IUSA

Indiana Senate will decide on bill that restricts teens driving with cell phones

By Deanna Martin · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 11:34 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Teenage drivers would be required to get a lot more practice behind the wheel -- and would be banned from using cell phones while driving until age 18 -- under a bill that cleared an Indiana Senate committee Tuesday.

Spanish department sees influx in majors

By Tom Kir · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 11:18 p.m.

The growth in the number of Spanish majors at IU during the past decade has not been met with an increase in tenured professors, according to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.

2 students arrested on cocaine charges

By Paige Ingram · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 11:15 p.m.

Two IU students were arrested early Tuesday morning for cocaine-related charges as a four-month IU Police Department investigation came to an end.

Weather causes power outages, opens local shelter

By Alexandra R. Moses · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 11:11 p.m.

Nearly 6,000 Monroe County residents were out of power by 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to information from Duke Energy's Web site. Representatives from Duke Energy were not available for comment. In response, the Monroe County Chapter of the American Red Cross opened a shelter a Tri-North Middle School, 1000 W. 15th St. in Bloomington, according to an American Red Cross press release. The shelter opened at 3 p.m. Tuesday and is expected to remain open "as long as the need for shelter is there for affected persons," according to the release.

Lester recovers from cancer, attends camp

By Howard Ulman · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 10:12 p.m.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- His cancer is gone and his curve is back. Jon Lester feels ready to win a spot on Boston's pitching staff less than six months after being diagnosed with a disease that threatened, at the very least, a promising career. Now he must convince manager Terry Francona and Boston's other decision-makers who have preached caution.

UPDATE 7:54 p.m.: Myers' request for new trial denied by Morgan County judge

Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 10:10 p.m.

Morgan Superior Court Judge Christopher Burnham denied an appeal for the conviction of John Myers II, the man convicted of murdering IU sophomore Jill Behrman in May 2000.

Notre Dame coach claims malpractice

By Ken Maguire · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 10:10 p.m.

BOSTON -- Doctors failed to recognize life-threatening complications after Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis' gastric bypass surgery, allowing him to bleed internally for more than a day, his lawyer said Tuesday at the start of the coach's malpractice trial.

Crew chiefs suspended in cheating scandal

By Jenna Fryer · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 10:07 p.m.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR took its strongest stance against cheating Tuesday, suspending the crew chiefs for Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Scott Riggs and Elliott Sadler and docking all four drivers points before the season-opening Daytona 500 for failing inspections.

Around the World

Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 10:07 p.m.

Iraq will close its borders with Syria and Iran for 72 hours as part of the drive to secure and pacify Baghdad, the Iraqi commander of the crackdown said Tuesday, hours after a suicide bombing in a mainly Shiite neighborhood killed at least 15 people.

North Korea halts main reactor and weapons program in exchange for millions of dollars in aid

By Audra Ang · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 10:06 p.m.

BEIJING -- North Korea agreed Tuesday to shut down its main nuclear reactor and eventually dismantle its atomic weapons program in exchange for millions of dollars in aid, just four months after the communist state shocked the world by testing a nuclear bomb.

House members debate Iraq war policy

By Anne Flaherty · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 10:06 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- House members fiercely debated Iraq war policy Tuesday in an emotional and historic floor faceoff over a conflict that Speaker Nancy Pelosi lambasted as a U.S. commitment with "no end in sight."

Illinois players injured in car crash

By David Mercer · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 10:05 p.m.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Authorities on Tuesday were investigating the accident that injured two Illinois basketball players -- one seriously -- when their car went off the road and slammed into a tree.

Money talks

By Aparna Venkatraman · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 10:04 p.m.

Budget allocation issues accompany many of IU's campus opportunities, leaving big winners, big losers and some in the middle. We've taken top funding issues and given consideration to why each should get the green -- or be left with empty pockets.

Weather postpones swimming and diving tourney

Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 10:03 p.m.

The Big Ten men's swimming and diving championships have been postponed due to severe winter weather and the resulting travel difficulties for participating teams, according to a Big Ten conference news release.

Top military officials claim Iranians supplying Iraqi insurgency

By Aparna Venkatraman · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 9:53 p.m.

The Facts: According to national reports, the U.S. military declared Feb. 11 that it holds physical evidence that Iran supplied Shiite extremists in Iraq with weapons, though Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace disagrees. Estimates show that weapons in question have accounted for approximately 170 American deaths. What effects should this have on U.S. policies toward Iran?

New local band contributing to the Bloomington music scene

By Erin Boyle · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 9:35 p.m.

A new rock band is on the run and can be caught jamming at Bloomington bars near you. Bluebird is their venue of choice for Thursday. If passion and drive can push you toward national stardom, then each member of this new group seems destined for success.

'Fearless' faculty hornist practices magic, discipline

By Michael Reschke · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 9:33 p.m.

What were you doing at 5:15 this morning? Hornist and IU Associate Professor of Music Jeff Nelsen was reading his own handwriting on a Post-It note he stuck to the snooze bar of his alarm clock. The question, "How bad do you want it?" stares Nelsen in the face every morning when he thinks about rolling over and going back to sleep. "It's all about being smarter than myself," Nelsen said. "And knowing my own tendencies and compensating for them in productive ways."

So last century

By Julia Boriss · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 8:36 p.m.

Communication? On this large, University campus? Don't be ridiculous. Socializing is as last century as Britney's good-girl image and the Oregon Trail.

Bush hates Elmo

By Peter Chen · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 8:34 p.m.

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France -- He also hates Tavis Smiley and Jim Lehrer, too.

Fat babies with wings

By Joanna Borns · Tuesday, Feb. 13,2007 8:33 p.m.

It was Feb. 14. I was 16 years old. I sat in a cafeteria decorated with pink and red crepe paper streamers. As high school students awkwardly danced to the Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" I picked up shiny sequins shaped like Cupids and stuck them into the flame of a candle's romantic mood lighting until their bodies shriveled and produced a pungent black smoke that made my lungs hurt.