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(02/15/07 5:00am)
Although New Orleans is more than 800 miles away, Bloomingtonians who crave Creole and Cajun-style cuisine this Mardi Gras -- or any other day -- don't have to travel far to get it. Locally owned Dats, nestled on the corner of Grant and Fourth streets, offers 32 authentic New Orleans-style dishes and the chance for patrons' taste buds to escape to the bayou without leaving town. \n"It's very casual, very quick and very inexpensive," said owner Bob Crowley. "You get a good taste profile with Cajun and Creole food here. Unlike most people's perception, the food isn't really hot or spicy, but it is really flavorful." \nFor those who have yet to experience the distinct flavor of the Big Easy, Cajun and Creole dishes have influences from French Provincial, Italian, Spanish, West Indian, African and American Indian cuisines. Though they are often lumped together in the same down-home cooking category in restaurants nowadays, Cajun and Creole food originally came from very different places. Cajun food originates from the poorer country people of southern Louisiana, where Creole dishes are known to come from more affluent French and Spanish city people. \nDats offers a selection from both styles of food, but customers get a taste of New Orleans in more way than one when they dine in. From the colorful plastic beads draped haphazardly over the chandelier light fixtures to the Mardi Gras-inspired wall art and array of ornate mirrors, the atmosphere inside the charming restaurant is truly one of an authentic Cajun hideaway. \n"Besides the great food, I like the uniqueness of the restaurant," senior Ryan McDougle said. "It's different than anything else in Bloomington." \nThose familiar with the restaurant might remember it as Yats, as it looks exactly the same on the outside with the exception of a "D" on the sign where a "Y" once stood. Crowley altered the name when he took it over a year ago, but besides an expanded selection offered on the chalkboard menu, the restaurant has remained essentially unchanged. \n"The former owner and I are friends, we had worked together in Indianapolis and then he started a Yats down here but was having trouble keeping up a restaurant both here and there," Crowley said. "I lived down here and he asked me to take over, and I'd always wanted something like this in Bloomington, so it was a win-win situation." \nSome Dats diners found the restaurant because they were familiar with the Indianapolis location. \n"I first ate there in Indy about two years ago, and when I moved down here I learned about Dats because it's right down the street," said sophomore Nick Graub. "I like eating there because it's cheap, quick and healthy from what I can tell. I like the rice and the restaurant is a refreshing alternative to Chinese food." \nDats' food is cooked in large quantities like it is in New Orleans with only fresh ingredients, herbs and spices, Crowley said. Each week the chef prepares 40 gallons of one item and then chills and freezes it, and every day part of the food is cooked, but there's never any reheating. The menu rotates four featured items daily and the 12 most popular items are always available. \n"The Datwich sandwich is popular; it's turkey dusted in Cajun spices, slow-cooked and soaked in beer for 12 hours and then slow-cooked again," he said. "It's a pot roast that warms you from your nose to your toes."\nJambalaya, gumbo, chili-cheese etouffee and chicken Creole are also popular items on the menu. All food, except for the Datwich, is served over rice and can be ordered in pints and quarts for those who want gumbo on the go. Dats is vegetarian-friendly, too, with items such as black beans and caramelized corn, spinach-mushroom etouffee, spinach-artichoke etouffee and red bean chili.\n"They didn't have many vegetarian meals at Yats, but I started focusing on those items because my son doesn't eat meat," Crowley said. \nFor those spice-fearing skeptics wary of trying Cajun food, Crowley promises that the food is only hot if you want it to be. \n"It's just flavorful food, and if you want to make it spicy, we have hot sauces so you can make it exactly as spicy as you'd like it to be," he said. "Even people who hate spicy food can find something they like here." \nIf meat-lovers and vegetarians alike can enjoy Dats, so can the customer who doesn't want to shell out a lot of cash. Entrees start at $5.50 and customers can supersize their meal to get 70 percent more food for only $3 extra. Pints are $9 and quarts are $16, but given the quantity, most customers think it's quite a deal. \n"It's really inexpensive but filling," McDougle said. "The food is so good, I love the spices they put in it and it's all cheap. ... Now Dat's delicious"
(02/15/07 2:51am)
Although New Orleans is more than 800 miles away, Bloomingtonians who crave Creole and Cajun-style cuisine this Mardi Gras -- or any other day -- don't have to travel far to get it. Locally owned Dats, nestled on the corner of Grant and Fourth streets, offers 32 authentic New Orleans-style dishes and the chance for patrons' taste buds to escape to the bayou without leaving town. \n"It's very casual, very quick and very inexpensive," said owner Bob Crowley. "You get a good taste profile with Cajun and Creole food here. Unlike most people's perception, the food isn't really hot or spicy, but it is really flavorful." \nFor those who have yet to experience the distinct flavor of the Big Easy, Cajun and Creole dishes have influences from French Provincial, Italian, Spanish, West Indian, African and American Indian cuisines. Though they are often lumped together in the same down-home cooking category in restaurants nowadays, Cajun and Creole food originally came from very different places. Cajun food originates from the poorer country people of southern Louisiana, where Creole dishes are known to come from more affluent French and Spanish city people. \nDats offers a selection from both styles of food, but customers get a taste of New Orleans in more way than one when they dine in. From the colorful plastic beads draped haphazardly over the chandelier light fixtures to the Mardi Gras-inspired wall art and array of ornate mirrors, the atmosphere inside the charming restaurant is truly one of an authentic Cajun hideaway. \n"Besides the great food, I like the uniqueness of the restaurant," senior Ryan McDougle said. "It's different than anything else in Bloomington." \nThose familiar with the restaurant might remember it as Yats, as it looks exactly the same on the outside with the exception of a "D" on the sign where a "Y" once stood. Crowley altered the name when he took it over a year ago, but besides an expanded selection offered on the chalkboard menu, the restaurant has remained essentially unchanged. \n"The former owner and I are friends, we had worked together in Indianapolis and then he started a Yats down here but was having trouble keeping up a restaurant both here and there," Crowley said. "I lived down here and he asked me to take over, and I'd always wanted something like this in Bloomington, so it was a win-win situation." \nSome Dats diners found the restaurant because they were familiar with the Indianapolis location. \n"I first ate there in Indy about two years ago, and when I moved down here I learned about Dats because it's right down the street," said sophomore Nick Graub. "I like eating there because it's cheap, quick and healthy from what I can tell. I like the rice and the restaurant is a refreshing alternative to Chinese food." \nDats' food is cooked in large quantities like it is in New Orleans with only fresh ingredients, herbs and spices, Crowley said. Each week the chef prepares 40 gallons of one item and then chills and freezes it, and every day part of the food is cooked, but there's never any reheating. The menu rotates four featured items daily and the 12 most popular items are always available. \n"The Datwich sandwich is popular; it's turkey dusted in Cajun spices, slow-cooked and soaked in beer for 12 hours and then slow-cooked again," he said. "It's a pot roast that warms you from your nose to your toes."\nJambalaya, gumbo, chili-cheese etouffee and chicken Creole are also popular items on the menu. All food, except for the Datwich, is served over rice and can be ordered in pints and quarts for those who want gumbo on the go. Dats is vegetarian-friendly, too, with items such as black beans and caramelized corn, spinach-mushroom etouffee, spinach-artichoke etouffee and red bean chili.\n"They didn't have many vegetarian meals at Yats, but I started focusing on those items because my son doesn't eat meat," Crowley said. \nFor those spice-fearing skeptics wary of trying Cajun food, Crowley promises that the food is only hot if you want it to be. \n"It's just flavorful food, and if you want to make it spicy, we have hot sauces so you can make it exactly as spicy as you'd like it to be," he said. "Even people who hate spicy food can find something they like here." \nIf meat-lovers and vegetarians alike can enjoy Dats, so can the customer who doesn't want to shell out a lot of cash. Entrees start at $5.50 and customers can supersize their meal to get 70 percent more food for only $3 extra. Pints are $9 and quarts are $16, but given the quantity, most customers think it's quite a deal. \n"It's really inexpensive but filling," McDougle said. "The food is so good, I love the spices they put in it and it's all cheap. ... Now Dat's delicious"
(02/09/07 10:05am)
As he waits for a customer's peanut soup to finish heating up, IU alumnus Dan Nash, 32, looks around the kitchen where he works at Runcible Spoon, pinpointing objects in his mind and asking himself, "How would I say that in Chinese?" \nSince last spring, he's been able to answer his own question more often. He doesn't drag himself to class every day or pore over the pages of a textbook studying into the late hours of the night. He's not stressed about exams or grades. In fact, Nash spends only one hour a week in a Chinese classroom setting, but has seen marked improvement in his language skills in only three semesters' time. \nThe Asian Culture Center has offered the opportunity for students and Asian culture enthusiasts in the community to learn various languages since its opening 10 years ago. This semester, Hindi, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Korean are being taught free of charge to whoever is interested. \n"We get many requests from students or local people saying they are going to travel overseas and are interested in learning a language before they get there," said program coordinator Babita Upadhyay. "As an adult, it's not easy to learn another language, and we recognize that." \nThe program caters to those who have little or no experience with a language but also offers intermediate and advanced classes for those who already have a background knowledge. Program participants usually start off with the program's introductory course, Upadhyay said. \n"We have upper-level classes because some people come here every semester," she said. "We don't just want to teach them and have them have to seek help other places -- we want to provide those services to them." \nNash took two years of Chinese at IU but lost touch with the language after graduating in 2002. \n"I was always really interested in Chinese language and culture, but it's sort of hard to motivate yourself to take a class, and I didn't know any Chinese people to practice with," he said. "It's only an hour a week, so you can't learn a lot, but it's still been helpful."\nOne benefit of the program is that it offers students a non-threatening atmosphere to practice a new, often difficult language.\n"Sometimes students will come in saying 'Oh my God, I just studied so hard for this test and flunked' and want to practice," Upadhyay said. "This is more informal -- there's no fear of being graded or failing, as opposed to the University. Our program is more low-key." \nThough students aren't graded, the program is like a class in that an it's led by an instructor. These positions are both paid and volunteer. Graduate students, members of the community and professors have filled them in the past. \nChapla Verma, an Ivy Tech philosophy professor, teaches Hindi at the center once a week. In addition to helping students become proficient in Hindi, Verma spends time teaching students about the cultural aspect of India. \n"The students who come mostly want to go to India or are associated with India in some way," she said. "They want to know how to have a decent conversation with someone, so I teach reading and writing but answer whatever other questions they may have as well." \nIn addition to those with international travel in mind, students enrolled in IU language classes also frequent the programs. \n"Some students already taking courses need extra help and practice," Upadhyay said. "So many professors and students don't even know about it, though." \nYasuko Watt, an IU professor of Japanese, is not directly involved with the program but said she thinks the program is a good way for students to get practice speaking outside the classroom. \n"I think it is good for students, especially for advanced students who are ready to be exposed to various kinds of speech styles to go to practice Japanese," she said. \nWatt pinpoints a potential problem students enrolled in language courses at IU might encounter. \n"Students must be careful because those who give practices are not necessarily trained to teach Japanese and they may teach differently from the textbook students should follow," she said.\nAlthough this is something to consider, for students like Nash, the pros far outweigh the cons.\n"I've always thought about going to China and right now I'm sort of at this crossroad and I'm thinking about maybe combining my interest in Chinese with my interest in cooking," Nash said. "Taking this class has been good for keeping me up on my Chinese so that I'll be prepared if I ever do decide to do anything with it"
(02/08/07 5:24am)
1. Something doubly sweet\nIf that small heart-shaped box of chocolates just won't do for the sweets lover in your life and a bottle of nice wine is just too expensive, a trip to Oliver Winery might be the perfect solution. This weekend and next, Oliver, along with several other Indiana wineries, is hosting the third annual "Wine and Chocolate Lover's Weekend." In addition to a tour of the winery, attendees can spend as much time as they'd like sampling various wines and chocolates. The various gourmet, locally hand-painted and "sipping" chocolate, which is meant to be enjoyed only while sipping a glass of wine, can also be purchased at the winery store. Even if you're not 21, you can still come for the chocolate. The best part? Admission is free. Visit www.oliverwinery.com/main.html.
(02/08/07 5:00am)
1. Something doubly sweet\nIf that small heart-shaped box of chocolates just won't do for the sweets lover in your life and a bottle of nice wine is just too expensive, a trip to Oliver Winery might be the perfect solution. This weekend and next, Oliver, along with several other Indiana wineries, is hosting the third annual "Wine and Chocolate Lover's Weekend." In addition to a tour of the winery, attendees can spend as much time as they'd like sampling various wines and chocolates. The various gourmet, locally hand-painted and "sipping" chocolate, which is meant to be enjoyed only while sipping a glass of wine, can also be purchased at the winery store. Even if you're not 21, you can still come for the chocolate. The best part? Admission is free. Visit www.oliverwinery.com/main.html.
(02/05/07 5:23pm)
While the color red is usually associated with Valentine's Day this time of year, the women of Delta Zeta are promoting it to spread awareness about heart disease in women.\nIn collaboration with the American Heart Association, the women sponsored Go Red for Women day on campus in honor of their friend Nichole Birky, an IU student and Delta Zeta member who passed away from heart complications in 2006. Last Thursday and Friday, sorority members wearing red T-shirts stationed themselves around campus to enlist IU students to make a pledge for their hearts.\n"People don't think that stuff like this can happen to us, because we're young, but we want people to be aware that this can happen to you," said senior Jessica D'Amour. "It's the number one killer of women. We wanted to send that message to everyone on campus."\nRepresentatives from the American Heart Association made a trip to Bloomington on Friday to help the women organize the event. The Go Red For Women movement started in 2004 and has become a large-scale national event, mustering the support of thousands across the country, said AHA communications coordinator Jeannine Templeman. The AHA has been working with Delta Zeta for months to kick off the event at IU. \n"Too few people realize that heart disease is the No. 1 killer of (both) women and men, but the good news is heart disease largely can be prevented," Templeman said. "By wearing red on Feb. 2, you can help raise awareness of heart disease and remind women they are empowered to take action and reduce their risk."\nTo get the word out, sorority members decked out campus landmarks and trees with red ribbons, painted bridges and walls, and hung posters in various buildings. Those who signed the heart pledges will receive something in the mail later telling them how to love their heart and prevent heart disease, said senior Amanda Gibson.\n"This is just about creating awareness for everyone. Now that we know how Nichole passed away, we can help others to know that heart disease is very serious," she said. "The American Heart Association came to us with the idea for this because they knew we were touched by her death and this would be the perfect thing for us to do in her honor."\nIn addition to Go Red awareness activities, the women of Delta Zeta found another way to embody Birky's warm spirit -- literally.\n"My friend and I created The Nic, a neck warmer," Gibson said. "We wanted it to represent her unique personality so there are a lot of designs with different vintage buttons, plus it's really warm and cute, there's one for everyone."\nThe Nic is sold at B Boutique at 10th Street and College and also online. Each are handmade by one of eight knitters, and some of the proceeds go to Birky's family. The next step is to get The Nic in national stores like Bloomingdales and Nordstrom, Gibson said. \n"It's really taken off like crazy -- we've had such a great response," she said. "We wanted to bring her back to life and this is really a great way to do it"
(01/24/07 5:36am)
Girls excitedly scream as they crowd Kirkwood Avenue, searching for friends and a suitable ID. Down the street, a fight erupts between eager basketball fans as they wait impatiently outside their favorite sports bar to be let in for the big game. Left and right, people dressed in their weekend-best flood out of cabs, ready for a night out on the town. For some, this is simply a night out, but for others, it's home.\nWhile living above the bars might conjure nightmares of loud and sleepless nights for some, it's a dream for those who live in the neighborhood. In fact, the only problem is there isn't enough real estate to go around. \n"Obviously it's great living here because we're so close to all the bars," said Andrew Diaz, a fifth-year senior who lives above Uncle Fester's. "We can come home at 3:30 (in the morning) or whenever and not have to worry about a sober ride, and it's walking distance from all the places we go out to, not just those on Kirkwood." \nBut being a hop, skip and a jump from Bloomington night life isn't the only perk to living above the bars. \n"We decided to live close to the bars because we knew we'd be going there a lot, but that's not the only reason," said senior Vinny Maknoor, Diaz's roommate. "We're so close to campus, I can walk to all my classes or if I want to take the bus, it's only a minute walk to the stop at the Sample Gates. The apartment itself is nice, too."\nDespite its prime location, residents report the cost is within reason and doesn't deviate from standard rental rates that students around town pay. Though prices vary with different landlords and apartments, most range between $400 and $500 per month per person, residents said. Although the cost is surprisingly average, the opportunity to sign a lease proves to be the greatest challenge. \n"You pretty much have to lease these apartments two years in advance," said Greg Harmon, a property manager of RealCo II, which owns apartments near Nick's English Hut. "They are pretty big and clearly a lot of people like the area."\nFor the lucky ones who do get a room in the coveted apartments, loud noise is a reality they've come to expect. Surprisingly, however, it doesn't seem to bother them. \n"The ceiling over the main stage at Fester's is my bedroom floor," said junior Tara Kluth, who's one of Diaz and Maknoor's neighbors. "It gets loud, especially on hip-hop night, but we love it. I mean you can't really expect to get a paper done on a Thursday night, so we work around that."\nDiaz said that although their apartment's floor also shares ceiling space with the bars, the commotion hasn't posed a real problem yet, aside from drunken people ringing his doorbell every night.\n"Sometimes on Wednesdays you can hear the bass, but it's not all week long, and Thursday through Saturday we're out doing stuff," he said. "If you have a fan in your room you can't really hear anything."\nHowever, there might be more to the residents' tolerance than they let on.\n"You have to have a sort of party personality if you want to live here, and I think everyone that does has that," Maknoor said. "If you weren't 21, it wouldn't make much sense to live here."\nAlthough one might think students who live a rusty staircase away from Bloomington's nightlife would be regulars, Diaz maintains that living near the bars doesn't connote living at them. \n"First semester we went out a lot, but we've sort of slowed down a bit because we went out so much," he aid. "My roommate and I got a job as a bouncer at Jake's, so that's where we spend some of our weekends now. It's kind of weird to be the people watching the drunk people at the bars instead of being one of them." \nKluth and her roommate have lived in the apartment for two years, but says they don't frequent the bars often.\n"If there's a good band playing downstairs we'll go, but other than that we don't go out a lot," she said. "We did the whole bar thing when we were younger but we're not that into it anymore, we mostly go out of town on the weekends to visit friends or see shows. But we still love living here because it's close to campus."\nBeyond the general rowdiness and fights that Maknoor and his roommates said they have witnessed countless times from the comfort of their living room, they said there haven't been as many strange occurrences as one might expect. \n"One weird thing we ran into living here was last year here a homeless guy lived in the hallway to our apartment for a while," he said. "He wasn't here when we moved in, but there were these boxes around and you could definitely tell someone had been living in here. Being downtown you run into your fair share of odd characters and such, but it's not a big deal."\nNot surprisingly, having a window overlooking the back of the bars ensures them to see some pretty interesting things. On nights when Kluth and her roommate don't want to go out to find good times, looking out the window will suffice. \n"In the back alley you always see people peeing -- we've seen numerous penises -- and people crying, people getting arrested, just typical stuff you'd expect from drunk people," Kluth said. "We love to people-watch here … no one knows you're back here but we've seen some good stuff. Living here's made for some good entertainment"
(01/18/07 4:49am)
IU students who have ever wondered what they might look if they were a different race have a chance to find out this week.\nAs part of the week long Martin Luther King Jr. Day events, the Office of Diversity Education is sponsoring the Human Race Machine, which shows participants what they would look like if they were of another race. The machine is equipped to map six different races -- Asian, black, Hispanic, American Indian, Middle Eastern and white -- onto a participants' images.\n"It's very interesting how you can take a picture of yourself and morph into someone of a different race," said senior Andre Grimes. "It makes you realize how alike we are." \nThe machine is available from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and Friday and is located in the Indiana Memorial Union Gallery near Starbucks. \n"It was great to see that there's such a connection and there's so little difference between us all," said Eric Love, director of diversity education.\nThe machine, invented by morphing-technology pioneer Nancy Burson, cost $4,200 to bring to IU. \n"Many different groups and organizations on campus pitched in money to bring it here," Love said. During the week, a few student groups, namely the Social Justice League, Theta Nu Xi and LeaderShape, have volunteered their time to show people how to use the machine, he said. \nAccording to the Web site of Wolfman Productions, which owns the rights to the Human Race Machine, the central idea behind it is that "there is only one race, the human one. The concept of race is not genetic, but social. There is no gene for race."\nThe machine also has the capability to age images 20 years or produce a "couples image," which fuses photographs of two people together and generates an image of the couple's potential offspring. \nThroughout the week, both individuals and classes have taken advantage of the opportunity to see themselves as someone of another ethnicity, Love said. \n"We studied a little bit to prepare for MLK Day, and we noticed that this is really, in a way, honoring MLK," said Intensive English Program professor Kim Hallback, who brought a class of her international students to use the machine. "What I hope for my students to understand is that we are of one family, one race, and it's with that hope that we can see there's absolutely no real difference between us."\nAmong the hundreds of students who have come this week, Love said many found they don't look as different as a member of another race as they thought they would. \n"This machine is a good way to unify us," said international IEP student Gloria Pedro, 18. "We have similarities that bring us together. We're all of the same blood"
(01/16/07 4:40pm)
It took Naomi Tutu years to figure out that her gift was talking. She said it used to get her in trouble in church and in school, but now Tutu uses her voice to spread the message of the "power of one" to people around the globe. \nIn light of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Tutu, a human-rights activist and educator, spoke on the importance of finding one's own gift to more than 200 people Sunday in the Indiana Memorial Union, part of IU's weeklong celebration of the civil-rights leader. \nExemplifying the work and message of King, Tutu stressed the importance of everyone's individual gifts and how they can be used to shape the world. She asserted that every individual has the power within himself to make a difference like Martin Luther King Jr. did.\n"The message of Martin Luther King Jr. is that each and every one of us can change the way our world is," she said. "We don't all have to do the big things. It's often the small things that impact those around us." \nTutu, the daughter of celebrated South African cleric and activist Desmond Tutu, was born in South Africa. She formed the Tutu Foundation for Development and Relief in Southern Africa, which aids African refugees in becoming self-supporting. Tutu has lived all over the world and taught at various universities throughout the United States. \nTutu stressed the enormous impact one person can make by using his or her natural gifts for a greater purpose. \n"The reality is, we all have a gift," Tutu said. "Every single one of us has a gift that this world needs. Your gift is that thing that comes most naturally to you, the thing you most enjoy." \nFinding a gift is only part of the equation, and determining how to use it is equally as important, Tutu said.\n"We have a choice and a chance when we discover our gift," she said. "We can use our gift to make the world a better place, or we can use it to enrich ourselves, or even worse, we can use our gift to harm others and make the world a worse place. That's where the difference is between those who make a positive and those who make a negative contribution." \nThroughout her speech, Tutu used her own experiences to help the audience members understand her message.\n"I thought it was a very good presentation, because she evoked what Martin Luther King Jr. did but talked about his work in a way that everyone could relate to," said Charlie Nelms, vice president for institutional development and student affairs. "There was something in it that spoke to all of us."\nTutu advised the audience not to be colorblind but to embrace and appreciate others' differences. She also talked about sexism and homophobia during her speech and argued that questioning what we think we know about others will open our minds.\n"The greatest chance we have in our lives is to question that fear, mistrust, suspicion, to give ourselves the chance to see the human being in that other, that they have hopes and dreams and fears, just as we do," she said. "That is the chance to make our world a place to celebrate the different cultures and languages that live in this world." \nDuring a Q-and-A period that followed Tutu's speech, audience members asked questions about issues including race, diversity and equality. \n"She puts a good spin on these issues and the idea that we should embrace the differences of people is really very important," said graduate student Dawn Smith.\nTutu expressed her frustration with those who claim they don't see the differences in people and she asserted that they are living in a state of denial.\n"We want to be at a place where we say, 'I see the different colors, the different shapes, the different cultures, and I give thanks for them," Tutu said.
(12/11/06 5:01am)
Although Gordon Kato will never again teach a psychology class or work overtime helping his students, a fellowship created in honor of the graduate student who recently died will help his legacy at IU endure.\n"The fellowship is the best way of keeping Gordon's memory alive," said his sister Pamela Klebanov. "It will honor his memory because we are interested in awarding the fellowship to someone who displays the same commitment and dedication to the study of social psychology that my brother did."\nGordon Kato, 45, who was an associate instructor in the department of psychology, died of a heart attack in late October. In response to Kato's sudden death, Jim Sherman, professor of psychological and brain sciences and Gordon Kato's faculty adviser, created a scholarship for graduate students in the social psychology field. The award is set to be given annually, starting in spring 2007.\n"Jim is someone who is two steps ahead of everyone else," Klebanov said. "In the back of our minds, my husband and I wanted to do something like this, but we were having such a hard time dealing with things that we didn't put it together. When Jim mentioned it, it seemed like the perfect thing." \nKato's family and friends have contributed to the multiple-donor endowment, said Helene O'Leary, an IU Foundation scholarship development officer. The fellowship will continue to be given as long as there is an interest in it, O'Leary said. \n"The award will be given annually to a student who best exemplifies Gordon's qualities: great intellectual curiosity, creativity of thought, a love of social psychology and an apppreciation of the complexities of social life and someone who, like Gordon, lives life to the fullest," Sherman said in an e-mail.\nKato received an undergraduate degree in experimental psychology from the University of Michigan in 1986 and a master's degree in education from Harvard in 1987. During the 17 years he spent in New York City, Kato made a name for himself in the publishing industry and eventually created his own talent and literary agency. After the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Kato decided to move away from his job in New York and return to the classroom.\n"After 9/11, people re-evaluated what they want to do in life," Klebanov said. "Life is short and they want to be doing what they like best, and I think that is why my brother decided to go back to graduate school and do what he loved the most."\nKato was known for his cheerful disposition, caring nature and lively sense of humor. \n"I have received dozens of letters from Gordon's friends and colleagues over the past month, and echoed throughout these letters, and in my own heart, is the feeling that Gordon was a genuinely kind person," said his mother, Barbara Kato. "He was concerned about people, was ready to listen to anyone who had a problem and was ready to help in any way he could."\nFamily and friends also remember his passion for music, especially bands such as The Monkees and The Beatles. Over the years, he built up an extensive collection of rare movies and books that will be sold, O'Leary said, and the profits will be contributed to the fellowship fund. \n"I think that Gordon would be pleased that Sherman, his friend and adviser, thought so highly of him as to devote the time, energy and resources to establish this fellowship," Klebanov said. "However, he would be pleased mostly by the fact that the fellowship would go to a deserving person who would one day shape the future course of psychology"
(12/05/06 5:06am)
The IU Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transsexual Alumni Association celebrated its 10th anniversary Friday with a reception at the Virgil T. DeVault Alumni Center.\nIU alumni and members of the association's current board mingled at the gathering. Dean of Students Dick McKaig and Doug Bauder, GLBT Student Support Services Office director, spoke of the importance of the association and the work it has done on campus. \n"The GLBT Alumni Association gives recent grads and older alum a chance to connect with each other and provide support for the GLBT office," Bauder said. "It's a great group." \nThe GLBT Alumni Association, which has more than 800 members and is affiliated with the larger IU Alumni Association, primarily works to offer scholarships to students. The association particularly works to help students cut off from financial help after coming out to their parents, Bauder said. In addition, the association provides grants for various groups within the GLBT office at IU. \n"Something we set out to do early on in this group is create a place where GLBT alumni and their friends can support the University in a more public way that we couldn't do before," said Jeff McKinney, the association's founding president.\nDuring the gathering, Bauder shared letters from parents of former students that chronicled their positive experiences with the GLBT office.\n"I talked about the fact that while we, as GLBT individuals, often become family for each other, we do in fact have biological family members (parents of IU students) who are grateful for our services," he said. \nBeyond scholarships, one of the main goals of the association is to raise money for grants that go toward the various support groups and programs connected with the GLBT office on campus. The GLBT Alumni Association holds one major event for its alumni in the summer, but it has smaller, intimate gatherings throughout the year, he said. \n"For a group like this, you can't just send out letters in the mail like you would for a Hilly Hundred Alumni Association or something of that nature," McKinney said. "Most of our networking is done by word of mouth, but I think we have a great support system even though our numbers aren't as high as some others might be.
(11/30/06 4:54am)
Although Kwanzaa doesn't officially begin until Dec. 26, more than 200 IU students and faculty, as well as members of the Bloomington community, gathered together for the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center's annual Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration Wednesday night.\n"Tonight was excellent, and we are very pleased with the turnout," said Oyibo Afoaku, director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. "This event was very important because IU is a big campus, but a program like Kwanzaa, which is so positive, brings everyone together."\nThe celebration began with a libation, the traditional African send-off that blesses the event and gets people excited to be there, she said.\nFollowing the libation, audience members joined in with the singing of the Black National Anthem. With musical accompaniment, three different vocal ensembles took the stage to perform soulful renditions of Christian songs throughout the night. Despite the nature of these performances, Kwanzaa is not a religious event.\n"Kwanzaa is a time for ingathering and for our people to bond together," said keynote speaker Rev. Patricia Efiom, an IU graduate and Bloomington resident. "Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday but a cultural one, an opportunity for us to gather and remember who we are and honor and celebrate one another."\nIn her speech, Efiom identified the meaning of Kwanzaa and its importance for African-Americans today. She also talked about Maulana Karenga, the creator of Kwanzaa, who spoke at last year's Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration.\n"One thing that happened with slavery is that we were ripped apart from our homeland and each other," she said. "The split and divide has never been completely corrected, but Karenga in the '60s recognized this. His attempt with Kwanzaa was to bring us together again."\nAfter Efiom's speech, seven IU students took part in the Kwanzaa candle-lighting ceremony. Each read one of the "nguzo saba," or seven principles of Kwanzaa, in both Swahili and English. For each of the principles -- unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith -- students lit a candle on the traditional kinara, or Kwanzaa candle holder. The red, black and green candles of the kinara represent blood, people and the land, respectively.\n"It was an honor to go up there and light a candle," junior Shane Whittington said. "I have come to celebrations at the Neal-Marshall center before, but I hadn't come to a Kwanzaa program. Being here tonight ignited a passion for me to learn more."\nLike Whittington, the majority of the attendees, by a show of hands, said they had never participated in a Kwanzaa celebration before.\n"This is my first Kwanzaa celebration, and I think it's wonderful," graduate student Nakia Brown said. "The speaker has really broken down the meaning of Kwanzaa, and as of this night, I think I will celebrate Kwanzaa in my home"
(11/29/06 6:03am)
Not only do statistics show women are underrepresented in the upper levels of higher education, evidence also details that they are paid significantly less than their male counterparts.\nAt each respective professorship level -- full, associate and assistant -- women are making about 10 percent less than men. However, as the majority of women cluster in the lower-paid assistant professor faculty level, overall male faculty at IU are being paid about 20 percent more than women, according to a 2006 report by the American Association of University Professors. \nLike other faculty gender disparities, the University is not alone in the income gap. \n"In general, there are more women in fields that tend to have depressed wages," said Julie Knost, director of the IU Office of Affirmative Action. "This pay trend is true in academia as well, where you find less women in higher-paid jobs like finance and more at the lower levels in the English department."\nThe main thing that IU can do to even out the pay disparity is make a concerted effort to promote women to these higher-paid positions, said Suzanna Walters, chair of the IU gender studies department.\n"We need to mentor women to move them along quicker, throw some money at them to make them want to be here and provide them with workshops and resources and other opportunities," she said.\nGuidance from senior-level faculty is necessary to help women advance within the University, said Radhika Parameswaran, an associate professor of journalism. \n"When I was working to be an associate professor, it was inspiring to see senior women in the different meetings, debates and workshops I would attend," she said. "There needs to be senior women faculty who can be role models and mentors for other women. When junior women go into a department and it's stacked heavily with men at the top, its discouraging."\nIU must also help knock down some of the roadblocks that women faculty face, Knost said. Some of the barriers she identified were tied to family issues, citing the limited flexibility in some of the higher-paid positions as a possible reason for why many women are deterred from taking these jobs. Offering women more flexibility in the sense of improved family-leave and childcare policies and extending the tenure clock process might make it easier for women to climb the faculty ladder, she said. \nAnother possible solution is to make equality an objective from the beginning and hire more senior-level women. Reassessing the hiring process and being attentive when hiring new faculty to make sure women and men are receiving equitable pay is essential, Knost said. However, officials identify a catch-22 in the hiring process.\nAdministrators are most likely to recommend people like them for promotions or job openings and because there aren't as many women with this authority, men are more heavily favored, said Carol McCord, assistant dean in the Office of Women's Affairs.\n"Nobody is discriminating on purpose," McCord said.\nHaving more women in the senior levels would improve current gender inequalities at IU, as well as ensure a fairer hiring process and a potential for more women faculty candidates in the future, McCord said. In addition, she said having more women involved in the hiring process would attract potential women faculty because they would see precedence for women succeeding at IU.\nThough the problem of low numbers of women faculty members is a complex one and will take time to solve, there are offices and officials on campus willing to make it happen.\n"We need to have a good base of women who want to make these changes happen," McCord said. "A person by herself in this situation might have good ideas, but unless she has support from other people, those changes aren't likely to happen. And yes, I do believe that we can make a change"
(11/29/06 4:31am)
More than 150 people are expected for the annual pre-Kwanzaa celebration Wednesday in the Grand Hall of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. The event, organized annually by the Black Culture Center, is open to everyone.\n"It's something put on basically to raise awareness in the IU student body about Kwanzaa because it's something for everyone and not just people of a particular race or religion," said senior Chanel Esters.\nKwanzaa is an African-American and Pan-African holiday celebrated throughout the world, according to the official Kwanzaa Web site. The site adds that it is a cultural celebration that focuses on what it means to be African. \nIU's pre-Kwanzaa celebration will feature student presentations on the seven principles of Kwanzaa and a keynote speaker. \n"This is my first Kwanzaa," said sophomore Brannon Smith. "I was asked to present and thought it would be interesting because I am an African American, but I've never participated in it before. All of the different principles promote unity and bring communities and people together." \nIn the past, the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center has brought dancers and musicians from around the world, as well as Maulana Karenga, who created the Kwanzaa holiday, to Bloomington for its pre-Kwanzaa celebration. This year, the ceremony will feature local musical talent, Esters said. \nFollowing the speaker and presentations, there will be a reception where guests can feast on food catered by Smokin' Jack's Rib Shack. \nThe event will be held in the Grand Hall of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center from 7 to 9 p.m. today.
(11/28/06 5:22am)
Female tenured faculty account for less than 22 percent of senior-level faculty at IU, but an absence of women is not only a problem at the top of the faculty status ladder. It's evident in various academic departments, namely the sciences. \nYet this trend is a national one and not unique to IU, administrators said.\n"There was a huge controversy at Harvard about this issue because basically the president said it's impossible to hire women in the sciences," said Alberto Torchinsky, IU's associate vice chancellor for strategic hiring and support. "The lack of women is a problem. At IU and elsewhere, the numbers of women in the sciences are abysmal."\nWhile clusters of women in lower-level positions can be found in disciplines such as literature, the number of women hired in the chemistry department at the senior level can be counted on one hand, said Edwardo Rhodes, vice chancellor for academic support and diversity. Officials agree IU needs to work on providing better family benefits that will attract women in science -- and all backgrounds -- to the University.\n"By and large, you have extraordinarily low numbers of women in a Ph.D. disciplinary," Rhodes said. "Because senior faculty come out of these programs, there is a gross under-representation of women in the physical sciences, but there is probably an over-representation in other areas. There's no question that there's an imbalance."\nAnd officials agree there's no quick fix to this complex problem. National mentoring programs that bring women in science together to share information and research are effective, Rhodes said, but the real solution lies within the IU community itself.\n"I think we probably need to do more to make the campus atmosphere friendlier to women, especially in a small town like Bloomington," he said. "If your campus atmosphere isn't friendly, there isn't anything else here, and you are in trouble." \nBecause IU is constantly competing with thousands of colleges and universities for senior-level women, creating a more women-friendly Bloomington is absolutely necessary, Torchinsky said.\n"If you are a single woman around age 25 and you wanted to start a family, you wouldn't come to Bloomington (to be tenured)," he said. "There are very few eligible men, and if you're a minority, it's even worse. IU pays a price for how isolated it is."\nHowever, some have ideas for how IU can take other steps to reel in the prize senior-level women they often struggle to catch.\n"We want to attain these women, but they go to other institutions that are further ahead of us," said Carol McCord, assistant dean of the Office of Women's Affairs. "We need to say we'll pay you more, we have better child care, we'll give you more lab space. If IU does these things, they are going to bring in younger women because they are going to choose the institution they are most comfortable at."\nImproving child care is just one of the pieces administrators must patch together in the complex family issues puzzle, McCord said.\n"Most people come up for tenure at the same time, but if you are a woman and you have a child in the first five years as a faculty member, that could take a big chunk of time out of your productivity," she said. "You won't get as much done as the male colleagues who are going up for tenure at the same time you are, and you probably won't get tenured."\nBetter family-leave policies would not only help women faculty already here, but would also help make IU a more attractive package to women considering working at the University, said Julie Knost, director of the Office of \nAffirmative Action.\n"It's hard to take time beyond the classroom if you have a family, and women do still tend to be the ones that fulfill the caretaker role at home," she said.\nCurrently, women faculty are granted six weeks maternity leave. \n"There is this response for better family leave, but some think it's too expensive," she said. "Family-leave policy has been under review for a number of years now. A new president might help the process."\nIf approved by the board of trustees, family leave would cover women and men and would also give faculty a cushion if they had to leave for other family issues.\nAlthough family issues are undeniably a factor for women, some contend that administrators need to dig beneath the surface to get to the root of the problem.\n"There is no question that making IU a more women-friendly place includes beefing up childcare provisions and family-leave policies, etc., but family reasons aren't why there wasn't a woman among the IU president finalists," said Suzanna Walters, chair of the gender studies department. "I think the real issue is, do you turn the good faith for moving women up into action and back up that good faith with\nresources to make equity real"
(11/27/06 5:22am)
In a meeting with fellow IU department chairs, Suzanna Walters finds herself in an all-too-familiar situation. With the vast majority of seats surrounding the conference table filled by men, she is quickly reminded of the minority status she holds as a high-ranking female faculty member. \nShe said she's used to it by now, but that doesn't mean she's content with the current status quo. \n"When I go into these meetings, there's still just a handful of women," said Walters, chair of the IU Department of Gender Studies. "Looking at upper-level administration, it's still filled with men, and you have this clustering of women faculty in the lower levels of administration at IU and all over the country. In many ways, it's still an old white boys club." \nThough women comprise about 52 percent of the student population at IU-Bloomington, according to the IU Factbook for the 2005-06 term, women account for slightly more than 35 percent of full-time administrators, faculty, visiting faculty and lecturers on campus. An even greater gender disparity can be seen in the number of full-time tenured faculty. Out of the 720 full-time tenured professors working for the University in 2004, 156 (or nearly 22 percent) were women, according to a report on the status of women faculty by the Office of Affirmative Action at IU. \n"This problem is not specific to IU, but IU is reflective of the inequalities in higher education that you see all across the country," said Julie Knost, University director of the Office of Affirmative Action. "In fact, we probably do fairly well relative to some institutions because we have made steady progress with women faculty in the last 15 years, but we need to do better." \nA set of simple explanations and solutions cannot be assigned to these issues, Knost said, because a number of complex factors play into the problem as universities struggle to level the gender playing field. Before being able to prescribe an effective antidote, officials must both be aware of the problem and have a desire to change it, she said. \n"When you look at the women professors at IU, the problem is that a lot of them are at the junior level and not at the tenure level," said Alberto Torchinsky, associate vice chancellor of strategic hiring and support at IU. \nThe demanding six-year tenure process requires faculty members to not only hold an advanced degree, but also to go beyond their classroom obligations and do extensive research in their field, publish books or journal articles and travel to meetings and lectures around the country. After completing this process and being approved by their desired academic department, a faculty member is awarded the status of full-time professor. However, women are less likely than men to make it this far, Knost said. \n"Every step of the way you go up, (women faculty) numbers drop," she said. "Women are less likely to get a master's degree than men and even less likely to get a Ph.D. They are less likely to seek out the top positions in higher education. They are more likely to drop out along the way than men for a variety of reasons." \nThough complicated family issues and pay discrepancies might explain lagging female advancement in the upper echelon of faculty, experts, such as Knost, also note flaws in the hiring process and lack of good support systems. She and others contend, however, that these issues can and must be worked through.\n"It takes more than good faith to rectify this situation. It takes resources. It takes the state government saying a university cannot have such gender and racial disparity in its faculty. It takes everyone seeing this as a problem," Walters said. "I don't think there's a lack of good faith. I have great respect for this University and know there is great faith. But good faith without resources isn't going to go very far"
(11/20/06 3:37pm)
Several hundred IU-Purdue University Indianapolis students are expressing concern that a proposal black student leaders submitted two weeks ago will not serve the best interest of the campus. The dissent comes as administrators responded to calls of racism by pledging Nov. 16 to create a new cultural center and sponsor diversity initiatives -- two of the demands the student initiative made in addition to calls to allocate $78,000 for black student organizations and to offer a major in African-American studies. \nAs of Sunday, more than 650 students had signed a petition against the Black Student Initiative and more than 900 had joined the Facebook group "IUPUI, We Want Our Money Back!!" that lists concerns similar to those listed in the petition. The main basis of the group's dissent is that they say the black students' demands and the administration's response do not serve the best interest of the campus as a whole. \n"The purpose of the petition was to display the frustration and neglect that many students have felt due to the fact that so many demands were made without us having any say in them," said IUPUI sophomore Areeba Farooqi, who created the Facebook group. \nFarooqi and many in her group stressed that they did not disagree with the motives or goals of the black student leaders but instead said they would like to see administrators take into account all students' concerns. \n"I personally agree with them on their stand that there are cases of discrimination at IUPUI and a lack of cultural diversity on campus," Farooqi said. "I can't speak for everyone in my group, but the problem I had with the proposal is that they had made certain demands that involve all students of IUPUI, and these demands would impact a lot of things for us, like our tuition, fees, campus, organizations and student life." \nIUPUI freshman Dustin Andrews, who joined Farooqi's Facebook group, said he agreed that the proposal was too exclusive by not representing the needs of the entire student body. He added that he felt the demands might have been too extreme in how they were presented. \nIUPUI senior Jocellyn Ford, one of the three leaders of the Black Student Initiative, said she does not have a problem with the group members expressing their views.\n"We definitely respect everyone's opinion," she said. "Everyone is free to agree or disagree with us; we just hope that eventually it'll come to a point where all different minority groups come together and unite on this because we're all facing the same issues."\nFord said she hopes those in the group completely opposed to the initiative will eventually have an open mind. \n"We don't have a problem with anyone expressing themselves; we just hope the negative racial comments will eventually stop," she said.\nStudents who have issues with the proposal expressed varying attitudes, as many differed in opinion on how much of a response to the proposal the administration should grant or if it should wait until it has gathered further information. Some students said they are concerned with the lack of evidence to support the black students' demands. \n"There was not a single fact supported that would motivate change or motivate the average person to care enough about what's going on," said IUPUI sophomore Matt Stone. "I'd like some actual proof that something is happening. I'd like to hear something from an official source, like an impartial study or someone that knows what they are talking about that is not so closely tied to the issue that says racism is happening." \nStone also said he was not sure the addition of a mulitcultural center on campus would benefit IUPUI's students.\n"My main concern is (the cultural center) is something that no one is actually going to use," Stone said. "We're not the same as Bloomington or Lafayette as far as campus environment. A huge percentage of IUPUI (students) are commuter students, and the fact is not a majority of people are going to use that building." \nHowever, some students who signed the petition disagree and say they feel that a multicultural center would be beneficial to the campus. \n"I think that the step the chancellor has taken in agreeing to build a multicultural center is a great step in the right direction," Farooqi said. "The campus would greatly benefit from a place that would open students' minds to other cultures and fulfill the cultural enrichment aspect of their education that is promised to them." \nDespite some ongoing concerns, Farooqi said the group's disagreement with the black students' demands has subsided in recent days, as they are currently working together to find a solution.\n"All of that has died down, and positive efforts are definitely being made to soothe out the situation and (form a) compromise for an overall change on campus," Farooqi said.
(11/17/06 5:54am)
As Mary Beth Kime sat back in the dentist chair, she gazed into the eyes of the oh-so-attractive dentist leaning just inches away from her face. While he performed a routine inspection of her mouth, Kime realized she wasn't the only one who felt the chemistry between them. \nIn a moment their lips locked, but it wasn't long before they fell to the stage floor, groping each other passionately in a very public display of affection in front of the more than 500 in attendance to watch the demonstration of what author Michael Christian calls the "fantasy kiss." \nKime, a freshman, and her kissing partner freshman Kyle Alexander are one of the four volunteer couples who bravely took to the Indiana Memorial Union's Alumni Hall stage Thursday evening for the Union Board's "Art of Kissing" presentation based off of the international best-selling book authored by Christian, with the aforementioned title. In a comical choreographed skit hosted by Christian, couples demonstrated 30 different kisses, ranging from the basic French kiss to the perhaps lesser known "South Pacific Kiss" or the "liposuction." \n"I just wanted to do something random and spontaneous, and I figured this was the chance," Kime said. "I was really nervous earlier in the day, but once I got here and learned the skit, it wasn't that bad." \nChristian, who goes by the pen name William Cane, tours college campuses across America and gives speeches on subjects such as proper French kissing, the proper tongue use in various kisses and what women and men prefer the most from their kissing partners. He wrote the book after compiling 100,000 surveys that were distributed across the United States and in 23 foreign countries. \n"I wrote the 'Art of Kissing' to try to improve my sex life, but it didn't help," he said jokingly to the crowd. "Now when I take a woman out, they say 'you wrote the 'Art of Kissing' and this is all you can do?'" \nThe Union Board put together the event to help people who might be uncomfortable with kissing or want to learn how to do it better, said freshman Elaine Gilbert, who worked on the Union Board committee that organized the event. \n"Last year during a meeting we were talking about things we liked to do and someone said making out, so we pursued it further and decided to bring in the person who wrote the book on it," said sophomore Caitlin Oldenkamp, a member of the same committee. \nAfter sharing some first-kiss horror stories people had sent to him, Christian outlined the do's and don'ts of a successful kiss and shared related statistics compiled through his research. For instance, he found only 8 percent of men like the taste of flavored lipstick, 66 percent of women would prefer their men to shave before locking lips with them and 10 times more women enjoy being kissed on the neck than men. \nThe four couples began with simple pecks and tension-packed dentist and barbershop role play scenarios, but they quickly advanced to more risque varieties of kissing, such as the sexually-suggestive "finger suck" or the "inverted upside down kiss," during which couples "vacuum" the air out of each other's lungs. \nThough he and his partner spent more than an hour kissing and acting out various sexually under-toned scenarios, Alexander said they are nothing more than casual acquaintances. \n"One of my friends on Union Board asked if I wanted to volunteer to do this, and I said sure why not and called her up today," Alexander said. "We've only hung out a few times and hadn't ever kissed (each other) before."\nA second couple maintained they are just friends, while the other two were engaged to be married. \nAudience laughter never ceased during the presentation as the ecstatic Christain guided the couples step-by-step through the entire endeavor with witty banter and comments that flirted on the border of sexual innuendo. \nHowever racy some of the demonstrated kisses might have been, Christian still contends romance is the essential element in a kiss. \n"Romance is the key to any good kiss, and I am 100 percent romantic," he said. "It's all about that connection"
(11/16/06 5:56pm)
IU-Purdue University Indianapolis administrators announced Wednesday they will establish a multicultural center and other diversity initiatives in an effort to meet the demands of black student leaders on campus.\nTwo weeks ago, senior Dominic Dorsey, president of IUPUI's Black Student Union, addressed University officials in an eight-page letter with a list of demands, including $78,000 of funding for black student groups, a black culture center and a degree offering in African-American studies.\nFollowing what Dorsey called a "completely unsatisfactory" response from the administration, a forum was held Sunday for students, faculty and members of the community to express their concerns about the issue. At the conclusion of the meeting, black student leaders gave administrators until 5 p.m. Wednesday to generate a satisfactory response or face possible repercussions, namely the demand for the immediate removal of certain administration and faculty.\nAfter holding two open conversations with students earlier this week, IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz issued a statement today outlining efforts the University would enact to improve diversity and increase cultural competency on campus.\n"These initiatives are satisfactory for what we are trying to accomplish," Bantz said. "We are trying to advance the campus and need to do it, and I think these will move us in the new direction."\nIn addition to the multicultural center, IUPUI will work to improve diversity by creating a group of students and faculty to assess campus diversity efforts and increasing faculty diversity training. \nThough no exact calculation can be made at this point, Bantz estimates that a multicultural center will be open for student use within a year and a half.\nAdditionally, in response to the students' demand for $78,000, the University will create a committee to assess the way student funds are used.\n"An outside group of \nprofessionals who work in student life at other colleges and universities is going to review the way the allocations are made and see what needs to be done," Bantz said.\nCurrently IUPUI has an administrator designated to work part-time in diversity affairs, but Bantz believes a full-time position is necessary to truly devote time to campus diversity.\n"I want someone who wakes up in the middle of the night and worries about how they can make the campus more successful and more diverse," he said.\nBlack student leaders have yet to respond to the University's most recent response but are set to meet with administrators at the beginning of next week to assess the current situation.\n"I believe IUPUI is making steps in the right direction," said D'Anna Wade, president of IU-Bloomington's Black Student Union. "(IUPUI needs) to encourage the students to stay focused and follow it through to the end"
(11/14/06 4:49am)
The Indiana women's rowing team wrapped up their fall season on a lighthearted note this weekend at Lake Lemon with its fourth annual Intrasquad Class Race Classic and the dedication of a new boat. \n"The races were really fun and exciting. It wasn't really intense, and it was fun for us to end the season on that note," said freshman Laura Jones. \nThe day began with the christening of the new $33,000 Resolute boat in honor of two-time Olympic medalist and Bloomington native Missy Schwen Ryan. Although Ryan wasn't present at the christening because she was due to give birth this week, her parents attended and told the Hoosiers about her experiences rowing in Bloomington. The women's varsity crew will begin rowing in the new boat this spring. \nAfter the dedication, crews geared up to race against each other in two semi-final heats and a final. The first alumni crew defeated the two freshman boats in the first heat, edging out the second place finishers by half of a boat length. In the second heat, the sophomore boat beat out the mixed "senior" boat, which was composed of rowers from all classes. Because of a collision during the race, the alumni boat in the second heat got third place. \nThe sophomores claimed victory again in the final, finishing five seconds before the freshman boat. The second alumni boat crossed the line in third, trailed by the mixed junior/senior boat that, because of a technical mistake, fell behind the pack. \nEach year during the Class Race Classic, different classes dress in themed costumes, said senior Dana Powell. This year's themes included "Top Gun", a carrot, a rainbow and the 1980s. \n"It was a fun race and a good opportunity to get to know our novices," Powell said. "It's also fun to catch up with the alumni"