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Monday, 2/12/2001	5 day quick link 02/09 \| 02/08 \| 02/07 \| 02/06 \| 02/05

Group wins contest with Big Apple machine

Photo courtesy of University News Service

HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?: Debra Klein, a senior in the Schools of Engineering, and Lindsay Elliot, a sophomore in the Schools of Engineering, reset the Society of Women Engineers' machine during the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest on Saturday.

By Megan Finnerty
Features Editor

After the New York Jets made a touchdown, a jet took off from LaGuardia Airport and dozens more Big Apple-related steps, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers won the 19th annual Rube Goldberg Contest Saturday.

The team’s machine also won the People’s Choice Award as the 300 audience members in the Elliott Hall of Music voted for the contraption that they liked best. It was easy to see why "New York and the Big Apple" won.

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Professor opposes sale of notes

When a student takes notes during class, there is an unwritten rule that the student will use those notes only for academic purposes.

But when a student takes those notes and sells them to an online or local note company, is the student breaking any laws?

It depends on whom you ask.

"Anything that a professor puts into a tangible form of expression is considered copyrighted," said Donna Ferullo, director of the university copyright office and an assistant professor of library sciences.

A tangible form of expression, said Ferullo, includes handing out notes in class, writing notes on an overhead projector or giving a Power Point presentation.

"There doesn't need to be a formal copyright request sent to the copyright office, or the copyright symbol placed on the article," said Ferullo.

Mathieu Deflem, an assistant professor of sociology, started a campaign to stop Internet notes sites from selling professors' notes.

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Representative proposes bill to increase gas tax

Gas prices could go up again.

Rep. Sue Scholer, R-26th, is proposing a bill that would add three cents to state gasoline tax and one cent to the state diesel tax. The money acquired from the tax would benefit Indiana's roads, bridges, transportation safety and new road construction.

Scholer said, "Indiana's road situation is getting pretty dyer and we need stable ongoing funding for it."

The Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program, an extension service of civil engineering, issued a report that assesses the needs for local roads and streets.

Thomas Martin, the program manager, said that the basic finding of the study is that there is a severe shortage of funds to adequately maintain local transportation facilities. The shortage has existed for long enough that there is now a need for short term funding simply to "catch up".

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