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(10/04/06 4:13am)
Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan proclaimed October Archives and Special Collections Month at an event held at the Herman B Wells Library Tuesday evening.\nKruzan said much like postcards, which he said he collects, archives are a window into the past.\n"Every photo, every postcard that I own, it's like a time capsule," Kruzan said, as he stood in front of a picture of Wells blowing out the candles on his birthday cake on his 75th birthday. "I look at this photo of Dr. Wells, and it evokes so many memories and historical observations."\nWells was IU's 11th president and served from 1938 until 1962. He is credited by many for turning the University into the world-renowned research institution it is today.\nUniversity Archivist Phil Banton said he hopes the month's designation will increase awareness about what archives can do for the general public.\n"Professional archivists think we're in an identity crisis," he said. "The public in general don't know enough about what archives are, what archivists do and what kind of information is available in archives."\nArchives and Special Collections Month was celebrated in more than 30 states last year, but Banton said this is the first time it has been formally recognized in Bloomington.\nPat Steele, interim dean of University Libraries, said she hopes this won't be the last time archiving is discussed on campus. Plans that could focus on international collections are already under way for next October.\n"This is an opportunity to explore an endless number of topics over the years," she said.\nSix more events are planned throughout this month. At the next lecture titled "Radical Innocent: Upton Sinclair," biographer Anthony Arthur will discuss the muckraking journalist's work and the research he conducted into Sinclair's life at the Lilly Library.\nThe event is open to the public and will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday in the Lilly Library.
(10/03/06 4:44am)
Several environmental groups and concerned citizens filed a federal lawsuit to block the proposed I-69 extension from Evansville to Indianapolis.\nThe Hoosier Environmental Council, Bloomington-based groups Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads and Sassafras Audubon Society, and six southern Indiana residents filed the lawsuit Monday in Indianapolis U.S. District Court, according to The Associated Press.\nThe lawsuit asks for an injunction in constructing the $2 billion road, which would replace part of Ind. 37 in Bloomington and claims state officials violated several federal laws in selecting the route.\n"Those laws require (Indiana Department of Transportation) to take a hard look at all reasonable alternatives in southwest Indiana," said John Moore, senior attorney with the Environmental Law & Policy Center of Chicago, which represents the plaintiffs. "We have asked them to do so, and they have refused."\nThe plaintiffs claim the state tailored selection criteria to ensure the route it preferred was chosen. They also contend that upgrading U.S. 41 and Interstate 70 would be cheaper and cause less environmental damage.\nThe lawsuit also says the route will destroy nearly 7,000 acres of farmland, forest and wetlands, cut through the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge, located in Pike and Gibson counties, and divide several rural communities.\n"Studies have shown (the) I-69 (extension) will be a financial and economic disaster," Moore said.\nBut INDOT says that the construction of I-69 will benefit the state economically, spurring more companies like Honda and Nestle to open businesses in the state.\n"The first thing those companies ask us is if there's an interstate nearby," INDOT spokesman Gary Abell said. "This will be a key piece in getting economic conditions moving forward in Indiana."\nAbell said that INDOT wasn't surprised about the lawsuit and anticipated it for several years but said there was no reason to believe viable alternatives weren't explored.\n"It was studied extensively from 2000 until 2004, and no other route was found that provided a great benefit to southwest Indiana," he said.\nEarlier this year, Gov. Mitch Daniels proposed a public-private partnership to turn I-69 into a toll road. Critics say this will keep people off the road, further hurting economic development in the state.\nAbell said the state is still looking into the possible effects and other alternatives to fund the project.\nMeanwhile, the state will forge ahead on I-69 unless an injunction is issued. INDOT hopes to break ground on the project in the summer of 2008, Abell said.\nThe Federal Highway Administration endorsed the proposed I-69 route in March 2004. Defendants named in the lawsuit include the Federal Highway Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and INDOT Commissioner Thomas Sharp, according to The Associated Press.
(10/03/06 3:11am)
The IU Health Center's Counseling and Psychological Services counselors are seeing an increase in the number of students with compulsive online behavior problems, says CAPS psychologist Chris Meno.\nThe students who have been coming to CAPS usually have problems with compulsive gambling, viewing of pornography or online chat, she said. Meno said she does not know the exact number of clients that seek help through CAPS for such issues, but staff members have commented to her that they have seen a definite spike lately.\nChris Engle, a licensed registered social worker for CAPS, said that one reason more people might have issues with compulsive online behavior is the different atmosphere they encounter in college.\n"When you're living at home, you might not do as much because you know someone is watching," he said. "The computer might be in the living room with your mother. I'm not sure if (the issue) is college or the change in supervision."\nThe exact number of people with online compulsive gambling issues is difficult to define, but the National Council on Problem Gambling estimates that 2 percent to 3 percent of Americans engage in problem gambling and another 1 percent are pathological gamblers.\nThough people with gambling problems run a high risk of hurting themselves economically, Engle says the real issue is when they can't stop themselves from gambling.\n"The difference is the loss of control," he said. "If a person engages in gambling or watching pornography and can't stop, it becomes an addiction. ... If you start off intending to go online for five minutes and you end up spending three or four hours there, that's a problem."\nMany students with compulsive gambling problems tried other forms of gambling before coming to college but only developed a serious issue with it at school, Engle said.\nThe less common online compulsive behavior Engle sees is students who have problems with pornography or online chat.\n"Online seduction can be intriguing, but it messes up relationships in real life," he said. "It breaks trust."\nUsually men come to CAPS with pornography issues while women seek help for compulsive online chat, Engle said.\nThe first case of someone engaging in compulsive online behavior Engle saw was in 1992. He attributes this to the fact that though the Internet has long been available on most college campuses, it wasn't until about that time online-enabled computers moved out of common areas and into dorm rooms. And now that nearly every college student has easy access to an Internet connection, they are less willing to discuss their compulsive behaviors out of embarrassment.\n"Generally, it's a behavior people try to hide," Engle said. "There's a lot of shame associated with it."\nIf you believe you have a problem with compulsive online behavior, you can make an appointment with CAPS by calling 855-5711.
(10/02/06 3:27am)
Administrators are considering hiring private contractors to handle some University operations.\nThe first service that could be outsourced is the IU Motor Pool, which provides about 600 vehicles for University use.\nVice President and Chief Administrative Officer Terry Clapacs presented the idea to the board of trustees at their scheduled a meeting last week.\nIU is expected to issue a request for bids from private contractors within the next three weeks.\n"Outsourcing might not be the right word," trustee Tom Reilly said. "It's more like we're searching for the most effective way of doing things." \nA secretary for Clapacs said he was out of town and could not be reached for further comment Thursday.\nThe motor pool has an annual budget of about $3 million. Bids will be taken from private contractors, as well as the motor pool itself, Reilly said.\n"They're trying to cut the administrative cost of running the University," IU Spokesman Larry MacIntyre said. "The trustees have made that one of their goals. Privatization and competition is one way they're looking at doing that."\nIU's administrative costs are already lower than comparable universities, MacIntyre said.\nThe University is also considering taking bids from private contractors for its system of bookstores. In addition, Clapacs said there were "nine or 10" other operations that could possibly be outsourced.\nMacIntyre said he did not know if any decisions on outsourcing would have to be approved by the trustees or IU President Adam Herbert.\n"He'll carry out whatever the trustees want," MacIntyre said.
(10/01/06 1:24am)
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the final version of an appropriations bill earlier this week that will fund two life sciences projects on campus.\nThe bill calls for $1.35 million in funding for the Cyclotron Facility to develop a Free Electron Laser and an additional $1.17 million to go toward the Next Generation Threat Detection research project to be run by the chemistry department.\n"I am proud to help Indiana University further its cause in being one of the top scientific research schools in the nation," Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-9th, said in a statement. "Indiana University is a leading partner in securing our homeland by developing new technologies that help in our effort to detect potential threats before they arise."\nThe Free Electron Laser is different from conventional lasers in that it can transmit more energy at higher power levels, a news release said.\nIU's Next Generation Threat Detection project will allow chemists easy access to technology that will help quickly detect new chemical and biological threats.\n"Congressman Sodrel has been involved in procuring funds for IU the whole time he's been in Congress," Sodrel's press secretary Allison Aikele said. "Another reason he's been involved is the benefit to national security, and he thinks IU will play a key role as one of the premiere research spaces in the state."\nIn his state of academic affairs speech earlier this month, Provost Michael McRobbie cited the Cyclotron Facility as an example of one of the planned buildings that will increase the University's research abilities.\n"Lack of research space is the biggest impediment facing IU," he said in his Sept. 19 speech.\nFunding for the program was included in the Fiscal Year 2007 Department of Defense Appropriation bill. Sodrel has already secured an additional $7 million for the Cyclotron facility, the release said.\nThe bill still has to go through the Senate and be signed by President Bush, but Aikele said that is basically a "formality."\n"It's not going to be a huge fight," she said.
(09/27/06 4:28am)
A new student group is appealing to the IU administration for a more aggressive anti-smoking policy on the Bloomington campus.\nStudents' Smokefree Coalition is currently putting together a proposal asking for smoking to be banned on all University-owned property. Bloomington-owned streets and sidewalks would be an exception to the rule, as the city has previously shown reluctance in expanding its own law that bans smoking inside businesses.\nThe coalition's president, sophomore Donnie Morgan said he and a few friends came up with the idea while walking through campus one day.\n"I don't necessarily have a huge problem with smoking, but it's definitely a nuisance," he said.\nSoon after, Morgan created the Facebook group "PLEASE ban smoking on IU's campus," which in little more than a week has attracted nearly 1,200 members.\nThe current IU smoking policy, which went into effect in September 2003 states "all building doorways and fully or partially enclosed walkways connecting buildings will be smoke-free, along with areas near open windows and ventilation systems. Smoking is prohibited on university owned or leased property within 30 feet of building entrances, exits, partially or fully enclosed walkways, open windows and ventilation systems."\nThe Students' Smokefree Coalition proposal is similar to policies currently in effect at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis and IU-Southeast.\nIUPUI's policy goes so far as to ban the sale of all tobacco products in or on any IUPUI owned, operated or leased property or vehicle. IU East's smoking policy prohibits smoking everywhere on campus, including University vehicles and privately owned vehicles on campus.\nIUPUI went smoke-free after more than five years of surveying students and faculty, who were found to overwhelmingly favor the ban, according to a June 12, Indiana Daily Student article.\nAnother factor that influenced the policy was the research of Stephen Jay of the IU School of Medicine. Jay's research concluded that second-hand smoke is the third leading preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. \n"People should be able to walk into Ballantine Hall without having to go through a gauntlet of smoke," Morgan said.\nSmokers outside of Ballantine Hall were unenthusiastic about the proposed ban Tuesday afternoon.\n"It's different smoking indoors; I can understand the ban on that," sophomore Eric Aiken said, preparing to light a Camel Light. "Indoors you're circulating the same air over and over again, but outdoors you should be able to have free roam. There's a plentiful supply of oxygen. I think (the ban) is silly."\nJunior Jon Wargo shared much of that sentiment as he smoked outside Ballantine.\n"Since Kilroy's banned smoking outside there's not a place for a smoker to go rest anymore," he said. "I think we should have the freedom to have a cigarette outside. As long as there's a place to put it out, I don't see the problem."\nMorgan said since IUPUI has already shown that such a smoking policy is viable on a large campus, he hopes the Bloomington campus will adopt a smoking ban within the next six months.\nIU Director of Media Relations Larry MacIntyre said he was not aware of any discussion about the issue at the administrative level yet, and such a plan might have to be approved by the board of trustees.
(09/25/06 4:16am)
The IU board of trustees unanimously approved a $55 million plan to improve several athletic fields at its scheduled meeting Friday afternoon.\nThe plan includes construction of a four-story building that will enclose the north end zone of Memorial Stadium, the construction of an Indiana Basketball Development Center and the construction of a new baseball and softball complex.\n"We're doing a great deal to enhance, in total, our facilities for all of our sports folks," IU President Adam Herbert said at the meeting in the Frangipani Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.\nThe Memorial Stadium North End Zone Project will house an exercise area overlooking the field for student athletes, new coaching and administrative offices, a press room and, on the fourth floor, a hall of fame to display IU's athletic accomplishments.\nThe Indiana Basketball Development Center will serve as the new headquarters of men's and women's basketball. It will feature practice courts to which players will have 24/7 access, locker rooms, offices and a strength and conditioning area.\nThe Hoosier Baseball and Softball Complex, which will be located just north of Mellencamp Pavilion and Indiana Tennis Center, will house both softball and baseball fields, indoor batting cages, offices and locker rooms.\nIn presenting the project to the board of trustees Wednesday, both IU men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and IU football coach Terry Hoeppner stressed the necessity of the new facilities for better recruiting, with which the board seemed to sympathize.\n"I know coaches are in a difficult position recruiting top athletes," trustee Clarence Boone said. "They bring them here, show them the facilities and, in a lot of cases, they're not much better than what they had in high school. Then they go somewhere else."\nThe facility upgrades are similar to what other Big Ten schools such as Penn State, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin have done in recent years.\nThe additions to Memorial Stadium are still in the design stage and will take about 10 months to finish, then another 16 months to actually build.\nThe Indiana Basketball Development Center and baseball and softball complex designs should be finalized in six months. It will take about 18 months to build the basketball center and about 12 months to build baseball and softball complex.\nNo part of the project will be paid for with tuition increases or extra fees to students. Instead, $45 million is coming from athletics department revenue from projects such as the Big Ten Channel, scheduled to go on the air in August 2007. An additional $10 million is coming from private gifts to the University.\n"I think this is a wonderful project," Vice President of the board Patrick Shoulders said. "And it's sports money paying for sports facilities. It's not taking a dime away from any other programs."\nThe athletics department is also currently reviewing a plan to either renovate or \nreplace Assembly Hall, a plan that could be voted on as early as November, board President Steve Ferguson told The \nAssociated Press. That project could cost more than $120 \nmillion.
(09/25/06 4:16am)
The board of trustees approved several multi-million dollar proposals for the Bloomington campus Friday.\nThe first, and the one that will most affect students, is the renovation of three residence halls. The board unanimously approved a $9.2 million plan to install air conditioning in Forest Quad. Any asbestos present in student rooms will also be removed.\nAsbestos was used for insulation in most buildings built before 1980, so it is present in Forest, Briscoe and McNutt Quads and in Tulip Tree Apartments.\nIntact asbestos poses no health risks, but inhaling the damaged fibers can harm the lungs many years after exposure. It has been recognized as a carcinogen and is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. This semester, resident assistants began warning students living in dorms of the possible asbestos risk, though there is no immediate danger to students as long as they do not damage the asbestos present in their ceilings.\nResidential Programs and Services is planning renovations of the four buildings within the next 10 years to remove all the asbestos, RPS Executive Director Pat Connor said in an August interview.\nThe board also unanimously passed a $3 million renovation project for the bathrooms on the four floors of the Bocobo wing of McNutt and the three floors of the Elkins wing of Teter Quad. The renovations will include improvements to shower stalls so residents have more privacy. \nTrustees also approved a $2.9 million plan to relocate the IU School of Optometry Clinic to Margrave Apartments, 736 E. Third St., and a $2.4 million plan to construct a new Greenhouse and Support Building on 10th Street. The projects will increase research space for the optometry and biology departments respectively.\nThough not applicable to Bloomington students, the trustees also approved a $20.3 million housing project at the IU-South Bend campus. The apartment-style units will house approximately 400 students and provide more than 300 parking spots, according to a press release. This is IUSB's first on-campus housing project. The project will be funded by $18.6 million in bonds and some campus funds, according to the release.\nIU administrators opened the meeting by commenting on the recently released enrollment figures for the University, especially for the Bloomington campus.\nThe 7,259-member freshman class is the biggest ever, but also contains more valedictorians and National Merit Scholars, in line with a recently approved trustee initiative to increase admissions requirements.\nInterim Provost Michael McRobbie said that in accordance with the higher admissions standards, this will probably be the largest incoming class IU has ever had.\nIU President Adam Herbert, however, said he was disappointed with the enrollment numbers for minority students. Though this class has the most incoming minority students ever, the number of black students dropped from 412 to 345. Black students' SAT scores were up 27 points over last year, however.\n"This drop in the number of African-American students is unacceptable," Herbert said. "(SAT scores) are consistent with the trends we're looking for. We just need to do better with the numbers."\nAll other minority groups increased in number, in line with another trustee plan to double minority enrollment by the start of the 2014-15 school year.\nThe trustee meeting concluded with the introduction of the newly appointed dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Bennett I. Bertenthal. Bertenthal, who officially takes over as dean of the school Jan. 1, said he plans to increase the academic excellence of COAS with "bold leadership, vision and old-fashioned hard work."\n"I think we've hired an outstanding dean to lead the college," Herbert said. "One thing that impressed me in my conversations with Bennett is his commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration."\nKumble Subbaswamy vacated the COAS dean position earlier this year to become provost at the University of Kentucky after being passed over for the IU-Bloomington chancellor job. Professor of sociology David Zaret is currently acting as interim COAS dean.\nThe trustees' next scheduled meeting is Nov. 2 and 3 at IU-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
(09/25/06 2:58am)
The School of Informatics has created a new research institute for data analysis that will give students additional skills to make them more attractive to prospective employers.\nThe Data and Search Institute will speed the processing of data into industry and give scientists interested in the field a better place to conduct their research, according to a press release.\n"I feel that one of the strongest benefits of the institute is what it brings to students," DSI Director Beth Plale said in an e-mail. "Students stand to gain the most from the institute because students gain valuable experience conducting research on real-world problems."\nThe DSI is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, which has expressed interest in making IU the leading data research university in the country, Plale said. Currently IU is partnered with Florida International University for the project, but other schools are expected to follow suit soon.\n"The DSI brings together a group of faculty with multidisciplinary interests relevant to the important issues of data -- how to format it, store it, etc. -- and search -- how to find it, interpret it, etc.," School of Informatics Dean J. Michael Dunn said in an e-mail. "This continues an important extension of human capabilities that began when humans first began to write but becomes increasingly important with the exponential flood of data made possible by information technology."\nDSI also has the potential to attract more faculty and students interested in the field.\n"The companies that partner with us will fund interesting research problems, technologies and hardware that will give students an opportunity to gain experience in real-world problems and technologies," Plale said. "On the faculty side, the presence of the institute and its excellent faculty research will draw other faculty to IU."\nPlale said it was too early to name specific companies involved in the project.\nIt's also possible that DSI will have a positive economic impact on Indiana, Plale said. \n"To the extent that we can attract people and grow our 'critical mass' in the area of data and search, that increases the likelihood that our national center will spawn new companies," Plale said. "Also, by looking at life science-rooted problems we hope to help Indiana's strong initiative in this area."\nCurrently the institute employs just more than a dozen data researchers, but the students there have especially piqued the interest of some companies.\n"The corporate partners of the institute have already expressed great interest in recruiting graduates who have had experience working on problems that define the future of their industry," Plale said.
(09/25/06 2:40am)
The debate over debates continues in the closely watched 9th District congressional race, with one date now officially cancelled.\nDavid Smith, general manager for Indiana 9 WVHF in Jeffersonville, Ind., sent out an e-mail to all three candidates last week informing them that all plans for a debate there had been cancelled because of scheduling conflicts.\nThe Jeffersonville debate was originally scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 1, but Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-9th, would not commit, in case Congress is in session and he could not make it, Sodrel campaign spokesman Cam Savage said.\n"Majority Leader (John Boehner) told us to be prepared to work," Savage said. "They usually end up trying to work around the clock to finish up (the session)."\nWVHF attempted to move the debate to Oct. 15, but that date was unavailable. Democratic challenger Baron Hill's campaign accused Sodrel of trying to avoid another debate.\n"According to the majority leader, the session is targeted to end Friday," Hill spokeswoman Melanie Morris said. "He said it could go into Friday, but that's rare. We're disappointed. We don't understand why (Sodrel) used this excuse unless he's trying to avoid the debate."\nInstead of a debate, Hill and Libertarian candidate Eric Schansberg are considering a town hall-style meeting Oct. 1 in New Albany.\nSchansberg said in an e-mail that he is willing to speak at the meeting or any other debate to which he is invited.\nSavage said Sodrel is considering proposals to debate on local radio station WGCL, as well as an invitation to debate in Jasper, Ind., Nov. 1.\nThis is the third time Hill and Sodrel have faced off for the 9th District seat. Hill was the district's congressman from 1998 until 2004, when Sodrel defeated him by fewer than 1,500 votes.
(09/23/06 12:23am)
The IU board of trustees will hold its regularly scheduled meeting today in the Indiana Memorial Union.\nResidential Programs and Services requests the board to approve a $9.2 million plan to install air conditioning in Forest Quad, according to the agenda.\nThe proposed construction would also remove asbestos present in student rooms in Forest.\nAsbestos was used for insulation in most buildings built before 1980, so it is present in Forest, Briscoe and McNutt Quads and in Tulip Tree Apartments.\nIntact asbestos poses no health risks, but inhaling the damaged fibers can harm the lungs many years after exposure. It has been recognized as a carcinogen and is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.\nThis semester, resident assistants began warning students living in dorms of the possible asbestos risk, though there is no immediate danger to students as long as they do not damage the asbestos present in their ceilings.\nRPS plannings renovations of the four buildings within the next 10 years that should remove all the asbestos, RPS Executive Director Pat Connor said in an August interview.\nRPS is also requesting approval of a $3 million renovation project for the bathrooms on the four floors of the Bocobo wing of McNutt and the three floors of the Elkin wing of Teter Quad. The renovations will include improvements to shower stalls so residents will have more privacy.\nTrustees will also vote on a $55 million plan to improve and build several athletic facilities on campus.\nThe athletics department has proposed a Memorial Stadium North End Zone Project that will connect the east and west stands of the stadium with a four-story complex featuring new offices, a strength training room and an IU Hall of Fame.\nThe department is also requesting funds for a men's and women's basketball practice facility to be located just southeast of Assembly Hall and a new baseball and softball complex.\nWhile presenting the designs to the trustees Wednesday afternoon several IU coaches spoke in support of the projects. Both head football coach Terry Hoeppner and head basketball coach Kelvin Sampson said the facilities were needed to improve recruitment.\n"Our athletics facilities are probably the worst in the Big Ten," Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan said at Wednesday's meeting. "It's my view that we simply must correct that fundamental deficiency if we're going to keep the outstanding coaches that we have, if we're going to achieve the level of success to which we aspire, and, frankly, if we're going to provide an environment that's conducive to our fans."\nThe meeting is scheduled to begin at 1:45 p.m. in the Frangipani Room of the IMU and is open to the public.
(09/21/06 4:10am)
Representatives of the athletics department presented a $55 million plan for new and upgraded facilities to the board of trustees Wednesday afternoon.\nThe proposed project calls for a massive new addition to the north end zone of Memorial Stadium, the creation of the Indiana Basketball Development Center and the construction of the Hoosier Baseball and Softball Complex.\n"You wanted to see us strengthen our winning tradition across all sports. ... Our goal is that IU will be excellent in all that we do," IU President Adam Herbert told the trustees. "If we have the kinds of aspirations you articulated, we must have high-quality facilities. We must have very strong external support. We must have new athletics-driven resources."\nAn expected $45 million will come from athletics department revenue, while $10 million to fund the project is coming from private gifts.
(09/21/06 3:34am)
The board of trustees was presented with an update of presidential priorities and accountability developments at its annual retreat Wednesday morning.\nVictor M. H. Borden, associate vice president of University planning, institutional research and accountability, showed the trustees a revised framework of the president's responsibilities that combined many of the duties into a shorter, more cohesive document.\n"One criticism of higher education is that it tries to be everything to everyone," Borden said. "This is an attempt to par that down."\nThe revised framework emphasizes the president's duty to expand the visibility of the IU campus and improve the quality of academic programs.\nIU President Adam Herbert said the updated priorities should enhance the "culture of accountability" he has tried to create on campus. He also said he hopes it will better satisfy faculty members who have recently expressed concern that in the eyes of the public, IU is on the decline as an institution.\n"I don't think that's a view held around the country," Herbert said. "But I think it's important to develop benchmarks to have an idea of the evolving place of the Bloomington campus and its peers."\nTrustee Thomas Riley initially expressed concerns about the new goals but said he hopes they lead to a brighter future for the University.\n"We should be dynamic towards improvement," he said. "We shouldn't be dynamic towards the status quo"
(09/20/06 4:49am)
The cost of an IU education could increase at a faster rate, said Interim Provost Michael McRobbie.\nIn the Provost's Report on the State of Academic Affairs at IU-Bloomington at the bi-weekly Bloomington Faculty Council meeting, McRobbie spoke on the importance of keeping top faculty at IU but said their salaries would be paid with higher tuition fees for students.\n"We must always remember other institutions want our best faculty and will pay more," he told the crowd of more than 100 faculty members gathered in the law school's Moot Court Room Tuesday afternoon.\nMcRobbie did not give an exact amount for a future tuition increase, only saying it needs to be "greater than 4.9 percent," which was the tuition cap imposed by the Indiana General Assembly for the 2006-07 school year.\nIU Student Association President Betsy Henke said IUSA understands the University needs to offer faculty members competitive wages but hoped IU would look for additional money from other sources.\n"We hope the administration looks for more creative ways to fund the growing needs of IU," she said. "The state is in a better financial situation, and I think this is an opportunity to capitalize on that to meet some of our needs."\nMcRobbie also spoke about the importance of creating more research space in order to keep more faculty members at IU. He mentioned Simon Hall, which is due to be completed by next summer, and several other life science buildings that will hopefully break ground next year if funding is approved by the General Assembly.\nMcRobbie announced the formation of a task force to review the use of older buildings currently occupied by administrative offices such as Franklin Hall. Depending on the findings of that task force, he said such buildings could be converted for academic and research purposes.\nThis was the first time McRobbie addressed the state of academic affairs to the BFC, following a restructuring of Bloomington's administration in January.\n"I think this is a sign of change, one that will no doubt lead us to having a greater campus-level focus on the academic portion of this campus," BFC President Ted Miller said in his introduction of the provost.\nIn his speech, McRobbie mentioned the draft report of a panel appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Education that referred to higher education as an "increasingly risk-averse, frequently self-satisfied and expensive enterprise" in need of reform and emphasized the importance of meeting these high goals so that IU doesn't get left behind.\n"We cannot stand still because our critics and competitors are not standing still," McRobbie said.\nSince the board of trustees approved higher admissions standards that will go into effect with the incoming class of 2011, McRobbie said University officials must recruit more aggressively in high schools around the state.\n"We are in a battle for brains," he said. "We want IU to be the institution of choice for outstanding Indiana students."\nOnce those high school students arrive at IU, they might find the curriculum more broad than it is today. McRobbie emphasized the need for more general education requirements that would make it easier for students to change majors but still keep the length of their stay at IU to four years or less.\n"Such curriculum is a way to ensure all students receive the liberal education this University represents," he said.
(09/19/06 12:27pm)
While the IU Student Association continues to lobby the administration for a more active role in choosing the University's next president, students at Purdue are much more pleased with their role in choosing that college's next leader.\nPurdue announced last week the creation of a 14-member presidential search committee to seek out a replacement for Martin C. Jischke, who has served as Purdue's president for six years and will step down in 2007. \nPurdue's committee is comprised of five members of the board of trustees, compared to two on the IU committee. The Purdue committee also features a student member from the flagship West Lafayette campus -- a move many students at IU-Bloomington wish the 13-member IU committee would make as well.\n"We are very lucky to have a student on the committee," said Purdue Student Government Vice President Mary Koehn. \nPSG President Jonathan Foltz is serving as the student member of the committee.\nPurdue administers three satellite campuses, opposed to IU's eight.\n"(Foltz) is an elected member of student government, so clearly he represents the students well," said Jeanne Norberg, director of Purdue's News Service. "We always try to include students in any major decision like this."\nAnother key difference in the search for a successor at Purdue is that Jischke is personally holding forums around the state asking the Purdue constituency what initiatives they would like his successor to continue.\nAt a forum to discuss the search for IU's next president on Friday, many faculty members and alumni used Jischke as an example of what they would like to see in the University's next leader.\nIUSA has lobbied the presidential search committee to include a representative from the Bloomington campus because of the IU president's special duties on the Bloomington campus, but that request has repeatedly been ignored.\n"The difference between the IU and Purdue searches is that (the West Lafayette) campus doesn't have a vested interest in the next president," IUSA president Betsy Henke said. "The IU president acts as CEO of this campus, not just president of the University."\nIUSA has repeatedly criticized the choice of IU-South Bend graduate student Michael Renfrow as the only student member of the committee because of his lack of involvement on the Bloomington campus.\nTrustee Sue Talbot, who chairs the IU committee, has said that it is having enough trouble finding times to meet and more members would only complicate scheduling. She has also said that the more members there are, the more confidentiality issues arise.\nHenke said that more students are becoming aware of the lack of a Bloomington representative in choosing IU's next president and have been petitioning IUSA to do more.\n"We need to have a say in picking the person who's going to run our campus," she said.\nIU President Adam Herbert has said he will retire, at the latest, when his contract runs out in 2008, but he could step down earlier if a replacement is found before then.\nIvy Tech is also searching for a new president, but the details of its search have not yet been announced.
(09/19/06 4:21am)
Rain kept many people away from Democracy Plaza's first event Monday afternoon, but the group's president still has high hopes for the organization's future.\nDemocracy Plaza, an organization in its first semester on the Bloomington campus, aims to increase civil involvement and discussion of social issues among college students.\n"We envision promoting a free and fair environment for students to express political, social, economic ideas or whatever else is on their mind," said graduate student Rodney Cobb, the president of the organization.\nThe first planned event, the Constitution Day panel with professor of law Kevin D. Brown and Chairman of the political science department and professor Jeff Isaac, failed to draw more than a handful of students and faculty.\nIsaac discussed the meaning of Constitution Day while Brown criticized the document's effects on minorities.\nBrown said when legislators genuinely attempt to help minorities, those laws are too often struck down by other courts as unconstitutional.\n"It's prohibitive to the political process," he said.\nThe lecture was moved off the south lawn of the Herman B Wells Library and inside the building because of rain, which also ensured a smaller crowd, but Cobb said he still intends to move forward with bigger plans for Democracy Plaza.\nBy the end of the semester he said he hopes to have dry erase boards posted in several residence halls, the Indiana Memorial Union, the Wells library and other locations that will pose a question about current issues for students to either respond to verbally or in writing. \nCobb said he and other students started a similar program in 2004 at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis that has been successful. What began with four chalkboards there quickly grew to 16 and eventually a permanent space on the IUPUI campus.\nCobb admits the possibility for people to vandalize or write inappropriate things on the board is high, but says if threats are discovered on the boards, they'll be reported to the IU Police Department to investigate.\nHe also said that if someone were to use profanity to attack an issue, representatives from Democracy Plaza would use it as an opportunity to educate them and ask them why they feel that way.\nCurrently Cobb is in negotiations with the University as to how exactly the program will work.\n"The University in a kind of roundabout way has steered discussion to Dunn Meadow so that they can keep it in a contained area," he said. "I think they're kind of freaking out, like 'Can we control this?"
(09/18/06 4:06am)
After handing out a one-page document detailing the desired characteristics of IU's next president, trustee Sue Talbot, chair of the presidential search committee, gave an even more concise description of what it's searching for: "God on a good day."\nEven that might not be enough to satisfy all of the different groups on IU's eight campuses.\nMore than 80 members of the IU community, mostly faculty and alumni, turned out for the 9 a.m. Friday forum in the Indiana Memorial Union to discuss the search for the next IU president, but there was little consensus on what exactly they wanted from a new leader.\nSome faculty members expressed interest in a president from outside academia who would run the University more like a business. Others said it was important that whoever replaces current IU President Adam Herbert have strong academic \ncredentials.\nFollowing faculty criticism after failing to name a Bloomington chancellor at the conclusion of a lengthy search last year, Herbert announced he will retire when his contract runs out in 2008.\nIn June he said he will step down earlier if a replacement is found.\nVirgil Scudder, who graduated from IU in 1958 and serves on the dean's advisory board, suggested that IU needed a president similar to U.S. President Ronald Reagan.\n"The people he surrounded himself with he could truly rely on," Scudder said. "We need a president with the capacity to work with and inspire other people."\nFaculty members were also divided on what Herbert \nadministration policies should carry over to the next \npresident.\nAssociate professor of telecommunications Herb Terry called Herbert's vision of mission differentiation, or the policy of enumerating the purpose for each campus, a "great accomplishment" while others hoped it would be abandoned.\nMany of those in attendance invoked the name of Herman B Wells as an example of what an IU president should be like. Wells, who served as IU's 11th president from 1938 until 1962, was praised by those in attendance for his easy accessibility, strong presence on campus and the academic growth he oversaw on the Bloomington campus.\n"We had a great president many years ago, but I think he's been romanticized in a lot of ways," philosophy professor Mike Morgan said.\nMorgan and other faculty members said they thought the public views IU as being on a "downward slope" and said they hope any new president would improve IU's image.\n"There are few people talking privately who would not admit in the past few years we've been on a slide," said business professor Harv Hegarty.\nBy the end of the two forums Friday, there were few certainties in what the IU community wants in the next president, though Talbot said the committee could focus on well-established administrators at other colleges.\n"We'll probably have to pry someone out of a job they're very comfortable in," she said.\nSo far the presidential search committee has held five open forums, two in Bloomington, two in Indianapolis and one in Richmond, Ind.\nTalbot said the committee plans to hold 30 to 40 forums around the state throughout the coming months and will return to the Bloomington campus if asked.\nThe next step, she said, will be to review all of the comments from the forums to look for the "nearest fit" for the next president of IU.\nThe committee met for the first time Wednesday. The date of its next meeting is not yet known.
(09/18/06 4:06am)
The IU Student Association publicly called for more student representation on the presidential search committee Friday.\nThough the 13-member presidential search committee contains one student member -- graduate student Michael Renfrow from the IU South Bend campus -- some students on the Bloomington campus said they think it is important to include a student from IU's flagship campus because of the new duties of the IU president.\nFollowing a restructuring of the IU administration earlier this year, the president of the University now not only presides over all eight IU campuses but also has more specific responsibilities in Bloomington.\n"This is the same thing as only consulting a Bloomington student to select a new chancellor of IU Southeast," IUSA President Betsy Henke said. "The IU president is something like the CEO of the Bloomington campus."\nMore than a dozen students showed up to the Friday afternoon forum, whereas the morning meeting was made up mostly of \nfaculty and alumni.\nStudent leaders from the Bloomington campus have repeatedly met with trustee Sue Talbot, chair of the search committee, urging her to include a student representative from the Bloomington campus on the committee.\nShe has refused the request and reminded students that Bloomington will have a say in the final decision of the president since student trustee Casey Cox completed his undergraduate degree at IU-Bloomington and is currently enrolled as a law student here. Cox is also a former IUSA president.\nThe current IUSA administration has criticized Cox, who was appointed trustee by the governor, for caring more about the concerns of Hoosier taxpayers than Bloomington students.\n"I'm on the side of the University, which includes students," Cox said at Friday's meeting when an IUSA member questioned him about his loyalty. "I have a strong bias towards students, and I am sensitive to student issues."\nIUSA representatives also made the suggestion that if a student from the flagship campus can't be added to the search committee, a student advisory committee made up of representatives from all IU campuses be formed.\nWhen IUSA representative Lindsay Kerrigan asked Talbot why there was not a Bloomington student on the committee at the morning forum, Talbot only thanked her for her comment and moved on to other questions.\nAt the second meeting, Talbot took the question head on.\n"It's a confidentiality issue," she said. "We can't have all these dossiers of information floating around."\nHowever, when the faculty voiced a similar wish for a say in the search for the next president, a faculty advisory committee was formed to aid in the search for current IU President Adam Herbert's successor.\nSenior Rodney Cobb, who served on a search committee at IUPUI, advocated more student committee members as well.\n"The system is too diverse for just one voice," he said. "There's no way one student sitting on the committee can incorporate all student ideas."\nCobb noted, though, that when he served on the IUPUI committee he often had trouble getting faculty members on the committee to listen to him.\nIUSA representatives don't just see the lack of student involvement in the search as bad for the Bloomington campus, but think it sets a dangerous precedent for the future of student government.\n"We're viewed as having a lot of power," Henke said. "Trustees have told us many times that we're one of the most powerful student governments. This really knocks us down"
(09/15/06 4:18am)
Enrollment on the Bloomington campus is up on the whole, but the number of black students in this year's freshman class has dropped significantly, according to figures IU released Thursday.\nThe 7,259 members of this year's freshman class make the largest incoming class ever, topping the 2002 record of 7,080. Last year's freshman class comprised 6,949 students.\nThe number of minority students enrolled in this year's freshman class is up overall, but the number of black students dropped from 412 students to 345.\n"Last year we had a big increase in the number of African-American students enrolled," said IU Director of Media Relations Larry MacIntyre. "We were unable to sustain that, but this is the third largest class ever."\nBlack students enrolled as freshmen in 2006 have an average SAT score 27 points higher than last year.\nEnrollment for other minority groups is up. Asian-American enrollment rose from 237 students to 277, Hispanic enrollment increased from 146 students to 166, and American Indian enrollment rose from 19 students to 23.\nIn May, the IU board of trustees unanimously passed an initiative to double the number of minority students enrolled at IU by the start of the 2013-14 school year, according to a May 8 Indiana Daily Student article. \n"Across the board we are reaching out to a large number of minority students," MacIntyre said. "Our goal is to find students who might think they can't go to IU, who don't think they have the money or don't think they can meet the admissions standards and get them earlier prepared for IU."\nMacIntyre said the program is specifically targeting inner-city high school students in Gary and Indianapolis.\nThis year's freshman class also has the highest average SAT score of any recent class. On average, students this year had an SAT score of 1,121 -- 10 points higher than last year, while the average national SAT score dropped seven points this year, according to The College Board, which administers the test.\nThere are also more valedictorians and National Merit Scholars in this year's freshman class. The number of valedictorians rose from 116 in 2005 to 123 this year, according to a press release. The number of National Merit Scholars increased from 52 to 63 for the incoming class.\nMacIntyre said this is in line with IU's plans to raise admissions standards over the next few years.\n"A student who won admission here two years ago might not be admitted today," he said.\nStill, raising admissions standards will not conflict with IU's goal of doubling minority enrollment. Traditionally minorities tend to score lower on standardized tests, according to several national studies.\n"SAT scores are a factor but not the deciding factor," MacIntyre said. "For minority students, the most important thing is not necessarily SAT scores, but how well they'll do at IU, if they take the classes in Core 40 and if they get good grades in high school"
(09/15/06 4:11am)
Professors might be divided on it, but students seem to approve of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia anyone can edit.\nThough few faculty members said they would discourage their students from using Wikipedia altogether, many take issue with students citing Wikipedia articles in academic papers.\nIn an unscientific survey of 222 IU faculty members conducted by the Indiana Daily Student, 44 percent of faculty members said that even if they have issues with the Web site, they at least allow students to cite Wikipedia articles in work they turn in, compared to 35 percent who expressly disallow it. \nAn additional 5 percent said whether they allowed students to cite Wikipedia depended on the assignment or class level the professors were teaching. \nFinally, 16 percent of those responding to the survey said they either did not have a classroom policy on Wikipedia or it did not apply to what they taught.\n"Wikipedia seems pretty accurate," freshman Sam Lerner said. "In high school I used it a lot, and I still use it here. As long as you cite something I feel it's OK."\nMany professors surveyed said they do not allow students to cite Wikipedia because they feel any encyclopedia is not in-depth enough for college research.\nJunior Jeff Barrows shares some of that sentiment.\n"It seems pretty accurate," he said. "I've (cited) it with no problems, but some of the info does seem kind of broad."\nWikipedia, one of the top 20 most visited Web sites according to Alexa.com, has gained so much popularity since going online in 2001 that some feel it is making online research more difficult.\n"It's usually the only thing that pops up on Google when you type in some things," junior Sam Winter said.\nFreshman Nel Zayas said while she uses Wikipedia for a lot of background info, she would be wary of citing it in a paper.\n"I don't think I'd say I wouldn't believe something on there, but I don't think I'd cite it because anyone can edit it," she said.\nSenior Elana Habib tried to cite Wikipedia in a paper for her African politics paper, but her professor wouldn't accept the source.\n"I don't think I'd try citing it again unless they stopped letting anyone edit it," she said.\nInstead of completely banning students from citing Wikipedia in their work, some professors said because of the volatile nature of the Web site, it's important for students to use their own judgment in what to use or not use as a source.\n"Part of the university experience faculty provide students is affording them the opportunity of discerning the difference between good and bad information," professor of theatre and drama Murray McGibbon said in an e-mail. "Wikipedia may very well have contributors who are more knowledgeable on a topic than so-called 'academic' experts. Students need to evaluate the information they discover, so I would think that Wikipedia might be a useful tool in this process ... Why should established printed encyclopedias be lorded over a community-based knowledge storehouse like Wikipedia? I know several well-known local academics who shop at Wal-Mart; incognito! So there"