Community Arts

Freshman group writes, produces film

By Allison Richie · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12:13 p.m.

If there is a checklist for making the most of the first semester of college, Rachelle Wilson has certainly completed hers. The "Art of Acting" Freshman Interest Group, a community within the Residential Programs and Services system, decided in September to go above and beyond for their final project relating to the freshman experience. Instead of making a scrapbook or writing a short story reflecting on the previous few months, this FIG decided to make a movie.

Shimon Peres quits Israel's Labor Party

By Alyson Brodsy and Ravi Nessman · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12:12 p.m.

JERUSALEM -- Bitter over his ouster as Labor Party chief, Shimon Peres quit his political home of six decades Wednesday to campaign for Ariel Sharon's new party, saying the prime minister is the best choice to lead Israel to peace with the Palestinians. Peres' defection was an important coup for Sharon in the scramble by the major parties to recruit high-profile supporters during a political realignment the past three weeks as the country prepares for parliamentary elections in March.

Jordan River Forum

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12:11 p.m.

I have tried to be a nice guy over the past few years, but there is one thing about IU that has really gotten under my skin. It seems like everywhere you go people are taking cheap shots at Carrot Top. As a huge fan, I find this to be so aggravating. I have heard everyone from Indiana Daily Student writers, to random people walking around campus, to professors taking cheap shots at Carrot Top at one time or another. And they are usually so inappropriate.

Supreme Court tackles abortion law

By Alyson Brodsy and Gina Holland · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court wrestled Wednesday with a New Hampshire law that requires a parent to be told before a daughter ends her pregnancy, with no hint the justices were ready for a dramatic retreat on abortion rights under their new chief. The court is dealing with its first abortion case in five years, as well as the first in the brief tenure of Chief Justice John Roberts.

President Bush defends war in Iraq, no pullout timetable set

By Alyson Brodsy and Deb Riechmann · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 11:50 a.m.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- President Bush gave an unflinching defense of his war strategy Wednesday, refusing to set a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawals and asserting that once-shaky Iraqi troops are proving increasingly capable. Democrats dismissed his words as a stay-the-course speech with no real strategy for success.

Fire erupts in Purdue apartments

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 11:49 a.m.

WEST LAFAYETTE -- Purdue University students ran from their apartments as fire spread through an old commercial building near campus and burned through the roof. No injuries were reported from the fire that heavily damaged the top floor of the three-story Von's Book Shop building, but it left about a dozen students temporarily homeless. The fire was reported at about 10:15 p.m. Tuesday and firefighters needed more than two hours to extinguish the flames as heavy smoke blanketed the Chauncey Village area and police officers closed several nearby streets.

Lawmaker: Post reel times

By Mike McElroy · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 11:48 a.m.

Duane Cheney is tired of sitting through commercials when he goes to see a movie. That's why the Indiana representative, a Democrat from Portage, Ind., is drafting a bill that will require theaters to advertise the start time of the actual movie, not the commercials. "It's a matter of truth in advertising," he said. "(The theater) removes the consumer choice of whether or not they want to hear a chorus of 'Let's Go Out to the Lobby.'"

T.G.I. Friday's opens in mall

By Megan George · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 11:48 a.m.

There's a new restaurant in town. T.G.I. Friday's opened its doors at the College Mall Nov. 14. The restaurant, known by its red and white stripes, is the second sit-down restaurant in College Mall and features a family-style atmosphere.

Beat finals week

By Alyson Brodsy and Deara Ball · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 11:40 a.m.

Since you have already made that pilgrimage back to Bloomington after break, your stomachs filled with turkey and all the trimmings, I have to say it: It's crunch time. That's right -- like it or not, it's time once again to gear up for finals week. I shudder to think about the grueling weeks that lay ahead of me and the rest of IU's constituents.

Close reading

By Alyson Brodsy and Vivek Chandrasekhar · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 11:40 a.m.

Recently for class I was required to read "Beyond the Pleasure Principle" by psychologist Sigmund Freud, and I have to say I found the experience distasteful. Full disclosure: I have been raised by a disciple of the behaviorist (and one time IU professor) B.F. Skinner, and therefore taught to believe that all conventional psychology is inherently worthless.

Military might?

By Alyson Brodsy and Felipe Maya · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 11:39 a.m.

Apparently, I'm a terrorist. At least that's what a National Guardsman implied when he told me I was performing terrorist activity. Allow me to explain. A couple weeks ago some friends and I traveled to Newburgh, Ind., to do a broadcast story for a class. Newburgh was one of the Southern Indiana cities affected by the deadly tornado that struck Nov. 6. As we neared the home of a source, I had the camera pointing out of the car window, and we passed a National Guard checkpoint. I thought nothing of it.

Rethinking Roe

By Alyson Brodsy and Peter Chen · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 11:38 a.m.

I am a liberal. I am a huge Hubert Humphrey-loving, bleeding-heart, tax-em-till-they-squeal, peacenik liberal who voted for John Kerry grudgingly because I didn't think he was far left enough. I also think every woman in this country has the right to have an abortion. Yet, I think we should overturn Roe v. Wade.

IUSA falls short

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 11:38 a.m.

The IU Student Association voted unanimously Tuesday night on a resolution to support the decision to raise IU's admissions standards. In bringing the resolution to the table, IUSA implied its support of IU President Adam Herbert's decision to raise standards at IU-Bloomington. Earlier this month, Herbert charged Interim IU-Bloomington Chancellor Ken Gros Louis with the task of beginning IUB's effort to raise the bar.

A truly epic achievement

By Alyson Brodsy and John Barnett · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12 a.m.

Every so often, Sony's in-house game developers cough up a polished gem, "God of War" being a recent example, that puts most other games out at the time to shame. Their latest epic offering is "Shadow of the Colossus," which follows a nameless warrior and his brave steed on a quest to destroy the mythical creatures that inhabit a beautiful but cursed land devoid of any humans except our warrior and his recently deceased lover.

System wrap-up double disc

By Alyson Brodsy and John Barnett · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12 a.m.

Picking up from where last May's installment left off, System of a Down commence part two of their double disc oeuvre, Mezmerize/Hypnotize, with "Attack!", a literal attack on our fragile ears. Vocalist Serj Tankian's atonal yelps fade in and out as guitarist and songwriter Daron Malakian's more radio-friendly voice chimes in on the leisurely bits. Meanwhile, bassist Shavo Odadjian and drummer John Dolmayan mostly try and match pace with the dueling leads. System of a Down has never been shy about employing complex prog-rock song structures on most of their tracks, which makes it all the more surprising that Hypnotize is the more immediately accessible disc of their 2005 output.

A royal live album

By Alyson Brodsy and Ryan McLaughlin · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12 a.m.

The Queens of the Stone Age's live CD/DVD Over The Years and Through the Woods, released November 22nd, came a short eight months after the band's fourth studio album Lullabies to Paralyze. The first QOTSA's album since bassist and co-founder Nick Oliveri's departure from the band, Lullabies peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard charts and proved that frontman and guitarist Josh Homme was completely capable of leading the band himself.

A little love, a lot of fat suit

By Alyson Brodsy and Greg Schoenbaecheler · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12 a.m.

Ever since Ryan Reynolds' first theatrical success, "Van Wilder," people have been waiting for him to top it with some outstanding instant classic. People are still waiting. While "Just Friends" wasn't bad, it did get a little repetitive and predictable in its pursuit to make audiences laugh. Directed by Roger Kumble, "Just Friends" is much better than "The Sweetest Thing," his last try at a romantic comedy, but it does fall short of Reynolds' movies "Van Wilder" and "Waiting."

CITY Lights

By Michael Mellini and Mike Mellini · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12 a.m.

As 7 p.m. approaches, the last few people straggle into screening room 251 of the TV and Radio Building and sit in the available seats. A man in a khaki coat approaches the audience and welcomes them to the weekly City Lights film series. He announces tonight's presentation is Robert Altman's 1975 film "Nashville" and discusses what films will screen in the weeks to come. The lights go down and clicking noises comes from the back of the room. It's coming from the projector and it's a noise today's moviegoers are no longer used to hearing.

Not quite 'perfect'

By Alyson Brodsy and David Antognoli · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12 a.m.

When Satoru Iwata, the president of Nintendo, delivered his keynote address at E3 2005, he demonstrated Mario Kart DS to punctuate Nintendo's emphasis on innovation and fun as opposed to impressive hardware specifications. But as I watched his speech, I wondered just how a new iteration of a franchise that hasn't missed an entry in each successive Nintendo console since the SNES could bring anything interesting to the table -- especially on the heels of the only lukewarm and largely superficial innovations of the GameCube's Mario Kart: Double Dash.

'Hung up' on 'Confessions'

By Alyson Brodsy and Larry Walters · Thursday, Dec. 1,2005 12 a.m.

Returning once again to her roots, Madonna again surprises the world with a CD worth listening to. Flaunting the title "diva" in more ways than one, she co-writes and co-produces every single song on the album. Madge takes over the airwaves with her new single, "Hung Up." It's the first single from the album, and one of the most memorable songs you'll ever hear. Borrowing music from ABBA's "Gimme Gimme Gimme," this song will keep dancers and clubbers wanting more.