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(09/24/03 11:58pm)
The windows are down, a cool breeze counters the sun's heat and of course, music fills the air. It's a typical drive through Bloomington for Marquis Vaughn, IU alum and co-founder of the young Knock 'Em Dead Records, Inc. \nOnly this particular day was Wednesday, the day Vaughn drives home elementary school kids from the after-school program where he mentors. So when the opening chorus to Eminem's "The Real Slim Shady" hits his ears while waiting for a light to change, Vaughn reluctantly quiets the rapper's words, breaking his habit of allowing the entire neighborhood to hear his music choice.\nJust as Vaughn feels satisfied with his good judgment, groans emanate from the back of the van. Aiming to please, he turns the music back up and stares at the 10-year-olds as they bop their heads and begin rapping: "I'm Slim Shady, yes I'm the real Shady / All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating / So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up, please stand up, please stand up?"\nVaughn says he was surprised by what he heard that day. "I knew the craze was spreading," he says. "I just never knew it had gotten that far." \nHip hop is a culture invisible to many Bloomington residents. Yet the music, culture and fashion of hip hop made their way to this small town and are now alternatives to the Bloomington entertainment scene.
(09/18/03 6:01am)
Hurricane Isabel's threat might be more than 750 miles from IU, but the effects will reach close to home today.\nJunior Lauren Brand is from Virginia Beach, Va. -- one of the cities in the direct path of the hurricane along the eastern seaboard.\n"My whole family is there," Brand said. "My grandparents literally live right on the ocean, and my aunts and uncles are in Virginia Beach -- literally, everyone is there."\nTo the almost 40 miles of coast lining Virginia Beach, a burg whose frequent brushes with hurricanes and tropical storms have led to a certain indifference among locals, the storm's diminishing fury could lead to potentially disastrous results. \nBrand's parents recently moved to a new house directly on the waterfront. Now, mere months after unpacking, the Brands are again gathering their valuables and sentimental possessions -- only this time, they're jamming into inland hotel rooms and suites. Windows are boarded in the Brand home as oil lamps and candles line coffee tables and mantlepieces. Brand's mother has stocked up on flashlights and batteries for her husband and daughter.\nThankfully, Brand says, the offices for her family's furniture business aren't situated on the beachfront.\n"It's a brand new house, so we're hoping everything will stay put," Brand said. "I'm okay; I just don't want them to know I'm nervous, because I'm not there and it's difficult."\nBrand said she expects her entire extended family to stay in hotels farther inland in Virginia until the storm blows through. \n"My mom went down to the beach and said it was really bizarre and eerie," Brand said. "The surf was incredibly high and the winds were just out of control."\nBrand also said her sister's school has been canceled, and her father's furniture stores have closed their doors. \nDespite the threat of Isabel, Brand says she's trying to stay positive.\n"I think they're going to be fine," she said. "I have all of their numbers for their hotel rooms, and hopefully their cell phones will be working. We're trying to call every couple of hours, so I'm pretty optimistic." \nVirginia Beach hasn't suffered the effects of a hurricane on par with Isabel since 1944, according to the National Weather Service. However, hurricanes do approach the resort city at proximities close enough to produce gale-force winds three times every 20 years. \nStill, "it's been a really long time since we had to worry about something," Brand said. "It's usually North Carolina or something, so now we're kind of nervous."\nThe threat is unquestionably greatest at North Carolina's Outer Banks, where Isabel was expected to hit early this morning, according to the NWS Web site. Peaking earlier this week at Category 5 status with winds reaching upwards of 150 miles per hour, Isabel has since downgraded to a Category 2 system. Meteorologists with the NWS expect the storm to achieve landfall near Wilmington in southern North Carolina; from there, Isabel will likely cross middle Virginia, including the greater Washington, D.C. area, and continue into western Pennsylvania.\nSenior Aaron Aft hails from Springfield, Va., a Washington, D.C. suburb, and he said the situation has escalated in the D.C. metro area as Isabel approaches. Rising flood waters and oversaturated soil have forced the dumping of excess water from Baltimore reservoirs into the nearby Hudson River.\n"There is definitely significant concern," Aft said. "It's more on the Maryland side, but there's a concern for the flood waters closer to the Baltimore area."\nMetrorail and Metrobus services in D.C. will shut down at 11 a.m. today, and Washington-area schools and universities have announced closings for Thursday and Friday.\nSenior Phil Mervis, also from the D.C. area, said his family "isn't freaking out" -- yet. \n"We're just going to get wind and rain gusts," Mervis said. "We're not really worried."\n-- Contact staff writer Holly Johnson at hljohnso@indiana.edu.
(09/18/03 4:00am)
The girls of Lezbend, a popular new DJ group out of Warsaw, Poland are taking Eastern Europe by storm, and on Sept. 11, the trio hit the sleepy Midwestern U.S. with a bang. After playing shows in Chicago, Cincinnati and Evansville, Lezbend is coming to Axis this Saturday at 9 p.m.\nLezbend, formed in June 2002, plays what is known as "progressive house music." This kind of hard music is not typically expected out of an exclusively female DJ group, and, according to the group's U.S. publicist, is the primary reason why they have enjoyed early success.\n"It's fun, energetic and non-violent," says Charles Bolanis, the exclusive promoter for Lezbend, of the group's grooves. "It's good-paced music that is great to get out and dance to."\nAxis, which has been striving to book more international groups, is very excited about Lezbend's upcoming performance.\n"They're going to play two different sets, which will hopefully keep our Saturday night crowd excited," says Axis Assistant Manager Rudy Davenport. \nThe girls of Lezbend, Joanna Osiecka, Eliza Krakowka and Agnieszka Trzeciak are not just members of a DJ group. They all went to college and now lead normal, young-adult lives with day jobs. Those day jobs come before spinning right now, but they may not have to for much longer. \nJoanna, who graduated with a degree in economics from Warsaw University, currently works as a brand ambassador for British American Tobacco. She says she prefers to play all types of music to intrigue a crowd and keep them interested throughout the show's duration.\n"We provide a lot of different styles of music in one set, which is something that many groups can't offer," Joanna says.\nBefore becoming a significant part of Lezbend, Joanna spent most of her nights on the other side of the DJ booth window in the clubs of Warsaw.\n"After four or five years of being a regular at these places [Warsaw clubs], I decided to do it myself," Joanna says.\nEliza, the youngest member of Lezbend, was born in Warsaw, but spent much of her childhood in France. Although she holds degrees in advertising and economics, her sole interest throughout life has been music. She was first inspired to enter the booth by Tomek, who she says is the hottest DJ in Poland as well as a personal friend. \nEliza also performs solo shows throughout Warsaw when she's not spinning with Lezbend.\nAgnieszka -- Aga for short -- comes from southern Poland. After earning a degree in communications, Aga moved to Warsaw, where she hoped to land a job in a film studio doing advertising and television production. On top of being a member of Lezbend and a solo DJ, Aga is the sole female member of Decadance, another well known DJ group in Poland.\nIt was all coincidence that the girls scored an opportunity to spin in the States. In November of 2002, Bolanis was in Poland visiting with friends he had worked with as a student representing IU in 1998.\n"We were at a club and I found out that Joanna was part of the same organization me and my friends were," Bolanis says. "So I went and talked to her for a little while and we hit it off right away. I said to her, 'Wouldn't it be great if you guys came and played the United States?' Her eyes lit up and the rest was history."\nLezbend's trademark is a numbering system. During every show Joanna wears the number "1." Eliza wears the number "2" and Aga wears the number "3." The numbers exist is to add a flare of mystery to their performance -- but that's as deep as the meaning goes. Nevertheless, many friends and fans in Europe choose to refer to each girl by their number instead of name.\nAfter the tour is over, Lezbend will evaluate their experience on tour and look to further build their name throughout Europe. They hope to make it back to the U.S., expanding to performance venues outside of the Midwest.\n"If the opportunity is there, I want these girls to come back and play the U.S. several more times," Bolanis says. \nBut with a name like Lezbend, the real question on everyone's minds is the girls' sexual orientation. And Bolanis isn't talking.\n"These girls are using their sexuality as a marketing tool and it works great," he says. "But if you want to know if they are lesbians, you're just going to have to come to the show to find out"
(09/17/03 10:13pm)
The girls of Lezbend, a popular new DJ group out of Warsaw, Poland are taking Eastern Europe by storm, and on Sept. 11, the trio hit the sleepy Midwestern U.S. with a bang. After playing shows in Chicago, Cincinnati and Evansville, Lezbend is coming to Axis this Saturday at 9 p.m.\nLezbend, formed in June 2002, plays what is known as "progressive house music." This kind of hard music is not typically expected out of an exclusively female DJ group, and, according to the group's U.S. publicist, is the primary reason why they have enjoyed early success.\n"It's fun, energetic and non-violent," says Charles Bolanis, the exclusive promoter for Lezbend, of the group's grooves. "It's good-paced music that is great to get out and dance to."\nAxis, which has been striving to book more international groups, is very excited about Lezbend's upcoming performance.\n"They're going to play two different sets, which will hopefully keep our Saturday night crowd excited," says Axis Assistant Manager Rudy Davenport. \nThe girls of Lezbend, Joanna Osiecka, Eliza Krakowka and Agnieszka Trzeciak are not just members of a DJ group. They all went to college and now lead normal, young-adult lives with day jobs. Those day jobs come before spinning right now, but they may not have to for much longer. \nJoanna, who graduated with a degree in economics from Warsaw University, currently works as a brand ambassador for British American Tobacco. She says she prefers to play all types of music to intrigue a crowd and keep them interested throughout the show's duration.\n"We provide a lot of different styles of music in one set, which is something that many groups can't offer," Joanna says.\nBefore becoming a significant part of Lezbend, Joanna spent most of her nights on the other side of the DJ booth window in the clubs of Warsaw.\n"After four or five years of being a regular at these places [Warsaw clubs], I decided to do it myself," Joanna says.\nEliza, the youngest member of Lezbend, was born in Warsaw, but spent much of her childhood in France. Although she holds degrees in advertising and economics, her sole interest throughout life has been music. She was first inspired to enter the booth by Tomek, who she says is the hottest DJ in Poland as well as a personal friend. \nEliza also performs solo shows throughout Warsaw when she's not spinning with Lezbend.\nAgnieszka -- Aga for short -- comes from southern Poland. After earning a degree in communications, Aga moved to Warsaw, where she hoped to land a job in a film studio doing advertising and television production. On top of being a member of Lezbend and a solo DJ, Aga is the sole female member of Decadance, another well known DJ group in Poland.\nIt was all coincidence that the girls scored an opportunity to spin in the States. In November of 2002, Bolanis was in Poland visiting with friends he had worked with as a student representing IU in 1998.\n"We were at a club and I found out that Joanna was part of the same organization me and my friends were," Bolanis says. "So I went and talked to her for a little while and we hit it off right away. I said to her, 'Wouldn't it be great if you guys came and played the United States?' Her eyes lit up and the rest was history."\nLezbend's trademark is a numbering system. During every show Joanna wears the number "1." Eliza wears the number "2" and Aga wears the number "3." The numbers exist is to add a flare of mystery to their performance -- but that's as deep as the meaning goes. Nevertheless, many friends and fans in Europe choose to refer to each girl by their number instead of name.\nAfter the tour is over, Lezbend will evaluate their experience on tour and look to further build their name throughout Europe. They hope to make it back to the U.S., expanding to performance venues outside of the Midwest.\n"If the opportunity is there, I want these girls to come back and play the U.S. several more times," Bolanis says. \nBut with a name like Lezbend, the real question on everyone's minds is the girls' sexual orientation. And Bolanis isn't talking.\n"These girls are using their sexuality as a marketing tool and it works great," he says. "But if you want to know if they are lesbians, you're just going to have to come to the show to find out"
(09/16/03 5:40am)
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) -- A woman who said she mistook a city police officer for a burglar pleaded guilty Monday to firing a shot that wounded the officer who was taking part in a raid of the woman's house.\nAs part of a plea agreement, Jillian D. King, 30, of Muncie pleaded guilty to a felony charge of criminal recklessness. The charge carries a maximum 3-year prison sentence, but the agreement allows the conviction to be reduced to a misdemeanor under which she could be sentenced to up to one year.\nDelaware Circuit Court Judge Robert Barnet Jr. took the plea bargain under advisement and set sentencing for Oct. 13.\nThe shooting happened Jan. 14 as Officer Steve Cox and other members of the Muncie Police Department's SWAT team arrived to search King's house after officers reported finding cocaine inside the car of another resident a few hours earlier.\nKing told investigators that she fired the two shots when she thought she saw burglars, according to police. One shot hit Cox in the right thigh, but officers did not return fire and no one else was injured.\nDuring Monday's hearing, King acknowledged firing the shots as officers prepared to enter her home.\n"I saw what appeared to be a burglar jerking at the door," she testified. "I ran down and got a gun and shot out a window."\nKing said she agreed with defense attorney Michael J. Alexander's assessment that she had "panicked a little bit."\nDeputy Prosecutor Mark McKinney said investigators found 11 bullet holes in King's home that were unrelated to the Jan. 14 incident. They later learned she had previously shot at, but apparently missed, an intruder outside.
(09/15/03 6:03am)
MIAMI -- Hurricane Isabel plowed toward the Atlantic Coast on Sunday on a course that could slam the powerful Category 4 storm into the central East Coast late this week.\n"If it hits landfall ... it has the potential for a large loss of life if we don't take it seriously and prepare for it," Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center said on CNN.\nComputer models predict that weather conditions over the East Coast should prevent Isabel from turning back out to sea and missing land, hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart said.\n"Landfall along the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast somewhere between North Carolina and New Jersey between four or five days (Thursday or Friday) is appearing more and more likely," Stewart said. "Little or no significant weakening is expected to occur until after landfall occurs."\nIn Wilmington, N.C., John Byrnes had already stocked up with 25 sheets of plywood Sunday and enough two-by-fours and screws to barricade the windows at his house, his in-laws' house and their downtown law office.\nHis household generator was ready and he had an extra tank of propane gas to run appliances.\n"We're all pretty much taken care of," Byrnes said. "We're in standby mode."\nAt 11 p.m. EDT, Isabel's maximum sustained wind speed was 155 mph -- 1 mph below the minimum for Category 5 -- and down 5 mph from earlier measurements. Experts had said it would be extremely unusual for Isabel to maintain Category 5 strength as it moved north over cooler water.\nThe storm was centered about 850 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C. Hurricane-force wind of at least 74 mph extended 115 miles out from the center.\nIt was moving toward the west-northwest at about 13 mph, and was expected to continue on that path into Monday, then turn toward the Carolinas, possibly making landfall Thursday or Friday. Forecasters note that hurricanes can be unpredictable, and long-range forecasts have large possibilities for error.\nIn Washington, D.C., emergency officials were working on acquiring additional sandbags, and planned to begin a public education campaign and meet with other department and critical services leaders Monday.\n"Then we're going to pray," said Peter LaPorte, director of the Emergency Management Agency.\nIn Charleston, S.C., Joe Walker said he didn't evacuate in 1989 when Hurricane Hugo blasted ashore and he probably won't leave if Isabel veers into his area.\n"If it's going to come, it's going to come," Walker said.\nIn the Hampton Roads areas of Virginia, many stores were cleaned out of batteries, bottled water and other hurricane-readiness supplies.\n"My wife is taking the dogs and getting out of town, but I'm going to stay because I feel like I have a responsibility here," said Stewart Smokler, a member of the Virginia Beach Amateur Radio Club.\nSmokler said his group can use hand-held radios for emergency workers if other means of communication go down.\nThe last Category 5 Atlantic hurricane was Mitch in 1998, which killed about 11,000 people in Central America. The last two Category 5 hurricanes to strike the United States were Andrew in 1992 and Camille in 1969.\nThe Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.
(09/10/03 5:14am)
JERUSALEM -- Twin suicide bombings killed at least 13 people and wounded at least 45 in Israel on Tuesday -- striking a bus stop crowded with Israeli soldiers in a Tel Aviv suburb and then a cafe in a Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem. The attacks underscored the collapse of U.S.-backed peace efforts.\nThere have been about 100 suicide bombings against Israelis over the last three years, but rarely have two attacks been carried out on the same day. Both bombers also died in Tuesday's blasts, which happened about 5 1/2 hours apart.\nThere was no claim of responsibility for either attack. But Hamas praised both bombings and dozens celebrated in the Gaza Strip, firing assault rifles into the air. The Islamic militant group had been expected to avenge Israel's attempt on the life of its spiritual leader on Saturday.\nEarlier Tuesday, Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Hebron killed two Hamas members and a 12-year-old bystander and exploded a seven-story apartment building where the militants had been hiding.\nThe violence came amid political uncertainty after the resignation of the Palestinian prime minister, with an increasing number of Israeli officials calling for the expulsion of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.\nAhmed Qureia, whom Arafat has asked to become Palestinian prime minister, said: "We express our regrets and pain for the innocent lives (lost) as a result of violence and counter-violence. Such an act stresses once again the necessity that both the Palestinian and Israeli leadership ... search for ways to end this killing."\nU.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, speaking after the first bombing, said the attack "underscores the urgency with which the Palestinian Authority needs to take immediate and effective steps to dismantle and disarm the terrorist capabilities."\nThe bombers struck while Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was visiting India. Militants have often carried out attacks during Sharon's trips -- occasionally causing him to return. A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sharon's India tour would continue.\nThe second suicide attack took place about 11:20 p.m. Tuesday, when a bomber struck at the popular Cafe Hillel on a strip with many restaurants and small shops. Ambulances rushed to the residential German Colony area of Jewish west Jerusalem, and workers carried away the wounded on stretchers.\nAt least six people were killed in addition to the bomber and more than 30 were wounded. Police said the bomber managed to get into the cafe even though two security guards were posted at the entrance -- one inside the door and one outside.\nJerusalem police commander Mickey Levy told Israel Radio one guard tried to stop the attacker, and that he then set off the bomb.\n"I have a store next to the cafe. I arrived just a few moments after the blast. I saw things that just can't be described, there are no words," said a witness who identified himself only as Shavi.\nAfter the bombing, hundreds of people milled about near the cafe's shattered front windows. One body lay at the cafe's entrance covered in a white blanket; the street was strewn with glass.\nThe blast set off the alarms of dozens of parked cars. Police broke car windows to check for bombs.\nPolice cordoned off the area while rescue workers treated sobbing victims, and a dazed, wounded man sat on the street, holding a bloody T-shirt to his head.\nThe White House denounced the attacks.\n"We condemn this act of terrorism and extend our condolences to loved ones of those killed or injured," said White House deputy press secretary Claire Buchan, traveling with President Bush in Jacksonville, Fla.
(09/05/03 4:45am)
This summer, we (the United States) were upstaged by our northern neighbor (Canada). The U.S. isn't accustomed to that, unless you count comparing our educational test scores with other countries, because in that field we've pretty much conceded defeat.\nBut I mean, Canada?! How did that happen? We were going to find out, honestly; but before we could, we used our preemptive strike policy to send forth an annihilating cascade of warfare in the name of freedom.\nWait, no, that didn't happen. I'm thinking of another country. \nYet, in the eyes of some people, what actually did occur was worse than any cowboy foreign policy this country employs: Canada is legalizing gay marriage and pot.\nThat's right, our worst fears confirmed: someone in Canada is making sense. And it's the ruling Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien who looks like a fish and is kind of creepy. They introduced legislation setting the definition of marriage as "the lawful union of two persons," allowing for same-sex marriages.\nThey also introduced legislation to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. Penalties would be akin to traffic offenses for cultivating up to 25 plants or possessing up to 15 grams (roughly a half-ounce; not a fact I know offhand. I had to look it up, I swear).\nAdults would be fined up to $290 and minors $182. At about $100 less than the adults, they could nickname their domestic policy: "Kids Smoke the Darndest Things."\nSo, this is the gratitude the U.S. gets for our president forgetting to mention Canada when he thanked other countries for support following Sept. 11? \nIt's appalling, really.\nYet we didn't do a thing. If we really needed a reason though, we found one in this disturbing Associated Press article, dated July 19: "Discontent Americans consider Canada."\nThe article, by David Crary, profiles a hodgepodge of Americans who all share the belief that the U.S. is growing too conservative, and Canada offers a more inclusive society. Mollie Ingebrand, a Minnesota puppeteer, plans to move to Vancouver with her family. \n"For me, it's a no-brainer," she said.\nMore of our worst fears confirmed: Canada steals brains. \nNow, setting aside the enormous, positive social reforms in the past few months, the ban on capital punishment, the national health care, the low gun violence rates and the temperate climate, why the hell would someone want to live in Canada? \nI'll tell you why: propaganda.\nCanada is quick to point out, presumably in some sort of "defense," that in 2001, for every American that moved to Canada, nearly 5 Canadians moved to the U.S. Meanwhile, a perfect window is open to distribute residency propaganda ... maybe like this:\n"Come on up to sunny [weather permitting] Canada! Pack your luggage and say 'Bonjour!' to the country Roger Ebert [not the film critic, just some guy we met in a bar] calls 'France divided by Minnesota!' Raise your family in the place Socrates, Abraham Lincoln and Gandhi [all unconfirmed at press deadline] all called home! Leave your worries behind and see what everyone is talking a-boot! Most of all, our prime minister doesn't look like a fish [not true, he does]!"\nMaybe Canada isn't the problem. The U.S. should probably take notes. Canada and progressive areas of the U.S. (like our very own Bloomington which, if it had the chance, Canada could easily coax into annexing) are going to have comic revenge after years of "nutty northern new-age neighbor" jokes. And I suppose that will continue as long as Canada cruises the fast lane on the highway of change, and the U.S. waits with a turn signal on.
(08/29/03 5:39am)
NEW YORK -- After a plane struck the first of the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001, callers from the top floors of the neighboring tower were told by Port Authority police to remain where they were.\nAccording to transcripts made public Thursday, a male caller from the 92nd floor of the second tower told a Port Authority police officer, "We need to know if we need to get out of here, because we know there's an explosion."\nThe officer asked if there was smoke on the floor, and the caller replied that there was not.\n"Should we stay or should we not?" the caller asked.\n"I would wait 'til further notice," the officer replied.\n"OK, all right," the caller said. "Don't evacuate." He then hung up. A second, similar call -- with the same police response -- came in a short time after the 8:46 a.m. crash in the first tower.\nNo one in the top floors of the tower survived after the second plane hit around the 80th floor shortly after 9 a.m.\nThe evacuation of the World Trade Center's south tower -- and when it began -- has been a source of some anguish to relatives of those who died. Some survivors have said they were advised to remain in the building.\nBut the transcripts provide the first look at the extraordinarily difficult decisions faced by both occupants of the towers and Port Authority personnel as they struggled to respond to the attack.\n"In general, they show people performing their duties very heroically and very professionally on a day of horror," said Port Authority spokesman Greg Trevor.\nThe transcripts included phone calls and radio transmissions involving 33 Port Authority employees and three other people. Last week, a judge ordered the Port Authority to release the transcripts at the request of The New York Times.\nIn other calls, a man reached police from the roof of one building, while the assistant manager of the Windows on the World restaurant called to report people stranded on the 106th floor. "We need direction as to where we need to direct our guests and our employees, as soon as possible," she says, citing increasing smoke.\n"We're doing our best ... we're trying to get up to you, dear," replied a PA officer. "All right, call back in two or three minutes, and I'll try to find out what direction you should try to get down."\nThere were also accounts of people, in disbelief, calling about people plunging from the buildings to their deaths.\n"Yo, I've got dozens of bodies, people just jumping from the top of the building onto ... in front of One World Trade," says a male caller. "People. Bodies are just coming from out of the sky ... up top of the building."\n"Bodies?" replied a female operator.\nSome of the victims identified themselves by name on the tape, while others' voices were recognized by co-workers.\nThe transcripts resulted in mixed emotions among family members, some of whom were angered by their release while others believed they will be productive in trying to determine what happened. Some declined to even view the transcripts before their release.\n"It's not that I don't have an interest," said Theresa Riccardelli, whose husband, Francis, was killed. "I can't."\nThe Times had initially sought Port Authority tapes, transcripts and reports on emergency response from that day, but the agency argued that would be insensitive to the victims' families. A deal was finally reached where the Port Authority would provide transcripts rather than tapes.\nThe agency, claiming the transcripts would be offensive to the families, tried to back out of the deal. The Port Authority opted not to appeal the judge's decision last week.\nThe transcripts include communications between Port Authority police officers and department employees, along with calls between command centers at the Trade Center and several sites in New Jersey.
(07/31/03 1:53am)
When Bob Hope's candle of life went out, it marked the end of an era marked by comic legends such as Jack Benny, George Burns and Milton Berle, who not only seemed to pioneer the "science of comedy" in the 20th century, but also managed to revolutionize it for every new medium they performed in. Hope's centennial birthday was May 29. \nThose hundred years point as evidence to his ability to touch those he knew or entertained.\n"It's hard for me to imagine a world without Bob Hope in it," Woody Allen told The Associated Press. Allen said the 1942 film "Road to Morocco," in which Hope starred in, pointed him to comedy.\nIU School of Journalism Professor David Weaver served in Vietnam as a lieutenant in the United States Army Signal Corps, when Hope appeared for a show in Long Binh, South Vietnam in the spring of 1971.\n"I remember he got a huge turnout, with some soldiers climbing up telephone poles to get a better view," Weaver said. "He was funny then, even in the midst of a war, and very popular with the troops. I wondered at the time why anyone in his position would fly halfway around the world to such a hot, desolate, dangerous place just to entertain some G.I.s, especially for no pay. I think all he got was expenses and meals on these trips."\nBut Weaver isn't the only IU employee who has fond memories of Hope. Tom Lee, an IU Police Department lieutenant and a former G.I. who spent 11 years on active military duty, said Hope was instrumental in making G.I.s temporarily forget where they were.\n"Whenever you're outside the continental United States, it's a little piece of home he brought to those troops," Lee said. "They were familiar faces, entertainers."\nLeslie Towns Hope, who later changed his name to Bob as a stagename, was born in the English town of Eltham only a year after Queen Victoria, when horses and railroads were still the only reasonable ways of travel. He was one of seven sons to a stoneworker and a opera performer. The Hope family came to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1907.\nBob Hope serves as an example of an entertainer who played and captivated audiences in all the fields open to him, from the vaudeville to live appearances, on the screens of television and movie theaters. Hope began his career playing vaudeville and wound up conquering every medium he worked in. Some of his jokes were older than dirt, but nobody cared -- he was Bob Hope.\n"Audiences are my best friends, and you never tire of talking with your best friends," Hope said frequently.\nHe had reached vaudeville's pinnacle -- The Palace -- in 1930 and then went on to play leading parts in Broadway musicals with such stars as Ethel Merman. It was during this time period he met a nightclub singer named Dolores. In 1934, their 69-year partnership began. \nRadio spots came next, and in 1938 the toothpaste Pepsodent was willing to sponsor him, creating his own show. Then came Hollywood with "The Big Broadcast of 1938," from which the trademark song "Thanks for the Memories" came.\nHe got a movie deal with Paramount Pictures and began to team up with singer and entertainer Bing Crosby, who introduced him to a longtime love of golf. \nHope and Crosby made a series of seven films for Paramount now called "The Road Movies" -- "Road to Bali," "Road to Morocco," "Road to Zanzibar" and so on -- playing best friends who lie, cheat and make fun of each other in comedic competition for glory and Dorothy Lamour.\nComic films like the "Lemon Drop Kid" and "Paleface" followed. Hope made 53 pictures in all from 1938 to 1972.\nHe entered television in 1950, and his success continued. Even 40 years later, he could be counted on to pull in respectable ratings. He also appeared more than 20 times at the Academy Awards between 1939 and 1978, first on radio and then on TV, as presenter, co-host or host.\nBut one of his most well-known works, and perhaps his most prized work, was doing USO tours and traveling to entertain America's troops.\nHe originally tried to enlist, but was told he could be of more use as an entertainer. He played his first camp show at California's March Field on May 6, 1941, seven months before Pearl Harbor.\nHe did Christmas shows every year beginning in 1948 when "G.I. Bob" went to Berlin to entertain U.S. servicemen deployed to operate the Berlin Airlift.\nHis 1966 Vietnam Christmas show, when televised, was watched by an estimated 65 million people, the largest audience of his career. But his initially hawkish views on Vietnam opened a gap between the comedian and young Americans opposed to the war, who sometimes heckled him.\nLater, Hope said he was "just praying they get an honorable peace so our guys don't have to fight. I've seen too many wars."\nFrom World War II on, Hope didn't let age slow him down -- not when his country needed him. Even at age 87, he was entertaining U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf War and bobbing around the Mideast in helicopters.\nIn 1990, he traveled to the Persian Gulf to entertain troops preparing for war with Iraq.\nMany entertainers who went with Hope on his travels for the USO took away memories of their friend and mentor. Some said they remember taking off from a landing strip in a transport plane in Vietnam, whilesSnipers were firing at the plane from the end of the runway. Hope was seen sitting in his seat at an angle to limit his chances of catching a bullet.\nBarbara Eden went with Hope to the Gulf and remembered her favorite memory of him -- who often entertained with golf club in hand as a prop -- relaxing by hitting balls off the back of an aircraft carrier.\n"You remember Bob with a smile," Eden told the AP, "but, boy, I'm going to miss him."\nFor those who are skeptical of his influence through the USO, the latest commercials from the USO show mostly clips of Bob Hope on the road entertaining G.I.s. Hope is America's only "honorary veteran," and Secretary of State Colin Powell called Hope "a friend to every American G.I. for over 50 years."\nIt would seem safe to say Bob Hope and his one-liners always will be remembered. He had one for every occasion.\nHe once commented on a golf game with President Gerald Ford shortly after the Watergate scandal.\n"I played golf with Jerry Ford. I bumped into him and said 'Pardon me.' He said 'I don't do that anymore,'" he said.\nAt a Vietnam tour, Hope said to a crowd of G.I.s about Phyllis Diller, "She's so ugly, a peeping Tom would throw up on her window sill."\nThe last of the great American comedians of the vaudeville era has passed into our memories. And now that's all we have.\nHis candle has burnt out and it will never burn again. But so many people are so glad they saw that candle alight.
(06/26/03 12:34am)
At less than three hours away, Cincinnati -- the Queen City -- is the perfect destination of a summer road trip. It offers a plethora of museums, attractions, adventure and sports. \nIf you just want to relax in the Ohio River Valley, then Eden Park is for you. It covers more than 5,000 acres of the city and offers fishing, biking, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, golfing, camping and horseback riding. \nPerhaps you want to go to Cincinnati because of its rich historical value. William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of the United States, is entombed here, and a visit to his monument is free to the public. The house of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," is also free to visit. \nFort Ancient, a 2,000-year-old park filled with Native American mounds, can be visited for a $5 fee. Not quite as old is the Roman Catholic Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, built in 1910. It is a small-scale Notre Dame cathedral in the middle of the city that features the world's largest stained glass window at 24 feet by 67 feet. A $2 donation is requested when visiting the Basilica.\nIf you like history but would rather find it in a museum, Cincinnati has no shortage of them either. The first is found at the Museum Center at Union Terminal (1-800-733-2077) and houses the Museum of Natural History and Science, the Cincinnati History Museum, the Cinergy Children's Museum, the OMNIMAX Theater and the Cincinnati Historical Society Library. The price of visiting all the attractions is $15.50. Cincinnati also is home to a medieval-style castle, the Loveland Castle Museum, which you can visit for only $2. \nThe National Railway Historical Society Library and Museum highlights the important history of the rails and is free to the public. The Cincinnati Art Museum, showing more than 100,000 works, is located in Eden Park. Admission is $4 for college students and free Saturday. The city also features a Contemporary Arts Center where admission is $2 for students and free Monday. \nCincinnati also offers plenty of performing art venues such as the Aronoff Center for the Arts. It is the city's premier place to see the Cincinnati Ballet, theater and Broadway shows. There is also the Children's Theatre of Cincinnati, with all tickets under $15. The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park offers 11 shows a year with tickets ranging from $34-42. The Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival, hosting works from classical theater in a contemporary style, is a bit cheaper, with tickets under $20. \nIf you prefer music, then the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra is for you -- however, their new season will not begin until September. The Cincinnati Opera, being the second-oldest opera company in the country, does have a summer season. The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra also performs this time of year with a free summer concert series in various parks. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra performs this summer at Riverbend Music Center. \nWhile not all sports teams have summer seasons, Cincinnati is home to quite a few, including the country's oldest professional baseball team, the Cincinnati Reds. Tickets to see the Reds play can be as cheap as $5. The city also is home to the NFL's Bengals, hockey teams The Cyclones and The Mighty Ducks, the arena football's Cincinnati Swarm and a professional soccer team, The Riverhawks. \nThe most well-known Cincinnati attraction is Paramount's King's Island, with more than 300 rides and attractions and a 30-acre water park, all for $42. \nThere are also numerous attractions in Cincinnati such as The Beach Water Park located near King's Island that features the Midwest's only water coaster. Admission is $25. The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens is located in 70-acres and houses 700 animal species and 3,000 types of plants. It can be visited for $11.50. The Newport Aquarium also exhibits more then 11,000 species and features glass walls and floors for $16. Coney Island in Cincinnati features water slides, miniature golf, live shows and festivals, all for $12.50. \nCincinnati offers numerous things to please everyone. Whether you want to make a day or a weekend of it, the Queen City is your place to visit. Information on her attractions can be found at www.cincyusa.com, www.ohiocities.com or www.cincinnati.com.
(06/19/03 4:00am)
After a five-year hiatus, experimentation with orchestras, a fight with Napster and the loss of bassist Jason Newsted, Metallica returns. \nSt. Anger is a long (75-plus minutes), angry opus. With help from producer Rob Rock, who also plays subdued bass on the album, the band's mid-'90s pop sound is gone. What shines through the 11 songs is the combined rawness of Kirk Hammet's lightning-fast guitars, Lars Ulrich's bashing drums and James Hetfield's perpetually pissed-off vocals. Missing are Hammet's signature guitar solos. Annoying is the ping of Ulrich's snare drums. \nThe lyrics on St. Anger are an exploration of Hetfield's tormented soul. In the opener "Frantic," Hetfield wonders, "If I could have my wasted days back/Would I use them to get back on track?" On "St. Anger," Hetfield bears the weight of his sins around his neck. Throughout "Dirty Window," he confronts his distorted, mirrored reflection. Sure, the album's songwriting dwells in self-pity, but fans have always related to Hetfield's introspection. \nSt. Anger demonstrates Metallica's gifted ability to alternate tempo and key at breakneck speeds. Chaos never sounded so well composed. No cover songs, no weepy ballads; only savagery and intricacy. Just monstrous rock and roll from the horsemen of the apocalypse.
(06/19/03 12:08am)
After a five-year hiatus, experimentation with orchestras, a fight with Napster and the loss of bassist Jason Newsted, Metallica returns. \nSt. Anger is a long (75-plus minutes), angry opus. With help from producer Rob Rock, who also plays subdued bass on the album, the band's mid-'90s pop sound is gone. What shines through the 11 songs is the combined rawness of Kirk Hammet's lightning-fast guitars, Lars Ulrich's bashing drums and James Hetfield's perpetually pissed-off vocals. Missing are Hammet's signature guitar solos. Annoying is the ping of Ulrich's snare drums. \nThe lyrics on St. Anger are an exploration of Hetfield's tormented soul. In the opener "Frantic," Hetfield wonders, "If I could have my wasted days back/Would I use them to get back on track?" On "St. Anger," Hetfield bears the weight of his sins around his neck. Throughout "Dirty Window," he confronts his distorted, mirrored reflection. Sure, the album's songwriting dwells in self-pity, but fans have always related to Hetfield's introspection. \nSt. Anger demonstrates Metallica's gifted ability to alternate tempo and key at breakneck speeds. Chaos never sounded so well composed. No cover songs, no weepy ballads; only savagery and intricacy. Just monstrous rock and roll from the horsemen of the apocalypse.
(06/16/03 12:59am)
MECCA, Saudi Arabia -- The Saudi government said Sunday it foiled "an imminent terrorist" attack with an overnight raid on a bomb-filled, booby-trapped apartment in the holy city of Mecca that left five suspects and two security agents dead.\nIt was not clear if the raid was linked to Saudi Arabia's crackdown since suicide bomb attacks May 12 targeting Western residential compounds in the capital Riyadh. The attacks, blamed on al Qaeda, killed 26 people, including nine Americans. Nine Saudi attackers also died.\nAt least five people were arrested in the raid, including two Chadians, an Egyptian and a Saudi, a Saudi interior ministry official said.\nThe unidentified official, whose remarks were carried by the official Saudi Press Agency and state television, said a number of other suspects also were arrested in Mecca, Islam's holiest city, 450 miles west of the capital, following the raid. He did not elaborate.\nAt about 9:30 p.m., Saudi security agents broke into an apartment in al-Khalidiya district about three miles from Mecca's main mosque, where "a group of terrorists ... were preparing an imminent terrorist act," the official said. He did not say what the intended target was and gave no other details on the alleged plot.\nFive suspects were killed in a gun battle initiated by the "terrorists," he said. Two police were killed and five injured; and four bystanders were slightly injured, the official said.\nThe official said the apartment was booby-trapped with explosives. Some 72 bombs of different sizes were found in the apartment along with a number of weapons, including semiautomatic rifles and knives, and communication devices, bomb-making materials and masks.\nSaudi authorities, accused of acting too slowly against Islamic extremism after the Sept. 11 attacks, have taken pains to show their commitment to fighting terrorism in the kingdom, the birthplace of bin Laden and 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers.\nIn a report Sunday, the Saudi newspaper Okaz had said the violence started when traffic police tried to stop a car whose occupants fired on officers and fled to the apartment building.\nThe Interior Ministry did not mention the attempted traffic stop.\nSecurity was unusually tight in Mecca on Sunday, with troops stopping cars for searches and to check drivers' identification on the outskirts and at checkpoints scattered throughout the city. A number of police patrolled inside and outside Mecca's Al-Nur hospital, where those wounded Saturday were taken.\nAbdul Khaliq Reheem Sheik, a 50-year-old Indian driver who was being treated for cuts at Al-Nur Sunday, said three masked men holding guns had approached him as he washed his employer's car in Mecca's al-Khalidiya district Saturday night.\nThe men demanded he drive them away from the area, Sheik told The Associated Press. When he refused, they shot at the car's windows, apparently to frighten him, and he was injured by flying glass. The three then drove away in the car, leaving Sheik behind. It was not clear if the three were still being sought or were among those killed or arrested Saturday night.\nHelicopters hovered over al-Khalidiya into the early hours of Sunday. Sunday afternoon, dozens of police and special forces troops armed with rifles could be seen around the three-story apartment building, whose facade was pocked with bullet holes. Residents who had been kept out overnight were being allowed back in the area, after first stopping at a police check point to have their identities checked and cars searched.\nOfficials have reported violence linked to the crackdown on extremism only once before since May 12. On May 31, Yosif Salih Fahd Ala'yeeri was killed in a gunfight with police in northern Saudi Arabia. He was allegedly carrying a letter written by al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.\nEarlier, Saudi authorities had announced the arrests of a number of people in Medina, Islam's second holiest city, 540 miles west of the capital. Saudi authorities had said the arrests were peaceful, but security in and around Medina has been tight.\nLast week, a Western diplomat said at least seven suspects linked to the Riyadh bombings have died since those attacks, some in clashes with Saudi authorities. The diplomat had no details.\nMecca is the birthplace of Islam and its seventh-century prophet, Muhammad, and the focus of the annual pilgrimage known as the hajj. Muhammad is buried in Medina. Reports of police clashes in those cities could anger Islamic militants who already accuse Saudi authorities of being little more than puppets of the "infidel" United States.
(06/05/03 12:49am)
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Using bulldozers, backhoes and loaders, U.S. Army combat engineers dug through a rubble-filled crater Wednesday, trying to determine whether Saddam Hussein died in an April 7 airstrike on the house where he was believed to be hiding.\nThe site was attacked two days before U.S. forces took control of the capital. The U.S. military said at the time that it had reliable information that Saddam and members of his family and entourage were there.\n"For us to expend the amount of money it took to destroy this place, it must have been a key target," said Maj. Scott Slaten of the newly arrived 1st Armored Division, which is now assuming responsibility for Baghdad.\nAn engineering unit of the Utah National Guard was excavating the site and moving the rubble to an undisclosed location to be examined for human remains, Slaten said.\nThe United States does not know Saddam's fate. Video allegedly taken on April 9 showed him atop a vehicle waving to supporters in the Azamiyah neighborhood. But U.S. officials question the accuracy of the footage.\nFor the six weeks that followed the end of fighting, the two-floor home in the upscale Mansour district -- in which at least 14 civilians are believed to have died -- was left mostly undisturbed.\nOn Wednesday afternoon, Lt. Gen. David McKiernan -- commander of U.S. ground troops in Iraq -- said searchers combing through the rubble in al-Mansour had not yet come across any DNA that would prove that Saddam had been killed.\n"We don't have any evidence of any blacklisted remains," he said, adding that U.S. troops searched the site after they occupied Baghdad.\nDozens of U.S. troops, three Bradley fighting vehicles and concertina wire protected the engineers clearing the debris.\n"We did this initially, (but) it's been apparent that we didn't do a thorough enough job," McKiernan said. "We will account for Saddam Hussein (and his sons) Qusai and Odai at some point."\nOfficers said they expected to be done with excavation by June 11. Crews were expected to remain for another week to 10 days to repair nearby homes damaged in the airstrikes and to clean the site and surrounding street.\n"There's nothing interesting here, just a lot of rubble," said Pfc. Walter Phillips, 30, of Chicago, as he stood near his backhoe at the edge of a 15-foot crater.\nIraqis nearby doubted whether the soldiers would find the remains of Saddam, who they suspect was hiding at another house, just yards away.\n"No, no -- Saddam ran away. He's hiding," said Munther Meki, a grocer whose shop -- its front window gone and shelves empty -- is next to the destroyed house.\nMeki said Saddam's government rented a small house opposite the targeted building about six months ago and that official-looking vehicles were parked outside before and during the war.\n"Nobody knew for sure if it was Saddam or someone else," Meki said.\nExcept for the broken windows, the empty, unfurnished house appeared structurally undamaged. Its metal doors were held shut with a heavy chain and lock, and the interior was littered with smashed glass and broken bricks.
(06/02/03 12:26am)
Of the roads surrounding the IU campus, 17th Street, Third Street and Atwater Avenue offer the greatest chance to nab speeders for officers of the IU Police Department. That's why the officers set up "speed traps" more often in these high-traffic areas than any other, IUPD Officer Brice Boembeke said.\nBoembeke said 17th Street has a lot of speeders because it's a long, straight road with virtually no stops. Third Street measures up about the same. In addition, Atwater's speed limit is 25 mph, and Boembeke said most people don't like traveling that slow.\n"Who wants to drive 25 miles an hour," Boembeke said. "We have so many violations on Atwater because people are used to driving 35 mph or above, and they don't make the jump down to 25 when they hit Atwater."\nBoembeke said traffic stops are a necessary thing to keep drivers following the "rules of the road."\nWhen a driver is pulled over by a police officer, the officer has a great deal of "officer's discretion" in whether or not to issue a ticket. If you are pulled over, however, it's very likely that the officer has decided whether or not to give you a ticket before you hand over your license and registration, he said. \nBut many drivers think they can talk their way out of the ticket they're going to get, he said.\n"Most people actually wind up talking themselves into a ticket," Boembeke said. "People say to me, 'I have to get to work.' \n"So leave earlier," he said.\nFor typical speed traps, Boembeke said he looks for places to set-up and watch traffic in areas that give him a high-level of visibility, which equates to a greater amount of time for him to clock traffic and make a decision on whether or not to pull a car over. He said he also looks for areas that give him varying levels of concealment and easy access to traffic. Boembeke said his favorite spot on campus is the Memorial Stadium parking lot adjacent to 17th Street and Fess Avenue; he said this position leaves him totally exposed to serve as a sort of a visual deterrent. This method, Boembeke said, is an effort to get drivers to police themselves instead of him or another officer doing it. \nBut he said he sometimes likes to keep a low profile -- virtually concealed so drivers can't slow down until he flips on the lights and is calling in their license plate to the dispatcher. Boembeke said he has a "favorite spot" for this on Third Street.\nWhile Boembeke was running a speed trap Friday from the Memorial Stadium parking lot, a gray Ford F-150 pickup blew down 17th Street and was clocked going 52 mph in a 30-mph zone. \nBoembeke dropped the radar gun. All in one fluid motion, he used his left hand to throw his Ford Crown Victoria model Police Interceptor into drive and flip on his red and blue warning lights. With a blow or two of his airhorn, he gunned his engine and swung the patrol car into traffic heading west on 17th. \nBoembeke had to speed up to over 65 mph in order to catch up to Richard E. Pearson of Bloomington.\n"'What did I do? I was just following traffic,'" Boembeke said Pearson asked during the initial encounter once he approached the car.\nBoembeke said he decided to pull over Pearson because he was going well over the 15 mph grace he sometimes allows drivers. He said he felt he had no choice but to pull over Pearson and issue him a traffic ticket.\n"He was going faster than everyone else," Boembeke said. "I was looking at the crowd of cars, and you get a feel for everybody's driving. You have to make a judgement call of not pulling over the ones keeping up with traffic, and pulling over those who stick out."\nSome of the dangers with traffic stops for police officers don't always lie in an armed encounter; many are associated with sharp tongues.\nIUPD Lt. Jerry Minger recalls a traffic stop he conducted several years ago at the corner of Third and High Streets.\nMinger said he was working the graveyard shift from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. when he saw a man speeding down Third Street at around 1 a.m. Minger said he pulled the driver over because he felt the driver may have been driving under the influence. \n"The most rude person in the world," Minger said of the man he pulled over.\nHe said the driver became belligerent, which Minger said he felt provoked into being angry in return. Minger said he behaved calm and cool through the entire encounter until the driver got out of Minger's squad car, where he was being detained for questioning, and slammed the car door so hard it made the car shake. Minger said he made the driver close the door quietly. The driver then returned to his own car and slammed that door so hard, Minger said, the window glass shattered all over the street.\nMinger said in situations like that it's very hard for officers to convey an attitude of professionalism and courtesy.\n"It is a challenge because sometimes it seems like they want to aggravate us," Minger said. "But that's why we teach cadets and officers to retain their composure and not get angry."\nJunior Hillary Morrow said she's no stranger to being pulled over by the police. She said one time she was driving late at night around Bloomington when she was pulled over by a Bloomington Police Department officer. The officer said she committed a rolling stop, failed to yield and was going 50 mph in a 25-mph zone.\n"He was not nice," said Morrow of the officer who pulled her over. But she wasn't given a ticket or a written warning, she said. Instead, the officer simply cautioned her not to drive when she was fatigued.\n"I realize they're doing their job, but they could explain a little more clearly why you're pulled over," Morrow said.
(04/24/03 5:23am)
Dave Hurst has kept a file of thank you notes close to his desk for the past 11 years. But they aren't for scholarship recommendations, although he has written his share. The file makes for a remarkable history album of IU's development. The thank you notes are from faculty, staff, students and parents writing to thank Hurst and his colleagues for a beautiful campus.\nAs Campus Division Manager, Hurst is part of an on-going effort to keep the campus aesthetically pleasing to the eyes of visitors and residents. \nIn 1991, Thomas Gaines compiled a list of 100 campuses and evaluated them for urban space, the quality of architecture, landscaping and overall visual and physical appeal. IU was fifth on the list only after Stanford, Princeton, Wellesley and Colorado universities.\nBut keeping the campus beautiful is not the only task for the Campus Division.\n"We're in charge of all campus grounds except for the athletic facilities," Hurst said.\nWhatever happens on campus, the division knows. \nDIVIDE AND CONQUER\nThe IU campus spans more than 2,000 acres, with a crew of 35 to 50 groundskeepers concentrating on a central 300 acres that have become one of IU's many claims to fame. Hurst said the crews used to consist of around 60 to 65 people. But budget cuts and the 24-7 aspect of the job have diminished the number of crew members, leaving the remaining crews covering a large amount of acreage.\n"We could use more people, but we make do," Hurst said. "Every department on campus feels that way, I think."\nHurst and his colleagues have divided the campus into four quadrants. Each quadrant has its own crew to take care of planting, cleaning, mowing and repairs. In addition, a crew of certified arborists also calls Campus Division home. A construction crew to take care of all outdoor construction and a plant nursery crew to take care of the seedlings complete the roster. \nThe crews take care of trees: removing dry branches and fallen trees as well as planting new ones.\nEach grounds crew is equipped to deal with a diverse range of situations -- from planting flowers and setting up hanging baskets to cleaning up snow, fallen trees and ice. \n"We have the equipment a small town this size would have," Hurst said. "We can deal with everything that comes our way."\nThe crews also cooperate with other divisions of the department of the Physical Plant. If the Utilities Division needs to dig, the Campus Division has the equipment -- a large backhoe. Campus buildings managers also call on the Campus Division in time of need -- to help install window panes on top floors, build a new garden around the building or help clean up ice on the roofs. \nThe Division also helps preserve campus memory -- Hurst and his colleagues built a plaza honoring Herman B Wells between Owen and Maxwell Halls in 2000. \nFLOWERS AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE\nGroundskeepers began planting annual flowers Monday. First, the crews are concentrating on the upcoming commencement ceremonies -- planting flowers around Memorial Stadium, the Indiana Memorial Union and other prominent places on campus. Commencement begins a nearly six-week planting season that includes planting flowers that will last through early fall. \n"We want to make sure the campus looks as nice as possible for commencement," Hurst said. \nAround the campus, tulips and daffodils have been in full bloom, but they are dying out right now. The tulips have been in the ground since Thanksgiving. The bulbs are genetically altered so three varieties of tulips look exactly the same but grow differently. Early, middle and late-bloom tulips mix to create a constant growth of new flowers during most of April. \nThe flowers now at the nursery on the north side of campus are ready to be planted. It takes anywhere from four to six weeks to plant more than 30,000 annuals, including vinca, salvia, wave petunias, pansies and hanging baskets of geraniums. The color scheme changes, but the flowers have remained the same throughout the past several years, said nursery supervisor Carl Scott. This summer's color scheme includes a range of red and cream tones to go along with IU's recent change in school colors. The pansies add a touch of blue and yellow to the red tulips. \n"We like to stay with what everybody likes," Scott said. "These varieties work well for the conditions we have."\nIn the fall, the work isn't done. In fact, it's just beginning. Crews will have to till the tulip beds to prepare them for the Thanksgiving bulb planting. And mums that have been growing near the greenhouses will have to be planted. These will last through the early frost. \nWORKING FOR THE STUDENTS \nTwo weeks before the students come back, crews will be back on campus working hard to make it even more attractive to students and parents. \nAfter the summer, students will see some changes on campus. Hurst said crews are in the process of rebuilding the sunken garden on the southeastern side of the IMU, facing the Chemistry building. The garden will be ready for the fall with flowers adorning the corner of the Union. Hurst said groundskeepers will plant some wave petunias, which will wind onto the Union wall and maybe even survive the winter. \nWATER, AIR, SOIL … AND TRASH?\nAs Mark Twain once said, Indiana weather changes every 10 minutes. Campus Division must learn to cope with the diverse effects of weather -- whether dry and humid or cold and windy. The trained gardeners can identify problem areas. \nGetting rid of weeds and watering the plants in the summer are among the top priorities for the season. \n"We've created our own monster," Hurst said. "Water and fertilizer make weeds grow too."\nWeed whipping is the priority task in the summer. Hurst's division even hires some students who help with the task. Hurst said the summer employees like the work because it's outside. \nBecause the campus isn't as populated and busy in the summer, Campus Division employees have a better chance to take care of problematic areas as they appear. \nPlant and soil disease is another threat to the beauty of the campus. This year, the soil in the shipment of geraniums was suspected of having disease. Nursery workers quarantined the entire shipment for two weeks to make sure the soil was not contaminated. \nBut if you ask Hurst, the Campus Division manager, the biggest challenge to his job isn't the weeds, the inclement weather or budget cuts. He says his biggest challenge is the trails of trash that lead to the residence hall food courts. With students on the go, Hurst said he sees a tendency not to dispose of trash properly. \nOn the other hand, taking care of the campus has been a rewarding experience for Hurst and his colleagues. Despite the occasional middle-of-the-night phone call asking to remove a fallen branch or clean up snow, the thank you notes Hurst keeps remind him and his colleagues of the reason they work so hard.\n"It's very gratifying for me to know that our guys have kept this campus so beautiful," Hurst said. "I'm very proud of keeping the campus beautiful for all occasions"
(04/23/03 4:08am)
Ten…"\nWe counted down like the rest of America. "Nine…eight…seven." Here we go; after months of anticipation. "Six…five." This is so exciting. "Four…three." I hope our families are watching. "Two." Bourbon Street can wait.\n"One." Where's Dick Clark anyway?\n"Happy War!" shouted Toby from our downtown New Orleans hotel. We all ceremoniously, and sarcastically, clapped. America's 48-hour window for Iraqi capitulation had passed. MSNBC made sure we knew by counting down the seconds during live telecasts.\nWar was on, whether we wanted it or not. And so was the accompanying TV coverage. It seemed we didn't have much of a choice on that, either. Even MTV, an outlet designed for specifically uninterested youth, covered the opening days of the war, pre-empting Justin Timberlake and the likes. \n"It's like a basketball game," Toby said Thursday, while CBS decided not to air the opening round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament in lieu of war coverage. \nHe was right. You could follow the box score live on television. \nWhen the first reports flowed in Thursday that 17 Iraqi soldiers were captured, Toby played out his parody.\n"That's a start," Toby said, clapping like a coach.\nIn New Orleans, the whole war seemed like a parody -- starting at the very top where everything was about those short one-liners. You know the ones they play over and over while a bar across the bottom of the screen has the same lines in print.\nIt began that Monday, though it began long before that when Bush gave his ultimatum to Saddam Hussein. "The tyrant will soon be gone."\nRemember that? \nOK, maybe not, but at a Thursday afternoon lunch, eight IU spring breakers tried to remember some of the more memorable lines while they watched the drama unfold in New Orleans' T.G.I. Friday's.\n"There was Powell: The time for diplomacy had ended," Amy said.\n"If you're not with us, you're against us," Toby said.\n"The Axis of Evil," chimed in someone else.\nThe list went on. \nThe night before, the group went to Preservation Hall (capacity 104), a New Orleans' historic jazz hall. Created in 1961, though the surroundings are much older, the hall is home to the city's sweetest jazz and one its best deals. For $5, guests get four hours of music.\nThe room is falling apart and packed well past its 104-person limit.\nThe last song we heard was a classic New Orleans funeral march, a macabre tribute for the loss of a jazz great. Next door we saw the first bombs drop on Baghdad from a pizza joint. One group huddled around a TV in the back of the restaurant. An employee watched the Arabic broadcast up front.\nWhat different thoughts we must have been thinking.\nWhat different mindsets we must have been in.\nWhat was next?\n"It's hard to picture people sad," Jamie said, "when we're so happy."
(04/09/03 12:09am)
This letter is to all of the people that find it unpatriotic to oppose the war in Iraq.
(04/08/03 5:02am)
Man dispels rumors about anti-patriotism in local business\nPLYMOUTH, Ind. -- The head of the local chamber of commerce patronized a business while wearing a U.S. flag-embroidered sweater to dispel a rumor that anyone wearing patriotic apparel would be kicked out.\nWasim Latif, who took ownership of the Red-D-Mart a couple months ago, said he had been warned that the rumor had been circulating around Plymouth, about 15 miles south of South Bend.\nDoug Anspach, executive director of the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce, said he had heard the misinformation more than once from people calling his organization on the phone.\nAnspach tried to put the rumor to rest by borrowing a white sweater with a large American flag on the chest. On Friday morning, he walked three blocks from his office to get a cup of coffee at Red-D-Mart.\nAfter a cheerful clerk took his money, Anspach took a seat in the back of the store and enjoyed his coffee.\n"I found that I was treated with courtesy and caring as a customer purchasing a cup of coffee," he said.\nAnspach said he also noticed patriotic T-shirts and buttons for sale behind the front counter.\nLatif said he was unsure how to stop the rumors and was grateful for Anspach's help.\nFaculty at IU-South Bend push for on-campus student housing\nSOUTH BEND -- Faculty at one IU satellite campus are pushing for construction of on-campus student housing, saying it would increase enrollment and student retention rates.\n"We've grown from an institution where students simply drop by to take courses into a university," Doug McMillen, a professor at IU's South Bend campus, told IU trustees Friday. "On-campus housing will enhance our academic mission."\nMcMillen said each major improvement on the South Bend campus, such as construction of a student activities center, has improved the academic climate and followed with an increase in the number of students.\nThe addition of campus apartments south of the St. Joseph River and a foot bridge to link them to campus would afford the school another chance to grow, he said.\nOn-campus housing is still in the planning stages, but other faculty members echoed McMillen's thoughts.\n"For a lot of people in north-central Indiana, we are the only face of Indiana University," said Ellen Maher, an associate librarian at the university.\nMaher also urged trustees to increase the number of full-time and tenure-track faculty.\nAs talented as many adjunct instructors are, she said, full-time faculty are best to fulfill the school's mission as a research university.\nSigns damaged at Islamic center in Merrillville\nMERRILLVILLE, Ind. -- Two road signs at the entrance of the Northwest Indiana Islamic Center were damaged in an apparent act of vandalism, the mosque's religious leader said.\n"One of them is completely damaged," Mongy El-Quesny said. "The second one, he knocked some of the bricks off the sign."\nThe vandalism occurred Saturday night when someone drove a truck into the two signs, El-Quesny said.\nIt wasn't the first time the mosque has been vandalized in the suburban town just south of Gary. Shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, vandals stole several American flags from the mosque's property. Another time, someone shot out a lower basement window.\n"What happened after Sept. 11, maybe you can understand that people were angry," El-Quesny said. "Whatever was happening now is done by a person with sickness in their heart. We are Americans, too.\n"I have four children born here. My wife is American," El-Quesny said. "I've been here 20 years. I'm going to live and die here. In spite of the differences of our religion and our culture, we live on one soil."\nEl-Quesny said it will cost several thousand dollars to replace and repair the sign.
