December 2011/January 2012

Are You at Risk for Diabetes? Here’s Where to Get Help

First Posted: 4/2/12 05:28 PM EDT Updated: 4/2/12 05:28 PM EDT
Originally published December 2011/January 2012

BY JANET MANDELSTAM If your blood sugar level is higher than 100 but lower than 126, you are pre-diabetic. If your blood sugar level rises above 126, the diagnosis is full-blown diabetes with all of its accompanying complications. To help you keep your blood sugar level from reaching that tipping point, the nurses and dieticians at the IU Health Diabetes Center offer diabetes prevention classes that emphasize lifestyle changes, notably exercise and a low-fat diet. “Diabetes is an epidemic that affects about 25 million people in the U.S.,” says Kenda Jochim, a registered nurse, certified diabetes educator, and manager of the center. Diabetes leads to an elevated risk of heart disease and is the leading cause of amputations, kidney disease, [...]

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Filed Under: Health/Fitness Tagged With: Diabetes, IU Health, Janet Mandelstam, Kenda Jochim, Tammy Morrison

Moda Industria: Design That’s Bold, Brassy, Cutting Edge (Photo Gallery)

First Posted: 4/2/12 04:20 PM EDT Updated: 4/16/12 03:06 PM EDT
Originally published December 2011/January 2012

BY PAMELA KEECH When you open Moda Industria’s website, you might think you’re looking at a hot design company in New York or San Francisco. It’s really the work of just one woman, Lucia Bennett, who is busy on Bloomington’s west side designing her socks off. “I love to design,” says Bennett, 43, whose self-described styles include “classic period designs, urban steampunk, and gothic.” She found the perfect tool to realize her vision, and it’s an uncommon one. An IU fine arts graduate, she had 20 years of graphic design behind her when she started working for a waterjet-cutting business. She quickly mastered the technology and has made it her own, producing signs, home decor, jewelry, and handbags as fast [...]

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Filed Under: Fashion/Shopping, Web Exclusives Tagged With: Lucia Bennett, Moda Industria, Pamela Keech

Dr. Djo Bi: African Drummer Now Calls Bloomington Home (Photo Gallery)

First Posted: 3/30/12 01:54 PM EDT Updated: 4/16/12 03:06 PM EDT
Originally published December 2011/January 2012

BY CARMEN SIERING Djo Bi Irie Simon proves the point that you never know who is going to land in Bloomington and call it home. Popularly known as Dr. Djo Bi, he is an Ivory Coast native and world-traveled master drummer. He and his wife, Harmony Harris, 37, have been teaching West African drumming and dance since moving here in 2007. Dr. Djo Bi, 45, says he learned the traditional drumming of his Gouro ethnic group at the age of five, then learned the drumming not only of all 65 ethnic groups in Ivory Coast but also those of other West African nations. Being something of a child prodigy gave him the opportunity to join different troupes and travel widely. [...]

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Filed Under: Arts/Entertainment, Web Exclusives Tagged With: Carmen Siering, Djo Bi Irie Simon, music, Nicholas Demille

Tyagan Miller: Photographer

First Posted: 3/26/12 01:28 PM EDT Updated: 3/26/12 01:29 PM EDT
Originally published December 2011/January 2012

BY LEE ANN SANDWEISS Trying to be a better teacher is what led Tyagan Miller to become a professional photographer at the age of 40. “In 1988, I was part of a group designing an alternative school for at-risk kids in Indianapolis, and I got a Lilly teachers’ grant to buy a camera for a project I envisioned my students doing to explore their community,” says Miller, 59, a longtime Bloomington resident. “The project didn’t work out, but now I had a camera.” Miller, who is self-taught, attracted the notice of prominent photography dealer Lee Marks, who offered to represent Miller’s work, and in 1992 Miller became a full-time freelance magazine and documentary photographer. Today he is the creative director [...]

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Filed Under: Our Town Tagged With: Lee Ann Sandweiss, Photography, Shannon Zahnle, Tyagan Miller

Spinning Anyone? A New Fitness Regimen Comes to Town

First Posted: 2/1/12 05:43 PM EDT Updated: 3/8/12 09:44 PM EDT
Originally published December 2011/January 2012

(left to right) Wayne Schuman, Eleanor Berman, Megan Burton, Kaye Lee Johnston, Betsy Trotake, and Dana Lynch. Photo by James Kellar

BY KELLY KENDALL Given Bloomington’s iconic stature as a bicyclist’s town, it’s surprising that no Spinning studio has existed here until recently. In October, Urban Cycle Studio opened its doors adjacent to Urban Fitness Studio in Graham Plaza at the corner of North College and West 6th Street. Both facilities are owned by Allison Chopra, a nationally certified personal trainer with a master of science in kinesiology. From talking to her clients at Urban Fitness, Chopra came to realize there was a need for Spinning—the licensed trademark for an indoor cycling program that replicates the experience of an outdoor ride. “People were moving to Bloomington from larger towns and cities and asking me where the local Spinning studios were,” says [...]

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Filed Under: Health/Fitness Tagged With: Allison Chopra, Exercise, Kelly Kendall, Spinning, Urban Cycle Studio, Urban Fitness Studio