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News Release

Last modified: Monday, April 18, 2011

IU News Round-up

April 18, 2011

Billionaire, philanthropist Bill Cook dies
WISHTV8, insidethehall.com, The Bloomington Herald-Times, (2) April 15, 18 -- John Mellencamp paid a special tribute Saturday night to one of the Hoosier state's most generous, entrepreneur Bill Cook. Cook died Friday at his home, but his legacy lives on. Full story. Full story 2. Full story 3. Full story 4.

Let's preserve our Hoosier hospitality
The Indianapolis Star, April 17 -- As president of the state's largest public university, I have felt it generally wise to keep my opinions to myself on many of the controversial issues being debated in the Indiana General Assembly. I have observed that our legislative process, which necessitates thorough and rigorous debate of the issues before a decision is made, usually leads to an acceptable and reasonable outcome. Full story.

IU trustees endorse new residence hall, apartments
Chicago Tribune, The Bloomington Herald-Times, April 16, 15 -- The Herald-Times reports that the IU trustees' Facilities Committee approved a plan Thursday calling for construction of a residence hall with space for 450 beds and a nearby apartment complex with more than 100 units on the Bloomington campus. Full story. Full story 2.

Bill to move toxicology lab gets makeover
The Indianapolis Star, April 16 -- Legislation to move the Indiana Department of Toxicology out of Indiana University and make it a standalone state agency overseen by an 11-member board packed with law enforcement officials is getting a significant makeover, Sen. Tom Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, said Friday. Wyss, the bill's primary author, said he is proposing to eliminate the advisory board in an effort to avoid even the appearance that the lab is beholden to law enforcement. Full story.

Cost benchmarking study identifies savings, efficiencies in IU operations
The Bloomington Herald-Times, April 16 -- Indiana University could realize as much as $24 million in savings by implementing recommendations to come out of its recent cost benchmarking initiative. It also could gain an intangible amount in increased efficiencies identified by the study, the board of trustees learned Friday. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Neil Theobald told the trustees the study was launched last fall to address a "long-time mismatch between our resources and our goals." He said IU operates with the least revenue per student in the Big Ten but that the institution's expectations are far greater than being the 11th out of 11. Full story.

IU to require employees to pick up more health costs
The Bloomington Herald-Times, April 16 -- IU will continue to increase its contribution to health care costs and will add $10.6 million, or 6 percent, to the current budget for 2011-12. But the university will also change its philosophy for covering health care costs next year. It currently pays 80 percent of costs and expects employees to pay the other 20 percent through premiums and co-pays. The split will go to 75/25 for calendar year 2012, under a proposal to the trustees presented by Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Neil Theobald and Dan Rives, associate vice president of human services. Full story.

Thousands Pack IU Campus For Little 500
Theindychannel.com, Courier-journal.com, April 16 -- Despite the rain and chilly temperatures on Saturday, thousands of people came out for Indiana University's annual "Little 500" bike race. This year marks the 61st running of the Little 500, 6News' Myrt Price reported. Among the new activities featured this year, a greater emphasis was placed on recycling and using environmentally materials. Full story. Full story 2.

IU Students In Big Trouble After Little 500
Theindychannel.com, April 18 -- Students picked up for minor offenses at Indiana University's Little 500 faced a judge on Sunday in Bloomington. As a punishment, the offenders had to hit the streets to perform community service, 6News' Myrt Price reported. Event organizers said 222 people, most of them students, partied too much and ended up getting arrested. Full story.

IU applies for presidential debate
Indiana Daily Student, April 18 -- IU students are one step closer to being a part of the heat for the 2012 presidential election. The University has submitted an application to sponsor a presidential debate on campus, making it one of 12 schools to apply for the debate. If chosen, IU may be host to either a presidential or vice presidential debate in the IU Auditorium. Full story.

IU voices in the news

At more colleges, computers are replacing classrooms
The Indianapolis Star, April 18 -- "There is definitely a student demand, and at most major universities, you find demand is your own students," said Bobby Schnabel, the dean of informatics at IU. Students love the flexibility of an online class. Colleges love earning the tuition dollars without having to build new classrooms. And professors are starting to come around to the reality of an online world. Full story.

OpEd: Justice: Too much and too expensive
News.vanderbilt.edu, April 18 -- This opinion piece by Nancy J. King, Lee S. and Charles A. Speir Professor of Law at Vanderbilt, and Joseph Hoffmann of Indiana University Maurer School of Law, proposes a new approach to habeas corpus cases. The reforms King and Hoffmann recommend are based on their recently released book, Habeas for the Twenty-First Century: Uses, Abuses, and the Future of the Great Writ and a comprehensive study of habeas cases King completed in 2007 with colleagues Fred Cheesman and Brian Ostrom. Full story.

Rival Democrats won't give in to Melnia Kennedy
The Indianapolis Star, April 18 -- Brian Vargus, a political science professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis is quoted in this article. Full story.

From the Chronicle

Higher Education's Reform Takes Center Stage in Arab Protests
Hundreds of students have set up camp outside the Ministry of Higher Education in downtown Cairo, hanging banners, laying out mats, and stowing duffel bags under the building's awning. "I'm a graduate. I'm specialized. I have skills," reads one sign. "But I can't find a job." Full story.

Patients Take Aim at Medical School's Patent Deal on Life-Saving Drug
As research institutions await a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that could determine whether university ownership of patents from taxpayer-financed research is in the public interest, a group of patients with a rare, life-threatening ailment wants to turn up the heat on Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Genzyme Corporation over one such patent. In March, the patients filed a federal class-action lawsuit accusing the school and the biotechnology company of negligence and of violating the federal Bayh-Dole Act by rationing and withholding a drug that could ease the patients' symptoms or extend their lives. Full story.

Senate Bill Would Add Sexual Violence to Law on Campus-Crime Reporting
Legislation in Congress that would broaden federal law on campus-crime reporting to include sexual violence has won support from nearly 20 advocacy groups. The legislation, the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act (S. 834), was introduced in the Senate on Thursday by two Democrats, Robert P. Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania and Patty Murray of Washington. It would amend the Jeanne Clery Act, the federal law that governs the obligations of colleges to report crimes that take place on their campuses. Full story.

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.

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