitution to allow him to lead the country for a longer period than previously allowed.Tandja’s term was supposed to end this past December. However, he appointed a new Constitutional Court in May to pass a constitutional referendum that would allow him three more years to rule Niger. He also changed the previous semi-presidential system practiced in Niger to a purely presidential system. This referendum was passed in August and since then Niger has faced many problems both domestically and internationally.Now, with the CSRD in power, the world will watch as Niger begins its journey toward a new era of government. Many are hopeful that this regime change will bring positive changes and economic growth to Niger.The CSRD issued an official decree to be read on the state radio to state its aims. In the decree, it said that its primary aim is “to make its contribution for the creation of a new constitution and the organization of free, honest and transparent elections.”
(02/02/10 9:53pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Egyptian Pharaohs soccer team clinched its third consecutive African Cup of Nations title in a 1-0 victory Sunday.Ghana and Egypt played a very close game in the finals match.Tension was high as the continent watched to see which nation would claim the title as its own. The game remained tied at 0-0 until Egypt scored with less than three minutes left in the game.The Africa Cup of Nations is a tournament in which teams from all around the continent compete for the title of the best team in Africa. This year, the tournament was held in Luanda, Angola.Though the Black Stars didn’t win, their place in the final match brought a lot of good to Ghana. The country is a very diverse place where, though the population appears largely homogeneous, there are many different ethnic groups and languages spoken. Watching soccer brings Ghanaians together, despite all the differences they might have with one another.Thousands of people wearing green, red and yellow apparel crowded into Osu Street to watch the game on a large projected TV screen in Accra. People filled the streets cheering, dancing and chanting for their beloved Black Stars.As I watched, I was filled with a sense of community. Everyone from all around Ghana gathered together with family, friends and strangers to watch the game.Soccer really is a big deal here. Everyone watches the games or listens to them on the radio and afterward everyone talks about the game.Prior to coming to Ghana, I was never really a sports fan, but now I love soccer. For Ghanaians, the Black Stars are far more than just a sports team – they are a symbol of national pride.
(01/28/10 12:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The civil war in Liberia might have officially ended in 2003, but for thousands of refugees, home remains very far away. In Ghana, the Liberian refugee camp at Buduburam has existed for 20 years and consists of structures that resemble a fairly standard Ghanaian village.The camp is filled with the vibrant sights and sounds of children playing soccer, a multitude of shops and people selling water sachets off their heads. If one was to pass through the camp casually, they might not even notice the subtle differences between the two places.A Liberian woman named Anne originally lived in the southeastern part of Liberia until the civil war broke up her family and forced her to move them so they could have a more stable life.As the matriarch of her family, Anne took it upon herself to move with her daughters and other family members across countries to keep them safe. The journey took more than two weeks as they would travel and stop in various places until they found a safe place in which to semi-permanently reside. Anne said some of her other family members are still living in Guinea while others have moved back into Liberia. She has been at the camp since 2003 and dreams daily of going home with her family. She plans to go back alone this summer, then work and save money until she can come back and get her children and other family members.“I just really want to be able to go back to my country,” Anne said. “Here I can’t make a living or have my own garden like I did at home.”Liberian refugees began coming to the camp in 1990, and since then the camp has made great strides in becoming a self-sufficient community. There are vendors, stores and schools, yet the people of the camp have fairly little autonomy. The camp is officially a United Nations refugee camp, but the people living there have to pay for everything on their own. Food, housing, electricity and even using the bathroom come at a cost to refugees. Most of the camp and its education, female empowerment, and other programs are funded by private donations.The Movement for the Promotion of Gender Equality in Liberia has worked hard to try to empower the community of approximately 7,000 refugees. Liberian refugee volunteers like Jeremiah have tried their best to help better their community. They fund the school bills for needy children and teach women skills like bead-making, dress-making and making bags. They also sell these products to raise money to support the community.This situation leaves many refugees wanting to return home, yet some, like 17-year-old Nathaniel, who has been at the camp since 2000, would like to stay in Ghana. He came to Ghana so long ago that he says it feels like home. Political unrest in Liberia turned his life around, and when his father died, his mother decided they needed to migrate elsewhere.Though life at the Liberian refugee camp appears physically stable, living there can be deeply draining emotionally. Anne said nearly every day Liberians from the camp begin the trek home. However, their journey is just the beginning of the rebuilding process. Returning to the stability of home might be a long process, but for some, the costs of reconnecting with their families in their native country are well worth it.
(12/14/09 3:51am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will speak to IU graduates at winter commencement about what they can accomplish through hard work and perseverance.The University will also present Gates, who earned a master’s degree from IU, with an honorary doctoral degree during the ceremony.“At commencement, oftentimes we get to bring back people who serve as an example of what people can achieve with an IU degree,” IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said.The University Faculty Council established a policy used to govern who receives the degrees, said Erika Dowell, president of the Bloomington Faculty Council.According to the policy, “by awarding honorary degrees to women and men of such outstanding qualities, the University seeks to present to its several constituencies veritable models worthy of emulation and respect.” IU President Michael McRobbie likes for students to hear from the receiver of the honorary degree, MacIntyre said. He therefore invites the recipient of the degree to give the commencement address.“The council tends to nominate distinguished individuals, which would make them appropriate commencement speakers,” Dowell said.IU history professor David Ransel nominated Gates for the honorary degree.“The conferral of an honorary doctoral degree on Robert Gates would bring great credit and positive attention to Indiana University and its highly ranked programs in the Russian and East European Institute and the Department of History,” Ransel said in his nomination letter.Senior Miles Taylor worked in the Secretary of Defense office in the European/NATO section after his freshman year at IU.He said he saw Gates in meetings and events every few weeks.“It was very clear that Gates was a very deliberate man,” Taylor said. “He is a person who engages intimately with his job on both intelligent and emotional level.”Gates has served in his current office since Dec. 18, 2006, and is the first Secretary of Defense to retain his position for two presidential administrations.Gates, originally from Kansas, received a bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary, a master’s degree from IU and a doctorate from Georgetown University.While at IU, Gates was recruited by the CIA, where he worked for 27 years. He was on the National Security Council for nine years and served presidents from both political parties, according to a biography on the U.S. Department of Defense Web site. He served as Director of Central Intelligence from 1991 to 1993 and is the only career officer in the history of the CIA to rise from entry-level employee to director, according to the biography.In 1996, he published his memoir “From the Shadows: The Ultimate Insider’s Story of Five Presidents and How They Won the Cold War.”“I have known Robert Gates for decades,” said Lee Hamilton, an IU law school alumnus and former U.S. representative from Indiana. “He is highly competent, very professional, an excellent person to work with and quite willing to look at other views.”Hamilton said he thinks Gates has performed in a highly professional and competent way in every job he has had and believes his time at IU has significantly helped him as an individual.“I was immensely pleased when they chose him,” Hamilton said. “I am sure the University will welcome him in appropriate ways, and I hope the students do as well.”
(12/14/09 2:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>From double-jointed break dancers to acrobats performing death-defying acts, “Cirque Dreams Illumination” provided a visual feast to a packed house Friday at the IU Auditorium.Sue Wheeler, a Bloomington resident, came with her friend to see the show after seeing clips of the acts on television. She said her favorite part of the show was the acrobats.“It was just so dazzling to see them do those kinds of things,” Wheeler said.Songs, dances and tricks filled the stage with mysticism and fantasy. The show was comprised of 25 short acts, that all built upon one another.The show began with Janine Ayn Romano, the reporter, singing a ballad about change. As she sang, a visual transformation began to occur within the auditorium.Acts of break dancing, acrobatics, clowns, dream sequences, a roller coaster reenactment and juggling on drums took place as the narrator guided the audience through the illumination of dreams on stage.During “The Right to Remain Silent,” the clown director pulled four members out of the audience to perform a silent film. Laughter filled the auditorium as the whistle-blowing silent clown led the audience members to create the dramatic film. The plot consisted of two lovers gallivanting until the woman’s husband comes home and shoots the other man. The woman mourns his death and kills herself.The show took a dramatic turn to a serious tone in the aerial water ballet “Drenched.” Two lovers danced together around a bathtub and in the sky.After the act, the show returned to its previous mysterious tone.The show finale, “Exhausted,” combined all of the elements of the show into a single dream segment.“The entire show, I was reminiscing,” Bloomington resident Alice Karp said. “The show reminded me a lot of the variety shows I watched growing up.”She said she and her husband attend all of the auditorium’s shows.“I think it’s great that Bloomington has access to such great entertainment,” she said.
(12/11/09 3:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Within the Renwick Development, a group of neighborhoods located in Bloomington, is the environmentally friendly house that is the setting for “The Green House Project,” a TV show that brings realistic, green building solutions to present and future houses. Bret Skipper, the executive producer of the show, spoke Thursday to the Analysis of Business Decisions class taught by John Wisneski, professor and codirector of the Kelley School of Business’s MBA Consulting Academy. The show, part of the Planet Green channel, focuses on a team of professionals who build a green house for about the same cost as a regular home. It also aims to teach homeowners about being green by making simple, inexpensive changes in their current homes.“We chose Bloomington because of the mindset of IU,” Skipper said, adding that he heard the University was open to addressing environmental challenges.However, he said now he is not sure if they made the right decision because the house is not selling.“I am not sure if the city of Bloomington is ready for the type of house we are building at the cost we are building it for,” he said.But Wisneski said his class focused on the triple bottom line: people, planet and profits. Skipper said creating the show made him more aware of all the energy he and his family were wasting and made him want to change to help the endangered state of the planet.“Two years ago, before I started this project, I lived in an energy black hole and I was skeptical,” he said.Skipper discussed in great detail the ups and downs of the project. He said there were many unforeseen issues that caused the project to cost 30 percent more than the budget and take seven months longer than the original time allotment. The show’s problems stemmed from conflicts including the builder and collapse in the financial markets.As a result, the finished house has yet to be purchased, though they have had several interested buyers.After Skipper’s talk, many of the class’s students posed questions about the business decisions he made throughout the project.Skipper said he wished he could have installed more features to brand the house as a green house. He said he thought having a green roof and solar panels on the house would help people see the green elements of the house and make it “sexy green.”“What we have done is mostly hidden,” he said. “I thought the green would sell it. We thought we were ahead of the curve, but it just hasn’t brought out anything yet.”Wisneski suggested having a buyer before building the house and allowing them to customize the house.Skipper then ended his talk by outlining what he will do differently in the future. Though he is optimistic about the future of the green movement, he said he feels the project has shown him that people aren’t ready to start shifting their consumer practices just yet.“At this moment, there isn’t enough pain for green to matter,” Skipper said.
(12/10/09 2:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The American Council of Learned Societies has awarded Professor Emeritus Henry Glassie the Charles Homer Haskins Prize for a lifetime of scholarly achievement.“For a folklorist to win the Haskins prize is just energizing for all of us,” folklore professor John McDowell said. “It’s just a tremendous accomplishment.”He said Glassie spent his career studying cultures in nearly every continent. Over the years, he has researched and written about folklore in places all over the globe including Virginia, Ireland, Turkey, Bangladesh, Japan and Nigeria.“With Glassie you see an outward spiral from his initial interest of material culture and folk architecture to the vernacular culture,” McDowell said. “He is a wonderful writer, he has a way of expressing his ideas that is graceful, yet capable.”Glassie began documenting folklore as the state folklorist of Pennsylvania. He then taught at the University of Pennsylvania before coming to IU. He served as the chairman of the folklore department at both institutions. He also has been president of the American Folklore Society and president of the Vernacular Architecture Forum. The ACLS is a nonprofit private organization composed of 70 scholarly organizations from around the country. It is considered the major representative organization of scholarship in the humanities. The award was named after the ACLS’s first chairman and is a highly prestigious honor bestowed to individuals who excel in their field of research within the humanities and social science disciplines. “This means a lot for IU because basically he is being recognized as one of the greatest scholars in his field,” folklore professor Jason Baird Jackson said. “He is the first folklorist to receive this award.”Glassie will be delivering the 2011 Haskins Prize Lecture at the ACLS’s annual meeting as part of its annual Charles Homer Haskins Prize Lecture series. “He was chosen because of his ability to work outwards from the objects people use every day to eventually see all of culture as a unified pattern,” McDowell said. “You probably won’t be able to find another scholar who has done this type of work in such a distinct way in so many different places.”
(11/20/09 5:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Every day, one out of nine Americans uses food stamps.Last year alone, 644,281 Indiana residents utilized the food stamp program.This week, as part of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, two students decided to take part in Indiana Public Interest Research Group’s Food Stamp Challenge, which began Nov. 15 and will run until Saturday. The two participants are IU senior Corrin Harvey and sophomore Alicia Cooley. Their challenge is to live on only $33 of food for one week. They are keeping a blog at inpirgfsc.blogspot.com/2009/11/food-stamp-challege.html that records their daily experiences.“We are doing it just as some people in the community did it last year,” INPIRG Campus Organizer Stephanie Gogul said. “We wanted to see how students would be able to manage with only $33 for a week’s worth of food.”She said INPIRG hopes the challenge will raise awareness of the realities of using food stamps as well as the issues of hunger and homelessness in Bloomington.Gogul said this challenge is important because hunger and homelessness are issues that affect Bloomington residents every day, and that it is an issue for the entire community to deal with. “Food stamps don’t cure anything,” Gogul said. “It is still definitely a struggle for people to live a healthy and nutritional lifestyle.”Harvey lives off campus and said that so far the challenge has not been too bad.“Thirty-three dollars is really simple if you are just feeding yourself, but if you are a single mother raising a family of three it can really be a challenge,” she said.Harvey said food stamps make healthy eating habits an issue for the Bloomington community. For Bloomington residents on food stamps, it is a daily challenge to have enough money to balance not only their food expenditures, but also plan a nutritious diet on the kind of food they can afford. She said that by being part of the challenge, she has realized what an inconvenience food stamps can be.“I have to pack a lunch every day,” Harvey said. “I have not been eating out – I think that is the key.”Often, she said she is tempted to go out and get some food with friends, but she can’t afford it. Instead, she said she must shop at cheaper stores like ALDI.Cooley said surviving on food stamps while living in the dorms has been more of a challenge for her. She said she has been shopping at the Wright C-store for all of her groceries because of convenience. She does not have a kitchen or a car and food is expensive, so it’s difficult to survive on so little.“I have been eating bread and bologna, and that’s not really healthy for me,” Cooley said. “You can’t really afford fresh fruits or vegetables.”She typically spends $15 a day on meals, so cutting back to $33 for a full week has been hard. Cooley said she always feels hungry and that each day it gets progressively harder.She said when she was younger some of her relatives were on food stamps and seemed really unhealthy, but she never knew why.“Now, I feel like I understand,” Cooley said. “You have to eat quick foods that aren’t very good for you – otherwise it is too expensive.”
(11/20/09 4:10am)
Bloomington cabinetmaker Nancy Hiller provided a brief history of
cabinets and their transformation of the kitchen space Thursday to an audience
of approximately 40 people at the Monore County History Center.
(11/18/09 5:05am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Fulbright U.S. Student Award allows IU students to travel the globe to do research, share their culture and teach English to students.This year, 14 IU graduating seniors were chosen for the Fulbright U.S. Student Award and five graduate students received the Fulbright-Hays Award. One IU student, Kyle Liston, was chosen for both but only accepted the Fulbright-Hays Award.With 19 students chosen for these prestigious awards, IU has ranked 15th nationally and has tied for third place in the Big Ten in the amount of students chosen.“In broad terms, the program is for student and faculty members to go abroad to learn about other countries’ cultures and share U.S. culture,” said Paul Fogleman, Fulbright Program adviser for the IU Bloomington campus. “It allows them to engage with the world on a substance of issues.”This year the students will be using their Fulbright Program grants to explore a wide range of countries and research topics. One student will study in the Netherlands with a renowned flutist, while another will study child obesity among New Zealand’s Pacific Islanders.The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 by Senator J. William Fulbright to increase U.S. knowledge of other cultures and promote peace and friendship. Since then, more than 294,000 people have been a part of the program and studied in more than 150 countries. Every year about 6,000 students apply and 1,500 receive awards to support their research projects or teach English in another country.The Fulbright-Hays grants awarded by the Department of Education are given for dissertation research in countries beyond the scope of Western Europe. Those awarded the Fulbright-Hays grant possess advanced language skills, knowledge of the country’s cultural history and general knowledge in their field. The Fulbright-Hays program generally receives about 500 applications and chooses 160 U.S. citizens and permanent residents to receive the award to travel abroad.The five recipients of the Fulbright-Hays grant from IU for the 2009-10 year will research countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and North Africa. The award amount varies based on country and project, but the average for this year’s recipients is $43,000.Fogleman said that he believes many IU students were chosen for this prestigious award because of the combined efforts of the Office of International Affairs and the wide variety of faculty members who provide support and knowledge of cultures from around the world.He said if students are interested in pursuing the award, they should seek out a professor whose focus is in the region they wish to study as soon as possible.Brittany Woedl, a 2009 IU graduate and recipient of the Fulbright U.S. Student Award, will be traveling to South Africa to work as an English teaching assistant.“I feel it will be beneficial for my career, and it’s something I think it will be fulfilling for me and helpful to others,” she said. “We are not super prepared, but it’s kind of like an adventure.”Woedl said though she didn’t originally plan on going to South Africa, she is very excited about participating in the program. She became interested in applying for the Fulbright Program because of an international studies class she took as a sophomore. She also studied in Tanzania and Senegal during her time at IU.“I will be giving presentations on U.S. culture and leading small study groups there,” Woedl said. “The purpose of the program is to foster international cooperation and communication.”
(11/18/09 4:56am)
The music provided by local record label, Secretly Canadian, allows people both in and out of Bloomington to experience high-quality indie music.
(11/16/09 2:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Four Iranian musicians brought the sights and sounds of the Silk Road to Bloomington.Nearly 50 people gathered Saturday in the Kelley School of Business for a two-hour concert. The musicians came to be a part of “Masters of Classical Music of Iran,” a program presented by The Silk Road Institute and Silk Road Ensemble.“The board of The Silk Road Institute is dedicated to preserving and promoting the musical heritage of the Silk Road,” said Sarah Forbey, Silk Road Ensemble and Silk Road Institute administrative director. “We offer a variety of programs, a rare instrument collection, jam sessions, and eventually we will have expeditions.”The Silk Road is the network of extensive trade routes across Asia that connected it to the rest of the world. The program’s musicians included Jalal Zolfonoon, Simal Pouian, Soheil Zolfonoon and Shahyar Daneshgar. Jalal Zolfonoon and his son, Soheil Zolfonoon, have toured Europe, Canada, Japan and the United States and have been widely acclaimed as the premier Iranian musicians of the instruments setar and tar, respectively. Pouian is a Iranian and Persian tonbak player. He is trained in classical tonbak and known throughout the world as well as currently teaching at the University of California Santa Barbara. The final musician, Central Eurasian studies professor Daneshgar, is the director of the Silk Road Ensemble and Institute.The concert began with the song “Dar in Dunya” (“I Feel Lonely in This World”) composed by Emad Rom. The musicians continued to play “Shahr Ashub,” “Dilaman,” “Navai, Navai” (“Lament”) and “Negah Yaran” (“Glances of Beauties”) without a break in their musical flow.Daneshagar then stopped to tell the audience a bit about the music and poetry they had been performing.“There is a lot of relationship between Iranian music and poetry,” Daneshagar said. “The poetry reflects the emotions we have been singing about.”He then introduced the solo section of the concert, and Soheil Zolfonoon started by playing the tar.Pouian then played a solo section on the tonbak. After his solo improvisation, Pouian received a standing ovation from an enthusiastic crowd.The final song before intermission was Soheil Zolfonoon’s composition “Dar in Khaneh Begardid” (“The Beloved is Among Ourselves”).“The song says you don’t have to look around for love – it’s here,” Daneshgar said.The concert continued with “Ey Sareban” (“Caravan Leader”), “Tammannay-e Vesal” (“In Search of Union”), “Sari Gelin” (“My Fair Bride”), “Shekayat-e Del” (“Complaints of a Lover”) and “Dolet-e Eshgh” (“Passionate Love”).Daneshgar said the final two songs were musical compositions to the words of Rumi poems.After the final song, the crowd cheered for an encore improvisation performance.The concert ended dynamically with a tour-de-force presentation of the musicians displaying their skills with call-and-response and improvisation. The audience seemed utterly entranced by the sights and sounds of the performers.Graduate student Meg White said she really enjoyed the musicians’ use of improvisation and the knowledge of Iranian music and poetry that they shared with the audience.“I thought it was all just really great,” White said.
(11/16/09 2:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The sights and sounds of “Coal Country” filled the Buskirk-Chumley Theater on Sunday.A packed crowd of environmental activists, musicians and Bloomington community members gathered to watch the documentary “Coal Country” and hear musicians from the movie’s soundtrack play music about the travesties that face the people who live near the Appalachian mountains.“What we have in this room is very powerful,” said Andy Mahler, Heartwood’s Network Support Coordinator and coproducer of the “Coal Country Music” companion CD. “We are going to stop mountaintop removal in the next 12 months.”Every day many Americans living in the Appalachian mountain range are forced to face the destruction of their surroundings and health because of mountaintop coal mining.“In West Virginia alone, they use three million pounds of explosives a day. They use more explosives every week than what we used at Hiroshima.” Mahler said before the event. “If someone else was doing it to us, we would consider it an act of war. It is not just business as usual.” Mahler said mountaintop coal mining is a serious problem that affects all Americans.For this reason, executive producer Mari-Lynn Evans and director Phylis Geller sought to make a film that examined the realities of the modern coal-mining industry in the Appalachian mountain range region of West Virginia, eastern Tennessee and Kentucky. “Coal Country” is meant to be a balanced film that presents perspectives from both the coal companies and the activists who fight for the end of mountaintop removal.Bloomington City Council representative Isabel Piedmont spoke on behalf of Mayor Mark Kruzan before the music and film began.“We are very proud to have this event in Bloomington,” Piedmont said.She also said mountaintop coal removal is a serious problem. She said that by 2010, projections show that 1.9 million acres, the size of Delaware, will be gone.After Piedmont’s brief speech, other community members spoke about preserving the environment in Bloomington.Four musicians then performed songs about life in coal country. Nashville singer Diana Jones was warmly greeted by the audience for both her initial performance as well as her duet with Jason Wilber, the coproducer of the “Coal Country Music” CD, for a cover of John Prine’s “Paradise.”“I hope it will make you feel like taking action,” Wilber said.The film began with the image of coal miners walking out of a coal mine, and from there the filmmakers took viewers on a journey through mountaintop coal removal in the Appalachian mountains.The film discussed the wide array of issues exist in the industry. Many of the people interviewed in the documentary discussed the issues that arise with attempting to have a job while preserving their community and health.“Sometimes you need to shock people to make a change,” said Judy Bonds, codirector for Coal River Mountain Watch and resident of Coal River Valley in West Virginia in the film. “I think America has forgotten the Appalachians.”