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(02/03/05 5:21am)
Students in suits roaming the halls of the Kelley School of Business are a familiar sight -- particularly during the fall recruiting season when companies from all over the country come to interview IU students looking for full-time employment after graduation. \nIn the past, students had to contend with a difficult job market, facing stiff competition for interviews and placement. That sluggish job market is no more, said Mark Brostoff, associate director of Undergraduate Career Services at the business school. \n"We are currently seeing an increase in hiring in all majors," he said. "We have also seen a current increase in new hire's salaries. Last year the average salary of new graduates from IU was $42,231; this year, the currently reported average salary has increased to $46,223."\nThe recent upturn in the economy coupled with a rosier outlook for the next year have contributed to the increase in hiring of recent college graduates.\nTo assist IU business students with their interview process, the Undergraduate Career Services Office has a full range of services such as helping them find a job when they graduate and providing seniors with the opportunity to interview with hundreds of companies that have recruiting relationships with IU.\n"We work with recruiters and have a constant contact," Brostoff said. "We do a lot to build relationships. Over 300 companies interview students on campus, and an additional 400 to 500 companies post positions on our job postings Web site." \nAmong the companies with recruiting relationships with IU are widely recognized names in manufacturing, financial services, consumer products and consulting. From Ford Motor Company, General Electric and other Fortune 500 companies to major accounting firms, students have a wide variety of companies with which to interview. The UCSO has also built relationships with investment banks and other highly sought after companies to work for. \nStudents whom the UCSO helps to employ do not let these services go unappreciated.\n"I was thrilled and surprised with the quality and quantity of companies recruiting at Kelley," said senior Camille Constantin. "I interviewed with almost 40 highly regarded companies this year and was so impressed with the UCSO's efforts to recruit the best from around the country."\nStudents are not the only ones who leave the UCSO impressed, Brostoff said. Recruiters continue to return because of the caliber of students.\n"IU has a large, highly regarded talent pool," said Brostoff. "Our students are rated quite high with preparation for interviews and work experience, and the success of past students at the companies has made them eager to recruit at IU again."\nParts of the preparation for Kelley students seeking jobs at the UCSO are the two mandatory career education classes, X220 and X420. In these courses, professors expose students to different career paths, companies and recruiters.\nSenior Ashley Groth used the career courses to help her prepare for interviewing. \n"The Kelley School of Business has done a great job preparing students for interviews, creating resumes and writing cover letters through X220 and X420," she said. \nThe recruiting season for seniors seeking full-time employment varies depending on the field they are going into, Brostoff said. While accounting and finance firms have started or completed their recruiting, most marketing and management recruiters will be on campus from now until the spring.\nBrostoff said that many companies come to interview in the second semester because they consider fourth quarter earnings reports when making hiring decisions for the next year.\nRegardless of when students are interviewing for their positions, it is important to be actively involved in the process, attending company presentations and contacting recruiters to learn more about positions. \n"You have to start early," said senior Adam Betz. "I know I wish that I had gone to more company presentations before I was a senior. I think it would have made my life a lot easier if I already knew what the companies were looking for and the type of positions they offered." \n-- Contact Staff Writer Brittany Ausmus at bausmus@indiana.edu .
(01/07/05 5:48am)
"Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini is one of the rare books that stays with the reader long after the final page. Hosseini's first novel puts a human face on the names and places that have been splashed across newspaper front pages since Sept. 11. Hosseini manages to breathe life into cities that most people only hear of when soldiers are chasing the remnants of the Taliban.\nThe book brings together the past and present of Afghanistan as it is, without presenting itself as a foreign book. The first Afghan book written in English, the novel is written with familiar rhythms found in other American novels. There are traditional Afghan events and Farsi words interspersed in the story, but they are so well described to the reader that they illuminate the story instead of adding confusion.\nHosseini begins his novel in the relatively stable years of the 1970s, before the USSR invaded Afghanistan, touching off the events that led to the rise of the Taliban. The primary focus is on unlikely friends: Amir, the privileged son of a Kabul merchant and Hassan, the hare-lipped son of Amir's father's servant. Amir is a voracious reader, a member of the privileged class and a Sunni Muslim. Hassan is illiterate, a member of the despised Hazara minority and a Shi'a Muslim. However, the two boys find joy together telling stories, exploring Kabul's markets and running kites in the annual tournament.\nIt is this tournament where the story turns; Amir and Hassan are competing in the kite-running tournament, where Kabul's children compete with paper and wood kites, attempting to cut each other's kite strings with their own, which are covered in ground glass. As Amir and Hassan are about to triumph, a group of neighborhood thugs commit a horrific act, changing their relationship forever.\nYears pass, and Amir and Hassan drift further and further apart. Amir and his father flee to the United States when the Soviets invade Afghanistan, while Hassan and his father remain in Afghanistan. As Amir and his father settle in the United States, they join a makeshift Afghani community, continuing their traditions and adjusting to a new land and language together. Amir marries the daughter of another Afghani and seems to move on from Kabul, though Amir's thoughts often wander to his childhood friend left behind.\nA phone call from Pakistan brings Amir back to the land of his birth. The Taliban have changed the face of Afghanistan dramatically, and Amir's chosen task leads to a dramatic rescue. Family secrets are revealed, and the full extent of the relationship between Amir and Hassan is discovered.\nThe relationships between father and son, human and country, and god and human are sensitively explored throughout the novel. The fragility of these relationships and the complex factors that change them irrevocably, are excellently probed by the author, who shows a maturity in his writing far beyond what would be expected of a first time novelist.
(12/13/04 4:23am)
It's a situation ripe for a Hollywood movie interpretation: rich and powerful people are living in the shadow of an impending disaster, unaware of the danger that is lurking near their homes. British novelist Robert Harris has done the next best thing. He's written a novel that dramatizes the disaster that befell Pompeii in A.D. 79. Harris, no stranger to historic fiction, has his most explosive outing with the drama and intrigue that surrounds the mountain. His novel "Pompeii" takes place solely in the few days preceding and during the eruption, which gives the novel an unusual, frenetic pace.\nMarcus Attilus Primus, an upstanding engineer from Rome, has just taken on the responsibility of maintaining the Aqua Augustus, the aqueduct that supplies the rich costal towns of Pompeii and Misenum after its former chief mysteriously disappeared after 20 years on the job. Marcus thought he was just responsible for maintaining the largest aqueduct in the Roman empire, while he has also stepped into a hornet's nest of political intrigue.\nWhen the water supply to Misenum halts, Marcus sets off to Pompeii, and then Mt. Vesuvius, to discover the cause of the break in the aqueduct. Along the way he picks up the daughter of a vile real-estate speculator, who manipulates the people around him to increase his wealth and power. Together they discover the cause of the break in the aqueduct -- an earthquake on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius.\nWorried about the fate of the aqueduct, Marcus climbs to the summit of the mountain, only to discover that an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius is imminent. Before he can make it down the mountain he discovers an embezzlement scheme and is attacked by one of his assistants. When he finally makes it to Pompeii, it is too late to save the town -- the eruption has begun. \nThe biggest complaint that can be brought against "Pompeii" is the lack of character development. This is mostly due to the abbreviated time frame in which the novel operates. However, due to these time constraints, characters remain predictable and two-dimensional. Villains are all-evil and wallow in their excesses while heroes are virtuous, logical men without a corrupt bone in their bodies. It's an unrealistic and oversimplified take on human behavior.\nDespite the lack of character development, the research that went into creating this novel is impressive. Not only is the geological aspect of the eruption thorough and interesting, but equal work was put into the discussion of the aqueducts and Roman society. Perhaps most fascinating is the technical description of the eruption itself penned by Pliny the Elder from a boat in the Bay of Naples, an moving personal account of what was an earth-shattering eruption.\nMuch of this novel's genius is that it manages to engross the reader, even though the outcome is known. Much like any story about the Titanic, we await the inevitable -- Pompeii will be completely destroyed by the eruption. The tricky part is capturing the reader's imagination despite the finite ending. \n"Pompeii" manages to do just that. If you're a fan of historic fiction, by all means pick up a copy of this explosive novel. You'll have a hell-lava time. \nRobert Harris' "Pompeii" is available on www.amazon.com for approximately $16.
(11/17/04 4:20am)
"Bleachers" author John Grisham's dive into heartland football, is not only perhaps one of his most emotionally sensitive works to date, but also a radical departure from the formula that has made him a darling of The New York Times Best Seller List for the past decade. Gone is the small town Southern lawyer who struggles along until a gem of a case falls into his lap. By deviating from his overused formula, Grisham has created a novel that is, in fact, novel for him.\n"Bleachers" is set in the small town of Messina, a place that values God, country and football, but not necessarily in that order. Messina's Spartans football team is to its unspecified state what North Odessa is to Texas football: a legend. Former players far and wide are drawn back to town years after they left to pay their last respects to their dying coach. They can't figure out whether they love him or hate him -- and most of the book focuses on the conflicted emotions his former players have toward the man and the legend of Eddie Rake.\nPerhaps the former player who has the most at stake is Neely Crenshaw, a former All-American and Messina superstar who hasn't been able to move on from the time when he was a star. Crenshaw, whose dreams of NFL stardom were dashed after a cheap shot to his knees his sophomore year of college, has since wandered aimlessly through his life post-college. The first time since high school he stepped back into Messina was the day he came back to wait for Rake to die.\nRake's former players take to a nightly vigil in the stands of the football field, reliving past glories and defeats. They take turns exchanging war stories with each other, comparing notes on the man who put Messina on the map with 13 state titles. Crenshaw has a long-standing bitterness toward the coach who trained him and the town that idolizes him long past his departure. \nWhile in town, Crenshaw tries to come to terms with not only his glorious football career, but also the way he behaved while a being treated like a god in this small town. He tries to regain his love with the high school girlfriend he tossed aside for the hot-to-trot "Screamer," who has since moved on but bears a deep-seated hatred for football to this day.\nRake dies, and the town goes into a collective mourning. Players who left Messina years ago return to pay their final respects to a man who shaped the town into the football-crazed place it was. The players finally reach their peace with Rake, who reaches out for forgiveness in his final words to the town and team.\n"Bleachers" is an interesting deviation from the normal novel expected from Grisham. It is a slim volume that can be finished in a few lazy afternoons -- and its appeal reaches beyond a die hard football fan. It reads more like a short story, with a focus on the emotions of the players rather than the next play in the game. Though at times it can meander, "Bleachers" is a solid addition to the Grisham library without the Southern lawyer shtick.\n"Bleachers" is available in paperback for $5.59 and hardback for $13.96 on www.amazon.com.
(11/03/04 4:16am)
Designed as a memoir based around a class of western classics, "Reading Lolita in Tehran" is founded on an interesting premise. Part literary criticism, part memoir of life behind the veil in the repressive environment of Iran, the book follows Azar Nafisi through the Islamic Revolution and its aftermath. After becoming fed up with the regime's stifling of progressive academic thought, she fled first her teaching post, then the country. \nNafisi left Iran for an education and returned to teach Western literature at University of Tehran. While she returned to a country that was one of the most progressive in the world regarding women's rights, a dark cloud was looming on the horizon. The formerly progressive nation of Iran transformed seemingly overnight to the harsh Islamic Republic of Iran. Gone for Nafisi and her female students were most of the freedoms they once enjoyed. No longer allowed to appear in public unveiled or drive cars, soon the women found more fundamental rights at risk. Step by step the Islamic regime worked to remove all influences of the decadent West -- which meant many of the books beloved by Nafisi and her female students. \nNafisi resigned from the University of Tehran in 1995 after refusing to submit to the mandatory veil. She never stopped teaching, however, and began convening a covert class in her apartment to discuss the forbidden works of Western masters to seven of her dedicated female students. If they were caught by Iran's morality police or turned in by suspicious neighbors they would have faced jail time -- if they were lucky. However, they bravely defied the repressive laws to explore their love of literature.\nThis class of women convened for the two years in between Nafisi's resignation and her emigration from Iran. In these years they discussed the works of Austen, Nabokov and James freely, without censors and radicals preaching against the works. This discussion of literature is the core of the book, with the women dreaming of being as free as those trapped in the pages of their books.\nWhile "Reading Lolita in Tehran" is founded on an interesting premise, it does not deliver in the way it could. Occasionally it does offer insight into the plight of the Iranian women, but, as a privileged woman who could afford to quit her job for strictly moral reasons, Nafisi cannot offer a view into the life of the average Iranian woman. \nNafisi also has the unsettling habit of preaching to the reader. Nobody will deny that the Islamic Republic of Iran enforced capricious laws with little method behind them. Her comparison of the regime to Nabakov's masterpieces is apt, but overused and overemphasized. Nafisi offered herself her best criticism: "Perhaps I am too much of an academic: I have written too many papers and articles to be able to turn my experiences and ideas into a narrative without pontificating."\nI left "Reading Lolita in Tehran" disappointed. While Nafisi offers an enlightened insight into the works of some of the West's literary masters, the book spends most of its time comparing these works to the Islamic regime while giving the women she taught only a cursory glance -- and these women's stories are, Nafisi claims, just as important as the literature they read. If you have a particular interest in literature criticism written from a perspective different than the ordinary, certainly pick up "Reading Lolita in Tehran." I will stick with the classics instead.\n"Reading Lolita in Tehran" is available on www.amazon.com \nfor $9.76.
(10/28/04 4:25am)
From door-to-door sales to a rock star's closet, IU sophomores Parker Newman and Justin Shiffman, along with Newman's twin brother Adam, have created their own mini-empire in versatile, unique T-shirts. \nMarketing directly to individual stores and online, what was once a Bloomington-only venture has reached as far as retailers in Japan and the backs of celebrities like Ryan Seacrest, Terri Hatcher, John Stamos and Billy Corgan.\nBut their designs haven't always been donned by a celebrity's back. \n"Freshman year while living in the dorms, we decided to print up a shirt similar to the Jack Daniel's logo and sell them door-to-door," Newman said. "Greetings on Kirkwood also sold them. We saw the void in what we considered cool T-shirts, so we started making designs."\nIn the beginning, the trio still was not thinking about the rock and roll company it was about to become. \n"We originally were going to do a screen printing business in which we would do custom orders for greek life, sports and clubs," Adam Shiffman said. "The idea eventually shifted to us making our own shirts and pitching them to different stores. We are all very passionate about music, so we decided to make that theme our focus." \nRock'N Clothing was born with the mission to bring quality, unique clothing to the masses. \nThe vision, according to the company's Web site, is that "no longer will people be forced to fit into the concrete mold set forth by existing clothing companies, but rather have an outlet to express their unique appreciation for the fine visual and auditory arts." \nBut getting their product into stores took some determination.\n"We made about 100 calls a week to various stores across the country and sent out press packets constantly," Parker said.\nThe three have been mentored along the way by two top clothing companies, Tyler Speed in New York and Grn Apple Tree in Los Angeles.\nJustin Shiffman said he believes stores accepted their designs for many reasons. \n"By offering stores a good product at a good price with a good pitch, stores bought our shirts," he said. "Some liked it that we were students, others that we acted like we really know what we are doing. We also tried to not take no as an answer."\nTheir persistence paid off. Rock'N Clothing designs are available in three stores in the U.S. and one in Japan. Currently fashion-conscious people can buy the shirts at Estreet Denim Co. in Highland Park, Ill., Citizen in San Francisco and Nishizawa in Japan, Adam said. In Bloomington, Rock'N Clothing designs are available at Metro Wear, located at 234 N. Morton St. \nRock'N Clothing is currently working on expansions on two fronts -- their own online store and further retail expansion. \n"We are going to different trade shows trying to get into more stores and magazines," Adam said. \nBut the trio's biggest effort is devoted to getting its Internet store ready for customers. "Our priority is now online," Shiffman said. \nTo learn more about Rock'N Clothing or to contact the owners, visit www.rocknclothing.com.\n-- Contact staff writer Brittany Ausmus at bausmus@indiana.edu.
(09/30/04 5:33am)
Should I clean or study? Clean or party? Clean or do anything else? These are the questions students at IU answer every day, and as many messy apartments and dorm rooms will attest, cleaning usually is the loser in the decision. Sticky floors and empty pizza boxes do eventually need cleaning, and the entrepreneurs of www.afterpartycleaning.com are here to the rescue.\nSeniors Ryan Alovis, Evan Kanarek and Richard Maltz have solved the cleaning dilemma for IU students -- they have created a cleaning service, www.afterpartycleaning.com , to serve the student market at IU. With the slogan "Because that person you woke up next to ... isn't gonna clean your toilet," they know where their market is.\n"Since freshman year ... we couldn't find a cleaning service that a student can afford on a college budget," Maltz said. "And we also couldn't find one that accepts credit cards, so we knew this was a great idea."\nAlovis agreed. \n"We knew that we had a great idea and that the market was untapped," he said. "The biggest step we made was having a four-hour meeting the weekend we got home from school. It was in this meeting that we delegated jobs to each person and the ball started rolling."\nGetting the ball rolling involved elaborate market research to make sure the business would thrive in Bloomington. \n"We did extensive research for over one year," Kanarek said. "The research included studying local cleaning businesses, handing out over 500 surveys and talking with many people in the area."\nOnce the three entrepreneurs settled on a business plan, they took the summer to launch their Web site, accept credit cards and develop their marketing plan. \n"One of our most successful marketing strategies is through T-shirts that we designed and all of our friends have been wearing," Maltz said. "Our slogan on the back of the shirts reads 'Because that person you woke up next to ... isn't gonna clean your toilet.' As college students, we know what gets the attention of students and we have used this knowledge to tap into the untapped college market. Other marketing mediums range from flyers and refrigerator magnets to plastering the letters www.afterpartycleaning.com across our car windshields."\nBut the three entrepreneurs agree the best advertisement they receive is referrals from satisfied customers. One such customer is junior Adam Berger. \n"In the past, we had cleaned our apartment ourselves (and) with the stress of classes and other events here at IU, it is the last thing on our list," he said. "So last year we used two different cleaning services. They were both expensive and really didn't do such a good job. I figured that I would give After Party Cleaning a shot since many other college students were vouching for their quality. After using them once and seeing how easy and thorough the process was, I am more than satisfied."\nBerger said he is also satisfied with the cost of the services. \n"It is more than worth the cost. In the past we paid over $25 per person and now we pay less than $13 per person," he said. "They were very quick and very efficient with the service. I liked them so much, after the first cleaning, that I signed up for the weekly cleaning service, and they give me a discount."\nAfter Party Cleaning's are not limited to cleaning up the wreckage of last weekend's party -- services include regularly scheduled cleanings of apartments for $25 an hour and dorm cleaning from $28. The company cleans everything from fraternity houses to luxury apartments and can bill credit cards automatically, eliminating the need to enter credit card information every time. The cost of cleaning can also be split between credit cards.\nFor more information or a quote, call (812) 202-0241 or visit www.afterpartycleaning.com. \n-- Contact staff writer Brittany Ausmus at bausmus@indiana.edu .
(09/13/04 5:15am)
The clacking of tap shoes blended with the 'ahs' of the gathered crowd watching trapeze artists. Shoppers browsed the offerings of local artists and craftsmen while chatting with each other. Children squealed as they were towed by a tractor loaded with hay in front of St. Charles School and Church. The 22nd annual Third and High Festival, held Saturday and Sunday, was the venue for family fun and raising money for a good cause.\nCars lined Third Street, waiting to file into the makeshift parking lot. State police manned the parking as festival-goers hurried out of the lot and into the throng of tents. \nGwen Jones, a Bloomington resident and acting chair of the event, said she was pleased with the attendance. \n"There was a great turnout today," she said. "And I think we have the weather to thank for that. However, the great entertainment we have today helps a lot. Not only do we have the Rise and Shine Dancers, who bring their own following, but we also have the Bloomington High Flyers, the IU Pershing Rifle Group and games for the children. This is a great family event because there is a lot for both the adults and the kids."\nPresiding over the games, Bloomington resident Jeff Baldwin, a teacher at St. Charles, discussed the festival. The activities offered up to entertain the kids ranged from games of chance to a dunk tank manned by the Fraternal Order of Police. \n"All of the games are aimed towards children," he said. "But this year we do have more for the older, middle school kids, like the hockey slap shot and basketball."\nWith her booth set up beyond the children's games, photographer Amy Drake displayed her photographs of small-town Indiana. Depicting everything from pastoral scenes of her cousin's farm to the old courthouses that dot southern Indiana, Drake's photography embodies the feel of small-town Indiana. \n"I take my camera with me when I go out, and I just take the pictures that I see," she said. "It's a weekend hobby for me." \nDrake, a first-time seller at the Third and High Festival, was introduced to the event by a friend whose work was also on sale. A former Bloomington resident, she passed by the fair for years, but attended for the first time this year. \n"This festival is great," she said. "It's so laid back, and so many people are here."\nThe Bloomington High Flyers, a local trapeze group, drew the biggest crowd by far.\n"The trapeze is a big draw to the festival," Baldwin said. "The kids get a chance to participate in the show as well."\nThe physical education teacher at St. Charles, Janet French, is a member of the troupe, and the St. Charles students got a chance to learn the trapeze moves in gym class. Several of the students were given the opportunity to perform during the High Flyer's hour-long performance.\nWhile the festival aims to entertain, its purpose is to raise funds for the church and school, and that effort has been extremely successful in the past. \n"In the past we have raised anywhere from $16,000 to $19,000 from the festival," Baldwin said. \nThe effort of dedicated parents and teachers is what makes the Third and High Festival possible. \n"I was here last night during the setup, and I am always amazed at how the festival always ends up coming together," Baldwin said. "It truly is a collective effort, and it couldn't happen without everyone that helps out."\n-- Contact staff writer Brittany Ausmus at bausmus@indiana.edu.
(09/07/04 5:33am)
An immigrant world teeming with secrets, hostility and love is the setting Monica Ali chose for her debut novel "Brick Lane." \nWriting about the denizens of the east side of London, Ali manages to bring the oft-overlooked people living in and around Brick Lane, a British neighborhood, to a vibrant life. Short-listed for the 2003 Man Booker prize, "Brick Lane" is already a smash success in the U.K. among readers and critics alike, and it transcends the local London flavor to become a truly universal tale of love, sacrifice and duty.\n"Brick Lane" follows the life of Nazneen, a Bangladeshi girl who, at the tender age of 18, was arranged to be married to Chanu, a Bangladeshi man who had immigrated to London. Despite the fact that Chanu is twice her age and they have never met, Nazneen bows to her fate and flies to England and her new life. Her sister, Hasina, who Nazneen left in Bangladesh, believes she is leaving the poverty of Bangladesh for life in a promised land.\nWhat Nazneen finds, however, is not the promised land that she and others were led to believe London was. Her home became a dusty, dingy council-owned flat in a high-rise. Her husband, despite his talk, is nothing but a blowhard with more ideas than action. Nazneen, always the devout Muslim, is determined to accept her life as it is.\nHowever, this is not to say that Nazneen always accepted her fate without resistance. She begins to rebel in small ways. For example, she refuses to eat in front of her husband, instead opting for hurried meals over the sink in the middle of the night. Nazneen stops cleaning, hoping her husband will notice -- until she became so disgusted with the mess that she breaks down before Chanu bats an eye.\nNazneen grows over the years to have affection for her husband, if not love. They have two girls together after the trauma of their first son dying as an infant. They build a life together in London, despite Chanu's constant disappointment with his professional life. Life is comfortable and predictable -- until Karim enters.\nKarim, Nazneen's contact for a sewing piecework, is also a political rabble-rouser. Feeling threatened by a group of English nationalists living in the neighborhood, Karim attempts to unify the Bangladeshis into a political force. His drive draws in Nazneen like a moth to the flame, and the pair embark on a passionate affair.\nHowever, not everything can remain as it is. After the Sept. 11 attack, Karim's plans for unified Muslim politics are threatened. Chanu's dream of returning to Bangladesh is realized -- but not the way he envisioned. Nazneen's world is turned upside down. A bittersweet end, it is a fitting conclusion to an emotionally sophisticated novel.\nLike the colorful saris worn by the Bangladeshi women of London, "Brick Lane" carefully and subtly weaves the vibrant characters together into a beautiful fabric of a story. The characters, from the buffoon Chanu to the firebrand Karim, are all excellently crafted -- the men and women described in this novel could easily be the person sitting next to you on the tube or bus. "Brick Lane" carefully explores Muslim politics post-9-11, both as a unified group and within the community, all while weaving a beautiful tale. An engrossing, subtle novel, "Brick Lane" is worth the trip to London.\n"Brick Lane" has a list price of $14 and is available at www.amazon.com.
(09/06/04 4:50am)
Underneath the beating sun, hundreds of Bloomington residents and IU students guzzled lemonade and fanned themselves as they sweltered in the heat. They were not tailgating before IU's football victory in the home opener -- they were browsing the booths of artists and community groups at the Fourth Street Festival of Arts and Crafts. \nThe Fourth Street Festival, a Bloomington staple since its inception in 1976, celebrated its 28th year of displaying the arts Saturday and Sunday on Grant and Fourth Streets. What started as a small-town art fair has evolved into a regional show with talented artists from all over the country selling their art on the streets of Bloomington. Booths filled with everything from gourd masks and instruments to hand-decorated chairs lined the streets. Community groups displayed information and distributed flyers about their activities and goals, while local restaurants sold samplings from their menus to the lunching attendees.\nSitting among intricate mosaics -- on everything from a mundane mirror to a leg ending in a high heel -- Bloomington artisans Cappi Phillips and Bud Fick sipped lemonade and watched the crowds peruse the offerings. \n"This is our fifth year being involved with Fourth Street in one way or another," Phillips said. "We have served on the committee and participated as artists. This is just a great place to sell art. The customers are very knowledgeable."\nHowever, not all artists are given the opportunity to sell their wares at the Fourth Street Festival. \n"There were about 300 applicants this year," Phillips said. "And each artist sent in their slides. A four-person jury ranked each artist within their category, and the highest scores were invited to participate. Almost all of the artists selected decided to participate."\nOne of the 109 artists present was Suzie Seligman, owner and artist of Tesoro Mio which specializes in hand-decorated chairs and pillows. Sitting among her collection of intricately designed chairs, decorated with a range of themes, she discussed her art and creative process. \n"I am a textile designer, and I decorate these chairs by either hand-painting them or combining vintage fabrics in a new, interesting way," Seligman said. "I collect old chairs and redo them, so they become one-of-a-kind works of art. I travel a lot to collect the fabrics and gain inspiration for my chairs. Each one is a combination of the right chair and fabric."\nSeligman's displayed wares included a chair hand-painted with a French theme, brightly painted wooden chairs with cloth cushions and small pillows. Using everything from hand-painted designs to the vintage fabrics of '70s fabric designer Vera, the brightly colored and diverse chairs drew a crowd.\nOne piece offered by Seligman was a chair reupholstered in an orange wool tartan, with an interesting twist -- instead of just a plain chair, it was already the seat of a two-dimensional witch. \n"I found this fabric at a store in San Francisco, and thought it would go wonderfully with a chair I had just acquired," she said. "The leg of the chair was too gnarled to redo in a luxurious manner, but the orange plaid just said 'Halloween'. The plaid with the scruffy chair really worked, and I created the witch on the chair to complete the theme."\nA few stalls down, Bloomington resident Carolynne Gieryn, who has displayed and sold her knits at the Fourth Street Festival for the past 10 years, sat knitting and answering questions about her selection of hand-knitted sweaters, socks, headbands and hats. Surrounded by colorful wools, she talked about her passion for hand knitting with festival goers. \n"I would say that knitting is my passion, rather than a weekend hobby," she said. \nGieryn said she couldn't pick a favorite item among her brightly colored sweaters knit in a Swedish tradition.\n"I couldn't choose a favorite thing to knit," she said. "But I can finish a sweater in about a week. I don't know how many hours it takes though -- it's not like I punch a time clock!"\nHowever, one of the booths that drew the biggest crowd was not selling a thing, but rather, giving them away. The WFIU/WTIU booth, distributing free fans to the melting festival goers, was filled with employees extolling the virtues of the stations. \n"I think that the stations are a cornerstone of the community of television and classical FM radio," said John Winninger, senior producer and director of WTIU, while handing a fan to a festival-goer.\nBehind him, filling balloons, Ann Wesley, the director of marketing for WTIU/WFIU explained why the station had a booth at the festival.\n"The Fourth Street Festival gives us an opportunity to meet the members of the community who support the stations and the chance to meet the members of the community who don't," she said. "This is a great forum for people to discuss the programming with us. Everybody loves public broadcasting, and everybody is complimentary about what we broadcast."\nIncluded in the WTIU display were flyers displaying some of the locally produced television shows that have been broadcast on the station, including documentaries about IU legend and former IU President Herman B Wells and the architecture of Columbus, Ind. \n"We are the only station that produces local television and news," Wesley said. "That's why we are happy to celebrate WTIU being on the air since 1968 and WFIU being on the radio for close to 60 years."\nFor more information on the Fourth Street Festival of Arts and Crafts or an application to participate next year, see the Web site www.bloomington.in.us/~fourthst. \n--Contact staff writer Brittany Ausmus at bausmus@indiana.edu
(09/01/04 5:01am)
Millennium People," the latest work by British author J.G. Ballard, is a blunt and compelling novel of ideas, rather than people. Keeping in line with his previous two novels, "Millennium People" is a dystopian vision of modern urban life, attacking the trappings of modern existence. He poses the question of the purpose of random terrorism in our post-9/11 world and raises some important points about the overworked, paranoid middle classes through the mystery of "Millennium People."\nDr. David Markham is a middle class psychologist living a comfortable, complacent life in London. However, when an act of senseless terrorism kills dozens of people in Heathrow Airport, including his ex-wife Laura, his comfortable world is shattered. At his current wife's urging, David begins to investigate, along with the police, what happened to his former wife.\nWhen following up a police lead, David is drawn to the neighborhood Chelsea Marina. The police believe someone in the area had information about the bombing, so David meets the residents of the area. What begins as an investigation into his ex's death slowly leads to him becoming further and further ensnared in the quiet revolution of the middle class enclave of Chelsea Marina. David, throughout the novel, is constantly treading the line between active participant and detached observer.\nThe leader of the area is the charismatic Dr. Richard Gould. Disgusted with what he sees as the mindless rot of the English middle classes, he tries to stir up a revolution with his ragtag group of weekend revolutionaries. His influence is causing seemingly ordinary government workers, teachers and mid-level professionals to detach themselves from the trappings of their existence; former model citizens are bucking the self-imposed burdens of propriety and civic responsibility, breaking laws they never would have considered breaking under normal circumstances.\nHowever, what begins as the residents of Chelsea shedding their trappings, rapidly spirals out of control into an orgy of random violence. This pack of revolutionaries blows up the Tate Modern and the local Blockbuster, all in the name of the greater good of humanity. A television presenter is shot at random. The BBC Promenade is disrupted by a smoke bomb. The residents of Chelsea Marina revolt, burning their homes, fighting with the police and fleeing to the countryside, only to return a few days later. The dramatic confrontation between the revolutionaries and the world they are fighting against was for naught.\nThe main flaw with "Millennium People" lies not with the plot or message, but with the character development. David is either exceedingly dull or naïve, and either way it is bewildering. His naïveté is necessary for the plot to unfold the way it does, but does not make him a well constructed character. The other characters are also similarly one-dimensional, with the notable exception of David's wife Anne. She is perhaps the most developed of the characters, yet only a fleeting presence in most of the novel.\nA novel of ideas, "Millennium People" explores modern urban life with a dystopian flair. Though some of the paranoid characters are not well developed, it does raise important questions about violence and order in society.
(09/01/04 4:56am)
Opera fans, do not despair. Your wait is over. While IU's opera season does not kick off until late September with "La Bohème," Bloomington Music Works is presenting "Three For All," a trio of one-act operas, beginning Sept. 2 at the John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium. Included in the evening's repertoire is "The Impresario" by Wolfgang Mozart, "The Telephone" by Gian Carlo Menotti and "The Stoned Guest" by P. D. Q. Bach.\nBloomington Music Works chose to perform three one-act operas instead of a longer, more traditional piece for a number of reasons. \n"Performing three operas allows for more people to get involved, not only in the performance aspect, but also in terms of direction," said graduate student Maliwan Diemer, the artistic director of Bloomington Music Works. "We also wanted to present a show that would be interesting and fun to a first-time opera- goer but at the same time provide long-term connoisseurs with quality music. The three short operas keep the evening light, fast paced and engaging."\nSenior Brian Samarzea, a founder and musical director of Bloomington Music Works, chose to perform these three operas for a specific reason: They are funny. \n"We chose these three pieces because they were very funny and accessible to the first-time opera-goer as well as the aficionado," he said. "The audience can expect laughs, laughs and more laughs. I think that these shows are charming and hilarious. Each one is a real gem."\nMarcy Richardson, a recent IU Music School graduate, will be singing the female lead in "The Telephone" and a principle role in "The Impresario." She said she agrees "Three For All" is a great way for first-time goers to enjoy an opera. \n"All three shows are short and very entertaining," she said. "And the shows are all sung in English, which makes it less intimidating."\nRichardson is one of several present or former IU students involved with the Bloomington Music Works, which was founded by Samarzea and two other IU graduates.\n"We founded Bloomington Music Works to provide 'regular townspeople' an opportunity for performance," Samarzea said. "There were very few, so we decided to create our own. We considered ourselves creative individuals that enjoyed performing and knew that there must be others in our community that shared the same interests."\nThe group regularly holds open auditions before a show is cast. Participation is not limited to performing on stage; people can also lend their talents to the group in various aspects of production as well, Diemer said.\n"A lot of people have more chances to perform with the Bloomington Music Works," said Richardson. "You can hear a lot of new voices here and there are some real standouts. It can be very exciting."\nThough many students and Bloomington residents participate, Samarzea said Bloomington Music Works needs the support of the community.\n"We are a hard-working theater troupe that really needs the support of our community, both on campus and off," said Samarzea. "We live in such a culturally rich town that some of the smaller companies can be overlooked, but we are hanging in there and have no plans of fading away. So many wonderful productions happen in Bloomington, and we are pleased to be one of them."\n-- Contact staff writer Brittany Ausmus at bausmus@indiana.edu.
(08/26/04 4:54am)
As a member of a sorority, "Pledged: the Secret Life of Sororities" called out to me from its spot on the bookshelf at Borders. It promised an insider's account of a year inside a sorority on the campus of a large Southern university. The insider in this case is Alexandra Robbins, a reporter who poses as a college student and friend of the four girls she chooses to follow. Robbins, with the four willing members, chronicles the ins and outs of daily life in two sorority houses for an academic year.\nDuring the year, Robbins watches the once shy Vicki break up with her long-term boyfriend and go on to break a series of hearts, which Robbins asserts is due to her sisters' influence. Caitlin endures a stormy and often abusive relationship with a man her mother adores while nursing the emotional wounds of rape. Sabrina, a black member of a mainly white sorority, gets involved in a sexual relationship with a professor and tosses out her long-time dream of medical school, despite her sisters' protests. Amy, in her quest for a boyfriend, engages in a series of one night stands that leave her more confused than when she started.\nIn addition to following the lives of these four girls, Robbins also explores various aspects of everyday sorority life, including drinking, drugs, boys, rituals and hazing. She also compares the traditionally white "mainstream" sororities with the multicultural sororities and mixed gender organizations. Robbins excavates the differences in recruitment styles and new member periods and reveals the secret meanings behind several sororities' letters and symbols, meant to be known by members alone.\nThe major flaw with Robbins' conclusion and analysis of problems faced by her subjects is her willingness to blame everything on the sorority. In her analysis, joining a sorority seems to be a one-way ticket to sexual promiscuity, binge drinking, recreational drug use and hazing. However, some college students will always drink too much whether or not there is a greek system to provide party venues. Some will smoke marijuana. Some will sleep around. These behaviors are not caused by a woman or man choosing to join a greek letter organization; they are simply behaviors in which thousands upon thousands of students engage each year.\nRobbins grows even more ambitious in her suggestions about how to improve greek life, which are tacked on to the end of the book. While some suggestions -- like eliminating hazing -- are perfectly reasonable and desirable, others -- such as setting up individual application and interview procedures for membership -- are not practical when dealing with a greek system that measures its members in the thousands. \nWhile "Pledged" is in many ways entertaining, it cannot be taken as the gospel truth about life in a sorority. I cannot say whether or not this book offers an accurate look into sorority life at the university where Robbins made her observations. However, I can say it doesn't accurately reflect what life is like in every sorority house across the country. The book's voyeuristic element is satisfying, but the stories must be taken with a large grain of salt.\n"Pledged: the Secret Life of Sororities" is published by Hyperion Books. It has a list price of $23.95 and is available at www.amazon.com.
(08/25/04 5:06am)
As a member of a sorority, "Pledged: the Secret Life of Sororities" called out to me from its spot on the bookshelf at Borders. It promised an insider's account of a year inside a sorority on the campus of a large Southern university. The insider in this case is Alexandra Robbins, a reporter who poses as a college student and friend of the four girls she chooses to follow. Robbins, with the four willing members, chronicles the ins and outs of daily life in two sorority houses for an academic year.\nDuring the year, Robbins watches the once shy Vicki break up with her long-term boyfriend and go on to break a series of hearts, which Robbins asserts is due to her sisters' influence. Caitlin endures a stormy and often abusive relationship with a man her mother adores while nursing the emotional wounds of rape. Sabrina, a black member of a mainly white sorority, gets involved in a sexual relationship with a professor and tosses out her long-time dream of medical school, despite her sisters' protests. Amy, in her quest for a boyfriend, engages in a series of one night stands that leave her more confused than when she started.\nIn addition to following the lives of these four girls, Robbins also explores various aspects of everyday sorority life, including drinking, drugs, boys, rituals and hazing. She also compares the traditionally white "mainstream" sororities with the multicultural sororities and mixed gender organizations. Robbins excavates the differences in recruitment styles and new member periods and reveals the secret meanings behind several sororities' letters and symbols, meant to be known by members alone.\nThe major flaw with Robbins' conclusion and analysis of problems faced by her subjects is her willingness to blame everything on the sorority. In her analysis, joining a sorority seems to be a one-way ticket to sexual promiscuity, binge drinking, recreational drug use and hazing. However, some college students will always drink too much whether or not there is a greek system to provide party venues. Some will smoke marijuana. Some will sleep around. These behaviors are not caused by a woman or man choosing to join a greek letter organization; they are simply behaviors in which thousands upon thousands of students engage each year.\nRobbins grows even more ambitious in her suggestions about how to improve greek life, which are tacked on to the end of the book. While some suggestions -- like eliminating hazing -- are perfectly reasonable and desirable, others -- such as setting up individual application and interview procedures for membership -- are not practical when dealing with a greek system that measures its members in the thousands. \nWhile "Pledged" is in many ways entertaining, it cannot be taken as the gospel truth about life in a sorority. I cannot say whether or not this book offers an accurate look into sorority life at the university where Robbins made her observations. However, I can say it doesn't accurately reflect what life is like in every sorority house across the country. The book's voyeuristic element is satisfying, but the stories must be taken with a large grain of salt.\n"Pledged: the Secret Life of Sororities" is published by Hyperion Books. It has a list price of $23.95 and is available at www.amazon.com.
(08/09/04 1:07am)
When the subject of concentration camps is discussed, it is usually in the context of the Nazi atrocities of World War II. The same applies for the mass persecution of ethnic groups, secret police terrorizing the population and senseless deaths of millions of people at the hands of the government. While the Third Reich was responsible for these atrocities, so too was the Soviet government. This oft-forgotten legacy of the U.S.S.R. has, for the first time by a Western writer, been explored in depth.\n"Gulag: A History," written by Anne Applebaum, delivers precisely what it promises: a detailed history of the rise, peak and fall of the Soviet Gulag system. She constructed from novels, records and testimony of survivors a picture of the living, breathing mess that was the Gulag system. Examined from the perspective of the camp prisoners, guards and administrators, it is breathtaking in its scope and thoroughness.\nThe camp and exile system run by the Soviets was not unique in Russian history. Exile to Siberia and other sparsely inhabited areas of Russia was a common punishment in tsarist Russia. However, it was a new creation of the Russian concentration camps.\nThese camps, scattered over the sparsely inhabited areas of the U.S.S.R., were envisioned by Lenin, and later Stalin, as a self-sufficient part of the planned Soviet economy. While, as revealed in "Gulag," the self-sufficient part never really materialized, they did use forced labor to produce everything from children's toys to massive infrastructure projects -- and it touched the lives of millions of people. It is estimated that anywhere from 10-20 million people passed through the gulags in one form or another from its birth in the 1920s to its collapse in the 1980s.\nOne aspect that distinguishes "Gulag" from other history books is the apt blend of both the facts, which have a tendency to make for dry reading, and the more interesting personal accounts of the history. Interspersed with the numbers and figures that accompany a historical description are the quotes of prisoners who lived through the madness of the gulags.\nMadness, indeed, is the most apt description of the entire system. People could be imprisoned for a decade for something as innocent as telling an unfortunate joke in the wrong company. Many of the prisoners of the gulag system were political prisoners of this nature. The remainder of the gulag population was criminals -- either professional thieves or otherwise law-abiding citizens who were unfortunate enough to be caught committing crimes, some of which were as minor as being late for work.\nWhile at times a bit too dry for the casual reader, "Gulag" is a very readable history of one of the 20th century's overlooked atrocities. At times incredibly moving, it does the millions of survivors a service by telling their stories. The book is not for everybody, but it does make for an interesting read if you have the time -- the paperback edition weighs in at 610 pages -- and the stomach for the often gruesome history of the gulags.\n"Gulag: A History" is published by Penguin Books and sells for $11.87 at www.amazon.com.
(07/26/04 1:32am)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" is the stellar first novel from Mark Haddon. A murder mystery unlike any other, it focuses on the would-be Sherlock Christopher Boone, a 15-year-old Briton who has a form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome and the personality quirks that accompany the disorder. Haddon, who worked with children who are afflicted with the different types of autism before turning into a novelist, crafts with care an independent character with goals and drive, just no concept of emotion.\nBlessed -- and cursed -- with a superbly logical brain, Christopher cannot comprehend human emotion or the subtle nuances of ordinary speech. He takes everything at face value, from metaphors to hyperbole. He hates the colors brown and yellow and decides whether or not it's a good day by patterns on the way to school. He's never been further than the end of his street on his own, but the death of Wellington, his neighbor's poodle, changes everything.\nWhen Christopher encounters the slain Wellington on one of his late-night walks, his carefully ordered world tumbles down. Initially blamed for the death of the dog, Christopher vows to find the real killer. Despite his father's protests he begins questioning neighbors about the death. Some regard his odd behavior with suspicion, while others try to help in their own ways.\nDuring his investigations, Christopher finds out more than he bargained for. He long believed his mother suffered a sudden heart attack and is dead. However, while looking for clues for Wellington's murder, he finds stacks of letters addressed to him from his mother. Confronting his father, he finds out that his mother just left after being unable to handle Christopher's difficult moods. His father, unable to explain it to his son, lied instead.\nAfter finding out his father's deceit, Christopher leaves his home -- no small task for a person who has a fear of crowds, public places and the unknown. He makes it to his mother's love nest in London only to return back to his father's home after his mother has a bitter confrontation with her new lover.\n"The Curious Incident" is admittedly an odd book, with an unusual choice of hero and murder victim. It is also a triumph of storytelling; using Christopher as a narrator gives the story a clean, unemotional perspective. This is one of the first books I have ever read in which the author doesn't try to tell you what to feel. Instead, Christopher simply states things the way they are, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions.\nAt first the extremely simple prose is a bit off-putting, but after a few chapters it is simply part of the story itself. Although it is a tad on the unusual side, "The Curious Incident" is worth the read for the sheer delight of the storytelling.\nHaddon's "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" is available at www.amazon.com for $9.60.
(07/19/04 1:36am)
Drop City," the ninth novel by literary force T. Coraghessan Boyle, is perhaps his most subtle and poignant work to date. At times hilarious, at others incredibly tragic, it is an imaginative study of the counterculture's slow fade to black in the early 1970s. He skillfully melds character study with plot, and the interaction of his flawed characters is breathtaking in its beauty and its surprisingly complex interplay between conflicting loyalties.\nBoyle introduces us to Drop City, a hippie commune that has seen better days. Its owner, Norm Sender, is a firm believer in the Aquarian ideals and leader of the ragtag group of hippies, drifters and runaways who live on his farm. The commune is devoted to the concepts of free love and enlightenment, and the members take it quite seriously -- taking drugs and practicing free love all day long. The rebellious members of Drop City -- Star, Pan, Marco and Reba -- are developed well beyond the stereotypes of the hippie age.\nHowever, Drop City is under pressure from the outside world and ugly incidents create tension within. Racism and suspicion of members' intentions threaten to tear their utopia asunder and criminal acts nearly guarantee it. A 14-year-old girl is raped and the commune's runaway horse causes the county to become involved. The ragtag group then moves north to Alaska to escape the 'plastic society' of the lower 48 states.\nThe caravan begins winding its way up the California coast, holding their bus together by sheer will. After a perilous border crossing into Canada, Drop City is in the clear. Once the hippies reach Alaska, they set out to the wilderness, with visions of an easy life communing with nature alone. However, they encounter young Alaskan homesteaders who are already successfully living off the land. As the summer dwindles away to nothing, the hippies are faced with the growing reality of the harsh Alaskan winter. Tensions mount within the new Drop City, and surprising relationships develop between the Alaskans and the hippies.\nFactions form in Drop City, with many siding up in a deadly conflict between the two main Alaskan characters, Sess Harder and Joe Bosky. What began as a petty fight between the two men escalates into a deadly struggle. Sess, with his cynical view of human nature, has to debate with Marco about the morality of life and death in the bush at the novel's climactic moment.\nThe beauty of "Drop City" lies within the relationships the characters have with each other. What could have easily been a novel about the two factions squaring off against each other develops into deep forming relationships. By the end, the similarities between the hippies and the homesteaders are far more apparent than their ideological differences.\n"Drop City" is neither satire nor nostalgia, but rather a truthful telling of the ideals and personalities that drove the counterculture movement. Unflinching and never sentimental, "Drop City" is a brilliant work of fiction that is a tour de force throughout its 500-plus pages, with a conclusion that is shocking, yet satisfying.\nBoyle's "Drop City" is published by Viking Penguin. It has a list price of $14.00 and is available on www.amazon.com.
(06/24/04 1:26am)
After I collected my bags at London Heathrow, a predicament emerged. I had with me the luggage from four months in Denmark, which is way too much to manage by myself in one trip. So I settled on leaving half of my belongings behind at the luggage desk, dropped the rest of my bags at my hostel and set out to find my flat.\nFind my flat I did -- it is sandwiched between London's Hyde Park and world-famous Harrods department store. After marveling about the fabulous location, I dashed off to Heathrow again to pick up my dad for a weekend of sightseeing around town. My dad -- in London somewhat regularly for business -- actually has never seen the sights of the city in all of his trips, so we headed off together to see jolly old London.\nAfter a brief stop into a tube station to purchase day tickets for travel, we were on our way. The first stop of the day was the Tower of London. Once a royal residence, its name will forever be linked to the imprisonment, torture and executions that took place on its grounds.\nThe interior of the Tower is certainly worth the visit. The friendly yeoman warders -- more commonly known as Beefeaters -- are happy to illuminate the oft-bloody history of the Tower and its inhabitants. They seem to revel in the grim monikers of some of the buildings, like the Bloody Tower, where two princes were murdered in their sleep. \nEvil-looking ravens stalk the grounds uninhibited. Legend states that if the birds ever leave the tower, the monarchy will fall and chaos will grip the kingdom. There is even one yeoman warder whose sole job is to maintain the ravens to prevent catastrophe.\nHowever, the highlight of the Tower of London is the Jewel House, where the crown jewels of England are housed. Presented with the pomp and circumstance of the videos of the coronation of Elizabeth II, the size, quantity and historic value of the jewels are mind-boggling. Not only are diamonds the size of a fist displayed with equally large sapphires, rubies and emeralds, but the royal robes and gold-encrusted dinnerware are shown as well.\nAfter a few hours at the Tower, we walked along the Thames River and got an eyeful of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey looming on the horizon. Illuminated against the night sky, it is easy to see why the yellowed buildings symbolize London for people around the world. Across the river is the largest observation wheel in the world, the London Eye. Jutting up from the city, it offers some of the best views of the skyline.\nAfter dropping my dad at Heathrow to send him to the Netherlands, I decided to check out St. Paul's, the largest cathedral in London and the first Protestant-specific cathedral built in the world. The church, which is approaching its 300th anniversary of completion, was largely untouched by the bombing that plagued central London during WWII. Though it is currently being restored, the exhausting climb to the top of the dome is still open. After I made my way up the 500-plus stairs to the top, I was rewarded with a wonderful view of London's financial heart. \nIn one weekend I barely scratched the surface of what lies to be seen in London. In six weeks I don't know how I am going to see all of what I want -- but I am going to give it a go.
(06/21/04 1:19am)
In the world of action heroes, a few things come to mind, namely brawn, striking good looks and a certain disregard for personal safety. These traditional heroes have careers in fields where the aforementioned attributes come in handy on a day-to-day basis.\nHowever, Christopher Reich -- the author of "The First Billion" fame -- eschews the traditional hero in exchange for one of a different stripe. In "The Devil's Banker," Reich creates hero and forensic accountant Adam Chapel. Chapel dodges personal demons, exploding briefcases and duplicitous colleagues to maneuver through the world of terrorism finance, chasing bad guys with bank balances. He is assisted by a mysterious MI6 agent with her own secrets to hide. Who is on which side is unclear until the end of the novel.\nChapel is charged with chasing down the bad guys not on the street, but through their financial dealings. He was once earning $850,000 a year as a partner at a Big Four accounting firm, but patriotism called after Sept. 11, and now he works for the U.S. government tracking down the bad guys. And the case he is on will require all of his skills to catch the terrorist as soon as possible.\nAn explosion in a Parisian apartment kills four of Chapel's colleagues, and he vows to catch the mastermind behind their deaths. What he discovers through the web of numbered accounts is a threat against the United States with no specific date or time -- just enough information to make it genuine. Chapel pursues his query through a series of numbered bank accounts, with the web of accounts linking Brazil to Germany and then to Saudi Arabia. \nWhat unfolds is a daring plot to cleanse Saudi Arabia of its leadership -- corrupt in the minds of the terrorists. Using funds gained on the European capital markets, the terrorists seek to destroy the Saudi royal family, pin the blame on a disillusioned Israeli scientist and seize leadership of Saudi Arabia -- an ambitious plan, to be sure, and one that Chapel is determined to stop.\nThe intrigue whips around the globe at a breakneck pace, with the terrorists operating a business in Brazil, training camps in Saudi Arabia and financial firms in Paris. It can be dizzying how quickly Reich switches tracks, but it adds to the frenetic pace of the story. I won't give away exactly how it ends, but it is a satisfying -- if a tad predictable -- finish.\n"The Devil's Banker" is an enjoyable, quick read akin to the law thrillers of John Grisham. Though not terribly deep material, it is a fast-paced story with gripping plot twists. The characters are relatively believable, and Reich throws in enough surprises to keep the story fresh. Nobel Prize winning it is not, but when you need a quick read for the beach, reach for this.\n"The Devil's Banker" is published by Bantam Dell. The hardcover edition has a list price of $25.95 and the soft cover edition -- available August 3 -- has a list price of $7.99. Both are available on www.amazon.com.
(06/07/04 1:16am)
And what is the purpose of your visit to Ireland?" Those were the first words I heard when deplaning in Dublin. As any former visitor can attest, customs control going into Ireland can border on the tedious side if you hold an American passport. Not willing to have any permanent vacationers, Ireland and Britain are careful to weed out people likely to stay behind. Five minutes of intense grilling later, I was able to retrieve my bags and commence "the purpose of my visit to Ireland" -- visiting my sister, who was taking a two-week course in Dublin in conjunction with Loyola University-Chicago.\nTaking the bus into Dublin's city center from the airport, the rapid growth enjoyed by Ireland is evident. \n Construction on infrastructure -- largely paid for by European Union funds -- stretches as far as the eye can see. The city is growing at an explosive rate, and for the first time in Ireland's history, the country is experiencing greater immigration than emigration. After getting settled in my hostel, my sister and I set out to see the sights of Dublin.\nOur first stop was the Guinness Storehouse, an excellent museum and tribute to all things Guinness. The stylishly appointed Storehouse, which sits in the middle of the still-functioning brewing facilities of Guinness, is Ireland's most popular tourist destination. The odor of malt in the air led us to the seven-story celebration of the production and marketing of the inky black stout for which Dublin has earned its fame. Far from being simply a celebration of beer, the Storehouse is a glimpse into Dublin's pub culture and working classes -- and the free pint at the end didn't hurt, either.\nAfter a day of traipsing around Dublin proper, my sister's class -- with me tagging along -- took a side trip to Malahide, a suburb of Dublin, which is home to a castle. We didn't know it when we arrived, but we picked the right day to see the town.\nIt turns out we arrived at Malahide just in time for their annual Festival of Piping and Drumming. We poured out of the train and wandered toward the siren call of the bagpipes, which, coincidentally enough, was in the same direction as Malahide castle. When we stepped onto the grounds surrounding the castle, the sight was nearly unbelievable. As far as the eye could see, there were men and women, boys and girls, dressed in traditional Irish kilts playing the bagpipes. \nBoth Commonwealth and Northern Ireland were represented among the competitors, and the participants were more than willing to explain the intricacies of competitive piping. As one of the participants explained, "Today is something that shows that the North and South can cooperate. We're not here to talk politics, but to make music."\nAfter an enjoyable day of listening to bagpipes and looking at castles, it was back to Dublin for the class. Wandering around Temple Bar with my sister and her classmates, pieces of Dublin history jumped out around every turn. Crossing the Halfpenny Bridge over the River Liffey to go back to the hostel, I was able to catch a glimpse of how bustling Dublin really is. People were crawling the streets and pouring out of pubs. Dublin is a city on the rise with infectious energy, and I am glad I had the chance to see the European Union's smallest capital firsthand.