Controversy looming
Anti-racism author Tim Wise’s appearance today at Indiana State University is expected to draw protest from Traditionalist Youth Network
JOSEPH PAUL Features Editor Controversy is stirring over a potential protest by a white traditionalist group during a presentation by Tim Wise at 7 p.m. in the University Hall Theater. Wise, who is the author of “White Like Me,” “Speaking Treason Fluently” and “Colorblind,” is a well-known Caucasian speaker who advocates against racism and white privilege. He recently appeared on FX’s “Totally Biased,” which is hosted by W. Kamau Bell and deals mostly with racial issues. The event was scheduled and promoted on social media by the Indiana State’s Office of Diversity to coincide with the theme of this year’s “Eye on Diversity” series — class, social and racial differences, said University Diversity Officer Elonda Ervin. “Tim Wise is actually part of the conversation instead of being the conversation,” Ervin said. “Tim is a prolific writer about the foundation of racism in America — how it came about, how it’s an ideology, not a way of being.” An event feed was created to highlight Wise’s appearance on the office’s Facebook page and was discovered by a member of the Traditionalist Youth Network, a group founded by Matthew Heimbach, the subject CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
Wednesday October 9, 2013 Indiana State University www.indianastatesman.com Volume 121 Issue 20
INSIDE THIS ISSUE *Free speech: How much can we say without crossing the line? PAGE 6 Thomas Buhls (center) is surrounded by angry counter-protesters during an April 2012 protest he organized in Bloomington, Ind. Buhls is expected to lead a protest on the ISU campus today (Photo by Mark Felix and reprinted with permission from the Indiana Daily Student).
Safety glitches to blame for elevator entrapments EMILY STARBUCK Reporter
Elevator entrapments happen frequently on campus, but the Indiana State University Chief of Police says his officers respond quickly. Otis Elevator service technician Daren Krockenberger said campus elevator entrapments occur as a result of safety devices within the mechanism. Just as handguns have a safety feature, elevators do too, he said. “The majority of the shutdowns that cause people to get trapped in elevators are due to safety devices,” Krockenberger said. He said elevators have so much safety built into them to keep people from getting hurt and it usually causes the problem.
“It’s usually a safety that shuts the elevator down,” he said. Whether the elevator has been overloaded or the door held open too long, safety features are the main cause of elevator entrapments, he said. There are approximately 70 elevators on campus that provide service to students and staff 2,000 to 2,600 times a day, Krockenberger said. So, that actually means that the doors close twice as many times, he said. While they are weather-beaten, he said they are safe, strong machines and closed elevator doors can withstand a force of up to 200 pounds. There’s actually is little potential for an elevator to fall and crash to the ground - as moviegoers often see from Hollywood’s visionaries,
according to an experiment conducted by Otis Elevator founder Elisha Otis. Otis, who is responsible for the majority of safety features that exist in modern elevators, demonstrated the safety of elevators at the 1853 World’s Fair when he ordered that the steel rope be cut for the elevator he was standing in. It fell only a short distance, and Otis was not injured. He demonstrated that if the rope mechanism fails, the elevator will reach operational speed and then stop. “The farthest I’ve ever seen an elevator fall is a floor and a half,” said Krockenberger based on his 26 years in the elevator business. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Sweet moves:
Renowned Indian Dancer brings culture to Indiana State PAGE 8
The year of the athlete:
Sports reviews a successful year for four athletic teams PAGE 12