Region

IU hopes to avoid recent history against Indiana State tonight

By Brian Janosch · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:27 a.m.

Believe it or not, the Hoosiers actually entered last week's game against Duke with more recent series success than they do entering today's game against Indiana State. IU had won the previous two meetings against the Blue Devils before losing by eight Wednesday, whereas the Sycamores have won two of the last three meetings with IU and gave the Hoosiers all they could handle last season in a 56-52 Hoosier win.

Owner says her Oriental Grocery Store is a gift to community

By Jessica Wolfe · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:26 a.m.

The first time Li-Ling Jia came to America from China, she stepped off the airplane without a penny. She said she wasn't afraid of not having any money, though. Money wasn't a priority for her then and it's not today, either, Jia said. Twenty-five years ago, Jia came to the United States through an exchange program. Now, she is the owner of the largest Oriental grocery store in Bloomington. For her, running Obo's Oriental Grocery, 2556 E. Third St., is important because of what the store offers to the Bloomington community, not the money it brings her.

Hoosiers enjoy best season ever

By Jordan Majewski · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:25 a.m.

This year, the IU field hockey team enjoyed its best season in the six-year history of the program. Under the guidance of coach Amy Robertson, the Hoosiers set a number of team records, including most wins in a season, highest national ranking, and most importantly, and a trip to the Elite Eight in the first NCAA tournament appearance in school history.

Around the nation

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:22 a.m.

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The series of sirens was the first to pierce the crisp, 20-degree morning air. The sharp and clear bell sounded again at one minute. Then came the initial explosion. The iconic Hawkeye press box collapsed on itself Dec. 3 with an earthshaking noise, releasing a massive plume of dust and leaving on its flank -- impervious and unaffected -- the new press box.

IU development might help speed discovery for pharmaceuticals

By Allie Townsend · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:20 a.m.

IU researchers at the School of Informatics and the IU Community Grids Lab have received a $49,000 grant from Microsoft Smart Clients for eScience for a project that could potentially give the pharmaceutical world the boost it needs to propel toward advancements in medical treatments via drugs. The project will entail the creation of a new Web service and intelligent agent-based system enabling chemists to make quicker and more informed decisions while developing new prospective drugs.

Student arrested after marijuana found in room

By Gavin Lesnick · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:20 a.m.

An IU student is facing felony drug charges after police found 57 grams of marijuana in his room Saturday. According to the IU Police Department report, an officer went to freshman Corbin A. Elliott's room on the third floor of Collins Center after smelling burnt marijuana from outside. Elliott said Monday he did have marijuana in the room and takes responsibility for what happened. But he said he will do what is necessary to stay out of trouble in the future.

Nestle to present food demonstration for students at Kelley School of Business

By Audrie Garrison · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:18 a.m.

Recruiters from Nestle Prepared Foods Co. will team up with the Bloomington Cooking School to present a food marketing seminar for approximately 20 students from the Kelley School of Business Tuesday. The purpose of this event, according to the invitation sent out by the company, is to teach students techniques for developing and marketing food products. Nestle owns Lean Cuisine, a food program that focuses on nutritionally aware food.

Lincoln Room in Lilly Library honors president

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:18 a.m.

Students seeking inspiration from one of the country's greatest presidents need look no further than the Lincoln Room in IU's Lilly Library. The room pays tribute to Abraham Lincoln's Indiana roots. Lincoln's family moved to Indiana from Kentucky when he was 7 years old and stayed for the next 14 years before moving to Illinois.

Music-less education?

By Alyson Brodsy and Precious Sanders · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:17 a.m.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performed Saturday at the IU Auditorium. When I bought my ticket to the concert, I had no intention of writing a column afterward. As I scanned the splattering of empty seats in the auditorium, however, I changed my mind, disturbed that even this prestigious orchestra could not draw a full house. I couldn't help but wonder: What does this turnout say about our society? Have we lost our appreciation for the finer modes of artistic expression?

Present problems

By Alyson Brodsy and Levi Harris · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:14 a.m.

I love Christmas. I love the lights and carols, all the adorable people bundled up in sweaters, the trees and the snuggling. But presents, I'm not so good with. My parents should've known I was gay when, as a boy, I always asked for food processors, sewing machines and Care Bears and was so disappointed with my toy trucks. But I'll never forget the Christmas that ruined receiving gifts for me forever (and doomed me to become an English major). I was in the first grade, and I'd asked Grandma for a typewriter. She got me a manual one, whereas I'd been hoping for an electric Smith Corona.

Bad calls and religious static

By Alyson Brodsy and Colin Dugdale · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:14 a.m.

"Can you hear me now?" God: the benevolent caller. The omnipotent dialer. The man with the world's largest phonebook and, consequently, the world's largest phone bill. It's easy to think of God as a spiritual phone operator. In times of crisis, he's an "emergency contact" number. In times of confusion, he's "information." In fact, many Christians refer to their spiritual conversions as "receiving the call." What happens, though, when some people get a bad connection, when their mental "reception" of Christianity has little, or no, bars?

Around Business

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:12 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS -- To help boost its stalled economy, hurricane-ravaged New Orleans is offering the nation's first free wireless Internet network owned and run by a major city. Mayor Ray Nagin said Tuesday the system would benefit residents and small businesses who still can't get their Internet service restored over the city's washed out telephone network, while showing the nation "that we are building New Orleans back."

Kelley grads seize opportunity in wireless Internet

By David Weisburd · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:11 a.m.

Wireless Internet technology not only helped three 2005 graduates get through four years of assignments at IU, it also sparked an entrepreneurial venture for them after graduation when they discovered a niche in the wireless Internet market few companies were exploiting. Traditional wireless companies in the Lafayette area were feeding cable and digital subscriber line technology through phone lines, but alumni Kelly Cantwell, Colin Meadows and Eric Steele knew there was a better way: providing wireless Internet through airways. This month, ForePoint Networks, the venture started by the trio in the Lafayette area, is celebrating seven months of doing just that, and of staying alive in a very competitive industry.

Getting a j-o-b in B-town

By Amy Carol Wolff and Amy Wolff · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:11 a.m.

The holidays are coming, and for those with long lists of gifts to buy for friends and family, landing a job might be the key to getting through the season without going broke. But with a limited number of jobs in Bloomington, how can students make sure they're hired instead of the competition? Some businesses have a clear criteria for judging a respected employee, including personality, availability and an excellent work ethic.

Don't punish campuses for supporting equal rights

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12:10 a.m.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments in Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights. The issue at hand is the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment -- a regulation that requires all universities (public or private) that receive federal funding or research grants to allow military recruiters on campus. The debate has quickly transformed into a question of free speech with a group of law schools arguing that the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy is discriminatory. These universities say they wouldn't invite discriminatory companies on campus to recruit students, so why should they invite the military?

Victory in Iraq is an oxymoron

By Alyson Brodsy and David A. Nosko · Tuesday, Dec. 6,2005 12 a.m.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld once said: "Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war." It seems he was right. As the U.S. soldier death count continues to climb -- more than 2,100 thus far in Iraq -- some Americans and congressional leaders have continued their plea for President Bush to offer a timetable to withdraw the U.S. military from Iraq.

Rice defends U.S. terrorism policies

By Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Dec. 5,2005 11:59 p.m.

BERLIN -- Fighting terrorism is "a two-way street" and Europeans are safer for tough but legal U.S. tactics, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday in response to an outcry among allies about reports of secret CIA prisons and detainee mistreatment. The top U.S. diplomat went further than others in the Bush administration to insist that Americans do not practice torture or lesser forms of cruel treatment.

Judge upholds charges against DeLay

By Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Dec. 5,2005 11:59 p.m.

AUSTIN, Texas -- A judge dismissed a conspiracy charge Monday against Rep. Tom DeLay but refused to throw out the far more serious allegations of money laundering, dashing the congressman's hopes, for now, of reclaiming his post as House majority leader. Texas Judge Pat Priest, who is presiding over the case against the Republican, issued the ruling after a hearing late last month in which DeLay's attorney argued that the indictment was fatally flawed.

Earthquake jolts east Africa, at least 2 confirmed dead

By Alyson Brodsy · Monday, Dec. 5,2005 11:58 p.m.

KINSHASA, Congo -- A powerful earthquake Monday toppled dozens of homes and buried children in rubble in eastern Congo, killing at least two people in a region already beset by chronic violence and grinding poverty. The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8, struck at 2:20 p.m. (7:20 a.m. EST) and was centered beneath Lake Tanganyika on the Congo-Tanzania border, about 600 miles southwest of Nairobi, Kenya, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site.

First witness in Saddam trial testifies before court

By Alyson Brodsy and Hamza Hendawi · Monday, Dec. 5,2005 11:57 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The first witnesses in the Saddam Hussein trial offered chilling accounts Monday of killings and torture using electric shocks and a grinder during a 1982 crackdown against Shiites, as the defiant ex-president threatened the judge and tried to intimidate a survivor One witness said he saw a machine that "looked like a grinder" with hair and blood on it in a secret police center in Baghdad where he and others were tortured for 70 days. He said detainees were kept in "Hall 63." But defense lawyers questioned the reliability of witnesses who were only 15 and 10 at the time and walked out of the tumultuous session when the judge refused to allow former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark to address the court on Saddam's behalf. They returned after the judge relented.