886 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms seized an Iranian diplomat as he drove through central Baghdad, officials said Tuesday. Iran said it held the U.S. responsible for the diplomat's "safety and life." One Iraqi government official said the Iranian diplomat was detained Sunday by an Iraqi army unit that reports directly to the U.S. military. A military spokesman denied any U.S. troops or Iraqis that report to them were involved.
Student chant result of paying more for worse seats\n"Stand up, old people." Mildy innappropriate? Yes. Extremely humorous? Yes. Regardless of what you think, this chant draws attention to a big issue: student tickets.\nA large part of the home court advantage, especially in the Big Ten Conference, comes from the student section. Students are loud and in your face, and as they fade farther from the basket year after year, they grow tired of watching the alumni sit behind the basket with their thumbs you know where.\nSure, you give a lot of money. We know. But while you sit quietly 20 feet from the action, I'm 15th row up in the balcony thinking about how other Big Ten teams, like Illinois, are moving more and more students closer to the court. So, yes, I'm chanting at you to stand up and support the team like I am. You took my seats. I'm paying more money than last season for worse seats. Perhaps, instead of calling us rude and classless, the best answer is to make some kind of change. IU needs to give the alumni more seats? OK, but don't put them behind the basket. You say students don't get to the game on time? Maybe the alumni would like to hike that endless flight of stairs up to the nosebleeds. Maybe we're not in any real hurry to run up there and get high-altitude sickness.\nAll joking aside, there's nothing I love more than being at an IU basketball game. In fact, I haven't missed a single tipoff, and I've stayed for all 40 minutes of every home game. If this issue can be resolved, excellent. If not, I'll still be there screaming my head off. Go Hoosiers.\nDon Ueber\nSophomore\nLack of respect evidenced by "Puck Furdue" chant\nAs a loud and proud 1988 graduate of IU I always enjoy my return trips to Bloomington as an alumni. However, the article in the Dec. 12 IDS regarding the student-led chant at the Purdue-IU basketball game is totally missing the point. First, I was sitting in the north bleachers and am grateful as an alumnus to have the opportunity to have such great seats. I know from my days as a student the bleacher seats are a prized location. Do the alumni appreciate this opportunity? Most don't seem to. I thought the student chant was entertaining and fun. The alumni sections are usually about as much fun as attending a funeral, and the student-led chant did actually lead to the folks in the north bleachers standing up and cheering for a change.\nHowever, there are two points that seem to have been totally overlooked that need to be addressed. The first is the trash talking that player Earl Calloway did to Purdue coach Matt Painter. This is not the NBA and that kind of talk is completely unacceptable. Coach Kelvin Sampson should have pulled Calloway off the court so fast his sneakers would still be on the floor. In addition, Calloway should be on the bench for the next couple of games until he can learn to play with a little class and sportsmanship.\nThe second overlooked issue is the chant the student section engaged in during the second half of "Puck Furdue," or "Fuck Purdue." It was hard to tell which was being said, but it was very offensive and embarrassing. This game, while only reaching a limited audience on TV and radio, was broadcast to the nation and I am sure the chant was loud enough to be picked up. How embarrassing for IU. How do you explain to any children in attendance what the students were yelling?\nI hate to bring out the Bob Knight card, but you know that if either the trash talk or chanting had happened during a Bob Knight game, a timeout would have been called and Coach would have addressed the crowd or player at that point. IU used to have some of the loudest fans in the country who displayed some class and sportsmanship. Now they are just loud and obnoxious.\nDavid Bromer\nAlumnus\nPrivatization will harm IU-community relationships\nPrivatization of IU services will inevitably harm Hoosier workers. Big businesses, which could end up running the Bookstore, IU Motor Pool and other services do not have the connections to the Bloomington community or interests in the well-being of employees that IU has established over its nearly 200-year history.\nMany of my co-workers here at IU have spent their entire adult lives working for the University, thus earning higher wages and more benefits than less experienced workers. These longtime employees are likely to lose their jobs when private companies, looking to cut costs wherever possible, take over.\nWorkers could also lose their means of protecting their rights on the job if IU services are outsourced. University workers have the right to join a union that negotiates higher wages and benefits and protects workers from exploitation. When private companies take over, workers are often discouraged from joining unions. This is the case in the IMU, where, unlike other food-service employees at IU, Sodexho employees cannot join the AFSCME Local 832, which represents campus workers.\nThe close ties between IU and Bloomington make schooling at IU unique, rooting our education in the belief that through higher learning we can strengthen our community. This connection also benefits Bloomington, providing not only jobs but a sense of identity and way to have a positive impact on Indiana and the world as a whole.\nIn choosing to end this relationship, IU trustees are neglecting their obligation to students, workers and all of Bloomington. At the expense of the people for whom they are supposed to work, our trustees have chosen to instead focus on profits.\nSolomon Boyce\nSenior\nParking solutions must occur before faculty gets angrier\nThis morning, I noticed that more staff parking on the southwest side of campus had been eliminated -- this time behind the Tri-Delta house. Why are southwest side staff members being inconvenienced again? Our C spots are already full before 8 a.m.\nIf I hadn't already upgraded from a C to an A permit, I would get one now. However, it isn't fair that our already underpaid staff should be expected to shoulder hundreds more in parking fees per year because construction projects were (poorly) planned to coincide.\nSome suggestions for alleviating parking issues for C permit holders:\nFirst, turn some A spots to C spots immediately. Yes, this includes some of the spots behind the Quads, the lots surrounding Hawthorne Avenue, the law-school lot, and even the spots in the Atwater and Ballantine garages.\nSecond, cut some or all of the permits given to the construction crew on the Simon building. They are not IU employees, and the University has a responsibility to its employees first.\nThird, the shuttle from the stadium takes too much time to get to Third Street -- let's get a shuttle route that actually works instead! Start the free shuttle service from Bryan Park to Third Street again, this time for employees. I realize that neighborhood residents will resist as with Bloomington Transit's shuttle, but I bet IU administrators can make them reconsider.\nFinally, as unpopular as this may be, turn some of the non-employee parking spots into staff parking. The School of Optometry visitors' spots could be cut by half. Additionally, as much as I don't want to inconvenience students, we must turn over to staff some of the student spots saved for the southside greek houses and residence halls. Students are able to walk to their classes and work, but staff usually have no option to walk to work or to be without transportation in case of family emergencies.\nThe current situation amounts to a bait-and switch for C permit holders on the southwest side. The administration should initiate some solutions soon, before staff anger reaches a boiling point.\nAnna Bednarski\nDepartment of Biology academic adviser\nMisuse of Adderall dangerous for \nstudent body\nIn response to Nick O'Neill's Jan. 10 article, "A's in a pill":\nStudents taking attention-altering medications like the drug Adderall for the so-called "boost" needed to focus on their schoolwork should instead focus their attention on the warning that Counseling and Psychological Services Director Nancy Stockton delivered regarding the "compromises" involved with the improper usage of Adderall (or any prescribed or over-the-counter medications for that matter).\nWhile it's easy and convenient for a student to pop a real-good-feel-good pill to get through physics class, the consequences of popping any pill without proper knowledge of how that drug may interact with the user's own body chemistry and or with other forms of medication the user may be taking at the time can easily put that user in harm's way. I know: Having taken wrong medications in the past has left me with on-going seizure disorders, which resulted in totaling my car while behind the wheel. \nIn short: medicine is nothing to mess with. \nAs students of higher education, we attend college for a reason: to learn. So for the people illegally selling Adderall and for the people taking Aderall outside of a physician's care, educate yourself on the dangers involved with the drug the next time you feel the need to pill-pop. As for the junior in the article who feels he does "not see any problem" with selling Adderall to his classmates on a regular basis, I have just one question for you: Who died and made you pharmacist?\nBrad Whetstine\nStudent\nText-message words shouldn't be used in academic settings\nDear IDS Readers:\nDid you bat an eyelash at the "word" IDS in the salutation? IDS is unknown to those at Purdue. Perhaps they would scoff at our friendly use of IDS, but who cares? Do IU students care? Oops -- another acronym!\nAcronyms reduce the verbiage in many disciplines. Scientists routinely use acronyms (FRET, NOESY, PEG, COX, etc.) with startling regularity. However, it is because the community understands the need for abbreviations. Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; Nuclear Overhauser Effect Spectroscopy; PolyEthylene Glycol; CycloOXygenase. They are cumbersome strings of words that are conveniently communicated by acronyms (scientists do have a sense of humor!). \nBut professors do not understand acronyms from "text-message-speak" that is gaining in popularity! "Words" like TYD, BYOB, DADV, MLF are meaningless out of context. For example, "DADV" means Duck ADenoVirus, which is not mentioned in my courses -- yet, I receive e-mail and course evaluations containing that "word." I'm sure its "intended" use is unflattering!\nThe advent of "text-message-speak" is a response to technological advances. However, attempting to communicate with professors through such phraseology is unproductive. No communication occurs.\nAs a society, should we accept a decline in the conveyance of thoughts and ideas by using "text-message-speak" in professional settings? Is interpersonal communication trivial? What are possible consequences with this detached form of communication? Imagine negotiations of the Cuban Missile Crisis in text-message format:\nDSBWHTSWACCYA! \nFOBOSIB! \nWhat do the interacting parties mean by such "messages?" Who knows. Therein lays the problem.\nThe proverb "The pen is mightier than the sword" (Edward Bulwer-Lytton) is as true today as it was in the 1800s.\nThe overuse of TXT-MSSG-SPK is eroding interpersonal communication. Communication is the heart of all relationships. Overuse of text-message-speak is constricting the artery of relationships -- thereby delaying the flow of ideas.\nI ask the student body to elevate itself above the superficiality permeating society. Communicate with professors without using text-message-speak. Demonstrate that you are the learned individual that your degree suggests -- this makes it easier for us to write positive letters of recommendation!\nDavid C. Johnson II, Ph.D.\nDepartment of Chemistry\nAlumni should want to show up students with cheers\nHow I feel about Purdue is how I feel about my 17-year-old brother: pure, heated rivalry. Normally we get along well but when it comes to any sort of competition, game on. This being my first season attending games at Assembly Hall, I was stoked for the Purdue game. I've been to all other games and the energy in there is so overwhelming that I don't know how you couldn't have a good time. Wednesday night (Jan. 10), I was sitting in the front row of the balcony with a friend, and once again we heard a chant come from behind the basket, buried in the "student section." Usually it takes me a minute to understand what they're chanting, but this one was loud and clear: "Stand up, old people."\nI understand some people are offended by this, and yeah, the chant might have been rude, but it's proving a valuable point. If you are paying to sit in a seat behind a basket, by God, if you're really an IU fan, stand up and distract the opposing team! If you don't feel like doing that, I am more than happy to switch you seats so you can be in the balcony, sitting there enjoying the game quietly, while I'm behind the basket waving my arms and yelling until my head falls off. Get into the game, enjoy it for what it's worth because it may be your last game. And I'm sure there's people out there that will say something like "I'm too old to do that," which is sad if you think that way. This is your school, your team and according to your age, it's against nature to defy the age threshold and show us "young people" up? Personally, I'd like alumni and older fans to stand up and make students go "Crap, they're louder than us -- time to blow the voice box out!" I want to leave Alumni Hall without a voice, and the "older people" should try harder to do the same. Scream, yell, clap and most of all, stand up for your team.\nShannon Beaty\nSophomore\nStudent section needed to quell bad sentiment\nThis is in response to the student chanting and complaints that have been made following the Purdue game.\nWe students feel as though the focus of home basketball games should be about us. I mean, let's face it, we are the ones who make Assembly Hall one of the toughest places to play in the Big Ten. We do not have a designated student section and seem to be one of few schools that does not. When watching college basketball, it is easy to see the impact that students have on a game. For example, look at the Cameron Crazies (Duke) or the Izzone (Michigan State). These student sections are right on the court and it gives their home team a tremendous advantage. We IU students are very passionate about our basketball team and excited about what coach Sampson has brought to Indiana. We only want to help our team win, and we feel that if we had a student section, Assembly Hall would be the toughest place to play in the Big Ten.\nSecondly, we students feel betrayed by our administrators, because it is obviously all about money (which seems to be a big theme at this university), giving more seats to the donors and alumni and not about future donors and future alumni. Fewer seats, worse seats and more money? I might not be good at math, but things are not adding up to me. So to the alumni who are upset about the chanting at the game, you can only expect more of this in the future, because we are passionate and want to give our team a home-court advantage. This can not be done by sitting down the entire game. So if you want to "watch" an IU game, stay at home and "watch" it on television. But if you really want to support your team then give them the home-court advantage they deserve. Come, stand, yell, cheer and be passionate about IU basketball.\nAdam Allen\nSenior\nLet students be Hoosiers fans while they are enrolled\nResponse to "Student-led chant draws criticism" by Eamonn Brennan, Jan. 12:\nI have friends talking about how much they love going to their basketball games, sitting in Rick's Rowdies (Mississippi State) or in Cameron Crazies (Duke). What's my comeback? "Oh yeah, I sit in the top corner of Assembly Hall for our rivalry game." That's right, I sat up in Section GG, Row 15, Seat 107 -- the upper corner. For four years now, I have sat in the balcony for all of the IU-Purdue games. This is the first year that I actually have floor seats for a Big Ten game (Michigan).\nHow much does this suck? USA Today described Cameron Indoor as "the toughest road game in the nation." Why is that? It's the students that create the crazy atmosphere. The students here at IU try to get that crazy but can barely start anything because we are so spread out. As I watch any NBA or any other NCAA game, the people behind the baskets are the craziest. When an opponent is shooting free throws, they yell and wave their arms, bang sticks or whatever they can find to distract the shooter. What do I see at Assembly Hall? I see alumni (now known as "old people," which is technically correct since they are older than the students) sitting there silent as a mouse. At the other end, the students wave their arms and yell even though the shooter is completely unaware. Students should be getting better seats than the balcony for most of the games. Television cameras want to see the students going crazy for their team, not people being silent during the game. I'm sorry, alumni, but the students that are currently enrolled at IU should be in those seats. You've had your time at IU, please let us have our time. For some of us, we won't be back in Indiana to see the Hoosiers play once we graduate. Let us have the glory of being a Hoosiers fan while we are still here. And if you ain't down with that, I've got two words for you.\nJames Michael Davis III\nSenior\nSampson should use influence to get student seats back\nThe recent publication of the front-page article "Student-led chant draws criticism" (Jan. 12), regarding the "Stand up, old people" chant, made an entire campus aware of an issue that has the potential to plague the Hoosiers' home court for the remainder of the season and future seasons.\nAs a student who owns tickets and is an avid fan, I hope and will do my best to make sure that the chant happens again -- until they get up and act like the Hoosiers they dress as. This is a serious issue. I would like to quote a recent ESPN.com article where analysts picked their favorite college basketball environments. To no surprise, IU was selected as the Big 10 representative by two of seven analysts. Pat Forde had an especially enlightening comment regarding our arena: "Another place with great old-school feel -- and until they moved the students out from behind the north goal this season, it got as loud as anywhere when the home team was on a roll."\nThe decision to remove students from the north end is reaching beyond just our campus; it is affecting the reputation of many peoples' pride and joy. I was behind the north goal last year when we played Duke and I thought the arena was going to collapse from the intensity. It is something that every IU student should be able to experience at least once. Unfortunately, for whatever reasons (debt), they might not be able to sit in those seats to contribute as such and must watch alumni sit quietly. The chant will happen again.\nI can only ask coach Sampson to step up and prevent this atrocity from happening again. Please do what you can to get us our seats back next year! Coach, your team's home reputation has been hurt badly, in the eyes of each other and the entire nation. Please do what you can to make your team and its proud student followers the best they can be.\nBrian Ward\nStudent
American Indian culture involves more than genocide\nI am responding to Jonathan Rossing's column berating American-Indian student groups and the Mathers Museum for a children's event that taught about American-Indian stereotypes and realities ("Deeper diversity," Dec. 7, 2006).\nRossing did not attend our event but relied on an IDS article that omitted many things we said and, due to the demands of the format, contextually isolated others. Nonetheless, despite not attending or talking to anyone who did, Rossing confidently declares, "Just a guess, but I bet the ... program made no mention of arguably the worst genocide in world history, when European settlers quickly destroyed the population of native dwellers." Even as he chastises us for not bringing genocide to schoolchildren, Rossing views our communities as existing only within the framework that interests him -- the framework of genocide, which he wrongfully believes "destroyed" us -- rather than as living peoples who have worth outside history, and who, dare I say it, have as much right to enjoy life as others.\nMr. Rossing, I teach my students about genocide every class. American Indians live the results of genocide every day. And indeed we talk about it and the misconceptions that enabled it. But it does not define us. I hope you can recognize the irony of a non-Native enlightening us about our history. (And I don't agree that it was the "worst genocide" -- comparing degree of genocide is perverse, not to mention pointless.)\nThe Native American Graduate Student Association and the American Indian Student Association organize children's events. We also offer events for adults, including annual film and lecture series. We advocate for IUB to better support American-Indian students. Just helping children recognize that we didn't disappear is significant. No one, adult or child, cares about people viewed as ghosts or monsters. \nWhen you're willing to get off your high horse and labor for "deeper diversity," or to speak to American Indians before you tell us what we don't say, let us know. Meanwhile, we've got work to do -- the work of survival and creating a strong future for our communities. We are more than the past or present. We do not exist to enrich your sense of guilt. We are, as Dennis Lamenti said, living in the world.\nRebecca Riall\nDoctoral student, anthropology\nLaw student
To observe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and holiday in 2007, Bloomington, its residents and IU have a schedule the IDS, Herald-Times, University and city officials have publicized well. The carefully delineated events will poignantly underscore an old Negro spiritual, or song, that says, "We've come a long way, Lord, a mighty long way." \nHowever, in Prophet Jeremiah's words, America still has "a work to do" to shrink varied gaps between racial minorities and whites and to move beyond symbolism into a more meaningful celebration of Dr. King's principles and legacy.\nThat is why we need individual agenda for racial equality and meaningful cross-racial friendships, rooted in Dr. King's contention that "men hate each other because they fear each other. They fear each other because they don't know each other. They don't know each other because they can't communicate with each other. They can't communicate with each other because they're separated from each other." \nDr. King saw integration, for example, as a mechanism to facilitate understanding and racial harmony. That is why we agree that cross-racial relationships can help in establishing a common ground among Bloomington residents. It is time for city residents to get to know their co-workers, neighbors and worshippers of different faiths and go beyond the superficial pleasantries, smiles and hugs. \nOur family of four, for instance, pleasurably celebrated last year's Thanksgiving with Jewish friends. A few weeks after that, we served as fellowships in the home of a Caucasian family from our church. Both were events that have helped to plant seeds of growing friendships. We shared common family and school stories as a way of bridging the racial divide. If others do likewise, people of different races will move from mere racial tolerance to a real sense of kinship, caring and love to help bring about Dr. King's concept of the beloved community. \nAlso, individual actions that are relevant to make such relationships work well are inextricably linked with Dr. King's notion of "power of one," which is the theme of this year's essay topic for IU undergraduate and graduate essays of the King Day Essay Contest, a theme consistent with Dr. King's ideals.\nHence, it is time for all Bloomington residents to work hard with our well-meaning local government officials to modify any institutional practices that go against Dr. King's dream, including institutional discrimination as well as resisting the temptation of turning a blind eye to injustice. Dr. King echoed loudly that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere!\nSo, in honor of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, the late first lady of the civil-rights movement, everyone should move beyond the symbolism of merely gathering annually to break bread together and talking about "how to get along." Instead, let us engage in very meaningful actions that truly represent Dr. King's nature, his spirit and the society-changing principles that he preached and for which he was murdered young in Memphis.
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.
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.
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"
____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.”
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"
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
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"
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"
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"
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.
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.
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.
No Sweat! against Coke contract, not all big business contracts
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.
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.
