Daily IU News Round-up
November 16, 2009
Exempt or not, IU says it doesn't lobby lawmakers
The Bloomington Herald-Times, The Indianapolis Star, The Indianapolis Star, (Opinions) Nov. 15 -- If the argument is to be made that exempting institutions of higher education constitutes a loophole in state law, Indiana University spokesman Larry MacIntyre isn't buying it. "We don't have a lobbying budget," he said last week. "And, in fact, as a concept, until yesterday, it wasn't something we'd even thought of." MacIntyre said the university has two people involved in state government relations and their salaries are paid out of the university general fund in the same fashion as other university employees. Full story. Full story 2. Full story 3. Full story 4. Full story 5. Full story 6. Full story 7. Full story. 8.
Indiana lawmakers to look at tighter guidelines for lobbyists
The Bloomington Herald-Times, Nov. 15 -- The intersection of money and politics in Indiana has not sparked national outrage like corruption cases in Illinois, say, or Louisiana. But as more lobbyists spend more money trying to influence politics here, onlookers and political leaders alike are taking notice. A record amount of money -- more than $25.7 million -- was spent lobbying Hoosier legislators for the 2009 session, according to data from the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission. That's more than ever before. And while the vast majority of those millions are spent on salaries for lobbyists, tens of thousands of dollars are spent on gifts for lawmakers -- free tickets, meals, international trips and more. Full story. Full story 2. Full story 3.
State lobbying activities require transparency
The Bloomington Herald-Times (commentary), Nov. 15 -- Lobbying is a mega industry in Washington, but the potential for conflicts of interest can be even stronger at the state level. The playing field is smaller, giving lobbyists easier access to lawmakers. Many state legislatures are part-time, and lawmakers hold outside jobs, leaving them little time and few staff resources to understand every issue. As a result, they may seek lobbyist help with their decision-making even more often. Full story. Full story 2. Full story 3.
Should lobbyists' influence carry more weight than Hoosier voters in the Statehouse?
The Bloomington Herald-Times (editorial), Nov. 15 -- Public universities, whose inducements to legislators include free tickets to major college sports events, are exempt from filing lobbying reports even though they employ top administrators whose primary responsibilities include pressing lawmakers for more money from taxpayers. A loophole in the law also enables lobbyists to avoid disclosing everything that they dangle before legislators. If, for example, a lawmaker attends a dinner in which all members of the General Assembly were invited, the cost of the meal wouldn't be reported as a gift. Lobbying firms employ one other valuable tool to wield influence -- the potential for a legislator to accept a six-figure job as a lobbyist. Full story. Full story 2. Full story 3. Full story 4.
Mike Leonard: IU prof knows impact of coal mining
The Bloomington Herald-Times (opinion), Nov. 15 -- When people talk about coal mining, coal-fired electricity and the environmental degradation associated with both, they're not merely intellectual topics to Maurice Manning. It's personal. It's why the IU professor has become an adviser to a new student group called Coal Free IU, whose goal is to convince the university to wean itself from its on-campus coal-fired Central Heating Plant. And it's why he plans to count himself among those who will attend a screening of a new documentary called "Coal Country" at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater at 2 p.m. today. Full story.
Newspapers join forces to better inform Hoosiers
The Bloomington Herald-Times, Nov. 16 -- A unified effort of several Indiana newspapers to inform readers about how the state's lobbying laws work is not the first time Hoosier journalists have pooled resources to look at a serious issue. The reports on lobbying started Sunday. The reason Hoosiers should be interested in this issue is that current state laws do not limit how much a group or organization can spend to attempt to sway a lawmaker to act in a particular way. Financing campaigns is one major way donors seek to gain influence; giving gifts such as sports tickets and junkets is another. Full story.
Citizens left out in cold
The Indianapolis Star, The Bloomington Herald-Times, Nov. 16 -- While corporations and high-priced lobbyists buy access to legislators, ordinary Hoosiers and grass-roots organizations can be shut out. "We have observed that with some legislators there doesn't seem to be impartiality in regard to access,'' Jesse Kharbanda, executive director of the Hoosier Environmental Council, said. Kharbanda contends that even if the environmental council had the money to buy time with lawmakers, he would consider it "unprincipled'' to do so. "We would rather win our arguments on their merits,'' he said. That may sound noble, but given Indiana's extraordinarily lax lobbying laws, it's a formula for failure in the Statehouse. Full story. Full story 2.
Hamilton County holds H1N1 vaccine clinic
Wthr.com, Nov. 16 -- More vaccines to protect against the H1N1 flu virus will be available Monday in Hamilton County, but it's a limited supply. Bloomington, Indiana University will start giving H1N1 vaccinations Monday. IU says it got 980 doses of the vaccine its first shipment. Students and staff have been using the university's online registration system to set up vaccination appointments. The first people to get the vaccine will get an email confirming their appointment time. Full story.
Colleges look at new ways to teach teachers
Traditional programs are adopting popular fast-track methods
The Indianapolis Star, Nov. 16 -- Indiana colleges have started re-examining how they teach the state's future teachers, prodded by rising numbers of teachers who are trained through other programs and bypass traditional education schools. Indiana University, though, has resisted the pressure and moved more slowly into new programs, saying that it wants changes in its curriculum to be based on research -- not on competition for students. Full story.
IU celebrates 40 years of black culture center
Chicago Tribune, Nov. 15 -- A center for black culture at Indiana University's Bloomington campus will celebrate its 40th anniversary Thursday with tours, an art exhibit and a dinner. The center moved into a new facility in 2001. Center director Audrey McCluskey says many black students are more integrated into overall campus life today than in 1969, but that the center is still a place for students to gather and appreciate a diverse community. Full story.
Is African boarding school the answer for Indiana's inner-city kids?
The Indianapolis Star, Nov. 16 -- Would you send your child to school halfway across the world if it meant the chance to escape the distractions of a dangerous neighborhood? A group of Indiana University professors is preparing to ask inner-city parents across Indiana to do just that: Ship their kids to a boarding school that they plan to launch with promises of a good education -- in Ghana. Full story.
How do we deal with the dragon?
Times of India, Nov. 14 -- Sumit Ganguly, director of Research at the Center on American and Global Security at IU Bloomington, is the author of an op-ed article about India's diplomatic relations with China. Full story.
IU voices in the news
Protecting grandpa from investing peril; Congress wants states to beef up oversight of firms that sell annuities to seniors. The plan: Cash grants to states that go along
CNN.com, Nov. 16 -- Congress wants to help protect seniors who buy complex investment products that they don't understand or may do more harm than good. A little-noticed proposal would set aside $8 million for states that bulk up oversight. "The policyholder has to become an expert to ever get the message," said Joseph Belth, an insurance professor emeritus at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. "In the case of some annuities, the people selling them do not understand them, let alone the people buying them." Full story.
Web service tries to help magazines turn the page
The Indianapolis Star, Nov. 15 -- Magazines are struggling to reinvent themselves in the Internet age. Advertising is harder to sell. More readers are going online to consume their news and views. Two recent graduates from Indiana University -- Ryan Klenovich and Steve DeWald, both 24 -- are among the founding team of a startup that hopes to provide a more profitable way for magazines to publish online. Full story.
Challenging holiday season ahead for local retailers; Consumers will focus on price, value
South Bend Tribune, Nov. 15 -- Most retail experts are predicting a slight decline in holiday sales at the nation's retailers, but nothing as bad as last year. The National Retail Federation projects holiday retail sales will drop 1 percent this year to $437.6 billion -- compared to last year's 3.4 percent drop in holiday sales. This is right in line with many other predictions, including the forecast issued by Theresa Williams, director for the Center for Education and Research in Retailing at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. While Williams concurs with the 1 percent national decline, she believes Indiana retailers could see a slightly sharper drop in sales. "We're still one of the higher states for unemployment and layoffs, so it could be worse than the national trend. We could see a 1.5 or 2 percent drop in sales in Indiana," Williams said. Full story.
Why Insider Trading Is Hard to Define, Prove and Prevent
Knowledge@Wharton, Nov. 11 -- When federal prosecutors charged one of America's wealthiest people with insider trading in October, the case against Raj Rajaratnam and his firm, Galleon Group hedge fund, seemed notable for the types of evidence gathering investigators claimed to have used on the six defendants: bugged conversations and inside informants. Many allegations of insider trading are hobbled by weak evidence like suspicious stock trades just before key corporate announcements. Utpal Bhattacharya and Hazem Daouk of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, concluded that prosecutions reduced the prevalence of insider trading. Evidence was seen in a reduced cost of equity after prosecutions began, allowing companies to raise money more cheaply. Full story.
Indiana's traditional township system has critics and defenders
Courierpress.com, Nov. 15 -- Marjorie Hershey, a political science professor at Indiana University is quoted in this article. Full story.
Trends
Public Colleges Look Outside for Revenue
UPI, Nov. 16 -- Many U.S. public universities are seeking more out-of-state students, who pay much higher tuition than locals, administrators say. That's made it harder for high school students to get into public universities in their states, The Washington Post reports. The out-of-state students pay two to three times what locals pay for tuition so they're sought after as state support and revenue sources have declined. Full story.
Universities Turn to Consultants to Trim Budgets
The New York Times, Nov. 16 -- When Holden Thorp, the chancellor of the University of North Carolina, was looking for ways to cut the university's budget, he did what many executives in private industry do -- hired a management consultant. The consultant, Bain & Company, came up with recommendations that it said could save the university more than $150 million a year. They included centralizing some of the university's widely dispersed procurement operations (up to $45 million) and information technology functions (up to $19 million) and simplifying its organizational structure (up to $12 million). Full story.
From the Chronicle
Number of Foreign Students in U.S. Hit a New High Last Year
The number of foreign students attending American colleges hit an all-time high in 2008, capping three consecutive years of vigorous growth, according to new data from the Institute of International Education. Some 671,616 international students attended U.S. institutions in 2008-9, an increase of almost 8 percent from a year earlier. First-time-student enrollments grew even more robustly, by nearly 16 percent. Full story.
The Chinese Are Coming, and They Need Help With Admissions
The streets of Nanjing, China, are quiet at 6:30 a.m. Much of the early traffic consists of young people on bikes and city buses, on their way to a school day that begins at about 7:15 and ends after 5. American parents would never dream of letting their kids navigate a city of six million -- there are no school buses -- but Chinese parents think nothing of it. Full story.
University-Based Reporting Could Keep Journalism Alive
When the first U.S. school of journalism opened its doors at the University of Missouri in 1908, so did a new daily newspaper, the University Missourian (now the Columbia Missourian), that the school runs to this day. Professional editors manage a staff that, especially in the midst of a deep recession, has a great business advantage: cheap labor. The reporting in the paper is produced by students at the school who receive neither salary nor benefits for their work. Their rewards are academic credit and marketable experience. Full story.
Connecting With Part-Timers Is Key Challenge for Community Colleges, Survey Finds
The "part timeness" of students and faculty members is one of the greatest challenges community colleges face in creating strong campus connections, according to this year's Community College Survey of Student Engagement. Meanwhile, many instructors at community colleges do not work full time on one campus. Sixty-seven percent of faculty members teach part time, yet typically teach half to two-thirds of all course sections, according to the survey. "They play a large role in shaping students' experience, yet in far too many colleges they are minimally involved with students beyond the hours they are teaching," says Kay M. McClenney, director of the Center for Community College Student Engagement. Full story.
Parties Submit New Proposal to Settle Google Book Search Litigation
Though they kept the world waiting until the last legal minute, the parties to the proposed Google Book Search settlement managed to meet their new November 13 deadline to file a revamped version with the federal judge overseeing the case. Google, the Authors Guild, and the Association of American Publishers submitted Settlement 2.0 close to midnight Eastern time on Friday. The parties had set out to rework their proposed settlement agreement after the Justice Department recommended in September that the judge rule against the first version, raising serious misgivings about whether the deal was anticompetitive. Full story.
Daily IU News Round-up is distributed to faculty and staff at IU, and it contains a short review of media coverage relating to IU administrative and student news, federal and state legislative policy, and trends and issues in higher education. Prepared by the IU Office of University Communications, the Daily IU News Round-up is not an all-inclusive gathering of news featuring IU faculty and staff. To subscribe to the Daily IU News Round-up list or to have your name removed, please contact Susan Williams, Office of University Communications, sulwilli@indiana.edu.
