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(12/03/07 1:15am)
This week, Bloomington will embrace an entirely new spirit of the holidays as Monroe County Civic Theater’s production of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” adapted to one 60-minute act by local playwright Russell McGee, opens for a three-week run. The production will be featured at seven locations across Bloomington and Spencer starting today through Dec. 17. The first performance is at 7 p.m. today at Rhino’s Youth Center and All-Ages Music Club, 331 S. Walnut.\nDirector and co-producer David Nosko will share with audiences a non-conventional, modest-budget version of the 164-year-old tale, accommodating generous helpings of humor within its original dramatic structure. \n“(We want) audiences to open up at least a little bit,” he said. “We took something dramatic and made it funny.”\nCo-producer and IU alumna Hannah Moss, playing the traditionally grouchy role of Ebenezer Scrooge, warns not to expect the most strictly faithful adaptation of Dickens’ novel.\n“(We’re) challenging the audience in a way that isn’t really competition (with any other ‘A Christmas Carol’),” Moss said. \nTheir version, she said, is in no way intended to rival other versions, nor to divert attention from other seasonal attractions, such as the Bloomington Playwrights Project’s “Sex/Death V” or the IU Department of Theatre and Drama’s “Jimmy Cory.”\n“Quite the contrary, we’re trying to be ourselves. … It’s very much about us,” Moss said.\nFor good measure, Moss and Nosko checked out film adaptations, old and new, from the local library, relishing Michael Caine’s Scrooge in “A Muppet Christmas Carol,” but not forgetting Alastair Sim and George C. Scott, to name a few. \nIU sophomore Kerchanin Allen, who plays both Mrs. Crachit and Martha, said she has found two inspiring and highly talented people in Nosko and Moss. \n“At the beginning of rehearsals, (Nosko) told us his idea, and we were like, ‘How are we going to pull this off?’” Allen said. “He pretty much made it happen.” \nAllen is just as enthusiastic to perform with Moss, who she is also quick to praise. \n“She knows exactly what she wants and (how to) get it,” Allen said. “She has amazing ideas that seem to come out of nowhere.” \nBoth producers, she added appreciatively, have devoted themselves to the production as a whole.\nAllen has also had the privilege of performing with theatrical groups of high financial capability, such as Shakespeare in the Park. Working with the Monroe County Civic Theater, however, has done nothing to limit the experience she has gained thus far in “A Christmas Carol.”\n“Every couple of nights, we change venues,” she explained. “We’re reaching out to different audiences and (having) different experiences.”\nChanging venues, she said, spurs creativity and she said she likes to make changes with each performance to keep on-stage action from becoming static.\nEach actor has been encouraged to “shout out an idea or make a suggestion,” emphasizing the level of comfort and flexibility in their tightly knit, motley crew of artists, Moss said. Charlotte Fitzek, who plays Fezziwig, decided just after the beginning of rehearsals to “step up in a big way” and become the assistant director. Moss described Fitzek as having “a keen eye” for the story’s physical dimensions, and said by suddenly displaying her abilities, “we helped realize her dreams.”\nParental guidance has been recommended for those under age 12. All shows are free, but donations are accepted.
(09/28/07 4:38am)
Thursday’s televised mayoral debate featured candidates Mark Kruzan and David Sabbagh heatedly defending their views as they fielded questions from panelists and viewers at WTIU, IU’s official television studio.\nA panel of journalists including Herald-Times editor Bob Zaltsberg and WFIU news director Will Murphy, among others, questioned the candidates and read several questions from Bloomington residents. Response times started at about one minute but were eventually cut to 30 seconds to challenge the candidates into giving the most concise answers.\nSabbagh, a Republican, frequently accused his opponent, incumbent Mayor Kruzan, of misstating views, while blaming him for a “bloated” budget increase in the mayor’s office of 60 percent – ”three times (the growth) of the city,” he said. \nSabbagh continued by saying Kruzan’s administration has created an “uncivil, intimidating workplace” and has caused an “exodus” of employers from the downtown area. He called the U.S. Census Bureau’s calculation of Bloomington’s poverty rate at about 35 percent “eye-opening.” \nKruzan, a Democrat, said in response “David (Sabbagh) must have woken up grumpy this morning.” He touted Forbe’s magazine’s recent rating of Bloomington as “one of the top 10 (cities) in the country for business and careers.” \nKruzan criticized Sabbagh for saying he would be able to work with colleagues from whom he distanced himself merely because he has been in the minority party for 12 years. He argued against the census figure, saying it was “exaggerated somewhat” by the student population.\n“I don’t subscribe to the belief that Bloomington is the fifth or sixth worst-off city in the country,” Kruzan said.\nSecond to the economy was the issue of environmental sustainability. Kruzan pointed to EverGreen Village as an example of his administration’s energy-efficient housing agenda, along with sewer extensions and about 150 acres of “green space” he has helped add to Bloomington. \nSabbagh characterized City Hall as a “fleet (of) gas-guzzling SUVs,” meaning that Kruzan’s administration has allowed high carbon emissions that has caused pollution. He pressed further on the issue of housing, saying average properties should cost less than $230,000. \nZaltsberg asked the candidates how they would work with IU to improve Bloomington’s overall quality of life. Sabbagh said he began his career as an academic, teaching for more than 15 years, and emphasized his experience with college life. \n“IU is our number-one asset,” Sabbagh said, adding that he sees an “unprecedented opportunity” in the leadership of IU President Michael McRobbie.\nKruzan also pointed to his years of collegiate experience – as a student, faculty and staff member at IU as proof of his commitment to the school. He also praised Michael McRobbie for his enthusiasm for the life sciences and technology sectors.
(09/24/07 4:30am)
Incumbent Mark Kruzan and Republican challenger David Sabbagh met Friday for the first of three mayoral debates at WFIU’s on-campus radio station. Each candidate was allowed a three-minute opening statement, two opponent-centered questions and a two-minute answer. \nThe debate covered various issues, each drawing characteristic responses from the candidates. Sabbagh demanded accountability from an office he said has lacked leadership, while Kruzan defended the quality of life in Bloomington under his administration.\nOpening statements\nSabbagh, winning a coin-flip by the debate’s mediators, spoke first. He called Bloomington “a small town with vast opportunities,” beautiful natural surroundings and “scholarly excellence.” He supported “open dialogue” between the city and its citizens and “(being) frugal with the people’s money.” Like Kruzan, he promised to work closely with the University and to keep sidewalks “a high priority.” He said he would “bring absolute integrity” back to the office of the mayor.\nKruzan thanked WFIU and listeners for “tuning in to an opportunity to look at not simply what is wrong, but what’s right with the community.” \nHe reiterated his agenda of “public safety, sound fiscal stewardship, community (and) neighborhood character” and economic progress.
(09/03/07 4:00am)
political cartoon
(08/27/07 4:41am)
INDIANAPOLIS – When former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took questions from reporters Friday at the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference, the Indiana Daily Student had several. As president, are you concerned about the cost of higher education? What role would college students play in your plan for America? Despite sharp differences in name recognition and publicity, the candidates voiced similar messages on the issues of education and Iraq. But as candidates reach a crucial campaign point of differentiation, the distinctions in Romney and Huckabee’s identities may be in the details.
(08/27/07 2:38am)
Mike Huckabee\nWhy voters should chose him
(08/26/07 5:50pm)
INDIANAPOLIS - Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee called on his party to "win back the hearts and minds of the American people" this morning at the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference at the Westin in Indianapolis. \nBeginning with handshakes around the room, Huckabee answered questions ranging from Iraq and social security to immigration and hate crime legislation. \nDistinguishing himself from fellow candidates, he cited his 10 years as governor of a state with a more than 90 percent Democratic legislature as evidence of his "underdog" roots. \n"I'm a blue collar, not a blue blood, Republican," he said.
(08/22/07 4:00am)
Money
(07/02/07 1:07am)
In 1836, bells rang in the streets of Bloomington as July 4 was celebrated at its earliest recorded date.\n“This memorable day,” as the Bloomington Post lauded it, began with a 13-gun salute at 11 a.m. that signaled the start of a procession through town to a hotel where the Declaration of Independence would be read over dinner, among other patriotic honors such as speeches and a band.\nThis early recorded date of an Independence Day celebration in Bloomington: July 4, 1836. Bloomington was founded nearly twenty years before on Jan. 4, 1818.\n“We are glad to see the spirit of Independence awaking from the deep slumber into which our citizens have suffered it to fall,” the July 1, 1836 edition read. The next available issue on July 8, 1836, credited the women involved in the celebration.\n“We must stop to pay a highly, just and merited tribute of respect to the ladies (of Bloomington) ... who marched in the most perfect order – in numbers the most unparalleled in the county.”\nThe writers also listed the “Order of Procession” once the march to the hotel where dinner was served had ended.\nEuterpean Band started off, followed by the Ladies, Orator and Reader, Chaplain, Committee of Arrangements, Rev. Clergy, Faculty of the College (it would not be called “IU” until 1838), Athenian Society, Students and Citizens, and the Cavalry.\n“It should be a day of rejoicing, not of intemperance and frolicking,” the paper read, changing its tone from stern to hopeful. “All party feelings should be laid aside and peace and harmony prevail throughout.” \nMarshals kept order throughout. “Mr. Sleeper,” commander of the artillery, gave a salute “at daybreak” to a flag hung between 50 and 60 feet in the air “on the public square.” This flag had also been prepared by “the ladies.” Chairman of the Committee John Bowlanda and W.A. Gorman arranged each event.\nThe “patriotic flame within (their) bosoms” is still flickering 171 years later, as Bloomington celebrates this July 4 in 2007.
(06/27/07 11:32pm)
Excellence may have a price, but trustee-hopeful Allen Woodhouse doesn’t need to be reminded.\nPlacing direct action ahead of recycled bureaucracy, Woodhouse emphasizes the University’s future without slighting its present and is thus the election’s most progressive and creative candidate. \nHe doesn’t have to cram himself down your throat for you to believe him, either. \nWhile agreeing that Bloomington has a special role in the University system as the flagship campus, he acknowledges it is only the “first among equals” and “there must be no contest between parts of the whole.” He also believes in the power of outside funding to solve budget crises. \n“Tuition increases are not the answer,” Woodhouse said. “This is an especially important ... opportunity for much greater work on private donations.”\nYet Woodhouse’s finest quality is his forthrightness. \nHe doesn’t play it safe with aim-to-please answers when asked about outsourcing plans.\nAlthough many in the University oppose the practice, he asserts “There has been a national bias in higher education (against outsourcing) ... (But) It often generates more university funds and improves service to students.”\nHis most telling answer, however, simplifies the “excellence-versus-affordability” debate: “Money is not always the answer. Teaching and the student should always come first.” Trustees of today, take note.
(06/11/07 4:00am)
Erich Reinhard
(05/10/07 4:00am)
Erich Reinhard
(05/07/07 4:00am)
IDS Cartoon
(05/04/07 4:00am)
Cartoon