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(11/09/06 3:21am)
Two weeks ago, George Pappas, a senior vice president for EduCap Inc., a nonprofit financial services company that has, nevertheless, made billions of dollars through student loans, canceled its proposed Feb. 2-5 "educational summit" in response to negative publicity. This summit was meant to be an opportunity for lenders to meet with educators and financial aid officials from various universities. However, rather than consisting of a boring conference hall filled with temporary booths, where gray-haired university functionaries wearing name tags pick up fliers from unnaturally friendly salespersons, this was an all-expenses paid weekend for about a hundred invitees (plus guest) in the Caribbean paradise of Nevis. In return for this weekend excursion, its estimated cost being at least $655 a night, EduCap presumably hoped that universities would be persuaded to add the company to the schools "preferred lenders" list -- the very short list of loan companies universities recommend to their students. \nYeah, we can see how that might give people a bad\n impression.\nAnd we're not alone. On Nov. 1, The New York Times reported that Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois has "called on the inspector general of the education department to investigate whether companies that lend to students have engaged in inappropriate activities by offering inducements, like gifts or cash payments to universities and their officials in an effort to increase loan volume."\nWhile it's hard to say how effective the incentives really are, it's only reasonable to assume a free iPod, DVD player or cocktails might have an impact. It's not just personal freebies either. Companies like Citibank and Education Finance Partners give money back to the universities for "loans to international students and those with poor credit, determined partly by how much other students at the institution borrow" (The New York Times, Oct. 24). Purdue, for example, is one of the schools that receives money from its deal with Sallie Mae. The financial aid officers interviewed by The New York Times repeatedly claimed that the money thrown to universities for these programs was not enough to have a significant impact. Only one (an official at New Jersey's Monmouth University) was willing to estimate the figure at about $2,000 a year. Joyce Hall, executive director of Purdue's financial aid division, said "the school is not being asked in any way, shape or form to steer a percentage of loan volume." Well, of course it's not being "asked," that would be unethical; still, we're skeptical that Sallie Mae is providing this money out of the goodness of its heart. \nEven a perceived conflict of interest ought to be enough to discourage loan officers from taking any money at all.\nAs of yet, there are no known conflicts from IU's financial aid office, and we expect it to remain that way. Considering just how many students depend on loans for their very future, the University should adopt procedures that automatically discredit any company that tries to influence the school's preferred lenders list by means other than offering the most competitive rates.
(11/08/06 5:45am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana House Democrats knocked off at least four Republican incumbents and regained control of the chamber, something both parties considered their top priority this election.\nRepublicans went into the election with a 52-48 majority, but House Speaker Brian Bosma conceded late Tuesday that his party will now trail by at least 51-49. Democrats had narrowly controlled the chamber for eight consecutive years before Republicans gained the gavel in 2004.\nBosma said he called House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer and congratulated his caucus on the victory. The longtime veteran and fiery Bauer, D-South Bend, had served as speaker in 2003 and 2004 and likely will be chosen for the top spot during a private meeting of his members Wednesday.\nRepublican Secretary of State Todd Rokita, seeking his second term, defeated Democrat Joe Pearson in unofficial results tabulated by The Associated Press.\nDemocrats controlled the House for eight consecutive years before Republicans gained a majority in 2004. Republicans have ruled the Senate since late 1978, and that was expected to continue Tuesday because of their wide 33-17 advantage.\nDemocrats desperately wanted the House back, especially since that chamber, the Senate and the governor's office all have been ruled by Republicans the past two years.\nWith the GOP in total control, Gov. Mitch Daniels was able to get much of his agenda through the General Assembly, including statewide observance of daylight-saving time and the lease of the Indiana Toll Road to private foreign companies. All but a handful of House Democrats opposed daylight-saving time, and not one voted for the toll road lease.\nDemocrats used both issues, and voter dissatisfaction against Daniels' rapid changes, as major campaign issues in some races.\nIn a rematch from two years ago, former Democratic Rep. Ron Herrell of Kokomo defeated Rep. John Smith of Kokomo in District 30. Former Democratic state Sen. Nancy Dembowski beat GOP Rep. Steve Heim in northwestern Indiana's District 17. In southeastern Indiana's District 69, freshman Republican Rep. Billy Bright conceded defeat to former state Rep. David Cheatham.\nWith 46 percent of precincts reporting in southwestern Indiana's District 64, Democrat Kreg Battles was leading Republican Rep. Troy Woodruff, both of Vincennes. Democrats blasted Woodruff for providing the 51st vote needed to nudge daylight-saving time to passage last year after promising constituents he would never vote for the bill.\nDemocratic Rep. Ed Mahern of Indianapolis was trailing Republican Jon Elrod, but Rep. David Orentlicher, D-Indianapolis, was leading Republican Kathryn Densborn in another race considered key to the overall outcome.\nDaniels said that it would take cooperation to get things done no matter which party won the House.\n"We've got work to do whatever is there," Daniels said soon after most voting sites closed Tuesday evening.\nHouse Minority Leader Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said if his party took control, it could again work with Senate Republicans in drafting a new two-year budget. House Speaker Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said his colleagues could provide leadership on issues regardless of the outcome.
(11/08/06 5:41am)
WASHINGTON -- Resurgent Democrats grabbed Republican Senate seats in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Rhode Island Tuesday in midterm elections shaped by an unpopular war in Iraq and scandal at home.\nIn a comeback unlike any other, Sen. Joe Lieberman won a new term in Connecticut -- dispatching Democrat Ned Lamont and winning when it counted most against the man who prevailed in a summertime primary. Lieberman, a supporter of Bush's war policy, ran as an independent but will side with the Democrats when he returns to Washington.\nSen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania became the first Republican senator to fall to the Democrats, losing his seat after two consecutive terms to Bob Casey Jr., the state treasurer.\nIn Ohio, Sen. Mike DeWine lost to Rep. Sherrod Brown, a liberal seven-term lawmaker.\nLincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, the most liberal Republican in the Senate and an opponent of the war, fell not long afterward to Sheldon Whitehouse, former state attorney general.\nThat left a fistful of heavily contested races uncalled.\nIn Virginia, Republican Sen. George Allen and Democratic challenger Jim Webb were locked in a seesaw race, neither man able to break ahead of the other.\nIn Tennessee, former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker held a narrow lead over Democratic Rep. Harold Ford Jr., campaigning to become the first black senator from the South in more than a century.\nIn Missouri, Sen. Jim Talent held a lead over Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill with almost 25 percent of the precincts counted.\nAmong the GOP losers, Santorum and DeWine all won their seats in the Republican landslide of 1994 -- the year the GOP grabbed control of the House and Senate from the Democrats and launched a Republican revolution.\nVoters in Vermont made Rep. Bernie Sanders, an independent, the winner in a Senate race, succeeding retiring Sen. James Jeffords. Sanders is an avowed Socialist who will side with Democrats when he is sworn into office in January.\nDemocrat Amy Klobuchar, a county prosecutor, won the Minnesota Senate race to replace retiring Sen. Mark Dayton, a fellow Democrat.\nIn Maryland, Democratic Rep. Ben Cardin captured an open Senate seat, defeating Lt. Gov. Michael Steele.\nNext door in Ohio, Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown was defeating Sen. Mike DeWine by a double-digit margin.
(11/08/06 5:40am)
Democrats scored a string of victories in governors' races Tuesday, taking back Massachusetts, Ohio and New York from the GOP, holding a vulnerable seat in Michigan and fighting hard to unseat Republicans in Minnesota and Maryland.\nThe Democrats were in sight of winning a majority of governorships for the first time since the GOP landslide of 1994. But first they needed to hold their own in Wisconsin and Oregon and win at least one more Republican-held office.\nMassachusetts Democrat Deval Patrick was declared the winner in his state -- he will be the first black governor of the state and the second elected black governor of any state. In Ohio, Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland easily defeated Republican Ken Blackwell. New York, as expected, chose Democrat Eliot Spitzer, the attorney general who crusaded for Wall Street and corporate reform.\nMassachusetts and Ohio haven't elected a Democrat since 1986. New York last elected a Democrat in 1990.\nIn Michigan, Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, long targeted by the GOP, defeated millionaire Dick DeVos, even though he put more than $35 million of his own money toward his campaign.\nIn a bit of good news for Republicans, Republican Charlie Crist, the state attorney general of Florida, defeated Democratic Rep. Jim Davis in the contest to replace term-limited GOP Gov. Jeb Bush.\nAnd Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, won re-election. He fended off challengers that included musician and writer Kinky Friedman.\nTen states had open seats because of retirements, term limits and primary defeat. Republicans went into Election Day holding 28 governorships to 22 for the Democrats. The GOP began the year trying to hold eight open seats, while Democrats had only one. Republicans also saw another seat come open when Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski lost his primary.\nIn Massachusetts, Patrick trounced GOP Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey despite her support from outgoing GOP Gov. Mitt Romney, a potential 2008 presidential candidate. The last elected black governor was L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia who left office in 1994.\nTwo other black candidates -- both Republicans -- lost. In Ohio, Strickland swept past Blackwell, the secretary of state who was criticized by Democrats for his role in overseeing the 2004 election in Ohio that was critical in securing President George W. Bush's victory. And in Pennsylvania, former NFL star Lynn Swann was swamped by Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.\nDemocrats were jubilant.\n"From here on out, we need a politics that binds us together, a politics that's forward-thinking, a politics that asks not, 'What's in it for me?' but always 'What's in it for us,'" Spitzer said in prepared comments.\nTight races emerged for Republican Govs. Tim Pawlenty in Minnesota and Robert Ehrlich in Maryland, with vote totals showing them even or slightly trailing their Democratic challengers -- Mike Hatch, Minnesota's attorney general, and Martin O'Malley, Baltimore's mayor.\nIn Illinois, Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich won re-election in a contest that Republicans had at one time hoped would go their way.\nElsewhere, Republican incumbents won in Alabama, Connecticut, South Carolina, Nebraska, Georgia and South Dakota, as did Democratic governors in New Mexico, Arizona, Kansas, Tennessee, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Wyoming.\nThe biggest names were in some of the least competitive races. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California was safely ahead in pre-election surveys, while Spitzer had long been ahead in New York.\nThe contests for those open seats were some of the closest, including:\n-- Nevada, where GOP Rep. Jim Gibbons was hobbled by accusations he assaulted and propositioned a cocktail waitress. He faced Democrat Dina Titus, a state senator.\n-- Iowa, where Democrat Chet Culver, the secretary of state, and GOP Rep. Jim Nussle fought for the seat left by retiring Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack, who is exploring a possible presidential run.\nAlso in close contests, though the latest surveys showed them slightly ahead, were Democrats Jim Doyle in Wisconsin and Ted Kulongoski in Oregon.\nAnd a few states that strategists expected to stay safely Republican wound up competitive.\nIn Alaska, Republican Sarah Palin unseated unpopular Gov. Murkowski in the GOP primary and faced Democratic former Gov. Tony Knowles. In Idaho, GOP Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter was in a close contest with Democrat Jerry Brady, a former newspaper publisher.\nThe contests could break the record for women governors. Eight women governors now hold office, one fewer than the record. Four women were in the running as major-party candidates.
(11/08/06 5:38am)
Amendments to ban gay marriage won approval Tuesday in three states, including Wisconsin, where gay-rights activists had nursed hopes of engineering the first defeat of such a ban.\nNationwide, a total of 205 measures were on the ballots in 37 states -- ranging from routine bond issues to a riveting contest in South Dakota, where voters chose whether to uphold or reject a toughest-in-the-nation law that would ban virtually all abortions.\nActivists on both sides of the abortion debate were on edge over the campaign, and early returns showed a close contest. If the ban is upheld, abortion-rights supporters are likely to launch a legal challenge that could lead all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.\nEight states had ban-gay-marriage amendments on their ballots; South Carolina and Virginia joined Wisconsin in approving them, while results were pending in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, South Dakota and Tennessee. Similar amendments have passed previously in all 20 states to consider them.\nColorado voters had an extra option -- a measure that would grant domestic-partnership rights to same-sex couples.\nConservatives hoped the same-sex marriage bans might increase turnout for Republicans. Democrats looked for a boost from low-income voters turning out on behalf of measures to raise the state minimum wage in six states. The wage hike passed in Montana and Ohio; results were pending in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana and Nevada.\nIn Missouri, a proposed amendment allowing stem cell research was a factor in the crucial Senate race there; incumbent Republican Jim Talent opposed the measure, while Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill supported it.\nMissouri -- along with Arizona, South Dakota and California -- had a sharp increase in tobacco taxes on its ballot. In California alone, big tobacco companies spent more than $56 million fighting a tax increase that would boost the average price of a pack of cigarettes to $6.55.\nEven more money -- a state record of $133 million -- was raised in the fight over California's Proposition 87, which would tax companies drilling for oil in the state. The proposal sought to raise $4 billion to promote alternative fuels and energy-efficient vehicles.\nNevada and Colorado both offered measures -- trailing badly in the polls -- that would legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana by anyone 21 and older. A measure in Rhode Island would restore voting rights to felons on probation and parole.\nMichigan voters decided whether to bar the state government from using race and gender to determine who gets into college, who gets hired and who receives contracts.\nElsewhere, land use was a hot issue, part of a backlash against a 2005 Supreme Court ruling allowing the city of New London, Conn., to buy up homes to make way for a private commercial development.\nEleven states considered eminent-domain measures barring the government from taking private property for a private use; Florida, Georgia and South Carolina approved them overwhelmingly. In four states -- Arizona, California, Idaho and Washington -- voters could require state and local authorities to compensate property owners if land-use regulations lowered the value of their property.\nSouth Dakota voters could make their state the first to strip immunity from judges, exposing them to the possibility of lawsuits, fines and even jail for their actions on the bench. Opponents, including leaders of both major parties, said it would create chaos in the judicial system.\nIn Maine, Nebraska and Oregon, voters considered measures that would cap increases in state spending -- similar to a controversial measure approved in Colorado in 1992.\nArizona voters were deciding on the most ballot measures -- 19 -- including four arising from frustration over the influx of illegal immigrants. One measure would make English the state's official language. Another would expand the list of government benefits denied to illegal immigrants.\nAnother Arizona measure proposed a civics incentive: It would award $1 million to a randomly selected voter in each general election.
(11/08/06 3:41am)
As I was hustling down 10th Street last week, late as usual, I was accosted by a smarmy grin poking a piece of paper at me. "Hey man," the smarmy grin said. "Want a free ticket to a concert next week?" \nEager to make haste, I accepted the proffered piece of paper and plunged on to my late appointment. As I bustled along, I examined my "ticket," only to discover that it was the very same uninformative and ubiquitous advertisement I'd already seen about a million times in the previous days, inviting me to an ambiguous event called "AFTERdark." Par for this course, the "ticket" listed the program's name, date, time, location and little else: no description, campus affiliation or sponsoring student group could be found. Apparently cat-killing curiosity was the intended enticement.\n"Who," I wondered, "would try to conjure up 'the campus event of the year' anonymously?" Having grown up in evangelical Christianity, I had my suspicions. And, sure enough, five minutes on the Internet proved those suspicions right: a Billy Graham-styled Christian rally/rock concert was being promoted in such a way as to draw a crowd that would otherwise shy away from such events.\nI should be clear that I generally sympathize with the goals of AFTERdark and the involved organizations but not this promotional tactic. Try as I might, I cannot convince myself that a deceptive advertising campaign is anything but detrimental to Christianity and the reputation of Christians at IU. What is the culmination of such deception? People are lured into the IU Auditorium, taken by stealth and surprise under the cover of darkness. Is this Christianity? Did Jesus train disciples or ninjas?\nWriting this on Monday, I could only imagine that the immediate aftermath of this promotional campaign would be that Christians at IU will be considered shady, untrustworthy characters, stalking our friends and always waiting to spring a trap on them. But deception is not what Jesus taught; rather he told us that "you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." People cannot be conned into the Kingdom of God; rather they must have the straightforward truth, that the holiness of God demands justice for our crimes, and by God's unmerited favor, Jesus bore the penalty we deserve.\nI can only assume that the decision to run a sly promotional campaign was made very high up in the organizations concerned and that most of the well-intentioned students involved never considered the ramifications of such tactics. Let us then remember Paul's exhortation to the Corinthians when he wrote that "by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God."\nJesus has always been a hard pill to swallow. He called himself "the stone the builders rejected" and said that "he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed." We shouldn't deceive ourselves either: No cunning spoonful of sugar will help this medicine go down.
(11/08/06 3:40am)
One goal.\nIt sounds rather cliche, but no phrase better summarizes the IU men's soccer team at this point in the season.\nThe team has already reclaimed the Big Ten regular season championship and the conference tournament title, two feathers that never made it in their cap last year. They brought home the hardware, despite losing six of 11 starters from a year ago and being the lowest-scoring team in the 34-year history of the program. If that doesn't typify how dominant IU soccer has been over the years, I don't know what does. Goals? We don't need no stinkin' goals.\nSince stumbling out of the gate at 3-3-1 early in the season, the Hoosiers have dropped just one match en route to a 14-win season. Now with the NCAA tournament bracket set, they have just one goal remaining: Bring home the College Cup.\nOne goal will also most likely be the difference in score during the Hoosiers' march to an eighth national championship. Goals this fall have been harder to come by for the Hoosiers than positive political ad campaigns during prime-time TV. Fifteen of IU's 20 matches have been decided by one goal with the Hoosiers posting an 11-4 record in those matches. The score of IU's last three wins: 1-0. Whether playing a season's worth of tight matches will help the Hoosiers in tournament play is debatable, but this team has proven it can win with a one-goal lead.\nAs the No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament, IU will host the winner of the Northern Illinois University vs. Loyola University-Chicago match next Wednesday. To make it to Robert R. Hermann Stadium in St. Louis, the site of this year's College Cup, the Hoosiers must emerge from a region that includes No. 2 seed Wake Forest University.\nIt will be the first taste of postseason action for several Hoosier starters, including Big Ten Freshman of the Year Darren Yeagle and second team All-Big Ten selections Eric Alexander and Ofori Sarkodie. Going into the season, it appeared youth would play a large role in the Hoosiers' return to the top of the Big Ten. When you have the recruiting ability of a program like IU, however, winning with youth is a lot easier. Yeagle and sophomore Brian Ackley provided most of the offense firepower, while Sarkodi and sophomore goalkeeper Chay Cain solidified a smothering defense, shutting out five Big Ten opponents on the year.\nCome tournament time, however, it's the guys who have been there before who usually lead, and that means guys like Big Ten Player of the Year Josh Tudela and senior John Michael Hayden, both of whom were members of the 2004 national championship team. Hayden scored one of the most dramatic goals in IU history during that tournament run, a header in double-overtime that lifted the Hoosiers past the University of Maryland and into the championship game. This year's squad will probably need some of that overtime magic to get to the championship match.\nOne goal may be the \ndifference.
(11/08/06 3:39am)
No matter how Tuesday's election went, it's safe to say that conservative voters were influenced by the "religious right," and liberal voters were driven to represent everything that conservatives are not. But what's ironic and tragic about the religious right's position in Republican politics is that it's so far away from the views of the founding father of modern conservatism, Barry Goldwater.\nGoldwater served as senator from Arizona from 1953 until 1987 in five terms (excepting 1965-68, when he was out of office) and rose to become the most influential senator in the past 50 years. His prominence began in 1964 when he ran for president. Despite losing to Lyndon B. Johnson, his beliefs became the foundation of the modern conservative movement. He ran on a hands-off governmental policy, rejecting many of the New Deal initiatives, civil rights laws and anything else that involved heavy government involvement. He wasn't a racist or against poor people; he just strongly felt that government worked best when it had little impact in American lives. Years later, despite initial opposition, he was happy to see that his views built the platform to help elect Ronald Reagan president. But, as he saw Reagan run off with political success, he became disturbed by the growing religious right.\nWhen Reagan was elected in 1980 and the religious conservatives became involved in politics, he strongly spoke out against it. He felt that religion had no place in government, that morality shouldn't be governed. History tells us that Republicans didn't pay too much attention to him, which is kind of sad because he was right for a number of reasons.\nFirst, you can't simply force your religious views on a secular nation. It just doesn't work for one religion to rule a country that embraces religious freedom for all. Second, it invades Americans' right to privacy. I know it's not a constitutional right, but our history suggests that we have a right to privacy -- yet religion, in structuring people's personal lives, wants to go exactly where this right says government shouldn't. Third, when allowing religion into politics, the country is forced to deal with nutcases like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and my new favorite religious conservative figure: Ted Haggard. True, he wasn't as famous a figure in the movement, but as president of the National Association of Evangelicals, he was very influential -- often supporting the Republican leadership and even having conference calls with the White House. Republicans create enough scandals on their own without embracing people who allegedly have affairs with male prostitutes and do meth while proclaiming supreme morality.\nMaybe Goldwater knew what he was talking about. Maybe he wasn't simply some old man complaining. It's sad that Republicans didn't listen to him. I mean it would be like Americans not listening to George Washington about the threat of political parties ... oops, damn. We didn't listen. Or like Americans forgetting that all men are created ... damn, we kind of forgot that, too. Oh well, perhaps we could pay attention just this once.
(11/08/06 3:38am)
Last Saturday, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system has adopted a new policy that not only bans relationships between students and professors, but also requires schools to "ask faculty and staff in positions of power to disclose any existing romances or other 'consensual relationships' that might violate the policy." A professor who doesn't tell the school about such a relationship could face "disciplinary action."\nHowever, the University of Minnesota's policy on "nepotism" and "personal relationships" dictates that "faculty members and advisers are cautioned that personal relationships with current students are unwise and may violate other University policies, even when activities prohibited by this policy have been avoided." Violation of this rule could result in, again, disciplinary action -- "up to and including termination of employment or academic dismissal". \nSo the professor can tell the school and risk disciplinary action or not tell the school and risk disciplinary action. \nBrilliant policy.\nAt this point, many of you are thinking there's a simple solution to this: Don't get involved in professor-student romances. This is essentially IU's reaction. The University's Code of Academic Ethics mandates that "a faculty member shall not have an amorous or sexual relationship, consensual or otherwise, with a student who is enrolled in a course being taught by the faculty member or whose performance is being supervised or evaluated by the faculty member." It also states that "a faculty member should be careful to distance himself or herself from any decisions that may reward or penalize a student with whom he or she has or has had an amorous or sexual relationship, even outside the instructional context, especially when the faculty member and student are in the same academic unit or in units that are allied academically."\nNow I know this is a well-intentioned effort to keep predatory professors from seducing students, but there's one major problem: Based on my informal observations of faculty behavior over the past five years, I'd hazard a guess that, were it not for the professor-graduate assistant hookup, the professorate would risk extinction in much the same fashion as the giant panda. \nOK, that's an exaggeration. But there is a fair number of seemingly happy, normal academic married couples around who started out as professor-and-student and who, had they not been so fortunate as to meet in a decade before sexual harassment litigation, would have been fried by a dean. I can't claim to have the final answer as to where the line between normal relationships and abuses lies, but I think those of us in the younger generations, the grad students and nontenured faculty, should ask: Is it fair that we face such strict restraints, when violating it worked out for many who now have tenure?\nAnd no, I'm not out to date a professor or student. However, if you're neither, ladies, I am still single.
(11/08/06 3:37am)
Will you be playing Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders?" I asked my roommate, the dutiful business major, as she left to study for an exam on game theory.\n"Candy Land," she said. Apparently Chutes and Ladders is for advanced game theory. \nBoth board games are a staple in the childhood of Americans, but Candy Land is clearly superior. The rift between those who favor Candy Land and those who favor Chutes and Ladders dates back centuries. The conflict between the two is the little known spark behind many of history's most dramatic events such as the U.S. Civil War, World War II and the explosion at Pompeii. When archeologists found the perfectly preserved form of Gloppy the Molasses Monster in the ashes, they knew the truth.\nI risk having a knife pulled on me in the parking lot by one of Chutes and Ladders' many violent cronies just for making my preference publicly known. But how can a game where your reward is receiving the opportunity to pretend to climb a ladder even compare to a game about sweet, sweet candy? Ladders are often dangerous and unstable. Candy is delicious.\nI'll concede that the two games are very similar. Neither game requires any skill whatsoever, thus making them both popular with children, morons and moronic children.\nIf you're unfamiliar with the games, each has a board with a grid. You spin a wheel or draw a card to progress along the board. There are various algorithms involved. I can't really explain it.\nCandy Land stands out when you consider the main demographic of both games: little children. What do little children like more than candy?\nPuppies? Friendship? Love?\nNo. The answer is nothing. And if you're not actually eating candy, the next closest thing is taking a magical journey to the Gumdrop Mountains or Peanut Brittle House, living vicariously through a plastic gingerbread man.\nChutes and Ladders might appeal to children because its game board is similar to a playground with its chutes and ladders. Between 1990 and 2000, 147 children 14 years old or younger died from playground-related injuries, according to the Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Falls from playground equipment account for a higher proportion of severe injuries than bicycle or car crashes, according to a study released in 2001 by the Cincinnati's Children's Hospital Medical Center.\nThe high sugar content of candy has obvious health risks, but when was the last time you fell off a lollipop and broke your arm?\nHowever, playing Candy Land isn't about choosing heart disease over paralysis. I'm 21 years old, and a game I played when I was 3 years old still impacts my daily life. People are always looking for methodologies for making choices. What would (insert deity or celebrity here) do?\nWhenever I weigh two options in life, I always choose the one that's most similar to eating candy. It's never steered me wrong. I don't even regret the high dentist bills because I know I've made King Kandy, Mr. Mint and Princess Lolly very proud.
(11/08/06 3:36am)
It's no secret: IU has a perennial parking problem. There have been many ideas over the years to solve this problem. The latest suggestion by the President's Parking Commission is to raise the price of A permits and prohibit graduate students from buying A and C permits. The theory goes that if A permits are more expensive, there will be less demand for them; additionally, if graduate students cannot buy A and C permits, there will be more available to faculty members. Presumably those graduate students who must drive will have to buy E permits, park at the stadium and ride the bus.\nThis is a shortsighted and poorly conceived solution. The housing market in Bloomington makes it such that many faculty, staff and students live far from campus and simply must drive to school. Those same people will still have to drive to campus if parking permits are further restricted, but they might have to choose between a headache of a commute and coughing up more cash.\nAnd how is it, exactly, that more commuters are to be channeled to the stadium to park, right on the heels of a cut-back in bussing to and from the stadium that began in October? Many graduate students work very early and very late hours. Suppose a biology graduate student leaves the lab at midnight. Is he supposed to walk to the stadium in the dark? If on-campus parking is to be further restricted, the availability of public transportation must be expanded, because, let's face it, the IU campus is enormous.\nGraduate students are required to bear much of the teaching load. They are asked to teach classes and grade many assignments in addition to doing their research. To make it extremely inconvenient for them to even get to work is hardly the thanks they deserve for their toil.\nThe President's Parking Commission found a Band-Aid for the problem, but it is not a long-term solution. The fact of the matter is that as long as there are graduate students and faculty living off campus as commuters, they will have to park somewhere.\nWe could pave over the Arboretum and put in a parking lot, or, even better, a 10-story parking garage, but no one really wants that. Why not build parking garages where we already have parking lots? But garages take a long time and a lot of money to build. A cheaper, more immediate solution would be to grant faculty and graduate students D permits or rezone central D lots to C lots. Most undergraduates living on campus will not even roll a tire during the week; wouldn't those parking spaces better serve our hard-working instructors? Other large universities in Indiana, such as Ball State and Purdue, restrict freshman parking to a far greater extent than we do. Giving those parking spots to graduate students would better serve our student body.
(11/08/06 3:33am)
QUESTION: One night I was with a girl and I ejaculated quickly after receiving a hand-job. Then we were about to have sex, however I was unable to get it up, and since I am a virgin I was worried about the situation. Do I have any sexual problems? Is there anything I can do to be able to get it up and can I do anything to make my self last longer?
(11/08/06 3:29am)
NEW YORK -- A judge temporarily blocked the auction of a Picasso painting that was expected to fetch up to $60 million, saying he needed to decide whether the Nazis forced its former owner to sell it in the 1930s because his family descended from Jews.\nU.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff issued the order Monday, three days after Julius H. Schoeps, an heir to Berlin banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan to stop the sale.\nA hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, a day before the "Portrait de Angel Fernandez de Soto" was to be auctioned at Christie's.\nThe painting of de Soto, who shared a studio with Pablo Picasso, was put up for sale by the Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation, a London-based charity.\nIn the lawsuit, which was filed under seal Friday, Schoeps sought to be declared the lawful owner.\nThe oil-on-canvas painting, signed and dated in 1903, was described in a Christie's catalog as capturing de Soto's haunting face with heavy features.\n"The elegantly dressed sitter appears to scrutinize the viewer with an intense gaze, his inner agitation suggested by the forceful brushstrokes and the cloud of smoke hovering above him," said the catalog for the Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale.\nChristie's said the painting, estimated to sell for $40 million to $60 million, was being sold by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's foundation for income to be spent on a variety of charitable purposes.
(11/07/06 5:43am)
WASHINGTON -- With House control at stake, President Bush campaigned Sunday in endangered Republican districts across GOP-friendly middle America. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, hoping to become the first woman speaker, stumped for Democratic challengers in the left-leaning Northeast."Here's the way I see it," Bush told a crowd inside an auditorium in Grand Island, Neb. "If the Democrats are so good about being the party of the opposition, let's just keep them in the opposition." Republicans are hoping their party's acclaimed get-out-the-vote operation can prevent a Democratic rout in a campaign marked by voter fury over the Iraq war.\nPelosi, D-Calif., was cautiously optimistic about her party's chances Tuesday. \n"We are thankful for where we are today, to be poised for success," she said in Colchester, Conn. "But we have two Mount Everests we have to climb -- they are called Monday and Tuesday."\nHer party appears increasingly confident it can ride a wave of public disenchantment with the administration's policies to victory in the House and, possibly, the Senate.\nTwo days before the election, both parties focused on turning out voters. The numbers historically are low in nonpresidential year elections, with about 40 percent of U.S. citizens of voting age population casting ballots.\nRepublicans and Democrats have sent out thousands of volunteers in states with the most contested races to work phone banks and canvass neighborhoods. Both parties also have assembled legal teams for possible challengers in case of voting problems.\nCandidates were making their final pitches. Republicans repeated their assertion that Democrats would raise taxes and prematurely pull out of Iraq if they controlled Congress. Democrats pressed their case for change, arguing that Republicans on Capitol Hill blindly have followed Bush's "failed policy."\nUp for grabs are 435 House seats, 33 Senate seats, governorships in 36 states, and thousands of state legislative and local races.\nIn 37 states, voters will determine the fate of ballot initiatives, including whether to ban gay marriage, raise the minimum wage, endorse expanded embryonic stem cell research and -- in South Dakota -- impose the country's most stringent abortion restrictions.\nAlready, this is projected to be the most expensive election cycle ever, at $2.6 billion.\nIraq has dominated the campaign season, and Republicans and Democrats sparred over the war again Sunday following Saddam Hussein's conviction on crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to die by hanging; an appeal is planned.\n"To pull out, to withdraw from this war is losing. The Democrats appear to be content with losing," said Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, who leads the Senate GOP's campaign efforts.\nInfuriated, Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the Democrat in charge of the party's House campaign, shot back: "We want to win, and we want a new direction to Iraq."\nIn his sixth year in office, the president faces the likelihood of losing GOP seats in both the House and the Senate, as well as fewer GOP governors.\nVoters are agitating for change. They give both the president and GOP-controlled Congress low job performance ratings; they do not like the direction the country is headed; and they are particularly frustrated with the war as costs and casualties mount.\n"It may not be popular with the public. It doesn't matter, in the sense that we have to continue the mission and do what we think is right," Vice President Dick Cheney said.\nCheney told ABC News' "This Week" that the administration would continue "full speed ahead" with its Iraq strategy.\nThat drew a sardonic response from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. "It's full speed ahead over a cliff!" she told supporters at a rally Sunday in Union Vale, N.Y.\nFurther complicating an already difficult environment for the GOP, the public also has been turned off by allegations of corruption in Washington and political scandals dogging the GOP.\n"There's wind in our face," acknowledged Rep. Tom Reynolds of New York, the head of the Republican House campaign effort. But, he said, "I believe we have a great opportunity to hold the House by turning the vote out."\nSaid Emanuel, "I'd rather be us than them."\nRaces in more than 50 Republican-held districts are competitive.\nDemocrats initially targeted GOP-held seats left open by retiring Republicans as well as districts where the president won by close margins in 2004 -- many in the Northeast and Midwest. In recent weeks, Democrats have been able to expand the battlefield, making plays for seats long in Republican hands, such as in Wyoming and Idaho.\nThat offensive -- and Bush's unpopularity -- explains why the president was in the midst of a campaign swing in America's most Republican states. He was in Nebraska and Kansas on Sunday to fire up a dispirited conservative base in hopes of saving two seats.\nIn western Nebraska, GOP state Sen. Adrian Smith and Democrat Scott Kleeb are competing to replace retiring Rep. Tom Osborne in a district that last went Democratic 45 years ago. Bush won 75 percent of the district's vote in 2004.\nThe president also was appearing in Topeka, Kan., for Republican Rep. Jim Ryun, who is facing an unexpectedly tough challenge from Democrat Nancy Boyda. The race is a rematch. Ryun beat her two years ago by 15 percentage points.\nIn the increasingly close race for Florida governor, however, Republican candidate Charlie Crist decided to skip an appearance with Bush and instead spend Monday crisscrossing the state.\nPelosi, a Democrat from San Francisco, was appearing at separate events in Connecticut with Democrats Chris Murphy, Joe Courtney and Diane Farrell, Democratic challengers trying to oust GOP Reps. Nancy Johnson, Rob Simmons and Christopher Shays -- three of the most at-risk Republican incumbents.\nRepublicans all but conceded six House seats or more are lost to the Democrats.\nStill, two public polls gave Republicans reason to be hopeful that they could stave off a Democratic takeover.\nRepublicans were posting higher marks among likely voters on the question of which party should control the House, a shift one poll attributed to the GOP making gains among independent voters and party faithful becoming more engaged. The independent Pew Research Center found that Democrats now have a four-point edge over Republicans, narrower than the 11-point advantage two weeks ago.\nCompared with the House, the Senate outcome is more of a question.\nDemocrats need to pick up six seats to win control and are expected to defeat Republican Sens. Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, Mike DeWine in Ohio and Lincoln Chafee in Rhode Island. The state of four races is less clear -- Sens. George Allen in Virginia, Conrad Burns in Montana, Jim Talent in Missouri and the Tennessee seat that Majority Leader Bill Frist is leaving to run for president.\n"We will hold the majority," Dole insisted.\nHer counterpart on the Democratic campaign committee, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, said: "We're right on the edge of taking back the Senate. I wouldn't open up the champagne or do the high-fives, but we are feeling very good."\nCheney appeared on ABC's "This Week." Reynolds, Emanuel, Dole and Schumer were on "Meet the Press" on NBC.
(11/07/06 4:45am)
Webmail has done it again. This time a glitch in its new spam filter sent many legitimate e-mails into users' spam folders, where e-mails are promptly deleted after five days. University Information Technology Services said the problem has been fixed, but we're still rather nervous. Webmail's new warning to check the spam filter daily stands as a reminder that it's only a matter of time before the next e-disaster. All due respect to computer security researcher Sid Stamm, but the admonition to never use e-mail for important business falls in the same category as "always back up your files." It's a reasonable, well-intentioned recommendation that, unfortunately, is very distant from how most people actually work. Beyond all this though, what has us most worried is Webmail's record during the past five years.\nAfter some testing, Webmail was adopted Jan. 18, 2001, and was a major improvement over IU's old PINE e-mail system. However, by September 2002, Webmail was already having problems. Users faced long delays in accessing their accounts because of start-of-the-year glitches and the e-mail server struggling with the heavy traffic. At the same time, spam descended on the system, infecting students' computers and threatening the network's reliability. On Oct. 28, 2002, the Indiana Daily Student reported that Webmail had been inaccessible for a weekend. On Dec. 12 of that same year, the IDS reported, "Entire address books being erased, e-mails not being sent and inability to access Webmail accounts are commonplace" -- which UITS blamed on spam overwhelming the storage servers. UITS responded by writing new processing codes and installing spam filters, then replaced the old system entirely with a more user-friendly version based on open-source software. \nHowever, problems arose immediately. On July 28, 2003, the IDS again reported that the system was slowing down and denying access. Complaints about Webmail's slowness persisted. UITS responded by adding two new servers, followed by the University spending $300,000 on new spam-filtering software. UITS then adopted a host of new security precautions in response to a wave of e-mail-borne worm viruses. Oct. 12, 2004, brought the massive crash of Webmail's "Ariel" server, shutting hundreds of students out of their accounts and taking six days to fix. This was followed by the expansion of Webmail's storage memory to 100 MB and yet another version of Webmail, the current one, which was finalized in fall 2005. Again, it was purported to be more user-friendly. But by this time, many users (19 percent in the summer of 2005) were having their Webmail accounts forward messages to other e-mail services, and students interviewed by the IDS cited Webmail as too unreliable, too spam-prone and having too little storage (Google's Gmail was already offering 1 gigabyte of storage).\nWe've said it before, and we'll say it again: It's time for a change. Alternatives to Webmail are available. On Oct. 20, we wrote an editorial about Google's new education e-mail system, "Google Apps for Education." Besides working like Gmail, did we mention that it's free if you adopt it now, while it's in the beta development period?
(11/07/06 4:32am)
EVANSVILLE -- A hole collapsed around a man and killed him while he was trying to help his brother fix a broken sewer line in his backyard.\nJerrod Elmendorf, 29, of Mount Vernon was buried standing up in the dirt at his brother's home in Evansville on Saturday and apparently died of asphyxiation or suffocation, authorities said.\nElmendorf had been helping his brother dig the hole with a backhoe Saturday morning, and family members noticed he was missing after noon, said Evansville police spokesman Brian Talsma. When they couldn't find him, they called 911, and fire department rescuers found him in the hole at about 3 p.m.\nTalsma said the hole was about 20 feet by 8 feet and up to 14 feet deep. Police were not sure why the hole collapsed but said recent rain and the large pile of dirt beside the hole may have contributed to the accident.\n"Something caused it to collapse fairly substantially, and he didn't have a chance to even get out or get around the amount of dirt that fell in," Talsma said.\nRescuers had to widen and terrace the hole before they could remove the man's body, which took about five hours.
(11/07/06 4:31am)
GREENCASTLE, Ind. -- A body found in a central Indiana cornfield is that of a man wanted in a 2005 bank robbery, police said.\nA man and his son found the body of John Ryan Wood, 27, Sunday, facedown in a Morgan County field about 20 miles southwest of Indianapolis, police said.\nHe had been dead for several days. There was no obvious cause of death, but Morgan County Sheriff's deputies said they were treating the case as a possible homicide. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday.\nWood was wanted on a warrant in Putnam County for the June 10, 2005, robbery of an Old National Bank branch in Greencastle.\nHe was charged with conspiracy to commit bank robbery, said Greencastle Police Det. Randy Seipel.\nAnother man pleaded guilty to the robbery and was sentenced to prison, Seipel said.
(11/07/06 4:31am)
SOUTH BEND -- A judge rejected the St. Joseph County prosecutor's request to stop a political ad the prosecutor claimed was false and defamatory.\nThe commercial for Republican candidate Greg Kauffman is protected speech and can remain on the air, St. Joseph Superior Court Judge David C. Chapleau ruled Saturday.\nDemocrat Michael Dvorak filed a lawsuit Friday asking for an injunction to halt the 30-second television spot, saying it falsely accuses him of violating the law by hiring his wife to work in his office. Dvorak has said the move is not illegal because he does not personally supervise her.\nThe validity of the allegation, however, was not Chapleau's main concern.\n"My concern is that political speech, even inaccurate, must be allowed unless it's so clear that it's a question of confusing the public," Chapleau said. He cited a Michigan case in which a judge pulled an ad that misidentified one of the candidates.\nIn the TV ad, Kauffman says Dvorak "contradicts state law" because he hired his wife, Kathleen Dvorak, to run the child support division in his office. Kauffman has repeatedly accused Dvorak of nepotism, a charge the prosecutor has denied.\nDvorak said the ad "crosses the line" of protected political free speech.\n"Certainly people have the right to free speech, but that free speech stops at the point they're making defamatory lies," Dvorak said.\nKauffman defended the ad and said the lawsuit was a desperate political maneuver. \n"We didn't say anything illegal was done; it's just a contradiction of the state laws," he said.\nChapleau said Dvorak was free to counter Kauffman's ad with one of his own. That way, the public could make its own determination through "the exchange of information by the candidates."\nThe suit was filed in circuit court, but a new judge was appointed because Circuit Judge Michael Gotsch worked in Dvorak's administration when the prosecutor's wife was hired.
(11/07/06 4:31am)
FOUNTAIN CITY, Ind. -- Authorities were awaiting toxicology tests to determine the cause of death for a Wayne County man who was found dead in a house fire.\nNo foul play was suspected in the death of Tony Lee Railsback, 31, said Wayne County Coroner Kevin Fouche.\n"It's probably going to be carbon monoxide poisoning," said Fouche. "We won't know until we get a toxicology report back, but that is what it's looking like."\nThe fire broke out about 4 a.m. Saturday in a home near Fountain City, about 65 miles east of Indianapolis.\nIt took firefighters from several area departments about 90 minutes to extinguish the flames, which could be seen about two miles away, Fountain City Fire Chief Jeff Himelick said.\n"Part of the house was actually gone when we got there," he said. "It had been burning for a while."\nThe cause of the fire remained under investigation.
(11/07/06 4:30am)
LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A Kentucky police officer trying to unload his gun accidentally shot himself while driving on an Indiana highway, police said.\nSullivan McCurdy, 41, an officer with the Radcliff Police Department, was driving south on Interstate 65 near Lafayette Sunday when the weapon discharged, Indiana State Police said. A bullet struck the 10-year police veteran in the right leg, police said.\nMcCurdy was listed Monday in satisfactory condition at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Lafayette, said hospital spokesman Matthew Oates.