IUSA

Blah... Shrug...

By Alyson Brodsy and Michael Mellini · Thursday, July 20,2006 12 a.m.

Meh. That's the only word I can think of to describe "You, Me and Dupree." What? I need another 400 words? Crap, ok …It's not that the jokes in "You, Me and Dupree" aren't funny; there just aren't many of them. A few comments may evoke a smirk, but there's really nothing laugh-out-loud funny like most Owen Wilson films. The movie's plot is basically a sitcom premise. Unemployed party boy Dupree loses his job and moves in with his best friend Carl (Matt Dillon) much to the dismay of his new bride Molly (Kate Hudson). The first hour is the same scene repeated several times. Carl and Molly wake up in the morning to go to work and find Dupree passed out on the couch. Throughout the day Dupree makes some attempt at finding a job but gives up to play with the neighborhood kids. Then right as Molly and Carl are about to return home (uh-oh) Dupree pulls some asinine stunt.

Matt Gold Rush

By Alyson Brodsy and Michael Reschke · Thursday, July 20,2006 12 a.m.

Local musician Matt Gold has blended the styles of mainstream musicians and combined that sound with lyrics inspired by human emotion and feelings. Beginning his music career when he was 17, his style has grown with him. He's created his own coffee shop style niche. "It's not the top 40 and not the mainstream," Gold said. Friday, July 21, the singer, songwriter, and pianist is be performing at the John Waldron Art Center Auditorium.

Splat!

By Alyson Brodsy and Fryburg84 · Thursday, July 20,2006 12 a.m.

George Costanzas of the world rejoice! The classic game "Frogger" is now on Xbox Live Arcade, so the entire world can see your high score with no worries of ever having it reset. This latest incarnation of the 1981 arcade classic features the option to update the graphics, but this update merely improves the graphics from God-awful to crap. In fact, if you've never heard of "Frogger" before, the first time you watch someone play this game with the updated graphics, you'll probably wonder why a game about a half-melted down RC racing car crossing the street is named after an amphibian. Sure the original game is no looker, but I can't quite understand why Konami felt the need to include such a half-assed graphics engine when porting the game to a console where there is virtually no limit to what can be done graphically. And to top it all off, the collision detection is still horribly off. You'll be alternately scratching your head and cursing the designers at how easy it is to bungle a move to what appears to be a perfectly safe spot only to be run over by a truck or eaten by an alligator.

Revelatory musings

By Alyson Brodsy and Chris Green · Thursday, July 20,2006 12 a.m.

I'm sensing a reoccurring theme here: England tends to put out some damn good music. This summer has seen some great Brit-rock releases. First Keane, and now Muse, who hit it massive in the US in 2004 with their epic, hugely successful album Absolution, accompanied by hundreds of major performances across America. Muse is back in action with Black Holes and Revelations, a more politically-driven, harder rocking and varied album than their previous three efforts have seen. If you're not familiar with Muse, they can roughly be described as Radiohead, Queen, Rufus Wainwright and Black Sabbath rolling down a hill, fighting to the death. Regardless of their influences, Muse has a sound of their own; and this sound is very hard to channel into one coherent label, so I'll spare you that.

200,000 Facebook Friends Can't Be Wrong

By Alyson Brodsy and Zack Teibloom · Thursday, July 20,2006 12 a.m.

Steve Hofstetter said Paris Hilton being famous shows us that nothing is truly important anymore. He has a reoccurring dream in which a press conference is being held and the human race is being rounded up, and someone will say, "oh, shiny!" The head writer for college humor.com who hosts a show, "4 Quotas," on Sirius Satellite Radio, in addition to writing for ESPN and Maxim is hitting it big. His comedy album, "Cure for the Cable Guy," is enjoying 14 straight weeks on the comedy charts. And he has way more facebook friends than you.

Arcades, back from the dead

By Alyson Brodsy and Chris Freiberg · Thursday, July 20,2006 12 a.m.

The surest sign you're addicted to something is when, even when you stop truly enjoying it, you can't stop doing it. I've been playing a lot of "Frogger" lately. I don't particularly enjoy it, being that it's a game that's needlessly difficult because of sloppy programming that still hasn't been cleaned up in 25 years of technological achievement. I can get brand spanking new free porn on my computer in 10 seconds, but Frogger is still getting run over by cars that are already long past him. But I still go back to "Frogger." Am I masochist? The vast collection of pornography on my hard drive points to a solid "maybe." But the real reason I play "Frogger" is for points. Achievement points, more precisely, the newest form of crack the CIA… er, I mean, Microsoft has unleashed on an unsuspecting public to keep them glued to their gaming systems. Achievements are the "points" you earn for performing certain feats in a game.

Crazy 'Little' Thing Called Crap

By C. Warner Sills and Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, July 20,2006 12 a.m.

It's fair to say that my expectations going into "Little Man" were about as low as the main character's center of gravity. A movie like this is going to be stupid. We know that. But stupidity, if done right (see "Airplane!," Leslie Nielson or Monty Python's entire career), can be very funny. Unfortunately the Wayans Bros. decided to go beyond stupid, entering a world of, wait for it, shit-fueled unadulterated suck. Calvin AKA Little Man (Marlon Wayans) is vertically challenged. Calvin also chose a life of crime. After being released from a stint in prison, he robs an extremely valuable diamond from a poorly run jewelry store with his friend/driver Percy (Tracy Morgan, whose only funny line, "word." may also be the only funny part of the film). After Calvin and Percy flee the scene with the police on their backs they stash the bling in the purse of a random woman in a pharmacy.

IUSA pushes to make crisis fund visible

By Julie Mahomed · Wednesday, July 19,2006 9:33 p.m.

Since OneStart has been implemented as the class registration interface, student donations to the IU Student Association Rape Crisis Fund have dropped by more than half, Middle Way House and IUSA representatives said. Students may choose to purchase event and IU sporting tickets or support a cause by checking the corresponding box on the "Optional Selections" page during class registration. Students can donate $3 to the Middle Way House Rape Crisis Center by clicking the "IUSA Rape Crisis Fund" box.

New STD vaccine comes to IU

By Trevor brown · Wednesday, July 19,2006 9:33 p.m.

Starting this fall, the IU Health Center will offer vaccinations of the newly approved Human Papilloma Virus medication that has been clinically shown to dramatically reduce the risk of cervical cancer and genital warts for women. Anne Reese, director of the health and wellness education at the IU Health Center, said she will be encouraging all women between the ages of 9 and 26, who are not sexually active, to take advantage of the vaccine as HPV is currently the most common sexually transmitted disease, infecting 50 to 70 percent of all people sometime in their life.

Flying High

By David A. Nosko · Wednesday, July 19,2006 9:30 p.m.

Three-year-old Spencer, Ind., resident Heather Dutt was not tall enough to hang her head over the side of a 1929 Travel Air biplane to let her hair blow in the summer breeze, but she proved she had the right stuff by displaying no fear while flying 1,000 feet above the earth. "She was real low in the seat so she couldn't see past the wing," said Heather's father, Kirk Dutt, Tuesday afternoon, after the pair joined barnstormer Stuart "Cap'n Mac" MacPherson on a 10-minute air cruise in the western sky of Bloomington. "It was very smooth up there. The pilot made a 360-degree turn to the left so she could see the ground. I think the experience opened her eyes a little bit."

IMU workers find piece of the past while renovating for the future

By Carrie Ritchie · Wednesday, July 19,2006 9:30 p.m.

Sunday is usually thought of as a day of rest, a tradition that stems from earlier times when almost everyone woke up, attended church, sat down for a family meal and relaxed for the remainder of the day.

Future of anime and manga looking bright in U.S.

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, July 19,2006 9:26 p.m.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Japanese anime and manga -- animation and comics -- are drawing a lot of attention in the United States. And, more than ever before, not just from its traditional male audience. The art forms, defined by complex story lines and saucer-eyed characters, are also being made and enjoyed by young exuberant women, along with enthusiasts of computer-generated graphics, from both genders.

'Memory Artists' offers complicated, intriguing tale

By Alyson Brodsy and Lindsey Landis · Wednesday, July 19,2006 9:25 p.m.

"The Memory Artists" is fictional. Were it not for the bright yellow sticker from the public library on the spine proclaiming it so, I would have believed it to be a true story. Jeffrey S. Moore's avant-garde style of using a third-person perspective, bits of the characters' journal entries and even the endnotes of a "narrator," blurs readers' perception of reality. Noel Burun, the book's protagonist, has synaesthesia, an actual condition that allows those who have it to literally see sounds. Their sensory perceptions cross in their minds and they have a "color wheel" of memories that stay with them forever. Noel could recite all of the 1001 Tales of The Arabian Nights, remember the color of his baby bib and relive the moment that he learned that his father committed suicide, daily.

Introducing the new Hoosiers

By Joel Sanders and Joel Sansers · Wednesday, July 19,2006 9:23 p.m.

Ben Chappell With the signing of Bloomington South's Ben Chappell, IU football coach Terry Hoeppner accomplished something that the basketball team has struggled with in recent years: signing in-state talent. Hoeppner signed Chappell after IU's football camp the summer before his senior year, when the 6-foot-3, 215-pound quarterback threw for 2,359 yards and 27 touchdowns. That effort garnered him Associated Press, Indiana High School Football Coaches Association and Bloomington Herald-Times first team all-state honors. Chappell also ran for seven scores as he led the Panthers to the Conference Indiana Championship. His senior year witnessed a couple of standout performances. Chappell tied for the best production in 2005 and set a new school record with a six-touchdown performance against Pike on Sept. 30. Known as one of the "Seven Blocks of Limestone" -- the seven offensive linemen in the 2006 IU class -- Alex Perry is a 6-foot-7, 251-pound lineman from Morris Community High School in Morris, Ill. Perry hails from a football family and brings with him plenty of success.

Pre-trial decision to be made in Hardy case

By Matt Dollinger · Wednesday, July 19,2006 9:11 p.m.

On Monday, IU wide receiver James Hardy appeared in Allen County Court for his second pre-trial hearing, stemming from his domestic battery charge on May 16. Hardy and his lawyer, Randall Hammond, made their second pre-trial request to Superior Court Magistrate Robert Ross asking for statements by the alleged victim, Kyra Nolan, to be stricken from the record. "We filed a motion to prevent the state from using a 911 tape recording," Hammond said. According to state law, a 911 tape recording cannot be used as a defense unless it is proven the 911 call took place during an emergency. "The call occurred well after the event and was not an ongoing emergency," Hammond said. "Therefore, the state will not be able to play the tape at the trial."

Frohlich, Fever catch fire in 71-65 win over Mercury

By Alyson Brodsy and Hank Lowenkron · Wednesday, July 19,2006 9:11 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Linda Frohlich's patience paid off for the Indiana Fever. The German forward scored a career-high 15 points to help the Fever beat the Phoenix Mercury 71-65 on Tuesday. Frohlich, who was waived by the Charlotte Sting and Phoenix before coming to the Fever as a free agent, had scored only 36 points this season and stayed on the bench in 10 games. But she hit three 3-pointers against the Mercury, including one that gave Indiana the lead for good late in the game.

WWIII forever?

By Alyson Brodsy and David A. Nosko · Wednesday, July 19,2006 9:05 p.m.

The "War on Terror" is alive and well and living in the Middle East. Uprooting terrorism from the face of the globe is a noble cause, but -- similar to America's Iraq misadventure and Israel's history of violence -- destroying nations to "eradicate" the terrorists only further emboldens terrorism as a military tool because of the collateral damage in dismantled infrastructures and murdered humans. Political analysts, from Newt Gingrich to diplomats, like the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, have declared in the last week-to-months that the international community's "War on Terror" is akin to "World War III" -- a new kind of battle against a very different kind of enemy.

Improving a previous failure

By Alyson Brodsy and Jacob Stewart · Wednesday, July 19,2006 9:04 p.m.

The tally is in; the final piece of the puzzle in place; the last member selected. Here we are, once again, teetering on the edge as we peer down into the swirling abyss of ... candidates. According to IDS reports, IU School of Law Dean Lauren Robel was selected as the final member of the faculty search committee for IU President Adam Herbert's replacement. On a sympathetic note, I wonder if any faculty members suffered disappointment matching that of Marco Killingsworth (after not getting drafted into the NBA) as the final announcement came. Nonetheless, we now stand to embark on a wonderful adventure. It is a search that will end in the finding of IU's next leader.

Truly taxing

By Alyson Brodsy and Jordan DeLong · Wednesday, July 19,2006 9:02 p.m.

Taxes ruined my Friday. After waiting patiently to get paid for my job out here in Maryland, I finally received a paycheck. Excited, I opened the envelope to see a mistake. It looked like my paycheck. It had my name on it, and it even said "University of Maryland" on the corner -- but the amount was totally wrong. A sizeable chunk of money -- my supposed living stipend -- had been stolen by some dark, thieving fiend. That fiend happened to be our own Uncle Sam, collaborating with my employer to steal my money away before I could even touch it. Now, I'm normally pretty cool about money, and I understand every now and then when they take 15 percent or so away -- but this money, my living money, was slashed by 30 percent, a percentage I couldn't believe!

My hero

By Michelle Manchir · Wednesday, July 19,2006 9:02 p.m.

Last Saturday I had a sandwich I will never forget. It was the bread that really did it for me: It was soft pretzel-esque, moist and almost sweet. There was turkey breast, melted cheese and just the right amount of Dijon mustard -- none dripped out as I held it to my mouth. It was an enjoyable eating experience on a number of levels. I've no groundbreaking argument here, other than sandwiches have been an integral part of my diet all my life, and I've been fortunate enough to consume a variety of delicious ones. It runs in the family. My dad and sister are also huge sandwich fans. My sister and I frequently have conversations about sandwiches; I call her when I've had a fantastic one so we can talk about it. Meanwhile, my dad has been an effective role model when it comes to sandwich-making -- after a large meal, notably Thanksgiving, his custom is making mini-sandwiches by placing bits of turkey meat in a dinner roll. No matter how much was eaten already, there's always room for the mini-sandwich.