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(10/24/07 3:25am)
IU students will be chicken-dancing this week at an Oktoberfest that does not serve beer.\nIU Germanic studies and Western European studies students will man booths from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Lakeview Elementary School’s Oktoberfest.\nInitially, the Oktoberfest idea was created just to draw more parents to come to the Parent Teacher Organization meeting, said Rachael Crouch, an assistant director of membership for the IU Alumni Association and Lakeview parent.\nParents would be more likely to come to a PTO meeting if dinner was provided and their children could stay, Crouch said. \nIf the event is as big a success as Lakeview’s PTO hopes, it will increase the attendance as much as 10-fold, said Lakeview Elementary School Principal Tommy Richardson.\n“When (the Oktoberfest) was first dreamed up, it was just a way to get more parents there,” Crouch said. “It’s now morphed into that plus education, plus entertainment.”\nPart of that education and entertainment will depend on the knowledge of IU students, said Troy Byler, Germanic studies outreach coordinator.\nAfter leading students and parent volunteers in the “chicken dance,” six IU students will be at different booths throughout the Lakeview gymnasium teaching the elementary students about German culture. Byler said this will include everything from learning how to say their names in German to writing to German pen pals.\n“(The event) has all kinds of magnificent opportunities to turn our kids on to something new and at the same time learn to respect and appreciate other cultures,” Richardson said.\nRichardson said IU student volunteers would be “great role models” of community service for the Lakeview students. He also said since Lakeview is in the rural area of Monroe County, he’s glad to see “the IU feel” reach out beyond schools closest to campus.\nWhile all agreed Oktoberfest would be a good educational vehicle, Crouch said the event was also chosen because it provided a theme for the dinner.\nCrouch said the foods had to be Americanized for Lakeview students. There will be sauerkraut and brats, but there will also be hotdogs and soft pretzels with cheese to appease the children.\nBut there is one Oktoberfest staple that will be missing.\n“Of course, we can’t integrate the beer into it,” Crouch said. “But, you know, we’re still going to have fun with it.”
(10/23/07 3:09am)
Two Bloomington residents are preparing for negative temperatures and harsh winds for the weekend.\nThis Friday, an IU adjunct faculty member and two IU grad students will leave for a two-month research trip to Antarctica after they make a stop in New Zealand.\nResearch scientist and IU adjunct faculty member Michael Prentice has been to Antarctica 12 other times and said he is still in awe of the terrain.\n“(I’m impressed by) ... the immensity of the place and also its pristine nature,” Prentice said. “As you’re flying and you cross the southern ocean, it’s white. And it’s white as far as the eye can see.”\nBut for venture No. 13, he is looking beyond the white for dirt.\nPrentice said he hopes that by studying samples of sediment in different altitudes of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, he will be able to reconstruct its history and determine how quickly the ice sheet has been melting and why.\nThe ice sheet has lost more than 60 percent of its mass in the past 5,000 to 15,000 years, Prentice said.\nIU geology grad student Ross Dybvig said the research will show on “what terms” ice sheets respond to warming.\nPrentice said the research team, which also includes University of Washington students and faculty, a technical worker from the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory and several New Zealand drilling experts, will be using diamond-bit drilling from helicopters to collect a large part of their data, which is a new technique for the U.S. \n“The research is about understanding the susceptibility or sensitivity of one of the big ice sheets in Antarctica to warming,” Prentice said. “We think that has significance for the current behavior of the ice sheet and its current sensitivity to global warming.”\nPrentice said this “global warming” takes place over thousands of years. The research will hopefully conclude whether the warming occurred about 15,000 years ago or 7,000 years ago.\n“It’s a global concern as to why the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is showing significant signs of \nmelting right now,” Prentice said. “People are concerned that it might collapse in some significant ways as global warming continues.”\nPrentice hypothesizes the data will probably show that the ice sheet has been gradually melting over 15,000 years, or since the last warming period. \nBut if the results show that it’s been melting only within the last 7,000 years, the conclusions could be momentous. He said that kind of data would indicate the ice sheet is capable of changing faster and is more sensitive to the modern warming period than people have thought.\nHowever, unlike Prentice and technical personnel, not everyone on this expedition is a seasoned veteran. \nAfter taking survival crash courses in New Zealand, Dybvig will be journeying to Antarctica for his first time.\nHe said he wants to apply the technical skills that he will gain, like using ground-penetrating radar, to asteroids and other planets, specifically Mars.\nA trip to Antarctica played a big factor in persuading him to attend IU as a grad student, so Dybvig said there is only one thing that makes him anxious about this research project.\n“I guess I’m not really too nervous about (the trip or research),” Dybvig said. “But I am worried about how cold it could get.”
(10/17/07 3:16am)
All other student organizations better watch out: IU’s Collegiate 4-H might be young, but what the group lacks in age it makes up for in enthusiasm.\nThe club just celebrated its one-year anniversary, and has already helped more than 450 4-H Club members in Indiana, a number President Jessica Falkenthal said she hopes to almost double by the end of 2008.\n4-H is a national organization that strives to enhance leadership, citizenship and life skills in youth across America. The four H’s stand for head, heart, hands and health. \nWhile the kindergarten-to-high-school-level 4-H program focuses on annual projects to enhance leadership and life skills, Falkenthal said Collegiate 4-H is geared toward community outreach and service. \n“With Collegiate 4-H we’re more focused on service to the community and trying to foster growth and youth development in the community,” Vice President Ellen Weinzapfel said. “We associate ourselves with 4-H, but we’re really not like a normal 4-H club at all.”\nFalkenthal said the group does about a service project a week. The group extends its outreach by using Facebook as a communication tool. \n“(Facebook) is really great for keeping freshmen involved because they’re on it so frequently,” Falkenthal said.\nWeinzapfel said the group was founded because Falkenthal was able to contact her and other 4-H Club alumni through the Web site.\n“Everyone on campus uses Facebook as much as they use their e-mail,” Weinzpfel said. \nShe said its convenience is what makes it such a useful tool.\nCollegiate 4-H uses Facebook event invitations to remind members and potential members about upcoming service projects and meetings. So far, it’s helped group turnout, Falkenthal said.\nThe group has also been successful in service projects as well. \nService projects for this semester include making sleeping bags for the Shalom Community Center and holding a collegiate seminar for Indiana 4-H Club high schools.\nThe collegiate seminar will teach club members to use their 4-H experience to get scholarships, Falkenthal said.\nShe received about $26,000 in scholarships and said most Collegiate 4-H officers at IU also received scholarships based on their 4-H experiences.\nService and College Prep Chair Livy Wilz said the seminar will include a “practice” essay-writing competition. The winner will receive an IU scholarship in an amount to be determined later.\nProjects such as these have earned the group acclaim and awards from both the Student Activities Board and regional 4-H groups. The Student Activities Board gave the club the IU Student Organization Award of Merit for Civic Engagement.\nGroup members agreed that 4-H has helped them not only by providing scholarships, but also by helping them adjust to college life.\n“I’ve gained a lot of leadership experience and experience planning events,” Weinzapfel said. “It’s been a really good way to make friends on campus, and I’ve tried to help people in the community.”\nlda@indiana.edu\nAll other student organizations better watch out: IU’s Collegiate 4-H might be young, but what the group lacks in age it makes up for in enthusiasm.\nThe club just celebrated its one-year anniversary, and has already helped more than 450 4-H Club members in Indiana, a number President Jessica Falkenthal said she hopes to almost double by the end of 2008.\n4-H is a national organization that strives to enhance leadership, citizenship and life skills in youth across America. The four H’s stand for head, heart, hands and health. \nWhile the kindergarten-to-high-school-level 4-H program focuses on annual projects to enhance leadership and life skills, Falkenthal said Collegiate 4-H is geared toward community outreach and service. \n“With Collegiate 4-H we’re more focused on service to the community and trying to foster growth and youth development in the community,” Vice President Ellen Weinzapfel said. “We associate ourselves with 4-H, but we’re really not like a normal 4-H club at all.”\nFalkenthal said the group does about a service project a week. The group extends its outreach by using Facebook as a communication tool. \n“(Facebook) is really great for keeping freshmen involved because they’re on it so frequently,” Falkenthal said.\nWeinzapfel said the group was founded because Falkenthal was able to contact her and other 4-H Club alumni through the Web site.\n“Everyone on campus uses Facebook as much as they use their e-mail,” Weinzpfel said. \nShe said its convenience is what makes it such a useful tool.\nCollegiate 4-H uses Facebook event invitations to remind members and potential members about upcoming service projects and meetings. So far, it’s helped group turnout, Falkenthal said.\nThe group has also been successful in service projects as well. \nService projects for this semester include making sleeping bags for the Shalom Community Center and holding a collegiate seminar for Indiana 4-H Club high schools.\nThe collegiate seminar will teach club members to use their 4-H experience to get scholarships, Falkenthal said.\nShe received about $26,000 in scholarships and said most Collegiate 4-H officers at IU also received scholarships based on their 4-H experiences.\nService and College Prep Chair Livy Wilz said the seminar will include a “practice” essay-writing competition. The winner will receive an IU scholarship in an amount to be determined later.\nProjects such as these have earned the group acclaim and awards from both the Student Activities Board and regional 4-H groups. The Student Activities Board gave the club the IU Student Organization Award of Merit for Civic Engagement.\nGroup members agreed that 4-H has helped them not only by providing scholarships, but also by helping them adjust to college life.\n“I’ve gained a lot of leadership experience and experience planning events,” Weinzapfel said. “It’s been a really good way to make friends on campus, and I’ve tried to help people in the community.”
(10/12/07 4:18am)
When Kappa Delta junior Amanda Ziemba was a little girl, she thought nobody could see the blackboards at school from far away. She said she decided to see a doctor when it gave her “troubles” in high school.\n“They tried contacts on me,” Ziemba said. “But it just wasn’t helping.”\nHer optometrist sent her to a specialist at the Midwest Eye Clinic, where she was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease.\nStargardt’s Disease is a type of juvenile macular degeneration. This disease causes a progressive loss of central vision, Ziemba said. \n“I didn’t think much of (the diagnosis),” Ziemba said. “It didn’t hit me for a while. It took me a while to kind of realize how severe it was.”\nAbout 50 Kappa Delta girls signed up to travel to Indianapolis on Sunday to participate in VisionWalk, a national walk-a-thon sponsored by the Foundation Fighting Blindness to combat retinol degenerative diseases. The girls want to support their sorority sister, Ziemba, and raise awareness for her rare disease. \nZiemba said seeing her family’s reaction made the situation more pressing for her.\n“I think it affected my family more than me,” she said. “I had never seen my dad cry before – I had never seen my family so upset.”\nZiemba said since her family has been so involved, it came as no surprise when they suggested she and her sorority should participate in VisionWalk.\nFoundation Fighting Blindness Events Assistant Steve Sorka said the organization holds walks all over the country and that last year the walks raised more than $1.3 million for research to prevent and find cures for diseases like Stargardt’s.\nZiemba said she introduced the walk as a philanthropy idea for Kappa Delta at a chapter meeting. She explained the effects her vision impairment has – such as having to get note takers for her classes and having to wear special glasses called bioptics when she drives.\nKappa Delta sophomore Lauren Murphy said Ziemba’s presentation persuaded her to attend the walk.\n“I thought that it would be a fun opportunity for something that was really important to (Ziemba),” Murphy said. “It shows that everyone in the house really cares about her and her problems.”\nAlthough direct sunlight could worsen her vision, Ziemba said she will never be fully blind. She said she wanted to do the walk to help find cures for other people with vision problems.\n“I really wanted to do it for my family,” Ziemba said. “And I also wanted to support the other people in the walk who are blind or have other retinal diseases. Hopefully other people will be more aware of (degenerative retinal diseases) and (will) help find a cure.”
(10/12/07 4:10am)
At the last of the official mayoral debates, Democratic incumbent Mayor Mark Kruzan and Republican mayoral candidate David Sabbagh clashed on how to grow business and conserve green space in Bloomington. The event, which was held Thursday night at Ivy Tech Community College, marked the third and final debate between the challengers.
(10/12/07 4:02am)
Friday night, junior Nate Schnader will be trying to pull off his best David Hasselhoff impression to fight breast cancer.\nIn fact, Jack from “Titanic,” Nemo and Popeye will all make appearances on campus Friday. “Bon Voyage! Cruising for a Cure” is the theme of Zeta Tau Alpha’s annual “Big Man on Campus” competition this year. \nBMOC, an all-male talent show which donates its proceeds to the ZTA Foundation to help fight breast cancer, will take place at 7 p.m. Friday in the IU Auditorium.\nZTA hopes to raise $115,000 from the event to top last year’s $112,000, said Ashley Spataro, assistant philanthropy chair of ZTA. \nThe event is “set up like a beauty pageant” with dance numbers and culminates in the crowning of the official “Big Man On Campus,” Spataro said.\nSchnader said his costume is what gives him an edge on the competition.\n“Well first off, you (should) come to the show and see my outfit,” Schnader said. “My David Hasselhoff impression is quite bad, but entertaining to be honest.”\nMost of the 21 men selected to compete had never before even thought of dancing, Spataro said. \n“It was really fun just watching them struggle through it,” she said. \nSchnader agreed that dancing was a bit of a challenge.\n“Definitely the hardest part was learning the dance,” he said. “That’s what all the real time commitment was. Just over and over: the same dance. But we finally knocked it out.”\nZTA Chapter President Lindsey Tenbarge said each of the 21 contestants, who represent different fraternities and organizations on campus, will be judged on their talent, creativity, how much money they raise and overall morale for the cause – one of the biggest factors. \n“It’s more than just money – it’s the cause,” Tenbarge said. “It’s really important that the boys convey that to us.”\nSchnader, a second-time contestant, said he was able to raise more than $4,000 last year and hopes to make it $10,000 this year. He said he considers it big numbers for a big cause.\n“Every three minutes someone is diagnosed with breast cancer,” he said.\nAnd even though the evening is fun, the show extends beyond entertainment value. \n“... It also shows what our cause is about and who we’re doing it for,” Spataro said. \nSpataro said the event will also have speakers who have survived breast cancer, and Grammy-winning IU faculty member Sylvia McNair, who has battled breast cancer, will sing.\nThe creativity and enthusiasm for the event help it to be so successful, Schnader said.\n“Having something creative like this that really gets people from all over campus involved,” he said. “It really gives all the students something exciting to come and see (to) get their eyes averted to this cause.\n“I’d love to win,” Schnader said, “but that’s not really what it’s all about. (The cause) is what really matters.”\nRemaining BMOC tickets can be purchased Friday at the IU Auditorium box office for $12 each.
(10/10/07 4:33am)
If elected, Republican mayoral candidate David Sabbagh said he would answer Bloomington’s poverty problem with training and “business friendly” policy, while Democratic incumbent Mayor Mark Kruzan said he would answer the call with direct funding and raising the “real income.”\nShalom Community Center hosted the public discussion titled “A Conversation About Poverty” Tuesday night. It was the second-to-last Bloomington mayoral debate of campaign season.\nSabbagh said he wants the city government to “bully-pulpit,” or use the position of power, to influence businesses and corporations to donate to social service programs and urged citizens to show “compassion.” Kruzan said social service programs should be treated as part of the “economic strategy” of an already generous Bloomington.\nBoth candidates agreed that poverty needs to be addressed in Bloomington and referred to the town as a “tale of two cities,” that of the comfortable and that of the poor.\n“I have nothing but the greatest respect for (Kruzan and Sabbagh),” said Joel Rekas, executive director of Shalom Community Center.\n“(Their differences) are priorities in approaches to solving some of these tough problems. But that’s why we have elections.”\nBoth candidates said the city government should play the role of a “social safety net,” but they differed in how far that net would extend.\nSabbagh said the community needs to provide “better-paying jobs” through “business friendly” initiatives. He also said he would like to use centers such as Ivy Tech Community College to provide training locally.\n“People want to accomplish something,” Sabbagh said. “People don’t want a government hand-out.”\nHe said the government should “empower” social service organizations so its clientele could “lift themselves up out of” poverty.\nHe said government should encourage social service organizations to use government assets, such as the Buskirk-Chumley Theater and public parks, to fundraise, but that the government could not “fund (the organizations) completely.”\nKruzan said government should view poverty as a “human development issue” and should respect and fund the social service organizations directly, which in turn would promote self-sufficiency.\n“Poverty isn’t a city issue, a federal issue (or) a state issue,” Kruzan said. “It is a community issue.”\nBoth candidates discussed affordable housing as a way the community could help alleviate some of the problem.\nSabbagh said he would partner with house-building authorities to provide more low-income housing at a lower cost to tax payers. Kruzan argued for incorporating historical housing and redevelopment of neglected housing to aid affordable housing efforts.\nJunior Dylan Grigar attended the debate because he was “curious as to the motivations of each of the candidates concerning the issue of poverty.”\nHe said the debate showed that Kruzan’s policies regarding poverty were strong for the next term, while Sabbagh still seemed to be figuring his out.\nBut he appreciated both candidates showing their support for continued awareness of poverty and its effects.\n“I think that a lot of Bloomington considers poverty an issue worth discussion,” Grigar said. “I think that’s true for most cities and towns"
(10/10/07 3:46am)
Bloomington native Jane Guskin will lead a discussion about immigration issues and “The Politics of Immigration,” a book she coauthored with David Wilson, at 7 p.m. tonight at Boxcar Books.\n“We (at Boxcar Books) feel like her book is important in these times of a lot of issues surrounding immigration, borders, and politics,” said Steven Stothard, Boxcar Books event coordinator. “I believe (the event) will benefit the Bloomington community in that (it provides) someone who has done extensive research and academic work involving immigration so that everyone involved can be given that viewpoint along with whatever viewpoints they might have coming into the discussion.”\nGuskin said the book differs from others written on immigration issues because it is not “elitist.”\n“(Wilson and I) tried to write a book that would be very, very easy to read and easy to use as a tool for people who sort of want the answers at hand,” she said.\nThough the book is “easy-to-read,” it does push a pro-immigration agenda, said Dr. Dennis Conway, a professor in the geography department.\n“One of the things that happens with authors ... is that authors tend to take one side or the other, as do analysts,” Conway said. \nGuskin said although her mother was an English immigrant, her interests veered toward immigration after she battled to get her Colombian husband a green card.\n“There’s definitely a lot of racism that sort of permeates the anti-immigrant attitudes,” she said. “People have a certain concept of what an immigrant is. (Those people) mainly target people with darker skin as being people who are theoretically causing these ‘problems.’”\nGuskin said one of the biggest factors affecting U.S. immigration policy is actually jargon.\n“One of the biggest (myths) is ‘legal’ versus ‘illegal,” Guskin said. “People can’t be illegal – only actions can be illegal.” \nConway said most “illegal” immigrants are not “smugglers” and aren’t doing anything “dangerously illegal.” Instead they are people who have overstayed their visa limitations, are working when they are technically supposed to be visiting or are students who are not enrolled in class for one reason or another.\n“The term illegal is too sweeping,” Conway said. “The most neutral term, now being used in Europe mostly, is ‘irregular’... (which) means that they’re living with a permit to visit but not to work.”\nGuskin and Conway agreed that immigration issues are often a hot topic when the economy is down.\n“Immigrants end up being a favorite whipping boy,” Conway said.\n“A lot of politicians are looking for scapegoats,” Guskin said. “They don’t want people to be thinking about other issues like ... the dollar dropping. It’s an easy target for politicians and the media to say ‘blame immigrants.’”\nGuskin also argued that U.S. policies need to look globally when addressing immigration issues. She said workers’ rights and the global economy are topics related \nto immigration. \nConway said discussions such as Guskin’s would not suppress all anti-immigrant stigma, but still would benefit an open debate on the issue.\n“Will book tours crowd out FoxNews and the assaults by the mass media?” Conway asked. “I hope that somebody will talk about the humanity part of the issue because really we’re talking about humankind – people rather than statistics.”\nGuskin hopes the discussion will spread awareness.\n“(I want to) learn from people, exchange ideas and information, help people feel more comfortable with all of the responses that come from the media,” she said. “As (people) understand and learn more about immigration, hopefully (they will) get more involved and try to change the system.”
(10/05/07 4:04am)
This Sunday, Zeta Tau Alpha is urging Colts fans to trade in their blue for pink.\nAs a part of ZTA’s “Think Pink” philanthropy event to raise awareness and education for breast cancer, sorority members will be passing out 30,000 pink ribbons at the Colts-Bucaneers game in downtown Indianapolis this weekend.\n“The message of the pink ribbon anywhere is recognition and remembrance of people who are struggling or (have) passed away from breast cancer,” said Ashley Spataro, ZTA’s assistant philanthropy chair. “It’s a symbol of what we’re doing and what everyone’s doing with the fight (against) breast cancer.”\nWomen for Colts, an organization that includes wives of Colts players, will help man the gates and pass out ribbons with ZTA.\nThe national chapter of ZTA paired with the NFL in 1997 to promote breast cancer awareness. This will be the second time the Colts have participated in this particular philanthropic event.\nZTA member Lauren Roberts said the alliance is a huge partnership for a huge cause.\n“(Breast cancer) can so easily affect any of us,” Roberts said.\nRoberts said raising awareness in general is important, because one in eight women will be diagnosed. But this philanthropy event is specifically important to her because of the loss of a grandmother and the diagnosis of another family member.\nBringing breast cancer awareness to a new audience through the NFL on a big screen and to the screens of fans watching at home will be an “amazing” feat for ZTA and for the fight against breast cancer, Spataro said.\n“It’s (important) to see young people out there trying to make a difference and trying to do something good,” ZTA Philanthropy Chair Sara Wortinger said.\nShe said it was important to show that ZTA’s philanthropy extends beyond the confines of Bloomington and to publicize Big Man On Campus, ZTA’s annual all-male talent show. All the proceeds of BMOC go to the ZTA Foundation, which benefits breast cancer awareness and education programs, including Susan G. Komen for the Cure.\nRoberts said even though people “generally wouldn’t associate NFL with breast cancer,” the game will be a good outlet for the organization.\n“It’ll just make people really aware of how commonly it can affect people,” she said. “Everyone’s had a mother, a neighbor, a sibling affected. (This will show) they haven’t lost their battle in vain.”
(10/04/07 4:00am)
Bruce Springsteen records with the E Street Band for the first time in more than five years. After more recent excursions into acoustic sobriety and folk Americana, "The Boss" proves he can still rock out with the best of them.
(09/25/07 1:16am)
Wanted: sorority sisters who can “shake it like a salt shaker.”\nTryouts for Off-Beat, the new female greek hip-hop dance team, will be held from 8 to 10 p.m. today in the Georgian Room of the Indiana Memorial Union and will continue Wednesday at the same time in State Room East.\nAuditioners will learn a 45-second hip-hop combination today and will perform that combination in small groups Wednesday.\n“We’re just looking for someone – as cheesy as this sounds – who lights up the stage,” said senior Taryn Brickman, co-founder of Off-Beat. “We’re hoping to make this as dynamic of a group as possible.”\nCo-founder and sophomore Ellie Bartlett said the team is looking for sorority members who can add “their own style and their own attitude” to the dance moves and who can improvise if they miss a step.\n“You can definitely see when someone is very powerful and confident about the way they dance,” Bartlett said.\nBrickman said she, Bartlett and senior Katie Vickerman co-founded the group because they missed the experience they had with their high school drill team and heard about a competitive greek hip-hop dance team at the University of Illinois. The three women thought this sort of dance team would be a good venue for the female greek community at IU to come together for the “sole purpose of having fun.”\nBartlett said instead of being “segregated” by houses, the dance team will be an “opportunity for all the (sorority) houses to come together and have a special bond.”\nBrickman agreed that the goal is to “incorporate as many sororities as possible.”\nBecause “music is a big part of our generation,” this was a creative way to unify the female greek community, Bartlett said.\n“That kind of niche is not (on this campus),” she said. “This is a great opportunity to get it started.”
(09/24/07 3:52am)
When IU juniors Matt Garbis and Frank Kalman met, they found they had one thing that would ultimately bring them together: music.\nThe two decided to start a record label, Hoosier Daddy Entertainment Group, for students that offers recording, managing, booking and promotion for free.\n“I really don’t even foresee there being that much cost in this whole thing,” Garbis said.\nHe said the group will enlist students studying audio recording who have required recording hours and students with any kind of “novice expertise” who want to get in on the business side of music.\n“The main thing that we’re trying to push is we’re trying to get involved more with the University,” Kalman said.\nGarbis said the label will try to emulate the success of other on-campus labels at major universities and will try to recruit large fanbases and book shows for bands.\nWhile mainstream pop rock inspired them, Kalman said there are “no boundaries” to what kind of bands and artists Hoosier Daddy Entertainment Group plans to promote. The label has already signed a hip-hop group.\nThe pair met through the Business Careers in Entertainment Club music committee. Kalman wanted to start a management and booking agency for local bands while Garbis was interested in the recording process, Kalman said. \nThe duo saw that Bloomington wasn’t lacking in talent, but was lacking in industry, Garbis said.\nEach had some experience in managing and booking bands – Kalman in Chicago and Garbis in New York. Kalman said he learned the most valuable thing to have in the industry was experience and “going through it first hand.”\nGarbis said the two also saw a demand not being filled that wasn’t necessarily so obvious: “real life experience” for students who are interested in music business.\n“A lot of the kids involved (in BCEC) are looking for … a way to get involved with the music community,” BCEC Music Committee Co-Director Nicole O’Neal said. “Everyone’s looking for something new to do.”\n“We’re connecting people – and I think that’s the most important part of (Hoosier Daddy’s) success,” Kalman said.\nHoosier Daddy Entertainment Group was founded through the BCEC to meet needs for students interested in music business and the IU music scene.\nO’Neal said members of the committee remained somewhat “skeptical” until Garbis and Kalman came back with lots of research and guidance from former BCEC Music Director Greg Hasty.\nO’Neal said BCEC will help the Hoosier Daddy label grow through “getting the name out there,” which includes everything from making posters to coordinating events.\nRight now, the group will focus on managing and booking bands, Kalman said.\n“We hope that the climax (for the label) is going to be after we graduate,” Kalman said. “So by the time we leave, we are doing recordings for groups.”\nThe goal of the record label is staying power, and after Garbis and Kalman graduate, the hope is that it will continue to grow, said BCEC Music Committee Co-Director Scott Hubiak.\n “It would be great if Matt and I 10 years from now could look back at IU and say ‘Wow, we started that,’ you know?” Kalman said.
(09/20/07 2:56am)
Sigma Alpha Epsilon wanted to rebuild a house and a chapter on campus. But they had to get rid of their old house first, said SAE President Ronak Desai.\nDemolition on the old Sigma Alpha Epsilon house began on Sept. 10 and is scheduled to finish Friday. Desai said the “eyesore” will be replaced by “a modern house with all the modern amenities,” including Wi-fi internet access and more individual rooms.\n“It’s sort of symbolic because one of the symbols of our fraternity is a Phoenix rising from the ashes,” said Zach Garrison, the chapter’s alumni chairman.\nAs for architecture, he said many alumni want to see a white house with a red roof that resembles Jordan Crest Gables, the SAE house that existed where the Read parking lot now sits.\nSAE alumni Jack Steffee said he thinks demolishing the “old ramshackled place” and building a new house for the chapter members is “a great idea.”\nSteffee said alumni want to afford the same opportunity to live together in a fraternity that they had when they came to IU. \nHe said a “heck of a large group of alumni” will be there to help every step of the way.\nThe more than 2,000 alumni will help through fundraising, designing and rebuilding the house, Garrison said.\nDesai said the project, from the start of fundraising to move-in day, will take up to three years. He said ideally construction would start in a year and the housing commission projected construction would last for about a year and a half.\nThe time devoted to fundraising before construction plays a big factor in building a fraternity house as they can cost anywhere from $3 to $5 million.\n“It’s no meager expense,” Desai said.\nThe IU Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter lost its charter in 2002 for alcohol-related violations, according to an April 4, 2007 IDS article.\nAfter recolonizing in March 2006, the chapter is now taking steps to secure a charter by this March, Garrison said.\nIU’s SAE chapter was founded in 1907, and it’s appropriate that the centennial brings a new approach to the fraternity’s original values, Desai said.\nDesai said the fraternity is trying to recruit “true gentlemen” to help boost the membership numbers and involvement on-campus and to help convince the Interfraternity Council that Sigma Alpha Epsilon is ready to recharter.\nAlthough recruitment is more difficult without an on-campus house, Desai said it has forged stronger bonds between brothers because freshmen are not just joining “because of \nthe house.”\nAlthough Sigma Alpha Epsilon owns the property, the members are not allowed to live on it until the fraternity regains its charter, IFC President Mike Piermont said.\nPiermont said planning to build a new house is a “big step in increasing membership” and it would not be difficult for SAE to “get all their ducks in a row” to be voted in as an on-campus chapter at the rate the fraternity is moving.\nGarrison said SAE has already become an official student organization and is “becoming a part of the University and building relationships with people on campus” to re-establish itself as “staple” at IU, as well as attending sending members to IFC events \nand meetings.\n“I don’t think there’s going to be an empty house,” Piermont said. “It should speed up the process (of rechartering).”\nSteffee said he hopes to see a rediscovery of the true meaning of fraternity—being active in intramurals and having a good GPA, not necessarily being the “jive” house \non campus.\n“I know the world has changed,” Steffee said. “(But) I get awfully irritated by the “Animal House” stuff I see on television. Fraternity meant a whole lot, and this one meant a whole lot to me.”
(09/19/07 4:06am)
Throngs of women filled the Indiana Memorial Union Tuesday night, waiting to crowd Alumni Hall and hear about what being in a sorority means at the event, “Greek Opportunities for Women.” The program was the first of many that make up the formal greek recruitment process for women.\nThe meeting included a presentation from the IU Panhellenic Association and the opportunity for students to visit booths staffed by members of each of the 19 sororities on campus.\nThree freshman girls chatted as they waited to enter the event.\n“We travel as three,” freshman Olga Lutsenko said. \nShe said she and her two friends, freshmen Vanessa Yudell and Sammy Levin, were hoping to get into the same sorority.\n“We want to, but it’s okay if we don’t,” Lutsenko said.\nThe trio said they were all certain they would join a sorority before they came to IU.\n“It’s part of the college experience,” Levin said.\nNot every student in attendance had her rush experience mapped out.\n“I want to meet new people,” freshman Angela Ridgley said. “That’s the main reason (I’m rushing). (I’m looking for) a tight-knit group of girls who I can talk to.”\nRidgley said she thought sororities were simply looking for “girls like them.”\nInside, sorority members sat by their respective chapter’s booths that showed pictures of philanthropy and social activities. Junior Kristin Lippet waited at the Phi Mu booth to meet students and talk to them about the “truth” of being in a sorority.\nSorority members are hoping those girls are “well-rounded – leaders, athletes and academics,” Lippet said.\nPi Beta Phi senior Alex Gutmann said the women she met this year were “wonderful.” She encouraged girls to “be themselves” while rushing.\nGutmann also said women should be looking for more than a “party place,” a place to do philanthropy and \nperform academically.\nFreshman Nicole Sloan had a similar viewpoint.\n“I think (being in a sorority) helps you meet a good group of people to be friends with, and they do good things for the community,” Sloan said.\nAfter the crowd assembled, Panhellenic played a slide-show explaining IU’s sorority life and set to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and other classic hits. After it, Panhellenic Association President Stephanie Grohovsky took \nthe stage.\n“It’s hard to imagine just three years ago I was sitting in your exact same seats,” Grohovsky said. \nShe said being in the greek community showed her it’s not all about “walking around campus wearing letters” and partying. She began to tear up as she talked about how greek life has changed her IU experience.\n“I know I’m a better person because I am greek,” Grohovsky said.
(09/18/07 4:21am)
Female students thinking about joining a sorority should save themselves a seat today in what’s expected to be a crowded Alumni Hall. More than 700 women are expected to attend “Greek Opportunities for Women,” an information session on women’s recruitment. \nThe event will kick off formal women’s recruitment from 8 to 10 p.m. today in Alumni Hall.\nThe session will include speeches, PowerPoint presentations and time for students to walk around and meet women from each of the University’s 19 sororities at booths, said Panhellenic President Stephanie Grohovsky.\n“Freshmen should be able to expect to learn what being greek is all about,” Grohovsky said. “(This event) is mainly a brief introduction to values of our organization and how greek members carry those values out in everyday life.”\nBesides learning about how to get started with IU greek organizations, the event plans to expose potential recruits to what they should expect if they join. \n“I think the purpose of ‘Greek Opportunities for Women’ is not only to inform (the recruits) about the logistics of recruitment, but that we’re giving them the first impression of what greek life looks like at IU,” said Kelly Robertson, Panhellenic vice president of recruitment.\nRobertson said the chapters at IU are opposed to stereotypes and are based on “values, scholarship, leadership and service” and the groups will be looking for people interested in those types of activities.\nAside from learning about the greek community in general, those who attend will also find out about the complex formal recruitment process, from 19 Party through Bid Night.\nGrohovsky said going to “Greek Opportunities for Women” benefited her greatly when she was a freshman because it allowed her to look at all the sororities at once and learn about greek life at the same time.\nRobertson said the event should show potential recruits that there is no reason to worry and that the experience will be fun.\n“It’s not scary,” she said. “There are people to help them go through the process (of recruitment).”
(09/17/07 1:50am)
As Phi Sigma Kappa continues to grow in membership, the fraternity hopes to grow in fame as well. \nAt the grand chapter convention in August, IU’s Phi Sigma Kappa was named the best chapter in the nation for the third time in a row. They are the first chapter to accomplish this in the fraternity’s history.\n“I think that this chapter has an overall sense of enthusiasm to continue to grow and raise the level of accomplishments,” said Brian Skram, chapter president. \nThe competition for best chapter is based on an application explaining the chapter’s philanthropy, scholarship, recruitment and campus and community involvement.\nChapter Vice President Craig Creek said recruitment has really set the chapter apart from the pack. He said it has grown by 30 to 40 members each of the past several years.\nAlthough there are many members, they all still contribute to the fraternity, which is impressive, Creek said.\nSkram said the fraternity raised more than $15,000 for IU Dance Marathon last year, and that active members averaged 19 hours of community service per year. \n“We’ve recruited so many motivated and eager gentlemen into the house (who are) taking active roles and making the house better, not only that but on campus,” Creek said.\nThe chapter is only six years old. This freshness allows members to be “selfish” and decide what responsibilities to carve out for themselves, which makes members more participatory, Skram said.\nSkram said a “sense of hunger” to reach high goals is what has made and will make Phi Sigma Kappa go from a “great” chapter to an “amazing” one.\nTo stay on the top of the heap, the chapter can’t stop setting and reaching goals, he said.\nThis year, one of those goals is to become more involved in “smaller service projects in the Bloomington area,” Skram said.\nHe also said the fraternity hopes to get its very own philanthropic event: a softball tournament to raise money for the Special Olympics.\nPhi Sigma Kappa members are positive these efforts will lead them to another win next year.\n“We’re absolutely going to go for it,” Creek said. “We don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t get it a fourth time.”
(09/12/07 4:03am)
YouTube popularized animations, such as “Charlie the Unicorn,” and gave “Muffins” a whole new flavor. But the University Office of Creative Services thinks it can be used persuade high school students \nto attend IU.\nIU recently released five videos titled “Hello, My Name Is Indiana University” on YouTube featuring interesting IU students. With this action, IU hopes to put a face on the University. It isn’t intended to replace current marketing strategies, but to show a more personal side of the University.\nThe videos all have three parts and use “Hello, My Name Is” stickers with the name of the student. By the end of the video, the student’s name is replaced with “Indiana University” so the sticker reads, “Hello, my name is Indiana University.” \nWhile not as popular as the “Shoes” YouTube video, the videos have already received hundreds of hits.\nThe students they feature are diverse and include a Little 500 cyclist, a lead singer of a local band and a student who started his own \nt-shirt business.\nThe students in the videos said their appreciation for what IU offers them played a large role in why they decided to \nbecome involved. \n“Actually when I (was featured in the video), I didn’t even really know that it was going to high school students,” said senior Brian Watts. “I just did it because I really like the University. I think anybody that comes here can have an awesome experience.”\nSenior Jessica Franco said the local music scene played a role in why she transferred to IU \nas a sophomore.\nFranco’s video shows her playing a set at local music hot spot Rhino’s.\nFor senior Amish Tolia, who was also featured in the video, IU is an opportunity, with different options to be created. \n“The beauty of (IU) is you can make it what you want,” \nTolia said. \nTolia said he thinks the videos make it clear that IU can be what students want, and YouTube will be an effective vehicle for getting that point across to high \nschool students.\n“In this day and age it’s obvious – the Internet is the main way to transfer information,” he said.\nIn the end, IU’s mission for the YouTube videos remain the same: offering prospective students a glimpse of the campus before college visits. \nFreshman Stacy Davidson said it might be harder to disperse the YouTube videos than IU anticipates.\n“You just have to promote (prospective students) to get on YouTube,” she said.\nLooking back, freshman Brandon Russell said that as a high school senior the YouTube videos may have \nswayed his opinion. \n“I think (YouTube will be effective) because everyone uses the internet,” Russell said. “By using a wide variety of backgrounds, it’s not biased toward one idea of what IU is.”
(09/11/07 1:56pm)
Beta Theta Pi has a brand-new house with, what is for them, a revamped policy: no alcohol.\nSteve Veldkamp, associate dean of student activities, said alcohol is a problem that many fraternities face, despite IU’s “dry campus” policy, and now Beta is actually enforcing that policy.\nTo keep their new $4.7 million house safe and clean, it will be kept dry, chapter president Greg Baumer said.\n“I think (the policy) is great because most people think that fraternities are just drinking clubs,” Interfraternity Council President Mike Piermont said. “But when you look deeper, they’re \nreally not.”\nMen accepting bids at Beta this year will be doing it for the right reasons, Piermont said. He also said alcohol is no longer as big of a problem for IU fraternities than it was in the past. Most fraternities have already “started to slow it down and be more responsible.”\n“My sense is that fraternities are being more responsible, but (alcohol) is still definitely a big problem,” Veldkamp said.\nAfter losing their charter in 2001, Beta Theta Pi’s members and alumni knew the fraternity had to come back with a cleaner act.\nBeta Theta Pi answered with policy, chapter counselor Charles McCormick said.\n“I don’t like to think of college as training grounds for alcoholism and drug abuse,” McCormick said. “Alcohol abuse \ncorrupts education.”\nBaumer said the policy will also “foster greater brotherhood” and change the “just partying” reputation of the Greek community \non campus.\n“Establishing a culture – that takes time,” Baumer said.\nIU’s famous drinking culture is one that not everyone believes can be so easily changed.\n“I don’t know if it will have a broader effect on the drinking culture of campus because it’s more of a societal issue,” Veldkamp said.\nIU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said he doesn’t think there is enough interaction between the fraternities to cause one to follow Beta’s lead without some sort of reward system.\nEven without the policy, IU is still a “dry campus,” meaning it does not allow alcohol possession or consumption on any of its property, including fraternities, with very few exceptions.\nMinger said that though he has heard of a “movement” among campus fraternities toward less illegal drinking and “hope(s) that initiative is sincere,” there has been no significant rise or fall in the numbers of underage \ndrinkers.\nHowever, IUPD officers rarely pick up underage drinkers at fraternity houses because they are considered private residences and cannot be searched without probable cause, \nMinger said.\nBut, he said, fraternities often get “negative publicity” because they are part of a specific group, and fraternities are “no more flagrant than any other individual class of people in the IU community.”\nThe plan will be enforced through “self-governance” in which brothers watch out for other brothers. Baumer said as president he doesn’t plan to “babysit,” but said instead the policy is based on “instilling trust” and all the live-in members of Beta “buying into” an alcohol-free residence. As of yet, the consequences are still being considered, he said.\n“It’s hard to say (if the policy will be effective) if they’re asking for voluntary compliance,” Minger said. “We as police have asked for voluntary compliance with illegal drinking ... sometimes, as you can see from the arrest log, that doesn’t work.\n“You hope for voluntary compliance, but without any consequences, it’s hard to say whether that’s going to \nbe effective.”\nDrinking shouldn’t be an issue because members just have to commit to staying alcohol-free in the residence and can still drink legally off-campus at bars or house parties, Baumer said. Since they haven’t had a house until recently, that’s what older members are used to doing anyway, Baumer said.\n“Time will tell, but I think (this policy) has a very good chance because they can govern themselves a lot more internally than, say, IFC or the University can,” Piermont said.\nMinger said if Beta Theta Pi live-in members succeed in their endeavor, they “will be looked upon as a very sincere, upstanding group of men.” But, if they fail, he doesn’t “see how anyone could view them as a sincere governing body.”\nBaumer said new members will help “create an infrastructure (that) supports \nresponsibility.”\n“It’s going to be a challenge, but ultimately it’s better,” \nhe said.
(09/11/07 5:39am)
With Oncourse CL fully operating and a new OneStart in the works for the end of September, IU is already seeing a broader focus on technology under President Michael McRobbie’s administration.\nChanges in both programs marks University Information Technology Services move this fall toward more personalized, advanced technology for students and professors.\n“The largest challenge for us is insuring that everything works well for everyone as we are moving through these generations of technology,” said Brad Wheeler, IU’s vice president of Internet technology. “We are pioneering new ways of doing things.” \nWheeler said the major goal of his department is to “establish IT leadership in absolute terms,” not just at a collegiate level.\nWhen he accepted the vice presidency, Wheeler said he knew there was “lot of work ahead of (IT) and it was time to get that work done.”\nProblems with Oncourse CL being down the first week of the semester were due to an overload of volume that would have been impossible to simulate in low-testing, but the program has since been relatively stable, said Barry Walsh, Associate Vice President of Enterprise Software.\nTroubles with adapting to new software are not coming from the students, but the faculty, Walsh said. The reason might be that the faculty depends more heavily on Oncourse CL as a teaching aide in class, where a 10-to-15-minute waiting period would be more critical than for students in the dorms trying to check their assignments, Walsh said.\nWheeler said IU developers will focus system changes on making technologies simpler for users and expanding the “extended IT team,” which has added the University of Michigan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University to its roster.\nWhereas changes in the original Oncourse depended on IU developers, Oncourse CL can be improved by any of these affiliates. This means more tools, features and options for students and faculty, said Associate Dean for Learning Technologies Anastasia Morrone.\nThese tools already include instant course-mail notification, a master calendar for assignments and the ability to store up to a gigabyte of information in the resources section, Morrone said.\nMorrone credited Wheeler as being one of the key players involved from the beginning with the Oncourse CL project.\n“(The) continued enhancement, improvement and innovation” that Oncourse CL is capable of will mean that there should not be a change in its major architecture again for quite some time, Walsh said.\nAs for simplification, the new OneStart will have only five color-coded tabs with links for services down the left-hand side, much like Oncourse, Wheeler said.\nLinks and notifications on the site will be related to the student’s school or major.\nThis student-specific interface will make OneStart more navigable since the current OneStart has what users consider to be too many options, Wheeler said.\nStudents who have specific questions about the changes in Oncourse CL and OneStart should first go to the Information Commons located in the Wells Library or visit the Knowledge Base Web site at http://kb.iu.edu/. For students who aren’t technologically savvy, there are not-for-credit workshops and Internet courses provided through UITS’s IT Training and Education. A list of these classes is available at http://uits.iu.edu/scripts/ose.cgi?amec.ose.help.\n“(IU is) not interested in staying (a technological) forerunner to be number one,” Walsh said. “It’s about service.”
(09/10/07 2:54am)
Rain did not deter freshmen from attending men’s formal fraternity recruitment Friday.\nInterfraternity Council President Mike Piermont said it looked like “about the same flow” as in years past – about 800 to 1,000 students.\n“See how dedicated the greek community is?” Piermont said.\nAfter standing in line and signing up formally, students walked around Dunn Meadow gathering information about each of the fraternities and meeting members to narrow down the ones they might be interested in. \n“This is (the potential new members’) chance, and they’re excited, so they’re coming out,” Piermont said.\nPi Kappa Alpha member and sophomore Jake Lawrence said formal recruitment was an important event for male students to attend because they can see and be seen by fraternity members and “talk to people who look like (them).” \nSigma Alpha Mu sophomore Matthew Polis said his fraternity is looking for “guys who want to do something in the fraternity in bettering us as individuals and participating on campus.”\nAfter Friday’s event, the recruits were randomly split into groups to tour houses so they could continue to narrow down their choices. Throughout the rest of this week, the fraternities will hold different events, such as basketball games and cookouts, to determine the students to whom they want to give bids, Polis said. \nBut it’s not only the fraternities that are being choosy.\nFreshman Ben Gauwens, who came to network and meet new people, said he was looking for “something that has good academics and athletics, not all crazy partying.”\nOthers had already decided to join a fraternity before their IU arrival. \n“My mind’s been made up for a while now (about joining a fraternity),” said freshman Justin Mantell. \nHe said fraternities were probably looking for guys who wanted to have a good time.\n“That’s what it’s all about,” he said.
