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(10/30/06 4:24am)
In the two years I have covered IU football, I have never seen a Hoosier team like the one that played Saturday. I have never seen a Hoosier quarterback look so comfortable or an offensive line look so impenetrable. I have never seen a Hoosier defense dominate for four quarters. Perhaps due in part to IU coach Terry Hoeppner's declaration, in part to the homecoming weekend and in part to the Hoosiers' handling of Michigan State on Saturday, I have never seen a Memorial Stadium crowd so loud.\nAt the request of coach Hep, the crowds came out. Though they hardly numbered 50,000 -- the number Hoeppner called for after IU's victory over Iowa -- those who did show up were given a show. The offense overpowered, the defense shut down the Spartans and most of the 36,444 watching Saturday's game were asking themselves, "Who are these guys?" \nThey are your Indiana Hoosiers. They are fifth in the Big Ten standings. And they are one win away from clinching bowl berth. \n"I told the team we need to learn how to handle prosperity better," Hoeppner said during the post-game press conference. "Championship teams finish people off in the fourth quarter. I also told them get used to it. Get used to handling prosperity because we are going to have a bunch of it down the road." \nCould it be -- a collective calm in quarry land? There is prosperity instead of pandemonium. There is optimism for a football team that was once ostracized. In their first five games, the Hoosiers went 2-3. That record included a three-game home skid kicked off by an embarrassing 35-28 loss to Southern Illinois University. The Division I-AA Salukis are not even in the same league as IU -- literally. But after a 52-17 thrashing from Wisconsin at "the Rock," IU went on to win three of its next four games. These were not thankless victories, either. These were Big Ten conference games, which once marked the beginning of the end for the Hoosiers' schedule. This year, they simply mark the end of the Hoosiers' winless woes in October. \nThough their first bowl game appearance in 13 years is still uncertain, Saturday's Hoosier hammering of Michigan State was not. Of course, this rare sign of resilience begs several questions: Was this game a defining moment for this turned-around team? Has the Hoosiers' luck changed along with the seasons -- a metamorphosis from fall failures to winter winners? The colder the weather, the hotter this team seems to get. \nBut for the time being, Hoosier nation can embrace its team's 46-21 shellacking of the Spartans. It was an outcome as scary for Michigan State as the holiday weekend that the game fell on. Appropriately, the Hoosiers played possessed but also, more importantly, poised in these prosperous times. \nShortly after Saturday's game, the IU men's basketball team played an intersquad scrimmage, usually a time which signals the beginning of the basketball season and the bleak end of football. Instead, something else happened Saturday. Someone forgot to tell Hep and his Hoosiers basketball had begun. Go ahead, Hoosier football team: Live long and prosper.
(10/30/06 3:44am)
Gunmen killed 15 policemen working as instructors at the local police academy and two translators in the southern city of Basra, Iraq, police said. The men were forced off a bus on the city's outskirts Sunday afternoon, and their bodies were found hours later dumped in several locations, police said. Basra is about 80 percent Shiite, Iraq's majority sect that makes up the bulk of the police and security forces nationwide, especially in the predominantly Shiite south. Most of the murdered policemen were believed to have been Shiite.
(10/30/06 3:44am)
There seems to be something in the air lately. Perhaps the cold, rainy weather combined with the political climate, and so many of us juggling life, work and school, has put a damper on things. Whatever the reason, people around campus are having a noticeably rough time. Relationships are crumbling. People are falling in love with people they shouldn't, hurting people they don't mean to, being on the receiving end of those and generally being beaten to a pulp by circumstances out of their control. In short, most of the people I know are walking around with tired, crushed souls. Oh, and we have to focus on midterms -- hooray for us. With such a palpable pain in the air, I have been reminded of that well-known lyric: "All you need is love." Though I maintain that oxygen, shelter and sustenance are also necessities for living, those British boys might have been on to something. \nI am also reminded of bonobos, a smaller variety of chimpanzees and one of our closest genetic relatives. These primates are some of the most peaceful creatures on the planet. They can be observed in their small troupes quietly foraging and grooming each other with the noticeable absence of the screeching and power-struggles that are commonly associated with primates. The key difference is that bonobos use sex and physical closeness as a means to diffuse aggression. There is no assertion of dominance or ownership with sex; instead it is utilized between members of all sexes as a therapeutic and comforting pastime. They would rather just be close to one another and care for each other than fight or assert their dominance. Sadly, bonobos are on the brink of extinction. Their dwindling numbers provide a disheartening metaphor for peace in these dark and complicated times. \nThough I am certainly not advocating a campus-wide orgy in Dunn Meadow or meaningless sexual encounters among strangers, I do feel that much can be learned from bonobo society. If animals who have less capability for higher thinking have figured out that being mellow and physically close is far more enjoyable and productive than the loneliness and stress that stems from aggression, then what the heck is wrong with us? We support dirty elections. We complain about loneliness, but we're far too busy or self-conscious to hold open a door, flash a smile at a stranger or to hug an acquaintance in obvious pain. A very wise woman often tells me that everyone who acts aggressively is simply responding as a wounded child, and envisioning everyone in such a manner makes compassion a very easy thing. Everyone you see is most likely fighting some soul-crushing battle, just like you. Take a moment to hold a door, flash a smile, share a hug or share the burden. Even going slightly out of your way to be kind will have a ripple effect, lightening the burden for all. And we can all agree that a little bit of such love is really all we need.
(10/30/06 3:42am)
On the occasions I'm up in time to watch it, rarely does NBC's "The Today Show" present me with any new or meaningful information -- but last week I was more annoyed than ever at a segment America's prom king Matt Lauer hosted called "Obesity: Living Large in America."\nThe messages posed in that particular "news" segment included, but were not limited to, the following:\n"Be aware of the hidden fats in your fridge!" "Childhood obesity is an epidemic!" "Portion sizes and our appetites are out of control!" "Food is Satan's nectar; run for your lives!"\nWell, the latter one is by me, but the rest were actual claims the show's featured guests -- health nutritionists and chefs -- made. And, of course, some of the information they pointed out was important. After all, The Washington Post reported Sept. 3 that for every two people who are malnourished across the globe, three are now overweight or obese. Also, 35 percent of low-income Americans are obese, while for high-income Americans it is 29 percent. \nSo, a lot of us are fatties.\nBut the stigmas that come along with being fat -- as perpetuated by dynamic journalism of "The Today Show" -- are completely regressive.\nPart of the segment involved a nutritionist visiting the home of a nauseatingly normal-looking family of five. The family's matriarch and the peppy, blond (Aren't they always?) nutritionist stood in front of the home's refrigerator and picked out all the items that could "secretly be making the family obese." \nAmong the items picked out were yogurt, applesauce and milk. \nNot even kidding! Yes, it was true that these items contained high-fructose corn syrup (mmm ... I'll have seven) and fat, but the nutritionist cast the information in the most threatening light possible, leaving both the on-screen mother and viewers frazzled.\nI support knowing the truth about food products' nutritional info and having healthy bodies but resent this perception that eating sugar or fat is inherently bad with detrimental effects for one's health and character.\nThis sort of propaganda fuels eating disorders. And I don't mean just anorexia and bulimia -- I mean "eating disorder" in a way that refers to any warped ideas about food and eating. With this as the definition, I can't say I know anyone without an eating disorder. \nAs far as recommendations go, I wouldn't go along with the old "everything in moderation is OK." We know from nutrition facts what ingredients directly relate to diseases that can kill us. We must regulate our intake of trans fats and too much cholesterol and partially hydrogenated delicious things likes cupcakes.\nI'm also an advocate, however, of enjoying life. And if that means eating a donut once a month, cashing in on 15-cent buffalo wing night or partaking in cake at your nephew's birthday party, then by all means, eat up. Deprivation will never make for an effective diet or a fun life!\nAnd lastly, mad props if you can watch "The Today Show" without puking.\nAnd that's not a bulimia joke.\nOK, it is. Eat your fiber!
(10/30/06 3:42am)
MADISON, Wis. -- The crowd was a lot smaller but so were the problems at an annual Halloween party that ended without violence or the use of pepper spray as it had in recent years.\nPolice recorded fewer arrests among the estimated 35,000 costumed revelers, less than half the 80,000 that jammed the party last year. About 250 people were arrested from Friday night through Sunday morning, compared to 566 last year, Sgt. Richard Scanlon said.\nMost of the arrests were for alcohol-related offenses, he said. But one person was arrested for felony assault of a police officer. Another officer was treated and released for a broken wrist suffered in a fall while pursuing a suspect.\nOverall, though, the crowd was well-behaved, and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Police Chief Noble Wray called Saturday night a success.\n"We met all three of my goals for this year," Cieslewicz said. "We did not have to use pepper spray or have our police in riot gear. We reduced the amount of over-consumption of alcohol. And we recovered a significant part of the costs."\nThis year marked major changes in the event. In an attempt to avoid mayhem, city officials charged $5 admission, blocked off the street, hired bands to play on two stages and imposed time limits.\nAfter the festivities ended at 1:30 a.m., it took about an hour for the last remaining groups of people to disperse. With police watching from the sidewalks, and atop about a dozen horses, the crowd of primarily students dressed as everything from Tigger to the Duke lacrosse team, chanted, sang and hopped around in the frigid night.\n"I expected more rowdiness," said Josh Simpson of Madison. "We're expecting them to use tear gas."\nThere was no widespread vandalism or violence. Police reported no major incidents along State Street, where the party was centered, or adjoining neighborhoods.\n"I thought it would be more chaotic," said Tom Berringer, a senior at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill., who made his second trip to Madison for the party.\nThe strong police presence, at more than 250 officers, was a sign of the beginning of the end of the party to Berringer, who was dressed in a woman's two-piece sailor suit.\n"I figure it will only get worse," he said of the police involvement.\nBut the mayor said he thinks the party's success will help rebuild support for the event.\nSignificant problems date to 2002, when revelers threw rocks and bottles, breaking at least 12 windows and damaging police cars. In 2003, store windows were broken and at least two cars were tipped over. In 2004, a small bonfire was started, and 450 people were arrested. Police have had to use pepper spray to quell crowds.\nElsewhere, police in Athens, Ohio, home of Ohio University, made 82 arrests at an annual Halloween block party, down from 95 arrests last year, officials said Sunday.\nMost of the people arrested over the weekend were charged with disorderly conduct and underage drinking, police said. Twenty-three were Ohio University students.\nThe party has attracted as many as 20,000 people to downtown Athens in the past, but Police Chief Rick Mayer said this year's crowd was the smallest in years. Police could not provide a specific crowd estimate.
(10/30/06 3:41am)
No one seems to desire, let alone deserve, a chapter in "Profiles in Courage" anymore.\nAs a rule, I don't ask what people's politics are. I ask what their principles are. On that basis, I will not be casting my vote next Tuesday for the candidate who calls for no sacrifice but for the one who makes my blood rush. I will employ not only my brain, but also my backbone, before I pull the lever. \nToo many don't look to these assets and perniciously see the role of our elected leaders merely as seismographs to record shifts in public opinion. I have nothing but abhorrence for this view, propounded by British statesman Benjamin Disraeli and adhered to by most in both parties: "Damn your principles! Stick to your party." \nNowhere is this sentiment stronger than Connecticut. To refresh your memory, this is where the "insurgent" candidacy of Ned Lamont ousted Joe Lieberman from Democrat ranks for ignoring all advice to be "prudent" in presenting his own unorthodox opinions. For that, and that alone, Lieberman stands (I employ the verb deliberately) for re-election as an independent and is likely to win on account of Republican (!) votes. Leading Democrats have lately decided to revoke their support for positions that might have become unpopular. They have cast calumny upon Mr. Lieberman for his deficiency of the political cowardice they have in such vast quantities.\nWorst of all was the role played by one of our most popular ex-presidents, Bill Clinton. Although the self-serving 42nd president originally campaigned for Lieberman, once the latter lost the Democratic primary, the former withdrew his support. Irrespective of the rightness or wrongness of Lieberman's stand, this must be opposed for the base practice of politics that it is. In the end, Clinton's "support" amounted to, "I will stand by Lieberman until at least 51 percent of Democratic constituents persuade me otherwise." What staunch conviction! I'm sure he would say with Groucho Marx that "These are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others." \nAbsent from the conventional analysis is the state of our republican (small "r") virtue. So my purpose is to identify those frauds who strike encouraging chords about their "convictions" when it is easy but show very little courage in defending them when they happen to become controversial. Such dime-a-dozen charlatans insist that they are not selling out their principles but only deferring to "the judgment of the people." Don't believe it. They have sold out themselves. \nA conviction never exposed to challenge is not one worth holding. But too many people who harbor even passing political interest would punish those who sacrifice personal popularity at the altar of public principle. Courage is the first of the virtues, but for those who regard politics as show business, it is the last virtue -- the one that, for most Democrats and even many Republicans, negates all the others. This must change. We will know it does when we recognize Lieberman as the last courageous man.
(10/30/06 3:41am)
WASHINGTON -- On Sunday, the No. 2 leader in the House said Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld is "the best thing that's happened to the Pentagon in 25 years," sparking a debate with Democrats who said the comments show why the GOP should be voted out of power.\nRumsfeld's leadership of the bloody mission in Iraq has become a divisive issue in the Nov. 7 elections. Many Democrats and a few Republicans are calling for his resignation, but President George W. Bush repeatedly has defended him. So did House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, during an appearance Sunday on ABC's "This Week."\n"I think Donald Rumsfeld is the best thing that's happened to the Pentagon in 25 years," Boehner said. "This Pentagon and our military needs a transformation. And I think Donald Rumsfeld's the only man in America who knows where the bodies are buried at the Pentagon, has enough experience to help transform that institution."\nRep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., said voters will have their chance to show if they agree with Boehner on Election Day.\n"It's true President Bush may not be on the ballot, but people like Boehner and people who support Rumsfeld and Cheney and Bush, they're on the ballot," Rangel said on CNN's "Late Edition."\n"And that's why we only get two years. You don't have to wait to get the president. This is a referendum on the war and the incompetency of the Bush administration."\nIllinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel, head of the Democratic effort to win control of the House, quickly e-mailed a statement to reporters objecting to Boehner's comments and including quotes from seven military leaders criticizing the defense secretary.\n"Congressman Boehner's defense of Donald Rumsfeld makes it crystal clear that we need change in Washington from the rubber stamp Republican Congress and their blind adherence to President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld's stay the course policy in Iraq," Emanuel's e-mail said.\nRepublican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, appearing with Rangel on CNN, said she has confidence in Rumsfeld.\n"I think it's a shame to take this complex issue of winning the international war on terror and putting it at the level of whether you like or not like Donald Rumsfeld, and whether you like or don't like President Bush's personalities and the statements that he's made," she said.\nAnother Republican, Maryland Senate candidate Michael Steele, declined to back the Pentagon chief.\n"He wouldn't be my secretary of defense," Steele said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "And ultimately, that's going to be a decision that the president of the United States makes"
(10/30/06 3:40am)
Students in the College of Arts and Sciences know the general education requirements: finite mathematics, elementary composition, at least a couple semesters of a foreign language and so on. But if you are in the School of Education, foreign languages are not required. And music, business and journalism students, to name a few, all have some similar requirements, but their differences prevent students from moving freely between other majors. Until recently, each school has had the autonomy to prescribe its own interpretation of minimal student competence. \nThis has been somewhat of a problem for many students who find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer variety of avenues to pursue. Though a student might have come to Bloomington to learn from the prodigies in the Jacobs School of Music, after a few semesters he might find his interests have changed to biology or business or both. Unfortunately, changing majors essentially invalidates some previously earned credits, and making up for lost time often means a fifth year at IU.\nHowever, beginning next fall, the general education requirements for incoming freshmen will be standardized across the entire Bloomington campus. The plan will make it easier for a) students to move in and out of colleges on campus, and b) credits to transfer among satellite schools and the Ivy Tech system. And these new requirements will be determined by a committee composed, proportionately, of representatives from each of the University's schools. There is just one thing that has been overlooked in this grand scheme: we, the students.\nWhile we might have a couple of representatives on the General Education Committee (one undergraduate, one graduate), the Bloomington Faculty Council has decided that these representatives will lack a vote in any decisions the committee undertakes -- more than a small oversight considering who these changes actually affect. David Nordloh, associate dean of the faculties, disagrees, having said: "It is the faculty's responsibility to define degrees." \nWhereas it might be the faculty's responsibility to define degrees, it is the students' responsibility to earn them. How many faculty members have had to transfer credits from IU-Purdue University Indianapolis recently or Ivy Tech? Few, if any. On the other hand, many students transfer in and out of Bloomington every year -- some with greater success than others. To simply give students an advisory position on the committee's future decisions is to neglect the very purpose of the committee.\nNot that the council's position is surprising -- it often vigorously defends what it believes to be its jurisdiction. But students are not demanding final control over the curriculum -- that would be absurd. What we are asking for is not to be marginalized as "advisers." The only way to ensure we're heard is giving us the ability to vote against detrimental changes to the general education requirements. \nSometime the BFC is going to have to realize that administration, faculty and students are all equal parts of a working university. What affects one, affects all.
(10/30/06 3:38am)
ABUJA, Nigeria -- A Nigerian airliner carrying 104 people, including the man regarded as a spiritual leader of Nigeria's Sunni Muslims, crashed in a storm Sunday after taking off from the airport in Abuja. Most of those on board were feared dead, but at least six people survived.\nThe Sunni leader was among those killed in the third passenger jet crash in Nigeria in less than a year.\nDebris from the shattered plane, body parts and personal belongings of passengers were strewn over a wooded area the size of a soccer field where the plane went down, about two miles from the end of the runway at the airport in the capital of the oil-rich West African nation.\nSmoke rose from the plane's mangled and smoldering fuselage as rescue workers pulled out burned corpses. About 50 bodies were gathered in a corner of the site. The tail of the plane was hanging from a tree.\nSam Adurogboye, an aviation ministry spokesman, said the 23-year-old Boeing 737-2B7 crashed just one minute after takeoff. He said the cause of the crash was unknown.\nWitnesses said it was raining around the time the aircraft took off. Rains subsided later, but skies remained overcast.\nAdurogboye said the plane was carrying 104 passengers and crew members, and he knew of six survivors. \n"Obviously the rest are feared dead," he said.\nEmergency workers recovered the last of the bodies about six hours after the crash.\nThe aircraft, owned by the private Nigerian airline Aviation Development Co., was headed to the northwest city of Sokoto, about 500 miles northwest of Abuja, state radio said.\nIn a radio announcement, the Sokoto state government said the sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Maccido, died in the crash. Maccido was the head of the National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, which determines when Muslim fasts should begin and end and decides policy issues for Nigeria's overwhelmingly Sunni Muslims.\nMustapha Shehu, spokesman for the Sokoto state government, said the sultan's son, Muhammed Maccido, a senator, also was on the flight, along with Abdulrahman Shehu Shagari, son of former Nigerian President Shehu Shagari, who was in office between 1979 and 1983.\nAbout half of Nigeria's 130 million people are Muslims. The country is the most populous in Africa and the continent's leading oil exporter.\nAt the airport in Abuja, security officials tried to contain people seeking information about friends or family aboard the plane.\nPresident Olusegun Obasanjo ordered an immediate investigation into the cause of the crash, his spokeswoman Remi Oyo said in a statement.\nOyo said Obasanjo was "deeply and profoundly shocked and saddened ... he offers condolences for all Nigerians, especially family, friends and associates of those who may have been on board."\nThe Nigerian airline ADC last suffered a crash in November 1996, when one of its jets plunged into a lagoon outside Nigeria's main city, Lagos, killing all 143 aboard.\nLast year, two planes flying domestic routes crashed within seven weeks of one another, killing 224 people.\nNigeria's air industry is notoriously unsafe. On Oct. 22, 2005, a Boeing 737-200 plane belonging to Bellview airlines crashed soon after takeoff from Lagos, killing all 117 people aboard. On Dec. 10, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 plane operated by Sosoliso Airlines crashed while approaching the oil city of Port Harcourt, killing 107 people, most of them schoolchildren going home for Christmas.\nEarlier this month, authorities released a report blaming the Sosoliso crash on bad weather and pilot error. The investigation of the Bellview crash is still continuing.\nAfter last year's air crashes, Obasanjo vowed to overhaul Nigeria's airline industry, blaming some of the industry's problems on corruption. Airlines were subjected to checks for air-worthiness and some planes were grounded.\nAssociated Press writer Dulue Mbachu in Lagos and Oloche Samuel in Kano contributed to this report.
(10/30/06 3:36am)
Thrift stores really get me off. I don't know if it's the menagerie of "World's Best Boss" coffee mugs or the naked Cabbage Patch dolls with one arm and crayon-colored plastic faces, but I love 'em, and I know you do, too. It's the only place where you can literally find an outfit for every occasion, from an '80s prom to a first date at Starbucks. And for almost no money!\nNearly everyone's been to a thrift store. Some go once a year for Halloween and scour aisle after aisle for Cosby sweaters and bell-bottoms. Some memorize the shipment schedule and flirt with the stock boys so they can get first dibs on the hand-me-downs every week. Regardless, we've all been there. Some stores can be a little intimidating, so here's my "how-to-shop-thrifty-and-not-lose-your-marbles" guide to Goodwill.\nThere are a lot of things to remember when vintage shopping. First and foremost, hold your nose.\nThen remember to keep an open mind. Yes, some thrift stores might be dirty, and some of the clothes might be pre-worn by a sweaty, 480-pound guy nicknamed "Sweet Cheeks." But hey, he probably had a great personality.\nAs we all know and have probably pointed and laughed at, there are used bras and "tighty-whities" at Goodwill. Get over it. You don't have to buy them. I mean, you can if you're into that sort of thing; I'm sure there's some sort of eroticism in the mysterious past life of your panties. If you're a frugal Freddy, just buy your undies at Wal-Mart and feed corporate America's bastard child of greed and shame like everyone else. \nSo now that your nasal passages are closed off and you've bypassed the secondhand intimates, let's shop. But thrift shopping is no walk in the mall, so you better be ready. I'm talking dedication here -- none of this pansy, hands-off browsing. You've got to, as they advise in "High School Musical," get your head in the game. There should be thorough sifting, size-checking and fitting. It's OK to try things on. Scabies isn't that common.\nAnd keep your eyes peeled. For every 467 pairs of acid-washed, high-waisted mom jeans, there is one kickass belted shirtdress. For every 1,825 turtleneck sweaters with snowman appliques and sequins, there is one great leather bomber jacket. Be confident; you will find that diamond in the vomit-stained rough.\nShopping thrift is also a great way to expand your wardrobe. Not in quantity but in variety. People always tell me they couldn't "pull off" the clothes I wear, but it's not like I'm sporting aluminum foil tank tops and LEGO dresses to class. If your entire wardrobe is Abercrombie T-shirts and tattered jeans, it might be hard to pull off anything else simply because people will react to the change. But you can keep your wardrobe varied with super-cheap vintage pieces that spice things up. And if you wear it and decide you look more revolting than Nicole Richie in a bikini, trash it. It probably cost less than your pride.\nAnd the great thing about Goodwill is that you can feel good about wasting your parents' money on some dead guy's argyle, knee-high socks. About 83 percent of Goodwill's total revenues are used to fund education, career services and other critical community programs, according to its Web site.\nEvery time you shop at Hollister, a Republican kills a kitten.\nBut seriously, take a little trip to your local thrift store, and buy something that 46 other people in your history class aren't wearing. You'll be surprised at what you can pull off. And if it turns out you can't, who cares? Is one dollar really that important to you? Do you really need another cheap Buddha doll from the Target dollar spot? You don't even meditate.
(10/30/06 3:35am)
I was a virgin before Saturday night. \nA "Rocky Horror Picture Show" virgin, that is. \nI vaguely remember seeing part of the movie several summers ago. I think I fell asleep. However, as I understood it, seeing "Rocky Horror" in a theater is a very different experience because of all the audience interaction. \nWith no small amount of confusion, I Googled "Rocky Horror Picture Show" to see how I should dress and act. \nLacking the time, resources or knowledge to create a costume based off a character, I feared I would be targeted during the embarrassing-sounding "de-virginization" ceremony if I didn't dress up. Thus, I bought a lacy corset from a packed store at the mall and borrowed a short skirt from a friend. \nSo Saturday night, I laced up my corset and slathered my lips in red, sparkly lip gloss. A friend and I made our tall-booted way to the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, getting reactions from people driving past. One observant girl noted that we were "lookin' like some sluts." Good! That was totally what we were going for. \nAs soon as the Buskirk-Chumley came into sight, I noticed one thing -- almost everyone was in costume. There were lots of corseted girls and boys in the style of the movie's main character, Dr. Frank-N-Furter. The crowd also featured Batman, a couple of pirates and even a male dressed as Madeline, the children's book character. Theater employees sold bags of props at the door. I handed over my $5 and received a paper bag with toilet paper, a water gun, toast and other strange things inside. \nEmcee and Cardinal Stage member Lindsay Charles began by telling the midnight crowd: "You guys are so much radder than the 9 o'clock!" \nShe and her assistant stripped down to fishnets and revealing corsets, and the night began with a costume contest. The first prize winner was Indianapolis resident Chris Simanton, dressed as Sailor Moon. \n"I was pretty excited," he said. "I just went to the Collins (Halloween) Dance and won a prize there, too. I didn't expect it at all!" \nWhen the contest was over, the de-virginization began. All "virgins" were invited on stage and voluntarily underwent such activities as "humping for their lives," in which virgins were invited to serially hump their neighbors. The next activity was the "crawl of shame," during which Charles asked women in short skirts to stand in a line and spread their legs while other virgins crawled through the spread-eagle conga line. Virgins also ate bananas "as seductively as possible" and performed fake orgasms. \nThough I had been skeptical before, I was briefly bummed that I didn't participate in the de-virginization. I stayed in my seat in the balcony until the "Rocky Horror" pledge, which was a crotch-grabbing vow to decadence and rock 'n' roll. As we relinquished our hold on our crotches, the show began.\nSince I had never attended a live "Rocky Horror" show before, I wasn't sure what was going to happen. Immediately, the crowd began to sing along with the opening credits and insert their own lines into the movie. I caught on quickly to some of the recurring cries, such as the shouts of "Asshole!" and "Slut!" every time characters Brad and Janet introduced themselves. \nAlong with the vocal responses, I quickly figured out what to do with my bag of props. We threw rice during a wedding scene, squirted each other with water guns during a rain storm, threw toast, toilet paper and playing cards and snapped latex gloves at specific times in the film. \nThe actual movie seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, the crowd was cheering for the end credits. As we poured out of the theater, adjusting short skirts and fishnets, most of the crowd milled about, smiling and reliving the experience.\n"I loved it as always," said Sydney Jaeger, Aurora Alternative High School sophomore. "I grew up watching it. I was doing the 'Time Warp' at 3 years old." \nShe said she went to both shows at the Buskirk-Chumley Saturday night and that the midnight show was the best one she had ever attended. \nBloomington High School North junior Jeremy Gotwals, the drag queen costume contest prize-winner, said the show was amazing. \n"It was orgasmic. It was a myriad of mystic melodies pouring through every orifice of my being," he said.\nThough not quite as enthusiastic (or poetic), IU freshman Chris Than agreed that the show was awesome. \n"It reminds me of the parties my friends and I used to throw with people with no pants and no shirts on," he said. \nSo, de-virginized, covered in rice and with aching feet from the boots and fishnets, I made my way home. I definitely didn't fall asleep at this presentation of "Rocky Horror Picture Show"
(10/29/06 11:21pm)
ST. LOUIS -- Bud Selig and Donald Fehr sat in the center of a dais, flanked by players and owners. For the second time in four years, they were proclaiming labor peace.\n"The last agreement produced stunning growth and revenue," Selig said. "I believe that five years from now people will be stunned how well we grew the sport."\nThe five-year collective bargaining agreement, which runs through the 2011 season, is subject to ratification by both sides. The deal makes relatively minor changes to the previous agreement and doesn't alter baseball's drug rules.\n"This is the golden era in every way," Selig said. "The economics of our sport have improved dramatically, and that's good. That, after all, made for a more wholesome atmosphere. We didn't have to quarrel about a lot of things. So overall, it was a very, very important part of the environment that continues peace."\nThe current contract, reached in August 2002, was set to expire Dec. 19. After eight work stoppages between 1972 and 1995, baseball will be assured of 16 years of labor peace.\n"I think you always have a better relationship when both sides are making money," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said before St. Louis beat the Tigers 5-0 to take a 2-1 World Series lead. "That kind of always seems to work out in the end -- doesn't it? -- for whatever reason, when the owner's happy and putting a little in his pocket, and the player is happy and putting a little in his pocket. In our case, I guess in our game, a lot in both pockets."\nColorado Rockies pitcher Ray King, a member of the union's negotiating team, thought back to the 2002 agreement, reached just hours before players were set to strike.\n"Anytime you have peace, it's a good thing," he said. "I remember going back to when I was in Milwaukee, I was wondering if the bus was going to leave."\nThe deal continues, with some tinkering, existing luxury tax and revenue-sharing rules, provisions that funneled money from large-market teams to their competitors. The payroll threshold for the luxury tax increases from $136.5 million this year to $148 million next year, then goes up each year until it reaches $178 million in 2011.\nUnder the current contract, the luxury tax mainly has affected the New York Yankees, who paid $11.8 million in 2003, $26 million in 2004 and $34.1 million in 2005. Boston paid $3.15 million in 2004 and $4.1 million last year, and the Angels paid about $900,000 in 2004.\nThe minimum salary increases, from $327,000 this year to $380,000 next season, and amateur draft pick compensation for some free agents who sign with new teams will be eliminated. Players selected in the June amateur draft who aren't college seniors must sign by Aug. 15, taking away the leverage of any threats to remain in school.\nIn addition, the Dec. 7 and Jan. 8 deadlines for free agents to re-sign with their former teams were eliminated, and management agreed there would be no contraction under the term of the agreement.\n"I'd been waiting for most of that time to see if we could ever get to the place where we reached an agreement prior to expiration," said players association head Fehr, whose first negotiations as union chief was in 1985. "And while I always understood intellectually it was possible and that was the goal, I'm not really sure I believed that it could happen."\nWith the new labor contract, baseball's drug-testing rules also will be extended through the 2011 season. When both sides agreed to toughened drug-testing last November, they said that deal would run through the next labor contract.\nBoth sides said they would consider adding testing for Human Growth Hormone.\n"If a urine test is developed and scientifically validated and all the 'i's' are dotted and 't's' are crossed, here is an understanding that we will adopt that test," Fehr said. "Blood tests we will talk about when one is validated. But as far as I know, and we check fairly frequently on this, there is not that testing available yet."\nNegotiations have been going on behind the scenes for months.\n"They were without the usual rancor. They were without the usual dueling press conferences. They were without the usual leaks," Selig said. "In other words, these negotiations were conducted professionally, with dignity and with results. These negotiations were emblematic of the new spirit of cooperation and trust that now exists between the clubs and the players."\nLast March's initial World Baseball Classic forced the sides to work in unison.\n"What it produced was a realization that you really could do things together," Fehr said. "It seems to me that the mood that it helped sustain was very important"
(10/27/06 5:05am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA will recommend tighter controls on spending by its member athletic departments, with the reforms coming from the schools themselves rather than through the adoption of national standards.\nA reform structure similar to one adopted recently for academic standards won't work for spending because the NCAA does not have authority to dictate how its member schools should manage their operating budgets, NCAA President Myles Brand said Thursday.\nBrand will release a task force report on the future of Division I sports Monday, when he speaks at the National Press Club in Washington.\nThe 50-member task force, appointed by Brand almost two years ago, found increased spending by athletic departments adds "significant stress" to universities already under financial strain.\n"As pressures to win and to generate revenue increase," he said, "the integration of athletics with the academy, the interference with presidential authority by avid fans or governing board members and the primacy of education in the student-athlete experience all have been threatened."\nHe urged university presidents and chancellors to "take reform home" by making leadership decisions at the campus level.\nTask force chairman Peter Likins, the retired president at the University of Arizona, said most of the needed changes cannot be accomplished by new NCAA regulations.\n"What is required now is courageous leadership, most importantly from presidents and chancellors, but also from faculty members, governing boards, athletics directors and coaches," Likins said.\nHe said current spending trends "simply are unsustainable."\nLikins said the report will include more than two dozen recommendations.\nAmong other matters at the Division I board of directors meeting Thursday, the Football Championship Subdivision -- formerly Division I-AA -- declined to reconsider adding a 12th football game. The board in April defeated a proposal to add one extra game each season, but a number of schools asked for an override vote. Now, the proposal will be considered by the division membership at the NCAA convention in Orlando in January.\nThe full membership at that time will also consider an override of a proposal to allow graduate students to transfer to other schools and gain immediate athletic eligibility in all sports. That proposal was approved by the board earlier this year.\nThe board Thursday also defeated a proposal to exclude athletes who graduate with eligibility remaining from the data used to compile schools' Academic Performance Rate. The NCAA's committee on academic performance said all athletes should be subject to "at least minimal academic requirements, including remaining eligible"
(10/27/06 5:01am)
DENVER -- A blizzard covered the Mile High City during the week, so maybe it's not too early in the NFL season to start talking about really significant games.\nIndianapolis at Denver is about as colossal as an October game can get.\n"I love a game like this because it doesn't get any bigger," Broncos wide receiver Javon Walker said. "It reminds me of back in college with Florida State getting ready for Florida or Miami. It's a big game. It's going to be magnified. People are talking about it."\nDespite some flaws on one side or the other, the Colts (6-0) and Broncos (5-1) are so good at what they do they're harkening to the league's formative days of leather helmets and two-way players.\nThe Colts can become the first team to start 7-0 in consecutive seasons since the 1929-31 Green Bay Packers, who did it three straight years. No one else has done it twice.\nThe Broncos have already made history, becoming the stingiest team to start a season since the 1934 Detroit Lions shut out their first seven opponents.\nDenver has allowed just two oh-by-the-way touchdowns this season, both in the fourth quarter after they had built 17-0 leads on New England and Cleveland. They've held their last five opponents to single digits, a franchise best.\nBroncos quarterback Jake Plummer, the biggest beneficiary of Denver's stifling defense, which has taken some heat off his season-long poor play, said this one feels like a playoff game.\n"Any time you have an undefeated team coming to your place and we're 5-1, it's a big game," Plummer said. "(Winning it) sends a statement. It doesn't mean you're going to win the Super Bowl by any means, but it just sends a statement to everybody that you can beat the good ones, too."\nThe Colts average 28 points; the Broncos allow just seven a game.\n"We believe we can score on anybody, and I'm sure they like to believe they can stop anyone," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "Everybody's going to focus on that matchup, but special teams, our defense against their offense is going to be just as critical."\nWhat everyone really wants to see, however, is Indy's prolific offense going against Denver's dominant defense. Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark versus Al Wilson, Champ Bailey, Darrent Williams, John Lynch and Ian Gold.\n"They are just playing excellent fundamental defense right now," said Manning, who spends most of his waking hours dissecting defenses and has found few flaws to exploit in this one. "Their tackling is exceptional. That's one thing that just jumps out at you."\nIn many ways, the Broncos have the Colts to thank for their defensive dominance, the seeds of which were planted following the 2003 and '04 postseasons when Indianapolis spanked the Broncos by a combined 56-point margin.\nAfter Indy's 41-10 whipping following the 2003 seasons, the Broncos traded running back Clinton Portis to Washington for Bailey and signed Lynch in free agency.\nFollowing their 49-24 loss to the Colts in the playoffs the following year, the Broncos brought back Gold, their speedy linebacker who was on injured reserve for the first Indy debacle and in Tampa Bay for the second.\nThen they used their top three draft picks on cornerbacks Williams, Karl Paymah and Domonique Foxworth.\n"We play hard together, and everybody's accountable," Denver defensive coordinator Larry Coyer said. "And we've got some skill. You'd be stupid not to say that."\nThe Colts? Well, they're the same high-scoring bunch that's been tearing up the AFC for years.\n"They are the best at what they do," Coyer said.\nThat's pretty much what many are saying about Coyer's crew, too.
(10/27/06 4:59am)
Who coaches the IU football team? Is it Terry Hoeppner or former Democratic presidential frontrunner Howard Dean? On Monday, Hoeppner wrote a letter to the student body asking for a crowd of 50,000 to attend Saturday's Michigan State game. Hoeppner, like Dean, has sorely overestimated his public's enthusiasm. In 2004, Dean was running away with the Democratic nomination for president when he gave a screaming sermon that made him appear, well, certifiably insane. Soon enough, it was Dean's staunch supporters, rather than his chances for the nomination, that were running away. \nSo when Hoeppner declared that he wanted 50,000 for a stadium that can only summon that much with the help of Ohio State fans, it seemed Hoeppner was now the crazy one. \nWith the help of Dave Chapelle's spoof on Howard Dean's remarks, this is what Hoeppner sounded like (at least in my head):\n"Not only are we gonna get 50,000 at the game, but we're gonna beat Michigan State, we're gonna go to Minnesota and beat them, then we're gonna beat Michigan, then we're gonna go to Purdue and beat them, then we're gonna go to a dot-com bowl game and we're gonna beat them! Byaah!" \nAs Hoeppner, like Dean, screamed "Byaah!" he flexed his arm across his chest like he was at a hoedown. Unfortunately for coach Hep, Saturday won't be a hoedown; it'll be a hose down. Like they always do, the students will come out in full support on the tailgating fields, forgetting that IU has a football team. Instead, the students will hose down Hoeppner's expectations and at the same time hose down themselves with beer bongs. \nWhile the football team might suck, the students -- in more ways than one -- suck even more. \nWithin this reality lies one fundamental football question in Bloomington: Who is to blame? The football coach for expecting such an outrageously large crowd (by Bloomington standards) or the student body who wakes up every Saturday morning in support of funnel towers over its football team? \nFirst, the students' perspective, which I have aptly named "If you build it, they will come:" Most students believe if the Hoosiers build a winning football program, the victories will be the key in capturing their attention. For more than a decade, IU football has been on cardiac arrest, and each losing season further clogs the football program's arteries. Football's failures further feed the students' "Why bother?" attitudes. \nEvery Saturday, tailgating IU students stand in front of two roads diverged at the Woodlawn fields. They take the road most traveled, stuffing their stomachs instead of stuffing the stadium, and that has made absolutely no difference. \nThe football team's perspective can be summed up in two words: staunch support. If students want to call themselves true fans of IU football, they must support the team in bad times and worse times. Even without staunch student support, this football has stayed the course at .500. Even without staunch student support, this football team still has a chance at a bowl game. \nSo is Hoeppner delusional, or is the student body undependable? Perhaps both, but either way it is a strange dilemma. It's a Catch-22 that would spin around a spinal cord. The fans won't show up if the football team won't win, and the football team won't win if fans won't show up. You know what I say? Screw the students, coach. Embrace the football faithful who attend every game, regardless of the opponent, the weather or the team's record. Coach, you and the Hoosiers won two weeks ago in front of a crowd of 31,392 against Iowa. Who needs 50,000 in front of Michigan State? And from there? Byaah! A bowl game.
(10/27/06 4:40am)
I've always maintained that IU spends way too much money on landscaping. To lure freshmen to campus, groundskeepers work tirelessly perfecting every last pansy, sunflower and magnolia. Most of the time, I take this meticulous planning for granted. However, when mid-October rolls around, I take the scenic route to class.\nWhile the forecast has been especially dreadful this month, the deciduous trees have not failed to disappoint. One in particular, the Red Maple, radiates a pigment that would make a ruby jealous. The sight of this tree takes me on more detours than I've encountered in downtown Chicago.\nOne look at my daily planner tells the story: I am in serious need of some excitement and spontaneity. Planning classes, workouts, homework, teaching and, in most instances, sleeping and eating down to the 15-minute increment is incredibly mundane. The only instances I can recall breathing hard involved a contraption known as the StepMill. It only makes sense that I would seek out a tree that embodies emotions that I fail to acknowledge on a regular basis -- and I'd doubt I'm the only person who feels like this.\nThus, here are some ways you can appreciate the season:\nLocated just 45 minutes north of Bloomington is Anderson Orchard in Moorsville, Ind., home to the famous Scarlett Beauty apple. One of these sweet treats is large enough to feed two hungry pickers. A quick drive down the gravel road will lead you to a myriad of pumpkins and gourds, which would add the perfect touch of color to any front porch step. The pond, which is lined with beautiful sugar maple and walnut trees, is located at the back of the property and presents the ideal location for an afternoon picnic. Upon departure, take the time to stop at the barn to purchase some fresh apple cider and fresh-frozen red and golden raspberries. The orchard closes just prior to Thanksgiving. Therefore, one must act quickly in order to sample Indiana's finest fresh fruit.\nAnother popular destination in the Bloomington vicinity is Brown County State Park. However, I prefer the lesser-known McCormick's Creek State Park in Spencer. Not only do you avoid caravans of SUVs oohing and ahhing over the rarely seen white-tail deer, but the drive from campus is under 30 minutes. Admission is $5 on weekends, which is a steal compared to the average movie ticket price. Once inside, visitors enjoy activities such as hiking, horseback riding, caving and biking. Several shelters are also available for rental and are perfect places for fall barbeques. Overnight guests can either stay in the rustic Canyon Inn or take their chances in the primitive campground. No matter what activity you choose, it will take place amongst the backdrop of the colorful virgin timber.\nWith winter rapidly approaching and schedules as busy as the mall on Black Friday, I would highly recommend taking a few hours out of the day for seasonal relaxation. Before long, the trees will be bare and ice and snow will regain control of the campus. Let the infamous countdown to Spring Break begin.
(10/27/06 1:11am)
WASHINGTON -- President Bush signed a bill Thursday authorizing 700 miles of new fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, hoping to give Republican candidates a pre-election platform for asserting they're tough on illegal immigration.\n"Unfortunately the United States has not been in complete control of its borders for decades and therefore illegal immigration has been on the rise," Bush said at a signing ceremony.\n"We have a responsibility to enforce our laws," he said. "We have a responsibility to secure our borders. We take this responsibility serious."\nHe called the fence bill "an important step in our nation's efforts to secure our borders."\nThe centerpiece of Bush's immigration policy, a guest worker program, remains stalled in Congress.\nAnd a handful of House Republican are at the brakes, blocking negotiations with the Senate for a bill that includes the president's proposal.\nStill, Bush argues that it would be easier to get his guest worker program passed if Republicans keep their majorities in the House and Senate after the Nov. 7 elections. His proposal would allow legal employment for foreigners and give some of the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States a shot at becoming American citizens.\nThe measure Bush put into law Thursday before heading for campaign stops in Iowa and Michigan offers no money for the fence project covering one-third of the 2,100-mile border.\nIts cost is not known, although a homeland security spending measure the president signed earlier this month makes a $1.2 billion down payment on the project. The money also can be used for access roads, vehicle barriers, lighting, high-tech equipment and other tools to secure the border.\nMexican officials have criticized the fence. Outgoing Mexican President Vicente Fox, who has spent much of his six years in office lobbying for a new guest worker program and a chance at citizenship for the millions of Mexicans working illegally in the U.S., calls the fence "shameful" and compares it to the Berlin Wall.\nOthers have doubts about its effectiveness.\n"A fence will slow people down by a minute or two, but if you don't have the agents to stop them, it does no good. We're not talking about some impenetrable barrier," T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing Border Patrol agents, said Wednesday.\nCustoms and Border Protection statistics show that apprehensions at border crossings are down 8 percent nationally for the budget year that just ended, Bonner said. Apprehensions were up in the San Diego sector, he said, an area of the nearly 2,000-mile border that has the most fencing.\nA spokesman for Customs and Border Protection would not confirm the statistics or discuss reasons for the increase in the San Diego sector.\nSens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison, both Texas Republicans, had wanted to amend the fence bill to give local governments more say about where fencing is erected. They lost that battle, but Republican leaders assured them the Homeland Security Department would have flexibility to choose other options instead of fencing, if needed.\nCornyn said he voted for the fence because he wanted to help demonstrate that Congress was serious about border security.\n"The choice we were presented was: Are we going to vote to enhance border security, or against it?" Cornyn said. "I think that's how the vote was viewed."
(10/27/06 12:48am)
Tavis Smiley has accomplished a lot by the age of 40, and a good number of his accomplishments were achieved by the help of people at IU. After high school, Smiley showed up in Bloomington with a letter of acceptance but nothing else. No money. No financial aid. Nowhere to live.\nAnd the best part is that a good 20 percent of the book is about his experiences here at IU, including the names of professors we have access to -- people who helped inspire his greatness.\nSmiley is the host of "Tavis Smiley" on PBS and "The Tavis Smiley Show" from Public Radio International. He has also been a commentator and host on Black Entertainment Television and numerous other stations. Smiley has interviewed many of the world's leaders, including Cuban President Fidel Castro, and was granted the first one-on-one interview with Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.\n"What I Know for Sure," Smiley's most recent book, is a memoir of sorts, told to David Ritz, who has written biographies of numerous famous people, including Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and Ray Charles. Smiley insists he is still too young to be able to write a comprehensive story of his life, but his story is nevertheless full of inspiring stories -- although a few of them are a bit too perfect. His memory of conversations is incredible. So incredible, in fact, that it's more likely that the conversations are told as he wishes they had happened, not as they actually did.\nThis is not to take away from his story, but there are weaknesses in the manner in which it is told. Smiley is a man whose focus is accomplishing great things by being the best man he can be, but the flaws that appear in the storytelling detract from those stories. I would prefer not to notice the technical aspects of the writing. Instead, I want to be wowed and inspired by the story. But that is hard to do when almost every chapter ends with a cliff-hanger, something I expect from sweeps week on CSI, not from a pseudo-memoir.\nWhen Smiley mentions mistakes and poor choices he has made in his life, he tells of them from a hero's point of view. And when others make mistakes, he tells them from a hero's point of view. Once again, my focus moves away from the story and I worry about what else he might be manipulating.\nRead the book as an introduction to the man, but watch and listen to his interviews to understand how good he is at what he does.
(10/27/06 12:40am)
Whether you idolize or ignore celebrities, it's hard to deny their impact on society. They determine everything from fashion trends to charity donations. Celebrities are held on a huge pedestal, and they are constantly being emulated. Females go through countless hours and dollars trying to look like the next "it" girl, but it's hard to have lips like Angelina Jolie's and hips like Shakira's. \nThis leads me to believe that modern women have serious self-esteem issues. \nSo instead of running on that treadmill or blogging your blues away, I would like to propose visiting www.myheritage.com. Just submit your snapshot and find out which celebrity you most resemble. Ladies, I strongly urge you to submit a good one because there's nothing more discouraging than a possible match-up with Courtney Love's mug shot.\nThis Web site can truly give that special kick in anyone's self-esteem. Once I got my results, I recognized that Kirsten Dunst and I look very much alike, especially since we both clearly possess a perfect bone structure. I realized that if she played Marie Antoinette, there's no reason I couldn't have.\nSo rather than waste my talent, I've decided to quit school and pursue an acting career. I'm running out of winter sweaters anyway, and it'll be much warmer in Los Angeles. If I do enough catwalks on Rodeo, I'm bound to immediately be discovered by an agent. My days will consist of schmoozing with my fellow young Hollywood actors: wild parties on the beach, romantic dates with Adam Brody and shopping with Rachel Bilson. Then my Gucci shoes will get destroyed in the sand, and I'll find my Adam cheating on me...with my new BFF Rachel! After I proceed to kick her ass at my newest movie premiere, I will be featured on the new "Celebrity Justice" for my violent acts. Due to being heartbroken and reaching my credit card limit, I'll go into a deep depression that leads to booze and pills. Then I'll truly hit rock bottom and enter the world of "Celebreality." I'll be cast on the newest VH1 reality show. Although the network will reject my idea for "Flavor of Stefania," they'll land me a spot on a program in which I'll be on a banana boat for 16 months with Scary Spice, Dustin Diamond and some skinny ho from America's Next Top Model ...\n... Then I woke up from my celebrity nightmare.\nWhile celebrities are important to our culture, www.myheritage.com proves they aren't that different from us normal folks. Celebrities might look better in the spotlight, but they're nothing without the airbrush, botox and curvature. So instead of trying to look like a famous nobody, you should just try being yourself. \nAs much as I'd love starring in a Sofia Coppola film or being with one of my famous crushes, I'd rather watch a Coppola movie and admire my crushes from afar. I've seen many a "E! True Hollywood Story," and they're just not pretty. I would probably pull a Bjork on the paparazzi anyway.
(10/27/06 12:34am)
Thus far in my position as assistant Opinion editor of the Indiana Daily Student, I've had the opportunity to view the news cycle in an interesting manner. News is covered by reporters and published in our newspaper. The voices on the Opinion page then comment on that news. Soon, readers respond in our form of public sphere: the Jordan River Forum. I take it as a great honor that I'm the first one to see what you, the reader, have to say. Wonderful arguments are many times expounded, and inadequacies in our reporting or commentary revealed, for which we are very grateful.\nHowever, it's far too often that I'm privy to certain responses (which you, as the reader, sometimes are and sometimes are not allowed in on) that are far less helpful to the conversation. Assertion of opinions as fact, without the allowance to compromise through discussion, is harmful to our avenues of knowledge and often lead to unwarranted tunnel vision. This is not to accuse only the responders. We as columnists are often guilty of the same crime (though we do our best to avoid doing so during editing), and those columnists who do not welcome open-minded debate shame themselves. \nPersonal attacks also provide little for social gain. I've been told both that I've doomed the world and that I might be killed if I ever set foot in a certain part of our nation as a result of pieces I've written. While I assure you these two incidents have had little effect on my psyche or writing, I can guarantee you they have done even less in the way of making headway in debate.\nIf we are to discover solutions to our problems, to make societal gains and to improve our way of life, it's required that, at every possible chance we are provided, debates on issues be on the merits of the argument and not the parroting of party lines or personal vendetta. All people in this nation are part of debates in all spectrums -- so says our First Amendment. It's irresponsible and downright oppressive to disallow someone else to speak in turn. The most essential part of our freedom of speech is the responsibility to listen.\nI implore all of Bloomington, all of Indiana, all of the United States and the entire world: Please continue debates about the merit of opinions. They are perhaps the most important discussions you'll ever have. Furthermore, lend an analytical ear to those speaking out against you. Remember this quote from Aaron Sorkin's "The American President":\n"America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, 'You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.'"\nThis is America, ladies and gentlemen. You are responsible to hear.