IU pumped for Homecoming events

If home is where the heart is, campus community members should not feel surprised by the IU alumni traveling to Bloomington this weekend for the 2004 "Legend of Old IU" Homecoming festivities.\nAlumni, students, faculty, guests and Bloomington residents can expect time for meaningful family functioning, spectacular floating fortresses of fun and a fall football frolic with the Minnesota Gophers. \nCynthia Schultz, senior director of communications for the IU Alumni Association, said the concept of an IU Homecoming is similar to what most students experienced at their high schools -- graduates returning to the University.\n"Students are involved in Homecoming; they are running the show," Schultz said. "Go to the parade; go to the luncheon; go to the game; and go see the Four Tops at the Auditorium. It's a festive weekend, a big deal. It's going to be awesome."\nIU's annual homecoming celebration lifted off Thursday evening with the "Yell Like Hell" competition, sponsored by the Student Alumni Association. To "Yell Like Hell," student groups and other participants prepared three-minute performances following scripts of skits, dance routines, musical numbers and lip-syncing.\nFor campus community members with an eye for moving spectacles decorated in crimson and cream colors in Indiana themes, the 46th annual homecoming parade begins at 5:30 p.m. today on Rose Avenue next to Willkie Quad between Third and Seventh streets. The parade route coils campus community members along East Third Street to Indiana Avenue and concludes at the Sample Gates at the corner of Indiana Avenue and Fifth Street for a Homecoming pep rally.\nIU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger said the general safety and security of Homecoming events will function similar to most athletic and cultural events on the campus community. \n"We've had this same type of weekend before. We know pretty much what to expect based on what we have seen historically," Minger said. "The only trouble we usually end up with is people walking into traffic, pedestrians and cars not aware of each other. If everyone is conscious of their surroundings, we don't expect any problems."\nHomecoming parade vehicles will begin congregating at 3:30 p.m. on Rose Avenue and all vehicles will join the parade formation at 4:45 p.m. The campus community can expect the IUPD's "traffic pattern" to go into effect at approximately 5:15 p.m, according to an IUPD statement. The parade will conclude before 6:30 p.m.\nPresident Adam Herbert will join IU Football Coach Gerry DiNardo, IU football team captains, cheerleaders, alumnae RedSteppers and the Marching Hundred alumni band for a pep rally at the Sample Gates. Campus community members can also enjoy the Big-Red Warm Up, a free two-hour open house at the Virgil T. DeVault Alumni Center offering free beverages and snack foods. \nFor those with spending cash in their wallets and an empty belly to fill, the 17th annual Homecoming lunch will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Gladstein Fieldhouse, east of Assembly Hall. Surprise celebrity alumni guests will feast with anyone willing to purchase a ticket for brunch with fellow IU alumni, students, faculty and supporters. Tickets cost $12 for adults and $6 for those 12 and under.\n"Both the parade and the pep rally will be awesome," Schultz said. "Get dressed up, stake out a spot down along the parade route and have fun. Just show up and start shaking hands."\n-- Contact staff writer David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.