Longform

U.S. preparing to send more Marines to Afghanistan in a shift in strategy

By Abisalom Omolo and Lolita C. Baldor · Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 9:15 p.m.

The Pentagon is preparing to send at least 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan in April to bolster efforts to hold off another expected Taliban offensive in the spring, military officials said Wednesday.

Around the World

By AP Reports and Abisalom Omolo · Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 9:14 p.m.

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for the White House Thursday in a timely slap at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as well as his own vice presidential running mate.

Bush predicts Mideast peace treaty before his term ends

By Abisalom Omolo and Anne Gearan · Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 9:13 p.m.

President Bush, summing up meetings with both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, said Thursday that a peace accord will require “painful political concessions” by each.

Forget thyself

By Georgia Perry · Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 8:33 p.m.

If you are a sophomore, junior or senior, I find it safe to assume that you spent your winter break relaxing and spending time with family and friends back home. You probably took in a movie or two, ate nice home-cooked meals and enjoyed your time off. If you are a freshman, I presume you spent the break lying awake at night wondering what the hell you were thinking last semester.

The fall of Paul

By Amanda Lowry · Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 8:29 p.m.

It took me a long time to like Ron Paul. I, like a lot of non-right-leaning libertarians, have always been at odds with many of his positions. I don’t agree with his anti-abortion stance, for instance, nor am I a fan of his beliefs about immigration. Despite those two issu

Mitch Daniels’ ‘primary’ concern

By Abra Oliver · Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 8:29 p.m.

Indianapolis Star political columnist Matt Tulley reported earlier this week on an interesting plan from Governor Mitch Daniels. The governor, like many of the other 98.56 percent of Americans who live in states other than Iowa and New Hampshire, is frustrated by the fact that these two states have so much influence in choosing the presidential candidates every four years. Tully says that Daniels went so far as to call the current system “wretched.”

Textbook blues

By Alexandra Chtchedrina · Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 8:23 p.m.

The start of a new semester brings the need for new textbooks. The bad news is that you can expect to be hit with a hefty price tag. The good news is that you can sizably cut your textbook bill. It pays to be resourceful. I have been able to masterfully keep my textbook bill at $150 or less during the past few years. Now I’m feeling generous and will share my textbook penny-pinching secrets with you.

Republicans need McCain

By Nathan Dixon · Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 7:56 p.m.

I must be honest. Despite considering myself slightly left-of-center and usually favoring the Democratic Party, I have been much more engrossed by the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

Northwest dorm presidents respond

Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 11:35 a.m.

It is severely disappointing that the stereotypes we have worked so hard to dispel within the residence halls were instantly reversed with such a deeply offensive cartoon featured in the Monday, Dec. 3 Opinion section of the IDS. The illustration showed a scantily-clad female, complete with fishnet stockings, high heels, a midriff-bearing top, a face plastered in makeup and a cigarette dangling out of her mouth, waving her Campus-Access card at a male behind a center desk. As she does so, she sticks her leg on the edge of the counter, obviously in a hyper-sexualized manner. While the image alone is upsetting, cartoonist Erich Reinhard crosses the line by including the quote: “Fost-Whore, Brisc-Hoe, or McSlut...?” above the man, suggesting the women living in the Northwest residence halls are comparable to prostitutes. As presidents of Foster, McNutt and Briscoe, our mission has been to manifest a sense of community among the Northwest neighborhood, largely by preventing IU students from believing in the crude categorizations the drawing depicts. The cartoon’s extremely narrow-minded and insulting connotation not only undermines our mission, but it is also is downright unnecessary. We assume the illustrator intended to express his opposition to the key-card lock system, but we fail to see where the female sexual practices of Foster, Briscoe and McNutt fit into his argument. We are appalled that a student-run newspaper allowed this sexist portrayal to be published, and we can only hope the IDS will use discretion when confronted with images that undermine the integrity of IU residents in the future.

Overseas study is safe

Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 11:33 a.m.

I was quite surprised to read the editorial in the Dec. 6 edition of the IDS (“Oversea-ing Health”), not because of the topic, but because the writer had not done any investigative research on how IU handles mental health issues of study abroad students. The writer declared that “we need smart policies to keep the students involved in these programs healthy.” If the editors at the IDS had done some fact-checking, they would have found out that the Office of Overseas Study does, in fact, have policies and procedures in place to maintain the well-being of IU students that study abroad. Overseas Study has a long tradition of excellent crisis management and we have worked with students in a variety of situations, including mental health issues of all kinds. The University-wide Overseas Study Advisory Council evaluates program proposals for all programs offered by any IU campus and the proposal process requires detailed information on how the program will address student health and safety issues. Faculty members who lead IU programs abroad attend a workshop to prepare them for any eventuality, including a wide range of health issues, including mental health ones. We’ve often invited a professional from Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) to train our directors. We also provide every director with a set of crisis management plans. Students planning to go abroad receive orientation from our staff which includes written materials that guide them as to how to best remain healthy while abroad. It is not uncommon for our students to visit health care professionals abroad, and all students studying on an IU program carry special insurance included as part of their program fees to help provide such assistance. IU is among the top 20 leading institutions sending students abroad and is highly respected in the field of international education for the extensive policies we already have in place, including those that focus on the health and well-being of our students. I hope that the IDS handles future stories on study abroad more responsibly and with an accurate local focus to broad important topics such as this one.

Sensitivity, please

Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 11:31 a.m.

On behalf of the Indiana University Residence Halls Association, I submit that both the opinion offered in the Dec. 3 printing of the IDS, titled “McNutty Security,” and the ensuing political cartoon are supremely degrading toward the entire constituency that RHA represents, most specifically those residing in the Northwest Neighborhood. In the first place, the author of the aforementioned editorial showed little understanding of the proposed security system. Indeed, such a card-swipe system, featuring security cameras and carded-entry to individual rooms, is already in place at the Willkie Quadrangle. The effort to continually update and improve living environments in each of the halls of residence is one that benefits each and every student in the halls, to each of whom personal security is important. The system creates a scenario in which students can enter their residences, purchase food, check out movies, work out at the gym and ride any bus in the city of Bloomington with only one card instead of having to remember to have both the student ID and the room key to get home. It becomes apparent that this would both show a commitment on behalf of the University and RPS to modernize housing while also creating a McNutt that is a bit more like a home and less like a fortress. The editorial cartoon presented in addition to the opinion, however, does not stem from a lack of understanding of RPS policies or goals. The image printed is nothing more than a degrading representation of the female students and residents that RHA represents. Painfully lacking, however, is any connection between the image and the offered opinion. As a result, it becomes readily apparent that it is neither the University nor RPS that is fighting against the protection or interests of students in the Residence Halls. Indeed, the correct conclusion drawn from the article is that the IDS itself is an organization that is committed to the degradation of the community of students that live on campus, while concurrently fighting against the individual safety of the student body. Whereas the editorial staff thinks the trustees should “vote against key-card spending in McNutt,” it perhaps would be more appropriate for the IDS itself to vote in support of student safety and edification.

Off-campus safety should be a priority

Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 11:29 a.m.

I certainly agree that trying to educate kids going to college about fire safety is helpful, but probably futile – but to say that “Only you can prevent college fires” borders on ... well, I can’t think of a word. To say something is a bad idea without suggesting something else is pointless. My daughter, Julie Turnbull, died in a fire at Miami University in April 2005. My personal opinion is that college kids can’t be safe unless they are sleeping under sprinklers. Universities know this, and if the dorms don’t have sprinklers now, they will in the very near future. College towns need to step up and pass ordinances to require landlords of college students to put sprinklers in the houses. Kids going off to college think they are invincible; even though they are careful sometimes, it’s a time in their lives when they will be looking for the edges, their first taste of independence. The house my daughter was in when she died was rebuilt after the fire and rents for $65,000 for nine months – and the landlord didn’t put sprinklers in it because he didn’t have to – although it certainly seems like he could afford to. The argument that it’s a financial burden on landlords doesn’t fly if they all have to do it. To say that “Obviously, universities can only control fire safety protocols and protections on properties they own” is perhaps true, but college towns exist by the grace of the college or university. I don’t advocate university responsibility for off-campus housing. But when my daughter died in an off-campus house, it was called the “Miami University Fire.” It was a “Miami University Student” – not a kid living in a house in town. Universities could play a big role in the safety of off-campus housing if they just came out and said they were concerned about off-campus housing. Perhaps print a preferred list of off-campus houses for rent. Perhaps support town ordinances for sprinklers. In the meantime, parents need to be involved.

Cooper's conservative confusion

Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 11:26 a.m.

I must say that while I tend to fundamentally disagree with almost everything Chase Cooper writes, I do respect the IDS for injecting a conservative opinion into what I do feel is a left-leaning newspaper. However, I take objection to several facets of Mr. Cooper’s article outlining his personal definitions of modern, youthful conservatism. While I am willing to tolerate an editorial opinion similar to Mr. Cooper’s personal definition of what modern conservatives and liberals stand for, the article’s location on the front page as providing a definition to conservatism is absolutely absurd without providing an alternative view of what conservatism means to others. One trait of liberalism Mr. Cooper conveniently forgot is our steadfast support for something called freedom of expression. Check with those founding fathers you’re so adroitly referencing; I believe they founded this country on that belief also. While Mr. Cooper trumpets his view that liberals insist upon big government in political agenda, and that this is a crucial facet of liberalism, I ask him to merely regard the current administration. I ask him to look back to the Reagan years, which he and every other conservative currently is so fond of quoting with a misguided sense of utopia, and question whether Mr. Reagan would view favorably the Bush Administration’s irresponsible spending policies. Furthermore, I ask that if one does not consider the Bush administration a big government-type system, then isn’t it possible that by micromanaging the governments of Afghanistan and Iraq, as we’ve done for years, we’ve expanded our government’s role in our society? Secondly, I ask Mr. Cooper to prove how the actions of Sen. David Vitter, R-La.; Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho; former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas; Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif.; and Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio; support the “morality/values” platform that Mr. Cooper adamantly trumpets as the foundation of conservatism. I guess you could ask Jack Abramoff. Apologies, Mr. Cooper, for I enjoy reading your ill-informed, warped perspective on American policy. What is lacking in this country presently are forums for open debate by members of both ideologies. However, your absurd notion of what conservatism is forced me to write.

Bad sportsmanship

Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 11:23 a.m.

My wife and I drove from Peoria, Ill., to Bloomington on Wednesday, Nov. 28 to see the IU soccer match with Bradley University. As we now know, Bradley won that match on penalty kicks. What your reporters may not have witnessed – or, if so, not reported – was the loutish behavior of the IU fans. Following the game, many of the students jeered the Bradley players, giving them the finger and a large dose of profanity – great examples for the young fans at the game. One IU fan decided that it would be cute to throw a cup of soft drink over the Bradley section. About 50 to 60 Bradley fans came away with spots all over their coats, hats, etc. I guess this is the Hoosier hospitality and IU sportsmanship that we should expect when visiting Bloomington.

Hoosier Headlines (01.10.08)

Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 2:12 a.m.

Hear today's top stories on the Hoosier Headlines podcast. PODCAST: Hoosier Headlines

IU goes on the road to face No. 19 Buckeyes

By Zachary Osterman · Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 12:54 a.m.

After splitting a pair of hard-fought conference games at Assembly Hall, the IU women’s basketball team will hit I-70 and travel east to take on the No. 19 Ohio State Buckeyes today. The Hoosiers (9-6, 2-1) will face perhaps their toughest test of the young Big Ten season in the Buckeyes (11-3, 2-1).

Bloomington Parks and Recreation Dept. receives nature grant

By Heather Haemker · Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 12:53 a.m.

The Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department recently announced that it has received a $2,294 grant from the Raymond Foundation to hold a series of nature days for local sixth-grade students.

Blue light special

By Sarah Brubeck · Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 12:51 a.m.

In early December, a man was assaulted by an unidentified person who fled the scene. The victim ran to the nearest campus blue light for help and IUPD arrived at the scene afterward. Administrators had such a scene in mind when the blue light safety posts were stationed around campus. But these days, the lights are more often used for prank calls, police say.

Registrar to expand E-drop service

By Elizabeth Dilts and Liz Dilts · Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 12:46 a.m.

The E-drop service, which allows students to drop their classes through OneStart, was open to nearly all students last semester. The registar’s office plans to expand the service this semester to cover those previously left out, said Michael Carroll, associate registrar.

Sony BMG to start selling music downloads without DRM copy protection

Thursday, Jan. 10,2008 12:44 a.m.

TOKYO – Sony BMG will start selling music downloads in the copy-protection-free MP3 format later this month in North America, as even the last holdout among the major record labels crumbled to the growing trend.