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(05/20/03 9:43pm)
Rob Kling, IU professor of Information Systems and Information Science at the School of Library and Information Science, passed away unexpectedly in the early morning hours Thursday, according to a SLIS Web site created in his honor. He was 58. \nKling is survived by his wife, Mitzi Lewison, an IU education professor, and his sister, Ellasara Kling, of New York City. Lewison said the couple's home has been inundated with calls and visits from former students and colleagues in the days following his death.\n"He was the most fabulous person on the planet as far as I'm concerned," Lewison said. "What struck me, though, are his grad students. They've just been in tears, as bad as I am; they view him as a mentor."\nShe also noted Kling's aptitude in reaching international students, adding that former students from the University of California at Irvine also have called to pay their respects.\n"He seemed to really work with them in a way that was really important to them," she said. "There was something about his work with students that was really special. I always knew he was good working with students as a Ph.D. adviser, but I guess this really brought it home."\nThomas Duffy, Bruce Jacobs chair of education and technology in Instructional Systems Technology and a colleague of Kling's at the Center for Social Informatics, said the professor's death will leave a void similarly sensed at CSI, SLIS and the University as a whole. \nDuffy said he will remember his colleague as "incredibly willing to be helpful and to be a team player."\n"He just had a great intellect," Duffy said, adding that Kling persistently exhorted coworkers and students to consider IT in terms of overarching social systems, rather than centering upon the technology itself. \n"He looked at communities of teachers and how we should support them," Duffy said. "His passion was very much the kind of social issues surrounding the use of technology."\nDuffy had collaborated with Kling on a variety of issues within the institute, most recently working on a graduate proposal. He has known Kling since 1996, when Kling began his tenure at IU. He learned of Kling's death Friday morning while sitting in a meeting. \nOn his Web site, Kling categorized his research as primarily focusing upon the "social consequences of computerization and the social choices that are available to people." He said he believed that contextualizing information technologies in terms of their adjacent social structures and political environment precipitated a greater comprehension of such systems as digital libraries, instructional computing and desktop computing. He remained committed to viewing the role of information systems as that of organizational tools -- as "technology in use" rather than simple data collections.\nPreeminent among his research interests at the end of his life were the role of digital libraries and electronic publishing. One such current project, funded by the National Science Foundation, examined the effective maintenance of new communications technologies by diverse scholarly communities, as well as the costs and complexities involved in developing forums for scientific communication. He said he was particularly intrigued by the methods by which new technologies initiated social and organizational change. \nDr. Blaise Cronin, dean of SLIS, commented upon Kling's intense work ethic and morals, likening his recruitment to "reeling in a prize marlin."\n"Rob cared about the academy and was passionately committed to maintaining scholastic standards and collegiality," Cronin said on the SLIS Web site. "He juggled a workload that made the rest of us blanch. Yet as soon as a new problem, challenge or opportunity presented itself, he was off. Another ball was tossed up into the already seriously congested air. I'd routinely tease him that he had more bees in his bonnet than an apiarist, but the man was not for turning. Such was Rob, and we would not have had it otherwise."\nWhile at IU, Kling taught such courses as Computerization in Society, Information Technologies and Social Change, and Digital Libraries and Electronic Publishing in Social-Technological Perspective. He came to IU in August 1996, following stints at the Stanford Research Institute's Artificial Intelligence Center, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California at Irvine.\nLewison emphasized Kling's "real zest for life" and noted his love for travel and unusual cuisine. She said after the couple moved to Bloomington from California, a shift she deemed "pretty much of a shock," she and Kling would drive every few months to tiny towns in southern Indiana -- a practice she claims typified the late professor's spark. \n"Every couple of months, Rob and I would try to find the most obscure place in southern Indiana," she said. "We'd take the road map and go to a little town with a population of 50 people and check it out and take photos. We'd do that six to eight times a year, just to try and see what was there."\nThe response to Kling's death among colleagues and students in the School of Library Science and throughout the University as a whole has flooded the Web site SLIS created in his honor. Friends and colleagues may visit the site and contribute comments at http://www.slis.indiana.edu/klingremembered. A celebration of Kling's life has been planned by his family, and a similar gathering will be planned by his colleagues in SLIS. Dates have not been determined yet.\nKling's family has created the Rob Kling Social Informatics Scholarship Fund in his memory, with SLIS providing matching funds. Checks should be payable to the IU Foundation and the name of the fund should be included on the memo line. They should be sent to: IU Foundation, P.O. Box 500, Bloomington, IN 47402.
(04/24/03 5:21am)
In the corner of turn one at Individual Time Trials (ITTs), team Gafombi rode on its tracks cooling down and focusing on its mission in the weeks to come. With three returning riders and a second row starting position, Gafombi is ready to take the men's Little 500 title. Last year, in only its first year of existence, the team finished second behind the Corleones. \n"The Corelones without a doubt is our biggest competition," senior Michael Rubin said. "They have every rider back this year. We are working even harder with this is in mind."\nThis will be Rubin's fourth Little 500 race. He formerly rode as a Beta with current Gafombi teammates senior John Grant and sophomore Jason Fowler. To complete the team, they picked up first-year rider and junior Brandon Hurey as well as senior Tom Lazzara. \n"Our experience has helped us learn about training," Rubin said while peddling. "Every year I learn something new. I watch other teams and I get a new perspective on training techniques."\nGrant and Rubin, the most experienced riders with a total of seven races, organize workouts to steer the team in the right direction. They ride together everyday to become stronger as a team. Over winter break, they traveled to Houston in order to not miss a day of training. \nAdditionally, they play a lot of video games. \n"It keeps our reaction times fast," said Rubin. \n"No joke," Hurey added.\nGafombi is also on a strict diet of Laughing Planet mondo burritos and chicken potato quesadillas as well as Soma mochas. They visit at least twenty times a week according to Rubin. \n"We all enjoy washing down our Laughing Planet with Double Mochas at The Soma Coffeehouse," Grant said with a focused face. The others just smiled.\nThe team's training right before the race is "classified" information, but Rubin said it will work hard every time it is on the track and use this time effectively. \nThese methods have helped Gafombi better its qualifying position from ninth last year to second this year with a time of 2.28.049. Grant also took first at ITTs riding in 2.23.38 in addition to winning the Miss-N-Out event. He will be the first rider on race day. The rest of the order will be dependent on how the race is going. Fowler was the next highest rider at ITTs, placing 10th and clocking in at 2.27.75. Rubin and Hurey finished back to back in 34th and 35th, with times of 2.33.09 and 2.33.17 respectively. Lazarra finished with a time of 2.42.58.\n"This has been an incredible experience riding with guys with this much race experience," Hurey said. "We have good, solid riders. It is awesome"
(10/08/02 5:20am)
BOWIE, Md. -- A 13-year-old boy was shot and critically wounded as his aunt dropped him off at school Monday, bringing fresh terror to the Washington area where a sniper killed six people last week.\nAnxious parents streamed in to retrieve their children from the school, and police in neighboring Montgomery County hunting for the serial sniper rushed to the scene. Officials stressed that no link to the Montgomery shootings had been established.\n"Whether they're connected or not, the fear has ratcheted up quite a bit," Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan said.\nSharon Healy had just sent her 12-year-old son, Brandon, to school on his bicycle when she heard of the shooting shortly after 8 a.m. outside Benjamin Tasker Middle School. She said she ran there and pulled him out of class.\n"You think you're safe, but you're only as safe as your next step," Healy said.\nSaid her son: "I was scared."\nThe victim sustained a single gunshot wound to the chest. He was undergoing surgery and was listed in critical but stable condition, Jacqueline D. Bowens, a spokeswoman for Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C. The victims in last week's shootings also were felled by a single shot.\nThe shooting happened well before classes were scheduled to begin, so there were not a lot of witnesses, Prince George's County Police Chief Gerald Wilson said. A gunshot was heard, and the boy slumped over and told his aunt he thought he had been shot, Wilson said.\nHis aunt took him to a small hospital in this suburb northeast of Washington, and then he was transferred by helicopter to Children's Hospital.\n"The child is suffering from extensive blood loss," said Mark Brady of the county fire department.\nPolice cars surrounded the school and officers put up crime scene tape and searched the campus.\nOthar Haskins, 13, standing outside the school with his mother, said he was a friend of the wounded boy.\n"He's funny, he's always around friends," Othar said. "He helps you out when you need it. He's a good friend." Othar cried and put his head on his mother's shoulder as he spoke.\nOn Wednesday and Thursday, five people were shot to death by a sniper in a 16-hour span in Montgomery County. A sixth victim was killed Thursday in Washington, D.C. On Friday, a woman was shot and wounded in Virginia.\n"All of our victims have been innocent and defenseless, but now we're stepping over the line," Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose said. "Shooting a kid--it's getting to be really, really personal now." At one point, tears streamed down his face.\nBut he stressed that it was too early to know whether Monday's shooting was related to the earlier ones.\nWhite House press secretary Ari Fleischer said federal authorities--the attorney general, Treasury Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms--have been "very involved on the ground and have lent support and equipment."\nAsked if there was any evidence of terrorism, Fleischer replied: "I've not heard anything like that, but the fact of the matter is that people are trying to determine who the shooter is, or shooters are, and we continue to help local officials in that endeavor."\nMontgomery schools had planned a normal schedule with extra security, but after the Prince George's shooting, officials initiated a "code blue" alert, keeping students inside during recess and lunchtime, Moose said. Prince George's schools and some other schools in the region took similar steps.\nMeanwhile, police and FBI agents pored over maps and put together a psychological profile to hunt down the sniper killer. They also stepped up patrols Monday.\nIrene Kelly, 60, who was visiting her daughter in Rockville from Pennsylvania, spent part of Monday morning running errands. She said she had "big concerns, very big concerns."\n"I'm more aware of what's happening," she said. "I try to get in and out and get home. You have to be aware of your surroundings."\nAs investigators struggled, families and friends gathered together at funeral services, trying to find some good in the midst of such seemingly random violence.\n"There's one bad man, but there's so many good people who are showing their blessings and prayer," Saroj Isaac said at the funeral of her brother-in-law, Prem Kumar Walekar, described by relatives as a quiet, hard-working cabbie.\nSarah Ramos, a 34-year-old woman slain while sitting on a Post Office bench, was being laid to rest after a private service. Lori Ann Lewis-Rivera, a 25-year-old nanny shot while vacuuming her van at a service station, was to have a wake Monday before her body was flown back to her native Idaho.\nInvestigators said they had thousands of tips, but they conceded it would take time to track down a suspect.\nPolice began to use a geographic profile submitted by investigators that uses crime locations to determine where the killer feels comfortable traveling and may live. Moose said police also were awaiting an FBI psychological profile of the shooter.\nGeographic profiling is a fairly new investigative tool, used first in 1990 in Canada, said Kim Rossmo, who compiled the latest profile and is director of research for the Police Foundation, a nonprofit research organization.\nThe five victims were all gunned down in public places: two at gas stations, one outside a grocery, another outside a post office, another as he mowed the grass at an auto dealership, and the sixth, a 72-year-old man, killed on a Washington street corner. Each victim was shot once from a distance. There were no known witnesses.\nTests confirmed that the same weapon was used to kill Walekar and three other victims.\nBallistics evidence also linked the Maryland slayings with the wounding of a 43-year-old woman Friday. She was shot in the back in a parking lot at a Michaels craft store in Fredericksburg, Va., and was in fair condition Monday at INOVA Fairfax Hospital.
(09/11/02 6:13am)
The flags fluttering at half staff today will be the first indication that something has changed, followed by the four peals of bells at midmorning: 8:45 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 9:40 a.m. And finally, nearly one year and two hours after network newsreels showed a disbelieving public the sort of nightmarish destruction extremist terrorist networks are capable of, the Metz carillon will send out one last lonely call at 10:37 a.m. With each tone, the campus community will be reminded of that which it can never forget -- the four attacks on American soil composing the events of Sept. 11.\nTo commemorate the attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, IU will host a myriad of campuswide events -- the capstone of which is a remembrance ceremony at 4 p.m. at Showalter Fountain. Three students will be awarded Sept. 11 memorial scholarships made possible by the IU Student Foundation. \nFaculty and student representatives will provide readings and reflections to the tune of musical offerings from the School of Music and the African American Arts Institute. President Myles Brand and Chancellor Sharon Brehm will provide remarks as well.\n"It is important for us to come together as a campus and a community to share our thoughts about these tragic, life-changing events," Brand said in a statement. "Our students, faculty and staff joined in a shared sense of humanity and purpose in the days and weeks following Sept. 11. We intend to renew that spirit on this anniversary."\nThe IU Art Museum will open a special public tour at 5:30 p.m. entitled "One World Many Views," in which objects from various religious faiths will be on display. Dr. Guy Edward Maxedon, Art Museum Lucienne M. Glaubinger curator for education, said the museum wanted to plan a program appropriate to Sept. 11 that would showcase what the art museum does best -- "to look at examples of art in the original from the museum's collection, in this case which reflects the various religious ideals that comprise American society."\nObjects in the exhibit range from Renaissance panel paintings to Islamic plates to Buddhist statues.\n"This artwork, (which) one might first identify as religious in nature, reflects the ideas and ideals that have built and sustained civilizations over the millennia and are found in the fabric of American society today," Maxedon said. "We are, indeed, one nation with many views."\nThe School of Education will sponsor a Web broadcast of a previously recorded panel discussion entitled "Implications of Sept. 11 for Education." Described by School of Education Dean and panel moderator Gerardo Gonzalez as a "free flowing conversation on personal perspectives dealing with the effects of Sept. 11 on education," the panel will consist of professors, teachers and graduate students with personal and professional stakes in the events of Sept. 11.\nProfessor of Counseling and Educational Psychology Tom Sexton will discuss the psychological ramifications of Sept. 11 during the discussion. Sexton, a licensed psychologist specializing in families and at-risk adolescents, also served as director of the Center for Human Growth in the School of Education.\nAmy Seely Flint, assistant professor of Language Education, will talk about the role of writing plays in curriculum. Her research focuses upon the role of teachers in inviting students to "inquire, examine, interrogate and reflect upon the commonplace text and experience," Gonzalez said.\nPanelist Margaret Sutton, an assistant professor in educational leadership and policy studies, has worked extensively with educational systems in Asia and Africa and will discuss her research and findings gleaned from her international experience. Bloomington South High School social studies teacher Matt Hoagland rounds out the panel. Hoagland teaches world history with a unit on Islam at South; prior to his teaching career, he served as a platoon lieutenant in the Desert Storm deployment.\nAs racial profiling becomes more prevalent in U.S. society, Gonzalez said the "danger that bias and prejudice will raise their ugly heads in the current climate." A Cuban immigrant strapped with educational roadblocks from an early age, he once told IU Home Pages interviewers he "learned to keep his mouth shut" when faced with prejudice at school. Yet since Sept. 11, he said he's seen an outpouring of support -- not the hate he encountered as a child.\n"I saw a lot more expressions of concern and offers of assistance immediately following the events of Sept. 11 than expressions of hate," Gonzalez said. "Of course, the post-Sept. 11 policy changes and security processes being implemented may restrict educational access for some students, particularly international students."\nHe said he remains hopeful that no eligible student will be denied educational access based on demographic characteristics.\n"America offers the best system of higher education anywhere in the world, and our freedom, peace and democracy in a global community depends on having educated citizens," he said. \nGonzalez fingered college students in particular as among those with a particular duty to remember the events of Sept. 11.\n"The events of Sept. 11 have transformed our world. The way we in America think about politics, religion, international affairs and life itself, among others, have changed," Gonzalez said. "Education is a process by which not only subject area knowledge but also culture is transmitted … college students today are the leaders of tomorrow. They have a special responsibility to remember, reflect, and to the extent possible help create a world that will not repeat the horrific events of Sept. 11."\nEvening events include an interfaith service of remembrance at 8 p.m. in Dunn Meadow as well as a candlelight vigil at 7:30 p.m. on the front lawn of the Delta Delta Delta sorority house, 818 E. Third Street. \nSenior Julie Doi, vice president of public relations at Tri-Delt, said both a capella groups Ladies First and Straight No Chaser will be performing. The event is open to the entire campus.\nThe IU Student Association, the largest student organization on campus, also has a commemoration event planned for tonight.\nAt 7:30 p.m., there will be an open discussion held at the Neal-Marshall Black Cultural Center featuring student leaders from various cultural groups, including the Black Student Union and the Asian American Association, on campus focusing on the concept of being an American after Sept. 11.\nFollowing the discussion, a debate between the College Democrats and Republicans will cover topics such as homeland security and the war on terrorism.\nFollowing those events, a vigil will be held at Showalter Fountain, where a unity statement will be made.\n"The discussion and debate will be pretty emotionally charged," said Marshawn Wolley, a senior and chief of staff at IUSA. "For our generation, this is probably one of the most impacting events of our lives, and it's important for all students to attend these events together."\nIDS Reporter Maura Halpern contributed to this report.
(09/10/02 10:30pm)
Three days ago, as the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks loomed before a jaded nation, the men and women of the Bloomington Township Fire Department took a moment of silence to honor two of their own. They assembled quietly, standing around a limestone marker flanked by an undulating American flag, lost in their own thoughts and memories.\nIn an era of innocence lost, as a country turns its attention to the machines and mechanisms of a war against terror, these quiet heroes took a moment to remember their fallen brothers -- and reflect upon the level of courage their service commands.\n"People ask me all the time, 'Faron, with your years of experience, would you have gone inside that tower?'" Chief Faron Livingston said. "And I say yes -- of course -- absolutely. When you make a commitment to this life, you have to know you're going to see death and destruction. You just have to go in and do it."\nLivingston removes his hat as he approaches the site where the memorial, crafted of Indiana limestone and towering at six-foot-one, will stand. It's not yet been completed; the designer, himself a former BTFD fireman and IU graduate, isn't done yet. But small commemorative stones rise from the carefully manicured lawn.\nLivingston is a friendly man whose easygoing demeanor belies the disposition required of a firefighter in charge of nearly 50 volunteers and six full-time employees. His office is adorned with certificates proclaiming completion of well control training, participation in national fire training academies and bombs and explosive devices expertise. Yet he becomes soft-spoken, matter-of-fact, when talking about the soul of his force -- those men and women who've stuck with the job despite the emotional toll the work often demands.\n"You know, you either joke about it (firefighting), or you go nuts," Livingston said. "Sometimes you've got to cry, to get it off your chest. It's a natural reaction. It's okay."\n"Look at all that crazy sky"\nThe morning of Sept. 11, Livingston got to work a little late, so he took the back door. He entered the recreation room adjacent to the kitchen and came upon his men huddled around a television set.\nFirefighter and IU student Matt Baranko tore his eyes from the screen and looked up at his boss.\n"Holy shit," he said. "A plane's hit the World Trade Center."\nThat's when the adrenaline started pumping. E-mails began pouring in from all over the city and county from concerned residents asking for confirmation, pleading that this could not, should not, be true. A discord of screeching tones danced across the central dispatch system frequencies. Orders came in requesting fire chiefs to close and lock all station doors. Disbelievingly, the men and women of BTFD listened to live accounts of reporters and onlookers impersonating New York City fire personnel in attempts to get closer to Ground Zero. \n"How could you hit that?" assistant chief Joel Bomgardner recalls saying. "Look at all that crazy sky."\nThe firefighters remained together for about half an hour longer, some still glued to CNN reports, others offering somber exchanges. Then, in a near mass exodus from the Old State Road 37 station, they went home to their families. Three days later, they were watching M-16 fighter planes escort a small passenger plane from the skies over Monroe County Airport. \n"It bothered the hell out of me," Livingston said, recalling five of his own brethren from his days at the National Fire Academy who lost their lives racing into the blazing towers. "But it's funny how it affected people -- they just started telling us out loud that they appreciated what we do."\nTwo weeks after the attacks, Bomgardner walked by the station pool table, bathed in light by two floor-to-ceiling windows. Atop it sat a basket with an unsigned card:\n"Thank you for everything you do. We have always appreciated it."\nWrapped around the basket was a knit American flag afghan. Exactly one year later, it's still there, a persistent symbol of community spirit, a glimmer of hope in a time of mourning.\nThe first to respond\nAs anthrax scares fueled near-hysteria nationwide, the department's Hazmat -- short for hazardous materials -- team was placed on standby status. If the deadly spores were detected in Monroe or surrounding counties, they'd be the first in, reporting to the epicenter of the hot zone. Livingston recalls 42 such responses this year, with approximately six termed "credible threats" -- situations where "interest is perked."\nAn example of such an incident occurred in mid-October, when the Bloomington chapter of Planned Parenthood received one of 82 allegedly anthrax-laden letters from an unknown location in Ohio. Though Bloomington Mayor John Fernandez warned city officials not to "let fear and uncertainty turn into panic," reports of possible anthrax detection poured into city and township police and fire units. The BTFD was among the first to respond.\nThe department even graced the pages of Time last October as reports of anthrax in Forest Quad mobilized both full-time and volunteer members of the Hazmat team into action. \nLivingston's expertise in working with hazardous chemicals has earned him the moniker "Hazmat One" around the stationhouse. Each year at the National Firemen's Caucus in Washington, D.C., he makes the trek to Capitol Hill to visit Indiana Senator Richard Lugar in his Constitution Avenue offices.\nJust one of the guys\nBomgardner said the attacks prompted a spike in volunteer signups. Some recruits could take it; others dropped out of sight shortly after they appeared -- a testament to the "try it for a few days or make it your life" mentality pervading the fire service, he said.\nLivingston has a file cabinet full of turned-over personnel. But for every fireman lost, he said, he's got five of the "other breed" -- those dedicated to the task of saving lives.\nBomgardner estimates 75-to-80 percent of post-Sept. 11 volunteers have stuck with the job. Some are IU students, many of whom, like Baranko, plan to complete their academic pursuits but return to the service. Many of them are locals, longtime Bloomington residents who have grown to love the community that nurtured them from childhood.\nLivingston, a former truck driver, crisscrossed the country on nationwide hauls and said he's "been to town and seen the circus," and Bloomington's just where he wants to be.\nIU costume shop employee Eleanor Modin once considered herself just that -- a sort of silent supporter. But since Sept. 11 and at the prompting of friends involved in the fire service, she began considering ways she could contribute to the fight against terrorism. An avid philanthropist, she turned to the BTFD as an alternative way to give back to the immediate community.\nHailing from Switzerland, Modin came to the U.S. to study music at IU. On the morning of Sept. 11, she was at work in the Musical Arts Center -- without a TV. A friend called to inform the staff of the attacks, and they waited until National Public Radio picked up the reports. A television was later installed on the MAC's main stage to allow those working in the facility to follow developments. \nSomething stirred within Modin. She had done rescue work in the Swiss Alps and was no stranger to physical challenges. A friend, the chief of Indian Creek Township's department, encouraged her to talk to the BTFD. So she signed up, and three months later began work as a part-time volunteer. \n"I weighed it carefully," Modin said. "I wanted to make a solid commitment. Christmastime gave me some downtime" -- Modin had to complete 24 hours of mandatory training -- "so I chose December to do it."\nNine months later, she's still an active member and a trained Hazmat technician. Though she's a woman in a service once considered to be dominated by gruff, burly males, she said she never feels inferior.\n"I can't carry someone down the big ladder, obviously," she said. "But I feel comfortable. You get more detached to things like that, and you just go in and do your job."\nLivingston agreed.\n"She's one of the guys," he said. "When women come in, they're accepted immediately into the brotherhood of the department. We've got guys from Greece, women from Switzerland, IU students. They're all part of the department, and they're all equals. We get the other, special breeds, and we like it that way"
(09/10/02 10:26pm)
WASHINGTON -- Three thousand victims -- and 3 million questions unanswered.\nSuch was the cry of the hundreds flooding the U.S. Capitol in June voicing support for an independent investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks.\nIt haunted me then, as I watched, a spectator and Senate intern, from the back of the crowd, feeling naked without my tape recorder or piece of media apparatus.\nAnd it haunts me yet.\nI scarcely paid attention to the countless demonstrations that lured hundreds to the grassy knolls stretched before the Capitol. They supported or rallied against myriad causes; each, it seemed, demanded the undivided consideration of every senator and representative who'd listen. \nIt wasn't that I couldn't relate to the plight -- I had simply become jaded, my eyes glossed over with the humdrum tasks required of the typical Senate intern. From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, I went to committee hearings, opened mail and answered constituent letters. Those causes and rallies were fluff, they were simple, they didn't get things done. None piqued my interest -- that is, until those families and friends of Sept. 11 victims flocked to the Hill. \nIt was an otherwise quiet June morning in Washington, bright and humid without a cloud in the sky, so I ducked out of work early and trekked outside past Constitution Avenue. What I saw astounded me.\nThe lawn was filled with media and common folk alike. While children played absently under shaded trees, a crowd of more than 100 listened to senators, representatives and survivors pledge their support to the independent investigation.\nKatie Soulis lost Tim, her husband of 12 years, in the WTC attacks when she was three months pregnant. Shielding her newborn son's face from the blinding sun, she spoke to the crowd frankly, her rich contralto breaking ever so slightly as she recounted the night of Sept. 10. She and Tim had taken their four sons and daughter -- children the couple "shared and loved and cherished together" -- for a bike ride and to buy popcorn.\nThen there was David Ehnar's mother, who lost her only son on the 100th floor of the Trade Center. Dwarfed by the podium, she pleaded, raspy-voiced, for more questions, for more answers.\nToni Esposito, a mother of two from Princeton, NJ, lost her brother-in-law, an employee working on the 89th floor, in the attacks on New York. He was one of the unlucky, she said, who thought to get out, he must go up.\n"He climbed the stairs -- what was left of them -- because that's how they thought they'd get out," Esposito explained. "He called my sister to tell her…but he couldn't get out. The doors were locked."\nThe family grieved, Esposito said, and they grieve yet today. Her sister's family's main source of income stopped, and her sister, Pat Ryan, began looking for other widows and widowers with whom she could sort out her pain, her anger, her agony.\nThus Pat, with the aid of son Colin, 15, formed a New Jersey area Web-based support network. \nFor her part, Ryan was "astounded" that more Americans wouldn't rise in support of independent investigations into the events surrounding and leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks. Hers are all valid questions -- What of the media and their role in expounding upon (or exploiting) the attacks? What don't we know? How can we find out more? \nI've never felt so out of place and yet uniquely part of a common mass. I could watch replay upon replay of the horrible crashes, of the unearthly aftermath, of the dusty fallout, for hours, days, months. Yet I still didn't completely understand. \nAnd I still don't purport to. But the aura pervading Capitol Hill -- and indeed, all of Washington -- that June morning won't likely leave me for a good while. It was a feeling of mutual support, of compassion. It was reality, spoken from the lips of children and grandmothers alike, all asking the same questions and demanding some sort of, any sort of, answer. These demonstrators weren't fluff. They weren't simple. And they were ready to get things done -- by whatever means possible.
(09/06/02 6:25am)
While its Purdue and Ball State University counterparts dozed in the sun or shook off hangovers Monday, over 30,000 IU students returned to classes, and they had the Bloomington Faculty Council to thank.\nWhen it came time at the council's final meeting last year to consider changing the official academic calendar, the nearly 50 members found themselves divided yet again on the age-old issue of whether to hold classes on Labor Day. \nDeliberations trickled on long into the meeting, with valuable points offered by both sides of the issue. But in the end, the motion to give students Labor Day off and extend Thanksgiving break by one week was tabled, postponed for additional consideration this year.\nBut, BFC President and Agenda Committee Chair Robert Eno is quick to point out, the current calendar has been in place for decades.\n"This faculty didn't set this calendar," Eno said. "But it's an example of an issue where you encounter a lot of concern both by faculty and students for varieties of reasons. Any solution is going to be opposed by some and supported by others -- you're not going to find a calendar to suit everyone."\nNor is setting the academic calendar the only concern of the BFC; an elected body acting on behalf of the campus faculty. It sets all academic policies for the Bloomington campus and works in tandem with similar councils from IU's regional campuses. Its jurisdiction encompasses all personnel issues, such as tenure promotion, fringe benefits and long-range planning.\nThe council consists of faculty members from each specialized school, as well as some from subdisciplines within departments. Juniors Bill Gray and Judd Arnold, IU Student Association president and vice president, respectively, round out the council as the undergraduate members; similarly, graduate students and associate instructors are represented on the council as well. Chancellor Sharon Brehm has an administrative voice on the board, as do Dean of Faculties Moya Andrews, Dean of Budgetary Administration Neil Theobold and Graduate School Dean George Walker.\nWhile the council acts as a representative body for the entire campus, it may defer some decisions -- such as setting the calendar -- to the system council, which is composed of faculty and administrators from Bloomington, IU regional campuses and IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis. \nArnold said the IUSA executive board has not yet met with the entire BFC body, but Gray is slated to meet today with Eno to discuss student issues. \nEno said the council welcomes suggestions from student representatives.\n"We feel it's our obligation to make extra effort to hear students out if they're willing to offer a view from a different perspective," Eno said. "We're coming at this from the standpoint of faculty, and we like to explore what the other side looks like."\nHe raised last year's issue of imposing taxes on textbooks as one example -- an issue the council wouldn't have otherwise examined. \nAnother galvanizing issue among students arose last spring, when the BFC passed a resolution endorsing nationwide academic principles for intercollegiate athletics. IU students and Big Ten athletes alike attacked the proposal, voicing myriad complaints, yet then-IUSA president Jake Oakman and mens' basketball coach Mike Davis voiced their support for the measure. \nFearing immediate changes to athletic programs, the students reacted unfavorably to the council's efforts -- and justifiably so, Eno said.\n"We were in effect endorsing nationwide principles developed by the faculty senate leaders of all Big Ten institutions," Eno said. "The students, however, felt what we were doing was passing policy to affect the conduct of intercollegiate athletics instead of considering a resolution pushing for the direction of general reform."\nEno said that while the student voice did not prevail on that particular issue, the undergraduate presence did affect the voting outcome, including the his own vote.\nEno said true change is often initiated at the standing committee level. The council's 17 committees range in jurisdiction from student affairs to affirmative action and educational policies, according to the BFC Web site.\nThis year, the council plans to take up the issue of course transfers between the regional and Bloomington campuses. Currently, intercampus transfer students must petition the Course Transfer Appeal Board for approval of credit transfer, according to the IU Course Transfer and Appeals Policy.\nIn the past, Eno said, it's been "highly unpredictable" how those credits will transfer. The BFC will attempt to ease the transition for transfer students by ensuring similar courses carry over on the Bloomington campus.\nThe council in its entirety will conduct its first meeting of the year at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, in the State Room East of the Indiana Memorial Union.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
At the age of 7, Maya Angelou lost her voice.\nFour days after her disclosure that her mother's boyfriend had raped her, two policemen entered the parlor of her grandmother's house in St. Louis. Their very presence jarred her. But it was what they said that shocked her into mute silence -- the rapist, released after one night in prison, had been found dead, apparently kicked to death.\nAngelou, shaken, simply stopped speaking. Afraid that "the very opening of (my) mouth would issue death," she retreated from all personal contact, eventually finding herself shipped back to live with her maternal grandmother in tiny Stamps, Ark.\nFive and a half years later, she found that lost voice again, in "a rainbow in the clouds."\nStriding confidently onstage at the IU Auditorium Wednesday night, the award-winning essayist, poet, musician and playwright captivated the audience with that voice. In a rich contralto, she sang "When it looks like the sun/wasn't going to shine anymore/God put a rainbow/in the clouds."\nAngelou dedicated her speech to helping the crowd find their own "rainbows," beacons of light symbolizing hope even in one's darkest hours. She also urged them to look closer into the people and institutions surrounding them, citing IU as "rainbow" itself. \n"I think this University is a rainbow in the clouds," Angelou said. "People might not have a dream or hope of going to a university, but they found that possible path at this university. That tells me this place is a rainbow in the clouds."\nShe also deemed poetry, particularly that of the black tradition, a source of strength in personally ascertaining life's meaning. During her five-year silence, Angelou said she memorized poetry, so that even after she left the racially divided "condition of Stamps, Ark., I found myself pulling on what I'd read. I knew that those words were meant for me."\nThat lesson, Angelou said, surfaces as a universal truth for all people, regardless of color or socioeconomic background. \n"When you are able to pull words from your mind, it helps you think, 'I'm not the only one ignored, mistreated (or) lonely. People have been abused before me. Yet someone has survived -- has thrived -- with passion, compassion, humor and style," she said. "Whatever your race, you need something to say you are right for yourself."\nThat message spoke volumes to freshman Terrell Cooper. Citing Angelou as a "real inspiration," Cooper said, "so often, we take for granted what we can do and what we possess. It's up to us to do what's inside."\nIn addition to the internalization of poetry, Angelou lauded the role of personal relationships in shaping individuals. For Angelou, her grandmother, "Mama," personified that rainbow. In encouraging her granddaughter to cherish the works of such celebrated black poets as Langston Hughes and Paul Lawrence Dunbar, this noble matriarch inspired hope in the young Angelou. \n"The direct relationship to the heroes and she-roes, in accordance with institutions formed to challenge and provoke, become rainbows in the clouds," Angelou said. "When you learn, teach; when you get, give … and today I teach all over the world because someone didn't mind being that rainbow in the clouds."\nFor freshman Erica Petty, who attended the lecture, Angelou herself is that "she-roe," that rainbow offering hope in otherwise bleak times.\n"When she walked onstage, she took my breath away," Petty said. "Everything she said spoke to me. She is, to me, that 'rainbow in the clouds."
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Charges have not yet been filed in the death of Berkley Branson, a freshman killed a little more than a week ago. \nBranson, 19, died a few hours after she attempted to exit the 1995 Chevrolet pickup truck driven by Matthew Willett of Evansville. The Vanderburgh County Coroner's report issued late last week attributed her death to a lacerated liver. Branson was in Evansville for the Easter holiday, her parents said.\nSheriff's reports say Branson might have attempted to exit the moving vehicle because of an argument with Willett. Branson's blood-alcohol content was 0.26, nearly three times the legal limit.\nThe sheriff's report cited Willett's blood-alcohol content as 0.08 percent, under the legal Indiana driving limit of 0.10. \nSheriff Brad Ellsworth said the department is "taking its time" to conclude the investigation, hoping to obtain a complete account of the night's events from Willett. \nLt. Stephen Bequette said the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Department is concluding its investigation. Once the sheriff's files have been completed, the case will be turned over to Prosecutor Stan Levco.\nWhile no allegations have been brought against Willett, Bequette said he believes Levco will file charges. But Levco said he doesn't intend to do so.\n"I'm not anticipating filing charges at this time," Levco said. "However, I do want to read the case file carefully before reaching a final decision"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
They'll walk through the Sample Gates and descend upon Kirkwood one last time.\nThey'll stroll into Nick's English Hut for a celebratory drink with their parents, embraced this time as alumni.\nThey'll take a final splash through Showalter Fountain, fleetingly remembering those fragile first nights in Bloomington, when four years seemed a lifetime away.\nBut tomorrow they'll realize that time is elusive. Those years passed more quickly than they could have imagined.\nOne by one, the 6,064 graduating IU seniors will file into Memorial Stadium to pay homage to IU and the small town which embraced them as its own for four years. One by one, they'll listen to Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis's commencement address, ruminating memories past and those to come.\nRelief may wash over some. Others may be overcome with joy, with unrelenting emotion. Disbelief and fear for the future might occupy still others' thoughts. Yet the promise of these graduating seniors far overshadows the doubt lingering in their minds.\nMusical theatre major and senior Angel Cabral recognizes that potential and lauds IU for the breadth of experiences it harbors. Cabral, who will head to New York to pursue theatre after graduation, entered IU as a Wells Scholar four years ago.\nCabral's interests in both theater and French proved difficult in meeting degree requirements, but the Wells Program helped her to be "fully committed to both," she said.\nLifting her voice in the Singing Hoosiers and Broadway Cabaret proved good practice for Cabral, who went on to become one of the founding members of IU's women's a capella group Ladies First.\n"I absolutely love this group," Cabral said. "They are incredible girls, and to make music with just your voices is so liberating."\nThe friendships established there, she said, helped shape her years at IU. She'll miss those women, who blended their voices with hers to coup the first-place title at the national women's a cappella semifinals. They're the same girls with whom Cabral shared a cone at Jiffy Treet while strolling the streets of downtown Bloomington. They're the same women who cheered Cabral on in her original senior thesis production, "Moving On," a musical revue in which she starred.\nBut Cabral isn't the only one moving on. Chancellor Ken Gros Louis, slated for retirement upon completion of this academic year, joins this year's graduating class as he steps away from thirty eight years of advocacy and dedication to the Bloomington campus, twenty-two of those spent as chancellor. One last time, he will play to the emotions of a captivated audience at Memorial Stadium, bidding a personal farewell in what will be his final valedictory speech as chancellor.\nAfter 38 years of mentoring, appointing administrators, and championing public higher education, Gros Louis will step down, leaving behind him a legacy that has been compared with that of the late Herman B Wells.\nGros Louis' modestly acknowledges the comparison to Wells, claiming Wells was a far more "visionary person" than he.\n"What I think I learned from him that I have tried to continue is the importance of every person in a university community to its success, the need to try to make a large place such as Bloomington seem smaller, and a notion of what a public university really is," Gros Louis said. "That is, a university that is accessible, open, and that expands the horizons of all students who come here."\nGros Louis noted his most significant experiences on campus as those "one-on-one" encounters with students, faculty and administrators. He lauded the Wells Scholars Program, the creation of the Arboretum, and the expansion of programs for minority students as initiatives of which he was most proud.\nLeaving campus will certainly be a difficult task, he admits. He is, he said, "graduating" as well. Yet he maintains hope that his commencement address is "of interest and sharply focused enough to be remembered," a message that will doubtlessly resound in the ears of eager graduates, equipped with the support their families and friends and the promise of a successful future.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Last Friday, Helen Walker drove 20 miles from her hometown of Sugar Land, Texas, to Houston to spend the evening reminiscing with friends and watching movies.\nThe IU senior had been home for a week. Fresh from a successful stint as stage manager for the Bloomington community production of "A Chorus Line," Walker was doubtlessly ready for a little relaxation. \nShortly after 1 a.m., she got back in her Ford Explorer and prepared to make the half-hour trek back to Sugar Land.\nShe never made it home.\nA few blocks from her friend's apartment, she was struck by a drunk driver exceeding speeds of 100 mph while proceeding through a green light, her mother said.\nThe autopsy report indicated Walker was killed instantly, though paramedics attempted to resuscitate her. The official time of death was reported at 1:30 a.m., 20 minutes after emergency vehicles arrived on the scene.\nJohn Leggio, spokesperson for media relations for the Houston Police Department, said Helen had the right of way when an unidentified male driving a Dodge pickup ran a red light and struck her vehicle on the driver's side. The DWI task force administered an on-scene field sobriety test, which the driver failed. He was then transported to a local hospital for mandatory blood tests. The results of those tests have not yet been released.\nTheresa Walker said she will testify in the driver's trial on behalf of her daughter if needed, as will her husband and son, Aaron. Charges of driving under the influence, assault with a deadly weapon and vehicular manslaughter are pending. The trial is expected to convene in about three months, according to the Houston District Attorney's office.\nHer death has left a void in the hearts of her friends and family. Remembered by her parents as a dedicated student and hard worker, Helen's work ethic proved particularly influential to those associated with her in various IU productions. \nSenior Josh Huff worked with Walker in theatre productions of "Pippin" and "A Chorus Line" and spoke of her "amazing work ethic." Huff said he always thought he'd work with her again in the upcoming season.\n"She really loved what she did," Huff said. "Stage manager is such a thankless job, but she never even cared about being thanked. She was just so selfless."\nWalker's mother said her daughter began acting in community theatre when she was 8 years old. She continued performing onstage until her senior year of high school, when she found what Walker termed "her true love" in theatre's technical aspects.\nShe dreamed of working in professional theatre and was working toward degrees in computer science and technical theater. She was also minoring in American Sign Language.\n"She had a passion to learn things where she could communicate, especially humorously, with all sorts of people," her mother said.\nHelen was offered an opening position as assistant stage manager with the William H. Hobby Theatre in Houston, her mother said. She was planning on moving to Houston upon graduating in May 2002 to begin work there.\nHuff also remembers Walker as a "funny, fun-loving" individual who always treated everyone fairly and said he firmly believes she would have made a tremendous impact in the realm of professional theatre.\n"She was the kind of individual that never let an opportunity for fun or mischief pass," her mother said. "She never let anyone perform an injustice in front of her. If there was an underdog in a particular situation, she would stand up to anyone to ensure that person was treated in a just and right manner."\nHelen is survived by her parents, Michael and Theresa Walker; brother, Aaron Walker; paternal grandfather, Lewis Walker of Sugar Land; maternal grandparents, Francis and Maria Elena Flood of El Paso, Texas; great aunts, Sister Mary Kathleen Flood and Isabel Flood of El Paso, Texas; and numerous other relatives.\nIn lieu of flowers, donations in Helen's name can be made to Indiana University, c/o Dept. of Theatre and Drama, 1211 E. 7th St., Room 200, Bloomington, IN 47405-1111. The cast of "A Chorus Line" is also naming a star in her honor.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
For three days in May, three dozen transgendered individuals took to Capitol Hill to tell their stories. They were stories of heartache, of disappointment and disillusionment, of confusion and stigma. \nThey were stories of rejection, of constant inner struggles waged daily. \nYet they were stories that deserved to be recounted, and that was precisely the aim of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition in its first public organized lobbying event. Deeming the transgender phenomenon as "little-known" and "widely misunderstood." NTAC leaders hoped to familiarize Congress with the plight of the intersexed, individuals born with both male and female genitalia. \nThe group was met with resounding support from members of Congress, many of whom were shocked to hear the lobbyists' tales. According to event organizer Vanessa Edwards Foster, over 474 educational packets were distributed. Every office in the Senate was covered, and more than 2/3 of the representatives' offices received information as well.\nFoster herself experienced positive feedback upon visiting Rep. Jan Schakowsky's office (D-IL), along with first-time lobbyist Janis Stone. Legislative Aide Reva Gupta invited the women in for to talk.\n"This is an issue I will be covering in this office, and I really had limited information on it," Gupta said. She thanked the lobbyists for stopping by, deeming their visit "just what (I) needed."\nIn fact, numerous Congressional representatives and Senators invited lobbyists into their personal offices to hear their testimonies and were moved by what they heard.\n"There's certainly a need for education within Congress on these issues, and in fact that's just what's being done," said Scott Dunaway, Office Manager for Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX).\nNTAC Secretary Anne Casebeer said the information gathered by the effort will be immediately utilized by lobbyists as they continue the fight to raise awareness of transgender issues. \nFoster noted that while lobbyist turnout was not as high as expected, the "productivity and (our) impact surpassed expectations."\nNTAC Board Chairman Yosenio Lewis said many congressional staffers attested to the group's diverse makeup and lauded the accurate representation of the transgender population. \n"NTAC distinguished itself by presenting lobbyists from all socio-economic, racial, age and physical ability strata on all levels of transgender and transsexual experience," Lewis said. He said the group will be increasing its visibility through additional lobbying efforts in coming months.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The recital halls will resonate with the stylings of Handel, Bach, and the great masters of classical music.\nLilting soprano melodies and the harmonies of barbershop quartets will reverberate in the University's great performance venues.\nThere will be "trouble" in mid-July as performers take the stage at the Musical Arts Center to enact Meredith Wilson's 1957 classic "The Music Man."\nThat same stage will come alive later in August with four performances of Puccini's dramatic opera "Madame Butterfly," depicting the struggle wrought between a Japanese geisha and her American suitor.\nIn fact, it seems all of Bloomington will pulse with sound this summer as the School of Music kicks off its annual Summer Music Festival, sponsored by WFIU and the Bloomington Independent.\nA highlight of the festival, said Laura Baich, media liaison for the School, is the chamber music series, "If Music Be the Food of Love." The concerts feature faculty and guest performers in the intimate setting of Auer Hall, a small on-campus performance venue.\nFeatured artists include the Beaux Arts Trio, an internationally-renowned and award-winning group featuring piano, violin and cello, and the Penderecki Quartet, now serving as Quartet-in-Residence at Canada's Wilfrid Laurier University.\nAll chamber concerts are free and open to the public excepting the Penderecki and Beaux Arts performances, which are $10 general admission and $5 for students, said Maria Talbert, director of Marketing and Publicity for the School. Tickets are available through the MAC Box Office and at all Ticket Master locations. Online order forms are also available at the School of Music Web site, www.music.indiana.edu. \nThe IU Opera Theater's summer season premieres July 7 at 8 p.m. with the first performance of "The Music Man," conducted by Dr. Michael Schwartzkopf and directed by Vincent Liotta. The story, said Liotta, illustrates the events surrounding the arrival of con man and salesman Professor Harold Hill in a sleepy Iowa town.\nA Sunday matinee will follow on July 8 at 3 p.m. The show will also run July 13 and 14 at 8 p.m. \n"Madama Butterfly" rounds out the Opera Theater's season with performances on July 28 and 29 and Aug. 3 and 4. Tickets are available through the MAC as well.\nAdditionally, the IU Festival Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra will perform in the MAC, featuring such guest conductors as Luis Biava, Leif Segerstam and Carl St. Clair. Tickets for the Festival Orchestra's three concerts are $12 for general admission and $6 for students. Series tickets might be purchased for $32 general admission and $16 for students. The Symphony Orchestra's concert is free and open to the public.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
After 88 days atop a redwood in protest, engulfed in media attention, Tracy "Dolphin" McNeely was ready to come down.\nAlthough she'd pledged to remain in her treetop perch until forcibly removed, she climbed down and returned to her normal routine -- a routine that includes hanging out with friends in Peoples Park. \nWhen approached by Herald-Times photographer Jeremy Hogan Tuesday, she denied she was Dolphin. She said she didn't want to be photographed. She claimed she was a private individual and of no public interest.\nHogan said he asked Dolphin if he could take her picture, a request always honored in the past. McNeely allegedly then began shouting she was no longer a public figure and should not be photographed. A crowd quickly gathered. \n"It really was a mob mentality," Hogan said. "I don't think it would have continued as it did had she not threatened to break my camera."\nAs the crowd expanded, few people came forward to protect Hogan. Hogan was then approached, he said, by a man he identified as Jeffrey Einstein of Bloomington. Bloomington Police officials denied comment on the suspect's identity because Hogan has not yet decided to press charges.\nEinstein could not be reached for comment Wednesday.\nEinstein allegedly asked him to leave the park, Hogan said. When Hogan did not, Einstein began threatening physical assault. Hogan then took a picture of Einstein, provoking Einstein to attack.\nHogan said he silently shouldered the attack, attempting only to protect his camera, until police arrived on the scene. He was transported to PromptCare West, where he was placed under 24-hour surveillance for possible head injuries and concussion.\nHogan stated while many individuals perceive McNeely as a "counter-cultural hero," he finds it odd that someone who professes to engage in nonviolent behavior would behave as she allegedly did.\n"I certainly don't think she's a hero after she snuck out of the park as I was being beaten," Hogan said. "At one point I was on my knees asking if they were going to beat me as Ghandi was beaten -- just to make a point. It's my way of showing the absurdity of the situation."\nHe said he doesn't think the incident reflects on what he deems the "Bloomington environmental community" as a whole.\n"It doesn't reflect at all on everyone -- just a 19-year old girl that I would say is a charlatan," he maintained.\nBloomington Police Department officials said no formal charges have been filed at this time, although Herald-Times editor Robert Zaltsberg said the paper pledges its full support behind Hogan, should he choose to press charges. \n"He certainly had a right to be there shooting photos of anyone," Zaltsberg said. "The fact that he was shooting for a news story takes it into a different area. It's not just a pretty picture to be used at our discretion -- it was a photo of someone who is arguably a public figure." \nIU School of Journalism professor Paul Voakes said Hogan had the right to photograph McNeely. \n"I think that McNeely was probably concerned about invasion of her privacy because it seems she is wanting to move to a more private status than she's had over the last several months," Voakes said. "However, the law clearly states that if a person is in a public place or in a place where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy, then it's very difficult to claim that right."\nVoakes also noted that McNeely's declaration of herself as a private figure has no legal basis. \n"Individuals don't have the right to declare themselves public or private citizens," he said. "That determination is made by court in a much larger social context and I think that in this context she's going to be public for awhile"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
For the past nine days, rain or shine, Sharon Brehm has walked the half-mile from her home to her office, moved by the almost "spiritual" effect she claims IU's beauty affords. \nShe's strolled through the Arboretum, pausing to reflect on the aesthetics of the place she now calls home. She's stepped along the footpaths in the Old Crescent area of campus, down Indiana Avenue and past the Sample Gates, into her quiet room in Bryan Hall. \nAlong the way, she doubtlessly calculates the gravity of the responsibilities the coming months and years will bring as she steps in to fill the shoes of retired Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis. She surely anticipates the commencement of the upcoming semester as she assumes her position in a long line of leaders with legacies. \nAnd every day when she steps into her office, she's faced with an increasingly lengthy to-do list. She tackles stacks of papers and forms and university business. Yet the woman IU President Myles Brand terms a "doer" has a plan. She has a focus. And she can't wait to get started.\n"I'm the sort that never believes you rest on your laurels," she laughed. "When I first came to campus, I identified three areas of concern; academic excellence, diversity and partnerships."\nAcademic excellence, Brehm said, is the "heart and soul of IU," a legacy imparted largely by her predecessors Herman B Wells and Gros Louis. At the University's core, she said, lies a firm commitment to teaching and learning. But ways must be sought to sustain and increase the success of those fields of study.\nDiversity also lies at the center of the University experience, Brehm said. It's an area Gros Louis has identified as crucial for development, and Brehm plans to nurture the delicate multicultural climate on campus.\n"We learn from our differences," she said. "This is a obviously a multicultural world, and we need to learn to interact with individuals of different races and experiences."\nThough a seemingly diverse campus, only 9.4 percent of IU's student body consists of minorities, according to the Office of Academic Support and Diversity Web site. And while Brehm said she has "no specific methods" this early in her tenure, she hopes to work closely with Vice President for Student Development and Diversity Charlie Nelms, as well as deans and faculty at a multi-campus level, to increase the numbers of multicultural students attending IU.\n"We need a significant critical mass," Brehm said. "It's easier than to become full partners, to encourage real conversations and dialogue."\nBrehm's third major goal includes developing both on- and off-campus partnerships, encouraging collaboration between departments, campuses and individuals.\nIncluded in that premise is the conscious effort to garner support for university research, which Brehm feels leads to the creation of useful products in the business and industrial realms. \nBrehm comes to IU well-equipped. An administrator "by accident," she was teaching at the University of Kansas in 1987 and writing on the side when she answered an advertisement seeking a director of the university honors program in the student newspaper. \nShe applied and got the job. \nBrehm, who describes herself as "restless," soon began to look at other administrative possibilities. She most recently served as provost at Ohio University, where her achievements included bolstering scholarships by 266 percent and hiring dual spouse faculty. But Brehm claims she never planned on becoming an administrator.\n"Students sometimes come to me and say, 'How do I prepare to become a dean?'" she said. "There's no magic formula for success -- you have to start with a love and passion for a discipline and become a professor. Then a few odd fish like myself actually become administrators."\nDirector of Media Relations Susan Dillman met Brehm when she came to IU last spring for a press conference and said she was "very impressed" with Brehm's "optimistic outlook, her energy, her dedication and warmth."\nIt's precisely that warmth Brehm wants to communicate to students. She wants them to know her doors remain open for the most timid freshman or the confident senior seeking his first job. \n"One of the most touching things students have told me about Ken Gros Louis that they always felt welcome in his office," Brehm said. "It's not good when everyone's in their own little cubbyhole. I want lots of interaction"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Composed and collected, Maria Luisa Rayan climbed the stairs at the Musical Arts Center Sunday evening before a crowd of hundreds. Swathed in burgundy velvet, the striking Argentinian smiled graciously at the audience, shook the judges' hands and accepted her second-place award in the fifth triannual USA International Harp Competition. It was her third time entering the contest -- and her second emergence as runner-up.\nTwo tries, and two second-place finishes.\nFor some, such outcomes may signal defeat. Others may retreat from the instrument.\nBut for Rayan, the harp is practically an appendage. It's evident in her caress of the strings, in her soft, transported expression as her hands graze the instrument.\n"The evening was one of challenges and rewards," Rayan said. "I am excited about the opportunity to perform as part of my prize."\nAnd as Rayan stepped away from the awards table and took her seat among the six other prizewinners, the grand prize winner was coronated. Amid thunderous applause, 27-year-old Dan Yu of the China modestly assumed her place at center stage.\nIt's a place the diminutive graduate student will get used to over the next few years. After facing 10 days of grueling emotional and physical stress and exhausting practice and performance, Yu won both the gold and the opportunity to enter professional music circles. The first-place award includes a debut CD recording; debut recitals in London, Paris, New York, Tokyo and Fukai, Japan; cash prizes and a commemorative 24-karat gold-gilded concert harp.\nCarved from bubinga wood, the coveted instrument is a gift of the Victor Salvi Foundation and is valued at $55,000. It was constructed by Lyon and Healy Concert Harps of Chicago and "serves as an unparalleled artistic tribute to the excellence achieved by the competition's gold-medal winner," said Susan Lyon, director of public relations for the competition. \nHARP MECCA \nThe competition is the realization of many years of intense study and determination for founder Susann McDonald, distinguished professor of music in IU's Harp Department.\nShe first strummed the harpstrings at age five, a mere child in Rock Island, Ill. \nBy the age of 20, longing for her family back home yet fueled by an intense love of the instrument, she was living in Paris boarding houses and studying with premier harp pedagogue Henriette Renit. That same year, she won the first prize in the Paris Conservatory competition. \nAt 23, she made an unprecedented three-concert debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City. \nAnd in 1989, she founded the USA International Harp Competition to allow talented young harpists the opportunity to launch a professional career.\nShe chose to host the competition at IU because of the many performance venues and practice facilities available to students. IU also boasts a summer orchestra, a necessary precursor to performing concert works. \n"This is a dream come true," said McDonald, beaming, as she gazed into the packed auditorium Sunday evening. "I am moved greatly by what I see here -- the support of the community of Bloomington for our program and the performers."\nThe community's support has been overwhelming, McDonald said -- and rightfully so. Dubbed in music circles as the "Harp Mecca of the World," IU boasts the world's largest harp department. Consequently, said Lyon, Bloomington is home to more harps than in many small nations. \nMcDonald compares the IU faculty to that of Juilliard, where she formerly served as chair of the harp department. The decision to leave Juilliard proved difficult, yet McDonald was prepared for the drastic contrast between the bustling city and a sleepy Midwestern town.\n"I hoped that the finest harpists would come to work with me at IU," she said. "The faculty there was similar to here, all working and travelling a lot."\nShe attributes the IU harp department's immense success to its students. As graduates go on to pursue professional careers, winning international acclaim, the department's reputation of excellence is furthered. \n"I think we will continue to try to train and prepare our students for the profession, as soloists, orchestral players, and teachers," McDonald said. "I try to reinforce each player's natural abilities, and encourage them to attain a higher level of performance ability. I want them to believe they can indeed have such a career if they pursue it with all their hearts."\nIt certainly worked for McDonald. In the years spanning her professional career, she's founded the World Harp Congress, established the most prestigious harp competition in the world and served as teacher, friend and mentor to students who have gone on to attain unparalleled success in recording and solo careers. Yet she lauds teaching as her true passion. And while she continues to perform, she no longer tours. Rather, she aims to be her students' greatest resource. \n"I truly love teaching," she said. "The essential, I believe, is to play for one's students." \nTHE PROCESS\nThe competition kicked off July 4 with ceremonies in the lobby of the Musical Arts Center. \nThe first stage of competition spanned July 5 - 7. The 37 competitors played a piece of their choice, Bach's Etude #2 or The King's Hunt, and Tailleferre's Sonata or Glanville-Hicks's Sonata. No competition took place July 8. Rather, competitors enjoyed a solo concert by 14-year-old harp prodigy Jane Yoon, winner of the Nippon Harp Competition in Soka, Japan. \n25 contestants played four pieces for the second stage on July 9-10. They were treated to a jazz harp concert the evening of July 10 by musician Park Stickney at the Fourwinds Resort and Marina on Lake Monroe. \nThe third stage spanned July 11-12 and concluded with a solo concert on a historical Chinese folk harp by Cui Jun Zhi. After the third stage, three finalists were named. Dan Yu of China, Julie Smith of the United States and Maria Luisa Rayan of Argentina were chosen to compete in the grand finale concert Sunday evening, performing Ginastera's "Concerto for Harp and Orchestra."\nTo be chosen, potential competitors must be nominated by three teachers, according to McDonald. The contest is open to all harpists between the ages of 16 and 32. \nSunday's audience played a particularly important role in the musical process, said associate dean of instruction at the School of Music Eugene O' Brien. \nA jury of seven, judiciously chosen by McDonald and her committee, deliberated for over half an hour Sunday before announcing the top eight winners. The results were "as objective as could be," said Charles Webb, president of the jury and dean emeritus at the School of Music.\nAll rounds were taken into account when ascertaining the overall winner, Webb said. The first two stages of competition accounted for 15 percent of the overall score. The third stage accounted for 35 percent, while the final stage composed 50 percent of the final tally. \nVICTORY AT LAST\nThe competition was fierce, with each harpist bringing their own measure of creativity to the required piece.\n"It's difficult -- you have to be precise," Rayan noted. "You can't step too much outside the stylistic boundaries, but you can also bring your own personality into your playing."\nAnd though the concert spanned nearly three hours, the audience was visibly moved by each competitor's performance.\nIn the end, Dan Yu of China walked away triumphantly with the first-place title -- and the first harp she's ever owned.\nEvidently the crowd favorite, Yu seemed almost transported while performing. Face reflecting utmost concentration, she soared through the piece's complicated cadenzas.\n"The sound she managed to pull from the instrument was huge," commented senior Michael Henry, a music education student in the School of Music. "It was just the best."\nThe 27-year old IU graduate student, born in Shenyang, China, received the gold-gilded harp modestly, bowing slightly to the crowd and jury. \n"I never expected to win," said Ms. Yu after the awards ceremony. "A year or so ago, I was not certain which path I should take, teaching or performing. My teaching left little time for performing. Entering this competition challenged me to concentrate on my playing."\nYu additionally received $5,000 in cash prizes, a CD recording, and debut recitals around the globe. \nMaria Luisa Rayan of Argentina placed second, earning her two debut concerts in the Pacific Northwest, two more debut concerts or one concert and a CD recording deal and $2,500 in cash prizes.\nMcDonald praised Rayan as "one of the most talented and artistic performers that I have been blessed to work with." She said the 28-year-old doctoral student labors over every detail of her work, maintaining tireless dedication to her studies.\n"She will have a great career, of that I am sure," McDonald said. "Life is not a contest and she is superbly equipped to do whatever she wants in the music field."\n22-year-old Julie Smith of the United States garnered the third prize of $5,000 in cash. The Nebraska native will complete her senior year at the Cleveland Institute of Music in Ohio this fall. \nAnd though only one walked away the grand-prize champion, the competition's founders' sincerest hope, said the competition's Executive Board President Peter Rollo, is that each leaves Bloomington positively affected by the experience. \n"This is one of the most grueling international competitions," Webb said. "It represents some of the best harp performances by any young people"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Upon entering an institution of higher learning, students typically expect some degree of confidentiality in the maintenance of their academic records and personal information. \nBut when that confidence is breached, trust in that institution begins to dwindle. This was precisely the reaction provoked when a stack of opened boxes containing private student information, including social security numbers and payroll stubs, was left unattended in Maxwell Hall last week as the University Division completed the final stages of relocation.\nBecause the University Division is moving from Maxwell Hall to Ashton Center for a few years, the moving process has been a "huge project," said Sally Dunn, acting dean for University Division.\nDunn said Thursday was the last day boxes were to be transported to Ashton. When several staff members checked the hallways for stray materials before leaving Thursday, they saw nothing, Dunn said. She credits the stray boxes to careless movers.\n"It appears that on the last day of moving, the professional movers overlooked those two boxes of material," Dunn said. The boxes were to be taken to an external source for shredding.\nDunn said most faculty and administrative staffs in the University contract with external shredders, though internal sources of shredding are often utilized. She said she's never personally investigated the credentials of the shredders because she "never felt the need to."\nBut the ease with which external sources may come in contact with personal records alarms many students, unsure of their confidentiality rights.\nAccording to Part I, Section F, Item 3 of the Code of Students Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct, a "student has the right to have his or her education records maintained on a confidential basis by the University, subject to the rules and regulations stated in the Indiana University Policy on Student Records." \nSection F of Appendix 4 of the Code does specify this provision may be broken in times of "emergency." These include a serious threat to health or safety, the need for access in meeting the emergency, whether the person requesting the materials is in a position to deal with the emergency, and the how quickly the matter must be handled.\nYet the stray boxes of student records in Maxwell Hall were not placed there in a time of emergency; nor did a single individual request their disclosure. Rather, containing sheafs of paper detailing such private information as student social security numbers, the boxes lay open to the public. \n"This is an anomaly," Dunn said. "To my knowledge, it's never happened before. As soon as we were informed of the incident, we went over and picked them up."\nTo secure records, students must submit a written request to the Office of the Registrar, dean, or other appropriate faculty member. The University will then arrange a date and time for the student to review the records, according to the University's Annual Notification of Student Rights Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.\nStudents may also request to amend records they feel are inaccurate or misleading. Written requests must be submitted to the University clearly identifying the part of the record the student wants changed and explain why it is inaccurate. If the University chooses not to amend the record, the student is entitled to a hearing concerning the request.\nStudents also reserve the right to consent to the disclosure of "personally identifiable information." The University will disclose academic records to another school if requested.\nBut FERPA authorizes some disclosure without consent to school officials with "legitimate educational interests" -- individuals who need to review a record to "fulfill his or her professional responsibility," according to FERPA. Additionally, "public information" may be dispensed freely unless the student files a form, available at the Office of the Registrar. Public information includes name; address; college or division; class standing; degrees and awards; activities; sports; and athletic information. \nDunn extended an informal apology on behalf of the University Division, noting the staff will take a final pass through the building before closing its door this weekend.
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Storm clouds loomed ominously overhead, and the humidity just wouldn't quit, hanging heavily in the air well into the evening.\nImpatient mothers admonished anxious children, juggling babies and corn dogs, while fathers checked out the latest in farm equipment being showcased at the outdoor arenas.\nYet it didn't deter the hundreds of parents and children, of husbands and wives, of high school sweethearts crowding the Monroe County fairgrounds on the southwest side of Bloomington Saturday night.\nThey danced to the tunes of local country and pop bands. They watched the Queen contest. They peered through wire cages at prizewinning floppy-eared bunnies, contestants in the annual 4H Rabbit Show. \nAnd in the end, they went home happy.\n"I've never been to a fair before," said Greta Smithville, a resident of Hilton Head, S.C., visiting family in Indiana this week. While she enjoyed herself despite the threat of rain, "I don't really understand the poultry obsession," she said, laughing. \nFairgoers can access the grounds from Airport Road each day from 4 to 8 p.m. Airport Road will be one-way westbound from Ind. 45 to Bunger Road. \nThose without parking permits can enter the grounds from Airport Road at Gate 1. But drivers will not have to pay the parking fee at the gate. The toll booth is now located at the end of a three-lane entrance ramp designed to relieve traffic problems. \nEight-year 4-H member Kara VanDeventer was crowned Monroe County Fair Queen Saturday night. She triumphed over 16 contestants vying for this year's crown. \nVanDeventer will attend IU in the fall and plans to major in elementary education. She says she plans to emerge as "a positive role model" for young adults in Monroe County.\n"She was just beautiful," gushed Indianapolis high school student Mark Wileska, who hit the fair with friends Saturday. "But man, I have no idea how I could have judged those girls." \nFair officials credit volunteers with the event's success. Volunteers work four-hour shifts in areas ranging from food service to ticketing to parking assistance. \nThe fair opened Saturday night and will continue through July 28. The schedule includes horse and pony shows, livestock exhibitions and competitions and performances by area musical groups at the 4H amphitheater and grandstand.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
With tuition increasing steadily throughout the Big Ten, many students are left wondering where their money's going. \nAnd this year, after the IU Board of Trustees' approval of an unprecedented 7.5 percent increase, those students' concerns have escalated. \nYet IU administrators want students to know the impetus behind the increase. They want students to know how their tuition is being spent. \nIn addition to tuition costs, set at $2,097.75 per semester for in-state and $6,965 per semester for out-of-state students, IU students pay a student activity fee of $59.87, a student health fee of $82.91, a technology fee of $100 and a transportation fee of $27.66 per semester. \nThe Board of Trustees, which deliberates and decides on the level of tuition increases, has attempted to maintain consistently low increases each year, said IU trustee John Walda.\nIn 1995, the Board voted to maintain a increase of 4 percent. Walda attributed the low hike to IU's commitment to accessibility for all Hoosiers "while offering one of the nation's best values in higher education. Moreover, our efforts to become more effective, efficient and accountable are producing internal cost savings that have helped to prevent big tuition jumps."\nBloomington's 1995-96 undergraduate in-state rate of $3,162 compared admirably with IU's Big Ten peers. In-state students at Penn State paid $5,188, while the University of Michigan cost $5,094, Michigan State cost $4,208 and Ohio State cost $3,039.\nThe following year, the Trustees requested the lowest increase in 16 years. The flat-fee undergraduate tuition for 1996-97 was $3,320, an increase of $158 from the previous year. The Board also discussed strategies for reallocation that year, including freezing vacant positions and deferring funding of new faculty and staff positions in growth areas.\nIn 1998, President Brand lobbied with the Indiana Commission for Higher Education, requesting additional allocations to help keep tuition costs low. That year, the increase remained consistent at 4 percent. \nThe Board of Trustees continued to raise tuition at a relatively steady rate each year -- until this year's 7.5 increase, which sparked innumerable dialogues among both in-and out-of-state students, concerned with how their money would be spent. \n"I have to admit that the tuition increase affects me much less than my out-of-state colleagues, but the constantly rising cost of higher education very much frustrates me anyway," said senior Josh Huff. "I understand that perhaps IU needs more money; in fact, I'm glad that they are trying to make this University better for us and more appealing to prospective students. However, I don't know that I would come here if I were from out of state."\nAccording to the "Rules Determining Resident and Nonresident Status for University Fee Purposes," non-resident students who are 21 years of age or emancipated from their parents may apply for in-state residence. They must have been physically present in Indiana for 12 months prior to applying without the "predominant purpose of education.\nIf the student is under 21 with parents living out-of-state, he or she must provide a notarized statement from the parents indicating the date they last claimed the student as a dependent on their federal income tax returns. \nThe student must also submit a statement indicating the amount of income sufficient for self-support and must have been physically present in Indiana for at least 12 months. \nThis year's increase affects both in-state and out-of-state students, however. Much of the increase can be credited to a tighter state budget in which higher education receives a mere fraction of allocations. Since 1975, higher education's share of the state's general operating funds has slipped from 17.7 percent to 13.9 percent, said IU President Myles Brand.\n"The current economic downturn has resulted in tighter state budgets for all purposes, including higher education," Brand said. "While Indiana state leaders did their best to fund education adequately at all levels in the face of a difficult economic situation, the budgeted increases for existing programs at IU and Purdue will fall well short of the inflation rate. Meanwhile, the costs of energy and health care benefits -- significant expenses for universities -- are rising much faster than inflation."\nPurdue University has also been substantially affected by the state budget, according to Purdue president Martin Jischke. \nHe claims faculty compensation is a key issue in determining budget allocations. The budget for the upcoming year includes no increases for supplies and expenses and mandates reallocations internally within every academic and administrative unit. \n"Purdue understands the state's financial dilemma, and we appreciate the limited funding the Legislature was able to give us," Jischke said. "However, we also have an obligation to our students and their future employers to protect the academic quality of the Purdue degree."\nWhile Purdue's plan floats theoretically, the tightening budget affects instructional units on the IU campus somewhat differently, according to the Budgetary Affairs Committee of the Bloomington Faculty Council. Total operating state appropriation has declined significantly throughout the past decade. Inflation increased an average of 3.0 percent per year, while state appropriation has grown at an average of 2.2 percent per year. This discrepancy results in 7.9 percent less inflation-adjusted funding for the Bloomington campus, despite the need for increased funding necessitated by a rapid influx of students.\nAssessments for instructional units often find themselves in deficit before enrolling a single student at the beginning of an academic year, the committee said. \nThe committee urges the campus and the President's Office to "work diligently with the Indiana General Assembly to reverse the decline in real state appropriation, and to lobby effectively for a fair formula distributing the state appropriation to the various IU campuses."\nBrand also indicated increased competition among large research institutions for top-notch faculty has contributed to tighter budget concerns. Private research universities pay full professors, on average, $22,100 more than public universities, according to research conducted by the American Association of University Professors. The gap continues to additionally widen within the realm of public education as some larger institutions are able to offer significantly greater pay to full-time faculty. \nTo respond to those issues, Brand said, IU must continue to attract and retain faculty he deems "the foundation of the University's academic reputation." The 2001-02 increase will include merit-based raises between 3 and 4 percent on all its campuses. Individual departments will also be permitted to raise some faculty salaries by up to 6 percent. Additional revenue from the tuition increase will create mentoring, counseling and remediation programs for underclassmen, and more full-time faculty posts will emerge as well. \n"It's an issue concerning many major research universities jockeying for positions as dominant forces," IU Director of Media Relations Sue Dillman said. "There's a desire and need on behalf of the campus to attract and retain the top faculty."\nIncreasing salaries for assistant professors has been especially targeted in considering budget allocations as well. IU's professors are the lowest-paid in the Big Ten, Brand said.\n"Faculty are the single-most important aspect of a quality institution," Brand said. "Unless we have competitive faculty salaries, we will find ourselves in a situation the people of Indiana will find unacceptable." \nBrand claims IU realizes its responsibility to students to control costs and maintains efforts are underway to achieve that goal. In February 2000, the University enacted an administrative services review overseen by Arthur Anderson Higher Education Practice in an effort to control costs. \nBut IU's tuition hike pales in comparison to other Big Ten universities. Purdue also enacted a 7.5 percent increase for 2001-2002. Ohio State has raised tuition by 9 percent and has also unveiled a long-range plan which will enact similar hikes each year for the next four to five years. \nThe University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa will all experience hikes of 9.9 percent, according to the Iowa Board of Regents. The University of Illinois has enacted a 5 percent increase, as well as a $500 surcharge for incoming freshman. That charge will increase to $1,000 for the 2002-03 school year. \nThe average out-of-state tuition for Big Ten schools is $13,990. IU's rates fall in the middle of the spectrum, while the University of Iowa boasts the lowest out-of-state rates. University of Michigan nonresidents pay the highest tuition, at $21,037 for the 2000-01 academic year. \nBut Purdue offers the second-lowest resident fees among Big Ten universities. In-state tuition for Purdue students is waived, whereas out-of-state residents paid $9,032 in tuition fees last year. However, both in- and out-of-state residents paid $3,872 in "university fees". \nPurdue's operating budget last year was $1,110,929,557. State appropriations accounted for 28 percent of the budget, and student fees comprised 21 percent, according to Jischke. \nIU's recent hike is not at all indicative of future similar increases, University officials agree. Many, including Dillman, laud IU as the best value in the Big Ten. \nStudents concerned with this year's increase can take advantage of the 8 percent increase in financial aid this year, $3.6 million more than last year. About $400 million in combined state, federal and IU financial aid will be available to IU students as well. \n"It is a delicate balance to continue funding the outstanding education provided by IU," trustee Sue Talbot said. "I am certain that I join the entire Board of Trustees in working to keep tuition increases to the minimum while not sacrificing quality"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Special judge Cecile Blau ruled Monday to allow 46 plaintiffs to pursue their claim that the IU board of trustees broke the Indiana Open Door Law in firing former men's basketball coach Bobby Knight last September.\nWhile Blau ruled Myles Brand was within both the scope of the law and his legal authority as university president in firing Knight, she did acknowledge the plaintiffs' claim that the board met in executive session without public notice. Blau rejected both parties' requests for summary judgment and will allow the suit to commence.\nIn a ruling received by the Monroe County Court Monday, Blau agreed Brand had sole authority to fire Knight, a power designated by the trustees. Blau wrote that the president "had the authority to make, enforce and terminate contracts," thus enabling him to legally fire Knight.\nThe case will now continue on the grounds of the Open Door Law violation. State law defines a public session as a gathering of a group's majority. The 9-member Board met in two groups of four trustees. Because no majority was present, the University argued, the meetings were not considered public and therefore 48-hour public notice was not necessitated.\nLead prosecuting attorney Gojko Kasich disagreed.\n"The authority of Brand (to fire Knight) was never our issue -- it was a smokescreen IU brought up to excuse violation of open door law," Kasich said. "This is an open-door allegation. They do whatever the hell they want behind closed doors."\nKasich said the board of trustees could have convened publicly at their scheduled meeting in New Albany, Ind., Sept. 15. Instead, they met "at the same place, in the same room, within five minutes of each other" on Sept. 10, Kasich said. \n"It's all an ego thing," Kasich said. "It's about defining what a gathering is. If we have four trustees in one corner of Assembly Hall and another four in another corner and the president shuffling back and forth between them (for example), that's a gathering. The whole thing is about intent."\nThat intent, Kasich said, was to bring trustees together to "get information and get votes." Similar cases have been tried in the Minnesota Court of Appeals, Kasich said, and violations of that state's sunshine laws have been determined through deliberations. \nKasich said motions for at least 10 individual depositions will be filed. Another hearing concerning those depositions will likely commence. He speculated the case could drag on for another 2-3 months as depositions are carried out and new motions are filed. \nIf the trustees are determined to have violated the Open Door Law, the court can enter an injunction preventing them from taking similar action, said Kasich. Additionally, any action taken as a result of the violation would be voided. \nThus, Knight's firing would be rescinded. But that's not the issue, Kasich said. Knight is "happy where he is."\nIU might also be required to award attorney fees to the prevailing party as well, Kasich said. \nUniversity counsel Dorothy Frapwell said she has read the ruling. University attorneys are continuing review of the case. But because matters are still before the court, Frapwell declined to speculate or comment further.
