DN 07-11-13

Page 1

DN THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2013

THE DAILY NEWS

BSUDAILY.COM

JAY-Z’S ‘MAGNA CARTA ‘

Delaware County Fair

Columnist says new album lacks lyrical content, falls short in its final half SEE PAGE 4

Microwave food contest among others at 4-H SEE PAGE 5

DEFINING

INDIANA HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 6 HJR-6 is the proposed resolution to the Indiana Constitution that will define marriage as an act only recognized between one man and one woman. The resolution will also provide that any legal status similar to marriage will not be valid or recognized. Currently this proposed amendment has passed the 2011 Indiana General Assembly and must now go through both the House and the Senate at the start of the 2014 legislative session where it will need a simple majority to pass.

MARRIAGE

HOW THE ASSEMBLY COULD RULE

Nonprofit Indiana Equality Action looks to recruit young voters in fall to contact representatives, organize events |

FOR

AGAINST

If passed by a second General Assembly then the proposed resolution will appear on Indiana voting ballots in 2014.

If struck down by the second General Assembly the resolution will be thrown out.

SAM HOYT CHIEF REPORTER sthoyt@bsu.edu

H

oosiers are preparing to fight over HJR-6, a house joint resolution that would amend Indiana’s constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, and Ball State will be part of the battleground. Representatives from Indiana Equality Action, a non-profit that fights discrimination against homosexuality, will be sent to the major campuses in Indiana, including Ball State, Purdue and Indiana universities. Rick Sutton, president of IEA, said the representatives will focus on getting voters to contact their state representatives and organizing events. “There will be the typical campaign stuff you would see for a candidate, except this isn’t for a candidate — this is for a cause,” Sutton said.

IF VOTED FOR IN THE 2014 ELECTION

IEA hasn’t chosen the representatives yet, but is looking specifically for people experienced in campaigning to manage what they expect to be a large support area. “An overwhelming majority of young people today want to work in an environment that’s open and receptive to all people,” Sutton said. “That’s the message that we need to carry to reject this amendment.” The proposed amendment will go through the House and the Senate, where it should be completely resolved by March 14. If passed, it will take effect in 2014. David Long, the Republican Senate president pro tempore, said he expects it to be passed in both the House and Senate. Republicans Brian Bosma, speaker of the House of Representatives, and Eric Turner, the district 32 representative who authored HJR-6 in 2011, could not be reached for comment.

If a majority of voting parties vote to approve it, the proposed amendment will then become part of the Indiana Constitution.

« It’ll be heard in the House first. I think most people

believe the House will be too difficult to concentrate much effort on the House and that the big effort will be in the Senate, where there seems to be more moderate Republicans who have recently acknowledged their change in ideas and change on position on the issue. » VI SIMPSON, former minority leader of the Indiana State Senate

SOURCE: in.gov, indianaequalityaction.org, Vi Simpson, former minority leader of the Indiana State Senate DN GRAPHIC MICHAEL BOEHNLEIN

See HJR-6, page 3

New professor says he won’t teach intelligent design Gonzalez contends he never taught ID prior to starting at Ball State SAM HOYT CHIEF REPORTER | sthoyt@bsu.edu The controversial professor who will join the astronomy department in the fall has released a statement that pledges not to discuss intelligent design in his classes. Guillermo Gonzalez taught at Iowa State University until he was denied tenure in 2008. Gonzalez and the Discovery Institute, an intelligent design group of which he is a senior fellow, claim the decision to deny tenure was due to Gonzalez’s ties to ID, while ISU cited academic reasons. “As I communicated to members

QUESTIONS THAT DISCOVERY INSTITUTE WANTS TO BE ANSWERED Excerpt from the Discovery Institute’s letter to Ball State, accompanying the 7,000 person petition. 1. What specific language in the Faculty and Professional Personnel Handbook authorizes the appointment and governs conduct of the special committee investigating Prof. Hedin and his course? Please supply copies of this language and any policies, procedures, or standards that guarantee and explain Prof. Hedin’s rights to due process. of the department during my interviews, I plan to continue my research on astrobiology and stellar astrophysics,” Gonzalez said in the statement. “I will not be discussing Intelligent

2. What other professors at BSU have been subjected to investigation by a special committee using the language and other policies, procedures, and standards referenced in question 1? 3. What specific standards are the special committee and Provost using to determine as “appropriate” or not the content and teaching of Prof. Hedin’s course? Have these standards been applied to other BSU faculty? If so, how have they been so applied?

4. W hat specific standards are the special committee and Provost using to determine whether Prof. Hedin is “qualified” to teach his course? Have these standards been applied to other BSU faculty? If so, how have they been so applied? 5. W hat specific measures has BSU taken to ensure that Prof. Hedin is treated fairly and that his academic freedom rights are protected during this investigative process? SOURCE: The Discovery Institute

Design in my classes. I didn’t discuss ID at ISU either.” Jerry Coyne, an ID critic and blogger, said the controversy surrounding Ball State professor Eric Hedin

for accusations of teaching creationism in class may have led to Gonzalez’s announcement clarifying the role of ID in classes. “He’s under the gun because he

BOSTON BOMBING SUSPECT PLEADS NOT GUILTY Dzhokhar Tsarnaev could face 30 federal charges for April 15 mass attack | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BOSTON — His arm in a cast and his face swollen, a blase-looking Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the Boston Marathon bombing in a seven-minute proceeding that marked his first appearance in public since his capture in mid-April. As survivors of the bombing looked on, Tsarnaev, 19, gave a small, lopsided smile to his two sisters upon arriving in the courtroom. He appeared to have a jaw injury and there was swelling around his left eye and cheek. Leaning into the microphone, he told a federal judge, “Not guilty” and said it over and over as the charges were read. Then he was led away in handcuffs, making a kissing gesture toward his family with his lips. One of his sisters sobbed loudly, resting her head on a woman seated next to her. Tsarnaev, who has been hospitalized

MUNCIE, INDIANA

since his capture with wounds suffered in a shootout and getaway attempt, faces 30 federal charges, including using a weapon of mass destruction to kill, in connection with the April 15 attack that DZHOKHAR left three people TSARNAEV, dead and more than suspected 260 wounded. He Boston bomber could get the death penalty if prosecutors choose to pursue it. The proceedings took place in a heavily guarded courtroom packed not only with victims but with their families, police officers, and members of the public and the media. The Russian immigrant and former college student looked much as he did in a photo widely circulated after his arrest, his hair curly and unkempt. Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, he appeared nonchalant, almost bored, during the hearing. The cast covered his left forearm, hand and fingers. The bombing victims showed little

ALL RIGHT, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, STOP SETTING OFF FIREWORKS

CONTACT US

News desk: 285-8245 Sports desk: 285-8245 Features desk: 285-8245

reaction in the courtroom after a federal marshal warned them against any outbursts. Liz Norden, the mother of two men who lost their right legs in the bombings, said afterward: “I actually felt sick to my stomach.” Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Chief John DiFava, who was also in the courtroom, said Tsarnaev looked “smug.” “I didn’t see a lot of remorse. I didn’t see a lot of regret,” he said. “It just seemed to me that if I was in that position, I would have been a lot more nervous, certainly scared.” DiFava added: “I just wanted to see him. I wanted to see the person that so coldly and callously killed four people, one of whom being an officer of mine.” “We were pleased to hear that the university took the complaints seriously and assigned a panel to investigate the claims and see exactly how professor Hedin is teaching the class,” Seidel said. “We want them to have access to some of the same information that we did.”

MOVING FORWARD WHAT

Edward F. Davis III, Boston’s police commissioner, testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee WHERE

EDWARD F.

To urge lawmakers DAVIS III, to write a Boston’s police requirement in the commissioner task force’s mission that the Justice Department’s terrorism task force needs to share threat information more quickly with local law enforcement.

« There is a gap with

information sharing at a higher level while there are still opportunities to intervene in the planning of these terrorist events. » EDWARD F. DAVIS III

See BOSTON, page 2

SOURCE: The Associated Press

has to keep his nose clean and teach real science and do science because he needs to get tenure,” Coyne said. “I take the guy’s word when he says that and I think it’s in his best interests to keep his promise.” Andrew Seidel, an attorney with the Freedom from Religion Foundation, an organization that fights for the separation of church and state, said the FFRF will be keeping an eye on Coyne to ensure he keeps his promise. The FFRF wrote a letter to Ball State prompting the ongoing investigation on Hedin. Seidel said the FFRF will be releasing another letter later this week to Ball State with new information gathered from students about Hedin and his class.

See GONZALEZ, page 2

AP| BRIEF

INDIANA STORMS, HIGH WINDS DOWN TREES, POWER LINES INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Severe thunderstorms packing wind gusts as high as 60 mph have downed tree limbs and power lines across Indiana and left thousands of electricity customers without service. Duke Energy reported nearly 21,000 customers without power Wednesday afternoon in central and southern Indiana. Indiana Michigan Power Co. had more than 6,000 without power, mostly in northeastern Indiana. The Sheriff’s Department in Jay County about 40 miles south of Fort Wayne said downed trees were blocking several state highways and local roads. The National Weather Service posted a flood warning for northern Carroll County in north central Indiana after radar indicated slow-moving storms could dump up to 2½ inches of rain there. The weather service says authorities and a trained spotter estimated wind gusts of 60 mph in southwestern and northeastern Indiana.

THE BALL STATE DAILY NEWS Editor: 285-8249 Classified: 285-8247 Fax: 285-8248

PHOTO GALLERIES

Go online to see photography from campus, community events. Visit bsudaily.com and click on multimedia.

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FORECAST

TODAY High: 79, Low: 57 Mostly sunny

TOMORROW High: 80, Low: 58 Sunny


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DN 07-11-13 by The Ball State Daily News - Issuu