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(04/26/02 4:35am)
WASHINGTON -- The Senate passed an energy bill Thursday that features tax breaks to conserve and produce energy and directs more use of ethanol but rejects the Bush administration proposal to develop oil in an Arctic wildlife refuge. \nAfter sometimes bitter deliberations, the Senate approved the energy package 88-11. The vote sets up a showdown with the House, which last year passed an energy bill that focuses more on helping energy companies boost production, including drilling in the Alaska refuge. \nMuch of the Senate debate, which stretched over six weeks, centered on America's dependence on foreign oil and the security concerns over relying on the volatile Middle East for much of its energy. Republicans argued for more domestic production, while most Democrats maintained the answer was in conservation. \nStill, the Senate twice rejected proposals that were aimed at reducing the growing demand for fuel by automobiles and other passenger vehicles, which guzzle the equivalent of nearly 8 million barrels of oil a day. \nDemocrats said the bill, which at times had appeared to be in danger of falling apart over a tax dispute as well as Arctic drilling, provides a broad balance between energy production and conservation, including help for consumers to better insulate their homes and buy more fuel-efficient windows. \nRepublicans said it still does too little to increase domestic oil production and reduce America's reliance on imports. \nNevertheless, Republican leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said the Senate bill marks "a major achievement" and praised Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska -- the chamber's most ardent supporter of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- for not trying to obstruct the legislation. \n"We need more production across the board," said Lott, indicating he expects the fight over Arctic drilling to be resumed as the Senate and House work out a compromise bill to send to the White House. \nLott lauded what he called "very significant tax incentives" contained in the Senate legislation. But the House-passed bill, which was ignored in the Senate, would funnel more tax breaks to energy production and open the Arctic refuge to drilling. \nThe Senate bill would provide $14 billion worth of tax breaks over 10 years, divided about evenly between help for renewable energy and conservation programs and the traditional fossil fuel energy producers. The House bill calls for $33 billion in tax incentives focused more heavily toward the oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries. \nOther major provisions in the Senate legislation, covering more than 580 pages, include: \n• A requirement to use more ethanol in gasoline that will result in a tripling of ethanol production to 5 billion gallons a year, a boon to farmers. \n• A ban on use of the gasoline additive MTBE, which has been found to contaminate waterways in many states. \n• Consumer tax credits for people who install solar panels in their homes, add insulation, or buy more energy-efficient windows, doors, air conditioners and heat pumps. \n• Federal loan guarantees to spur private interest in building a $20 billion pipeline to haul natural gas from Alaska's North Slope. \n• Requiring utilities by 2019 to produce 10 percent of their electricity from renewable fuels such as wind, solar and burning forest and agricultural wastes. \n• Repeal of a Depression-era law that limits the operations of electricity holding companies; wider authority for federal energy regulators to regulate wholesale electricity markets and transmission lines. \nWhile environmentalists won a major victory in beating back Republican attempts to drill for oil in the Arctic refuge, they failed to get the Senate to do anything substantive to rein in fuel use by the nation's motorists. \nAn attempt by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to address fuel economy was blocked as opponents of tougher federal auto fuel economy rules argued that automakers would be forced to close plants, lay off workers and deprive drivers of larger cars, including SUVs. \nEarly in the six weeks of deliberations, the Senate stripped the legislation of a provision that would have required automakers to improve their fleet-wide fuel efficiency to 35 miles per gallon, a 50 percent increase, over the next dozen years. A last ditch attempt Thursday to curb automobiles' energy use by curtailing the growth of oil use in transportation was rejected 57-42. \nThe bill's ethanol provision also came under attack Thursday from California and New York senators, who argued it would cause gasoline shortages and price increases on both coasts. But an attempt to delay the mandate by one year to 2005 was rejected. \n"This is a deal cut in secret," an angry Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said on the Senate floor. "We're told it's good for farmers and to take it."\nEthanol supporters disputed that there will be shortages or price spikes.
(04/25/02 3:34am)
She saw him from the second story window as she was reapplying her lipstick. She tapped the window with her fist and screamed:\n"No, don't do that."\nAs soon as she noticed him touching her cherry red 1997 Jetta, she stumbled down the stairs. She sprinted through the crowd of curious bystanders and threw the door open. It became a race: College Kid against Tow Truck Man. Before she realized she didn't have her car keys, the three shots of Jack Daniels began to do the talking for her:\n"STOP!"\nHe glanced at her as an evil smirk shot across his face. \n"I'm visiting my friend," she screamed. \nHe continued lifting her car onto the platform as she watched in disbelief. He turned to her and said:\n"It will only be $45 since you got out here before we left." \n"I don't have $45," she snapped back. "I'm in college."\n"You'd better find it quick," he told her. \nShe threw her middle finger in the air as an angry tear streamed down her face. By this time, a small crowd gathered in the parking lot to watch the show. She turned to the group of strangers and asked:\n"Anyone have $45?"\nWhat happened to Katie is not a rarity for the wonderful Bloomington community. Parking regulations here are out of control. \nThe best college weekend has come and gone. I couldn't help but observe the amount of unnecessary parking security we had. I parked three blocks from my friend's apartment and walked through a torrential downpour just to visit him. There is something wrong with this scenario.\nElizabeth Callow received a parking ticket Monday while she was making a quick stop.\n"They need to expand parking. If they are raising our tuition they can at least accommodate parking," Calloway said. \nI have never witnessed such strict parking regulations at any other Big Ten university. I don't understand how it is legal to charge $30 for parking in the A zone for five minutes. \nAnd just when you thought riding a bike would be safe, think again. You even have to register two-wheelers. Hundreds of students think their bikes have been stolen when in actuality "bike regulators" check to make sure bikes are registered. If they are not, they cut through the bike locks and throw the bike in their truck bed. \nI watched a guy do it last week, and I saw the kid come out of class to stumble upon an empty bike rack. He just kind of stood there and circled around a few times before accepting the fact that his transportation was gone. And if he does not call to claim his bike, it will be auctioned off to make more money for the same organization that basically stole it. The auction is May 11 if you're looking for a good deal on a stolen Schwinn. And if your bike magically disappeared, try calling 855-9849 before May 11. \nTuition is increasing. I apologize to all you out-of-staters for such an inconvenience. They should reimburse us by decreasing unnecessary parking regulations.\nI realize the University isn't exactly looking to cut us deals on anything that involves money. I'm not expecting a half-off sale on parking. The rules just need to be a little more reasonable.
(04/10/02 5:22am)
Student technology fees are like taxes. They're levied against students even if they don't use tech services. \nEvery year, student tech fees pool millions of dollars. The money is then spent for student services, Karen Adams, chief information officer and chief of staff in the IU Office of the Vice President for Information Technology said. But one of these services, the Student Technology Education Program Series, is unknown to and underused by many students.\nSTEPS are free hands-on computer training workshops run by IT Training and Education. Its annual budget rose 10 percent to $356,374 in 2001, according to UITS cost analysis data. But over the last five years, the number of STEPS users has steadily decreased, according to UITS's annual user surveys. In 1997, 32 percent of students surveyed said they had used the service. In 2001, the usage rate dipped by half, and only 14 percent said they'd used the service. \nBut of those students who used STEPS last year, more than 95 percent graded it better than satisfactory, and this has been the case for the past five years. \nSTEPS are workshops that teach high-tech tools such as Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, HTML, Netscape Composer, Dreamweaver and UNIX free of charge. Most tools are explored through basic, advanced and expert classes, and each class lasts two to three hours. No registration is required. \nPeople in IT Training and Education, which runs STEPS workshops, seem baffled. Their workshops satisfy most users but attract only a few students. \nITTE manager Chris Payne suggested three possible reasons students don't attend STEPS. Many prefer self-learning through NETg, the online tutorial software that teaches about 600 high tech tools. Many students are already high-tech savvy as well, and then there are those who don't seem to know about STEPS. Payne said he doubts undergraduates are aware of the service.\nAn informal survey conducted by the IDS on March 18 asked 30 underclassmen in the East Lounge of the Indiana Memorial Union if they'd ever heard of the service. Twenty-four hadn't. The same query was posed before 50 undergraduates at the IMU's Burger King. Forty-one said no. Of those same 80 students, only 11 said they had heard of or knew about NETg. \nThese 80 students cannot speak for all 26,000 undergraduates, but Payne's third guess seems not off the mark. Many students probably don't know they are funding STEPS through the technology fee. \nIn early January, Brandon Minton was Web-tech-illiterate. He could manipulate Word, Excel and PowerPoint like toys, he said. But he stood helpless before Web publishing tools.\n"I had no idea on how to build a Web site," Minton said.\nSince then, Minton, a senior majoring in informatics, has taken nine STEPS workshops: HTML, Dreamweaver, Netscape Composer, Photoshop and UNIX, among others. They took more than 20 hours, but he netted huge returns. \nToday, Minton can craft a Web site in two hours or less, he said. \n"First, I would open Dreamweaver," he said. "Then, I would start typing text that I would have on my page. Once I figured out the frame and how I wanted to go, I would place all the HTML tags. And the next thing would be to open up Photoshop and start making some designs that I could implement onto my Web site.\n"Once I laid out everything correctly…I would publish it on an SQL server. And everybody would see it."\nSTEPS instructors never forsake students for the sake of class progress, Minton said. \n"They are decent people," he said. "Really helpful. Really nice. Extremely nice." \nDavid A. Ray, a doctoral student in the School of Music who aims to become an opera singer, is one of those "decent people." Ray, a part-time instructor, lectures confidently before students, his voice resonating as if through a microphone. \nBut when he became an instructor in the summer of 2000, he was an Internet surfer who knew only Excel. \n"I thought that I had a great talent for playing video games, but not much more than that," he said. \nSo his supervisors told him: Learn before you teach. \nRay's training regimen was STEPS workshops. He joined classes as an observer and studied with students. \n"You would do this -- perhaps two to three times per class -- before moving on to the role of assistant," he said.\nTo become an instructor, one would observe two classes or more, he said. Behind the scenes, Ray said he studied textbooks to know them inside and out. He wanted to find the most effective ways to teach. He also studied how and why people used the software covered by the textbooks. \n"I feel as though I would be cheating the students to a certain extent," he said, "if I simply stood in front of class, walked through the materials and had no idea myself why I was doing certain things." \nSince January 2001, 3,000 STEPS users have taken after-class surveys by IT Training and Education. 80 percent of them said the level, pace and teaching range of workshops were "just right." 90 percent graded instructors "good" or "very good" at explaining subjects and answering questions. Assistant instructors were also called "good" or "very good" by 90 percent of those surveyed. And almost all said the classes were "satisfactory" experiences. \nSTEPS class materials have won two awards from the Special Interest Group on University and College Computing Services, a national organization that ranks colleges and universities by their quality of IT training. \nYet ITTE staff don't know why STEPS is unappealing to many students. Payne and Macmillan said they crave any advice from students. \nUITS has no plan to abort STEPS, Karen Adams said. Students will keep funding the program, whether they like it or not.\nIf they are not grad students, who are said to use STEPS more often, said Carol Macmillan,web education specialist of ITTE. But people in IT Training and Education don't want those feelings to fester. \n"Yes, we will work even harder to market to the undergraduate students," Macmillan said. ITTE will make undergraduates realize that "IT skills is what can set them apart from other job candidates, and help them edge out the competition," she said.
(04/09/02 4:31am)
For more than 10 hours Saturday, guitar chords and drum beats bounced off the walls of Foster-Jenkinson and Foster-Harper, kicking off what its creator hopes to be an annual music event.\nFoster Quad resident assistant Bobby Kline said he wanted to bring an unforgettable experience to Foster residents.\n"I had this dream at the beginning of the semester, and I worked to make it a reality," Kline, a sophomore, said. "I just wanted people to come out, hear good music, have fun and make some great memories. It was great that we could showcase local talent."\nFoster Squad Acoustic and Kline's band Colder by the Lake were two of the featured bands that have members living in Foster Quad. \nAt noon, the festivities began with The Ice Cream Men, opening "Fosterstock." Throughout the afternoon Foster Squad Acoustic, Well Fed, Frequency 12, Colder by the Lake and Sideburn Mike and the Lawsuits played on a small, makeshift stage to varying crowds of residents. \nSophomore Andy Grau, a guitarist for Colder by the Lake, was glad one of his bandmates could put such a venue together.\n"It was nervewracking, but exciting," Grau said. "I can't believe Bobby put this all together."\nCapping off the fun-filled festival was Bloomington band Three Minute Mile.\nThe almost two-hour set by the local band included such covers as Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On" and Weezer's "Undone (The Sweater Song)," original songs "Big M" and Groove Me" and unreleased material "Red-headed Girl" and "Who Knows." Originally scheduled to play for only an hour, Three Minute Mile played until 11 p.m. at the urging of fans.\nCrowds varied in size Saturday afternoon and evening, but despite cold weather, close to 75 fans and residents made their way to the stage for Three Minute Mile. Comical banter between the members of the band and the audience between songs kept the set lively and entertaining. References to cartoon shows, ex-girlfriends and good humor jests at other local bands maintained the crowd's high spirits.\nSophomore Kathy Kowalkowski, a Foster Quad resident, watched the Three Minute Mile set with her friends.\n"We were watching them from our window and had balcony seats, which were great, but we wanted to see them up close," Kowalkowski said. "I found them surprisingly enjoyable, and I think they are a band on the verge with huge potential."\nThree Minute Mile drummer senior Justin Seidenberg said he was pleased with the intimate setting.\n"It was fun, and we were able to explain our songs more to the audience," Seidenberg said. "Despite the temperature, this type of show is my favorite. The people here are the ones who really know the music."\nSenior Mike Stocksdale, guitarist for Three Minute Mile, said he did not have any problems with the set despite the cold weather.\n"I was having a good time," he said, "and halfway through the set, I forgot about the cold because the crowd was so great"
(03/29/02 8:19pm)
ATLANTA -- The lights are getting brighter, but the distractions that have surrounded IU all week are starting to fade away. No more time for ticket requests or other matters not related to basketball.\nIt's time for the Final Four.\nThe fifth-seeded Hoosiers (24-11) out of the South Region are in Atlanta, and so are the second-seeded Sooners (31-4). After a light practice for both teams this afternoon at the Georgia Dome and a session with the media, IU and Oklahoma will be set for their 6 p.m. National Semifinal Saturday night.\nIt has been a busy week for the Hoosiers, having been capped off by a send-off at Assembly Hall by thousands of IU fans. IU was also welcomed to Atlanta by the local alumni association.\nNow, things get serious.\n"I just want to beat Oklahoma," sophomore A.J. Moye said. "Now the aura and the mystique is gone and it's more about getting down to business. Why be satisfied with getting to the Final Four when you can win the whole thing?"\nJunior Tom Coverdale, who continues to nurse a sprained left ankle, will likely be a game-time decision. Donald Perry, the backup freshman point guard, said he is ready if needed, and the Hoosiers said they have confidence in him.\nAgain this weekend, IU seems to be the forgotten team among three squads that were supposed to be here in the first place. If Coverdale is unable to play, some say IU has no chance to win. That suits the Hoosiers just fine.\n"As long as we're down there, we might as well win," junior Jeff Newton said.\nThe Sooners have depth at all positions, but they are led by Hollis Price in the backcourt and Aaron McGhee in the paint. IU sophomore Jared Jeffries will likely have to deal with McGhee, who has the ability to shoot from the outside or be physical down low.\nOffensively, the Hoosiers are shooting better than anyone in the tournament at just under 56 percent in four games. Saturday, IU will see a defense that is as feisty and physical as its own.\nOf course, Sooner coach Kelvin Sampson will have to make the choice that coaches have had to make against IU all season. Will the Sooners leave Jeffries free of double teams and open the paint to protect the perimeter? Or will they do the opposite and let the Hoosiers shoot at will?\nDuke was burned by Jeffries, Newton and senior Jarrad Odle in the paint, particularly in the second half, when IU staged its improbable comeback. Saturday Kent State was just buried from the outside when the Hoosiers hit 15-of-19 three pointers. \nWhat would IU coach Mike Davis do?\n"If I'm Oklahoma I try to take away Jared Jeffries so we can shoot some threes," Davis joked. "They have athletes who run and jump. Whatever they do, we'll counter it. We have a good system, a system that's very difficult to play against."\nAs has been his tendency as long as he has been at IU, Davis will rely on his defense. Price has been almost unstoppable in the tournament. The Hoosiers will have to be on top of their game.\n"I think our defense is going to have to be as good as it has all year with this team being so athletic and talented," Odle said.\nWhile some may say the Hoosiers are fine because they beat No.1 Duke in the South Regional semifinals, others point out Oklahoma might be better. The Sooners own wins against both Kansas and Maryland, who will meet in the second national semifinal Saturday night.\nIU thinks Oklahoma might be the best team in the nation.\n"What Duke did in the first five to 10 minutes gave us some problems. Oklahoma is going to see that and really want to do that for 40 minutes," junior Kyle Hornsby said. "They have a deeper bench, so they're going to be capable of getting people in there to keep that intensity up. \n"Something that we're going to have to really buckle down and focus on is controlling the ball, not giving up steals and turning the ball over."\nGame plans are the focus for the Hoosiers now. After a week of talking, it is time to play basketball on the biggest stage in college basketball. All-time, IU is 5-2 in national semifinals.\nThe Hoosiers say they will be ready Saturday night.\n"It's something we're accustomed to," Odle said of being the underdog. "There's probably going to be a little bit of inexperience. But when you get to the Final Four, you can throw the lines out the window.\n"That's why I chose this University -- I wanted to win championships and make it to places like the Final Four."\nThe Hoosiers are here.
(03/27/02 5:12pm)
California Crossing\nFu Manchu\nMammoth Records\nAll you slackers rejoice. Fu Manchu is back. Kingpins of the ultra-cool "stoner-rock" movement heralding the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, High on Fire and the legendary genre-founders Kyuss, Fu Manchu has broken free of the conservative establishment once again with its sixth full-length album, California Crossing. Not that there is anything very different about its approach this time around -- just the same blistering heaviness and bellowing attitude -- but that's what makes Fu Manchu so powerful. The band doesn't beat around the bush; it gets straight to the point. And that point is straight-ahead rock.\nWith a predilection for heaviness and a bias toward fast cars and loose women, Fu Manchu trudged out of Southern California in the early '90s and has since remained steadfast in its dedication to the groove. California Crossing boasts 11 songs of equally mammoth intensity. The riffs are Herculean. The vocals are laid-back cool. The rhythm section is driving. For those unfamiliar, it sounds something like Dexter Holland (the Offspring) fronting mid-'80s Black Flag on a serious Black Sabbath kick. \nFrom the first notes of "Separate Kingdom," the riffs pound you into oblivion and leave no choice but to crank it up. It's a perfect open road anthem, windows down and wind in your face, music drowning out the highway and engine noise. \nAnd frankly, nothing changes throughout the album's nearly 40 minutes. Apart from Keith Morris' (Circle Jerks) joining the fold for co-vocal duties on "Bultaco," the album is one linear bong-hit. The only downside is this lack of sonic difference, which by the album's end becomes somewhat tiresome. But having too much of a good thing is nothing to complain about. So rev up the engine, crank the stereo and head for the open road. California Crossing is ready for you.\n
(03/27/02 5:00am)
California Crossing\nFu Manchu\nMammoth Records\nAll you slackers rejoice. Fu Manchu is back. Kingpins of the ultra-cool "stoner-rock" movement heralding the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, High on Fire and the legendary genre-founders Kyuss, Fu Manchu has broken free of the conservative establishment once again with its sixth full-length album, California Crossing. Not that there is anything very different about its approach this time around -- just the same blistering heaviness and bellowing attitude -- but that's what makes Fu Manchu so powerful. The band doesn't beat around the bush; it gets straight to the point. And that point is straight-ahead rock.\nWith a predilection for heaviness and a bias toward fast cars and loose women, Fu Manchu trudged out of Southern California in the early '90s and has since remained steadfast in its dedication to the groove. California Crossing boasts 11 songs of equally mammoth intensity. The riffs are Herculean. The vocals are laid-back cool. The rhythm section is driving. For those unfamiliar, it sounds something like Dexter Holland (the Offspring) fronting mid-'80s Black Flag on a serious Black Sabbath kick. \nFrom the first notes of "Separate Kingdom," the riffs pound you into oblivion and leave no choice but to crank it up. It's a perfect open road anthem, windows down and wind in your face, music drowning out the highway and engine noise. \nAnd frankly, nothing changes throughout the album's nearly 40 minutes. Apart from Keith Morris' (Circle Jerks) joining the fold for co-vocal duties on "Bultaco," the album is one linear bong-hit. The only downside is this lack of sonic difference, which by the album's end becomes somewhat tiresome. But having too much of a good thing is nothing to complain about. So rev up the engine, crank the stereo and head for the open road. California Crossing is ready for you.\n
(03/05/02 6:31am)
It's snowing in Bloomington. Wind chills are dipping to ear-numbing levels. People are hacking at their car windows to remove ice. \nGolf season must be starting.\nThe Hoosiers have begun their spring campaign in the warmer climates of Pensacola, Fla., participating in the two-round Emerald Coast Collegiate tourney which began yesterday and concludes today.\nBut the frigid temperatures of Bloomington followed the men to Florida. In the first day of action yesterday, the men's golf teamn shot a first-round 314, and are in sixth place overall. The tournament was called before the completion of one of the rounds because of frosty temperatures.\nIU's Ben Davidson is tied for second place overall after day one action. The junior shot a 1-over-par 73, and stands one stroke out of the lead. \n"Ben played a great round today, especially under these conditions," IU coach Mike Mayer said in a press release. "It was unfortunate that he ended his round with a double bogey, or else he would be leading the golf tournament."\nDavidson and junior Aldo Jordan are joined by freshmen Jeff Overton, Rob Ockenfuss, and Heath Peters in the Hoosier lineup.\nIn addition to IU, the field of competitors consists of Austin Peay, Cincinnati, Drake, Eastern Michigan, Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic, Illinois, Louisville, Missouri and host West Florida. West Florida is the defending NCAA Division II champion.\nMayer believed prior to heading to Florida that the Hoosiers could tame the tournament course, Tiger Point Golf & Country Club.\n"It's a good test of golf," Mayer said. "With our length, I think it (the course's layout) suit us pretty well. We believe this tournament gives us a chance to compete for a title right away."\nMayer also thought that any southern team who thinks that northern teams like IU won't be able to compete may be in for a bit of a surprise. During the off-season, the team worked with strength and conditioning coach Stephan Roche to bulk up and add flexibility to golf-related muscles. \nThe mild weather also allowed the Hoosiers to play more frequently than usual during the winter.\n"I really feel we can challenge some of the southern schools," Mayer said. "I wouldn't be surprised if we beat a lot of their butts."\nThe IU golfers were excited about the prospect of playing in a tournament setting for the first time since October. Particularly enthused is Jordan, who missed the end of the fall season after being injured in an automobile accident.\nJordan spent much of his winter break working to strengthen his muscles and bones that had been damaged. Upon returning, he focused on getting back into golf-related shape.\n"On a scale of one to 10, I would have to give this a 15," Jordan said. "I'm really excited. I've put a lot of effort into running and eating right. I'm finally getting back on track."\nFor Overton, the tournament will be a gauge of his transition from an inexperienced rookie to a cagey leader both on the scorecard and as a decision maker. Overton will be playing in the No. 1 spot for the Hoosiers.\n"You learn from the best five players from teams all over the country," Overton said. "It allows you to stay more competitive."\nThis is the first year that IU has competed in the Emerald Coast Collegiate. The tournament was added on to the schedule to make up for the loss of the Northern Intercollegiate, which was among the Big Ten events cancelled in the aftermath of Sept. 11.\nIf the weather behaves, IU will begin the final 18-hole round at 7:30 a.m today.
(03/04/02 7:56am)
A fire damaged several units in Colonial Crest Apartments, 703 W. Gourley Pike Saturday morning, causing six residents to jump from a second story window for safety, Bloomington Fire Department Chief Jeff Barlow said.\nTwo of those who jumped from a window about 10 to 12 feet from the ground were injured, one with lacerations and an ankle injury and another with cuts and a broken heel, Barlow said. \nThe cause of the fire is still under investigation, he said.\nFirefighters arrived at the blaze around 7 a.m. Saturday, where they battled heavy smoke and flames coming from the apartments, he said. \n"The building construction was good," Barlow said. "They had fire stops, and with the aggressive firefighting of the fire crews they kept it (around) the fire's origin."\nNineteen people were unable to stay in their homes, said Ed Vande Sande, director of emergency services for the Monroe County American Red Cross. Several residents were students, he said.\nHe said all of the evacuated residents are staying in hotels, IU housing facilities, vacant Colonial Crest apartments or with friends.\nOther residents were allowed back into their homes around 11:30 a.m., Barlow said.
(02/20/02 4:34pm)
Crossroads - PG- 13\nStarring: Britney Spears, Anson Mount, Zoe Saldana, Taryn Manning\nDirected by: Tamra Davis\nShowing: Showplace East 11\nHe said: \"I might be a liar... but this movie sucked\"\nBritney Spears, a bastion of "chastity" and "virtue," the diva minus the diva-esque persona, the girl next door and the impending media mogul. Britney wears many hats, and the latest one's that of actress in the vapid teeny-bopper road trip flick "Crossroads." And for some reason this hat seems to be ill-fitting.\nBritney's acting chops and this flick suck... hard. Spears stars as Lucy, a lily-white virgin-valedictorian. Once graduation passes she rekindles her friendships with childhood friends Kit (Zoe Saldana), a prom queen priss, and Mimi (Taryn Manning), a pregnant chick from the trailer park. \nThe girls, along with Ben (Anson Mount), the "ruggedly charming" ex-con with a heart of gold (cliche check anyone?) set out on an inane road trip to Los Angeles. Laughably absurd events litter their pilgrimage; the girls give a rousing karaoke rendtion of "I Love Rock 'n Roll," because as Britney was recently quoted in Rolling Stone as saying, "I love Pat Benatar!" The song is by Joan Jett, bubblehead! Lucy's character recites trite poetry from her journal, which coincidentally enough winds up being Britney's new hit single "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman," and is later butchered in a duet between the reigning teen pop songstress and the ever-sensitive Ben. I wanted to puke, and could have, had I not been laughing so uncontrollably.\nThe highly controversial scene, which depicts the popping of Britney's cherry by big, bad Ben, contains about as much taste as a rice cake. The two do the deed before an open window overlooking a beach. What if some kid were building a sand castle out there? How perverse and insensitive are these people? Apparently very, because I had to endure this crappy flick which they were both at least somewhat responsible for.\nThere's very little redeemable about "Crossroads," with the exception of the scenes in which Britney pranced about in her skivvies, and these finer moments were in abundance. The flick's a real disappointment despite being lensed by Tamra Davis, the director behind such modern-day comedic masterpieces as "CB4," "Billy Madison" and "Half Baked"; but then again, Britney's about as funny as outtakes from "Schindler's List."\nBritney, while cute, sucks as an actress. Perhaps she'd be better in a different vehicle, but I doubt it. \n
(02/20/02 5:00am)
Crossroads - PG- 13\nStarring: Britney Spears, Anson Mount, Zoe Saldana, Taryn Manning\nDirected by: Tamra Davis\nShowing: Showplace East 11\nHe said: \"I might be a liar... but this movie sucked\"\nBritney Spears, a bastion of "chastity" and "virtue," the diva minus the diva-esque persona, the girl next door and the impending media mogul. Britney wears many hats, and the latest one's that of actress in the vapid teeny-bopper road trip flick "Crossroads." And for some reason this hat seems to be ill-fitting.\nBritney's acting chops and this flick suck... hard. Spears stars as Lucy, a lily-white virgin-valedictorian. Once graduation passes she rekindles her friendships with childhood friends Kit (Zoe Saldana), a prom queen priss, and Mimi (Taryn Manning), a pregnant chick from the trailer park. \nThe girls, along with Ben (Anson Mount), the "ruggedly charming" ex-con with a heart of gold (cliche check anyone?) set out on an inane road trip to Los Angeles. Laughably absurd events litter their pilgrimage; the girls give a rousing karaoke rendtion of "I Love Rock 'n Roll," because as Britney was recently quoted in Rolling Stone as saying, "I love Pat Benatar!" The song is by Joan Jett, bubblehead! Lucy's character recites trite poetry from her journal, which coincidentally enough winds up being Britney's new hit single "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman," and is later butchered in a duet between the reigning teen pop songstress and the ever-sensitive Ben. I wanted to puke, and could have, had I not been laughing so uncontrollably.\nThe highly controversial scene, which depicts the popping of Britney's cherry by big, bad Ben, contains about as much taste as a rice cake. The two do the deed before an open window overlooking a beach. What if some kid were building a sand castle out there? How perverse and insensitive are these people? Apparently very, because I had to endure this crappy flick which they were both at least somewhat responsible for.\nThere's very little redeemable about "Crossroads," with the exception of the scenes in which Britney pranced about in her skivvies, and these finer moments were in abundance. The flick's a real disappointment despite being lensed by Tamra Davis, the director behind such modern-day comedic masterpieces as "CB4," "Billy Madison" and "Half Baked"; but then again, Britney's about as funny as outtakes from "Schindler's List."\nBritney, while cute, sucks as an actress. Perhaps she'd be better in a different vehicle, but I doubt it. \n
(02/01/02 4:07am)
NEW YORK -- With signs the United States is emerging from recession, the 32nd annual World Economic Forum began Thursday with discussions on where the global economy is headed and how to deal with terrorism. \nAgainst a backdrop of generally peaceful demonstrations and scattered vandalism targeting symbols of corporate America, some 3,000 international business, political, academic and religious figures met at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel behind phalanxes of police. \nSome 4,000 police were on duty, So many were concentrated around the conference site it reminded some New Yorkers of the intense security after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. \nDespite the high state of alert, there were few arrests, and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani predicted police would maintain order. \n"This is a peaceful city. This is a city that understands diversity. This is a city that understands how to deal with large meetings," Giuliani, who was instrumental in bringing the forum to New York partly in solidarity following Sept. 11, said. \nAt a news conference, a top official of a private industry group predicted the U.S. economy will grow 1.5 percent in 2002. \n"My view is that the U.S. recession is over, that November will be viewed as the trough," Gail Fosler, chief economist at the Conference Board, a business-financed group that issues influential monthly economic reports, said. \nEurope's recovery will probably take hold in the third and fourth quarters but the pace could be slower than in the United States, Klaus Zimmerman, president of the German Institute for Economic Research, said. \n"We're struggling with the sins of the past in terms of government spending," he said. \nThe outlook for Japan remains bleak, said Jacob Frenkel, former head of Israel's central bank who is president of Merrill Lynch & Co.'s international division. \nJapan "will stay in a recession until it deals with its financial system and banking sector properly," he said. \nBesides the worldwide economy, the five-day forum is focusing on such topics as improving security and alleviating poverty around the globe. \nA panel of international security experts warned the Bush administration against using force on other countries, saying that could hurt relations with its allies. \nThey said President Bush should use diplomacy instead of military might in his dealings with Iran, Iraq and North Korea, which were identified as rogue states in his State of the Union address Tuesday. \n"If you topple Saddam Hussein, there will be another Saddam Hussein somewhere else," Christoph Bertram, director of the German Institute for International Affairs and Security, said. \nAt another seminar, Alain Dieckhoff, research director at France's Center for International Studies and Research, said the best way to combat terrorism is to build a strong middle class. "When you have that, it's easier to have democratic values and practices," he said. \nThe forum also offered a chance for diplomacy. Palestinian officials said their parliament speaker, Ahmed Qureia, planned to meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who is attending the forum. \nAmong the forum's other participants are King Abdullah II of Jordan; Kofi Annan, secretary-general of United Nations; Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, president of Philippines; Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive of Dell Computer, and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. President Bush won't attend, but is sending Secretary of State Colin Powell and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. \nAfghanistan's interim leader, Hamid Karzai, had been scheduled to give opening remarks Thursday afternoon but canceled his appearance because he had to meet in London with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, forum spokesman Charles McLean said. \nOutside, police in riot gear stood guard while other officers rerouted traffic and kept protesters behind concrete barriers ringing the site. \nFive women were charged with trespassing and reckless endangerment in lower Manhattan for climbing to a building rooftop and unfurling a banner that read, "Bush and big biz agree that people with AIDS drop dead." \nPolice also reported vandalism at several chain businesses around Manhattan. A man was arrested for defacing the front door of a Starbucks coffee shop, police said. \nAbout two blocks from the Waldorf, several hundred followers of the Chinese meditation sect Falun Gong -- which is banned in China -- did slow-motion bending and stretching exercises in a cold drizzle behind a police barricade where they hung a banner saying "Help Stop State Terrorism in China." \nNearby, a dozen environmentalists, outnumbered by reporters and camera crews, chanted, "WEF, you are the weakest link -- goodbye!" \nPolice officers wearing olive green military helmets and flak jackets looked on. A few officers toted black submachine guns. \nAuthorities hoped to avoid a repeat of last year's World Economic Forum at its traditional site in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. Protesters there smashed windows, burned cars and clashed with police.
(01/28/02 5:16am)
JERUSALEM -- For the first time, a Palestinian woman launched a bomb attack Sunday, killing herself and an 81-year-old Israeli man and wounding at least a dozen people on a busy Jerusalem street. \nIsraeli police said they were not sure if the woman intended to kill herself or if the bomb exploded prematurely as she walked along Jaffa Street, the main commercial strip in west Jerusalem. \nIn Lebanon, the Al-Manar television station run by the militant Hezbollah movement said the bomber was Shinaz Amuri, a female student at Al-Najah University in the West Bank town of Nablus. \nIsrael accused Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of "encouraging terrorism" and said it was prepared to respond to the bombing -- the third major attack in an Israeli city in a week. \nVice President Dick Cheney said Arafat must "make a 100 percent good-faith effort to put an end to terrorism." \nThe blast next to a shoe shop blew out shop windows, set a store on fire and left victims sprawled on the pavement amid shards of glass, pieces of fruit, shoes and storefront mannequins. \n"It sounded like half the street exploded," said Hama Gidon, a clothing store worker who was slightly injured. "All the mannequins went flying and I did too. People were falling, glass was flying everywhere." \nMore than 100 people were treated on the spot or taken to hospitals, though most suffered only from shock. Three people were seriously hurt and nine had moderate injuries, officials said. \nMark Sokolov, a U.S. citizen from Woodmere, N.Y., who survived the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, was slightly hurt in Sunday's explosion along with his wife and two daughters. \n"I heard a loud whoosh, like a bang, and I kind of saw things flying around a little bit, and then I realized I was able to get up and walk around," Sokolov told Israeli television. \nSokolov said he was on the 38th floor of the World Trade Center's south tower on Sept. 11 when a hijacked airliner hit the north tower. His office was evacuated and he escaped before the south tower was hit. \nNo group immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack, but Israel said it held Arafat ultimately responsible. \nArafat is "encouraging terrorism, he's sending (attackers) to Jerusalem," said Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "We will continue to systematically dismantle the terrorist infrastructure." \nThe Palestinian leadership, meanwhile, "strongly condemned the suicide attack" and called on President Bush to send Mideast envoy Anthony Zinni back to the region. However, Bush has been sharply critical of Arafat, and Cheney suggested on "Fox News Sunday" that Zinni will not return soon.
(01/11/02 4:15am)
I had a ritual. Whenever I drove home, as I approached Manhattan I'd watch for the skyline to appear. Then I'd hit play on the CD player. I always arrived home to Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind," my spirits lifting as first the World Trade Center tower and then the Empire State building loomed large.\nI loved the Manhattan skyline. It was a symbol of home and family to me. This is especially odd, as I'm from Eastern Long Island, and most Long Islanders loathe "The City." Not me, though. Even when I abandoned driving in favor of flying home, I'd watch for the skyline from my plane window. \nTherefore, while I was home for Christmas, I really wanted to visit Ground Zero. Although I'd seen pictures, I couldn't comprehend my beloved skyline without the Twin Towers. I had some misgivings, however. Even as my brother and I rode the train into Manhattan, I wondered if by making this trip I was becoming the equivalent of a person who slows down to gawk at car accidents. Was it insensitive to want to see a place where so many died? \nAlthough I wasn't sure what to expect at Ground Zero, I was completely unprepared for what I encountered. Thousands of people waited in a line that stretched almost five blocks. Unknowingly, we had chosen the morning the public viewing platform opened. The two-hour wait was surreal. It was the quietest line I've ever stood in. After an hour in the frigid cold, my hands and feet were completely numb, but when a crew of firemen, obviously fresh from the rubble, walked by, I joined with the rest of the crowd in ripping off my gloves and applauding. \nNear the end, the line passed in front of St. Mark's Church. Literally next door to Ground Zero, twisted shards of metal still festooned the trees behind it. The fence that encircles the church has become a shrine, smothered in posters, pictures and banners. The fliers bearing photos of the missing are faded now, most covered by thank-you messages to the relief workers and memorials to the dead. One I remember vividly read, "Dear Mark, Happy 24th birthday in Heaven." It was at this point that I fought tears for the first time.\nWithin minutes we were on the platform overlooking Ground Zero. Although the surrounding buildings were a bit tattered, to my surprise, it was more like viewing an enormous construction site than a disaster scene. There is only a small pile of debris left. The recovery effort has moved below ground. \nLeaving the platform, we again passed the memorial area. I noticed a teenaged girl in front of one of the "missing" fliers. As I watched, she reached out with one hand and touched the picture on the flier. With her other hand she covered her mouth and began to sob. It was then, after the fact, that I finally cried. I saw the real devastation in front of St. Mark's, not overlooking the ruins. \nIn retrospect, I'm glad I swallowed my qualms and braved the cold to see Ground Zero. Not long after Sept. 11, I read something by a New York writer who described "a hole in the skyline as big as the hole in our hearts." I went to pay my respects to the hole in the skyline and I left with a hole in my heart.
(11/15/01 5:00am)
Jennifer Smith is a psychology major. She's thinking about graduate school, but she's not quite sure. She's between 5'7" and 5'8" and has brown hair. Her parents live in a small town in Indiana. \nThat's where the similarities between Jennifer Diane Smith and Jennifer Lorraine Smith end. \nJennifer Diane Smith -- Friday night\nAni DiFranco provides a little "get-happy" music as Jennifer Smith drives her Kia Rio to Steak 'n Shake, where she's about to clock in for her eight-hour graveyard shift. She listens to "Virtue" and "Jukebox" before she drives from Collins Living-Learning Center to the College Avenue restaurant. \nJennifer, whose nametag says 'Jeni,' started working at Steak 'n Shake in September. \n"I was kinda nervous about it," she says. "I tend to not have people skills." \nShe works about 30 hours a week, usually nights. Jeni, a sophomore, catches naps between class and considers staying awake through a lecture an accomplishment. \nTonight is slow, and the first table's customers walk out without leaving a tip. \nBut she likes her job -- the night crew is laid back and the corporate guidelines don't infringe on her individuality. She refuses to let them.\n"I'm not wearing a hair net," she says. \nAnd you won't find a tuna salad "propaganda" button on her apron, either. \n"You're not supposed to have face piercings, I'm not sure if my tongue ring counts," she says.\nShe likes her coworkers, too. There's Nick, her manager, "he's got the most gorgeous blue eyes." \nAnd Mike, who goes with her to Bullwinkle's when they have a night off. The sexual innuendo between them is a running joke. The hugs are real, but the lusty looks and dirty jokes are just for fun. He's gay, and she is, too. \nJust after midnight, the swimming shapes of people emerge past the glass block entrance. A couple searches for prime seating. For Jeni, a slight tension arises every time people walk in the door and scan for seats. More people in her section means pockets full of tips, fewer means uninterrupted smoking breaks. Tonight, Jeni prefers the latter. \n"Think hard before you choose my section," Jeni grumbles under her breath. They retreat to a corner booth beyond her territory. \nEven if she dozes through the occasional psychology class, the restaurant is a bit of a living lab. She notices patterns from people. Whenever a troop of drunken people files in from the bars, there's always one sober person. That person offers exasperated shrugs and motherly head shakes while Jeni reasons with the hopelessly tanked friends. No worries. "Happy drunks leave good tips," she says. \nShe consistently gets the best tips from a group of women that she suspects work at Night Moves.\nIt's 12:50 a.m. The employee working the driveway window spins around to music that barely wafts to the dining room over the hiss of the grill. \n2:40 a.m. Jeni pours coffee refills for two men with big mustaches. \n2:55 a.m. "Where are all the drunk people?" Jeni says. "The bars are closing." \nAs if on cue, a group of four college-aged customers walk in. \n3:02 a.m. The grill is silent now and Steve Perry wails "Don't stop beleeeeiving" on the radio. Jeni looks expectantly at a girl who tilts her cell phone for an instant to order a glass of water. \nIt was a slow night. Amazingly so. Jeni made $16, a major cut from her $100 the previous Saturday. \n7:15 a.m. As the sun rose over Collins, she headed to bed, with about $11 and a stomach full of McDonald's breakfast. \nJennifer Lorraine Smith -- Saturday night\nThe Plum Delish nail polish is dry. Black eye liner, carefully smudged by friend Kaari Andrews, is still vivid. A spritz of Romance by Ralph Lauren, hair flipped up and sprayed.\nJennifer Smith closes her door with a resounding thud that echoes in the hallway of McNutt Bryan. Behind the door in the dark room is a picture on the corkboard. She's smiling in her prom dress and he's grinning broadly. "I wanted to go to prom with him," she says. \nHe is Scott Ulery, an IU-Southeast freshman. They had been best friends and dated for about two months until July. They hadn't talked since, until Wednesday night, when he called and invited her to a party. Tonight. \nJenn, her roommate Stacy Griffith and her friend Kaari -- all freshmen -- walk across the parking lot of the Varsity Villas. An officer looks up from his undercover cruiser at Jenn in her black pants, red tank top and tall shoes. She's 18. \nThe pre-party ritual is just as vital as the getting-ready ritual, but more surreal as the flash bulbs of cameras capture smiling moments between friends. Rap and rock compete in the air between Villa balconies. \n10:30 p.m. Jenn's cell phone rings. "It's 15 guys and no keg," she reports to her friends. "This party could be a dud, just a hang-out situation."\nFor the time being, "Blind Date" is more interesting than the party. \n"I've seen a couple (shows) where they had sex at the end," Jenn comments. No one replies. \nThat wouldn't happen in Canada, as Jenn remembers it. She lived there until she was 16. \n"It's much more moral there," she says. \n12:15 a.m. Cars radiate out from the driveway of a house on a dead end street: the party location. The door opens to an invisible wall of spilled beer and stale smoke stench.\nScott and Jenn look at each other. Neither says hi to the other. IU football, grades and Jenn's Canadian accent all pass for conversation in a dark hallway. A half-hour into the party Jenn and Scott are talking like old friends again. \n"I saw you on Instant Messenger but you just ignored me," she says to him during a smoking break in the basement. He looks at her and shrugs. She looks away. \n2:15 a.m. Scott is out of cigarettes, and Jenn is fine to drive his truck. When they get back from the Shell station neither wants to get out of the truck. It was past time for a talk. \n"He said he's really missed me as a friend, and even as a girlfriend he'll always have a place in his heart for me," she says. \nJenn is on the other line with her boyfriend Kyle as she recounts the late-night conversation on Sunday. "I was so happy, having the tension between us was awful," she says. \nIt had been a long night, and she only got to sleep two hours before waking for her 7 a.m. shift at Mr. D's. \n"I woke up and felt like I had slept 10 hours," she says.
(11/15/01 4:29am)
Jennifer Smith is a psychology major. She's thinking about graduate school, but she's not quite sure. She's between 5'7" and 5'8" and has brown hair. Her parents live in a small town in Indiana. \nThat's where the similarities between Jennifer Diane Smith and Jennifer Lorraine Smith end. \nJennifer Diane Smith -- Friday night\nAni DiFranco provides a little "get-happy" music as Jennifer Smith drives her Kia Rio to Steak 'n Shake, where she's about to clock in for her eight-hour graveyard shift. She listens to "Virtue" and "Jukebox" before she drives from Collins Living-Learning Center to the College Avenue restaurant. \nJennifer, whose nametag says 'Jeni,' started working at Steak 'n Shake in September. \n"I was kinda nervous about it," she says. "I tend to not have people skills." \nShe works about 30 hours a week, usually nights. Jeni, a sophomore, catches naps between class and considers staying awake through a lecture an accomplishment. \nTonight is slow, and the first table's customers walk out without leaving a tip. \nBut she likes her job -- the night crew is laid back and the corporate guidelines don't infringe on her individuality. She refuses to let them.\n"I'm not wearing a hair net," she says. \nAnd you won't find a tuna salad "propaganda" button on her apron, either. \n"You're not supposed to have face piercings, I'm not sure if my tongue ring counts," she says.\nShe likes her coworkers, too. There's Nick, her manager, "he's got the most gorgeous blue eyes." \nAnd Mike, who goes with her to Bullwinkle's when they have a night off. The sexual innuendo between them is a running joke. The hugs are real, but the lusty looks and dirty jokes are just for fun. He's gay, and she is, too. \nJust after midnight, the swimming shapes of people emerge past the glass block entrance. A couple searches for prime seating. For Jeni, a slight tension arises every time people walk in the door and scan for seats. More people in her section means pockets full of tips, fewer means uninterrupted smoking breaks. Tonight, Jeni prefers the latter. \n"Think hard before you choose my section," Jeni grumbles under her breath. They retreat to a corner booth beyond her territory. \nEven if she dozes through the occasional psychology class, the restaurant is a bit of a living lab. She notices patterns from people. Whenever a troop of drunken people files in from the bars, there's always one sober person. That person offers exasperated shrugs and motherly head shakes while Jeni reasons with the hopelessly tanked friends. No worries. "Happy drunks leave good tips," she says. \nShe consistently gets the best tips from a group of women that she suspects work at Night Moves.\nIt's 12:50 a.m. The employee working the driveway window spins around to music that barely wafts to the dining room over the hiss of the grill. \n2:40 a.m. Jeni pours coffee refills for two men with big mustaches. \n2:55 a.m. "Where are all the drunk people?" Jeni says. "The bars are closing." \nAs if on cue, a group of four college-aged customers walk in. \n3:02 a.m. The grill is silent now and Steve Perry wails "Don't stop beleeeeiving" on the radio. Jeni looks expectantly at a girl who tilts her cell phone for an instant to order a glass of water. \nIt was a slow night. Amazingly so. Jeni made $16, a major cut from her $100 the previous Saturday. \n7:15 a.m. As the sun rose over Collins, she headed to bed, with about $11 and a stomach full of McDonald's breakfast. \nJennifer Lorraine Smith -- Saturday night\nThe Plum Delish nail polish is dry. Black eye liner, carefully smudged by friend Kaari Andrews, is still vivid. A spritz of Romance by Ralph Lauren, hair flipped up and sprayed.\nJennifer Smith closes her door with a resounding thud that echoes in the hallway of McNutt Bryan. Behind the door in the dark room is a picture on the corkboard. She's smiling in her prom dress and he's grinning broadly. "I wanted to go to prom with him," she says. \nHe is Scott Ulery, an IU-Southeast freshman. They had been best friends and dated for about two months until July. They hadn't talked since, until Wednesday night, when he called and invited her to a party. Tonight. \nJenn, her roommate Stacy Griffith and her friend Kaari -- all freshmen -- walk across the parking lot of the Varsity Villas. An officer looks up from his undercover cruiser at Jenn in her black pants, red tank top and tall shoes. She's 18. \nThe pre-party ritual is just as vital as the getting-ready ritual, but more surreal as the flash bulbs of cameras capture smiling moments between friends. Rap and rock compete in the air between Villa balconies. \n10:30 p.m. Jenn's cell phone rings. "It's 15 guys and no keg," she reports to her friends. "This party could be a dud, just a hang-out situation."\nFor the time being, "Blind Date" is more interesting than the party. \n"I've seen a couple (shows) where they had sex at the end," Jenn comments. No one replies. \nThat wouldn't happen in Canada, as Jenn remembers it. She lived there until she was 16. \n"It's much more moral there," she says. \n12:15 a.m. Cars radiate out from the driveway of a house on a dead end street: the party location. The door opens to an invisible wall of spilled beer and stale smoke stench.\nScott and Jenn look at each other. Neither says hi to the other. IU football, grades and Jenn's Canadian accent all pass for conversation in a dark hallway. A half-hour into the party Jenn and Scott are talking like old friends again. \n"I saw you on Instant Messenger but you just ignored me," she says to him during a smoking break in the basement. He looks at her and shrugs. She looks away. \n2:15 a.m. Scott is out of cigarettes, and Jenn is fine to drive his truck. When they get back from the Shell station neither wants to get out of the truck. It was past time for a talk. \n"He said he's really missed me as a friend, and even as a girlfriend he'll always have a place in his heart for me," she says. \nJenn is on the other line with her boyfriend Kyle as she recounts the late-night conversation on Sunday. "I was so happy, having the tension between us was awful," she says. \nIt had been a long night, and she only got to sleep two hours before waking for her 7 a.m. shift at Mr. D's. \n"I woke up and felt like I had slept 10 hours," she says.
(11/14/01 4:21am)
KABUL, Afghanistan -- It was a day when the grisly and the joyous came together in the Afghan capital. Men exultantly shaved off their beards for the first time in years. They played music in public. A man impishly but unsuccessfully encouraged women on a bus to uncover their faces. \nIn a forested park of Kabul, a different story unfolded Tuesday. There, five men who had come to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban lay dead, their bodies riddled with bullets from a final gun battle. \nThe five, identified as Pakistanis, were among the foreign Muslim fighters, Arabs, Chechens and others, who are now targets for reprisal by Afghans who associate them with five years of oppressive Taliban rule. \nThere was unease too, that with the sudden, sweeping advances of the northern alliance, Afghanistan might slide back into the factional fighting that characterized the alliance's 1992-1996 rule over the country. \n"Today we are celebrating, but we worry that tomorrow they will start fighting again. We pray that won't happen," said Ahmed Rashef, who sat in a barber's chair for the first time in five years. \n"I hated this beard," he said. Being shaved "is like being free." \nThe barber, Zul Gai, smiled broadly. \n"This has been my best business day in many long years," he said. But he wasn't shaving off his bushy black beard just yet. \n"It's still too early," Gai said. "We will wait and see." \nThe Red Cross said the bodies of five Pakistanis and six Arab nationals were collected from different parts of the city. \nThe Pakistanis had climbed into trees and were firing randomly when northern alliance troops killed them in a hail of bullets, and went on firing into their corpses, witnesses said. \nThen the northern alliance men stuffed Afghani bank notes up the nose of one and into the gaping head wound of another, an Afghan way of implying an enemy is corrupt. Their bodies were taken away by the Red Cross.\nFour Arabs died when their pickup truck was blasted by a U.S.-made rocket. Their charred bodies were dragged from their vehicle by people who kicked and poked at them. \nTwo other Arabs were killed outside a military base near the United Nations guesthouse. Their bodies were covered with blankets and old clothes and thrown into the street. \nThrough Soviet occupation in the 1980s, the civil wars of the 1990s, the age of the Taliban and the U.S. bombings of the past month, Kabul has endured great suffering. The foreign fighters, many of them allied with Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, are particularly acute symbols of the Taliban and its militant brand of Islam. \nThat doctrine banned music, forced men to grow their beards to a prescribed length, empowered street enforcers to whip them into mosques to pray. Women were barred from work or school, and had to cover themselves from head to toe in tent-like robes called burqas. \nThe Taliban's alleged alliance with terrorism made Afghanistan an international pariah, and led to the U.S. bombing to force the surrender of bin Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States that killed thousands. \nSo the end of Taliban rule was described by many in Kabul as tantamount to being freed from prison, and Tuesday became a day of small but telling declarations of independence. \nSeveral people took their audiocassette recorders out of hiding and openly played music for the first time in five years. \nAbdul Rehman unwrapped his cassette recorder and let the voice of Ahmed Zaher, his favorite singer, blare in the street. \n"I used to play this at home, but very quietly, and then I would check to see if anyone was outside," he said. \nAn old man, his gray beard trimmed shorter than previously allowed, danced in the street holding a tape recorder that played music. Others renewed acquaintance with their freshly shaved faces. \n"Look, this feels so good!" said Ahmed Shah, rubbing his face. "I hated the beard. It was always itchy." \nThe women seemed cautious about dumping the Taliban rules. The burqa was commonplace attire in deeply conservative Afghanistan long before the Taliban made it mandatory, and on Tuesday most women kept theirs on despite the disappearance of the Taliban enforcers. \nIn a rickety old bus, a woman flipped her burqa up over her head. Male onlookers laughed. She quickly flipped it back. \nOne young northern alliance soldier gestured to the other women on the bus to take their burqas off, but got no response. Some looked away, or closed the window curtains. \n"For now we will leave the burqa on. We don't know yet who are these people in the city," said Mariam Jan, one of six women traveling to a wedding. Her husband, Mohammed Wazir, said: "It is our tradition. We are not sure that it will stop." \nHouses occupied by Taliban leaders in the once posh neighborhood of Wazir Akbar Khan were abandoned. The large steel doors of the home of former Health Minister Mullah Abbas Akhund were wide open. \nHomes were also abandoned on the so-called "street of guests," a reference to the Taliban's foreign volunteers. \nIn the money market in the old city, businessmen said departing Taliban soldiers emptied the stores of goods and money. One money-changer, who gave his name as Dr. Wali, said Taliban soldiers on tanks stopped in front of the shops, demanded the money and then drove out of the city.
(11/09/01 3:57am)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- In a diplomatic crackdown on the Taliban, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Thursday it ordered the fundamentalist militia to close its consulate in the port city of Karachi. \nTaliban diplomats also were told not to take part in nationwide protests by hard-line Islamic groups scheduled for Friday in Karachi, a center of Islamic fundamentalist activity, and protest organizers were warned against inciting violence. \nDespite the moves, Pakistani president Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Thursday that his military government had "no intention" of breaking diplomatic relations with the Taliban regime. \nPakistan is the only country to maintain diplomatic relations with the Taliban. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates severed their ties after the Sept. 11 attacks. \nThe ties with the Taliban provide "a useful diplomatic window," Musharraf said in Paris, where he met with French President Jacques Chirac to discuss the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism. \nThe Taliban embassy in Islamabad and consulates in Quetta and Peshawar remain open, said Aziz Ahmad Khan, a Foreign Ministry spokesman. Musharraf said there was little need for a Taliban consulate in the southeastern city of Karachi. \n"Having a Taliban consulate in Karachi is purposeless and it was having some negatives," Musharraf said. He noted that the Taliban consulate in Peshawar, near the border with Afghanistan, was useful because of Afghan refugees in the area. \nTaliban Ambassador Abdul Salam Zaeef told The Associated Press that the Pakistanis ordered operations ceased at the consulate by the end of the week. \nZaeef was also told to stop his regular news conferences, which he has used to condemn the United States and its coalition partners for the bombing campaign in Afghanistan. Broadcast live by CNN, the news conferences had made Zaeef the most visible Taliban spokesman. \nPakistan supports the U.S. campaign, launched Oct. 7 after the ruling Taliban refused to hand over terror suspect Osama bin Laden, wanted in connection with the September attacks. \nPakistan made the moves ahead of a nationwide strike called by the Afghan Defense Council, an alliance of 35 Islamic groups, to protest the government's support of the bombing campaign in Afghanistan. \nOfficials said the government has told Zaeef to make sure Afghan diplomatic staff in Pakistan do not take part in the rallies. Scores of Islamic activists and leaders also have been put under house arrest or travel restrictions. \nHaider warned hard-line Islamic groups Thursday against inciting violence. "We can't tolerate sedition. We can't encourage anarchy," he said. \nThe government also plans to stop funding and to monitor madrassas, or religious schools, that promote violence and extremism, Haider told The Associated Press. \nIn recent months, madrassa students in Karachi have rioted several times to protest support of the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan.
(11/08/01 5:00am)
Everybody who pays any attention to the media or American pop culture at all knows that there is a lot out there that deserves to be made fun of. Sure, I still respect some of the artists, but many of them take themselves too seriously. \nAs a result, I have developed this quiz to test your knowledge on American pop culture. Such knowledge may help you bond with future employers, get respect from the opposite sex or at least remind you of some catchy tunes to sing in the shower. I tried to throw in a few fun facts as well.\nDisclaimer: Seth thought this was funny when he wrote it. None of the questions or answers are meant to offend anyone. Please don't send any more hate mail from the MC Hammer fan club. \nWarning: some of these questions require the recollection of the early 1980s and '90s, while others require imagination.
(11/08/01 5:00am)
Everybody who pays any attention to the media or American pop culture at all knows that there is a lot out there that deserves to be made fun of. Sure, I still respect some of the artists, but many of them take themselves too seriously. \nAs a result, I have developed this quiz to test your knowledge on American pop culture. Such knowledge may help you bond with future employers, get respect from the opposite sex or at least remind you of some catchy tunes to sing in the shower. I tried to throw in a few fun facts as well.\nDisclaimer: Seth thought this was funny when he wrote it. None of the questions or answers are meant to offend anyone. Please don't send any more hate mail from the MC Hammer fan club. \nWarning: some of these questions require the recollection of the early 1980s and '90s, while others require imagination.
