September 27, 2013

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Shifting into fourth gear President Daniel J. Bradley says that while the university is challenged by crawling graduation rates and slowed diversity progress, ISU is still making strides

BRIANNE HOFMANN Editor-in-Chief Indiana State has seen a slight improvement in retention, but continues to struggle with diversity and graduation rates, President Daniel J. Bradley said Friday September 27, 2013 Wednesday. During his annual fall address, Bradley Indiana State University focused on the 13 years of progress at www.indianastatesman.com ISU, giving special attention to goals Volume 121 Issue 15 one and six of his strategic plan, which deal specifically with raising student enrollment and success as well as growing diversity among faculty. While Bradley addressed events that have occurred over an extended period of time, he said reviewing that history is a “great way to get perspective.” “We’re down in the trenches and not always able to see the progress we’ve made,” he said. Bradley also outlined challenges the university faces, including retention. The sophomore return rate is up five percent, but the four-year graduation rate, at 21.3 percent for 2013, is far from the 2017’s goal of 30 percent. “That’s truly something that’s critically Driven to share: New important,” he said. “By graduating on car rental program saves time, our students save a lot of money, their parents save a lot of money, the President Daniel J. Bradley gives an overview of Indiana State University’s last 13 years of students money PAGE 8 federal government saves money, and it’s progress during his annual fall address (Photo by Drew Canavan). CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Between the

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

ISU Police still urges students to stay safe following suspect identification

KIARA SUTTLE Reporter As reports of abductions and strangers offering rides to Indiana State students flood ISU Public Safety this semester, Kendel Lynch, a sophomore legal studies major, said she doesn’t exactly feel safe on university grounds. “To me, things are getting worse here,” Lynch said. “There aren’t enough security officers for our campus and the ones that we do have are too lenient.” Specifically, three students have reported a stranger offering rides since the beginning of fall semester, according to an ISU campus

announcement urging campus safety. Furthermore, one student reported an attempted abduction on Aug. 30, while another reported an attempted abduction and assault on Sept. 6 at 2:30 a.m., according to ISU Septmeber Rave alerts. The student who was assaulted, a male who was walking home on the north side of campus, managed to fend off the attackers, who were reportedly two adult African-American males, according a Statesman articles from Sep. 6. Despite these incidents, ISU Police Chief Bill Mercier disagrees with Lynch that the campus police force, which consists of 24 officers, is too

small or too forbearing. “Our crime rates are pretty low,” Mercier said Tuesday morning. “Some years we have a spike and some years we don’t, but there is never drastic increase.” This week, ISU Police identified one of the men suspected of approaching female students on campus and offering them rides. Dominick Iacobazzi, 65, of Terre Haute, is the registered owner of both a red minivan and gold sedan that were identified by students as the vehicles used in the reported incidents, according to ISU Police. CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

sheets: How can students protect themselves?

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Digging for a win: Volleyball snags another victory against Chicago PAGE 12


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