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(07/25/02 8:23pm)
With the release of its self-titled first album in 1998, Train showed all the makings of a one-hit wonder. In the past few years it seems as though any all-male band playing the same kind of mellow, adult contemporary rock and turning one high-selling single into a hit album only crashed and burned on any future efforts. The style of music and the trend of its success has become something of a joke -- so much so that I fully expected all the songs on Train's second effort, Drops of Jupiter, to be lazy, sound-alike duds save for the title track, which is enjoying heavy radio airplay.\nThe first two songs, "She's On Fire" and "I Wish You Would," support that prediction. Both begin with essentially identical, bland instrumentals. Said instrumentals and pedestrian lyrics are made worse because it's obvious the band itself thinks its attempt at being upbeat is succeeding. \nWrong.\nNext up is "Drops of Jupiter," the track that's supposed to be good. And it is good, with melancholy lyrics accompanied by a relaxed, lulling sound. I didn't pay too much attention the first time (or the second or third) time I heard the song, but somewhere along the line, it grew on me. Maybe because lead singer Patrick Monahan's voice is perfectly suited to this kind of song.\nFrom there on, a quasi-miracle occurs. Instead of repeating the mistakes of tracks one and two, Train actually takes some queues from "Drops of Jupiter" and keeps the rest of the album relaxing and mellow. With catchy choruses and low-key guitar riffs, the rest of Drops of Jupiter is listenable. The acoustic-based "Hopeless" is a standout track, presenting an example of quality songwriting by the band members and perfectly showcasing Monahan's vocal strength. Skipping past the hackneyed "Respect," "Let it Roll" manages to make good use of acoustic guitars and the mandolin.\nTrain is not likely to win strong critical praise for any of its efforts. Despite successes on "Drops of Jupiter," the band will never "blow your mind" (as it says on the title song). But for something airplay-friendly, this is the best there is from bands stranded in the middle of the road.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Jazz is the music of choice. Or so says Wynton Marsalis, an award-winning jazz artist, composer and artistic director for jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis said this principle defines jazz, in an interview on the Live From Lincoln Center Web site, www.livefromlincolncenter.org.\n"It's your choice," he said. "You choose how long you're going to play. You choose what register you want to play in. You choose whether you want to play at all."\nStudents and community members can watch these choices come to life as Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra perform at 7:30 p.m. today at the IU Auditorium. \nThe concert is sponsored by Union Board and SFX Entertainment. Tickets are still available for the performance. Student tickets are $33 and $20 for the balcony. Nonstudent tickets are $35 and $22.\nMarsalis said the freedom to choose isn't enjoyed by all musicians.\n"... Musicians, many times we get into a convention and we just play however it is we always played," he said. "But that doesn't say anything about the possibilities afforded by jazz because we have infinite possibilities."\nMarsalis was born in New Orleans, began classical training on the trumpet at the age of 12 and entered The Juilliard School at 17. He made his recording debut as a leader in 1982 and has won eight Grammy awards for his almost 40 classical and jazz recordings. In 1998, he was the first jazz artist to receive a Pulitzer Prize in music, for Blood on the Fields, a musical and vocal epic about slavery in the United States. \nAndy Proctor, a senior and concerts director for Union Board, said the organization chose to bring Marsalis and the orchestra because both groups' schedules coincided.\n"We looked at his tour schedule and we had an opening," Proctor said. "We're really excited to bring him. Expect progressive big band music from some of the finest players in jazz today."\nJazz as played by Marsalis means paying homage to the roots of the genre, said music professor Edmund Cord, who teaches trumpet performance.\n"I wouldn't say that what he plays sounds like Louis Armstrong -- that's not the point," Cord said. "It has to do with keeping alive a vernacular of traditional jazz."\nAlthough some might see this kind of traditional jazz as being in conflict with people attempting to innovate the genre, Cord said there is an important place in jazz for both styles.\n"The development of any art form evolves through a period of time and there is much to build on the work of the people who came before," Cord said. "You cannot progress and develop an art form without innovation. But if it's innovation just for the sake of being different, sometimes that causes things to be a flash in the pan and it falls by the wayside."\nTwo other trumpet players in the ensemble, Seneca Black and Marcus Printup, will attend a master class at the School of Music today. Cord said they will listen to three or four trumpet students play with a rhythm section and then offer suggestions about trumpet and jazz playing. \nThe visit was arranged through the educational section of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and paid for by the School of Music.\n"Most importantly, it will provide a model of sound and performance, so younger players have their imaginations sparked and can see what's possible," Cord said. "(Black) is not much older than a lot of the students here and it's great for students to be able to see what can be accomplished with talent and hard work -- a lot of hard work"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Top recruit Bracey Wright has verbally committed to attend IU and play basketball beginning in the 2002-03 season. Wright, a 6-4 guard from The Colony, Tex., who is considered by experts to be among the top 15 high school recruits in the nation, called Coach Mike Davis Wednesday afternoon and gave him the news.\n"I told (Davis) everything was set and I wanted to come," Wright said. "He started laughing a little bit and said he was real happy."\nWright visited Bloomington earlier this week, touring the area and spending time with some current players.\nTommy Thomas, Wright's coach at The Colony High School, said it was important for both Wright and his mother to get to know IU and its program. After the visit, Thomas spoke with both Wright and his mother.\n"Bracey said he thought he was going to be really happy at Indiana and playing for Coach Davis," Thomas said. "I think it's a great idea."\nThe impression IU and its campus made on Wright's mother was an important factor in his decision.\n"My mother was really impressed," he said. "I already knew a lot about it but I needed her. I like the whole atmosphere of the college and how friendly everything was. My mother liked that (the campus) has a lot of trees -- she said it was like one big garden."\nWright has a combination of both outstanding skills and a family who provides great back-up for both his athletic and academic pursuits, Thomas said.\n"He's a great jump shooter, he has tremendous range and is very athletic... " Thomas said. "He's a great kid and we've kind of grown together over the last three and a half years. He has a great mom and brother and a really supportive family."\nDuring his junior year in high school, Wright averaged 21.6 points and 6.1 rebounds. He was voted most valuable player in the summer's Peach Jam Amateur Athletic Union tournament in Atlanta.\nAlthough the current IU players say they haven't been caught up in the recruitment hype, they like what they've heard about Wright.\nWright's verbal commitment is an "excellent step for the program and a credit to Coach Davis," said senior guard Dane Fife.\nThomas said Wright's decision-making process has been ongoing throughout the summer. He played in the Nike Memorial Day Classic at Assembly Hall and participated in the Olympic Festival where he roomed with potential IU recruit and Bloomington High School North standout Sean May. Although Thomas said IU contacted Wright initially, it was the nationally-ranked player's interest in the program that progressed the recruiting process.\n"That's how a relationship begins," Thomas said. "There has to be an interest on both people's parts."\nThomas said Wright cannot formally commit until the official NCAA signing date in November. Meanwhile both Wright and Thomas are concentrating on winning a Texas state championship, one of the few titles that The Colony High School team, which went 32-2 last year, has not won during Wright's high school career.\nWright said Davis' recruiting style never became "bothersome" and that Davis called to check on his progress.\n"He just let me do my thing... " Wright said. "He basically respected everything I did."\nWith the verbal commitment of Wright and Marshall Strickland, a 6-foot-1 point guard from Sykesville, Md., who verbally committed to IU in July, the team has two of the three most desired players in its 2002 recruiting class.\nThe other is Bloomington High School North senior Sean May.\nMay's father, former IU basketball All American Scott May, said his son was "not close" to making a final decision. Wright said he doesn't know what May has planned.\nMay has narrowed his possible schools to Louisville, North Carolina, Notre Dame and IU. He is expected to make his final decision in November.\nAlthough he is concentrating on finishing his high school career with a state championship ring, Wright is also hoping to eventually add an NCAA championship ring.\n"I'll make whatever kind of impact they need me to," Wright said.\nHead coach Mike Davis could not be reached for comment late Wednesday. Assistant coach Jim Thomas did not return a phone call before press time Wednesday.\nCampus Editor Cory Schouten and Sports Editor Eric Talbot contributed to this story.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Whenever it came time for an important alumni event, IU Alumni Association President Jerry Tardy would gather Alumni Association employees together and give a speech about making sure the event was done right.\nAlthough John Hobson, senior vice president of the Alumni Association, said Tardy didn't often define "doing it right," Hobson always knew what he meant. Each event had to follow Tardy's example: to make all alumni feel a part of IU, and that the campus -- particularly the Virgil T. DeVault Alumni Center -- was a second home. \nOn Friday evening, Tardy, 62, died of liver cancer at University Hospital in Indianapolis, leaving the Alumni Center without its biggest supporter and leaving Hobson and other University employees with a considerable legacy to carry on.\n"We'll certainly miss his leadership and guidance," Hobson said. "He sent word to our staff with his wife Laura that he wants our work to go forward and not to cancel or postpone anything because of his illness. I think the staff is completely dedicated to honoring that wish."\nA memorial service for Tardy, director of the Alumni Association since 1987, will be held 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Musical Arts Center. A reception will follow at the Alumni Center, 1000 E. 17th St.\nAs director of the Alumni Association, Tardy coordinated events involving students, staff and alumni living all over the United States and the world. He also served on several University task forces and was former director of the IU Foundation and the IU Varsity Club. \nIn 1978, he helped negotiate a contract with 20th Century Fox movie studios for the reproduction of the Little 500 bicycle race in the movie "Breaking Away." For years, Tardy drove the pace car for the annual bike race. Tardy graduated from IU with a bachelor's of science in physical education in 1962. He went to work for the University in 1968.\n"Jerry was always looking for IU alumni," said IU President Myles Brand in a written statement. "Even in the hospital, he would greet everyone with his famous smile and ask if they had attended IU."\nOne of Tardy's biggest accomplishments was helping to raise the $5.2 million needed to renovate an existing building and create the DeVault Alumni Center, which opened in 1997. Hobson said it was important to Tardy the Alumni Center feel like a home. Patrick Shoulders, outgoing chairman of the IU Alumni Association, the organization's volunteer body, said people often referred to the Alumni Center as the "Taj Ma-Tardy." \n"It wasn't his house but one he put his heart and soul into putting together," said Rich Searles, a friend of Tardy's and former chairman of the Alumni Association.\nDuring his tenure as chairman, Shoulders traveled to alumni events on and off campus with Tardy and was impressed how Tardy easily moved between different organizations and alumni groups.\n"He loved anybody that loved IU," he said.\nJames Morris, president of the IU Board of Trustees, was friends with Tardy for 35 years, dating back to their undergraduate years at IU. Morris described Tardy as a "humble" and "softspoken" man who did his work in a "low-key but effective" way and who probably knew more IU alumni than anyone else. \n"He had time for everybody," Morris said. "He was never in a hurry. He was a classy guy."\nTardy was diagnosed with bladder cancer about 18 months ago. Surgeons removed his bladder and did a procedure to create a new bladder out of a portion of Tardy's large intestine.\nSearles said Tardy was cancer-free until about 19 days ago when he was diagnosed with liver cancer. Tardy knew he was going to die, Searles said, and used his last two weeks to say goodbye to friends and family.\n"He got the chance to kind of close the circle," Searles said. "There's nothing good about cancer; but there is something good about being able to do that. He couldn't have all the visitors he wanted to because he was so sick but the ones he did get to talk to he really enjoyed the opportunity to tell them he loved them and tell them thanks."\nShoulders said Tardy's battle with cancer was symbolic of his entire life and career.\n"He wasn't afraid to take risks to face consequences and to stand up to whatever was thrown his way," Shoulders said.\n
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
For those of you who think "bluegrass" and imagine stereotypical redneck, old men in overalls and plaid shirts, Canadian group The Be Good Tanyas will present a pleasant surprise. \nCountry without being twangy, easy to listen to without being bland, the all-woman group came together in 1999 to write songs about their separate and collective lives on the road. The result is their first album, Blue Horse, a listening experience perfect for all kinds of travel, from driving down sleepy country roads in the middle of the night to speeding down the city expressway in broad daylight.\nThe group is composed of Samantha Parton, Frazey Ford and Trish Klein. All three contribute on vocals and guitar, Parton and Klein play the banjo and Parton plays the mandolin. A few "very special" guests add fiddle, electric violin, drums and a double bass to the 12-song album, which is a mix of original songs written by the three women and traditional folk songs.\nEach song on Blue Horse sounds distinctive, proving the group can handle a variety of styles and types of music. Two of the best tracks come at the beginning and end of the album. The album begins with "The Littlest Birds," a catchy song about life's smaller and simpler pleasures. At the end is "Light Enough to Travel," one of those great self-discovery "road trip" songs perfect for a long drive and some deep thoughts.\nJudging from the concert schedule on their Web site, The Tanyas typically play events in Canada. This weekend's Lotus Festival is the first time the group has performed a U.S. festival in at least two months, so Saturday is not only a perfect time to get to know them, but it might be one of only a few chances. So plan a trip, see The Be Good Tanyas, buy the CD and be guaranteed the perfect music for any long trip home.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Wednesday's suspension of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity was one of at least a dozen other fraternities who have faced disciplinary action from the University or a chapter's national organization in the last four years.\nSenior Ben Schmidt, IFC president, said national organizations are now more involved with individual chapters. "These sorts of issues present a huge liability for chapters and a huge liability for national organizations," he said. \nJudson Horras, director of Chapter Development for Beta Theta Pi's national organization, said national fraternities are increasingly interested in focusing chapters on the principles upon which they were founded. \n"A lot of the national organizations are saying 'Hey change has to happen and it is going to happen'," he said. "Sometimes, you've got to take a stand and close some of the old chapters that are strong and large to ensure the organization remains credible."\nSchmidt said IFC encourages IU chapters to hold parties away from fraternity houses and to employ third-party alcohol vendors. In 2000, the IFC passed a resolution banning alcohol from all houses on campus, limiting social functions and requiring off-campus functions be served by a third-party vendor. \nCurrently, IFC is implementing Training for Intervention Procedures or TIPS, a national alcohol education program, for new member classes. \nWhile national organizations are increasingly involved in the actions of chapters, Schmidt said chapters are dealing with increased attention from the University. This comes in part in the form of a police officer who Schmidt said patrols campus specifically in search of policy violations at social functions.\nIn 2000, the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity were suspended by Dean of Students Richard McKaig for violating the University's alcohol policy. This suspension resulted from the 1999 death of then-sophomore Joseph Bisanz. Although alcohol was found in Bisanz's blood, the coroner determined asphyxiation as the cause of death.\nLater that year, McKaig investigated Delta Chi, 1100 N. Jordan Ave., where then-freshman pledge Todd Hege was taken to Bloomington Hospital with a .2 blood alcohol content, a chipped tooth and bruises to his face. At the time, McKaig told the IDS fraternity members could face disciplinary action for alleged alcohol violations. \nIn April of 2000, the national organization of Sigma Alpha Mu revoked the charter of IU's Sigma Zeta chapter for "hazing and other activities not consistent with the mission of the fraternity," as stated in a press release.\nTheta Chi's nationals revoked the IU charter in February because of a party at their house. University officials said the death of then-freshman Seth Korona was related to a skull fracture he sustained at that party. \nIn July, nationals disbanded Beta Theta Pi for several risk management incidents during the past several years.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
From the elevators to the stairwells, to the empty seats inside the house, every part of the IU Auditorium was bursting with preparations for "South Pacific" this week. Actors and actresses stretched, sang, played cards and read newspapers in the orchestra lobby. Bright yellow tape, stretched across the colorful carpet, marked out a stage. \nMusic from the show, that begins its national tour with performances tonight and tomorrow at IU, floated down from the mezzanine lobby. The orchestra was crammed into the narrow space along with trunks and stacks of chairs. Sound and set crews worked to rig lights, sound boards and backdrops for the performance.\nIn the corner of one stairwell sat three large, bright-colored plastic balls. Auditorium General Manager Bryan Rives explained the staff kicks around the balls when they need to let off steam. But during final rehearsals they are relegated to sitting untouched in the corner -- there's no time to let off steam.\n"South Pacific" is kicking off both the Auditorium's 2001-02 season and its own national tour. The show is using the Auditorium to rehearse for the tour, one reason IU was able to bring the show to Bloomington.\n"When tours like this are getting ready to go they need a location to do the final technical rehearsal and have the final full rehearsal," Rives said. "They rented the Auditorium this week to do that and we were able to negotiate to present two full performances here."\nThe practice arrangement is not a first for the auditorium (a touring company of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" had previously prepared for its tour at IU), but it will give audiences the chance to see a show they might not have come to Bloomington otherwise. \n"Normally, shows of this size want to perform in a city for a minimum of a week at a time," Rives said. "Bloomington doesn't have the population to support a full week of a Broadway show."\nPreparing the show for opening night (and months of touring) means a hectic couple of days for the "South Pacific" company and Auditorium employees.\nAuditorium stage manager John DeLong has been preparing to put on the show for months. It's his job to make sure the Auditorium meets all requirements to put on the large show.\nThings change constantly and DeLong is ready to send crew members for emergency runs to Lowe's or a local lumber yard. Five semi trucks full of equipment come through the building's doors, along with 50-odd local stage crew and about 15 road crew members from the tour.\n"There's a lot of people working in a fairly small space," DeLong said.\nThe statement is most apparent backstage, where electrical wires in large bundles snake along the wooden floor. As backdrops come down, members of the crew shout to warn everyone. \n"It's dangerous," said Don Oard, the Auditorium's master electrician. "There's all kinds of things going in and going out and they're all heavy and they all hurt."\nAs stage hands work to raise several wires attached to a pipe, Oard said about 8,000 watts of power are going to be used for "South Pacific." The production crew is using the time in Bloomington to plan set up for all future shows. Although Oard has been involved with theater for a long time and knows the secrets to how the things that appear onstage are done, he never gets sick of the experience.\n"I enjoy it all," he said. "It's a part of my blood, a part of my life."\nGetting the actors and production crews safely to Bloomington was an ordeal. Because of the terrorist attacks that hit New York and Washington, D.C. last week, performers took buses from New York, rather than flying. Others drove from as far away as Los Angeles and Seattle, stopping along the way to pick up other company members. Julia Bond, the tutor for the children in the production, was one of the few people who flew to Bloomington. Two flights she was supposed to take from Denver were canceled and she had to check another bag because the airlines didn't permit her to take toenail clippers with her on the plane.\nA table full of fruit and frosted donuts line the hall on the bottom floor of the auditorium. Baby gates block one of the rooms. Behind the gates, a small black and carmel terrier -- the pet of the company manager -- dances on her hind legs while Carl Pasbjerg, "South Pacific's" general manager, talks on his cell phone. Pasbjerg describes the rehearsal time like he's creating something new.\n"This is always the craziest time," he said. "It's a new product and we want it to be perfect"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
First take the "L" train to "Bad Acting" street. Then take an express to major suspension of disbelief. Finally, ride the line for grossly ridiculous plot points and self-egrandizing 'N Sync moments. If you can do all of these things and still retain your enthusiasm, then maybe "On the Line" is the movie for you. If not, then please do not subject yourself to what is by far the worst product a boy band has put on the market. \nThe so-called "'N Sync movie" stars band members Joey Fatone and Lance Bass. Bass' production company, A Happy Place, produced this movie, and he's listed as executive producer. \nIt's really sad that this movie is so bad, because the premise is actually rather clever. Commitment-phobic Kevin (Lance Bass) meets Girl of his Dreams (Emanuelle Chriqui) on a Chicago train, is too much of a wuss to get her name and number. He then tries to right that wrong by making up "Are you her?" posters and papering the city with them, hoping she'll call. \nFatone plays one of Kevin's trio of dim-bulb best friends. Because he's a fellow 'N Sync boy, his character gets to be "the funny one," complete with increased screen time, a music career-subplot and truly disgusting flatulence jokes. \nThere are many other plot contrivances -- excuse me, subplots -- that make Kevin's life even more complicated, but they are all ill-conceived and out of place with the main plot. I had to suffer through them, but there's no reason you should have to do so as well. Bottom line is that the writers, director and producers involved in this movie obviously have no idea that sometimes less is more and that external complications are usually less interesting than internal ones. \nActing is also not the film's strong suit, with most of the performers sounding like they're simply reading the script aloud. The only saving graces of this movie, are some nice shots of downtown Chicago and Wrigley Field and appearances by Dave Foley (as Kevin's boss) and Jerry Stiller (as the mailboy at Kevin's workplace). What Foley, Stiller and the Chicago film commission were thinking when they agreed to be involved with this film is a column in itself. \nIt's also nice that Chriqui doesn't have average Girl of His Dreams looks -- she's very different looking, and that's good. If only her character, or any of the characters for that matter, had been given a little substance.\nUnfortunately, I fear this movie will end up as box office success. The audience who shared the theater with me, mostly junior high-age girls, appeared to enjoy it, laughing at the "jokes" and delighting at the finale, with its happy ending and cameo by fellow 'N Sync-ers Justin Timberlake and Chris Kirkpatrick. So please, do not get "on the line." Instead walk, run, sprint to a movie of better quality. Even "Summer Catch" was better than this.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
In reaction to the U.S. bombings of Afghanistan, several students have set up a "peace camp" in Dunn Meadow. Beginning about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, the students descended on the meadow with tents, food, a stereo, an umbrella, candles and signs with slogans like "Stop the killing" and "War is also terrorism."\n"We're staying until this blows over … until the U.S. aggression stops," freshman David Odefey said.\nThe peace camp is being maintained by the members of Students for a Non-Violent Solution, an IU group created in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Members of the Bloomington Peace Action Coalition, a local umbrella group for several political groups, is also participating.\nAfter a meeting last night, the group decided to set up the camp. First they held a vigil by the Showalter Fountain as people were leaving the Auditorium after seeing Rent. They then marched to Dunn Meadow to set up camp.\n"We were all thinking about how best to respond (to the bombings)," Odefey said. "It was time for a bold response."\nAlthough the group did not inform the University of their intention to set up in Dunn Meadow, Assistant Dean of Students Jim Gibson said the peace camp is permitted, as the meadow is the designated spot for free speech expression on campus.\n"They can stay there as long as they want," he said. Gibson added that while overnight camping isn't allowed in Dunn Meadow, the students can stay overnight if they are holding a vigil or something similar. \nSome activities related to the installation of Sharon Brehm as Bloomington chancellor are scheduled to take place in Dunn Meadow Wednesday. Gibson said the area is large enough that both events can take place and that the possibility of a demonstration like this taking place is a fact of life when a group wants to rent the campus' designated space for free speech activity.\nAs students walk by the peace camp, members of the group offer them literature about their position on the "war against terrorism" and offer green ribbons and armbands signifying peace. Supporters of the group also added green peace armbands to the statue of Herman B Wells on the Old Crescent and to the Venus and fish statues of the Showalter Fountain. \nJames Bourke, a freshman, said the response to the peace camp has been "about 75 percent positive." Group members spread out the time spent holding down camp and supporters have stopped by to drop off food. Bloomington resident Sean "Steps to Freedom" Bagley thanked passers-by who are against the group's views for their reactions to the peace camp.\n"The people who disagree with us have been very respectful," he said.\nSince the group plans to stay put for the foreseeable future the tents are equipped with blankets and comforters; the group is working on how to bring in heating. Bourke said they were prepared to face the possibility of continuing the peace camp in the snow.\n"We'll warm up with lots of layers and probably make snow angels," he said. \nSophomore Jana Johnston was just walking by when she noticed the peace camp, but she hopes to become involved in Students for a Non-Violent Solution and would "love" to spend the night at the camp.\n"It's awesome that someone is taking action for what they believe," she said.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
IU trustee John Walda, who was until recently president of the board of trustees, has been appointed by IU President Myles Brand to become the University's new executive director of federal relations. The new position was created by Brand to give the University a liaison with Congress and members of the government's executive branch.\nWalda, a member of the board since 1990 and a former board president, will resign his governor-appointed position as trustee by the end of the year to become IU's director of federal relations. Walda officially takes his new position Jan. 1. His term as trustee ends in June of 2002, meaning the governor will have to appoint a new board member to take Walda's place after his resignation.\nWith Walda set to resign from the board of trustees, IU stands to potentially lose its second trustee in less than a week. Thursday, President George W. Bush nominated trustees president James Morris to serve as ambassador to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations Agencies in Rome.\nMorris' and Walda's terms as trustees end in June of 2002. Interim Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations Bill Stephan said he hopes Morris will be able to serve the rest of his term, since the Senate still needs to confirm his nomination.\nGov. Frank O'Bannon will have to appoint someone to take Walda's place. Stephan said the University has not officially informed the governor's office of Walda's appointment and does not plan to do so until Walda officially resigns.\nJean Farison, special assistant to the governor for boards and commissions, said the office hadn't received anything from IU as of Tuesday afternoon. \nWalda said his resignation will most likely happen simultaneously with the beginning of his new job. Although Walda said the governor's office won't make anything official until his resignation, he said he suspects the office will be looking for someone new beforehand.\nBrand and the trustees have discussed creating a new federal relations position for more than a year, Walda said. Several different IU offices and departments now work to secure grant money for research and other projects. With the creation of a federal relations director, all of that work will be consolidated into one office.\n"As IU reorganizes federal relations to better position ourselves in Washington, we are fortunate to be able to enlist John's services," Brand said in a press release. "He has an in-depth knowledge of Indiana University and the state it serves. He will bring unique skills and a valuable perspective to this job."\nIU relies on grant money from the federal government for research, particularly in the area of science and medicine. The new position will help in satisfying these needs, Walda said. \n"We need representation in Washington to make sure our requests are considered appropriately," Walda said.\nMorris said Walda's imminent resignation is a "real loss" to the board but a great gain for IU.\n"He is very bright, has incredible dedication and love for IU and he has a real sense of where opportunities are for the University to grow and get stronger," Morris said.\nBesides representing the University to the Federal government, Walda will also represent Clarian Health Partner's interests in Washington, D.C., and help IU's technology transfer organization, ARTI, with corporate development. \nClarian Health Partners was formed from a merger of the IU and Riley Children's Hospitals with the Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Walda helped facilitate the merger and has served as chairman of the board of Clarian for the last four years. \nWalda, who now works as a lawyer in Fort Wayne, will work out of Bloomington or Indianapolis in his new position. He said he expects to "frequently" travel to Washington.\nA formal search was not conducted to fill the new position, Stephan said. Brand and the rest of the board unanimously agreed Walda was right for the job because he has the skills that fit the job's qualifications.\n"John Walda knows IU extremely well," Stephan said. "He's a very accomplished attorney, and those skills will serve him well often when dealing with other lawyers, elected officials and heads of agencies."\nThe board of trustees hired Brand in its capacity as IU's main governing body, meaning Walda was "hired" by the person he himself helped hire, a situation he calls "unusual."\n"(Brand) knew I was interested in government and that I have good relationships with people in Washington," he said. "So that, combined with the fact that I know IU and Clarian as well as just about anybody, probably led to the conclusion that I might be good in the position"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Early last Friday, while other IU students slept or journeyed home from a long night at the bars, the IU pom squad was trying to keep a dream alive. Beginning at 3:30 a.m., the members of the pom squad woke up, got dressed up and drove to Indianapolis. They journeyed to city radio stations, took their places in front of the stations' front windows and went through the routines they usually perform at IU football and basketball games. They were trying to attract attention so they would be invited on morning radio shows. \nSpeaking out and performing for their cause was just one way the pom and crimson squads have tried to acquire the money necessary to pay for a January trip to the Universal Cheerleaders and Universal Dance associations' national cheer and dance competition. Last week, the squads were informed that they had to raise the approximately $17,000 necessary for the trip because they had run out of funding. While their story has sparked questions from parents and athletic department officials about exactly how that funding was used up, the squad's main concern is earning the money to get to the Orlando competition.\nAlthough the squads have not raised the entire amount of money needed for the trip, pom squad co-captain Erin Gross said the coaches have said the team will go to nationals.\n"Basically, we took it as it was done, there was nothing we could really do about it and we'll raise the money for ourselves," Gross, a senior, said. \nBefore the beginning of the fall semester, the team raised about $23,000 through sponsorships. Part of this money was used for T-shirts the band wore to a summer training camp, senior pom member Jessica Parry said. Some of the money is typically also used for the trip to nationals. This year that money also had to go for shoes, bags and warm-ups because the team lacked the sponsors and contracts they usually get to pay for these things, Parry said.\nLast week, several parents of team members e-mailed IU administration and IU's athletic department, including Athletics Director Michael McNeely. Ronald Kunda, father of pom squad member Amanda Kunda, a sophomore, said the athletics department used the money raised during the summer for uniforms, shoes and bags without letting the squad or coach Julie Horine know. Horine would not comment for this story.\nMcNeely said he did not have any specific conversations with the team, but that the program spent all the money it had.\n"They blew through their budget," McNeely said at the Bloomington Faculty Council meeting. \nAlthough Kunda is happy the squads will make the trip to Orlando, he said he is frustrated by the lack of response from the University. Kunda said e-mails were sent to McNeely, assistant athletics director Mary Ann Rohleder, IU president Myles Brand and several other administrators about the team's situation but none responded.\n"The school has been totally uncooperative," he said.\nSo far Parry said the squads have raised about $10,000 through sponsorships, contacting alumni and a raffle held at last night's basketball game. \nParry said the trip to the national competition is very important to the squad.\n"We love to do football games, we love to do basketball games, but nationals is one of our primary goals," Parry said. "It's like we made the final four and we can't go."\nFundraising plans and trips to drum up publicity for the cause have helped bring the team together. The squads will continue trying to raise money. Each member has already paid her own airfare to and from Orlando.\n"It's been an amazing effort," Gross said. "It's kind of hard to go up to someone and ask for money but when it's this important and we're working this hard we don't want to put in all that work for nothing"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
As a soccer player at Bloomington High School South, Stephanie Rohl's experiences were marked by injuries and hard times. But when she was upset she knew that her friend, IU freshman Sarah Hall would be there to push her to keep going.\nYesterday afternoon the roles were reversed. Rohl stood at the "finish line" supporting Hall as the IU freshman carried the Olympic Torch as part of the torch relay leading up to the Salt Lake City Winter games. As the person who nominated Hall for the run, Rohl took the place reserved by relay organizers for a "special person" present to motivate the runner.\n"I definitely needed her there," Hall said. "This all happened because of her."\nHall ran with the torch through the streets of Terre Haute for about two tenths of a mile. The torch relay runs from Atlanta, where the last U.S.-based Olympic games were held, to Salt Lake City. On the trip, torch bearers will run, walk, jog and bike the torch through 46 states and cover over 13,500 miles. The Olympic Flame was ignited by the sun's rays in Olympia, Greece and is being kept in a lantern that travels with the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Torch Relay. The Flame is a symbol of the peace and unity promoted by the Olympic games.\nWaking up at 5 a.m., Hall drove to Terre Haute to meet the other participants in yesterday's torch relay and to prepare for her run with the torch.\n"It was amazing," Hall said of her part in the relay. "It was just an overall great experience and a great day."\nAlthough they come in every age, size and from every walk of life, the torchbearers all have one thing in common -- they are considered an inspiration to the person who nominated them.\nSince first meeting while running laps together at a practice, Rohl said Hall has always pushed her to reach her goals. \n"She always inspired me to do good in everything," Rohl said. "She's a great athlete, a great person and she's always willing to give her time."\nLast spring Rohl saw commercials on television asking people to write in candidates they felt were deserving of participating in the torch relay. According to the Olympic Web site, people could send nominations for torchbearers to Chevrolet, Coca-Cola or the Salt Lake Olympics Committee. Winners were chosen by a selection committee or through a lottery. In order to get Hall considered, Rohl had to write a 50-100 word essay about how her friend was an inspiration to her.\n"I wrote it a couple of times. It kept being long because I had so many things to say," Rohl said. "I described how we met. I described her personality and how she's this awesome student and awesome athlete."\nThis fall Hall received a package in the mail informing her that she had been nominated and asking her to fill out forms. She remembered that Rohl had nominated her but was "totally surprised" that she was actually picked.\n"I get so emotional when I think about it. I didn't know Steph thought of me in this way," Hall said. "Just thinking of all the many people in the U.S. who may be so much better, I feel so blessed and just hope I can carry myself and the torch in the best way possible and make people proud of the U.S. and the Olympics."\nDuring the weeks leading up to her run, Hall joked that she has been "working out" to carry the approximately three-pound torch. She has also had to endure countless friends telling her "don't drop the torch!"\nIn addition to the clothing she wore when participating in the relay, Hall can purchase the torch she carried. She also received a catalog selling other Olympic-related products including a torch stand.\n"I'm thinking about actually getting the torch stand because I don't know what I'm going to do with it," she said. "I'm thinking about getting it at the end and setting it up in a cool place."\nRegardless of what she ends up doing with her torch, Hall said participating in the torch relay has reaffirmed the meaning of the Olympic Flame for her.\n"It's definitely about unity," she said. "and the fact that it's going all across the country bringing everyone together for the Olympics"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The Majestic - PG\nStarring: Jim Carrey, Martin Landau\nDirected by: Frank Darabont\nShowing: Showplace West 12\nTo promote post-Sept. 11 patriotism, movie theaters are showing a short film before "The Majestic" filled with clips from old movies about American idealism and courage. This little film is definitely schmaltzy, but at the same time the intent behind it is so genuine that a viewer can't help but get shivery and teary.\nThe makers of "The Majestic" also attempt to create emotion from the more innoncent times reflected in old Hollywood movies. Unfortunately, director Frank Darabont and star Jim Carrey are so sure they have achieved this goal that their egomania turns "The Majestic" into a product that produces shivers of disgust.\nSet in the mid-1950s, the movie tells the story of Peter Appleton (Carrey), a smarmy B-movie screenwriter who faces being blacklisted by the American government after he is falsely accused of being a communist. Attempting to escape from his destroyed career, Appleton takes an inebriated drive, hits his head and ends up an amnesiac washed up on the beaches of Lawson, Calif. The townspeople of Lawson think Appleton is Luke Trimble, the town hero who went MIA in World War II. Appleton eventually embraces his new identity as Trimble, helping his father (Martin Landau) re-open the run-down Majestic movie theater and romancing Trimble's childhood sweetheart (Laurie Holden, playing a role you just know Charlize Theron turned down).\nAlthough the sets and costumes look great and the references to movies of the era are fun, the movie is so cloyingly sweet that it could induce several cavities. The only bright spots acting-wise come from voice cameos by several Hollywood directors and by actor Matt Damon as the voice of the real Luke Trimble (although the thought of a guy with Carrey's body and Damon's voice is really kind of scary).\nIn the trailers for the film, Jim Carrey says "The Majestic" came out of his wish to "put something good-hearted into the world." That's great Jim, but if this movie is your idea of good-hearted you should have kept that wish to yourself.\n
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
As the curtains went down on "Waiting for Godot," Dale McFadden knew it was time to say goodbye.\nMcFadden, associate professor of theatre and drama, directed "Godot," the last play performed at the University Theatre. Although he said he is "grateful" to be moving to the facilities at the new Theatre/Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, McFadden will miss the historic and aesthetic details of the old space.\n"It was hard to say goodbye to that space," he said. "It is still an intimate theater with a very nice actor-audience relationship. I hope it continues to be well used by the University."\nSitting at her new desk in the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, senior Kenyatta Humphrey also reflects on saying goodbye. Humphrey worked at the center's Ashton location for three years. The new location brings the center closer to the students, but memories of working in Ashton may remain closer to Humphrey's heart.\n"It was a more personal space," she said. "It felt more like home." \nWith the opening of the new Theatre/Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, students and staff are saying both fond -- and for some, not so fond -- farewells to former facilities. Both departments are celebrating the opening of doors to new opportunity. But they are also marking the end of an era. \nFor the Department of Theatre and Drama, this means saying goodbye to a building it has called home for more than 60 years. Despite the dark hallways, scratched floors and dated equipment, the building is also home to the memories that come from years of classes, productions, opening nights and curtain calls.\n"I'll miss (the old building) because it's an old friend," said Leon Brauner, a theatre professor and department chair. "I've gotten used to it, and I know how I can make it work."\nAlthough the old African-American Culture Center was only located in the Ashton-Coulter building for about three years, students and staff said the building became a home where they knew they could always find family. \n"In the old center, you could come in, sit down and just chill," junior Ryon Cobb said. "The new building will take getting used to, but prayerfully it will come to (be a place) where you can come in, sit around and laugh."\nDespite sad feelings over saying goodbye, students and faculty are happy to say hello to more space, more windows and more possibilities.\nBreath of fresh air\nFor Grace Jackson-Brown, the new building means finally having space to "dance around in."\nAs head librarian of the Black Culture Center Library, Jackson-Brown has gone from occupying one room in the renovated sorority house at the original Black Culture Center location to seven hot, windowless dorm rooms at the center's Ashton location. \nWorking out of the Ashton space, she said, took a lot of creativity.\n"We had to convert a dorm to where it had space for a library and study space," Jackson-Brown said. "We had to remove walls and have all our wooden shelves put in and create computer space. It was very cramped."\nThe new library is situated on about the same place where the original Black Culture Center stood. But things couldn't be more different.\nInstead of one small room, the library has three large ones to accommodate books, computers and traveling exhibits. It's gone from having no windows to having a whole wall full that looks out onto the traffic of Jordan Avenue.\n"I was totally exuberant," Jackson-Brown said of the new space. "There is so much space for the collections, and they are comfortable areas. It was difficult to get around at the old building."\nThe cramped conditions and remote location prevented students from really settling down to study or browse in the old space, Jackson-Brown said. \n"It's nice down there," Humphrey said of the library. "It's a place where you can study and be more efficient (than at Ashton)."\nBoth Jackson-Brown and Humphrey said they hope the new spaces will increase attendance at the library and at culture center programs. Although Humphrey said things have changed now that the staff and students are sharing a building and following the rules that come with new spaces, accessibility is definitely a plus.\n"Attendance was not that good at Ashton," she said. "…This is close to campus. It's very convenient. You can go to class and then be here in five minutes or less."\nCurrently, both the library and the upstairs offices, meeting rooms and practice studios for students, administrative staff and ensembles have a half-finished feeling. Boxes sit opened on the floor, unrolled, colorful posters lean against walls and the furniture and wood still give off the sharp "new" smell. Sitting at a computer in the library, Ryon Cobb said he hopes that will soon change.\n"Hopefully we can carry over the same spirit Mrs. Paulk (late director of the culture center) worked to create," he said.\nPreparing for 'opening night'\nDespite some sadness at saying goodbye to the old place, Leon Brauner's excitement over the move is evidenced by how quickly he offers to give tours of the new Theatre and Drama Center. \nAs he walked through the courtyard, he pointed out ledges built to give students room to sit and enjoy the sunshine.\n"Theater people are people people," he said.\nWalking through the scene shop, Brauner pointed out the doors leading directly to the new Wells Metz Theatre, a far cry from the old basement scene shop, which required students and faculty to bring scenery upstairs through a maze of hallways to the University Theatre. \nWes Peters, associate professor of theatre and drama, said these obstacles limited the height of sets. In the T300 theater, set designers were limited to nine-foot sets while sets for the University Theatre could only be about 16 feet high. Peters' first set in the new building, for the upcoming "Much Ado About Nothing," tops out at 26 feet tall.\n"The old facility was sort of falling apart," he said. "We did decent art in it, but it was always an uphill struggle fighting the building."\nSome new equipment was also installed in the new building, including computers for technical drawing and artwork. \nThe new equipment will share the room with building supplies, rehearsal furniture and other equipment. In the upstairs costume shop, swatches, dummies and hatblocks for shaping share space with new long tables and some new sewing machines.\nBrauner said the biggest advantage of the new Theatre and Drama Center is it shows students "what good means, so in life they now know what they are trying to attain."\n"The challenges will finally just be educational challenges," he said. "Those are the challenges we want; it won't be dumb ones that get in the way. Those challenges just take a lot out of you at the end of the day. You spend so much energy just trying to do work."\nAlthough the struggles of making things work in a difficult environment helped bring the staff and students together, Peters said he hopes the new facility will do the same.\n"There's a camaraderie and excitement about being able to see your colleagues and bounce ideas off them," he said.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Love, Faith and Inspiration\nLindsay Pagano\nWarner Brothers\nAdd Lindsay Pagano to the list of young, female singers producing albums that try to prove how efficiently they can imitate Britney Spears. Pagano isn't as well-dressed and perky as Mandy Moore or as annoying as Jessica Simpson; in fact she doesn't really try anything with her image or music to even minutely distinguish herself from her fellow clones. This is unfortunate because it proves yet again that record execs haven't realized that dressing up a teenage girl in slinky outfits and giving her obsessively perky songs to sing isn't going to sell millions of copies the way it did for Britney.\nAt least it's not likely towork in Pagano's case. Although the album starts out strong with the upbeat, catchy "Everything U R" and "Love&Faith&Inspiration" it quickly goes downhill. As with many "teen pop" albums, too many of the songs sound exactly alike. Even worse, far too many songs contain choruses full of just the kind of insipid lyrics that will drive you nuts by getting stuck in your head all day long. For example "Number One With A Bullet" repeats the same inane chorus so many times that I thought the CD had accidentally gone on repeat.\nMaybe Pagano could get away with such things if she put more emotion into her voice when she sings. The album has a pretty diverse mix of ballads and bubbly pop tunes, but Pagano sings all of them in the same dry monotone. Songs like "Cryin' Shame" and "So Bad" are supposed to express the pain created by relationships that don't work out but you wouldn't know it from listening to Pagano sing. Strangely enough, Paul McCartney sings a duet with Pagano on "So Bad." \nBut don't worry Britney; your dubious position in the music industry won't stand any serious threat from Lindsay Pagano.\n
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Stories of loves, deaths and betrayals from the distant past come together with original songs written from personal experience in the music of French folk singer Gabriel Yacoub.\nAt a concert Saturday at the John Waldron Arts Center Auditorium, Yacoub will play guitar and sing both traditional French folk songs and his own modern music. The concert, which begins at 7:30 p.m., is presented by the Lotus Concert Series, also organizers of Bloomington's annual world music festival.\nYacoub said the concert will be very casual but perhaps a bit confusing for the audience.\n"Almost all the songs are in French, so in between I try to explain in English what each song is about and try to get people interested, since most of the time lots of people who come hear me in this country don't speak French," he said. "I try to help them understand it."\nA performer in his native country since he was a teenager, Yacoub first performed as a back-up guitarist for Celtic harpist Alan Stivell. Later he formed his own folk group, Malicorne, which produced modern songs out of traditional French music. College music magazine CMJ described Yacoub as "a master craftsman who never lets that perfection cloud the emotional content of his songs."\nWhen performing traditional music, presenting emotional content also means knowing the history behind songs that date back as far as the Middle Ages.\n"Most of the songs have lots of hidden meanings," Yacoub said. "Many are very symbolic. They remained alive because they were important to people for telling stories or evoking symbols or beliefs of people that were deeply rooted inside the culture or inside the mind. For modern artists or anybody listening to such a song, these songs are very mysterious."\nBy studying the traditional music for many years, Yacoub has unlocked many of the mysteries behind these songs -- information he tries to share with his audience during a concert.\n"You can find very mysterious things in old traditional song lyrics," he said. "It's part of the fascination. It's like abstract poetry."\nSome of Yacoub's favorite types of traditional songs are old French ballads, which he said tell stories similar to those that can be found in typical movies. One song that Yacoub has sung for many years deals with a woman who is so jealous of her son's true love that she demands he kill her. \n"It's terrible, but those are the kind of things that attracted people's imagination," Yacoub said.\nOn Yacoub's newest album, The Simple Things We Said, he performs two songs in English, a first for him. He wrote the title track for a good friend to sing in English and decided to try it himself a few years later.\n"It's something special for an American audience, but to be honest, I feel much more at ease when I sing it in my own language," he said. "I think people when they come to hear me don't expect me to sing in English, and they don't need me to do that. I can bring something different."\nSaturday's performance will not mark Yacoub's first visit to Bloomington. He performed at the Lotus Festival a few years ago. Lee Williams, executive director of Lotus, followed Yacoub's career and brought him to town in the 1980s. Through these concerts, the two became friends.\n"Some artists stay in hotels and prefer it, and some prefer to stay with people -- and he's one of those types," Williams said. "I got to know him, and so did my wife. Any time his agent calls and says there's going to be a tour for Gabriel, I do a date."\nWilliams said Yacoub has developed a following among folk music lovers in Bloomington and that he fits in well with the mission of Lotus.\n"He has one foot in the old world and one foot in the new," Williams said. "Those are the kinds of artists we really like in Lotus."\nWhile Williams expects many Bloomington residents to attend the concert, he also said it should be of interest to French-speaking students.\n"For French-speaking students, it's really nice to be able to combine a love of foreign language with music or art," he said. "Gabriel is very charismatic. His voice sounds like honey."\nYacoub said he looked forward to tonight's performance based on past shows in Bloomington.\n"I have a good memory of really warm audiences and really warm people," he said. "I've played there maybe three times. Every time I got a good response from people, and I really appreciate that"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Marching through the IU campus, a group of about 400 people used Martin Luther King Jr. Day of 1997 as a time to call for action and social change. As other students sat in class, this group protested in a way not seen on the Bloomington campus since the 1960s and 1970s.\nAs the sun shone overhead and snow slowly melted on the streets and grass, more than 400 people marched to voice concerns about the state of diversity on the IU campus.\n"There had been a pretty long tradition of different ethnic groups and race-based organizations doing organizing or advocacy based on their own specific community's needs," said Ryan Pintado-Vertner, an alumnus and one of the march's organizers. "Each of these groups had their own agendas, and every year, they tried to make some progress. But it was pretty rare that they would come together with a single agreed-upon set of principles."\nThe march was organized by the Student Coalition, a group formed to improve campus life for students of different colors, ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations.\nBeginning at the Showalter Fountain and ending at the Sample Gates, the group highlighted seven specific goals to help improve campus diversity for all students.\nThese goals were intended to increase funding and support for existing diversity programming; to create new programs, such as an Asian Culture Center and a Latino Studies Department; to increase the numbers of non-white and female faculty members; and to begin a university-wide recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.\nFive years ago, Pintado-Vertner and his wife, Lisa, marched in the protest, hoping to bring about change on campus. While Martin Luther King Jr. Day is now an official holiday for students and faculty, looking back at the experience is bittersweet for both. In the months and years after the march, both say many of their goals were not met. \nBut at the time of the march, as students chanted together and raised a banner reading "Heirs to the Revolution," Lisa said the group hoped it was seeing the beginning of something.\n"We hoped we would really have an impact, that people were actually feeling what we were doing and that we weren't alone in our frustration and desire to have things change," she said. \nAlthough recognition of the King holiday was important to the march as a unifying element for all of the different people involved, Ryan said it was not the group's main goal in having the march.\n"Really a holiday is not all that effective to make the University recognize racial justice," he said. "For most students, having a holiday is about having a long weekend. For us, having a long weekend was less important than having the University recognize the true principles Martin Luther King stood for."\nParticipating in the protest was "one of the defining moments in most of our lives," Ryan said.\nMost of the Student Coalition organizers had never even seen a similar march, let alone actually put one together from scratch.\n"I think it really shocked a lot of people on campus from the administration all the way through the student body," he said. "I think the general perception was that we would not be able to mobilize the numbers we promised to."\nThe weather also presented a challenge to the group. Ryan remembered that it was freezing cold and "snowing like crazy" the day before the march was scheduled. Although next day turned out to be unseasonably warm, another small crisis occurred when one student reported over a walkie-talkie saying a truck full of white supremacists were driving the streets looking for the march. Ultimately, the group did not appear at the protest.\n"Everything just sincerely fell together," Ryan said.\nAs the large group of protestors waited outside, the Indiana Daily Student reported that six organizers spent five hours with former Bloomington Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis discussing the Coalition's seven demands. The next day, Gros Louis announced his support for all seven Coalition goals. \n"It was helpful to me that they were prepared to recognize others' requests and that financial resources are limited and one group might get less and others might get more," Gros Louis told the IDS.\nAt an IU Board of Trustees meeting four days after the protest, the board voted to recognize the holiday and call off classes that day. At the time, former trustee John Walda told the IDS that the decision had nothing to do with the protest.\nRyan said he thinks the Student Coalition succeeded in meeting its concrete goals, such as building an Asian Culture Center. But he said other demands fell apart or were not met in the way the group wanted. He also felt the University called the 20/20 diversity program an answer to the group's demands even though the Student Coalition did not necessarily support it.\nAlthough she also said the Student Coalition did not succeed in meeting all of its goals, Lisa said the experience taught her and the other members important lessons about organizing for social change.\n"We realized how hard it is trying to make an institution change," she said. "If you can make it change for one year, that's one thing, but if you can institute change in the long term, we learned how incredibly hard it is and how much constant organizing and pushing it takes."\nLisa said the Student Coalition also suffered from not having a clear idea of what it wanted to replace programs it thought weren't working.\nThe group also lacked leaders to continue the organization after the original core group graduated, Ryan said. \n"We were all new to organizing and building a constituency and building a leadership sustainable over a long period of time that can survive turnover and graduation and attrition," he said. "That was new to us, and it was new to the University, so I think that the way we built the Student Coalition it could not sustain itself in the long run. We didn't give it the tools to survive."\nThe Pintado-Vernters, who met while involved in student protests at IU, still keep in touch with other Student Coalition organizers. Although they look back on the march itself as a success, Ryan said his view of the best way to observe the Martin Luther King holiday has changed.\n"I think if you'd asked me back then, I would have told you we want people to use the day to advocate racial and social justice," he said. "But I think what's more clear to me now is that if there's not work being done throughout the year.\n"If organizations are not being built, if memberships are not being built, if the seeds of movement are not being planted, if that's not happening, what you do on Jan. 21st is of limited consequence"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The Sims: Hot Date Expansion Pack\nRating: T for Teen\nFor: PC\nBy: EA Games\nHave you ever dreamed of making out with Matthew Perry? Sleeping with Jennifer Lopez? Living in a large mansion with luxury furnishings? Being abducted by aliens? Playing "The Sims" can make all these dreams and more come true -- at least on your computer screen.\n"The Sims" is a game where you create a person and then control how they live their lives. From building a house to finding a job to making friends to cooking food and taking a shower -- it's all under your control. Thanks to a variety of Web sites devoted to providing downloadable "skins," you can also add Sims body types that look like TV, movie and music personalities, including the cast of "Friends" and Hugh Jackman. \nWith the new "Hot Date" expansion pack you can truly take friendships between your Sims to another level. Instead of being confined to your house and the houses of your Sim's friends, the characters can now venture Downtown. Sims can go on dates to the mall, eat a candlelight dinner or hang out on the beach. The game also provides several new objects you can purchase for your Sims after you make the needed amount of money. These include the "Cuddle Couch," for Sim make-out sessions and a "Love Tub" for romantic hot tub dates. \nTo use the "Hot Date" expansion pack you also need to have the original Sims game. Two other previously-released expansion packs, "Livin' Large" and "House Party," are also available but aren't needed to use "Hot Date." \nAll versions of the Sims are dangerously addictive (don't play on the same night you plan to write a paper or study for a test if you actually want a good grade). "Hot Date" offers more realism to the game alleviating the sometimes-boring tasks (like eating and sleeping) you must make your Sims do to live by offering trips out of the neighborhood. Taking on the challenge of making the intended boy/girlfriend actually fall in love with your Sim is challenging but a good break from the far more stressful real-life world of dating.\n
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Always Got Tonight\nChris Isaak\nReprise\nCombining twangy country sounds with rock and roll guitars, Always Got Tonight is the eighth album from Chris Isaak, an artist probably best known for rolling around in the sand with supermodel Helena Christensen in the video for his song "Wicked Game." \nThis album doesn't really cover any new ground musically but that's OK because Isaak's usual formula of incorporating several different styles of music with his distinctively great voice helps him hit the ground running whether he tries something unique or not.\nWhile nothing new happens with his music, the album does represent something fairly new happening in Isaak's career, namely "The Chris Isaak Show," his TV show that airs on Showtime and VH1. "American Boy," the show's fun theme song is featured on Always Got Tonight along with a few others songs that were included in some of the episodes.\nBesides "American Boy," which has the catchy lyrics needed for any good TV theme song, Always Got Tonight includes eleven other solid tracks. Among the best is "One Day," the album's first track. The lyric "Give me one day in your life," is repeated several times as Isaak sings about trying to convince a girl to give him a chance. That line and the rest of the song is a perfect example of how a song can become infinitely more interesting and listenable based on the way an artist chooses to sing words. The next song on the album, "Let Me Down Easy," isn't as layered or as interesting but it's more listener-friendly, which is probably why it's the one you might have already heard on the radio.\nI listened to this CD during a three-hour shift at my other job; I didn't bring three hours worth of music and ended up going through all of Always Got Tonight three times. But I didn't get bored of the music; in fact I found a new song to claim as my "favorite" each time. While this CD isn't the most innovative in the world, it's fun to listen to and doesn't get dull.\n
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Indiana University faces an even tighter financial situation in light of Indiana Governor Frank O'Bannon's announcement of a budget plan that would cut an additional $10 million from the University's state budget allocation. The announcement brings the total cuts to IU in this two-year period to about $100 million.\nMary Dieter, press secretary for O'Bannon, said more cuts may be announced next week when O'Bannon's budget agency releases a deficit management plan. Like those previously announced, Wednesday's cuts would primarily affect the areas of repairs and rehabilitation and information technology. \nBill Stephan, IU vice president of public affairs and government relations, said the administration will wait to hear if O'Bannon announces more cuts next week before making any firm decisions on how to react to the cuts. \n"We really want to see how things unfold before we react," he said. \nBut Stephan said he expected rehabilitation work on all IU campuses to be limited. Projects currently underway will continue as the money for them had previously been allocated.\n"With the exception of emergency repairs we won't have the luxury of doing any preventative maintenance or routine maintenance," he said. \nAny reductions in staff will also be discussed in the near future, Stephan said.\n"Obviously the news (Wednesday) is not good news," he said. "It's likely that that may be an option we might have to resort to. Right now we're in a bit of a holding pattern."\nBut IU president Myles Brand did join the leaders of five other Indiana universities in signing a letter to O'Bannon asking that the General Assembly be called back into special session to address the issues relating to the budget deficit. In a press release, Brand said while he knew cuts to higher education would be a part of solving the state's budget problems, he was concerned about the damage the cuts will do to IU.\n"The ability of IU to provide access to qualified Hoosier students and to take a lead in strengthening the state's economy is being undermined," Brand said.\nDieter said O'Bannon felt lawmakers were not committed to passing legislation to ease the strain of budget cuts. \n"While (O'Bannon) is certainly committed to getting the budget balanced and tax restructuring passed he cannot force lawmakers to work," she said. "He will call them back only when he is confident that they will do their jobs."\nEfforts to pass a tax restructuring and deficit reduction plan failed in the closing days of the session. Dieter said O'Bannon's balanced budget plan called for an increase in taxes on things such as cigarettes and gambling in order to help balance the budget.\n"We warned legislators since November that if they did not pass a balanced budget plan or something similar (O' Bannon) was going to have no choice but to cut education," Dieter said.\nSen. Lawrence Borst (R-Greenwood) said increasing taxes in the midst of a recession was unfair to the people of Indiana and O'Bannon did not make enough of an effort to find the needed money.