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(04/07/04 3:19pm)
Dean of Students Richard McKaig will meet with the Office of Student Ethics later today to determine if there are grounds to pursue an investigation into unauthorized use of the University's name or space by the adult Web site www.teenkeira.com.\nThe site features topless and semi-nude pictures of IU freshman Keira in her dorm room and the shower of Briscoe-Shoemaker.\nKeira's real name is not being used because the investigation has not gone public.\n"We will determine if there are grounds to believe that University space was used," McKaig said. "And if so, we can move forward in the standard way through the campus judicial system."\nMcKaig said he has not been contacted by any students or parents with concerns about the site.\nKeira claims she has done nothing wrong since her site is actually run by Orange Image, a webmaster located in Raleigh, N.C.\n"I think things have been blown way out of proportion," Keira said. "(The administration) wants to say I'm running the site out of my dorm room. It's not run here. We just take pictures here."\nKeira said she has not received any negative feedback since news of her site broke.\nThis is a similar reaction to that received by Mandy, a senior who has been featured on the hardcore pornographic Web site www.midwestmandy.com since Dec. 2003. The site, which charges $19.99 a month for a membership, has since received more than one million hits.\nMandy requested her last name not be used.\n"People recognize me, and I get e-mails, but I haven't had any stalkers or anything like that," Mandy said. "I have had marriage proposals. Most people are just curious about the site, though."\nUnlike Keira's site, Mandy's site does not feature any pictures taken on campus property.\nMandy claims Orange Image contacted her own employers for information on putting together Keira's site but the request was not met.\nIn the meantime, Keira is preparing herself for the University investigation into her site. \nShe contends her site is not nearly as hardcore as "Shane's World Vol. 32: Campus Invasion," the adult film shot by Shane Enterprises in Oct. 2002 that featured a student in Teter Quad receiving oral sex.\n"I don't feel it's porn," Keira said. "You can call it an adult site, but there's no intercourse or oral sex. There's not anyone else in the pictures with me. I'm not even fully nude."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(04/06/04 4:58pm)
Like many IU freshman, Keira has a job to help pay for school. Unlike most freshman, her job involves taking her clothes off in front of a camera.\nKeira is the star of www.teenkeira.com, an adult Web site hosted by the webmaster Orange Image, which features topless and semi-nude pictures of her in a dorm room and shower inside Briscoe-Shoemaker. The Web site provides access to photos and Keira's journal for $24.95 per month.\nKeira agreed to be interviewed for this article on the condition that we use the name she is known as on her Web site. \nDean of Students Richard McKaig said his office is investigating whether there is unauthorized use of the University's name or space on the site.\n"We don't know yet if (the site) is associated with IU," McKaig said. "Lots of things students do do not always reflect on the University."\nKeira's real name is not being used because the investigation has not gone public.\nKeira said she has not yet been contacted by any University officials.\n"Lewd, indecent or obscene conduct" on University property is against the student code of conduct. It is under this precedent students who participated in an adult film in October 2002 were disciplined by the University. \nIn the fall 2002 incident, actresses from the pornographic film company Shane Enterprises were allowed access to Teter Quad in exchange for oral sex.\nIU could not take action against Shane Enterprises because no IU logo appeared in the film. Although there are no logos on Kiera's site, she poses in her room with the words "IU campus" in view from the emergency map on the door.\nMcKaig said he could not reveal the names or disciplinary actions faced by students in that incident but said the investigation into Keira's site "may play out the same way."\nConsequences for violating the code of ethics can range from probation to expulsion.\nKeira, who has a steady boyfriend who takes the pictures appearing on the site, said she launched the site about three weeks ago upon his suggestion. She said it helps her pay for college and family expenses.\n"It kind of helps pay for school and living next year," Keira said. "My mom and dad are divorced, and my mom has had a lot of medical problems and hasn't been able to work. Money helps pay for everything like family things -- money-wise, it makes very good money."\nKeira said her parents know about the site and have come to accept her career.\n"It's one of those things -- they were shocked at first but realized I'm doing it for money and things that will help me through school," she said.\nAs word of the site has spread around campus, Keira has become something of a minor celebrity.\n"I've had e-mails and messages and things like that, but nothing bad or stalker-wise," she said. "Just like, 'Hey I liked (the site) or I'm an IU student. Give me a call,' and they leave numbers. I've had people call and ask if they can take pictures with me." \nIt is against University policy to host a site on the network for commercial use, but Chief Information Security and Policy Officer Mark Bruhn confirmed the site does not use a University IP address.\n"If a site like that is on an IU network device, whoever is maintaining that site will be asked to take it down," Bruhn said.\nReaction to the site was mixed in Briscoe-Shoemaker, where some pictures were taken.\n"If it's keeping her in school, I don't think people should judge her just because she's using porn to provide funds," sophomore Endy Obianozie said. "We're all adults. Everyone knows what porn is. I think she has the right to do what she wants."\nSophomore Val Glysson said she was surprised about the site, but not surprised the pictures were taken in Briscoe because "there's a lot of freshmen here and not a lot of supervision."\nBut Glysson fears more pornographic activity on campus could give the school a bad reputation.\n"I don't think there should be pictures of people doing things like porn on University property," she said. "I think it gives the University a bad name."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(04/02/04 6:06am)
The new OneStart registration program could be the last stop for the Indiana Student Public Interest Research Group. \nSince 1997, INPIRG has had an agreement with the University that it must obtain a $5 pledge from 10 percent of the student body each semester to remain on campus. These pledges are obtained through in-person events throughout campus. With the Legacy System, which IU is abandoning next fall, pledges are checked against a database of enrolled students and those who pledged are billed by the Office of the Bursar.\nINPIRG is the only organization that uses this system. Proposals to keep INPIRG on campus could include a flat fee of under $1, though the board of trustees would have to approve it. \nWith the institution of PeopleSoft's new system, it could take up to 18 months to put a similar system in place for INPIRG, said Damon Sims, assistant vice chancellor of student affairs and associate dean of students.\n"The bottom line is that INPIRG would liked to be moved to the front of the line when they're at the end of it," Sims said, "and everybody wants to get their things done too."\nIn the meantime, INPIRG has been offered "optional check-off," which would give students the ability to check off a box to donate money to the group at registration. INPIRG has thus far rejected the offer.\n"INPIRG is a big idea that involves money issues, social issues and the environment and the idea of students having a bigger voice beyond the campus," said Megan Foster, INPIRG's campus organizer. "The idea of that having to be boiled down to a little box is just terrible. We need to get out there and have face-to-face conversations." \nSophomore Katie Wilkinson, INPIRG vice-board chair, argues the check-off system will not work for the group in the same way it does for other organizations who use it, such as IU Dance Marathon and the IU Rape Crisis Fund.\n"It's more obvious what those are," Wilkinson said. "If you want to give them money, you pretty much know beforehand."\nSims said there is no evidence INPIRG won't be able to obtain its 10 percent goal through optional check-off.\nINPIRG offered to provide its own programmers to write new code into the PeopleSoft system, but the idea was rejected because of security concerns. Dropping the 10 percent requirement has also been brought up, but Wilkinson said at least that much is needed just for operational costs.\nINPIRG hopes to have a solution to the problem before students begin registering, though Bursar bills are not sent out until July.\nWilkinson said the group has enough money saved up to stay on campus through at least next semester while it continues to search for a solution.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(03/30/04 6:22am)
University of Michigan professor of modern Middle-Eastern history Juan Cole spoke Monday night at Ballantine Hall and heavily criticized the Bush administration's "War on Terror."\n"The War on Terror is a misnomer," Cole said. "Terror is a technique. You can't make war on a tactic."\nCole, in his lecture, 'The War on Terrorism and Islam in Bush administration policy,' said the war in Afghanistan following the 2001 terror attacks was under-funded and could have used more special operations officers.\nHe also criticized the Bush administration's handling of the War in Iraq, saying he could not see any reasoning for it since no weapons of mass destruction have been discovered in the country.\n"Iraq posed no danger to the United States -- everyone in Washington (D.C.) must have known that," Cole said. "What bothered me was when Bush started talking about the atomic stuff. The idea of Saddam Hussein with nukes is pretty scary. He's not a nice man, and he's a little flaky. It turns out there hasn't been a nuclear program since the 80s. The whole thing was a fraud."\nCole, who has written four books on the Mideast and toured the region several times, also warned current policy is spreading Muslim extremism.\n"Iraq was a rather nasty one- party state, but it was secular," he said. "It seems clear to me that if elections were held there today religious groups would sweep to power."\nCole went on to call the idea Iraq can be "Americanized" in the coming months "the worst black eye for democracy since the Reichstag fire."\nThose with Mideast connections, such as freshman Tariq Harani, who often travels with his family to Syria, said Cole's lecture was accurate but would have been considered "scathing" by many in the region.\n"Usually you find people who are experts are not familiar with people behind the scenes, such as the ayatollahs and mullahs," Harani said. "The Arab world, though, would have found his words to be scathing because of (his) criticism of the way the governments there are run."\nOne of the major problems with the way the U.S. is viewed in the Middle East is the longstanding support for Israel, Cole said, calling the occupation in the West Bank "illegal."\nCole is currently on a list of allegedly biased professors on the pro-Israeli Web site www.campus-watch.org.\nJunior Andrew Allred said he believed Cole gave a "modest criticism" of the Israel-Palestine conflict.\n"He's merely making the point that the occupation is illegal under international law," Allred said. "Israel has used brutal tactics, but so have the Palestinians. You can't pick one side over the other."\n--Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at
(03/26/04 5:40am)
Sophomore Samprati Kenny Lalwani attended the lecture by Shashi Tharoor, the United Nations under-secretary general for communications and public information, to get a book signed for his father but left with new-found pride in his Indian heritage.\n"I like the uniqueness of India and how different it is from every other country in the world," said Lalwani, who has made several trips there. "It's really representative of every culture."\nTharoor made it clear in his opening remarks he did not come Thursday night to the Indiana Memorial Union as representative of the UN but as an Indian author discussing his latest book, "Nehru: The Invention of India," a biography of India's first prime minister.\n"That is important because it allows me to say certain things I might not as a UN official," Tharoor said.\nTharoor went on to discuss the incredible diversity in his home country. There are more than 80 languages spoken in India and over 20,000 dialects he said. Every major religion is practiced there.\n"It has been said that any truism about India can be immediately countered by another truism about India," Tharoor said. "It strikes many as chaotic, but India is not just a country, it is an adventure where everything is possible."\nIndia is on the cusp of changes, Tharoor said, that impact not just the one billion souls residing there, but the entire world.\n"Choices I make today will determine not just India for my children, but these choices will resonate around the globe," Tharoor said.\nTwo of the major challenges facing the country today are religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims and political corruption. Tharoor said fundamentalist Hinduism is merely an excuse for violence because there are no official leaders of the religion and no one specific text. \nHe also said while corruption in high office is a problem, committees set up to investigate are not afraid to indict officials and voters are quick to take action.\n"Re-election is becoming a rare thing in India," Tharoor said.\nThough there were many people of Indian descent in the audience, Union Board Director of Lectures and Seminars Lindsy Serrano said Tharoor's message of multiple cultures accepting one identity was applicable to others as well.\n"Where I grew up in Buffalo (N.Y.), it's a lot like that," Serrano said. "I could really identify with the idea of so many different cultures going back to claim one self."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(03/24/04 5:36am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- The IU board of trustees held a statewide public forum on tuition at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis Tuesday afternoon.\nIU Vice President Judy Palmer outlined the proposed tuition increases for all eight IU campuses, noting each was under the 4 percent limit the Herbert administration had instituted.\nThe proposed increase for the Bloomington campus would raise tuition by $189.60 for in-state undergraduate students enrolled before summer 2003, as well as add a $30 mandatory fee for a total increase of 4 percent. In-state undergrads enrolled after the spring 2003 would pay an additional $229.60, as well as the mandatory fee, for a total increase of 4 percent.\nTuition for out-of-state students would be raised 6 percent under the proposal.\nIn-state graduate students would also be subject to a 4 percent tuition hike, while tuition for non-resident graduate students would be raised based on their specific programs.\n"We believe this proposal will allow us to maintain IU's educational quality and accessibility, and we believe it is sensitive to economic challenges facing students and parents," Palmer said.\nGov. Joe Kernan praised IU for attempting to keep tuition low.\n"We need to recognize the economic challenges we face in the state of Indiana and all over the country in the past few years have put a particular burden on families as they are striving to make sure their children have the kinds of opportunities IU has to offer and that they can afford them," Kernan said. "(IU) plays a critical role in educating young people who come from Indiana and from all over the world. The quality there continues to make it a place that people want to go to get an extraordinary education."\nRepeatedly, Palmer's proposal spoke about the need to attract and retain outstanding faculty and staff and cited this as part of the reason for the tuition increase.\nCurrently, IU ranks seventh in the Big Ten in average salaries for professors.\nEarlier this month, the Lilly Endowment announced $100 million in grants for Indiana schools to attract better faculty. But IU President Adam Herbert said this will have no effect on tuition.\n"If we are successful in developing a proposal the Endowment accepts, those funds would be used to further enhance the quality of the institution," Herbert said. "The tuition plan that is before the board speaks to the continuing operation of the campuses."\nIU Student Association President Casey Cox said with the institution of the Commitment to Excellence Fee this year, there was little reason for a large tuition increase. The Commitment to Excellence Fee added a mandatory $1,000 fee to the tuition of all incoming freshmen and transfer students.\n"From a student point of view, trying to gage rises in tuition and academic excellence is difficult," Cox said. "But I think this proposal does a good job of keeping tuition and fees as low as possible."\nThe board of trustees is expected to vote on tuition increase at its next meeting April 2 at IU-Southeast.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(03/03/04 5:59am)
The Bloomington Faculty Council approved revisions to the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct for the first time in seven years at a meeting Tuesday in Ballantine Hall.\nThe revised code, along with changes suggested by the seven other IU campuses, will now go to a first reading by the University Faculties Council March 9.\nThe BFC approved the code 28-1, with 14 members abstaining.\nAmendments to the code proposed after the first reading last month included clarifications of the harassment policies and a rule explicitly against intimidating or threatening those involved in the judicial policy.\nSome on the council were worried students are to be held accountable for their "verbal conduct" by the new policy.\n"If someone finds speech offensive, that doesn't mean it's harassment," business Professor Eric Rasmusen said.\nAssociate Professor of Telecommunications Herb Terry took issue with the 96-page code itself by presenting a copy of the University of Michigan's seven-page student code.\n"We have created a monster here in terms of unintelligibility," Terry said. "(The Michigan code) does everything ours does, but it doesn't require a lawyer to interpret it. It is written with style in words an undergraduate can understand. I seriously hope the draft committee takes that into consideration."\nThe BFC also approved a resolution from the library committee regarding the rising cost of serials and databases.\nThe resolution encourages faculty to support publishers that allow open access and charge lower prices.\nSome periodicals, such as "The Journal of Phonetics," have raised their prices by more than 200 percent in a year, said Chair of the Library Committee Harold Ogren.\nHe also said IU has received more funding than other schools to pay for the rising cost of these publications but more long-term solutions, such as the resolution, are needed.\nDean of Graduate Studies John Slattery supported the idea of faculty publishing for open access journals.\n"Publishers hold us hostage to our pecking order of prestige," Slattery said. "What matters is the quality of work, not the journal that publishes it. I think we need to take that card from the publishers. We have to radically change our strategy."\nThe BFC was also scheduled to hear an update on the peer-to-peer file sharing policy but was unable to because of time constraints.\nThat policy will be reviewed at the next meeting, scheduled for March 23.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(03/02/04 4:12am)
The Lilly Endowment just gave students 100 million more reasons to go to school in Indiana.\nThe Indianapolis-based organization announced a $100 million grant program last week to improve higher education in the state.\nLilly intends these grants to be used for improving faculty at state and private schools and, thus, to attract students with higher grades in an effort to stop Indiana's so-called "brain drain."\n"As with many of our grants, we expect this one to have leveraging effect for colleges and communities," said Gretchen Wolfram, Lilly Endowment communications director. "For a long time now, we've felt some of the more exciting things in the country are happening on college campuses, and we would like Indiana to be on the forefront of those actions."\nThe average salary of professors at Indiana schools is usually lower than at other midwestern schools, Wolfram said, which discourages many from accepting positions at Hoosier colleges.\nThe $100 million has not yet been allocated, leaving it up to the schools to send in proposals for grants. Lilly will not accept any grant proposals from schools until April but is already optimistic.\n"We're just waiting to see what the colleges come up with," Wolfram said. "I'm sure it will be based on their strengths so that they can make them even stronger."\nIU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis said IU will apply for a grant but the details of the plan were not yet known.\nIt is unlikely, however, that any grant IU might receive from Lilly will have an effect on rising tuition or fees, Gros Louis said.\n"I don't know the details yet, of course, but in reading the full plan, I don't think that defraying tuition expenses would fit the guidelines," Gros Louis said.\nSince 1996, the Lilly Endowment has given almost $1 billion to higher education in Indiana, which Lilly says is necessary for the future of the state.\n"I can't stress the importance of higher education in Indiana enough," Wolfram said. "Without it, the future of education, the future of the economy and the future of quality life in Indiana doesn't look very bright. The state needs this right now."\nAt least one state faculty leader is wary of Lilly's latest grant program.\n"I'm a little nervous it could start creating a two-tiered faculty system where you have superstars at one level and everybody else below that," Kizhanipuram Vinodgopal, an IU-Northwest professor and president of the state chapter of the American Association of University Professors told The Associated Press.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(03/01/04 5:52am)
IU President Adam Herbert has appointed a graduate school task force to re-evaluate graduate education at the University for the first time in 15 years, according to an e-mail sent to faculty late last week.\n"So much has changed at the University since then that a reassessment of the philosophy, structure and administrative processes of our graduate education programs is essential," the e-mail stated. "An optimally designed and well-functioning structure for the oversight of graduate education is fundamental to our ability to attract and retain outstanding faculty."\nIn his e-mail, Herbert specifically charged the task force with finding the proper administrative structure for the graduate school, more effective ways of communicating with graduate programs at other campuses and identifying emerging challenges to graduate education at the University.\nDean of Graduate Studies John Slattery, who will serve on the task force, said the group has been formed to review decisions by former IU President Myles Brand.\n"President Herbert is reviewing such decisions, (and) in this case, he is asking what responsibilities should be assigned to the graduate school and to whom it should report," Slattery said.\nJournalism School Dean Trevor Brown, who will chair the task force, is looking to get a wide variety of opinions on graduate education at the University.\n"I want to be sure that as many people as possible in the University-wide community who are involved in graduate education have an opportunity to communicate to the task force their thoughts and concerns in response to the charge President Herbert has given the task force," Brown said.\nHe said the task force was not far enough along in its work to identify any of the challenges facing the graduate school, but Slattery identified low assistant instructor compensation and low fellowship amounts as two of the more pressing problems.\n"There are (also) broader issues about how it will best contribute to the climate for graduate study, support AIs in their duties and contribute most effectively to academic excellence at IU," Slattery said.\nPresident Herbert has asked the faculty to send their suggestions to the task force before March 12 and has requested a preliminary report by April 1 "to facilitate implementation actions ... so that we have time to share their conclusions with faculty governance, appropriate University officials and, as necessary, with the board of trustees," Herbert said. \n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/26/04 5:39am)
The IU board of trustees will hold an abbreviated business meeting Friday in the Indiana Memorial Union.\nAt the top of the list of items to be approved is a new information science building for IU-Purdue University Indianapolis.\nThe proposed 95,000 square-foot building will feature a computing intensive environment, teleconferencing facilities and a 200-person auditorium. The building is expected to cost more than $42 million.\nAlso on the agenda are $2 million-a-piece energy savings projects for IU-Kokomo and IU-Southeast.\nThese projects will upgrade or replace wasteful electrical and water systems in older buildings on each campus.\nThough not up for approval, the board will also discuss updates to the current 10-year renovation plan for the Bloomington campus.\n"There are a lot of new projects to look over with the 10-year capital improvement plan," said Fred Eichhorn, president of the board of trustees.\nThese proposed projects include $8 million for the renovation of Franklin Hall, $28 million for the Main Library and $170 million for a new power plant, Eichhorn said.\nThe board is expected to vote on these initiatives at a future meeting.\nOutgoing IUSA president, senior Casey Cox, will address the board, as well. Cox will advise the board against adding an athletic fee to student tuition.\nThat idea was brought before the trustees last month as a way of alleviating the athletic department's annual $2 million deficit.\n"Our student commission to investigate athletics has met, and we have decided an athletic fee will not be in the best interests of the student body," Cox said. "Instead we are developing an incentive-based program based on points."\nCox will also recommend the board gauge student reaction regarding IUSA's proposed transportation fee, which would add an additional $30 to tuition if approved by the board of trustees later this year.\n"Students are concerned about the inequity existing between on and off-campus students," Cox said. "I urge the board to hear student testimony and review the past proposal for consideration this spring."\nFinally, while it is not on the agenda, there is a possibility IU President Adam Herbert will further comment on the mission differentiation e-mail he sent out earlier this week, which called for clearer mission statements from each of the University's seven campuses.\n"I don't know if he will, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does," IU Spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said.
(02/25/04 6:24am)
IU President Adam Herbert is a man on a mission.\nHerbert sent an e-mail Tuesday to all Bloomington students and faculty stressing the need for each of the University's campuses to have a "clearly articulated mission that can serve as a roadmap for strategic growth and future development."\nThe e-mail broadly outlined what Herbert is expecting from each campus's mission statement.\n"These missions must focus not only on the strengths and challenges each of our campuses faces, but also on their aspirations and relationships with local, state, national and international constituencies," Herbert said in the e-mail. "Mission clarification for our campuses is critical if we are to be as responsive, creative and distinguished as we can be as a University."\nTo this end, read the e-mail, IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis, Chief Student and Diversity Officer Charlie Nelms and IU-Southeast New Albany Chancellor Emeritus F.C. Richardson have been charged with leading the "Mission Differentiation" initiative.\n"This is something President Herbert has talked about since joining the University," IU Spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said. "It's been one of his priorities in establishing himself as leader of Indiana University and in the process of moving forward."\nThe e-mail also noted the board of trustees' intent as establishing IU "as one university with multiple campuses, rather than as a system" as part of the reason for reevaluating mission statements. \n"We don't know (if they need to be changed) until we examine them," said IU board of trustees President Fred Eichhorn. "I don't think they're wrong, but perhaps we need to refine them."\nJankowski said just what the initiative means for the IU campuses will be better defined as Gros Louis, Nelms and Richardson collect data from students and faculty.\n"The beginning phases will be to collect a lot of information from each of the campuses," Gros Louis said. "Much of the spring and summer will be (spent) collecting data and Charlie (Nelms), and I will be sending a memo soon detailing what those data will be."\nRichardson declined to comment, saying he could not make policy comments for Gros Louis and Herbert.\nNelms was out of town and unavailable for comment.\nJankowski also said there's a possibility Herbert will comment more on the "Mission Differentiation" initiative at the board of trustees Meeting Friday.\n"I don't know if he will, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/20/04 5:02am)
When Sir Timothy Garden last spoke on "International Security and the New Century" at IU three years ago, the world was a very different place.\n"In Feb. 2001, I don't think anyone thought international security would change quite so much," Garden said. "Since then, we've all come to know what fanatical terrorists can do. As I said then, predicting the future is always a somewhat hazardous affair."\nGarden is an international security expert who served in Great Britain's Royal Air Force for more than three decades, reaching the rank of British air marshal, the equivalent of a three-star general. Currently, he is a visiting professor at the Centre for Defence Studies at King's College in London but makes time for speaking engagements around the world.\n"Timothy Garden is very much in demand these days," said Brian Winchester, director for the Center for the Study of Global Change. "I'm amazed at the kind of schedule he keeps."\nGarden spoke about U.S. and European relations in the age of terrorism Thursday at the IU Law School.\nMuch of the lecture focused on the future or NATO. Garden noted that following the Sept. 11 attacks, the article that stated an attack on one member nation was an attack on all was invoked, but the U.S. still chose to invade Afghanistan with only help from the United Kingdom. NATO only assisted in peacekeeping after the fall of the Taliban.\n"NATO actually cleans up, but it's preparing itself for what the U.S. is only going to do at chosen times with chosen allies," Garden said.\nMany audience members found the British viewpoint enlightening.\n"It was really informative to hear the point-of-view from the other side of the Atlantic," senior John Idlewine said.\nGarden also discussed the growing tensions between the U.S. and the European Union before the invasion of Iraq.\n"The new Bush administration had a style of diplomacy that took a little while to get used to in Europe," he said. "Whatever (the case for war's) merits, personally, I think it was incompetent diplomacy and dirty politics on both sides."\nDespite his feelings before the war, he said it is important for Iraq to be properly rebuilt now.\n"We need the U.N. to make sure the government is legitimate and representative of the people," he said. "It's not going to be easy to make it a democratic model for the rest of the region."\n-- Contact staff writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/18/04 5:49am)
The Bloomington Faculty Council held its first read-through of the updated Student Rights, Responsibilities and Conduct Code Tuesday.\nThe 96-page code, first approved in 1990, has not been updated since 1997.\n"Since 1997, technology and computers are being used much more at the University, so we added an emphasis on technology," said Mary Popp, co-chair of the University Faculty Committee's Student Affairs Committee.\nMost of the changes regarding technology refer to how students use electronic resources and access to University computers. A section at the beginning also states students are expected to keep up-to-date with their IU Webmail.\nThe area drawing the most discussion from faculty was the updated section explicitly allowing professors to bring legal counsel with them when meeting with a student about a failing grade or similar classroom incident.\n"We're seeing an increasing trend of students either talking about or bringing lawyers into precedings," Associate University Counsel Beth Cate said. "But no lawyer is going to be as helpful as simply stating what the basis of an action is."\nThe rewritten student code also calls for a student to not allow others access to his or her resources in order to cheat on an assignment. Currently, it only states a student is to not intentionally help another student to cheat.\nMany faculty members felt even this update was not enough to curb cheating and called for an honor code which would require students to report any knowledge they had of another student cheating. Such a code is currently in place in the Kelley School of Business.\nDean of Student Ethics Pam Freeman said the committee that drafted the code had discussed an honor code with the Kelley school, and were strongly advised not to add one to the student code. She also said the faculty needs to do a better job of reporting cheating.\n"Another point is that we received comments that there is a bigger problem of not reporting on the part of the faculty," Freeman said. "If we can't get the faculty to report academic misconduct, how can we get the students to do so?"\nBusiness Professor Eric Rasmusen pointed out there are currently no consequences for a faculty member who doesn't reporting cheating.\nPopp said more changes are expected to the proposed student code as the other IU campuses are surveyed for input.\nThe BFC is expected to vote on the student code at the next meeting March 2.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/17/04 5:30am)
The family of a Ball State student shot and killed by a University police officer has filed a $100 million lawsuit in federal court.\nJunior Michael S. McKinney, 21, of Bedford, Ind., was shot four times after lunging towards Ball State Police Officer Robert Duplain 24, in the early morning hours of Nov. 8, 2003.\nOfficers were called to the scene after a resident of an off-campus house called police complaining that the intoxicated McKinney was banging on the back door and windows and that a burglary was in progress, according to a Nov. 10, 2003 IDS story.\nA Delaware County grand jury decided not to indict Duplain Jan. 5.\n"Someone killed my son and has to be held accountable for that," said Tim McKinney, Michael's father. "The criminal system didn't bring us that accountability, so this is the only option we have left."\nThe lawsuit names Duplain as the defendant, but as his employer, Ball State would be responsible for any judgment. Indiana law does not allow a public entity to be sued for more than $300,000, but there is no such limit in federal court where the suit was filed.\nWhile the suit does not specify an amount, it complies with federal court rules that require damages of at least $75,000.\nMcKinney said his lawyer, Michigan attorney Geoffrey Fieger, decided on the $100 million amount. Fieger has previously represented controversial assistant suicide doctor Jack Kevorkian.\n"(Fieger) has more experience with police shooting and death cases than anyone else we could find," Tim McKinney said.\nBall State continues to defend Duplain, claiming he was adequately trained at the time of the incident and did not violate any laws.\n"Our attorneys have reviewed the complaint and believe that the defendant will prevail," said Ball State Executive Director of Communications, Heather Shupp. "In the months since the incident it has been investigated and reviewed several times, and each time there has been the same conclusion -- Officer Duplain did not violate state law or university police department policy."\nHowever, in the case of a large judgment, Ball State could be in trouble.\nThe school has two liability insurance policies. A primary policy will cover the university for up to $1 million in the case of a single incident, and an excess liability policy will pay an additional $15 million Shupp said.\nShupp also said she did not think there would be an award in excess of the university's coverage, especially since the lawsuit did not specify an amount.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/13/04 5:48am)
IU's number is up.\nFollowing in the footsteps of other state schools, IU is planning to replace its student identification number system so students will no longer be identified by their social security numbers. Instead, students will be assigned random 10-digit numbers.\nThe change is being made as IU converts to the Student Information System software the University began running this spring, said IU Spokeswoman Jane Jankowski.\nThe new numbers, which will go into effect at all eight IU campuses this fall, have already been assigned, Jankowski said, but students will not know what they are until the fall. Incoming students will have their numbers assigned as they enroll.\nIn the past, students were given the choice of using either their social security number or a random number. Under the new system, students will no longer have that option -- they must accept the random number.\n"Most students I've talked to have been eagerly anticipating this change," Dean of Students Richard McKaig said. "The only downside I can think of is they may think it's complicated to remember two numbers."\nMcKaig said student groups had recently complained to him they were having trouble getting students to sign their petitions because when asked for their student ID number, they did not want to give out their social security numbers.\n"This will certainly be easier," he said. "Students won't have to give their social security number when releasing certain things now."\nStudents receiving financial aid will still need to use their social security numbers in some aspects of the system, McKaig said.\nPurdue University changed to a random system last year, and Indiana State University switched two years ago.\n"Identity theft is an enormous problem," said Steve Hare, associate vice president for information technology at Purdue University. "There were more than 10 million cases of identities being compromised last year. We want to keep people from having access to social security numbers unless it's needed."\nHare said the only problems encountered at Purdue have been with groups that depended on the visual aspects of older identification cards and needed to update their software.\nSince IU won't be issuing new ID cards, minimal problems are expected when students enroll with the OneStart service next fall.\n"(Students) will not need to know their number to use the OneStart service or to enroll, since they will be entering into the system and authenticating their identity with their Network ID and password," said Roland Cote, associate vice chancellor for enrollment services. "If students forget their University ID number, they can always go back to OneStart to retrieve it."\nIn December, the U.S. Department of Education said college students are particularly vulnerable to identity theft because of the many ways they share their social security numbers, including applying for loans and professors posting grades online, according to The Associated Press.\nIn the case of freshman Tom Gillund, he's even had to put his social security number on tests, where it's easily accessible.\n"Anyone could get your social security number that way," he said. "This switch is a good way to protect the privacy of students."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/11/04 5:10am)
The Residence Housing Association election season officially kicked off last night with a meeting covering the rules of the campaign.\nThe two parties running for the March 2 election are the Connect ticket and the Amplify ticket.\nConnect's primary goal is to improve communication with students living in residence halls and Residential Programs and Services leaders. \n"We're really just out to listen to the residents in different resident centers and provide them a voice to the RPS administration," said sophomore Joe Reid, who's running for vice-president of internal affairs. "That's why we chose Connect as our name."\nConnect presidential-hopeful John Palmer is even going so far as to promise that, if elected, his ticket will regularly visit residence hall floors to hear the comments and complaints of students.\n"The student voice needs to be brought around any static and brought directly to the administration," Palmer said.\nThe Connect ticket is also out to improve the success of RHA events.\n"A need to increase the success of RHA events and make effective use of student activity money is absolutely necessary," Palmer said. "We've got to make sure that we are listening to the student voice and putting out only programs they'll be interested in."\nAmplify presidential candidate, junior Jon Greene, also wants to improve communication with dorm residents, but he said he sees his ticket taking a more modern approach.\n"RHA always has an open door policy, but we want a Web site where residents can send their ideas," he said. "We can't talk to every person every week, but if we get a lot of requests for something, it gives us more negotiating power when dealing with RPS. Most people feel like when they live in the dorms they don't have a voice to change things. We want to change that."\nAnother aspect of RHA Amplify wants to change is the way Channel 7, IU's residence hall movie channel, is run. Currently, the movies run are selected from all the e-mails sent to RHA, but not all of those requests can be satisfied.\n"About 30 or 40 percent of those e-mails can't be filled because we don't have access to those movies," Greene said. "We want people to be able to request things we can actually get."\nThat may be a lot to promise, but Greene vows to follow through.\n"We have the means to fulfill all of our platforms, and 100 percent intention of doing so," he said.\nThe next stop on the campaign trail will be a debate forum at 9 p.m. Feb. 26 with a location to be announced.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/06/04 4:32am)
Colorado State Rep. Shawn Mitchell has introduced legislation in his state to create an outlet for students who feel their conservative political beliefs threaten their grades.\nBut some feel the proposal may actually limit political discussion in classrooms. \n"This isn't about stifling political debate," Mitchell told The Chronicle of Higher Education. "It is about allowing political debate and trying to create a fair environment for everyone." \nIU College Republicans President Angel Rivera has heard many stories about liberal professors teaching their political bias, including one who tried to argue HAMAS and Hezbollah are humanitarian organizations.\nHowever, Rivera said he is wary of Mitchell's bill.\n"It's good to an extent because it could help limit bias," he said. "But I fear anything that could limit discussion in American classrooms."\nRivera also said while he has had many left-leaning professors, they have not stopped him from expressing his views, nor have they threatened his grades.\n"I've personally never been stopped from discussing my views," Rivera said. "I don't know. Maybe that's not the case in Colorado."\nIU's political science department is especially filled with liberal professors, Rivera said.\nDepartment Chair Jeff Isaac said political beliefs do not interfere with the way political science professors teach.\n"Our teachers strive to be fair in the classroom, to represent the most important scholarship that is available and to illuminate political issues in a way that is informed and also open to the questioning and discussion that is at the heart of real education," Isaac said. "Whatever their political, musical or culinary tastes, political science professors do their jobs as professionals."\nFormer IU College Democrats Vice President Laura Walda said a professor's views have nothing to do with what is taught.\n"As long as a professor is being a good teacher, there's no reason to be concerned with their political views," she said. "I have several professors, both liberal and conservative, who say that if they come off as liberal or conservative, 'That's how I am,' but we're not being graded on their beliefs. They don't give out tests asking who the greatest president was and expect us to answer Ronald Reagan or FDR."\nIsaac also blasted Mitchell's proposal because he said it doesn't accurately reflect the nature of most classroom discussions.\n"They are motivated by inaccurate and politically-motivated accounts of what actually goes on in the vast majority of college classrooms," he said. "I do not deny that there are, in some places, violations of the principles I have enunciated, some serious, most less serious. But such violations are not common, and the basic commitments and procedures of academic freedom and faculty governance are sufficient to deal with them."\nIn fact, it is Dean of Students Richard McKaig's job to hear complaints from students who feel their professors' teachings are leaning too far to either end of the political spectrum, though McKaig said he hasn't had such a complaint in the past few years.\nPolitical bias is not always a bad thing, but sometimes it interferes with the educational process, said Chase Downham, sophomore and president of the Grand Old Cause, a conservative student organization.\n"I personally think it's sometimes nice to get another point of view," he said. "The bad part of that is when only one view is presented. To ignore the other side is not really teaching."\nTo combat this, students at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colo., launched a Web site last month where students could report professors who expressed their political views.\nDownham said creating such a site at IU has been discussed and one may appear in the future.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/04/04 5:30am)
Food services has placed posters in Gresham Food Court which detail several extreme lengths students go for free food, as well as flyers warning students they are being video taped "to hold people responsible for their behavior," and possibly be recommended for judicial board review as part of a plan to curb food court theft.\nThe posters warn against several infractions, including taking the grilled chicken off the bun and hiding it under a salad.\n"Our costs are skyrocketing because of theft," said Gina Brooks, Gresham Food Court manager. "We track the food. We know what's ordered, prepared and lost from waste. We know what we should be going through and the discrepancies are pretty dramatic."\nBrooks said the way Gresham was built allows students to hide what they are doing in certain areas. However, she said not all theft is intentional.\n"There are people who eat grapes in line that aren't doing it maliciously," she said. "We're just trying to make them aware of their theft."\nSandy Porter, manager at Wright Food Court offered another explanation.\n"This is the time of year when a lot of students start running out of meal points," she said. "They need to remember they can still pay cash or get someone else to pay for them."\nFood services receives no funding from the state or the University with all the costs paid by students going through cash registers. Porter said they are currently operating nearly 3 percent higher than where they should be.\n"This is home," Porter said, "And we want students to feel at home, but we also want to make them aware when they eat stuff they haven't paid for, it affects the cost for everyone."\nBrooks gave an example of just how much one person can affect the cost of food.\n"Last week I was talking to a student who was rebuilding his sub," she said. "He had two grilled chicken sandwiches he was attempting to put on it. A sub already costs $3.69, and you add those two grilled chickens, that's about six dollars right there."\nStudent reaction to the campaign was mixed.\n"I noticed the sign talking about a (Judicial) board meeting," sophomore Colin Beck said. "That seems a little overboard for just stealing something when they could just have you pay for it."\nPorter pointed out the cameras are not used just to punish students. \n"They're there for security for any type of incident," she said. "The (IU Police Department) uses them a lot if there's misuse of someone's ID. The cameras actually work to the student's benefit if someone steals their ID."\nOther students reacted with indifference.\n"I could care less. I am not a crook," said freshman Tyler Crookston, using his best Richard Nixon impression.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu
(02/04/04 5:14am)
It started out as an internal program, but now the entire nation has respect for IU Auxiliary Services and Programs.\nASAP received the Golden Award from the National Association of College Auxiliary Services Tuesday at the annual NACAS conference in Colorado Springs, Col., for the Project RESPECT diversity initiative.\n"The award recognizes exemplary and outstanding service to cultural awareness in the profession of college auxiliary management and the promotion of inclusion in an on-going fashion, through leadership in the areas of cultural diversity and equality," said in a press release.\nProject RESPECT began in 2002 when a group of staff members approached ASAP Vice Chancellor of ASAP Bruce Jacobs, seeking more dialogue among diverse employees.\nFrom this, came a series of six programs for the staff, based around the idea of respect.\n"The core program involved meeting with staff and looking at the issues of how we are all different, how this is part of our strength, and how it makes us who we are," Jacobs said.\nThe idea of basing the initiative around respect came from a committee meeting with ASAP employees, said Bill Shipton, director for student programs and services in Residential Programs and Services, and head of the committee.\n"We met with lots of focus groups from the bookstore, the Indiana Memorial Union, RPS and marketing and asked them, 'If we were to write a statement, what should it say?'" Shipton said. "The word that kept coming up was respect."\nAt the following programs, several questions were unveiled for employees to reflect upon every day, including, "Am I actively seeking to increase my knowledge and understanding about diversity?" and "What will I do today to be more open-minded and inclusive than I was yesterday?"\nAlso passed out were "Respect Cubes," which featured photos of several employees and the eight questions from the diversity value statement. Many keep the cube on their desk, according to the press release.\nOverall, the initiative was well-received, which is the main reason NACAS honored it, Shipton said. \n"The response has been overwhelmingly positive," he said. "A handful of people think we're trying to brainwash them, but that's a small, small fraction. The fact is, we all want respect, and the vast majority of people are willing to give respect."\nProject RESPECT sessions will push on as new employees continue to be hired, Jacobs said.\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.
(02/02/04 5:55am)
Have you heard the IU urban myth about the fish and the virgin? \nNo?\nLegend has it that should a virgin ever graduate from IU, a fish from the Showalter Fountain will swim away.\n"There used to be a seal there that was regularly stolen by sports fans after we won something, but it was always returned," Folklore Associate Professor John Johnson said. "But one time it wasn't returned, and it had to be replaced with a fish. So the story began circulating that it was because a virgin graduated and that if another one ever graduates, that fish is going to swim away, too."\nLike most urban legends, the fish-virgin story started somewhere else but was adapted to fit IU.\n"At Texas Tech there's a statue of Will Rogers that will ride off if a virgin graduates, and there are lions in front of the New York City Library that will roar if a virgin walks past them," Johnson said. "It's a common legend around various places."\nNot surprisingly, there are other legends on campus surrounding the loss of virginity.\n"When a frat guy loses his (virginity) for the first time, he throws his shoes up on telephone wires," Johnson said. "But that's just one of many legends surrounding why the shoes are up there. I'm not sure anyone really knows why they're there."\nAnother myth in regards to the dangling shoes reveals that students throw their shoes over telephone lines when they make the Dean's List, while those who flunk out throw snakes.\nThat's not uncommon when it comes to urban legends, though. A story will get started by someone and then twisted around by so many people that it barely resembles the original version after a few tellings.\n"It's called a friend-of-a-friend story," Folklore Professor Sandra Dolby said. "You hardly ever find where they start, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have originally happened. I suspect it's a combination of something happens, and it gets passed around and 'improved' a few times."\nDolby also believes that urban legends are altered in different regions to highlight the problems of that area. College is a time when many lose their virginity. In another place, the fish could have an entirely different meaning.\n"Look at Gary," Dolby said. "It's an area of racial conflict, and the legends there have to do with gang initiations and things like that. Legends get adapted to show the concerns of an area. If people are afraid, they immediately believe something."\nAnother IU legend, for instance, tells the story of a coed-murdering lunatic. Although there's no record of an escaped mental patient ever killing anyone on campus, it still remains a popular story around IU.\n"The story goes that there were two roommates who stayed on campus over a vacation," Folklore Faculty Emeriti Linda Degh said. "One goes out and one stays in when there's a radio message that a lunatic has escaped an asylum. The girl who stayed in hears scratches at the door but doesn't open it all night because she's afraid it's the lunatic. In the morning, she wakes up and opens the door to find her roommate dead."\nAnother aspect of urban legends is their tendency to return. IU has twice been caught in the grip of fear over the same prediction.\n"Twelve or so years ago, there was a rumor going around that Jeanne Dixon predicted that a coed would be murdered on a Midwest campus during a holiday," Johnson said. "Parents were trying to get their daughters to come home or coming down to stay for weekends. Then a few years ago, the same story started going around and everyone believed it again. Urban legends are like fads. They don't last very long, they go away for awhile and then they come right back again."\n-- Contact senior writer Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.