Community Arts

Cuba's thriving hip-hop scene seeing changes

HABANA DEL ESTE, Cuba -- On broiling summer days more than a decade ago, teenagers here spent hours watching breakdancing on "Soul Train" and listening to American rap floating across the radio waves from Florida. Then they gathered on street corners, surrounded by rows of apartment buildings with chipped paint and laundry hanging out the windows, and copied what they'd seen and heard.

Letters from Abroad

I'd like to extend an apology to my faithful readers. I lied in my last column. This one isn't about food. The closest it gets to dealing with food ... well, I'll explain later. You see, things came up, and I ended up going to the last bull fight of the season. Let me attempt to provide you with a visual ... I expect it to be difficult, but I will try my utmost: Bull fights (or corridas) are formal events.

'America,' the splendidly funny

Welcome to Democracy 101 -- but don't snore yet, because you're in for a treat. The self-effacing and quick-witted Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's immensely popular faux-news program "The Daily Show," will serve as your professor while you walk down history lane. Your primary reading will come from "America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction," a new satirical textbook of American government from Stewart and his fellow "Daily" writers that, hands down, will turn into a much better investment than that civics book currently collecting dust on your dorm room floor.

Early musicians play church

The Bloomington Early Music Festival held a concert with Ensemble Lipzodes, a five-member group that specializes in 16th century Guatemalan church music, in the Trinity Episcopal Church Saturday night. The concert was a precursor to the Early Music America Medieval and Renaissance music competition in New York. The group was invited to the festival, and if this weekend's performance is any indication of how they will perform in New York, many among the audience said they should do very well.

Iran's top dissident cleric turns attention to Iraq

QOM, Iran -- These are pilgrims of a different kind. Several times a week, Shiite Muslim clerics and community leaders from neighboring Iraq climb stairs to a little office in this Iranian city of shrines and Islamic seminaries. There, an aged and hunched figure sits on a swivel chair fitted with an electric blanket.

Bush, Kerry vie for critical undecided vote

HAVERTOWN, Pa. -- Put Barbara White down as undecided in the race for the White House. "The economy makes me afraid of Bush, but I'm scared of Kerry because of security," she said, standing in the doorway of her home outside Philadelphia.

Car bombs kill 24 in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Insurgents unleashed a pair of powerful car bombs Monday near the symbol of U.S. authority in Iraq -- the Green Zone, where the U.S. Embassy and key government offices are located -- and hotels occupied by hundreds of foreigners. Three other explosions brought the day's bombing toll to at least 24 dead and more than 100 wounded.

Can't make the playoff scene without the green

Can you hear that? It could be, it might be, it is. It's the sound of millions of Cubs fans weeping. The so-called curse continues, but this time there's no Steve Bartman to point the finger at and nobody to give the finger to.

Postseason returns with October mystique

Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez are revved up. Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt are rarin' to go. Baseball fans are ready, too.

Exploring the intrinsic nature of networking

Last month the School of Informatics broadened its scope of information development with the addition of new faculty member Alessandro Vespignani. The new area of study developing with Vespignani's arrival is the concept of the network, as he and his colleagues reach across all areas of knowledge to create unified concepts of organization, no matter the subject.

Patriots win 18th straight; Colts 'Edge' Jacksonville

Patriots 31, bills 17 ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- With Tom Brady at quarterback and a stingy, opportunistic defense, it's difficult to imagine when the New England Patriots might lose again.

Around The Game

Women's cross country places 8th The IU Women's cross country team took an eighth place finish Friday in the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, N.C.

Happy Valley rewards

The IU men's soccer team took its 47-game conference unbeaten streak into University Park this weekend to face Penn State, a team that hadn't lost in a nation's best 12 games. In the end, it was IU's streak that was extended to 48.

Wisconsin halts IU's momentum

Anyone who watched the IU women's soccer game Sunday left with a sense of déjà vu in their 5-2 loss to the University of Wisconsin. The Hoosiers said they learned their lesson against Oakland, but the Hoosiers' intensity between the first and second halves was like night and day again.

Three more Hoosiers enter Hall of Fame

Three more murals were added to 129 that already stand watch over the north and south entrances to Assembly Hall. The murals rarely receive more than a glance from the thousands of students who pour into Assembly Hall each winter -- despite the presence of the three words that carry the most weight when it comes to individual achievement in sports -- "Hall of Fame."

on the SIDELINES

Houston wins wild race for final National League playoff berth

HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros charged into the playoffs with their 18th consecutive home victory, capping an incredible turnaround by beating Colorado 5-3 Sunday to win the NL wild card.

Tequila and rum don't mix

Saturday was a most uneventful day in the realm of college football. Yes there were some upsets and some games between ranked teams, but everything turned out to be a little bland.

Defense's inability to prevent big plays plague team

It was the same song, different day for the Hoosiers. The Michigan Wolverines put away an IU team in the second half of Saturday's contest, 35-14. After threatening from the red zone three times and keeping the game within a touchdown in the first half, Michigan went on a 21-7 rout in the latter half to secure the 35-14 win.

WOLVERINED

Plays come in all ranges and sizes, from small plays that net a few yards to medium plays that keep the team on the field. But Saturday, it was Michigan's "big plays" that resulted in the Hoosiers losing their third straight game, 35-14.