Winter Graduation Issue 2015
See pages 2 and 3
Indiana Statesman For ISU students. About ISU students. By ISU students.
Friday, Dec. 4, 2015
Volume 123, Issue 41
Student arrested on burglary charges Nevia Buford News Editor
Campus police arrested a student on campus on burglary charges. D’Angelo Scott, a resident of Cromwell, was arrested Wednesday night around 7:30 p.m. in Cromwell Hall. He was caught after he tried to run from police who were investigating a weekend burglary in the residence hall. Officers were in the building meeting Scott to buy back stolen property, which had been reported stolen by another student. Joe Newport, the chief of police at Indiana State, said, “Scott is believed to be responsible for at least two burglaries to residence hall rooms over the recent Thanksgiving break.” Scott has been “Preliminarily charged with Burglary, a Level 4 Felony and Resisting Law
indianastatesman.com
Graduation colors mark student achievement
Submitted photo
D’Angelo Scott was arrested Wednesday in Cromwell Hall.
Enforcement, a Class A Misdemeanor.” Scott had an appearance in Vigo County Superior Court Division 6. Bond was set at $25,000. He will appear in court again Dec. 8., when formal charges are expected to be filed.
Lighting Tour illuminates need for improvement Nevia Buford News Editor
Last night, the Lighting Tour gave students and faculty members an opportunity to see areas around the campus that require more lighting. The participants were also asked to identify any other areas they thought needed more lights. The tour, hosted by the ISU police, also showed the cameras that are being used around campus and still in the process of being installed around campus. The tour is an annual event that normally happens earlier in the semester in October. Joe Newport, the Chief of police at ISU, said that they wanted to wait until the leaves had fall-
en from the trees, to determine where the trees needed to be trimmed back, to allow more light in. “One more concern in this tour is to try to identify the areas that need light not where existing light is at,” Newport said. Several groups were taken out in golf carts to see the areas. These areas were the north end of parking Lot 5, the south side of Dreiser Hall, Library Park, the area between north of the library and south of the Rec Center, the Lot 24 extension, Lot H, and the underpass on the northwest side of campus. The Toney Petroleum building near Lot H has tentative plans to be bought by the university, as well as the underpass near the northwest side of campus.
ISU Communications and Marketing
As a part of traditional dress, students don blue robes, mortarboards, tassels, collars, stoles and cords.
Decoding commencement dress Kourtney Miller Reporter
There are various regalia worn by the graduates of different organizations, both academic and non-academic at Indiana State University. The honors stoles are calculated in the Office of Registration and Records. The honors stoles that students wear to indicate that they received Latin Honors come in three colors: Gold (Summa Cum Laude), which means that the student received a 3.90 or higher GPA,
white (Magna Cum Laude), which is given to the students who have received a 3.70-3.89 GPA and blue (Cum Laude), which is given to the students who have received a 3.50-3.69 GPA upon graduation. “The Students must complete a minimum of 55 semester hours of resident credit and have earned a 3.50 cumulative grade point average at Indiana State University to be considered for honors,” said Kristi Lawson, assistant registrar for the Office of Registration and Records. “All academic courses from all accredited institutions
are converted to ISU’s grading scale and incorporated in the honors grade point average.” Organizations such as sororities and fraternities also provide graduation regalia. For instance, Sigma Alpha Lambda members wear cords with intertwining colors of navy, black and gold, which represents confidence, wisdom and intelligence. Members can also receive a navy stole as well with their letter on it, but are considered through invite only. The Office of Registration and Records does not handle the non-academic regalia.
Latest mass shooting puts California lawmakers in familiar spot Michael Doyle And Sean Cockerham
McClatchy Washington Bureau (TNS)
WASHINGTON — With authorities still uncertain about the motive for the shooting rampage that claimed 14 lives in San Bernardino, Calif., on Wednesday, the state’s lawmakers in Washington found themselves in a familiar bind over what to do about an epidemic of gun violence. Some want a special House of Representatives committee established to probe possible causes. Others stress stricter background checks or tighter limits on gun ownership related to mental illness. Legislative proposals abound. But in a bitterly divided Congress, where two Californians with starkly different ideologies hold competing House leadership positions, the odds are stacked against significant new federal action even after a catastrophe that hits home in the Golden State. Police reported that all four of the weapons used in the massacre had been bought legally and that there were no legal impediments to owning the vast quantity of ammunition — more than 3,900 rounds for assault rifles — that police found with
the shooters and at their home. “Unless the majority of Republicans want to do something, the short answer is we’re not going to do anything,” said Rep. Jim Costa, a Democrat from Fresno who represents California’s 16th Congressional District. “There’s a lot of frustration among members that we’re not even doing the most basic things that Congress can do.” Republicans control the House by 246188, with a significant bloc of members aligned with the hard-right Freedom Caucus. Measures that can be cast as impinging on Second Amendment rights do not fare well. “I don’t believe Congress should ever have a knee-jerk reaction on something,” said Rep. Jeff Denham, a Republican from the 10th District, which includes Modesto. He added that he sees no need for new laws. California Republicans win accolades for their stands against gun control. Denham earned a 93 percent position rating from the National Rifle Association last year. In a similar vein, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the Bakersfield Republican who is largely responsible for setting the House agenda, earned a 0 percent rating in 2013-14 from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a
group that advocates restrictions on gun ownership. Instead of new gun-specific legislation, McCarthy told reporters Thursday that he favored as a response to the San Bernardino shootings a bill by Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., that would revise mental health treatment, including creating an assistant secretary position in the Department of Health and Human Services to address mental illness. “There needs to be an overhaul of our mental health” system, McCarthy said. A professional psychologist, Murphy introduced his Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act after the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting in Connecticut, in which 26 people died. The words “guns” or “firearms” do not appear anywhere in the 171-page bill. Authorities have not mentioned mental illness as having played a role in Wednesday’s shootings. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who is responsible for marshaling Democrats in the House, said legislation targeting firearms must accompany any improvements to the nation’s mental health system. “Gun violence is a crisis of epidemic proportions in our nation,” Pelosi said. “Congress has a moral responsibility to
vote on common-sense measures to prevent the daily agony of gun violence in communities across America. Enough is enough.” After the Sandy Hook shooting, Pelosi established a task force to study what Congress should do to reduce gun violence and appointed Rep. Mike Thompson, an avid hunter, Vietnam veteran and Democrat from Napa, Calif., to lead it. On Thursday, Thompson said the task force remained active. “We’ve got some active legislation out there,” Thompson said, but “there has been no willingness to bring any of these up for a vote.” One bill already introduced by Thompson, to expand background checks for all commercial firearm sales while exempting transfers between friends and family members, has 184 House co-sponsors, including a handful of Republicans. Another measure backed by Thompson would stop firearms sales to individuals who are on the U.S. terrorist watch list. President Barack Obama urged similar action Thursday; but, underscoring the divisions, House Speaker Paul Ryan, RWis., indicated that he couldn’t support the measure, cautioning that the watch
SHOOTING CONTINUED ON PAGE 5