Region

IU diver set to represent U.S. for second year

By Brian Buckey · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 10:47 p.m.

On Jan. 26, IU diver Christina Loukas browsed the USA diving Web site looking for her name. Later that day, Loukas got a call from diving coach Jeff Huber confirming what she saw.

Gates: Troop buildup 'not the last chance'

By Anne Flaherty · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 10:43 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates held out hope Tuesday that U.S. forces might be able to start leaving Iraq before the end of the year, if daunting conditions including subdued violence and political reconciliation are met.

Man assaults woman after she runs red light

Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 10:29 p.m.

Bloomington Police are still looking for a man who assaulted a woman after she ran a red light at the intersection of Third Street and Pete Ellis Drive Monday night said BPD Detective Sgt. Jeff Canada.

2nd man charged in murders of South Bend homeless men

Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 10:28 p.m.

SOUTH BEND -- A second man charged with murder in the deaths of four homeless men, over what police describe as a dispute over scrap metal, was transferred Tuesday to the St. Joseph County Jail. Randy Lee Reeder, 50, is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on four counts of murder. He was transferred to the St. Joseph County Jail after appearing before a Michigan judge on Monday to waive extradition. He was being held without bond.

Cancer society volunteers urge $1 rise in cigarette tax

By Deanna Martin · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 10:28 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Nearly 300 volunteers for the American Cancer Society lobbied lawmakers Tuesday, urging them to pass a $1 increase in the state cigarette tax. "With 300 of us in the snow, the bad weather and the cold, it shows our dedication and our strength," said Brenda Davis, who came to Indianapolis from Mitchell. "We mean business."

County workers again find paycheck errors

By Brian Spegele · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 10:27 p.m.

Monroe County will likely pay about $30,000 for assistance from an outside accounting firm, following errors in employee paychecks for the third consecutive pay period. The mistakes were discovered Friday, after a software glitch in the county's computer systems overrode some human calculations, causing some government employees to receive incorrect paychecks, said Iris Kiesling, president of the Monroe County Commissioners.

IUAM Noon Talk series continues Thursday with graphic artist

Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 8:15 p.m.

The IU Art Museum will feature a gallery talk by James Reidhaar from 12:15 to 1 p.m. tomorrow. Reidhaar, who is an associate professor of graphic art, will give a talk about work from his "Then and Now: Eternal Subjects, Eternal Processes," collection. Wednesday, Feb. 14, the Noon Talk series will present "A Machine for Seeing," featuring speaker Tim Kennedy, a painting, drawing and design lecturer.

Local band RLYL brings life, unique sound to IMU Gallery

By Nick Mills and Nicholas Mills · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 8:14 p.m.

On Feb. 1, the smell of Starbucks coffee flowed through the air while the sound of Bloomington indie band Red Leather Yellow Leather awakened the empty ghost town known as the Indiana Memorial Union. The performance was part of a concert series called NOISE, which is held every Thursday in the IMU Gallery.

Singer brings her love of opera from China to the U.S.

By Katie Ingmire · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 8:13 p.m.

IU soprano Jing Zhang got her big break by singing in a public restroom. Zhang, 21 years old at the time, was in a restroom warming her voice up for a Metropolitan Opera master class at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music after realizing the practice rooms were closed.

UPDATE 3:58 p.m.: Man assaults woman after she runs red light

By Alexandra R. Moses · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 7:40 p.m.

Bloomington Police are still looking for a man who assaulted a woman after she ran a red light at the intersection of Third Street and Pete Ellis Drive on Monday night.

Online Only: Meal-point mania

By Julia Boriss · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 6:59 p.m.

So freshmen, I hear that 75 percent of your meal points are now rolling over to next year. Don't think I'm not thrilled for you, because I am. But allow me to tell you a tale from a time when this was not the system.

YouTube in the U.K.

By Megan Robb · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 6:57 p.m.

OXFORD, England -- Missing Thanksgiving was tough for American students studying abroad last term. But for many, the feeling of loss last November pales in comparison to the excruciating absence of the Super Bowl and its infamous advertisements last Sunday.

Death by exposure?

By Brian McFillen and Brain J. McFillen · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 6:57 p.m.

As you've probably heard already, Time magazine's pick for its 2006 "Person of the Year" was "You" (as in "all of us"). Inspired by the rise of YouTube, Wikipedia and MySpace, Time celebrated the Internet's empowerment of the average person: the fact that we -- acting as our own movie studio, our own record label, our own newspaper, our own publicist -- have provided the content that has made the Web the most powerful tool of our time.

Vacuum your cat

By Joanna Borns · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 6:57 p.m.

I experienced a phenomenon recently when I was visiting home. I was up in my room doing whatever it is I do (probably playing with matches or reading Judy Blume). Suddenly I heard my mother's voice calling from downstairs. She uttered those words that no one ever expects to hear.

Just plain trashy

By Abby Schwimmer and Ab Schwimmer · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 6:08 p.m.

Have you ever read the packaging instructions on something you just bought and thought, "Well, duh! That's obvious"? A Web site that documents stupid instructions (available at www.geocities.com/be_alternative/stupid_instructions.html) mentions, for instance, a Superman costume that came with this warning: "Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly."

UPDATE 5:37 p.m.: Presidential Search Committee passes candidate recommendations to trustees

By Brian Spegele · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 6:04 p.m.

IU moved one step closer to selecting the University's next president when the Presidential Search Committee ceased operations and passed their candidate recommendations onto the board of trustees.

Can't pick against them

By Ryan Corazza · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 5:42 p.m.

Have we all recovered from that whirlwind of a game Wednesday night? Well, if you haven't, hope that your Hoosiers have. Because the last time they came off a big victory, against Connecticut, they played their worst game of the season two days later at Illinois. So, will the same thing happen to this squad Saturday against Iowa?

Something we aren't hearing around here

By Ryan Corazza · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 5:40 p.m.

Usually, when a new coach steps into a program his first year and achieves a considerable amount of success, there are at least some detractors. These critics most often use the same line: "Well, sure Coach B is doing great, but he's doing it with all of Coach A's recruits. Let's see what he does with his own guys in a few years." From what I've garnered, nobody has said that line around Hoosier Nation this season with first-year coach Kelvin Sampson at the helm for IU. There are myriad reasons for this. Below I've listed them. If you aren't already bored with this column, read on. I dare you.

House of the rising son

By Andrew Shaffer · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 5:39 p.m.

John Elway is clutch. Joe Montana is cool. Troy Aikman is collected. Terry Bradshaw is bald, and Peyton Manning is -- well, what exactly is he? The Colts quarterback has been hailed for years as this generation's greatest quarterback, but he's already 30 years old in his ninth season with the Indianapolis Colts and is just now making his first trip to the Super Bowl.

Teach for America on-campus today

By Chris Freiberg and Warren Christopher Freiberg · Tuesday, Feb. 6,2007 5:01 p.m.

The well-funded campus of Princeton University might not be the best example of educational inequality. But it was there that Wendy Kopp first became aware of the disparity in achievement between students who grow up in poorer urban areas and those in other regions.