I had Mr. Gordon Kato as an instructor in PSY P154, the accompanying lab for Introductory Psychology II for Majors (PSY P152). Though it took me a while to understand all the statistics involved in the results section of a psychology research paper (sounds mind-boggling already), Mr. Kato really took the time to help me individually so that I could better understand the material. Even though it was difficult material to understand, Gordon was committed to making sure we understood it so that we would have great experiments and papers. I am very saddened to hear about his death. I would like him to know and want to thank him for helping so many of us students with the difficulties of psychology. You will be missed greatly, Gordon!
Sarah Wells
,
Junior
Democracy worked
College students of the 1960’s had a reputation for political radicalism. Today, there is no unifying factor among us. On Tuesday, there were students who didn’t even know about mid-term elections. There were students who voted like their parents. And some students did not vote on Tuesday because they are so mistrustful of our system.
Calculated nonvoting is inspired by disillusionment with the Democratic Party. Democrats won the House – but what will change? Conservative social, fiscal and national policies have shifted political language and expectations to the right. The Democrats are not left wing, and true progressives have no voice in our elected government.
But I voted. I even voted for Howard Dean’s “Republican-lite” Democrats. This new election, no matter how similar our two parties are, will create good change. The minimum wage will be raised, stem-cell research will get government funding, and this war will hopefully take a new, less catastrophic path.
This election contained more than the personalities running for office. In South Dakota, voters rejected a ban on abortion. In Michigan, voters approved a ban of affirmative action in some public institutions and universities. Three states banned gay marriage. Voters decided to roll back civil rights or progress them. Votes do matter in a very immediate way.
Yet elections do not cause the radical change some of us would like. I have no answer for what can. We can work with the system or reject it. I try to do a little bit of both.
Even if my voice is not entirely represented by our new elected officials, I am still a lot less disappointed today than I was November 2004. This time the worst of the worst have felt the pressure of unhappy citizens. Rumsfeld resigned. Bush is humbled. This time, democracy worked.
Anna Piontek
Senior
Preserve Bloomington’s downtown!
Regarding “Downtown Turnaround” by Kasey Hawrysz (Nov. 1):
I read an article on the turnaround of downtown businesses and the rising rents. I graduated from IU last year after spending six years there. I was active in the community and was hesitant at first at the influx of the “urban” style to the bustling Walnut Street and Kirkwood and College avenues. However, many of the businesses had received a boost in profits and recognition. It disheartens me to see that a well-respected company like Finelight, not just in Bloomington, but all over, would not take into consideration the importance of local establishments, especially since many of their employees have utilized them during lunch hours and weekend dinners. I guess it’s all about the bottom line for them. I was also surprised to see that they would be tearing down the building in which Ladyman’s Cafe and others are currently residing. That is what makes Bloomington’s downtown so attractive: the mix of historical and modern buildings. Why not spend the money to update the current building so it can last for another 100 years? Why can’t we continue to keep the charm of the facades of the buildings but alter the guts? Indianapolis has done it with their Monument Circle, as have many other rural downtowns. I believed Finelight was a “community partner;” after hearing this, I am starting to change my views. I would hope that some of the local preservation groups and student groups would stand up and participate in the way that their current home will look down the road. You would also think that a company (Finelight) that currently resides in a historic downtown building that they have maintained and preserved would be inclined to do that to others as well. Guess Not.
Mark Warner
Alumnus
Errors in IDS reporting, editing
In “Downtown Turnaround” (Nov. 1), reporter Kasey Hawrysz misspelled Tacos Don Chuy (with a “y”). She also didn’t notice that Don Chuy’s is no longer in business, and in the story, it would seem that that fact would be an important observation.
Today I read “60-mile bike ride to keep ‘torch alive’ for Crouse (Nov. 3).” Throughout the story Kasey refers to cyclists as bikers. There’s a difference. For example, the IU Cycling Club is not called the IU Biking Club. Bikers ride Harleys.
In addition, Kasey writes: “Members of different Little 500 teams, including independent Bella Veloce and the IU Cycling Club ...” Bella Veloce is a Little 500 team; however, the IU Cycling Club is not a Little 500 team! Kasey’s sentence construction needs some work. Who’s editing this stuff? Anybody?!
Minor stuff, sure. But exactly the kinds of things that undermine people’s opinions of an otherwise strong paper.
Nate Gowdy
Senior
Residency troubles, insurance costs burden grads
Regarding the staff editorial “School of hard knocks,” Oct. 17:
I know I put myself in this position. I chose to enroll in a Ph.D. program and drag my wife along into a life of poverty relative to my progressively richer friends. But there are some things I did not expect, even now, in my second year.
1) We moved from Missouri and bought a house in Indiana. This is a legitimate move; Indiana is now our permanent home. I pay state taxes and vote here. My wife has full-time employment here. Why does the registrar refuse to recognize my residency? If I’m not a resident of Indiana, where am I a resident? I have lots of colleagues in this situation – we’re not just biding time in a residence hall and moving back in with Mom over the summer. I’m lucky to have an employer who covers almost all of my tuition, but all are not in that situation. People who have moved to Indiana for graduate work have uprooted themselves and should not be compelled to incur debt at the out-of-state tuition rates. Having to do so is a rip-off.
2) Insuring a wife or child at IU as a grad student is an exorbitant expense. I now pay almost $300 a month to insure my wife. That is after taxes and amounts to about 25 percent of what I bring home. If this cost absolutely must be so high, why can’t we take it out before taxes? Better yet (advance thanks to the Graduate and Professional Student Organization), why am I still paying out-of-pocket to get my teeth cleaned or get my eyes examined?
I understand the intricacies of running a university, and I realize the answers are far more complicated than the questions, but I still feel like the questions merit asking.
Chad Ahren
Graduate Student
Kinsey Confidential helps readers
Regarding Lucas Fields’ featured letter on the Nov. 1 Opinion front:
The recent letter critical of “Kinsey Confidential” is missing an important function of newspapers - to inform and to educate. Even The New York Times has a health section, and, yes, they often cover sexuality information.
There is a difference between glib and entertaining sex “advice” columns and careful, research-based responses to real questions about sex and sexual health. Given that sexual choices made today may have profound consequences, we have an obligation to provide any information that will help students make informed choices for their physical and emotional health and well-being.
Jennifer Bass
The Kinsey Institute
Columnist wrong on
North Korea
Regarding “Vote for security” by Edward Delp, Nov. 11:
Here are a few gems from the column:
“We should just ignore North Korea until it does what we want, and if it continues to pursue nuclear weapons, we should invade.”
Never mind the reek of megalomania.
What, according to Mr. Delp, is Iraq? A Sunday afternoon picnic?
What do you call somebody who doesn’t learn from their mistakes? – A Republican (note the generous use of paint-everyone-with-same-brush).
“Even ignoring the obvious argument about not showing mercy to those who show us none in return ...” If I am not very mistaken, that’s why we get to call ourselves civilized – because we are not savages; we do not go around plucking eyes out; we believe in the due rule of law. Perhaps Mr. Delp should retire to the jungles, forsake all the comforts civilization has granted him and then find it in himself to trot out this argument. It is very easy to preach intolerance as long as your civil liberties aren’t being whisked off to Gitmo.
Mostly, I am sick of the IDS being used as a soapbox to present these same old, tired, extremist points of view. I am not saying the liberal columnists of the IDS get off any lighter, but hurling accusations at the opposite camp doesn’t really make it or the accusations go away. Also, you aren’t right simply because you scream loud enough for everyone to hear you. The IDS should seriously consider granting column space to thought-provoking columnists who can debate intelligently and constructively about these issues. We can do without the puppets on replay.
Sriram Raghuraman
IU Student
The radical neocon slogs on
When Brian Stewart wrote Monday (“Potomac two-step”) that some should “be couch potatoes on Election Day,” what he meant is that if you plan on voting for a Democrat, you should probably just stay home. I heard this exact same ridiculously insulting sentiment from all the major right-wing pundits leading up to Election Day, and I’m not surprised to see Stewart repeating it. He probably got the same secret-society memo or, more likely, is merely regurgitating what he’s been fed.
Usually I don’t get too riled up over Stewart’s columns – he says exactly the same thing every time, laced with different tones of self-promotion – and I know that this letter won’t be printed before Election Day, but still, I feel like someone has to defend the most basic liberty we have in this nation, which he professes to love so much: the act of voting.
He presumes to warn us ignorant voters about supporting those who are “self-absorbed,” while his Republican Party is rocked by scandal after decadent scandal; this insults our intelligence. He chides the liberal party for having chronic “attention deficit disorder” while his Grand Old Party dredges up bigotry and intolerance every election cycle and then promptly drops it, having made empty promises to the poor populace it duped into voting for it; this is pathetically fierce denial. He wants to protect us from those who “consume on credit” while his favored regime slashes its own income and increases its spending (the very definition of the term); this is shameful misdirection.
But his conclusion that half of this “exceptional nation” should not vote is simply inexcusable. Let me just say, in the name of those of us who love our country more than ourselves, I hope everyone voted Tuesday. No matter who they voted for, I hope it was with pride, and honestly, I hope it was for change.
There are enough Brian Stewarts in the world clamoring to fulfill their own prophecy; the rest of us should rise above it.
Liz Stringer
Senior
Protest against Dow Corning justified
First off, I’d like to commend the balanced and pertinent coverage of the protest against Dow at the Life Sciences Career Fair on Thursday by Ms. Mitchell (“Protestors decry Dow at career fair” by Whitney Mitchell, Nov. 3). One of the key goals of such actions is to raise awareness among the student population. Your reports have a positive impact on thousands of students on campus in helping them make an informed career choice.
Having said that, I am troubled by some statements made in the article by the Dow Corning representative, Mr. McClarnon. Fifty percent of Dow Corning is owned by Dow Chemical and the rest by Corning. Dow and Dow Corning are inextricably linked. Four Dow Chemical representatives are on the board of directors for Dow Corning. Some serve on the board for both groups. A look at Dow Chemical’s products Web page shows Dow Corning’s products listed. Any investor report on Dow Chemical includes news on Dow Corning. This list is endless. So to say that Dow Chemical is just a “shareholder” of Dow Corning is just a ridiculous spin intended to divert students’ attention.
Another quote Mr. McClarnon makes is on the ability of the IU students to make an informed choice. He claims Dow has a good recruiting record at IU and is sure it will continue, despite our protest. It is either bravado, or he underestimates IU students. In the past, Dow got away talking about its “good side” and students trusted it. The University is complicit in establishing this trust. Students are vulnerable when job-hunting and assume a company on the IU campus is reputable. IU has no such benchmark and is doing students a disservice by denying full disclosure. Now students have both sides of the story.
Lastly, Mr. McClarnon is “probably” sorry for the 25,000 dead and 150,000 suffering in Bhopal. If he really were, he would do something about it. He would talk to the Dow board members in his company. He would educate his fellow employees on Bhopal. The other representative at the career fair was unaware of the Bhopal disaster! And he would take the time to learn about the current situation at Bhopal (www.bhopal.net) instead of barking at our presence at his table.
Yogesh L. Simmhan
Graduate student
Middlebury not offering GLBT preferences
I want to clarify Middlebury College’s admissions policy as described in your article “Sexual preference” (staff editorial, Nov. 1). While Middlebury College (which is in Vermont) welcomes students from diverse backgrounds, it has no admissions policy related to sexual orientation. Middlebury accepts only those applicants who have demonstrated evidence that they will succeed at the college academically and who will make positive contributions to its undergraduate community.
Robert S. Clagett
Dean of Admissions at Middlebury College
Act on Darfur
Right now, genocide is being committed in Darfur, the western region of Sudan.
Four-hundred thousand have died due to violence. Four-hundred thousand. It is like killing all of the college-aged people in Indiana.
Six thousand African Union soldiers are there. Six thousand. There are more freshmen on the IU campus than AU troops monitoring Darfur, a region the size of Texas. And the soldiers can only monitor the situation – watch as women are raped and men are killed.
What can you do to change this?
Care about Darfur. Care about the women who leave the camps to collect firewood only to be raped by the Janjaweed. Why do the women go if they know they will be raped? Because if the men leave to collect firewood, they will be killed.
Go to www.Darfurscores.org to see what Sen. Lugar, Sen. Bayh and Rep. Sodrel are doing about Darfur. The results might surprise you.
Write your representatives. Tell them that Congress needs to act on the genocide in Darfur. They will pay attention to what you say; they know that if it is important to you, it should be important to them.
The United States can effect change in Darfur, as we are privileged in the world. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, we can effect change on an international level. According to the State Department, Sudan is a state sponsor of terrorism. The Sudanese government is unadmittedly, but obviously, sponsoring the Janjaweed, the perpetrators of the Darfurian genocide. America can use its influence in the United Nations to achieve a large, European-led ground force with a strong mandate to do more than just monitor the situation.
How can we, as Americans, achieve this? Write your congressman or congresswoman. He or she casts votes in Congress. Congress converses with the president. The president dictates to Ambassador Bolton and onward to the United Nations.
There is a chain. But you have to initiate it.
To find out more about Darfur activism in Bloomington, contact Students Taking Action Now: Darfur at stand@indiana.edu.
Jamie Mitchell
Sophomore, STAND member
SAA health care falls way short
This year, the Student Academic Appointee health plan underwent severe budget cuts. And as if the SAA health care plan and cuts weren’t bad enough, funded and nonfunded graduate students in professional programs (like myself) are forced to buy into their own health care plan. This year, the plan saw nearly a 58 percent increase in cost, forcing graduate students who may already pay over $20,000 a year in tuition to fork over $1,365 for a year’s health insurance coverage. Moreover, this health insurance may not even cover the costs of necessary prescriptions and will only pay up to 80 percent of health care costs. The remaining 20 percent of medical costs can be enormous. For example, I am facing medical costs from diagnosis and treatment of an orthopedic injury, which may require me to pay at least $3,000 as my 20 percent of medical treatment. This is more than half of my yearly income as a graduate assistant. From the many graduate students who are forced to buy into the Chickering program, Chickering makes oodles of money. Furthermore, this coverage may not even help when it comes to providing prescription coverage. How did IU administrators choose such a terrible health plan to provide for its students? If the administration truly valued its students – graduate and undergraduate alike – it seems like they would make better decisions about which health care vendor could best aid the institution’s greatest asset – students themselves. Healthy workers are happy and productive workers. When IU can’t even provide those who make the University productive with good health, what can they provide? The Graduate Employee Organization is working to gain recognition of the ways in which the University fails to value its graduate students. As the very essence of this community, it’s time for students – graduate and undergraduate alike – to join the GEO’s fight, to step up and tell the administration what we think about our health care options.
Emily Ford
Graduate Employee Organization
Thanks to all Democrat volunteers!
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We cannot express how proud and impressed we are with all the Democrats, especially the College Democrats. We saw how high the stakes were, we knew what was on the line, and we worked hard to change things.
The sentiment that was in the Democratic headquarters was something we will never forget. We were all exhausted and were waiting to see if we had done enough. And when the final vote came in, we all knew we did it. The hugs, tears and cheering were all necessary for a celebration.
The months and months of canvassing, phone banking and registering people to vote definitely paid off. Baron Hill beat Mike Sodrel onTuesday night because of our amazing get out the vote efforts. We organized and implemented an outstanding campus-wide effort in less than five days.
Again, we are proud and impressed.
But Tuesday night was just the beginning of what the Democrats can, and will, do. We can now take a week off, but we need to come back next week and work to keep people involved and interested in the issues.
So thank you all for your efforts, votes and support.
Amanda Jenkins
IU College Democrats
