Region

Bloomington Sandwich Co. a good bet

Upon opening the door to the downtown eatery Bloomington Sandwich Company, located at 107 N. College Ave, the smell of delicious Italian cooking wafted towards us. After a long day of classes, we were anxious to get out of the drab weather and warm up with a delicious meal. The menu selection was surprisingly large. Hot and cold deli sandwiches, salads and soups are featured as entrees for a hearty lunch or dinner. Desserts, beers and soft drinks are also offered. It took us a few minutes to decide what to order, considering the elaborate menu.

Trustees meet to ease faculty concerns

The IU board of trustees will meet in an executive -- and therefore private -- session Saturday to discuss the job performance of IU-Bloomington President Adam Herbert and the structure of the chancellor position. Two-thirds of the Bloomington faculty voted for two resolutions that ask for a review of Herbert's performance and a splitting of the jobs of chancellor and senior vice president for academic affairs. The trustees will meet with University vice presidents and deans before their private meetings and will announce their findings at their business meeting at 3 p.m.

No. 9 IU falls to Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Despite being the higher-ranked team, both history and injury stood firmly against IU in its 87-73 loss Wednesday night. The No. 9 Hoosiers came into the contest against No. 15 Michigan State having not won a game in Breslin Center since 1991. IU (10-3, 2-1) was also without senior guard Lewis Monroe and sophomore forward D.J. White -- two key contributors who could have helped ward off a hungry Spartan team that was winless in conference play. Michigan State (13-4, 1-2) capitalized on their absence.

Spiritual rebirth

When faced with the choice of appointing a new director of Bloomington's Tibetan Cultural Center, the Dalai Lama chose Arjia Rinpoche for his many years of service and dedication to Tibetan Buddhists worldwide. Rinpoche is the Abbot of Kumbum Monastery in Tibet, and the founder of the Tibetan Center for Compassion and Wisdom in Mill Valley, Calif., and Oakland, Calif. "The appointment by His Holiness the Dalai Lama is very exciting," said Lisa Morrison, director of public relations and media for the Tibetan Cultural Center. "I think we will see great developments in the upcoming years -- developments that will not only be important to furthering the mission of His Holiness, Director Rinpoche and the TCC, but also developments that will have an impact on the local and regional communities."

Black legislators support Herbert

The Indiana Black Legislative Caucus gathered at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Wednesday to publicly declare its support for IU President Adam Herbert, calling the push for a midterm review a "slap in the face for the African-American people and the University." "We are concerned with the fairness of the treatment of this current president," said Greg Porter, chairman of the IBLC and state representative for District 96 in Indianapolis. "We want to show our respect for this great African-American who is leading one of the best universities in the country." The caucus is made up of 13 state legislative representatives who have organized to make an effort to pass state laws that will have a positive effect on minorities. Five of these representatives were not present, but Porter said the sentiments expressed in the meeting were unanimous among the IBLC.

The Hoosier nickname: America's next P.C. victim?

Welcome to the United States of America, where no phrase or single word is safe from a less hostile, more politically correct expression. We learned in December if you want to use the term 'Merry Christmas' as an employee at Wal-Mart, you'll most likely be labeled an insensitive imbecile -- it's 'Happy Holidays' and don't you forget it. Even the most famous American Christian, George W. Bush, cracked a beer at the politically correct party by using the phrase 'Holiday Season' in his annual White House Christmas card.

Coach to join MLS combine

From December 26 to the end of January, IU men's soccer coach Mike Freitag will have traveled more miles than many soccer teams have ever traveled during the regular season. The day after Christmas, Freitag left for the Disney Soccer Showcase in Orlando, Fla., which Freitag called, "the premier recruiting tournament in the country." Then, he returned to the Midwest for the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Presentation in his native St. Louis last Friday (senior Brian Plotkin was a finalist for the award), and yesterday he departed for Carson, Calif., as Major League Soccer invited Freitag out to coach at the four-day 2006 adidas MLS Player Combine at The Home Depot Center, which concludes Sunday.

IU looks to rebound after 2 close losses

In only their fifth game of Big Ten play, the IU women's basketball team can match last year's season total for wins in the conference. The Hoosiers (8-7, 2-2 Big Ten) recorded three wins in the Big Ten last season. Two of those wins came against Northwestern (4-10, 0-4 Big Ten), who welcomes IU to Evanston, Ill. Thursday night. The Hoosiers are coming off two close losses to opponents ranked in the Top 25, including No. 12 Purdue and No. 17 Minnesota. Both losses came by a combined total of 10 points.

Frustrations get best of Hoosiers in first Big Ten loss

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- As the Michigan State lead swelled throughout the second half, IU's frustration only mounted. On this night, the cooler heads would prevail. Among the seemingly endless string of Hoosier frustrations were reach-in fouls, verbal spats and continuous loose balls bouncing into awaiting Spartan arms. But perhaps nothing was as continually agonizing for the Hoosiers as the multiple Spartan shots that dropped as the shot clock buzzer sounded.

"Our Town" comes to B-Town

Premiering in New York back in 1938, "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder is still running today. The play, which also won a Pulitzer Prize in 1938 according to www.pulitzer.org, revolves around the lives of two families in a small New Hampshire town. The audience will see the blood, sweat and tears of the characters' lives pour out to them in a simplified -- yet funny and touching -- manner. "Our Town" is playing this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. with a Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. at Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The general admission price is $18, $15 for seniors (62 and older) and $13 for students with identification. There is also a special for the Saturday matinee where children under 16 pay only $8 with the supervision of an adult.

Madonna, Gwen Stefani and the spirit of Latin in 2006

Kelley school gets increased ranking

The Kelley School of Business moved up in several national rankings recently, prompting professors to praise students and coworkers. The new rankings are from Public Accounting Report. The report issued its 24th Annual Professors Survey Jan. 10. School of Business graduate programs moved up to sixth in the nation, from eighth last year. The undergraduate program moved to ninth, up from eleventh. The doctoral accounting program was ranked at eighth in the nation.

Union accepting credit cards

Those with large appetites but a low supply of cash can now purchase food in the IMU with credit and debit cards. Sugar & Spice, Burger King, Kiva and The Market began accepting plastic at the end of last semester to meet the demand of credit card carrying customers. Sophomore Jorge Tirado said he was not surprised by the change. "Taking credit cards must be better for their business, because I know a lot of times I've stepped into restaurants and only had a credit card," Tirado said as he ate a Burger King meal. "I don't see any cons to it."

Big Brothers Big Sisters looks for new mentors

IU senior Anthony Dee has a busy schedule. He's involved in multiple organizations on campus and studies hard. But when Dee is devoting his time as a mentor for the program Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central Indiana, he focuses on a child's happiness and development, not his own social life. "I pretty much act like a little kid," Dee said. "It's pretty fun." Dee, a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, became involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters his sophomore year when his fraternity hosted a philanthropy event in which children played games with members of the fraternity. One of the goals of the day was to match children with compatible mentors, and Dee found a young boy with similar interests and became his big brother.

Daniels promises balanced budget

At the commencement of the State of the State address Wednesday, Governor Mitch Daniels described his first year with initiatives aimed at pleasing partisan interests. With help from the General Assembly, he has won tax benefits for businesses, begun to decentralize government and pushed through the daylight-saving bill. "Indiana is no longer on its heels, waiting while our problems bounce past us or through our legs," he said in the televised address. "Even though the inning is still an early one, we are moving forward against our challenges." Daniels reminded Indiana residents that not long ago, the state had a $2 billion surplus. With less attention paid to special interests, the state passed the tightest budget in 50 years, he said.

Weekends on the rocks

As winter approaches many IU students become more hesitant when it comes to going out at night into the cold. And while the Bloomington bar scene may not be far from most off-campus housing, there is often a walk involved for the weekend bar-hopper. But when the temperature drops lower than the legal drinking age, some begin to question whether or not it's worth enduring the brrr for the beer. Some students believe coat checks would be convenient at bars throughout the winter months.

Dysfunctional family, dysfunctional film

The trend to make characters in films wholly unlikable is one that I'm not sure I'll ever understand. There is a lot of ground to be gained by making characters 99 percent unlikable, with a glimmer of hope or redemption. But if a writer or director can't reel the audience in, all could be lost, as it is in Noah Baumbach's ("Mr. Jealousy," co-writer "The Life Aquatic") insufferable "The Squid and The Whale." I suppose "likable" is in the eye of the beholder.

Third Strokes album falls short

With all that has been said and written about The Strokes, it's hard to blame them for becoming the most self-conscious band in rock. The crush of expectations, hype and backlash surely has to weigh on their minds, and being branded the "saviors of rock" has always been an impossible label to live up to. Up to this point, none of that talk has really mattered though. The only thing that did matter was that The Strokes were a fresh and exciting young band that put out two great records.

busting out block from buster

It has been an exhausting week of no longer being able to sleep in, being out late to catch up with friends and getting back into the daily grind of class. And now, all students want to do is relax. What better way to unwind by renting a movie? To avoid pricey rentals and hidden late fees here are some alternative places to rent your favorite movies without the hassle or venture beyond your favorite genre and try something new.

Beauty over substance

For fans of Arthur Golden's sumptuous book, "Memoirs of a Geisha" offers up a virtual smorgasbord of eye candy -- it's simply beautiful to look at. But unlike the artfully coy geishas, under the film's beauty, there's not a lot of substance. Trying to cram the epic novel into a two-and-a-half-hour long movie is understandably difficult, but the screenwriters focused more on hitting all the appropriate plot points rather than providing depth of feeling. It would have also been more useful to newcomers had the touching end line not been given away in the trailer.