IUPD

Songs, poetry reflect on life of music student

Robert Samels liked to put himself in his music. His opera "PILATVS," which he wrote about the life of Pontius Pilate, was described as "witty," "genius" and "enjoyable" -- all traits his friends attribute to him. Even in his notes in the margin, friends noticed how he poured himself into his work. "I was looking through the score," said senior Nicole Beemsterboer, a close friend of his, "and towards the end he had underlined the lyrics, stolen from Walt Whitman: 'Waste your days inventing ways to be remembered before you rot in the ground.' "I thought, 'What a fitting tribute.'" Hundreds of friends gathered Wednesday night at the Buskirk Chumley Theater to provide another "fitting tribute" to Samels, a graduate student in the Jacobs School of Music who was killed in a plane crash May 20.

Batty heads into final Big Ten tourney

IU women's tennis team captain Sarah Batty has always been ahead of the game -- both in sports and her personal life. After moving from England to Florida to attend prep school at age 14, Batty graduated high school in two years and began her college tennis career at IU at just 17. Now at 20, the senior is facing what could possibly be her final weekend of collegiate tennis when the Hoosiers travel to Champaign, Ill., for the Big Ten Championships Friday. Batty is a senior leader on the team, anchored IU at the No. 1 singles spot all season and has been named to two All-Big Ten teams in her career.

Outgoing COAS dean holds no grudges against IU

In his first interview since being turned down for IU-Bloomington chancellor in November, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kumble Subbaswamy said he doesn't hold a grudge against the administration that chose not to hire him. The subject of a hot debate among Bloomington professors, Subbaswamy was hailed as an ideal chancellor. After IU President Adam Herbert announced that the chancellor search would continue, outraged IU professors gathered in a mass meeting and passed resolutions asking for a special review of Herbert's skills as president.

IU survey: Students need more college preparation

A study published this week by IU's Center for Evaluation and Education Policy has given new perspective to the debate to raise admissions standards at IU-Bloomington. The research found that, though the state of Indiana has improved its rate of sending high school students to college, placing college students in remedial classes might do more harm than good. IU officials say high schools are attempting to better prepare students for college, which should decrease the need for remedial classes.

Alert issued for missing 2-year-old Seymour girl

SEYMOUR, Ind. -- Police officers searched Wednesday for a Seymour man who authorities said held his wife and daughter in their home for days before fleeing with the 2-year-old child. Police issued an Amber Alert for the girl, Andrea Jordan Evans. The abduction was reported by the girl's mother, Brenda Evans, who said her husband left her tied up in the house midday Wednesday, Police Chief Craig Hayes said. "Brenda had ropes tied to her wrist and her ankles and had indicated to officers that there had been an ongoing dispute with her husband over the past two or three days during which she was tied and bound and battered at different points," Hayes said.

IU researcher designs football strategy device

Fans grumbling in protest after a bad play is a common occurrence in any bar or stadium during football season. Almost every football enthusiast has his or her own opinion about what the coach should have done in a certain play. Now, however, NFL teams may have a new way to decrease error in plays and make fans happy. Senior scientist Charles Bower from the IU physics department and partner Frank Frigo of Louisville have created ZEUS, an "off-the-shelf laptop" that simulates different conclusions to football games based on the decisions made during plays, according to a press release. It's designed to help football coaches make quick play decisions during games.

Political adviser addresses IU

Freshman Elizabeth Messana talked with two friends in the Whittenberger Auditorium last night as she waited for Larry Diamond to begin speaking. She said people had been making fun of her all day because she was planning to attend the renowned political scientist's lecture. "I'm the only person I know that would voluntarily come to this," she said, adding that laziness probably kept her peers away. "Not many of the people at the freshman level realize (the importance of attending events like this)."

TINY DANCERS

Friends make the fashion happen

Everybody's art

Actresses' press makes pregnancy glamourous for all

NEW YORK - Like any expectant mother, Kai Walter, six months pregnant, has lots to get done before the big day. One of her most important errands: an upcoming trip to the West Coast, where she has an appointment to take off her clothes and be photographed. Not for some magazine cover, a la Demi Moore, but for her own personal collection of pregnancy memories. The idea is to artistically capture her blossoming belly in all its glory, something more and more women are doing these days. Or they might be making a plaster "belly cast" of their changing form. Or even consulting a "pregnancy stylist" to map out a cool, midriff-baring maternity wardrobe.

Union Board's 'Porn Week' aims to explore lucrative industry

Looking for something interesting to engage your attention the week before finals? Porn Week, which is being presented by the Union Board, runs April 27, 28 and 29 in the Whittenberger Auditorium at the Indiana Memorial Union. The event includes the screening of one pornography-themed movie each night at 7 p.m. The three movies include two documentaries -- "Pornstar: The Legend of Ron Jeremy" and "Inside Deep Throat" -- and "Orgazmo," a comedy. The screenings are free with a student ID and $2 for non-students.

Student composers and dancers collaborate for performance

Three days before their biggest performance of the semester, student dancers were just as excited about rehearsing as performing. Dance major and sophomore Maureen Maryanski said Monday night at her practice in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation building that she loves coming to class everyday. "I genuinely love to dance," she said. "I'd be just as happy dancing in a room all by myself, just me." Dancers rehearsed with student choreographers who have worked all semester for the culminating concert 7 p.m. tonight at the John Waldron Arts Center. The concert, titled "Hammer and Nail" is free and open to the public, with a short reception following the performance.

Musicians prepare for emotional Jazz Fest in New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS -- There will be one less stage, one less day of music and 100 fewer performers, but one thing this year's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival will not lack is emotion. The annual fete, started in 1970, will mark the return of hundreds of the city's musicians for the first time since Hurricane Katrina struck Aug. 29, laying waste to much of the Big Easy. And with a Louisiana-heavy lineup accented with a landmark collection of giants including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen and Fats Domino, performers and organizers alike say they expect raw sentimentality from everyone involved.

'Transformations' juxtaposes fairy tales, opera

Friday night promises to be bittersweet and poignant for singers and audiences of the IU Department of Opera Studies, as it stages a production of Conrad Susa's "Transformations," a thoughtful and reflective opera composed of a collection of fairy tales adapted from author Anne Sexton's poems. Transformations is at 8 p.m. Friday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Admission is free and open to all. Throughout her life, Anne Sexton battled a number of psychological and emotional issues, including depression, conflicting feelings concerning her own sexuality and pressures to live out the American dream, according to an e-mail from Scott Voyles, the production's conductor. As she fought her personal demons, Sexton found refuge in writing, and from her literary endeavors emerged "Transformations," a collection of fairy-tale poems in which she strove to come to terms with the events of her life and to reach a state of mental peace and contentment with the lifetime memories that haunted her, he said.

Sidewalk Runway

The dead art lives again

More than 20 skinned human beings are arranged around the room in various poses. One is kicking a soccer ball. Another one is in the "Thinker" position, kneeling with its chin on its fist. Yet another has one hand on its hip and his other hand in the "thumbs-up" position. Their muscles and bones are all completely visible. They stare eerily at museum patrons. Shocked? Good. This must have been the aim of Gunther von Hagens, the man who invented "plastination," a revolutionary new method of preserving the human body. He has created a traveling exhibit of cadavers, called "BODIES...The Exhibition," to display his techniques and to educate the public about the art of the human body. The exhibit has been to the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Tampa Bay, Fla., the Atlanta Civic Center, the South Street Seaport in New York and is currently in London. Each show has brought record crowds -- and controversy.

The birth of funk, soul, cool

In the world of jazz there are the major players -- cats like Miles, Coltrane, Monk, Mingus, Bird, Gillespie -- then there are the musicians who, although were equally as talented and important to the music, did not gain the same colossal level of popularity as the bigger names. Trumpet legend and Indianapolis native Freddie Hubbard is one of these artists. While Hubbard had a strong early career as a backup player for bebop artists like Art Blakey and Sonny Rollins some of his most brilliant and often overlooked recordings came during the 1970s funk/fusion exploration era with collaborations with pianist Herbie Hancock, guitarist George Benson and bassist Ron Carter.

Erasure welcomes you to suck street

Maybe one of the downsides to Erasure having perfected the synth-pop song in the late 1980s is that they can't manage to break out of their formula. Although 1994's I Say, I Say, I Say and 1995's self-titled release showed a more mature group, little progress has been seen since then. Last year's Nightbird was a disappointing, tired retread, and Union Street is even more so in that it's an acoustic album of old B-sides and album tracks. I wouldn't have complained if they had made interesting unplugged versions of some of their exciting lesser-known songs, but instead they chose songs that were by and large downbeat (or even acoustic) to begin with. Why do we need an acoustic version of "Piano Song" when the original is nothing but a piano?

Better when called "24"

While watching "The Sentinel," you will feel like you have already seen this film before. At first I thought this feeling was because previews for "Sentinel" made it look like a "24" rip off. So I went into the theater figuring that, on the up side, if it was like "24," then surely "Sentinel" would be entertainingly suspenseful and Keifer Southerland would be at his "Jack Bauer" best.