112 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(12/04/03 5:00am)
A perfectly tanned, blonde ex-pro-football cheerleader strolls gracefully down a beach in slow-motion, her hair tousled in the sea breeze and her skimpy bathing suit accentuating her toned body. \nThe rest of the commercial goes on to explain that this dazzling beauty, Melana Scantlin, is the unwitting star of NBC's newest reality dating travesty, "Average Joe." This beauty expects to meet her Prince Charming; instead, NBC has set her up to meet the beast.\nThe potential Princes Charming on this dating show are unconventional heroes in this salacious world of television hook-ups. They are not exorbitantly rich. They are not conventionally handsome. They are not stylish. They are, however, bald and overweight. They are "average Joes." \nThrough this newest incarnation of a favorite limb of the reality television monster, pioneered by "The Bachelor" and particularly "Joe Millionaire," NBC suggests it is out to prove even the average guys deserve to get the sexy women once in a while. Beauty is only skin deep; what's on the inside matters most. And anyone who suggests otherwise is vain or shallow.\nThese are all valid sentiments, but "Average Joe" is far from proving them. The advertisements for "Average Joe" are a case in point. They seem to suggest this beautiful woman will have to realize the inner beauty of the men from whom she must divine her soul mate. All the while, the commercials exploit Melana's physical allure in the suggestive Baywatch-esque shots of the bikini-clad beauty walking on the beach.\nNo matter what the outcome of the show, Melana will come out looking shallow for eliminating the less attractive candidates. The hard fact is, however, that to choose a potential partner based, in part, on a level of physical attraction is not shallow. Attraction is a vital component to any romantic relationship, and to ignore this basic human instinct is narrow-minded. \nInner beauty is vastly important, and no matter how attractive someone is initially, perceived outer beauty can fade or augment based on personality and character. However, it is unfair to judge Melana for eliminating those "Joes" to whom she knows she can never be attracted. It is not shallow; it is human nature.\n"Average Joe's" inherent hypocrisy lies in the fact it touts Melana's outer beauty while emphasizing the inner beauty of the potential dates. The fundamental problem with the entire premise is its seeming support of the accepted image of the perfect female. Women must be physically beautiful above all things: above intelligence, above integrity and above personality. The latter traits are, of course, appreciated when present, but only in combination with the requisite beauty. \nThe television sitcom "The King of Queens" provides a good example. Kevin James plays the husband, delivery man Doug Hefferman, a decidedly "average Joe." His wife, played by Leah Remini, is both beautiful and brainy, a "spitfire legal secretary," as the Sony Pictures "King of Queens" Web site describes her. Several episodes revolve around Doug's career troubles and his wife's love for her kind and honest husband, despite his economic failures.\nSuch a situation is a television standard, and NBC has exploited it yet again with "Average Joe." My question is this, however: Why are there no "Average Jane" reality dating shows or sitcoms? If people are supposed to be so selflessly focused on inner beauty, why do men have the honor of being the sole possessors of this admirable attribute?\nIt seems almost ludicrous to think of such a scenario. Let us put 15 middle-aged, overweight, average women on a reality dating show. Let them vie for the affections of a male model or ex-football player. And let us ask ourselves why this suggestion sounds ludicrous when we see television women to do the very same thing every day in reverse.\nThe fact is, people like to watch beautiful people on television. And reality dating shows would not be popular if both the bachelor or bachelorette and the contestants were not easy on the eyes. The presence of Melana's beauty on this show is understandable, but why aren't we talking about her inner beauty, too? \nThe average television viewer gets to experience a world full of average Joes and Janes every day in the real world. Both men and women must look for others' inner and outer beauty in our own quests for love every day. The makers of reality television must realize that they are not portraying "reality" on staged dating shows featuring alpha males and females vying for each other's attention. They are simply selling unrealistic expectations to the real average Joes and Janes.
(12/03/03 10:36pm)
A perfectly tanned, blonde ex-pro-football cheerleader strolls gracefully down a beach in slow-motion, her hair tousled in the sea breeze and her skimpy bathing suit accentuating her toned body. \nThe rest of the commercial goes on to explain that this dazzling beauty, Melana Scantlin, is the unwitting star of NBC's newest reality dating travesty, "Average Joe." This beauty expects to meet her Prince Charming; instead, NBC has set her up to meet the beast.\nThe potential Princes Charming on this dating show are unconventional heroes in this salacious world of television hook-ups. They are not exorbitantly rich. They are not conventionally handsome. They are not stylish. They are, however, bald and overweight. They are "average Joes." \nThrough this newest incarnation of a favorite limb of the reality television monster, pioneered by "The Bachelor" and particularly "Joe Millionaire," NBC suggests it is out to prove even the average guys deserve to get the sexy women once in a while. Beauty is only skin deep; what's on the inside matters most. And anyone who suggests otherwise is vain or shallow.\nThese are all valid sentiments, but "Average Joe" is far from proving them. The advertisements for "Average Joe" are a case in point. They seem to suggest this beautiful woman will have to realize the inner beauty of the men from whom she must divine her soul mate. All the while, the commercials exploit Melana's physical allure in the suggestive Baywatch-esque shots of the bikini-clad beauty walking on the beach.\nNo matter what the outcome of the show, Melana will come out looking shallow for eliminating the less attractive candidates. The hard fact is, however, that to choose a potential partner based, in part, on a level of physical attraction is not shallow. Attraction is a vital component to any romantic relationship, and to ignore this basic human instinct is narrow-minded. \nInner beauty is vastly important, and no matter how attractive someone is initially, perceived outer beauty can fade or augment based on personality and character. However, it is unfair to judge Melana for eliminating those "Joes" to whom she knows she can never be attracted. It is not shallow; it is human nature.\n"Average Joe's" inherent hypocrisy lies in the fact it touts Melana's outer beauty while emphasizing the inner beauty of the potential dates. The fundamental problem with the entire premise is its seeming support of the accepted image of the perfect female. Women must be physically beautiful above all things: above intelligence, above integrity and above personality. The latter traits are, of course, appreciated when present, but only in combination with the requisite beauty. \nThe television sitcom "The King of Queens" provides a good example. Kevin James plays the husband, delivery man Doug Hefferman, a decidedly "average Joe." His wife, played by Leah Remini, is both beautiful and brainy, a "spitfire legal secretary," as the Sony Pictures "King of Queens" Web site describes her. Several episodes revolve around Doug's career troubles and his wife's love for her kind and honest husband, despite his economic failures.\nSuch a situation is a television standard, and NBC has exploited it yet again with "Average Joe." My question is this, however: Why are there no "Average Jane" reality dating shows or sitcoms? If people are supposed to be so selflessly focused on inner beauty, why do men have the honor of being the sole possessors of this admirable attribute?\nIt seems almost ludicrous to think of such a scenario. Let us put 15 middle-aged, overweight, average women on a reality dating show. Let them vie for the affections of a male model or ex-football player. And let us ask ourselves why this suggestion sounds ludicrous when we see television women to do the very same thing every day in reverse.\nThe fact is, people like to watch beautiful people on television. And reality dating shows would not be popular if both the bachelor or bachelorette and the contestants were not easy on the eyes. The presence of Melana's beauty on this show is understandable, but why aren't we talking about her inner beauty, too? \nThe average television viewer gets to experience a world full of average Joes and Janes every day in the real world. Both men and women must look for others' inner and outer beauty in our own quests for love every day. The makers of reality television must realize that they are not portraying "reality" on staged dating shows featuring alpha males and females vying for each other's attention. They are simply selling unrealistic expectations to the real average Joes and Janes.
(10/30/03 5:00am)
The last few years have been rough on national punk rock, with the deaths of Joey and Dee Dee Ramone of the Ramones and Clash front man Joe Strummer. Punk rock is usually associated with electric guitars with lots of energy and lyrics filled with teenaged angst. The original punk bands were made of the first musicians to express anger in their music, IU music professor Andy Hollinden says. \nPunk has existed since the '60s garage-punk predecessors, such as the MC5, The Stooges and the Monks, becoming widely known through the mid-'70s punk revolution of the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. The music went underground with the hardcore of the '80s, touring America's basements and small venues, helping to spawn indie rock movements, says Hollinden, who teaches History of Rock and Roll.\nIn the '90s, punk revived, breaking into the forefront of rock consciousness with the grunge movement and the resurrection of mainstream pop-punk in bands like Green Day. \nOver the decades, punk has split into hybrid forms, such as hardcore, pop-punk, ska-punk, post-punk and several others still popular today.\nBut the deaths of some of punk's founding fathers, interlaced with the splintering of punk into subgenres can leave some wondering: Is punk itself dead?\nSeveral Bloomington residents and students would say no.\n"It ain't even close to dead," Hollinden says.\nIt's the "music of the dispossessed, angry youth," as Hollinden put it. He explains punk's longevity as a result of its ability to express youthful anger. \n"It gives people a voice, a chance to get out there to say what's on their minds," Hollinden says.\nBloomington has been host to a diverse music scene for decades, and punk continues to thrive here despite the closing of several venues in the last few years. The Cellar Lounge closed down in early 2002; Space 101 and Second Story (although recently reopened) each shut their doors within the last couple of years as well. Dave Adicted of local pop-punk band the Nicotones says the closing of Second Story last year was a real downer for the Chuck Talor and safety pinsporting scene.\n"That let a lot of people down. If a punk band came through and they didn't play Rhino's, they played there," Adicted says.\nPossibly the most often-cited of these former venues in terms of the punk scene was Secret Sailor, the alternative bookstore that hosted many free or donation-only punk shows from early 2000 until January 2002. Secret Sailor was a gathering place for people with specific political views, including anti-authoritarian activists, free thinkers, revolutionaries and radicals.\nBloomington punk bands were notorious for rocking the bookstore.\nOne of these bands was the Sissies, who was together from 1998 until the end of 2001, when it played its final show at Secret Sailor. \nFormer Sissies band member and head of local punk label Plan-It-X Records, Chris Clavin, chalks these losses up to simple changes over time in the punk scene. \n"Things always change here, it keeps it interesting," Clavin says. "I do wish we had more venues but they will come back, they always do. Just wait."\nClavin has been involved in the Bloomington punk scene since 1994, playing in several bands which have since broken up, including the Ted Dancin' Machine and Operation: Cliff Clavin in addition to the Sissies. He's currently a member of the Devil is Electric and The Ghose Mice, who are on tour in Europe right now. \nPlan-It-X Records was founded by Sam Dorsett in 1994, and Clavin has been heavily involved with the label since its inception. The Plan-It-X Web site, www.plan-it-x.com, expresses a non-profit policy toward the music business. It reads, "Plan-It-X records is not about making money. We are about getting punk music heard." On the site, Clavin explains that Plan-It-X only charges $5 for each CD it sells, and began by charging only $1 per cassette tape in 1994. \nThis emphasis on a scene that is not heavily profit-driven seems to permeate many accounts of the basement show scene in Bloomington, especially. Even before several of the concert venues closed in the last few years, basement shows have always been an integral part of the Bloomington punk scene. Often, bands will play a show in a friend's basement either free of charge or on a donation-only basis. \n"[Basement shows] are always the most fun," says Adicted, vocalist and guitarist for the Nicotones.\nAdicted says basement shows are more party-ish, and fun to attend with a group of friends. He says the Nicotones, formerly called the Abercrombie Skins, played several shows at a friends' former home, which was then called the Octopus Palace. "They lived there two years, and they did more shows than god," Adicted says.\nThe friendly atmosphere of basement shows might be a little off-putting to people who are not friends with the hosts or the bands, however. Clavin says, "They are intimidating but they are also very fun. I wish kids could get over the intimidating factor. If they could I think they would really enjoy themselves." \nAdicted, too, agrees people should go to shows even if they aren't friends with the band. "We have friends that just come to see us, but you should support your local punk scene," Adicted says.\nRhino's has also become a very important venue for punk bands. Ali Haimson, guitarist for local punk band What the Kids Want and former Sissies band member, emphasizes the importance of having an all-ages venue for punk rock. What the Kids Want only plays all-ages shows. "It's mostly just because all of us, when we were teenagers, we liked to go to shows, and I remember how horrible it is not to be able to go," Haimson says. "Rhino's has become a really awesome place where lots and lots of kids go every weekend."\nRhino's Assistant Director Bob Nugent says the venue hosts around four or five punk shows per month, including both local and national acts. \n"In our lifetime we've had the privilege of having some of the biggest names in punk play here from hardcore punk legends the Bad Brains, the Queers, Earth Crisis and Greg Ginn of Black Flag, to more modern punk acts like Hot Water Music, Alkaline Trio, Tilt, Against Me, The Teen Idols and Thursday."\nAll Rhino's shows cost $5, keeping with the low-cost trend of free or donation-based basement shows. In addition to Rhino's, bands also sometimes play free shows at the on-campus student radio station, WIUS, or at local book stores, Clavin says.\nChristopher Taylor of What the Kids Want says it would also be good for Bloomington to have a venue that "catered to people of all ages, and people who want to drink," in order to have a more inclusive punk scene.
(10/30/03 5:00am)
On Oct. 21, indie folk-rock singer/songwriter Elliott Smith was found dead of a stab wound to the chest in his Los Angeles home. All appearances indicate that it was self-inflicted and intentional.\nPerhaps best known for his Oscar-nominated song "Miss Misery," which appeared on the soundtrack for the 1997 Ben Affleck-Matt Damon film Good Will Hunting, Smith's delicate music and honest lyrics made an indelible impression on anyone who heard them. He was working on his sixth solo album at the time of his death.\nAs violent and horrifying as his end was, fans and friends are not surprised that Smith's tortured life finished tragically. It always seemed a matter of when the fragile artist would submit to the darkness that seemed to permeate his life. Stories abound of his confused and sometimes bizarre actions at his own shows in the last year, from trailing off when speaking between songs to getting into brawls.\nFlaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne commented on one incident. "It really was nothing but sad," Coyne told Billboard.com. "You just sort of saw a guy who had lost control of himself." \nMany of his songs dealt with hard realities of Smith's life, namely drug abuse and depression, and his resulting suicidal thoughts. Smith was sometimes expressive about drug use in songs such as "The White Lady Loves You More," from his 1995 self-titled album. Other songs, such as "Everything Means Nothing to Me," expressed Smith's loneliness. \nHe sang, "Someone found the future as a statue in a fountain at/Attention looking backward in a pool of water wishes with/A blue songbird on his shoulder who keeps singing over everything/ Everything means nothing to me." \nThroughout all of his music, there was an underlying sadness, expressed so poignantly and honestly as to touch the heart of any listener and make one wonder at the amount of sadness in this man's soul when so many people seemed to love him. \nWhatever loneliness Smith felt, the outpouring of love from his fans this week proves that Smith was loved and will be greatly missed. Fans held a memorial service at Central Lawn in New York City's Tompkins Square Park on Sunday. In Los Angeles, hundreds of people left notes, photos and other memorabilia outside the Solutions! speaker repair shop on Sunset Boulevard, which appeared in the album cover art for Smith's 2000 release, Figure 8. Smith's official Web site, www.sweetadeline.net, displayed an obituary and tribute letters while the Web sites for Kill Rock Stars, DreamWorks Records and Suicide Squeeze Records, three labels on which Smith's music has appeared, each put his photo on their main pages.\nLuke Wood of DreamWorks Records was quoted on Billboard.com as saying that Smith's life was "a very beautiful and brutal place, and his songs were that ground in between." Many such statements have been made lately as a requiem for Smith's life, but this is perhaps the most apt and precise expression of the man and the artist. On Oct. 21, the brutality of Smith's life overwhelmed the beauty, leaving the world a darker place for his absence.\nIt seems almost in vogue to be a "tortured" artist. Musicians, poets, painters, actors and writers are expected to be intense, irrational, sensitive and lonely, according to the book Media and Society by John Ryan and William M. Wentworth. Sadness seems to go hand in hand with this conception of a lonely, intense artist with suicide becoming romanticized as almost an extension of artistic self-expression. The dramatic suicides of Shakespeare's plays and the harsh reality of the deaths of Vincent Van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf and, in our generation, Kurt Cobain contribute to this ideal of suicide as an expression of disdain for all things worldly by souls too intense for this world.\nSmith's death, like the deaths of these other artists, was far from poetic, however. The man took a knife and buried it within his own heart, an act so ineffably riddled with self-hatred as to be an unmistakably unambiguous, clearly-focused expression of a loathing for his own life and the world so intense that it could only be quenched by piercing it cruelly and decisively. \nThis was no cry for help, no perverted attempt at high art. This was reality at its most brutal. It has left Smith's fans bewildered and lonely, as the outpouring of love has shown this week. Whether he realized it during his lifetime, the talent and poeticism of Elliott Smith made the world a more beautiful place, and in death his legacy will be this beauty, though the world mourns his too-early absence.
(10/29/03 11:16pm)
On Oct. 21, indie folk-rock singer/songwriter Elliott Smith was found dead of a stab wound to the chest in his Los Angeles home. All appearances indicate that it was self-inflicted and intentional.\nPerhaps best known for his Oscar-nominated song "Miss Misery," which appeared on the soundtrack for the 1997 Ben Affleck-Matt Damon film Good Will Hunting, Smith's delicate music and honest lyrics made an indelible impression on anyone who heard them. He was working on his sixth solo album at the time of his death.\nAs violent and horrifying as his end was, fans and friends are not surprised that Smith's tortured life finished tragically. It always seemed a matter of when the fragile artist would submit to the darkness that seemed to permeate his life. Stories abound of his confused and sometimes bizarre actions at his own shows in the last year, from trailing off when speaking between songs to getting into brawls.\nFlaming Lips lead singer Wayne Coyne commented on one incident. "It really was nothing but sad," Coyne told Billboard.com. "You just sort of saw a guy who had lost control of himself." \nMany of his songs dealt with hard realities of Smith's life, namely drug abuse and depression, and his resulting suicidal thoughts. Smith was sometimes expressive about drug use in songs such as "The White Lady Loves You More," from his 1995 self-titled album. Other songs, such as "Everything Means Nothing to Me," expressed Smith's loneliness. \nHe sang, "Someone found the future as a statue in a fountain at/Attention looking backward in a pool of water wishes with/A blue songbird on his shoulder who keeps singing over everything/ Everything means nothing to me." \nThroughout all of his music, there was an underlying sadness, expressed so poignantly and honestly as to touch the heart of any listener and make one wonder at the amount of sadness in this man's soul when so many people seemed to love him. \nWhatever loneliness Smith felt, the outpouring of love from his fans this week proves that Smith was loved and will be greatly missed. Fans held a memorial service at Central Lawn in New York City's Tompkins Square Park on Sunday. In Los Angeles, hundreds of people left notes, photos and other memorabilia outside the Solutions! speaker repair shop on Sunset Boulevard, which appeared in the album cover art for Smith's 2000 release, Figure 8. Smith's official Web site, www.sweetadeline.net, displayed an obituary and tribute letters while the Web sites for Kill Rock Stars, DreamWorks Records and Suicide Squeeze Records, three labels on which Smith's music has appeared, each put his photo on their main pages.\nLuke Wood of DreamWorks Records was quoted on Billboard.com as saying that Smith's life was "a very beautiful and brutal place, and his songs were that ground in between." Many such statements have been made lately as a requiem for Smith's life, but this is perhaps the most apt and precise expression of the man and the artist. On Oct. 21, the brutality of Smith's life overwhelmed the beauty, leaving the world a darker place for his absence.\nIt seems almost in vogue to be a "tortured" artist. Musicians, poets, painters, actors and writers are expected to be intense, irrational, sensitive and lonely, according to the book Media and Society by John Ryan and William M. Wentworth. Sadness seems to go hand in hand with this conception of a lonely, intense artist with suicide becoming romanticized as almost an extension of artistic self-expression. The dramatic suicides of Shakespeare's plays and the harsh reality of the deaths of Vincent Van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf and, in our generation, Kurt Cobain contribute to this ideal of suicide as an expression of disdain for all things worldly by souls too intense for this world.\nSmith's death, like the deaths of these other artists, was far from poetic, however. The man took a knife and buried it within his own heart, an act so ineffably riddled with self-hatred as to be an unmistakably unambiguous, clearly-focused expression of a loathing for his own life and the world so intense that it could only be quenched by piercing it cruelly and decisively. \nThis was no cry for help, no perverted attempt at high art. This was reality at its most brutal. It has left Smith's fans bewildered and lonely, as the outpouring of love has shown this week. Whether he realized it during his lifetime, the talent and poeticism of Elliott Smith made the world a more beautiful place, and in death his legacy will be this beauty, though the world mourns his too-early absence.
(10/29/03 10:54pm)
The last few years have been rough on national punk rock, with the deaths of Joey and Dee Dee Ramone of the Ramones and Clash front man Joe Strummer. Punk rock is usually associated with electric guitars with lots of energy and lyrics filled with teenaged angst. The original punk bands were made of the first musicians to express anger in their music, IU music professor Andy Hollinden says. \nPunk has existed since the '60s garage-punk predecessors, such as the MC5, The Stooges and the Monks, becoming widely known through the mid-'70s punk revolution of the Ramones and the Sex Pistols. The music went underground with the hardcore of the '80s, touring America's basements and small venues, helping to spawn indie rock movements, says Hollinden, who teaches History of Rock and Roll.\nIn the '90s, punk revived, breaking into the forefront of rock consciousness with the grunge movement and the resurrection of mainstream pop-punk in bands like Green Day. \nOver the decades, punk has split into hybrid forms, such as hardcore, pop-punk, ska-punk, post-punk and several others still popular today.\nBut the deaths of some of punk's founding fathers, interlaced with the splintering of punk into subgenres can leave some wondering: Is punk itself dead?\nSeveral Bloomington residents and students would say no.\n"It ain't even close to dead," Hollinden says.\nIt's the "music of the dispossessed, angry youth," as Hollinden put it. He explains punk's longevity as a result of its ability to express youthful anger. \n"It gives people a voice, a chance to get out there to say what's on their minds," Hollinden says.\nBloomington has been host to a diverse music scene for decades, and punk continues to thrive here despite the closing of several venues in the last few years. The Cellar Lounge closed down in early 2002; Space 101 and Second Story (although recently reopened) each shut their doors within the last couple of years as well. Dave Adicted of local pop-punk band the Nicotones says the closing of Second Story last year was a real downer for the Chuck Talor and safety pinsporting scene.\n"That let a lot of people down. If a punk band came through and they didn't play Rhino's, they played there," Adicted says.\nPossibly the most often-cited of these former venues in terms of the punk scene was Secret Sailor, the alternative bookstore that hosted many free or donation-only punk shows from early 2000 until January 2002. Secret Sailor was a gathering place for people with specific political views, including anti-authoritarian activists, free thinkers, revolutionaries and radicals.\nBloomington punk bands were notorious for rocking the bookstore.\nOne of these bands was the Sissies, who was together from 1998 until the end of 2001, when it played its final show at Secret Sailor. \nFormer Sissies band member and head of local punk label Plan-It-X Records, Chris Clavin, chalks these losses up to simple changes over time in the punk scene. \n"Things always change here, it keeps it interesting," Clavin says. "I do wish we had more venues but they will come back, they always do. Just wait."\nClavin has been involved in the Bloomington punk scene since 1994, playing in several bands which have since broken up, including the Ted Dancin' Machine and Operation: Cliff Clavin in addition to the Sissies. He's currently a member of the Devil is Electric and The Ghose Mice, who are on tour in Europe right now. \nPlan-It-X Records was founded by Sam Dorsett in 1994, and Clavin has been heavily involved with the label since its inception. The Plan-It-X Web site, www.plan-it-x.com, expresses a non-profit policy toward the music business. It reads, "Plan-It-X records is not about making money. We are about getting punk music heard." On the site, Clavin explains that Plan-It-X only charges $5 for each CD it sells, and began by charging only $1 per cassette tape in 1994. \nThis emphasis on a scene that is not heavily profit-driven seems to permeate many accounts of the basement show scene in Bloomington, especially. Even before several of the concert venues closed in the last few years, basement shows have always been an integral part of the Bloomington punk scene. Often, bands will play a show in a friend's basement either free of charge or on a donation-only basis. \n"[Basement shows] are always the most fun," says Adicted, vocalist and guitarist for the Nicotones.\nAdicted says basement shows are more party-ish, and fun to attend with a group of friends. He says the Nicotones, formerly called the Abercrombie Skins, played several shows at a friends' former home, which was then called the Octopus Palace. "They lived there two years, and they did more shows than god," Adicted says.\nThe friendly atmosphere of basement shows might be a little off-putting to people who are not friends with the hosts or the bands, however. Clavin says, "They are intimidating but they are also very fun. I wish kids could get over the intimidating factor. If they could I think they would really enjoy themselves." \nAdicted, too, agrees people should go to shows even if they aren't friends with the band. "We have friends that just come to see us, but you should support your local punk scene," Adicted says.\nRhino's has also become a very important venue for punk bands. Ali Haimson, guitarist for local punk band What the Kids Want and former Sissies band member, emphasizes the importance of having an all-ages venue for punk rock. What the Kids Want only plays all-ages shows. "It's mostly just because all of us, when we were teenagers, we liked to go to shows, and I remember how horrible it is not to be able to go," Haimson says. "Rhino's has become a really awesome place where lots and lots of kids go every weekend."\nRhino's Assistant Director Bob Nugent says the venue hosts around four or five punk shows per month, including both local and national acts. \n"In our lifetime we've had the privilege of having some of the biggest names in punk play here from hardcore punk legends the Bad Brains, the Queers, Earth Crisis and Greg Ginn of Black Flag, to more modern punk acts like Hot Water Music, Alkaline Trio, Tilt, Against Me, The Teen Idols and Thursday."\nAll Rhino's shows cost $5, keeping with the low-cost trend of free or donation-based basement shows. In addition to Rhino's, bands also sometimes play free shows at the on-campus student radio station, WIUS, or at local book stores, Clavin says.\nChristopher Taylor of What the Kids Want says it would also be good for Bloomington to have a venue that "catered to people of all ages, and people who want to drink," in order to have a more inclusive punk scene.
(10/23/03 4:00am)
After taking some time off following tours for their last album and a serious injury to drummer Neil Primrose, Scottish pop sensations Travis are back with their newest LP, 12 Memories. With this, their fourth album, the Glaswegian lads have made a welcome return to the darker themes and moods of their seminal sophomore release The Man Who and move away from the simpler tunes of third album The Invisible Band. \nThe title of the LP seems to imply introspective lyrics about memories, but some of the songs don't quite fit this expectation as Travis begins to wax political. For example, "Peace the F--- Out" carries messages of individual empowerment while "Re-Offender" narrates a situation of domestic violence. \nMore interesting, however, are the intricate instrumentation of "Walking Down the Hill" and the catchy melody of "Love Will Come Through," a song that also appeared on the soundtrack for the 2002 Dustin Hoffman-Susan Sarandon film Moonlight Mile.\n12 Memories is a mature step forward for Travis. While The Invisible Band was not exactly a misstep, this newest release seems to be a more cohesive and complete album. It explores more serious and socially-minded lyrical themes and continues the band's evolution from their rough early days to higher musical sophistication.
(10/22/03 11:50pm)
After taking some time off following tours for their last album and a serious injury to drummer Neil Primrose, Scottish pop sensations Travis are back with their newest LP, 12 Memories. With this, their fourth album, the Glaswegian lads have made a welcome return to the darker themes and moods of their seminal sophomore release The Man Who and move away from the simpler tunes of third album The Invisible Band. \nThe title of the LP seems to imply introspective lyrics about memories, but some of the songs don't quite fit this expectation as Travis begins to wax political. For example, "Peace the F--- Out" carries messages of individual empowerment while "Re-Offender" narrates a situation of domestic violence. \nMore interesting, however, are the intricate instrumentation of "Walking Down the Hill" and the catchy melody of "Love Will Come Through," a song that also appeared on the soundtrack for the 2002 Dustin Hoffman-Susan Sarandon film Moonlight Mile.\n12 Memories is a mature step forward for Travis. While The Invisible Band was not exactly a misstep, this newest release seems to be a more cohesive and complete album. It explores more serious and socially-minded lyrical themes and continues the band's evolution from their rough early days to higher musical sophistication.
(10/16/03 4:00am)
Belle & Sebastian, the most beloved of Scottish indie bands, have just released their newest album of sweet, delicate pop tunes. Dear Catastrophe Waitress presents a pleasant '60s pop feel with the surprisingly straightforward, sometimes depressing and always clever lyrics that have become Belle & Sebastian's trademark. \nThat said, Dear Catastrophe Waitress does not see much innovation beyond the band's earlier work. The album begins with weaker songs, except for the snappy opener "Step Into My Office, Baby." Yet, skipping past the disappointing title track, the album begins to gain momentum. Accompaniment varies from the simple acoustic guitar of "Piazza, New York Catcher" to the delicate strings of "Lord Albert." Other highlights include the catchy "Wrapped Up In Books" and "If You Find Yourself Caught in Love," both of which could easily have appeared on the band's earlier albums. Belle & Sebastian tiptoe past their gentle pop formula on "Roy Walker," with its American folk feel, and "Stay Loose," which uses an organ and some electronica.\nAlthough Dear Catastrophe Waitress does not quite measure up to Belle & Sebastian's trailblazing early albums, Tigermilk and If You're Feeling Sinister, its sweet poppy melodies and intelligent lyrics still make it better than most pop music today.
(10/15/03 10:17pm)
Belle & Sebastian, the most beloved of Scottish indie bands, have just released their newest album of sweet, delicate pop tunes. Dear Catastrophe Waitress presents a pleasant '60s pop feel with the surprisingly straightforward, sometimes depressing and always clever lyrics that have become Belle & Sebastian's trademark. \nThat said, Dear Catastrophe Waitress does not see much innovation beyond the band's earlier work. The album begins with weaker songs, except for the snappy opener "Step Into My Office, Baby." Yet, skipping past the disappointing title track, the album begins to gain momentum. Accompaniment varies from the simple acoustic guitar of "Piazza, New York Catcher" to the delicate strings of "Lord Albert." Other highlights include the catchy "Wrapped Up In Books" and "If You Find Yourself Caught in Love," both of which could easily have appeared on the band's earlier albums. Belle & Sebastian tiptoe past their gentle pop formula on "Roy Walker," with its American folk feel, and "Stay Loose," which uses an organ and some electronica.\nAlthough Dear Catastrophe Waitress does not quite measure up to Belle & Sebastian's trailblazing early albums, Tigermilk and If You're Feeling Sinister, its sweet poppy melodies and intelligent lyrics still make it better than most pop music today.
(07/31/03 12:56am)
FRANKFURT, Germany -- It sounds like every child's dream: only four-and-a-half hours of school a day, no attendance taken, a free day if a teacher is sick, no punishment for playing hooky.\nBut this is no dream, as Germans have suddenly awakened to discover; it's the sorry state of their schools.\nGermany's education system, like its economy, was once considered the pride of Europe. Worries about the stagnating economy have recently preoccupied Germans, and now they are realizing their schools are also in trouble.\nThings have gotten so bad that not only parents are complaining. Even some high school students grumble that it's hard to take school seriously.\nThe system reaped praise after World War II for turning out fine shipbuilders and metalworkers. But such vocational training is out of step with the modern and more flexible needs of service-oriented or technical professions.\nAlso, a 1950s era assumption that mothers are home afternoons to help their children with homework has ceased to hold true as German women enter the work force. So instead of learning after school, many kids are goofing off or getting into trouble.\nThe real wake-up call came last year when an international test of 15-year-old ranked Germany 21st out of 32 leading industrialized nations in reading, mathematics and science.\nSouth Korea, Japan and Finland led in all three fields of the Program for International Student Assessment test in 2000, conducted every three years by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. U.S. students came in 15th.\nChancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government has responded by pledging $4 billion over the next five years to create all-day programs for elementary and secondary schools, improve teacher training and revamp classwork to encourage skills instead of rote learning.\nSchroeder, whose wife, Doris Schroeder-Koepf, spends afternoons helping her 11-year-old daughter, Klara, with homework, wants 10,000 more schools to offer extra hours. Currently there are 1,800 -- just 6 percent of the total.\nThe Meisterschule in the blue-collar Frankfurt neighborhood of Sindlingen has offered afternoon classes in art, music and sports, as well as tutoring, since the 1970s.\n"We felt the children needed more time together with their teachers, more time to really concentrate on learning and encourage their development," Principal Waltraud Schrader said.
(11/03/00 4:41am)
Six panelists discussing diversity in politics Wednesday night gave their support to Vice President Al Gore. The other two gave their support to Green party candidate Ralph Nader. They all expressed their discomfort with Gov. George W. Bush. \nThe Everest Organization, a new student-run group, brought together the eight panelists for a presidential election diversity symposium. The panel included representatives from Latinos Unidos, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Support Services, Asian American Student Association, Hillel Center, Committee for Peace in the Middle East and IU Campus Greens. The event, held in the Whittenberger Auditorium, attracted about 20 people.\nLaw Professor Kevin Brown facilitated the event. He said this year's election will be one of the closest in recent history. He asked the panel what issues are important to the minority groups the Republicans and Democrats are courting.\n"(This panel is comprised of) a number of people who will clarify what this election means to their constituents," he said.\nSix out of the eight panelists said they supported Al Gore for president. The other two panelists supported Ralph Nader.\n"As a feminist, as a lesbian, as a former union organizer, I don't like any of the candidates," said Helen Harrell, faculty adviser for OUT, IU's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender student union. "If I thought Nader had a chance I would vote for him. I will vote for Gore because Bush is the least desirable candidate."\nThe panelists said Bush was far from anyone's ideal. \n"I personally would want to get out of this country (if Bush became president)," said Julie Thomas, a visiting lecturer in the gender studies department.\n"I just can't imagine what would happen," said Meisha Walker, a sophomore and programming chair for the Black Student Union. \nRabbi Sue Shifron, director of the Hillel Center said, "It would scare me to have Bush in the White House. Gore is the better alternative."\nBrown asked the panelists questions that covered many of the important issues in the election. He covered issues from religion and affirmative action to military funding and international affairs.\nThe panelists said they were frustrated at the way religion is often associated with politics.\n"Religion actually divides a population rather than bringing it together," Harrell said. "There has always been a freedom for religion in this country, not necessarily a freedom of religion."\nShifron said a state holiday called Jesus Day was created in Texas during Bush's time as governor. \n"I think (the holiday) is offensive not only to non-Christian groups but to Christians as well, mostly because it trivializes their religion," she said.\nOther issues were discussed including the appointment of Supreme Court justices. This year's presidential election is especially important, the panelists said, because of the influence the president will have on the appointment of new justices. \nSamson Chan, chair of the Asian Student Union, said it was important to realize the next president could appoint three to five justices. \n"Who is appointed will affect affirmative action, racial profiling and other Supreme Court issues," he said.\n Panelists said they were unhappy with the idea of education under the Bush administration. Thomas discussed Bush's support of a school voucher system and said he disliked the idea that with school vouchers anyone could open a school and get public funds.\n "The most important thing is that you find out about the candidates, do your own research, ask your own questions, find your own answers," Chan said.\nPhil Metres, a graduate student representing the Committee for Peace in the Middle East, wrapped up the night with a call to action. \n"I thought politics was boring when I was younger, but I have come to think differently," he said. "To make yourself into a political animal is a beautiful thing"
(11/02/00 4:46am)
Weightlifting, running, being captain of the cheerleading squad and attending cheerleading practices were all part of the norm in senior Todd Eager's life. He was in the best physical shape he had ever been in, but then unexpectedly, he was struck down in his prime last summer.\nEager's mother took him to his hometown hospital in Fort Wayne June 6, because he had a severe headache, dizziness, a fever, bloodshot eyes and he could barely breathe. \nHe was suffering from a rare illness called menningococcemia, which is a blood bacteria that causes blood to become toxic. \nThe hospital held him overnight and by the second day, two helicopters were flown there from Ann Arbor, Mich. to take him to the University of Michigan Hospital. Eager said he went into septic shock, when the vessels and veins dilate and the pressure drops causing the body to shut down. His liver quit working and his kidneys and lungs failed. \nBut Eager's heart never failed.\n"If they hadn't got there when they did, I wouldn't have made it another half hour or 20 minutes," Eager said.\nThe University of Michigan Hospital is one of three hospitals in the nation to have an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation machine, which is a portable lung and heart bypass machine, Eager said. \nEager's friend and roommate, junior Matt Money, said that once Eager was at Ann Arbor, he was on life support, and there was a 95 percent chance that he would die. Money said he called to check on him several times throughout the summer.\nDr. Robert Bartlett treated Eager at U of M, and he has become close to the Eager family, Eager said. Bartlett invited Eager and his family to dinner at his house with his family during the Oct. 14 Michigan football game against IU.\n"We keep in touch," Eager said. "I have blood work done every week and it's faxed to him because he wants to keep up with my stats."\nHe was released from the hospital July 10 and went home to Fort Wayne where he began physical therapy. By the time the school year began, he was in good enough health to attend classes.\n"He is a lot thinner now and he gets tired really easily, so he sleeps a lot," Money said. "People are always sending him cards and stopping by to see how he is doing."\nHis doctors believe he survived because of his muscle mass, and since he was in shape, he had enough energy to fight it, Eager said.\n"I still don't feel like myself yet, and I probably won't the rest of the year," Eager said. "This is a slow process."\nHis parents and two brothers were always there to support him, said freshman Kelly Miller, his friend and former cheerleading partner.\n"His mom was an angel," Miller said. "She was a nurse herself, so she was always making him drink protein drinks and babied him all the time."\nEager said one never knows how much family, friends and teammates matter until one has an experience like this.\n"I will never be able to tell (Miller) thanks enough, because there aren't words," Eager said. "She drove from Elkhart, Ind., about once a week and was with me at my worst. She is a very special person." \nEager now attends cheerleading practices and has accomplished one of the goals he set for himself -- to run the flag out at the IU-Michigan game.\n"Some other goals I have are to work out when I can and to push myself and try to get strong again as well as to run better and more easily," Eager said. "I want to show my family and doctors that I will beat the odds and be ahead of schedule in the recovery process."\nMiller said she is impressed with how he has stayed positive throughout the summer and how his health has improved.\n"I knew if the doctors could get him over the first hurdle that he would be fine, because he is the strongest person I know," Miller said.\nEager said he has realized that people shouldn't take anything for granted.\n"I learned no task is too small and should not be taken lightly -- like taking a shower or combing your hair," he said.\nEager is a biology major, but he is unsure with what he wants to do with his life, he said.\n"God has a plan for me or I would not be here," he said. "I don't know if I will be led to continue in a medical career or to teach at a high school since I love kids, but I am not really sure."\nHe said this last year was tough, but it was one of life's lessons.\n"My advice is to never pass off flu symptoms," Eager said. "It is not worth taking a chance"
(10/27/00 6:36am)
Several students are registering for next semester's classes on the Web using a pilot program that will run until Nov. 17. The purpose of the project is to see if it is ready to be implemented for all students.\nAssociate registrar Roland Cote said nearly 3,000 students from the Kelley School of Business' MBA program, residents of Willkie Quad and students in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation were selected to participate.\nCote said students were chosen from a wide base.\n"We also wanted a defined group that would include a broad population ranging from the sophomore level through the doctoral level," Cote said. "Willkie students were selected because our data indicate that it is the residence center with the highest percentage of students who own PCs. This will help to determine whether students who have PCs at their residence are likely to register from that location or not."\nCote said the project would give them a chance to determine what the impact on public computing facilities might be if all students were allowed to register via the Web.\n"We will be sensitive to the need that some individuals may have for face-to-face interaction and assistance," Cote said. "We must also be aware of accessibility issues, particularly where certain disabilities preclude an individual from using this type of remote facility."\nBut Cote said registering on the Web would help out students.\n"The Web is maturing into a reliable and respected medium for conducting important business," Cote said. "We believe that the convenience offered by the introduction of the Web is a tremendous benefit to the students."\nUniversity Information Technology Services worked jointly with the office of the Registrar on the project. Robert Reynolds, senior software analyst for UITS, said they began focusing seriously on the project in July.\n"The Registrar is in contact with students everyday, so they know what students need," Reynolds said. "We handle technical expertise, so it was important to mesh the two and we were able to meet our goals to have it ready for a pilot."\nThe current student registration system runs on IU's mainframe, called IUIS. To make registration on the Web possible, Reynolds said IU purchased a java program from ResQNet, Inc. in New York.\n"This java program runs on a Web server and is able to translate between the HTML language of the Web browser and the native language of the mainframe," Reynolds said. "The goal of the pilot project is to test the feasibility of making mainframe registration available over the Web, while IU works on the new PeopleSoft student system."\nCote said they will determine the success of the pilot by conducting an analysis of student interaction with registering on the Web, and collecting information and comments from students as they complete the registration process.\n"We will evaluate the nature and frequency of the requests for assistance that we receive during the pilot, and we will evaluate the impact of registration on the Web on existing computing facilities," Cote said. "We hope that if this pilot is successful, and if the modifications required to make it work successfully are minor, that this opportunity will be extended to all students who register in April for the fall."\nFreshman Kristen Da Rosa said she would like online registration to be available to all students.\n"I think it is a great idea," Da Rosa said. "It would be a lot easier and so much more convenient"
(10/25/00 4:36am)
Since 1996, reported incidents of racism against Asians have risen by nine percentage points, according to the Racial Incidents Team report. \nAt the same time, incidents against Asian Americans have decreased by four percentage points. Daisy Rodriguez, a graduate student, said these incidents merit discussion, which is what she wants to do with the Responding to Incidents of Casual and Everyday Racism (RICER) Project.\n"We believe there's a need for this kind of thing, and we don't want students to feel isolated," said Rodriguez, who came up with the idea for the project and wrote a grant proposal that brought in funding from NAFSA: Association of International Educators.\nThe RICER Project started this semester and meets from noon to 1:30 p.m. every Tuesday at the Asian Culture Center. Participants meet to share personal experiences with racism, empower themselves to initiate dialogue on race and civility and discuss ways to identify, cope with and confront racism, Rodriguez said. She said the project will go on next semester with or without funding from NAFSA.\nAndrew Shih, a junior, has attended every session. He said he started going because he felt it would be a good place to voice his opinion and contribute to discussion. \n"To be honest, I haven't really experienced any sort of racism here on campus," Shih said. "I'm sure I've been stereotyped, but I don't think that was on purpose. Sometimes people are ignorant when it comes to other cultures."\nThe group begins by discussing reported incidents of racism on campus and the discussion is then opened up to personal experiences, Rodriguez said. The groups have consisted of about seven people each week. Rodriguez said she likes the small-group atmosphere and does not want the groups to be bigger than 10 people.\nA member of the Racial Incidents Team is present at every meeting, by request of Rodriguez and Melanie Castillo-Cullather, director of the Asian Culture Center. There is also a counselor and someone from international services.\nBill Shipton, co-chair of the Racial Incidents Team, has attended the RICER Project.\n"We're not there to take notes," Shipton said of the Racial Incidents Team's involvement in the meetings. "We're on hand for students, to make it easier for them to report incidents if they want to."\nThe team deals with harassment or racism based on race, religion and national origin, Shipton said. It provides a place where students can go to report incidents and get help dealing with them, he said.\nRodriguez said she wanted to create a program for students who had been targeted by racism or stereotypes. She said she thinks that too often students ignore racist comments or actions, and they think it is OK for other people to treat them as a stereotype. \n"Students do not deserve to be stereotyped and accept these assumptions as normal," she said. "I want to help prepare people to live in this world and be aware of who they are and proud of who they are."\nShih and Rodriguez said they have hope for what the RICER Project can do to improve conditions at IU. \n"I think, given time, this project will become huge," Shih said. "I think that once it is in full swing, it will make a huge difference on the IU campus"
(10/20/00 5:52am)
Around campus, many students are paying attention -- at least a little -- to the presidential debates and other election coverage in the media.\nBut the students in professor Gerald Wright's Y200 class are absorbed in it.\nThe class, an introduction to voting, campaigns and governing, is placing a special emphasis on the upcoming 2000 presidential election. The course offered through the political science department gives students a unique insight into the political process and equips them with the knowledge to make an educated vote.\n"We use the lens of 2000 to get a deeper understanding of what government and politics are about in this society," Wright said. "I want my students to have a deep and critical understanding of the election process."\nTo attain that understanding, the course must be somewhat strenuous. The class format allows students to discuss their views on different aspects of the election. Small group work, guest speakers, video clips and short films are also incorporated in the curriculum. While there are several assignments, exams and the requirement to keep up with what goes on in the debates and polls, many students in the class say the effort and time they expend is well worth what they are learning about politics.\n"We learn the little things, the nuances between the parties that really help clarify what each candidate stands for," said senior Denise Roe, who is a Y200 student. "I'm glad I'm taking the class. It's interesting, and it's nice to look forward to coming to a class every day."\nRoe said the class helped shape her choice for president.\n"Before this class started, I knew I was going to vote, and I thought I was going to vote for Gore," she said. "But I wrote a paper for this class on Nader and then I changed my mind. He really doesn't have a shot, but if he gets 5 percent, that will help the Green Party."\nBy getting so much exposure to the campaign coverage, students in the class learn to analyze the way politicians get their votes.\n"I am learning how much candidates influence the voters," said sophomore Christie Fortney. "They try to get votes any way they can, so it is difficult to figure out what they really stand for because they just want to win." \nFortney said the class has helped shape her views of the candidates.\n"I was very Democratic before I started this class, but I realized I didn't know enough about (how) the whole thing works," she said. "Both candidates are pretty moderate, and what we have discussed in class has really made me change the way I look at the election."\nThe class stresses the importance of being an educated voter. The aim is for each student to come away from the course equipped with enough knowledge to make a confident vote. \n"We want them to have a certain sophistication about how the election and politics work and politicians try to get their votes," said associate instructor John Summers. "It's a civil education. Students will come away from the course with a way to be good citizens and an understanding of the importance of democracy and the actual choices that we all have"
(10/18/00 6:52am)
It's 4 p.m. Women wearing snug black pants with flared legs wander into the Gladstein Fieldhouse in groups of two and three, joining the rest of the group in a jumble on the floor. As more women file in, the noise level in the fieldhouse rises and the reverberation of the echo makes the chatter nearly indecipherable. \n"Alpha block, please!" says Janis Cooper Parker, Redsteppers' coach, addressing the dancers. The women switch on a tape and begin to stretch and twist themselves into contortions resembling pretzels, warming up to a Dave Matthews Band song.\nBut the mellow music doesn't play for long -- after a few minutes, a tape of the Marching Hundred's music is slipped into the player, and the Redsteppers come to life. Their moves are swift and completely in unison. After watching for a while, it seems they become one unit rather than 22 separate dancers.\nThe Redsteppers have been busy practicing a new dance for this weekend's Homecoming game, when they will perform with the Marching Hundred.\n"I think Homecoming is a time where the fans come out and really show their support," said Redstepper Laura Coulter, a freshman. "It is also a time where students can come out and show their pride in the University. I think we help the football team by showing our support. We excite the fans, which in turn gets the players fired up."\nThe Redsteppers are an auxiliary section of the Marching Hundred. Each week, they learn a new dance routine to perform at the pre-game and half-time shows of every home football game. When the Redsteppers are not performing, they stand in the loudest cheering section in the stadium.\n"We never sit down during the entire game," Cooper Parker said. "Our chants and cheers are much appreciated by the team, as pointed out to us by head coach Cam Cameron. Our support is particularly felt each year when we travel to one away game."\nThis year the Marching Hundred traveled to Northwestern with the team. Despite the loss, the Redsteppers continue to offer their support to the team. \n"The Marching Hundred has built a wonderful relationship with the football team in the last four years," said senior Annie Neuendorf, captain and four-year Redstepper. "Cam Cameron has invited us numerous times to perform for the football team before a game, and the team seems to really enjoy it. Although they cannot watch us during halftime, they are always very thankful for our support. School spirit is such an easy gratification; not only is it fun to dance and support the team, but also to be involved in as much of this college experience as possible."\nMany Redsteppers said a nostalgic feeling overcomes them while on the field.\n"After four years of being a Redstepper, I can dance the school song in my sleep, yet I still get nervous at the beginning of every game," Neuendorf said. "It is a complete adrenaline rush to have 300 band members playing the school song behind me and when I look around the crowd, all I can do is smile and sometimes laugh at all the things football fans will do"
(10/17/00 4:43am)
It's midterm week at IU. But if anyone went to the IU Auditorium Sunday night stressed about grades or exams, they didn't leave feeling the same way. They heeded Wyclef's words of wisdom.\nIt doesn't matter.\nUnion Board brought MTV's Campus Invasion Tour to Bloomington, showcasing Black-Eyed Peas, De La Soul and Wyclef Jean. Black-Eyed Peas kicked off the show with a high-energy, bass-bumping set. The group opened their set with "Bringin' It Back," instantly getting the crowd on their feet. \nThey're not incredibly well-known, but they had no trouble getting the energy flowing in the auditorium. The group took a slightly jazzy switch with "Joints and Jam," a song that made one want to snap one's fingers rather than throw one's hands up. Not letting things settle down for long, they launched into another beat, complete with breakdancing by all three group members -- undoubtedly the highlight of their set. They closed with "Weekend," the first single from their recently released sophomore album and threw several tapes and cassettes out into the audience.\nDe La Soul took the stage next, and, while it maintained their energy level in the crowd, it was disappointing in comparison to the Peas. While they do get some credit for keeping the audience involved throughout their set -- dividing the audience into halves and using each sides' noise level to decide "where the party was" -- their sound was a little garbled and nearly impossible to understand at times. \nThe most well-received song was probably "Oooh," the band's newest single; because of radio-airplay, the audience sang along here and there. It took the audience "way back in the century" with "Me, Myself, and I," probably the biggest hit off its first album Three Feet High and Rising and picked up its set a little bit with "Stakes Is High," but it still seemed a little tired and just slightly past their prime. \nBut it doesn't matter.\nAfter a brief intermission, music again began to play. The crowd got excited but still had to wait a little longer for Wyclef -- he built anticipation with a show-off, shirt-stripping DJ spinning popular hip-hop songs and a video featuring Wyclef on a refugee raft declaring "I'm gonna' take over." The movie stopped, and Wyclef burst through the screen -- at long last. He started off with "No Woman, No Cry," an acoustic Marley cover that first appeared on the Fugees' The Score. \nHe mellowed out the crowd but immediately got them dancing around to a Fugees medley, encouraging them to sing Lauryn Hill's vocal parts and warming them up to songs they knew by heart. He did part of a new song, "Where Fugees At?" rapping about the "bling-bling," then abruptly stopping and starting "It Doesn't Matter." Both these songs are from his new album, The Ecleftic, 2 Sides II a Book, which was what he was supposed to be promoting. \nBut it doesn't matter.\nClef didn't seem to care about selling records. He didn't seem concerned with talking up the new album or any selfish causes. The show was full of feel-good moments, including one where he praised his brother for trading in his job as a drug-dealer for a more reputable management position. Wyclef promised students stress relief; and he made good on his word. The show started off similar to other concerts, but once Wyclef got warmed up things started changing. His most well-known song, "Gone 'til November," had been given a face-lift. Instead of being "Gone 'til November," Clef sang that he'd be "Smokin' til November." OK, slightly risque, but who cares? \nIt doesn't matter. Stress relief, right? \nWyclef briefly turned the stage over to his sister, Melky Sedeck, who wowed the audience with a bit of a capella gospel. But Clef wasn't gone for long. He returned and upped the energy level another notch by addressing security. "Let me tell you guys something," he said. "I was a security guard once, too, and you guys ain't makin' no money. You're workin' for me." \nIn an effort to combat the ridiculously inappropriate venue, he then told everyone to get as close as they could to the stage. "They told me to be intimate," he said, "and y'all was just too far away." After a few more songs, Wyclef announced it was past his curfew and he had to leave, but after obvious disappointment from the crowd, he got a half-hour extension from the promoter. \nNext he played "911," which he dubbed the "official" college sex song. The song was sweet and slow, but, of course, he didn't let things stay this way for long. He did a snippet of a cover of Naughty By Nature's "OPP" before stopping the music altogether and instead having a dance contest with members of the audience. Clef didn't hesitate to get down with the competitors, several of whom he danced with and one of whom he took quite a liking to. \nSecurity and the auditorium staff were getting a little uncomfortable at this point, screaming at people to get off chairs (which lasted for all of 2 seconds, until they turned their backs) and back away from the stage. It's impossible to be sure, but it seemed that maybe Clef was encouraged to end his show (the dance contest ended abruptly). Maybe so.\nBut it doesn't matter.\nWyclef ended the show with "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," encouraging unity and peace among the human race. Whether he was forced to end his set or not, Clef did what he came to do. He promised some surprises, and he promised to de-stress the students. He did that and more. For a few hours, students put the stress of midterms, papers and whatever else was on their minds on the back burner. So maybe a few of the chairs in the auditorium have footprints on them.\nIt doesn't matter.
(10/13/00 3:29am)
For Wyclef Jean, life seems to be all about moving up in the world. Formerly one-third of The Fugees, the hip-hop visionary is now promoting his successful solo career as well as taking on many extracurricular projects, including his new record label, Clef Records.\n"You can see the maturity and the growth of Wyclef, and it's just the the next level," he told MTV in September. "All I keep doing is bringing it up to new levels and levels."\nPart of Wyclef's growth included the release of his second solo effort, The Ecleftic -- Two Sides II A Book. \nAn MTV Campus Invasion Tour promoting his new album will sweep though the IU Auditorium 7:30 p.m. Sunday. For the first time, MTV has added hip-hop flavor to the typically rock-based concert, with Wyclef headlining and the Black-Eyed Peas and De La Soul in the mix as well. \n"I'm the King of Colleges," Wyclef said. "There's not a college I haven't invaded. MTV is going to get the most craziest footage. There ain't nothing like a bunch of college kids -- they're stressed out, and they need a concert, so we're going to bring it to them."\nUnion Board booked the tour, spicing up the entertainment scene on campus by adding something a little funkier than usual.\n"It's definitely a different direction for the local music scene," said junior Vaughn Allen, Union Board public relations director. "It was a challenge to pull together. But it's worthwhile to have the artistic variety of this caliber."\nWyclef promises an unforgettable show. \n"For 'Smoking Grooves' I came out with a lion called Simba," he said. "That was two years ago. It was this gigantic lion that freaked everybody out. So for this tour, I ain't saying that I'm bringing out any wild animals on the stage, but anything can happen." \nWyclef "Clef" Jean, the son of a minister, was born in Haiti but moved to New York at age 9. In high school, he began performing with his cousins as the rap group Tranzlater Crew, later called The Fugees. Aside from a successful rapping career and guitar playing skills, Wyclef has also produced songs and albums for many artists, such as Whitney Houston and Carlos Santana. With his newly acquired record label, he will preside over, sign and produce new talent.\nBack in 1997, Wyclef released his first solo album, The Carnival. The album, though well received by critics and fans, seemed only to throw fuel on the fire of The Fugees' demise. With solo records from Wyclef and Lauren Hill, the group slowly disintegrated, and while they still claim to be a band, provocative lyrics and recent legal battles may have ruined the chance for another record. \nWhile their fate is still up in the air, Wyclef has continued to pursue his solo career. Three years later he has put out his sophomore effort, The Ecleftic. \n"What I wanted to do with Ecleftic is touch base once again," he said. " I wanted to go back to my hip-hop formula, but bring a whole lot of music with it. So this is the next level of Wyclef."\nA self-proclaimed "prodigy from the hood," Wyclef is all about "next levels." His second album has been nearly as commercially successful as the first. \nIt's also garnered critical acclaim.\n"Clef's second solo album is the most pleasingly direct yet musically adventurous hip-hop long-player you're likely to hear all year," said Rolling Stone.\nBillboard Magazine also praised Wyclef's sophomore release. \n"Throughout, Jean appears to be an open book with many chapters," said the Billboard review. "The Ecleftic is full of many surprising guest stars, including Kenny Rogers, WWF superstar The Rock and Mary J. Blige. Although not as cohesive as Carnival, his second release spins a compelling tale of a hip-hop superstar who defies convention."\nStaff writer Joseph S. Pete contributed to this story.
(10/06/00 6:15am)
IU banned Napster for a second time April 20 after the University was threatened with a lawsuit from the heavy metal group Metallica. Now Georgia Tech has decided not to ban Napster, because university officials feel a ban would be impractical. "At a university like Georgia Tech, such a solution is impractical. Further, even if we found a temporary method, our students are bright enough to find ways around it," according to a statement released by Georgia Tech.\nBut IU officials said Napster will continue to be off-limits.\nSenior Matt Cramer said he agrees with Georgia Tech's decision.\n"Right now I do not see anything wrong with sharing files, so I don't think (Napster) should have been banned," Cramer said. \nChristopher Simpson, IU vice president for public affairs and government relations, said Napster was banned for legal reasons.\n"There are technical legal ramifications of having a site like Napster up, and these are still unclear," Simpson said. "The courts will decide this and everyone is watching with great interest."\nHe said the focus is not on the intelligence of the students.\n"It is not an issue about the smartness of the students, because ours are among the brightest in the world," Simpson said.\nMark Bruhn, information technology policy officer for University Information Technology Services, said he agrees with Georgia Tech's assessment because blocking any application is impractical from a technical standpoint.\n"We don't feel, from a cultural standpoint, like we should block anything unless it is in self-defense of the University," Bruhn said. "The legal situation surrounding (Napster) is unclear and concerning legal issues could be taken against the students."\nThere are other Web sites that many students are using in place of Napster, such as Scour.com, mp3.com and imesh.com.\nCramer said he uses both Scour and iMesh to download music from the Internet.\n"It is a lot easier to use Scour because you just type in whatever song you are looking for, and it gives you places where you can download the song," Cramer said. "I also feel that the whole banning of Napster is irrelevant, because people find ways around it, which is obvious, like Scour."\nHe said there is a way to still use Napster through a program called Napigator despite the ban, but he doesn't like it as much because it is slow and doesn't work as well as Scour.\n"Instead of turning your computer into a server, you can gather songs from Napster, but people can't grab the songs from your computer," Cramer said. "It basically sets up a server other than the Napster server, which pulls the music from the Napster server to the new server."\nBruhn said they are now watching Scour and are going to try to prevent it from being a problem through education.\n"We want students to learn about Scour and to use it properly and legally," Bruhn said. "However, if we get complaints about people using Scour or any other application in an illegal way, then we will investigate it. This has been our practice for many years and it will continue."\nHe said the outbound usage is very high, so unless they can get students to decrease usage of the site then they might have to take technical action to restrict use.\n"We have limited outbound traffic to 15 megabytes per second, and we reduced that to 10 percent (Wednesday)," Bruhn said. "This way we are limiting the amount of information from Scour that the people outside of the University can get, because the problem is more with what the outside world is getting so we are limiting the information taken from the University."\nHe said UITS suggests that students limit their use and that they not serve files to the Internet community.\n"There is a parameter that can be set in Scour that keeps other people from seeing the person's files on their desktop," Bruhn said. "Under options under media library there is a check box that says do not share my files with the Scour exchange community."\nCramer said he sometimes checks this box on his Scour.\n"I turn the file sharing off during the day to cut down on network traffic, but if I am up late at night like two or three in the morning then I go ahead and turn it on," Cramer said.\nBruhn said Napster would stay blocked until the legal situation is clarified.