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(07/06/06 12:07am)
INDIANAPOLIS -- Former President Bill Clinton spoke at a fund-raiser here for 9th District Democratic hopeful Baron Hill Wednesday.\nClinton lauded the work Hill did while serving two terms in the House before losing his seat to incumbent Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-9th in 2004, calling Hill a "political marathon man."\n"After the last election, he didn't give up or give in," he said. "We need more people like that on our side ... Baron Hill is model in my view of what a public servant ought to be at the dawn of the 21st century."\nPlates for the luncheon at the downtown Marriott ballroom cost between $250 and $2,100 and were expected to bring in about $250,000 for Hill's campaign.\nThe former president spent much of his 40-minute speech criticizing the policy changes Republicans and the Bush administration have enacted since he left office.\n"A narrow slice of the Republican Party has controlled our government since 2000 and they're gaining control of the courts now," Clinton told the crowd of more than 400. "They believe in concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a right wing elite, they believe the key to economic growth lies in the wealthiest, well-connected Americans, they believe in a government that is secretive, unaccountable and increasingly unlimited in its power."\nClinton said that he thought Hill would be a good foil to Republicans promoting this agenda.\n"He's a small business owner and his wife is a school teacher," Clinton said. "The life he and his wife lives is a very different way of life than is lived by Republicans in Washington today."\nIU College Democrats President Emma Cullen had her picture taken with Clinton before the event and left impressed with the former president.\n"He's always been an amazing public speaker," she said. "He was very personable and seemed genuinely happy to see everyone."\nFollowing the luncheon Clinton unexpectedly met with several dozen well-wishers on the street outside of the Marriott.\nHe told the assembled crowd that he planned on writing a book in the near future about the initiatives he has worked on since leaving office, and also offered an analysis of November's midterm elections.\n"I think people are tired of ideological politics and not being able to have an honest debate without being accused of being a traitor," Clinton said. "You can only squeeze a tactic like that through so many elections."\nSodrel laughed at the prospect of Clinton stumping for Hill Tuesday considering the former Democratic representative hosted a "Working Hoosier" rally at the Monroe County Courthouse March 24 when President Bush visited Indianapolis for Sodrel. At that rally Hill contrasted the $1,000 to $10,000 per plate cost Hoosiers forked over for face time with Bush versus his plight to local social service agencies that he was working in Bloomington to help feed the hungry and improve poverty conditions for the working class.\n"All I can say is 'karma,'" Sodrel said before walking the Bloomington/Monroe County Fourth of July parade route with about a dozen of his followers. "Criticizing me is a little hypocritical if you throw rocks and then have a similar event yourself."\n-Staff writer David A. Nosko contributed to this report.
(07/03/06 2:27am)
Sgt. Michael Black has been scarred by war. Twice he has been to the battlefields of Iraq and twice he has been to the battlefields of Afghanistan. Twice he has taken shrapnel from improvised explosive devices -- once in the back and once in the leg.\nFor many people that would be enough combat, but Black will ship out for Iraq again Friday.\n"It's the right thing to do," he said. "If we don't, who will?"\nBlack, a 23 year-old Bloomfield, Ind. resident, was in Bloomington Saturday and Sunday to get his sixth tattoo before heading to the Mideast, a tribal design on his left arm.\nOn the leg where he was injured by shrapnel, Black has a Chinese symbol for "phoenix" because he felt like he "rose from the ashes" after joining the army.\nHis right arm is adorned with the classic Superman "S" with a purple heart over it. The purple heart tattoo serves as a reminder of the first of two he's been awarded.\n"I got the Superman tattoo because I thought I was invincible, obviously that's not the case," he said.\nBlack, who joined the army just two weeks before 9/11, comes from a family with a strong military history. His father served for 20 years and he has an older brother who is a marine. Another brother is also enlisted in the army.\nSince the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime there has been less direct contact with the Iraqi insurgency, Black said.\n"It's mostly IEDs and landmines," he said. "They're scared of us. They're just trying to whittle us down now."\nHe said that in both Afghanistan and Iraq, few civilians are happy to have the U.S. military there. He said many shout profanities and tell the soldiers to go home.\nThough Black has been lucky enough to avoid serious injury in the line of duty, he said he's had about a dozen friends killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.\n"If you see your buddy messed up it's just surreal," he said. "You can train your whole life and you can't expect that. It never gets easy."\nStill, Black said he would recommend military service to those considering it.\n"If someone came to me and said they were thinking about joining I'd support them," he said. "I'd give them as much information as possible. One thing is, the movies are all wrong. It's not as bad as they make it out to be."\nWith only a few days left until he returns to Iraq, and a third tour of duty in Afghanistan scheduled for late 2007, Black is excited and confident he'll remain safe, a sentiment his girlfriend Amber Harrison shares.\n"Yeah, I worry, but he'll be fine," she said. "He knows what he's doing"
(06/29/06 2:05am)
In stifling summer heat, more than two dozen people marched south on Walnut Street, June 21. The crowd, literally of all ages -- from children just barely of school age, to the elderly being guided by friends -- formed an unlikely parade of signs and banners, all of them calling for one goal: the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.\n"No more dead Iraqis! No more war!" came the shouts, amplified by a megaphone held by Bloomington Peace Action Coalition Organizer Timothy Baer.\nSince 2002, before the invasion of Iraq, the group has held protests on the square -- but Wednesday was different. Instead of sticking to the square, the mass of people yearning for peace took their case to the Bloomington office of Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-9th District.\n"If Sodrel and others support the troops, they will bring them home," Baer told the crowd gathered outside the congressman's office.\nSodrel was among the Republican members of the House who, earlier this month, voted for a resolution to continue the mission in Iraq without setting a timetable for troop withdrawal.\nBaer said that when his group met with Sodrel last year, he was not very receptive to their ideas.\n"He said he will continue the administration's policy that the generals on the ground know best. But even some of them say Iraq cannot be won militarily," Baer said.\nCam Savage, a spokesman for Sodrel, said that if the coalition had let the office know when they were going to be there beforehand, someone would have been there to meet them.\nThe Bloomington group has also expressed dissatisfaction with Baron Hill, Sodrel's opponent in November, who voted to authorize President Bush's plan to invade Iraq in 2003.\nStill, following Wednesday's protest, Hill released a statement calling for troop withdrawal soon.\n"This war was unnecessary and a tragic mistake, but criticizing the administration's failed operation in Iraq is not enough," read the statement. "It is now time to commit to a plan that includes clear benchmarks, which, when met, we'll know we're finished and can send our troops home"
(06/08/06 4:00am)
As a game concept, a great white shark eating people ranks right up there with "Wilmer Valderama Tries to Nail Every Legal Hollywood Starlet Under Age 23."\nAnd in "Jaws Unleashed" it's just plain fun to stalk swimmers, divers and scientists before dragging them to the bottom of the sea and tearing them in half in an orgy of blood and gore to replenish your constantly fading appetite and health bars.\nJaws has got a couple other moves like a tail whip and charge attack, but they're harder to execute because of the finnicky controls (a problem just about every game faces when set underwater), and are not nearly as much fun as eating people. After a basic training mission, and a ridiculous opening mission where Jaws grabs a scientist to open a locked door and eats a Shamu-look-a-like in front of dozens of now-traumatized children, the shark is set loose in a wide-open GTA-style world full of side-missions.\nGraphics are above average, especially when it's chowtime for the great white, but the Xbox is capable of a lot more. Soundwise, screams of your victims are pretty basic, but there are some cool variations of the classic Jaws theme.\nThere's some kind of claptrap story (complete with C-grade voice acting) here about getting back at the town of Amity Island, but I'm pretty sure paying attention to it will actually drop your IQ about 20 points.\nStill, the game is pretty lengthy and full of unlockables and trivia about the movie, but much like dating Lindsay Lohan, after awhile you realize that though it's fun for a while, it's a pretty shallow experience. At $30, this is a budget title, and it shows. The game was delayed for almost a year and could probably use a few more months of polish. But much like the GTA series, the pure, unadulterated, bloody fun of being a vicious man-eating shark let loose on an unsuspecting town overcomes a lot of the games technical problems.
(06/07/06 9:47pm)
As a game concept, a great white shark eating people ranks right up there with "Wilmer Valderama Tries to Nail Every Legal Hollywood Starlet Under Age 23."\nAnd in "Jaws Unleashed" it's just plain fun to stalk swimmers, divers and scientists before dragging them to the bottom of the sea and tearing them in half in an orgy of blood and gore to replenish your constantly fading appetite and health bars.\nJaws has got a couple other moves like a tail whip and charge attack, but they're harder to execute because of the finnicky controls (a problem just about every game faces when set underwater), and are not nearly as much fun as eating people. After a basic training mission, and a ridiculous opening mission where Jaws grabs a scientist to open a locked door and eats a Shamu-look-a-like in front of dozens of now-traumatized children, the shark is set loose in a wide-open GTA-style world full of side-missions.\nGraphics are above average, especially when it's chowtime for the great white, but the Xbox is capable of a lot more. Soundwise, screams of your victims are pretty basic, but there are some cool variations of the classic Jaws theme.\nThere's some kind of claptrap story (complete with C-grade voice acting) here about getting back at the town of Amity Island, but I'm pretty sure paying attention to it will actually drop your IQ about 20 points.\nStill, the game is pretty lengthy and full of unlockables and trivia about the movie, but much like dating Lindsay Lohan, after awhile you realize that though it's fun for a while, it's a pretty shallow experience. At $30, this is a budget title, and it shows. The game was delayed for almost a year and could probably use a few more months of polish. But much like the GTA series, the pure, unadulterated, bloody fun of being a vicious man-eating shark let loose on an unsuspecting town overcomes a lot of the games technical problems.
(06/05/06 2:50am)
Everyone knows that totally hot 18-year-old California swimsuit model you met playing the popular online game, "World of Warcraft", is probably a 36-year-old guy living in his parents' basement. But does taking on the persona of another gender affect how people perceive each other online? \nThat is the question IU Public Speaking Director Cynthia Duquette Smith and MIT Instructor Katie Livingston Vale have set out to answer in a paper they will present later this month in Cleveland.\n"We found most people think the female characters they meet online are males," Vale said. "But still others are convinced that females are treated differently."\n"World of Warcraft" is a massive multiplayer online role playing game where thousands of people simultaneously play in one persistent game world, all the while interacting with each other.\nReleased in late 2004, the game has a worldwide subscriber base of over 6 million people and controls more than 50 percent of the massive multiplayer online role-playing game market, according to a May study posted on the Web site mmogchart.com, which tracks such games.\nSmith and Vale's study of approximately 130 players who responded to a survey they posted online, found about 40 percent of players log on as both male or female characters, but more than half will never play as the opposite gender.\n"When asked why, we found most just find female characters more attractive to be staring at the whole time," Vale said.\nIn studying "Warcraft," which Smith and Vale's husband said they play regularly, the two have found many similarities to real life social situations, especially in the larger guilds -- where groups of dozens form.\n"In a guild you're not anonymous," Vale said. "You go on long raids and get to know the personality of another person, to trust them or follow their instructions. There are schisms and subgroups. People split off over all sorts of disagreements."\nSome people have even put being in charge of a guild down on their resumes when applying for real jobs, Vale said.\n"Let's say you lead a guild of 120 people in eight different time zones and have them all up to level 60, businesses are taking that seriously," she said. "Managing a guild like that online can help manage workers outsourced to India that you'll never meet."\nSenior Enrique Lozano said he is an avid "Warcraft" player and participated in the survey, but said he doubts the game offers that much real world experience.\n"I have heard of people putting down leading a guild on a resume, but honestly it's either BS or a very remote case," he said. "That doesn't stop the fact that leading experience is very good experience for a job though"
(06/01/06 4:00am)
When I first heard about the plans Nintendo had for the Wii (formerly codenamed "Revolution), I was convinced the people in charge had taken a few too many magic Mario mushrooms.\nIn the middle of Microsoft and Sony's pissing contest to have the most powerful, high definition system, with the latest and greatest disc technology, and online services that will replace porn as the greatest thing about the Internet, Nintendo announced a system slightly more powerful than a current generation Xbox that uses DVD technology and a controller unlike anything console gamers have ever seen before.\nAnd while graphically the Wii games shown so far are completely outclassed by what Sony and Microsoft are doing, I'm a lot more excited about the possibilities on Nintendo's upcoming console because of the sweet controller.\nThe Wii-mote as it has been dubbed looks a lot like a TV remote with a digital bad and a few familiar gamepad buttons, but what makes it really special is the motion sensor inside, that opens up limitless gameplay possibilities.\nAt E3, the video game tradeshow where companies show off all their games for the next year, the public got its first glimpse of just what this thing is capable of. Ubisoft's "Red Steel" showed that the Wii-mote could be swung like a sword as you hack away at waves and waves of enemies. It's not a very violent game (think the current James Bond games), but just imagine a game in the future where you use this thing to hack off limbs as blood spurts everywhere. That's the type of game that could give Senators Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman seizures.\nFor slightly more traditional gameplay, there's also an analog stick attachment which turns the Wii-mote into "the nunchuck." This frees up to remote to handle control over camera, or offer control in first person shooters such as "Metroid Prime 3: Corruption" that could end up rivaling the mouse and keyboard combo.\nThe real stars of E3 Wii show were the Nintendo games though. Wii Sports is a collection of basic games like tennis, golf and baseball, all using the controller as the racket, club and bat respectively. \nNintendo has never really been known for its sports games, but with this new level of immersion, the Wii could be the system for superfans. Even EA is developing a special edition of Madden that uses the controller as a football for ultimate pass control.\nNintendo's "big three," Metroid, Zelda and Mario will all hit around the November launch in games taking full advantage of the new hardware. Besides enhanced control, the aforementioned Metroid game also features a grapple beam, so when Samus grabs on to an object you actually pull it towards you with the remote.\n"The Legend of Zelda: Twighlight Princess" has been completely reworked from the Gamecube version shown at last E3 so that when Link pulls out his trusty bow and arrow, you pull back on the controller like drawing an arrow and let it fly towards enemies. \nThen there's "Super Mario Galaxy," a classic 3-D Mario platformer where the Wii-mote acts as the famous plumber's hand, allowing him to interact with objects onscreen. Besides the games that will take advantage of the new technology, Nintendo also showed some games that won't take advantage of the motion sensor, but looked impressive for other reasons, such as "Super Smash Bros. Brawl."\nThis sequel to the N64 and Gamecube that has taken dorm rooms by storm showed off new super smash moves, new Nintendo characters such as Wario and Pit from "Kid Icarus," and an additional character no one expected, Solid Snake from "Metal Gear Solid." The possibility of Sonic, Mega Man, Simon Belmont and tons of other characters from other companies is now open and fanboys everywhere are no doubt frothing at the mouth.\nOh yeah, and the whole thing is going to be online too.\nAs far as pure power goes, the Wii just can't compete with the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 (it's not going to cost anywhere close to $600 either), but the games shown so far look damn fun to play, and isn't that why most of us got into gaming?\nThe original "Super Mario Bros." on NES looks like crap today, but even now it's fun to play. It's like gaming has gotten way off course from this original purpose and into this weird place where all that matters is the latest graphics and physics technology and a console that can do everything but get you laid.\nNintendo promised a Revolution and it looks like they are well on their way to delivering. Forget the hype of Xbox 360 games that barely look better than what you can get on your current Xbox, and stop paying attention to all the Blu-Ray and HD you don't need crap Sony is trying to sell you.\nThe Wii is the real future of gaming.
(06/01/06 12:57am)
When I first heard about the plans Nintendo had for the Wii (formerly codenamed "Revolution), I was convinced the people in charge had taken a few too many magic Mario mushrooms.\nIn the middle of Microsoft and Sony's pissing contest to have the most powerful, high definition system, with the latest and greatest disc technology, and online services that will replace porn as the greatest thing about the Internet, Nintendo announced a system slightly more powerful than a current generation Xbox that uses DVD technology and a controller unlike anything console gamers have ever seen before.\nAnd while graphically the Wii games shown so far are completely outclassed by what Sony and Microsoft are doing, I'm a lot more excited about the possibilities on Nintendo's upcoming console because of the sweet controller.\nThe Wii-mote as it has been dubbed looks a lot like a TV remote with a digital bad and a few familiar gamepad buttons, but what makes it really special is the motion sensor inside, that opens up limitless gameplay possibilities.\nAt E3, the video game tradeshow where companies show off all their games for the next year, the public got its first glimpse of just what this thing is capable of. Ubisoft's "Red Steel" showed that the Wii-mote could be swung like a sword as you hack away at waves and waves of enemies. It's not a very violent game (think the current James Bond games), but just imagine a game in the future where you use this thing to hack off limbs as blood spurts everywhere. That's the type of game that could give Senators Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman seizures.\nFor slightly more traditional gameplay, there's also an analog stick attachment which turns the Wii-mote into "the nunchuck." This frees up to remote to handle control over camera, or offer control in first person shooters such as "Metroid Prime 3: Corruption" that could end up rivaling the mouse and keyboard combo.\nThe real stars of E3 Wii show were the Nintendo games though. Wii Sports is a collection of basic games like tennis, golf and baseball, all using the controller as the racket, club and bat respectively. \nNintendo has never really been known for its sports games, but with this new level of immersion, the Wii could be the system for superfans. Even EA is developing a special edition of Madden that uses the controller as a football for ultimate pass control.\nNintendo's "big three," Metroid, Zelda and Mario will all hit around the November launch in games taking full advantage of the new hardware. Besides enhanced control, the aforementioned Metroid game also features a grapple beam, so when Samus grabs on to an object you actually pull it towards you with the remote.\n"The Legend of Zelda: Twighlight Princess" has been completely reworked from the Gamecube version shown at last E3 so that when Link pulls out his trusty bow and arrow, you pull back on the controller like drawing an arrow and let it fly towards enemies. \nThen there's "Super Mario Galaxy," a classic 3-D Mario platformer where the Wii-mote acts as the famous plumber's hand, allowing him to interact with objects onscreen. Besides the games that will take advantage of the new technology, Nintendo also showed some games that won't take advantage of the motion sensor, but looked impressive for other reasons, such as "Super Smash Bros. Brawl."\nThis sequel to the N64 and Gamecube that has taken dorm rooms by storm showed off new super smash moves, new Nintendo characters such as Wario and Pit from "Kid Icarus," and an additional character no one expected, Solid Snake from "Metal Gear Solid." The possibility of Sonic, Mega Man, Simon Belmont and tons of other characters from other companies is now open and fanboys everywhere are no doubt frothing at the mouth.\nOh yeah, and the whole thing is going to be online too.\nAs far as pure power goes, the Wii just can't compete with the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 (it's not going to cost anywhere close to $600 either), but the games shown so far look damn fun to play, and isn't that why most of us got into gaming?\nThe original "Super Mario Bros." on NES looks like crap today, but even now it's fun to play. It's like gaming has gotten way off course from this original purpose and into this weird place where all that matters is the latest graphics and physics technology and a console that can do everything but get you laid.\nNintendo promised a Revolution and it looks like they are well on their way to delivering. Forget the hype of Xbox 360 games that barely look better than what you can get on your current Xbox, and stop paying attention to all the Blu-Ray and HD you don't need crap Sony is trying to sell you.\nThe Wii is the real future of gaming.
(05/26/06 5:13pm)
It began with a terse message on Alvin Henry's Facebook wall from his cousin that the 21-year-old senior had died in a car accident Saturday night and that mourners should contact him for more information.\nBy Sunday afternoon dozens of other friends of Henry posted their own short comments, words of shock and grief. As the night wore on the comments became longer and more heartfelt. By Wednesday afternoon, more than 100 messages in all had been posted expressing condolences the fallen Eigenmann resident assistant.\nHenry's Facebook wall had become a full blown memorial.\n"There are more people using Facebook than anything else," said IU alum Jonathan Griffin, Henry's cousin who left the original wall message. "It's the easiest way to let people know he passed. I sent one or two messages and it spread like wildfire."\nSuch online memorials have become common on the Web site when students die, regardless of a school's size or location, Facebook spokesman Chris Hughes said in an e-mail.\n"Facebook is and has always intended to be a reflection of 'real life' social situations and groupings," Hughes said. "Unlike other Web sites like MySpace, people don't log on to Facebook to imitate or lie about who they are, but instead to build a virtual representation of their 'real life' personality. To that end it does not surprise us that students often move to Facebook after a peer has died to express their grief at the loss."\nIn addition to the messages on Henry's wall, another friend of his set up a memorial group, another common occurrence online.\nSuch groups can remain on the network indefinitely, but the profiles of deceased students are deleted after a month.\n"Whenever we learn of a user who has passed away, we remove some of the functionality for the profile (such as membership in groups) and the basic and contact info for the sections," Hughes said. "We preserve personal info, photos and the wall for a period of one month, then we remove the profile from the network."\nBesides the common wall posts and memorial group, senior and Black Student Union President D'Anna Wade memorialized Henry in a picture collage a friend of hers made using the program Microsoft Picture It!\n"Although my primary purpose for the collage was to get the word out, I believe it has done much more than that," Wade said in an e-mail. "This particular piece is helping many cope with Alvin's passing because it shows him in the various lights that we remember him -- laughing, smiling and genuinely enjoying life. He was truly an angel here on this earth and a very lovable human being."\nSince Wade posted the collage Sunday, dozens of people on Facebook have made it their profile picture.\nThough Henry's profile will eventually be removed, Griffin wishes the site would reconsider their policy.\n"They should leave it up," he said. "It's a daily tribute so people won't forget him"
(05/23/06 2:07am)
Senior Alvin Henry, 21, was a popular Resident Assistant in Eigenmann Hall, known for his sense of humor and infectious singing of R & B hits.\n"At the start of the year I asked someone on his floor if you like your new RA, and he said, 'Yeah, we love Alvin! He's always singing in the shower,'" Eigenmann Graduate Supervisor Megan Hutchison said.\nHenry's voice was silenced forever Saturday night shortly after 8 p.m. when the car in which he was a passenger lost control and hit a semi on northbound I-65, just outside Crown Point, Ind., according to an Indiana State Police news release.\nHenry was ejected from the vehicle, which was traveling at a high rate of speed, and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the release. Police said alcohol was not a factor in the crash.\n"It was a big shock to everyone," said Henry's cousin, senior Darleesa Gates, choking back tears. "I was a few months older than him, but he was always trying to be the bigger cousin, taking care of me and giving me rides places. He was a sweet person. I won't forget his beautiful smile."\nAnother cousin, Jonathon Griffin, remembers Henry as an outgoing guy who tried to be friends with everyone.\n"He welcomed everybody," Griffin said. "He made you feel comfortable. He treated everyone with respect."\nHenry was also a good student, majoring in political science and economics, planning to graduate next May. He had just taken the GRE in hopes of going to law school and entering politics.\n"Me and Alvin had been together since elementary school, we graduated high school together, and we were supposed to graduate college together," Gates said. \nSenior Franc Perrelle, a fellow RA, often played basketball at the SRSC with Henry, who was an avid Chicago Bulls fan.\n"We always had a competition playing against each other, trying to one up each other," Perrelle said. "He tried to make me better. He did that not just on the court, but as an RA he made those around him better people."\nA native of Gary, Henry was a member of the executive board of the Black Student Union and staff writer and guest columnist for the Indiana Daily Student.\nBut Henry is still best known as the singing RA in Eigenmann who did whatever he could to help his students.\n"When you were at school he made you feel at home," said sophomore Matt Baron, who lived on Henry's floor last year. "He cared about everyone."\nWith dorms emptied for the summer, Henry's death creates an even greater void in Eigenmann.\n"He liked to crack jokes, but he also always had the right calming words for you," Hutchison said. "He's going to be missed."\n-Campus editor Trevor Brown contributed to this report.
(05/22/06 12:33am)
As an avid gamer, there's a lot of books I read, or movies I watch, and I think: "Man, that would make for an awesome video game." \n"The Da Vinci Code" just isn't one of them. \nSure, it's an interesting yarn about the life of a Harvard professor of religious symbology intertwining with a secret society and the French police, in search of the Holy Grail. But, there's little in the book that would make for a great video game. Still, some corporate shill somewhere decided this would be a great opportunity to cash in on the popularity of the book that sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, and movie that premiered May 19. \nThe result is a game sub-par in almost every way.\n"The Da Vinci Code" game harkens back to PC point-and-click adventure games of the early '90s like "Myst." This means you spend a lot of time just kind of wandering around wide open environments looking for clues to extremely abstract puzzles. \nThe puzzles, by the way, come in two varieties: either, "Duh, I remember this from the book!" or "What the hell am I supposed to do here - I've been wandering around aimlessly for the past hour looking for some tablet I missed, and have no clue what to do!" This problem is then punctuated by your companion on the quest, Cryptographer Sophie Neveu, who gives you great advice like, "I know there's something we missed!" and "We have to keep looking!"\nThere's a reason games like this aren't made anymore. They're not very fun.\nOn top of that, the narrative from the book is substantially changed in the name of this already horrible puzzle solving. The now famous, "So dark the con of man" line? Not even found on the Mona Lisa.\nIt's also a lot harder to understand a character's motivation without pages of text to explain it. At least the voice acting is competent.\nBesides new puzzles not found in the book or movie, the back of the box also touts this game's great stealth and combat.\nThe combat is just plain boring, as fights initiate a mini-game where you press buttons as prompted to lay the smack-down on French police and evil monks. This is the real shame since the Collective's last few games, "Star Wars Episode III," "Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb" and "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" had very fun fighting mechanics.\nIf there's any highlight to the game, it's the music and some of the graphics. The pieces on the soundtrack are classical, almost monastic church music, like something you would hear on Easter, or Christmas, which is especially fitting to the mood. Graphics are more of a mixed bag. Backgrounds look fantastic; walking around the Louvre, you can actually recognize many of the famous pieces of art. It's like going on a virtual tour, and there's even some great lighting and shadow effects. \nCharacters, however, look wooden and a little blocky, like they belong in an original Playstation game, which also takes a lot away from caring about the story.\n"The Da Vinci Code" is yet another in a long line of games made only to cash in on the popularity of its license. It's so completely devoid of fun or novel gameplay ideas that I can't possibly recommend it to gamers, and it tinkers with the story so much, few fans of the book will find it worth their time.
(05/18/06 12:10am)
With more than 60 million copies of Dan Brown's thriller "The Da Vinci Code" in print, the hidden history of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church isn't much of a secret anymore.\nFor those who haven't read it, "The Da Vinci Code" is a fictional modern day search for the Holy Grail starring a Harvard scholar who studies ancient symbols and a French cryptographer, except the Grail they seek is no mere cup.\nInstead, the Grail is a set of ancient documents which detail the hidden life of Jesus Christ -- a marriage to Mary Magdalene that produced children. According to the book, and some more conspiracy-oriented versions of history, these documents are guarded by a secret society known as the Priory of Sion, a group considered a hoax by most scholars.\nIn the book, a personal prelature to the Pope (a group that reports directly to the Roman Catholic pontiff) known as "Opus Dei" goes so far as to murder people to keep hidden the Grail secret, and to protect the Church's version of history. As the release of the movie approaches, Opus Dei, which considers itself a lay group, has launched a public relations campaign to protect its image because they say the book misrepresents the organization.\n"'The Da Vinci Code' also makes melodramatic assertions that Opus Dei engages in 'brainwashing,' 'coercion' and 'aggressive recruiting,' unfairly trying to tar Opus Dei with the same brush used against groups more deserving of such epithets," reads a press release on the group's site, www.opusdei.us. "Opus Dei proposes to people to give their lives to God, following a special path of service within the Catholic Church."\nAs for the Grail, it became involved in many apocryphal tales of the Middle Ages and eventually gained the mystical ability to grant anyone who drank from it eternal life, so claims the mythology that lacks basis in \nScripture.\n"The New Testament Gospels mention Jesus taking a cup and passing it around at his Last Supper, but the cup has no special status in any of the four gospels and is not called 'holy,'" Associate Professor of Religious Studies Bert Harrill said in an \ne-mail.\nAs most Grail legends originated in the present-day United Kingdom, some scholars have noted the stories have much in common with Celtic and Welsh myths from the area.\n"By the medieval period the cup had become a 'grail' and a holy relic," Harrill said. "As far as I know, no church actually claims to house the 'Holy Grail.' Anymore I know about the search for the Holy Grail comes from Monty Python."\nThe comedy troupe Monty Python is well-known for its 1974 film lampooning King Arthur's quest for the Holy Grail. \nThough the New Testament contains no mention of Jesus marrying or helping give birth to children, it is certainly not out of the question. One gospel written by the Valentinian Gnostics, named after the Gnostic philosopher Valentinus, alludes to the possibility. The Gnostics were an early Judeo-Christian sect with many ideas about Christ and the creation story that were considered heretical and nearly exterminated in the second \ncentury.\n"A Valentinian work called 'The Gospel According to Philip' does call Mary Magdalene Jesus's 'companion,' but includes here among three women, all named Mary, who accompanied Jesus: his mother, sister, and companion," Professor of Religious Studies David Brakke said in an e-mail. "So the reference seems symbolic of a kind of male-female unity, which is a major theme in Valentinian theology and in 'The DaVinci Code' as well, but it does not mention marriage or children, and I doubt the relationship is meant to be sexual."\nThe controversial film premieres world-wide May 19 and stars Tom Hanks in the role of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon.
(05/15/06 12:10am)
Local members of a national political action group gathered in protest of a new Medicare Prescription Drug Plan effective today that penalizes senior citizens who don't sign up for the new plan, which is administered by drug companies rather than the Federal Government. \nAbout a dozen members of MoveOn.org cheered outside of Rep. Mike Sodrel's, R-9th District, Bloomington office Thursday as they ripped up a giant check protesting his endorsement of the plan that the Bush administration says will save seniors who sign up for it about $1,100.\nThe oversized check, endorsed by "big drug companies," represented the campaign contributions pharmaceutical companies made to Sodrel's 2004 political campaign. MoveOn claims Medicare Part D helps drug companies more than seniors and asked Sodrel to support extending the deadline.\nSimilar protests were held at Congressional offices around the country.\n"Competitive bids are prohibited in the bill," said Bloomington Dr. Mary Mahern. "As far as I'm concerned the bill was written by the pharmaceutical industry and is not in the interest of a single person in this country."\nMahern and other protestors offered anecdotes of seniors who were extremely confused by the plan and signed up on the Internet.\n"People are completely confused," she said. "There's a lot of fear and uncertainty. They don't know what plan to sign up for or how it will work out for them."\nMedicare Part D offers recipients formularies, or different lists of medication, that they can sign up for one year at a time, the protestors said. But they said different lists offer different deductibles for the same drugs. According to Wikipedia, drug companies can also change the drugs they offer as long as they give at least 60 days notice.\n"With a formulary, if a patient needs new medicine for a new diagnosis, that might not be covered in that formulary," Mahern said. "It's much too rigid." \nThose who fail to meet today's deadline will pay a penalty equal to one percent of their monthly premium if they sign up later. The Associated Press said as of Wednesday about 6 million people eligible for the plan had yet to sign up.\n"I think traditional Medicare has served our seniors well, but this part D plan is terrible," said Dr. Rob Stone, an emergency room doctor at Bloomington Hospital. "These free market applications have just been a nightmare."\nDespite the protest, Sodrel's Deputy Chief of Staff Chris Crabtree said most people he's heard from at town hall meetings liked the plan.\n"There were a number of people needing help enrolling, but there seems to be quite a lot of satisfaction with it overall," Crabtree said.
(05/14/06 11:57pm)
Students are still lovin' it, but there's been no word from Residential Programs and Services yet if McDonald's will return to Read Center when its contract with the University runs out at the end of the 2006-07 school year.\n"There has been no decision," Director of Dining Services Sandra Fowlersaid in an e-mail. "Our representative from the Purchasing Department will send a Request for Proposal to interested vendors sometime within the next few weeks." \nRPS and Residence Hall Association representatives have said in the past that they are considering financial and health concerns regarding the restaurant's location at the residence hall. \nRPS had previously hoped to make its selection by March. Arby's and Wendy's have both been mentioned as possible replacements to McDonald's according to a October 31, 2005 Indiana Daily Student article.\n"My understanding is that RPS is starting their search in June," said Roland Long, the owner of all Bloomington McDonald's franchises. "They have not said we are not going to be back there."\nOne sticking point has been that RPS would like to be a franchise owner, and McDonald's historically only franchises to individuals.\nAn announcement is expected in the next two to three months.
(05/05/06 5:27am)
Senior Charissa Cleveland graduates Saturday.\nMonday, she heads to Los Angeles with a car full of luggage and a video camera with dreams of making it big in Hollywood as a music video director and producer.\nCleveland is one of two students set to graduate this weekend who will appear in "The Hollywood Dream," a documentary by IU alum Deren P. Abram, an Emmy Award-winning producer who has previously worked on segments for "Monday Night Football."\n"I don't care what I work on once I'm out there," said Cleveland, who has an unpaid internship lined up with HSI Productions, a company that produces music videos and commercials. "I just want to do something. I want to be in the industry."\nThe odds are stacked against graduates like Cleveland. Thousands of people dream of making it big in Hollywood, but few of them get any kind of break.\nWhile interviewing for the documentary, Abram repeats several times, "They say 1,000 people come to Hollywood every day and 1,000 leave." In spite of this, fresh talent keeps moving west.\n"People pursue the dream against all odds because they have a passion," Abram said. "There's no reason to try it. It's insane. They do it anyway because they have it inside of them. There's nothing else they can do."\nSenior Patrick Ellison is the other student featured in the documentary. Ellison leaves for Los Angeles in September and doesn't have a job lined up yet -- just a head full of ideas for directing movies.\n"I hope to come up with something new and exciting," he said. "I'm sick of the same idea over and over again. I want to do an 'Indiana Jones' type thing, a more realistic adventure film."\nEllison has quite a bit of directing experience already. He worked as a programming director for IUSTV, which Abram said is the most valuable thing when looking for a job in film.\n"Getting a job is going to be different for them," he said. "Don't even bother putting your GPA on your resume. No one cares. They want to see what you've actually done. Put together a reel of your work."\nAbram still plans on implementing footage from Cleveland's drive to Hollywood into the documentary, but hopes to complete it this summer for submission to the Sundance Film Festival.\nBesides the IU graduates trying to make it in the business, the documentary will also feature interviews with actors and producers sharing their experiences. Confirmed so far are Elaine Mellencamp, wife of Hoosier rocker John Mellencamp, and comedian Dom Deluise.\nDeluise is also featured prominently in a series of children's DVDs Abram is currently producing.\nThough it will be a difficult journey for Ellison, he doesn't plan on quitting until he gets a job.\n"I think my backup plan is that I'm expecting failure, so I figure eventually I've got to win big," Ellison said.\ngraduates like Cleveland. Thousands of people dream of making it big in Hollywood, but few of them get any kind of break.\nWhile interviewing for the documentary, Abram repeats several times, "They say 1,000 people come to Hollywood every day and 1,000 leave." In spite of this, fresh talent keeps moving west.\n"People pursue the dream against all odds because they have a passion," Abram said. "There's no reason to try it. It's insane. They do it anyway because they have it inside of them. There's nothing else they can do."\nSenior Patrick Ellison is the other student featured in the documentary. Ellison leaves for Los Angeles in September and doesn't have a job lined up yet -- just a head full of ideas for directing movies.\n"I hope to come up with something new and exciting," he said. "I'm sick of the same idea over and over again. I want to do an 'Indiana Jones' type thing, a more realistic adventure film."\nEllison has quite a bit of directing experience already. He worked as a programming director for IUSTV, which Abram said is the most valuable thing when looking for a job in film.\n"Getting a job is going to be different for them," he said. "Don't even bother putting your GPA on your resume. No one cares. They want to see what you've actually done. Put together a reel of your work."\nAbram still plans on implementing footage from Cleveland's drive to Hollywood into the documentary, but hopes to complete it this summer for submission to the Sundance Film Festival.\nBesides the IU graduates trying to make it in the business, the documentary will also feature interviews with actors and producers sharing their experiences. Confirmed so far are Elaine Mellencamp, wife of Hoosier rocker John Mellencamp, and comedian Dom Deluise.\nDeluise is also featured prominently in a series of children's DVDs Abram is currently producing.\nThough it will be a difficult journey for Ellison, he doesn't plan on quitting until he gets a job.\n"I think my backup plan is that I'm expecting failure, so I figure eventually I've got to win big," Ellison said.
(04/21/06 3:52am)
More than 100 students gathered Thursday to demand an end to the "culture of rape" at IU and called on the University to implement a mandatory rape prevention workshop for all incoming students. The demonstration behind Woodburn Hall was the second annual "Stand Up and Be Counted" protest.\nThe predominantly female group wore black and each had a number, one through 131, the number they say is the best estimate of student rapes in the past year. \nTwenty-one students have reported rapes to the Bloomington and IU police departments since August 2005, according to a press release from gender studies professor Julie Thomas.\nThe group estimates that the actual number of rapes on campus in the past year is between 75 and 131, citing statistics that show 16 to 28 percent of victims usually file a police report.\n"I'd like to think more women are comfortable reporting rape, not that there's a higher incidence, but there's no way to tell," Thomas said.\nThe demonstration concluded with a list of three demands of the University. First, they ask that IU administration acknowledge the real number of assaults on campus each year, not just those that are reported. Second, they ask that all staff be fully trained in sexual assault prevention. The final demand is for the implementation of a mandatory first-year student rape prevention workshop, hopefully beginning next semester. \n"It's a massive project," Dean of Students Richard McKaig said. "You have about 6,500 students divided into groups of 30 and that's a challenging assignment."\nThough women made up a large part of the protest, several men also came, saying they wanted to make it clear that it is everyone's responsibility to end rape.\n"This is about the way men present their masculinity," said Nigel Pizzini, founder of the IU Men's Coalition. "This is not just a woman's problem. This affects us all"
(04/21/06 3:50am)
Sophomore Evan Holloway was shocked by the damage done to New Orleans last summer by Hurricane Katrina. But the damage he saw inspired him to help the region up close and personal.\nHolloway helped organize more than 200 students into Youth Advocating Leadership and Learning, known as Y'ALL, a group that has spent parts of the semester and spring break rebuilding areas the hurricane affected.\n"After we went down there again for spring break, we ran into some other students who said they got involved because they saw IU on TV," Holloway said.\nFor their work helping the damaged community, Y'ALL was honored with the Campus Program Award at the 19th Annual Division of Student Affairs Awards Reception Thursday afternoon in the Indiana Memorial Union.\nThe awards "recognize outstanding contributions to the division by students, staff, faculty and individuals in the Bloomington community," according to a press release.\nNancy Macklin, director of nursing at the IU Health Center, was recognized with the Shaffer Division Professional Staff Award for more than 30 years of dedication to healing students.\n"When I first came here, I'd go to events like this, and there would be people there who had been at the University for 20 or 30 years, and I'd wonder why people stay here that long," Macklin said. "Now I know because I have had that same, very satisfying experience here."\nThe Student Award was given to graduate student Danny Ambrose for his work with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender services on campus during the past two years.\n"I'm a California boy, so when I came here, I was wondering if it would be for me," he said. "But now that I'm leaving, I'm definitely going to miss it."\nSchool of Education professor Elizabeth Boling, who has worked on the campus judicial board and was described by one person who nominated her as "frighteningly well-organized," thanked the crowd of faculty and staff for honoring her with the Gordon Faculty Award.\n"I feel very privileged to talk to students during what is often the most critical part of their lives," she said.\nAn award from the dean is nice, Holloway said, but for most, it's not the end of the road. For example, Y'ALL has made a commitment to help rebuild areas Hurricane Katrina affected for at least another three years.\n"We go down there, and people wonder why Ole Miss and other places like that aren't bringing as many people in to help, and I just say it's because at IU we're badasses," Holloway said.
(04/10/06 5:15am)
Religious studies professor Mary Jo Weaver has not always been a popular figure.\nBecause of her criticism of the Roman Catholic church's positions on the role of women, abortion and birth control, religious leaders have refused to speak with her. Some of those angry with Weaver threatened to kill her. Others turned to throwing garbage at her.\nBut her colleagues' treatment of her starkly contrasted that of her detractors Friday afternoon. \n"We know her for her tireless Irish wit, humor and forthrightness," said former chair of the religious studies department Richard Miller. He introduced Weaver at her retirement lecture titled, "As Much Fun Learning as Teaching."\nThe crowd seemed to agree with Miller about the embattled instructor, as her lecture drew laughs from faculty and students.\n"She's a very unique individual," said Emily Cheney, a sophomore in Weaver's American Catholicism class this semester. "I told one of my friends I had her as a professor and he said, 'she's a pistol.'"\nJunior Emily Crouch, also in the class, said Weaver was the best professor she ever had.\n"She challenges why you believe what you believe," she said. "I wanted to be here for her send-off."\nWeaver came to IU in 1975 when the IU Department of Religious Studies was still in its infancy. Her early work dealt with Catholic reform and feminism in the church.\nShe has made no secret of her opinion that the church makes a concerted effort to keep women subservient. She titled a portion of her lecture "If you can't pee like Jesus, you can't be like Jesus."\nBut Weaver's most prominent work is the books she edited on conservative and liberal Catholics, respectively titled "Being Right: Conservative Catholics in America" and "What's Left? Liberal American Catholics."\nWeaver said that when she started teaching she noticed that most of her Catholic students were progressive and not afraid of questioning papal authority. But since the early '90s, she says, more students have come to her with old-fashioned views of the church. Some students expressed a desire to go back to a type of church service performed in Latin, common before reforms in the '60s.\n"I've come to the conclusion that the default mode of religion is conservative and any progressive liberal movement within is generally aberrant," she said.\nIn the last few years Weaver has received even more national attention for teaching the course titled "Star Trek and Religion," borne from a joke she made at a faculty meeting. The class is quite successful, she said, introducing students to religious studies who might otherwise avoid such classes.\n"I show students a video about this pre-modern primitive Vulcan religion and say it has something to do with (famous 18th century philosopher) David Hume," she said. "They believe it because I'm old. I give them 25 pages from this dreadful argument 'From Design,' give them a quiz about it and it works."\nFormer students from as far away as California came to the lecture, something Weaver said speaks louder for her teaching ability than any award or grant she has received.\n"I invited 70 former students and 60 of them came," she said. "Their presence here is the single best statement I can make about myself"
(04/06/06 5:02am)
Hundreds of students wandered through the Indiana Memorial Union Wednesday for the summer job fair and blood drive, but few if any knew that in that same building, the IU board of trustees was holding an open forum to discuss raising tuition next year.\nOf the roughly 60 people who attended the meeting, less than 10 were students.\n"I think most students are resolved to the fact they're going to raise tuition," said Charles Shrode, a medical student who came to the meeting from IU-Purdue University Indianapolis. "I realize that they have to increase fees. I'm just looking for some kind of reprieve."\nMedical students at IUPUI are looking at a proposed tuition increase of 11.3 percent, the highest of any graduate or professional program at IU's seven campuses.\n"I find myself thinking every day, what is the advantage of me staying in Indiana when I could go to school in North Carolina, attain residency within a year, pay less tuition and go to a better ranked school?" Shrode asked the board.\nShrode, however, was the only student in attendance at Bloomington who had any kind of comment to make to the board. Via satellite hook-up, the situation was similar with only students from IUPUI and IU Southeast asking any questions.\nFor several weeks, a Web site has been set up where students could send questions to be answered for the forum, but midway through the 45-minute forum, IU's Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Judy Palmer announced that not a single e-mail had been received.\nTrustee Clarence Boone said that there are two ways he views the lack of student participation at the meeting.\n"Apathy is the first thing that comes to mind," he said. "But another way to look at things is that if you analyze our rates, they aren't so bad."\nDuring the meeting, the trustees noted that Indiana and other nearby states are having great budgetary difficulties. Universities in Kentucky for example, have been forced to increase undergraduate tuition by as much as 13 percent.\nBy comparison, the Bloomington campus has proposed increasing out-of-state tuition by 4.9 percent for next year. An increase of 4.9 percent was already approved for in-state students as part of a two-year package.\nBut those figures give little consolation to people like medical student Maria Spector.\n"A lot of students feel helpless," she said. "At no point during the meeting did anyone say, 'I understand what students are going through.'"\nThe board of trustees is expected to vote on the tuition proposals Friday as part of its monthly meeting held at IU Southeast in New Albany.
(04/05/06 6:38am)
The clock is ticking for IU students to let their voices be heard on tuition increases for next year.\nThe IU board of trustees will meet at 3 p.m. today in the Dogwood Room of the Indiana Memorial Union for an open forum about several proposed increases for next year.\nAnd though students have been asked to voice their opinions about tuition increases via e-mail for several weeks now, both Trustee President Steve Ferguson and Trustee Vice President Pat Shoulders said they had not received any e-mails regarding the forum.\nStudent Trustee Casey Cox, however, said that he feels he can give the board a good view of student reaction to the proposed increases.\n"I've often joked that we need to take into consideration whether or not I'll get beat up on campus after we decide (whether) or not to raise it," he said in an e-mail. "When we do raise tuition we spend that money with responsibility and accountability always on our minds."\nOn the Bloomington campus, the current proposal calls for a total increase of tuition by 4.9 percent for all non-resident undergraduate students, the same amount that was approved last year, according to IU Information Web site.\nThis increase in tuition was previously approved for in-state students as part of a two year plan.\n"I think most people understand costs go up," Ferguson said. "Most people know that state support has decreased. The only other place we have to look for additional funding is with tuition."\nWhile undergraduate tuition increases look to remain steady, several graduate and professional programs on the Bloomington campus proposed smaller tuition increases than last year.\nAt the Bloomington campus, only graduate programs in the Kelley School of Business have proposed the exact same increase as last year. The business school is looking to increase tuition by 6.9 percent for resident and 6.7 percent for non resident graduate students. \nThe IU School of Law plans to increase tuition for in-state grad students by 10 percent. Law school tuition for non-resident students is proposed to rise 6.7 percent, down from an approved 9.7 percent increase last year.\nThe Library and Information Science program has proposed a tuition increase of 7.2 percent for resident graduate students and 8 percent for non-residents. Last year, the trustees approved increases of 9.6 and 8.9 percent, respectively.\nThe School of Public and Environmental Affairs, the School of Optometry and all other graduate programs also have smaller increases on the table.\nAll regional campuses are hosting teleconference sites and there will be a live Internet broadcast at http://broadcast.iu.edu.\nAll proposed increases for all campuses are available at http://newsinfo.iu.edu/pub/libs/images/usr/1432_h.pdf.