IUSA

Russell qualifies for Commonwealth Games

By Joel Sanders and Joel Sansers · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 1 a.m.

Junior Colin Russell earned the rare opportunity to represent his native country when he qualified for Canada's Commonwealth Games team during the nation's trials held Nov. 23-26 at Saanich Commonwealth Place in Victoria, B.C. "Wearing my country's colors and representing Canada for me is a great feeling," Russell said. "I love Canada and what it stands for. It's an honor." Russell was born in Barrie, Ontario, after which he moved to Florida and Spain and then returned to Canada to decide whether to attend a Canadian or American school.

Framing the playoff picture

By Alyson Brodsy and Andrew Shaffer · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:59 a.m.

I have come to announce the end of the college football season. It's about time, right? The Fiesta Bowl in overtime? Boring. Vince Young leading the Longhorns to the upset of the decade? Snoozer. I need some excitement, some action and dare I say -- some postseason Peyton Manning -- in my life.

IU drops 2nd consecutive Big Ten game in Assembly Hall

By Steve Brennan · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:58 a.m.

Hanging high above Branch McCracken court, IU coach Sharon Versyp appeared on the scoreboard and proclaimed the keys to victory prior to Monday night's match-up with No. 17 Minnesota (10-3, 3-0 Big Ten). Number one on the list was dominating the boards. That did not happen. Minnesota finished with six more rebounds than IU (8-7, 2-2 Big Ten), 13 offensive rebounds and a 69-64 victory.

Hoosier duo sets free throw shooting records

By Tim O Brien and Tim O'Brien · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:57 a.m.

While Monday's game against No. 15 Minnesota will go down in the books as a loss, two IU players will go into the record books for personal achievements. With 2:11 remaining in the second half, senior forward Jenny DeMuth stepped to the free throw line. With the Hoosiers down by six, DeMuth sunk both shots, breaking IU all-time career free throw record of 443. The record was previously held by Denise Jackson, IU's all-time leading scorer with 1,917 points. DeMuth entered Monday's action needing to hit seven free throws to tie the record and eight to break it. On the night, the senior sunk all ten of her free throw attempts in leading the Hoosiers with 18 points.

Cricket, the sport

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:54 a.m.

India versus Pakistan. It doesn't get bigger than this. No, it's not war time again; the nations are well and truly on the path to peaceful co-existence. It is the cricket series between these neighboring nations that makes the news. Cricket? "It is just like baseball" is what we tell most people who cannot differentiate between cricket, the sport, from cricket, the insect. (In fact, my word editor underlined the word cricket here, saying it should be crickets! Cricket lovers in Microsoft, something to work on, guys.)

Renew cautiously

By Alyson Brodsy and Tony Sams · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:52 a.m.

The most talked about issue in Washington this month will probably be the confirmation process of Samuel Alito. While I'm not one to say the appointment of a new Supreme Court justice is any small occasion, I'm worried serious discussion about the renewal of the Patriot Act will slide off the radar. Right before the holiday season, Congress -- stymied in the way only Congress can be -- failed to renew the controversial law, notorious for hastily broadening law enforcement powers after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. After staunch objections by civil libertarians, liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans alike, Congress temporarily imposed an extension of the act until Feb. 3.

Getting legislative priorities in order

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:51 a.m.

This session of the Indiana General Assembly promises to be a busy session. By law, the legislative work this spring must end by March 14, but already more than 500 bills have been filed. Some of the bills are urgent matters worthy of time, money and the public debate; many are not. Indiana Republicans, who control both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor's office, are on the front line of the agenda. The details of many of their proposals have not been made public, and much of the debate in the closely divided Indiana House of Representatives might hinge on those details. So far, though, the skeletal outline of what House Republicans wish to pursue this legislative session looks at least promising.

Congessmen Blunt, Boehner vie for Majority Leadership, claim progress

By Alyson Brodsy and Andrew Taylor · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:46 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Reps. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and John Boehner, R-Ohio, rivals in the race to succeed Majority Leader Tom DeLay, both claimed progress Monday and released the names of supporters to prove it. The two men maneuvered for support as Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia claimed the votes needed to move up the leadership ladder when elections are held early next month. "He has 140 firm commitments for majority whip," said Cantor's spokesman, Rob Collins. He declined to provide a list.

Dow Jones tops 11,000 as blue chip stocks continue to rally

By Alyson Brodsy and Christopher Wang · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:45 a.m.

NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones industrial average crossed 11,000 Monday for the first time since before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, buoyed by a rally that has sent stock prices soaring through the first five sessions of 2006. Wall Street's best known stock indicator rose as high as 11,020.15 by mid-afternoon, the first time since June 13, 2001, that the index of 30 blue chip stocks traded above 11,000. It last closed above that milestone on June 7, 2001, when it stood at 11,090.74.

Iraqi police search for kidnapped American journalist following weekend abduction

By Alyson Brodsy and Patrick Quinn · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:44 a.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi police were searching Monday for an American journalist who was kidnapped during the weekend when gunmen ambushed her car and killed her translator in western Baghdad. Jill Carroll, 28, a freelance reporter on assignment for The Christian Science Monitor, was seized Saturday in the al-Adel area, a Sunni Arab neighborhood and one of the capital's most dangerous. Police said she went there to meet a Sunni Arab politician. Gen. Mahdi al-Gharawi, commander of the Interior Ministry's public order forces, said Monday an investigation was under way.

Congress opens Alito Supreme Court nomination hearings

By Alyson Brodsy and Jesse J. Holland · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:43 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito said Monday that judges should operate free of any agenda or preferred outcome as the Senate opened hearings on President Bush's choice for the high court. "A judge can't have any agenda. A judge can't have a preferred outcome in any case," Alito told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a brief statement in which he made the distinction between judges and attorneys working for clients. In a prelude to days of grilling, several Democrats expressed misgivings about Alito's 15 years of decisions and opinions as an appellate judge and his writings during his tenure as a lawyer in the Reagan Justice Department.

NASA to return first comet samples

By Alyson Brodsy and Alicia Chang · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:41 a.m.

LOS ANGELES -- Comets have long lit up the sky and the imaginations of scientists. Now these icy bodies from the beginnings of the solar system are finally ready for their close-up. Six months after NASA scientists first peeked inside one comet from afar, they're bringing pieces of another to Earth for study under the microscope. This weekend, the Stardust spacecraft will jettison a 100-pound capsule holding comet dust. It will nosedive through the Earth's atmosphere and, if all goes well, make a soft landing in the Utah desert.

Bayh: Next 6 months critical in Iraq

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:36 a.m.

U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., making his second trip to Iraq, said Saturday that the next six months are crucial to Iraq's stability, and hinge largely on relations between its divided religious and ethnic groups. The Indiana Democrat, who is on a fact-finding trip through the Middle East with three other federal lawmakers, arrived in Baghdad on Saturday. He spoke to reporters by telephone after meeting with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. intelligence officials and having lunch with troops.

House agenda announced

By Alyson Brodsy and Mike Smith · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:35 a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Property tax relief for homeowners, more tax incentives for businesses and giving local governments options to consolidate are part of a lengthy agenda announced Monday by majority House Republicans. The proposals also include attempts to steer more dollars to classroom instruction, moving statewide testing to the spring, and a bipartisan commission to recommend how legislative districts would be redrawn in the future.

Recruitment culminates with Bid Day as students find new homes in greek system, meet new sisters

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:28 a.m.

It happens every January. This year, 1,440 women cut their winter breaks short and returned to campus early in hopes of landing a bid to a sorority of their choice. This year's rush began with First Invite on Wednesday and commenced with Bid Day on Sunday as potential greeks visited houses, made friends and shared both laughter and tears, elation and disappointment.

COAS begins 2 new majors

By Zachary Osterman and Zach Osterman · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:27 a.m.

The IU College of Arts and Sciences has added two new Bachelor of Sciences degrees, human biology and biotechnology. Biotechnology has been offered as an intended major since fall 2004, meaning students could declare it as their major. The earliest expected graduation date for anyone majoring in the field is May 2008 because upper-level required courses will be offered beginning in fall 2006.

Student loans break the bank

By Alyson Brodsy and Amy Wolff · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:18 a.m.

Senior Brittany Ivy was worried about how she was going to pay for college at IU. "My parents hadn't set aside any money to pay for college so I had to decide on my own how I was going to pay for it," she said. When she started attending IU, Ivy said she realized housing was one of the biggest expenses, so she became a Residential Adviser, which provides free housing. But the cost of tuition, books and the "million other fees" of attending IU required her to take out a Stafford loan.

The difference between failing and giving up

By Alyson Brodsy and David Weisburd · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:16 a.m.

There is a subtle difference between failing and giving up that most people do not comprehend. Most people fear ending up as complete failures. There is not such a fear when it comes to giving up because it is a voluntary action people control. When people give up, they tell themselves, "I can always do it later," one of the many subtle lies people tell themselves.

Howard Stern returns to airwaves with promise of strippers, moderate cursing

By Alyson Brodsy and Erin Carlson · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:02 a.m.

NEW YORK -- Howard Stern began his new satellite radio show Monday by putting to rest rumors that he got married to his longtime girlfriend, model Beth Ostrosky. "I am not married. It's a nice feeling that we get along great. We're very happy and I don't want to (blank) it up," said Stern, who is finally free of government decency laws on Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. Stern has promised everything from stripper poles to live sex on his new show.

IU Auditorium offers eclectic season

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Jan. 10,2006 12:01 a.m.

The IU Auditorium has something for everyone, from dog lovers to Scottish bagpipe fans this spring. Students can obtain tickets for all shows at discounted rates with a student ID at the box office inside the auditorium or online at www.iuauditorium.com.