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(01/05/07 4:46am)
Two loose limestone panels swaying from the Herman B Wells Library were repaired over winter break. IU officials said the problem appears to be isolated, as ongoing work has not uncovered further problems.\nOn Dec. 1, two members of the library's third-floor staff discovered that two 300-pound limestone panels on the east side of the building were swaying because of strong winds. IU employees took the panels down from the building's facade and an architecture firm was contracted to study its limestone exterior for further damages or areas of concern.\nThe University hired Arsee Engineers of Indianapolis to carry out the inspections, which began Dec. 21.\nEric Bartheld, the Wells Library director of communication, said the University's architectural department was quick to secure the area below to prevent pedestrian traffic after the problem was discovered. \nUniversity architect Robert Meadows said everything is being done to make sure the building is safe. The inspections should be finished in time for the start of classes, he said.\n"We are always checking the buildings to make sure they are safe; it is not unusual," Meadows said. "Our biggest concern is safety. Last year we removed and replaced a part of the Geology Building because we believed there to be a danger."\nMeadows said they have had workers on cranes inspecting the east side of the library's graduate tower and the scaffolding on the lower tower. \n"We took off two pieces of loose stone and did some probing from the inside to the back of the wall to determine how the pre-cast panels are hung," Meadows said. "The two loose panels we found appear to be an anomaly -- everything else looks good."\nBartheld said the library's hours of operation were not disrupted by the work being done.
(12/01/06 5:11pm)
Two-time national champion Joe Dubuque left some enormous shoes for IU wrestlers to fill when he graduated last year, even though the 125-pounder has only size seven feet. \n"When people think Indiana 125, the face of that is Joe Dubuque," said Mike Peysakhovich, one of the IU wrestlers who looks to replace Dubuque at the 125-pound spot in coming seasons. "So when Dubuque graduates, the following year everyone is expecting that whoever fills in at that weight is going to be probably pretty good."\nPeysakhovich, a freshman, will redshirt this wrestling season, but he and others in the program are confident the IU wrestling team won't skip a beat when Dubuque's heir apparent, Angel Escobedo, gets a chance to prove himself. Escobedo redshirted last season while Dubuque finished out his eligibility. \n"He's definitely a very talented kid who's a hard worker," IU coach Duane Goldman said of Escobedo. "(He) is used to winning and has a winner's attitude."\nEscobedo was a four-time state champion in high school, tallying an impressive 174-1 record at Griffith High School in Griffith, Ind. In last weekend's Hoosier Duals, Escobedo was a perfect 5-0 in his matches.\nFollowing Dubuque, Escobedo's hopes for success are understandably optimistic, but Goldman said he doesn't put pressure on Escobedo to have the success of his predecessor right away.\n"At the national level, once a guy wins a national title and graduates, it's not always the case where the guy who was behind him fills in and starts winning nationals right away. There's not that mentality," Goldman said. "The pressure is just for (the 125-pound wrestlers) to continue to learn and do their best, but we're confident that if they're able to that, they'll have very successful seasons." \nGoldman might not put pressure on Escobedo to win a national championship right away, but that doesn't mean Escobedo isn't putting that pressure on himself. \n"My goals for this year are (to become an) All-American and become a national champ and help my team to be top five in the nation," Escobedo said. \nWhat will it take to achieve those goals? For one, Escobedo said he normally weighs around 150 pounds when he's not in wrestling shape, which means he has to put in "countless hours" of workouts to shed weight. \n"When everyone else is out there eating and drinking, you're sitting there starving," Escobedo said. "Waking up, going to class when you haven't eaten anything or drank anything, and you're starving -- it's just hard. It's discipline you have to keep up with. ... You hear a pop can open and you're just looking around. Or someone drinking something and you're like, 'Man, they better finish it all.' You notice little things like that." \nPeysakhovich, too, knows all about shedding weight, but he says it's not without its upside. \n"You don't cut the weight and go out there and get your ass kicked," he said. "Why cut that weight and get your ass beat for no reason? You cut that weight, and it makes you meaner and tougher and \nangrier, and your will to win is even greater." \nOn Thanksgiving, Escobedo said he worked out in the morning to cut weight for a weekend tournament. He said he had a small plate of food and two or three glasses of water with his coach to celebrate the holiday, but he was back working out in the evening to shed the last few pounds he needed to reach 125. \nEscobedo's Thanksgiving might have been a far cry from most other students', but he said he's willing to put in the work to reach his goals, which include winning not just national titles but an Olympic one as well. \n"There's a tremendous difference in character," he said of the difference between his team and normal students. "When I lived in the dorms last year, (and) I was going to bed, people were going out. I was waking up for workouts; people were coming in. It was just that difference. People are doing whatever, and you know you can't do the activities they do. You can't just go out and have fun because you have to get a workout in." \nEscobedo's work ethic has won him an important fan: Dubuque, now an assistant wrestling coach at Hofstra University, says Escobedo has what it takes to win at the national level. \n"You have to want it," Dubuque explained in a phone interview. "You have to be (a) hard-nosed, hard-working, relentless kid who just refuses to lose. I think Angel has a lot of those characteristics. ... He's got all the tools to be a four-time All-American and a four-time national champ." \nEscobedo said he still looks up to his mentor. \n"It's really hard to fill Joe Dubuque's shoes because there really is only one Joe Dubuque," Escobedo said. \nIf things go his way the next four years, people also might be saying there's only one Angel Escobedo.
(11/30/06 4:38am)
The IU Student Building's iconic clock tower hasn't chimed for weeks due to water damage, IU Physical Plant officials said.\n"Apparently, it has had some water that has dripped into its electronics," said Bruce Williams, service center manager at the physical plant, the University's maintenance department. \nThe ringing bells of the clock tower, which was completed in 1906 and renovated in the early-1990s, are electronically automated. \nHank Hewetson, the physical plant's assistant vice president for facility operations, said plant workers must inspect the problem more closely before he will know when the bells' chiming can be fixed.\n"If they can't fix it internally, they'll have to get the company that manufactured it in to repair," he said.\nHewetson said he wasn't sure when exactly the bells stopped chiming.\nThe bells were made by the Verdin Company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. A Verdin spokeswoman said Wednesday afternoon that the University had not contacted the company requesting a repair.\nPhysical plant workers inspected the tower Monday, but the plant did not say what, if any, additional information was learned.\nIn addition to the absence of the chimes, the tower's four-sided clock lagged more than an hour behind schedule as of Wednesday afternoon.\nIt's not the first time the clock tower has been silenced, whether by school officials or Mother Nature.\nThe University stopped the chiming in respect for an illness suffered by former Dean of IU's Department of Music Barzille Winifred Merrill, who was appointed dean in 1919. In December of 1990, a fire ripped through the Student Building, destroying much of the clock and tower, including all the bells. At the time, the Student Building was undergoing a $4.5 million renovation.\nThe most recent clock and bells cost about $200,000, according to a July 27, 1991, Herald-Times article. IU staged a rededication ceremony outside the Student Building in October 1991.\nOn June 16, 1905, the IU board of trustees approved the original purchase: $1,490 for the clock and $3,650 for the bells. Adjusted for inflation to 2005 rates, the costs are $34,000 and $84,000, respectively.\nToday, it seems the clock tower serves as a historic showpiece but little else. The landmark, a favorite of budding photographers, is regularly seen on postcards, IU marketing materials and gift shop trinkets.\nWhile many might not even notice the chimes have been silenced during the past few weeks, graduate student Justin Otten said he misses the familiar jingle.\nThe clock's chimes, he said, became part of his work routine as an assistant in the Office of International Services, which is housed in Franklin Hall, next to the Student Building. The bells, which chimed twice an hour until recently, reminded him and his coworkers to open and close the office doors at certain times during the day.\n"Plus, it just adds a nice feel to campus," Otten said. "Its absence (is noticeable) when it's not ringing"
(11/29/06 4:00pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The man’s body hung from a piece of rope attached to a construction scaffold, lifeless in the chilly winter air. Around his neck was an expertly tied hangman’s noose. His highly polished combat shoes barely touched the platform. The dead man was clothed in blue jeans, a dark windbreaker, and gray woolen gloves. Dust and debris covered the ground just below his clean, black shoes.It was 7 a.m. on Feb. 15, 1960, when the morning construction crew discovered the man hanging in the partially completed IU football stadium. An investigation began that morning and ended two months later. But for the father of the man in dark clothes and clean shoes, the case is far from closed.At about 7:15 a.m., Bloomington Chief of Police and Monroe County Deputy Coroner George E. Huntington received word that a man’s body had been discovered in the new stadium. He arrived on the scene fewer than 10 minutes later to find the area crowded with police officers, university officials, and local reporters. After surveying the scene briefly – and without securing the area or collecting any evidence – Huntington pronounced the cause of death as suicide. He told the crowd that the man had jumped into the noose and broken his neck. Price Cox, an investigator for the IU Division of Safety, added that the man had died instantly. Huntington then went back, removed a wallet from the man’s jeans, and identified him as Airman 3rd Class Michael F. Plume, a student at the United States Air Force Language School at IU. The workmen then lifted the body in the air and untied the rope at the top of the scaffold. The crew lowered him to the ground and cut the rope, leaving the noose attached to the body. Michael’s body was loaded into a vehicle for transport to Day Funeral Home in Bloomington. Having completed his investigation at the stadium, Huntington left the scene and went to the funeral home, where he made arrangements with an employee to handle the body. Huntington also placed a call to Dr. Neal Baxter, Monroe County coroner, to discuss the need to perform an autopsy. Since the cause of death had been determined at the scene, Huntington and Baxter decided that an autopsy was unnecessary. However, Baxter, still seeking a motive for the suicide, scheduled an inquest into the death for the following day. By 7:45 a.m., the first stage of the investigation into Michael Plume’s death had been completed. The process had taken about half an hour. That same morning, nearly 1,100 miles to the west in Evergreen, Colo., 42-year-old William Plume stayed home from work with a cold. His youngest son, 5-year-old David, kept him company while his wife, Marjorie, visited a neighbor. When the phone rang at about 9 a.m. Mountain time, David answered it and roused his father from his sickbed. The caller was a reporter from the Denver Post. He wasted no time in explaining the purpose of his call: He wanted comments on the story that Plume’s oldest son, 18-year-old Michael, had been found dead in Bloomington, Ind. Stunned, Plume told the reporter he didn’t know anything about that. He had spoken to Michael just three days ago, and he had seemed fine.He quickly ended the call and found the phone number Michael had given him in case of emergency. He dialed it and asked to speak to his son. After a few moments, he was connected to Capt. Edwin H. Shuman, commanding officer of Michael’s unit. He asked if Michael was there. Shuman answered without preamble: “He hanged himself last night.”Plume felt like he had been hit. Shuman’s words were the first indication he had received that Michael had taken his own life. With a growing feeling of disbelief, Plume called his neighbor’s house and told his wife to come home right away. When his wife and their neighbor arrived, Plume broke the news to them. The neighbor left to pick up Michael’s five younger brothers from school. Plume had to break the news of Michael’s death yet again, this time to Gordon, 16; Stephen, 15; Russell, 12; Larry, 10 and David, 5. Later that afternoon, Plume received a call from a family friend in Indianapolis who told him that an inquest was scheduled for the following day. He immediately decided to attend. Plume arrived in Bloomington on Tuesday, Feb. 16 – the first of approximately two dozen visits he would make to the city in the course of investigating his son’s death. He could not believe that his son – a happy young man who had given no indication of any significant problems in his life – would suddenly kill himself.By all accounts, Airman 3rd Class Michael F. Plume was an outstanding student who enjoyed life at the United States Air Force Language School. He had enrolled in the Air Force in July 1959, shortly after high school graduation. He had planned to specialize in electronics until Air Force officials learned that he had studied Russian in high school and sent him to the their newly inaugurated language school at IU to study Slavic languages.Michael arrived in Bloomington in October 1959, one months after his 18th birthday, and quickly established a reputation as one of the top students in the language school. He enjoyed being able to combine his Air Force training with higher education, telling his family: “I’m doing my military service and getting college credits at the same time.” In letters to his family and friends, he described Indiana as a beautiful place, sometimes enclosing his photos of Bloomington and the IU campus. He became popular with his fellow airmen and made many friends on campus. In a letter to a friend sent three weeks before his death, he wrote: “Man, this is the life!” Michael last spoke to his father Friday, Feb. 12. He talked about a Russian exam he had recently taken. It had been difficult, but he thought he had done well. The last thing his father told him was to take care of himself.Michael laughed and said he would. After the inquest, Monroe County Coroner Dr. Neal Baxter told Bloomington’s Daily Herald-Telephone that he would issue a ruling on Michael’s death within a week. The official verdict, however, did not come until April 15, 1960, nearly two months later: suicide, motive unknown. Plume completely disagreed with the verdict. By that point he strongly believed that his son had not killed himself. He began to focus on the initial investigation conducted by Huntington and Baxter. Plume believed they had jumped to the conclusion of suicide and consequently failed to conduct a thorough inquiry into his son’s death. With pressure from IU President Herman B Wells and Dean of Students Robert H. Shaffer, Baxter eventually allowed the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations to open an inquiry into the case. In June 1960, the OSI exhumed Michael’s body from his grave in Colorado and conducted an autopsy. They performed laboratory tests on his clothing and the rope, and conducted more than 200 interviews with family, friends, classmates, and everyone involved in the initial investigation, including Huntington and Baxter. Plume had achieved his goal of an independent investigation into his son’s death. But there was a hitch: The OSI was merely a fact-finding agency and was prevented from providing any sort of opinions about its findings – that was left to Baxter.To make matters worse for Plume, the Air Force would not provide a copy of the OSI’s report to him without Baxter’s permission. Baxter denied Plume’s request to see the report. It wasn’t until after 1966, with the passage of the Freedom of Information Act, that Plume was able to obtain a copy of the OSI’s report from the Air Force. The report’s findings convinced Plume beyond a shadow of a doubt that his son did not take his own life.One of the key conclusions was that, contrary to Huntington’s and Baxter’s reports, Michael had not died of a broken neck, nor had he jumped into the hangman’s noose from atop the scaffold. According to the autopsy conducted by the OSI physician, Michael had slumped into the noose, and the pressure of the rope had cut off his airway, resulting in death by strangulation. His neck had not been broken at all. Then there was the matter of Michael’s shoes. Though the ground at the stadium had been covered with dirt and cement dust, the workmen interviewed by the OSI had reported that his shoes were highly polished and almost completely free of scuffmarks – even the soles. If he had walked into the stadium by himself, the workers questioned, how had he managed to keep his shoes so clean?Michael had also been wearing woolen gloves. Though the Air Force-issued gloves had been dry-cleaned immediately following his death, the OSI sent them and the rope to the FBI for analysis. The FBI reported that there were fibers from Air Force-issued gloves on the rope, but there were no rope fibers found on the gloves that Michael had worn. Furthermore, because Plume had requested the report through the Freedom of Information Act, he also received the Air Force’s internal memos, which Baxter had not seen. One read: “There is a reasonable possibility that the death might not have been suicidal, and if the death appears to be from foul play, we have a reasonable suspect.”OSI agents learned through their interviews that three airmen, including Michael’s roommate, had been engaging in homosexual activity around the time of his death. According to statements from the three airmen, one encounter had even taken place in Michael’s room while he slept. Air Force regulations at the time made homosexual behavior grounds for dishonorable discharge – in fact, simply letting homosexual behavior go unreported could result in dishonorable discharge. Plume believes that Michael became aware of his classmates’ activities and, wanting to avoid a discharge, planned to report them to his superior officers – but before he could do so, his fellow airmen silenced him and made his death look like suicide.In the years after receiving the OSI report, Plume met with a succession of Monroe County coroners in his attempts to have the suicide verdict changed. Baxter was the first to review the report, but the OSI’s findings did not sway him. He refused to change the verdict of suicide, although he did change the cause of death from “broken neck” to “strangulation.” The verdict stood for more than four decades as three of Baxter’s successors – including George E. Huntington, who had played such a crucial role in the initial investigation – declined to change it. Finally, in June 2003, Plume met with current Coroner David Toumey in Bloomington. Encouraged by Toumey’s willingness to review the case, Plume prepared materials explaining exactly how the physical evidence supported a verdict of homicide. More than a year later, in 2004, Toumey issued a finding of “undetermined.” For Plume, unwavering in his belief that his son was murdered, this was not enough. At the age of 89, William Plume has been working on his son’s case for 46 years. He has always been clear about his objective in trying to reopen the case. Despite his firm belief that his son was murdered, he has no interest in pursuing a criminal case. “I don’t give a hoot about who did it, or why it was done,” he says. “I think I know both pretty close, but I don’t care about that.” Plume’s only goal is to have the Monroe County coroner change the official ruling on Michael’s death to homicide. After years of trying to work quietly with the coroner’s office, this year he has changed tactics and made his efforts public. In September 2006, he put together materials summarizing the case and mailed them to more than 80 influential people in Bloomington and Monroe County, including the mayor, city council, county prosecutor, county commissioners, chamber of commerce, IU administrators and faculty, IU trustees, and local media. Plume’s hope is that enough people with political clout will apply pressure to Toumey and persuade him to change the verdict from “undetermined” to “homicide.”Plume’s relentless pursuit to change the verdict is deeply rooted in his commitment to his family. He believes that Michael’s five younger brothers – now grown men with children of their own – deserve to have the records show that their brother was murdered. As he told Michael’s mother when he began his efforts more than four decades ago: “Someday they’ll be grown up, and they will want to know what happened to their brother. I’m going to find out.”
(11/16/06 3:52am)
Professor Alan Rugman wanted to put his already-extensive credentials to better use.\nWhen he was offered the opportunity to be the keynote speaker at a nationwide symposium on South Korea's foreign direct investment policy, he jumped at the chance.\nIn his second trip to the country, Rugman — the L. Leslie Waters chair in international business, professor of management and business economics and public policy and director of the IU Center for International Business Education and Research — visited South Korea from Oct. 30 to Nov. 4 of this year. While visiting the country, Rugman met with the country's president, prime minister and the minister of commerce, industry and energy.\n"It was a long trip," Rugman said. "The events I was involved (in) were very interesting. I was impressed with the competence of the ministry of commerce, industry and energy. They have largely English-speaking officials, and they interact with foreign investors."\nDuring his visit, Rugman attended various events with the chief executive officers of companies such as Fuji Xerox, 3M Korea and Magna International Korea. These corporations are sending signals that they want to attract foreign investment and want to have high quality knowledge-based investment, he said.\n"Korea has come up the curve; it's no longer a cheap labor place," Rugman said. "That role is filled by China. Korea has very skilled workers and is developing clusters of firms, which include foreign and Korean firms."\nOne of the issues discussed on his trip was the need for free-trade agreements between South Korea and other major industrial countries. Currently, negotiations are underway for a free-trade agreement between South Korea and the United States and between South Korea and Canada, Rugman said. When he met with the Korean president, Rugman learned there is talk of free trade between South Korea and the European Union. \n"The reason they need these free-trade agreements is that the (World Trade Organization) has failed to include a multilateral agreement," Rugman said. "Countries like Korea have to do these bilateral trade agreements with Canada, the European Union and so on."\nRugman said he spoke in favor of these agreements because they help promote the economic development of Korea, they give access to the American market and they allow American firms to invest in the country.\nPrior to his visit, Rugman co-authored a paper titled "Multinationals, Globalization, and Public Policy Towards FDI in the Republic of Korea" with In Hyeock Lee, a graduate student. The paper details his reasons why South Korea should have an open door for foreign investment. His argument is that foreign investment would help upgrade its economy and, in turn, produce Korean multinationals.\nLee, who had experience working for the Korean government under the minister of commerce, industry and energy, said Korea started to attract foreign direct investment because the country wanted to overcome a financial crisis. This is why Rugman was contacted to give the keynote address, he said.\n"Professor Rugman is a big name in international business, focusing on foreign direct investment," Lee said. "So, he must be the most credible expert in foreign direct investment."\nLee said Rugman's meeting with Korean officials is important because he can give advice so the Korean government can formulate better ways to make direct foreign investment.\n"I believe he made a great contribution toward public policy in Korea," Lee said.\nP. Roberto Garcia, clinical associate professor of international business and one of Rugman's colleagues, referred to him as one of the leading scholars in the field of international business. Garcia also said Rugman is a very important academic and researcher in the field.\n"He's very active in the application of international business theory by helping governments and companies," Garcia said. "That's very valuable. It's valuable in terms of students and our field. It communicates that his research is applicable and has relevance in the real world"
(11/09/06 3:49am)
I had Mr. Gordon Kato as an instructor in PSY P154, the accompanying lab for Introductory Psychology II for Majors (PSY P152). Though it took me a while to understand all the statistics involved in the results section of a psychology research paper (sounds mind-boggling already), Mr. Kato really took the time to help me individually so that I could better understand the material. Even though it was difficult material to understand, Gordon was committed to making sure we understood it so that we would have great experiments and papers. I am very saddened to hear about his death. I would like him to know and want to thank him for helping so many of us students with the difficulties of psychology. You will be missed greatly, Gordon!
Sarah Wells
,
Junior
(11/02/06 6:03am)
Social psychology graduate student Gordon E. Kato was found dead Tuesday, said Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Daniel Carnes. Police could not provide a cause of death or other details.\nKato was 41, according to an e-mail from Heather M. Winne of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.\nJim Sherman, professor of psychological and brain sciences and Kato's faculty adviser, worked closely with Kato on research projects and said Kato didn't show up to work Monday.\nSherman said Kato's absence was not too unusual because Kato had no professional obligations on Mondays. However, he began to worry when Kato, who is a teaching assistant, didn't show up to teach his Tuesday afternoon class. \n"I know Gordon, and he's very responsible, and he's very reliable," Sherman said. "He wouldn't just miss these things without telling people."\nTwo graduate students drove to his house Tuesday. When no one answered, they called the police, Sherman said. Police found Kato dead in his home, Sherman said. \nKato, who was originally from Hawaii, was a third-year graduate student in social psychology, Sherman said. Kato's mother still lives in Hawaii, he said. \nSherman helped get Kato acquainted with IU and learned they were interested in similar research work. He said Kato previously had his own publishing company in New York City for a few years. When he arrived at IU, he immediately made friends.\n"He was older than most grad students," Sherman said. "He was in a different stage of life, but he fit right in."\nDrew Hendrickson, one of Kato's best friends and another graduate student in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, said Kato was hoping to go back to Hawaii and teach at a university there after getting his degree at IU. But at the same time, Kato was happy with what was going on currently.\n"Gordon was the kind of person who was enjoying what he was doing right now," Hendrickson said. "He wasn't all consumed with that was down the road, which I think too many grad students get (caught) up in."\nFellow grad student Elise Percy Hall recalled one of her favorite memories of how Kato used his unique humor to calm her nerves just before she gave a speech. He sang the song "Muskrat Love," which sent them into minutes of laughter, she said.\n"And he just knew exactly how to make someone else laugh even when they are nervous and calm them down," she said. "I'll just always remember how he was willing to give of himself and not take himself seriously in order to help someone else feel better."\nJohn Petrocelli, co-teaching assistant in a statistics in psychology course, said he had received e-mails from Kato's students throughout the day after they heard the news.\n"Everybody that knew Gordon loved Gordon, I can tell you that," Petrocelli said. "He's just a wonderful guy, a giving guy. He always had a great sense of humor -- he could give anyone a laugh about anything probably."\nStudents respected Kato, Hall said, but most of all, other graduate students recognized his humility.\n"He was one of the most humble people I've ever met," Percy Hall said. "We're all crushed. We loved him very, very much"
(10/25/06 4:23am)
Graduate students at IU have experienced higher tuition costs and face greater debt when leaving the University, as state funds for higher education have withered away over the past decade. \nWith the upcoming Nov. 7 elections, many are questioning how politics and government spending can affect graduate students. \nThe funding slash in large part has caused expected debt to surge among graduate students by more than 250 percent during the past decade and has made competition to become student academic appointees -- teaching assistants, assistant instructors and research assistants who are paid part or all of their tuition -- more fierce. \nWith higher education allowances dissolving, graduate students at IU have especially been affected. Tuition has doubled in some graduate programs during the past decade. In 1996, Indiana residents could expect to pay $7,800 per year in tuition to earn a Masters of Business Administration degree. Today, tuition for the same degree surpasses $14,000, according to the IU Factbook. \nPatrick Bauer, D-South Bend, the Indiana House of Representative Democratic leader, said the only way to reverse this trend was if the people demanded a change.\n"It depends on whether people in the higher education community realize (the funding) has slipped," he said. "Now the only way to help that is to raise tuition -- and we don't want that in Indiana. We want to make it affordable."\nAcross the aisle, Republicans who hope to retain control of the House and the Senate disagree with Bauer's calls for higher education funding. \n"When the Democrats were in control, we had overspending every year. When Gov. (Mitch) Daniels entered office, the state was in $1 billion in debt because of failed Democratic leadership over the past seven or eight years that robbed nearly every account out there," said Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis, chairman of the House Education Committee in the Indiana House of Representatives.\nAlong with the skyward rise in tuition, graduate students also saw a pinch in tuition-deferring opportunities. \nThough each of the University's graduate schools offer some employment program aimed at helping offset tuition costs, some reach further than others. Currently, the College of Arts and Sciences employs the most graduate students with 1,825 serving as student academic appointees -- down about 200 from 2004, according to information gathered by the Office for Academic Personnel Policies and Services. \nSince the General Assembly started actively deflating University funds almost a decade ago in hopes of leveling off the growing state deficit, only about 30 percent of graduate students have served as appointed student employees. \nPaul Rohwer, moderator of the Graduate and Professional Student Organization, said higher education funding is one of the issues that could influence the way students vote. He said it seems the Democrats have really worked to make education their primary platforms but added they failed to reach out enough to student voters.\nAvraham Spechler, School of Education representative to the GPSO, said that no shift in concessions would be seen until both citizens and legislators felt an increase in funds could directly boost the state, adding this was an issue a single election could not resolve. \n"If you're a Hoosier who has lived here for a number of years, how are these higher education services going to help you? And how are these graduate students who will most likely leave the state anyway going to help you?" he said. "It's going to take a shift in the political constellation. It is going to take a shift in the economic base that can support these more educated workers." \nSince 1975, IU's portion of the state's general operating budget has dropped more than 3 percent, according to information from the IU Office of Government Relations. Though damaging to public universities throughout the state, other areas under current allocations have flourished. Medicaid funding skyrocketed 40 percent since 2000 and funding growth for the state correctional and public safety systems doubled that of higher education, according to the IU Office of Government Relations. \nWithin the University, areas like financial aid programs for graduate students have endured the most brutal cutbacks, while other sectors remain less affected. Full professors, for instance, have seen a 22 percent hike in salaries since 2000 -- increasing the average wage to more than $130,000 per year, according to the IU Factbook. \n"Getting professors is becoming a very competitive element to higher education," said Debbie Sibbitt, director of Hoosiers for Higher Education, an advocacy group that works to lobby public officials on higher education funding. "If you look at all of these baby boomers getting ready to retire, there is not nearly the influx to support all of those baby boomers who will be leaving those positions. This makes it a truly competitive venue."\nAs elections inch closer each day, some students and staff have spoken against what they believe to be detrimental behavior toward Indiana's economic future. Sibbitt said the outlook of this issue rests upon voter results. \n"It's going to depend on Nov. 7. That is what is going to make a determination about what happens," she said. "Both legislative areas -- the (state) House and the Senate -- are both Republican now, and that could very easily change things if the House especially goes Democrat"
(10/24/06 2:40am)
Challenging friends to dares, double dares and even triple-dog dares reigns as a schoolyard staple for earning peer respect. For the Bloomington Playwrights Project's Richard Perez, a dare even led to his life's work -- theater.\n"It gave me a voice at that point in my life when I felt I didn't have one," he said of the impact his beginning days in theater had on him.\nAn actor, director, teacher and now producing artistic director at the BPP, Perez first took a theater class on a dare he proposed to his younger brother as an upperclassman in his high school north of San Francisco. Perez said he knew subconsciously he was interested in theater but needed a specific reason to take the class. The dare provided that opportunity. \nInspired, he left California after graduation to study acting in New York. He now lives in Bloomington, which he has called home for four years. \nPerez describes the BPP as a way to help new plays and playwrights.\n"In a business that always forgets about it, you have to infuse theater with new blood," Perez said.\nPerez started as "new blood" at the BPP four years ago as a volunteer, following the dream of owning his own theater company. When the former producing artistic director left, Perez applied for and took the position.\nAs producing artistic director, Perez's responsibilities are numerous. He does everything from choosing shows and reading new plays to hiring new talent and promoting the BPP's ideas to other theater companies nationwide.\n"Some people say I do nothing," he said jokingly, drawing laughs from two of his colleagues working at desks nearby.\nThe BPP kicked off the 2006-07 season -- "one of the best seasons we've ever put together," Perez said in September with "Border Lines," a festival of plays by Hispanic writers.\nBreshaun Joyner, the BPP's education director, said audience response and turnout for the show was successful, particularly because the audience was encouraged to take part in the performance and interact with the performers on stage.\n"When the audience gets permission to call out to the performers, they definitely go for it," she said.\nThe season continued this weekend with "Boomer," an autobiographical improvisational movement show performed by Nell Weatherwax. Perez said he was impressed by the show and the audience's reaction to it.\n"It was a wonderful turnout, and the response was very positive," he said.\n"Arrangement for Two Violas," a play detailing the two male doctors' relationship, set in 1938, will be the next show for the BPP and will be directed by Perez. It runs Nov. 2-18.\n"We are always looking for plays with purpose, plays that tell a story and make a point without hitting the audience over the head with it," Perez said in a BPP press release. "At its heart, this play is a love story between two men, and the bias toward that sort of relationship in that period of time."\nAlthough Perez's influence on the choice of shows is important, he said volunteers make a large impact on the organization as a whole.\n"Volunteers are crucial to the day-to-day operation of the organization," he said.\nPerez counts volunteer Sonja Johnson as one of the biggest influences in his career. He said Johnson, a full-time volunteer, also serves as director of development.\n"She constantly reminds me what it is to have integrity," Perez said.\nPerez's co-workers are equally quick to praise him. Rachael Himsel, the BPP's public relations director, said she admires many of his qualities but especially his passion for theater.\n"He loves the process of directing and the process of creating a play," Himsel said. "(Perez is) really dedicated to doing theater that matters"
(10/23/06 4:31am)
The last time Monroe County had an non-presidential national election only 17 people from the Bloomington Five precinct showed up to vote.\nThe precinct, which had 1,281 registered voters at the time, is entirely on-campus -- it includes any land between Fee Lane, Jordan Avenue, 17th and 10th streets. The precinct includes Foster Quad and seven greek houses. Only 1.4 percent of Bloomington Five residents actually voted in the 2002 congressional election. \nBut the low turnout numbers that appear every year in student housing precincts in elections are misrepresentative, said Jessica White, elections supervisor for Monroe County. Many of the voters who registered to vote in Monroe County don't actually live in the county anymore -- they moved away after they graduated from IU but never transferred their registration. According to a 2005 report from the U.S. Census Bureau, Monroe County has a population of 87,000 people ages 18 and older, but there are currently more than 102,000 registered voters in the county. \n"Our percentages, they're not even close to being accurate," she said.\nIn order to come up with more accurate numbers, Monroe County will begin eliminating names of "inactive voters" — registered voters who have not voted in the previous two general elections — from the registered voters list.\nVoters become inactive when they do not vote in a general election, meaning a registered Monroe County voter who did not vote in the 2004 election and this year's election will become unregistered this year.\nRight now, about 46,000 of Monroe County's registered voters are inactive, White said.\nThe low turnout rates from 2002 in predominantly student-populated areas are nothing new, White said. White is in the process of planning this year's election, which is of similar caliber to the 2002 election and even includes a race between the same two Congressional candidates. \nWhite said it's important to note that voters who are taken off the registration list can register again whenever they choose. The county attempted to send postcards to inactive voters to warn them they would be taken off the list, but many of the postcards came back because the voters had moved away.\n"This isn't like a permanent you-can-never-vote-again type of thing," White said.\nIn the Bloomington Five district, more than 75 percent of registered voters are inactive. In the Bloomington Nine district, which includes Forest Quad, Read Center and Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, 1,400 of the 2,000 registered voters are inactive. This year, the combined polling sites will serve about 900 active registered voters.\nEven though the numbers are skewed, White said, they still give some accurate facts at surface value. Many of the 46,000 registered voters may no longer live in Monroe County, but the numbers still indicate that they're not voting, at least not in Indiana. Indiana law only allows voters to be registered in one county at a time.\nTo avoid overstaffing the polls this year for a low turnout, the county is combining several precincts with high student populations. This year, Bloomington Five will vote at Read Center with Bloomington Nine's precinct, which had a 4.66 percent turnout for the 2002 election.\n"Instead of paying 10 poll workers, we'll pay seven," White said. "There's no point in having five people out there (at each precinct)."\nWhite said combining predominantly student precincts will save the county money. Monroe County spends about $40,000 for each election to pay poll workers.\nElection Day is Nov. 7. Voter registration ended Oct. 10. Registered voters can now vote early in the Monroe County Clerk's Office Annex in the Curry Building, 238 W. Seventh St.
(10/20/06 4:43am)
MARTINSVILLE -- Four days into the murder trial of John R. Myers II, Jill Behrman's parents accused the defense of breaking Indiana legislative code and denigrating their daughter's character.\nIn a press conference held at the end of the day's testimony, Marilyn and Eric Behrman read a statement to reporters stating they were "appalled" at the statements defense attorney Patrick Baker was making to the press in regards to Jill Behrman's character. \n"Must we be forced to live with Mr. Baker's accusations?" Eric Behrman asked. "Jill is certainly unable to defend herself, just as she was that day in May 2000."\nBaker theorized that Jill Behrman fled her home May 31, pregnant with an older man's baby that she was hiding from her parents.\nThe Behrmans highlighted a part of Indiana law that asserts a "victim has the right to be treated with fairness, dignity and respect throughout the criminal justice process" and asked if Baker was being held to the same standards as the witnesses who are swearing oaths before they testify.\nOn Thursday, Baker continued to cast doubt over Jill Behrman's intentions the Saturday she disappeared, suggesting the 19-year-old was having an affair with a former co-worker and arguing that he should be considered a suspect just as much as Myers.\nBrian Hollars, a former labor coordinator at the Student Recreational Sports Center, denied being romantically involved with Behrman when he testified Thursday. He told the jury he had never dated her, had a romantic interest in her or argued with her. He also denied ever working out with her, sending her e-mail or even knowing her phone number.\n"I absolutely had nothing to do with Jill Behrman's death," the Bloomington firefighter said when asked by the prosecution if he had killed her.\nHollars, who hired Behrman in the early spring of 2000 to work at the SRSC, said he had little personal contact with her as an employee, since she was directly supervised by another co-worker, Wes Burton, who testified Wednesday.\nThe crux of the defense's questioning lay in the 20- and 12-gauge shotguns Hollars owns and uses for hunting birds with his father-in-law. The guns, which are both over-under double-barrel shotguns, have never been examined by the police. Hollars said he offered to show them to police officers when they questioned him at his house, but they declined.\nHe also uses size eight shot, a common size for bird hunting. Lead pellets of a similar size were found near Jill Behrman's remains. Hollars said he does not carry the guns in his vehicle routinely.\n"I believe I was considered a suspect for a lot of coincidental reasons," Hollars said, citing the location where he and his wife used to live, on the corner of Maple Grove Road, as being close to the location where Jill Behrman's bike was found and the fact that he owns a weapon similar to what killed her.\nDuring the intense questioning from both sides, Hollars said on May 31, 2000, he arrived early to work at about 6:30 or 7 a.m. to assist in loading ice chests into a truck for his boss's wife. The only time he might have left the building during the day was to check four athletic fields on campus to ensure their upkeep, he said.\n"I wanted to come in here and at least defend my name and help out at least in this trial," he said. Myers swiveled slightly back and forth in his chair as Hollars testified.\nProsecutor Steve Sonnega told reporters during the lunch break that Baker's legal tactics were only going to alienate him from the jurors. \n"There's not a single piece of evidence tying (Hollars) to her." he said. "There are just a lot of unfounded accusations."\nThe prosecution called Greg Bartlett to the witness stand Thursday afternoon. He told the jury he saw a bicycle, later identified as Jill Behrman's, laying on the side of Maple Grove Road shortly after 4 p.m. May 31, 2000.\nBartlett said he looked around to see if anyone was nearby, and when he saw that there wasn't, he looked in the tool pouch affixed to the bike seat to see if there was identification inside. There wasn't, he said.\nA few days later, while at work, he said he saw in the newspaper that Jill Behrman was missing. The description of her bike and the one he found and put in his barn "matched to a T." He said he thought he had her bike, and then two detectives came to see it. When the jurors asked questions via a slip of paper handed to Judge Christopher Burnham, they wanted to know if Bartlett could have damaged the bicycle while handling it. He said no.\nFour other witnesses testified they saw the bike in that location the afternoon of Jill Behrman's disappearance.\nBrian Behrman, 27, also spoke Thursday morning, recounting his sister's love of biking. \n"She always wanted to keep up with me," he said, explaining how her cycling skills had outpaced his by the time she graduated from high school.\nBrian Behrman said he was "fairly close" to his sister and said she didn't date anyone in particular during her freshman year. He also told the jury she had no favorite route that she normally took while bicycling, disagreeing with the defense when they tried to suggest she might have been riding on the south end of town, near South Harrell Road.\n"There were multiple reports -- she was placed all over Bloomington (by witnesses after she disappeared)," he said.\nWhile he remained calm and focused during most of the questioning, Brian Behrman broke down in tears when remembering the day his sister disappeared, explaining how his father came to him and told him she was missing.\n"I wanted to be able to say more at the end, but I was choked up," he said in the hallway after his testimony. "It's something I've been nervous about for a long time."\n-- IDS Managing Editor Kacie Foster contributed to this article.
(10/18/06 3:07am)
On Oct. 10, the Indiana GOP proposed stiffer enforcement of illegal immigration laws by denying \npublic social services and broadening police authority to investigate and detain offenders. While Democrats in the state legislature also oppose illegal immigration, they propose penalizing employers who hire illegal immigrants as opposed to the immigrants themselves. Republican state Rep. John E. Smith says illegal immigration harms Indiana taxpayers in the entire state. Our columnists debate the GOP proposal.
(10/12/06 2:52am)
No Sweat! against Coke contract, not all big business contracts
(10/11/06 3:35am)
NEW YORK -- Columbia University professor of political economy Edmund Phelps was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Economics, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Monday.\nPhelps will receive the honor and a $1.37 million prize for his work in understanding the trade-off between inflation and unemployment. According to the Nobel Foundation's Web site, Phelps is the first solo economics award winner since 1999, when it went to Robert Mundell, also a Columbia professor, for his analysis of monetary and fiscal policy in relation to exchange rates.\n"When someone in your community wins a Nobel prize, everyone feels a lot better," Columbia President Lee Bollinger said at a press conference in Low Memorial Library. "The truth is we all feel a little bit smarter. It gives us enormous satisfaction and pride."\nBollinger was joined by Phelps, who is also director of the Center for Capitalism and Society; Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute; and Janet Currie, chair of the economics department.\n"This is a fantastic day for economics at Columbia," Currie said. \nShe praised Phelps for "putting the worker back in the macroeconomy" and for the broad range of subjects his work has benefited.\n"Ned is really the economist's economist," Sachs said. "Everybody loves him."\nThe guest of honor spoke about growing up in Evanston, Ill., thanked the many colleagues he's worked with during his career and went on to describe how he became interested in his current field.\n"My father asked me to take one economics class," he said. "I had been intending to major in philosophy, which I continued to work on surreptitiously."\nFrom that first class to his post-graduate research, Phelps was troubled by what he saw as a large gap in his mastery of the subject.\n"Here I am ... and I still don't know how to reconcile macroeconomics and microeconomics," he said. "I have to do it myself, then, if it's going to be done."\nIn the 1960s, Phelps conceptualized the natural rate of unemployment, which followed from the Phillips model of inflation-unemployment trade-offs. The theory led to the rethinking of monetary policy within central banks. More recently, he has worked to push for a federal system to subsidize low-wage workers but said such work has "struck out" in the United States.\nDespite his newfound fame and wealth, Phelps will continue with his teaching. \n"I'm a workaholic," he said.
(10/05/06 2:37am)
In a march Wednesday from the Indiana Memorial Union to Ballantine Hall, a group of 14 students protested IU's contract to sell Coca-Cola products. The students were members of No Sweat!, a student organization opposed to labor abuses and corporate globalization, according to the group's Web site. \nNo Sweat! protested the University's contract with Coke in response to ongoing allegations that Coca-Cola is part of human and environmental rights violations in several countries and that it had a hand in assassinating union leaders at a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Colombia. \n"It's not just a matter of treating workers badly," Ursula McTaggart, a graduate student part of No Sweat!, said. "Union leaders have been murdered, kidnapped (and) tortured in Colombia since 1989." \nSome marchers carried cardboard headstones with the names of the eight workers who No Sweat! claims have been killed in Coca-Cola bottling plants. \nOthers carried a life-sized cardboard coffin with "Coca-Killers" written on the front in Coke's trademark script. \nThe coffin was draped with a Colombian flag. "We're trying to raise aware\nness among the student body so that we can push the administration to not renew the contract with Coca-Cola unless (Coke is) willing to change their human rights policies," said senior Solomon Boyce, another member of the group.\nThe IDS reported in January that IU receives approximately $1.7 million annually from its contract with Coca-Cola. The contract is set to expire in 2009, according to the article. \ntion," said senior Cara Berg, who witnessed part of the march. "I think it's really excellent that No Sweat! continues to bring international issues to our atten\n"Often --our students are unaware of what's going on in the world."\nFreshman Kevin Sheehan said he thought the march was an effective way to bring attention to the charges against Coke since he was unaware of them before yesterday's protest. \n"It's not that often you see a coffin on the street corner," he said, pointing to the demonstration. "It's a cause I have not heard about. It's interesting, but before I\ngive any support I'd probably have to research it a little more to see what the facts are." \nOther students said they had already formed opinions about the soft-drink giant before the march. \n"I don't like Coca-Cola anyways because I heard it kills (workers)," freshman Jessica Harden said. \nSophomore Connor Shea said he was wary about IU canceling its contract with Coca-Cola because he has not seen hard evidence that Coke was directly related to the deaths in Colombia. He also said he is not sure that Coke is the only corporation capable of human rights abuses. \n"Pepsi might do the same stuff," he said. \nSenior Andrea Kopp voiced similar sentiments. \n"I would be concerned with what would happen if we changed our contract," she said. "Would we get a contract with someone else who has similar problems?" \nRegardless of whether the University takes notice of the march, McTaggart said No Sweat! would continue to try to educate students about IU's Coke contract. \n"You have to keep talking about (this issue) if people are going to be aware of it," she said.
(10/04/06 4:18am)
A new study co-authored by an IU professor reports crime directed toward abortion clinics in the United States has not dwindled. \nThough such criminal activity has fallen from national headlines, the study claims workers at abortion clinics often confront "vandalism and harassment." \nAccording to the press release, 361 abortion clinics across 48 states responded to the survey. The figures they provided said 7 percent of clinics and 9 percent of their staff were victims of "major or minor violence." In addition, 7 percent reported minor acts of violence, 27 percent said they had dealt with minor vandalism and 44 percent reported they had been harassed. \nIU criminal justice professor William Pridemore said the study is part of an arching study of the "right-wing social movement." \nPridemore worked with professor Joshua Freilich of the City University of New York. Pridemore said Freilich's area of expertise is such social movement, and the two have teamed for similar studies and projects since meeting in graduate school. \nPridemore said the study fit well into Freilich's research. He also said he and Freilich had only been able to find one similar study, and it did not go into as much depth. \n"This is just kind of one of those areas that fall under that larger umbrella of research," Pridemore said. "There'd only been one study in the past conducted about crimes against clinics."\nThe study was conducted by the Feminist Majority Foundation. Pridemore said he and Freilich took the data and fit it into the larger study.\nPridemore said all surveys were answered anonymously for safety purposes. \n"We don't have exact information about any of the clinics, and that's just for normal anonymity purposes," Pridemore said. "This is a very sensitive political issue, and so there can't be any identifying information about any specific clinic."\nThe study did not find a correlation between state laws protecting abortion clinics and reduced violence. The study found that states with stringent anti-abortion violence laws were no less likely to experience some form of criminal activity targeting abortion clinics, according to the press release. The study found neither a backlash against such legislation nor a drastic reduction in violence and vandalism. \nBoth scenarios were hypothesized right after a wave of such legislation was passed at the beginning of the last decade, according to the report. Pridemore said testing both hypotheses was more for informational purposes than to try and establish trends. \n"That to me was the motivating factor ... just the interest in testing these hypotheses and seeing which one is correct," Pridemore said. "Essentially what we found is that ... neither one is correct.\nPridemore said they found serious criminal activity was down from the late 1990s. He said it still happened, but people didn't pay as much attention to it since it had been pushed from the headlines.\n"Sometimes they're very serious acts, you know, like a bomb or rarely a murder or a very violent assault," Pridemore said. "We thought (the data) needed to be seen."\nPridemore said both he and Freilich thought the information was important to release because people tend to overlook this particular brand of terrorism.\n"We certainly think domestic terrorism is an overlooked issue," Pridemore said. "I would think that any serious attack against an abortion clinic ... would fit under that"
(10/04/06 2:32am)
A U.S. Postal Service employee and Bloomington resident confessed Monday to stealing gift cards while on her mail route earlier this year, police said. \nPenny M. Duerksen, 30, faces preliminary charges of theft for stealing the cards May 27 this year. The investigation began from a case report June 21, Bloomington Police Department Capt. Joe Qualters said. A Bloomington resident's family member called asking if the Bloomington resident's son had received a Best Buy gift card sent as a high school graduation gift. After checking with Best Buy, it was determined that the gift card was used in Bloomington on June 18, Qualters said. The Bloomington resident then contacted the BPD. \nWhile investigating the case, Qualters contacted a special agent from the U.S. Postal Service's Office of Inspector General who was working on a similar complaint regarding an outgoing $50 Wal-Mart gift card that never made it to its destination. Both thefts occurred May 27 on Duerksen's route. \nDuerksen made a cash transaction at Sam's Club moments before the missing Wal-Mart gift card was used May 27, Qualeters said. On Sept. 27, Qualters and the U.S. Postal Service special agent entered Duerksen's home with consent to search from Duerksen's boyfriend. A cordless phone was found inside the residence that matched the Best Buy purchase made June 18.\nDuerksen was arrested and interviewed Monday, at which time she confessed to the charges, police said.
(09/20/06 4:49am)
Funeral services for senior Brad Dugan, 24, of Bloomington, who was killed Sunday morning in a motorcycle crash, are being held at 2 p.m. today at the Day Funeral Home, 4150 E. Third St. \nDugan, an avid biker, called his friends early Sunday morning, asking them to take a late-night ride on their motorcycles with him. He had finished his shift at a local retirement community, eaten pizza back at the house with his roommates and was eager to go riding. \nBy about 4 a.m., Dugan's ride turned fatal when his vehicle crashed along State Road 446, just north of South Swartz Road, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, which received a 911 call at 4:10 a.m. \nJunior Rachel Gill, a passenger on another motorcycle riding with Dugan, said they started driving around at about 3 a.m. and had separated when Dugan's bike, which was faster, passed them and drove ahead. Sometime later, Dugan's bike veered left off the center line as it was traveling northbound, Monroe County Sheriff's Department Deputy Nathan Peach said. When the bike hit the grass on the opposite side of the road, Dugan and his passenger were thrown from it. \n"They were well over the speed limit," Peach said, adding that the motorcycle traveled 550 feet after it left the road.\nPeach said sophomore Alexandria Willhardt, the passenger on Dugan's motorcycle, was able to flag down a vehicle and was given a ride to a nearby apartment complex, where she then called 911. \n"The only thing she does remember is that she was on the bike that morning," Peach said. \nAt this point Willhardt is the only witness to the accident, he said.\nThough Dugan's motorcycle remained intact, there was a large debris field caused in part from the bike hitting a picket fence along the road. Peach said Dugan likely died from head trauma. One helmet was found at the scene but was not on anyone, he said. The Monroe County coroner could not be reached for comment.\nWillhardt, 18, sustained broken wrists, a broken ankle and multiple lacerations to her face, Peach said. She was listed in stable condition at Bloomington Hospital on Tuesday night.\nFriends and family of Dugan mourned the loss of a good friend and son as they gathered at his viewing Tuesday.\n"It came as a big surprise," Glen Inman, a co-worker of Dugan's, said. "We were all in shock."\nOne of Dugan's riding buddies, T.J. Hall, an IU alumnus, described him as a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky guy. \n"Life was one big fun game to him," Hall said. "He just enjoyed life."\nInman said Dugan, who was a dining room supervisor and five-year employee at the Meadowood Retirement Community, was an easy-going guy who could always make people laugh and was very patient with the elderly.\n"I always looked forward to coming in and hearing his stories," Gill added. "He was awesome to work with, and I'm going to miss him terribly."\nFor Dugan's roommates, the loss of their constant source of humor is especially hard.\n"There's not a whole lot I can do today without it reminding me of him," said Christopher Quackenbrush, who graduated in 2004. \nHe said he and Dugan's girlfriends always teased the two of them, saying they would end up buying houses next to each other so they could grow old together.\nQuackenbrush said Dugan was always the one who could drag him and his friends out for a night of fun, even if they thought they were too tired. He would constantly make people laugh with crazy stories and silly comments, he said.\n"He didn't always do the right thing, but he did the Brad thing, and that's what made him special," Quackenbrush said.\n"He always brought a smile to everybody's face," said Nick Campbell, a 2003 IU graduate who was another roommate of Dugan's, adding that Dugan always said, "not a problem," no matter what situation was thrown his way.\nDugan was also always there for his friends and was close with his family. \n"He was like a brother to me," said his roommate Scott Colglazier, who graduated from IU in 2004. \nQuackenbrush recounted a story from his 21st birthday. He said Dugan had sat him down and told him that he was the first one there and that he would be the last one to leave, "to make sure I'd be OK," Quackenbrush said.\n"I was always happy to be with Brad," Quackenbrush said. "I plan on leaving an open spot in my wedding for him."\nDugan was planning to graduate from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs in December and looking into a career in management, his friends said.
(08/02/06 10:30pm)
With a donated TV, VCR and generator, Rev. Reuben Lubanga and his brother set off into his Western Kenyan community wielding the message of HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. Lubanga piled the equipment into a wheel-barrow, destined for all the schools, churches and community centers he could reach in the impoverished county.\nSpeaking at a presentation for his organization, Volunteer Kenya, Tuesday in the Indiana Memorial Union, Lubanga said 600 people die each day in Kenya from HIV and AIDS. He said Volunteer Kenya is working with people from IU and around the world to deliver relief and education to a population, like so many others in Africa heavily burdened by the disease.\nVolunteer Kenya, a partner of the IU student organization Outreach Kenya Development Volunteers, has placed about 100 IU students in rural Kenya as teachers, health educators and medical workers since its inception in 1998. \nBeyond his call to become an Episcopalian priest, Lubanga said he heard another calling to fight AIDS, poverty and improving health care and education in Kenya, which became the four pillars of his organization. \n"I knew I didn't have the gifts but I new the gifts were amongst the people," Lubanga said.\nBarbara Bandera, IU graduate and teacher at the Lighthouse Christian Academy in Bloomington, previously made the 10,000 mile journey to Bungoma, Kenya to teach 48 first graders at the organization's school, the EPICO Jahns Academy. She said she was amazed by the welcoming spirit of all the people. \nw"You had to take it in your hands to go out and see the people," she said. "That was the most enriching part." \nShe anticipates her upcoming return to Africa for a year long post with Volunteer Kenya.\n"(The Kenyans) see you and know you are there to help," she said. \nWhen Bandera returns, she will find the school has grown along with the organization's outreach. Though the school started as a small mud house, one new classroom is added each year -- six have been added to date -- in order to expand the EPICO Jahns Academy. From its roots as a preschool, Lubanga said he envisions the completion of the grade school to soon offer classes through eighth grade, and eventually to serve as a high school and even a college. \nFor those dreams to come to fruition, he said Volunteer Kenya currently needs a great deal of support. He said every resource is greatly valued in a land where a small loan of just $600 can transform a community. \n"It is enough to get 60 women into a lifetime of business," Lubanga said of the success of the micro-enterprise development for women component of his organization. \nThs only funding the group recieves comes from IU's OKDV program and through the generosity of its volunteers and their families, he said.\n"One month of volunteering gives (Volunteer Kenya) six months of life," said Lubanga. \nAlong with personal transportation to and from Kenya, each volunteer pays a fee of $800 that directly supports Volunteer Kenya's programs. \nKatherine MacDonald, OKDV representative and former volunteer, said there are five positions reserved for OKDV members each year, often with a wait list. Through fund-raising events, OKDV offers $625 for each volunteer to help with Volunteer Kenya's participation fee. \nMore information can be found at www.volunteerkenya.org or by contacting OKDV@indiana.edu.
