Community Arts

Randle El in spotlight again

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 1:16 a.m.

• On Sunday night, Pittsburgh's Antwaan Randle El became the first receiver to throw a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl game. • But it wasn't too long ago that he was throwing into the end zone for a Chicago area high school. • In the mid '90s, Randle El attended Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Ill.

Game receives second-best TV rating ever

By Alyson Brodsy and David Bauder · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 1:15 a.m.

NEW YORK -- The Pittsburgh Steelers' victory against the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl was watched in an average of 45.85 million homes, the second-highest total in television history behind the final episode of "M-A-S-H" in 1983. Pittsburgh's 21-10 victory Sunday got a 41.6 preliminary national rating, Nielsen Media Service said Monday, up slightly from the 41.1 rating last year. The share remained the same at 62. The game was watched by an estimated 141.4 million people in the United States, ABC said, the second-highest total to view a program behind the 144.4 million who tuned to New England's victory over Carolina in the 2004 Super Bowl. That number estimates the total amount of people to watch the game at any point.

Super Bull XB: Xtra-boring, Xtra-baloney

By Alyson Brodsy and Andrew Shaffer · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 1:14 a.m.

Super Bowl Sunday is my favorite American holiday. Would I prefer the Fourth of July? Please, constitutions are overrated. Thanksgiving? I fall asleep before I can make it through my first plate of turkey. Easter? Why would I want to find eggs and then eat them, I don't get it. Hanukkah? The festival of lights brings me no excitement since Edison discovered the light bulb more than 125 years ago. I like my Super Bowls like I like my obese strippers -- oversized, overpriced and with more story lines than a soap opera (but ultimately, I am satisfied). This year's most annoying Super Bowl subplot goes to Jerome "The Bus" Bettis, who was returning "home" to Detroit in his final professional year in football. It was a story beaten worse than the wife in a Lifetime movie.

First-year coach brings winning history, attitude

By Jake Brown and Jacob Brown · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 1:13 a.m.

First-year IU baseball coach Tracy Smith knows how to build a program up from the bottom of a conference. Smith hopes part of that equation includes the addition of two star transfers, the team announced Monday: Tad Reida, a redshirt sophomore from Wichita State University, and Brett Sager, a redshirt freshman from Lousiana State University. "Tad is a 'baseball rat,' and I mean it in a good way," Smith said in a statement. "Brett adds a quality glove for us in the infield."

Get out the gay

By Alyson Brodsy and Levi Harris · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 1:10 a.m.

It's a dark time for gays. In his State of the Union address last week, President Bush berated activist judges trying to change the definition of marriage for the third year. When your minority is an applause line for a Republican, you know you're on the defensive. I've decided the problem is our minority is too minor: There just aren't enough gays. Unlike gremlins and Catholics, gays can't reproduce naturally. We have to proselytize like Baptists. Therefore, I've spent a lot of time lately thinking about ways to get our recruitment numbers up.

Outrageous outrage

By Alyson Brodsy and Peter Chen · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 1:09 a.m.

For all the ink the "cartoon crisis" in Europe has generated, there are a few oddities that make the situation weirder than your typical international spat. Some believe the Islamic reaction has been understandable, finding reason in the violence. Others see a cataclysmic collision of liberal democracies and Islam, two wholly incompatible structures, whose values cannot be merged.

Fight night

By Alyson Brodsy and Jacob Stewart · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 1:08 a.m.

I walked into my apartment Saturday night at about 1 a.m. after an evening of fun and adventure and locked the door behind me. Five minutes later, the yelling began. Apparently, outside my door a fight over the difference between "bros and hos" was happening. During the intense yelling (it sounded more like a Korn song than actual speech), a girl even tried to force her way into my apartment, but the dead bolt lock succeeded in its task. After that, the fun began.

Full disclosure

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 1:06 a.m.

The IU board of trustees is currently circulating a plan to improve transparency and efficiency when hiring high-ranking administrators. The multi-point plan calls for, among other changes, the names of finalists to be disclosed to the public. With newly vacated positions in the College of Arts and Sciences and with IU President Adam Herbert's announced intention to leave IU in 2008, we believe such an improvement to the currently flawed search process is imperative for IU to find the best and most qualified person for particular jobs.

Bush sends Congress $2.77 trillion budget

By Alyson Brodsy and Martin Crutsinger · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 1:01 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush sent Congress a $2.77 trillion budget plan Monday that would boost spending in the War on Terror but squeeze a wide swath of other government programs to deal with exploding budget deficits. Bush, hoping to get his domestic agenda back on track after a year of political setbacks, unveiled a budget blueprint with a heavy emphasis on keeping the country strong militarily. It would also make his first-term tax cuts permanent, at a cost of $1.4 trillion over 10 years, and still achieve his goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009.

Iran demands IAEA remove cameras, reduce number of nuclear inspections

By Alyson Brodsy and George Jahn · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 12:58 a.m.

VIENNA, Austria -- Iran told the International Atomic Energy Agency to remove surveillance cameras and agency seals from sites and nuclear equipment by the end of next week, the U.N. watchdog agency said Monday. Iran's demands came two days after the IAEA reported Tehran to the Security Council over its disputed atomic program. The council has the power to impose economic and political sanctions. In a confidential report to the IAEA's 35-member board, agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran also announced a sharp reduction in the number and kind of inspections IAEA experts will be allowed, effective immediately. The report was dated Monday and made available to The Associated Press. The moves were expected. Iranian officials had repeatedly warned they would stop honoring the so-called "Additional Protocol" to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty -- an agreement giving IAEA inspectors greater inspecting authority -- if the IAEA board referred their country to the Security Council.

Moussaoui jury selection begins

By Alyson Brodsy and Michael J. Sniffen · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 12:57 a.m.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Proclaiming "I am al-Qaida," Zacarias Moussaoui disavowed his lawyers Monday and pledged to testify on his own behalf in the trial that will determine whether he is executed for terrorist conspiracy. An often volatile figure in his proceedings, Moussaoui was removed from the courtroom during the opening of jury selection for speaking out of turn, each of the three times he appeared. "I want to be heard," he demanded. Of his lawyers, he said: "These people do not represent me."

Gonzales defends Bush's wiretapping program during committee hearing

By Alyson Brodsy and Katherine Shrader · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 12:54 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Senators raised doubts about the legal rationale for the Bush administration's eavesdropping program Monday, forcing Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to provide a lengthy defense of the operations he called a vital "early warning system" for terrorists. A handful of Republicans joined Democrats in raising questions about whether President Bush went too far in ordering the National Security Agency's monitoring operations. The senators were particularly troubled by the administration's argument that a September 2001 congressional resolution approving use of military force covered the surveillance of some domestic communications.

Caricature protests turn deadly as unrest, anger spreads

By Alyson Brodsy and Amir Shah · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 12:53 a.m.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan troops opened fire on demonstrators Monday, leaving at least four people dead, while Iranian police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters hurling stones and firebombs at the Danish Embassy in Tehran, Iran, as anger mounted over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Police had encircled the walled brick villa housing the Danish mission in the Iranian capital, but the crowd of about 400 protesters ignored orders to break up, only running into a nearby park after tear gas was fired. Earlier in the day, 200 student demonstrators threw stones at the Austrian Embassy, breaking some windows and starting small fires.

Students donate plasma to earn extra money, aid those in need

By Teri Rosenbaum · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 12:47 a.m.

If students could get paid for sitting in a cozy chair, listening to music and doing homework for an hour or two, they would, right? BioLife Plasma Services in Bloomington is a center devoted entirely to plasma donation. It offers donors $20 for one donation in a seven-day period, and $30 for the second donation in that period. There is a limit of two donations per week, with at least one day in between each of those visits. There must be at least 48 hours between donations, but the body replaces plasma removed during the donation process quickly, according to the BioLife Web site. "The reason why they're willing to pay so much for (plasma) is because there's so much of a human need for it," said Omar Faiz, the manager of BioLife. "It's vital for life for some people."

Free testing to be offered for AIDS Awareness Week

By Fatimah Scott · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 12:46 a.m.

AIDS Awareness Week 2006 began yesterday, sponsored by the IU Health Center, Bloomington Hospital Positive Link and the IU Student Global AIDS Campaign (IUSGAC). The groups look to provide educational programs to IU students about HIV and AIDS. Information, condoms and red ribbons will be available at the Indiana Memorial Union until Feb. 14. Tuesday, free and anonymous HIV screening tests will be available in the Dogwood Room of the IMU from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Anne Reese, director of Health & Wellness Education at the IU Health Center, said "the free screening during AIDS Awareness Week is intended to raise awareness and provide information (to students) about (HIV) testing." The free testing is an "advance rapid testing," an oral swab test that provides students with results in 20 minutes.

Intruders attack, rob 2 men in home

By Audrie Garrison · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 12:42 a.m.

Two Bloomington men reported they were robbed and attacked by four or five male intruders in their home early Sunday morning. The victims reported that the perpetrators entered through the back door of their home on the 1200 block of North Washington Street at about 2 a.m. and assaulted them, said Bloomington Police Department Captain Joe Qualters, reading from the police report. Officers met with the victims at Bloomington Hospital. According to the report, one of the residents, 22, suffered dislocated shoulder, while the other resident, 23, had small lacerations, swelling to his face and a cut on his ankle.

House shoots down gaming proposals

By Joseph S. Pete · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 12:41 a.m.

The General Assembly has again rejected a proposal to install slot machines at Indiana's two racetracks. Under House Bill 1077, drafted by state Rep. Eric Gutwein, R-Rensselaer, tax revenues generated from the slots would have been funneled into county governments to ease property taxes. Under the plan, licensing fees and a 32 percent wager tax would have brought in $292 million to the state along with more than $157 million annually, according to a press release from Gutwein's office. The legislation would have annually distributed $500,000 earmarked for tax relief to all non-gaming counties and $25 million to the Indiana State Department of Agriculture to further economic development.

Facing NFL withdrawal

By David A. Nosko · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 12:40 a.m.

As the clock ticked to zero during the Super Bowl XL Sunday evening, some fans shrugged their shoulders and sighed in disbelief, wondering what competitive activities might occupy their Sundays for the next five months. A variety of games and competitions around town offer competitive or recreational play. From bowling to fishing to board games, people can get their professional football fix from other, less violent sports. Julie D'Argent, a graduate student and Back Alley employee, said bowling and billiards offer both fun and competition.

Police arrest man after disturbance at Read Center

By Audrie Garrison · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 12:36 a.m.

IU Police Department officers arrested a student early Saturday morning who, according to the police report, was causing a disturbance, yelling obscenities and spitting on residents of Read Center. Officers responded to the call Saturday at about 2 a.m., said IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger, reading from the police report. He said the complainant gave them a description of the man, but officers ended up leaving the residence hall because they were unable to locate the suspect.

IU ranks 14th in number of Peace Corps volunteers

By Chip Cutter · Tuesday, Feb. 7,2006 12:35 a.m.

It was 2001 and Rachel Price was thousands of miles away from home. She was living in a new place -- a rural village on the Pacific coast of Panama -- helping teach environmental science to grade-school children while working to conserve sea turtles. She was with new people and engaging in new experiences. And she says it was all worth it. A graduate student in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Price was working with the Peace Corps, an organization that sends American volunteers around the world to work in developing countries. "I think it was amazing to live and be a part of a different culture and to be able to share my culture with them. That was probably the best part about it -- just the cultural exchange," she said.