Longform

IU vs. Purdue Bucket Game

By Jake Brown and Jacob Brown · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 10:54 p.m.

Junior cornerback Tracy Porter, born and raised in Louisiana, didn't know a thing about the Old Oaken Bucket. When he enrolled at IU and joined the football team in 2004, he didn't see what the big deal was.

Wasting time

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 10:48 p.m.

My column is due soon. For the last few hours, I've been sitting in a dark room in front of a glowing TV screen mashing buttons. I just opened Firefox to compulsively check my Facebook profile, but in the process I ran across an interesting Nov. 14 article, "Workshop helps students overcome procrastination habit," on idsnews.com. The main point: People procrastinate, citing the Internet as the No. 1 source of distraction. The article also introduces the idea that by not procrastinating, you can get more work done. I wholeheartedly disagree.

Shut up and smile

By Alyson Brodsy and Jacob Stewart · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 10:47 p.m.

Do you ever wish in the middle of a fight, the experience of a bad attitude or seeing various harmful or downright mean things done around campus, that everyone would just stop, take a look around, get over themselves and smile? It seems like a perfectly plausible solution that will bring a little more peace to our everyday lives: Just shut up and smile. It reads like that old cliche: "Can't we all just get along?" And why not? What would it take for IU students to drop their old disputes and just be happy?

O'Reilled up

By Alyson Brodsy and Rachel Fullmer · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 10:43 p.m.

If I must admit it, I actually do enjoy watching the occasional Fox News clip or Bill O'Reilly video. And, though it's not something that I have ever considered publicly owning up to before, I have watched my fair share. Once a month, once a week, maybe even once a day.

The price of bowling

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 10:42 p.m.

This is a plea. We're down on our knees, begging that our point be seen. Purdue: It would be in your interest to let the IU football team beat you Saturday.

80 kidnap victims still being held, says Iraqi education minister

By Alyson Brodsy and Sameer N. Yacoub · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 10:40 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's higher education minister said Thursday that as many as 80 victims from a mass kidnapping earlier this week remain in captivity and that some of the 70 who have been freed were tortured.

IUPUI announces new initiatives to help minorities

By Whitney Mitchell · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12:56 p.m.

IU-Purdue University Indianapolis administrators announced Wednesday they will establish a multicultural center and other diversity initiatives in an effort to meet the demands of black student leaders on campus. Two weeks ago, senior Dominic Dorsey, president of IUPUI's Black Student Union, addressed University officials in an eight-page letter with a list of demands, including $78,000 of funding for black student groups, a black culture center and a degree offering in African-American studies.

Benefit concert held for Wal-Mart burn victim

By Sarah Core · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12:56 p.m.

Robert Eury loved playing the guitar. An avid fan of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, he would pluck out favorite tunes on his guitar, until eventually he became skilled enough to compose his own music and lyrics.

Task force to investigate smoking ban

By Kasey Hawrysz · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12:55 p.m.

Student smokers might soon have to leave campus to get their nicotine fix. In response to a proposal submitted by the Students' Smokefree Coalition, IU President Adam Herbert has assigned a task force to look into the possibility of making IU-Bloomington smoke-free, according to a letter sent to the coalition.

In Nashville, Ind. building a team is an adventure

By Mandy Eid · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12:54 p.m.

Fritz Harbridge's excitement about the recent growth of Nashville's Adventure Center, where he is the action and adventure director, is evident even over the phone.

Arson suspect in deadly California wildfire denies setting blaze, gives reason for being caught at site

By Alyson Brodsy and Gillian Flaccus · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12:17 a.m.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- The suspect in a massive arson wildfire that killed five firefighters told prosecutors he drove to a spot near where it started on the night it was set to watch the flames, according to a police report obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. Raymond Lee Oyler, 36, denied having anything to do with the crime when he spoke to investigators Oct. 27, the day after the fire began. He told investigators he had been gambling at the Morongo Indian Casino & Spa and then stopped at a Shell gas station before "traveling toward the Esperanza fire to watch it," according to the document that summarizes Oyler's interviews with police.

The Hoosiers' hearts beat on

By Alyson Brodsy and Jonathan Hines · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12:08 a.m.

Facing a penalty kick in the first half of IU's first-round NCAA Tournament game Wednesday night, IU sophomore goalkeeper Chay Cain was shivering in the box, but not because of the pressure.

Hoosiers defeat Valpo 85-51, move to 3-0

By Lee Hurwitz · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12:07 a.m.

Coming off an upset win against then-No. 15 Kentucky, the IU women's basketball team extended its record to 3-0 with an 85-51 win against Valparaiso University Wednesday.

Brand: NCAA's purpose is educational, deserves tax-exempt status

By Alyson Brodsy and Associated Press · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12:06 a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- NCAA President Myles Brand aggressively defended the organization's tax-exempt status in a 25-page letter to Congress, arguing the primary goal of the NCAA is education. Brand pointed to recent academic reforms that increased eligibility standards and studies showing the average SAT scores of athletes are higher than those of the general student body as examples that the NCAA is committed first to educating athletes.

IU advances in NCAA Tournament

By Michael Sanserino · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12:03 a.m.

On a rain-soaked, mud-covered playing field, the IU men's soccer team slugged its way to a fourth-consecutive shutout Wednesday night and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

Courbet exhibit in Maryland spotlights painter's innovations

By Alyson Brodsy and Ben Nuckols · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12:02 a.m.

BALTIMORE -- When Gustave Courbet painted "The Stream of the Puits Noir," or black well, he emphasized the noir. The picture is drenched in black to the point of near-abstraction. It offers a primordial view of nature, yet it's more seductive than foreboding. "Courbet and the Modern Landscape," an exhibition on display at the Walters Art Museum, makes the case for Courbet (1819-1877) as a radical. Best known for his realist, figural pictures such as "Burial at Ornans," Courbet churned out countless landscapes in his late career, but many of them were painted by assistants with only a brief touchup by the master.

Famed conductor will join Jacobs faculty in fall 2007

By Eric Anderson · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12:02 a.m.

The IU Jacobs School of Music recently confirmed the appointment of renowned conductor Leonard Slatkin to the School of Music faculty, continuing its long tradition of attracting the music world's greatest talent to teach its students. Though the announcement was made last month, the excitement has yet to die down. "We're overjoyed," conducting professor David Effron said. "He's done so much for American repertoire, and he's a terrific teacher."

In it for kicks

By Rorye O'Connor and Rorye O'Conner · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12 a.m.

Iuri Santos pulled back his long dreadlocks and wordlessly chose a partner from the row of performers playing a lively beat on several instruments. He silently delegated the switching of instruments from the chosen opponent to another member still playing music, then, along with his partner, knelt in front of the others and performed a set of synchronized prayer-like movements. Santos and his partner faced each other and touched palms before breaking away and beginning their competition.

Nerds, crosswords and an IU grad

By C. Warner Sills and Jake Brown · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12 a.m.

If you're looking for an exciting way to spend a weekend night, I suggest watching a documentary about crossword puzzles. Seriously. Directed by Patrick Creadon, "Wordplay" is a behind-the-scenes look at the masterminds of The New York Times' crossword puzzle and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Creadon does the best thing he can to actually make this movie interesting: He tells the stories of the people involved. Creadon focuses on the editor of the Times crossword Will Shortz, who is originally from Crawfordsville, Ind. and graduated from IU with a degree in enigmatology (the study of puzzles).

'Queen' of the castle

By Chris Wisner and compiled by Chris Wisner · Thursday, Nov. 16,2006 12 a.m.

When Princess Diana was fatally killed in a car accident in 1997, I was an eighth grader. It was a time when I was young and had more important things on my mind -- I really didn't know much about her at all. After seeing "The Queen," I felt as if I was given a most rewarding history lesson.