42 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(03/19/02 4:17am)
After 20 years, Pacifica Network News, a progressive national news program, stopped broadcasting in February, citing financial problems. The Bloomington Independent, a local alternative newspaper, remains on hiatus since it stopped producing in January, also for financial reasons.\nLoss of both the Independent and PNN hamper robust local and national debates over many important issues. Locally, Bloomington's Growth Policies Plan, which will determine the path development takes in Bloomington over the next 10 years, and local elections are just a couple of issues not receiving as much debate as they would in the Independent. PNN's last broadcast, for example, provided a progressive viewpoint on issues ranging from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to campaign finance and the trial of Slobodan Milosevic.
(03/01/02 4:35am)
IU is in a unique position among colleges and universities. IU President Myles Brand announced 13 months ago a plan called "Academics First" that would place new emphasis on making education the focus of IU and other schools across the country. The plan is a reasonable solution to a fundamental problem at institutions of higher education -- that athletics often overshadows academics. \nRecent proposals among several athletic conferences, including the Big Ten, have sought to enact several reforms to make student-athletes students first and athletes second. These Academics First initiatives are not the end of athletics, as some critics claim, but reasonable steps toward achieving the mission of academic institutions.\nAmong the proposals are the following:\n• Athletics schedules should be set around class schedules, with fewer games when students should be in class.\n• Fewer commercial endorsements and advertisements on television is a welcome change that would reduce the number of time-outs during games.\n• Athletics departments should be held to the same accounting and budgetary standards as any other university department.\n• Scholarships should not be revoked for poor athletic performance but instead only for poor academic performance.\nIU presents a wide array of opportunities for intercollegiate and intramural athletics, but a school of 90,670 students -- 35,474 at IUB -- also has a myriad of arts and entertainment events. \nA university's academic mission should come first.
(02/27/02 5:06am)
The Bush Administration's pullout from the international community last year, temporarily suspended by the events of Sept. 11, should be scrapped permanently by a commitment to international security and cooperation. \nCommitment to Humanitarian Missions\nMissing from the Bush team's list of objectives is our commitment to humanitarian and peacekeeping missions. That's because the Bush Administration continues to deny that the richest country in the world has a responsibility to render assistance in other parts of the world where it could save countless lives and prevent millions from needless suffering.\nLike it or not, the United States has a role to play in the international community in nation building, humanitarian and peacekeeping missions. And that commitment should not be undermined, as many in the Bush Administration seek to do. \nOddly enough, the United States. just "built" a new Afghan nation and instituted a government in it and peacekeepers might be deployed in Afghanistan by the same president who railed against peacekeepers during the 2000 election and before Sept. 11. On the humanitarian side, who would have thought that the United States would have even provided the pittance of food it has?\nSuccess Story: Kosovo\nKosovo is a recent example of how effective our involvement -- alongside our allies -- can be in humanitarian missions. Several weeks of NATO bombing forced former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to yield, withdrawing his repressive military and police forces from the southern province populated mainly with ethnic Albanians. International monitors and journalists confirmed what human rights activists had feared in Kosovo: Several thousand ethnic Albanians murdered, thousands more reportedly raped and hundreds of thousands of Kosovar refugees overflowing into and destabilizing neighboring countries -- all at the hands of Serbian forces under Milosevic's command.\nMr. Milosevic is now being held under indictment before a war crimes tribunal, and a democratically elected government is seated in Yugoslavia.\nThat's what our nation's presence in humanitarian missions can do. \nLost Opportunity: Rwanda and Burundi\nIt's what we should have done in Rwanda and Burundi several years ago, when the carnage was hundreds of times worse. It was Western influence during colonial domination over Africa that ethnic Tutsis, a small minority of the population, used to solidify their grip over the much more numerous ethnic Hutus. Tutsi control over the dirt-poor Hutu peoples went unquestioned for many years, until in Rwanda the Hutu population had had enough of their wealthy Tutsi rulers. In 1994, ethnic cleansing became a stark reality in the central African state. The goal was simple: To kill every Tutsi. Milosevic sought only to expel ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, with many being raped and murdered in the process. Hutu leaders sought to rid Rwanda of their rivals by seeing to it that they were all dead. \n America stood by and watched millions of people on both sides of the African conflict be slaughtered. The richest country in the world and its Western allies did nothing. \n Is it because people in central Africa are inherently of less worth to us than people with white skin in Eastern Europe? Is it because a destabilized African makes little economic impact on Western markets? Is it because the thought of American soldiers being sent to Africa after the Somalia fiasco is too politically risky for an American president? Are millions of African lives not worth one American's?\nOr is it because we just don't care? \nAs we continue in our debate over the course of American defense, we should remember our responsibility to the rest of the world. We can afford to render aid in many instances. And we should give careful consideration to doing just that as events arise that may require Western humanitarian assistance.
(02/25/02 3:59am)
The Graduate and Professional Student Organization won an unfortunate victory last week that could mean less voice for students at IU. GPSO's new constitution, which must still be ratified by departments, takes graduate and professional students out of the IU Student Association's jurisdiction, giving it to GPSO. \nOf the 11 seats in the IUSA Congress allotted specifically to graduate students, none are filled. Up to 18 more off-campus Senate seats could go to graduate students -- if they ran and won off-campus races. Additionally, at least one department in IUSA must be run by a graduate student, and all other departments may be run by graduate or professional students just as easily as undergraduates. \nJust a few years ago, many of the most vocal and involved members of Congress were graduate and professional students, including during the debate over the mandatory bus pass.\nThe move to split seems to be made by just a few leaders in GPSO -- there is no evident overwhelming call for separation among graduate and professional students. IUSA could represent these students' concerns, but seats remain vacant -- and their voice goes unheard. \nWith two main student government organizations, one for undergraduates and one for graduate and professional students, the voice students have before the IU administration is weakened.\nIUSA should continue to represent all students -- not just undergraduates. With this week's elections comes a chance for graduate and professional students to, once again, get involved in their student government.
(02/05/02 6:04am)
Long gone are the days when big, intrusive government was a conservative's whipping boy. Welcome to Bush II, with concurrent deficit spending and tax cuts.\n"My budget includes the largest increase in defense spending in two decades…because while the price of freedom and security is high, it is never too high," President George W. Bush said last Tuesday in his State of the Union address. "Whatever it costs to defend our country, we will pay." \nIn real dollars, it's costing taxpayers over $1 billion a month -- that's over $30 million a day. While that amount may be necessary, the path Bush proposes to take on our federal budget and national economy will make our national debt larger and will do little to move our economy out of this recession. In addition to the vast sums spent on the war effort, Bush proposes to double the amount spent on homeland security efforts. \nThe so-called "economic stimulus package" will make permanent the temporary tax reductions passed last year. After his last stimulus package, we're still stuck in a recession that means those of us graduating anytime soon will be hard-pressed to find suitable employment. Graduate schools have benefitted, however, with greatly increased applications. Those applications come from those recent graduates who can't find the jobs Bush said were at the heart of his domestic economic plan. \nWhile saying his first priority is to "protect security," Bush's three key areas in the speech were the war on terrorism, homeland security and the economy. \nIn a 180 degree turnaround referring to international intervention, he said "the price of indifference would be catastrophic." Sadly, it took the events of Sept. 11 for Bush to recognize the importance of international diplomacy and coalition building. Just before Sept. 11, he was systematically alienating the United States from the international community. He pulled us out of the Kyoto Protocol, an international environmental treaty, and the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty. Bush had begun building a wall around America -- that is, until we needed the help of other counties in our war on terrorism.\nAlmost the entire first half of Bush's address was filled with negative rhetoric, seemingly designed to scare Americans into supporting his plan. Peril, dangerous regimes, destructive weapons, bioterrorism and deadly diseases were just a few of the many frightening terms littering his speech. It appeared that without giving in to all of his particular plans to fight terrorism, we would lose our sense of security. \n Call me un-American, but cutting taxes and increasing spending dramatically at the same time is not good fiscal policy -- especially when it comes from the same folks who cut vital spending in areas important to the poorest members of American society. Bush noted welfare reform, too, saying he wanted to "reduce dependency on government" and give every American "the dignity of a job." \nIt's great rhetoric, but not everyone can have a job, especially with the economic recession we're living through right now. We must spend more now than in previous years on welfare programs, including job training and education, while they are so desperately needed by so many Americans.\nWhile national security is rightly Bush's top priority, one might question many of the details of his plans while not questioning the idea of achieving that aim of security at all. Let's not allow our sense of patriotism to carry us away with the Bush Express train. Our tracks should should be laid in the direction of responsible international diplomacy, coalition building and domestic economic prosperity.
(02/05/02 4:14am)
NEW YORK -- After two days of quiet, thousands of protesters emerged Feb. 2 to demonstrate against the World Economic Forum in New York City. Marchers who had gathered in Central Park around noon began a procession of puppets and signs that ended within the shadows of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, where the forum was held.\nOver 1,000 police officers from nearly a dozen local, state and federal agencies filled the streets -- on foot, motorcycles, horseback and in cars, vans and buses -- ready to act if protesters got out of line. \nMost of those gathered seemed to have one common idea -- globalization wrong. Some carried signs against capitalism, others found different means to get their message across. One middle aged man began dancing.\n"This is the tango from Argentina. This is the dance of the poor," he told listeners. "The WEF, right down this street, has bankrupt our country. That's why we're protesting."\nOrganizers began the march by leading marchers in song.\n"Rise up, keep the spirit alive. Come together, keep the movement alive."\nTwo dozen large puppets depicting corporate leaders and politicians led the parade, followed by thousands more protesters, some parts of groups like the Queens Green Party.\nChants, like "earth first, profits last," filled the several blocks marchers took to the hotel. "There will be nothing left, thanks to the WEF," could also be heard.\nAt one point, nine people dressed as Lady Liberty, ran to the front of the march, stopping it temporarily, to sing their own version of "New York, New York."\nThey sang for "peace and justice," to the music of the song. "If they can whip us here, they'll whip us anywhere. It's up to you, New York, New York."\n Along the parade route, police had erected barricades that participants had to remain behind or be arrested. The tactic kept some lanes of traffic open during the march, but other motorists had to wait for a half hour or more until marchers had moved past their intersections.\n Occasionally, organizers would stop the march -- already slower than the exodus at a packed sporting event -- to discuss options among themselves, prompting the police to demand they either keep moving or disperse.\n "Either you move, or it's over," the New York City police commander leading the march said.\nA square box of more than 60 New York City police officers led the march, with officers almost shoulder to shoulder along the route up against buildings on one side and in the street on the other. \n"People were more afraid -- it was such a show of force. And now that there has been conflict at several of these types of events. I think police have a lot more leeway to use that force," one activist, Alabama Evers, 19, told The Associated Press. \nAnother protester said Sept. 11 had changed the relationship between police and demonstrator.\n"After Sept. 11, I think people are seeing cops in a different light," Robert Wing, 19, told the AP.\nProtesters represented various causes, including animal rights, environmental protection, fair trade, and many others. Many chanted that they wanted to "shut down the WEF."\n"Save whatever's left," they said. "Get rid of the WEF."\nKabir Karim, a New Yorker originally from Peterborough, England, was holding a sign reading "Free Palestinians." He said the world leaders must act, both politically and economically, to end the crisis in the occupied territories.\n"The start of it is political, then economic, because, Palestine, let's face it, is just one big refugee camp," he said. "People there are desperate, which is why they are spearheading Hamas and Hezbola. They've got no choice."\nOnce the front of the march had reached the end point, police stood ready with temporary barricades, blocking in protesters, journalists and photographers alike. The area around the Waldorf -- about three to four blocks in each direction -- was off-limits to anyone without proper identification who wanted in.\nPolice arrested 38 protesters Saturday. Sunday, however, saw increased tension between police and protesters, 159 of whom were arrested by the evening, according to the AP.
(11/14/01 3:56am)
Young children return home in Sierra Leone after a 10-year civil war, many scarred physically and mentally. They witnessed war first-hand. They were soldiers.\nAccording to an article in The Christian Science Monitor, thousands upon thousands of young children are kidnapped and forced to fight in civil and regional wars. An estimated 5,000 children were forced into service by Sierra Leone's rebel armies. In war, the child soldiers were forced to carry out amputations in their own communities. As they return home to their former neighborhoods, some encounter understandable rejection and apprehension. \n"These children are terrified that they will be rejected when they return home," Maurice Ellie, a child demobilization officer at the non-governmental organization Caritas, told The Christian Science Monitor. "We tell them there can be forgiveness." \nBut many of these former soldiers carry the physical scars of brutal civil war: the initials "RUF," for Revolutionary United Front, carved into their skin using razors, broken glass and knives in an effort to prevent their escape from rebel camps. \nSeveral NGOs and the United Nations are working to reintroduce these children to their communities, even with the help of a plastic surgeon who was brought in to remove the brandings.\nBut Sierra Leone is just one of more than a dozen African nations saddled with such problems. \nIn Burundi, around 250-300 male students, aged 16 to 21, were abducted from their school by Hutu rebels Nov. 9, in addition to more than 50 children, aged 10 to 16, and some teachers taken Nov. 6, according to BBC reports.\nIt is believed they will either be trained as rebel soldiers, or simply be used as human shields.\nAlthough a new coalition government was instituted two weeks ago after an agreement brokered by former South African president Nelson Mandela, two rebel groups didn't sign-on and continue fighting the war that began in 1993. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed during the eight-year war.\nIn Sudan, about 10,000 children under 18 are among the ranks of the Southern People's Liberation Army, now in its 18th year of battling against the country's Islamic government. \n"Some of the more despicable warlords, like Liberia's President Charles Taylor, Foday Sankoh of Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front, and Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, have routinely kidnapped children of all ages and turned the boys into killing machines," former U.S. ambassador Dennis Jett writes in The Monitor. "Part of Mr. Taylor's forces, for instance, was known as the Small Boys Unit."\nThe West has a hand to play in African affairs -- and, more importantly, a responsibility to bear, for the atrocities we allow to continue without some intervention. The African people didn't set up the old colonial system themselves. We forced it upon them. What comes in its aftermath is partly the responsibility of former colonial powers.\nFormer President Bill Clinton signed a U.N. treaty in May 2000 that bans the use of children under 18 in armed conflict. The Senate should ratify it. \nThere are a couple objections to U.S. ratification. First, our own military permits 17-year-olds to join with parental consent. But the treaty only prohibits their involvement in armed conflict, not training or use in non-combat activities. Second, conservatives who generally oppose our involvement in U.N. treaties anyway object that this one takes away parents' rights over their children. \nAn estimated 300,000 children under age 18 are fighting in armed conflicts worldwide. \nThe use of child soldiers is abhorrent. The United States cannot sit-back and let it continue so freely and pervasively.
(10/29/01 4:01am)
Western news agencies have failed miserably to report on the 2-year-old war between Russian soldiers and Chechen rebels, mainly because Western journalists are not permitted to witness the struggle for themselves unless on a tour put together by the Russian military. Foreign journalists who do evade authorities through numerous checkpoints in and around Chechnya must still avoid being taken hostage by cash-strapped Chechen guerrillas. \nBesides the lack of accurate information flowing from Chechnya, a province of the Russian Federation dominated by the Caucasus Mountains, few Westerners seem to care about a war between the Russian military and Islamic separatists, whom Russian authorities have called "terrorists" since fighting began. \nBut French journalist Anne Nivat, the Moscow correspondent for the French daily Liberation, wanted to witness the conflict firsthand, bringing accurate reports to her French newspaper and now to readers of her new book, "Chienne de Guerre: A Woman Reporter Behind the Lines of the War in Chechnya" (Public Affairs, 2001, $25). \nRecent fighting in Chechnya began after bomb attacks in Dagestan, another Russian province north and east of Chechnya, in August 1999. Russian authorities, led by then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was at the time a presidential candidate to succeed Boris Yeltsin, declared Chechen "terrorists" responsible for the Dagestan attacks and launched a second war. Chechens hadn't even begun rebuilding from the first war, which ended in 1996.\nNivat's account of the conflict's impact on people's lives is gripping. She takes readers into the war-torn region and into the lives of Chechen civilians and soldiers. \nRefugees are omnipresent in war. Nivat writes of "refugees moving from village to village." \nThe neighboring province of Ingushetia is full of refugees, some living 15-20 per room.\nNivat writes, "'They go from house to house. People sometimes take them in if they have children with them,' a woman tells me. \n"'They also sleep and cook in abandoned cars,' another woman adds."\nGrozny, Chechnya's capital city, lay in ruins, Nivat writes. "Windowless, gutted buildings are everywhere.There are hardly any stores, electricity is rare, there is no hot water and telephone communication was cut off five years ago." \nNivat's most cherished ally throughout her time in Chechnya was her satellite telephone, which she strapped to her chest under her clothes and then used to dictate reports to her newspaper's office. \nThe war in Chechnya continues to this day. Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov, elected in 1997 and whom some rebels believe is Russia's biggest ally in the region, last week proposed opening talks with the Russians. Terms of an agreement would include disarming the rebels and ending Russia's military campaign. But Putin's chief aid on Chechnya, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, said, "Those who are hiding in mountains and forests are not in power in Chechnya," according to the Interfax news agency. \nBoth sides seem entrenched and unwilling to yield. Putin's presidency was won, some say, on attacking the Chechen "terrorists" during his presidential campaign. The Islamic rebels want nothing to do with Maskhadov's negotiations; there is no acceptable peace other than independence to them.\nOne Chechen rebel leader told Nivat that, "Our only goal is to be allowed to live according to our own laws, the laws of the charia. As long as this is denied us, we'll continue to fight. Politics play no part in this. We're waging a war of religion."\nNivat's book is well-written and hard to put down once one has started it. I was halfway through when the coffee shop where I started reading it closed, forcing me to suspend long enough to change venue. Nivat's journalism is what journalism should be about. Working hard to get the story…and to get it right.\nThe French version of "Chienne de Guerre" was awarded the Albert Londres prize. It was translated into English by Susan Darnton. Nivat's reporting has led to anti-war demonstrations in Paris.
(10/23/01 5:48am)
Labor and environmental groups held a press conference Monday morning across from the General Electric plant to urge Rep. Baron Hill (D-9th) to vote against proposed fast track legislation, which would give more authority to presidents to negotiate trade agreements. \nA coalition of mostly labor and environmental organizations twice defeated fast track legislation during the Clinton administration. This week, they are launching television advertisements and a letter writing campaign to convince Hill and other undecided members of Congress to vote against H.R. 3005, the "Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act."\nKen Zeller, president of the Indiana American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations, said despite the tragedy of the Sept. 11 attacks some are are pushing a controversial fast track bill.\nOpponents say fast track trading authority lacks adequate worker and environmental protections because it opens the door for trade agreements made without input from Congress until its hands are tied after the negotiations. \n"Congress speaks for the people," Zeller said. "To take their voice away takes our voice away."\nJeff Vincent of Jobs with Justice said workers should be a part of the decision.\n"We have labor standards in this country that took years to get adopted," he said.\nAmerican labor organizations believe countries with the worst human rights, labor and environmental records will have an unfair advantage when negotiating for a new factory, at which companies can mistreat workers and pay them much less than American workers require.\n"Multinational corporations have no loyalty to their country," Robert Pedersen of the Indiana Alliance for Democracy said. "They seek absolute advantage of which nations have the worst human rights record and are the most tyrannical." \nOpponents of the legislation say they believe fair economic trade, with adequate worker and environmental standards, is essential. But they reject attempts to pass legislation granting the president almost sole authority over the details of trade agreements. \n"Under fast track, congress could only vote up or down on a trade agreement negotiated by the president," Zeller said. "It doesn\'t have protections for workers and the environment."\nPresident George W. Bush and fast track proponents want to expand the North American Free Trade Agreement to 31 additional countries. \nOrganized labor continues to oppose NAFTA, which they say has cost American workers 700,000 manufacturing jobs, including 31,000 in Indiana in its seven year existence. \nMonday\'s letter to Hill, which is signed by 15 labor, farm, environmental and religious groups in Indiana, says, "We have seen over 700,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs lost to NAFTA while $5 a day\nMexican workers toil in these relocated factories, a soaring new NAFTA trade deficit, collapsing farm income in all three NAFTA countries, and a series of food safety and environmental problems,"\nSince Fast Track expired in 1994, the U.S. has negotiated hundreds of trade agreements.\n"If we\'re going to have a trade bill, it must have safeguards for workers and the environment," Joshua Martin of the American Lands Alliance said. "What we\'re trying to promote is fair trade."\nOpponents urged the public to contact members of Congress this week to express concerns on the Fast Track bill.\n"We cannot simply lay down and let these things go on," said Bill Hayden of the Sierra Club. "We want to urge Congressman Hill to think twice about this and not to make the same mistake of some of his predecessors in voting for WTO"
(10/18/01 5:43am)
The City of Bloomington and local emergency agencies are prepared to handle potential anthrax threats, Bloomington Mayor John Fernandez said Wednesday in a press conference at City Hall.\nLocal police, fire and utilities departments are on a heightened state of alert because of recent reports of potential anthrax contamination, city officials said. \nPolice and fire units are ready to handle future calls for substances people fear might be anthrax. The utilities department, which processes campus and city water, has doubled its daily water quality inspections to 40, utilities officials said. \n"We have been prepared for many years," Fernandez said of such situations. "We're positioned very well to deal with emergency situations." \nBut Fernandez cautioned citizens not to report substances that could reasonably be determined not to be anthrax, which means a full-blown response by emergency workers at considerable expense. \n"Let's not go overboard," Fernandez said. "We can't let fear and uncertainty turn into panic."\nBloomington Police Chief Michael Hostetler echoed Fernandez's comments. \n"We want the public to be concerned," Hostetler said. \nBut Hostetler said that white powder in a laundromat, for example, is not necessarily a hazardous material that needs to be reported to police.\nThere have been eight calls to police in the area regarding anthrax since Monday, but none of the substances found has tested positive so far. Of the three reports that were responded to by the local police and fire, one was at Planned Parenthood, 421 S. College Ave., and two were on campus. \nResults from Planned Parenthood were negative, but results are not yet available for the two campus incidents. There were no calls on Wednesday to local authorities regarding anthrax threats.\nBloomington Fire Chief Jeff Barlow, whose department plays a supporting role with law enforcement when responding to hazardous materials calls, said agencies came together as one team during the three incidents.\n"Agencies worked well together and made sure we didn't have individual efforts," Barlow said. "Coordination was very good."\nBarlow said Monday and Tuesday were examples of how things are supposed to work, based on years of emergency response readiness. \n"Plans are in place and plans do work," he said.\nHostetler said that a thorough criminal investigation is now being conducted and that his department is consulting with other law enforcement agencies throughout the state and the FBI. \n"Prosecutors will work closely with us and any charges that can be brought will be," he said.\nBloomington Hospital and Healthcare System's infectious control office released an informational pamphlet on anthrax Wednesday afternoon, outlining how people should handle anthrax threats or suspicious packages.\nJonna Risher, community relations coordinator for the hospital, also stressed that needlessly reporting powders that aren't likely to be anthrax is a financial burden on those called to respond, clean up and test the substance and anyone who came into contact with it.
(10/18/01 4:00am)
Red, yellow, orange and brown.\nThe warm colors of autumn are upon us, and so are a plethora of fall outdoor activities. Scenic Southern Indiana offers many beautiful forests, lakes and recreation areas; all waiting for you to enjoy.\nFor an adventurous student, there are state and national forests for hiking and backpacking, rock climbing, hang gliding, caving and mountain biking. IU Outdoor Adventures activities desk manager Jamie Luce says its most popular activities include rock climbing, skydiving and whitewater rafting. While trips through IU Outdoor Adventures, located on the first floor of the Indiana Memorial Union, generally cost between $70 and $150 for a weekend. Luce says these activities are a great way to meet people who share similar interests. \n"You get to see some new people," says Luce, who spent last weekend backpacking in Big South Fork National Park in Kentucky with a group of eight people from IU. "Getting out of Bloomington is really nice."\nSuch trips provide participants with the chance to learn leadership skills, get away from campus life and enjoy the season's beautiful color and lack of bugs. Luce says it's a great time to be outdoors with another person. \n"It's romantic," she says. "And you can snuggle up with someone by the campfire."\nAll within a short drive, Yellowood Lake (in Brown County between Bloomington and Nashville), Morgan-Monroe State Forest (about 12 miles north of Bloomington on Old State Road 37), Lake Lemon (seven miles northeast of campus on State Road 45, then three miles on Tunnel Road), Brown County State Park (also in Brown County between Bloomington and Nashville) and other parks are a 15- to 20-minute drive from campus. \nSouthern Indiana is hilly and unglaciated, making for scenic, beautiful views at area parks. \nAt 1,050 feet, Weedpatch Hill in Brown County State Park is this area's highest point. \nStacy Mathies, an interpretive naturalist at Brown County State Park with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, says the park sees an increase in visitors in October each year because of the fall colors and weather. \n"More visitors come here in the fall for the overlooks," Mathies says.\nVisitors also enjoy 12 to 15 miles of trails in the park, ranging from a short, accessible trail to a three-mile trail, Mathies says. Also available are naturalist activities and interpretive talks at the park's Nature Center, which has a number of displays, a bird observation room and an active bee hive. \nFees for the park, which sees almost 2 million visitors each year, are $3 for in-state and $5 for out-of-state vehicles. The Nature Center is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. \nPerhaps the most overlooked scenic spot is the IU campus itself. Another picturesque area is the near-campus region, particularly the area bordered on the north by Seventh Street, south by Third Street, west by Indiana Avenue and east by Jordan Avenue. Beech, maple and tulip poplar are among the native trees along the many paths and trails through campus. \nMany consider the sugar maple tree on the west side of Goodbody Hall to be the campus' most spectacular fall foliage.\nSenior Laura Murray doesn't need a car to enjoy the Bloomington outdoors. In the past, she has ran from her dorm room to Griffy Lake to take the trails there. \n"I enjoy running in the fall," Murray says. "It's much cooler and the leaves are turning, so it's more colorful."\nSenior Rachel Atz also spends time at Griffy.\n"I go to Griffy, to the dam and Sycamore Valley," Atz says.\nBut her favorite park this time of year is McCormick's Creek. \n"It's the best place to go for hiking in a group, because of the wide trails," she says. "And the cave is interesting.\n"It's good to get some fresh air and solitude sometimes," Atz continues. "A lot of students aren't from around Bloomington, so it's important to take this opportunity to learn about and enjoy other landscapes."\nMonroe County itself has several lakes that offer trails for hiking, backpacking and, when not too cold, swimming. Besides Lake Griffy, south of Bloomington is Lake Monroe, which is surrounded by Hoosier National Forest; northeast is Lake Lemon. All three have served as sources of water for Bloomington.\nSophomore Leigh Frame also says being outdoors is relaxing and a good way to get away from campus life.\n"It's healthy to get outside of your immediate home," Frame says. "It helps you learn where things are and get a better view of where you're living."\nFrames says there are many places in Bloomington and Brown County, for example, just waiting for students to take advantage of.\nThe Convention and Visitors Bureau, 2855 N. Walnut, has more information for those who want to learn about outdoor activities in the area. "Nature Walks in Southern Indiana" by Alan McPherson (Sierra Club, $15.95) covers nearly every hiking trail, park and recreation area available. IU Outdoor Adventures may be reached at 855-2231.
(10/16/01 4:49am)
The Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández put on a fun, lively and upbeat performance of Mexican culture and history Thursday evening for a nearly full IU Auditorium.\nAudience members were incessant with their applause, never waiting for scene changes to interject their clapping, many times clapping to the beat of the mariachi band that was present during the show. \nThe Ballet Folklórico is a reflection of the many souls and spirits that make up Mexico and a celebration of life in movement, music and color. Scenes include pre-Hispanic rituals, events in Mexico\'s history and depictions of Mexico's culture and folklore.\nIt's rare that audiences at the ballet are so involved in a performance. The costumes were extravagant, full of the color and vigor that graced the entire performance. The traditionally dressed Mexican women's flowing, bright dresses fit the mood of the music and it seemed at times their dresses were a sea of color around them as they danced.\nSince the ballet was unconventional, it cannot be judged as though it were a "normal" ballet. There was not one overriding theme, except the experience of Mexican culture and history. Each scene stood alone with its own topic, including native Indian hunting, the role of women in the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and cultural events that fuse Mexico's pre-Spanish history with its European influences. The lavish, attractive costumes of each scene added an upbeat feel.\nA little more work could be done on the togetherness that challenged the dancers, with some bringing their arms or legs or guns down ever so slightly -- just noticeably off from the others.\nThe crowd enjoyed the performance so much that a standing ovation came without hesitation. Perhaps the only other change that could make the Ballet Folklórico de México even more enjoyable would be to add a place for the audience members to dance -- something many obviously wanted to do.
(10/15/01 3:50am)
In a time of economic downturn, when state and federal government budgets get tight, the first cuts in spending often come in social welfare programs, which amount to only about 4 percent of federal spending. \nEven in more prosperous economic times, however, programs like food stamps, housing assistance and especially cash payments provided by the government to low-income families through Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, come under attack from conservative groups, according to Michael B. Katz.\nKatz's new book, "The Price of Citizenship: Redefining the American Welfare State," argues that more and more poor Americans are being left behind by a system unable to help them, even temporarily, during such tough financial times. \nHe writes that much of American welfare reform, enacted in the aftermath of the Republican's congressional victories in 1994 as part of the "Contract With America," is propelling society toward "a future of increased inequality and decreased security as individuals compete for success in an open market with ever fewer protections against misfortune, power, and greed." The full rights of citizenship, Katz says, are transformed from a right of birth to one of privilege for those who are fully employed.\nWith passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act of 1996, Congress and President Bill Clinton "together had ended the nation's 61-year-old federal guarantee of cash assistance," Katz writes, "and the public supported them." The bill shifted focus from lifting families from poverty to making sure parents were employed -- in any job they could find, regardless of whether it included health care benefits, time off for family emergencies, or even a livable wage to support a family. Welfare was now temporary, with time limits for various programs from two to five years.\n"The new law oriented public assistance around the transition to work," Katz writes. And, measured solely in terms of the number of former welfare recipients who moved into at least some sort of job, the reforms were a success -- even though moving recipients into jobs was "expensive and difficult." But measured in terms of actually reducing poverty among former recipients and improving their economic situation, another picture emerges.\n"Finding a job did not end the problems of many former welfare recipients. Their wages were usually low and job loss frequent," Katz writes. "As a result, many of those who left welfare rolls remained in poverty."\nOne factor that can be a measurement of whether the new system is better for society is the plight of the children in these families. Before 1996, most mothers remained at home with their children and were able to care for and spend time with them daily; now those same mothers are at work for the better part of the day. That means putting children in expensive day-care centers or, if possible, with friends or family. Welfare reform does not regard housework and childcare as "work." Work, to welfare reformers, is only that which is done for monetary gain. \nClearly, much more research continues to emerge as the effects of welfare reform are debated. Public policy is ever-changing. Katz's book shows the reader just what effect it has on poor families and what might be done to alleviate some of the harshest effects. \n"The Price of Citizenship" is a well-researched and reasoned book on the plight of America's poor families in the wake of welfare reform. So well-researched, in fact, that pages 361 to 450 are devoted to notes in small font. \nKatz's book is a needed addition to the debate on the effectiveness of the 1996 reform law. It brings a decidedly liberal perspective to the discussion. Much as Charles Murray's 1984 book "Losing Ground: American Social Policy, 1950-1980" was the defining work on social programs for conservative reformers in the last two decades, perhaps Katz's book will serve the same purpose for liberals who feel more must be done to help the struggling poor and unemployed.
(08/02/01 1:36am)
After several months without a news editor, the Bloomington Independent has appointed graduate student Liz Robertson to fill that void. \nIn her new role, Robertson has been given the responsibility to revamp the paper's news section.\nThe Independent's managing editor, Cynthia Wolfe, said Robertson is trying to redesign the section with news briefs and longer pieces to meet the paper's editorial mission -- to present the news from "a different perspective and in a more in-depth and complex way."\nWolfe said she had anticipated letting Robertson spend some time meeting community leaders and getting acquainted with local government in Monroe County, but events played out otherwise. \nWhen the Brown's Woods development on Bloomington's west side was given final approval and tree-sitters were forced out of their perches by local sheriff's deputies and state police, Robertson jumped in.\n"We had intended for her to have a smooth transition, but that didn't happen," Wolfe said. "In the middle of working on another project and trying to introduce herself to the community -- she got her trial by fire."\nNow that things have calmed down some, Robertson is back at her original task of reworking the news section. \nRobertson graduated with a bachelor's of the arts in communications, with a concentration in journalism, from Westminster College of Salt Lake City. She recently received a master's degree from IU. While in Utah she worked for the Salt Lake City Tribune, first as a newsroom assistant, then as a business reporter. \nRobertson is a now doctoral student in linguistics, for which she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study in Helsinki, Finland.\nThe Independent is Robertson's first stint with an alternative newspaper, but she said when she wrote for the Tribune that she "always looked for an angle to shock the sensibilities of the conservative readers in Salt Lake City."\n"This is so exciting," Robertson said. "I've always been interested in the alternative press." \nAs news editor, Robertson feels she has the chance to get to know Bloomington better. \n"It's a reason for me to really invest in the community and get to know it in a more intimate fashion," she said.\nRobertson has big shoes to fill. She replaces the widely popular and lauded Lisa Sorg, who left early this year to edit The San Antonio Current-Focus. But Wolfe is full of compliments about Robertson after just one month on the job.\n"Liz's great strength is her ability to listen," Wolfe said. "It really brings people out." \nOthers at the newspaper echo Wolfe.\nLiz brings a new sense of energy to the paper," associate editor Eric Weddle said. "She can look at local issues with a different eye.\n"The way we interact is good," he said. "We're really excited to have her working with us."\nWolfe says the Independent intends to focus considerable attention in the near future on local planning and growth issues. \n"It's a complex story," Wolfe said of planning and growth in Monroe County. "It's difficult to make into an interesting story, so we have to find specific ways to break it down and write about it, rather than just report what someone did at a Plan Commission meeting"
(11/21/00 4:20am)
The U.S. Supreme Court has, with little notice, struck down several acts of Congress in the last few years, concluding that legislators exceeded their constitutionally prescribed boundaries. In cases on issues ranging from age discrimination to violence against women, the court has used a new standard of federalism to determine whether the federal government has surpassed its authority, imposing on states and local government unconstitutional requirements.\nAmerican federalism has undergone several notable changes: from pre-Depression state-dominance to decidedly national government control roughly between 1933 and the late 1970s, and today, to a movement toward a balanced federalism between states and Washington.\nThe judicial brawn assumed by the Court in its determination to apply this pre-Depression federalism is new to recent memory. In prior civil rights cases, including Brown v. Board of Education, it was the Court that asserted a national interest in promoting equality. It has made a complete shift and is prepared, it seems, to impose a much narrower notion of what is rightly in Congress's dominion.\nThese developments in how the Supreme Court views federalism, intangible as their effects might seem, are arguably more important than the tangible effects of devolution from actions taken by Congress and the White House. Whether a government bureaucrat works in Washington or Indianapolis or is called an employee or contractor is insignificant. The work must still get done, regardless of how often politicians fight over who reduced the size of government. \nThe justices, in their own relatively secretive way, are taking power from Congress and the president.\nIn January, the court determined an employee of this University cannot sue for redress under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. In other words, a professor at IU, a public school, has fewer rights now than his colleague at the University of Notre Dame, a private institution. The justices, 5-4, concluded the federal government had not sufficiently shown need for national legislation prohibiting age discrimination by states. \nThe case, Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents, No. 98-791, pitted states' rights claims that Congress lacks authority to prohibit age discrimination by states against Congress's right to determine how far it can go under the 14th Amendment to provide for equal protection under law. \nBefore Kimel, individuals lost their right to sue the state under the Fair Labor Standards Act in June 1999 in Alden v. Maine, No. 99-436, which was decided 5-4. And a separate ruling saw the Violence Against Women Act invalidated.\nWhile the country was busy having its own debate on Election Day about some of the same issues of government power and individual rights, the Court sat in session for the argument in a case with profound implications on public health standards. At issue in Solid Waste Agency v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was whether the Corps could take away a local government's right to use land the Corps felt deserved protection under a national environmental law.\nOur nation will continue in its debate of what course to take on federalism, both in the judicial and elected branches, during the next few years. The conservative court will inevitably be affected by the influence of new justices appointed by either Vice President Al Gore or Texas Gov. George W. Bush.
(11/13/00 4:13am)
Three hundred twenty-seven people might well decide who will succeed President Bill Clinton as commander-in-chief of the United States. That's the number of students on just a few floors of a dorm on this campus. That's the number of people in one Y103, Introduction to American Politics, lecture. That's far fewer than the number of college students the IU College Democrats registered to vote this semester.\nWhile Vice President Al Gore leads the country in the popular vote by about 200,000 votes, our system of elections uses the state-centered method of the Electoral College, which disregards that number in favor of each state's overall winner.\nLet me reiterate what I said in this column on Election Day: Today we decide what direction we want the country to go. Every four years, millions of Americans choose to let someone else decide for them how much they pay in taxes, the quality of their schools, how safe the air they breathe and water they drink is and whether they have quality, affordable health care. They let someone else decide whether a woman has the right to choose, whether to enact campaign finance reform and in what direction our economy will go. We're letting someone else choose who will appoint the next few justices on the Supreme Court, who have the position for life.\nIf you didn't vote, who made your decision for you? More than half of the voters in Monroe County chose to let someone else vote for them, a lower turnout than the national average, and while turnout among IU students was up slightly from two and four years ago, it fell far short of what it should have been.\nThe lesson from this election is not about the Electoral College, which we've all heard about in great detail now from news anchors, political pundits, legal experts and average citizens. The lesson is that when it comes right down to it -- we count. We can now truly say each person's vote matters when elections are as close as this one.\nThink about it: out of more than 250 million people in this country, a few hundred might choose whether we continue on a path of prosperity, with more jobs, lower crime rates and the strongest economy ever, or whether we will go down a different path to an uncertain future.\nIt is my hope that from this election, regardless of who wins, students on this campus and throughout the United States will realize the importance of their votes and make it count in four years. \nThink how many students there are in Florida. Now think about what it would be like to have the candidates focus on issues that concern us -- such as education, jobs and the environment -- every time they travel the country seeking support.\nGore and his running mate, Sen. Joe Lieberman, have worked hard on those issues and many more that particularly concern college students. Democrats always have.\nThe results of this election are still uncertain, as we await totals from hand counts in several Florida counties. And it appears this election might be decided in the courts. Gore and Lieberman can't yet concede defeat, because they might not have been defeated.\nBut whatever the results of this election, let's give Democrats the edge they need in four years to keep the White House working for us. This election should teach us that our votes and our voices in this democracy are critically important, and in four years, we must remember that lesson.
(11/07/00 4:03am)
Democrats have built an impressive and solid record of leadership during the last eight years: the longest, most robust economic expansion in American history. Al Gore and Joe Lieberman want to continue moving America in the right direction, while ensuring we leave no one behind in our drive toward progress.\nThe Record\nAmericans' hard work and sound public policy under Democrats led to: \n• The most jobs ever created under a single administration. \n• The first real wage growth in 20 years. \n• The highest home ownership rate ever. \n• The lowest African-American and Hispanic-American unemployment rates in history. \n• The lowest crime rate in 25 years. \n• The lowest number of people on welfare since the 1960s. \n• The largest drop in poverty in nearly 30 years. \n• The lowest level of child poverty in 20 years. \nAfter 15 painful years when the rich were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer, America is finally growing together instead of growing apart. "If America is to secure prosperity, progress, peace and security for all, we cannot afford to go back," the Party's platform states.\nWe must move forward together and we must not leave anyone behind.\nThe Issues\nThis column's weekly discussion of where the candidates stand on various issues has hopefully been helpful in making the right choice today. We discussed civil rights, women's rights, foreign affairs and the military, education, tax relief, guns, health care, campaign finance reform and Social Security. There are a number of issues space did not permit us to discuss in previous weeks, so an important one not before covered -- the economy -- is addressed here.\nA key issue for Democrats is the economy, which one could argue is a part of most issues directly or indirectly. \n"Prosperity itself is on the ballot," Gore said while campaigning last week. The vice president focuses on eliminating the $3.4 trillion national debt, while providing targeted tax relief to workers and families. He would increase spending on education, health care and the environment -- all of which make America's economy stronger in the long-run. \nJeff Faux, president of the Economic Policy Institute, said in Sunday's New York Times, "There are two big issues: keeping the expansion going, and the neglect of social investment over the last decade and more. Bush's big tax cut puts the economy in a much more vulnerable position on the first point, and pretty much precludes us from getting back to a more balanced set of investments. We have this huge and vibrant private sector, yet fundamental human needs are not being met."\nThe Choice\nToday we decide in what direction we want the country to go. Every four years, millions of Americans choose to let someone else decide for them how much they pay in taxes, the quality of their schools, how safe the air they breathe and water they drink is and whether they have quality, affordable health care. They let someone else decide whether a woman has the right to choose, whether to enact campaign finance reform and in what direction our economy will go.\nParticularly disappointing is that young people often stay home, allowing older Americans, who nearly all vote, a disproportionately strong voice in government.\nLet's change that.\nThe economy. Education. Health care. The environment. Foreign policy. Campaign finance reform. Abortion. Guns. The Supreme Court. Whom do you want making your decisions in the White House? Al Gore and Joe Lieberman are clearly the right choices for our future.
(10/17/00 6:57am)
Vice President Al Gore has proposed several new ways to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, while maintaining the rights of law-abiding citizens to own guns.\nBuilding on years of experience as a congressman, senator and vice president, Gore has worked to end gun violence. He fought to close the gun-show loophole that allowed convicted felons to purchase guns without a background check. In 1994, he was instrumental in passing the administration's Crime Bill, that took 19 dangerous assault weapons off our streets.\n"We stood up to the gun lobby, to pass the Brady Bill and ban deadly assault weapons," Gore said. "We didn't take a single gun away from a single hunter or sportsman -- but we stopped nearly half a million felons, fugitives and stalkers from buying guns."\nUnder Democratic leadership, we have seen a 35 percent reduction in crimes committed with guns and a 16 percent increase in prosecutions of gun criminals at the federal level, according to Gore's campaign Web site. In 1996, 22 percent more criminals were incarcerated for either state or federal weapons offenses than in 1992, in part because of better coordination with state and local law enforcement officials.\nDemocrats believe in sensible measures to reduce gun violence and children and criminals' access to guns, and increased penalties for those who use guns to commit violent crimes.\nAs part of a plan to reduce children's access to guns, Gore has proposed mandatory child safety locks on all handguns. Further expanding on the administration's achievements during the last eight years, he would increase from 38 to 50 the number of cities across the country with the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII), which helps law enforcement officers crack down on traffickers who supply guns to young people. \nGore also worked to pass the Gun Free Schools Act, which requires the expulsion of students caught bringing firearms to schools. Between 1996-1998, 10,000 students were expelled for bringing guns to school, according to Gore's Web site.\nWhile the vice president's achievements alone are impressive, as president he would do even more to reduce gun violence:\n• Extend the Brady Law to violent juveniles, barring youth convicted of serious violent crimes from owning firearms as adults\n• Require child-safety locks for all new handguns\n• Increase penalties for gun-related crimes\n• Raise the minimum age to possess a handgun from 18 to 21\n• Hire new federal, state and local gun prosecutors to get gun criminals off the street and put them behind bars\nIn a speech on the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings, Gore applauded the Republican Party's presidential nominee for talking about the moral and character dimensions of finding a solution to school violence, but called his approach only "half a solution."\n"I think he misses something else that's very important," Gore said. "We have to address not just the spiritual dimension of this challenge, but also the physical fact that there are too many guns, too readily available to those who should not have them."\nAs President, Al Gore will stand-up for families and continue his efforts to reduce violent gun crimes.\nOn election day, you will choose between someone with a proven record on reducing gun violence and someone who has no such record. Go to www.algore2000.com/guns to find out more about the Gore-Lieberman agenda on reducing gun violence.
(10/17/00 5:08am)
Vice President Al Gore believes the greatest test of our national responsibility is found in the quality of the education we provide. Democrats have long been the champion of increasing the quality, accessibility and affordability of public education.\nBy investing more of the nation's budget surplus in education, an additional $170 billion during 10 years, we can raise standards for all students and help them achieve more in the classroom. \nOur country's budget reflects our values. Education is key to keeping America strong for the future in this era of globalization and world-wide competition. If we don't decide Nov. 7 that education is vital to remaining competitive in the global marketplace, we will surely be forfeiting missed opportunities.\nA tax cut for America's wealthiest 1 percent is not what we need. We need investments in education, health care and research into more energy efficient fuels -- just to name a few areas.\nDemocrats would increase spending on education, focusing on holding schools accountable, using appropriate testing to ensure our tax dollars are not misused. \nGore has proposed the following steps to make America's schools better, according to his Web site, www.algore.com: \n1. Early education and universal preschool: Gore's plan starts with a momentous strategy for early education by making high-quality, voluntary preschool available to every 4-year-old and an increasing number of 3-year-olds. It will also expand funding for Head Start and Early Head Start and help families pay for high quality child care -- to ensure every child starts school ready to learn.\n2. Raise teacher pay: We should pay teachers like the professionals they are. Gore's plan will provide funding to help raise teacher salaries in school districts that commit to improving teacher quality.\n3. Recruit and train new teachers: Gore will finish the job of hiring 100,000 qualified teachers to lower class sizes in the early grades. And to help schools meet record student enrollments, Gore will provide funding to help recruit, hire and train 1 million new teachers during the next 10 years, with incentives for those who commit to work in a high-need school.\n4. Rebuild crumbling schools: Gore will help communities rebuild and modernize buildings to assure our students can attend schools that are modern, safe and well-equipped for learning.\n5. Access to New Technology: Gore's plan will finish wiring every classroom to the Internet and train students and teachers to use information technology to individualize learning and bridge the digital divide.\n6. Special Education for Students with Disabilities: Gore will reaffirm the importance of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by making a substantial increased investment in special education, as a down-payment toward reaching the goal of 40 percent federal funding. His plan would make the federal government a better partner to states in ensuring children with disabilities have access to a free appropriate education -- a policy that has opened the doors of public schools to children with special needs.\n7. Making higher education more affordable: Gore will help parents and students save tax-free to make college and lifelong learning more affordable and make up to $10,000 of college tuition tax-deductible.\nWould America's children and young people be better off with Gore's plan that invests needed resources in education, or one that spends that money on a tax break primarily for the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans? Education is clearly where our priorities should lie.
(10/10/00 6:12am)
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Oct. 4 in Ferguson v. City of Charleston, S.C., with potentially notable Fourth Amendment and civil rights consequences for pregnant women. \nAs I waited in line on the Supreme Court's steps that morning, a small group of protesters began to form and spread posters across the sidewalk along First Street, between the Court and the Capitol. At first, there were two lonely women wearing sandwich boards and walking a circle around the signs they had laid on the ground. \nLater, a gray-haired gentleman dressed in a navy suit strolled down the street with a single poster, two baby dolls (one white, one black) and two small American flags. Scribbled on the front of his homemade sign in black marker was: "Test the Mothers, Save the Babies."\nAt issue in the case was whether a South Carolina state law violated the Fourth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.\nNine minority women petitioned the Court to overturn that law, which seeks to stop the use of cocaine during pregnancy. While this is a laudable goal, the method used in South Carolina's hospitals is unacceptable. \nIn 1989, the Medical University of South Carolina, acting under a recently passed state law, began a practice of testing, without consent, the urine of pregnant women suspected of using cocaine, the only drug covered under the law. The MUSC policy used nine indiciacators of cocaine use, including a lack of prenatal care, pre-term labor and birth defects.\nTwo issues of concern arise from MUSC's testing and the subsequent arrest of women who tested positive: the first is the "unreasonable searches and seizures" clause of the Fourth Amendment; the second is found in the racially discriminatory practice of testing only some of MUSC's patients. \nThe Fourth Amendment is generally a constraint on the government's authority to undertake a search, such as a urine test, without either a warrant "particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized" or a particular governmental "special need."\nLacking either of those, consent must be given by the person to be searched. The 30 women arrested under the law, and several dozen more who were also tested, did not consent. Furthermore, Priscilla J. Smith, who argued for the women, noted that an "expectation of privacy" in hospitals is greater than somewhere else the police might engage in random testing.\nIn the absence of valid consent, the drug testing policy did violate the Fourth Amendment. \nThe number of protesters who had gathered in support of the women arrested by Charleston, S.C., police grew from two to eight by 9 a.m. Their signs highlighted the rights of the women, which they claimed were violated. One proclaimed cocaine addicts needed "hospitals, not handcuffs."\nRegarding the testing's discriminatory practices, the policy at MUSC had a racially disparate impact in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. "Thirty women were arrested pursuant to the MUSC policy, all but one or two of whom were African American," according to an amicus brief filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.\nWhile the relative number of minorities being arrested is not alone sufficient for a law to be a violation of Title VI, it is when an alternate program could be used by the government to ensure fairness to everyone in the law's application. The option MUSC failed to use and should have is simply testing all pregnant women, not picking and choosing particular ones. The urine tests are already required in the hospital's routine care, and hardly represents a prohibitive expense on the government.\nOn the street, protesters for the women and the lone protester supporting South Carolina's law engaged in several short yelling matches. One side mentioned the need to protect babies and the other countered that they weren't babies, but fetuses. "Your Latin is a little off," the navy-suited man shouted to his adversaries only a few feet away. "'Fetus' means 'baby.'" \nThe Court must decide whether the government's need to test particular pregnant women for cocaine use outweighs the women's right to be secure against unreasonable searches.\nWe can all agree women should not use any drugs while pregnant, but the government should take a more appropriate approach to how it combats this problem. Preventative measures and drug treatment and counseling services are far preferable to the jail time 30 women received -- some while still in their hospital gowns.