IUPD

America the fatty

Have you ever gone to Golden Corral for dinner, ate your heart out then slouched back in your chair and thought, "Wow, I'm a fatass?" Well I have, and I feel that way pretty much every time I go to a buffet restaurant. Yet it doesn't stop me, or anyone else. After those three or four plates piled with greasy goodness, I feel guilty, not because I'll gain weight, but because we as Americans are wasteful gluttons.

Taking the heat

Reports abounded this week of the "Arab street" rising up from Beirut to Basra to burn the Danish flag. What, many wondered, is so rotten these days with the state of Denmark? But instead of discussing Islam's absolute prohibition on picturing the prophet and a Danish newspaper's refusal to abide by that standard, I would prefer to discuss the topic of flag burning itself.

Larger than life

Death is always sad, but now seems to be as fitting a time as any to die, so close to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month. I was reminded of one of my grandmother's favorite sayings when I heard that Betty Friedan had died Saturday: "Bad things come in threes."

Planning the right recipe for success

Any way you slice the academic pizza, the bottom-line standard for admission into IU-Bloomington will go up. Right now, administrators and high-ranking officials seem to agree that standards will have to be raised some way or another. The current debate, though, primarily concerns what kinds of emphases -- or toppings, if you will -- the IU board of trustees will sprinkle on our beloved Italian pie, as well as the proper way to cook this academic pizza and raise our standards.

NIGERIA BIRD FLU

A chicken waits at the feet of a man holding food on his hand in Lagos, Nigeria, Wednesday. A "highly pathogenic" strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus has been found in poultry stocks in Nigeria - the first reported case of the disease in Africa, the Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health said Wednesday.

War correspondents face death in combat

For most journalists, the objective is simple -- get an assignment and report what happens. However, for those who cover conflicts overseas, this task is not quite as simple. Last week, ABC anchorman Bob Woodruff and cameraman Doug Vogt were critically injured by a roadside bomb while on assignment with an Iraqi convoy. In that same area, Christian Science Monitor reporter Jill Carroll is still being held hostage after being kidnapped a little more than a month ago by Iraqi terrorists.

Hindu House of Worship

Hema Muralidharan lights a candle on the altar before the deities arrived at the temple in Indianapolis Monday. With the symbols of their God in place, Hindus who joyously celebrated the statues' arrival have begun regular worship in the new Hindu Temple of Central Indiana.

Man killed in one-car accident

A one-car accident on Sare Road killed a man Wednesday afternoon, said Bloomington Police Department Sgt. David Drake, reading from a police report. A witness told the Bloomington Police Department that the vehicle had been heading north when it suddenly crossed the center line, drove off the roadway and struck a tree head-on just south of David Drive, according to the report.

More Hoosiers on 'the wagon'

Terri joined Monroe County Alcoholics Anonymous after running into some trouble with alcohol about two years ago. When met face-to-face with the law, her attorney and a judge referred her to the organization for help with addiction. "When I first came, it took me six months to sit through a meeting and just listen," said Terri, whose last name is not disclosed for AA regulations. "Then someone said something that was related to what I was going through, and I finally started understanding."

Student arrested after routine parking violation

IU Police Department officers arrested IU student Eric Garrison Tuesday on a warrant for failure to appear in Clark County court after finding his car parked illegally in a handicapped zone on Campbell Street, said IUPD Lt. Jerry Minger, reading from the police report. Minger said Officer Douglas was on regular patrol duty when he found the vehicle. Minger said that after inspecting the vehicle, Wietlisbach found that its license plates were not attached to the vehicle to which they had been assigned.

Gates have tradition of protest, parades

From posters of bloody aborted fetuses to anti-war chanting, protest beneath the Sample Gates is nothing out of the ordinary. The Sample Gates, located at Kirkwood and Indiana avenues, are a symbolic entry to IU, said Joelene Bergonzi, professor in the Leadership, Ethics and Social Action department. They serve as a boundary between the University and downtown.

Program places interns in nation's capital

IU juniors and seniors will soon begin interviewing for one of 30 intern positions in Washington, D.C. The School of Public and Environmental Affairs Washington Leadership Program will send selected students to the nation's capital for the fall semester. Working as unpaid interns, selected students will spend four days of each week working on different assignments during their internships, said associate program director Ray Clere. Students also spend two days working in a classroom environment. They will take classes taught by SPEA faculty in D.C. and attend talks given by leading officials in different local organizations. The class work is meant to supplement the internships, and bring everything together.

Sidewalk runway

"My style is influenced by punk and ballet." -- Lynn Perry, senior

Earthly expressions

Bryan Boyd can do pull-ups while hanging from the door frame of an open doorway. That's probably about a half an inch of wood to grasp onto, and he can do it using only the two middle fingers of each hand. The senior didn't gain that kind of strength accidentally -- Boyd spends weeks at a time in Kentucky's Red River Gorge, climbing the park's sheer rock cliffs during the day and sleeping in a tent pitched behind a local pizza shop at night.

Housewives unite when husbands go off to war

Many American women embraced one another for comfort and support while their husbands were fighting fascism abroad during World War II. "The Housewives of Mannheim," written by Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Alan Brody and guest directed by Jewish Theatre of Pittsburgh Artistic Director Jonathan Rest, confronts the themes of racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and gender roles during a time more than 50 years past: 1944.

Miniskirts, shorts and craftsmanship are in for winter 2006

MUSIC AWARDS

The group Slipknot pose with their award for best metal performance for "Before I Forget" at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards Wednesday in Los Angeles.

Beautiful music and many laughs from Rossini

"The Barber of Seville" by Gioacchino Rossini first premiered in 1816 in Rome and since then has remained one of the most popular operas. Its melodies have even crept off the operatic stage and into our television sets and would be easily recognizable to listeners with no operatic experience.

Stones: Super Bowl censorship 'ridiculous'

NEW YORK - Nobody turns off the microphone on Mick Jagger without a fight. Censorship of their songs during the Super Bowl halftime show was "absolutely ridiculous and completely unnecessary," said the Rolling Stones through a spokeswoman Tuesday.

The First Annual JB Awards

My obsession with award shows typically hits a fever pitch at this point in the year, around the time Oscar nominations are announced and I pick a couple of movies to support and one contender to denounce. Now that I have my heavy-hitters to talk up ("Munich," "Brokeback Mountain") and an equally reviled counterpart to bash ("Crash"), I decided to host my own lonely award show. It's sort of like Eric Cartman and his backyard tea party. If only Keira Knightley would show up to play Polly Prissy Pants. Considering my recent preference of DVD viewing over multiplex outings, I've not seen every film up for award contention, be it Oscars or Razzies (no "Walk the Line," "Capote," "Good Night and Good Luck").