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(12/13/02 4:29am)
Pride.\nIt's a wonderful time to be an Indiana sports fan. The Colts and the Pacers are each holding their own, respected forces in their professional leagues.\nAnd of course, there's Mike Davis and his Hoosiers.\nYet, is the IU student body ready for another year of success? Are we ready for possible failure? What will we do, sell our tickets, bet on UNC or Arizona in our tournament pools?\nYou see, I live out by the stadium, and the last two games played at Assembly Hall have been relative blowouts. I had tickets for neither, as IU cut down all season ticket orders to benefit the mass of students, giving everyone a chance to watch Coverdale drain a few three's.\nBut they weren't watching. \nIn fact, at halftime, I was appalled to see hoards of students leaving, simply because we were winning too soundly. It apparently wasn't exciting enough for them.\nThe University took a risk in taking tickets away from those who ordered them on time. For what? For people to misuse them, disrespect our players? This worries me. What will happen if we begin losing, if the students don't have enough devotion to our team and school to stay during a win? Will the seats be packed when we lose; will the sounds of our cheers still serve as a factor against the visiting team?\nIt seems that since last year, obviously the interest and connection to our Hoosiers has increased, but unfortunately, for many it seems quite shallow. We have a history of pride and dedication to basketball here at IU, but everywhere in this modern world, we see that history dies. Family traditions, ancestry, pride in who we are are fading as we all become a part of this fast paced, facts-first, results-oriented society. The Colts continually ponder leaving for L.A., abandoning tradition for economic realities, and it's no new news that families and ethnic customs are fading away into the television static and broadband cable hookup.\nHow do we beat this? \nDevotion, even when it's not fun.\nThere's a reason why Notre Dame has long been known for a tradition of mythic qualities, why Notre Dame's pride is so great that some may find it annoying.\nAt the Notre Dame home game against Rutgers, Notre Dame was leading 42-0 at the end of the game, and not a single student left the student section.\nThat's a home-field force to be reckoned with.\nThat's the same devotion we should be showing our boys in the candy-striped pants, our families and our traditions everywhere. These customs are fragile. While they might appear stronger than steel at their peaks, their lows are dangerous. They can sweep away tradition all together, leaving us with nothing to cheer for.\nIf a team, a custom, a piece of our history offers us excitement and brings us joy, then we owe it to those forces to support them in all circumstances. Exciting or not, poor or not, ancient or modern.\nNewt, AJ, Tom, Mike, Bracey, Hornsby and Leach are here now. They will leave someday. It's our job to make sure that when they go, everything is left behind them for the next to feed off of and create.
(12/10/02 4:37am)
How Black actually are you? How Asian, Mexican, White? \nThe creators of www.sacwriters.com offer their advice in discovering the answers. According to them, I'm a combination of Carlton Banks, Bill Clinton, a mariachi band leader, and apparently I "speaka no engrish." \nThe site's Web masters examine how one scores on their online quizzes. They ask blatantly stereotypical questions to discover the degree of each ethnicity you have within you. For instance, on the "How Mexican Are You?" quiz, they ask: "You make money by: A) Picking tomatoes B) Playing my trumpet C) Going to work and getting a paycheck D) Selling drugs E) Selling popsicles and churros."\nI, of course, laugh heartily. Though I think they left out F) "Refilling my water glass."\nMany other people; however, take a sharp turn away from such "racist" humor. They feel it bears no merit, cultural value and, in fact, contributes to the general ignorance of society at large.\nRacism fits this description. I agree. \nRacist humor; however, I feel does the exact opposite. Save for those who overreact and don't "get it."\nAs racist humorist extraordinaire Don Rickles said, "Don't make it a rally … God put us on this earth to laugh ... We're human beings. Jew, gentile, Irish, Negro, Puerto Rican. Laugh at bigotry … Bigots and morons and dummies. People say, 'How can you make fun of religion?' Why not? What's to fear?"\nExactly. What's to fear? Only those who are comfortable in their lack of fear, those who are willing to accept all races and creeds -- they can comfortably laugh at such jokes. \nFear makes us nervous, and it's fear that makes people lash out against edgy humor. Why? They're afraid that deep down inside, they just might believe what everybody else knows should only be a joke.\nThe beauty of racist humor is that for those cognizant of what's at stake, one realizes the absolute absurdity of compartmentalizing individuals into "ethnic groups," stereotypes and palates of color.\nAfter all, as Tone Def of the New Human Formantics put it: "When you doo-doo, is your shit not brown? … I'm just a human being."\nBut some people simply cannot take away those socially constructed lines that separate us from our unity as humans. These are the people who are not laughing at race and religion. They are the same who are imposing their "correct" race or view upon the world. After all, if these divisions were such solemn subjects, then someone must be right, and someone must be wrong. Right?\nWrong.\nKnowing how to laugh at ignorance, being mentally grounded enough to laugh at the ridiculous nature of intolerance -- that is what is known as having a good "sense" of humor. \nIt's humbling. It lets the world know, "Yes, I'll laugh at these divisions, because I know that neither mine, nor somebody else's is any more different, intelligent or clean. Nor can anyone do math better, make a better pizza pie or jump higher than the next."\nIt's funny how we pick and choose our buttons. It's funny what we're allowed to make fun of and what's off limits. It's funny how we can suddenly become the propriety police when a subject close to us is joked about, but sensitive subjects we're divorced from can be laughed at freely. When white kids make fun of Mexicans, it's ok, but one Jesus joke and the protesters take to their picket signs. \nIf we can't laugh, we're hypocrites, arrogant. We assume we know how to properly handle a situation that as evolved beings, we should be light years beyond. Giving these issues weight gives them legitimacy. \nI say racist humor is social diplomacy. We refuse to recognize the authenticity of that state of racism. It is dead to us.\nIt's just a little bit funny.
(11/22/02 4:36am)
Dorm Porn issues aren't exclusive to the IDS.\nAdult Video News (AVN), the CNN of the porno industry, has been vigorously reporting on the status of Shane Enterprise's latest escapade in Bloomington.\nOh, and did I mention that a Shane's World publicist, Calli Cox, was also interviewed on the "O'Reilly Factor" and is slated for time with "Inside Edition" and NBC News?\nIt's no wonder that the administration has its edible panties all up in a bunch.\nHopefully, we all seem to understand the big wigs' concerns over associating IU's name with Shane's video. Already under the stigma of being the No. 1 party school, possibly being branded as the number one orgy academy places a lot of pressure on the sensitive spots of those in Franklin Hall.\nYet, in the end, whose fault will it be for the nation becoming aware of Shane's merrymaking in Teter and abroad?\nIt seems that the "investigators," concerned with preserving IU's virginal image, have been providing the Cognac, satin sheets and Marvin Gaye background music needed to pump Shane Enterprise's profits.\nWhy, you ask?\nWell, Shane's IU video is aptly titled: "Shane's World #32." \nHave any of you heard of volumes one through 31 -- aside from my roommate?\nThe porno industry doesn't make feature films. Companies can produce at least four videos a month, and those buying them aren't particularly interested in location and cinematography, unless it obscures their view.\nHad IU not pressed the issue, Shane's video would have receded into the multitude of new releases that emerge every week. "Shane's World #32" would have become just another name amongst "Black Booty Cam #9," "Hot 50 Plus #14" and "Casting Couch Cuties #16," each of which would eventually take the back seat to the 20-plus new releases emerging the next week.\nSo who's the sinner, and who's the saint?\nWhile Shane and her friends can be branded as lustful harlots tempting the minds of impressionable college students, IU seems to be reaping the consequences of what Pacino's Satan terms his "favorite sin."\nVanity.\nIn their attempt to simply live in the false reality that IU is a bastion of propriety, they have aided the sirens in their quest to lure followers to their video. After all of the bustle, who's not going to try and buy the tape?\nIU is a college campus, one where students -- as shocking as it may be -- are interested in much more than their studies. \nThere's indeed another reason why white is no longer a school color.\nOf course, first and foremost, we should promote IU's myriad of academic opportunities before thinking about tempering our response to after-hours activities. We should encourage art exhibits, concerts and lectures. Students don't have completely one-track minds. \nBut you can't keep kidding yourself by thinking IU is a dry campus or that students don't devote a certain amount of their time to sex.\nWhat happens then when you do? Issues get muddied, and true concerns are put on a backburner in favor of quick fixes that only preserve the façade of an untainted IU.\nWe have a controversy over the dress code at the SRSC, when the more pressing issues of parking go unresolved. Investigations probe for students having consensual sex, when the constant dangers of assault remain seemingly unsolvable.\nThese actions won't make your skeletons disappear from their closets. In fact, when they're exposed, they'll emerge much larger than they actually are.\nAnd if the dorm porn incident has proven anything, it's that IU is not particularly capable of handling a large group of bones.
(11/15/02 4:41am)
Last Sunday, the Colts game was obscured by warnings of pending bad weather and the possibility of a tornado. \nThough Indiana was lucky enough to avoid Nature's scourge, unlike earlier this semester, hundreds of families in Tennessee lost their homes and 36 people were left dead.\nI as well am in the process of losing my home, but without the violent winds and total devastation. I'm leaving my old premises in northern Indiana via moving trucks and lots of boxes. Coincidentally enough, I'm heading toward the very state where the tornadoes struck.\nThis has left many in Tennessee and myself pondering: What and where exactly are our homes?\nFor today's generation, it seems a question that though at first simple, is taken for granted. In the past, a home lived on through generations. Births, deaths, names carved in trees; Americana at its finest.\nA home was not only a building, but a location and a community. \nToday, we're free agents. Jerry Rice has gone from San Francisco to Oakland, Jordan is now in Washington, and we no longer play for our home teams.\nAsking "Where are you from?" is followed by histories and epic journeys. We were born here, moved there, settled for a while to study in Indiana. Then consequently, as ambitious young college graduates, many aspire to take the plunge and "go out West," try to make it in New York or travel to Europe to ripen.\nOpportunity seems to take the helm when defining our homes, leaving history on the back burner.\nSo we take our things and travel. \nBut what happens when Nature hits? What happens to a traveling home when suddenly there is nothing to pack up?\nIn Tennessee, and any place where disasters can decimate our belongings, people are left contemplating where indeed their homes truly lie. Pictures are gone; memories. Tools and all personal belongings gone; the present. It becomes a rebirth into the world with nothing, forcing the next step: To ground oneself so that they may keep the life wheel spinning.\nWhen the tools of opportunity go out the window, where do we turn?\nThe Leopper family of Joyner, Tenn., plans to move in with their relatives. They offer one answer: Family. \nHome will not lie in our boudoirs and briefcases but with those who are there to support us. Home becomes wherever rest our kin and our neighbors who are willing to lend their shoulders -- both to cry upon and push towards rebuilding what was lost.\nStill, a final option is offered by the Leopper's cat, Devon. The New York Times reported on this stubborn feline who chooses to remain in the rubble of the Leoppers home. Whether by training or sheer shock, the cat won't even emerge to eat. Ultimately, regardless of motive, it appears as a statement of loyalty. \nHome isn't a place we can escape. Even in shambles, a mere cat can show us that there is no moving away from where we have placed our roots. Neither new opportunities nor disasters can erase the boundaries we have drawn. The rebuilding and mass of movers simply add new foundations and communities to the list. \nFor Devon, and for all of us, our homes will forever remain where we left off.
(11/08/02 4:56am)
Will that be for pick up or delivery?\nIt all began with a simple choice: Pan or hand tossed? But it didn't stop there. Those gateway crusts led to an even deeper craving for stronger evolutions of the dough, breeding thin, then Chicago style, the New Yorker and finally, the Stuffed Crust. \nI remember a day when Ham and Pineapple was unheard of, consumed only by the most daring of palates. Yet today I awoke to a present where the California Pizza kitchen brings the consumers what we demand: Pizza with pizzazz! Jamaican Jerk, Carne Asada and Barbeque chicken pizza pies. \nNext month: Special toppings week. You have your choice of one topping -- gold doubloons, champagne or Faberge eggs delivered straight to your door not by some overworked college student, but the beautiful naked A&F model of your choice.\nWould that be pick-up or delivery, naked hot chick or guy?\nI sometimes ask myself, when did we ask for a new wheel? When did we bore with a slice? Has the market dropped so dramatically that the only way to ensure pizza sales is to offer enough choices to make even a Florida ballot seem as simple as a TV Guide Crossword?\nTo answer the question, I took a trip to the supermarket to check out the frozen pizzas, compare the varieties. True journalistic research. On my way, I decided to get myself a bottle of water.\nKnowing I hadn't had my daily dose of electrolytes, I picked up some Gatorade Propel -- water with a lemony kick. But just to be safe, I took home a few Aquafina Vitamin C enhanced bottles, and a bottle of Oxy-Water, the beverage with "five to seven times the oxygen content of regular bottled water."\nI needed all of them to restore my wind after a long run to the drug store to pick up some prophylactics. Of course, I always have to make the tough choice between the studded, ribbed, ribbed with spermicide, tuxedo, flavored, colored, x-tra pleasure, love and romance or the classic varieties. Oh, and how could I forget the Contempos?\nIt is almost too stressful, so instead I opted to buy some headache medicine. I found the Tylenol for arthritis, sleeplessness, joint health, colds, sinus, flu, allergy and menstrual pain, but I couldn't seem to find the one for headaches. \nI can't even begin to imagine what it must have been like for my parents, who only had one Tylenol, two options for crust, no choice between digital or analog cell phones, and since I'm here, apparently no condoms.\nWhat kind of choices did they make? It must have been easy living, and the companies must have not been doing much business. After all, if someone had a sleepless, lack of oxygen headache, they ended up simply out of luck.\nI guess they were left with only the primal decisions. What to do, talk about and how to take the time to care for themselves. They didn't have the luxury of a pizza for every hunger, a medicine for every symptom and a condom for every mood. \nThey must have had to learn how to appreciate what they did have.\nWhat would we do without our options? Seemingly, they are there to fill the gaps that for my parents' generation were left empty. \nFor some reason, I feel that my parents were just fine.\nAre we?\nYou know, I'd bet they didn't call out for a pizza either.\nThey probably chose to dine in.
(10/25/02 4:34am)
Apparently the esteemed Shane Enterprises ran aground on Indiana University soil in order to accomplish the unspeakable: to create an adult film.\nOh my heavens! Somebody please fasten your chastity belts, this is going to be a bumpy ride.\nSo why was this front page news two days ago? Well of course, according to the authorities, sex is naughty.\nIU spokesman Bill Stephan noted that if the allegations of the porno stars on campus were true, you would have "a group of adults involved in highly suspect activities."\nHighly suspect? May I ask, where do babies come from? If it weren't for highly suspect activities, you wouldn't have a student body over which to flex your spokesman muscles.\nFurthermore, sex is as much a part of college life as underage drinking. The only difference, for the 18 to 20 year-olds on campus, sex is legal. \nAnd we've always known that sex sells. Just ask Bloomington's famous pizza delivery company, Pizza Express, which is notorious for handing out Lifestyle condoms.\nSo why all the fuss? We all know sex is one of the biggest motivators in our day and age -- pornography then seems only a likely off-shoot. It is a legitimate industry that provides the service that everybody wants, but unfortunately not everyone can get through direct experience. Too often, they have to settle for first hand.\nIU's own Kinsey Institute has been conducting a survey on the use of pornography, and information is available on PBS' Frontline Web site. Of the 10,453 individuals surveyed, only 3 percent admitted to never having used or watched pornography.\nAnd why do people delve into such dirty and unmentionable activities? A few of the top reasons from the survey were: 1) It educates. 2) It offers a harmless outlet for unconventional or other private fantasies. 3) It can even improve relationships.\nSo why then, when commenting on the credibility of Shane Enterprises, does Stephan say, "I think you have to consider the source?"\nIndeed, consider the source. But do it correctly. Instead of the blanket generalization of some demonic temptresses leading innocent college youth into dorm rooms and frat halls with candy-canes and penny-whistles, perhaps we should examine what is actually at stake.\nDoes Stephan know that Shane Enterprises was the first adult film industry to -- as they say in the business -- "go condoms only?" Shane herself says in an interview by "Unchain Underground," another adult Web site, "there are a lot of young people out there that watch porn, which is why I always talk about safe sex, and getting tested for AIDS and using condoms. We always try to talk about good positive things. We're not the company that slaps you on the ass and tells you 'you're a cunt.'"Knowing that kids will always get their hands on pornography (especially in the dorms with that high-speed connection) she at least tries to mitigate some of the misogynistic and unsafe harms that other porno companies may promote.\nI guess the only complaint I feel the University should register would be that pornography halts the educational process. It stunts the imagination. For me, it's too vivid. What ever happened to the days when a picture of Margaret Thatcher in a tight sweater was all a boy needed to do his dirty work? If you ask me, porno just seems to take too many short cuts.\nIU, make love, not war, and let lovers under their covers rest.
(10/18/02 5:16am)
Lately I've been on a wicked Sopranos kick.\n I've never seen the show on TV, so a buddy of mine lent me his DVDs. Consequently, I'm hooked. \nAside from the drama, violence and sex, there's a special aspect of the show that intrigues me and keeps me watching more than any other.\nBig guys kissing each other.\nNow, it's not that I want to see Tony Soprano and Pauli Walnuts in the back of the Bada Bing Club making Christopher a real made man. No, the whacking they do is strictly of the violent nature. Rather, what really makes the show fun for me is the respect and old world politics they adhere to, even though it seems to contradict their tough-guy attitudes.\nTony once told his daughter Meadow, "It may be 1999 out there, but in this house it's 1954." The world of the Sopranos is a world where youngsters don't mouth off to their elders, mothers are cherished -- even under the most extreme of strains -- and no foul language is tolerated at the dinner table.\nThey are miffed when the school psychologist attempts to wash away their son's behavior problems by diagnosing everybody's-favorite-excuse-syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder. And when Tony gets a flat tire and his son suggests calling the auto club, Tony is irate. "We change tires in this house," he says.\nHow do we fall in love with men for whom robbery and murder are their primary sources of income?\nIt seems what we like about these mobsters is their frankness concerning the superciliousness of the suburban-yuppie lives that those of us who actually purchase HBO lead.\nFor the average American, the Sopranos offer a nostalgic glimpse into the past, a respite from what economic sociologist Juliet Schor in her recent book The Overworked American calls "the insidious cycle of work-and-spend."\nWhile we work hard and reap the benefits, we lose focus on paying time and attention to the rank and file of family and to actual manual labor. Rank and file disappears when we're all working for self interest. The new rank and file emerges out of who's worked the most for the most. \nIn regard to labor, we work hard so that we don't have to. As Homer Simpson eloquently put it, "Why can't somebody else do it?" Indeed, for nine out of ten family chores, hired help has emerged out of the woodwork to take care of the messes we don't care to deal with.\nIt's the schools responsibilty to discipline our kids. Auto maintenance belongs to the dealership. Mowing the grass belongs to lawn care companies. Stapling the pizza guy's hand to his car steering wheel because he owes you money now belongs to the Pizzoli Brothers -- well, I guess some things never change.\nYet, is nostalgia the ideal we should strive for? Didn't we progress for a reason?\nThough 1954 had a sense of value and order, didn't it also look the other way when husbands beat their wives? Civil rights was still a dream in the making, and no one in L.A. had any idea what a grandé mocha latté was.\nIn 1954, I couldn't afford to buy or even be privy to owning the Sopranos first season DVD boxed set.\nPerhaps I'll leave Tony on TV and allow the yuppie in me to vicariously purge every Sunday night with the opening theme. \nHe may have "got himself a gun," but I thank God that at least I don't need one.
(10/11/02 5:09am)
Spike, I have to say something. \nI was with you on a couple of the things you said a few nights ago. I was.\nWhen you said, "Among African American youth, there's this peer pressure to belong. To speak common English and get good grades, somehow in this twisted mentality, you're equated as a white boy or girl. Unless you're sitting on the corner smoking a joint, drinking a 40 and scratching your nuts, you're not down," I was nodding my head. Right on.\nMy name's Benitez, and I don't play the bongos or love J-lo. But I still feel closely tied to my culture and heritage. Race is about blood and history, not personality.\nBut Spike, I gotta say, there's a difference between being closely tied to your race and using those ties to hang yourself.\nLet's take your views on "The Green Mile" as a prime example. \n"Now, we're all intelligent. If he could cure Mr. Hanks of a urinary problem, if he had a cure for cancer in the '30s, then why in the hell can't he look at that lock on his cell, use his x-ray vision, melt it, and just book? He can't use those powers on himself," Lee said.\nYou say Duncan portrays the "impotent Negro."\nIf anything is impotent here, its your ability to assess symbolism. The black man in this film wasn't a slave, but a representation of the Christ figure, the healer and innocent bearer of the burdens of the sinful.\nHis inability to set himself free is not a sign of impotence. It was a sign of character. He had been given a gift, a gift that enabled him to carry the weight of the weary. When fortune dealt him a card he couldn't play, the inability to save the lives of two innocent girls who had been raped and beaten to death, he couldn't bear to live. He welcomed his death, as it took from him the intense pain of loss that only one with an absolute love for life could experience. He was exercising the ultimate freedom, the freedom to accept his death willingly. Duncan was vital, life-giving. He was the absolute opposite of impotent. He was regenerative!\nIts that kind of half-hearted reasoning that only perpetuates all of the evils you claim to stand up against.\nWhy is it still us versus them? You mention whips not being funny due to their use during the times of slavery. You know, the Spanish conquistadors came and eradicated entire indigenous civilizations in Latin America with small-pox infested blankets. Does that mean Linus is the reason there are no Hispanic kids in the Peanuts gang?\nYou see, in my opinion, the obstacles to achieving racial unity in this country are two fold. The first is the obvious: The lingering remnants of blatant and subconscious racism of people who still haven't been culturally educated. The second, however, belongs to people like you.\nWhen you go out of your way to separate the races, create conflict and dwell on the events of the past from which many of us are almost completely removed, all you do is marginalize and compartmentalize the individuals.\nBecause that's what we're left with today: individuals. Most of my friends are mixtures of so many races, that when you start pointing fingers and telling them there's somebody to blame, they can't watch your movies because they've poked their own eyes out.\nWhat kind of movie will you make then?\nYou see, you're not an artist. When you say "I think as an artist. I want the body of my work to speak for you," you've missed the point.\nArt doesn't speak for people. It speaks to them. \nOh, and by the way, I hear you were rooting for Maryland.\nYeah, well I use "Summer of Sam" as a toilet seat cover.
(10/04/02 8:30pm)
Are you the next American Idol?" asks the Fox broadcasting Web site, announcing its upcoming auditions for the show's second season. \nI think we should take them seriously.\nAfter all, who do we look toward today to inspire us but our idols? Music, movies, talk show hosts? Is there anything short of 15 cent drafts that excites us beyond words? But what happened to that great orator or poet who called us to better ourselves from the inside out?\nHenry David Thoreau's brand of civil disobedience instilled a desire to act, to be representative men in the likes of Martin Luther King and Gandhi. Can our generation claim such a powerful stirrer of men's souls? \nWe've had some great men too, right? So, they had civil rights -- we have the Foreman Grill. Progress.\nIn asking around, "Who do you think inspires people to change, to better themselves?" A few replies pointed toward an infamous mustached man -- Dr. Phil McGraw.\nIs this what has become of inspiration? Oprah Winfrey calls him, "a walking, talking in-your-face reality check." But is the Dr. Phil brand of re-awakening of the same caliber as Walt Whitman's? \n"You're either going to get real about fat, or you're going to get real fat," pronounces Dr. Phil. \nAh, my soul is cleansed. \nOr what about one of Phil's more existential analogies?\n"I'd line them up like crows on a clothesline, just-just-just set them up there and just hold forth right here," he decrees.\nIndeed Dr. Phil, indeed.\nAside from being completely ignorant of whatever old-time proverb he was referencing in the latter statement, his first comment particularly infuriates me.\nIs that how to invigorate the soul of one seeking guidance? "Get real" seems to be a polite way of saying "get over it," which I don't think many people are prepared or necessarily have to do. \nSince when was inspiration a demand? If I want to change, I want to agree, be convinced and develop a desire of my own -- not be muscled into it by some guy who's stylist apparently thinks the Gallagher look is in.\nInstead, I offer the Whitman approach.\n"I celebrate myself."\nWhy "get real about fat" when you can see a body where "not an inch nor a particle of an inch is vile."\nA light in the dark, and it does not arise from a boot camp. Instead, the words of a funny working-class man serve as a beacon of optimism.\nWhere in our generation do we attempt to find inspiration in the positive? If it isn't Phil's cynical realism aiding us, it is only the dramatic tales of the downtrodden or wasted youth that give us courage. \nWhy do we have to wait for a loved one to contract cancer or fall victim to a drunk driver before they can instill us with hope? Why can't those individuals do so now, and today? \nIt seems we are a generation of masochists, searching for inspiration in bullies and nightmares.\nIf our higher aspirations rise from these murky waters, I sometimes wonder why we're surprised when our kids sink to lows deeper than conceived possible.\nWhat we need is a true American Idol.\nThis contest will be judged every day, and the only people who get voted off are those who quit and would rather be handed their reality check on daytime TV than seek it out for themselves, in nature or the greater works of those loved ones around us, simply living.\n"Are you the next American Idol?"\nLet's certainly hope so.
(09/27/02 4:57am)
Are you afraid of the dark?\nSubmitted for your approval by the midnight society. Violent, brash, uncaring…. and hilarious.\nI'm sure we've all seen the Mike's Hard Lemonade commercials with the invading alien hordes kidnapping some poor sap's girlfriend, or the newest Verizon Wireless commercial with the randomly attacking ferret, tossed out into the street from a high-rise building. \nThat's funny to me. Dark comedy the likes of Death to Smoochy, regardless of what the anal tubby Eberts of the world may say, hits the mark. Whacking kids-show mascots like the purple rhino or the giant orange whale on the juicy fruit ads, is therapeutic and gratifying. It's Un-P.C., no limits, out of nowhere and most likely, your parents just don't get it.\nAnd contrary to what the stiff necks might say, this new extreme humor is not some Jackass evolution or mindless slapstick. Director of Comparative Media Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Henry Jenkins, said that the humor of no allies, where every minority and small animal are suspect to mockery, is a new rebel yell for our generation.\n"We have a generation now that equates political incorrectness with a release from constraint," Mr. Jenkins said. "Violence becomes a source of comedy for this generation because they know that violence will be shocking to their parents, teachers or other authority figures. What's funny to them is what trounces authority."\nFor years, the young have found a way to leave their elders behind. The bulk of their efforts was made possible by rock and roll. Unfortunately today, parents are ex-hippies gone corporate and they want to be cool too. So, what's a young rebel to do?\nThrow a ferret out a window, that's what.\nBut they're cute? That's just plain violent and silly. I'm smarter than that. \nThose people exist, there are quite a few of them. Many would like to believe they are above such humor. They pass it off as some slapstick with no merit beyond the shock. \nThe joke's on them.\nFor this kind of humor to work, it must have its grounding in a higher idea, an intellectual admiration of the absurd. Surely, no one espouses random acts of critter crippling, but if you can recognize how inappropriate such insensitivity is, you're probably one of the last people who'd commit such an act. \nThis is not to say that all violent comedy is funny. If it's done poorly, it fails. My last column proves that there is bad satire, and if you bothered to see "Serving Sara," you know there is bad situational comedy as well. The merits ride on the creative ability of the comedian, be him stand-up or advertising executive.\n"It has to be rooted in human insight or it runs the risk of being gratuitous. Slapstick goes right only when it's a cathartic expression," said Eric Hirshberg, managing partner and creative director for the Deutsch L. A. advertising agency. \nAll great comedy definitely takes risks, but the payoff is worth it. Andy Kaufman, Richard Pryor, Sam Kinnison, Tenacious D and Chris Rock all push the shock envelope. Violent and scathing, we laugh anyway. For every geezer who misses the point, ten jaded college students are convulsing with laughter.\nSo indulge yourself. Tell the latest dead baby or Christopher Reeve joke you know to someone in class. It may be insensitive, but at least it's not lame.
(09/26/02 4:53am)
With the rise of several retro-punk bands recently, many critics have come to adopt the slogans "rock still lives" and "the return of rock." \nI think that Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer, Brad Whitford, Joe Perry and Steven Tyler would have a few qualms with those statements. They haven't left or even begun to slow down. Aerosmith hit the Verizon Music Center in full force Sunday. \nAerosmith is no ordinary band and neither was its opening act. Hip-hop pioneers Run D.M.C. along with rock legends Cheap Trick warmed up the crowd. These two performing giants left the already-primed crowd boiling. \nOpening with the hit that most Aerosmith fans would be familiar with, Run D.M.C. dropped "Walk this Way" much to the fans' delight. Calling out for a "hey" and a "scream" in between songs kept the anxious rockers entertained as they unexpectedly fell into the old-school grooves of "Mary Mary" and "It's Tricky." The rap trio performed a short set but, as expected, they would come back. \nCheap Trick took the stage to transition the crowd from dancing to head banging as they dolled out "I Want You To Want Me," "The Dream Police," and power ballad "The Flame." Cheap Trick was solid rock, but lacked in common ground, until the band played "That 70's Song," the theme from Fox's "That 70's Show." \nSuddenly, this band was cool. The band closed its set with "Surrender," as Rick Nielsen pulled out his infamous five-necked guitar and Steven Tyler came out to punch out the last few choruses with Trick's Robin Zander and the multitude of harmonizers in the stands.\nThen, there was Aerosmith.\nThe band's set list and performance style provided the greatest testament to why Aerosmith is America's quintessential rock band. The band played the classics for long-time fans, the hits for radio listeners and its most recent tracks to show that Aerosmith is still growing and looking ahead.\nThe show started with the title track from Toys in the Attic. Old and still sexy, Tyler vamped up and down the stage with "Dude Looks Like A Lady," buddying up with his instrumentalists for vocal unions on "Sweet Emotion" and bantered with the crowd as if it was full of his high school pals. Song after song, the audience seemed to know every word by heart. Aerosmith's two and a half hour show was not about picking the hits and filling the gaps. It was about finding which hits not to play.\nOne of the highlights was when the band's trekked out into the middle of the lawn to play a few numbers, including the timeless "My Big Ten Inch" and "Livin' on the Edge." Shortly after, the band dared to revamp "Pink" in the style of swinging blues, but returned to the original version after one verse.\nThe band closed out the show after an encore with Run D.M.C. for "Walk this Way." If what Steven Tyler said was true, that the Indiana performance of the song was the last one, it was a treat and a great way to close the show.\nThere is no "return of rock," because Aerosmith has been and is continuing to serve as the working definition of rock and roll. Aerosmith is back in the saddle again and will be for a little while longer.
(09/26/02 4:00am)
With the rise of several retro-punk bands recently, many critics have come to adopt the slogans "rock still lives" and "the return of rock." \nI think that Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer, Brad Whitford, Joe Perry and Steven Tyler would have a few qualms with those statements. They haven't left or even begun to slow down. Aerosmith hit the Verizon Music Center in full force Sunday. \nAerosmith is no ordinary band and neither was its opening act. Hip-hop pioneers Run D.M.C. along with rock legends Cheap Trick warmed up the crowd. These two performing giants left the already-primed crowd boiling. \nOpening with the hit that most Aerosmith fans would be familiar with, Run D.M.C. dropped "Walk this Way" much to the fans' delight. Calling out for a "hey" and a "scream" in between songs kept the anxious rockers entertained as they unexpectedly fell into the old-school grooves of "Mary Mary" and "It's Tricky." The rap trio performed a short set but, as expected, they would come back. \nCheap Trick took the stage to transition the crowd from dancing to head banging as they dolled out "I Want You To Want Me," "The Dream Police," and power ballad "The Flame." Cheap Trick was solid rock, but lacked in common ground, until the band played "That 70's Song," the theme from Fox's "That 70's Show." \nSuddenly, this band was cool. The band closed its set with "Surrender," as Rick Nielsen pulled out his infamous five-necked guitar and Steven Tyler came out to punch out the last few choruses with Trick's Robin Zander and the multitude of harmonizers in the stands.\nThen, there was Aerosmith.\nThe band's set list and performance style provided the greatest testament to why Aerosmith is America's quintessential rock band. The band played the classics for long-time fans, the hits for radio listeners and its most recent tracks to show that Aerosmith is still growing and looking ahead.\nThe show started with the title track from Toys in the Attic. Old and still sexy, Tyler vamped up and down the stage with "Dude Looks Like A Lady," buddying up with his instrumentalists for vocal unions on "Sweet Emotion" and bantered with the crowd as if it was full of his high school pals. Song after song, the audience seemed to know every word by heart. Aerosmith's two and a half hour show was not about picking the hits and filling the gaps. It was about finding which hits not to play.\nOne of the highlights was when the band's trekked out into the middle of the lawn to play a few numbers, including the timeless "My Big Ten Inch" and "Livin' on the Edge." Shortly after, the band dared to revamp "Pink" in the style of swinging blues, but returned to the original version after one verse.\nThe band closed out the show after an encore with Run D.M.C. for "Walk this Way." If what Steven Tyler said was true, that the Indiana performance of the song was the last one, it was a treat and a great way to close the show.\nThere is no "return of rock," because Aerosmith has been and is continuing to serve as the working definition of rock and roll. Aerosmith is back in the saddle again and will be for a little while longer.
(09/25/02 5:43pm)
Outside Woodburn Hall, for the second day in a row, evangelist Jim Gilles preached on his salvation at a Van Halen concert and his views on homosexuality and women to a growing crowd of students walking to and from class. Around him evolved a scene that put the IU administration on edge, and freedom of speech to a short lived test. \nAfter a dialogue of shouting, Bible verse and attempting to answer the challenges put to him by the students, Director of the Student Activities Office Jim Gibson, his assistant Tim Haskel and IU Police Department officer Deborah Delay approached Gilles with a manila envelope. \nGibson offered Gilles a copy of the University's "Campus Demonstrations, Picketing and Assembly Ground policy" which indicates that one may demonstrate on campus provided they do not "interfere with teaching, research, administration or other University-authorized activity." \nHaskel said this clause was the "peg under which we operated" when the noise produced by the crowd of nearly 100 students prompted a call to the IU Police Department at 12:46 p.m.\n"The caller reported a large crowd and was worried that the preacher might get attacked due to what he was saying," said IUPD Sgt. Tim Lewis. \nGibson said he then received the call to investigate.\nGilles is no stranger to run-ins with university administrators. He is currently in settlement disputes with the University of North Carolina-Greensboro after similar events led to his six-month trespass ban from the grounds, Gilles said. He did not favor Gibson's offer to allow him to continue preaching in Dunn Meadow. \n"I don't believe that birds and squirrels can be saved," Gilles later said, noting the absence of student activity in the area offered for him to preach.\nGibson then left Gilles to digest what had passed between them, which was followed by a brief and less-energized student-Gilles exchange. Gilles claimed that he shouldn't have to vacate the area because of the word "student" in the drawing of the regulations, and to him, the policy therefore did not apply. \nGibson then approached Gilles a second time, and both parties left for Franklin Hall to meet together with Dean of Students Richard McKaig. As they left, a contingent of some 10 students followed, demanding to know under what grounds Gilles was being taken from his preaching area. \nAs the meeting with Gilles took place, Associate Dean of Students Damon Sims held a conference with the curious followers in hopes of explaining the University's stance on the issue of free speech on campus grounds. \n"This has become an issue through the years because it (the area by Woodburn Hall) has become a popular place for ministers to gather and students who have something contrary to say," Sims said.\nSims said in addition to the issue of interfering with University proceedings, "public safety" was taking precedence, and that was the reason for the IUPD's involvement. \n"This is a place where the First Amendment ought to breathe. We try to operate with as wide of restrictions as possible," Sims said. Due to the number of students who were present and the report from the police, Sims said, "we ended up with a scene that invites more things to happen."\nThe claim was that the move to Dunn Meadow would alleviate those concerns.\n"One hundred people in Dunn Meadow is not a problem," Sims said.\nThe students in the meeting didn't approve of the move, maintaining that there was no audience for Gilles at Dunn Meadow.\n"We're not obligated to provide the best possible venue; we're obligated to provide a venue," Sims replied.\nSimilar reservations were expressed in the meeting with Gilles, as evidenced by the tape recording Gilles made. In fact, he said he tape recorded and videotaped his entire proceedings outside of Woodburn.\n"You have to carry a camera for situations like this. If you don't defend it (free speech), you lose it," Gilles said. \nConcerning the notion that the move to Dunn Meadow was in the promotion of his safety, Gilles said he was not convinced. \n"I have been coming to IU since 1982, and I have never feared for my safety," he said. \nRegardless of the outcome and his eventual relocation to Dunn Meadow, Gilles remained optimistic. \n"I was drawing a great crowd," he said. "Today was fun"
(09/20/02 4:30am)
I've seen the best and most promising of diet plans of my generation destroyed by madness. Hysterically they bounced from option to option, never reaching that stage in which any of us would want to see them naked.\nUntil, my roommate entered my life. \nNow, Jeff Clawson does not only share my rent, but he presides as my dietary guru, preaching a new way, as it were -- a hope for weight-loss conscious souls everywhere.\nHenry David Thoreau was wrong when he urged us to live simply -- especially if we expected to lose weight. Oh, no. Ivory tower anti-materialism is not the true shining path. \nInstead, I offer the Clawson way: Take the money you spend on food, and use it to buy things you like.\nSome of you may find this approach shallow, sacrificing your vital, everyday needs for DVDs and video games. I contend just the opposite. It is the very antithesis of vanity. \nIndeed, I believe that an intelligista's shunning of the sunshine of man's multitudinous wonders and consumer products far surpasses the materialist in a lack of depth. Yet, this new way recently given to me has enabled me to become one with nature, fully appreciative of life's caverns of experience and information, and still respect and enjoy flavored toothpaste, cellular phones and track lighting.\nI have found a balance between the body and its environment. I'm down to a 30-inch waist and have money left over to buy cigarettes. \n Adversaries of the new way tell you that such a lifestyle will only further separate humans from their respective spiritual realms. Again, this is nothing but an utter falsehood. While one who saunters in the fields may feel he communicates with the great ghosts of the land, I have so finely tuned my relationship with the Creator, I can keep him on hold while I instant message my broker. \nThe simpleton living by the pond lacks the discipline I control. While he finds truth in nature by shunning the material world, I find truth in both nature and the material world. A balance is reached, a life of moderation is achieved. I assume the advantages of both lifestyles, all while never having to suck in my gut at the pool.\nI say, heed Clawson's advise. Delight in the many trinkets that civilization has to offer. Do not turn away from the corporate machine like the black patch on your book bag tells you to -- fight the desire. It will only cause you to indulge in food, warmth and the other daily essentials which make the body lazy and unfit.\nLet the scholar live in the woods, I say. There, with his ax and brute neighbors, he will die alone. I, on the other hand, will take to the woods with my modem. I will contact my human neighbors and we will swim in the pond together. There, we will take underwater photos, scan them and send them to relatives in arid lands. We will then fall asleep under the moonlight and starry dynamo while listening to the smooth sounds of Tony Bennett on my Sony stereo.
(09/13/02 4:57am)
You are not special.\nI am not special; we are not special. There is not a privileged person among us. \nI think that on one level, I have stated nothing new. Our biological similarities are pretty much well-worn territory. Comedic philosopher Bill Hicks perhaps made the best example of the insignificance of our humble beginnings when he noted, "I have wiped civilizations off of my chest with an old gym sock." \nYet, I am not referring to the cliché fact that if you prick us, we all bleed. No, not at all.\nWhat I find as a new source of human oneness is the exact facet of our lives by which we define our uniqueness: Our stories and our feelings.\nThey say that every person is an individual with emotions and reactions to daily life unlike any other. And this I find to be very true. \nBut when everyone is particular and special, where's the importance in being one-of-a-kind?\nThat's why snowflakes aren't collectors items. When everyone is rare, being an individual loses its market value.\nThis is not to be taken negatively, though. It is no reason to cease to aspire for singularity amongst the masses. \nTry to be you, but take it easy when I'm being me at the same time. How many times has a suggestion or clash of thoughts led to the phrase, "You couldn't possibly understand." It is perhaps the most repugnant of human utterances of the modern era. \nYes, we can understand. Two people don't have to live the exact same life dramas to comprehend disappointment or pain.\nThe new age exercises and rabble we preach to our kids about how it's "okay to feel certain ways" has developed a moral arrogance in almost every individual I know, myself included. Suddenly, disagreements and differences of opinion are the mortar shells of the four room co-op.\nThe newest generation of adults and children may have better health. They may live longer and have the technology to fight countless diseases and environmental threats. But when an emotional mosquito comes flying in, we're down for the count.\nJust once, I'd like to witness a heated argument and have there be a victor. Isn't that how it used to be? What's wrong with winners and losers? They've existed for centuries.\nNot in today's America, where every child is supposed to win and every idea is regarded as valid. After all, who is anybody to tell somebody else that they are wrong?\nInstead, when two verbal combatants take the stage, and one is threatened by a forceful notion, the defense springs into action. Suddenly, the argument disappears and the fight reverts into whether or not someone's particular and special desires, wishes, whims and proclivities can be challenged in the first place. "I deserve to have an opinion."\nYou're right. And sometimes it's a bad one. \nRemember, the Boston Strangler had his opinions too.\nIf one doesn't like this idea, go ahead and tell me. We'll discuss it. It may get heavy, but hopefully something will emerge or at least someone will be beaten into submission.\nBut if I'm wrong? What if my approach to differences is archaic and shouldn't be used in today's society? Well, I guess you're out of luck.\n"Because every little boy and girl is special. You couldn't possibly understand, and I deserve to have an opinion"
(08/30/02 4:33am)
The captain on the last flight I took told all the passengers that he hopes he'll see us all again on our next ATA vacation.\nI didn't even know what color pants he was wearing.\nWhen did he see me, and why does he want to see me again? I wasn't particularly charming. I didn't compliment the smoothness of the craft's movements, or the way he used but a word to charm me out of my cooped-up rage after the 30 minute taxi-delay.\nPersonally, I think he was too forgiving.\nIn these days of flight anxiety, I want a captain who makes his judgments about the passengers onboard only after thorough investigation and contemplation.\nIf he hopes to see us again -- the passengers who don't know his name, those who threw up on the drink cart, made love in the restroom clearly built for one, and those who kept their CD players on during takeoff; how would he also hope to see a violent man whose intentions would be far worse than disobeying the fasten seatbelt sign?\nThe captain knew nothing of the character of his human cargo that evening. \nWhen we took off, I had my seatback reclined -- all the way.\nNow, some may scoff at my reservations about the captain's parting words that stated he'd hope to meet "us" on another flight. \n"He was following procedure, he didn't mean it," they might say.\nWell, why say it then?\nSurely, my fellow passengers and I didn't expect to become such good friends with the captain -- we didn't expect him to look forward to our next flight. We didn't care. Our only expectation was for him to put the plane down safely in the same city as our luggage.\nHis sincerity was manufactured. A corporate mandate of synthetic courtesy.\nThe illusion of friendliness that professional announcement laborers are forced to doll out to their consumers is not productive. It doesn't sell me tickets or bring me cheer.\nWatching some unfortunate, acne laden high school student at McDonald's tell me that fries are 99 cents, but "smiles are free," doesn't make me crave the Super Size. Listening to jaded theatre employees mumble "enjoy your show" with that true overflow of emotion doesn't make me feel as if I had a buddy there behind the counter who really cares. \nThey look trapped, their eyes sad and lifeless. I get the same feeling listening to them as I do visiting the pet store in the mall and seeing all those cute puppies bouncing off their plastic cubbyholes, waiting only for the sale which will bring them freedom.\nAnd as for flair. Don't even get me started.\nThe truth is, it's their job to say these things. That's the only reason why they do it. However, contrary to what the public might think, I believe the true rationale may not simply be to turn another buck. \nWhat it accomplishes seems to run far deeper. It subtly solidifies the reality of all our situations, consumer and laborer alike. \nThere is a truth behind what the captain says when he wishes to "see us again," but it isn't anything found in the words themselves. Only by looking between the "It's been a pleasure serving you's" and the "Thank you for choosing's" can we see what's really being said to us all. \n"Hey. We own you remember? So dance monkey, dance"
(08/05/02 4:37am)
Don't worry, it is not necessary to know all of the names of the crew members from "Battlestar Galactica" to continue reading. The knowledge of how Wolverine acquired his adamantium claws need not accessed here, nor does one need to know what adamantium is in the first place to appreciate what is to come. \nOn campus, there can be found a glimpse into the medium's history, while off campus the industry faces challenges and new avenues of evolution.\nFrom now until Sept. 8 in the main gallery and lounge of the Lily Library, a history of comics and cartoons is available to the public, free of charge. Arranged by curator Michael Cagel, this walk through the very beginnings of cartooning to its present day status can be viewed during the museum's open hours. \nThe exhibit's breadth provides historical pieces such as one of the first comic books in the United States, the 1906 hit "The Katenjammer Kids." Original printings of pulp classics, and pre-printed first-hand sketches of such famous works as "Felix the Cat," "The Amazing Spiderman" and the late Charles M. Shultz's "Peanuts" are all on display. \nFor the historically inclined, there are the war cartoons of Bill Maudlin. For the superhero fanatics, a proud original first print of Jack Kirby's "Fantastic Four No. 1" is on display. The span of genres puts the irreverent Harley Kurtzman's "Mad Magazine" along side of 18th century political cartoons. Even the risqué is on hand, as Jack Cole's illustrations can be viewed. Cole was the inventor of "Plastic Man," and thus appropriately went on to create cartoons for Playboy. \nLily Library docent Johnnie Brantley said the legitimacy of comics as an art form and medium for the exchange of ideas truly emerges when viewed out of their historical settings and in comparison to their ancestors and predecessors. \n"Comics were socio/politico references to the times," Brantley said. "They change with the ages."\nThe popular female comic character "Blondie" can be seen evolving from her subordinate and domestic role in the 1950s to a more independent woman of the new century. And the evolution of the media itself is on display; from comics as inserts in textbooks, to bound editions of separate images, to the sequential story telling medium that we know today.\nThe exhibit proves that comics are not all fun and games. The wacky antics of "Dennis the Menace" led to the estrangement of artist Hank Ketcham from his son, on whom the comic was loosely based. And our nation's darkest hours are seen through the blatant racism in the 1937 comic "Doodlebug," showing what the masses accepted as an appropriate depiction of African Americans at that time. \nStill, comics do not exist solely in the past. Superheroes and Sunday strips have only taken the industry so far. Today, new forms are emerging that are capturing audiences and transcending venues. \nBorders Books and Music's resident comic expert Jaz Williams points out that the comic industry is at a "sink or swim" nexus in its life-time. He said the traditional domination since the 1950s of muscle-powered crusaders has only been able to progress to a point. New alternative story lines and companies are emerging that offer a new take on how comics are viewed and operate in today's society. \n"There is an old-school-boy's-club mentality about superhero fans, and it's hurting the industry," Williams said. "Mainstream comics alienate females and the very young."\nWilliams, who leads a comic discussion group every second Monday of the month at 7:30 p.m. at Borders, said surprising sellers are newer Japanese titles and more real-life oriented material found in such recent successes as "The Smartest Kid on Earth" and the recently adapted to film "Ghost World."\nIn fact, these reality-based comics have Hollywood's ear listening closely. "From Hell" and recent blockbuster "Road to Perdition" were both adapted from alternative comics.\nYet, the big budgets and press are still going to the established powerhouses such as The Hulk, Daredevil and the X-Men, who will star in more movies in the next few years. \nA similar dilemma faces the artists of the newspaper strips. The old faces from comic days' past appear to be losing their clout. Dan Killeen, former IDS cartoonist currently searching for syndication of his work in New York, said for the last six or seven years, the comic strip industry has been "quiet."\nKilleen, whose IDS credit includes the popular series "College," currently produces a strip entitled "The Life of Steve" through his Web site at www.dankilleen.com. \n"Of course we'll always be dominated by the standards like 'Dick Tracy,'" Killeen said. "But there's a place for newer stuff. I'm hoping to be a part of something like the grunge revival of music in the early 90s. It's time for something new."\n
(08/01/02 1:15am)
Upon purchasing Girls Gone Wild: Gone Wild on Campus, I expected to see some familiar faces. I was prepared for good times, and of course, some going wild.\nBut what I received was appalling.\nFirst and foremost, the girls on the video were only truly going wild for a small portion of the tape. The majority of the time was filled with clips of girls hesitantly thinking about going wild, girls going silly and girls teetering on the verge of going crazy. "Wild" would not be the word I'd use to describe any of the "going" whatsoever.\nStill, my outlook remained positive. I couldn't bear to think that the good people over at the GGW studios had intended to swindle me of my honest money without providing the service they'd offered.\nHow green I found myself to be.\nIt was last night that my faith in the voyeur porn industry surrendered to that which splinters the faith of all good believers everywhere: facts.\nI was watching a promotional commercial for the product late on TV that included some of the less shocking moments shown on the tape -- a backstage tour, so to speak. And to my surprise, I discovered that the natural and candid portrayal of the girls at least heading toward the vicinity of wild was a complete and utter hoax.\nThese girls were not going wild of their own free will. They were not precocious nymphets frolicking under the street lamps of Bourbon Street for their own enjoyment. These were girls participating in a barter economy!\nWhen it came to the choice between going wild and carrying on with their evening as they would any other, the GGW staff would bribe these innocents with beads and souvenir t-shirts. Obviously wild was the option chosen! Many of these girls lacked shirts to begin with, and the offer of fresh new GGW gear would be too much for even this columnist to resist.\nIt was then that my investigation began. Not only had the girls received graft for their actions, but ringers were brought in as well. Several professional wild girls were thrown into the mix by the studio to influence the more impressionable novices in the crowds.\nWhat I put before you today is this: What effect will this have on the going wild here on campus and in our hometowns?\nIt seems yet again, the industrial giant's force has muscled the local competition out of the running, merely for the production of some mass produced, mediocre quality product.\nIn the days of home-grown voyeur videos, girls would go wild on a fancy. The natural methods of alcohol and Al Greene would conjure up the spirits of wild in our co-workers and neighbors at office parties and wedding receptions, and it could all be captured by our own personal Polaroid or handheld digital cameras -- without additional shipping and handling costs.\nBut now, without the riches of the industrial behemoths, the survival rates for local wild actions, and even zany antics, has plummeted. \nSo I urge you good citizens, to shun the money mongers of GGW. For your excitements of the flesh, go to your local butcher shop and view the only meat that should be treated as such. And if you choose to go wild, take Polonius' advice and be true to yourself. Make sure you're going wild for the right reasons. Don't be a sell-out.\nDo it because you are wild. \nBe you.
(07/29/02 3:44am)
In from the hot Saturday sun, the cool sounds of the East were inviting many to venture into the Buskirk-Chumley for an afternoon of culture, music and unity.\nThe Central Eurasian Concert and Art Exhibit set up shop in the early afternoon and closed down at 6 p.m. Throughout the day, the audience was delighted by dancers, storytellers, painters and singers.\nFrom its onset, the performances were to guide the viewers on a journey through the Silk Road, the traveling route for traders made famous by Marco Polo in the 13th century. \nWe started in 100 B.C., in cold Siberian Northern China with the folk songs of James Ming-Yang. With his Er-Hu, an eastern instrument that represented a cross between a lute and a violin, Yang played his lonesome songs amidst a stage of empty chairs and unmanned instruments, soon to be played by the other performers. Yang's one-man instrumentation was truly captivating.\nNext were the more upbeat vocal stylings of Talant Mawkhanuli. His bright traditional Kazakh garb brought a new life and ease to his act.\nRenowned Mongolian dancer Gegen Tana Hangen was the highlight of the first act. Her grace sent her floating across the stage. With her robe flowing beyond the sight of her feet, her movement seemed to be that of spirits. Her arms wafting in the air at once resembling a butterfly, then a bird and then a river.\nPerformances by Waheed Mardan, a vocalist from Afghanistan, and Jon Liechty, a pianist and composer from China, followed Hangen.\nRegardless of rhythm and the happy themes employed by the music of this area, these artforms were also telling tales of suffering. The concert was given to stress an optimistic yearning for peace and love, yet this traditional and regional music proved that art is truly a reflection of the artists' environment. \nUnderneath every note and bang of the drum, was a slow and subtle weariness. The songs carried with them their nation' fatigue with war, conflict and strife. Yet, the most beautiful and heart-wrenching aspects of it all involved that constant attempt to expel the struggle with song and love.\nBefore the second act, a performance by the Sabá Ensemble, the words of poet Jalal-ad-din Rumi were read. They truly typified the intentions of the event. \nIt read, "My religion is love, and my nationality is the nation of man."\nThese notions fueled the members of the ensemble, each members of the ECHO world music institute, a newly formed Bloomington-based organization whose goal is to provide opportunities for the study of traditional music and dance from the diversity of world's cultures.\nThe work of the four-member ensemble certainly lived up to its organization's desires. Its blend was of one voice and one instrument. The crowd was certainly pleased, clapping along as the musical climax approached.\nAlthough the songs performed were all sung in their original language, no themes were lost on the audience. In addition to the power of music to supercede language barriers, a helping hand was offered in the back of the program. Translations were provided for the songs so that the whole experienced could be relished by all.\nIt was an afternoon of cultural education and enlightenment. The event hopes to continue to be an annual occurrence. It will certainly be one to be watching for and reserving room for on the calender.
(07/29/02 3:25am)
The National Park Service and the IU Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands are working together to provide training for new park service employees. \nStephen Wolter, director of the Eppley Institute that is a part of the IU School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, spoke of the rarity of this particular collaboration of efforts.\n"There are few, if any, other programs in the nation that allow for this level of cooperation and experience between a major university and a federal land management agency," Wolter said.\nShayne Galloway, a doctoral candidate in recreation from HPER, and Amy Lorek, a facilitator and educational designer from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, were chosen for the one-year appointments into the program after a nationwide search. They will be trained as new park service employees at two locations by visiting lecturers from Eppley.\nGalloway said his expectations for his new position are high.\n"The appointment is certainly an honor," he said. "It's an exciting project where I'll be able to teach some fundamental courses. We know what we're going do, but we don't know how it will all unfold."\nEach will spend six months at National Park Service training centers in Grand Canyon, Ariz., and Harpers Ferry, W.Va. There, they will develop and provide training programs for an estimated 900 new park service employees. These programs will cover topics ranging from the values and traditions of the park programs, national resource management, cultural and heritage resource stewardship, visitor protection in national parks and public use. \nWolter said the undertaking has many advantages.\n"We believe this program is a positive experience for both our institute and the Park service, because it gives the Park service an opportunity to enhance the education of new employees while improving training delivery and content," Wolter said. "It also provides our graduate and doctoral students with excellent field work experience."\nGalloway agreed, noting that as a future faculty member, the ability to have field work experience while constructing an academic itinerary was crucial in the development of solid university programs. \nIn addition, he has hopes for how these classes will benefit students' transcripts.\n"In a couple of years from now, perhaps the students will get credit from their universities for these courses," Galloway said.\nThis program will set course in early August under the funding of a recent $3.5 million training program that has been approved by Congress. In addition, the IU Institute received $500,000 in training funds from the Park Service earlier this year.\nEppley personnel have worked with the Park Service in recent years on a variety of training and development programs. Just last year, the Institute received the highest honor for training and excellence that can be presented by the National Park Service.\nThe Eppley Institute's mission statement reads, "Our mission is to encourage quality recreational and educational experiences for people through support of agencies and organizations that conserve, protect and manage natural and cultural resources"
