THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015
IDS INDIANA DAILY STUDENT | IDSNEWS.COM
Staying home IDS FILE PHOTO
Jake Kelzer releases a pitch against Michigan on April 4 at Bart Kaufman Field. Kelzer earned a win with four runs in six innings as the thanks to the 14 hits by the Hoosiers.
Jake Kelzer has only known one place as home — Bloomington. The rising junior pitcher was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the MLB Draft, but Kelzer declined the contract. He is returning to IU for another season of playing for the Hoosiers. By Michael Hughes michhugh@indiana.edu | @MichaelHughes94
The decision-making process was long. From the moJake Kelzer isn’t ready to leave Bloomington just yet. He isn’t ready to leave the only place he’s ever called ment he was drafted to Monday night, Kelzer was debating the benefits of signing versus returning. home and a chance to play in the ColHe talked to a variety of people, from curlege World Series. rent and former teammates, to the Cubs Kelzer turned down a contract of“It’s just an and IU. fer from the Cubs on Tuesday and anamazing feeling This exhaustive process included a talk nounced his intentions to return to the having a town with Scott Effross, the former IU pitcher mound at Bart Kaufman Field for at who signed with the Cubs on June 27 after least one more season. behind you being drafted in the 15th round, a round The decision was made Monday and having this after Kelzer. night at his family home in Bloom“We talked about playing together all ington with his parents, at the same great university the time, we‘ve been texting back and dinner table Kelzer grew up eating at, to go to.” forth,” Kelzer said. “Being a Cub with Scott eventually growing into his current would have been amazing, but he knows 6-foot-8 frame. Jake Kelzer, also that I have to do what is right and he “Being from here and coming IU baseball pitcher has to do what is right.” back with such a great program on After being drafted in 2014, Kelzer posthe rise to do something great,” Kelzer sessed a better understanding of the prosaid. “It’s just an amazing feeling having a town behind you and having this great university cess. He said he had a better grasp on the leverage he holds, knowing if the offer isn’t to his standards he can to go to.” SEE KELZER, PAGE 6
Bloomington celebrates 25 years of ADA By Annie Garau agarau@indiana.edu | @agarau6
SCOTT TENEFRANCIA | IDS
Jeff Gott, a superintendent with Milestone Contractors, drives beams into the ground on Jordan Ave. on Wednesday. Construction has been slowed down by the rain, but construction workers have been working through the rain to get the job done, he said.
Campus construction, upgrades continue despite high rainfall By Bailey Moser bpmoser@indiana.edu | @theedailybailey
As the summer continues, so does the construction on campus, but according to IU’s Master Plan everything is moving along according to plan. The IU Master Plan was completed in March 2010 and lays out the University’s development goals for the next 20 years. The Master Plan is the result of a collaboration between IU’s master planners and Smith Group/JJR, a national architecture, planning and design firm, according to the Vice President for Capital Planning and Facilities website. Out of the 520 buildings on campus, 21 are labeled in the Master Plan as buildings requiring upgrades, outdated — such as the Geological Sciences building — and historic for renovation, such as Franklin Hall, which is in the process of being prepared for the
new Media School. “The Media School will be substantially complete in June of next year,” Senior Associate University Architect Bob Richardson said. “At that point we will install A/V and furniture. It will open for school in August 2016.” As IU accommodates its growing enrollment, so does Bloomington. A part of IU’s Master Plan is keeping the University from disturbing the city’s own functionality. Bloomington has a population of 69,261, with a metropolitan area population of 175,506, according to the 2000 Census. The Master Plan should create a future for the IU-Bloomington campus that includes both the unique environment surrounding campus and the broader goals of the University. The Master Plan’s overview of existing conditions emphasizes the traffic congestion
IU-Bloomington’s campus experiences during the school year, specifically on East 10th Street, from the lack of alternate traffic routes. The construction on the Jordan Avenue roundabout across from the Delta Gamma sorority house will hopefully alleviate the congestion by providing an alternate traffic route. “A median will remain, but the new one will not be as oval in shape,” IU Landscape Architect Mia Williams said. “Rather, it will be longer and narrower. There will be a striped crosswalk that passes through it”. Improving transit routes like the Jordan Avenue roundabout and increasing bicycle paths and facilities promotes the use of alternative transportation modes on campus, causing less congestion. IU, the Indiana University SEE CONSTRUCTION, PAGE 6
Imagine walking into a public restroom with a blindfold covering your eyes. You’ve never been here before. You don’t know how many stalls there are, where the sink is or even where to find toilet paper. On top of all that, you’re surrounded by strangers and you really have to pee. This is the experience many blind people face each time they need to use a public restroom, Cierra Thomas-Williams, a prevention specialist from the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said. “No public bathroom in America is exactly the same,” Thomas-
Williams said. “For blind people, an inaccessible bathroom is enough to make them feel uncomfortable and unsafe. It excludes them from civic engagement.” Though restaurant and business owners in Bloomington almost never intentionally exclude people with disabilities, many obscure things can become insurmountable obstacles for disabled people as they attempt to navigate the public world. Sidewalk curbs built with 90-degree angles, for example, are difficult to maneuver for people in wheelchairs. Curbs with rounded edges still serve the same public service, but are more easily rolled SEE ADA, PAGE 6
Dan Alten, Eric Sorgel to make appearance at the Blockhouse By Greg Brav gbrav@indiana.edu
Comedians Dan Alten and Eric Sorgel are bringing their “Breakfast in America World Tour” to the Blockhouse, underneath the Back Door, on Sunday night. The two comedians live in Louisville, Kentucky, and the tour stopped in Knoxville, Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, St. Louis, Montana, and Springfield, Illinois before their performance in Bloomington. Alten and Sorgel record com-
BREAKFAST IN AMERICA WORLD TOUR Tickets $5 8:30 p.m. Sunday, the Blockhouse edy in album format for label Laff Fest Records. The two named their tour partly as an homage to the 1979 album by Supertramp, but also because of their custom of making breakfast for the friends who open their homes to the pair when they are touring around SEE COMEDY, PAGE 6