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(08/25/06 4:35am)
Several departments have joined together to launch a campaign warning students of the dangers posed by popular networking sites such as Facebook.com.\nSimilar to University Information Technology Systems' campaigns to educate students about computer use, the Dean of Students Office, athletics department and Residential Programs and Services have put together several posters around campus to remind students that much of what they put on Facebook can be accessed by prospective employers -- or worse, by stalkers.\n"A good rule is that if you don't want it on the front page of a newspaper, you probably don't want it on Facebook," said adjunct professor of psychology Cynthia M. Moore, who had a key role in designing the campaign.\nRPS discovered that about 42,000 IU students and alumni had signed up for accounts on the site, RPS representative Pam Sprong said.\nSince Facebook is ranked as the seventh most visited site on the Web, according to Internet auditing firm comScore Media Metrix, that number can only grow. \nFacebook is already ranked as the world's most visited photo site, with members uploading 1.5 million new pictures every day.\n"You might post something for a few minutes and take it off, but I can almost guarantee someone has seen it and archived it," Moore said.\nAs more employers check Facebook, incriminating photos can cripple students' chances at a good job or internship.\nBut photos aren't the only thing users have to worry about. Words can hurt, too.\n"There are groups with distasteful, crude names, with bad language that is just improper to use at anytime," Moore said. "Employers are looking at that type of thing to get a feel for peoples' personality."\nSeveral cases of stalking and intimidation via Facebook have been reported to the campus police, IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said.\nMinger is quick to point out, however, that such cases are similar to other cases brought to the department's attention that involve new technology like e-mail or cell phones.\nThough some campus police departments actively monitor Facebook for illegal activity, Minger said that is not the case at IU and there are no plans to change in the immediate future.\n"In an eight-hour shift, our officers spend very little time near a computer," he said.\nThe easiest thing users can do to avoid stalking is not post an excessive amount of personal information such as addresses, phone numbers or schedule of classes, Minger said.\nSocial networking sites can be a hindrance in many ways, but Moore, who said she thinks the site is a great way to organize events, said it's not all doom and gloom.\n"We just want students to make good choices about the info they're putting out there," she said. "Look at it this way: If former President Clinton and current President Bush had Facebook accounts in college, probably neither of them would have been elected president"
(08/25/06 4:13am)
The IU board of trustees approved James C. Wimbush as dean of the University Graduate School at its monthly meeting Friday. Wimbush, who is currently a professor of business administration and chair of the IU Kelley School of Business' Department of Management, takes over Oct. 1. He replaces former dean John Slattery, who stepped down last year.\n"I am honored to have this position," Wimbush said. "One of the concerns is that the grad school slipped when Dean Slattery left, but Interim Dean Eugene Kintgen kept it running very well. I am very grateful for his help."\nAs dean, Wimbush said he hopes to improve the graduate school's visibility on campus and get more grants and funding for the program.\n"I hope to enhance the services we provide to students as well as the academic unit," he said.\nMore than 13,000 students are enrolled in graduate programs across IU's eight campuses, according to a press release.\nWimbush also said he plans to further the goals of the board's vision of mission differentiation, which emphasizes IU as one university with many campuses, rather than a system of schools.\n"I'm going to help regulate each campus' graduate program based on its different mission," he said. \nInterim Provost Michael A. McRobbie lauded Wimbush's goals in a statement.\n"James Wimbush will bring to bear the nation's best practices in graduate education," McRobbie said. "I am confident that he will represent the University's graduate programs to external audiences and funding sources in a way that will bring great benefit to our students and programs"
(08/24/06 7:39pm)
Jean Paul Darriau believed his art had the power to change the world.\nThe retired IU professor and nationally renowned sculptor died at his Bloomington home Saturday at the age of 76, leaving behind a wife, four children and numerous works of art expressing hope for a better, more unified world.\n"He was very energetic, very socially conscious," said Betsy Stirratt, director of the IU School of Fine Arts Gallery, who worked with Jean Paul Darriau on his 1996 retirement exhibit. "He felt his art could convey a message to change society for the better."\nOne of Jean Paul Darriau's best known works in Bloomington, "Red, Blond, Black and Olive," is a towering limestone sculpture of two profiles facing each other that represents the unity between all people. Each of its four sides features the image of a different race, yet they all face each other. The statues currently occupy Miller-Showers Park between College Avenue and Walnut Street.\nJean Paul Darriau's wife, Cherry Darriau, who still teaches yoga in the kinesiology department, recounts that the profiles were among her late husband's favorite works.\n"It's hard to get to them now, but you should pull over sometime and walk between them, look up and see how the forms change," she said. "Read the poem that's there."\nThough he is well-known as a sculptor, Jean Paul Darriau was also an involved, caring father, even letting his children help him create the base for "Red, Blond, Black and Olive."\n"He was very interested in art changing perceptions and changing the world," his youngest son Mathieu Jean Darriau said.\nJean Paul Darriau was never very close to other faculty members, but was always well-liked by students, his son said.\nBorn to French immigrants in 1929 in New York, he studied art from an early age at the High School of Music and Arts. After receiving a B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1951 and an M.F.A from the University of Minnesota in 1953, two Fulbright grants sent him to Italy and France, where he mastered bronze casting.\nAnother work of Jean Paul Darriau's that many students are familiar with is "The Space Between Adam and Eve," located behind Kirkwood Hall. "The Sculpture" is a bronze representation of the famous Book of Genesis couple.\nOver the years, many students have taken silly pictures with the sculpture or added articles of clothing, such as a bra, to Eve. While other artists might have been offended, Jean Paul Darriau enjoyed such jokes.\n"He thought it was very charming that people cared enough to take photos with his sculpture," Cherry Darriau said.\nJean Paul Darriau also sculpted a lesser known second version of "Adam and Eve" later in his career that features black models and resides in the Smith Research Center on East 10th Street. He thought equality between all races and people was an important issue and was extremely active in the civil rights, gay rights and feminist movements, his wife said.\n"He was excited about life and things that mattered socially and politically," Cherry Darriau said. "He wanted his art to be relevant to the world around us. He wasn't looking at the world from afar like some artists."\nA memorial service is scheduled for Sept. 23 at the Unitarian Universalist Church.
(08/24/06 5:05am)
Mini fridge? Check.\nTV? Check.\nAsbestos? Check.\nSome parents were surprised to learn a carcinogen would be part of their child's dorm room this year.\n"It would be nice if they told us beforehand," said Maryanne Sides, who came from Brownsburg, Ind., to move her son Nick into McNutt and was not aware of the asbestos before Wednesday. "I wish they'd have someone take all of it out."\nTo make students more aware of the asbestos in the ceilings of Briscoe, McNutt and Forest quads, resident assistants will read an announcement from Residential Programs and Services this week.\nSince there are no RAs in Tulip Tree Apartments, which also has asbestos, residents there will receive the announcement in writing.\nThat script informs students of the presence of asbestos and asks them to contact the Asbestos Abatement Team at the physical plant if their ceilings are damaged.\nAsbestos was used for insulation in most buildings built before 1980. Intact 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.\nThe University is not legally bound to remove the asbestos from the dorms, but renovations are planned in the next 10 years that will do just that, RPS Executive Director Pat Connor said Tuesday. Some of those renovations could begin as early as 2008.\nPhil Sides, Maryanne's husband, was also worried by the news of asbestos in the dorms. He said he has worked at an automotive factory for several years and has taken a few classes about handling the potentially dangerous material. \n"Whenever we have to deal with a pipe with asbestos on it or something like that, we put on these big suits and get the respirators on," he said.\nSeveral people he has worked with have developed lung problems years later, which Phil Sides said he thinks could be attributed in part to damaged asbestos.\n"It's hard to tell for sure," he said.\nAsbestos was the least of \nAustin, Tex., resident Susan Lubin's concerns when her daughter Car chose to live in McNutt.\n"Air conditioning was very important to us," she said. "But I wish I (had) known about asbestos."\nMichael and Barbara Shuman, who came from St. Louis to move their daughter into McNutt, said that they had been made aware of the asbestos during orientation and it didn't bother them.\n"I'm just glad it's not plutonium," joked Michael Shuman. "You can eat (asbestos) if you want, and it won't hurt you. Just don't start knocking it down and breathing it. And even then I know some good lawyers."\nIngesting asbestos can cause cancer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
(08/23/06 10:09pm)
Resident assistants across campus will warn students this week that they are living with asbestos.\nUnder a new Residential Programs and Services policy, staff members will give students warnings about the potential carcinogen in their dorm rooms and apartments.\nThe scripted warning that RAs will read at floor meetings describes the asbestos plaster present in the ceilings of Briscoe, McNutt and Forest quads as "the least hazardous of the three types" and reminds students that the plaster is only 1 to 10 percent asbestos.\nBecause there are no RAs in Tulip Tree Apartments, and because some residents there have trouble speaking English, new Tulip Tree residents will receive the warning in writing, Connor said. \nMost of those students understand written English, he said.\nThe warning also states that there should not be any immediate danger to students as long as the ceilings remain undamaged. Students who do find their ceilings damaged in those dorms are asked to report it immediately.\nThis verbal warning during Welcome Week comes in part because of a series of Indiana Daily Student articles last fall outlining the possible dangers of asbestos in the dorms, said Residential Programs and Services Executive Director Pat Connor. Previously, the asbestos warning was buried in a handbook residents received upon moving in.\n"After the issues raised last year and after talking with different people, we felt it was in the best interest of everyone if we took extra step of talking to students," Connor said.\nAsbestos was used for insulation in most buildings built before 1980. Intact 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.\nIn addition to the script RAs will read, Physical Plant employees specially trained in asbestos management will conduct inspections of the four residence halls at the semester break and during the summer.\nConnor said he did not immediately know how many rooms with damaged asbestos had been reported during the summer.\nSince RPS has concluded there is little risk posed to students even if their ceilings suffer minor damage, there is also no reason for them to seek a move to another dorm, according to the statement RAs will read.\nIf students or their parents are still worried about possible exposure, the asbestos team from the Physical Plant will inspect their room again, Connor said.\nSome students are shrugging off the asbestos risk.\n"As long as I don't die, I really don't care," said freshman Josh Pitts, who moved into Briscoe early.\nHis brother, senior Michael Pitts, who lived in McNutt his freshman year, echoed that sentiment.\n"When I lived in McNutt, there never seemed to be a problem," he said. "If something is wrong, they usually get you out of the room pretty quick."\nOther students were more alarmed.\n"I'm surprised they're telling us after we move in," said freshman Melissa Zamin, who was waiting to move into McNutt on Tuesday afternoon. \nMelissa's mother Karen said it was "disappointing" and she was "not happy" RPS hadn't disclosed the information before her daughter moved in.\n"I suppose they can't put them all in the other dorms," she said. "I don't know if anything can really be done."\nRPS is planning renovations of the four dorms within the next 10 years that should remove all the asbestos. Some asbestos removal could begin as early as 2008, Connor said.
(08/23/06 3:34am)
The IU trustees announced Friday that they hired a search firm to help find the next IU president.\nTrustee Sue Talbot, chair of the presidential search committee, said at a trustee meeting Friday at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis that Shelly W. Storbeck of Edward W. Kelly & Partners will serve as the consultant for the search. Storbeck has experience with presidential searches at several other universities and has also served as a consultant in IUPUI's searches for chancellor, executive vice chancellor and dean of the faculty, according to a statement from IU Media Relations.\n"They're a good firm with a good reputation," said trustee President Stephen Ferguson in a phone interview. "They have a lot of experience with presidential searches at top level institutions." \nFerguson said between $150,000 and $200,000 has been budgeted for the presidential search, including about $100,000 for the search firm, according to a June 29 Indiana Daily Student article. Though Talbot made a point of saying the committee plans to review a diverse body of candidates, she did not commit to replacing Herbert, who is black, with another minority. \n"It is important for us to find the person who is the best fit for IU, whether that is a minority or not," she said. \nTalbot also announced that senior Michael Renfrow, the student body president of IU South Bend, will represent students on the presidential search committee. Renfrow was selected by the All University Student Association earlier this month to represent the group. \nTechnology is expected to play an important part in this search. E-mail will be sent to all IU faculty and staff in the next few weeks asking for input in the presidential search. The committee is also developing a Web site to keep the public updated, which is set to start sometime in September.\nThe search committee will meet for the first time as a group Sept. 13 at the IUPUI conference center. Herbert said in June he would consider stepping down before his contract runs out in 2008 if a replacement is found before then.
(07/24/06 12:29am)
One person was killed and another seriously injured after a boating accident Saturday afternoon on Lake Monroe.\nBarbara Chamberlain, 43, of Greenwood, Ind., was riding in a deck style boat when it was struck by a 25-foot cigarette style vessel shortly before 1 p.m. near the dam area in the southwest corner of the lake, according to an Indiana Conservation Officers press release.\nChamberlain and another passenger in the boat, Dennis Devore, 59, also of Greenwood, Ind., were thrown into the water and brought to the South Salt Creek Boat Ramp by passers-by, according to a witness report.\nChamberlain was pronounced dead at the scene.\nDevore was transported to Bloomington Hospital to undergo surgery Saturday afternoon, said Conservation Officer Jeff Barker.\nDevore had not been discharged as of Sunday, a representative from the hospital said.\nThe boat carrying Chamberlain and Devore sank in 20 to 40 feet of water due to damage it sustained in the accident.\nScuba divers will attempt to recover the wreckage of the boat Monday.\nNone of the four passengers of the cigarette style boat were injured, according to the press release.\nThe boats were about to hit head on near the dam area when each apparently veered in the same direction to avoid each other, Barker said.\nAlcohol did not appear to be a factor.
(07/23/06 3:12pm)
One person was killed and another seriously injured after a boating\naccident on Lake Monroe Saturday afternoon.\nTwo boats swerved to avoid each other, but struck and one ran up over\nthe other just before 1 p.m. near the South Salt Creek Boat Ramp,\naccording to preliminary reports.\nA 42 year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene by officials.\nA 58 year-old man was taken to Bloomington Hospital was and undergoing\nsurgery Saturday afternoon to treat his injuries, said conservation\nofficer Jeff Barker.\nThe South Salt Creek Boat Ramp is near the southern tip of Lake Monroe,\nclose to Bedford.\nOfficials are still investigating the crash.\nCheck Monday's IDS for more details.
(07/10/06 5:22am)
A new reality series has come up with a way to help those who have an idea for an invention that will change the world but just need someone to help them get it off the ground.\nSaturday producers for the PBS show "Everyday Edisons" will be in Indianapolis looking for new inventions and their creators to feature in the show's second season, which will air sometime next year.\n"We're not looking for anything high-tech, no nanotechnology or anything like that," executive producer Louis Foreman said. "We're looking for things with everyday benefits."\nInventions featured on the first season of the show, which will begin airing nationwide in September, include a new tool for scrapbooking and new food service items, but a successful new idea could be as simple as a board or card game, Foreman said.\nThe important thing is that the idea can be patented, so that the inventor can receive royalties. Inventors featured on the show will receive income from their creations for the \nnext 20 years.\nThough "Everyday Edisons" falls under the category of reality TV, Foreman points out that the show is not out to humiliate people. In the first season, the show follows 14 inventors from the basic outline of their creation to what he calls "the happy ending," where the invention is licensed and put on store shelves.\n"There's more of a documentary element to it," he said. "We want to inspire people, to teach them the proper ways to generate valuable ideas. We're not out to find the \nnext William Hung."\nForeman compared the audition process to that of PBS-mainstay "Antiques Roadshow" because people have the market for their ideas judged and checked for patentability and are then given advice on how to improve it.\nIndianapolis may not be the first city that comes to mind when thinking of hotbeds for innovation, but part of the reason producers chose the city for auditions is the ideas that come from the state's colleges.\n"We tried to target markets with good universities and engineering programs nearby," said Michael Cable, another executive producer of the show.\nCall-outs will be held at WFYI, 1401 N. Meridian St., in Indianapolis. Registration begins at 7 a.m. and those who arrive by 3 p.m. are guaranteed auditions, according to \na press release.\nRegistration forms will be available at WFYI or can be accessed online at http://EverydayEdisons.com.
(07/06/06 12:07am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Former President Bill Clinton spoke at a fund-raiser here for 9th District Democratic hopeful Baron Hill Wednesday.\nClinton lauded the work Hill did while serving two terms in the House before losing his seat to incumbent Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-9th in 2004, calling Hill a "political marathon man."\n"After the last election, he didn't give up or give in," he said. "We need more people like that on our side ... Baron Hill is model in my view of what a public servant ought to be at the dawn of the 21st century."\nPlates for the luncheon at the downtown Marriott ballroom cost between $250 and $2,100 and were expected to bring in about $250,000 for Hill's campaign.\nThe former president spent much of his 40-minute speech criticizing the policy changes Republicans and the Bush administration have enacted since he left office.\n"A narrow slice of the Republican Party has controlled our government since 2000 and they're gaining control of the courts now," Clinton told the crowd of more than 400. "They believe in concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a right wing elite, they believe the key to economic growth lies in the wealthiest, well-connected Americans, they believe in a government that is secretive, unaccountable and increasingly unlimited in its power."\nClinton said that he thought Hill would be a good foil to Republicans promoting this agenda.\n"He's a small business owner and his wife is a school teacher," Clinton said. "The life he and his wife lives is a very different way of life than is lived by Republicans in Washington today."\nIU College Democrats President Emma Cullen had her picture taken with Clinton before the event and left impressed with the former president.\n"He's always been an amazing public speaker," she said. "He was very personable and seemed genuinely happy to see everyone."\nFollowing the luncheon Clinton unexpectedly met with several dozen well-wishers on the street outside of the Marriott.\nHe told the assembled crowd that he planned on writing a book in the near future about the initiatives he has worked on since leaving office, and also offered an analysis of November's midterm elections.\n"I think people are tired of ideological politics and not being able to have an honest debate without being accused of being a traitor," Clinton said. "You can only squeeze a tactic like that through so many elections."\nSodrel laughed at the prospect of Clinton stumping for Hill Tuesday considering the former Democratic representative hosted a "Working Hoosier" rally at the Monroe County Courthouse March 24 when President Bush visited Indianapolis for Sodrel. At that rally Hill contrasted the $1,000 to $10,000 per plate cost Hoosiers forked over for face time with Bush versus his plight to local social service agencies that he was working in Bloomington to help feed the hungry and improve poverty conditions for the working class.\n"All I can say is 'karma,'" Sodrel said before walking the Bloomington/Monroe County Fourth of July parade route with about a dozen of his followers. "Criticizing me is a little hypocritical if you throw rocks and then have a similar event yourself."\n-Staff writer David A. Nosko contributed to this report.
(07/03/06 2:27am)
Sgt. Michael Black has been scarred by war. Twice he has been to the battlefields of Iraq and twice he has been to the battlefields of Afghanistan. Twice he has taken shrapnel from improvised explosive devices -- once in the back and once in the leg.\nFor many people that would be enough combat, but Black will ship out for Iraq again Friday.\n"It's the right thing to do," he said. "If we don't, who will?"\nBlack, a 23 year-old Bloomfield, Ind. resident, was in Bloomington Saturday and Sunday to get his sixth tattoo before heading to the Mideast, a tribal design on his left arm.\nOn the leg where he was injured by shrapnel, Black has a Chinese symbol for "phoenix" because he felt like he "rose from the ashes" after joining the army.\nHis right arm is adorned with the classic Superman "S" with a purple heart over it. The purple heart tattoo serves as a reminder of the first of two he's been awarded.\n"I got the Superman tattoo because I thought I was invincible, obviously that's not the case," he said.\nBlack, who joined the army just two weeks before 9/11, comes from a family with a strong military history. His father served for 20 years and he has an older brother who is a marine. Another brother is also enlisted in the army.\nSince the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime there has been less direct contact with the Iraqi insurgency, Black said.\n"It's mostly IEDs and landmines," he said. "They're scared of us. They're just trying to whittle us down now."\nHe said that in both Afghanistan and Iraq, few civilians are happy to have the U.S. military there. He said many shout profanities and tell the soldiers to go home.\nThough Black has been lucky enough to avoid serious injury in the line of duty, he said he's had about a dozen friends killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.\n"If you see your buddy messed up it's just surreal," he said. "You can train your whole life and you can't expect that. It never gets easy."\nStill, Black said he would recommend military service to those considering it.\n"If someone came to me and said they were thinking about joining I'd support them," he said. "I'd give them as much information as possible. One thing is, the movies are all wrong. It's not as bad as they make it out to be."\nWith only a few days left until he returns to Iraq, and a third tour of duty in Afghanistan scheduled for late 2007, Black is excited and confident he'll remain safe, a sentiment his girlfriend Amber Harrison shares.\n"Yeah, I worry, but he'll be fine," she said. "He knows what he's doing"
(06/29/06 2:05am)
In stifling summer heat, more than two dozen people marched south on Walnut Street, June 21. The crowd, literally of all ages -- from children just barely of school age, to the elderly being guided by friends -- formed an unlikely parade of signs and banners, all of them calling for one goal: the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.\n"No more dead Iraqis! No more war!" came the shouts, amplified by a megaphone held by Bloomington Peace Action Coalition Organizer Timothy Baer.\nSince 2002, before the invasion of Iraq, the group has held protests on the square -- but Wednesday was different. Instead of sticking to the square, the mass of people yearning for peace took their case to the Bloomington office of Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-9th District.\n"If Sodrel and others support the troops, they will bring them home," Baer told the crowd gathered outside the congressman's office.\nSodrel was among the Republican members of the House who, earlier this month, voted for a resolution to continue the mission in Iraq without setting a timetable for troop withdrawal.\nBaer said that when his group met with Sodrel last year, he was not very receptive to their ideas.\n"He said he will continue the administration's policy that the generals on the ground know best. But even some of them say Iraq cannot be won militarily," Baer said.\nCam Savage, a spokesman for Sodrel, said that if the coalition had let the office know when they were going to be there beforehand, someone would have been there to meet them.\nThe Bloomington group has also expressed dissatisfaction with Baron Hill, Sodrel's opponent in November, who voted to authorize President Bush's plan to invade Iraq in 2003.\nStill, following Wednesday's protest, Hill released a statement calling for troop withdrawal soon.\n"This war was unnecessary and a tragic mistake, but criticizing the administration's failed operation in Iraq is not enough," read the statement. "It is now time to commit to a plan that includes clear benchmarks, which, when met, we'll know we're finished and can send our troops home"
(06/05/06 2:50am)
Everyone knows that totally hot 18-year-old California swimsuit model you met playing the popular online game, "World of Warcraft", is probably a 36-year-old guy living in his parents' basement. But does taking on the persona of another gender affect how people perceive each other online? \nThat is the question IU Public Speaking Director Cynthia Duquette Smith and MIT Instructor Katie Livingston Vale have set out to answer in a paper they will present later this month in Cleveland.\n"We found most people think the female characters they meet online are males," Vale said. "But still others are convinced that females are treated differently."\n"World of Warcraft" is a massive multiplayer online role playing game where thousands of people simultaneously play in one persistent game world, all the while interacting with each other.\nReleased in late 2004, the game has a worldwide subscriber base of over 6 million people and controls more than 50 percent of the massive multiplayer online role-playing game market, according to a May study posted on the Web site mmogchart.com, which tracks such games.\nSmith and Vale's study of approximately 130 players who responded to a survey they posted online, found about 40 percent of players log on as both male or female characters, but more than half will never play as the opposite gender.\n"When asked why, we found most just find female characters more attractive to be staring at the whole time," Vale said.\nIn studying "Warcraft," which Smith and Vale's husband said they play regularly, the two have found many similarities to real life social situations, especially in the larger guilds -- where groups of dozens form.\n"In a guild you're not anonymous," Vale said. "You go on long raids and get to know the personality of another person, to trust them or follow their instructions. There are schisms and subgroups. People split off over all sorts of disagreements."\nSome people have even put being in charge of a guild down on their resumes when applying for real jobs, Vale said.\n"Let's say you lead a guild of 120 people in eight different time zones and have them all up to level 60, businesses are taking that seriously," she said. "Managing a guild like that online can help manage workers outsourced to India that you'll never meet."\nSenior Enrique Lozano said he is an avid "Warcraft" player and participated in the survey, but said he doubts the game offers that much real world experience.\n"I have heard of people putting down leading a guild on a resume, but honestly it's either BS or a very remote case," he said. "That doesn't stop the fact that leading experience is very good experience for a job though"
(05/26/06 5:13pm)
It began with a terse message on Alvin Henry's Facebook wall from his cousin that the 21-year-old senior had died in a car accident Saturday night and that mourners should contact him for more information.\nBy Sunday afternoon dozens of other friends of Henry posted their own short comments, words of shock and grief. As the night wore on the comments became longer and more heartfelt. By Wednesday afternoon, more than 100 messages in all had been posted expressing condolences the fallen Eigenmann resident assistant.\nHenry's Facebook wall had become a full blown memorial.\n"There are more people using Facebook than anything else," said IU alum Jonathan Griffin, Henry's cousin who left the original wall message. "It's the easiest way to let people know he passed. I sent one or two messages and it spread like wildfire."\nSuch online memorials have become common on the Web site when students die, regardless of a school's size or location, Facebook spokesman Chris Hughes said in an e-mail.\n"Facebook is and has always intended to be a reflection of 'real life' social situations and groupings," Hughes said. "Unlike other Web sites like MySpace, people don't log on to Facebook to imitate or lie about who they are, but instead to build a virtual representation of their 'real life' personality. To that end it does not surprise us that students often move to Facebook after a peer has died to express their grief at the loss."\nIn addition to the messages on Henry's wall, another friend of his set up a memorial group, another common occurrence online.\nSuch groups can remain on the network indefinitely, but the profiles of deceased students are deleted after a month.\n"Whenever we learn of a user who has passed away, we remove some of the functionality for the profile (such as membership in groups) and the basic and contact info for the sections," Hughes said. "We preserve personal info, photos and the wall for a period of one month, then we remove the profile from the network."\nBesides the common wall posts and memorial group, senior and Black Student Union President D'Anna Wade memorialized Henry in a picture collage a friend of hers made using the program Microsoft Picture It!\n"Although my primary purpose for the collage was to get the word out, I believe it has done much more than that," Wade said in an e-mail. "This particular piece is helping many cope with Alvin's passing because it shows him in the various lights that we remember him -- laughing, smiling and genuinely enjoying life. He was truly an angel here on this earth and a very lovable human being."\nSince Wade posted the collage Sunday, dozens of people on Facebook have made it their profile picture.\nThough Henry's profile will eventually be removed, Griffin wishes the site would reconsider their policy.\n"They should leave it up," he said. "It's a daily tribute so people won't forget him"
(05/23/06 2:07am)
Senior Alvin Henry, 21, was a popular Resident Assistant in Eigenmann Hall, known for his sense of humor and infectious singing of R & B hits.\n"At the start of the year I asked someone on his floor if you like your new RA, and he said, 'Yeah, we love Alvin! He's always singing in the shower,'" Eigenmann Graduate Supervisor Megan Hutchison said.\nHenry's voice was silenced forever Saturday night shortly after 8 p.m. when the car in which he was a passenger lost control and hit a semi on northbound I-65, just outside Crown Point, Ind., according to an Indiana State Police news release.\nHenry was ejected from the vehicle, which was traveling at a high rate of speed, and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the release. Police said alcohol was not a factor in the crash.\n"It was a big shock to everyone," said Henry's cousin, senior Darleesa Gates, choking back tears. "I was a few months older than him, but he was always trying to be the bigger cousin, taking care of me and giving me rides places. He was a sweet person. I won't forget his beautiful smile."\nAnother cousin, Jonathon Griffin, remembers Henry as an outgoing guy who tried to be friends with everyone.\n"He welcomed everybody," Griffin said. "He made you feel comfortable. He treated everyone with respect."\nHenry was also a good student, majoring in political science and economics, planning to graduate next May. He had just taken the GRE in hopes of going to law school and entering politics.\n"Me and Alvin had been together since elementary school, we graduated high school together, and we were supposed to graduate college together," Gates said. \nSenior Franc Perrelle, a fellow RA, often played basketball at the SRSC with Henry, who was an avid Chicago Bulls fan.\n"We always had a competition playing against each other, trying to one up each other," Perrelle said. "He tried to make me better. He did that not just on the court, but as an RA he made those around him better people."\nA native of Gary, Henry was a member of the executive board of the Black Student Union and staff writer and guest columnist for the Indiana Daily Student.\nBut Henry is still best known as the singing RA in Eigenmann who did whatever he could to help his students.\n"When you were at school he made you feel at home," said sophomore Matt Baron, who lived on Henry's floor last year. "He cared about everyone."\nWith dorms emptied for the summer, Henry's death creates an even greater void in Eigenmann.\n"He liked to crack jokes, but he also always had the right calming words for you," Hutchison said. "He's going to be missed."\n-Campus editor Trevor Brown contributed to this report.
(05/22/06 12:33am)
As an avid gamer, there's a lot of books I read, or movies I watch, and I think: "Man, that would make for an awesome video game." \n"The Da Vinci Code" just isn't one of them. \nSure, it's an interesting yarn about the life of a Harvard professor of religious symbology intertwining with a secret society and the French police, in search of the Holy Grail. But, there's little in the book that would make for a great video game. Still, some corporate shill somewhere decided this would be a great opportunity to cash in on the popularity of the book that sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, and movie that premiered May 19. \nThe result is a game sub-par in almost every way.\n"The Da Vinci Code" game harkens back to PC point-and-click adventure games of the early '90s like "Myst." This means you spend a lot of time just kind of wandering around wide open environments looking for clues to extremely abstract puzzles. \nThe puzzles, by the way, come in two varieties: either, "Duh, I remember this from the book!" or "What the hell am I supposed to do here - I've been wandering around aimlessly for the past hour looking for some tablet I missed, and have no clue what to do!" This problem is then punctuated by your companion on the quest, Cryptographer Sophie Neveu, who gives you great advice like, "I know there's something we missed!" and "We have to keep looking!"\nThere's a reason games like this aren't made anymore. They're not very fun.\nOn top of that, the narrative from the book is substantially changed in the name of this already horrible puzzle solving. The now famous, "So dark the con of man" line? Not even found on the Mona Lisa.\nIt's also a lot harder to understand a character's motivation without pages of text to explain it. At least the voice acting is competent.\nBesides new puzzles not found in the book or movie, the back of the box also touts this game's great stealth and combat.\nThe combat is just plain boring, as fights initiate a mini-game where you press buttons as prompted to lay the smack-down on French police and evil monks. This is the real shame since the Collective's last few games, "Star Wars Episode III," "Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb" and "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" had very fun fighting mechanics.\nIf there's any highlight to the game, it's the music and some of the graphics. The pieces on the soundtrack are classical, almost monastic church music, like something you would hear on Easter, or Christmas, which is especially fitting to the mood. Graphics are more of a mixed bag. Backgrounds look fantastic; walking around the Louvre, you can actually recognize many of the famous pieces of art. It's like going on a virtual tour, and there's even some great lighting and shadow effects. \nCharacters, however, look wooden and a little blocky, like they belong in an original Playstation game, which also takes a lot away from caring about the story.\n"The Da Vinci Code" is yet another in a long line of games made only to cash in on the popularity of its license. It's so completely devoid of fun or novel gameplay ideas that I can't possibly recommend it to gamers, and it tinkers with the story so much, few fans of the book will find it worth their time.
(05/18/06 12:10am)
With more than 60 million copies of Dan Brown's thriller "The Da Vinci Code" in print, the hidden history of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church isn't much of a secret anymore.\nFor those who haven't read it, "The Da Vinci Code" is a fictional modern day search for the Holy Grail starring a Harvard scholar who studies ancient symbols and a French cryptographer, except the Grail they seek is no mere cup.\nInstead, the Grail is a set of ancient documents which detail the hidden life of Jesus Christ -- a marriage to Mary Magdalene that produced children. According to the book, and some more conspiracy-oriented versions of history, these documents are guarded by a secret society known as the Priory of Sion, a group considered a hoax by most scholars.\nIn the book, a personal prelature to the Pope (a group that reports directly to the Roman Catholic pontiff) known as "Opus Dei" goes so far as to murder people to keep hidden the Grail secret, and to protect the Church's version of history. As the release of the movie approaches, Opus Dei, which considers itself a lay group, has launched a public relations campaign to protect its image because they say the book misrepresents the organization.\n"'The Da Vinci Code' also makes melodramatic assertions that Opus Dei engages in 'brainwashing,' 'coercion' and 'aggressive recruiting,' unfairly trying to tar Opus Dei with the same brush used against groups more deserving of such epithets," reads a press release on the group's site, www.opusdei.us. "Opus Dei proposes to people to give their lives to God, following a special path of service within the Catholic Church."\nAs for the Grail, it became involved in many apocryphal tales of the Middle Ages and eventually gained the mystical ability to grant anyone who drank from it eternal life, so claims the mythology that lacks basis in \nScripture.\n"The New Testament Gospels mention Jesus taking a cup and passing it around at his Last Supper, but the cup has no special status in any of the four gospels and is not called 'holy,'" Associate Professor of Religious Studies Bert Harrill said in an \ne-mail.\nAs most Grail legends originated in the present-day United Kingdom, some scholars have noted the stories have much in common with Celtic and Welsh myths from the area.\n"By the medieval period the cup had become a 'grail' and a holy relic," Harrill said. "As far as I know, no church actually claims to house the 'Holy Grail.' Anymore I know about the search for the Holy Grail comes from Monty Python."\nThe comedy troupe Monty Python is well-known for its 1974 film lampooning King Arthur's quest for the Holy Grail. \nThough the New Testament contains no mention of Jesus marrying or helping give birth to children, it is certainly not out of the question. One gospel written by the Valentinian Gnostics, named after the Gnostic philosopher Valentinus, alludes to the possibility. The Gnostics were an early Judeo-Christian sect with many ideas about Christ and the creation story that were considered heretical and nearly exterminated in the second \ncentury.\n"A Valentinian work called 'The Gospel According to Philip' does call Mary Magdalene Jesus's 'companion,' but includes here among three women, all named Mary, who accompanied Jesus: his mother, sister, and companion," Professor of Religious Studies David Brakke said in an e-mail. "So the reference seems symbolic of a kind of male-female unity, which is a major theme in Valentinian theology and in 'The DaVinci Code' as well, but it does not mention marriage or children, and I doubt the relationship is meant to be sexual."\nThe controversial film premieres world-wide May 19 and stars Tom Hanks in the role of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon.
(05/15/06 12:10am)
Local members of a national political action group gathered in protest of a new Medicare Prescription Drug Plan effective today that penalizes senior citizens who don't sign up for the new plan, which is administered by drug companies rather than the Federal Government. \nAbout a dozen members of MoveOn.org cheered outside of Rep. Mike Sodrel's, R-9th District, Bloomington office Thursday as they ripped up a giant check protesting his endorsement of the plan that the Bush administration says will save seniors who sign up for it about $1,100.\nThe oversized check, endorsed by "big drug companies," represented the campaign contributions pharmaceutical companies made to Sodrel's 2004 political campaign. MoveOn claims Medicare Part D helps drug companies more than seniors and asked Sodrel to support extending the deadline.\nSimilar protests were held at Congressional offices around the country.\n"Competitive bids are prohibited in the bill," said Bloomington Dr. Mary Mahern. "As far as I'm concerned the bill was written by the pharmaceutical industry and is not in the interest of a single person in this country."\nMahern and other protestors offered anecdotes of seniors who were extremely confused by the plan and signed up on the Internet.\n"People are completely confused," she said. "There's a lot of fear and uncertainty. They don't know what plan to sign up for or how it will work out for them."\nMedicare Part D offers recipients formularies, or different lists of medication, that they can sign up for one year at a time, the protestors said. But they said different lists offer different deductibles for the same drugs. According to Wikipedia, drug companies can also change the drugs they offer as long as they give at least 60 days notice.\n"With a formulary, if a patient needs new medicine for a new diagnosis, that might not be covered in that formulary," Mahern said. "It's much too rigid." \nThose who fail to meet today's deadline will pay a penalty equal to one percent of their monthly premium if they sign up later. The Associated Press said as of Wednesday about 6 million people eligible for the plan had yet to sign up.\n"I think traditional Medicare has served our seniors well, but this part D plan is terrible," said Dr. Rob Stone, an emergency room doctor at Bloomington Hospital. "These free market applications have just been a nightmare."\nDespite the protest, Sodrel's Deputy Chief of Staff Chris Crabtree said most people he's heard from at town hall meetings liked the plan.\n"There were a number of people needing help enrolling, but there seems to be quite a lot of satisfaction with it overall," Crabtree said.
(05/14/06 11:57pm)
Students are still lovin' it, but there's been no word from Residential Programs and Services yet if McDonald's will return to Read Center when its contract with the University runs out at the end of the 2006-07 school year.\n"There has been no decision," Director of Dining Services Sandra Fowlersaid in an e-mail. "Our representative from the Purchasing Department will send a Request for Proposal to interested vendors sometime within the next few weeks." \nRPS and Residence Hall Association representatives have said in the past that they are considering financial and health concerns regarding the restaurant's location at the residence hall. \nRPS had previously hoped to make its selection by March. Arby's and Wendy's have both been mentioned as possible replacements to McDonald's according to a October 31, 2005 Indiana Daily Student article.\n"My understanding is that RPS is starting their search in June," said Roland Long, the owner of all Bloomington McDonald's franchises. "They have not said we are not going to be back there."\nOne sticking point has been that RPS would like to be a franchise owner, and McDonald's historically only franchises to individuals.\nAn announcement is expected in the next two to three months.
(05/05/06 5:27am)
Senior Charissa Cleveland graduates Saturday.\nMonday, she heads to Los Angeles with a car full of luggage and a video camera with dreams of making it big in Hollywood as a music video director and producer.\nCleveland is one of two students set to graduate this weekend who will appear in "The Hollywood Dream," a documentary by IU alum Deren P. Abram, an Emmy Award-winning producer who has previously worked on segments for "Monday Night Football."\n"I don't care what I work on once I'm out there," said Cleveland, who has an unpaid internship lined up with HSI Productions, a company that produces music videos and commercials. "I just want to do something. I want to be in the industry."\nThe odds are stacked against graduates like Cleveland. Thousands of people dream of making it big in Hollywood, but few of them get any kind of break.\nWhile interviewing for the documentary, Abram repeats several times, "They say 1,000 people come to Hollywood every day and 1,000 leave." In spite of this, fresh talent keeps moving west.\n"People pursue the dream against all odds because they have a passion," Abram said. "There's no reason to try it. It's insane. They do it anyway because they have it inside of them. There's nothing else they can do."\nSenior Patrick Ellison is the other student featured in the documentary. Ellison leaves for Los Angeles in September and doesn't have a job lined up yet -- just a head full of ideas for directing movies.\n"I hope to come up with something new and exciting," he said. "I'm sick of the same idea over and over again. I want to do an 'Indiana Jones' type thing, a more realistic adventure film."\nEllison has quite a bit of directing experience already. He worked as a programming director for IUSTV, which Abram said is the most valuable thing when looking for a job in film.\n"Getting a job is going to be different for them," he said. "Don't even bother putting your GPA on your resume. No one cares. They want to see what you've actually done. Put together a reel of your work."\nAbram still plans on implementing footage from Cleveland's drive to Hollywood into the documentary, but hopes to complete it this summer for submission to the Sundance Film Festival.\nBesides the IU graduates trying to make it in the business, the documentary will also feature interviews with actors and producers sharing their experiences. Confirmed so far are Elaine Mellencamp, wife of Hoosier rocker John Mellencamp, and comedian Dom Deluise.\nDeluise is also featured prominently in a series of children's DVDs Abram is currently producing.\nThough it will be a difficult journey for Ellison, he doesn't plan on quitting until he gets a job.\n"I think my backup plan is that I'm expecting failure, so I figure eventually I've got to win big," Ellison said.\ngraduates like Cleveland. Thousands of people dream of making it big in Hollywood, but few of them get any kind of break.\nWhile interviewing for the documentary, Abram repeats several times, "They say 1,000 people come to Hollywood every day and 1,000 leave." In spite of this, fresh talent keeps moving west.\n"People pursue the dream against all odds because they have a passion," Abram said. "There's no reason to try it. It's insane. They do it anyway because they have it inside of them. There's nothing else they can do."\nSenior Patrick Ellison is the other student featured in the documentary. Ellison leaves for Los Angeles in September and doesn't have a job lined up yet -- just a head full of ideas for directing movies.\n"I hope to come up with something new and exciting," he said. "I'm sick of the same idea over and over again. I want to do an 'Indiana Jones' type thing, a more realistic adventure film."\nEllison has quite a bit of directing experience already. He worked as a programming director for IUSTV, which Abram said is the most valuable thing when looking for a job in film.\n"Getting a job is going to be different for them," he said. "Don't even bother putting your GPA on your resume. No one cares. They want to see what you've actually done. Put together a reel of your work."\nAbram still plans on implementing footage from Cleveland's drive to Hollywood into the documentary, but hopes to complete it this summer for submission to the Sundance Film Festival.\nBesides the IU graduates trying to make it in the business, the documentary will also feature interviews with actors and producers sharing their experiences. Confirmed so far are Elaine Mellencamp, wife of Hoosier rocker John Mellencamp, and comedian Dom Deluise.\nDeluise is also featured prominently in a series of children's DVDs Abram is currently producing.\nThough it will be a difficult journey for Ellison, he doesn't plan on quitting until he gets a job.\n"I think my backup plan is that I'm expecting failure, so I figure eventually I've got to win big," Ellison said.