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(02/20/01 8:04pm)
1973 is infamous as the year America lost its morality, and Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" knows this. Of course it captures the immediate highs of the period, but it never loses sight of the long-term.\nIt's no secret in the film world that Crowe got started as a teen-age rock journalist for such publications as Creem and Rolling Stone, working his way up to creating some of the most indelible cinematic moments of the past 20 years. Sean Penn's stoner tumbling out of a THC-ventilated van, John Cusack's kickboxer holding a stereo in the air and Tom Cruise's sports agent whispering the now-immortal "You complete me" were all manufactured in Crowe's mind. Add to this list Kate Hudson's "Band-Aid" dancing on the garbage-ridden aftermath of a rock concert and you have the ingredients for another image that will live on.\nNewcomer Patrick Fugit plays Crowe, rechristened under the name William Miller. Sheltered by his college-professor mother (Frances McDormand), William is initiated into rock and roll by his rebellious sister, who bequeaths her album collection to him after leaving home.\n"Almost Famous" chronicles the trials and tribulations of Stillwater, complete with a rollicking soundtrack that ranges from Led Zeppelin to Elton John. The cinematography by John Toll ("Braveheart") glitters with such an effervescence that Ziggy Stardust would've been proud. \nThe leader of the ragtag group of female music lovers is Penny Lane (Hudson), who's mixed up but has a good soul. William sees this and pursues her, but the movie is grounded to the point that we hardly expect it to end with romantic fireworks.\nAlthough the movie contains the usual backstage lingo and corporate manager who says "respectfully" a lot (although his intentions are otherwise), it keeps with the common theme of Crowe's movies. Like "Jerry Maguire," it essays the dilemma between saying what you mean and meaning what you say, which are not always the same thing. And as William and Penny receive their reward, one is reminded that good things come to those who wait.
(12/05/00 7:35am)
Part one of a series looking at women of the world.\nAn Arab proverb states "every daughter is a handful of trouble," but it is one of the tenets of Islam that "whoever doeth good to girls, it will be a curtain to him from hellfire." \nThe contradiction illustrates one of the reasons for Islam's misunderstanding, which represents it as a scourge to women. According to the Koran -- the Islamic holy book -- Islam declares men and women to be equal and gives women the rights of inheritance and individual independent ownership. Despite the women's rights expressed in the Koran, integration of a region's tradition into Islamic doctrine has provided a score of different interpretations, many of which would be labeled misogyny in the Western world.\n"In all countries, there is a struggle between traditionalists and more liberal voices asking for more rights," said junior Rima Kapitan, who is active in Middle Eastern issues on campus. "There is a difference between and among countries as well. For example, Saudi Arabia does not allow women to drive, but Jordan not only allows them to drive, but has two female pilots of the Royal Jordanian Airlines."\nThe Middle East is separated into three divisions, according to the book "Women in the Middle East: Tradition and Change" by Ramsay M. Harik and Elsa Marston Harik: the Levantine states, which includes Lebanon, Syria and Iraq; the Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait; and North Africa, consisting of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt. The divisions mark not only cultural dissimilarities, but differences in their treatment of women as well. \n"The Levantine states are far more modern and progressive than the Gulf states," said Marston Harik. "In Lebanon and to a somewhat lesser extent Jordan, Syria and Palestine, as well as in urban Egypt, educated women's lives are comparable to those in Europe and the U.S. in many respects."\nThe changes in behavior toward women in the more conservative fundamentalist Islamic states have not been an easy transition. The revolution is the result of more tolerant times, said Valentine M. Moghadam, director of the Women's Studies Program and associate professor of sociology at Illinois State University and author of "Modernizing Women: Gender and Social Change in the Middle East."\n"The revival of modernist or liberal Islam and the current campaigns to reinterpret Islam are certainly reflections of the growth of a population of highly educated women with their own aspirations," Moghadam said. "Such women usually have experience with employment, activism and international travel."\nFor many women in the Middle East, education and international travel go hand-in-hand, said Mostafa Malaekah, who compiled the Web site Islam Guide: More on Women in Islam.\n"Islam makes it obligatory on every man and woman to seek knowledge, and therefore Islam encourages education," Malaekah said. "Muslim women may seek knowledge elsewhere in the world, however there is one condition if a woman (whether single or married) wishes to study in a non-Muslim country: She should be accompanied by a family member during her stay in that country...for her personal safety and protection in case of any possible risks or emergencies that she may face."\nHigher education usually means better employment, yet the concern for many women in the Middle East, as with women all over the world, is wage equity.\n"(Equal pay for women) has happened just as it has happened in the West, with some job segregation and a lot of glass ceilings," said Mary Ann Tetreault, editor of "Women and Revolution in Africa, Asia and the New World" and professor of political science at Iowa State University.\nResponsibility in the workplace raises many questions. One of the more notable ones concerns family life.\n"As more and more women work outside the home, there is bound to be an increase in family problems such as we have here (in the United States)," Marston Harik said. "In Lebanon, many women hire maids from Sri Lanka and other Asian countries with very different cultures and languages to look after their kids. (This is) not a healthy situation for kids or the family, when the children don't see much of their own mothers."\nBut Tetreault looks at the situation optimistically.\n"Perhaps the most fundamental change we can speculate about would arise from the impact of having a working mother as a role model in the family," Tetreault said.\nMany Middle Eastern women enjoy an unprecedented accession of their rights, as numerous groups speaking against domestic violence espouse.\n"Campaigns to end violence against women are growing throughout the region, especially in Turkey, Algeria, Lebanon and Iran," Moghadam said. "Such campaigns draw on international discourses and conventions, and this helps them to acquire some legitimacy."\nMarston Harik cited a demonstration in Beirut several months ago as an example of this growing legitimacy.\n"This wouldn't have been dreamed of four or five years ago," said Harik. "The movement is still too new, I think, for specific goals, other than bringing this hush-hush subject into the open, making the public aware, encouraging victims to speak up and eventually, I would imagine, to offer some sort of shelter and services for victims."\nDespite the many dissensions against conservative Islam, many women express a conservative outlook toward the religion. One of the chapters in "Women in the Middle East: Tradition and Change" speaks of the "resurgence of veiling," where women don the hijab, a moderate covering of the face.\n"A woman in hijab is proclaiming her right to be in the public space as a moral person and not be seen as a tart," Tetreault said. "Hijab also permits poor women to be appreciated on their merits rather than for their outfits, the same sort of benefit that school uniforms provide in the West"
(11/30/00 7:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>\"How the Grinch Stole Christmas," by Dr. Seuss;(Or Theodore Geisel, if one must know the ruse)Was published in the year of the Sputnik launch;A time when America had not yet discovered raunch.
In 1966 Chuck Jones pulled out all the stops;To rescue America from programming flops."Merrie Melodies" had been his stake to fame;An animated Grinch would bring him equal acclaim.
This year Ron Howard gave the Grinch a shot;A 105-minute movie was all he sought.So he cast Jim Carrey as the green holiday grump;And hoped he'd rebound from his "EdTV" slump.
The price has been counted, the results are in;Should Opie rest easy or break out the gin?Is the Cash-and-Carrey policy a wise transactionFor a refuge from the "Happy Days" faction?
The answer is harder to relate to rhyme;So let's just say I had a good time.The film's first half-hour is decidedly slow;The rest is Carrey's finest since "The Truman Show."
Cindy Lou-Who (Taylor Momsen) is exquisitely sweet;(How does Hollywood find these children? On the street?).Rick Baker's make-up outdoes his prosthetics;For wolfmen, Eddie Murphy and Michael Jackson cosmetics.
Anthony Hopkins is Boris Karloff's subIn Narrating a tale about a holiday grub.The set design is lavish; the money's all there,Prompting one to prop up in his seat and stare.
I could relate the plot, but who doesn't knowAbout a miserly grinch in a town full of snow.Who-ville's its name, with its townspeople afraid;Of a green outsider's plans for a Yuletide raid.
Perhaps in my recommendation there lies an ethical battle;With a story I had known since I had a rattle;But "Humbug" I say to those critics on call;As they rave with a heart that's two sizes too small.
(11/30/00 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>\"How the Grinch Stole Christmas," by Dr. Seuss;(Or Theodore Geisel, if one must know the ruse)Was published in the year of the Sputnik launch;A time when America had not yet discovered raunch.
In 1966 Chuck Jones pulled out all the stops;To rescue America from programming flops."Merrie Melodies" had been his stake to fame;An animated Grinch would bring him equal acclaim.
This year Ron Howard gave the Grinch a shot;A 105-minute movie was all he sought.So he cast Jim Carrey as the green holiday grump;And hoped he'd rebound from his "EdTV" slump.
The price has been counted, the results are in;Should Opie rest easy or break out the gin?Is the Cash-and-Carrey policy a wise transactionFor a refuge from the "Happy Days" faction?
The answer is harder to relate to rhyme;So let's just say I had a good time.The film's first half-hour is decidedly slow;The rest is Carrey's finest since "The Truman Show."
Cindy Lou-Who (Taylor Momsen) is exquisitely sweet;(How does Hollywood find these children? On the street?).Rick Baker's make-up outdoes his prosthetics;For wolfmen, Eddie Murphy and Michael Jackson cosmetics.
Anthony Hopkins is Boris Karloff's subIn Narrating a tale about a holiday grub.The set design is lavish; the money's all there,Prompting one to prop up in his seat and stare.
I could relate the plot, but who doesn't knowAbout a miserly grinch in a town full of snow.Who-ville's its name, with its townspeople afraid;Of a green outsider's plans for a Yuletide raid.
Perhaps in my recommendation there lies an ethical battle;With a story I had known since I had a rattle;But "Humbug" I say to those critics on call;As they rave with a heart that's two sizes too small.
(10/19/00 9:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Remember the bookend scenes of "Edward Scissorhands" where Winona Ryder, then 19 years old, attempted a falsetto accent underneath mounds of latex? Her voice still had a youthful vigor that made this portrayal seem awkward. 10 years later, she stars in "Lost Souls" as a teacher who battles Satan's human host. This time her tone of voice suits the wary dimensions of the role, even if it does not validate her choice of scripts.
(10/19/00 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Remember the bookend scenes of "Edward Scissorhands" where Winona Ryder, then 19 years old, attempted a falsetto accent underneath mounds of latex? Her voice still had a youthful vigor that made this portrayal seem awkward. 10 years later, she stars in "Lost Souls" as a teacher who battles Satan's human host. This time her tone of voice suits the wary dimensions of the role, even if it does not validate her choice of scripts.
(10/06/00 5:24am)
Dell Computer Corporation, the world's leading direct computer systems company and No. 2 personal computer maker, experienced a tremor in its solidified veneer as its stock declined to a 52-week low in the Nasdaq Stock Market Sept. 28. Dell recovered somewhat during the day, finishing at $32.44, a $1.19 drop.\nThe Round Rock, a Texas-based company, announced the same day that it would be reducing prices on some of its computer servers. Among the affected products: the Dimension desktop PC, with a 15 percent price slash as low as $799; the Inspiron notebook computers, whose prices will experience a 15 percent cut to $1,099; and the PowerEdge servers, whose value descends from 14 to 47 percent to a retail price starting at $1,199, according to The New York Times.\n"Dell's stock price is more of a measure of things than an influence," said Thomas Lyon, associate professor of business economics and public policy. "In general, you can certainly say that PCs seem to be becoming a commodity, and that is indeed forcing prices (and corporate margins) down."\nIndeed, Robert C. Klemkosky, chair of finance for IU, believes the stock-market dip is more a bruise on Dell's ego than anything else.\n"The market has certain expectations about revenue growth and earning per share and Dell disappointed it," Klemkosky said.\nThese expectations were Dell's hope for a 30 percent increase of revenue over the last fiscal year, where it earned $25.2 billion. Dell spokespersons now say they're projecting third-quarter estimates to be 3 percent lower than usual. They claim the weak demand for PCs in Europe attributed to the slight sub-performance, according to the London Times.\n"The frequency with which people are likely to replace a PC is an important factor, too," Lyon said. "You could argue that there is a slower expansion of software capability than in the past, which drives slower demand to faster hardware."\nLyon said this demand could rise quickly through concentration on alternative markets.\n"One of Michael Dell's arguments recently has been that more focus on the server business will help offset margin pressure on the desktop area and capture some of the opportunity that the continued growth of Internet sites (which require servers to run) presents," Lyon said. "So it's not strictly a matter of PCs."\nBut Dell's sub-par performance was upstaged by Apple's drop, which saw its stock plunge $27.25 to a stock of $25.75. Other companies such as Compaq (which dropped 65 cents) and Gateway (which declined by $7) also have endured the inevitable.\n"I think that there is a question about the personal growth of PCs," said Professor of Finance William L. Sartoris. "A lot of stock prices were rejected by announcements by companies that they have anticipated the same growth of PCs."\nIndeed Dell, ranked No. 3 on the list of Fortune's "most admired" companies will work hard to retain that admiration, broadcasting a fall analyst meeting in Austin, Texas Thursday night over the Internet. "You can't keep growing at the same percentage rate as you get larger and larger," Sartoris said.\nThe Associated Press contributed to this story.
(09/28/00 4:00am)
1973 is infamous as the year America lost its morality, and Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" knows this. Of course it captures the immediate highs of the period, but it never loses sight of the long-term.\nIt's no secret in the film world that Crowe got started as a teen-age rock journalist for such publications as Creem and Rolling Stone, working his way up to creating some of the most indelible cinematic moments of the past 20 years. Sean Penn's stoner tumbling out of a THC-ventilated van, John Cusack's kickboxer holding a stereo in the air and Tom Cruise's sports agent whispering the now-immortal "You complete me" were all manufactured in Crowe's mind. Add to this list Kate Hudson's "Band-Aid" dancing on the garbage-ridden aftermath of a rock concert and you have the ingredients for another image that will live on.\nNewcomer Patrick Fugit plays Crowe, rechristened under the name William Miller. Sheltered by his college-professor mother (Frances McDormand), William is initiated into rock and roll by his rebellious sister, who bequeaths her album collection to him after leaving home.\n"Almost Famous" chronicles the trials and tribulations of Stillwater, complete with a rollicking soundtrack that ranges from Led Zeppelin to Elton John. The cinematography by John Toll ("Braveheart") glitters with such an effervescence that Ziggy Stardust would've been proud. \nThe leader of the ragtag group of female music lovers is Penny Lane (Hudson), who's mixed up but has a good soul. William sees this and pursues her, but the movie is grounded to the point that we hardly expect it to end with romantic fireworks.\nAlthough the movie contains the usual backstage lingo and corporate manager who says "respectfully" a lot (although his intentions are otherwise), it keeps with the common theme of Crowe's movies. Like "Jerry Maguire," it essays the dilemma between saying what you mean and meaning what you say, which are not always the same thing. And as William and Penny receive their reward, one is reminded that good things come to those who wait.
(09/21/00 4:00am)
ANNOUNCER: Greetings ladies and gents to yet another fine column of "The Continuing Misadventures of the Calamitous Critics at Large." Today our special guests are William Butler Whitman, an upper-class bourgeois expatriate from the Solomon Islands, and Andy Sidares, a video store clerk from Peoria, Illinois. The fine specimen of celluloid sewage to be examined is "Big Momma's House," starring Sir Martin Lawrence and a ton o' make up.\nAndy Sidares: Waz' up?!?\nWilliam Butler Whitman: My hearing aid must be on the fritz. Did you just utter a comprehensible English syllable, my good man?\nAS: Aren't you familiar with Martin Lawrence, man?\nWBW: You are familiar with my butler from my summer cottage in Darby?\nAS: Woah dude, I am talking about my boy Martin Lawrence from "Big Momma's House." You know, that movie that we just watched that so totally rocked?\nWBW: Oh yes, that treatise on deception in modern urban culture. Unfortunately, I do not concur with your upbeat appraisal. I found it to be quite a piece of hogwash.\nAS: Hogwash, man? Come on, get with the times you old coot! Remember when the real Big Momma went to the bathroom and had to do a nasty number two? That was so cool!\nWBW: Ughhh! Bodily emissions! That scene's puerile sense of humor was a disgrace to me and all of my ancestry.\nAS: Well if you didn't like the potty, grandpa, then you certainly must've loved the bootay! That Sherry was one fine mama!\nWBW: 'Twill be a cold day with Dante when I shall refer to something with such troglodytic undertones. 'Tis a shame that veteran thespian Nia Long cooperated with such a maniacal plot to degrade the female vessel. Which brings me to my next point: the degradation of society....\nANNOUNCER: At this point, Andy Sidares falls asleep, dreaming of beer bongs and potato chips, while William Butler Whitman lectures on the pros and cons of reading J.D. Salinger books to pregnant monkeys to be utilized in the name of science. "Big Momma's House" progresses as Lawrence goes undercover as Big Momma in an attempt to learn the whereabouts of Long's former lover. The usual confusion found in "Tootsie" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" is abound, and the plot drags on as needlessly as Mr. Whitman's ramblings, which we now return you to for a short moment.\nWBW: ....And the effects of insulin therapy on dolphins caught in tuna nets will soon put the entire human race in a diabetic epidemic.\nAS: What are you talking about? The people have spoken! "Big Momma's House" made a motherload of box-office moola. $116 million worth, you Metamucil-chugging, diaper wearing relic! \nWBW: I mourn your ignorance, young chap. I spent that exact amount on my last yacht.\nAS: No matter what, Martin is my boyyee and I can't wait to kick some ass while personally wearing 600 pounds of latex!\nWBW: Yes, and I must retire to more pressing matters, like overseeing the pack of twelve-year-olds who churn my tea.
(09/21/00 12:31am)
ANNOUNCER: Greetings ladies and gents to yet another fine column of "The Continuing Misadventures of the Calamitous Critics at Large." Today our special guests are William Butler Whitman, an upper-class bourgeois expatriate from the Solomon Islands, and Andy Sidares, a video store clerk from Peoria, Illinois. The fine specimen of celluloid sewage to be examined is "Big Momma's House," starring Sir Martin Lawrence and a ton o' make up.\nAndy Sidares: Waz' up?!?\nWilliam Butler Whitman: My hearing aid must be on the fritz. Did you just utter a comprehensible English syllable, my good man?\nAS: Aren't you familiar with Martin Lawrence, man?\nWBW: You are familiar with my butler from my summer cottage in Darby?\nAS: Woah dude, I am talking about my boy Martin Lawrence from "Big Momma's House." You know, that movie that we just watched that so totally rocked?\nWBW: Oh yes, that treatise on deception in modern urban culture. Unfortunately, I do not concur with your upbeat appraisal. I found it to be quite a piece of hogwash.\nAS: Hogwash, man? Come on, get with the times you old coot! Remember when the real Big Momma went to the bathroom and had to do a nasty number two? That was so cool!\nWBW: Ughhh! Bodily emissions! That scene's puerile sense of humor was a disgrace to me and all of my ancestry.\nAS: Well if you didn't like the potty, grandpa, then you certainly must've loved the bootay! That Sherry was one fine mama!\nWBW: 'Twill be a cold day with Dante when I shall refer to something with such troglodytic undertones. 'Tis a shame that veteran thespian Nia Long cooperated with such a maniacal plot to degrade the female vessel. Which brings me to my next point: the degradation of society....\nANNOUNCER: At this point, Andy Sidares falls asleep, dreaming of beer bongs and potato chips, while William Butler Whitman lectures on the pros and cons of reading J.D. Salinger books to pregnant monkeys to be utilized in the name of science. "Big Momma's House" progresses as Lawrence goes undercover as Big Momma in an attempt to learn the whereabouts of Long's former lover. The usual confusion found in "Tootsie" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" is abound, and the plot drags on as needlessly as Mr. Whitman's ramblings, which we now return you to for a short moment.\nWBW: ....And the effects of insulin therapy on dolphins caught in tuna nets will soon put the entire human race in a diabetic epidemic.\nAS: What are you talking about? The people have spoken! "Big Momma's House" made a motherload of box-office moola. $116 million worth, you Metamucil-chugging, diaper wearing relic! \nWBW: I mourn your ignorance, young chap. I spent that exact amount on my last yacht.\nAS: No matter what, Martin is my boyyee and I can't wait to kick some ass while personally wearing 600 pounds of latex!\nWBW: Yes, and I must retire to more pressing matters, like overseeing the pack of twelve-year-olds who churn my tea.
(09/15/00 5:43am)
As U.S. Internet advertising revenue dropped 7.6 percent to $1.41 billion in August, some might worry about the continuing economic prosperity of "dot-com" businesses in the current climate. But others speculate that it is just another reminder that no corporation, online or otherwise, is invincible.\n"The question may not be 'Is prosperity at an end?', but rather 'At what levels will the profitability come to rest?'" said Howard Rosenbaum, assistant professor in the School of Library and Information Science.\nThis dearth in online advertising has affected the stock performance of Yahoo! Inc., the top Web site network of June 2000, with revenues at about $107 million, according to AdZone Interactive. Indeed Yahoo! stock had experienced a decline over the previous weekend, with Monday's quote falling $2.81 1/4 to $104. 12 1/2, the equivalent of a $10.5 billion dip since Aug. 30.\n"I think this move in stock prices is an effect and not a cause," Rosenbaum said. "There are changes occurring in e-commerce, particularly in business-to-consumer e-commerce, that are impacting in-stock prices (among other things). In general, e-businesses and investors are discovering that the new economy still operates with at least one old economy rule: it's hard to stay in business if you can't generate profits."\nOne reason behind such declines is the inevitable drop in "click-through" rates on the banner advertisements usually located at the top of a web page. Advertisers estimate that 0.5 percent of web surfers actually click on these product placements as opposed to 4 or 5 percent in the past. Joseph Slowinski, a professor in the School of Education, cites several reasons for this decline.\n"The thinking, in my opinion, was that the novelty effect would drive people to sites to explore and ideally purchase products or services," Slowinski said. "More recently, affiliate programs (those programs that allow people to add banner sites to their Web sites) are now attaching actual sales on these programs."\nSlowinski also cites the technological innovation of these advertisements as impediments to their long-term impact.\n"No longer can we expect people to click on banner advertisements that have become a nuisance for most Internet users," Slowinski said.\nThe fact that many Internet users are distracted by these flashing rectangular banners does not suggest the other hurdles online marketing must face, according to Rosenbaum.\n"Companies are driving harder bargains when buying ad space, and traffic may be showing a long-term downward spiral away from portals," Rosenbaum said.\nSlowinski suggests the key to success in electronic business is to have a product that can be utilized in a unique way online.\n"We all need to ask ourselves, 'What is the added value of a Web site?'," Slowinski said. "Who cares if Miracle Whip has a Web site ' does it enhance the taste of the product?"\nIn the end, some say Yahoo!'s lack of innovation in its computerized domain has lessened its prospects in competition with up-and-coming "dot-com" businesses.\n"The important companies are those developing radical new technologies," said Dennis Gannon, professor and chair of the Computer Science department. "Yahoo! is no longer in that camp. They aren't at the leading edge anymore."\nOf course the added problem remains whether the dip in Yahoo!'s stock will affect the willingness of more traditional companies to take the online plunge. Rosenbaum doesn't think so.\n"The 'Net' has transformed the way business is done," Rosenbaum said. "And there is no going back"
(09/06/00 5:57am)
By listening to Lt. Col. Walter Pollard of the IU Military Science Department, one is apt to find a statement echoed by many armed forces personnel and statistics.\n"There had been a decline in the number of recruits in the past five years, but then we've been on the upswing," Pollard said.\nPollard remains a voice speculating on how interest in the military has decreased since the Reagan administration. He attributes the primary cause to a dearth in military service starting in the post-Vietnam years and continuing until only recently.\n"We're in this period of (asking ourselves), 'Why do we even need a military?'" Pollard said. "With the economy being as robust as it is and a decline in patriotism or an understanding of what the military does, you have a generation of people who didn't have role models where 20 years ago somehow they had some direct connection to the military."\nIndeed, as the veterans of World War II are gradually swept away by old age and death, the worldview has changed to accommodate the principles of the up-and-coming members of what the media commonly refer to as "Generation X".\n"Many young people grew up in a land of prosperity, where from the Reagan era forward, more and more folks were (young)," Pollard said.\nBeing raised in a land of prosperity might also hinder the chances of military recruitment, said Willard E. Witte, associate professor of macroeconomics and international economics.\n"Economic theory would certainly imply that when the civilian economy is good ' with plentiful jobs and rising pay levels ' military recruitment would suffer," Witte said.\nAlthough military recruitment did suffer during the early 1990s, Witte suggested it had less to do with the economy than with a decline in military demand. \n"That was during the immediate post cold war period when the economy was downsizing," Witte said, referring to numbers published by the Office of the Secretary of Defense chronicling the drop in the amount of Class E-1 recruits from 97,600 in 1990 to 63,400 in 1994. \nBut as the decade progressed and the economy rebounded, this figure rose to 74,100 by 1997, proving that theory and actuality are not always the same thing.\nThe economy is not the only possibility that affects the number of people who enlist in the military. Patrick D. Boy, a senior and former Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) member, attributes this to the educational and career benefits the Army has to offer.\n"The Army does have a lot of money, so if they're going to spend money on you, you will have a guaranteed job," Boy said.\nSgt. First Class Jon Smith of the U.S. Army Reserves in Bloomington emphasizes this point as a distinctive attribute that the other military services do not match.\n"We are the only branch of service that guarantees every single job initially in writing before a person enlists, and we're the only branch of service that will pay off all your loans," Smith said. "This year, we've probably paid off close to a half-million dollars in student loans at IU."\nThe results, according to Smith, have been formidable.\n"Last year, 65 people joined the Army out of this recruiting station," Smith said. "That's about a 70 percent increase over the previous year."\nSgt. Ryan Powell of the U.S. Marine Corps stresses a very different brand of benefits when it comes to his branch of service.\n"Tangible benefits are pretty standard across the board," Powell said. "When it comes to intangible benefits, such as the leadership skills that young people develop, these are all things you have to learn from experience."\nPowell said the reaction a Marine recruit has as he steps into an employer's office for the first time makes all the difference.\n"Many facets of the civilian department don't focus on personality characteristics for being a success," Powell said. "The pride that comes from wearing a uniform can carry you throughout your life."\nBut as the recruitment statistics continue to fluctuate and trends continue to be speculated upon, the hearts of many patriotic students continue to beat unwaveringly toward the cause of defending a nation. \nOr, as Sgt. Powell said, "The economy really doesn't matter that much, because the same people looking for the Marine Corps now are the same people who were looking for the Marine Corps when the economy was in a slump"