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Rethinking math class

Math is in need of a major re-imaging campaign. At present, its reputation generally falls somewhere between getting one's eyes plucked out by vultures and watching 24-hour "Barney" marathons. It has, of course, its hard-core devotees, but to the general populace, math, like Latin, is a dead language. This is unfortunate because as the importance of technology grows in society, more and more jobs will require a solid base of science and mathematics. By electing to forego a further mathematics education, many high school students are effectively cutting themselves off from some of the best jobs in the future market.

U.N. aid?

After Hurricane Katrina struck, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan issued a Sept. 1 statement "offering ... heartfelt sympathy, and any assistance the United Nations can give." Really, Kofi? Any assistance? I appreciate the United Nations' offer. As of Sept. 8, it had sent teams to Baton Rouge, La., Denton, Texas, and the Little Rock Air Force Base to help coordinate international assistance. It was also mobilizing (or trying to mobilize) relief activities via the U.N. Children's Fund and the World Health Organization (United Nations press release, Sept. 8). It's possible the United Nations' "coordination" will amount to little more than meetings about meetings and reports about reporting on the progress of reporting -- but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

In whom do we trust?

Fire Michael Brown now. In case you haven't heard by now, Brown is the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security. He has quickly become the symbol of abject government failure as citizens question what went wrong with the response to Hurricane Katrina. President Bush was right to remove him from the scene in New Orleans, but Brown is still nominally the director of FEMA, and accountability will not be served until he is terminated.

Tickets for tailgating?

The IU Athletics Department is striving for a remarkably admirable goal this year: greater student attendance at home football games. After all, crowds win games. But, alas, the department has taken a step in the wrong direction. A new rule for the official tailgating areas surrounding Memorial Stadium states fans must have tickets to remain on parking lot grounds to continue tailgating festivities ten minutes after kickoff. Fortunately, before last Saturday's game against Nicholls State, some authority thought enough to stave off any attempt to sweep out non-ticket holders during the first football game, and the policy was not enforced.

Bush visits Katrina relief workers

NEW ORLEANS -- President Bush, eager to show hands-on leadership in the Gulf Coast hurricane recovery effort, joined commanders working from a military ship docked in this flooded city Sunday. The president visited firefighters who have been battling the blazes that persistently erupt across the city, then was sleeping on the USS Iwo Jima. The amphibious assault ship is serving as a control center in the relief efforts.

Roberts' Senate hearings begin Monday on the Hill

WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Sunday he will not ask Supreme Court chief justice nominee John Roberts whether he would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion.

Troops lower Israeli flag over Gaza

NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip -- Israeli troops lowered their national banner and snapped farewell photos in the final phase of the historic Gaza pullout Sunday as Palestinians began celebrating nearby, eager to take control after 38 years of Israeli military occupation.

IU grads sing in opera series for non-profit group

The John Waldron Arts Center kicked off its a year-long lineup of musical and theatrical events Friday with the musical "How to Break a Leg: A Diva's Guide to Success." To jumpstart the center's "Performance Series" season, the Bloomington Area Arts Council sponsored the play, written by Eric McCarthy Holmes, as a benefit fund-raiser.

Groups promote community activism

BtownActive Festival, held Saturday at Dunn Meadow, served as a good occasion to enjoy southern Indiana's early fall weather, live music and broccoli pizza with some of the campus and community's most activist-minded folks.

IUSA, city warn residents to keep noise levels down

Loud music booming vibrations throughout the rooms of a house morning might produce a well-attended party in the wee hours of the morning. But those same vibrations might draw a fine. The IU Student Association collaborated with six neighborhoods surrounding IU's campus and passed out 5,000 doorknob hangers last night in an effort to educate the community about Bloomington's "Quiet Nights" initiative.

Shipwrecked for spring, suited for summer

UITS might cut forwarding feature from e-mail

IU might stop allowing students to forward their Webmail accounts to other services such as Gmail and AOL if spam problems persist. When IU users forward their University mail to a different account, spam is also forwarded. The forwarding becomes a problem because larger e-mail providers view IU as the spam's origin, thus blocklisting, or blocking, IU accounts, said Mark Bruhn, chief IT security and policy officer for University Information Technology Services, via e-mail.

Fraternities recruit prospective members

More than a thousand male IU students began a new chapter of their lives this weekend -- literally. The Interfraternity Council's Men's Recruitment Kickoff commenced Friday evening when representatives from IU's 25 fraternity chapters encircled Dunn Meadow and played host to a record number of potential greek pledges. IFC Vice President of Recruitment and senior Justin Sloan said attendance was up by almost 300 people from last year. Sloan attributed this to amplified advertising efforts.

Designers bring back classic looks

NEW YORK -- Tommy Hilfiger's spring 2006 collection incorporates many of his signatures: seersucker, madras, the American flag, and red, white and blue. But as Hilfiger marked his 20th anniversary in fashion, he said there were many subtle tweaks to his newest designs. For example, the red is softer -- almost pink. The blue is lighter, and the white is more the color of sand.

Hoosiers dispatched to help in Mississippi

Hoosiers are blazing the trail for workers aiding devastated residents of southern Mississippi. Registered nurse and state Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, is one of many Hoosiers working as a part of Operation Hoosier Relief in and around Biloxi, Miss. The operation is the first group from Indiana with medical personnel, she said in a phone interview, and follows Indiana's immediate emergency response team Task Group One.

SPEA faculty provide disaster insight

Hurricane Katrina left a major U.S. city in ruins, thousands dead and questions on the minds of many. Professors in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs attempted to address those questions Thursday night at an informal teach-in titled, "Hurricane Katrina: The SPEA Perspective."

Renowned conductor dies during visit

Randall Behr, an accomplished conductor who was in town as an IU School of Music guest music director, unexpectedly died in his sleep Thursday afternoon at a Bloomington hotel. Behr, who was in his early 50s, was in Bloomington preparing performers for the season-opening showing of "Così fan tutte," one of his favorite operas, said Maria Levy, executive administrator of IU Opera Theatre program.

Riding out the storm: Part 3

I woke up Wednesday morning relieved the generators had not given out during the previous night and headed back to a small section of the Superdome set aside for mostly elderly people with special needs. The atmosphere in the dome had gotten incredibly tense and the soldiers were walking around with shotguns, which I assumed was an ideal weapon for close quarter combat.

Ready to Rock

The entire week, the IU football team has had a consistent theme -- uncertainty. Early in the week, players and coaches didn't even know if there would be a contest this Saturday. Now that Nicholls State University's visit is official, the Hoosiers face new unknowns; most notably, what they can expect from the disaster-affected Division 1-AA program when the Colonels visit Bloomington at 4 p.m. Saturday. "It's kind of like our first game again, because we haven't really seen what they can do," said sophomore quarterback Blake Powers. "There's no tape from this season to look at, so that's a challenge. Even when we didn't know if they were coming, we maintained focus and prepared ourselves for another game."

Destination: Detroit

BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore Ravens have composed a defensive backfield that's so good, two former Pro Bowl stars can't even crack the starting lineup. "It could be the best secondary ever assembled," declared Deion Sanders, who will be used as nickelback this season despite his 14 years of NFL experience and eight Pro Bowl appearances.