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(09/25/06 2:51am)
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's feuding ethnic and sectarian groups agreed Sunday to consider amending the constitution and begin debating legislation to create a federated nation, while the Shiite prime minister appealed for an end to violence during Ramadan.\nDespite Nouri al-Maliki's plea for peace, violence killed at least 20 Iraqis and wounded 37 a day before the official start of the Muslim holy month. Two U.S. Marines died in combat in restive Anbar province west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.\nShiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish political leaders broke a two-week deadlock and agreed on a compromise that will allow parliament to take up Shiite-proposed draft legislation to permit creation of partly self-ruling regions.\nSunni Arabs have fought the federalism bill, fearing it will splinter the country and deny them a share of Iraq's oil, which is found in the predominantly Kurdish north and the heavily Shiite south.\nBut they agreed to a legislative debate after all parties accepted a Sunni demand that a parliamentary committee be set up to study amending the constitution. The committee will be named Monday and the federalism bill will be read to 275-member parliament a day later.\nSunni Arabs hope to win an amendment that would make it more difficult to establish autonomous regions.\nThe deal opened the way for Iraq's communities to move ahead politically and solve an impasse that threatened to further sour relations between them. If left unresolved, the deadlock could have further shaken Iraq's fragile democracy and led to more sectarian violence.\nThe parliamentary committee will be made up of 27 legislators from all ethnic, sectarian and religious coalitions and parties. It will have four months to propose amendments, which then would have to be approved by a majority in parliament before being put to a national referendum.\n"I expect the work of the committee will last for about one year," Dhafir al-Anihe, a lawmaker with the Sunni Arab National Accordance Front, told The Associated Press.\nThe federalism bill will be read to the legislature Tuesday and then debated for two days before parliament breaks for the Iraqi weekend. The legislation would be read again, with any changes made by legislators, next Sunday.\nA vote would come four days after the second reading, with the bill needing a simple majority for passage. If approved, it would be implemented 18 months later, according to the deal made by the parties, allowing time for consideration of constitutional amendments.\n"That was our agreement," Accordance Front legislator Hassan al-Shammari said.\nThe legislation calls for setting up a framework that would allow creation of autonomous regions in the Shiite south, much like the self-ruling Kurdish region in northern Iraq.\nSunni Arabs warn that setting up such regions could intensify sectarian divisions that have brought months of retaliatory killings between Sunnis and Shiites.\nAlthough federalism is enshrined in the constitution approved by Iraqis in a referendum a year ago, the right to seek amendments to the charter was a key demand made by Sunni Arabs when they agreed to join al-Maliki's national unity government in the spring.\nThe depth of enmity between Shiites and Sunni Arabs was evident in their disagreement over the day Ramadan was to begin.\nSunni Arabs began observing the month of daytime fasting Saturday, while Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, declared the start to be Monday. The Shiite-led government followed al-Sistani's lead.
(09/25/06 2:50am)
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. -- Authorities on Sunday were trying to pinpoint who killed three children an investigator says were found decomposing inside the washer and dryer of their apartment home, hours after a woman was accused of killing their pregnant mother and her fetus.\nSaturday night's discovery inside apartment 28J at the John DeShields public housing complex came two days after the mother of the children -- ages 1, 2 and 7 -- was found in a weedy lot, her abdomen torn open and the baby she was carrying missing.\nInvestigators carried out a furious two-day search, including scouring an 1,100-acre state park, for the children they said were last seen Monday with 24-year-old Tiffany Hall, a family friend prosecutors charged Saturday afternoon with killing Jimella Tunstall and her unborn baby.\nHours later, Hall pointed authorities to Tunstall's apartment that investigators had briefly visited earlier in search of photographs of the children for media outlets to publicize as the search pressed on, said Ace Hart, a deputy St. Clair County coroner.\nHall "fessed up where the kids were. She didn't say she killed them," Hart said Sunday, saying he understood why investigators may have overlooked the children during their previous trip to the apartment. "Who would be looking in the washer and dryer?"\nBut by Saturday night, Hart said, "you could find them by the smell."\nTwo of the children were found nude, the third wearing only underpants, Hart said. The oldest, 7-year-old DeMond Tunstall, was found in the dryer, the younger two children -- 2-year-old Ivan Tunstall-Collins and 1-year-old Jinela Tunstall -- in the washer.\nHall remained jailed Sunday in nearby Belleville on $5 million bond, charged with first-degree murder in Tunstall's death and with intentional homicide of an unborn child.\nPreliminary autopsies showed that the children's cause of death was drowning.\nIllinois State Police Capt. Craig Koehler declined to say late Saturday whether Hall was suspected in the children's deaths. \n"Any time you have three deceased children, it's a very emotional time," Koehler said, fighting back tears. "All these investigators have worked tirelessly with one outcome in mind -- to find these children alive."\nAn autopsy showed that Jimella Tunstall, whose body was found Thursday, bled to death after sustaining an abdominal wound caused by a sharp object, believed to be scissors, Hart has said. Authorities believe her womb was cut open after she was knocked unconscious.\nRelatives say Tunstall grew up with Hall and had let her babysit her children.\nOfficials suspect Tunstall was slain on or about Sept. 15, said Robert Haida, St. Clair County's prosecutor. The same day, Hall summoned police to a park, saying she had given birth to a stillborn child, Hart said.\nHall and the 7-month-old fetus were taken to a hospital, where she would not let doctors examine her and offered conflicting reasons for why she went into labor, alternately saying she had consensual sex and was raped, Hart said. The dead baby showed no signs of trauma, and an autopsy the next day failed to pinpoint a cause of death, Hart said.\nAuthorities say Hall acknowledged to her boyfriend during the baby's funeral Thursday that the child wasn't his and that she had killed the mother to get it. The boyfriend, reportedly a sailor home on leave, told police, who arrested his girlfriend hours later, investigators said.\nHall has two children of her own. Koehler said they are "safe and sound."\nHall likely will be arraigned Monday on the two charges, each carrying a 20 to 60 years or life in prison, Haida said. The murder count could be punishable by the death penalty.\nDNA tests should determine definitively whether the baby was the one Tunstall was carrying, Hart said.
(09/25/06 2:45am)
SAILING -- Participants in the Lake Lemon Open Regatta brave the Sunday morning winds during the last competition of the year. The event was sponsored by the Bloomington Yacht Club and is the last racing event of the 2006 season.
(09/25/06 2:44am)
Every time I head back home to what has inevitably become "my parents' house," I have to face the nightmare of my past: my old bedroom.\nI flash back to middle school, where my thoughts on interior decorating were as follows: \nHow many plastic glow-in-the-dark stars does it take to make a whole galaxy? How many more pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio can I fit into my hot guy collage? Isn't it such a good idea to put my Magna Doodle in my window, so I can send messages to the outside world? \nFast-forward to me looking around my room after graduating high school: What the hell is wrong with me? \nI decided at that moment that I would make an effort to decorate once I got to college. (I also decided to nickname myself "Philly" and tell all my new friends as a means of reinventing myself ... which was just silly, like cartoons and Republicans.) Of course, when I decided to decorate, I was also envisioning my dorm room as the one the gang slept in on "Saved by the Bell: The College Years." You remember it -- two bedrooms attached to an oversized lounge attached to a Roman bathhouse attached to an indoor racquetball court attached to a Buddhist prayer room. Once I got to school and saw the prison that is Teter-Wissler, I thought to myself: What would Christina Aguilera do? Teter can't hold me down.\nSo I decorated. Now, two years later, out of the dorms and in my fabulous apartment, I am still decorating. Me, my gay roommate and about four other people on this campus.\nMaybe I should clarify what decorating is ... not.\nBad posters do not give you interior design cred. This includes any poster that has the phrase "laugh, love, live" on it, anything by Anne Geddes or puppy dog-themed artwork. Is that what you want to see when you stumble home drunk with an unattractive stranger who might or might not be a sex opposite to what you think he or she is? A fat, Caucasian baby dressed up as a sunflower and a dog with sad eyes? I have to mention "The Kiss" poster. Yeah, guys, I know lesbians wearing full-sized white panties are orgasmic, but they're probably just on their period. It's a lesbian poster, so where are the Birkenstocks and oversized clothes? They're not real lesbians. You will never have a three-way with these ladies. Lower your standards and just start dating chicks with braces already.\nDo you know what else doesn't count as decor? Anything that once contained alcohol. (Showing off your drinking skills at IU is like a porn star wearing an 'I'm a Porn Star' T-shirt at a porn star convention.) That's right, I don't want to see your empty Pabst Blue Ribbon bottles lining the kitchen counters like a sacrifice to the white-trash beer gods. All those empty handles of Kamchatka? Impressive. Guys who can't afford Absolut really get me off. But why limit it to liquor bottles? What about nonalcoholic beverages, like empty milk gallons or old Kroger-brand orange juice cartons? They'd look so hot next to your George Foreman grill. Or, better yet, why not move on to food? You ate a granola bar as a late-night snack? Tack that wrapper on the wall, and show the world your accomplishments. Chicken bones, egg shells, peach pits ... the possibilities are endless here, really.\nWhere is the love, folks? Hasn't anyone heard of IKEA? It's a Swedish orgasm masquerading itself as a furniture store. You should try it. You can decorate your entire apartment for about $15, and then go eat meatballs in the cafeteria.\nWhat about legitimate art? You know, by artists? I bet Andy Warhol got laid way more than Captain Morgan. And I hear Jose Cuervo can't get it up. Jackson Pollock never had that problem. Shall I continue?\nThat being said, buy a rug. Or some curtains. Or a three-foot water bong (and invite me over). We're finally out of our parents' houses, and your new apartment doesn't have Freddie Prinze Jr. stickers stuck to your door frame, so let's embrace that. Give it the love it deserves. So either start decorating or start licking the walls and touching them inappropriately because it's time to get busy.
(09/25/06 2:44am)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — More stormy weather was forecast Sunday after two days of high winds, heavy rain and tornadoes were blamed for at least nine deaths in the Midwest and the South.\nFlood warnings were in effect for parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee, and severe weather was possible along the Eastern Seaboard, forecasters said.\nStorms Friday and Saturday stranded people in cars, forced others from their homes and left thousands without power.\nThe death toll in Kentucky reached eight, including a father and his 1-year-old daughter in a truck that skidded in floodwaters. In Arkansas, a woman whose boat was struck by lightning died and authorities were searching for two missing people.\nAuthorities urged people to stay off the roads. \n"We have a lot of people driving past the high water signs, and they are getting stuck," Kentucky State Police dispatcher John Reynolds said.\nThe National Weather Service reported that areas of Kentucky received at least 5 inches of rain, with isolated regions getting close to 10 inches. Portions of Interstate 64 just east of Louisville were closed in both directions because of standing water. The storms left thousands of Kentuckians without power.\nIn Evansville, Vanderburgh County Emergency Management Director Sherman Greer said his agency had given away about 550 sandbags in 90 minutes Saturday, many of them to residents of Evansville's southeast side who were dealing with flooding for the second time in two weeks.\n"These people are going through round two right now," Greer said. "Just about the time they got their carpet dried out ... they're going through it again."\nThe rain dampened a music and arts festival in central Kentucky as waters rose to at least 6 feet in some areas, forcing the evacuation of about 200 people at the farmstead just north of Harrodsburg in Mercer County.
(09/25/06 2:42am)
As is the style of many operas, IU Opera Theater's production of Mozart's "Don Giovanni" explores the ins and outs of love and relationships through the lens of melodrama. From men as lotharios to identities hidden by makeshift disguises and love portrayed as a casual emotion, the stereotypes abound.\nWhat made "Don Giovanni" unique was the vengeance of the women who were pursued and the serious overtones of the plot.\nThe opera surrounds the many lovers of Giovanni, a version of the universal lover Don Juan. His current pursuits, a blonde, a redhead and a brunette, symbolize the diversity of his "list," which stretched the length of the stage at the Musical Arts Center Friday night.\nGraduate student Austin Kness, playing Giovanni, adequately portrayed the protagonist, lending his booming baritone voice to the role. But it was his servant, Leporello, played by graduate student Alan Dunbar, who stole the show. Leporello is the loyal friend who helps Giovanni attain his women, often cleaning up the mess afterward and usually taking advantage of any "leftover" girls. \nWhile Kness often seemed over the top in his acting, Dunbar's advances were smooth and believable. Even though he was just as licentious as Giovanni, it's much easier to root for Leporello.\nThe women also excelled in their performances, playing intelligent and sexual roles, characterizations sometimes left out of operas. \nDoctoral student Vera Savage, playing the former lover of Giovanni, Donna Elvira, made it her mission to ruin any advances by Giovanni toward other women, often storming on stage to the audience's laughter. \nZerlina, Giovanni's brunette conquest, played by graduate student Natalie Ford, also defies stereotypes. Despite her pending engagement, she makes sexual advances of her own and lies to her fiance to cover her tracks with little sign of remorse. \nThe appearance of the opera was also worth mentioning. The staging of world-renowned stage director Tito Capobianco was innovative and humorous, adding life to what could have been a straight performance.\nMirrors lining the back of the set enhanced the performance, making the stage seem larger than life. \nBold costumes were also reflected in the mirrors. While the dresses were beautiful, Zerlina's seemed to come undone in Act One Friday night, revealing more of the actress than was intended. \nQuestions also arose regarding Giovanni's costume. The audacious hat and powder blue suit matched the character's personality, but the styling of his blue boots appeared more like converted Uggs. Paired with blue leggings, it seemed as if either the trends of 18th-century Spain had come back in vogue or an error had been made.\nAs for Giovanni's fate, he does not go unpunished, making for a scene worth waiting until the end for, both for its staging and moral commentary.\nNot surprisingly, the music of the evening was exceptional. Mozart's compositions were performed to perfection, while the soaring voices served as reminders of why the IU Jacobs School of Music is so highly acclaimed.\nThe prestige of the music school is what brought senior Kara Woolley to the show. \n"It's my senior year, and I thought I should experience what IU is really known for," she said.\nJunior Jackie Pyrz agreed and said she was pleased she had a chance to see the performance. \n"A lot of times we'll be walking by the music building and hear them practicing," she said. "It's nice to actually see it in person."\nDespite any minor flaws in the opening performance, the production was another to add to the long list of successes from the IU Jacobs School of Music. \nPerformances continue at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are available at the Musical Arts Center Box Office or by calling 855-7433 or visiting www.music.indiana.edu.
(09/25/06 2:41am)
FORT WAYNE -- A man reported missing by relatives was found more than a day later hiding in a ventilation shaft at Fort Wayne's Shrine Temple.\nPhillip Dean Clouser's family reported him missing Wednesday after they had not seen the 64-year-old since that morning. He was last seen at the Shrine building's restaurant, where he works.\nLate Thursday, a Shrine Temple worker called police after hearing someone coughing in the building's basement. Police searched the basement with no luck until one officer spotted a small access hatch that led to an air ventilation shaft.\nInside, police found Clouser lying on top of a broken cinder block and quickly pulled him out of the shaft, according to a police report.\nClouser, who was covered in dust, told police he had been in the shaft for several days and had neither eaten nor drunk anything during that time.\nClouser, who was in otherwise good condition, was taken to Lutheran Hospital for evaluation.
(09/25/06 2:41am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- A Virginia company that makes automated political phone calls is suing the state of Indiana, saying its ban on such calls violates its right to free speech.\nThe company FreeEats.com filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court in Indianapolis. The company wants the Indiana attorney general to stop enforcing a state law that prohibits automated political calls unless recipients agree in advance to accept them.\nEarlier this month, the state sued a California-based group called the Economic Freedom Fund to force it to stop making automated calls attacking Democratic congressional candidate Baron Hill, who is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Sodrel in the closely watched 9th District.\nFreeEats.com said in its lawsuit that it made those calls on behalf of the Economic Freedom Fund.\nThe Herndon, Va.,-based FreeEats.com claims that the state law violates free speech rights under both the U.S. and Indiana constitutions. The company also argues that the ban is an unconstitutional restraint on interstate \ncommerce.\nThe issue of political telemarketing has come up recently as the November elections draw near.\nIndiana Attorney General Steve Carter sent a letter dated Aug. 22 to state Democratic and Republican parties informing them that a 1988 state law prohibited automated phone calls for political purposes. Carter promised to enforce the law, even though it had been widely ignored during past political campaigns.\nCarter's office was reviewing the FreeEats.com lawsuit. He said Friday that the prerecorded calls are illegal and that he would not back down from enforcing the law.\n"There are a variety of ways that messages can be sent to people without violating the law and invading people's privacy," Carter said.\nCarter said that his office has been aware of the law before but that the public has become more sensitive about telephone privacy since Indiana's do-not-call law took effect in January 2002. The law prohibits most telemarketers from calling Indiana residents who are registered on a no-call list Carter's office administers.\nCarter sued the Economic Freedom Fund earlier this month in Brown Circuit Court in Nashville, Ind., after receiving 12 consumer complaints about the calls. The state's lawsuit seeks injunctions to stop them and fines of $5,000 for each violation. A hearing in the case is set for Sept. 27.
(09/24/06 12:34am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- NCAA Division I universities improved this year in considering minority candidates for head football coaches, but more progress is needed and resorting to civil rights laws might be necessary, the Black Coaches Association said Thursday.\nWith only 10 minority head coaches currently among more than 200 Division I-A and I-AA schools that are not historically black institutions, universities must appoint more minority coaches and more diverse search committees for vacant positions. Evidence shows the latter leads to more minority coaches being considered, the BCA said.\nIf that means applying Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which makes it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race, so be it, BCA executive director Floyd Keith said in a teleconference with reporters.\n"I think we'll have to put a magnifying glass on searches," Keith said. "Change is not something that has been as quick as we'd like to see it."\nThe third annual report card, released Thursday, showed mixed results. While a record 12 of the 26 Division I-A and I-AA schools received overall grades of A, a record six schools also received F's, including five that received the failing marks for not reporting to the BCA on what steps they took to consider minority coaches. They included perennial Big Ten power Wisconsin and two other I-A schools, Rice University and Boise State University.\nAmong 414 coaching vacancies in Division I-A since 1982, only 21 blacks have been hired, a huge disparity given the number of minority athletes on the playing fields, the BCA said.\n"The BCA wants the best candidate to be chosen irrespective of race," said Richard Lapchick, director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, in the report's forward. "With only five African-American head coaches in the 2005 season, college football is emphatically the most segregated position in all of college sport"
(09/22/06 5:13pm)
Walking: It didn't happen much in my affluent, suburban hometown (OK, fine, I'm from Carmel. Get over it). If you were walking on the sidewalk, there was something wrong with you. Everyone drove everywhere. Pedestrian safety wasn't a big deal. Strange people didn't follow you and make creepy, mostly incoherent conversation. \nThis isn't an "Oh my god. There are homeless people in Bloomington. I want to go back home!" column. But when this kind of stuff keeps happening to me, particularly when I'm about to enter a dark, forested path back to my dorm, I start to think about what this situation might be like for a 120-pound girl. At a whopping 5'8" on a good day, I'm obviously able to fend for myself -- I was on the wrestling team in junior high, after all -- but what about the aforementioned female or any unarmed, intoxicated or helpless student making his or her way home after a long Friday night of studying at the library (or partying on Kirkwood)?\nSo I decided to look into this matter a little bit. I got onto the IU Web site, found a link to the emergency preparedness page, www.iub.edu/~prepare, and downloaded a PDF file about the emergency phone system on campus. According to the PDF, there are 24 emergency phones on campus. This seems substantial, but when I read the locations of the phones, I was surprised. \nMaybe it's just because I'm a freshman, but to me, the placement of the emergency phones seems impractical, if not random. While the Optometry School and Jordan Avenue Parking Garage merited two and four emergency phones respectively, there is a complete absence of emergency phones on "frat row" (Jordan Avenue north of Law Lane) and the majority of the adjacent extension. This is a place where I imagine many young women (and men) might need help in less time than it would take for the B bus to come pick them up. The closest two phones are at the SRSC and Briscoe Quad. Even with these two additions, neither is close enough to make a difference. No girl wearing her "going out" shoes is going to make it to Briscoe from a fraternity as far north as Phi Sigma Kappa. \nNow I'm fully aware that fraternities have phones, but if a student feels threatened by a potential predator, is he or she really going to be able to ask to make a call? The student could also use a cell phone, but not many students have the campus emergency numbers on speed dial -- although maybe they should. Nor would many have time to search through a purse or backpack to find a cell phone in a time of crisis or emergency. On the run, a familiar blue light is a lot more helpful than mistakenly grabbed lipstick. \nAll I ask is that the University to put a few more blue lights in an area where everyone knows it's dangerous. There are 14 bus stops in an area with zero phones. Just because someone's wearing a polo shirt doesn't mean he's any less dangerous than a homeless man talking gibberish. The administration should acknowledge that.
(09/22/06 5:06pm)
Yesterday saw thousands of people demonstrate in more than 30 cities worldwide against the genocide occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan, where 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced since a revolt started in 2003. In Central Park alone, 20,000 people came to voice their support for peace and justice in the area. \nThese demonstrations come at a crucial time as representatives from multiple nations, including Britain's foreign minister and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, are gathered in New York for peace talks. The international community's goal for these talks is the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers to replace the 7,000 African Union soldiers who are scheduled to leave the country at the end of this month. \nOf course the Sudanese government is opposed to such action and has plainly stated that any troops in the region will be met with armed resistance. \nI say, bring it on. \nThe international community has failed to act in multiple genocides all over the world, most notably that in Rwanda, where 800,000 people were killed in the matter of 100 days in 1994. The international community overacted in the case of Iraq; in the name of protecting freedom and democracy, most of the conventional diplomatic procedures were bypassed without a second thought and the risks overlooked. \nWith such a poor track record and the lessons of the past fresh in our minds, I would think the world would be keen to step in and act appropriately now that it is evident that freedom, democracy and the lives of millions of people are at risk. Beyond the basic moral obligation we have to our fellow man, it would be in the best interest of the international community to curb instability before it spills over into other neighboring nations or the whole region. The Darfur crisis is already starting to spill over into Chad. So the U.N. troops will meet armed resistance? There's a reason they are called "soldiers." \nPoliticians have been throwing in the usual, "This is bad. We must act now," line out to the media for months, but the situation has seen little action. They should realize that the Khartoum government will continue to dismiss claims of genocide as little more than manipulation by the Western media. They need to stop holding pseudo-peace talks in hope that the 137th time they do, the Sudanese government will say "OK, what the heck, let's stop massacring, raping and displacing the Darfurians, and while we're at it, let's invite the United Nations over for tea." \nOne of the most poignant of the demonstrations for justice in Darfur was held in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. Cambodians themselves were victims of a brutal genocide in the 1970s under the regime of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge political party. \nThe international community should take to heart the underlying message of that demonstration: We don't want such a vicious genocide to occur again.
(09/22/06 4:33am)
STORRS, Conn. -- Connecticut safety Marvin Taylor has been thrown off the football team following his arrest on larceny charges.\nUConn coach Randy Edsall said Thursday he was clarifying the school's position after a statement released Wednesday saying Taylor had been suspended indefinitely from the team, which plays Indiana Saturday.\n"As always, with all of our football student-athletes, when they become involved with actions that are detrimental to the program, university and themselves, we gather information as quickly and accurately as we can before making any final decision on disciplinary action that would be put into place," he said. "On Friday, Sept. 15, I was given some preliminary information that later did not prove to be accurate. Once I got the full and accurate information, I took what I consider to be the appropriate action, which is to dismiss Marvin Taylor from the football program."\nThe arrest was Taylor's second in just over a year.\nThe 6-foot junior from New Brunswick, N.J., turned himself in Friday after learning of a warrant for his arrest. Police accused Taylor of obtaining a credit card number and using it for several purchases without the owner's consent. He was charged with sixth-degree larceny, a misdemeanor and illegal use of a credit card.\nA day after his arrest, Taylor started in UConn's 24-13 home loss to Wake Forest. He had 5 1/2 tackles and forced a fumble.\nTaylor was one of five players arrested in a pellet-gun shooting outside a Willimantic convenience store in May 2005. Charges against two players were dismissed. Taylor and two other teammates were granted accelerated rehabilitation, a program for first-time offenders. Charges against them would be dismissed if they successfully completed two years of probation. Taylor's latest arrest could affect his probationary status.\nThe Huskies will play IU Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
(09/22/06 4:16am)
The wagon wheels are all broken. The white canvas covers have bullet holes punched through them. Slumped behind the defenses, men murmur the word "massacre." \nThe second half should have been IU's assault on the Salukis, but instead, the Hoosiers failed to fire in a skirmish of squandered opportunities. They could do nothing else but surrender.\nLast Saturday's warfare has left the Hoosiers bent and bleeding, and a bigger battle looms in the distance. There is one remedy to stop the bleeding: Apply pressure. \nThe University of Connecticut will surface this Saturday at the Rock. The Huskies will be, by far, IU's toughest nonconference opponent on the short four "we-can-actually-win-this" game schedule. The pressure is now being applied to this football team. The Hoosiers need to apply pressure to themselves and stop the bleeding before it's too late. \nBelieve me, with the history the Hoosiers have against Big Ten ballers like Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin, another nonconference loss can plunge IU into the deep sea of devastation for the rest of the season. \nIt is rare that a game, especially a nonconference game, should be so significant so early in the season, but Saturday is a statement game for the Hoosiers. Hopefully that statement isn't, "I can't wait for the basketball season." \nThe Huskies come to Bloomington fourth in the nation in rushing, averaging 280 yards per game between their two running backs Terry Caulley and Donald Brown. Meanwhile, the IU defense isn't even fourth in its conference in rush defense. In other words, you better believe UConn will be running the ball. Caulley and Brown should explode through the Husky offensive line all game long, wielding fire against an IU defense without water. IU will need to extinguish both backs before either one of them can reach the Hoosier secondary, or else the entire defense will be blown ablaze. \nIU interim coach Bill Lynch admitted after Saturday's loss that his team did not do enough offensively to keep Southern Illinois' offense off the field. \n"We didn't score enough points. That sounds very obvious, but there is a lot of truth to that," Lynch said at a Sept. 19 press conference. "We didn't make some third-down plays ourselves to keep them off the field and put us in position to score." \nWhat is obvious, Coach, is that's what your team will need to do Saturday if you plan on putting away Connecticut. "I hope there is a sense of urgency," Lynch continued. "We need to play better. We didn't play well enough to win that game. I don't think there is a make-or-break (game) with nine games left, but you want to win every game."\nI got news for you, Coach. This is a make-or-break game. Make something happen, or else good luck stacking up your win column against Big Ten teams that can punt you away with their pinkies. \nMake no mistake about it, folks: There is a sense of urgency in Quarry Land. There is a sense that a statement should be made. \nYou're bleeding, IU. Here we are -- the fans, the media and the student body -- applying pressure.
(09/22/06 4:01am)
In the busy world of today, time management is a necessity. This problem is crucial in college, as many entering freshmen lag behind and get caught in the mix of college life. As I made the transition from high school to college, time management became a huge problem for me. It seems like everyday I wake up, rush to class, do homework and eat in between classes and then head from one meeting to another. When I have time to myself, I'm beat. I lie awake in my bed, pondering about the agonizing tasks of the following day. As the end of my first full month of college approaches, I decided I had to find a solution. The best advice was right here on campus at the IU Health Center Web site. This is what I found: \nFirst, write down all of your long term goals -- but make them important goals. Things like "I want a good job and be married to Brad Pitt or Halle Berry by the time I'm 25" are not good ways to start. Think, "I want to be a head anchor for Cable Network News at the Atlanta headquarters after graduate school." This is definitely a better approach. \nFor each long term goal, write steps and actions that will help you accomplish it. College students are advised to map out their courses for all four years. Doing this will provide a chance to get acquainted with yourself. It also provides you with the opportunity to see how you will change as you progress through your goals.\nTry keeping an agenda or planner. Although this might not work for everyone, it has definitely worked for me. Perhaps plug your goals in a calendar with realistic "complete by" dates. I found it very helpful to "pencil in" the time I spent in class each day. It allowed me to see what extra time I have for other things such as jobs, homework, studying and extracurricular activities. A good way to schedule time for these activities is to list them in order of importance or amount of time necessary. \nThe ultimate goal is to break procrastination. Also, don't get involved in a million organizations. Part of call out meetings here on campus is to provide students with information about the organization and give them a general idea of what each is all about. List the ones that will be most beneficial to you. If your major is apparel merchandising, the Apparel Merchandising Organization might help you out more in the long run than the Bowling Club.\nLast but not least, schedule downtime. Find time just to relax, watch TV and check your Facebook and MySpace messages. If you stick to a basic schedule, you will find plenty of time to do all of these things. My closing thought is that college is like a job. Get all your work done between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., and you should have plenty of leisure time. This should keep you stress free.
(09/22/06 4:00am)
With midterm elections quickly approaching, Republicans, who desperately need to make some major gains in order to retain control of the House and Senate, handpicked the issue that would come to define this election season. With most early predictions about the outcome of the elections calling for "Democratic gains across the board," the Republicans were looking to campaign aggressively with two main approaches: the first, a well-funded, mudslinging campaign that targeted lesser-known democratic challengers and the second aimed at portraying the Democrats as soft on terrorism to the point of risking national security. \nAccording to the Washington Post, the National Republican Congressional Committee plans on spending "more than 90 percent of its $50 million-plus advertising budget on what officials described as negative ads." This strategy rests on being able to "define" the public image of lesser-known challengers "through attacks and unflattering personal revelations." It is also a tactic used primarily to distract voters from examining the qualifications and effectiveness of an incumbent's most recent term in office. \nPart two of the Republican midterm election strategy (which should have been easier than the first) has been blatantly obvious: Divert the attention of the American people toward homeland security. What Republicans needed desperately was to get a vote on record late in the term that would further establish the tough stance the GOP takes on security -- from military tribunes at Guantanamo to border security -- while simultaneously forcing Democrats to cast a vote portraying them as weak when it comes to ensuring that our country can protect itself.\nIn theory this was a perfect issue; the Democrats would surely oppose the measure that would allow detainees to be held without seeing the evidence against them and allow for trial by hearsay evidence. The Republicans were planning on anything but a knock-down, drag-out between the strongest and most influential members of their own party. Bush is essentially attempting to redefine the regulations set by the Geneva Conventions regarding the treatment of prisoners. He is basically asking the Senate's approval to use torture techniques such as water-boarding, sleep deprivation and other cruel and unusual practices. He didn't anticipate opposition within his own party. John McCain, who was tortured as a captive at the hands of the North Vietnamese, and former Secretary of State Collin Powell have both passionately opposed this, along with the proposal to allow captives to be held without presenting the evidence against them. Joined by committee Democrats, Armed Services Committee Chairman John W. Warner and Lindsey O. Graham are both Republicans who oppose the measure.\nRightly so, the divide among the Republican Party has been hugely publicized, gracing the pages of newspapers all over the country, painting their own party as they would have liked to paint the Democrats. The issue that could have easily been the saving grace of the GOP this November has hopefully taught American voters a valuable lesson about the Republican party: If you can't even make the Democrats look bad, you have big problems.
(09/22/06 3:57am)
Two years ago as a freshman -- bright eyed, bushy tailed and ready to begin my wholesome education -- I strolled into my philosophy discussion with an open mind, ready to learn from my "more than capable" and "morally sound" assistant instructor. To begin the course, our humble teacher decided to get to know us better. So he inquired about what we kids were doing for fun those days. We bombarded him with talk of bars, bowling and other bull, and finally someone returned the question: What do you do for fun? His response:\n"Lots and lots of drugs."\nThe conversation that ensued involved speeches about cocaine and "hardcore smack." \nIt has taken me a good amount of time to figure out what to make of my AI's blunt statement in that first discussion section so many days ago. But thanks to recent news, I think I can finally sift through my thoughts and string them together coherently.\nTo my former AI: Dude, get a new hobby. And students shouldn't follow his example regarding hard drugs. There are plenty of other activities that are both mind-altering and available that are a lot more legal -- or, at least, a lot safer.\nFor example, when a survey was conducted of 7,600 Indiana college students, it was found that 45 percent binge drink. So getting a designated driver and goin' out to join the crowd may be beneficial, especially if it keeps you from shooting up. I know it may seem like a lot of people drink just to be part of a group, but here's to those who, when asked, "If everyone else was jumping off a bridge would you jump too?" respond enthusiastically, "Someone's jumping off a bridge?! I'm there!"\nOr you might hang out with the Alpha Epsilon Phi women and fly higher than a Chicago kite (windy city -- get it?). The Indiana Daily Student reported that three students were cited for either marijuana possession or paraphernalia earlier this week. Obviously someone knows how to have a good time without hard drugs. It could be a good alternative to hard drugs to make friends with them, chill out, partake in that kind of activity and maybe even get yours. It would probably be a good idea not to set off the fire alarm though. \nNot only would it be a good idea to avoid hard drugs, it's probably the most practical course of action given the recent bust in Bloomington. On Thursday, IDS reports indicated that 33 grams of cocaine were removed from the streets after the Bloomington Police Department made three arrests in relation to a traffic stop. Leave it to the BPD to force those of you with drug habits into consumption of lesser evils. I commend them for doing so.\nLet me reiterate that some things are just plain dumb, and staying away from them is the best option. Have fun, but don't kill yourself. And if you're considering doing something hardcore, put down the needle, and pick up the phone. Drinks are on me!
(09/22/06 3:38am)
One. Two. Three. Forty-five. Wait, what? 46. 47. 48. 79. What's going on? 80. 81. 1,583,027 ...\nIf the people who count the votes really do decide everything, the next president of the United States could be Thomas Swidarski, CEO of Diebold. One of the primary manufacturers of electronic voting machines, Diebold has been repeatedly accused that its product has the potential to be tampered with, causing an incorrect ballot count. \nIt starts with a screw driver, according to pictures available on the Open Voting Foundation Web site. Having pried off the plastic casing that surrounds a 12-inch monitor, the would-be hacker has access to some wires, some computer chips and a whole mess of other completely unidentifiable computer innards. According to the 501(c)(3) nonprofit -- probably partisan -- organization, the trick to rigging an election is flipping off switches JP2 and JP8, without touching JP3. Then it's just a matter of reassembling the machine and explaining to the election staff what all the noise was coming from behind the curtain.\nThe editorial board hopes the irony of posting directions to the very activity the group is fighting to stop is not lost on anyone.\nThe foundation is just one of many similar organizations worried that the votes being cast are not the votes being counted. Verify the Vote Indiana is protesting the use of unaccountable electronic ballots in Monroe County and around the state. The uproar mostly stems from a study done by the Brennan Center for Justice, which found "all three of the nation's most commonly purchased electronic voting systems are vulnerable to software attacks that could threaten the integrity of a state or national election."\nAt a public meeting held Sept. 13, Verify the Vote members argued in favor of returning to paper ballots here in Monroe County and across Indiana. They acknowledged, however, that it was too late for the approaching November elections, so they plan to get approval to verify that the machines are accurate. \nBut in the interest of preserving democracy, does it make sense to let a lobbying group get anywhere near an already vulnerable voting machine? In fact, the machines are scheduled to be tested on Oct. 4, and if there's any shred of hope for fair elections, the process will be overseen by representatives of both the Republicans and Democrats, a judge, Verify the Vote and Mr. T. \nConsidering how time-consuming and conspicuous hacking a voting machine appears, the likelihood of it happening seems slim. That's not to say electronic voting machines are fool-proof. The much likelier scenario is a machine crashing and wiping out thousands of votes or faulty touch screens. For these reasons more than anything else, voting machines should be regularly serviced. The maintenance should be done by an independent government agency and no one else. Verify the Vote says the public can't trust the makers of voting machines; voting machine companies say the public can't trust ballot counters. The editorial board says the public can't trust either of them.
(09/22/06 3:22am)
BATON ROUGE, La. -- For his first meeting with presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, Huey P. Long dressed in his flamboyant Kingfish mode: plaid suit, purple shirt and pink necktie.\nDuring lunch, Roosevelt's mother gazed down the table at the United States senator in the garish outfit.\nShe whispered: "Who is that awful man?"\nSeventy years after his assassination, one of America's most infamous politicians still triggers strong curiosity.\nIn a movie opening Friday, Sean Penn stars as a charismatic Southern politician, modeled after Long rising fast and dying young. A new biography reveals that when he was killed Long faced probable federal indictments on tax charges. \nLouisiana's capital city is in the midst of an ongoing fixation with Long: two permanent museum exhibits, a freshly cleaned, life-sized statue on the Capitol lawn and a new downtown restaurant dubbed Kingfish -- the nickname Long gave himself.\nPenn says Long's story remains relevant because Long tried to help the Louisiana poor endure the Great Depression.\n"The amount of hope he gave people then and continues to today ... it's probably the most timely aspect of this story: his finding a way to make people feel recognized," Penn says.\nCorruption and autocracy are also part of Long's legacy. Suspicions are rife in Congress and elsewhere that Long-style graft continues to blossom in Louisiana, a state now receiving billions in federal relief money after last year's hurricanes.\n"There is a crying need to resurrect Huey and to apply his story to today's Louisiana politics," said Richard D. White Jr., author of "Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long," released earlier this year. "We're getting a huge amount of money, and I'm not very sanguine about our ability to handle it."\nThe story of the Kingfish has already been used as fodder for fiction, biography and film. It was the basis of the Robert Penn Warren novel, "All the King's Men," winner of a 1947 Pulitzer Prize. Warren's book became an Academy Award-winning movie in 1949, starring Broderick Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge.\nThis year's remake stars Penn, Anthony Hopkins and Kate Winslet.\nWhite says his new biography is intended as an update of "Huey Long," T. Harry Williams' hefty 1970 Pulitzer Prize-winner: "A book that is fun to read but still scholarly done, that's not 900 pages, that gets across Huey Long, this menace to democracy"
(09/22/06 3:17am)
MOSCOW -- It's a rare talent that would make internationally acclaimed cellist Mstislav Rostropovich feel second-rate. Dmitri Shostakovich had it.\nRostropovich is among the renowned musicians who will put the wide and contradictory breadth of Shostakovich's vision on full display this month as Russians observe the 100th anniversary of his birth. The celebration will include a concert by Moscow Conservatory's orchestra, which will perform Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony conducted by Rostropovich.\nAhead of the concert, which takes place Monday, the birth anniversary, Rostropovich reminisced about hearing rehearsals of the symphony when he was a Shostakovich pupil at the conservatory in 1943.\n"To this day, I cannot forget the impression that the Eighth Symphony made on me," he said. "I understood then that I had to stop. I gave up writing music. That was it."\nShostakovich's music stands as a sharp contrast to that of this year's other celebrated musical birthday boy, Wolfgang Mozart, whose hummable strains have drenched the airwaves in observance of the 250th anniversary of his birth. Though Shostakovich's oeuvre isn't without merriment, his most noted works can be forbidding -- with dissonances, sometimes-jagged rhythms and flirtations with avant-garde techniques -- and they are awash in the troubles that plagued the man and his native land.\nShostakovich is probably best known worldwide for his Seventh and Eighth symphonies, both written during the misery of World War II and putting the listener through an emotional wringer.\nThe Seventh, known as the "Leningrad," was hailed as a triumph, a hymn against fascism and a tribute to the suffering wrought by the Nazi blockade of Leningrad, where Shostakovich was born when it was still named St. Petersburg. A ballet version of that symphony is the centerpiece of a birthday performance by the Mariinsky orchestra and dance company in St. Petersburg.\nThe Eighth is a full hour of bleakness, from the chilling opening notes to the extended, quiet fade-out of the end in which sweet and minor harmonies play like a dying soldier thinking of his girlfriend.\nAudiences had expected something more rousing; Communist authorities did, too, and the symphony was taken out of Soviet orchestras' repertoire until the 1960s. Like many of his works, the Eighth symphony got a warmer reception abroad; its U.S. premiere was broadcast live on more than 130 radio stations.\nShostakovich himself said the philosophy behind the symphony "can be expressed in two words: life's wonderful."\nScholars perpetually debate such writings, looking for clues as to what extent Shostakovich's statements were cowed by the Stalinist climate of fear. Shostakovich worked under extraordinary pressure, twice suffering official denunciations -- which in many cases, though not his, were precursors to imprisonment, forced exile or even execution.
(09/22/06 3:07am)
TERRE HAUTE -- A building Indiana State University has spent nearly $1 million to renovate might be demolished because of structural problems too expensive to repair.\nUniversity officials on Friday were expected to recommend to the board of trustees that the former Prudential Building be razed and used for parking.\nThe structural defects were discovered in August 2005 during the second phase of renovation.\n"We have learned that it is more economically feasible to raze the structure and replace it with new construction than to make necessary structural reinforcements," stated a report by Gregg Floyd, vice president for business affairs.\nISU had big plans for the building, which had been used for economic development and community outreach activities. The ISU Foundation bought the building for $500,000 in January 2004 and donated it to the university.\nSome College of Business programs would have moved there, as well as the Center for Public Service and Community Engagement. The building also was intended to house a business incubator and provide a link to downtown, ISU officials said.\nSo far, the university's investment in the building includes $750,000 for construction and $210,000 for architectural and engineering services.\nISU says it will be able to reclaim some of the materials bought, which would reduce the net construction costs to $588,000.\nISU's investment could end up being as high as $1.4 million, a figure that includes demolition and possible fees to break a contract with the contractor.
