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(09/07/18 10:33pm)
The leading members of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) at IUPUI unveiled a preview of this semester’s proposed budget before a gathering of student senator-elects. The money allocated for paying the USG leadership proved to be controversial.
“If I’m doing the math right, over half of this is stipends,” Jared Burke, USG senator-elect, said of the budget. “Paying for a resume padder doesn’t really seem like my thing.”
Burke represents the Anime Club at IUPUI, one of many student organizations represented at the USG’s senate. The senator-elects gathered at the Kelley School of Business in room BS2000 from noon to 2 p.m. to learn more about their responsibilities within the organization. These responsibilities include confirming presidential appointees and voting on the budget for the organization.
The money that the senators vote to allocate comes from the general fee paid for by all students enrolled in IUPUI. As Scott McCain, the president of the senate, confirmed to Burke, half of this year’s budget is planned to go towards paying the leading members of the organization.
Joshua Bell, the appointee for the director of initiatives, said that he understood Burke’s point of view.
“I don’t think it was out of line, the objections, because we’ve had conversations in years past ‘if you are passionate about these positions, wouldn’t you be willing to do it with or without any pay?’,” Bell said.
Bell said that he especially understood this point because of the volunteer work that he did with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. However, Bell believed that compensating student officials helped to provide greater accountability because of the contracts that came with the positions.
“I think it is adequate because it is proven through universities and organization systems like this that incentivizing positions helps with holding accountability, especially when you can attach that to a contract,” Bell said.
The budget previewed at the meeting would provide the USG president, the USG vice president, the executive secretary, the treasurer and the president of the senate $4,000 each in annual pay. The budget would also allocate $2,500 for the director of initiatives and the director of communications has yet to have a stipend assigned to them.
Bell explained that the compensation was calculated through estimates of the number of hours provided by the students and minimal compensation for the work performed.
“They have the equation through the Division of Student Affairs to apply only the student wages that would be paid for top-tier student involvement,” Bell said.
According to a survey from the American Student Government Association (ASGA), more than 77 percent of colleges nationwide provide compensation for leaders in student government. For colleges with an enrollment size of over 30,000, the ASGA reports that 87 percent of student leaders receive pay. IUPUI had a reported enrollment of 29,790 during the fall 2017 semester.
In addition to the stipends, the proposed budget included increased funding for activities and initiatives as previously reported. The budget will not be confirmed until Sept. 21, after the USG senator-elects are to sign the requisite paperwork to confirm their positions and ratify the organization’s constitution for this semester.
Kole Loehmer, USG treasurer-designate, pledged that students will know where every penny of the budget is going.
“As the treasurer, I want to focus on making sure everybody gets the funding that they want at the time they need it, along with having the transparency of where the funding is going,” Loehmer said.
Gina Pleshkan, the USG president, said, “[We’re] trying to also create more transparency between USG and the student body as a whole.”
Gina Pleshkan, with Yasmine Kofahi as her running mate, was directly elected by the IUPUI student body with 622 votes, or 56.54 percent of the 1100 votes cast in the spring 2018 election.
These results were only available to the presidential tickets, the officers, and the members of the student senate who requested them, but not the student body as a whole until the Campus Citizen requested their release.
(08/31/18 12:47am)
IUPUI Auxiliary Services and dining services partner Chartwells are expanding the Campus Center with new food venues. The university is also considering a plan to retool the pizza area in the wake of the national controversy with Papa John’s pizza.
Angie Hill, the director of operations for IUPUI Auxiliary Services, said that stakeholders are excited about the ongoing renovations which will include additional cash registers and seating.
“It’s going to help with the efficiency and many wait times, so that we look forward to,” Hill said.
The food venues currently operated at the Campus Center include well-known restaurant chains such as Chick-fil-A and Papa John’s. According to Auxiliary Services, Panda Express will round out the trio of nationally recognized brands.
National recognition turned into national notoriety for Papa John’s when John Schnatter, the restaurant’s founder and former CEO, said the N-word during a conference call on July 11. The backlash from this and another controversy prompted Schnatter’s resignation from the board of Papa John’s, as well as moves by at least three central Indiana colleges to distance themselves from Schnatter.
This month, Ball State University and Purdue University returned $11 million in donations from Schnatter, and renamed buildings that had been named after him. On Aug. 21, the Butler Collegian reported that their food court would no longer have a Papa John’s.
“We are doing market research now on whether or not that pizza concept is what will remain here,” Hill said, in reference to the Papa John’s at IUPUI.
After Schnatter resigned from the board, Papa John’s released an ad on Aug. 24 that welcomed criticism of their founder from customers. Schnatter’s image was also removed from Papa John’s pizza boxes and other branding from the company.
“So as long as Papa John’s commit to dissociate themselves from ‘the situation’, and hold to that commitment, then the relationship will remain,” Hill said. “Despite that, however, we are reviewing what we do with that concept.”
Hill added, “it’s just, potentially time to do a refresh in the pizza area.”
Stacy Blanton, the district manager for dining services partner Chartwells at IUPUI, explained that a refresh typically entails superficial changes, but a complete change in venue was still possible. Both Blanton and Hill agreed that it had yet to be determined definitively what will happen with Papa John’s on campus.
“We’re reviewing what that means on a bigger scale right now,” Blanton said.
Outside of the potential “refresh” for the Campus Center’s pizza area, Blanton pointed to other changes coming to the food court.
“We’re moving all of the cash registers that are out here currently and they’re moving into each of the units,” Blanton said.
Currently, students must first wait in line for their food at a venue, and then go to a centralized pay station. Blanton said that the number of cashiers will be doubled, with Chick-fil-A alone having four cashiers.
This is a part of a broader Chick-fil-A expansion, complete with its own seating and expanding the menu to include breakfast. According to Auxiliary Services, the renovations will expand seating at the food court as a whole by 20 percent, totaling 380 seats.
Students will also be able to democratically decide on an additional food venue at the Campus Center, with the voting method and platform yet to be determined. Options students may be able to select include Burger 317, Iron Waffles, a vegetarian venue (Rooted), a baked potato venue (SMASH’D), a barbecue venue (Smoked), a breakfast venue (The Egg Shoppe), Tu Taco, or a venue that offers Mediterranean cuisine (Za’tar). According to Hill and Blanton, Chartwells and Auxiliary Services would likely partner with the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) in organizing the vote.
In addition to expanding the food venues, Chartwells is revamping, rebranding and relocating the Campus Center convenience store Outtakes.
“There will be more grab and go options, more refrigeration, more room for freezer products,” Blanton said.
Outtakes will be known as The Market, and in its current place next to Barnes & Noble on the first floor of the Campus Center will be a Simply PUUR. According to Auxiliary Services, they selected this location to be close to the fitness center. Simply PUUR will have the same hours as the fitness center, and it will offer vegetarian food and products marketed as “locally sourced.”
While the vendor’s “locally sourced” products can come out of state, Blanton said that, “Our company is constantly working with our vendors to tighten that up as close as we can with the supply and demand that’s needed.”
The Market will be moved to where the “spirit wall” adorned with IUPUI branding currently is in the Campus Center food court. However, there will not be a net loss in IUPUI theming in the area.
“We’re looking at banners on columns, any potential wall space where we can add IUPUI spirit into the space,” Blanton said. Hill said that these may include theming related to the upcoming 50th anniversary of the university’s founding.
Blanton emphasized that students should not expect these changes to happen all at once, as the renovations to the Campus Center are being completed in phases.
“It’s a one year long phased project, so walls will be coming up and going down in a phase over the course of the next year,” Blanton said.
According to Auxiliary Services, venues will remain open during construction and any temporary relocations will be indicated by signage.
Construction at the food court in the Campus Center is slated to conclude August 2019.
(08/17/18 6:20pm)
The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) at IUPUI plans to reduce plastic usage and make menstrual products more widely available on campus.
“We’re looking at ways to phase out the use of plastic products on campus, such as plastic silverware,” said USG Director of Initiatives Joshua Bell. Bell listed “straws, lids and cups” as other products the USG hoped to reduce the usage of.
The Environmental Protection Agency has warned that, “Plastics in the aquatic environment are of increasing concern because of their persistence and effect on the environment, wildlife, and human health.”
However, initiatives to ban plastic straws from cities such as Seattle and Santa Monica have been the center of a national controversy. As NPR reported, some people with disabilities and their advocates have noted how straws are sometimes necessary.
Kevin McCracken, the new director of the Adaptive Educational Services at IUPUI, said, “There clearly is a need for some people with physical limitations to use the plastic straws that bend. It makes it easier for them and sometimes people require that. If they’re not available, then that population is going to be negatively impacted.”
Director McCracken stressed that the organization was not making any policy recommendations, but he added, “It is our role to advocate for people with disabilities. I would like to see those straws be made available when folks need them or want them to meet their needs so they have the same opportunity as everyone else.”
USG Vice President Yasmine Kofahi said that she would consult with organizations representing students with disabilities on campus to ensure that reducing plastic usage would not negatively impact them.
“We want to have those products accessible to students if asked. They should have straws provided for them that they need,” Kofahi said.
“It’s plastic reduction, not plastic elimination,” USG Executive Treasurer Kole Loehmer added.
Kofahi stated that in addition to plastic reduction, the student government made increasing the availability of menstrual products a priority this year.
“Our main initiatives are providing menstrual products for campus-wide, and second would be our plastic reduction initiative,” Kofahi said.
Loehmer said that more funding was available for these proposals than last year.
“We almost doubled the amount of money we plan to put in our initiatives fund for this year,” Loehmer said.
Loehmer cautioned that the proposed budget is not finalized until the USG Senate approves of it. However, the director of initiatives Joshua Bell said that he did not anticipate any opposition from the student senators.
The USG Senate passed a resolution last semester that stated, “the Undergraduate Student Government will continue to work towards increasing the availability of period products at IUPUI.”
“Pre-2009, menstrual products were available in the restrooms,” Bell said. “We’re looking to distribute those products again at spaces on campus, much like Paw’s Pantry.”
Paw’s Pantry is a food pantry run by IUPUI students which offers food for those in need. According to Bell, Paw’s Pantry supports the goal of distributing more menstrual products to students.
Studies have found that making menstrual products more widely available make educational environments more inclusive for those who can’t otherwise afford them.
Bell, Loehmer and Kofahi said that they hoped initiatives like these would improve the lives of IUPUI students.
(04/27/18 3:22pm)
Whenever finals week at IUPUI approaches, students receive conflicting advice on studying and taking exams from the internet, their friends and even their professors.
What’s the best way to study? How can I make finals less stressful? Should I cram for hours? Where should I take a break if I do take one?
The Campus Citizen’s survival guide for finals week will make answering these questions one less thing students have to worry about. This guide will be unique in that all of the tips featured here are backed by scientific evidence.
Quizzing yourself is the best way to remember answers for the final
For example, psychological research suggests students can do better on finals if they quiz themselves, as opposed to just rereading the material. This is because students that are being quizzed or tested are mentally practicing retrieving the information.
Purdue University’s Jeffrey D. Karpicke contributed to this finding through his cognitive psychology research. In a 2006 study Karpicke conducted with Washington University in St. Louis’s Henry L. Roediger III, experiments demonstrated that students who were tested on the subject matter tended to have better retention than those who studied the material in other ways.
“Testing is a powerful means of improving learning, not just assessing it,” Karpicke and Roediger said in the abstract of the study.
In a 2016 article for the American Psychological Association, Karpicke noted that while self-testing and quizzing were the best ways to study, a majority of students preferred to instead reread the material.
“A wealth of research has shown that passive repetitive reading produces little or no benefit for learning,” Karpicke wrote.
Karpicke suggested students would be better off answering questions about the material by using practice worksheets or taking quizzes. Students who only reread the material are not practicing recalling the information, as one has to do on a final.
“Practicing retrieval is a simple and effective way to enhance long-term, meaningful learning,” Karpicke wrote.
Quizzing yourself can also reduce stress when you’re taking a final
Research from Tufts University in Massachusetts found additional benefits from this approach by comparing performances of students who took practice tests and students who restudied material. The researchers found that those who took the practice tests, or retrieval practice, had reduced stress during finals.
“Participants who learned by restudying demonstrated the typical stress-related memory impairment,” the abstract of the study read, “whereas those who learned by retrieval practice were immune to the deleterious effects of stress.”
These results were found by Tufts University Department of Psychology staff Amy M. Smith, Victoria A. Floerke, and Ayanna K. Thomas, and published in the November 2016 issue of Science magazine.
Taking breaks can sharpen focus for studying, especially in nature
Research also suggests students can reduce mental strain on themselves by periodically taking breaks.
According to psychological research from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, taking breaks can not only reduce stress but also increase concentration for tasks like studying. Researchers found that refusing to let the mind take a break from an activity impaired focus as the task went on.
A psychology professor and researcher at the University of Illinois Alejandro Lleras explained why to the Illinois News Bureau.
“Constant stimulation is registered by our brains as unimportant, to the point that the brain erases it from our awareness,” Lleras said.
If a student tries to study too much all at once, as in cramming, the brain will become exhausted and stop paying attention to the material.
"When faced with long tasks (such as studying before a final exam or doing your taxes), it is best to impose brief breaks on yourself,” Lleras said. “Brief mental breaks will actually help you stay focused on your task!"
In a widely cited study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, the University of Michigan’s Stephen Kaplan found that natural environments were the most mentally restorative for breaks.
Conclusion
According to the research featured here, the best way for students to prepare for finals is through taking practice test and quizzes. More effective than rereading the material, these memory retrieval study methods improve recall and reduce stress at test time. The evidence also suggests that cramming provides diminishing returns, because the brain needs periodic breaks to keep its focus sharp.
During finals week, a cacophonic chorus of conflicting advice is the last thing students need for their nerves. But with these scientific tips, students can be confident that they used the most effective study methods to prepare.
(04/20/18 3:15pm)
Incoming Undergraduate Student Government (USG) President of the Senate Scott McCain was elected Friday, April 13 on a platform of making student government more inclusive, but he faced criticism for his recordkeeping as senate secretary.
Scott McCain is a sophomore from Evansville, Indiana who first participated in USG on September 2017 as a senator representing the Mock Trial Team. McCain then ran for and secured a position in the USG Oversight Committee in November 2017. In January 2018, current USG Senate President Brandon Rubacha appointed McCain as the senate secretary.
“He really was a mentor to me,” McCain said of Rubacha. “I am grateful for Brandon feeling as if he can trust me with the senate secretary position.”
The USG senate secretary takes meeting minutes and attendance for the chamber. During the April 13 USG president of the senate election, members of the chamber criticized McCain for errors he made while serving in this position.
A USG senator claimed she was almost kicked out of student government because of an error by McCain.
Outgoing Senate President Rubacha acknowledged there were problems with McCain’s minutes and took responsibility for it.
“I accept responsibility. I have overlooked meeting minutes because I was focused on other things with the senate,” Rubacha said.
McCain pledged to do better as senate president during the debate when the minute taking controversy was raised.
“I accept I have flaws,” McCain said, before saying he would work on those skills in cooperation with the Senate.
The USG president of the senate is elected by members of the USG senate, similar to the presiding officers of other legislative bodies.
Four candidates contested the election: Senate Secretary Scott McCain, Senator Kendra Stutzman, Senator Elizabeth Mathews, and Senator Duncan Hitti.
After three rounds of voting from the members of the Senate, McCain was elected in the last round 17 to 8 over Stutzman.
McCain ran on a platform that called for “a progressive balance" to foster a more inclusive student government.
“My legislative agenda is going to be a push for diversity and inclusiveness,” McCain said.
McCain also pledged to increase the speed at which USG committees were formed.
“I would like to work on things earlier on,” McCain said, mentioning the formation of the Elections and Oversight Committees as priorities.
“I would like for more resolutions and initiatives to come in once we hit the ground running,” McCain said.
One of the proposals McCain said he would look at was by Senator Duncan Hitti, who ran against him for the president of the senate position.
During the election, Hitti had proposed achieving “maximum representation” in the chamber and ensuring there was always the number of student legislators necessary to achieve quorum through allowing organizations to appoint alternate legislators.
McCain said he was unsure how Hitti’s plan would accord with the standing constitution and statutes of USG. However, McCain pledged to look into it.
“I want to reach out to Duncan Hitti,” McCain said, “and maybe develop and implement a plan that he feels will take USG to the next level.”
McCain stressed that he would do his best as president of the senate to listen to all voices.
“I feel as if I have a personality to hear both sides and be able to be that mediator that is necessary for the president of senate position,” McCain said.
McCain is scheduled to begin his tenure April 28.
(04/13/18 3:44pm)
The president of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) said that he supported legislation which would require vote distribution by candidate to be publicly released.
As previously reported, the USG does not share the number or percent of votes that each candidate receives in student government elections with the student body.
USG President Jonathon Hawkins said he will advise the next Senate and student president to publicly release vote shares.
“Next year, I would say when the election committee is established they should reform the elections code to distinctly say that the information should be dispersed,” Hawkins said.
According to the current USG Election Code, any changes to how elections are conducted would require a unanimous vote from the Senate. However, only a simple majority would be required at the first meeting after the next USG general election. Election reform is thus more likely to be approved next year.
Hawkins is a political science major first elected in 2017 with his running mate Albat Mulbah. According to the USG Constitution, Hawkins will see his term end on April 30.
Hawkins will be succeeded by Gina Pleshkan, the winner of the 2018 election alongside her running mate Yasmine Kofahi. Pleshkan could not be reached for comment.
“It will be something that I discuss with the next administration during transitions when it comes to things we would have done differently this year,” Hawkins said of election reform.
While Hawkins supports legislation to require the release of vote distribution by candidate, he said that, “I wouldn’t say necessarily that legislation would be required for such a thing to occur.”
Under the present system, USG presidential candidates can be provided their election results by request.
USG President of the Senate Brandon Rubacha argued last week that reform was unnecessary on this basis.
“The vote shares were disclosed with the candidates, not to the Senate. However, through word-of-mouth that always gets out, because one ticket will say ‘oh, I won by this percent’,” Rubacha said. “They could share with their constituents if they ask.”
Rubacha believed that, in the case of a close election, the results would be publicly disclosed under the current system.
“I do believe that if it comes to like a 56 percent to 54 percent vote, then yes, the number of people who voted for either side should be released,” Rubacha said. “However, I believe in that instance they would be released, or the Supreme Court would ask and then they would be released.”
In the most recent election, the winning student presidential ticket of Gina Pleshkan and Yasmine Kofahi received 56.54 percent of the vote while the losing ticket of l ticket of Kara Teipen and Savannah Kerstiens received 43.45 percent.
These results were not released on social media, the campus website, or any publicly available space, nor did the Supreme Court request for the results to be disclosed to the student body.
These results were shared via email with the Campus Citizen after correspondence with Brian Starkel, the USG adviser and assistant director for Leadership Development and Civic Engagement.
(04/06/18 6:11pm)
The student president of the senate for the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) at IUPUI dismissed concerns about transparency and voter turnout in student elections in an interview Thursday, April 5.
USG organizers provide estimates of total votes cast and the winners for student government elections at IUPUI. However, the distribution of votes between candidates in each contest is not posted on social media, the campus website, or anywhere publicly available to students.
According to the USG President of the Senate, Brandon Rubacha, this was the result of a decision and not an oversight.
“If they requested it, candidates received the percentage, and then we were given a rough estimate of how many people voted,” Rubacha said. “Other than that, our adviser wanted to keep the actual numbers specifically closed off for just his viewing, or our former advisor Dean Spratt, who is above him, to look at if he also wanted to see those.”
Dean of Students Jason Spratt is listed as an adviser for the USG. In 2016, Spratt was a faculty member of the General Fee Advisory Board (GFAB) investigated by the Campus Citizen for misuse of public funds.
The other USG adviser Rubacha referred to was Brian Starkel, assistant director for Leadership Development and Civic Engagement at IUPUI.
“The full results were available upon request to our tickets, officers, and student senate,” Starkel said. “There was only one ticket that took us up on the request and received both percentages and vote totals.”
After the Campus Citizen corresponded with Starkel about the availability of the results, he disclosed the vote shares and totals by candidate for the 2018 USG presidential election via email.
According to Starkel, the winning student presidential ticket of Gina Pleshkan and Yasmine Kofahi received 56.54 percent of the vote or 622 votes, while the losing presidential ticket of Kara Teipen and Savannah Kerstiens received 43.45 percent of the vote or 478 votes.
These specific numbers were only given after inquiry.
“Within the elections code, our election confirmation is outlined and how results are shared are not outlined,” Starkel said.
Event organizers at Indiana University Bloomington, Purdue University, Ball State University and Indiana University South Bend have all published full election results for their respective student government elections on social media. These election results included exact overall vote totals and the vote totals or vote shares in percentage points that each candidate received.
Ball State University’s The Daily News used this information to report on the competitive nature of the school’s student government elections from 2013 to 2017, in which the winning slate prevailed by no more than 5 percentage points in each contest.
Whether or not elections for positions at the Undergraduate State Government at IUPUI were similarly competitive in this time period is not known to students because the information is not publicly posted.
According to the electoral reform organization FairVote, the competitiveness of an election is “one of the most important factors” in determining voter turnout.
In the absence of publicly accessible election results with the margins of victory for the candidates in USG elections, students at IUPUI have no way to gauge if the elections were competitive or if their votes proved to be decisive.
According to the USG, 1,100 students participated in the student presidential election in March. IUPUI reported that there were approximately 21,610 undergraduate students in Fall 2017. Therefore, approximately 95 percent of undergraduate students failed to participate in the most recent USG election for which they were eligible.
“Do I think it’s a low turnout figure? No, and let me tell you why,” Rubacha said. “Our adviser Brian informed me that that was the highest turnout we’ve had in three or four years.”
“In 2018, we had 1,100 students participate in elections,” Starkel said. “It is a 50 percent increase in voting from 2017 and a 56 percent increase from 2016.”
Rubacha added, “Am I satisfied? Not necessarily. I don’t think anyone would be fully satisfied until every student on this campus were voting.”
Rubacha suggested that increasing the impact that the student government had on their lives was the way to get IUPUI interested in USG elections.
“A lot of people don’t realize that there is a student government here,” Rubacha said, “so before we can get more people to vote, I believe we have to get more people into the pool of being affected by USG. We have to get the branding, get the word about USG.”
(03/27/18 5:01pm)
Hundreds demonstrated for additional gun regulations at the Indiana Statehouse from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 24.
The demonstrators joined thousands protesting nationwide in the March For Our Lives, an event organized by survivors of the Parkland school shooting according to the BBC.
Under heavy snowfall, demonstrators waited for hours in lines that almost completely surrounded the Statehouse. The Statehouse appeared to have a single entrance open to the public.
Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., greeted demonstrators waiting outside and thanked them.
“Snow’s never stopped Hoosiers before!” Donnelly declared later in a speech inside the Statehouse.
Donnelly told the crowd about gun regulations he supported in Congress, including a 2013 vote to expand background checks for gun shows.
“I voted to expand those background checks, and we lost,” Donnelly said.
Donnelly continued with other gun regulations he had voted for, such as a failed 2015 proposal to prevent those on the no-fly list from purchasing firearms.
“If you are on the terrorist watch list, and you cannot fly on a plane, you should not be able to buy a gun,” Donnelly said.
Donnelly then said he supported a bump stock ban, before he concluded his speech by encouraging those in attendance to vote.
“If you vote this year, then we can change the future of America forever,” Donnelly said.
Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind., said that both voting and demonstrating could influence lawmakers to vote for additional gun regulations.
“Don’t you think our numbers won’t send a message all across this country,” Carson said.
While lawmakers addressed the Statehouse demonstration, most of the speakers were students or parents.
Isaiah Warren, a Warren Central High School junior, shared a poem on gun violence.
“Generation after generation, kids killing kids, decreasing our population,” Warren said.
At the conclusion of his poem, Warren asked the crowd raise their right fist and observe a moment of silence.
Along with Isaiah Warren, several Warren Central High School students and their parents related a shooting death in their community with others nationwide.
On May 6, 2017, Warren Central High School Dijon Anderson was fatally shot, Fox 59 reported. Anderson’s mother, Christia Frazier, told the crowd about her son Anderson, who was a football player who planned to go to an Illinois college on a full-ride scholarship.
“Those goals and dreams that my son had for his life was ended by gun violence,” Frazier said.
“Gun violence is taking over our city. It’s taking over our children’s lives. It’s taking over mothers like me,” Frazier continued, “I shouldn’t have to stand here and speak about losing my son. I should be in a football stand cheering on my son.”
As a result of Anderson’s death, Warren Central High School students founded the non-profit organization We LIVE Indy, according to their website.
Lawrence Central High School senior Delaney Mortimore addressed the crowd, “This isn't an anti-gun issue or a liberal or conservative issue; it's a life-or-death issue.”
“The Stoneman Douglas shooting sparked something in many of us,” Mortimore said.
On Feb. 14, a 19-year-old former student killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, The Washington Post reported. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High students Cameron Kasky, Emma González, and David Hogg, among others, became advocates for changes to gun policy that they believed would prevent future mass shootings, according to CNN.
"Here's a time to talk about gun control: March 24. My message for the people in office is: You're either with us or against us. We are losing our lives while the adults are playing around,” Kasky said to CNN.
83 percent of adults polled nationwide by Monmouth University favored comprehensive background checks for gun purchases, while 16 percent were opposed. Monmouth polled 803 adults by telephone from March 2-3.
On November 2015, WTHR reported that 83 percent of 600 Indiana adults polled by Princeton Survey Research favored background checks for gun purchases. 51 percent of Hoosiers surveyed in the 2015 poll supported a ban on assault weapons, while 49 percent were opposed.
“The numbers in Indiana, for Hoosiers, track the national averages in terms of gun control,” Ball State political science professor Joe Losco told WTHR.
(03/09/18 5:34pm)
Poetry on the Fringe brought a personal and thought-provoking look at body image through poetic, comedic and auteur performances on Sunday.
The event, scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., featured an open mic for emerging artists, an original theatrical production and a poetry slam. It took place at the IndyFringe Basile Theater, a homelike performance arts venue at 719 E. Saint Clair St. in Indianapolis.
Self-described poet and transgender activist Sylvia Thomas hosted the open mic segment. She is a senior at IUPUI and an ambassador for the campus’s LGBTQ+ Center who received the 2017 Indy Pride Scholarship for her dedication and work with the community, according to a page from the IUPUI Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Sylvia Thomas opened the event by sharing what body image meant to her.
“We’re going to be talking about body image, which is very important to me as a fat, fabulous woman,” she said.
Sylvia Thomas brought levity to her segment through asides peppered between performances. For example, when poets would almost invariably say there were from Indianapolis, she would jokingly chide them for their unoriginality.
A poet named Sam began the open mic session with a poem about how love interacts with body image in a relationship.
“Her hands have a way of making me feel at ease, even on bad days, when all I see is a number on measuring tape, or the body of a stranger in the mirror,” Sam said.
After Sam, poet Lisa Devon from Richmond, Virginia began her segment by saying, “No matter how skinny or beautiful or perfect a woman seems, I know she feels insecure on the inside sometimes.”
Devon continued, “And no matter how un-beautiful or un-wonderful a woman seems, sometimes she feels the most beautiful.”
Devon castigated society for requiring women to be considered pretty in order to be valued.
“We’re always striving for this thing called beauty when we should be striving for freedom,” Devon said.
This socially conscious yet personal theme was carried on by Gabrielle Patterson, a poet who also hosted the theatrical portion of the show.
“I used to pray: dear God, make me thin,” Patterson said. “They say inside every fat girl is a skinny girl waiting to break free, so this is her prayer, and she’s supposed to be speaking through me, and speaking through my TV, and billboards, and magazines, and photos and everywhere I go, she goes, and she knows that every bite that I take takes her further away from her goals.”
Patterson used the speed and volume of her voice to accentuate her words throughout the performance.
“If I were just a size ten,” Patterson said quietly, “I wouldn’t have to make jokes about my own weight when the demons came. No more crash diets, or swallowing hope, which always results in more weight gain.”
Patterson’s voice then swelled progressively louder, “My weight goals have always been to be exactly who you want me to be, so I have to be thin, and exactly a size 10 in order for me to be happy.”
Patterson then said, almost in a whisper, “At least that’s what society says…”
Patterson concluded by quietly intoning, “But if beauty is truly in the eyes of the beholder, then my beauty is truly in the I... of the beholder.”
After uproarious applause from the audience, Patterson introduced the theatrical portion of the show. Poet Devon Ginn performed an original act entitled “Old-Fashioned and Chic.”
Patterson introduced Ginn’s act with the social problem the audience was intended to consider, “Institutional rejection of difference is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as a surplus.”
The act was set in the far future, where humans are the trendy personal assistants for affluent artificial intelligences. The show centered on interactions between “Devon 2.0,” played by Ginn, and a character named Janice, represented in a device that emitted a recording of dialogue spoken by Apple’s voice-activated Siri software.
Ginn’s dialogue was conveyed via a recording, as he acted along with the recordings through his facial expressions and mannerisms on stage.
At the beginning of the production, the character of Janice called her mother Molly, another artificial intelligence character represented through the voice of Siri .
“Let me call you back, your father and I are trying to get the blacks next door to keep their visitors’ cars off our property,” Molly complained to Janice.
“Why are black people harassing my mother?” Janice wondered to Devon, before suggesting that black people are exaggerating the problem of racism.
“Why are black men so aggressive?” Janice asked.
“Scholars assert that the colonizers’ conception of the colonial black subject as an uncivilized, primitive, irrational non-subject served as justification for the traumas inflicted on them, and that the legacy of the perception still emanates in today’s society,” Devon 2.0 replied.
Ginn’s character continued, “As a means of resistance, black men project hypermasculinity to combat the feelings of powerlessness that is imposed on them by an abusive and repressive society.”
Ginn’s character then concluded that this hypermasculinity ultimately limited how black men can express themselves, and that this gave rise to negative stereotypes.
During the climax of the act, the character of Janice began to berate Devon 2.0 as a waste of money, and demanded that his “trash” voice should be changed to that of a woman.
“Gender is a construct. Your assumptions about my voice does not give you the right to police my gender,” Ginn’s character replied. “Keep your ideology wherever you keep your shame, Janice.”
After Ginn’s performance, comedian Gwen Sunkel took the stage with a set about body image in her life.
“These are not jokes I tell very often, and definitely not all at one time, because they make other people uncomfortable,” Sunkel said.
“I recently went on a date with a guy, and he told me that words could not describe my beauty,” Sunkel began, “but numbers could: two. Out of 10!”
Sunkel continued, “Apparently it’s an objective process you guys, there are like judges that have golf pencils who decide who’s pretty and who’s not.”
The night ended with a poetry slam competition, where poets’ performances were rated by three members of the audience. The winner of the poetry slam, Taylor Pierson, received a $60 prize.
At the conclusion of the show, the hosts of the event addressed the audience.
“This show is very important to us, it’s very important to our hearts, and it’s very important to the community,” Patterson said. Patterson encouraged the crowd to tell others about what they thought about the production.
According to Poetry on the Fringe’s Facebook page, the next show will be about aging and the elderly. It will take place at 7 p.m. on March 18 at the IndyFringe Basile Theater.
(03/02/18 6:07pm)
The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) in Carmel approved the zoning of a mosque in the city Monday by a 3-2 vote. The Al Salam Foundation is planning to build the proposed Islamic Life Center at 141st Street and Shelborne Road.
The BZA made the announcement at approximately 11:23 p.m. following over five hours of testimony from the nearly 200 people that signed up to speak. According to the Indianapolis Star, 88 spoke in favor of the proposal and 88 spoke in opposition.
As a consequence of crowd sizes outpacing the seating available in previous hearings at the Monon Center, the hearing took place at the Palladium, a concert hall with seating for 1,600.
Ali Saeed, an attorney from Westfield, addressed the large crowd and the media, “Let all the gawking eyes, let all the people looking outside in know, that we are a community that actually is truly diverse and opens its arms to diversity.”
A fellow resident from Westfield and former Carmelite Sameer Habib said, “The Islamic Life Center will be an asset to the community and legitimize, with clear and solid action, that Carmel welcomes all people.”
“We are your doctors, we are your lawyers, we are your business owners. I’m husband, and a father to a beautiful daughter,” Habib said. “Please approve the ILC so my family, and so many like ours, can have a place to practice our faith.”
An eighteen year resident of the Village of WestClay in Carmel said, “For the last five years, I’m going to a prayer hall that is so cramped that you literally have to curl into a ball to avoid getting kicked in the head.”
“After trying to find a suitable location for five years, and being kicked in my head for five years, we now deserve a place to say our prayers peacefully, and comfortably,” the WestClay resident said.
According to reporting from WTHR, the City of Carmel compared the proposed Islamic Life Center to the St. Mary and Mark Coptic Orthodox Church.
The Islamic Life Center would have a land size of 4.66 acres, a building size of 18,000 square feet, and would have 102 parking spots. The St. Mary and Mark Coptic Orthodox Church has a land size of 5.57 acres, a building size of 8,657 square feet, and has 131 parking spots.
A woman from the Kingsmill neighborhood of Carmel made the same comparison.
“There seems to be a lot of criticism for the proposed Islamic Life Center,” the Kingsmill resident said, “yet while planning the new Coptic Orthodox Church, the city received no such opposition in these early stages.”
She continued, “This leads one to believe that there is deeper religious objections than the community wants to admit.”
One of those levying religious objections was Paul Knutson, a resident of Westfield.
“I am actually opposed to this site because I support ministries that are helping Christians that are facing Christian persecution around the world, and it’s almost exclusively Islamic persecution,” Knutson said.
“It’s not that I don’t like my neighbors. It’s not that I’m being hateful. I oppose the spread of Islam,” Knutson said to a few claps from the audience, before the BZA admonished them.
Michelle Pellicone, a resident of Overbrook Farms in Carmel, said, “Opposition has never been about religion, not about intolerance or fear, and to suggest so is insulting. This is about site suitability and transparency of plans.”
This theme was echoed by fellow resident
of Overbrook Farms Ingrid Muse, “Throughout this process, there have been many inconsistencies.”
The Al Salam Foundation had changed its plan since its initial proposal, as the Indianapolis Star’s Chris Sikich reported, “The congregation agreed to reduce the size of the building, shift parking away from homes, build a privacy fence, add landscaping and lower light poles.”
Opponents of the proposal raised concerns that the mosque would be too small to accommodate all of the Muslim worshippers from Carmel, Westfield and Zionsville who would want to attend services.
Despite the opposition, the BZA’s decision to approve the mosque was met with applause and cheers from the audience. One child yelled out, “We won!”
The Indianapolis Star reports that the Al Salam Foundation is fundraising for the mosque’s construction, which could begin within a year.
(02/16/18 4:57pm)
At the 15th Annual Indiana Art Fair, held Feb. 10-11, artists strove to capture life in their works. Some used organic components, such as ceramics with horse hair or pressed flowers. Silversmith and regional inlay artist Chuck Bruce even incorporated dinosaur bones into his pieces.
“Not the whole specimen of course,” Bruce said, “but it’s dinosaur bone.”
However, one artist at the fair captured life in her work through color and light.
Fused glass artist and Indiana Art Fair juror B Skinner rendered birds, plants, and natural landscapes in brightly colored glass that spans the rainbow.
“Some of it is a little whimsical, a lot of it is botanical, those are things that people tend to really relate to, and it makes people smile,” Skinner said. “I just adore that.”
Even amid the packed and narrow hallways of an art fair that spanned three floors and featured over sixty artists, the striking colors and positivity of her work connected with onlookers.
“We don’t connect in our negativity; it’s not a good way to connect. But we can connect in our positivity about things, and beauty is one of those things that helps that,” Skinner said.
According to Indiana Artisan, what makes Skinner’s art unique is her use of light and “the creation of multiple, connected panels to delineate her designs and to allow a moment for the eye to pause while viewing the complete piece.”
But according to Skinner, that’s not all that makes her works unique.
“I think it’s unique because I’m unique,” Skinner said. “Nobody else does what I do with it. There are a few that try, but nobody does exactly what I do with it.”
With her unique approach to art, Skinner created her company Warm Glass Wonder and began to sell her work online and throughout stores in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio.
“Eight years ago I got very serious about it and I decided that this is what I wanted to do. And I’ve been self-sustaining for about five years now.”
Skinner said that her professional work as an artist began in commercial ceramics.
“My late husband was also involved in that, and when he passed away, I had no interest in continuing in that,” Skinner explained.
After transitioning from ceramics, Skinner found her voice in the medium of glasswork.
“This is my voice, and this is what I do with it,” Skinner said. “I know a lot of artists who were not great communicators. It’s not that we don’t have things sorted out in our heads, it’s that maybe we don’t express things the way other people need to have them served up to understand.”
“So sometimes, that’s what this is about, is finding our voice with our art that allows us to find our voice with the rest of the humanity.”
Skinner encouraged others pursue their passions like she did.
“Regardless of whether it’s art or whatever it is you want to do, if you’re in love with it, just go for it,” Skinner said.
(02/09/18 4:46pm)
Two artists at the upcoming Indiana Art Fair shared how their work has brought meaning to their lives and the lives of others.
The 15th Annual Indiana Art Fair will take place Saturday, Feb. 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 11 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Indiana State Museum. Photographs, paintings, jewelry, ceramics, fiber art and glasswork will be among the types of pieces that Hoosier artists will display and sell at the event.
Liz McColm, a juried member of Indiana Artisans, is one of the artists whose glasswork will be featured at the event.
“I like to produce things that hopefully spark an emotion in the people that view my work,” McColm said in a phone interview. “I like to use Mother Nature as kind of my inspiration for my palette and also my form.”
McColm worked as a graphic designer for 30 years before she dedicated herself to making fused glass art.
“Part of what got me into this, where I was really hardcore wanting to do it full-time was, I was diagnosed with cancer four years ago and I wasn’t supposed to live, but I did,” McColm said.
“And this was kind of like my therapy for that, to get me through all the chemo and radiation and stuff, so I would say that was a challenge I overcame.”
McColm’s interest was first sparked growing up in Columbus, IN, where she met widely renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly.
“I told myself hopefully one day I’d be able to produce some glass, because I just love the look of it, I love the light reflection on it, I love all the different colors you can work with,” McColm said.
“With glass it’s kind of one of those things where you can do a bunch of different techniques, but in the end, it’s all up to the glass, whether or not it will cooperate with you. It’s a combination of sand and fire.”
McColm believes that the Indiana Art Fair represents a part of a broader shift in the state towards supporting the arts.
“Growing up in Columbus, the difference between say, the 1960s and the 1970s for an artist, Indiana wasn’t really that supportive of the arts,” McColm said. “We ended up moving out to California and had our kids there and we lived there for ten years. And when we came back in the mid-1990s, I noticed such a big difference with Indiana supporting the arts more.”
One of the artists that has benefitted from what McColm sees as a newfound support for the arts in Indiana is Chuck Bruce.
Bruce is a regional inlay artist and silversmith whose work will be featured at the event.
“I’m one of the few local rock guys,” Bruce said in a phone interview.
Bruce got his start when his “better half” took a glass course at the Indianapolis Art Center and asked if there was anything Bruce would be interested in taking as well. Bruce would learn not only silverwork, but the impact his craft could have on other people’s lives.
“I had a husband and wife commission me for my first gold commission about eight, or closer to nine, years ago,” Bruce said. “When they picked it up, she cried.”
Bruce said he didn’t think much about that for years, until he happened to come across her again.
“I saw her at the Carmel Art Fair about four years after and she says ’you never will know what this bracelet means to me’,” Bruce said.
She explained to Bruce that her husband had been diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor. The bracelet became a way for her to remember him.
“It made me change my view of my own work,” Bruce said. “I need to take myself out of the work and create what I find truly beautiful, and other people will put their meaning on it.”
Liz McColm and Chuck Bruce are two of the more than sixty Hoosier artists that will have their art displayed at the Indiana Art Fair. New to the event is the Emerging Artist Expo, an event where most of the artists will be publicly displaying their art for the first time according to the Indiana State Museum.
According to the Visit Indiana tourism website, proceeds from the event go to support public and school programs. Admission to the event is charged and included with the purchase of general museum admission. The event is presented by Old National Bank and the City of Indianapolis.
(02/02/18 4:39pm)
At least 150 Muslim residents await the Carmel zoning board’s approval to construct a new mosque. The board’s choice will be made amid ongoing controversy over the mosque’s location in a residential area. The zoning board met late in January without coming to a final decision on the issue, and will meet
again Feb. 26 at the Monon Community Center.
A cramped rental on 96th Street serves as the current house of worship for these Muslim residents from Carmel, Westfield, and Zionsville. The Al Salam Foundation, headquartered in Indianapolis, operates the current space for these residents. The Al Salam Foundation has searched for a more permanent place to build a mosque in the area for five years.
"There are very few sellers in the community who are willing to work with us on the idea of building a mosque,” the foundation’s president Nadeem Ikhlaque told the Indianapolis Star. "Several said the land is for sale, but not for us."
The Al Salam Foundation is now appealing to the Board of Zoning Appeals in Carmel to permit them to build on residential land at 141st Street and Shelborne Road.
According to Vi Nguyen of WISH-TV, over 300 people attended a Jan. 21 meeting of the zoning board to voice their opinions on the subject. Current in Carmel’s Adam Aasen reports that the zoning board “has received 946 letters in opposition and 955 letters in support of the project.”
WISH-TV reports that among those in support of the proposal is Carmel Christian Church pastor and president of the Carmel Interfaith Alliance, Jerry Zehr.
"I think it enhances the community," Zehr said to WISH-TV. "I've always found that faith communities are anchors and they actually help the neighborhood that they're in."
Those opposed to the proposal have concerns about “additional traffic, light, noise and a potential drop in home values”, according to the Indianapolis Star. In 2012, the Pew Research Center found that 53 mosque and Islamic center proposals encountered resistance because of prejudice as well as “neighbors’ concerns about traffic, noise, parking and property values.”
“I spend a lot of money, my value and property value are in great jeopardy,” one person quoted by WISH-TV said.
Research suggests that mosques, like other houses of worship, enhance rather than detract from the property values of surrounding residencies.
A 2014 study showed that houses of worship offered positive externalities that enhanced property values whether or not they were Christian churches or mosques. The study was conducted by members of the University of Hamburg Department of Economics, and published in Growth and Change: A Journal of Urban and Regional Policy..
According to a similar study conducted in May 1996 for The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, neighborhood churches positively impact residential property values.
The Al Salam Foundation’s vice president of the board of trustees, Ashhar Madni, reassured residents about noise concerns.
"Some people think that being a mosque, we're going to do a call to prayer five days a week on the loudspeaker, which is not the case," Ashhar Madni said to RV6.
The Indianapolis Star reported that the foundation’s president Ikhlaque promised “a hot line number where residents could report any disturbances caused by construction and that any cars that parked in the nearby neighborhoods rather than the mosque parking lot would be towed.”
The final vote of the Carmel zoning board will take place on Feb. 26.
(01/30/18 10:39pm)
A varied crowd marched in the rain Saturday, Jan. 27 in support of impeaching and removing President Donald Trump from office. Speakers at the event ranged from an IUPUI sophomore to a longtime union leader.
The Hoosiers March for Impeachment began at noon as over 100 people gathered on the southern lawn of the Indiana Statehouse.
In the first speech of the event, David Ziemba from Indiana Lawyers for Good Government made his case for Trump’s impeachment.
Ziemba said of Trump, “we know, from what we know now, that he has obstructed justice.”
Throughout his speech, Ziemba implied that Trump had interfered with the Russia investigation. Ziemba recounted how Congress proposed to impeach former President Richard Nixon for obstruction of justice before Nixon’s resignation.
Ziemba urged the crowd to lobby their public officials in support of the Special Council Independence Protection Act, or Senate Bill 1735. The bill would require the President to have the consent of the Attorney General and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to remove a special counsel from office.
Former president of United Steelworkers Local 1999 Chuck Jones addressed the crowd after Ziemba spoke.
“You must be a lot of pissed off people or you sure as hell wouldn’t be standing in the rain,” Jones said.
Chuck Jones said that he believed Trump was evading responsibility for his actions, and questioned how long people would tolerate that.
Annette Johnson, the President of Pike Township Democrat Club and the Secretary of Concerned Clergy Indianapolis, stressed the importance of voting.
Amy Armogida, the lead organizer of Central Indiana Jobs with Justice, broadened the scope from the impeachment of Donald Trump to combatting broader problems like racial discrimination and economic injustice.
“We’re here to take our jobs back, we’re here to take our lives back, and we’re to take our democracy back,” Armogida said, “because when there is an injustice to one, there is an injustice to all.”
IUPUI sophomore and intern with the American Friends Service Committee Ahmed Abbas continued Armogida’s
themes in his speech.
Abbas said that Trump is a manifestation of systemic issues like racism and Islamophobia. Abbas said that the victims of prejudice are scapegoats for problems that arise from capitalism, a theory he identified as Marxist.
Abbas concluded his speech by calling for a unified coalition to combat what he characterized as oppressive systems.
“We should see one in another in each other, because when we do that,” Abbas said, “we hold our chains up together, and when we hold up our chains up together, they become lighter, when those chains become lighter, we lift our heads higher, when we lift our heads higher, we see the horizon!”
After the speeches, the crowd began to march from the lawn of the Indiana Statehouse towards Monument Circle.
Marchers chanted slogans such as, “We will, we will, impeach you!” and “Whose streets? Our streets!”
“I usually don’t shout like that? So it was cool to get a little worked up,” IUPUI sophomore Mary Grace O’Neal said.
Two flags were waved at the front of the march, the transgender pride flag and an LGBT rights flag with the canton of the U.S. flag.
“We want to bring awareness we’re still here and we still think he should be impeached,” said LGBT rights activist and Indivisible Indianapolis event coordinator Kim Saylor, who organized the march.
After rounding Monument Circle, the marchers walked back to the lawn of the Indiana Statehouse. After climbing the stairs to its southern entrance, the crowd listened to a cover of “Hallelujah” and posed for a group shot.
“I love how loving everyone was here,” O’Neal said. “It’s what America should be.”
(01/26/18 3:38pm)
An IUPUI student is expected to address the Hoosiers March for Impeachment on Saturday in downtown Indianapolis. Participants say the event is both in opposition to President Donald Trump and in support of those they believe to have been harmed by his administration.
“We want to focus on all the factions of people and groups that Donald Trump has personally attacked with his policy,” said Kim Saylor, LGBT rights activist, Indivisible Indianapolis event coordinator and organizer for the march. “I’m going to fight for my rainbow whenever and wherever I can.”
The Hoosiers March for Impeachment is scheduled to take place from noon to 2 p.m. at 200 W. Washington St. Hundreds have stated their intention to go on the event’s Facebook page.
Saylor confirmed several speakers who will address the marchers, including IUPUI sophomore and American Friends Service Committee intern Ahmed Abbas.
“For me, it's a chance to reveal what the oppressed has known all along, that Trump is simply a manifestation of something much worse,” Abbas said. “These symptoms of bigotry and xenophobia were here before Trump and will be here after him.”
Abbas is one of the founders of the Muslim Youth Collective, an organization with initiatives to combat Islamophobia such as the Islamophobia Training for Muslims, which received a $1,000 grant from Edward Curtis, the Millennium Chair of Liberal Arts at IUPUI.
“I will also call upon the separate domestic organizations that lead campaigns against police brutality, the inhumane nature of deportations, the continuing occupation of Native
American land, and the war machine our country exports internationally,” Abbas said, “to unify and create a new anti-racist coalition.”
The theme of addressing social and economic issues through the prism of the Trump administration’s actions will be continued by Terrell Parker, program director at Brothers United, who Saylor expects to address Trump’s attempted ban on transgender people serving in the military and other issues impacting the LGBT community.
Amy Armogida, the lead organizer of Central Indiana Jobs with Justice, will talk about a proposal from the Department of Labor to permit businesses to collect or pool employees’ tips, Saylor said.
Annette Johnson, the President of Pike Township Democrat Club and the Secretary of Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, is expected to speak on the issue of voting rights.
Former president of United Steelworkers Local 1999 Chuck Jones will also speak at the event, Saylor said.
“We’re trying to do a short rally just because we want to bring awareness we’re still here and we still think he should be impeached,” Saylor said.
David Ziemba, a deputy prosecutor with the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, will be there on behalf of Indiana Lawyers for Good Government to lay out the legal reasoning for impeaching and removing Trump from office.
Saylor said of Trump, “he just keeps threatening to fire Mueller and he has no authority there, and when you’re actively trying to insert yourself into an investigation on charges against you… Most people, if we did that, we’d catch another charge.”
According to anonymous sources quoted by CNN, special counsel Robert Mueller is interested in questioning Trump in relation to his dismissal of James Comey, former FBI director.
If Trump were to fire Mueller, 47 percent of voters in a national Quinnipiac poll said they would support impeaching and removing Trump from office while 46 percent would be opposed. The
Quinnipiac poll surveyed 1,577 voters from Nov. 7-13, 2017.
According to the Constitution, the U.S. House of Representatives has the sole power to impeach the president of the United States by a simple majority. While impeachment is often used colloquially as a synonym for removing a public official from office, to impeach a president is to accuse them of a crime.
“I'm right at the doorstep of impeachment. I'm taking a wait and see approach,” Rep. André Carson, D-Ind., said in an August 2017 CNN interview.
On Jan. 19, Carson voted with 66 Democratic representatives to not postpone an impeachment resolution, which was voted down overall. Carson had earlier voted with 364 representatives, including 126 Democrats, to postpone the consideration of an impeachment resolution on Dec. 6, 2017. Carson was one of eight representatives to switch his vote on postponing impeachment proceedings in the House.
Two former presidents have been impeached by the House: Bill Clinton, on Dec. 19, 1999, and Andrew Johnson, on Feb. 24, 1868.
After the House impeaches a president, the chief justice of the United States presides over a trial in the Senate. If at least two-thirds of the Senate vote that the president is guilty of the crimes alleged by the House, the president is removed from office and disbarred from holding any future office in the federal government.
However, Abbas cautioned that impeachment is not a cure for all of the systemic problems that he believes Trump represents.
“We have to confront the question ‘what the hell is wrong with America?’ not ‘what the hell is wrong with Trump?’” Abbas said.