Region

Losing our voice

By Aparna Venkatraman · Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 8:40 p.m.

In a quote that ran in the Jan. 19 IDS article "Committee pleased with candidates for next IU president," the administration articulated exactly what we have suspected all along: Those responsible for spending our money and ensuring our education couldn't care less about the undergraduate voice. Sue Talbot, an IU trustee who chairs the presidential search committee, responded to questions regarding recent comments by IU Student Association Vice President Andrew Lauck on the matter of undergraduate representation lacking in the presidential search with, "Yes, we considered their suggestions, and no, we did not choose to involve them (undergraduates) in the process."

Photo album phobia

By Julia Boriss · Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 7:45 p.m.

"Warning: Contents of this file may induce feelings of severe inadequacy and depression. Remove all razor blades from the room before accessing." This disclaimer should precede entrance into all Facebook photo albums. Because face it: Browsing these pictures makes you want to dye your hair black and cry a lot. It feeds your low self-esteem like firewood to an open flame. You simply aren't prepared for the emotional detriments that accompany the privilege of visual access into the personal lives of every person you have ever met.

Security snafu

By Megan Robb · Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 7:41 p.m.

OXFORD, England -- A pair of tennis shoes, a bottle of milk. Canisters of cologne, shampoo, one festively wrapped bottle of French champagne. The end of the holiday season is a bad time to travel from London by air. The stacks of food, hair spray, sodas, pocket knives and clothing that littered London Heathrow Airport's security line the weekend after New Year's is testament to air traveling's rigors.

Back to the future?

By Brian J. McFillen and Brain J. McFillen · Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 7:39 p.m.

As the Chicago Bears advance to the Super Bowl and the infamous "Super Bowl Shuffle" video makes the rounds via YouTube, it has made me wonder -- have we finally managed to turn the clock all the way back to the 1980s?

Crossbow back

By Joanna Borns · Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 7:38 p.m.

We could all learn a lesson from Justin Timberlake. He showed a lot of initiative when he brought sexy back. He recognized a sexy-shaped void in our world and filled it. Maybe it's time for each of us to bring something back. But first we have to consider the consequences. You can't just bring stuff back willy-nilly. For example, bringing people back from the dead always seems like a good idea until zombies are trying to eat your flesh.

Around the World

Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 7:10 p.m.

Three people were killed and 43 others sustained gunshot wounds during a Hezbollah-led protest that paralyzed Lebanon Tuesday.

UPDATE: Circle K on 3rd Street robbed

Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 6:40 p.m.

Bloomington Police are still looking for a man who robbed the Circle K at 527 E. Third St., early Tuesday morning.

2 men questioned in Steffey case

By Alberto D. Morales · Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 4:13 p.m.

Two men from Park Hills, Mo., were questioned Monday in the disappearance of missing Purdue University freshman, Wade Steffey. But Purdue police came up with no evidence that the men were involved, after interviewing the former possible suspects.

Helicopter parents on the rise

By Chip Cutter · Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 2:10 p.m.

When Amanda Shettlesworth sent the School of Public and Environment Affairs' students a mass e-mail last spring describing a competitive internship opportunity, she got an unlikely reply -- from a student's mother. "She called me up and asked that her son be given a leg up in the process," Shettlesworth said. Confused by the mother's involvement, Shettlesworth, an assistant director in SPEA's career-services office, said she couldn't do anything to help. "This is your son's responsibility," she told the mother, "and hopefully he will write the essay well and apply." But the mother fought back, arguing that the school should help him get ahead. "It's almost like she didn't hear me at all," Shettlesworth said. Some say her situation underscores a growing trend across the country. An upward trend In what's been called the age of the "helicopter parents" -- those who hover over their children's lives -- school officials say parents are becoming increasingly involved in their children's career searches, doing everything from writing students' resumes to accompanying them at career fairs.

Coupons go electronic

By Chip Cutter · Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 2:07 p.m.

Looking for a local coupon? John Evons wants to help. The senior entrepreneurship major recently created a Web site, www.iucoupons.com, that lets students and faculty access coupons from local businesses. "It's a kind of whole new industry," Evons said. "It's really an on-demand coupon system." On the site, which makes its official debut today, users can print coupons or have them sent electronically to a cell phone in the form of a text message. Nineteen merchants, from local sandwich shops to hair salons, are offering deals on the site.

Parkour jumps the pond

By Mandy Eid · Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 12 p.m.

As the sun sets over a brisk IU campus, junior Geoff Stewart begins his ascent over his next obstacle: the red, loopy statue outside the IU Art Museum. The fading light casts eerie shadows on his determined face as he mounts the statue and clambers down on the other side, finishing the stunt with a forward roll. While this is just a normal occurrence in Stewart's daily life, a group of passers-by stops in its tracks after seeing Stewart's stunt. But staring is something he is used to. A participant of Le Parkour, or a "traceur," Stewart has been finding his own way to maneuver around obstacles for a year. He first learned of the sport after it was featured in a Nike shoe commercial and decided to research the philosophy before practicing. Le Parkour -- a term derived from the French word "parcours" which translates as "course" -- is a physical discipline based on the idea of finding a creative way to move around obstacles.

Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto

By Allie Townsend · Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 11:58 a.m.

IU professor Karl MacDorman can't replicate a da Vinci, but that doesn't mean he isn't interested in creating a masterpiece. It's just that in his "Mona Lisa," the enigmatic smile would come and go as you did. The psychology of human-computer interaction instructor is part of a team diving into the up-and-coming field of android science, a high-tech robotic-oriented answer to the study of human interaction.

IU ready for hostile crowd

By Eamonn Brennan · Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 12:18 a.m.

After the Hoosiers finished a thrilling nonconference road win Saturday at Connecticut, IU junior forward D.J. White was asked to sum up the 77-73 victory's effect on his team. "Confidence," White said. "One word -- confidence."

Campus birth control prices skyrocket

By Michael Zennie · Tuesday, Jan. 23,2007 12:18 a.m.

The more than 4,200 women across campus who purchase their birth control at the IU Health Center face dramatic prices increases this year as a result of change in federal law and new pharmaceutical industry practices, health center officials said.

Discussion series sparks range of dialogue

By Sandra Arao Ameny · Monday, Jan. 22,2007 11:44 p.m.

The Asian American Association sponsored a discussion, titled "Who Are Asian-Pacific-Americans?" on Friday to discuss how the efforts of civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and nonviolent protests have affected the Asian-Pacific American community. The discussion was the first installment of a series of similar presentations by the group.

Students say hip-hop lyrics should spur social change

By Sandra Arao Ameny · Monday, Jan. 22,2007 11:42 p.m.

Music, meaning and movement are three words that describe the conversations between a diverse group of about 20 students during a discussion about the link between hip-hop music and social struggles -- particularly civil rights. The CommUNITY Education Program hosted a discussion dubbed "The Meaning Behind the Lyrics" in the lobby of Read Center on Jan. 18. Participants talked about how hip-hop lyrics are linked to slavery struggles and the civil-rights movement.

Landlines lose ground to mobile

Monday, Jan. 22,2007 11:23 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The number of Americans with traditional landline telephones has declined sharply over the past three years -- a trend with ramifications for phone surveys that inform policy and market research. About one in eight households did not have a landline telephone in the first half of 2006, according to data the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collected in its National Health Interview Survey. Three years earlier, it was about one in 20.

Black hole envelops Mercury-size mass

By Roberta Kwok · Monday, Jan. 22,2007 11:22 p.m.

Imagine going for decades without a substantial meal. According to recent observations, it's been 50 years since the black hole in the middle of the Milky Way took a big gulp. This supermassive black hole, named Sagittarius A*, is equivalent in mass to 3 million suns -- and its appetite is proportionally as large. Astronomers estimate the gaseous "meal" ingested by the black hole tipped the scales at roughly the same mass as the planet Mercury.

A 'KiSS' is what hamsters need for sex

By Sara Schrock · Monday, Jan. 22,2007 11:22 p.m.

A hormone that humans need for puberty has been found to play a role in seasonal reproduction in hamsters, say IU researchers. The hormone, kisspeptin, or "KiSS," is a recently discovered neuropeptide -- protein produced in the brain -- and appears to mediate the decline in libido that male hamsters experience as winter approaches and the days become shorter.

A time to act

By David Weisburd · Monday, Jan. 22,2007 11:17 p.m.

ver dream of achieving something great? Well, it's time to stop this bad habit. What I hear from people all the time is what they plan on doing. That's great, but if you're not taking any action toward that goal, the probability of achieving your goal is actually declining. It is my personal belief (no offense to Mr. Marx) that hope -- not religion -- is the opium of the masses. Hope alone has stolen the dreams of millions of people.