Front Page News at Indiana University

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IU's Center for Education and Research in Retailing projects a 1 percent decline in holiday sales
IU to establish faculty chair in memory of President Myles Brand
Gossip in the workplace: A weapon or gift, new research from IU
IU Creative Writing program ranks among top in nation
Leading Index for Indiana unchanged for September due to slight dip in the auto sector component
Kelley School of Business entrepreneurship faculty recognized with global award for research
Nov. 13 just right for 13th Annual IU Blood Donor Challenge to go nationwide
Provost to host open house to welcome dean of students
Local kids star as Munchkins in upcoming IU Auditorium presentation of 'The Wizard of Oz'
IU Bloomington Scoreboard

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IU's Center for Education and Research in Retailing projects a 1 percent decline in holiday sales -- While the forecast for 2009 holiday retail sales is not as grim as a year ago, when seasonal activity fell by 3.8 percent from 2007, the Center for Education and Research in Retailing at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business still projects a 1 percent decline. The center projects sales in November and December will total $437 billion. The forecast is only for holiday sales during the last two months of 2009 and excludes retail sales at restaurants, gas stations and online. It includes all traditional brick-and-mortar retailers across all formats and categories. Read the complete story.

IU to establish faculty chair in memory of President Myles Brand -- Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie announced Oct. 28 a campaign to create an endowed faculty chair in cancer research in commemoration of the late Myles Brand, the university's 16th president. The university is establishing a permanent Myles Brand Chair in Cancer Research at the IU School of Medicine, Indianapolis. Funding for the chair will support a world-class researcher, with expertise in pancreatic and other gastrointestinal cancers. Brand, who served as IU's 16th president from 1994 to 2002, had been president of the NCAA from January 2003 until his death on Sept. 16 after a nine-month fight against pancreatic cancer. He was 67. Read the complete story.

Gossip in the workplace: A weapon or gift, new research from IU -- Gossip in the workplace can be a weapon in reputational warfare or a gift and can offer clues to power and influence not found on organizational charts. New research from Indiana University details how the weapon is wielded -- and its influence muted -- in a rare study that catches this national pastime on video. The study, published in the October issue of the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, identifies subtle ways that people who are targets of gossip are negatively evaluated during formal work meetings, including veiling criticism with sarcasm or talking up another colleague for comparison. It also discusses how efforts to embark on negative gossip can be effectively -- and again, subtly -- derailed, by changing the subject, targeting someone else for criticism or by pre-emptive comments that are positive. Read the complete story.

IU Creative Writing program ranks among top in nation -- Indiana University's Creative Writing Program in the Department of English is now ranked among the top in the nation, according to the November/December issue of Poets and Writers Magazine. The magazine has ranked the program's Master of Fine Arts program No. 12 in the nation. According to Poets and Writers Magazine, there are more than 140 full-residency FMA programs in the U.S., so being listed among the top 50 in any of the ranked categories is considered "exceptional." IU beat out such illustrious programs as Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University and the University of Notre Dame for the ranking. Read the complete story.

Leading Index for Indiana unchanged for September due to slight dip in the auto sector component -- The Leading Index for Indiana (LII) for the month of September was unchanged from the August index. The August index, previously flat from July, was revised upward. The LII is produced by the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, in order to help Hoosier businesses and governments better understand market conditions in the state. Three of the five components that make up the LII edged up in September, but the slight dip in the auto sector component resulted in the composite index remaining flat. Read the complete story.

Kelley School of Business entrepreneurship faculty recognized with global award for research -- Indiana University's Kelley School of Business has been named winner of the 2009 Award for Exceptional Contributions in Entrepreneurship Research by the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC). The award was presented at the annual conference held this month in Houston, Texas. Accepting on behalf of the Kelley School's entrepreneurship faculty was Donald F. Kuratko, the Jack M. Gill Chair of Entrepreneurship and executive director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The award recognizes a business school where the faculty is dedicated to advancing and supporting the creation and creators of new entrepreneurship knowledge. Read the complete story.

Nov. 13 just right for 13th Annual IU Blood Donor Challenge to go nationwide -- Originally known as the IU vs. Purdue Blood Donor Challenge, Indiana University continues saving lives this year in the renamed 13th annual IU Blood Donor Challenge. The nationwide challenge will run through Nov. 13. As of 2008, Purdue no longer participates in the competition, but the IU Blood Donor Challenge continues to encourage IU alumni chapters, student organizations, constituent societies and other groups in Indiana and around the nation to challenge each other to raise the most units of donated blood. Participants can donate blood in the name of IU at blood donation sites across Indiana and the nation. The alumni chapter, student organization and constituent society that raises the most units will be recognized at the IU vs. Purdue game on Nov. 21 at Bloomington, Ind. Read the complete story.

Provost to host open house to welcome dean of students -- Indiana University Bloomington Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson will host a campus open house next week to enable students to meet new Dean of Students Harold "Pete" Goldsmith. The event will take place from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, in the Frangipani Room of the Indiana Memorial Union, 900 E. Seventh St. All IU Bloomington students are invited. "Dean Goldsmith has brought tremendous energy and excellent ideas to the Division of Student Affairs," Hanson said. "He is making it a high priority to be accessible to students and hear their ideas. I hope that students will take advantage of this opportunity to meet the dean and share their insights on how the campus can better meet the needs of all students." Read the complete story.

Local kids star as Munchkins in upcoming IU Auditorium presentation of 'The Wizard of Oz' -- Indiana University Auditorium will present the family-friendly, multiple award winning Broadway production of The Wizard of Oz Nov. 10 and 11 at 7:30 p.m. Appearing in the show as Munchkins will be local school children from the Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Cooperation's Edgewood Junior High School. Both performances will feature a coloring contest and other projects and activities for the children in attendance in the IU Auditorium lobby prior to the show. This production of the classic story of Dorothy's adventures in Oz is known for its high-tech special effects, including flying monkeys, color costumes and a video-projected tornado. In addition to the well-known songs "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "If I Only Had a Brain" and "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead," the production also features three additional songs that were cut from the original film version. Read the complete story.

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Indiana University Bloomington Scoreboard

Results from Tuesday, Oct. 27:
Wrestling: The No. 15 Indiana University wrestling team held an intrasquad practice Tuesday with nine wrestle-offs on the docket, including 2008 National Champion Angel Escobedo in action. All the wrestle-offs were unofficially scored, though the coaches did keep the clocks on to time the practice activities. Read about this season's team.

Results from Wednesday, Oct. 28:
Men's Soccer: The Indiana men's soccer team snapped a three-game losing streak in style on Wednesday night, taking a 2-0 victory over in-state for Evansville. Read the match notes.

Results from Thursday, Oct. 29:
Women's Soccer: The 23rd ranked Indiana women's soccer team suffered it's first home loss of the season on Thursday against No. 25 Penn State by a score of 2-1. Read the match notes.

Schedule for Friday, Oct. 30:
Men's Swimming: Texas, 4 p.m., Austin, Texas
Women's Volleyball: Illinois, 7 p.m., Bloomington, Ind.

Schedule for Saturday, Oct. 31:
Football: Iowa, 12 a.m., Iowa City, Iowa
Field Hockey: Michigan, 1 p.m., Ann Arbor, Mich.
Women's Volleyball: Northwestern, 7 p.m., Bloomington, Ing.
Men's Tennis: Big Ten Singles Championships, East Lansing, Mich.

Schedule for Sunday, Nov. 1:
Men's and Women's Cross Country: Big Ten Championships, University Park, Pa.
Women's Soccer: Ohio State, 1 p.m., Columbus, Ohio
Men's Soccer: Ohio State, 1 p.m., Bloomington, Ind.
Women's Basketball: Lambuth Exhibition, 2 p.m., Bloomington, Ind.
Women's Rowing: Notre Dame, Iowa Scrimmage, South Bend, Ind.
Men's Golf: The Renaissance Invitational, Naples, Fla.
Men's Tennis: Big Ten Singles Championships, East Lansing, Mich.

Schedule for Monday, Nov. 2:
Men's Golf: The Renaissance Invitational, Naples, Fla.
Women's Golf: 2009 Challenge at Onion Creek, Austin, Texas
Men's Tennis: Big Ten Singles Championships, East Lansing, Mich.

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IU in the news

Gene therapy may boost success of lung transplants
Los Angeles Times, Oct. 28 -- A new gene therapy procedure to restore function in lungs damaged during harvesting from donors could make more of the organs available for transplanting, Canadian researchers reported Wednesday. Currently, only about 15% of potential donor lungs are used because the rest are too damaged to implant. The new technique, which has not yet been tested in humans, could prevent that damage or even reverse it, potentially expanding the supply of lungs sharply. The procedure "not only may result in improved preservation of lungs [before transplantation] but also may repair lungs otherwise not suitable for transplantation," Dr. David S. Wilkes of the Indiana University School of Medicine wrote in an editorial accompanying the report. But several questions remain, he said. Implanting lungs from a human donor might present more problems. And the use of adenoviruses has caused complications in some gene-therapy experiments when the virus inserted the added gene at an inappropriate location. Full story.

Videorecording may improve colonoscopy performance
Reuters Health, Oct. 27 -- New research suggests that videorecording of colonoscopies may enhance operator technique and result in more thorough examinations. "We found that videotaping resulted in a change in physician behavior," lead researcher Dr. Douglas Rex, from Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis, told Reuters Health. "Basically the doctors went slower and looked more carefully." Dr. Rex presented the study findings this week at the American College of Gastroenterology annual meeting in San Diego, California. The study featured seven experienced endoscopists who first performed 8 to 10 colonoscopies that were digitally recorded without their knowledge. The physicians then performed 8 to 10 more colonoscopies that were recorded with their awareness. Full story.

Brand is remembered as visionary
Indianapolis Star, Oct. 29 -- Myles Brand, the former president of Indiana University and the NCAA, was remembered Wednesday night at Conseco Fieldhouse with two hours of song, poetry and messages from many of those who loved him most. Brand also was honored with action, something that would have touched his soul. IU President Michael McRobbie announced the endowment of a chair at the IU School of Medicine for cancer research, specifically pancreatic cancer, which claimed Brand's life Sept. 16. McRobbie said 145 donors have contributed a total of more than $1.1 million, and IU will contribute $1 million. The news drew one of many rounds of applause from the crowd, estimated at 1,000. Full story.

Experts Say Technology Desensitizing Teens To Crime
TheINDYChannel.com, Oct. 29 -- Texting, typing and taking pictures are among the primary ways that teens communicate, in lieu of talking as much, but experts contend teens have become desensitized to criminal activity, largely because the ability to communicate without apparent repercussions is so easy. Some point to the gang rape of a California teen as an example of a pervasive problem that seems to be worsening, 6News' Sarah Cornell reported.
"It's beyond horrendous that this could happen and someone could watch," said Kathryn Brown, an expert in sexual behavior at Indiana University. Brown, who is heading up a "sexploration" conference at the school this week, said desensitization through the Internet and texting is shaping teen behavior. Full story.

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