Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015

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TUESDAY, JAN. 27, 2015

IDS “ INDIANA DAILY STUDENT | IDSNEWS.COM

Concealed carry considered in bill By Daniel Metz dsmetz@indiana.edu | @DanielSMetz

The push to allow the concealed carry of firearms on college campuses is underway in the Indiana General Assembly. House Bill 1143, a new piece of legislation that was introduced into the Indiana House Committee on Public Policy on Jan. 8, would make significant changes to Indiana’s gun regulation laws, including allowing concealed carry of firearms on college campuses. The law, which was authored by State Rep. Jim Lucas, prohibits any state agency or state-supported property from regulating the concealed carry of weapons by individuals with a proper permit. Miles Vining, the current head of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus at IU, offered a comment on the subject when asked why they supported concealed carry laws. “The biggest reason is because of the vulnerability of college campus-

es in general,” Vining said. “There’s a very good reason you don’t hear about mass shootings taking place in gun shops or gun shows.” The SCCC is a national organization that was established after the fatal shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007. It promotes the concealed carry of handguns on college campuses. “A lot of people seem to think that we are simply for legislation to allow firearms on campus,” Vining said. “Although that is our main goal, our interests go much deeper than that. It’s often said ... that never pulling your gun out is preferable. So a large part about our group is promoting things like situational awareness and self-defense alternatives.” Vining said it is already legal to carry a concealed weapon in Indiana if you have the proper permits, but IU often chooses to expel students whom they can prove were carrying concealed weapons. There are already laws that SEE GUNS, PAGE 7

Gealt’s tenure at IU Art Museum to end By Sanya Ali siali@indiana.edu | @siali13

IU Art Museum Director Adelheid “Heidi” Gealt said she has heard many times her aspirations may be too high. “I kept telling James Byam Shaw I wanted to work on what he called ‘The Biblical Drawings,’ and he said ‘Oh my dear, that’s complicated,’ and it was,” Gealt said. That was back in 2006, when Gealt was working on a second project focusing on artist Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. Gealt said this was not the last hitch in her plan to exhibit Tiepolo’s work in Udine, Italy. “I invited them to invite George

Knox, who was a great scholar on the father, Giovanni Batista Tiepolo,” Gealt said. “I said to George, ‘You know, we really need to include these large biblical drawings,’ and he said, ‘Oh, my dear, much of the muchness.’ I said, ‘George, trust me, they are gong to be the hit of the show.’” This dedication to her museum and showcasing the best of the art world are two of the reasons Gealt was this year’s recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash award from Gov. Mike Pence on Jan. 22. In the nomination, peers described Gealt as a great steward of artistic pride. SEE GEALT, PAGE 7

JULIE KENNEDY | IDS

Robert Coatsworth was in Paris at the time of the Charlie Hebdo shooting that left 12 people dead. Coatsworth was awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study in Aix-en-Provence, France, during the 2013-2014 school year.

IU senior shares his story of Paris attacks By Alison Graham akgraham@indiana.edu | @AlisonGraham218

IU senior Robert Coatsworth was visiting his fiancé, Loïc Lemain, and his family in Paris on Jan. 7. Coatsworth was touring Paris with Lemain and Lemain’s mother after 11:30 a.m. when Lemain received a news alert on his phone. It warned of a shooting in Paris. “When you hear that, it’s not really that shocking because North Paris is like South Chicago,” Coatsworth said. “I just assumed, we all

did, that it was just, you know, ‘Oh God, more violence.’” Coatsworth said because Lemain and his mother weren’t concerned, he wasn’t either. That shooting would turn out to be the attacks on Charlie Hebdo, which shocked the French people and put the city on alert for three days. The two attackers killed 12 people. Paris was put on maximum alert with the deployment of an

Members of the BNL student body

wore gorilla outfits and the other students wore jungle gear.

Our student/athletes, our student body, coaches, our parents/fans, and my administrative team saw this as

a racially insensitive

choice. ”

Excerpt from complaint authored by Lawrence North High School Principal Brett Crousore to the IHSAA, March 4, 2014

By Michael Majchrowicz mmajchro@indiana.edu | @mjmajchrowicz

Almost a year later, the players and their fans still remember the stares from the sea of white faces as they entered the fieldhouse that night. They can still hear the slurs, the jeers about how they smelled, the word “niggers” thrown at them before the game even started. They can still see the students from the home team dressed in safari costumes and the two boys rollicking under one of the baskets in gorilla suits. The semi-state tournament game, played March 1, 2014, pitted Indiana’s top two high school girls basketball teams against each other, both vying for a spot in the state finals. Lawrence North, the No. 2 team out of Indianapolis, was made up of all black players. Bedford North Lawrence, the No. 1 team and defending state champion, was predominately white and playing on its home court, cheered on by thousands of white fans from their small town. Bedford won in overtime and went on to claim its second straight state championship. But its victory was clouded by the shameful behavior of the fans. Lawrence North filed a complaint with the Indiana High School Athletic Association, alleging “systematic racism.” It wasn’t just the racial insults from the Bedford fans. Lawrence North was dismayed that the adults who were supposed to be in charge had allowed the debacle to take place, especially when the visiting team had requested more than a week before that the game be moved to a neutral site. The complaint pointed out that an IHSAA assistant commissioner had attended the game and failed to intervene, even with the boys dressed as gorillas. “Through her lack of actions, this behavior was seen as acceptable,” wrote Lawrence North Principal Brett Crousore. The IHSAA promised an investigation and, months later, issued its decision. The commission had not interviewed any students from either school. Instead the IHSAA said it could not identify a particular student or group that had made the “alleged” slurs. The commission did not issue sanctions, nor did it require Bedford to apologize. But it did decide to move this year’s semi-state game from Bedford to a neutral court in Jeffersonville, Ind. It also amended language on the back of tournament programs to remind fans to respect people of all backgrounds and create a welcoming environment for opponents. The intent, the IHSAA said, was to encourage fans to be more “sportsmanlike.” * * * Another season is underway, and the girls from Lawrence North are back on the court. Whatever lessons they drew

from their treatment in Bedford and at the IHSAA, they refuse to be defeated — literally. More than halfway through the season, the Wildcats were 17-0 and ranked No. 2 in the state. Nobody needed to remind them that Bedford was No. 1, also undefeated, or that the two teams could soon face off again in this year’s tournament. Saturday afternoon, Lawrence North played North Central, an Indianapolis rival. Early in the game, with Lawrence North trailing 10-6, Coach Chris Giffin called timeout. “What’s wrong, girls?” he said, “What is it going to take to get us to wake up?” The girls stayed silent, listening and nodding. Nearby, Vnemina Cooper watched her daughter, Lamina, intently from the stands. Lamina, a senior guard, had signed to play at Purdue next school year. The atmosphere at North Central was loud and infectious, but nothing compared to the thousands of roaring Bedford basketball fans. Cooper was at the Bedford game last March. She’d anticipated jeers and shouting and raucousness. Concentrate on yourself, she’d told her daughter before the game. Focus on your team and what it is you’re trying to accomplish. The people in the stands weren’t a part of this equation. While Cooper said she was unnerved by what she witnessed in Bedford, she also wasn’t entirely surprised. “I understood the climate going into there,” she said. That evening in Bedford, before the game, the girls chose not to mention the slurs to their coach. To do so would detract from his and their focus on the game. Before they returned to the court for tipoff, the team gathered to recite the Lord’s Prayer. “Last year was a rough time during semi-state,” Cooper said. “There’s many things that happened during the game that were not appropriate. It was a game that we lost, and it was heartbreaking.” Following the game, Cooper chose her words carefully to her daughter. It’s a matter of iron focus, she said. * * * IHSAA Commissioner Bobby Cox maintains that the investigation and “language amendment” was effective. Before the semi-state contest, three white IHSAA officials were assigned to the game. Lawrence North Principal Crousore asked that at least one person of color be SEE BASKETBALL, PAGE 7

SEE PARIS, PAGE 2

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