239 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(04/30/03 2:28pm)
Golfer Jason Nawrot, a Bloomington resident, eyes his target as he begins to tee off. He pulls his arms back, twists his hips and releases across the course. But there is no nine iron in his hand, or any sort of golf club. Nawrot is one of thousands of Americans who choose to play golf with a frisbee instead of a ball.\nResidents from as close as Bloomington and as far as South Bend, Ind., came April 25 to Karst Farm Park to compete in the 2003 Limestone Open in order to play a sport they love, known as disc golf, frisbee golf or just "frolf."\nIt's a sport many people have never heard of, but it is gaining national popularity. From its humble beginnings in the 1970s, the sport has exploded nationally. According to The Professional Disc Golf Association's Web site, the first disc golf course was established in Pasadena, Calif., in 1975. Now there are over 1,200 courses nationally, with an average of 100 courses built every year. Bloomington boasts two places to play this golf alternative, at Karst Farm Park and Crestmont Park.\nBloomington resident Chris Golden, organizer for the Bloomington Disc Golf Club, says disc golf is a less expensive alternative to actual golf, because the rules are fairly similar. The primary difference being, in place of a ball, players use plastic discs and try to throw them into chain baskets. \nGolden says the game's simple rules make disc golf such an easy sport to play.\n"The great thing about disc golf is that anybody can play it," says Tony Hoel, a Kokomo resident. "It doesn't really take a lot of skill. You don't need to be athletic. It's a sport for everyone." \nAge is not an issue either. Bloomington resident Nelson Cano said he has seen players range from eight years in age to older than 70.\nOne such young competitor is 13-year-old Brenton Barrow, a seventh grader at Bachelor Middle School in Bloomington. He says he became involved in disc golf after a summer camp introduced him to the sport.\n"I like playing around all of the pros who really teach you how to play well," Barrow says.\nIn order to get started with disc golf, Golden says players can just use an old frisbee they have lying around the house, but the serious players invest more time and money into the sport.\nInstead of using a frisbee, competitors use plastic discs that are much thinner and smaller than a regular frisbee. There are different discs for different throws. For the tee-offs there are lighter, thinner "drivers" which will go farther, and for putting there are thicker "putters" that float better for easier aim over short distances.\n"Everybody has their own technique in choosing what disc to throw," says Scott Hommema, an Indianapolis resident. "For example, (Indianapolis resident) Jim (Trueblood) here, he just throws the same disc different strengths in order to get it in the basket."\nIt is this combination of simplicity and skill which encouraged Golden to join the Bloomington Disc Golf Club, which was started three years ago by Mark Moore. Bloomington residents Moore, Golden and James Stogdill were the only real members in the beginning. By the end of their first year they had 15 members and currently they have 69. Each participant pays only $10 for the entire year and is given unlimited access to league play.\nWith golfers from all parts of Indiana traveling to Bloomington to participate in the BDGC, Golden says Bloomington is a great place to play disc golf. In addition to having two parks at which to play, each park has 18 baskets (most parks only have nine). \nFor those that want to feel like a real professional, Indian Springs Disc Golf Course in Trafalgar, Ind., lets disc golfers play at a regular golf course.\n"If you haven't played disc golf at a real golf course, you should," Golden says. "It's disc golf in a whole new light."\nOptions are also open for anyone to set up a personal disc golf course. Disc golf target baskets range from $100-$300. Profes-sional courses range from 150 to 400 feet for each hole and require 18 to 30 acres for the entire course, but for casual backyard competitions, any size will do, Golden says.\nAccording to the PDGA, a well-designed course will have ample space, variety in terrain, and obstacles such as trees to keep the game interesting.\nPeople play disc golf for a variety of reasons. Cano says he started because he enjoyed being outside. Hoel says he likes the fact that it is free to play at most courses, unlike regular golf. \n"I started playing disc golf because it is a sport that not many other people play," says Mike Green, a junior.\nStill, others see disc golf as more than just a sport, but a way of bringing people together.\n"I just enjoy the people and the atmosphere," Hoel says. "Disc golfers are real nice people and it's nice to spend time doing something we have in common."\nFor more information on Disc Golf log on to the Bloomington Disc Golf Club at www.bdgc.org or the Profession Disc Golf Association at www.pdga.org.
(04/29/03 5:41am)
Depositions by former IU men's basketball coach Bob Knight obtained in a court victory by Indianapolis news station WTHR (and published later by their newspartner the Indianapolis Star) have shed light on the personalities of both the former coach and his son, Pat.\nIn the depositions, taken Aug. 27, 2002, in Lubbock, Texas, Knight and his son touch on the firing and bumping by Knight of IU assistant coach Ron Felling, the alleged choking of former IU player Neil Reed, Knight's departure from IU and his cameo role in the Adam Sandler movie "Anger Management."\nFelling's lawyer William C. Potter II questioned both Knight and his son individually, with attorney Russell Yates present at both questionings. Both Knights were under oath on the videotape. \nKnight said he fired Felling after overhearing Felling and former IU assistant basketball coach Dan Dakich make "hurtful" comments in a telephone conversation, indystar.com reported.\nOn Dec. 1, 1999, Knight said he was watching a game tape when he accidentally bumped his telephone and overheard Dakich and Felling talking about him.\n"And the first thing I heard was Dakich saying, 'Are you doing anything different in practice?'" Knight said during the deposition. "And Felling said, 'No, we're doing the same old shit, four corners and all that shit that doesn't do any good at all. But (Knight) won't listen to anybody. And those guys that are with him don't know a thing about coaching.\n"And then, 'You should have seen the fat fucker come into the locker room with no shirt on and try to show somebody post defense. You know, it just got ridiculous. I don't know what the hell's the matter with him.'"\nAfter listening for a while, Knight jumped into the conversation.\n"I said, 'Dakich, don't bother calling me again about help,'" Knight said. "And I said, 'And Felling, it would be a good idea for you to start looking for another job.'"\nKnight said he approached Felling later that day, telling him, "I'd like to know how you can take money from a guy and then bad mouth the hell out of him just like you've been bad mouthing me, not just here, but for sometime now? How the hell can you do that?"\nKnight said he wasn't so much angry at the situation, as he was hurt.\n"You know, I was really hurt that here's a guy that no one but me ever offered a job to, for a variety of reasons, and yet here we are at a point where I think I have really taken care of this guy … I felt sorry for Felling that he doesn't understand that somebody's been pretty good to him here for a long period of time," Knight said.\nKnight admitted he bumped into Felling but said it was not with much force.\nPat Knight, former IU assistant coach and now an assistant coach at Texas Tech, said he thinks the entire lawsuit is ridiculous.\n"It is a fucking joke," Pat said. "You guys are coming at my family and my father for -- I mean, Ron Felling got fired because he just didn't do his job. And this whole thing is just something to go after my father for no reason."\nPat said his father was justified in bumping Felling.\n"(I would have) literally beat the shit out of him," Pat said in the deposition. "It would have been confrontational, and we wouldn't be having all this crap."\nPotter also asked Knight about his other incidents of anger, including the alleged choking of former IU player Neil Reed.\n"I obviously touched Neil Reed on the chest," Knight said. "It was said that I choked him with both hands, that an assistant coach had to pull me off Neil Reed. The tape immediately shows that neither of those two things happened."\nPotter asked Knight if he had any sort of anger problem, which Knight denied.\nPotter then asked Knight why he appeared in the recent Adam Sandler film, "Anger Management," if he had no anger problem.\n"I thought it was a great parody of everything that has been done relative to my temperament over the year, and I thought the -- I think the movie will be pretty funny," he said.\nIU spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said the release of depositions are not a concern to IU.\n"The University was not a party to the litigation in which the depositions were taken," she said. "The transcripts of those depositions were made available by the court some months ago. The court has simply provided video copies of the deposition, so there is no new information." \nShe said the University is involved in litigation with Felling.\nFelling settled his suit with Knight out of court. He now lives in Hot Springs, Ark., and is working at summer basketball camps. \nKnight's attorney, Russell Yates, could not be reached for comment at press time.
(04/29/03 5:41am)
With more than 4,800 suspected cases and 293 deaths worldwide caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, universities across the country are taking precautions to protect their students. A biology professor at Brown University and two students at U.S. universities are showing symptoms of SARS, and officials at IU's health center are telling IU students they have no need to worry.\nHugh Jessop, representative for the IU Health Center, said a few students have come in claiming to be infected with SARS, but no cases turned out to be positive. \nIn case of an outbreak, Jessop said students would be quarantined in the health center's negative pressure room, purchased in 1996 as a result of several tuberculosis infections, which uses a special filtering system to make sure communicable disease will not spread.\nAccording to reports published by the Chronicle of Higher Education, several universities across the country have experienced suspected SARS cases:\nAt Brown University, a female professor, which Brown declined to identify, was quarantined at her house last week after she developed signs of SARS following a trip to Toronto. \nHealth officials at Brown are mandating the ten students and faculty members who were in close contact with the professor monitor their health by taking their temperature twice a day and reporting the results to the health center. The possibly infected students and faculty were told if they did not develop symptoms by May 1, the last day of the theorized 10-day incubation period for SARS, then they should be fine.\nBoth Syracuse University and Seton Hall University have also experienced possible SARS infections in students.\nAt Seton Hall, a female student showed symptoms of a fever and upper respiratory infection in early April. Her father, who was later diagnosed with SARS, visited her in her residence hall room shortly before that, which led university officials to suspect the viral infection.\nOfficials at Seton Hall reported the student no longer shows such symptoms, and laboratory tests confirming whether or not she had SARS are expected soon.\nAt Syracuse, a 19-year-old male student reported suffering respiratory symptoms after returning from a weekend trip to Toronto with his fraternity, but no other members who traveled with him have reported experiencing any symptoms.\nWith such recent SARS suspicions on U.S. campuses, fears run high. According to the Associated Press, 43 percent of Americans are now worried about the disease -- up one third from the week before, as revealed in a new Gallup poll.\nStill, Jessop said there is not much to fear.\n"We have 36,000 die of the flu every year," he said. "But we get wound up because of SARS, when nobody in the U.S. has died from it."\nJessop said part of the reason why so many Americans are concerned with SARS is that the media has been giving so much coverage to SARS recently.\nIn order to calm students' fears, the health center has tried to educate students about the measures taken to prepare IU for possible infections.\nIUB Chancellor Sharon Brehm sent an e-mail to all Bloomington students to inform students about where to find updates online about SARS at www.indiana.edu/~health/sars.html.\nBrehm also formed a committee of IU medical experts to make policy decisions regarding SARS.\n"The University committee convened for this purpose will continue tracking developments related to SARS, develop strategies for SARS-related public health management at the University, and share information with the University community," said IU health center medical director Robert Hongen in a statement.\nOn April 2, the IU Office of Overseas Studies, along with the Kelley School of Business, recommended that IUB students currently in Hong Kong and China return home to the United States. At IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, the School of Law, the Herron School of Art and the Kelley School of Business decided to cancel their summer programs in China.\nAlthough SARS might not be a threat at IU, some see it as a threat to international relations.\nPolitical Science professor William R. Thompson said the spread of the disease will only further the gap between the United States and developing nations.\n"There always have been more communicable diseases spread in developing countries as opposed to other places," he said. "This, of course, affects trade and development."\nStill, Jessop said there is no reason for IU students to panic.\n"None of these cases at college campuses have been confirmed," he said. "Just because someone shows the symptoms does not mean they have the disease"
(04/28/03 5:28am)
Ever since the riots at the Varsity Villas apartment complex in 1988, Little 500 has gained a reputation for not just being "The World's Greatest College Weekend," but also the busiest for the IU Police Department. With many out-of-town visitors traveling to Bloomington for the event, IUPD increased its forces for the weekend, eliminating all days off and putting two officers in each of the six cars, instead of the usual one per car. With all of IUPD's preparations for the weekend, the IDS sent a reporter and photographer to document the action. \nSunday 12:08 a.m. -- 10th Street and Jordan Avenue\nOfficers James L. Snyder and Andy Stephenson begin their shift by answering a call of an accident in front of Wright Quadrangle. A red Trans Am with a headlight popped out rear-ended a red Dodge, which in turn hit a white van. \nThe victims wished to handle it themselves without filing an accident report.\nSnyder said Little 500 weekend is usually full of car accidents, because of the influx of out-of-towners flooding the roadways.\n12:12 a.m. -- Kirkwood and Indiana Avenues\nSnyder and Stephenson pull over a silver Pathfinder after the car goes the wrong way down Indiana Avenue. Stephenson steps out and asks the girl if she has been drinking, and she said she has not. She is released.\n"Obviously a lot of people are here from out of town," Snyder said. "They're dangerous drivers, I tell you."\n12:19 a.m. -- Dunn Street\nA bunch of students celebrating on their porch yell at the police car as it drives down Dunn Street. One couple makes out while leaning against the house and others raise their plastic cups, giving each other high fives. Police slow down but move along.\nStephenson said he lets incidents such as those slide, even though they know there is probably underage drinking occurring.\n"You have to pick your battles," he said. "With all that's going on this weekend, you can't waste your time on little things when there are more important issues to attend to."\nSnyder explains that on this weekend, the goal is to find people who are "attracting attention."\n"We are looking for people who are endangering themselves or others," he said.\n12:30 a.m. -- 10th and Grant Streets\nWhile driving down 10th Street, Snyder spots a young man losing his balance as he walks. They quickly turn around the car and approach the man. The 25-year-old is asked to walk a straight line. He fails. He is breathalyzed, and the police determine he is intoxicated.\nThe police cuff him. The young man pleads, "At least I wasn't driving."\nAnother car pulls up to take him away.\n1:09 a.m. -- Parkview Apartments\nSnyder and Stephenson see four Indiana State Police cars with lights on and officers approaching a house. They ask the officers what's going on and are told that a party is being busted for underage drinking. Seeing there are enough officers there, they continue driving.\n1:15 a.m. -- Parkview Apartments\nSnyder and Stephenson speak to a Bloomington Police Department officer who tells them there has been a report of young men with necklaces who have been grabbing women as they walk by. Moments later, two officers approach two young men with necklaces about two houses away. One of the young men, wearing a blue jacket, throws a plastic bag he is carrying on the ground and starts running. Snyder and Stephenson burst out of their car, and the young man is grabbed by the arm before he can get away. \nPolice examine the bag and find marijuana. \n"Why did you just run? Did you just throw that dope?" Snyder asks, pointing to the bag.\nThe young man denies ownership of the narcotics, saying he has no idea where it came from.\nAs they search the young man who ran, Officer Snyder then asks the second young man, in a red jacket, to place his hands on the hood of the car. After asking him three times to put his hands on the car, Snyder finally grabs him by the arm and leads him to the car.\n"I can tell my seven-year-old something once and he does it," he said.\nThe man in the red jacket replies that he did not know Snyder was talking to him.\n"I have A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder)," he said. "I don't know what's going on."\nHe is later released as police place handcuffs on the man in the blue jacket. \nThey warn the man in the blue jacket that he has prior drug convictions, which will mean extra trouble. Before they leave, his friend approaches the cops, inquiring if he can ask a question.\n"Can I get the money he owes me before you take him away?" he asks.\nThe cops laugh and proceed in transporting the offender.\nSnyder and Stephenson said the evening was not as difficult as years past. They said they didn't have to deal with much out of the ordinary. \n"It isn't as exciting as you might think," Snyder said. "It's not like the TV shows."\nSnyder said part of this is because of their preventative patrol method of filling the streets with officers. Stephenson said most students get the idea that the IUPD cracks down on crime hard during the Little 500 weekend.\nStill, Snyder said the increased patrol is very necessary.\n"You never know what to expect," he said. "This is one weekend of the year when anything can happen"
(04/25/03 7:52pm)
IU will take its first steps in their master plan of improving campus housing by demolishing parts of Ashton Center and constructing new apartment-like student housing.\nThe IU board of trustees' facilities committee interviewed four architectural firms for the project Thursday at the University Place Conference room at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis and selected one firm to be announced at a later date.\nUniversity Architect Bob Meadows said the trustees will select one of four firms to design the 700 to 900 units to be built, which would be the first construction of student housing in more than 30 years.\nThe firms interviewed are Radio Architects of Indianapolis; the Jacobs Group of St. Louis; Veazey, Parrot, Durkin and Shoulders of Evansville; and Kirkwood Design Studio of Bloomington.\nAfter selecting the firm, a site will be selected and a schematic design will be developed. After initial plans are proposed, a budget will be drawn up and presented to the trustees. The trustees have the ability to approve all parts of the project, including location, budget and architecture. \nThe cost to the University has yet to be determined.\nLarry Isom, director of Facilities Management for Residential Programs and Services, said the first phase of the master plan, which is currently in the works, is renovations to Campus View Apartments, the complex for married couples which is located just north of Eigenmann Hall.\nFacilities committee chair Peter Obremskey said this is part of their 10- to 20-year master plan to give housing on campus a complete make-over.\n"Gone are the days of traditional housing," he said. "Students no longer want to live two to a room with gang showers. Kids want more privacy."\nMeadows said the new housing will be more similar to apartments than to current dormitories. They will not be high-rise buildings, and they will have an off-campus feel. The units will feature two to four private bedrooms, with a shared bathroom, kitchen and living area. \nMeadows said the new housing will respond more to student demands.\n"At home, students have their own rooms and bathrooms, so they want something similar at college," he said. "It's difficult to attract upper-classmen to live on campus without these amenities. They want something more grown-up."\nTrustee and member of the facilities committee Sue Talbot said the new housing will allow students to remain on campus with the benefits of an apartment.\n"I spoke with a lot of students who said they miss the dorms because they said they feel they missed out on a lot of the experience," she said. "This way, they still have the activities and community of living on campus, but they still have all of the benefits."\nThe costs for students could be more than other dorms, Talbot said, but it is still too early in the process to make an estimate.\nAlthough it could cost more, Meadows said the housing is necessary to keep students on campus.\n"If we don't renovate and build new dorms, then only freshmen and sophomores will live there," he said.\nThe board passed a rule in September mandating that all freshmen stay on campus for their first year. Meadows said the new housing will mostly be filled with upperclassmen, who will have preference, similar to acceptance into Willkie Quadrangle. \nMeadows said despite the new housing being constructed, there will probably be the same number of units on campus due to other out-of-date complexes being demolished or renovated to expand room size and quality.\n"Some of the dorms have outlived their lifespan," he said. "That is why we are doing a massive renovation and demolition of some dorms."\nOne of these dorms that is being considered for demolition is Ashton, Meadows said. He said it is likely that some or all of the dorms in the dormitory will be knocked down in the fall because of its age.\nTalbot said it is true that Ashton is one of the post-World War II dorms, but said it is yet to be determined by the trustees whether Ashton will be demolished or simply renovated. \n"If the dorms are not as desirable to students anymore, then we need update and upgrade," Talbot said.\nObremskey said Ashton is one site suggested for the new apartment-like units.
(04/24/03 5:46am)
The presidential search committee has interviewed its candidates for IU's next president and the final nominees have been submitted to the IU board of trustees.\nThe trustees began to discuss the candidates Tuesday, as the search for IU's next president moves into its final stage. \nThe 15-member committee met in executive session for three days last week at the Westin O'Hare Hotel outside Chicago. During the meeting, the committee interviewed candidates that interested it out of the initial pool of over 200 candidates submitted. \nSteve Ferguson, vice president of the board of trustees and presidential search committee chair, said earlier he expected the pool of candidates to be interviewed to range from seven to 15, but Ferguson would not reveal how many candidates were actually interviewed. \nFerguson said the committee spent nearly two hours with each candidate and then spent a half hour to an hour discussing each of them. \nThe interviews consisted of a variety of questions, brainstormed before the interviews, Ferguson said.\n"Each member has their own concerns," he said. "The faculty members ask more about academic affairs, while others ask about administrative."\nIn addition, Ferguson said the interviews were helpful in informing the candidates about IU.\n"It was an opportunity for them to find out more about us," he said. "That helps to narrow down which candidates seriously want the job."\nFerguson said the candidates are a strong pool so far.\n"We have an experienced pool of candidates," he said. "We have a nice balance of gender and minority, which the trustees wanted, so I am very confident about them."\nAfter the interviews, the committee submitted names to Baker-Parker, the search consulting firm assisting in the process. The search firm then contacted the candidates to see if they were still interested.\nNext, the trustees took control of the process, as they met in executive session at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the trustees office at the Indiana Memorial Union. \nFerguson said the trustees were informed of the candidates and provided with all necessary information. The trustees were able to ask any questions and discuss the candidates. \nFerguson said the process is still on schedule and the tentative July 1 deadline to announce a new president will most likely be met.\n"I think the deadline seems very reasonable," president of the board of trustees Fred Eichhorn said. "But we in no way want to rush the process."\nFerguson said the presidential search committee is finished with its duties unless the trustees decide there are not any qualified candidates within the pool and ask the committee to continue to search or provide new candidates. Ferguson said the committee would also consider any candidates that the trustees felt very strongly about, at any point in the process.\nThe trustees will now arrange interviews of their own, but Ferguson said he could not say when they will be. Interview dates will depend on the availability of the trustees and the candidates.\nFollowing interviews, the trustees will discuss candidates and vote on a final president for IU.\nIU spokesperson Bill Stephan said the trustees will not be able to discuss the possible candidates due to confidentiality.\n"We have to keep everything confidential because many of the candidates are currently working at other places," Stephan said.
(04/21/03 5:31am)
As other riders gear up in biker shorts and helmets, P.J McMahon puts on a casual T-shirt and khakis to hit the track at Bill Armstrong Stadium for practice. Due to a broken leg he suffered in late March, McMahon has been advised by his doctor to sit out practices, but because of his commitment to the team, he said he has been at all the practices, cheering his team on.\n"It's frustrating, disappointing," he said. "I try not to worry about it and just help the team out any way I can."\nIt is this spirit of persistence and camaraderie that characterizes the Cutters -- the men's independent team with the most victories in Little 500 history.\nLead by their only previously Little 500 competitor senior Nick Pejeau, not only must face the set-back of injury but of a lack of experience.\nMcMahon and the other two riders, freshman Alex Harrington and senior Jason Smith are all rookies this year,but on the track there is no way you could tell, Pejeau said.\n"They are all pretty tough for rookies," he said. \nStill not everything has been so easy.\n"Being a rookie team is always tough," Harrington said. "It's always kind of an experiment in the beginning, but when you ride all the time since school starts, it works out."\nAssisting them in making the adjustment is two coaches that offer a wealth of experience -- Jim Kirkham and Hall of Fame rider Jay Polsgrove. \n"They showed me a whole new world of biking," Smith said. "I wasn't even riding a bike that fit well, and they fit me to a bike, showed me what to do better. They're great."\nPolsgrove lead the 1988 Cutter team to victory with the help of his sprint at the end. Kirkham was a member of the 1992 team that was the first team to lap the field on the new track in Bill Armstrong Stadium.\nWith the help of their coaches and day-to-day practices, this independent team hopes to build on the long tradition of the Cutters.\nThe six-time winning Cutters are only second in wins to Delta Chi's eight victories. Oddly enough, the Cutters owe their existence to these rivals. \nIn 1983, when the Delta Chi Fraternity kicked the bike team out of the house, Cutters founders Adam Giles and Chris Gutowsky decided to form their own Little 500 team. They borrowed the name from the 1979 Oscar-winning film "Breaking Away," about a group of Bloomington locals (nicknamed "Cutters" because their families work at the local quarry) decide to show up the rival college students by winning the Little 500.\nBecause of the success of the film, many Hoosiers have stereotyped the modern team.\n"People think we are a group of rowdy, townie hippies," Harrington said. "They think we are anti-frat because of the first Cutters, but that's not true at all. We are just here to ride."\nThis year, despite placing 24th in Qualifications, the Cutters are looking to build on the proud tradition of the Cutters.\n"Qualification and time trials are not really an indicator," Smith said. "It's all about race day."\nPart of that tradition is an exceptional past. Although the Cutters have only been around since 1984, they have finished in the top 10, 18 times in the past 19 years. They placed seventh for the past two years and won it all in 2000. Their average finish on race day is 3.68.\nEven with this impressive history, the Cutters are more worried about having fun and experiencing Little 500 more than which place they receive.\n"We just want to have a good time and do the best we can," Pejeau said. \nStill they are taking the race seriously. Despite what they described as a disappointing finish qualification, training new riders and injuries, the Cutters still ride on.\nEmbodying this spirit, McMahon said he plans to ride on race day.\n"I know it will hurt a little, but hopefully I'll be able to ride," he said. "I may not be able to as many laps as the other guys on the team, but I'll give it my all"
(04/17/03 5:17am)
Alvin and the Chipmunks swearing up a storm, snorting cocaine and packing pistols. Jabba the Hutt making moves on sorority girls and Yoda "bustin' a flow."\nIt's safe to say, these are not your ordinary Saturday morning cartoons. \nSenior Jason Brannon and former IU student Chris Crawford have created something with a life of its own. Their animations, "Chipmunkz Gangsta Rap" and "Star Wars Gangsta Rap," are currently the No. 1 and No. 2 most watched cartoons on atomfilms.shockwave.com, a Web site that features short films and animation from around the world.
(04/17/03 4:56am)
As soldiers tore down the 40-foot bronze statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad, cheers erupted from Iraqi citizens, who began to beat the monument with their shoes in celebration of the end of Hussein's tyrannical regime. \nImages of U.S. troops taking over Baghdad last week will likely stand as poignant moments of the current war. But historians question how the history of the entire war will be remembered for years to come.\nJohn Bodnar, history department chair and director of IU's Center for the Study of History and Memory, is working on a research project that analyzes how people remember war by examining films and books about World War II. \nAfter analyzing such films as "Sands of Iwo Jima," "South Pacific," "Saving Private Ryan" and several others, Bodnar said he has came to the conclusion that people's memory of war does not always match reality.
(04/08/03 5:55am)
This month IU is receiving considerable attention at the newstand. The U.S. News and World Report's 2004 edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools," ranked IU's graduate programs at the schools of law, business, fine arts, medicine, nursing and education among the nation's best. The April issue of Entrepreneur magazine also named the Kelley School of Business' entrepreneur program one of the twelve best in the country. \nThe U.S. News and World Report's rankings, which are featured in both the magazine's graduate school guide and in the Entrepreneur, both of which hit newstands Monday, show improvement for IU, with two graduate programs making a strong debut on the national rankings.\nThe School of Public and Environmental Affairs was ranked third in 2001, and reranking in the area of public affairs was not released.\nIn new rankings this year, the IU School of Nursing was tied for 15th, an accomplishment which Dean of the School of Nursing Angela Barron McBride said she is pleased with.\n"With several hundred nursing master's degree programs in the United States, the IU School of Nursing is pleased to be ranked 15th nationally," she said in a statement. "Our last ranking for National Institutes of Health funding was 15th too, so there is a close relationship between the quality of our research and our graduate programs."\nThree of the School of Nursing's specialty areas were ranked in the top 10 as well, receiving fourth for clinical nurse specialist: adult/medical-surgical, fifth for psychiatric/mental health and seventh for nursing service administration. \nAnother newcomer to the rankings, the IU School of Fine Arts' master of fine arts program, tied for 13th and was fourth among public institutions. \nDirector of the School of Fine Arts Georgia Strange said a long, rich tradition at the SoFA has allowed the school to excel on a national scale.\n"It all began when (former IU President) Herman Wells hired (chairman of Fine Arts) Henry Radford Hope," she said. "When he was in charge for 26 years, there was a rapid development of fine arts on the campus. He attracted some national figures to IU and allowed the school to grow."\nOther IU graduate programs received improved standings nationally.\nThe School of Education improved from 19th rank last year to a 17th rank. \nJack Cummings, executive associate director for the School of Education's graduate school, said the School of Education advanced its position for many reasons over a period of time.\n"It's partly because of our extensive funding, our partnerships with other programs," he said. \nThe Kelley School of Business remained fairly consistent, ranking 23rd, compared with 21st last year.\nSchool of Law at IU Bloomington moved up one spot from 39th last year to 38th. \nEntrepreneur magazine identified 100 colleges for entrepreneurs and rated IU's Kelley School program as one of the 12 top-tier programs. Other schools in the top tier include Harvard University, the Wharton School, Stanford University and Babson College.\n"This validates the hard work and dedication of our entrepreneurship faculty," said Elizabeth Gatewood, director of the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Kelley School. \nMore than 700 entrepreneurship programs were researched for the study, using criteria such as course offerings, teaching and research faculty, business-community outreach, research centers and institutes, degrees and certificates offered and faculty and alumni evaluations, to rank the schools.\nEducation in entrepreneurship has been offered at IU since 1958. Today, there are 322 undergraduates and 80 Master of Business Administration students studying entrepreneurship.
(04/08/03 4:26am)
Janko's Little Zagreb is a place that surprises you. By the name, you might think it is an ethnic restaurant that would not appeal to the unadventurous. The red-and-white checked table cloths, casually dressed waitresses and IU basketball calendars adorning the walls make you think it's a sports bar that sells burgers and fries. The minute you find out there is something special about Janko's (pronounced Yonko's) is when you take a whiff of the surroundings and smell the aroma of grilled steak. What is surprising about this restaurant is that it is arguably the best steakhouse in Bloomington, but you would never know it by its casual, unpretentious nature.\nOne of the first things that may surprise some patrons about Janko's is the price. A meal at this joint will set you back nearly $30, including tip and drinks, but the price is certainly worth it. It's a great place to take someone you like for a fancy date or a nice spot to get your parents to treat you to when they visit Bloomington.\nIf you are a vegetarian, this is not the place for you. At Janko's, steaks reign supreme, with few veggie alternatives to choose from. The best selections include the porterhouse steak, which is almost an inch thick, making finishing this piece of beef a considerable task. Portions are never a problem here either. The size of these entrees also make the cost much more manageable, considering the amount of leftovers. The super-filet and the T-bone are also popular choices and with good reason. None of the entrees should need any sauce. These thick juicy steaks are good enough by themselves. Another excellent choice is the ground sirloin with cheese -- which appears to be a simple cheeseburger -- but again, Janko's suprises with a tasty burger substitute.\nThe side dishes aren't bad, but they aren't the reason to visit Janko's. The house salad is just a basic chopped iceberg lettuce with shredded carrots, and the baked potato is a simple medium-sized spud with sour cream. The side dishes that receive the most attention are the onion rolls and the mushrooms (which are by request). Personally, I found neither that special. The mushrooms were bland and cooked in a simple butter sauce, which didn't add much flavor. The onion rolls didn't spark my interest either. I could get the same rolls from Marsh, which isn't saying they are bad by any means, just not any different from ordinary grocery-store variety. \nJanko's is also known for having the biggest and best wine selection in Bloomington. This may not be an option for all IU students, but those who can partake in a drink along with their fine cuisine will enjoy the variety of beverages. \nOverall, Janko's is just a fun place to go. The atmosphere creates a fine restaurant with quality steaks that rival (if not beat) places like Ruth's Chris. It's a nice place to sit down and feast on beef while watching an NCAA game or just chatting with company.
(04/07/03 6:12am)
The cost of living in the dorms will go up again next year after the IU board of trustees approved a 6 percent increase in room cost at their monthly meeting Friday.\nOn average, the increase will mean students will pay $196 per year more for their rooms.\nResidential Programs and Services Executive Director Pat Connor said the increase, which is greater than the 3 to 4 percent average annual increase, is because of rising insurance costs for RPS employees and new construction projects.\nConnor said there will be no increase in meal plan costs, so overall cost of room and board will be increased 3.45 percent.\nAt the trustees' meeting in March, Connor presented his plan alongside Residential Housing Association members who voiced their concern about rising costs.\nOver a year ago, RPS decided to repeal its rate freeze for students who remain in dorms after their freshman year because it was causing freshmen to pay more for housing. Nearly 70 percent of students living in residence halls are freshmen, so the rate freeze was beneficial to only 30 percent of dorm residents. When they decided to end their freeze, RPS promised room and board rate increases would never exceed 3 to 4 percent.\nOne RHA member, senior Eric Hafner, said at the March meeting he was upset RPS decided to go against its promise.\n"We went to the trustee meeting to tell them that we were not happy with rates to be higher than promised," Hafner said.\nStill, Connor said RPS did not go against its promise because the 6 percent increase is only for housing, while the overall room and board increase fulfills its deal.\nConnor said the increase is not one which was easy to agree upon.\n"Nobody is happy when there is an increase," he said. "There were concerns about the amount of the increase at the time and I know we have talked with IUSA and the RHA student group. They felt comfortable with the increase. Everything considered they would like to see it less, but they saw the full package and they felt acceptable increase in the cost."\nConnor said the funds from the increase will go toward projects which will benefit the University.\n"The increase goes to provide increased salary and wages and continued improvement of the residence halls," he said. "These funds will ensure rehabilitation of student housing."\nIn addition, Connor said 1 percent of the rate increase will go to fund capital projects such as new construction.\nTrustee Sue Talbot said she feels the increase is necessary because of a lack of state support for repair and rehabilitation funding.\n"You got to look at the price of inflation and repair," she said. "We can't wait for an emergency situation. If we don't fix the dorms now, they might get worse later. The state's in trouble and we have to be responsible."\nConnor said despite the increase, IU still maintains competitive in housing rates compared to other universities.\n"We are one of the lowest increases of any school in the Big Ten," he said. "We've gone from the third highest in the Big Ten, to eighth."\nTalbot said she feels the increase should not cause serious financial trouble for students.\n"It's pretty minimal overall," she said. "We have tried hard not to do this. We have kept increases from coming for a long time. So it's not that much"
(04/03/03 6:01am)
During its monthly meeting at IU-South Bend, the board of trustees will discuss today and vote Friday on whether to create student housing at the South Bend campus. If passed, IUSB will be the first regional campus, besides IU-Purdue University Indianapolis to have student housing.\nCurrently, IUSB rents 38 houses to students, but the proposal would effectively remove these rental units in favor of creating dormitories. \nIUSB junior Jedediah Walls said he is afraid the costs of the new housing will be too great for these students.\n"I think it is an absolutely stupid idea," he said. "I think the lowest they said they would charge is $347 a month. Right now, I pay $290 a month for a house. So, it is way too expensive. \nStudent trustee Sacha Willsey said she feels it is about time IUSB students are given a place to stay.\n"Since I began as a trustee, I've heard all of the regional campuses ask for student housing," she said. "So, I'm really excited about this issue."\nWillsey said some of the benefits of student housing include bonding with other students.\n"Students feel more of a part of campus, and they make better friends if they actually live on campus," she said.\nWalls said he feels there are problems standing in the way.\n'It might do more to turn us from a commuter campus to a community, but you have to get students to move in there, and what they're proposing right now is too expensive," he said. "The only people that will decide to do it is the occasional international student who doesn't know any better, but they won't stay there very long. Not at the current price."\nEconomic Development\nAt Friday's external relations committee meeting, Vice President for Public Affairs Bill Stephan will give a preview of IU's Economic Development Presentation.\nThe main focus of Stephan's speech will be IU's role in improving the economic well-being of Indiana, in the life sciences initiative and the Kelley School of Business.\n"IU contributes significantly to the well-being of Indiana," he said. "IU is in the thick of impacting Indiana's future."\nHe said despite IU's extensive influence on the state's financial situation, many are unaware of IU's importance to Indiana.\n"There are many who don't understand the contributions IU is making," he said.\nFor this reason his office is creating a presentation to summarize the activities for various audiences. At the trustee meeting, Stephan will present a video to the committee that will aid in the Economic Development Presentation.\nStephan said IU should take increased initiative to improve the economy of the state and advertise its improvements. In the long run, an improved state economy will also help IU.\n"If the state is struggling, IU will be challenged," he said. "If the state is prospering, then IU will prosper."\nIn order to most effectively express their needs, Stephan said IU has worked with other Indiana colleges, namely Purdue University.\n"It is fair to say we work more closely with Purdue than ever," he said.\nStephan said IU and Purdue have collaborated with the legislature and worked together in developing scientific research such as studying the proteins expressed by certain genes. \nOther Issues\nThe remainder of the Board of Trustees meeting will involve preparation for the next meetings. \nThe board will hear a presentation by Chief Financial Officer Judith Palmer on the state of tuition in a national context.\nTrustee President Fred Eichhorn said the discussion will be primarily used to inform and educate the board in order to prepare for action to be taken at later meetings on what to do about IU's tuition rates.\nThe board will also vote on the approval of an increase of housing rates for the Bloomington campus. At its February meeting, Residential Programs and Services Director Pat Connor proposed a six percent increase in housing, and no increase in food costs.\nUsually, housing rates increase by only 3 to 4 percent each year, but due to rising insurance costs for RPS employees and construction projects, this year's increase will be greater, Connor said.\nIn addition, the trustees will vote on whether or not Lauren Robel, acting dean of the IU School of Law in Bloomington, should continue as the school's permanent dean. \nAdam VanOsdol contributed to this story
(04/02/03 5:27am)
The Bloomington Faculty Council discussed a proposition by the University Faculty Council to prevent future University presidents from selecting or firing athletic officials without consulting the faculty. The proposal is in response to controversy over former IU men's basketball coach Bob Knight's departure in 2000 and former IU Athletic Director Michael McNeely's dismissal in November. \nThe proposal aims to make changes to the Intercollegiate Athletics Program Policy to create a personnel subcommittee of the Campus Athletics Committee to be consulted with before athletic directors or the president makes any hiring or firing decisions.\nBFC President Bob Eno said the proposed changes are a compromise intended to prevent administrators from saying it is unfeasible to meet with the entire Campus Athletics Committee, as the rules state, because confidentiality cannot be ensured with such a large committee. The personnel subcommittee will be much smaller, consisting of two members of the committee, the chair and the faculty athletics representative.\n"This is an issue that (the UFC) feel needs to be addressed," Eno said. "Consultation has been a problem that has soured (IU President Myles Brand's) experience at IU."\nAthletics Committee member Bruce Jaffee said this is only one part of a series of changes to athletic policy. He said the committee wishes to build strong relations with the new University president in order to improve the faculty input in athletic issues.\nBFC member Michael Morgan of the philosophy department said he feels the BFC should take a stand by supporting these proposed changes.\n"I'm not saying they have to consult all the faculty, but some before they make a decision," Morgan said. "And all they would be doing is listening to them. The faculty wouldn't vote on the issue, but they should at least have a say. They shouldn't be bypassed in the process."\nEno said these changes may take a while, until a new president and/or athletic director are chosen, but the committee should begin discussing them now.\nStill, Jaffee said not all of the Campus Athletic Committee agrees on this issue.\n"To some extent, the committee feels like it is compromising," he said. "They feel the president should have to follow the rules already in place and there is no need to create this committee."
(03/31/03 5:35am)
Six days after seven members of an IU ecstasy-smuggling operation, including the ringleader and several former students, were sentenced to prison in a Detroit federal court, members of the IU police department still say esctasy is an issue on campus.\nBrent Killinger, 25, of Bloomington, was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison after U.S. District Judge Paul Borman accepted his guilty plea for importation of a controlled substance. Killinger was charged on Oct. 2, 2001. \nIU Police Department drug task force representative Dave Hannum said despite the fact that Killinger was a major provider of ecstasy in Bloomington, the problem has not decreased.\n"It's about the same," he said. "It put a damper on it, but it's still available, so it's still a problem."\nAssistant U.S. Attorney Ronald Waterstreet said the operation began in March 2000 when Killinger told one of his friends he was dissatisfied with the quality of the ecstasy distributed in Bloomington. \nKillinger's friend then put him in contact with Koen Michael Frans Van Riemsdijk Kreenen, a supplier in Amsterdam. \nFollowing a trip to Europe in spring of 2000, Killinger reportedly was able to establish ties with Kreenen, Waterstreet said. \nOver the course of the year, Killinger was able to hire couriers to transport ecstasy from the Netherlands, paying the couriers approximately $10,000 each.\nHannum said most of the couriers, dealers and purchasers were all IU students. \nWaterstreet said the couriers imported the pills by vacuum-packing the pills in plastic bags and then strapping them to their legs using gauze and tape. \nOver the course of the a year, couriers made nine trips from March 2000 to September 2001, smuggling 70,000 to 140,000 ecstasy pills into the United States during that period. Waterstreet said Killinger also imported the drugs in parcels, one of which was intercepted by the U.S. customs officials.\nKillinger, along with Bloomington resident Kip Presslaff, 33, and former IU student Brandon Wackowski, 23, distributed the pills to IU students for typically $15 to $20 each.\nWaterstreet said federal investigators cooperated with local police enforcement to track the case. He said the investigators used computer analysis and collected phone records to follow Killinger.\nWaterstreet said student and local assistance was key in tracking the suspects.\n"The agents took several trips to Bloomington (during which time) they interviewed IU students about the case," he said.\nIUPD Lt. Jerry Minger said documents about the investigation could not be released because of the under-cover nature of the investigation.\nWaterstreet said the operation collapsed when two customs agents at Detroit Metro Airport, Michael George and Joseph Trigg, caught couriers Jay Brown, 23, Kristian Walter, 26, and IU Southeast New Albany student Samuel Cruz, 23, as they got off an international flight in October 2001. The agents became suspicious and initially searched one of them and found marijuana seeds and pamphlets on growing pot, Hannum said. Upon closer examination, they discovered 11,081 tablets of ecstasy, weighing 6.6 pounds, strapped to their legs with tape and ace bandages. \nGeorge said in a sworn affidavit that Brown and Cruz provided U.S. Customs with a written statement, thus waiving their Miranda rights, admitting they had been hired to move the drug into the United States.\nDefense attorney Steve Fishman of Detroit reportedly pleaded with the judge to be lenient on his clients.\n"I don't think any of them thought that the consequences could be like this," he said in a March 26 issue of the Detroit Free Press. \nHannum said Killinger's sentence was much less than it could have been.\n"He went from life to eight years, that goes to show you what the justice system is like," he said.\nBesides Killinger, six others were sentenced on Tuesday. Andrew Warnke, Kristian Walter, Brent Mortara, Justin Abram, Jay Brown and Christopher Applegate, were given terms ranging from a day in prison with one year of house arrest to 52 months in prison.\nThe distributors, Preslaff and Wackowski were sentenced earlier to six years in prison for importation of a controlled substance. Other member Jeremy Sly was sentenced earlier to 36 months in prison, and Cruz was sentenced to eight months.\nKreenen, the supplier, remains at large.\nBenjamin Dakin, will be sentenced at a later date, Waterstreet said. \nOverall, Hannum said he agrees with Killinger's lawyer, that many students get involved with selling drugs at IU because they don't understand the serious consequences of their decisions.\n"You sell a pill, and you get about $5 for it," he said. "But if you get caught you get years in prison. It's not worth it"
(03/27/03 7:08am)
Doctoral student Alexandre Eisenberg had to endure nose bleeds and headaches due to cigarette smoke seeping into his home from his neighbor's smoky residence. \n"It was just hell," he said. \nFor students who are experiencing problems with rental units, there are solutions. \nOne option for Bloomington residents is to contact Housing and Neighborhood Development to report violations. Interim Director of HAND Sue Johnson said the office is mostly successful in forcing landlords to fix homes. \n"If they have a problem, we have the capacity to mandate compliance," she said. "The only thing we ask is that residents speak with the management and give them sufficient time to fix the problem first. But if they are taking too long to fix it, we can help."\nIU Student Legal Services, which provides free legal advice to students, can also assist with housing issues.\nHAND and SLS only enforce current laws; they don't create them.\nSLS Director John Irvine is currently trying to alter Bloomington's housing code by proposing some new amendments.\nBut Council member Jason Banach said these new amendments are not necessary. \nIrvine said Bloomington's rental inspection system is better than most cities, but that more can be done.\n"First of all, as bad you guys may think it is, Bloomington has the most progressive rental laws than any other place in the state," he said. "It's hard to believe, but we have a housing code, a lot of different places don't, and it's fairly comprehensive. Part of the things I'm trying to get amended is to get the housing code changed in a way that will help tenants." \nAfter its initial reading on April 2, the amendments will open for comment on April 9 and will be voted on April 16. \nThe amendments will protect tenants from some problems not mentioned by the housing code, Irvine said. \nTwo of the things Irvine said he is trying to change are ventilation and insulation, which he said are not currently addressed in Bloomington's housing code.\nIrvine stressed the only way to get his amendments passed is to get students more active in government.\n"We need to start getting all of the tenants involved," he said. "Talk to the city council. Talk to the mayor. He is on talk shows and no tenants ever call with problems. You guys have to get more politically active. The landlords sure are. They vote, and they have power"
(03/27/03 5:00am)
Jim Eno seemed like a normal guy around the office. His co-workers at Advanced Micro Devices, a computing company in Austin, Texas, brushed off his band Spoon, which he drummed for, as a hobbie. Despite the fact that Spoon's recent release Kill the Moonlight, was put on the best albums of 2002 lists for magazines such as Spin, Rolling Stone, Blender and GQ, his fellow employees saw Eno as a talented guy who just took off work to follow a dream, one they were unsure if he would achieve.\nIt wasn't until his band recently appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien that Eno says his friends finally realized his band isn't playing hole-in-the-wall clubs. \n"My bosses had been cool at letting me take a leave of absence," Eno says. "But when I was on Conan, that made everything legitimate. They were like, 'I guess he doesn't play in smokey bars.'"\nEno will be taking another leave of absence from his day job to play at 8 p.m. on March 29 at Vertigo Live Music Venue. as a part of Static Fest, a three day music festival promoted by WIUS. \nEno, lead singer/guitarist Britt Daniel, bassist Josh Zarbo and keyboardist Kevin Lovejoy, have experienced critical acclaim, succeeded in getting radio airplay and have amassed a devoted fanbase across the nation -- all without giving up their day jobs. \nBut this path was not an easy one for Spoon. \nSince its formation in 1994, Spoon has hopped from label to label in its never ending journey to receive national attention. \nFollowing its promising debut, Telephono, on the small label Matador, Spoon was offered a chance at making it big with Elektra, which release the 1998 album Series of Sneaks. But Elektra dropped Spoon only months after its release when it didn't catch on quickly enough, Eno says.\nHe says Elektra did no real promotion for the album, yet expected immediate attention.\n"They didn't give us a real chance," he says. "They throw the song to radio and if people don't have the record then you're dropped. What you'll find is it's about business. It's the bottom line. If you're not making money you're gone. Gone are the days of artist development and taking risks." \nJust when it seemed like Spoon would become another major-label casualty, it reemerged with Girls Can Tell, writing and recording all of the tracks in Eno's personal studio. Eno says the band was extremely satisified with the product. Only now, Eno and his bandmates needed to find a label.\n"We wanted to find a home because we thought we had a really good album here," Eno says.\nGerald Cosloy, founder of Matador Records, tipped off Merge Records, a small California-based label, which successfully signed Spoon.\nWith the album already complete, Eno says Merge understood the band right away.\n"By handing them a finished record, they know what they are getting," Eno says. "Merge has just been great so far. They love music and they really work individually with artists."\nMerge Records' director of publicity, Martin Hall, says Spoon was a good catch for the label.\n"We were obviously aware of Spoon," Hall says. "It was such a great album that we're glad to have them."\nWith a smaller label, Eno could experiment and stray from its pop formula practiced on Girls Can Tell. On its latest release, Spoon experiments with beatboxing, keyboards and infectious percussion to play a backdrop to Daniels' Elvis Costello-inspired vocals.\n"It took a while to sink in for a lot of people," Hall says. "From Merge's perspective, we wanted to capitalize on the success of Girls Can Tell, but we didn't want to stop Spoon from throwing a curve ball. Sometimes it works. Sometimes a curve ball gets knocked out of the park. Good thing it worked."\nEno says part of the success with Kill the Moonlight was that they were given the freedom to produce anything they wanted without label interference.\n"We trust Britt and Jim," Hall says. "We don't have an A&R guy telling them what kind of music to make or saying, 'I don't hear a single.' They produced Girls Can Tell on their own and they could of course do it again."\nYet, Eno says Spoon didn't plan on making Kill the Moonlight so different. It just happened.\n"We wanted to make it a little weirder," he says. "But we don't have a masterplan. We have an idea. It's basically we do things on a song-by-song basis. There is going to be an overall feel from the artistic mood we are in at that point, but most of it just happens that way."\nWith its newfounded success, Spoon's hometown of Austin, Texas, is finding its place in the current music scene.\n"Austin has a really good punk rock scene," he says. "Austin is always great as places for every band to play. A lot more people stereotype it and think it's all country music, but hopefully it'll receive more attention." \nPart of giving back to its hometown came when Spoon was asked to play on "Austin City Limits," a show that airs on TV stations around the country. Eno says it meant a lot to the band members since the show is mostly country acts and they were asked to play on the show's 25th anniversary.\nNate Hileman, a senior and director of promotions for WIUS, is organizing Static Fest. He says he expects a strong turn out for Spoon at Vertigo Live Music Venue.\n"They're a well respected act, and coupled with three particularly great bands all on the same bill, I don't know how anyone who likes rock music can't come out to the show," he says.\nHileman says he will personally enjoy the show.\n"I've been a fan of Spoon's music for at least six years now," he says. "Still, I have never seen the band play live. One night in the middle of January I was watching PBS, not very unusual on my part, and on came 'Austin City Limits' featuring Spoon. While watching a great performance by the band I thought how cool it would be if I could bring them to play for the radio station. A few calls later and I had worked out an arrangement to bring them here." \nAdvance tickets for Static Fest shows on March 29th and April 9th are on sale now at TD's CDs and LPs (322 E. Kirkwood Ave.) and All Ears (401 E. 10th). You can listen to WIUS and find information about the station at www.wius.org. Advance tickets are $10. Day of sale tickets are $12.
(03/27/03 4:28am)
With a ceremony that lasts hours and awards that can be disappointing to some, the Academy Awards become the target of more complaints than filmmaker Michael Moore makes about the war.\nBut some IU alumni are not simply sitting voicing their disgust; they are acting on it.\nFollowing 1989's Oscars in which "Pulp Fiction" won barely any awards, IU alumni Brian Owens, Andy Billings and Julie Thompson chose not to stand for any more lame Oscar picks and to put on an award show of their own. Thirteen years later, their creation -- the Bubakar Awards -- is still making an effort to recognize the films that deserve it.\nBirth of Bubakar\nThe name for the awards comes from a nickname Owens was given in college. In 1988, after watching countless hours of NCAA basketball in college, he and his friends would joke about the name of Georgetown guard Boubacar Aw to the point that one of his friends began to call him "Bubakar" (the spelling was changed).\n"When we decided to have our own award show, someone suggested it be called the Bubakar Awards," Owens said. "Lucky for us, we later found out it is Swahili for "noble." So, it all worked out."\nUnlike massive 6-foot-7-inch Aw, the first ceremonies held by the committee were on a small scale.\n"It was just a party in Bloomington in my apartment, not really a big deal," Owens said. \nOwens said after a while many of the participants moved away, causing him to have the ceremony in places across the country such as Peoria, Ill., and San Francisco. \nWith all of the Bubakar Awards nomination committee members separated from each other across the nation, Owens decided to create a Web site, www.bubakar.com, to tally the votes.\nThrough the magic of search engines, the site received substantial hits. So far the site has received more than 27,000 visitors and nearly 128,000 hits overall.\nEventually the media caught on and in the March 2001 issue of In Style, the Bubakar Awards were featured in an article on Oscar parties.\nAfter this attention, Owens decided to kick his show up a notch.\n"So we thought, 'If In Style thinks we have elaborate galas, then why not have them,'" he said. "So we went all out."\nWith national attention, the Bubakar Awards made some influential friends in the film industry. Today, the group's 25-member nominating committee consists of not only friends of the founders, including eight alums, but movie experts such as Nat Rogers, editor of The Film Experience, Rick Curnette, founder and editor of The Film Journal, and Sasha Stone, editor of www.OscarWatch.com.\nEach member simply submits his or her top five picks for each category ranked in order of preference. The group tallies the scores making the nominees available to the public for voting.\nUpstaging the Academy\nThe types of movies that usually win Bubakar Awards separate this alternative ceremony from the Academy Awards.\nFor past Best Picture nominees, the Bubakar Awards group selected "In the Bedroom" to beat "A Beautiful Mind" in 2001, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" to beat "Gladiator" in 2000, "Good Will Hunting" to beat "Titanic" in 1997 and "Fargo" to beat "The English Patient" in 1996. \nOnly three times since their inception have the Bubakar Awards agreed with the Oscars in the Best Picture category, but founders say the contrast is not intentional.\n"Most often we agree on many of the nominees, but not the overall winners," Owens said.\nThough it may be hard for some people to believe, Billings said part of the reason why the Bubakar Awards are so different is because the nominees see far more films than many Academy Award committee members who are merely selected because of their prestige.\n"The people of the Oscars simply need to actually see more movies," he said. "A lot of them vote based on what they are told is going to win or for political reasons. Also, many smaller films do not get a fair deal because some other more popular film is seen by more of the committee members."\nThe Bubakar Awards group also makes certain changes from the Academy Awards' rules. The actor, director or screenwriter nominated in one category may be nominated for different movies in the same category, while the Oscars only allow only one nomination per person per movie. For example, this year John C. Reilly was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "Chicago," "The Hours," "Gangs of New York" and "The Good Girl."\nIU speech team coach and doctoral candidate David Moscowitz, who sits on the nominating committee with his wife Leigh, said one aspect that makes the Bubakar Awards unique is a category the Academy doesn't have -- Best Casting, which recognizes, "the film, and the casting director, that assembled the right people for each part."\nComplaints with the Oscars\nMost years, the Bubakar Awards disagree completely with the Oscars, but despite some voting differences, many of the members said they were pleased with this year's Oscars.\n"This year I walked away from the awards not really upset about them," Billings said.\nStill, the committee swayed from the Academy on some issues.\n"My biggest complaint was giving so many nominations to 'The Hours' and hardly any for 'Far from Heaven,'" Owens said. \nWith rumors circulating before the Oscars that director Martin Scorcese would take home the golden trophy for "Gangs of New York" simply because he didn't win years before for "Goodfellas," many committee members said they oppose the Oscars' policy of giving make-up awards.\n"It isn't his best," Billings said. "And giving make-up awards causes so much trouble."\nBoth Owens and Billings said giving an award to someone one year because he or she did not win in the years before, but does not deserve it now, causes an endless cycle.\n"A couple years ago Al Pacino won for 'Scent of a Woman,' because he didn't win for all of these other films, but really Denzel Washington should have won for 'Malcolm X' that year," Owens said. "Now, years later, Denzel wins for 'Training Day' when really Russell Crowe really should have won for 'A Beautiful Mind' instead, but it's OK because he shouldn't have won the year before for 'Gladiator.' It's just a huge cycle and it wouldn't happen if they just give it to the person who deserves it that year."\nSteps in the Right Direction\nNot only does the Bubakar Awards group try to make a difference by giving films the credit they deserve, but the founders are trying to use their sway to make a difference in the lives of others.\nAt their ceremony at Rock Lobster restaurant in Indianapolis this year, they charged a $10 cover fee that would be donated to Primary Colors, a fellowship of Indianapolis artists bringing the arts to underprivileged and under-represented youth. \nOwens said Robert Evans, a Primary Colors board member served in Afghanistan. Evans was stunned to discover that children in Afghanistan have no concept of what art is. As a result Primary Colors distributes the supplies to Afghani youth and gives them art instruction through Evans. \nBubakar future\nOverall, Owens said he is satisfied with the growth of the awards. He recently added reviews to the site and coverage of this year's Toronto International Film Festival. If the influence of the Bubakar Awards catches on, the Oscars may become quite different.\n"We, the Bubakar nominators and voters, are what the 'popular' in popular culture is all about -- a group of industry outsiders expressing how we feel about a source of art and culture that excites us," Moscowitz said. "Movies are probably the most effective barometer of popular culture; if anybody can vote for school board president, then it's nice that anybody can also vote for what movies were deemed successful, too"
(03/26/03 8:25pm)
Jim Eno seemed like a normal guy around the office. His co-workers at Advanced Micro Devices, a computing company in Austin, Texas, brushed off his band Spoon, which he drummed for, as a hobbie. Despite the fact that Spoon's recent release Kill the Moonlight, was put on the best albums of 2002 lists for magazines such as Spin, Rolling Stone, Blender and GQ, his fellow employees saw Eno as a talented guy who just took off work to follow a dream, one they were unsure if he would achieve.\nIt wasn't until his band recently appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien that Eno says his friends finally realized his band isn't playing hole-in-the-wall clubs. \n"My bosses had been cool at letting me take a leave of absence," Eno says. "But when I was on Conan, that made everything legitimate. They were like, 'I guess he doesn't play in smokey bars.'"\nEno will be taking another leave of absence from his day job to play at 8 p.m. on March 29 at Vertigo Live Music Venue. as a part of Static Fest, a three day music festival promoted by WIUS. \nEno, lead singer/guitarist Britt Daniel, bassist Josh Zarbo and keyboardist Kevin Lovejoy, have experienced critical acclaim, succeeded in getting radio airplay and have amassed a devoted fanbase across the nation -- all without giving up their day jobs. \nBut this path was not an easy one for Spoon. \nSince its formation in 1994, Spoon has hopped from label to label in its never ending journey to receive national attention. \nFollowing its promising debut, Telephono, on the small label Matador, Spoon was offered a chance at making it big with Elektra, which release the 1998 album Series of Sneaks. But Elektra dropped Spoon only months after its release when it didn't catch on quickly enough, Eno says.\nHe says Elektra did no real promotion for the album, yet expected immediate attention.\n"They didn't give us a real chance," he says. "They throw the song to radio and if people don't have the record then you're dropped. What you'll find is it's about business. It's the bottom line. If you're not making money you're gone. Gone are the days of artist development and taking risks." \nJust when it seemed like Spoon would become another major-label casualty, it reemerged with Girls Can Tell, writing and recording all of the tracks in Eno's personal studio. Eno says the band was extremely satisified with the product. Only now, Eno and his bandmates needed to find a label.\n"We wanted to find a home because we thought we had a really good album here," Eno says.\nGerald Cosloy, founder of Matador Records, tipped off Merge Records, a small California-based label, which successfully signed Spoon.\nWith the album already complete, Eno says Merge understood the band right away.\n"By handing them a finished record, they know what they are getting," Eno says. "Merge has just been great so far. They love music and they really work individually with artists."\nMerge Records' director of publicity, Martin Hall, says Spoon was a good catch for the label.\n"We were obviously aware of Spoon," Hall says. "It was such a great album that we're glad to have them."\nWith a smaller label, Eno could experiment and stray from its pop formula practiced on Girls Can Tell. On its latest release, Spoon experiments with beatboxing, keyboards and infectious percussion to play a backdrop to Daniels' Elvis Costello-inspired vocals.\n"It took a while to sink in for a lot of people," Hall says. "From Merge's perspective, we wanted to capitalize on the success of Girls Can Tell, but we didn't want to stop Spoon from throwing a curve ball. Sometimes it works. Sometimes a curve ball gets knocked out of the park. Good thing it worked."\nEno says part of the success with Kill the Moonlight was that they were given the freedom to produce anything they wanted without label interference.\n"We trust Britt and Jim," Hall says. "We don't have an A&R guy telling them what kind of music to make or saying, 'I don't hear a single.' They produced Girls Can Tell on their own and they could of course do it again."\nYet, Eno says Spoon didn't plan on making Kill the Moonlight so different. It just happened.\n"We wanted to make it a little weirder," he says. "But we don't have a masterplan. We have an idea. It's basically we do things on a song-by-song basis. There is going to be an overall feel from the artistic mood we are in at that point, but most of it just happens that way."\nWith its newfounded success, Spoon's hometown of Austin, Texas, is finding its place in the current music scene.\n"Austin has a really good punk rock scene," he says. "Austin is always great as places for every band to play. A lot more people stereotype it and think it's all country music, but hopefully it'll receive more attention." \nPart of giving back to its hometown came when Spoon was asked to play on "Austin City Limits," a show that airs on TV stations around the country. Eno says it meant a lot to the band members since the show is mostly country acts and they were asked to play on the show's 25th anniversary.\nNate Hileman, a senior and director of promotions for WIUS, is organizing Static Fest. He says he expects a strong turn out for Spoon at Vertigo Live Music Venue.\n"They're a well respected act, and coupled with three particularly great bands all on the same bill, I don't know how anyone who likes rock music can't come out to the show," he says.\nHileman says he will personally enjoy the show.\n"I've been a fan of Spoon's music for at least six years now," he says. "Still, I have never seen the band play live. One night in the middle of January I was watching PBS, not very unusual on my part, and on came 'Austin City Limits' featuring Spoon. While watching a great performance by the band I thought how cool it would be if I could bring them to play for the radio station. A few calls later and I had worked out an arrangement to bring them here." \nAdvance tickets for Static Fest shows on March 29th and April 9th are on sale now at TD's CDs and LPs (322 E. Kirkwood Ave.) and All Ears (401 E. 10th). You can listen to WIUS and find information about the station at www.wius.org. Advance tickets are $10. Day of sale tickets are $12.
(03/26/03 5:48am)
After noticing problems with their rental property, most tenants contact their landlords to promptly fix their troubles. Unfortunately for many rental residents, dealing with uncooperative management can be more annoying than the problems that need fixing.\nDirector of Student Legal Services John Irvine said many students make the mistakes of not analyzing their lease or researching their management before making a commitment, causing students to have to come to him to help facilitate problems with housing management. \nJunior Lauren Felder, who works for SLS, said she reported many of her housing problems to her manager at her leasing agent, but he showed little interest in helping her.\n"I called the company that owns (my housing complex) and told them part of the reason why I think nothing is being done is because I heard the manager is going to quit soon," she said. "Well, they called him up and didn't mention any of the problems, but instead asked him to stay. And then the manager called me up and yelled at me for talking to the owners."\nIrvine said many of the problems noted on move-in inspections are never fixed and when move-out inspection comes around, students are unfairly charged for damages that were there prior to their residency.\nSenior Melissa Koehlinger said she was unfairly charged upon her departure from her former residence.\n"I was there for both move-in and move-out inspection and it was completely wrong," she said. "Nothing was cleaned. The walls were not painted. None of this was fixed after the move-in inspection. And of course, we were charged for these problems again upon move-out inspection."\nKoehlinger's roommate, Toni Ott, who graduated this winter, said she was misled into believing that they would not be charged for these problems since it was management's responsibility to repair these violations.\n"They never fixed anything they charged us for, so where did the money go?" she said. "They shouldn't call it a security deposit if we don't get the money back."\nDoctoral student Alexandre Eisenberg said he was charged full costs for normal wear and tear when he moved out of his former residence.\n"When they do those charges they don't charge you for the percentage of the apartment that is dirty," he said. "But you end up paying to repaint or fix half of the apartment, when only a few inches are dirty or damaged."\nSenior Zach Weiner claims upon his departure from his previous housing commitment, he was charged $3,000 for damages, including vandalism to the parking lot he shares with other tenants. \nWeiner recently went to small claims court to fight off the charges, which he already paid upon leaving. \n"(The) management told us that we were absolved from all monies owed," Weiner said. "However they still appeared in small claims court to try and bilk us out of the same amount of money we already paid."\nWeiner said the judge took a look at their release contract and dismissed the claim.\nThe complex's legal representative Michael Carmin said they had no intention of charging him twice.\nIn addition to absurd charges, many students said they were given absurd requests from management.\nAbout a week into the lease Weiner said the landlord decided to turn their laundry room inside their basement into a communal laundry room, to be shared with all of the other tenants in the complex. \n"People would just walk in and out of our home at all hours of the night to do laundry," Weiner said. "People would throw beer bottles down there. They'd smoke on our balcony. We tried to put a sign telling them to only use the laundry room from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., but the sign was torn down by them. It was definitely annoying." In addition to the inconvenience of having visitors wander in and out of their home, Weiner said he felt a financial burden as well.\n"Not only were we the subjects of vandalism, and excessive noise, but originally we were paying for the water and electrical use by these 30 other tenants," Weiner said. \nCarmin issued a written response to these claims, saying that the laundry room was an improvement to the home.\n"(The) management installed new several laundry machines and dryers for tenant use," Carmin said. "This was a major improvement over the very limited laundry facilities that had been available in the original, unfinished portion of the basement area. The laundry room in the finished basement was designed for exterior access to avoid anyone entering the laundry room through the house. The tenants were advised of the plans for the laundry room and made no objection."\nAnother resident, senior Priscilla Cherry, claims she was forced to get rid of a dog which she was initially allowed to have by management.\n"Management even played with the dog," Cherry said. "Then one day, out of the blue, they tell me to get rid of the dog by 5 or I'll be evicted."\nCarmin said the complex has revised its lease to make it clearer about the prohibition of pets. \nWeiner said he expressed his many complaints to management, but since the owner approval was needed for most actions, and Lewis was difficult to contact, many problems went unsolved for a period of time.\nWeiner said his few contacts with the owner were unpleasant. \n"We often received unscheduled visits from (the owner), at odd hours of the night," Weiner said. "We never received any calls ahead of time. And they weren't even emergencies. He would just knock on our door at 1 a.m. or would just sit out in his car in our driveway for long periods of time, just to check the place for an inspection."\nIrvine said many of these problems are due to students not being careful about signing leases. He said tenants should understand what is expected of them and penalties for not following guidelines. In order to clarify these distinctions, Irvine is proposing amendments to the Bloomington Housing Code which will be read before the city council on April 2nd. \nIn the amendments, there will be a standard form for move-in and move-out inspections and landlord responsibilities will be clearly defined, including repairs.\nEisenberg said he hopes changes will be made to protect tenants in leases.\n"Their lease was absurd because you would see only one paragraph about the responsibilities of the landlord and it wouldn't even protect the tenants," he said. "And the entire rest would punish the tenants for every little thing."\nCheck out tomorrow's paper for the final part of the three part series in which solutions to these problems will be provided.