IUSA

BFC, IUSA to examine priority registration

Now that students aren't able to waitlist as many classes in OneStart as they were using the Indiana Student Information Transaction Environment, the Bloomington Faculty Council plans to study the priority registration for athletes proposal in hopes of making improvements for the rest of the students.

Global Village unites world on campus

When the 53 students on the first two floors of Foster-Martin began the year, they did something in the first few weeks that most people take years to do. They met people from all over the world.

Cold Weather, Hot Fashion

'Nightbird' better off erased

I hate admitting it, but Erasure has become as marginalized as Sting. Rather than crooning to world music/chakra/yoga enthusiasts, Vince Clarke and Andy Bell's sugary '80s synth ballads and dance numbers are listened to only by pop eccentrics and gay bar attendees; their new album Nightbird does very little to change this.

'The Documentary' chronicles very little

The Game is looking for success and he's on the right track. On his debut album, The Documentary, he has songs produced by Kanye West, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Hi-Tek, Just Blaze and Buckwild. He has cameos from Busta Rhymes, 50 Cent, Faith Evans, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Nate Dogg. He has a label consisting of Dre and 50 Cent backing him up financially. The only thing he needs now to become successful is his own image.

SKI away winter Woes

While students begin planning sunny vacations for that magical week in March, others are still embracing the winter months with North Face jackets, scarves and Ugg boots. Considering Bloomington's unfortunate geographical location, embracing winter has to be limited to accessories and not much action. The occasional winter weekend trip is out of the question, snow-tipped mountains are only a reality in a Geology textbook and The Rocky Mountains is the place where Coors is brewed, not a place to ski. But a weekend trip doesn't have to be so out of reach.

'Lights' shine on Thornton

At first glance, "Friday Night Lights," a film about a 1988 West Texas football team, could easily have been just another formulaic sports movie in the mold of hits like "Remember the Titans" or "Varsity Blues." All the components are there: an out-of-towner, star football coach, a group of driven but lost young men and a rabid football atmosphere. What serves to separate "Friday Night Lights" from the pack is its gritty, knuckles-to-the-bone depiction of life and football in the middle of nowhere.

Forget 'The Forgotten'

The DVD of "The Forgotten" is tragic in the same way the movie is tragic -- tragically, mythically and painfully terrible. First, the movie. It wants desperately to be the next "The Sixth Sense." The problem, of course, is that "Sixth Sense"-esque movies are really only good the first time you see them. On the second watch, they're still kind of cool. If you keep watching them after that, you're probably already in a support group for this type of thing.

Get 'Lost' in television

My television and I have always had a rock-solid, mutually beneficial relationship. It keeps me company when I'm lonely or bored and I try and make sure it stays healthy and happy by never forcing it to play competitive poker programs or hour-long, crime-solving serials. For the past four months or so, my television and I have made a special point to rendezvous every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. for a meeting with our newfound love, ABC's "Lost."

These Moaners will surprise you

The Moaners will no doubt be likened to the White Stripes for the fact that their monochromatic blues-rock is impressive and created by a twosome. True, Jack and Meg do it better, but singer/guitarist Melissa Swingle and drummer Laura King are just out to make some noise -- noise that's deceptively complex, despite its simple components: one voice, two instruments. Their debut album, Dark Snack, amounts to twelve ballads -- 35 minutes long -- of forward-moving estrojam, punctuated with a raw yet controlled, locomoting guitar sound and drums as crashing as a Fat Albert-topped human pyramid.

Carpenter cult classic gets workmanly redux

John Carpenter made the original "Assault on Precinct 13" two years prior to exploding into popular consciousness with his seminal horror classic "Halloween." The flick, a cheapie B-movie which itself was an homage to "Rio Bravo," went on to become a cult classic. Rightfully so, the picture was made with enough grit and moxy to keep viewers interested in the single-setting gangland siege being perpetrated against the lone inhabitants of a soon-to-be abandoned police station. Hollywood in its infinite wisdom, i.e. remaking a remake, has decided to give "Assault" a redux. While the two movies share a basic premise and title, they're two entirely different beasts, bringing about changes both good and otherwise.

Don't waste your minutes

Watching Kim Basinger waste some guy's cellular minutes by calling him with a desperate plea for help might sound boring, but that's only because it is. "Cellular" confuses suspense with monotony by waiting until the very last minute to become an action-thriller.

Fish out of water

Talking to Jenn Cristy is like talking to any other 25-year-old. Still working on completing her degree, it would be easy to assume that, like most 20-somethings, she hasn't really decided on her future. However, with a John Mellencamp tour and a solo album on her resumé, this former IU alumna has more options than the average 20-something.

Real b-ballers get MTV twist

Similar to last year's "Friday Night Lights" and to a much more legendary extent "Hoosiers," "Coach Carter" is based on real life events surrounding a high school sports team and its new coach who turns around the team's losing past. However, unlike its predecessors, this film has obvious MTV overtones (MTV handled production), most notably the fact that Ashanti stars in the lead female role.

Not quite good 'Yet'

This movie is offensive -- not only because it plays on stereotypes, but mainly because it's the exact same thing we've seen many times before. Basically, a divorced mom's kids try to dissuade some new guy from dating said mom. Chevy Chase did the same thing with Jonathan Taylor Thomas in "Man of the House."

My mom's band is better than yours

I was watching the news the other day and there was a story about a band. A closer look revealed this to be a band comprised of all women. No surprises there. In the past I have seen many all-female bands that can really kick it.

A similar beginning

For the first time in their lives, Iraqis will have the chance to decide the future of their own country for themselves, beginning this Sunday. Yet the violence of the recent weeks and months have sapped the observers' enthusiasm of the electoral process.

Tripping on Power

We've all had to deal with people who are high on their own power, despite how little they may have. And we do this -- it galls me to say it -- on a daily basis.

Don't screw the polar bears

Picture a white fluffy marshmallow being toasted over a bonfire. Orange flames dance around the edges as the temperature rises and the sides become crisp and brown. Now picture billions of tiny people living on the marshmallow and listen to them scream as they all catch fire.

'Prisoner to his calendar'

In almost every facet of his presidency at IU so far, Adam Herbert has met our lofty expectations.