Monday, April 11, 2016

Page 1

Protest calls for Pence to resign

Monday, April 11, 2016

IDS Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com

INVESTIGATIONS CAMPUS SAFETY

By Erica Gibson ecgibson5@gmail.com | @erica_clare05

In the

DARK

Light should be a source of safety in times of danger, but the 56 blue light emergency phones on the IU campus are just a distraction for police and a plaything for students. IU continues to install new blue lights with every new construction. Parts 2 and 3 of this series will be published April 12 and 13.

By Nyssa Kruse nakruse@indiana.edu | @NyssaKruse

F

acing the red Woodburn clock, a campus tour guide last month began his safety spiel. To reassure anxious parents, he described the layers of campus safety measures. He introduced the various state and local police forces, the Safety Escort program and mentioned city and campus buses as safety features. “Anything I’m forgetting?” he asked his fellow guide. “We also have the blue lights,” she said. “But I don’t think they’ve ever been used in an emergency.” She wasn’t wrong — in the last six months, the IU Police Department responded to seven complaints of suspicious people or vehicles, 88 complaints of harassment or intimidation, 54 assaults, four forcible fondlings and five rapes. Not once did victims use a blue light emergency phone to report the crimes. The proper use of a blue light is to hit its red button when in an emergency. This activates a strobe light to draw attention to the area and dials 911 to IUPD. The University spends between $12,000 and $15,000 annually to maintain the lights. A new light costs about $4,200 to purchase, according to cost estimates from the manufacturer. “If we get a call from one of those phones, whether or not someone was on the other end talking, we send an officer to check on that,” IUPD Captain Andy Stephenson said. “If you hit that emergency button, it’s a serious thing for us. We treat that as an emergency situation.” When blue lights are hit, IUPD patrol officers drive to the location, canvas the area and consistently find nothing. This

happens almost every day. In this charade, time is wasted on a campus where four to six officers typically share responsibility for more than 48,000 students. Or, at least, the students who live on campus, because IUPD’s main jurisdiction is bounded by 17th Street, Indiana Avenue, Third Street and the bypass. In the last 10 years, IUPD has received more than 4,600 calls from blue lights. In the collective memory of veteran IUPD officers, there have only been four legitimate calls from the phones in the past 20 years.

INDIANAPOLIS — An American Sign Language translator in all black stood on the statehouse steps in Indianapolis, placed the palm of her right hand on her stomach and covered it with her left hand. She slid her right hand from beneath the left and pushed it outward. Birth. Then the translator put her palm on her stomach, formed a fist and then extended her fingers out in a downward motion. Abortion. Women held 97 signs bearing the names of every Indiana legislator who voted in favor of the controversial, comprehensive abortion bill House Enrolled Act 1337. To the far left, mitten-covered hands held a sign with one of Bloomington’s representatives. Rep. Jeff Ellington, D-Bloomington, was the only Bloomington legislator to vote in favor of the bill. On Saturday, more than 1,000 people gathered on the statehouse lawn to protest Ellington — and every other Indiana politician who supported HEA 1337 — as part of the Rally for Women’s Rights. The bill, passed by the legislature March 11 and signed into law by Gov. Mike Pence on March 24, enacted several measures to restrict access to abortion through all stages of pregnancy. Under HEA 1337, women must attend an ultrasound screening 18 hours before procedure and listen to the fetal heartbeat. Abortion providers are required to cremate or bury fetal remains from both abortions SEE RALLY PAGE 5

HISTORY The first blue lights were installed by 1989 at a time when the IU Office of Women’s Affairs wanted more safety features on campus. This coincided with a push by Women’s Affairs for more public telephones and more publicity for the Women’s Wheels program, now called Safety Escort. Almost 15 years later, IU’s student government questioned the usefulness of the blue lights. On the day the Crimson ticket took office in 2003, executives passed a resolution asking the IU Commission on Personal Safety to perform a detailed study on the maintenance, response time and overall dependability of the blue emergency lights. The study was never executed, Jonathan Deck, then-IU Student Association safety director, said last month. He said he can’t remember why. Today, students don’t think about them, even in situations when they could be used. SEE BLUE LIGHTS, PAGE 6

Breakdown of investment in blue light emergency phones, 2011-15 $51,235.90 Labor

$22,899.77 Equipment

Each light costs $4,200 to construct SOURCE IU Building Systems; Ramtel Corporation GRAPHIC BY EMILY ABSHIRE | IDS

PHOTO BY NOBLE GUYON | IDS

BASEBALL

Hoosiers pick up 1st sweep of season against Boilermakers By Zain Pyarali zpyarali@indiana.edu | @ZainPyarali

In a rivalry, almost anything can happen. IU picked up its first series sweep of the season against Purdue this weekend. Rain, hail and heavy winds in game one finished off by a two-hour rain delay and an improbable comeback in game three has the Hoosiers at a season-best four games over .500. In game one, an explosive seven-run third inning capped off by a bases-clearing 3-RBI double from sophomore outfielder Logan Sowers gave IU a commanding 8-1 lead. Senior starting pitcher Kyle Hart struggled on the hill after allowing just one run through his first four innings. The usually steady senior was touched for four runs in the fifth. “I thought he competed,” IU Coach Chris Lemonis said. “He got in that one inning and faced two really good hitters and he got beat by them a little bit, but I thought he was good.” The bullpen was steady in game two after senior starting pitcher Caleb Baragar tossed five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts to begin SEE BASEBALL, PAGE 6

Venue change doesn’t deter festival turnout for Culture Shock By TJ Jaeger TJaeger@indiana.edu | @TJ_Jaeger

What was meant to be an openair music festival turned into an indoor, all-day concert. Due to unseasonably cold weather, WIUX moved its 30th annual Culture Shock to Rhino’s Youth Center, the largest all-ages venue in town. But even Rhino’s wasn’t big enough to hold the festival, which is typically held in Dunn Meadow. Toward the end of the evening, WIUX volunteers turned fans away due to a full 400-capacity venue. Those who got in ranged from festival first-timers to season show-goers. Volunteers arrived early to set up

Weather’s effect on business, page 5 Photo gallery, page 9 The change of venue and the chilly temperatures brought fewer people to the festival, vendors said. Read the full story online at idsnews.com tables, tents and audio equipment. Due to the size of Rhino’s, most of the tables were set up in the parking lot, which required a team of volunteers to sport windbreakers. One volunteer was Mike Higgins, SEE CULTURE SHOCK, PAGE 6 Brenda’s Friend performs for a crowd during Culture Shock on Saturday at Rhino’s All Ages Club.

VICTOR GAN | IDS


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