RPS employee remembered for kindness

CORRECTION: This article incorrectly stated the number of years which Fluke had worked at Residential Programs and Services. He worked at RPS for 23 years. The IDS regrets the error.\nWith a smile and a warm greeting, John Fluke held the door for Collins Residence Manager Sara Ivey Lucas on many mornings at the Collins Center loading dock.\nOn Monday, his smile and greeting were noticeably absent.\n"It was pretty sad to come to work ... and not have him there to open the door for me," Ivey Lucas said. "This was something no one expected."\nFluke, described by acquaintances as a good-natured man willing to help anyone, died at Bloomington Hospital Friday, apparently of a stroke. He was 45. Fluke was found unconscious at Collins Friday evening.\nHe had worked for IU's Residential Programs and Services for 26 years.\nFluke, of Nashville, is survived by his wife, Karen Fluke, and two daughters, Amber and Amy.\nServices will be held at the Bond Mitchell Funeral Home in Nashville at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Calling is from 4-8 p.m. today at Bond Mitchell.\nFluke began working for RPS in 1978 -- when it was still called Halls of Residence -- as a food service worker. In 1984, Fluke began working with maintenance on a truck crew, then in 1989 he worked as an air-conditioner specialist. In 2000, Fluke became Collins Center's maintenance man, the first person responsible for residence halls maintenance issues -- everything from installing air conditioners in students' rooms to repairing tables in Edmonson Dining Hall.\n"He was really helpful to the students and the staff here," Ivey Lucas said. "He was wonderful. The nicest guy you'd ever meet.\n"John was well-loved and well-respected, and a lot of people are going to miss him here."\nKaren Fluke remembers a letter to her husband from a resident assistant in Collins thanking him for his eagerness to always lend a hand. He was proud of the compliment.\n"I don't know anybody who didn't like him when they met him or knew him," his wife said. "There will be someone in every dorm who knows him."\nFluke was also a loving husband and father to his two daughters.\nTerry Cummings, who works in Edmonson Dining Hall, met Fluke while both were working at McNutt Quad.\nDescribing Fluke as an "old country boy," Cummins said Fluke was an avid outdoorsman who loved his Nashville farm and enjoyed sharing tales of deer hunting. He loved horses and planned to ride a horse he broke, to keep it from getting wild again.\nCampus Editor Aaron Sharockman contributed to this story.

Anthrax scare hits campus

A hazardous materials crew removed a powdery white substance from two IU dormitory bathrooms Tuesday morning. The Bloomington Township Fire Department hazardous materials team took every precaution in case the substance is anthrax. In the coming days, tests will reveal the nature of the substance, officials said. \n"With all the stuff going on now, you have to take every one serious," said Bloomington Township Fire Chief Faron Livingston. "The minute you drop your guard, that's when you get burned."\nMonroe County has dealt with four separate anthrax scares in recent days, while across the country, exposures are mounting and fear is spreading. Compared to a 1998 rash of anthrax scares in Indiana, John Hooker, Monroe County's Coordinator of Emergency Management, called the latest round of threats "a whole new ball game." \n"Then it was statewide, now it's nationwide."\nFirefighter Darrin Dant said areas with the substance were sealed off immediately. Once the hazardous materials team arrived at 9 a.m., they closed off the entire area, set up a containment area, donned protective suits, gathered the substance and used bleach to clean the area, he said.\nThe substance was found in the men's bathroom adjacent to the Wright Quad Formal Lounge and in a bathroom in Todd House. Samples of the substance were sent to State health department labs and to the Bloomington Police Department evidence lab, officials said.\nRead Wednesday's IDS for a full story.

Knight suits net $300,000

IU has spent almost $300,000 to defend itself in two lawsuits alleging public access violations over the firing of former basketball coach Bob Knight. The fees bring the documented cost of Knight's firing to nearly $650,000.\nThe University has paid its lawyers $209,000 in a lawsuit brought by The Indianapolis Star, according to documents obtained from the University counsel's office Tuesday. Another lawsuit, brought by IU alumni, has cost the University $78,800. \nIU Spokesman Bill Stephan said the money comes from a litigation fund, made up of fees assessed to various University departments. Stephan said he didn't know how much money goes into the fund, but there is no concern the fund will run out.\nStephan said the University has no choice but to spend money, some of it taxpayer dollars, to defend its principles.\n"The principle we're trying to defend is when employees or students of the University are involved in communications or an investigation relating to some University issue, in this case coach Knight, we believe it is our responsibility to protect our employees' and students' communications," Stephan said.\nStephen Key, legal counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association, which agreed with The Star in its suit, said nobody can deny the University the right to defend itself, but said IU shouldn't be allowed to control the amount of information it releases.\n"The position the University has taken is that they should have the right to determine how much information from the personnel file should be available," Key said. "If that becomes the accepted practice in the state, you will see the public get less and less information."\nNancy Winkley, deputy managing editor for The Star, did not return a phone message Tuesday.\nThe Star filed its lawsuit in October 2000, claiming IU violated Indiana's Access to Public Records Act, which allows individuals and agencies the chance to review and copy public documents. The suit seeks open disclosure of Knight's personnel file. Special Judge Jane Spencer Craney sided with the University, but The Star has appealed her ruling.\nIn the alumni lawsuit, a group of 46 Knight supporters allege IU President Myles Brand violated Indiana's Open Door Laws when he fired Knight in September 2000. Brand consulted with two groups of four trustees before firing Knight.\nThe University maintains no quorum was present at any meeting with Brand, eliminating the need for public notice. A trial court ruled Brand had the sole authority to fire Knight, but an appeals court ruling will send the case to trial.\nThe costs of the two lawsuits, plus $340,000 to buy out Knight's contract and $19,000 to investigate whether Knight choked former player Neil Reed, bring the total documented cost of Knight's firing to $650,000. \nStephan said the University faced additional fees related to Knight's firing that can't be tallied, including IU employees who have devoted time to the issue as part of their job responsibilities and the cost of the IU Police Department's investigation into the Kent Harvey incident. \nThe University has also spent more than $60,000 in lawsuits brought by former assistant basketball coach Ron Felling, who blames IU for failing to control Knight.

One year later: Family, friends of Seth Korona feel void left by tragic death

When Seth Korona decided to attend IU, his younger brother, Elliott, 16, hoped to someday get a pilot's license and ferry his brother from their New Jersey home to Bloomington.\nNow, less than a year away from getting his license, Elliott said flying helps him feel closer to his brother, who died after falling at a fraternity party less than a month into his first semester at IU.\nOne year after Seth Korona's untimely death, family and friends are grappling with his memory and hoping some good can come out of the loss.\n"One year without him has been the hardest year of my life, because I know he will never come back, and we'll never see him again," Gary Korona, Seth's father, said. "We'll never hear his voice, I'll never be able to smell him or hear him say 'hold on' … when I wanted him to do something."\nToday, family and friends from New Jersey will gather with Seth's friends at his grave. At IU, Seth's friends say they plan no formal remembrance, but he'll be in their minds all day.\nKorona, who was 19, fell and hit his head on a door frame after doing a keg stand at a Theta Chi fraternity party last Jan. 27. After Korona was helped back to his room in Foster Quad, floormates watched him, believing he was hungover. Two days later, when friends couldn't revive him, they called an ambulance. Korona remained in a coma until he was taken off life support last Feb. 4.\nChris Vargo, one of Seth's IU friends, said he thinks about Korona all the time. Sometimes he has nightmares, seeing Korona in a hospital bed with tubes in him. But mostly he remembers moments shared eating at Foster Gresham food court and working out at the Student Recreational Sports Center. Vargo, a sophomore, said he thinks about Korona as he trains for the Little 500 team Cutters. He said he'll be riding for Korona in the April race.\n"Seth was pumped about little five and never got to see it," Vargo said.\nVargo and Korona's other floormates have spent hours talking to the Koronas -- on the phone and on Instant Messenger. \nElliott Korona said the conversations have been a great source of comfort.\n"(Seth) left a piece of him with his friends and they're all like my brothers," he said. "I talk to them every day."\nPlaying ice hockey, swimming and playing in the marching band have kept Elliott busy since his brother's death, but he still finds himself depressed after school. Elliott said he cried on the ice after playing in a hockey game he dedicated to Korona. \nKorona's mother, Wendi, has kept busy in her job as an interior designer, bonded with neighbors and participated in counseling to help her through it.\n"We don't have a choice but to be strong," she said.\nGary Korona said he has found little comfort since his son's death, but feels like his son is there with him everywhere he goes.\n"I felt his presence there when we gave out the (swimming) scholarship in his name," Gary said. "I feel him sometimes when I'm driving and he's yelling at me that I'm driving shitty, like 'watch the road dad.' I feel him when I'm at a swim meet, when I'm watching one of Elliott's hockey games, that he's sitting there cheering on his brother."\nKorona has been memorialized in a number of ways: The high school swim team of which he had been the captain dedicated the whole season to him; Larchmont Swim Club, where he was a lifeguard, planted a tree; and two scholarships are now awarded in his name. But Wendi Korona wants something else.\nShe wants to find a way to prevent what happened to Seth from happening again.\n"There's a long-term plan that we have and that is to form some kind of program to … make people more aware of the alcohol problem and how to be responsible with alcohol," she said.\nShe's in the process of forming a foundation in her son's memory to assist or create educational programs to take to schools locally and nationally.\nIn the coming months, the Koronas are looking forward to meeting some people who were given another chance at life through Seth's death.\nFive people received his organs, Wendi Korona said, and the organization that set up the donation offers the Koronas an opportunity to meet them.\nWendi Korona said she can't wait, "out of a mother's curiosity," to find out if someone who got one of his organs shares any of her son's traits -- like his love of swimming.

Koronas subpoena University

The family of Seth Korona has sent IU a court-ordered subpoena to force the University to turn over documents relating to their son's death.\nIndianapolis Attorney Rich Hailey, the Korona's attorney, sent Dean of Students Richard McKaig the three-page subpoena late last week.\nThe subpoena, obtained by the IDS, asks for the complete IUPD investigatory record into Korona's death, minutes of all meetings in which the Korona incident was addressed, names and addresses of all former Theta Chi residents and copies of all rules and regulations enforced at IU fraternities. The plaintiffs give a total of 13 demands.\nThe University Counsel's office has received the subpoena but hasn't studied it yet, Associate University Counsel Kip Drew said.\nThe subpoena is the first discovery-process action in the Koronas' wrongful death lawsuit against Theta Chi Fraternity, its local chapter and its housing board. The Koronas filed the suit Nov. 9, 2001, in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis. Theta Chi filed its answer to the charges late last month.\nThe Koronas argued that the fraternity and the alcohol it served played a role in their son's death.\nBut in Theta Chi's answer to the charges, its attorneys said Seth Korona's own actions caused, or at least contributed to, his death.\n"…The comparative fault of Seth Korona is greater than the fault of all persons whose alleged fault proximately contributed…" Theta Chi's lawyers wrote in their answer to the charges.\nIndianapolis lawyer Bryce Bennett, Theta Chi's attorney, said Korona's death was a tragic accident that should have never happened but that it was not Theta Chi's fault.\n"Theta Chi has nothing but compassion, sympathy and condolences for Seth's family," Bennett said, "but we have thoroughly investigated the accident and reviewed documentation available to us, and at this time, we see no liability on the part of the fraternity defendant for Seth's death."\nKorona, 19, died last Feb. 4 of a skull fracture he sustained at a Jan. 27 party at Theta Chi. He fell and hit his head on a door frame after doing a "keg stand." Korona was hospitalized two days later and remained in a coma until he was taken off life support. Upon completion of an IUPD investigation, Monroe County Prosecutor Carl Salzmann decided not to file charges.\nSince IU is not named in the Korona's lawsuit, Hailey said he subpoenaed the University as a third party. Under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, IU must produce the records for "inspection and copying" within 30 days.\nThe University refused to release many of the same documents to the IDS after repeated requests last year.\nDrew said the University complies with most valid subpoenas issued in Indiana courts.\nThe University will follow a specific process when studying the subpoena, she said. The University will determine if the information requested is something it has, something that's not privileged and something that's a public record. Finally, if a student record is part of the request, she said the University must comply with federal law.\n"As a general matter, students' records can't be released without student permission," Drew said. "One of the exceptions is if you are presented with a valid subpoena."\nShe said the University must give the students whose names appear in the documents notice of the subpoena and time to intervene before their names are released.

Knight's story to be released today

The fact that Bob Knight's new book will be released today, the week of the Final Four, is not surprising. After all, Knight is college basketball's most infamous coach, and the Final Four is its most exciting moment.\nWhat is surprising is that the team Knight once coached is back in the Final Four, on the shoulders of new coach Mike Davis. Whether the resurgence of IU basketball will rekindle interest in the program's past -- and Knight's book -- is yet to be seen.\nKnight wrote "Knight: My Story," (St. Martin's Press, $24.95), with former Herald-Times sports editor Bob Hammel. The 375-page book chronicles Knight's life from his childhood in tiny Orrville, Ohio, through his playing days at Ohio State, his 29 years of coaching at IU and through his dismissal from IU and hiring at Texas Tech, which he calls the "right place" for him to "start over again."\nIn his years at IU, Knight wrote that his biggest mistakes were staying for about five years too long at Indiana and giving sports writer John Feinstein access to the team for a year. Feinstein wrote "A Season on the Brink," which was recently made into a movie by ESPN.\nFor the most part, Knight's book is full of appreciation and compelling side-stories, but Knight doesn't hold back when blasting the press and the IU administration, especially in the chapter about his firing in 2000, "A long year."\nKnight denies choking Neil Reid and said the administration treated him unfairly and fired him for their own personal reasons.\n"If (IU President Myles) Brand were to put on one side all those reasons for firing me, and on the other side were all the things I had done for Indiana University, I think the scale would show how embarrassingly light his case was," Knight wrote.\nIn a statement, Brand disputed Knight's account and said he would not comment further.\n"Having read Texas Tech Coach Bob Knight's account of the events leading up to his dismissal by Indiana University, I strongly disagree with his depiction of those events and of Indiana University," Brand said. "As a university president, I fully expect to be the target of criticism from time to time. But I am particularly dismayed by the personal attacks directed by Knight at other long-time University employees and trustees, many of whom have devoted their lives to Indiana University and continue to serve this university well. I greatly appreciate their loyal service, and am sorry to see them targeted in this effort to generate controversy and book sales."\nKnight blasts former athletics director Clarence Doninger, former vice president Christopher Simpson and former trustee president John Walda, among others. He also charges that the University mismanaged and wasted money in order to "spin" his firing.\n"They were an amazingly free-spending group on their own behalf for an outfit that could find only two-percent raises for its best professors," Knight wrote.\nKnight told The Associated Press that he wrote the book because he was tired of reading what others wrote about him.\n"I just thought I'd tell it my way," Knight said.\nBrand said he wishes Knight well.\n"I stand by the actions we took and the reasons for them," Brand said.\nKnight will be signing copies of his book at the Bloomington Barnes and Noble Booksellers April 7.

Korona's death focuses efforts to overcome 'prevailing culture'

When Wendi Korona dropped off her son at IU last year, she said her goodbyes and left him with a little advice, as mothers often do.\nShe told him to have fun and be responsible.\nOne year after freshman Seth Korona's death, IU officials hope the same advice will prevail over a culture of alcohol abuse on campus.\nPart of the solution is to send a message that the University doesn't tolerate harmful behavior, said Dee Owens, director of IU's Alcohol and Drug Information Center.\n"We can't tolerate people coming to school to get drunk and die," she said. "…We need to say, 'we all want to have fun, but we need to be safe.'"\nKorona, who was 19, died last Feb. 4 of a skull fracture he sustained after doing a "keg stand" at Theta Chi fraternity. Korona was hospitalized two days later and remained in a coma until his death. \nSince his death, a flurry of alcohol-related incidents on campus have kept the IU Police Department and dean's office busy.\nLast year, three fraternities -- including Theta Chi -- were kicked off campus by the University, their nationals or both. Already this year, two fraternities have been caught with significant amounts of alcohol.\nIUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said he has seen more alcohol-related arrests and more citations for alcohol in the last year, a trend he attributes in part to heightened awareness after Korona's death.\n"(The Korona incident) has kept alcohol-related problems at the forefront of the University," Minger said. "This community is not turning its back on this."\nThe greek system is not turning its back either, said Colin Godecke, president of Interfraternity Council.\n"Obviously, incidents in the first weeks of the semester didn't help our image," Godecke, a senior, said. "…In reality, I think a majority of our chapters here are making an effort to change the drinking culture."\nHe said IFC now requires all members to pass the Training and Intervention Program, which shows fraternity members how to recognize and care for someone who is intoxicated. IFC formed the Greek Alcohol Task Force to study possible reforms and is participating in the Campus Community Commission on Alcohol Abuse, which was formed in 1997 to find ways to curb dangerous drinking on campus.\nOwens said the commission broke into implementation groups in late January.\nWhile Owens said she's frustrated the process has taken so long, she believes it's being done right.\n"The University has a way of conferring," Owens said. "It discusses, but ends up with a product that's multidisciplinary."\nDean of Students Richard McKaig said having an effect on the alcohol problem takes time -- since factors include inexperience on the part of freshmen and overconfidence on the part of upperclassmen.\n"There are those in the greek system who are aware of the dangers," McKaig said. "But there is a prevailing student culture that 'it won't happen to me' or 'I won't get caught.'"\nA proposal put forward by the CCCAA in 2000 seeks to address both.\nThe commission's proposal would: Require a comprehensive alcohol education program at summer orientation; require freshmen to live in residence halls during their first year; restrict tailgating at athletic events; work with bar owners to limit the promotion of high-risk drinking games and contests; increase the number of core classes offered on Friday; defer membership recruitment for fraternities; and increase involvement of law enforcement officials and campus organizations that deal with alcohol abuse.\nOwens said she hopes the commission's plan will be ready to present to Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm by semester's end.\nBrehm said she applauds the commission's recommendations and will take a serious look at each suggestion when the document is finalized.\n"Every college and university in the country wrestles with (alcohol)," Brehm said. "There are no magic solutions"

Family, dean want accountability in Korona death

In the year since freshman Seth Korona died at a Theta Chi fraternity party, the fraternity lost its chapter and 24 students faced campus judicial proceedings. \nBut the Korona family and IU's dean of students agree there should be more accountability.\nThe Koronas, seeking to hold the involved parties responsible and to acquire more information about their son's death, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in November against Theta Chi and Bloomington Hospital.\nDean of Students Richard McKaig said he, too, is frustrated about a lack of accountability.\nWhile McKaig said he is satisfied with the IU Police Department report and judicial proceedings, he's frustrated that the people who bought the alcohol have not been held responsible.\n"It would've been nice to hold someone accountable," McKaig said.\nMcKaig said he hopes a bill making its way through the State Legislature that requires keg registration does just that. The bill, which would set up a system to track keg retailers and purchasers, passed out of a State Senate committee in late January.\nMcKaig said the Korona police report provides information about people who were drinking, who planned the event and people who brought alcohol into the house. It does not reveal who purchased the alcohol.\nMcKaig said people rarely "remember" who bought a keg, and Theta Chi was no exception.\n"No one can remember who bought the alcohol," McKaig said. "I say that with a certain smile on my face." \nKorona, 19, died last Feb. 4 of a skull fracture he sustained after doing a "keg stand" at Theta Chi. Korona was hospitalized two days later and remained in a coma until his death. Monroe County Prosecutor Carl Salzmann decided not to file charges.\nBut the University filed charges of its own.\nCampus judicial officials considered charges against 24 students for alcohol-related violations of the University Code of Ethics.\nMcKaig said the charges ranged from underage drinking to actions that endanger a student, the community or the academic process, but only the alcohol-related charges stuck.\nOf the students tried, five were found not responsible, nine received reprimands and four were put on disciplinary probation, McKaig said. \nSix students were "checklisted" for not appearing at judicial proceedings, which could mean they're no longer enrolled, McKaig said.\nFor the Koronas, bringing legal action is about holding people responsible for their own actions, Wendi Korona said. Gary Korona, Seth\'s father, said he wants more information about his son\'s death. But there's more to the lawsuit than that, he said.\n"I want to make sure this doesn\'t happen to anyone else," he said in November.\nThe Koronas' lawsuit has the potential to set important precedent, said Hank Nuwer, an adjunct professor of journalism at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, an expert on hazing and binge drinking on campus. \n"It's the only case I know of where a rush incident is being looked at to determine whether or not it would fall under the category of negligent behavior," Nuwer said.\nNuwer said most fraternity-related lawsuits involve fraternity pledges, not rush guests.\nIronically, Nuwer said, the case Korona's lawyers are most likely to cite hits close to home. Decided in July 1999 by the Indiana Supreme Court, the case involved another IU fraternity. In Delta Tau Delta v. Tracey D. Johnson, the court held the fraternity responsible for a rape that occurred in its house.\nGeorge Patton, an attorney for Bose McKinney & Evans based in Washington, D.C., successfully argued the case for Johnson.\nIn November, Patton told the IDS that the key issue in his case -- whether prior acts on a property give the landowner notice that there is danger to those entering their property -- might also be applied in the Korona case.\nThe court ruled that Delta Tau Delta could be held liable since they ignored warning signs and repeated conduct problems, Patton said.\nBefore Korona's death, Theta Chi had been on and off probation from their national organization. In 1998, the fraternity was put on probation after police found 175 cases of beer and 31 liters of vodka while responding to an alcohol-related injury.\nIndianapolis Attorney Rich Hailey, the Korona's lawyer, said he will file discovery this week to try to compel the hospital and fraternity to turn over their Korona records.\nA Bloomington Hospital spokeswoman said the hospital has received a notice of intent to sue, but no notification of the lawsuit.\nTheta Chi Executive Director Dave Westol did not return a phone message.

Spokeswoman to leave IU

Susan Dillman, who served as IU spokeswoman for more than one year, said she will not return to the University. She accepted administrative leave three days after returning from a three-month-long medical leave.\nVice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations Bill Stephan, who offered her the leave Friday, said Dillman would no longer serve as director of media relations but would not say whether she would return to the University.\n"Administrative leave" is approved paid time-off from a University position, Stephan said.\nDillman had been on medical leave to undergo and recover from outpatient back surgery. She had been involved in a serious car accident in February of 2000 and had undergone a number of back surgeries.\nAt the conclusion of a medical leave an IU employee must be returned to the same or equivalent position held when the leave began, according to IU Personnel Policy on the Family and Medical Leave Act, which applied to Dillman's medical leave.\nIn accordance with the Act, Dillman said that when she returned, she assumed the same position she filled before her medical leave.\nThree days later, Dillman and Stephan met in Stephan's office, where he offered her administrative leave. Dillman said he gave no reason. Neither would say whether other options were on the table. \nDuring Dillman's leave, Stephan fulfilled Dillman's role as University spokesperson. He will continue to act as University spokesperson, sharing the duties with others in the Office of Communications and Marketing, he said. \n"Recognizing that she hasn't been in the mix, I will continue (as University spokesman)," Stephan said. "... It's in the best interest to keep that continuity."\nSharon McCann, an IU employee relations consultant who advises on Family and Medical Leave issues, said missed time during a Family Medical Leave should not affect an employee's job.\nStephan said Dillman's medical leave did not affect her job, adding that he was legally limited in what he could say because of personnel privacy concerns.\nAsked whether her medical leave played a role in her parting with IU, Dillman said, "I hope not."\nDillman said she welcomes the opportunity to find a new job. She said she verbally agreed to the terms of the leave, which includes three months pay with full benefits. \n"I've been interested in leaving for quite some time," Dillman said. "They offered administrative leave, and I said 'great.'"\nWhile she is excited to look for new opportunities, Dillman said leaving is "bittersweet."\n"I learned a lot at IU, and hopefully I gave a little back," she said.

Family of deceased student to sue hospital, fraternity

The family of an IU student who died in February said it plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit today. The lawsuit will say that a fraternity and a local hospital played roles in their son's death, the family said Thursday.\nSeth Korona, 19, died Feb. 4 of bleeding in the brain caused by a skull fracture he sustained at a Jan. 27 party at Theta Chi. Korona was hospitalized two days later and remained in a coma until he was taken off life support. Monroe County Prosecutor Carl Salzmann decided not to file charges.\nThe suit will be filed this afternoon in a federal district court in Indianapolis, family lawyer Richard Hailey said.\nThree parties -- Theta Chi International, the fraternity's disbanded local chapter and Bloomington Hospital -- will be named in the lawsuit.\nBloomington Hospital officials had not received the lawsuit as of Thursday afternoon, hospital spokeswoman Jonna Risher said.\n"We have not been officially notified of a lawsuit on this case, so we have no comment at this time," Risher said.\nIU spokesman Bill Stephan said the University hadn't seen the suit, so any comment would be premature.\n"It would be inappropriate for us to comment at this juncture," he said.\nTheta Chi Executive Director Dave Westol did not return a phone message by press time.\nPolice said Korona hit his head on a metal door frame after doing a keg stand at the party.\nIn May, Hailey said his own investigator revealed that keg stands are part of a "Theta Chi ritual" that was done with potential pledges. He said that fraternity officers and members observed and encouraged Korona's keg stand and that more than a dozen members witnessed it.\nTheta Chi's local chapter was disbanded after Korona's death.\nThe Korona family had also planned to name the University in the suit. But because the University would not turn over documents created during the IU Police Department investigation into Korona's death, the family decided to wait, Hailey said. Once legal proceedings begin, the family plans to subpoena the University for the IUPD record, he said.\nThe University also refused to release the documents to the IDS after repeated requests earlier this year.\nThe Korona family is pursuing legal recourse to hold people responsible for their own actions, said Seth's mother, Wendy Korona.\nGary Korona, Seth's father, said he wants more information about his son's death. But there's more to the lawsuit than that, he said.\n"Like my wife said, I want to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else," he said.\nPart of the motivation of filing suit, Hailey said, was "getting the other pieces to the puzzle."\nHailey said he does not expect the lawsuit to go to trial until 2003.\nIn calling a lawsuit "inevitable" in May, Hailey told the IDS that the hospital "botched" Korona's treatment, that IU was lenient on Theta Chi and that the fraternity was a "free-flowing river of alcohol." \nThe fraternity served Everclear "rush punch" and had several kegs at the party.\nHailey said doctors and nurses, who are referred to anonymously in the lawsuit, must go before a medical review panel before being officially named in the suit.\nDoctors initially treated Korona for meningitis, but culture tests eventually ruled out the bacteria.\n"(The hospital) had a semiconscious male walk into their emergency room, and I think he carried in that room a subdural hematoma that went undiagnosed and untreated," Hailey said.\nWendy Korona said the staff at Bloomington Hospital was caring and concerned but simply missed the diagnosis.\n"I thought they were educated enough to make the proper diagnosis, but they obviously missed it," she said.\nAn initial CT scan would have found the head injury, but focused only on Korona's sinuses, she said.\nWendy Korona said that on Tuesday evening -- the day of the first CT scan -- she received an anonymous phone call at the hospital from someone who said he saw her son hit his head after doing a keg stand at Theta Chi.\n"I remember telling one of the nurses he may have hit his head on the keg," Wendy Korona said.\nBut another CT scan wasn't ordered until Korona suffered a stroke and a seizure that Wednesday. \nKorona went into surgery to relieve pressure on his brain and was taken off life support the next Sunday.\nMonroe County Coroner Dave Toumey told the IDS in February that if doctors had known immediately that Korona had sustained a blow to the head, they might have been able to do more to treat him.\nState law limits damages that could be imposed on Bloomington Hospital at $1.25 million, Hailey said. \nThere is no cap on Theta Chi's liability.

The Land Down Under

Above ground, Indiana has little unexplored terrain. But underground, untold miles of undiscovered rock formations, impressive rooms and winding, narrow passages await cavers -- a peculiar breed of underground adventurers.\nGraduate student Laura Hohman is a fanatical caver. On the rear bumper of her green Toyota Echo is a yellow sticker with a black bat.\nHohman, 24, says her favorite part of caving is seeing something others can't or won't.\n"You're a lot more cut off," explains Hohman, who says she has always been athletic and adventurous. "It's practically silent down there. It's complete and total darkness."\nCommitted cavers explore Indiana's underground mazes for science, adventure or just for fun. Some were drawn by the sheer thrill and found a weekend pastime. Others were looking for exercise and found a way to get their heart beating. Still others were curious and found a passion they're still chasing. In Bloomington and Southern Indiana, caves are part of a vast subterranean drainage system, or karst, says Sam Frushour, director of the field services section of the Indiana Geological Survey.\nComposed of soluble mid-Mississippi limestone, karst valleys southwest of Bloomington drain into Richland and Clear Creeks, and the Mitchell Plateau to the South boasts thousands of sinkholes and hundreds of caves, Frushour says. Karsts are irregular limestone regions with sinks, underground streams and caverns. \nMonroe County has more than 400 caves, featuring a variety of entrances: springs, sinkholes, vertical shafts and deep pits, he says.\nTom Sollman, a director for the Indiana Karst Conservancy, says that although the spirit of adventure attracts most loyalists to caving, there's something that fosters each person's life-long love for caves.\n"With caves, you're the first there. That's what gets you started," he says. "What keeps you going is one goal -- something like photography, mapping or geology."\nFor Sollman, conservation kept him interested in caving. He caves to protect caves. The Indiana Karst Conservatory is buying caves to protect them -- through fundraisers, grants and from money generated by Indiana's environmental license plate.\nFor Bruce DeVore, another director for the Indiana Karst Conservancy, his favorite aspect is to look for "historic graffiti."\n"It's really neat to see signatures from the 1830s and realize people have been coming here for years," says DeVore, who enjoys exploring a cool cavern on hot summer day and long, underground crawls.\nWhile graffiti from the past is novel, DeVore emphasized new graffiti is another story -- it's entirely unacceptable. Today, scientists know more about protecting caves, he says, and so we must be more conscious. In its manual for beginning cavers, the National Speleology Society cites a creed it says all cavers must follow: "Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time."\nMany caves in Bloomington have not been well kept, primarily because of use by students. A notable example, Buckner's Cave, has been repeatedly trashed by college students.\nClean-up efforts by the IU Spelunking Club are more effective when people are willing to keep an eye on caves and maintain their beauty.\nBut for all of caving's wonder, the sport carries serious risks.\n"The greatest danger is going in without proper equipment and training," says Anmar Mirza, an experienced caver from Bloomington.\nThe danger of caves is magnified by their novelty, which tends to draw inexperienced cavers, Frushour says. But the simple lack of information makes caves even more dangerous.\n"These places are wet, dirty, nasty," Frushour says. "Some people don't realize what they're getting into, so they only do it once."\nOne danger of caves stands out: They flood.\nFloods have killed five people in Southern Indiana. All five victims were IU students.\nIn February 1975, three students from IU's Fort Wayne campus drowned in Salamander Cave, south of Bloomington. In July of 1961 two IU students from Bloomington drowned in Show Farm Cave in Orange County. In both cases, it had either rained or was raining before they entered the cave.\nIn these, as in most cases, taking precautions -- like checking the weather before caving -- would have eliminated most of the danger of the caves, Sollman says.\n"The caves aren't the problem," Sollman adds. "The dangerous part is getting to the caves."\nTo learn about safety and to get to the right caves, beginning spelunkers can rely on regional caving clubs for the correct equipment and knowledgeable guides.\nFor those who are unfortunate and do get stuck or lost in caves, there are people in Bloomington who teach and train cave rescue teams for the National Cave Rescue Commission. Though there is no cave rescue team in Monroe County, they are often available to perform rescues as needed. A member of the commission, Hohman has participated in a number of local cave rescues.\nA few years ago, Hohman participated in an overnight rescue in Kentucky. Her team was called in when the rescue became too difficult for a team they had trained. In a rescue that took several hours, Hohman helped remove on a stretcher a man who had been badly injured in a fall. He stepped across a ledge, the ledge gave way and he plunged into a deep shaft. He broke his leg and several other bones. After securing the man on a stretcher, it took the rescue team several hours to gingerly remove him from the cave.\nThe IU Spelunking Club offers tours of a variety of experience levels and access to professional equipment. For a once-a-year $10 charge, members can go on as many trips with veteran cavers as they want. The club meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month in Geology Room 143.\nIU Outdoor Adventures also offers tours through local caves, for a per-trip fee. \nThe best advice for first-time cavers is to avoid bad habits -- such as littering and unauthorized caving -- from the beginning, Devore says. Beyond that, remain calm in all caving situation, he adds. In a cave in Sloan's Valley Cave System several years ago, DeVore got stuck for several minutes.\n"I panicked," he says. "You need to keep your head about you. Either you're comfortable in there or you're not."\nUnquestionably comfortable in caves, Hohman was eager to get back underground last month after a long absence from caving. Her exploration of caves has led her from the karst formations of southern Indiana and Kentucky to grand underground caverns in South America and to the Western Belize Regional Cave Project, of which she is a participant.\nBut work on an IU graduate degree and a part time job at the Mathers Museum have lately kept Hohman from her favorite pastime.\nIn Trapdoor, Hohman was a little less adventurous than her fellow veteran cavers, who explored alternate routes and climbed vertical passages.\nShe wasn't afraid to admit she wasn't comfortable climbing "The Christmas Tree," a "chimney" rock formation requiring an upward climb of approximately 20 feet. Despite her vast experience, Hohman says every caver should know -- and respect -- their own limitations. \n"I'm sure I could make it up there," Hohman says. "It's getting down that might be a problem"

The Land Down Under

Above ground, Indiana has little unexplored terrain. But underground, untold miles of undiscovered rock formations, impressive rooms and winding, narrow passages await cavers -- a peculiar breed of underground adventurers.\nGraduate student Laura Hohman is a fanatical caver. On the rear bumper of her green Toyota Echo is a yellow sticker with a black bat.\nHohman, 24, says her favorite part of caving is seeing something others can't or won't.\n"You're a lot more cut off," explains Hohman, who says she has always been athletic and adventurous. "It's practically silent down there. It's complete and total darkness."\nCommitted cavers explore Indiana's underground mazes for science, adventure or just for fun. Some were drawn by the sheer thrill and found a weekend pastime. Others were looking for exercise and found a way to get their heart beating. Still others were curious and found a passion they're still chasing. In Bloomington and Southern Indiana, caves are part of a vast subterranean drainage system, or karst, says Sam Frushour, director of the field services section of the Indiana Geological Survey.\nComposed of soluble mid-Mississippi limestone, karst valleys southwest of Bloomington drain into Richland and Clear Creeks, and the Mitchell Plateau to the South boasts thousands of sinkholes and hundreds of caves, Frushour says. Karsts are irregular limestone regions with sinks, underground streams and caverns. \nMonroe County has more than 400 caves, featuring a variety of entrances: springs, sinkholes, vertical shafts and deep pits, he says.\nTom Sollman, a director for the Indiana Karst Conservancy, says that although the spirit of adventure attracts most loyalists to caving, there's something that fosters each person's life-long love for caves.\n"With caves, you're the first there. That's what gets you started," he says. "What keeps you going is one goal -- something like photography, mapping or geology."\nFor Sollman, conservation kept him interested in caving. He caves to protect caves. The Indiana Karst Conservatory is buying caves to protect them -- through fundraisers, grants and from money generated by Indiana's environmental license plate.\nFor Bruce DeVore, another director for the Indiana Karst Conservancy, his favorite aspect is to look for "historic graffiti."\n"It's really neat to see signatures from the 1830s and realize people have been coming here for years," says DeVore, who enjoys exploring a cool cavern on hot summer day and long, underground crawls.\nWhile graffiti from the past is novel, DeVore emphasized new graffiti is another story -- it's entirely unacceptable. Today, scientists know more about protecting caves, he says, and so we must be more conscious. In its manual for beginning cavers, the National Speleology Society cites a creed it says all cavers must follow: "Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time."\nMany caves in Bloomington have not been well kept, primarily because of use by students. A notable example, Buckner's Cave, has been repeatedly trashed by college students.\nClean-up efforts by the IU Spelunking Club are more effective when people are willing to keep an eye on caves and maintain their beauty.\nBut for all of caving's wonder, the sport carries serious risks.\n"The greatest danger is going in without proper equipment and training," says Anmar Mirza, an experienced caver from Bloomington.\nThe danger of caves is magnified by their novelty, which tends to draw inexperienced cavers, Frushour says. But the simple lack of information makes caves even more dangerous.\n"These places are wet, dirty, nasty," Frushour says. "Some people don't realize what they're getting into, so they only do it once."\nOne danger of caves stands out: They flood.\nFloods have killed five people in Southern Indiana. All five victims were IU students.\nIn February 1975, three students from IU's Fort Wayne campus drowned in Salamander Cave, south of Bloomington. In July of 1961 two IU students from Bloomington drowned in Show Farm Cave in Orange County. In both cases, it had either rained or was raining before they entered the cave.\nIn these, as in most cases, taking precautions -- like checking the weather before caving -- would have eliminated most of the danger of the caves, Sollman says.\n"The caves aren't the problem," Sollman adds. "The dangerous part is getting to the caves."\nTo learn about safety and to get to the right caves, beginning spelunkers can rely on regional caving clubs for the correct equipment and knowledgeable guides.\nFor those who are unfortunate and do get stuck or lost in caves, there are people in Bloomington who teach and train cave rescue teams for the National Cave Rescue Commission. Though there is no cave rescue team in Monroe County, they are often available to perform rescues as needed. A member of the commission, Hohman has participated in a number of local cave rescues.\nA few years ago, Hohman participated in an overnight rescue in Kentucky. Her team was called in when the rescue became too difficult for a team they had trained. In a rescue that took several hours, Hohman helped remove on a stretcher a man who had been badly injured in a fall. He stepped across a ledge, the ledge gave way and he plunged into a deep shaft. He broke his leg and several other bones. After securing the man on a stretcher, it took the rescue team several hours to gingerly remove him from the cave.\nThe IU Spelunking Club offers tours of a variety of experience levels and access to professional equipment. For a once-a-year $10 charge, members can go on as many trips with veteran cavers as they want. The club meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month in Geology Room 143.\nIU Outdoor Adventures also offers tours through local caves, for a per-trip fee. \nThe best advice for first-time cavers is to avoid bad habits -- such as littering and unauthorized caving -- from the beginning, Devore says. Beyond that, remain calm in all caving situation, he adds. In a cave in Sloan's Valley Cave System several years ago, DeVore got stuck for several minutes.\n"I panicked," he says. "You need to keep your head about you. Either you're comfortable in there or you're not."\nUnquestionably comfortable in caves, Hohman was eager to get back underground last month after a long absence from caving. Her exploration of caves has led her from the karst formations of southern Indiana and Kentucky to grand underground caverns in South America and to the Western Belize Regional Cave Project, of which she is a participant.\nBut work on an IU graduate degree and a part time job at the Mathers Museum have lately kept Hohman from her favorite pastime.\nIn Trapdoor, Hohman was a little less adventurous than her fellow veteran cavers, who explored alternate routes and climbed vertical passages.\nShe wasn't afraid to admit she wasn't comfortable climbing "The Christmas Tree," a "chimney" rock formation requiring an upward climb of approximately 20 feet. Despite her vast experience, Hohman says every caver should know -- and respect -- their own limitations. \n"I'm sure I could make it up there," Hohman says. "It's getting down that might be a problem"

Scares spread to campus

A hazardous materials crew responded to three anthrax scares on campus Tuesday, the result, an official said, of the dangerous combination of growing fear and a likely harmless white powder.\nThe Bloomington Township Fire Department hazardous materials crew removed a powdery white substance from two Wright Quad bathrooms Tuesday morning and returned to campus in the afternoon to remove a similar substance from a Forest Quad bathroom.\nWhile tests on the substance found at Wright have not been completed, a student said the substance found at Forest is Gold Bond medicated powder he spilled in the bathroom.\nOff campus, a suspected case on North Park Avenue turned out to be a prank with flour.\n"We want people to use common sense and not to be paranoid," said IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger. "(Paranoia) is a weapon people try to use. In law enforcement, we see that every day. Not from terrorists, but from criminals who try to make residents feel unsafe in their own environment."\nThe hazardous materials team takes every precaution with each potential anthrax threat. \n"With all the stuff going on now, you have to take every one serious," said Bloomington Township Fire Chief Faron Livingston. "The minute you drop your guard, that's when you get burned."\nAs new anthrax exposures and incidents are reported across the country, fear and false alarms have also reached a fever pitch. Monroe County officials dealt with four anthrax scares before being called to Wright Tuesday morning.\nCompared to a rash of anthrax scares in Indiana in 1998, John Hooker, Monroe County's Coordinator of Emergency Management, called the latest round of threats "a whole new ball game."\n"Then it was statewide, now it's nationwide," Hooker said.\nAt Wright Quad, the suspicious substance was discovered late Monday. Officials sealed off the area and called the Bloomington Township Hazardous Materials team, one of 38 such teams in the state.\nWhen the HazMat crew arrived at 9 a.m. Tuesday, team members closed affected areas, set up a containment zone, donned protective suits and ventilator masks, gathered the substance into plastic bags and used bleach to clean their suits.\nThe substance was found in the men's bathroom adjacent to the Wright Formal Lounge and in a bathroom in Todd House. Samples of the substance were sent to state health department labs and to a chemical lab at Jordan Hall, Minger said.\nAt Forest, freshman Geoff Petzel woke from a nap between classes in his seventh floor room and was headed for the bathroom when he noticed a crowd of people in the hall. He saw men in biohazard suits and a portion of hallway floor outside the bathroom covered with plastic -- the containment area.\nRemembering that a floormate uses Gold Bond powder, Petzel found the floormate, who explained to firefighters he had spilled it in the bathroom that morning. \nStill, HazMat crew members compared the powders and removed the substance.\n"Given the situation nationally, I guess I can understand it, but it's an overreaction," Petzel said. "To me, it doesn't seem like one of these buildings would ever be a target."\nThere has never been evidence that IU or Bloomington has anything to worry about when it comes to terrorism, chemical or otherwise, Minger said.\nLaw enforcement officials want people to evaluate why certain things are suspicious, Minger said.\n"Powder in a restroom ... is not out of the ordinary," Minger said. "By the same token, though, because these are times of higher caution, you would hope common sense would prevail on the other side too and people wouldn't throw around white powder anywhere"

ANTHRAX SCARE -- Bloomington Township Fire Department Chief Faron Livingston and Firefighter Laura Seib look through a plastic bag at the powdery substance found Tuesday in a Wright Quad bathroom.

Senior Camille Jones avoids the rain during a tour group Friday, Oct. 5. Jones has been a tour guide for two years.

Brand: 'University has moved on, I've moved on'

A lot has changed since IU President Myles Brand fired former basketball coach Bob Knight Sept. 10, 2000.\nIU hired a new athletics director. Knight found a new job 1,100 miles away. IU's spokesman during the firing, Christopher Simpson, left to start his own business. The student at the center of the firing, Kent Harvey, transferred to IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis.\nOf the key players involved one year ago today, only Brand remains at IU.\nAnd he says it's time to move on.\n"It was a tumultuous year. Coach Knight has a position at Texas Tech. I wish him well," Brand said. "We've moved on."\nBrand fired Knight last year for violating a "zero-tolerance policy" established by the University on May 15, 2000 -- a policy that would have been outlined and approved at the board of trustees' Sept. 15 meeting.\n"The problem is that he has continued a pattern of unacceptable behavior which is similar to the pattern he had prior to May 15, except it's gotten worse," Brand said at the news conference announcing Knight's firing. "There wasn't just one instance. It was ongoing."\nKnight grabbed freshman Kent Harvey at Assembly Hall the Thursday afternoon before he was fired, setting off a chain of events that would lead to his firing.\nThe IU Police Department began investigating the incident, details were leaked to the media and high level talks considering termination of Knight began.\nAt the N.C. State football game that Saturday last year, Brand told former athletics director Clarence Doninger that he was seriously considering termination, Doninger said.\nMeanwhile, Knight had left for a brief vacation in Canada Saturday morning, despite a request from Brand that Knight stay in town.\nSunday morning, Brand offered Knight the chance to resign during a 10-minute phone conversation. Upon hearing Knight's refusal, Brand told Knight that he was being removed -- effective immediately.\nThe firing was announced Sunday afternoon.\nLooking back, Brand said the University did what it had to do, when it had to do it.\n"Coach Knight did a great job while he was here. The teams performed well," Brand said. "I'm pleased and proud of what he accomplished."\nBut now, Brand said he's focused on academics, and excited about this year's basketball team. The University and community are over Bob Knight, he said.\n"I've been giving talks in Indianapolis and other places," he said. "Questions about Bob Knight aren't being asked."\nBrand said he will mark the one year anniversary only with a full schedule today -- including a town hall meeting sponsored by the IU Student Association open to all students from 7 to 8 p.m. in Woodburn Hall 100.\n"Monday is another day," Brand said. "The University has moved on, I've moved on"

Fewer students expected next fall

IU's incoming class is expected to number 400 fewer students than last year's record enrollment -- good news, officials say, for campus resources that have been stretched in recent years.\nOfficials said the drop is not a result of a recent increase in tuition.\nVice Chancellor for Enrollment Services Don Hossler said admissions models suggest that only 40 to 50 students will decide not to attend IU because of the 7.5 percent tuition hike approved by the board of trustees in June.\nHossler said the fluctuation in enrollment is because of statistical volatility -- but as long as the final number falls within 5 percent of the target, he said, a social scientist has to be happy.\nNon-resident enrollment is up slightly at about 35 percent, and international student enrollment is also up, he said. In-state enrollment is down slightly.\nThe class will include a student from every state in the U.S.\nIf realized, the slight dip in enrollment is expected to relieve stress on a wide range of IU resources -- including classrooms and housing.\nHossler said the incoming students, expected to number between 6,500 and 6,600, will be more manageable than last year's class of 6,900, which he said was too large.\nDirector of Residential Operations Bob Weith said the dorms will be full, but not as full as they were.\nDorm occupancy is expected to top off at 98 percent, a far cry from last year, when 150 students were forced to temporarily live in dorm lounges.\n"My best guess is that we won't have to use lounges (this year)," Weith said.\nAfter remedying the overcrowding problem last year, RPS examined long-term solutions, expecting even larger freshman classes in the future.\n"These next couple of years will be pretty crowded," Patrick Connor, the division's executive director, told the IDS last August. "We basically don't have any more space."\nAbout 10,300 students lived in the residence halls last year.\nWeith, who said he's pleasantly surprised by the quicker pace of this year's room assignments, said lower freshman enrollments are only partially responsible for the lower-than-expected dorm population: retention in the dorms is also down slightly.\nCampus apartments, on the other hand, will be full for the first time in eight years for the fall semester, said Tim Stockton, RPS assistant director for apartment housing.\nStockton credits the increase on convenience, proximity, parking availability, ethernet and a new push to promote the apartments by the division.\nThe increase is also another factor in the drop in dorm retention, he said.\nFor the incoming class, the number of applications for admission soared to 21,000, up about 600 from last year, Hossler said. Of them, about 17,000 were admitted.\nHossler said the admissions target was for 6,600 to 6,700 students. He projects that between 6,500 and 6,600 students will actually enroll.

Officials examine trustee residency

The governor's office is reviewing statutes and case law to determine what, if anything, should be done about three Monroe County residents serving on the IU board of trustees.\nState law states that no more than two trustees may live in the same county.\nBloomington resident Sue Talbot was elected to the board late last month by IU alumni.\nTrustee Steve Ferguson, also a Bloomington resident, was reappointed by Gov. Frank O'Bannon to the board two weeks ago. \nFred Eichhorn, trustees vice president, moved to Bloomington from Lake County in February. When his term ends next July, residency could become a legal issue.\nThe law doesn't apply to graduate student Sacha Willsey, who was appointed student trustee by the governor. She is also a Bloomington resident.\nJean Farison, the governor's special assistant for boards and commissions, said no decisions have been made. She said the governor's staff is reviewing the situation.\nEichhorn said he has spoken to officials from the governor's office twice in recent weeks and is optimistic that some resolution will be reached in a week or so.\n"We didn't know that Sue (Talbot) was going to get elected but I'm glad she did," Eichhorn said. "I think (the issue) will be resolved."\nBut how it will be resolved, Eichhorn is not sure. On that, he said, he hasn't formed an opinion.\nEichhorn said for the purposes of his initial appointment, he's from Lake County, but added that the issue of residency should be moot.\n"I don't feel you represent a county," Eichhorn said. "I feel you represent the whole state -- certainly the whole IU constituency."\nOne of the possibilities down the road is to change the law, he said.\nIn fact, State Representative Mark Kruzan, D-Bloomington, tried to change the law at the end of the general assembly session, but his measure failed.\nTalbot said it's her understanding that residency won't become an issue until next year, when Eichhorn's term on the board is up.\n"I did seek legal counsel," Talbot said. "I would not have done this without having done so."\nShe said her counsel advised that residency issues would not become an immediate factor.\nThe other trustee who lives in Bloomington, Steve Ferguson, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Market Square Arena imploded

INDIANAPOLIS--Silence fell over a crowd gathered at an eastside church Sunday when a chorus of beeper, cell phone and watch chimes began to signal the hour -- 7 a.m. Time to bring down the house.\nLike clockwork, eight explosions rocked Market Square Arena, and the former home of the Indiana Pacers began to fall. As the arena's roof caved in, an entire city block was shrouded in dust.\nHundreds of sleepy-eyed onlookers cheered approval as they waited for a view of the flattened arena. When the dust settled, what they saw was a dramatically altered skyline.\nIt took 800 pounds of explosives and a mere 12 seconds to level the Indiana landmark -- home to Elvis Presley\'s last concert, 25 years of Indiana Pacers basketball and hundreds of concerts and special events.\nNo injuries related to the implosion were reported. \nMayor Bart Peterson was impressed. \n"I wasn't quite prepared for what happened," he said. "The sound, the smoke of the explosion really gets to you. It was awesome." \nHe also said that the demolition would open the entire near eastside of Indianapolis for potential redevelopment. \nBy 6 a.m., those who wanted to watch the implosion had already taken positions at various sites downtown. Some perched atop buildings; others parked and stood on city streets. \nAuthorities posted 50 extra police officers around the safety perimeter. \nFor some, the moment was sad and nostalgic. For others, it was nothing significant. \n"(MSA) lived its life, and it was a cool way to bring it down," said Steve Gibbs, an Indianapolis resident who watched the implosion with his wife Jody, who wore an MSA t-shirt.\nBrett Allen, in town for an electric project, came downtown for the show, and nothing else.\n"I just want to see it blow up," Allen said. "I could care less."\nBuilt in 1974 for $23.9 million, MSA sat empty for a year and a half. The last game there was in 1999, when the Pacers defeated the Utah Jazz.\nThe team has since moved to the new Conseco Fieldhouse.\nMark Loizeaux, president of Controlled Demolitions Inc., of Baltimore, said the destruction of MSA was successful -- only minor damage to surrounding buildings including broken windows was reported, and the rubble fell as planned. The implosion cost the city $567,000, while the entire job will run about $3.5 million.\nThe Associated Press contributed to this report.

Board approves budget

IU-Bloomington faculty will get an average pay raise of 6.3 percent and IU students will pay 7.5 percent more in tuition under IU's 2001-02 budget, approved by the board of trustees last week.\nThe budget includes $845 million for the Bloomington campus, up 6.2 percent from last year.\nOverall, IU's budget exceeds $2 billion.\nIUB's general fund includes $199 million from the state and $293 million from student fees.\nA response in part to lower-than-usual funding from the state, the tuition hike will primarily fund faculty and staff pay raises and initiatives designed to retain students through graduation.\nIU faculty and assistant professors are among the lowest paid in the Big Ten.\nThe board approved guidelines for the budget, including the tuition hike, at its June 5 meeting. After the guidelines were set, University officials had two weeks to prepare a final budget.\nChief Financial Officer Judy Palmer said the board of trustees provided good guidelines and sufficient money to make its goals happen. But like any budget, she said, putting it together included late nights, working weekends and a lot of stress.\n"Budgets are always a challenge because there are always more priorities than resources," Palmer said. "Decisions have to made across the University about our highest priorities."\nThis year, professor pay was one of the highest of those priorities.\n"This was a budget that had a funded salary policy, one of the best salary policies for the Bloomington campus in many years," Palmer said. "This is a balance between maintaining and enhancing the quality of the programs offered to students and fulfilling the (University's) responsibility."\nAt IUB, 4.5 percent of the tuition hike supports the general fund, and 3 percent funds special new investments including a $650,000 faculty retention fund and a $900,000 fund for retention and diversity initiatives.\nThe average percentage salary increase for 583 recipients of the faculty retention fund is 8.8 percent. Assistant professors will see average increases just more than 8 percent.\nDonald Burke, an assistant professor in the chemistry department, said the pay raise is an action he greets with enthusiasm.\nBurke said the pay raises, along with other factors, could change the tide of losing top faculty to other universities -- a trend that has especially plagued his department.\n"The trustees have shown that an increase in faculty salaries is a priority for them," said Burke, a faculty member for three years. "That's a very positive thing from the point of view of the faculty."\nIU Student Association President Jake Oakman agrees, but said he would prefer if the salary increase would have come a few steps at a time, not all at once.\n"Obviously I'm kind of upset about the tuition increase, but I understand that in order to be competitive, what we pay our faculty must be competitive," Oakman said. "I wish there were other ways of raising the money instead of increasing tuition, but obviously that's not going to happen this year"