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(10/14/05 4:49am)
Iraqis will vote on a draft of their country's first democratic constitution Saturday, yet insurgents have continued their murderous attempt to disrupt the constitutional referendum. \nEven though President Bush renewed America's pledge to secure Iraq's future and to continue the country's lead in the global War on Terrorism during a speech Aug. 24, insurgents have killed about 400 people since then. As a result, many Americans continue to ask: "What exactly are we fighting for and how do we achieve that goal?"\nUnfortunately, the answer is as complicated as the circumstances leading to the war in Iraq in the first place. Does anyone remember loose talk about WMDs or an Iraq-al-Qaida link?\nBush reminded America during his speech that the nation faces "dangerous enemies who want to harm our people." "Folks," he said, "who want to destroy our way of life." \nHe also reminded America that the War on Terrorism washed up on our shores Sept. 11, 2001, and murdered about 3,000 of our brethren. Since then, he said, terrorists have killed civilians in the global cities of Madrid, Spain; Istanbul, Turkey; Jakarta, Indonesia; Casablanca, Morrocco; Riyadh, Iraq; Bali, Indonesia; Baghdad, Iraq; London and elsewhere.\nWell then, what the hell are we waiting for? \nWhy don't we reinstitute the draft and throw every able-bodied American man and woman at the global terror threat?\nLet's truly send our military might on the offensive. And why not?\nIf America were to draft 5 million soldiers within the next year and deploy them as roving-freedom fighters, we could lock down Iraq and overthrow soon-to-be terrorist and already existing empire-states, "from the streets of the Western capitals to the mountains of Afghanistan, to the tribal regions of Pakistan to the islands of Southeast Asia and the horn of Africa," as Bush declared. \nIf foreign fighters are indeed arriving in Iraq from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen and Libya, then let America draft an additional 7 million more soldiers to completely wipe the global terrorist threat off the face of the map. Imagine a million or more American soldiers patrolling the streets in each country rooting the terrorists from their cave-like nests and implanting democracy and freedom from the Middle East to southern Africa.\nThe current troop level in Iraq is about 156,000 and is not sustainable for genuine transformation to an independent democratic society in the short-term, nor is the soldier count significant enough to defeat a migrant-network of global insurgents in the long-term. Let us reinstate the draft so the tens of millions of Americans who support America's War in Iraq or the global War on Terrorism can stand up so the Iraqis can stand up.\nThen, and only then, will American soldiers have the chance to stand down. Think of it as a democratic world order in which the terrorists would have about 11 million more reasons not to beat women, indoctrinate children or murder their adversaries throughout the rest of the 21st century and beyond. \nThe terrorists might or might not hate our "freedom" as Bush proposes, but they certainly hope to delay the arming of a democratic Iraqi army capable of defending the country without American military assistance. In the name of the more than 3,000 Americans who have died fighting terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq behind the banner of national security necessity, let our entire nation rise to Bush's decree to defend the country abroad with "courage and determination"
(10/06/05 4:50am)
Who do you judge: The person you think your partner is, or the person he or she wants to become? \n"Bicentennial Babies," written by Paul Shoulberg and the first Bloomington Playwrights Project production of the 2005-06 Dark Alley Series, raised that question Saturday at the Lora Shiner Studio, even while reminding the audience again and again the play is not a love story. The dramatic action, instead, focused on the interpersonal "love" dilemma of two young Americans who dared to dream but failed to find a teammate who supported that vision.\nThe story begins by introducing the audience to Anne, portrayed by Anjanette Armstrong, and Greg, played by Zachary Spicer, who are together washed up in a "lost generation" with "unsung anthems" and "blurred visions." And no, the play has nothing to do with hippie tree-hugging or 1960s rock 'n' roll. \nInstead, Greg and Anne's theatrical journey progressed with the death of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain. It presents to the audience Greg's word of choice, "whatever," and Anne's empty and dismissive attitude, as the plagues of their generation. "Bicentennial Babies" is a remarkable example of how 20-somethings attempt to navigate modern intimate relationships within the boundaries presupposed by modern institutions like university campuses.\nArmstrong's role of Anne was terrific, and her enthusiasm for living life smothered by dreamy ideals is superb. Armstrong complimented Spicer's equally terrific portrayal of Greg, who provided the audience with a heroic character fit for High Times magazine and Scooby Doo cartoons. Spicer, although his character didn't demand a wide range of emotional servitude per se, excelled as the "dead-beat stoner guy" who hoped to one day rise up off the couch -- a home he claimed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack in New York City.\nFrom the beginning of the dramatic action, the audience is led to believe that, although the play is not a love story, Greg and Anne would one day reunite in blissful glory despite their seeming incompatibility at the moment. Unbeknownst to both characters, willing suitors waited in the shadows for each to stray one step too far from each other's hearts. \nMartin, portrayed by Deven Anderson, and Cassie, portrayed by Lauren Skirvin, inject themselves into the life of Anne and Greg, and they seduce each character accordingly. Although Anderson and Skirvin add tremendous depth to an already able-bodied cast, the true kudos of "Bicentennial Babies" belongs to director Tom Robson .\nRobson, a second-year Master of Arts student in theater history, theory and literature at IU, steals the show from his crew, and his craft as dramatic artisan was revealed in many moments often unforeseen by the audience. For example, Robson's ability to whip the characters to and fro on stage as if he were snapping a rubber band truly spread the performers from one side of the stage to the next and provided the audience with constant focal variety and depth. \nTrue to form, most of the action resonated around center stage at the beginning of each scene, but the characters bounced back and forth to the sides of the stage and back to the center again as the action continued throughout the show. Robson also choreographed the characters to exchange dialogue during a few moments of a split-stage feel, which further highlighted the seeming confusion and willing romance of the characters involved.\nRobson's direction is great in the sense that the audience remains in a constant state of stupor until the end of the performance, in which each community member yearns for the play to end up as a love story despite the continual foreshadowing of the opposite. Anne's fling with Martin comes to an end as does Greg's fling with Cassie. Both Greg and Anne are alone and unhappy at the end of "Bicentennial Babies," and each will remain in that condition, the audience is told, until they both "find something better." Unfortunately for both characters, the true love of their lives might have stood in front of their faces the entire time, if only each could have judged the other for who he or she wanted to become and not for whom that person was at the moment.\nMaybe even more unfortunate for America, on the other hand, is the play's realization that an entire generation of young people have grown up to chase false ideals of romance and to settle for false realities of companionship based on MTV dreams and modern media.
(09/23/05 4:33am)
A trip to the local community theater is often an unpredictable test of patience and intrigue. \nAt best, the show is worth sacrificing a few hours for enthralling entertainment. At worst, the show induces the viewers' eyes to roll back into their heads. \n"Second Helpings," four one-act plays retrieved from the Bloomington Playwrights Project vault to commemorate 25 years of new and often home-grown theatrical drama, does both at times, although the show is worth the ticket price at best.\nFirst in the night's lineup is "Graduation Day," written by James Serpento and produced in the BPP's Black Box Theatre in the fall of 1987. The story pits brothers Tom and Jerry against one another amid the crowd of their sister Gina's high school graduation. Troy Jones' portrayal of Tom combined with Brian Schutz's portrayal of Jerry is both awkward because the script calls for a defined and antagonistic polarization between the two brothers, and superb because of the script's overlapping dialogue and required emotional intensity.\nViewers beware: Tom and Jerry's dialogue contains masculine-speak of a vulgar and feminine-demeaning nature as the beer flows and obscenity spews. Although "Graduation Day" seems to carry on with little sense of worldly significance, the momentum created from the brother's interpersonal conflict blends itself well into the one-act plays to come.\nThe second play of the show, "Carry On," written by Doug Bedwell and produced in 2003 as part of the BPP's Dark Alley Series, focuses on a suicide-bombing plot that exchanges hands in an empty waiting area of an airport. Arthur, played by Andrew Rhoda, and Melissa, played by rising star Amy Welding, revitalize a weary audience concerned with whether or not the show was worth the trip to the theatre, because their ability to compliment one another as strangers is tantalizing. \nRhoda's performance as a gasket salesman who chooses death over his wife is natural and believable, and the actor's shining attribute is his ability to go all-out with his heart exposed on his shirtsleeve. Welding also contributes a heroic performance that leaves the audience stifled and sniffling as the play concludes.\n"Hand On Mirror," the third one-act and an enjoyable play before a brief intermission, whips the audience into a frenzy as the characters Robin, played by Deb Durham, and Terry, played by Patrick D. Murphree battle one another for emotional supremacy within the confines of "an apartment near you." Produced in 1979 as the BPP's first production and written by Jim Poyser, the performance involves a magnificent rapport between actors and maddening dramatic action before the show concludes with a blacked-out stage.\nUnlike some full-length plays that rise and then fall and then rise again, only to trail off at the end, "Hand On Mirror" finishes off a rise-rise-rise performance atmosphere that leaves the audience anxious and hopeful of the "Second Helpings" finale.\n"Joe's Friendly," written by Bruce Gadansky and winner of a 1984 BPP playwriting contest, concludes 25 years of Bloomington community theater highlights. Mirroring the same length as the three one-act plays earlier in the show, the play involves the last evening of the local service station before corporate America buys out the remaining neighborhood pillar. Carmine DePaolo's portrayal of Joe Maseen, the service station owner, is magnificent, and his acting provides a wonderful pivot to the chorus of supporting talent that winds through the shop like a revolving door. \nThe character Teddy Willis, played by Andrew Rhoda, is humorous and enjoyable to watch. Rhoda's acting -- as was the case in "Carry On" -- is tremendous and he again compliments Amy Welding's sexified portrayal of Kitty Bush, the only woman in an all-male grease monkey setting. "Joe's Friendly," most importantly, engages the audience from the moment the play opens and provides the viewers with a genuine view of 1950s American life when neighbor-to-neighbor communication was more important than a shiny and clean bathroom at the corner gas station.\nA time indeed, Joe tells the audience, "when Americans didn't stop by the local service station to poop." As the curtain closes on "Second Helpings" so does 25 years of Bloomington community theater. \nThe audience is left wondering, is it rude to ask for thirds?
(09/21/05 9:08pm)
Black leaders from the Rev. Jesse Jackson to rapper Kanye West have accused federal officials of racism and classism for standing aside while Hurricane Katrina claimed the lives of poor black people in flooded areas of the Gulf Coast.\nEric Love, IU's director of diversity education, agrees with this characterization.\n"People need to speak out about their feelings to those of us who are in denial," Love said. "People who don't see it very easily, I want them to grapple with the images and answer the question, 'Do you think racism and classism wasn't involved in the lack of immediate federal response to Hurricane Katrina?' I really hope the people in charge of preventing and responding to the suffering in New Orleans are held accountable for this. To me, that's blatant racism, and the failure was on the federal level."\nAfter the eye of the hurricane swamped New Orleans the morning of Aug. 29, entire neighborhoods were consumed by the saturating effects of broken levees.\n"Those who believe that we live in a virtually colorblind world would argue, and probably genuinely believe, that race had nothing to do with the actions or lack of action regarding the New Orleans tragedy. Those who believe that race still matters would argue that race, though covertly and indirectly, played prominently in the decision that allowed the disaster to happen in the first place," said Lawrence Hanks, an associate political science professor, via e-mail. "It is important to realize that many of the victims of Katrina were already severely challenged individuals who led heroic lives simply to live each day. Yet, because of human nature and the nature of the busy lives that most of us lead, this tragedy is not at the forefront of our thoughts."\nPresident Bush flew over the city aboard Air Force One to assess the damage a few days after the storm as dead American citizens were loaded into the back of pickup trucks or floated atop highway overpasses, as seen by worldwide television audiences.\nBush administration officials met with leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Saturday to resolve public charges of racial insensitivity, which prompted NAACP President Bruce Gordon to issue a cease-fire on "finger-pointing" until "every life has been stabilized and every life has been saved." \nLove called for a congressional hearing after the deceased are collected to hold accountable those responsible for their untimely deaths. He also called for a renewed national dialogue to determine where the nation stands as a whole regarding race relations because racism and classism almost always intersect.\n"Poor people are often perceived by the middle class as having no voice or human value. The situation gets even worse when racism and classism exist in a society," Love said. "There is no excuse to allow people to die. We want to blame the victims by saying there was too much violence, but if they had food, water and medicine they would have been less violent. If they wouldn't have had to walk through crap, sewage everywhere, they wouldn't have had to steal tennis shoes."\nAlabama native and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the president against charges of overt racism Sunday while she toured damaged communities in her home state.\n"Nobody, especially the president, would have left people unattended on the basis of race," she said to The Associated Press.\nEarl Ofari Hutchinson, a national political commentator, said most media coverage has thus far reinforced negative stereotypical images that emphasize blacks as criminal and their behavior as deviant. He said the depiction of displaced persons as refugees underscores the reality that American citizens are desperate and in need.\n"There is a tendency for far too many to minimize the suffering of the neediest people because it is placed against a backdrop of black people out of control," Hutchinson said during a telephone interview. "Really, the major point is a breakdown and utter failure of federal, state and local governments to address the crisis. It makes no difference if a person is black or white, sympathy should be across the board."\nHanks said he thinks the relief response from all communities across the country is profound, although he questioned why the public doesn't support improved everyday efforts to empower individuals out of poverty rather than financial donations during publicized tragedies.\n"Perhaps this tragedy will call attention to the poverty that continues to exist in many urban areas. It is unfortunate that in the year 2005, in some instances, African Americans were portrayed as 'looters' and whites as individuals who had 'found food,'" Hanks said. "The fact that there is a racial divide over whether or not race mattered regarding the possibility of preventing this tragedy, as well as the response to it, is strong evidence that blacks and whites continue to view reality decidedly differently."\nIU junior James Coulter said he can't articulate words to express how he feels about the week-long suffering that occurred in New Orleans.\n"Nothing like this has ever happened so I can kind of understand why the government failed to respond. On the other hand, you have to say 'If this would have been a terrorist attack, why didn't the government respond quicker?'" he said. "The best thing students can do to sympathize is to imagine your hometown is completely wiped off the map and you can't go home"
(09/21/05 9:05pm)
American racing fans learned a valuable lesson Sunday during the U.S. Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: the Formula 1 product is disorganized, uninteresting and a flimflam cloaked as an international spectacle.\nUnlike the half-a-million spectators who attend the Indianapolis 500 each May and the hundreds of thousands race fans who attend the Brickyard 400 each August, the U.S. Grand Prix attracted about 100,000 F1 fanatics who forked over about $100 per ticket to witness six cars slither around the IMS road course, in an automotive rumble mirroring a sprinkle of American wigeons waddling across the majestic row of bricks one by one.\nF1 racing fans worldwide were robbed of their burned rubber and gasoline smelling fix by F1, the Federation de I'Automobile (FIA) -- F1's governing body -- and Michelin tire company, after 14 competitors of the 20 car field parked their multimillion dollar machines before the start of the race. Their Michelin-brand tires, or "tyres" as the international community labels them, were reported unsafe for the high-speed banked conditions of turn 13 -- known as turn 1 for the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400. The six competitors who trickled across the finish line after the lackluster 73-lap debacle were guided by Bridgestone tires. \nMany race fans worldwide have criticized F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone for failing to compromise with Michelin competitors and track officials since Sunday. F1 condemned the FIA for not modifying their rules to allow racing at the IMS since Saturday. FIA has criticized Michelin for bringing the wrong race equipment and no backup spare tires to the race since Friday. Michelin, who has claimed dangerous tire wear in the name of "driver safety" because "unknown" tire failure caused two drivers to crash in turn 13 during Friday morning's practice session, denounced the IMS's track configuration -- and one F1 race fan filed a federal lawsuit Monday indicting F1, the FIA, Michelin and the IMS for victimizing race fans throughout the weekend.\nIMS officials claim the F1 fiasco on American soil was beyond their control, and they treated 2006 US Grand Prix ticket renewing Hoosiers and others to a victory lap of appreciation around the road course in their personal automobiles. A full-refund of 2005 U.S. Grand Prix tickets could cost the IMS more than $10 million in addition to the estimated $15 million they paid F1 to host the event. Ticket sales for the race have plummeted since the inaugural 2000 U.S. Grand Prix was attended by about 200,000 fans.\nIndiana, Indianapolis and the Indiana Motor Speedway should welcome the F1 circus back to the crossroads of America in 2006 and then help pack-up and ship the International racing hoedown abroad where it belongs. The estimated $175 million in race-weekend revenues generated from the U.S. Grand Prix should be replaced by NASCAR and Indy Racing League road course races. \nIndiana and Indianapolis might collect revenues well-beyond $300 million or more if both events sell-out as the Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 often do. The IMS could then offer race fans more multi-team competition, occasional photo-finishes, full-track cautions, rolling starts, fans' access to drivers and the media's access to everyone -- common features of both IRL and NASCAR racing that fuels the American automotive race scene.\nThe international F1 scene, on the other hand, scorned U.S. open-wheel racing star Michael Andretti's 1993 F1 tour, chastised IMS and Indianapolis for lack of U.S. Grand Prix fan growth and slumping ticket sales, mocked American race fans by insisting they care which teammate beats the other in a six-car duel and -- as Indianapolis resident Jim Howser said in an Indy Star editorial -- Ecclestone believes Indy 500 newcomer Danica Patrick belongs in the "kitchen" with the other appliances.\nIMS should dump the U.S. Grand Prix product down the garbage disposal and let Patrick flip the switch. That might excite U.S. race fans more than paying $100 a piece to witness F1 injure and insult the IMS's reputation of hosting the greatest spectacles in racing.
(09/21/05 9:01pm)
The United States of America is often marketed by government officials and patriotic citizens as a beacon of liberty and justice across the globe. Watchdog human rights organizations like Amnesty International, however, believe the U.S. government and patriotic Americans have a duty to themselves and the world to promote liberty and justice within their own national boundaries.\nBesides criticizing the U.S. War on Terror, AI's 2005 report highlights a few other areas of human rights concern within American communities. More than 40 people died after being struck by U.S. police Tasers, for instance -- including Monroe County resident James Borden. The total number of such deaths is more than 70 since 2001, according to the 2005 AI report. \n"Most of the people who died were unarmed men who did not appear to pose a serious threat when they were electroshocked. Many were subjected to multiple shocks and some to additional forces such as pepper spray or dangerous restraint holds, including hogtying," AI officials said in a public document about U.S. Taser use. "There were reports that Tasers were used by officers routinely to shock people who were mentally disturbed or simply refused to obey commands. Children and elderly were among those shocked." \nTaser devices use compressed nitrogen to project two small probes up to 25 feet at a speed of over 160 ft. per second which deliver about 50,000 volts of electricity, according to Taser International -- the company that manufactures the police and military weapon. An electrical signal is transmitted through the wires to where the probes make contact with the body or clothing, resulting in an immediate loss of the person's neuromuscular control and the ability to perform coordinated action for the duration of the impulse. A Taser can be fired several times or used as a stun gun. \n"Some medical experts believe Taser shocks may exacerbate a risk of heart failure in cases where people are agitated or under the influence of drugs or have underlying health problems," AI officials said. "Amnesty International believes that a temporal link between the use of the Taser and loss of consciousness cannot be ruled out in a number of deaths and that this issue raises a serious concern that requires further careful review and investigation by independent medical and scientific experts."\nAmong the more problematic Taser cases cited by AI: a man suffering from two epileptic seizures was tasered by Baytown, Texas, officers for resisting while being strapped onto a stretcher; a man was tasered while standing in a tree by Mesa, Ariz., officers -- he broke his neck and is now paralyzed after falling; a handcuffed nine-year-old girl was tasered by South Tucson, Ark., officers in the back of a patrol car for refusing to put her legs into nylon restraints; a 71-year-old man was tasered by Portland, Ore., officers for dropping to his hands and knees instead of lying flat on the floor as ordered; and a six-month pregnant woman was tasered by Chula Vista, Calif., officers for not following orders during a domestic dispute -- she later miscarried the baby.\nAI lists hundreds of other cases of suspected Taser abuse by law enforcement personnel on elementary school children, pregnant women, older persons and restrained or non-combative detainees that did not result in death but injury. Taser International boasts Taser devices are currently in testing or use at more than 7,000 law enforcement, military and correctional agencies in the United States and abroad.\n"Amnesty International believes that in many cases the police use of force was excessive, contravening international standards and amounting in some cases to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment," AI officials said. "Amnesty International acknowledges the importance of developing non-lethal or 'less than lethal' force options to decrease the risk of death or injury inherent in the use of firearms or other impact weapons such as batons. However, the use of stun technology in law enforcement raises a number of concerns for the protection of human rights."\nTaser use has no doubt saved the lives of numerous police officers throughout the years, and most police personnel use the weapon with responsible care. Taser use by all law enforcement officials, however, should follow the human rights standards issued by the United Nations Convention against Torture and by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.\nIndianapolis police reported to AI officials, for example, that the entry level at which Tasers could be used was "at any point force is needed." All Hoosier law enforcement agencies should develop a thorough policy regarding the threshold of "force" to maximize Taser use in life threatening situations but to minimize Taser use as a method of coercion or negotiation on nonviolent and restrained citizens in police custody. \n"There remains a lack of rigorous, independent research into the medical and safety effects of stun weapons ... None of these studies has been peer reviewed," AI officials said. "Amnesty International is reiterating its call on federal, state and local authorities and law enforcement agencies to suspend all transfers and use of electro-shock weapons, pending an urgent rigorous, independent and impartial inquiry into their use and effects."\nAI recommends using Tasers only for situations where deadly force is necessary.\nAI released its 2005 report as an "opportunity for positive change," and the U.S. should begin to mend one glaring discrepancy of its own sense of liberty and justice for the American people -- the use of Taser weapons to subdue children, pregnant women and older persons.
(09/21/05 8:46pm)
Fourteen years after African-Americans and Jewish-Americans skirmished with one another in the Brooklyn, N.Y., streets during the Crown Heights neighborhood riots, black and Jewish IU students united Tuesday night in Woodburn Hall to call out for help in dispelling national racist and bigotry attitudes left over from the 20th Century.\nSenior Brian Schwartz founded the Coalition to Unite Blacks and Jews, a student group dedicated to uniting the black and Jewish demographics of the campus community, with the assistance of senior Philip Sherman, junior Joey Rosenberg, senior and Indiana Daily Student Nation & World Editor Cordell Eddings, sophomore Whitney Lee and senior Christina Dunbar.\nAs for the group's mission "to create new and long lasting friendships between black and Jewish students through both educational and social events on campus," the board consists of three Jewish students and three black students.\n"I've been at IU for 35 years and I've never heard of such a thing," said IU Dean of Students Richard McKaig, one of about 20 to attend CUBJ's call-out meeting Tuesday night. "I came to check it out."\nBased on the former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Kweisi Mfume's vision of a 20th history laced with examples of increased tolerance across the nation, CUBJ events (not yet planned) will include panel discussions, prominent and student-leader black and Jewish speakers, history presentations and the installation of a class jointly supported by the African American/African Diaspora Studies Department and the Borns Jewish Studies Program.\n"What do we mean by being a Jew? Saying someone is a Jew or black is a very blanket assumption," said graduate student Ilan Blustein, who later volunteered to spearhead CUBJ's educational programming. "What about the invisibility of a minority within a minority? I don't know if I feel safe in this space because I'm a Jew and I'm queer."\nCUBJ board member Rosenberg replied that the purpose of the group is to examine issues of group interest, to provide a safe venue for group members to learn where everybody else is coming from and to provide a forum for genuine cross-cultural friendship.\n"We want this to develop into something unique, cool and ideally much bigger," he said.\nCUBJ's first meeting is scheduled for next month. For more information, contact Schwartz at pschwar@indiana.edu.
(09/20/05 6:15am)
Following the publicized death by suicide of at least three IU students and one IU professor since 2000, the IU Counseling and Psychological Services staff has initiated a campus-wide suicide prevention campaign aimed at educating the public on how to recognize depressed students and prevent potential death by suicide victims.\nAbout 32,000 American deaths by suicide occurred during 2002, according to the American Association of Suicidology. Eighty-seven such incidents occur each day -- about one death every 17 minutes -- averaging 11 out of every 100,000 Americans taking their lives each year. \n"CAPS has developed an educational brochure called 'No Where To Turn' and a one-hour program that discusses how someone can respond to a person who might be harboring suicidal thoughts," said Nancy Stockton, CAPS director at the IU Health Center. "We are working with University administrators, faculty, staff, associate professors, residential assistants, advisors and student leaders on an outreach basis so they will know the signs and symptoms of severe depression and suicidal thinking, and they can learn how to listen carefully and where to refer people for help."\nStockton said suicidal ideation often progresses in one of two ways: Feelings of helplessness gradually progress to feelings of despair and a person formulates a death by suicide plan over several days or a several week period, or suicidal behavior is impulsive, especially for young adults and college students, who may be depressed but experience feelings of abandonment, who fail academically or who feel like they are a disappointment to others.\nIntentional self-harm claimed the lives of about 725 Hoosiers during 2003, more than homicide, HIV/AIDS and nutritional deficiencies combined, according to the Indiana Mortality Report. An average of two Hoosier deaths by suicide occur every day statewide. \nKathleen O'Connell, chair of the Indiana State Suicide Prevention Coalition and director of the Behavioral Health and Family Studies Institute at IU-Purdue University Fort Wayne, said prevention of Hoosier death by suicide first appeared statewide in 1997 as a community focus in Allen County. She credited U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher's 2001 booklet "National Strategy for Suicide Prevention" for promoting suicide prevention as a national focus and significant health problem.\n"For a long time, health experts were mostly researching the why and who of committing suicide. It's only been lately they have focused research on how do we prevent it because there are so many factors involved and there is no magic set of solutions to give everybody," O'Connell said. "Suicide is very difficult to talk about because other people don't understand if they haven't been through that situation ... People around (potential death-by-suicide victims) have to recognize there is a problem and help them get help even though it's hard to interfere in other peoples lives." \nO'Connell also said the "ripple effect" of death by suicide is especially problematic for families, friends, colleagues and peers because of the extremely traumatic nature of the suicide. Questions of why, feelings of guilt and increased risk of death by suicide because of emotional distress might affect the victim's surviving social network forever, she said.\nFor every death by suicide, there are at least six survivors, representing about five million Americans throughout the last 25 years, according to the AAS.\nReese Butler, president and founder of the National Hope Line Network, 1-800- SUICIDE (784-2433), said death by suicide is a major national health problem that has reached epidemic proportions because his hotline receives more than 500,000 calls a year -- about six of every 10 involves a psychiatric crisis. He said death by American suicide issues result in more than 650,000 hospital visits a year. \n"If you have hope, you can't be suicidal. Where hopelessness kicks in is when you lose all that you know, like your job or something you regard of value like a spouse," Butler said. "We are hoping as an organization to catch people upstream before they are in a crisis. If somebody is feeling suicidal, it is always better to err on the side of caution than to find out the next day they were serious and they followed through on their threats."\nWarning signs of someone considering suicide often include verbal threats like "you'd be better off without me" or "maybe I won't be around," expressions of hopelessness and helplessness, previous suicide attempts, risk-taking behaviors, personality changes, severe depressed behavior, giving away of prized possessions and lack of interest in future plans, according to the National Mental Health Association.\nStockton said she hopes the "No Where To Turn" campaign educates as many people on campus as possible about the signs and symptoms of death by suicide, which many potential victims emit but many friends and family miss.\n"Some people who are depressed have a fear of treatment that might prevent suicidal feelings or behaviors from developing," she said. "Some help with the counseling process and/or some help with medicine can cause depressed people to feel more like themselves, as well as undergoing some attitudinal and behavioral changes ... Suicide can be viewed as an act of violence against the self. Our society tries to stop other acts of violence like homicides, so why not death by suicide?" \nVisit www.indiana.edu/~caps/ to learn how to play a role in campus community suicide prevention.
(09/15/05 2:12pm)
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Terri Schiavo is allowed to die in accordance with her alleged wishes. \nHer husband said she deserved to die.\nHer parents said she deserved to remain alive.\nThe fight has remained in the courts ever since.\nUnfortunately, Schiavo's exact thoughts and feelings about her medical treatment can not be known since she did not leave behind a living will.\nFortunately, Hoosiers can document their individual wishes before physical and mental impairment calls that medical decisions be made by caring others. Students and Bloomington residents can obtain a living will to indicate their medical preferences for such a time, despite possible objections from family, friends or their faith. \n"If events ever put you in a life or death situation -- if everyone is in agreement -- there is no problem," said Bloomington resident Chris Huntington, an estate planning attorney. "The problem occurs when there is conflict. Even if there isn't conflict, having (a living will) can be worthwhile."\nAssociate professor Noy S. Kay, who teaches the HPER class, S220 Death and Dying, said most of her students haven't written a living will and do not think about death since "it isn't the time yet."\n"It is important to be really prepared for one's own emotions if something happens to them or a loved one -- to understand and cope with loss," she said. "Sometimes when you have loss, people don't know how to cope and later it can be trouble."\nGraduate student Tim Campbell said public recognition of death seems to lurk in the shadows of life since "we don't often see people's last moments."\n"We as young people, we don't have to confront death very often," he said. "Death is so institutionalized -- it's in hospitals and very official spaces."\nA living will and other death documents can be obtained from a lawyer, Internet sites such as the U.S. Living Will Registry and through computer software. Typically, fees range from more than $100 for a living will to more than $1,000 for an entire estate plan. Most estimates claim about 70 percent of Americans do not have a living will, health care proxy or estate plan. \nHuntington said Hoosiers have three primary choices to consider in terms of medical care in cases of extreme brain and body impairment: to not provide any medical treatment, to always provide all available medical treatments and to allow health care providers to determine the best treatment options if any. \n"In a nutshell, if your death is eminent and you would prefer to avoid care that is excessively burdensome -- serving only to prolong the dying process -- in Indiana there is a specific set of options related to feeding tubes and IVs," Huntington said. "In Indiana, (a living will) needs to be witnessed by someone not responsible for financial care, someone who can not benefit financially from the death. Just about any attorney in Indiana can draw up (a living will)."\nHuntington said a living will can relieve the family of the burden of having to make difficult decisions. He also said a living will can aide the family in knowing the decision they make is what the patient would have wanted.\n"It's a difficult time in general," Huntington said. "It's can be a relief to know the decision in accordance with the patients wishes." \nHowever, Huntington said Hoosiers can expect "no guarantees" from a living will. Instead, he said, a living will might "extremely reduce" the chance conflict is likely to occur. \n"Simply keep a discussion going about your wishes with someone, at least let them know your feelings," he said. "If they don't know your feelings and the situation arises, all they can do is act on what they think your feelings are. If that conflicts with anybody else's beliefs, that's when you end up in court."\nKay said her class reaffirms the academic belief in a "death deny" society since most of her students indicate they weren't planning on thinking about dying until they reach an older age. \n"Until students accept, 'yes, it is a natural process,' they don't think it will happen to them. It takes awhile for people to think, 'oh yes, death can happen to me,'" Kay said. "People are interested in sex education, but when it comes to death education, people are like, 'agh.' If you are thinking about sex, death is also a natural process." \n-- Contact City & State Editor David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(09/15/05 2:08pm)
One man alone might act like a monkey but a group of men tend to act like apes.\nDavid Rabe's dramatic spectacle "Hurlyburly," directed by the Bloomington Playwrights Project's Richard Perez, offers audiences a blend of coked-out "blah-blah-blah" and fallacies of misogynist reasoning from a gaggle of desperate and disillusioned friends. Campus community members intending to attend this production might expect dialogue-heavy philosophical action and the opportunity to expand a viewer's always-limited worldview.\n"Hurlyburly" portrays the inner-working of male in-group formation pertaining to a group of four friends and their succession of lovers, wives and whores.\nEddie, played by Mike Price, acts as the linchpin of the action and all the characters revolve through his window-frame perception of reality. Eddie's disillusionment with the televised modern-machine world -- he says he feels "trapped" and "caged in" -- fuels his desire to entertain a "toxic" state of reasoning as his preferred method of conversation and consultation. \nPrice's role as Eddie was superb considering the voice-inflection limitations of rapid-fire dialogue, and he continues to amuse and entertain the audience throughout a long-winded script. The ensemble cast further supports Eddie's emotional rise from his cocaine use and the depressing logic generated from his marijuana and alcohol abuse, despite the character's frequent verbal lamentations of dramatic prose that border on rhetorical jargon.\nHis friend Phil, played by Sebastian Tejeda, acts as the friend-in-need throughout the play and he seeks the guidance of Eddie, Mickey -- played by Patrick Doolin -- and Artie, played by Steve Heise. The foursome cycles from narcotic use to sexual desire to political lies based on which character believes he can prescribe Phil the help he is thought to need at that moment.\nTejeda's role as Phil is also worthwhile considering the emotional climbs from calm to rage the character undertakes on numerous occasions throughout the play. His anger seems realistic considering the circumstances and his presence does not outshine the ensemble cast despite the real possibility of Phil's character doing so throughout other productions.\nThroughout "Hurlyburly" the surface-level dialogue speaks to the woman as a "snake," the sex-refusing woman as a "bitch" and the sexual promiscuous woman as a "whore." All the male characters seem to believe dipping their wicks within feminine pools is a key to personal salvation and eternal happiness, despite the real possibility that masculine happiness is defined from within each human mind. The monkey alone might think of masturbation but a group of apes thinks only of inseminating the egg with one's seed.\nArtie collects a young woman named Donna -- played by Allison Baker-Garrison, as a result, from his elevator to provide his friends with "a care package for people not in a serious relationship." Eddie becomes upset with Mickey for having sex with his would-be-woman Darlene -- played by Stephanie Harrison -- the night before. All the male characters are quick to disagree with the ridiculous nature of their friends' feelings about themselves, but when the magnifying glass is turned on any one particular person, they all agree to subjugate the woman to the role of second-class citizen based on their "sex appeal" and "sex availability."\nMickey suggests Eddie and Darlene "go with the flow" in our electronic age and have sex together, because his remorse for having playing a pivotal role in their "triangular bullshit" might find relief by sacrificing an easy score and deferring to his friend. Phil's depiction of himself as feeling lost and unhappy without his wife and child, moreover, continues their male group dynamic projecting sex as means to emotional and spiritual health.\nDoolin shines in the role of Mickey, and Heise exemplifies the friend-with-a-mouth few men enjoy listening to but most friends appreciate hearing. Bonnie, played by Amy Wendling, deserves credit for filling in the necessary holes generated from loose action and ambiguous thought throughout the play, although her role did not ask much in the way of dramatic activity. \n"Hurlyburly" also portrays the outer-working of masculine psyches pertaining to the self-actualization never realized by any of the male characters. Eddie exemplifies the masculine struggle to discover self-worth and self-acceptance among a patriarchal world, for instance, through his attempt to conform his reality by drug use within the illusionary constraints his friends place on him and themselves. \nPerez's direction of "Hurlyburly" is often observed through the slick blocking of characters on stage and the periodic moments of humor felt by every audience member at least once throughout the show. The audience ovation at spectacle's end seemed to reflect an appreciation toward all the characters for having kept pace with the scripted dialogue and for providing them with a rare glimpse into the recreational use of drugs in 1980s Hollywood. \nNone of the male characters in "Hurlyburly" finds his real self throughout the play, and the audience is left pondering whether or not each character will ever realize their ideal life. Eddie seems content on snorting his troubles through his nose until the end, and his thoughts about "neutron bombs" and televised "shit" continues to haunt his heart, mind and soul beyond the death of one of his friends.\nRabe's "Hurlyburly" invites all audience members to a view of the American zoo showcasing mankind. \nThe play offers the audience much more than foul language, exaggerated drug use and womanizing perceptions of reality. \nEach friend alone acts like a monkey, but when he is with his group of friends they all act like apes. \nPhil says in a note to his friends: "The guy who dies in an accident understands destiny." \n"Hurlyburly" continues June 24-25 and July 1-2 at 8 p.m., and June 26 and July 3 at 2 p.m. at the John Waldron Arts Center Rose Firebay. General admission tickets are $12 and $10 for students and seniors.
(09/09/05 5:08am)
IU has won 23 NCAA Championships and 158 Big Ten Championships in more than a century of collegiate athletics, but Hoosier football tradition might be best known for losing seasons, fired coaches and tailgating.\nFirst-year football coach Terry Hoeppner wants you to know this fall's football ride at "The Rock" will shake, rattle and roll IU football fans into rabid supporters who cheer the team onward to victory. And with each win, Hoeppner hopes the ghosts of 71 losing seasons past are put to rest in favor of a winning tradition that last led IU to an undefeated season in 1945 and their only Rose Bowl appearance in 1967. \n"There is a football tradition at Indiana University and Coach Hep is focused on creating a winning atmosphere," said Pete Rhoda, IU director of athletic media relations. "The groundwork is laid, and there's a good foundation. We are trying to create a great environment that is fan-friendly, fun and safe. It's a collective effort to wake up the echoes a little bit."\nNew to this year's Hoosier football scene are various rituals coach Hep has installed like "The Walk," which is similar to Notre Dame's "Victory March," in the hope of reviving a team that hasn't experienced a winning season in more than a decade. IU fans should note a winning football tradition takes time, as shown by other teams.\nJohn Heisler, associate athletics and sports information director for Notre Dame, said a winning Fighting Irish football tradition took 80 to 90 years to develop, dating back to the passing attack of Hall of Fame coach Knute Rockne.\n"When you win, that does as much as anything to create interest and get people into the games," he said. "Everybody at our institution takes the attitude and philosophy that fans should walk away from the weekend thinking our (football festivities) were pretty neat."\nMark Riordan, assistant athletics director for marketing at the University of Michigan, said the Wolverines' winning tradition has resulted from something other than winning football games, although the on-field accomplishments like the current longest streak of bowl game appearances in the country certainly helps.\n"Our winning definitely plays into filling the stadium, but winning isn't everything because it is the experience, entertainment and value of our football product that sells more than 100,000 tickets for each home game," he said. "Coach Hep should be able to turn it around for Indiana. Fans need to be patient and the program needs a few very good winning seasons in a row. Imagine an 11-0 season and IU playing in the national championship game. They would be beating people away at the gates."\nSocial Psychologist Ed Hirt, an associate professor for the IU department of psychology, said an exciting football product and a committed fan base form a reciprocal relationship toward a winning tradition. Humans tend to want to associate with winners, Hirt said.\n"One of the things about sports fans that is studied is called 'basking in reflected glory.'" he said. "When a team is successful, people who are linked to the team in some way -- fans -- can derive an esteem boost. They wear identifying clothing and connect with the team by saying 'we' won. When a team isn't successful, fans will use 'them' or 'they' to avoid connections with the program."\nAn energetic and vibrant stadium atmosphere does more than benefit the fans, it also helps the team, Hirt said.\n"Coaches can motivate, but the fact you have your classmates there and all these people are screaming is part of what we know of home field advantage," Hirt said. "If fans support the team and stay engaged in the game, you hear athletes say they feed off that and play at a peak level because they don't want to let the fans down."\nRiordan said it took the Wolverines more than four decades to instill a winning football tradition in Ann Arbor, Mich., which now includes an entire day of home game events, including the marching band as a prominent form of entertainment and tailgating students who tend to arrive late to their seats, but in mass.\n"We want everybody who comes here thinking that game day was the greatest time they've ever had," he said. "Winning can happen over night ... A winning tradition takes a longer time. Students tend to go with the wind and a couple of 8-3 seasons in a row can take care of that"
(09/08/05 11:08pm)
Whether it is a naked wall, a lavender painted wall above scattered purple feathers or a white wall with flashy moving pictures, beautiful and meaningful artwork is often perceived in the eye of the beholder.\nAmongst the indoor air pollution of beer breath and perspiration reeking of cheese, hundreds of students, Bloomington residents and guests attended the MFA/BFA Thesis Show and Fine Arts International Programs reception Friday night in the School of Fine Arts Gallery. Throughout the gallery exhibit displayed from Dec. 7 to 11, several students enjoyed the privilege of art gallery space to demonstrate three years of artistic training molded by the talented minds of SoFA faculty. MFA graduate student Jared Landberg, who had photographs on display, said he enjoys art gallery receptions and attends about one a month.\n"The reception is entertaining," Landberg said. "That's all; it's not really that deep. Everyone comes to a reception for a certain thing. Some people come by themselves to look at things, and that's great."\nSpeaking of art as a community affair, Bloomington resident Jason Tom said he attended the reception because his friend -- BFA student Joseph Taylor also had artwork on display in the lobby of the SoFA Gallery. Tom said he supports the hard work and struggles artists endure to entertain and educate the public.\n"I appreciate the time it took to do this: getting the numbers together, getting the names -- the accuracy of everything is incredible," Tom said. "I think the types of graphs he chose are interesting. It's actually pretty interesting where the (troops) came from. (Taylor), I think, puts a tremendous amount of work into his art. He cares about his country and wants to do something about it. The topic he chose really hit home for a lot of people."\nTaylor's patriotic art display contained several pieces of information -- such as pie charts, maps and graphs -- which contained American soldier identification information about the nation's current war in Iraq. For instance, Taylor's exhibit listed the body count totals of several categories: 190 contractors, 1,300 U.S. soldiers and a map of the hometowns of soldiers. In addition, portrait shots of military personnel killed in combat were broadcast on a large projection screen behind a Plexiglas display of their names.\nFreshman Danielle Orchard, who is studying printmaking, said she enjoys examining the artwork with the rest of the gallery visitors and guests.\n"I would like to know what the artist's influences are," Orchard said while reflecting upon artist Sydney Wallis' artwork "Brimmed to the Living." "I don't know just by looking at it -- it's an interesting piece. I love to see the expressions on people's faces -- it's good for the artist." \nShying away from the glitz and glitter of the artistic spotlight, Landberg said he desires to remain anonymous during nights "like this," while sipping on a cold beer purchased at the make-shift bar outside the SoFA gallery's lobby's doors.\n"This is the third show my artwork has been displayed at," Landberg said. "It's a pretty weird feeling to say the least. Everybody wants to talk to you about it, and you usually don't know much to say about it. Just like a Christmas party -- you don't want to talk about work."\nTom, who works at Nick's English Hut, said he left work early on a busy Friday night to attend the even busier reception.\n"There are probably 10 times more people here than there," Tom said. "It's good to see people come out and check this kind of stuff out. I'm sure it makes the artist feel great."\nProving artists seek out artistic communities, Orchard said she enjoys the campus and city opportunities offered to artists wishing to make or display their artwork.\n"I love art openings; I love to the turnout," Orchard said. "I'm from Ft. Wayne, not exactly a cultural mecca. That's why it was good to come to Bloomington and IU -- to see developing artists. If you look around, most people are paying attention to the artwork and talking about the artwork. It's my dream to be that comfortable to lay yourself out like that: to be judged, to open yourself up to criticism. Exhibitions of your artwork are intimidating; I respect the artists for that."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.
(09/06/05 5:57am)
Three centuries of New Orleans history once included Mardi Gras merrymaking, the birth of jazz music and expressions of voodoo before Hurricane Katrina landed ashore a week ago. \nIn less than one week, the once-proud 18th century French colony drowned below sea level as most of the city waded through an American cesspool of government inaction and public disbelief. \nAlthough the sinking of New Orleans underneath Katrina's oppressive rain has amused doomsday theorists for centuries, the reality of the hurricane's fallout has demonstrated unforeseen human responses to trauma and tragedy as America continues to cope with an ongoing humanitarian crisis. More than a half-million people are displaced and otherwise homeless after the Category 4 storm uprooted their living spaces. \n"In one sense, there's no sense in which preparedness will preclude the responses of psychological shock -- feelings of anger, fear and despair -- which is how human beings respond to trauma. No amount of preparation can prevent those responses," said Nancy Stockton, director of counseling and psychological services for the IU Health Center. "It's part of being human to struggle to comprehend the almost incomprehensible. There is an inherent unfairness, an inequality of human existence, and those who have a comfortable life should spend time thinking about and coming to terms with people all over the globe struggling to obtain the most basic human needs: thirst, hunger, shelter and disease prevention."\nHurricane Katrina has claimed an estimated 10,000 lives thus far, many due to inadequate care the first days after the storm, with thousands more expected, according to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. \n"The first thing that jumps right out at you is how overwhelming the devastation is. Everything about it is so massive: the lack of resources, lack of response and the intensity of media coverage," said Kathleen Gilbert, associate professor of applied health science at IU. "You have people trapped on islands with no food and no water, just survival instincts. The first hot meal, the first bath and new clothes carry more meaning now than most people can believe. It's the basic stuff at first like finding what happened to people you love, then you can think about 'how am I going to get income?' to feed and clothe your family." \n Hundreds of New Orleans residents will even need to learn a new home ZIP code because their evacuation bus is bound for the unknown. Media reports have cited hundreds of instances of looting, rape and murder among the hundreds of thousands of citizens submerged knee-deep in the displacement effect of Katrina's aftermath. \nGilbert said the refugees most vulnerable to criminal acts during times of extreme desolation are parents with children because kids, especially infants, need a continual supply of baby food, diapers, pacifiers and knickknacks to occupy their time. She said she has challenged her students to think what they would do if they were responsible for feeding multiple mouths while stranded on a rooftop by emergency personnel for a week without support of any kind.\n"It's easier to maintain safety -- a 'this can't happen to me attitude' -- the more people distance this tragedy from themselves. Most of the people in New Orleans are law-abiding, sensible citizens but it is a poor city," Gilbert said. "People have been talking about looters stealing jewelry and wide-screen televisions, but most people are stealing food, shoes and medicine like insulin. They have children who haven't eaten for three days and desperate times call for desperate measures. People will do things in times like this to cope that you can't imagine law-abiding citizens doing." \nPhysical reactions to extreme acute stress in a time of natural or man-made disaster include headaches, hyperactivity, impulsive behavior and the desire to self-medicate through substance abuse, according to a Center for AIDS Prevention Studies pamphlet. Internal conflict and confusion associated with stress often affects cognitive concentration, problem-solving skills and decision-making abilities, while common emotional reactions include depression, helplessness and loss of control.\nMost of the poor Americans uprooted in the wake of Hurricane Katrina were forced to dismantle, shuffle or leave behind all semblance of their human identity, including sentimental artifacts, inherited property and collected possessions. Feelings of dire helplessness and utter disbelief have contributed, no doubt, to the suicide of some refugees and emergency personnel as an ultimate and definite coping mechanism. \nStockton said human interpersonal and group relationships often act as the primary buffer between human loss of will to live and human willingness to live through suffering. She said people who develop and maintain strong relationships often are better equipped to rebound from traumatic events, including those exemplifying Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or persistent elevated levels of stress. \n"We are all connected in some ways, and the best of our humanity is reflected in our concern for what is happening to people all over the world. One measure of a society's worth is how it looks after those members of a society with the fewest resources," Stockton said. "Learning about human suffering will make us better at responding. Allow yourself to feel shock and despair somewhat and then move on to active state of mind about what we can do now ... Resilience has helped play a role in the survival of Homo sapiens"
(09/01/05 6:32am)
Hurricane Katrina blasted through the Gulf of Mexico and battered the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi, but the economic ripple has drifted across the nation and the Hoosier heartland from Bloomington to South Bend. \nAmericans have become accustomed to their century-old love affair with the automobile, but, similar to the folk song by Bob Dylan, "the times they are a-changin.'" The average price of gas spiked beyond $3 a gallon throughout many neighborhoods across the country between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Many southern communities victimized by Hurricane Katrina awoke to prices of up to $6 per gallon after the Environmental Protection Agency eased certain restrictions on gasoline price caps in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia.\nWhile Hoosier motorists didn't see their gas prices double as they did in the South, in South Bend, gas prices rose to $3.50 per gallon, and Bloomington motorists saw gas prices more than $3 across the board Wednesday afternoon. The well even ran dry at some pumps throughout Indiana, with stations in Columbus and Fort Wayne posting signs saying "out of gas."\n"A lot of customers are wondering what will happen next and I have no clue. That's what I tell them, I don't know," said Bloomington resident and BP service station employee Vonda Rentschler. "Customers have been pretty pleasant about the gas price increase considering how much it has gone up in the last year. They have had the same frustration since June. One customer said he is going to go to a horse and buggy because oat has to be cheaper than gas."\nAccording to the Web site indianagasprices.com, the average Hoosier gas station increased the price at the pump from $2.70 to $3.12 for one gallon of unleaded gasoline. The national average was $2.86 as of Wednesday.\nRentschler, who works at Walker's BP Amoco, 3205 East St., said the price for one gallon of unleaded gasoline jumped from Monday's price of $2.69 to $3.19 Wednesday night. She said her station's average gas consumer spent about the same dollar amount per transaction as before the price increase, although each patron is spending more on fuel and less on beverages, snack foods and lottery tickets. \nPresident Bush announced in a press conference Wednesday that Americans might expect continued price increases at the pump and fuel shortages in some pockets across the nation because Hurricane Katrina's assault on eight refineries and numerous Southern pipelines has disrupted about 5 million barrels worth of oil since Friday. Some national lawmakers and administration officials have requested Bush tap into the 700 million barrels of crude oil stored in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve instead of American pocketbooks, as well as a temporary loosing of pollution standards for gasoline and diesel fuel. \nDespite King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia's pledge to increase petroleum production by one and a half million barrels of oil a day and European hints of unloading their own government-controlled gas and oil stockpiles to stabilize the international market, some IU students are trading in their car keys for walking shoes, bus tickets and carpool-offering friends. \n"I spent $25 to fill my tank when gas was $2.50 a gallon but now it will cost $30 to $35 -- it's sad and ridiculous," said junior Rachel Wilson, whose Saturn burns half a tank of gas during a one-way trip home to Marion, Ind. "It's not a huge chunk of money but every dollar adds up. I'd rather spend my money on anything else but gas. I have enough worries on my mind ... Look at this in a positive light -- we can all get more exercise and less parking tickets. Everybody has been on this kick about obesity. Maybe we can all get up a little earlier and walk to class."\nUnionville resident and senior Sean McInerney, who depends on his Ford Ranger pickup truck to sustain his landscaping business, said he just about busts his wallet each time he trades $42 for a full tank of gasoline. Unlike many businesses across America that are trickling down the gas price increase onto their consumers, he said he refuses to pass on his increased expenses to his long-term loyal customers by "jacking up" his landscaping rates. \n"I have to work much harder for longer to make the same amount of income. I guess I think about ways to consume less gas -- I fill my tank every three to four days," McInerney said. "I'll have to rethink a lot of things, like buying a more fuel-efficient car ... If you can walk, walk. Frankly, in some ways, it's easier. Bloomington isn't that big."\nFreshman Trevor Hunsberger, similar to the opinion of Rentschler, said he isn't happy about the gas price increase because he has less disposable income leftover for recreation and entertainment. He also said his 1990 Oldsmobile swallows about $10 worth of gas per quarter of a tank, so he hasn't driven in a while because of the petroleum spike.\n"There's really not much we can do," Hunsberger said while waiting for the campus stadium shuttle to bus him to his parked auto. "I hear there's a limited amount of oil so the price of gas is going to go up until there's no more to sell."\nWilson said the increased price at the pump has cost her family support because she doesn't travel home as often, groceries because her gas costs more than food, and other domestic goods like toiletries because the distance to Bloomington's Wal-Mart from campus is no longer worth their rollback in prices. \n"I don't mind if my gas tank is on empty because I'm reluctant to spend more than $20 each time I need gas," she said. "With an ATM card you don't notice the price increase that much but I have much harder time letting go of hard, cold, physical cash."\nThe Associated Press contributed to this story.
(08/31/05 5:48am)
Most students will never duel Tiger Woods or Annika Sorenstam for a Professional Golf Association championship, but most students can duel local putting legends tonight in a Bloomington putt-putt golf tournament. \nThe mathematically-minded, putt-putting aficionados and Bloomington residents are invited to putt-putt their way to victory at the Bloomington Putt-Putt Golf & Games, 233 S. Pete Ellis Dr. Although the annual Tuesday Tournament series concluded last week, putt-putting participants can battle one another for the opportunity to win prizes and claim the title as "Bloomington Putt-Putt Tournament Champion."\n"The key to putt-putt is to not get frustrated and to stay away from big numbers. You have to stay calm and not play too aggressive," said Bloomington putt-putt legend Bill Boyer, who has won between 300 and 400 putt-putting trophies. "You should also practice. I know the best way to play these holes because I've played some of these holes more than 50 times ... When you take the club back to swing, you don't want to stab at the ball." \nBoyer, who led the Tuesday Tournament series with an average low of 31.83 per round for the summer, said he has navigated the geometry of putt-putt courses nationwide for 23 years. He said he declined invitations to compete on a Midwest and Indiana professional putt-putting tour because it wouldn't have been fair to his three kids. \nBoyer said his putt-putt golf idol is Bloomington resident Rick Blair, who torched putt-putting courses around town and throughout Indiana during his childhood. He said a professional putt-putting career could have netted him about $200 to $300 a week if he won a tourney or two a month, and more than $25,000 to win the biggest professional putt-putt tournaments in world.\nTournament Tuesdays at Bloomington Putt-Putt attracts all molds of local caricatures. \nBloomington Putt-Putt Golf & Games Manager Adam Julian said the economic advantages of a fun-filled round of putt-putt golf for students far exceed a ticket to the circus or a date to the movies. A Tuesday Tournament ticket costs $6 for one hour of putting practice before play, three games of putt-putt and unlimited practice until closing.\nDivision winners will earn gift certificates and free rounds of putt-putt golf. \n"We are located close to campus, and our three courses offer traditional putt-putt gold with borders, instead of miniature golf with jagged rocks like they have in Ellettsville," he said. "You can control your swing better here instead of making lucky shots on a random course. This place reeks of 1974." \nSimilar to a 1950s drive-up hamburger stand, all three courses at Bloomington Putt-Putt are lined with green putting turf bordered by orange trim and adorned with yellow overhead lighting and small shrubs and trees. A somewhat life-size giraffe, zebra, elephant and other animals are speckled among the putting holes.\n"You have to use angles -- there is no way to play some of the holes without banking it off the boards," said Stephen Watt, chair of the IU Department of English . "There is the 'hit off the block shot' and the 'hit off the backside of the block shot' ... The trick is to get the ball into the hole within two shots or you don't stand a chance."\nWatt, who putted alongside his son, Brandon, and Boyer during last Tuesday's tournament, said he embarked upon his putt-putting career with his buddies when he was 14 years old. This summer marked Steve Watt's re-emergence into the putt-putt scene, he said, after taking a couple decades off to read books, write papers and raise children. \nSteve Watt's appreciation and admiration for putt-putt golf resonated most of all Tuesday through the smile of his son, as the younger Watt raised the Division I trophy into the air. Brandon Watt, a freshman at Bloomington High School South, outputted his father and local legend Boyer to claim his seventh trophy overall from Bloomington Putt-Putt. \n"I plan on putting this trophy in my collection -- it feels great. I can putt-putt ,and I whoop on Tiger Woods," Brandon Watt said. "I plan on taking it to school to show my friends. It will be hard to finds friends to play with next time"
(08/08/05 10:23am)
Hundreds of thousands of race fans from across the nation converged on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday for the Allstate 400 NASCAR race. So what is all the rage? \nAlthough the exact number of American NASCAR fans is unknown, millions of men, women and children witness first-hand the spectacle of modern day Roman chariot racing in the most historic race coliseum in the world. \nNevermind the "Hill Billy" reputation NASCAR conjures during comedy specials and late-night talk shows, drivers act as modern day superheroes to hundreds of thousands of fans who travel hundreds to thousands of miles to watch stock car rocket ships roar across the Brickyard's majestic brick finish line. \n"Five or six year" Rusty Wallace fan Chris Gilbert, who is from Northeast Wisconsin, said he traveled from the cheese state to the Hoosier heartland in search of a Rusty autograph at best and a photograph of Rusty at worst. Although Gilbert was observed huddled next to Wallace's trailer in the Brickyard's garage area for more than one hour, he said he wouldn't allow himself to become disappointed if Rusty ducked out the side door to avoid fans before the race because he is drawn to his favorite driver's personality.\n"Stock car racing is just about the fun with friends. How could you go wrong? It's priceless," Gilbert said while grouping his gaggle of friends together at the hips. \nAllstate 400 festivities included an array of trackside vendors spread along the outside roads circling the two and a half mile IMS. Race fans perused NASCAR ware for sale from sunglasses to cigars within a plethora of vendor booths. Inside track attractions included vendor food, speedway shade and skipping families on their way to a traditional Southern Disneyland-like vacation. \nRace fans attending NASCAR events across the country, including the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, are allowed to bring in food to feed their family so their stock car getaway doesn't end up costing the price of a rural home mortgage. Vendor prices behind the speedway bleachers, similar to most American sports facilities, portrayed a $3 charge for a 16 ounce lemonade in a paper cup. For the price of an hour's working class wage -- $5 -- thirsty race fans slurped a 32 ounce lemonade from a plastic cup.\nBehind the NASCAR scene one company provides the nutritional fuel needed by drivers, crews, team owners, NASCAR officials, corporate others and more to perform their magic on race day. Unofficial "Grill Master" Ken Enck from North Carolina, serves more than two tons of food over six meals during race weekends to more than 2,500 people from 27 NASCAR teams.\n"I like the challenge of feeding so many people and we are like a big family. They know me by first name when they want to eat," he said underneath his company's personalized racing suits to advertise their much-appreciated corporate support from companies like Webber Grills, Swift Meat and Pilgrims Pride Chicken. "We serve food from the area, whether it's the East coast or tacos and fajitas on the West coast. In the Midwest we serve steaks, pork chops and \ntenderloins."\n"And he has the best salad in the world," NASCAR official Jamie inserted.\nEnck said four-time Brickyard 400 champion Jeff Gordon's pre-race meal included rice, chicken and lots of vegetables, while Rusty Wallace ordered a ham and cheese omelet. \nIndianapolis resident John Fort, who was spotted side by side with NASCAR fans for a photo opportunity, said he loves all forms of racing. He was costumed from head to toe in checkered flags -- from his checkered pattern boots, shorts and shirt to his authentic Indy 500 checkered racing helmet with accompanying goggles. \n"A lot of people say this is a crazy outfit. It gets a lot of laughs," Fort said. "People say 'you're the number one race fan I have seen.' If I can make some people laugh and have a good time, maybe they will come back to another race at the \nBrickyard."\nFort said he new visitors to the speedway can ask him questions about the race track or for information to help hopeful-race fans learn what's going on besides stock cars turning left for 160 laps. \n"The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a native of Indiana," he said while a collection of racing flags glued to his helmet flapped in the breeze.
(08/04/05 4:02pm)
College media guides across the country are tipping the national scales around a meager one pound beginning this fall because the NCAA has legislated a maximum 208 page rule to further narrow the recruiting gap between large and small schools. Although a small step toward recruitment parity, a national page-limit rule saves each college a few pennies compared to the perceived disadvantage of competing for recruits based on the glitz and glitter of each school's media guide.\n"The new rule means a university athletic department has to maximize the 208 pages they now have. From a historical perspective, colleges can't produce recruiting brochures and a media guide, which started the boom toward 400 to 600 pages," said Pete Rhoda, director of athletic media relations for IU. "A media guide serves a dual purpose -- to serve as a resource for the media and a recruiting tool ... Recruiting is more of a school specific issue rather than a national issue. The media guide promotes the tradition and history of a school's athletic program." \nIU's big three media guides in terms of paper length during the 2004-2005 school year consisted of men's basketball with 328 pages, men's football with 308 pages and men's soccer with 216 pages. Rhoda said the athletic department might have saved $30,000 to $40,000 because of the paper length decrease, although the current budget reallocates the estimated savings back into the athletic department.\nBesides the athletic powerhouses in dominant conferences like the Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conference whose budgets seems bottomless, most Division I universities and other colleges littered throughout Division II and III athletics do not benefit nor suffer from printing a few-hundred page media guides.\n"The resources at the University of Texas are greater than at Ball State and one way not to differentiate between the two -- to do away with some of the competitive advantage -- is to make the media guide pages the same," said Jay Cooperider, associate athletic director for sports information at Purdue. "The two main reasons for the media guide is to tell the lore and history of a college to recruits and to truly act as a media guide -- a repository of information. Disparities between the quality of Web sites, the quality of stadiums and the quality of overall facilities still remain the same." \nCooperider said Purdue trimmed their football media guide from 404 pages in 2004 to the NCAA maximum of 208 pages for the 2005 season, which saved their athletic department about $9,000 for football alone. He said the perceived difference of media guide length amounted to the difference between a Saturn and a Cadillac for most smaller colleges, but the pages cut from their football media guide involved the story of Boilermakers and not blank pages or pages with frivolous information.\nBob Nygaard, two-decade sports information director for the University of Minnesota Duluth, said a media guide often presents an image of a college for a recruit that provides the first step in the recruiting process. He said he has never heard of a recruit deciding on a school based on the media guide alone, although athletic departments often use media guides as a key for the recruit to open the university's door.\n"Media guides emphasize the finer points of a school and the college's home city that will at least spark some interest for recruits. Hopefully the recruit will come to the university and visit based on the information presented in the media guide," Nygaard said. "Imagine yourself as a general student. The media guide informs student-athletes about the college, the athletic program, internship possibilities, placement rates and it highlights athletic accomplishments."\nNygaard said his athletic department uses its media guide to peak recruits interest because his university is surrounded by woods and located on the tip of Lake Superior. Although the University of Minnesota Duluth is Division II for most sports programs, its hockey team competes with division one schools like Minnesota's main campus located in Minneapolis.\nRhoda said IU media guides focus on the campus itself, opportunities after graduation, professional sport opportunities, coaching staff info and background, NCAA tournament participation, bowl game appearances and the easy access for recruits and their parents from Indianapolis to Bloomington. He said the athletic department personnel have refocused their attention toward producing the same info within smaller space requirements.\n"Cut isn't the word we use. We have condensed the information based on an efficient use of pages. The number of pages is cut down but you have to reallocate the info within the guide," Rhoda said. "Our media guides are recruitment tools for coaches and what we can't cover in the book we expand upon on our Web site. Our game notes package for each game will increase in length and provide much more thorough information now."\nNygaard said he isn't convinced a bigger media guide recruits more top-notch athletes to any one particular program. He said bigger schools with bigger budgets still possess an inherent advantage in recruiting because of their longer sports traditions and television contracts.\n"Media guide lengths are about a lot of stuff versus a lot of fluff. When you wade through that stuff, besides the part about graduates, a lot of it is unnecessary to keep up with the Jones' mentality," Nygaard said. "How many more pages is going to impress a recruit? Besides the cover and layout, the information inside makes a difference and less is often more ... You talk to all of our coaches and they say the one thing that gets a certain segment of recruits on campus is the school, the natural beauty of the campus, scenic sites, the sports tradition and academics, which every school can say they have"
(08/04/05 1:27am)
Sixty years ago Saturday tens of thousands of Japanese civilians perished within an instant as America concluded more than four years of military participation in World War II. \nBesides modern worries about international nuclear proliferation and terrorist attacks using nuclear weapons, a healthy debate has raged throughout the world during the last six decades about whether or not nuclear weapons possess practical wartime applications because they are designed to decimate civilian populations and to scorch the earth free of modern structures. The U.S.S. Indianapolis further propelled Hoosiers knee deep into the atomic bomb discourse at the conclusion of World War II, although the obliteration of two Japanese cities to end the war continues to spark international protest and perpetuate foreign fears of American diplomacy.
(08/01/05 3:12pm)
With summer classes concluding in a few weeks, many are seeking some much-needed peace and relaxation before the fall semester begins.\nDespite the hundreds of missed city parades and annual downtown gatherings that occurred in June and July, numerous summertime festivals are planned by Hoosier communities across the state during August. From a sweet corn festival in Oakland City, Ind., to the annual popcorn festival in Van Buren, students can travel throughout Indiana this month in search of craft booths, beer tents and glass factory tours.\n"Everybody really looks forward to the Germanfest each year. It is part of our town's heritage -- the city of Vincinnes was settled by Germans even though we have a French name," said 33rd Annual Knox County Germanfest founder Ralph Ruppel, whose event attracts about 3,500 people each year for Bavarian food and drink. "It is one of the most important festivals we have each year ... Bring yourself, a good attitude and responsible behavior."\nRuppel said the idea of a Knox County Germanfest was born out of his travels to Germany during the 1960s in search of Bavarian heritage celebrations. Frustrated from having to travel the nation from Indianapolis to St. Louis in search of national Bavarian appreciation, he said Vincinnes' first Germanfest in 1972 attracted about 1,500 people from Southern Indiana and across America. \n"The city's original Bavarian birthday party was named the St. John's German Beerfest until 1977. About 35 percent of our town's population is of German heritage and the money supports local parochial schools," Ruppel said. "The festival is about gemutlichkeit -- sharing fellowship with neighbors ... Come and enjoy the food and drink, camaraderie and fellowship, but don't over do it and don't drink and drive. There will be free cab service in and around town or bring a designated driver. Leave your car downtown and pick it up the next day."\nRuppel said $6 will purchase a bratwurst and some German-fried potatoes, and $3 is all that is needed to enjoy the live entertainment like chicken dancing and the German sound of the Jay Fox Bavarian Showtime Band.\nByron Brankle, chairman of the 33rd Van Buren Popcorn Festival committee, said visitors can expect free entertainment like a pet parade, food options like a pancake and sausage breakfast and music from community bands during his town's annual summertime frolic. \n"Van Buren is the popcorn capital of the world and we sell popcorn from the world's largest popcorn factory -- the Weaver Popcorn company. We sell both unpopped and popped corn," Brankle said. "With a population of 1,000, Van Buren is the lifeblood of the company because they employ 400 people ... People will find interesting things to eat at the festival and some interesting crafts, maybe a bargain on new sneakers."\nBrankle said Van Buren community members place their lawn chairs on the library lawn about a week before the show opens and the event packs more than 7,000 people into town.\nAlvetta Wallace, a self-proclaimed "jack-of-all-trades" for the Oakland City Sweet Corn Festival, said the theme for this year's parade is "Honoring Our National Treasure: the Youth of America." She said festival-goers can take a brief ride in a hot-air balloon for a handful of donated pocket change Thursday during the event, and children can participate in games like "hunting for money" and "carrying a boiled egg in a spoon."\n"At 8 p.m. on Saturday \npeople have all the corn they can eat at no charge. Whoever eats the most corn wins a trophy. We cook and cool the ears of corn and we do have butter and salt on the table," Wallace said. "About 20 some odd people participated last year ... If you stop by you don't have to bring anything."\nOakland City Sweet Corn Festival participants are charged $1 per carload to maintain Wirth Park, the event's location. She said visitors can purchase smoked porkchops and fried chicken for minimal amounts of money, and they can camp at one of the two campsites located within a 10-minute drive to town.\n"Stop on by Oakland City and enjoy Southern hospitality. The boot of Indiana is quite different from other parts of the state," Wallace said. "Exploring Indiana is kind of a theme the state uses, but it's true. Explore Indiana and find out something about your home state"
(08/01/05 12:41am)
Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it's off to work I go -- in a gas-guzzling auto that empties my pocketbook just as fast as it's filled. Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it's off to school I go -- with no where to park and congestion to boot. Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho.\nThe Senate passed a national energy bill Friday that concludes a six-year congressional tug-of-war between planet-loving Alaska wildlife refugees and profit-hungry oil companies during a global struggle for petroleum independence. Wedged in the fine print of more than 1,700 pages of legislated document, Americans are led toward increased nuclear power and deep-water natural gas exploration among other Pres. Bush "long-term national and economic security" initiatives outlined in the energy plan. \nOn the one hand, the energy bill demands federal reliability standards for national electricity grids, which replaces the human error tendencies of self-regulation that led to regional blackouts during the summer of 2003. Consumers also win in the way of tax breaks for purchasing gas-electric cars and other energy alternative improvements in new and existing homes.\nOn the other hand, the energy bill does not demand Detroit mandate gas mileage improvements in their automobiles or offer significant financial incentives for research into inexpensive alternative fuel and energy products. Gas-electric cars cost a fortune compared to Detroit's shift to "employee prices" on most car purchases, which results in tax-breaks for those of higher socio-economic statuses while the majority of American drivers continue to burn gasoline at the rate of 21 miles per gallon on average thus far in 2005, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. \nIn addition, costs associated with improvements in new and existing homes during the modern day technology-availability gap is also tied to socio-economic status because many available alternative energy improvements cost a fortune when compared with current living wage standards experienced by most Americans. \nAt the cost of sparing the Alaska wildlife refuge from the drills of big-oil machines, America's future energy priorities do not involve reducing the cost of energy for the American consumer, reducing America's reliance on oil in general, mandated gas mileage ceilings for all automobile makes and models nor any significant incentive for the post haste research and development of alternative-energy products like vegetable oil powered autos, wind-powered city electrical grids and sun-powered housing units.\nAccording to the EPA, light-duty vehicles account for about 40 percent of U.S. oil consumption despite more than a century of automobile research and development.\nThe bill's $12.3 billion budget paid throughout 10 years also provides billions of dollars in loan guarantees and other subsidies to expand renewable energy sources like wind turbines, but America's continued reliance on gas-guzzling machines benefits a few corporated land-owners, a few corporations and a few billionaires at the expense of the global bio-sphere, human health concerns about carbon-monoxide atmospheric intoxication and intensified global conflict based upon modern industrial addictions to petroleum. \n"Cleaner coal" is an oxymoron and global conversation should involve the development and production of inexpensive alternative-energy technologies like solar paneled autos and homes for all Americans so future national foreign policies are derived from neighbor-like concern instead of poker-playing faces bathing in pools of black gold. \nOil experts claim America, a country 300 million strong among billions of global citizens, consumes more than 50 percent of the world's resources on any given day. \nAlthough ethanol fueled some automobiles at the beginning of the 20th Century, Congressional leaders granted only $6 billion toward the production of new ethanol plants across the country, generating about 200,000 new jobs for many communities throughout the Midwest. Despite the fact that consumption requires global responsibilities to the health of humanity and the sustainability of the natural environment, many American consumers are now scratching their heads as to why current dismal fuel-efficacy standards continue to chip away at our freedom to live within a peaceful and sustainable world.\nAmerica's 2005 legislated energy bill also fails Americans because it lacks federal funding for energy-alternatives like national carpooling programs and affordable environmental-friendly energy. America needs to shift toward a more thorough alternative-energy lifestyle that offers consumers the option of leaving the smallest possible footprint behind.
