IUPD

IUPD Blotter

Pop star thrives professionally once again

In the 12 years since her breakthrough album Tell it to My Heart skyrocketed Taylor Dayne to pop music stardom, she has parlayed her talents into acting and business ventures, garnered recognition from her peers and performed at sold-out concerts around the globe.

Campaign targets oil drilling

The Indiana Public Interest Research Group is sponsoring an e-mail campaign to prevent oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. President Bill Clinton will decide whether to declare the area a National Monument. The e-mail drive is part of a nationwide action day.

Time to grow up, leave Harveys alone

Let's face it. Everyone screws up. Kent Harvey is no exception. Harvey should have considered the consequences of his actions. Everyone involved in the Knight saga knew that the next big allegation to reach the national media would result in dire consequences. Myles Brand had a long list of infractions against the "zero-tolerance policy" that those on the receiving end of Knight's infamous personality never reported. Harvey said he didn't want to hurt the men's basketball team, but he should have realized the media frenzy that would result from such a serious allegation.

Just don't pass it on

Forwards. They started out innocently enough. A political joke here, a "personal survey" there ... fun ways to fill an empty inbox. When used with care and discretion, a forward can be a helpful thing. How many students have been saved from the embarrassment of having no new mail at a public e-mail station, with 30 irate Hoosiers standing in line, by the ever-present forward?

Women take charge in South Asia

South Asia abounds in possibilities. If you are a female in South Asia, you can face female infanticide, slavery and discrimination. If that doesn't work, how about power, wealth and prestige?

Take control of your Union

Sorry mom. I know I promised you when I decided to write this column that I would not use it as a platform to share family secrets. Today I am forced by the nature of my column to break that promise.

Late professor caring, influential on campus

During my brief tenure in Bloomington, I am often inundated with stories of IU's rich academic tradition and socially progressive history.

'ER' still provides suspense

The season premiere of "ER" tried hard to recapture the show's pressure-cooker aura, showing how people's lives can come unglued. But in order to compete with ABC's \"Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,\" the show now has to be more optimistic, undermining its edginess.

Tim Meadows fights the ladies off with a bat in 'Ladies Man'

"The Ladies Man" has broken a stigma among many a Saturday Night Live movie (excluding "Wayne's World") because it doesn't completely and utterly suck.

The 'Secret' is out

"Joe Gould's Secret" is a surprisingly intimate, moving and profound recount of the friendship between two literary legends of mid-1900s New York City. There's Joe Gould, an eccentric panhandler who claimed to have written a million-word account of "The Oral History of Our Time." Then there's Joseph Mitchell, the brilliant New Yorker reporter who profiled Gould.

Variety the spice of Portuguese band's style

Cut in with moving bass line. Then layer vocals and drums with syncopated rhythm, and Primitive Reason breaks into the U.S. airwaves for the first time. Primitive Reason's domestic debut, Some of Us, marks the band's third sum effort.

'Ladies Man' soundtrack smooth

It's basically a given that there is little good to be had out of any movie starring a "Saturday Night Live" character made famous through short skits on the aforementioned television show. "Ladies Man," starring Tim Meadows as Leon Phelps, might or might not break that mold.

WIUS Pick of the Week

It is rare in today's music climate to have a record that embraces both sonic power and quiet beauty. With the double disc Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven, Montreal's Godspeed You Black Emperor! has created an album of emotional power that stems from a roller-coaster ride of powerful highs and somber lows.

Williams transcends pop music

In a year when pop music is dominating the American music industry and Brit band Radiohead has claimed the top spot on the Billboard charts, it is mind-boggling that Robbie Williams is not doing as well as he should be in this country. After all, he's got the best of both worlds -- the looks of a pop star and the substance of a serious rock star. While Williams continues to make headlines in other territories, the recent release of his latest album, Sing When You're Winning, made little splash in America.

Virginwool too pop for their own good

Emerging from the house that Hootie built, Breaking Records, comes Orlando-based rockers Virginwool and its freshman effort, Open Heart Surgery. While the band doesn't "blow" as much as a majority of Orlando's musical sons, i.e. most of the boy bands inundating pop music, they aren't entirely good.

Good 'Soul'

Yes, it's official, Collective Soul has finally reached the point in its career where it can perform with Elton John. But is Collective Soul worthy of such an honor? Considering the band is one of the most successful modern rock acts of the '90s with three platinum albums and countless radio hits, it most certainly is. With Blender, Collective Soul continues to do the same thing it's always done; make great rock tracks in many different ways. Blender is much more enthralled in rhythm guitar beats and the occasional sampling than any other Collective Soul album to date. While it is a far cry from the group's traditional rock debut, Hints, Allegations and Things Left Unsaid, it is the next logical step from 1998's Dosage.

Surreal message comes through in \'Los Olvidados\'

Also known as "The Young and the Damned," this film's canvas is filled with the depressing brushstrokes of a juvenile named Pedro, who transforms from delinquent into an accessory for murder in an impoverished hell in Mexico. A far cry from Luis Bunuel's famed comedies, "Los Olvidados" earned Bunuel the best director prize at Cannes.

\'Winter\' all beauty, no substance

All of the attention-grabbing flyers and ads of "Winter Sleepers" that are currently plastered all over campus tell you that the film is made by the director of last year's art house hit, "Run Lola Run." What it doesn't tell you is the fact that German director Tom Tykwer actually made "Winter" one year prior to "Lola."

\'The Tao of Steve\' satisfying

So guys, are you a Steve or a Stu? This is the question that Jenniphr Goodman's hilarious "The Tao of Steve" asks the male viewers to answer. Do you want to be a smoothie with the ladies (a la Steve McQueen), or do you want to be horribly awkward and never get the girl (a la Stuart Smalley)?