IUSA

Students finish film to graduate

Adam Carroll owes a large part of his livelihood to Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches. The sandwiches help him earn income to support his project, "Conversations with the Almighty." He also hopes he can provide sandwiches to his cast after filming.

Africana explores the motherland

Robert Randolph blows Axis crowd away

He wears a cowboy hat, has the baby face of Indiana Pacer Jermaine O'Neal, the smirk of rapper 50 Cent and man, can Robert Randolph wail on the slide guitar. He plays it with such simplicity you'd swear he was jamming on a plastic Fisher Price instrument.

Money for nothing

Every college student knows money doesn't grow on trees. It's hard enough for some students to tackle looming utility, textbook and rent bills head on, let alone handle the pressures of fronting the bill for yearly climbing tuition costs. So how do students manage to indulge in pleasurable pursuits, on top of their other expenses? Where there is a will, there is a way.

All in the Family: Robert Randolph & the Family Band 'put the joy back into music'

Robert Randolph & the Family Band is out "to put the joy back in music." "Playing around where I grew up, I started to realize how my music touched people," says Randolph, the group's energetic leader and namesake.

Burning down the 'House'

"Man of the House" is bad. Very, very bad. I take that back. Popcorn-flavored jelly beans are bad. This movie is a crime against humanity.

'Diary' equal parts muddled, masterful

Yes it's mushy, clichéd and over-the-top, but writer Tyler Perry's "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" has heart. This crowd-pleaser is based on one of Perry's seven highly successful plays and judging simply from the cheers and laughter from the audience, he did something right.

New Craven flick 'Cursed' with PG-13 rating

Ah, to live the life of a werewolf. Increased senses, improved athletic ability, more sex appeal. If it weren't for the minor details of a lust for blood and all the hair, it might be worth it. That's the lesson learned after watching "Cursed."

Feminist rocker goes FM

The good news is that my stuffy old Aunt Helen may now be able to be a Tori Amos fan. Good job, Tori, you've won over a convert. The bad news is that she's dangerously close to losing a longtime fan: me. The problem with The Beekeeper is typical to many artists who, once they get older, are too scared of alienating their fans to do something truly new.

Around The State

Congressman: Guard shouldn't be charged to use Gary airport GARY -- The Indiana National Guard should not have to pay an annual fee to locate an anti-terrorism center at the Gary airport, said U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky.

Southern rockers get Stroke-d

The Strokes meets Skynyrd label still holds true on Nashville, Tenn.-based Kings of Leon's sophomore album, Aha Shake Heartbreak, although having spent time touring and partying (as seen in the pages of Rolling Stone) with the aforementioned new school city slickers seems to have rubbed off. Much of the country flavor has been pared away (though, it's still very much present in the album's closer "Rememo"), replaced with Strokes-esque riffs, choruses, hand clapping and vocal intonations. It's as if the brothers Followill: Caleb (pipes), Nathan (skins) and Jared (slaps), and their cousin, Matthew (licks) -- their credits, not mine -- were asked, "If the Strokes jumped off a bridge, would you?" And the answer is a resounding, "Yes!" Luckily, it sounds pretty damned good.

One gorgeous drive

The perfectionists at Polyphony Digital are known for their obsessive attention to detail and utter worship of the automobile, and it shows more than ever in their latest offering, "Gran Turismo 4." In 1998, Polyphony redefined video game racing with the first "GT," and the sequel that followed quickly after was simply an extension of the original. Polyphony reinvented the wheel, quite literally, in 2001 with "GT3: A-Spec." Now, after countless missed release dates and months of fine-tuning, "GT4" has finally arrived.

De Niro and Pacino 10 years ago

What if Robert De Niro and Al Pacino got in a fight? The answer is Michael Mann's "Heat." The two master tough guys race to outfox each other as Neil McCauley (De Niro) tries to pull off the heist that will culminate his career as a professional thief, while Lt. Vincent Hanna (Pacino), a tenacious detective, hunts McCauley and his crew.

Show 'Huckabees' some love

An acquaintance, who shall remain nameless because I value his privacy as much as I can't remember his last name, saw David O. Russell's so-called existential comedy "I Heart Huckabees" upon my eager recommendation. Long story short, he didn't like it.

Immigration Nation

Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses." This statement shows America's commitment to immigration. This country has tried to be the kind of place people from all over the world could come to build a better life. Legal immigration is something this nation has always treasured.

Prime time garbage

I can't seem to understand the enormous appeal of shows like "Desperate Housewives" and "The O.C." Are their lives really not exciting and dramatic enough? Guess not. I mean, these shows feature unrealistic ideas that don't tend to happen in real life -- at least episodes that don't occur in my life.

Around The World

Thai ambassador to speak to IU students Kasit Piromya, Thailand's ambassador to the United States, will be giving a lecture on campus today titled "U.S.-Thai Relations: Elections, Trade, Tsunami." The lecture, which will occur at 5 p.m. in the Moot Court Room in the School of Law, is a part of the ambassador's two-day stay at IU. After the public lecture, Piromya will be meeting with members of IU's Thai Student Association.

More than 2,000 gather at Iraq bombing site

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- After the deadliest attack since the U.S.-led invasion, more than 2,000 people demonstrated at the site of a car bombing that killed 125 people south of Baghdad, chanting "No to terrorism!" An Internet statement purportedly by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaida group in Iraq claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Student Academic Center helps students learn to cram

As the students pack the library this week and the next they will cram for midterm tests. But those students stressing about their midterms don't have to worry if they simply talk to the Student Academic Center. "I usually start studying a week before the test or the last class before the test," said sophomore Amy Heustis. Although early preparation is the ideal, other circumstances can lead to last-minute studying.

BTK suspect's stable life defies stereotype among serial killers

WICHITA, Kan. -- He was trusted as a Cub Scout leader, respected as a churchgoing family man and accepted as a regular guy with a secure marriage, a steady job and all the other trappings of middle-class success. He was also, according to police, an insatiable murderer who tortured and killed strangers over 17 years, boasting about his crimes in taunting, gruesome letters and poems that he mailed to police and the news media.