IUPD

Speaking out for equality in silence

Senior Nick Connor practices silent activism near Ballentine Hall while gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and straight couples embrace behind him in observance of the National Day of Silence Tuesday.

The worst-case scenario

When you work with the news, your media can sometimes be fickle. On slow news days, we run an entire front page of filler. On other days, like Tuesday's paper, we have to make room for several huge stories at once.

IMU design students win awards

Walking through the Indiana Memorial Union, students are bombarded with images. signs, posters and flyers cover the walls in some places. Many of these graphics are designed by the IMU's team of graphic designers, several of whom won awards in last month's Association of College Unions International "Steal This Idea" graphic design competition. 2005 IU graduate Matt Marosz won first place in the two-color brochures (eight panels or less) category for a catalog he designed. Marosz was also an honorable mention in the cards, postcards, and invitations category for his Union Board biennial invitation. Senior Chris Sommerfeld won third place in the Signs category for the signs he designed for Sugar and Spice, which encourage customers to use credit cards as payment.

Educator joins elite group

George Kuh, director of IU's Center for Postsecondary Research, recently joined an elite group: He is one of only five individuals to ever receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College Personnel Association.

Market me happy

If you're reading this column, then chances are you are a prime demographic, and I've just tapped into the nirvana of corporate marketeering. Your hopes and dreams, insecurities and fears, they are all worth millions -- not to you, but in the boardroom.

Hip Hop Awareness Festival week aims to change views

A festival this week is using hip-hop as a way to change stereotypes on campus. It will bring people together and transcend gender, age and race, said junior Alex Pyatetsky, president of IU's chapter of Hip Hop Congress. He said hip-hop is a form where different perspectives can come together.

Where's the beef?

New York has no reason to be proud of the type of person who comes out of Long Island, nor does the overwhelming number of ignorant rednecks bode well for Indiana's future. The fact of the matter is that neither region makes much of a worthwhile contribution to the common good, but both sides need to recognize that they're not all that dissimilar.

An Angel Among Us

One year ago today Mary Beth Crouse made two phone calls that she will never forget.

UPDATE: Police resuscitate IU employee

IU police officers saved an IU employee whose pulse and breathing had stopped Monday, said IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger in a press release. Minger said officers were dispatched to the west side of Wylie Hall at about 6:45 p.m. after Paul Doughman, a 53-year-old hourly employee for the Kelley School of Business stopped breathing. Minger said Doughman also had no pulse.

Student dies at weekend formal in Louisville

Junior Christine Wampler, 21, died at the University of Louisville Hospital in Louisville, Ky., Sunday morning, said Robert Fraction, a deputy coroner from the Louisville coroner's office. Louisville Metro Police Officer Dwight Mitchell, who is investigating the death, said the cause of Wampler's death is still unknown. Fraction said an autopsy has been performed, but that officers will wait for the results of a toxicology test to determine the cause of death, which could take six to eight weeks. IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said he had been made aware of the situation and that Wampler had been in Louisville on Saturday night for a formal event Phi Kappa Sigma, the fraternity commonly known as Skulls, was holding. Mitchell said Louisville officers were dispatched to the hospital Sunday morning. He said officers were told that Wampler and her date had been staying in the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville after the formal event. "Apparently she must have had several drinks throughout the night, and when she returned to her room, she complained of being sick," Mitchell said. "Her friend said that when he woke up, he found her in the bathroom, unresponsive."

Versyp expects to win 'the big one' with Boilermakers

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Sharon Versyp immediately set high expectations on her first day at Mackey Arena as Purdue's new women's basketball coach. Versyp, a four-year starter for the Boilermakers, met Monday with her new team, arriving at Purdue after one year as the head coach at rival Indiana. "We are going to make this ride extremely special and we're going to have a lot of fun," Versyp said. "This is a top-10 program, and we're going to win the big one."

Attorneys: DNA doesn't match

DURHAM, N.C. -- DNA testing failed to connect any members of the Duke University lacrosse team to the alleged rape of a stripper, attorneys for the athletes said Monday. Citing DNA test results delivered by the state crime lab to police and prosecutors a few hours earlier, the attorneys said the test results prove their clients did not sexually assault and beat a stripper hired to perform at a March 13 team party. No charges have been filed in the case. "No DNA material from any young man was present on the body of this complaining woman," said defense attorney Wade Smith.

Hoosiers drop 3 of 4 in Evanston to Wildcats

Cold and windy conditions kept scoring to a minimum, and the Northwestern pitching staff held down the Hoosier bats in the teams' first game of their weekend series Saturday. Northwestern starting pitcher Ryan Myers gave up six hits, two runs (one earned), over 6 1/3 innings, walking five and striking out seven. Myers out-pitched IU senior starter Josh Lewis (2-5) who gave up six hits and four runs over seven innings, striking out three and walking four.

IU cruises to 1st title of season at Purdue

Beginning a critical stretch of the season in a tournament loaded with potential Big Ten champions probably wasn't the most-likely place for the young IU golf team to record its first title, but that's exactly what happened. Despite a freshman class that at one point held Golfstat's top ranking, a two-time Big Ten Golfer of the Week winner in freshman Jorge Campillo and a handful of top-five finishes, IU had yet to take home top honors entering this past weekend's Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette.

Toby Keith talking trash on new album 'White Trash with Money'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Toby Keith is in the doghouse, and from the sound of things, he won't be getting out any time soon. His wife, Tricia, can't stand the title of his new album: "White Trash With Money." Keith says it was inspired by an argument between his teenage daughter, Krystal, and another girl. The other girl's mother intervened, and, to hear Keith tell it, had some harsh words for the Keith clan. "This girl's mother said, `I don't care who they are -- they're nothing but white trash with money anyway,'" Keith said.

ARTIFACTS

Dance and music groups come together to 'Set It Off' at Willkie

Campus dance groups will groove together from 9 to 11 p.m. tonight in the Willkie Auditorium at the first annual "Set It Off." A pre-show dinner Smokey Bones BBQ and Grill is holding begins at 8 p.m. The $3 admission includes dinner and the show. Sequel Hip Hop Dance Co. is sponsoring the event that will feature InMotion Dance Company, IU Essence, IU Breakdance Club, Kicks Dance Studio, Seduction, Unknown, and musical groups Ladies First and Straight No Chaser. Sequel is the first co-ed dance group on campus and is able to incorporate more styles and techniques because of this, said Mark Clarke, the men's captain of the group.

'Tranny Roadshow' uses humor to educate

Wearing a debutante gown on a dress rack, Scott Turner Schofield wheeled down the aisle at the "Tranny Roadshow." "When you're coming out as a debutante," he said, "you pray for a summer gala to avoid being spotted in white after labor day. Isn't that what being queer is all about?" Union Board sponsored the 10-performer show from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday in the IMU Gallery. Fabric swatches, collage cutouts and colored pencil drawings plastered the walls with slogans.

IU alumnus returns with 'Mamma Mia!' tour

Two days after arriving in New York City, 2005 IU graduate Colin Donnell auditioned for the national tour of "Mamma Mia!" Donnell said he read from a couple of scenes in the show for the part of Sky. In the meantime, he was cast in an off-broadway production called "Almost Heaven: Songs of John Denver," a tribute to Denver's life and music. "The day after they announced my other show was ending -- that Monday, I got a call from 'Mamma Mia!' asking me to come in one week," Donnell said. Donnell is a chorus member and the understudy for Sky in the musical's national tour, which happens to be making a stop at his alma mater. "Mamma Mia" will open at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the IU Auditorium and continue through April 16. Performances begin at 8 p.m., with two additional performances April 15 and 16 at 2 p.m. "It's really fun," Donnell said. "It's one of the first of that genre of taking pop music and putting it into a show."

Junior was member of Gymnastics Club, involved in cancer awareness

After five days in California for a national competition, the IU Gymnastics Club landed in Denver Sunday to catch a connecting flight back to Indianapolis. The team members were excited since they had had a successful tournament and one member had won the beam competition.